Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Dendritic cell immunotherapy for breast cancer

Novel adjuvant therapies are urgently needed to complement the existing treatment options for breast cancer. The advent of the use of dendritic cells (DCs) for cancer immunotherapy provides a unique opportunity to overcome the relative non-immunogenic property of breast tumours and address the underlying immunodeficiency. To date, the success of this approach has been limited, possibly due to the targeting of specific tumour antigens that rapidly mutate and, thus, become undetectable to the immune system. A more efficient approach would include preparations encompassing multiple antigens, such as those provided by loading of whole tumour cells or tumour RNA. It is proposed that targeting mammary stem cells responsible for resistance to chemo/immunotherapy, through the expression of a broad array of wild-type and mutated tumour antigens in the context of DCs, will become a mainstay for immunotherapy of breast cancer.
Uncommon Dominion: Venetian Crete and the Myth of Ethnic Purity

From 1211 until its loss to the Ottomans in 1669, the Greek island we know as Crete was the Venetian colony of Candia. Ruled by a paid civil service fully accountable to the Venetian Senate, Candia was distinct from nearly every other colony of the medieval period for the unprecedented degree to which the colonial power was involved in its governance. Yet, for Sally McKee, the importance of the Cretan colony only begins with the anomalous manner of the Venetian state's rule. Uncommon Dominion tells the story of Venetian Crete, the home of two recognizably distinct ethnic communities, the Latins and the Greeks. The application of Venetian law to the colony made it possible for the colonial power to create and maintain a fiction of ethnic distinctness. The Greeks were subordinate to the Latins economically, politically, and juridically, yet within a century of Venetian colonization, the ethnic differences between Latin and Greek Cretans in daily material life were significantly blurred. Members of the groups intermarried, many of them learned each other's language, and some even chose to worship by the rites of the other's church. Holding up ample evidence of acculturation and miscegenation by the colony's inhabitants, McKee uncovers the colonial forces that promoted the persistence of ethnic labeling despite the lack of any clear demarcation between the two predominant communities. As McKee argues, the concept of ethnic identity was largely determined by gender, religion, and social status, especially by the Latin and Greek elites in their complex and frequently antagonistic social relationships. Drawing expertly from notarial and court records, as well as legislative and literary sources, Uncommon Dominion offers a unique study of ethnicity in the medieval and early modern periods. Students and scholars in medieval, colonial, and postcolonial studies will find much of use in studying this remarkable colonial experiment.
Mikania glomerata Sprengel (Asteraceae) Influences the Mutagenicity Induced by Doxorubicin without Altering Liver Lipid Peroxidation or Antioxidant Levels

As shown in numerous studies, natural compounds may exert adverse effects, mainly when associated with some drugs. The hydroalcoholic extract of Mikania glomerata is the pharmaceutical form present in commercially available syrup used for the treatment of respiratory diseases in popular Brazilian medicine. The objective of the present investigation was (1) to evaluate the preventive effects of standardized hydroalcoholic extract of M. glomerata (MEx) against antitumoral drug doxorubicin (DXR)-induced micronucleated polychromatic erythrocytes (MNPCE) in a subchronic assay in mice, and (2) to determine the liver content of malondialdehyde (MDA) and the antioxidants glutathione (GSH) and vitamin E (VE). Male Swiss mice were treated for 30 d with MEx added to drinking water, combined or not with DXR (90 mg/kg body weight) injected intraperitoneally (ip) 24 h before analysis. The results demonstrated that MEx produced no genotoxic damage, but significantly increased the frequency of MNPCE induced by DXR, indicating a drug–drug interaction. This rise was not accompanied by lipid peroxidation or antioxidants level reduction, as measured by MDA, GSH, and VE. Despite the presence of coumarin (a known antioxidant), MEx may exert adverse effects probably in association with mutagenic compounds, although this effect on DNA damage did not involve oxidative stress.
AND HEALTH IN GREENLAND

