Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The precipitin test for Bence-Jones protein.

IN a previous communication1 the need for a specific, sensitive test for Bence-Jones protein was stressed. The surprising infrequency with which positive findings for Bence-Jones protein are recorded lends weight to this concept. Of equal importance is the fact that the diagnosis of multiple myeloma, made frequently but late in the course of the disease, might be effected considerably earlier through employment of a more sensitive test for Bence-Jones protein, which, if present, is often the initial indicator of the fundamental pathologic process. A review of the hospital charts of 246 patients with diagnoses of multiple myeloma discloses a high .
Optimal Estimation of Interviewer Effects for Binary Response Variables through Partial Interpenetration

Estimates of sampling variance underestimate the variance of survey estimates when there are strong interviewer eﬀects. However, interviewer eﬀects are rarely considered in complex ﬁeld surveys due to the high costs involved with adapting an interpenetrating design to produce estimates of them. This paper demonstrates how interviewer eﬀects can be estimated by taking a sample of interviewers using the technique of partial interpenetration. The partial interpenetration approach is de-veloped to produce cost-optimal survey designs for the estimation of the interviewer eﬀect and population means for non-linear response variables.
Detuning effects of wearable patch antennas

The variations in the resonance frequency of a wearable 5.3 GHz textile patch antenna due to bending, human body proximity and moisture absorption are investigated. Noteworthy are the effects of proximity to human body tissue and moisture uptake, which are shown to cause variations up to 5% in the resonance frequency. Importantly, it is observed that the resonance frequency can shift both upwards or downwards depending on the loading affecting the antenna. These variations illustrate a general guideline for the maximum tuning range needed for wearable frequency-reconfigurable patch antennas.
Effects of proglumide, a gastrin receptor antagonist, on human large intestine carcinoma SW480 cell line.

OBJECTIVE To explore the effects of proglumide, a gastrin receptor antagonist, on the amount of viable cells, synthesis of DNA and protein, and cell proliferation cycle in human large intestine carcinoma SW480 cell line in order to provide experimental basis for treatment of large intestine carcinoma using proglumide. METHODS Large intestine carcinoma SW480 cells at logarithmic growth stage were cultivated with different concentrations of proglumide for different periods of time, then the amount of viable cells was determined by MTT colorimetric analysis. The SW480 cells were cultivated with proglumide, pentagastrin, proglumide + pentagastrin for the same period of time, then the contents of DNA and protein and the cell proliferation cycle were determined by flow-cytometry. RESULTS The amount of viable cells, synthesis of DNA and protein, distribution of cell cycle, and proliferation index (PI) in the proglumide group did not differ significantly from those in the pentagastrin group (P > 0.05). The amount of viable cells in the pentagastrin group was significantly higher than that in the pentagastrin group (P < 0.01). In the proglumide + pentagastrin group the amount of viable cells, synthesis of DNA and protein, amount of S and G2M phase cells, and PI were all significantly lower than those in the pentagastrin group (all P < 0.01), and the amount of G0/G1 phase cells was significantly higher than that in the pentagastrin group (P < 0.01), but none of the above differed from those in the control group (all P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS Proglumide has no obvious effect on the growth of human large intestine carcinoma SW480 cell line, but can inhibit the growth-promoting effect of pentagastrin on large intestine carcinoma cells. The mechanism may be that proglumide inhibits the promoting effect of pentagastrin on the synthesis of DNA and protein of carcinoma cells, and then inhibits carcinoma cell growth from G0/G1 phase to S and G2M phase.
Knowledge-Based Decision Making in Complex Environments: Methodological Aspects of Proactive Airport Security Management

