Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
TAFRO Syndrome in Caucasians: A Case Report and Review of the Literature

Background TAFRO syndrome has been reported in Japan among human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8)-negative/idiopathic multicentric Castleman’s disease (iMCD) patients. To date, the majority of iMCD patients with TAFRO syndrome originate from Japan. Case presentation Herein, we report a 67-year-old HIV/HHV-8-negative Caucasian iMCD patient diagnosed with TAFRO. He presented with marked systemic inflammation, bicytopenia, terminal renal insufficiency, diffuse lymphadenopathies, and anasarca. Lymph node and bone marrow biopsies revealed atrophic germinal centers variably hyalinized and megakaryocytic hyperplasia with mild myelofibrosis. Several other biopsies performed in kidneys, liver, gastrointestinal tract, prostate, and lungs revealed unspecific chronic inflammation. The patient had a complete response to corticosteroids, tocilizumab, and rituximab. He relapsed twice following discontinuation of rituximab. When reviewing the literature, we found seven other Caucasian cases with TAFRO syndrome. There were no significant differences with those described by the Japanese cohort except for the higher frequency of kidney failure and auto-antibodies in Western patients. Conclusion This case illustrates that patients with TAFRO syndrome can develop non-specific inflammation in several tissue sites. Furthermore, this case and our review of the literature demonstrate that TAFRO syndrome can affect Caucasian and Japanese patients highlighting the importance of evaluating for this syndrome independently of ethnic background.
Angiographically confirmed stent thrombosis in contemporary practice: Insights from intravascular ultrasound

Objective: We hypothesized that patients presenting with stent thrombosis (ST) have a high prevalence of stent underexpansion and malapposition when assessed by intravascular ultrasound (IVUS). Background: IVUS can provide mechanistic insight into mechanical factors, including stent underexpansion, malapposition, and fracture that may predispose to ST. Methods: All consecutive cases of angiographically confirmed ST from a multicenter registry (from 2005 to 2010) were reviewed. All IVUS images were reviewed off‐line for the presence of stent underexpansion, malapposition, and fracture. Kaplan–Meier analysis was used to determine whether use of IVUS at the time of ST was associated with long‐term mortality and major adverse cardiovascular events. Results: IVUS was performed in 32 of 173 subjects with ST (18%). Stent underexpansion was present in 82% of cases and in all cases of early ST, with a mean stent expansion of 0.7 ± 0.23 by MUSIC criteria. Stent malapposition was most frequently observed in very late ST (40%). In‐hospital mortality was similar between subjects who had IVUS performed at the time of ST when compared with the non‐IVUS group (3.2% vs. 4.3%, P = 0.8). Subjects who had IVUS performed at the time of ST had lower rates of mortality (HR 0.4, 95% CI 0.1‐1.6, P =0.2) and major adverse cardiovascular events (HR 0.5, 95% CI 0.2–1.4, P =0.2) at follow‐up, but these values were not statistically significant. Conclusions: There is a high prevalence of stent underexpansion in early ST, while the prevalence of malapposition is higher in very late ST. Use of IVUS during treatment for ST may identify mechanisms underlying the development of ST. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Differential impact of the transcriptional repressor Gfi1 on mature CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocyte function

The transcriptional repressor Gfi1 is a nuclear zinc‐finger protein that is expressed in T cell precursors in the thymus, but is down‐regulated in mature, resting T cells. Gfi1 expression rises transiently to levels seen in thymocytes upon antigenic activation. We show here that lack of Gfi1 causes delayed cell cycle entry and apoptosis after antigenic stimulation in both mature CD4+ and CD8+ T cells ex vivo. DNA micro‐array analysis demonstrated that this correlated with an up‐regulation of the death receptor CD95, the proapoptotic factors Bad and Apaf1 and the cell cycle inhibitor p21, and a down‐regulation of Bcl‐2 expression in Gfi1–/– T cells. Surprisingly, while Gfi1‐deficient CD4+ T cells showed the same defective behavior in vivo, Gfi1‐deficient CD8+ T cells showed no aberration in vivo and were fully able to mount an anti‐viral immune response. This indicates that Gfi1 exerts different functions in CD4+ and CD8+ T cells very likely by maintaining different genetic programs in both cell types, and appears to be essential for the CD4 helper T cell immune response but dispensable for the function of cytotoxic CD8+ T cells.
9p21.3 Coronary Artery Disease Risk Variants Disrupt TEAD Transcription Factor–Dependent Transforming Growth Factor &bgr; Regulation of p16 Expression in Human Aortic Smooth Muscle Cells