The purposes of the study were to analyse the lifetime prevalence of violence and sexual abuse among the Inuit in Greenland and to study the associations between health and having been the victim of violence or sexual abuse. Associations were studied with specific attention to possible differences between women and men. Further, response rates were analysed specifically in order to understand consequences of including questions on violence and sexual abuse in the questionnaire survey. The analyses were based on material from a cross-sectional health interview survey conducted during 1993-94 with participation from a random sample of the Inuit population in Greenland (N=1393). The prevalence of ever having been a victim of violence was 47% among women and 48% among men. Women had more often than men been sexually abused (25% and 6%) (p<0,001) and had more often been sexually abused in childhood (8% and 3%) (p=0.001). Having been the victim of violence or sexual abuse was significantly associated with a number of health problems: chronic disease, recent illness, poor self-rated health, and mental health problems. The associations between having been the victim of violence or sexual abuse and health was stronger for women than for men. It is possible to secure a reasonably high response rate in a general health survey that includes questions on violence and sexual abuse. (Int J Circumpolar Health 2002; 61:
Preferential migration of activated CD4+ and CD8+ T cells in response to MIP-1 alpha and MIP-1 beta

Recombinant human macrophage inflammatory protein-1 alpha (rhMIP-1 alpha) and rhMIP-1 beta were potent chemoattractants of human T lymphocytes. These rhMIP-1 cytokines attracted only T cells activated by monoclonal antibody to CD3 and did not attract unstimulated lymphocytes. Phenotypic analysis revealed that CD4+ T cells were capable of migrating in response to rhMIP-1 beta, whereas rhMIP-1 alpha induced chemotaxis of predominantly CD8+ T lymphocytes. Activated naive and memory T cells also migrated in response to rhMIP-1 cytokines. Furthermore, these cytokines enhanced the ability of T cells to bind to an endothelial cell monolayer. These results suggest that rhMIP-1 cytokines preferentially recruit specific T cell subsets during the evolution of the immune response.
Child maltreatment and adult violent offending: population-based twin study addressing the ‘cycle of violence’ hypothesis

Background Associations between child maltreatment and adult violence, often termed the ‘cycle of violence’, are well documented. However, the nature of such links after appropriate control for confounding remains uncertain. We aimed to determine whether child maltreatment causes adult violent offending or whether suggested links are due to genetic or family environment confounding. Method A total of 18 083 20- to 47-year-old twins from the Swedish population-based Study of Twin Adults: Genes and Environment (STAGE) participated. We linked information on self-reported child maltreatment with national register data on convictions for adult crime. We used a case-control design to elucidate associations among unrelated individuals and also conducted within-discordant twin pair analyses to estimate the influence of familial confounding on this association. Results The odds ratio (OR), adjusted for age, sex and education, for violent offending in maltreated children grown up versus unrelated controls was 1.98 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.52–2.57]. However, the association decreased to 1.18 (95% CI 0.62–2.25) when maltreated children were compared to their non-maltreated twins, suggesting substantial confounding by genetic or family environmental factors (within-twin OR <1.98) and a weak, non-significant causal effect (within-twin OR >1.00). Familial confounding was also pronounced for the association between child maltreatment and any offending. Conclusions Childhood maltreatment was found to be a weak causal risk factor for adult violent offending; hence, reducing maltreatment might decrease violent crime less than previously expected. Instead, considerable familial confounding of the link between child maltreatment and adult violent offending suggests that prevention strategies need to address overlapping genetic and/or family environmental liability for abusive and violent behavior.
Streaming Balanced Graph Partitioning for Random Graphs

There has been a recent explosion in the size of stored data, partially due to advances in storage technology, and partially due to the growing popularity of cloud-computing and the vast quantities of data generated. This motivates the need for streaming algorithms that can compute approximate solutions without full random access to all of the data. We model the problem of loading a graph onto a distributed cluster as computing an approximately balanced $k$-partitioning of a graph in a streaming fashion with only one pass over the data. We give lower bounds on this problem, showing that no algorithm can obtain an $o(n)$ approximation with a random or adversarial stream ordering. We analyze two variants of a randomized greedy algorithm, one that prefers the $\arg\max$ and one that is proportional, on random graphs with embedded balanced $k$-cuts and are able to theoretically bound the performance of each algorithms - the $\arg\max$ algorithm is able to recover the embedded $k$-cut, while, surprisingly, the proportional variant can not. This matches the experimental results in [25].
Basic resuscitation skills of medical students – a monocenter randomized simulation trial