Mobility, particularly air transport, is vital to the economic stability and growth of a nation. It symbolizes national self-confidence and selfconception. As a result commercial aviation remains a preferred target for attacks by terrorists and other offenders. Security measures intended to render these threats harmless have mostly been introduced in response to specific occurrences, thus allowing the potential attackers to always remain one step ahead. As this approach seems inappropriate for dealing with future security threats, this paper provides a proactive approach to identification of future threats and their coverage by airport security processes and technologies. To meet the requirements of a highly complex and at the same time critical system, such as airport security, a standard scenario process has been enhanced by matrix-based methods of complexity management. This approach allows analysis of threat scenario clusters with respect to the number of potentially effective security measures. The method developed allows proactive detection of weak points in the security architecture and thus reveals potential for improvement.
Mood stabilizers are recommended in the treatment of ‘Bipolar and Related Disorders’, listed in DSM-5 as bipolar I disorder, bipolar II disorder, cyclothymic

I do not usually enjoy cartoons about people with mental disorders. This cartoon supports the notion that what one is thinking about influences what one “sees”. When I was first shown this cartoon, I was having difficulty with a patient with mania who was very disinhibited and doing himself social damage. I showed this to him and pointed out that he was the noisy one and the rest of us were like the other bear who had to cover his ears because of the noise. My “psychotic” patient pointed out, however, that the second bear was not covering his ears because of the noise, but was, in fact, very depressed. He was probably correct. The cartoon then lost some of its charm for me, but became a reminder that, as well as the manic patient, the doctor needs to avoid the trap of over-confidence.
Expression profiling of pancreatic beta-cells: glucose regulation of secretory and metabolic pathway genes.

Pancreatic β cells respond to changes in blood glucose by secreting insulin and increasing insulin synthesis. To identify genes used in these responses, we have carried out expression profiling of β cells exposed to high (25 mM) or low (5.5 mM) glucose by using oligonucleotide microarrays. Functional clustering of genes that averaged a 2.2-fold or greater change revealed large groups of secretory pathway components, enzymes of intermediary metabolism, cell-signaling components, and transcription factors. Many secretory pathway genes were up-regulated in high glucose, including seven members of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) translocon. In agreement with array analysis, protein levels of translocon components were increased by high glucose. Most dramatically, the α subunit of the signal recognition particle receptor was increased over 20-fold. These data indicate that the translocon and ribosome docking are major regulatory targets of glucose in the β cell. Analysis of genes encoding enzymes of intermediary metabolism indicated that low glucose brought about greater utilization of amino acids as an energy source. This conclusion was supported by observations of increased urea production under low-glucose conditions. The above results demonstrate genome-wide integration of β-cell functions at the level of transcript abundance and validate the efficacy of expression profiling in identifying genes involved in the β-cell glucose response.
The Game Embedded CALL System to Facilitate English Vocabulary Acquisition and Pronunciation

The aim of this study is to make a new attempt to explore the potential of integrating game strategies with automatic speech recognition technologies to provide learners with individual opportunities for English pronunciation learning. The study developed the Game Embedded CALL (GeCALL) system with two activities for on-line speaking practice. For the drill practice, learners get immediate scores with evaluation feedback on their utterances; in the game-based practice, they have to correctly choose and pronounce the English vocabulary from the candidate answers to pass the four-level barriers. To enable the study to confirm the factors that facilitate students' English learning, a total of 52 learners from Taiwan participated in this experiment, divided into an experimental group (E.G.) and a control group (C.G.). The learners in the E.G learned English with both the drill and game-based practice, while the students in the C.G. learned only with the drill practice. The empirical evaluation reveals that those who learned with both drill and game-based activities performed better in terms of their English pronunciation than the learners who only participated in the drill practice, but the learners in the C.G. performed better in the delayed vocabulary retention test. Besides, the study indicates that the learners, especially the low-achievement ones, showed great involvement and were active in practicing speaking in the game-based scenario. The findings are in accordance with the previous research affirming that gameplay is the driving force that promotes learners' educative engagement, and that learners of different levels of learning achievement are active in learning together while practicing their oral speaking in the stress-free environment. In sum, the GeCALL system is an educative aid that could reduce learners' language speaking anxiety and to provide flexible chances for individual students to do self-speaking practice within the given limited teaching time. The findings of this study support the value of applying game strategies with ASR techniques for language learning purposes.
Private Regulation of Insider Trading in The Shadow of Lax Public Enforcement (and a Strong Neighbor): Evidence from Canadian Firms