Background— The mechanism whereby the 9p21.3 locus confers risk for coronary artery disease remains incompletely understood. Risk alleles are associated with reduced expression of the cell cycle suppressor genes CDKN2A (p16 and p14) and CDKN2B (p15) and increased vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation. We asked whether risk alleles disrupt transcription factor binding to account for this effect. Methods and Results— A bioinformatic screen was used to predict which of 59 single nucleotide polymorphisms at the 9p21.3 locus disrupt (or create) transcription factor binding sites. Electrophoretic mobility shift and luciferase reporter assays examined the binding and functionality of the predicted regulatory sequences. Primary human aortic smooth muscle cells (HAoSMCs) were genotyped for 9p21.3, and HAoSMCs homozygous for the risk allele showed reduced p15 and p16 levels and increased proliferation. rs10811656 and rs4977757 disrupted functional TEF-1 TEC1 AbaA domain (TEAD) transcription factor binding sites. TEAD3 and TEAD4 overexpression induced p16 in HAoSMCs homozygous for the nonrisk allele, but not for the risk allele. Transforming growth factor &bgr;, known to activate p16 and also to interact with TEAD factors, failed to induce p16 or to inhibit proliferation of HAoSMCs homozygous for the risk allele. Knockdown of TEAD3 blocked transforming growth factor &bgr;–induced p16 mRNA and protein expression, and dual knockdown of TEAD3 and TEAD4 markedly reduced p16 expression in heterozygous HAoSMCs. Conclusions— Here, we identify a novel mechanism whereby sequences at the 9p21.3 risk locus disrupt TEAD factor binding and TEAD3-dependent transforming growth factor &bgr; induction of p16 in HAoSMCs. This mechanism accounts, in part, for the 9p21.3 coronary artery disease risk.
Immunological relationships during primary infection with Heligmosomoides polygyrus (Nematospiroides dubius): downregulation of specific cytokine secretion (IL‐9 and IL‐10) correlates with poor mastocytosis and chronic survival of adult worms

Mice were infected either with Trichinella spiralis (day 0). Heligmosomoides polygyrus (day – 14) or concurrently with both species and were killed in groups, together with naïve control mice, on 2 occasions (day 8 and 15 post infection with T. spiralis, corresponding to days 22 and 29 p.i. with H. polygyrus). The expulsion of T. spiralis was slowed significantly in concurrently infected mice and this was associated with a reduced mastocytosis and lower serum mucosal mast cell protease levels. Mesenteric lymph node (MLN) lymphocytes from all three experimental groups secreted IL‐3 and IL‐4 in copious amounts when stimulated in vitro by Concanavalin A (Con‐A), but the secretion of high levels of IL‐9 and IL‐10 was essentially confined to mice infected with T. spiralis alone. It is suggested that adult H. polygyrus selectively modulate cytokine secretion by Th2 cells within the MLN during infection and that this is brought about as a direct consequence of the mechanism employed by H. polygyrus to depress mucosal inflammatory responses in order to facilitate its own survival.
Computer Users Activity Analysis Using Recurrence Plot

We can currently observe trend of gathering vast amounts of data about systems and users behavior. Gathered data is analyzed to get insight about behavior of users and then to detect traits of users. Currently many different methods are used to analyze data and there is still no one best method for analyzing different parameters of computer systems. We use non-linear methods to analyze gathered data because we assume that computer system is the non-linear one because of inter-program dependencies in current multi-program, multi-user operating systems. To best describe behavior of entire system we choose number of interrupts per second as analyzed variable because this value shows overall state of activity of programs being run on the system. We show that using recurrence plot can show some similarities in behavior of system, and therefore can be used to detect similarities and differences in users behavior.
Job Strain and Blood Pressure in Employed Men and Women: A Pooled Analysis of Four Northern Italian Population Samples