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate resuscitation skills, defined as recognition of resuscitation situations and performance of Basic Life Support (BLS) in students at the Brandenburg Model Medical School (BMM). Methods: Participating students (n=102) were randomized to different simulation scenarios: unconscious person with physiological breathing (15/min), gasping (<10/min) and apnea (resuscitation dummy AmbuMan® Wireless with electronic recording). Primary endpoint was the proportion of students with correct decision for or against resuscitation. Secondary endpoint was resuscitation quality, self-assessment, and prior resuscitation experience. The latter two were assessed by questionnaire prior to the simulated situation. Results: Overall, there was a high risk for incorrectly omitted or incorrectly performed resuscitation (OR 3.4 [95% CI 1.4-8.1] p=0.005. The highest probability of error occurred in the unconsciousness and gasping groups. 22.3% of all performed resuscitations where at the same time indicated and reached the European Resuscitation Council recommendations for compression frequency, pressure depth and where as well = 90% relieved. A particularly large discrepancy emerged between participants' self-assessment of being prepared for a resuscitation situation by medical school and their actual documented resuscitation competence. Conclusion: The present data indicate significant uncertainty among students in recognizing a resuscitation situation. Even in curricula with a high proportion of practice and a high degree of students with completed vocational training in health care, resuscitation competence is poor.
Constituents from Scutellaria barbata Inhibiting Nitric Oxide Production in LPS‐Stimulated Microglial Cells

The arial parts of Scutellaria barbata D. Don (Lamiaceae) efficiently inhibited NO production in BV2 microglial cells, and the active constituents were further isolated based on activity‐guided isolation using silica‐gel column chromatography, RP‐C18 MPLC and prep‐HPLC. As the results, 2 flavonoids including 6‐methoxynaringenin (1) and 6‐O‐methylscutellarein (5), and 6 neo‐clerodane diterpenes such as scutebarbatine W (2), scutebatas B (3), scutebarbatine B (4), scutebarbatine A (6), 6‐O‐nicotinolylscutebarbatine G (7), and scutebarbatine X (8) were isolated. The structures of these compounds were elucidated based on NMR and MS data, and the comparison of literature values. All the compounds except compound 7 inhibited NO production efficiently with IC50 values of lower than 50 μm. Particularly, compounds 1 and 8 were the most efficient with IC50 values of 25.8 and 27.4 μm, respectively. This is the first report suggesting the potential of S. barbata on the reduction of neuroinflammation.
Decreasing gut wall glucose as an early marker of impaired intestinal perfusion

Objective:The aim of this study was to assess the microcirculatory and metabolic consequences of reduced mesenteric blood flow. Design:Prospective, controlled animal study. Setting:The surgical research unit of a university hospital. Subjects:A total of 13 anesthetized and mechanically ventilated pigs. Interventions:Pigs were subjected to stepwise mesenteric blood flow reduction (15% in each step, n = 8) or served as controls (n = 5). Superior mesenteric arterial blood flow was measured with ultrasonic transit time flowmetry, and mucosal and muscularis microcirculatory perfusion in the small bowel were each measured with three laser Doppler flow probes. Small-bowel intramucosal Pco2 was measured by tonometry, and glucose, lactate (L), and pyruvate (P) were measured by microdialysis. Measurements and Main Results:In control animals, superior mesenteric arterial blood flow, mucosal microcirculatory blood flow, intramucosal Pco2, and the lactate/pyruvate ratio remained unchanged. In both groups, mucosal blood flow was better preserved than muscularis blood flow. During stepwise mesenteric blood flow reduction, heterogeneous microcirculatory blood flow remained a prominent feature (coefficient of variation, ∼45%). A 30% flow reduction from baseline was associated with a decrease in microdialysis glucose concentration from 2.37 (2.10–2.70) mmol/L to 0.57 (0.22–1.60) mmol/L (p < .05). After 75% flow reduction, the microdialysis lactate/pyruvate ratio increased from 8.6 (8.0–14.1) to 27.6 (15.5–37.4, p < .05), and arterial–intramucosal Pco2 gradients increased from 1.3 (0.4–3.5) kPa to 10.8 (8.0–16.0) kPa (p < .05). Conclusions:Blood flow redistribution and heterogeneous microcirculatory perfusion can explain apparently maintained regional oxidative metabolism during mesenteric hypoperfusion, despite local signs of anaerobic metabolism. Early decreasing glucose concentrations suggest that substrate supply may become crucial before oxygen consumption decreases.
Avalanche analysis from multi-electrode ensemble recordings in cat, monkey and human cerebral cortex during wakefulness and sleep