Like U.S. firms, many Canadian firms voluntarily restrict trading by corporate insiders beyond the requirements of insider trading law. We aim to understand the determinants of firms’ private insider trading policies (ITPs), which are quasi-contractual devices. Based on the assumption that firms that face greater costs from insider trading (or greater benefits from restricting insider trading) ought to be more inclined than other firms to adopt ITPs or to adopt more stringent ITPs than other firms, we develop five hypotheses. Specifically, we hypothesize that both ITP existence and ITP stringency are positively associated with a firm’s size, market-to-book ratio, ownership and control concentration, firm-specific stock return volatility, and cross-listing in the U.S., where insider trading enforcement is more vigorous than in Canada. We test our hypotheses using data from a sample of firms included in the Toronto Stock Exchange/Standard and Poor’s (TSX/S&P) Index. Our results, which are robust to selection effects, support all but one of our hypotheses. They suggest that Canadian firms do not randomly restrict insider trading, but rather do so predictably and with a predictable level of intensity. They also suggest that neither window dressing, liability avoidance, nor U.S. regulatory imperialism fully explains Canadian firms’ adoption of ITPs. Rather, our results suggest that at least some firms and shareholders wish to control insider trading to enhance economic efficiency. On balance, our findings suggest that some firms perceive insider trading to be harmful to their interests and thus challenge the claim that private restrictions of insider trading would not arise in the absence of insider trading laws. Many Canadian firms privately restrict insider trading even though they face little threat of insider trading liability. Finally, our results suggest that formal organizational rules may dominate private sanctions in this context, consistent with norms/trust theories of organizational rules rather than economic deterrence theories of such rules.
Sleep problems in children with autism spectrum disorders, developmental delays, and typical development: a population‐based study

This study compared parent‐reported sleep characteristics in 2‐ to 5‐year‐old children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) to children with other developmental delays (DD) and typical development (TD). We included 529 children (303 ASD [167 males], 63 DD [46 males], and 163 TD [134 males]) enrolled in the CHARGE study, an ongoing population‐based case–control study. The mean age of participants was 3.6 years (standard deviation, 0.8 years). ASD diagnosis was confirmed with Autism Diagnostic Interview‐Revised (ADI‐R) and Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedules (ADOS). Cognitive and adaptive functioning was assessed using Mullen Scales of Early Learning (MSEL) and Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales (VABS), respectively. Demographic, medical and sleep history information were ascertained from California birth records, telephone interview, medical assessments at clinic visit, and parent‐administered questionnaires. Fifty‐three percent of children with ASD had at least one frequent sleep problem, followed by 46% of children with DD, and 32% of the TD group (P < 0.0001). Exploratory factor analyses of sleep history data yielded two factors: sleep onset problems and night waking. Children with ASD had marginally higher sleep onset factor scores and significantly higher night waking factor scores compared with the TD group. Factor scores for children with DD were intermediate between the ASD and TD groups. Cognitive or adaptive development did not predict severity of sleep problems in the ASD group.
Epidemiology of primary dystonias in Japan: Comparison with Western countries

We performed epidemiological studies of primary dystonia in the city of Kyoto. The prevalence was at least 10.1 per 100,000 persons, which was similar to that in Western countries. Facial dystonia was more common than other types, which contrasts with that reported in Europe. Age of onset for both genders was in agreement with that in other countries. © 2003 Movement Disorder Society
Ultrafast Source-to-Surface Movement of Melt at Island Arcs from 226Ra-230Th Systematics