Objective: The extent to which psychosocial stress concurs to raise blood pressure is still uncertain. Here the association between job strain and office blood pressure in a pooled analysis of four population samples from northern Italy is assessed. Methods: Four surveys assessing prevalence of major coronary risk factors were performed in 1986, 1990, 1991, and 1993 in area “Brianza” (Milan), a World Health Organization‐MONItoring cardiovascular disease (WHO‐MONICA) Project collaborating center. Ten year age‐ and gender‐stratified independent samples were randomly recruited from the 25‐ to 64‐year‐old residents. The methods used to assess coronary risk factors strictly adhered to the MONICA manual, were kept constant, and underwent internal and external quality controls. Job strain was investigated through the administration to employed participants of a questionnaire derived from the Karasek model, assessing job demand/control latitude. Analysis was restricted to 25‐ to 54‐year‐old participants, untreated for hypertension (1799 men and 1010 women). Results: Among men, there was a 3 mm Hg increase of systolic blood pressure (p < .001) moving from low to high strain job categories. This difference was independent from age, education, body mass index, alcohol intake, smoking habits, leisure time physical activity, and survey. No relevant differences among job strain categories were found in women and for diastolic blood pressure in both gender groups. Conclusions: These results carried out on a large population‐based sample confirm previous findings obtained adopting ambulatory blood pressure measurements in more restricted samples of population or patients. Further research is needed to clarify the relationship between perceived work stress and blood pressure in women.
Heberden Oration, 1977. Chronic arthritis in childhood.

Mr President, may I first thank you for the honour that you have done me in asking me to give this Oration. This I do with considerable trepidation, remembering the superb Orations I have heard and looking at the list of my distinguished predecessors which includes Eric Bywaters, who in 1966 surveyed Still's disease. In his summary he said, 'chronic juvenile polyarthritis is a wide term, Still's disease is an historical term, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis an exact but misleading term'. He considered that criteria chosen and verified by international agreement were necessary for further elucidation of chronic arthritis in childhood (Bywaters, 1967). Eleven years have now passed. The growing interest in paediatric rheumatology has been reflected in the number of sessions devoted to it in meetings, the many papers published from Scandinavia, Europe, not forgetting Taplow and the Americas, particularly the United States. The suggested criteria have been constantly modified (Brewer et al., 1977) and have not yet received general acceptance. At the workshop organised by the American Rheumatism Association Council on Paediatric Rheumatology last year at which both Eric Bywaters and I were guests, arguments on criteria and classification continued long after the sessions had closed. This year (1977), under the auspices of the European League against Rheumatism and the World Health Organisation, a symposium on the care of rheumatic children, to which leading US paediatric rheumatologists were invited, was held in Oslo. Despite problems of nomenclature and language, there was considerable uniformity of experience. At this meeting the Europeans managed to agree on a preliminary approach to nomenclature and classification (Table 1). In English the name is juvenile chronic arthritis. There was little disagreement about age of onset and the cut-off point of under 16 years is quite arbitrary. There was remarkable agreement on a minimum duration of 3 months before a definite diagnosis should be made. The uniformity with regard to modes of onset was also encouraging. Table 1 Agreed criteria for juvenile chronic arthritisEULAR-WHO meeting, 1977
Prophylactic and Therapeutic Potential of Acetyl‐l‐carnitine against Acetaminophen‐Induced Hepatotoxicity in Mice

Prophylactic and therapeutic effects of acetylcarnitine against acetaminophen‐induced hepatotoxicity were studied in mice. To evaluate the prophylactic effects of acetylcarnitine, mice were supplemented with acetylcarnitine (2 mmol/kg/day per oral (p.o.) for 5 days) before a single dose of acetaminophen (350 mg/kg intraperitoneal (i.p.)). Animals were sacrificed 6 h after acetaminophen injection. Acetaminophen significantly increased the markers of liver injury, hepatic reactive oxygen species, and nitrate/nitrite, and decreased hepatic glutathione (GSH) and the antioxidant enzymes. Acetylcarnitine supplementation resulted in reversal of all biochemical parameters toward the control values. To explore the therapeutic effects of acetylcarnitine, mice were given a single dose of acetylcarnitine (0.5, 1, and 2 mmol/kg p.o.) 1.5 h after acetaminophen. Animals were sacrificed 6 h after acetaminophen. Acetylcarnitine administration resulted in partial reversal of liver injury only at 2 mmol/kg p.o. At equimolar doses, N‐acetylcystiene was superior as therapeutic agent to acetylcarnitine. However, acetylcarnitine potentiated the effect of N‐acetylcystiene in the treatment of acetaminophen toxicity.
Fault-Tolerant Rendezvous of Multirobot Systems