Self-organized critical states are found in many natural systems, from earthquakes to forest fires, they have also been observed in neural systems, particularly, in neuronal cultures. However, the presence of critical states in the awake brain remains controversial. Here, we compared avalanche analyses performed on different in vivo preparations during wakefulness, slow-wave sleep and REM sleep, using high-density electrode arrays in cat motor cortex (96 electrodes), monkey motor cortex and premotor cortex and human temporal cortex (96 electrodes) in epileptic patients. In neuronal avalanches defined from units (up to 160 single units), the size of avalanches never clearly scaled as power-law, but rather scaled exponentially or displayed intermediate scaling. We also analyzed the dynamics of local field potentials (LFPs) and in particular LFP negative peaks (nLFPs) among the different electrodes (up to 96 sites in temporal cortex or up to 128 sites in adjacent motor and pre-motor cortices). In this case, the avalanches defined from nLFPs displayed power-law scaling in double log representations, as reported previously in monkey. However, avalanche defined as positive LFP (pLFP) peaks, which are less directly related to neuronal firing, also displayed apparent power-law scaling. Closer examination of this scaling using more reliable cumulative distribution functions (CDF) and other rigorous statistical measures, did not confirm power-law scaling. The same pattern was seen for cats, monkey and human, as well as for different brain states of wakefulness and sleep. We also tested other alternative distributions. Multiple exponential fitting yielded optimal fits of the avalanche dynamics with bi-exponential distributions. Collectively, these results show no clear evidence for power-law scaling or self-organized critical states in the awake and sleeping brain of mammals, from cat to man.
Identification of a conserved protein involved in anaerobic unsaturated fatty acid synthesis in Neiserria gonorrhoeae: implications for facultative and obligate anaerobes that lack FabA

Transcriptome analysis of the facultative anaerobe, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, revealed that many genes of unknown function were induced under anaerobic conditions. Mutation of one such gene, NGO1024, encoding a protein belonging to the 2‐nitropropane dioxygenase‐like superfamily of proteins, was found to result in an inability of gonococci to grow anaerobically. Anaerobic growth of an NG1024 mutant was restored upon supplementation with unsaturated fatty acids (UFA), but not with the saturated fatty acid palmitate. Gonococcal fatty acid profiles confirmed that NGO1024 was involved in UFA synthesis anaerobically, but not aerobically, demonstrating that gonococci contain two distinct pathways for the production of UFAs, with a yet unidentified aerobic mechanism, and an anaerobic mechanism involving NGO1024. Expression of genes involved in classical anaerobic UFA synthesis, fabA, fabM and fabB, was toxic in gonococci and unable to complement a NGO1024 mutation, suggesting that the chemistry involved in gonococcal anaerobic UFA synthesis is distinct from that of the classical pathway. NGO1024 homologues, which we suggest naming UfaA, form a distinct lineage within the 2‐nitropropane dioxygenase‐like superfamily, and are found in many facultative and obligate anaerobes that produce UFAs but lack fabA, suggesting that UfaA is part of a widespread pathway involved in UFA synthesis.
Impact of disease activity and cumulative damage on the health of lupus patients