Island arc lavas have radium-226 excesses that extend to higher values than those observed in mid-ocean ridge or ocean island basalts. The initial ratio of radium-226 to thorium-230 is largest in the most primitive lavas, which also have the highest barium/thorium ratios, and decreases with increasing magmatic differentiation. Therefore, the radium-226 excesses appear to have been introduced into the base of the mantle melting column by fluids released from the subducting plate. Preservation of this signal requires transport to the surface arguably in only a few hundreds of years and directly constrains the average melt velocity to the order of 1000 meters per year. Thus, melt segregation and channel formation can occur rapidly in the mantle.
Feasibility and complications in bipolar resectoscopy: Preliminary experience

Abstract Objective: To evaluate whether the new bipolar resectoscope (BR) 22 Fr (Karl Storz) represents a reliable improvement in operative hysteroscopy and to compare the new device to the 26 Fr BR (Karl Storz). Material and methods: A prospective observational study. From June 2010 through May 2011, 158 consecutive patients treated with bipolar resectoscope 22 Fr and 26 Fr for endocavitary pathologies were registered. Data analysis included patients'characteristics, surgical indications, operative time and complications. 140 patients were eligible. Results: 115/140 (82.1%) patients were treated by BR 22; 55 (39.2%) metroplastics, 34 (24.2%) polipectomies, 25 (17.8%) myomectomies and one (0.71%) sinechiolisis were performed. 25/140 (17.8%) patients were treated by BR 26; 6 (4.2%) polipectomies and 19 (13.5%) myomectomies were performed. Mean time of cervical dilatation by Hegar series was 57 sec for BR 22 Fr and 102 sec for BR 26 Fr (p = 0.034). 4/25 (16%) with 26BR and 1/115 (0.8%) with 22BR complications were observed (p = 0.002) : One uterine perforation, two post operative bleedings > 7 days, one intravasation syndrome and one cervical laceration. Conclusion: Bipolar resectoscopy is feasible and safe. The new device BR 22 Fr is preferable to 26 Fr because it requires lower cervical dilatation limiting operative time and complications.
Gluconeogenesis from caecal propionate in the horse

1. The production of propionate in the caecum of the horse has been measured in two Shetland-type ponies fitted with caecal and colonic cannulas and fed on hay or on hay and wheat bran. A continuous intracaecal infusion of 14C-labelled sodium propionate was used and samples were obtained from a cannula at the origin of the right ventral colon. A simultaneous intravenous infusion of [2-3H]glucose was used to measure total glucose entry. 2. On a hay diet which provided 177 kJ/kg body-weight per d, mean caecal propionate production was 19.6 (range 17.2–21.2) mg/h per kg body-weight and on a hay and wheat bran diet, which provided 187 KJ/kg body-weight per d, mean caecal propionate production was 34.0 (range 28.9–38.3) mg/h per kg body-weight. 3. Mean total glucose production (mg/h per kg body-weight) in one pony was 104 (range 100–110) and in the other 135 (range 123–153). Rates were not influenced by diet. 4. About 7% of total glucose production was derived from propionate produced in the caecum and this percentage was unaffected by diet or by individual animals.
Proceedings of the 8th European Oral Microbiology Workshop

Microbiology Workshop was the Sani Resort on the Halkidiki peninsula of Kassandra in Northeastern Greece. The Workshop was organized by Professor Sotos Kalfas and colleagues from the Dental School at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. Sixty-four delegates from 12 European countries, the USA, and Japan attended the meeting. The workshop was organized into ten oral sessions over two days. A new feature of this European Oral Microbiology Workshop was a poster session, for which there were 21 presentations. These proceedings summarize presentations and debate within the ten oral sessions covering many aspects of oral microbiology.
Antiretroviral Therapy Reduces the Magnitude and T Cell Receptor Repertoire Diversity of HIV-Specific T Cell Responses without Changing T Cell Clonotype Dominance