In this paper, we propose a distributed control policy to achieve rendezvous by a set of robots even when some robots in the system do not follow the prescribed policy. These nonconforming robots correspond to faults in the multirobot system, and our control policy is thus a fault-tolerant policy. Each robot has a limited sensing range and is able to directly estimate the state of only those robots within that sensing range, which induces a network topology for the multirobot system. We assume that it is not possible for the fault-free robots to identify the faulty robots, and thus our approach is robust even to undetected faults in the system. The main contribution of this paper is a fault-tolerant distributed control algorithm that is guaranteed to converge to consensus under certain reasonable connectivity conditions. We first present a general algorithm that exploits the notion of a Tverberg partition of a point set in $\mathbb {R}^d$, and give a proof of convergence. We then provide three instantiations of this algorithm, based on three different sensing models. For each case, we analyze performance via extensive simulations. The effectiveness and performance of our algorithms on real platforms are demonstrated through experiments on a multirobot testbed.
Evaluation of esthetic parameters of resin-modified glass-ionomer materials and a polyacid-modified resin composite in Class V cervical lesions.

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to compare the esthetics of 3 resin-modified glass-ionomer materials and 1 polyacid-modified resin composite to the esthetics of a conventional glass-ionomer control material. METHOD AND MATERIALS One hundred eighty-seven Class V cervical restorations were observed clinically over 18 months. The esthetic index system that was used evaluated color match, translucency or opacity, and surface roughness. RESULTS The tested materials behaved very dissimilarly and inconsistently. In general, the esthetic results of the resin-modified glass-ionomer materials and the polyacid-modified resin composite were far from optimal. The esthetic appearance of restorations seriously deteriorated during clinical service, mainly because of discoloration of margins, changes in translucency and opacity, and rapidly appearing roughness or dullness on the surface. Both the resin-modified glass-ionomer materials and the polyacid-modified resin composite evaluated in this study performed better esthetically than did the conventional glass-ionomer material. CONCLUSION Indications for these combination materials are limited to areas where esthetics is not a primary concern but where their ease of application may guarantee a more durable functional result.
Trust in development: some implications of knowing in indigenous knowledge