To test if lupus activity and damage predict physical function and general health in lupus was the objective of this study. Ninety-six patients with lupus were seen at baseline and monthly for 4 months. Sociodemographic characteristics and lupus damage (SLICC/ACR DI), were collected at baseline while lupus activity (SLAM-R, SLEDAI), health status measures (HAQ, SF-36TM) and immunological tests were collected at each visit. Associations of lupus activity and damage with general health and physical function were evaluated. Baseline health status measures were greatly impaired and comparable to those of severe medical illnesses. In cross-sectional analyses, baseline activity score measured by SLAM-R, but not by SLEDAI, correlated with most subscales of SF-36TM. Baseline damage score SLICC ACR DI correlated only with the HAQ and the physical function subscale of SF-36TM. Differences in both activity measures (SLAM-R and SLEDAI) over time correlated with change in health status measures while baseline cumulative damage (SLICC/ACR DI) correlated with the average level of physical function only. Lupus activity measures, SLAM-R and SLEDAI, although differing cross-sectionally, both reflected patients' health status performance over time and lupus damage measure, SLICC/ACR DI, performed well in assessing physical function. Lupus patients scores for health are poor and comparable to those found in severe medical illnesses.
Visualization of the Normal Appendix in Children by Non-Contrast MDCT

Abstract Objective: We studied the proportion of normal appendices, identified on non-contrast MDCT scans of the abdomen and pelvis in children with possible renal stones. Materials and methods: A total of 105 patients were included in the study, comprising 40 girls (38%) and 65 (62%) boys, with a mean age of 7.3 years. Non-enhanced abdominal computed tomographies were evaluated retrospectively, and the visualization, location, contents, diameter of the appendix, and the amount of abdominal fat were recorded. Results: The appendix was clearly distinguished in 72 patients (68.5%). The difference in appendix visualization rates between patients with low and medium amounts of abdominal fat was statistically significant (p < 0.001). Visualization increased with age. The greatest external diameter was between 2.8 and 10 mm, with a mean of 5 ± 1.34 mm. Conclusion: MDCT without contrast will be more useful when used in patients of 6 years old and over, for visualization of the appendix. A better visualization of retrocaecal appendix by MDCT provides a greater advantage over US. Prospective comparative studies will determine the role of this method in the diagnosis of acute appendicitis in pediatric patients.
Reduced Tissue Parasitic Load and Infectivity to Sand Flies in Dogs Naturally Infected by Leishmania (Leishmania) chagasi following Treatment with a Liposome Formulation of Meglumine Antimoniate

ABSTRACT The toxicity and antileishmanial effectiveness of a novel liposome formulation of meglumine antimoniate in mongrel dogs with visceral leishmaniasis (VL) obtained from a region where VL is endemic in Brazil have been investigated. Groups of 12 animals received by the intravenous route four doses (with 4-day intervals) of either liposomal meglumine antimoniate (group I [GI], 6.5 mg Sb/kg of body weight/dose), empty liposomes (GII), or isotonic saline (GIII). Evaluation of markers of hematopoietic, hepatic, and renal functions before and just after treatment showed no significant change. On the other hand, transitory adverse reactions, including prostration, defecation, tachypnea, and sialorrhea, were observed during the first 15 min after injections in GI and GII. Parasitological evaluation of sternal bone marrow 4 days after the last dose showed a significant reduction of parasite burden in GI, compared to the other groups. Immunocytochemical evaluations of the skin, bone marrow, cervical lymph nodes, livers, and spleens of dogs for parasites, 150 days after treatment, indicated significant parasite suppression (higher than 95.7%) in the lymph nodes, livers, and spleens of GI, compared to control groups. Feeding of Lutzomyia longipalpis phlebotomines on dogs from GI, 150 days after treatment, resulted in a significant reduction of sand fly infection efficiency, compared to feeding on animals from GII and GIII. This is the first report of both long-term parasite suppression and reduction of infectivity to sand flies in naturally infected dogs following treatment with a liposome-encapsulated drug. Importantly, this was achieved using a 20-fold-lower cumulative dose of Sb than is used for conventional antimonial treatment.