ABSTRACT After initiation of antiretroviral therapy (ART), HIV loads and frequencies of HIV epitope-specific immune responses decrease. A diverse virus-specific T cell receptor (TCR) repertoire allows the host to respond to viral epitope diversity, but the effect of antigen reduction as a result of ART on the TCR repertoire of epitope-specific CD8+ T cell populations has not been well defined. We determined the TCR repertoires of 14 HIV-specific CD8+ T cell responses from 8 HIV-positive individuals before and after initiation of ART. We used multiparameter flow cytometry to measure the distribution of memory T cell subsets and the surface expression of PD-1 on T cell populations and T cell clonotypes within epitope-specific responses from these individuals. Post-ART, we noted decreases in the frequency of circulating epitope-specific T cells (P = 0.02), decreases in the number of T-cell clonotypes found within epitope-specific T cell receptor repertoires (P = 0.024), and an overall reduction in the amino acid diversity within these responses (P < 0.0001). Despite this narrowing of the T cell response to HIV, the overall hierarchy of dominant T cell receptor clonotypes remained stable compared to that pre-ART. CD8+ T cells underwent redistributions in memory phenotypes and a reduction in CD38 and PD-1 expression post-ART. Despite extensive remodeling at the structural and phenotypic levels, PD-1 was expressed at higher levels on dominant clonotypes within epitope-specific responses before and after initiation of ART. These data suggest that the antigen burden may maintain TCR diversity and that dominant clonotypes are sensitive to antigen even after dramatic reductions after initiation of ART.
Mineral supplements' effect on total nutrient intake in Warsaw adult population; cross-sectional assessment.

BACKGROUND Mineral supplementation is important whenever any dietary deficiencies of these nutrients occur. However, an excessive consumption of such products can lead to the negative health consequences. OBJECTIVES To estimate the mineral supplements contribution to total dietary intake for adults living in Warsaw. MATERIALS AND METHODS Within the frame of the EHES JA Poland and WAW-KARD Projects a representative sample of Warsaw population aged 20 years and above was screened in years 2011/2012. Nutrient intake and supplements use were available for 573 men and 497 women. The minerals levels were analyzed in reference to the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) and the Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL). RESULTS In Warsaw population the intake of calcium, magnesium and potassium were lower than RDA, and supplementation didn't eliminate deficiency of these nutrients (except for magnesium in a group of women). Phosphorus intakes were somewhat higher than those recommended. Enriching the diet with zinc and copper supplements in both sexes were un- necessary, as was iron in men, as their daily dietary intakes closely met the recommended standards. Iron supplementation in women however proved effective, as their daily dietary intakes were rather low. CONCLUSIONS The effectiveness of supplementing the diets of adults living in Warsaw with minerals depends on their type.
Prevalence and distinctive biologic features of flat colorectal adenomas in a North American population.

BACKGROUND & AIMS To assess the prevalence of flat and depressed (F&D) colorectal adenomas in the United States, we performed a prospective study of 211 American patients. METHODS Dye-assisted colonoscopy was performed in the presence of both an American and a Japanese investigator. RESULTS F&D lesions were found in 22.7% of patients, and these were more likely to be adenomatous than polypoid lesions (82% vs. 67%; P = 0.03) and contained more invasive cancer (4.5% vs. 0%; P = 0.04), which also appeared to be at a disproportionately advanced stage. The average size of all F&D advanced lesions (high-grade dysplasia and cancer) was significantly smaller than comparable polypoid lesions (10.75 +/- 2.7 mm vs. 20 +/- 2.9 mm; P < 0.05). F&D adenomas showed significantly stronger fragile histidine triad (FHIT) expression and lower p53 reactivity than similarly sized polypoid adenomas, whereas proliferative and apoptotic indices were similar in both groups. CONCLUSIONS We conclude that there is a significant prevalence of colonic F&D colorectal adenomas in this country and that these lesions have significantly different biologic features than polypoid lesions. The clinical and epidemiologic implications of these findings for American patients need to be addressed in further studies.