The indigenous knowledge (IK) initiative in development has met with limited success. The cultural relativity of knowledge – i.e. what qualifies as justified belief – may partly explain why. Drawing on New Guinea Highlands' ethnography, I explore the implications for dominant capitalist development discourse of constituting and verifying knowledge differently. Trust emerges as a central issue. Highlanders' approach to knowing attends to the subjective nature of understanding and potential for disagreement. The grammar of language – such as that spoken by the Wola of the Southern Highlands Province – reflects these concerns, notably attention to the source/reliability of any professed knowledge. This evidential interest relates to oral traditions, enskilled knowing, and individual knowledge variability, in addition to the trust to be put on any expressed knowledge. It relates also to how stateless political contexts preclude the imposition of views, such as what comprises economic development; albeit what shape an alternative ‘acephalous development’ might take is currently unclear. Resume L'initiative sur les savoirs autochtones (indigenous knowledge (IK)) dans le developpement n'a connu qu'un succes mitige. Ce resultat mediocre peut s'expliquer par la relativite culturelle des savoirs, autrement dit de ce qui peut etre considere comme une croyance justifiee. A partir de l'ethnographie des Hautes Terres de Nouvelle-Guinee, l'auteur explore les implications pour le discours capitaliste dominant en matiere de developpement d'une nouvelle maniere de constituer et de valider les connaissances. La confiance s'avere une question centrale dans cette optique. L'approche du savoir par les habitants des Hautes Terres tient compte de la nature subjective de la comprehension et de la possibilite de desaccords. La grammaire de la langue, par exemple de celle des Wolas de la province des Hautes Terres du Sud, reflete ces preoccupations, et notamment l'attention portee a la source et a la fiabilite des connaissances declarees. Outre la confiance que l'on peut accorder a tout savoir exprime, cet interet pour les preuves est liea la tradition orale, aux connaissances acquises et a la variabilite des connaissances individuelles. Il est donc aussi correlea la maniere dont des contextes politiques non etatiques empechent l'imposition d'opinions, telles que celles qui ont trait a ce en quoi consiste le developpement economique. Pour autant, la forme que pourrait prendre un mode different de « developpement acephale » n'est pas nette pour l'instant.
Contrast-enhanced three-dimensional transcranial color-coded sonography of intracranial stenoses.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Intracranial stenoses are associated with a considerable number of strokes each year. The clinical value of a workstation-based three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction system for transcranial color-coded sonography was evaluated in patients with intracranial stenosis or occlusion. METHODS Twenty-six patients (13 men, 13 women; mean age, 57 years +/- 12 [SD]) with 36 intracranial stenoses or occlusions, as detected at two-dimensional (2D) color Doppler imaging (CDI) and digital subtraction angiography (DSA), underwent Levovist-enhanced power Doppler imaging (PDI), with subsequent 3D reconstruction. A workstation connected to a magnetic sensor capable of spatial localization of the probe was used to reconstruct 3D images of the circle of Willis from serial PDI images. RESULTS At DSA, seven (19%) stenoses were estimated to less than 50%, 24 (67%) were 50% or more, and five (14%) were occluded. DSA and 3D-PDI estimates of the degree of stenosis agreed in 33 cases (92%), with a weighted kappa value of 0.86. Disagreement occurred with two subtotal basilar artery stenoses and one subtotal middle cerebral artery stenosis, which were evaluated as being complete occlusions at 3D-PDI. Interobserver agreement between two experienced 3D investigators in estimating the percentage of stenosis was high (correlation coefficient,.98). CONCLUSION 3D-PDI enables the investigator to reconstruct virtually any arbitrary viewing angle. Compared with conventional CDI, 3D-PDI offers easier spatial assessment of intracranial stenoses, and its findings are sufficiently correlated with angiographic findings. Because different investigators can postprocess the same 3D data, improving reproducibility and reducing investigator dependency in transcranial color-coded sonography may be possible.
Development and Psychometric Testing of the Relocation Self-Efficacy Scale

Background: With greater numbers of older adults relocating to independent living communities (ILCs), there is an increasing need to determine whether factors such as self-efficacy can facilitate relocation adjustment. However, no relocation self-efficacy instrument is available. Objectives: To develop and test an instrument measuring older adults' self-efficacy to relocate to an ILC. Method: A 101-item initial instrument representing facets of relocation self-efficacy was developed based on the literature on self-efficacy and relocation and on qualitative interviews with a sample of women who had relocated to ILCs. The instrument was content validated by a panel of experts, reduced to 65 items, and then evaluated by a convenience sample of 166 community-dwelling older adults who planned to move to an ILC. The sample ranged in age from 65 to 91 years (M = 76.59 years, SD = 6.02 years); most were female (63%), Caucasian (96%), college educated (59%), and married (62%). Assessment of the scale included calculation of internal consistency reliability, test-retest reliability, item and scale correlation coefficients, and principal components factor analysis with varimax rotation to evaluate construct validity, scale structure, and item response range. In addition, convergent validity of the Self-Efficacy Relocation Scale (SERS) was evaluated by assessing correlations with measures of positive relationships (Positive Relations With Others Scale) and environmental mastery (Environmental Mastery Scale). Results: The final SERS consists of 32 items in three factors: Engagement Efficacy, Daily Living Efficacy, and Transition Management Efficacy. These three factors explained 68% of the sample variance. Cronbach's &agr; for the total scale was . 97; &agr; for the three factors was . 96, . 96, and . 91, respectively. As anticipated, convergent validity was supported by moderate positive correlations between the three SERS factors and the Positive Relations With Others Scale and Environmental Mastery Scale. Discussion: Identifying older adults at risk for difficulty in adjusting to relocation prior to moving to an ILC by using a measure of relocation self-efficacy has important implications for their health and life satisfaction. This study suggests that the SERS may be useful in identifying such individuals and alerting healthcare professionals to initiate early interventions to facilitate positive relocation adjustment. Further testing of the SERS with heterogeneous socioeconomic, marital, ethnic, and racial samples is needed.