Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Phenotypic characterization of CD8+ T cell populations in HIV disease and in anti‐HIV immunity

The CD8+ T cell population is believed to play an important role in the control of viral infection, both for suppression of viral replication and for cytotoxic activity against viral infected cells. Elevated numbers of CD8+ T cells have been demonstrated in HIV infection, and CD8+ cytotoxic T cell (CTL) activity is associated with the early, asymptomatic stage of disease. We investigated the phenotypic characteristics of the CD8 population, in whole blood, in HIV disease and determined the predominant CD8+ subpopulation involved in anti‐HIV CTL activity. We found that CD8+ T cells co‐expressing markers of activation (HLA‐DR), memory (CD45RO, CD29), and cytotoxic activity (S6F1) were significantly elevated in the early stages of disease, while the numbers of naive (CD45RA) cells remained unchanged. Progression to AIDS resulted in an overall loss of absolute CD8+ T cells, though the percentages of CD8+ HLA‐DR+ and CD8+ S6F1+ remained elevated. In contrast to patients in the late stages of disease, anti‐HIVgag CTL activity, following in vitro stimulation, was present in most HIV+ asymptomatic subjects and was associated with an expansion of CD8+ HLA‐DR+ and CD8+ CD45RO+ cells. The absence of CTL activity was associated with a reduced ability of these populations to expand in vitro and with a significant loss of peripheral CD4+ T cells, independent of clinical stage. We suggest that CD8+ expressing HLA‐DR+ CD45RO+ and S6F1+ play an important role in anti‐HIV cytotoxicity.
Secure Outsourcing of Linear Optimization in Cloud Computing

Cloud computing has become a reality which is capable of enabling general public and organizations to make use of huge computational resources without capital investment in pay per use fashion. This new paradigm allows customers who have no much computational resources to outsource their expensive computational workloads to cloud and get the benefits of its storage, servers, networking and other facilities. Thus cloud computing has unlimited possibilities as one can feel world class infrastructure and facilities in her own computer sans investment. Though the provision to outsource computationally expensive workloads to cloud, there is concern about security that make people think before using cloud for this purpose. This is because basically Internet and associated infrastructure is conceived as untrusted. Though cloud service providers take care of security customer have their own concerns with respect to protection of their sensitive data. Therefore, it is required to have secure mechanism to protect data of customers and also ensure that the results are properly validated. This will enable customers to outsource their works fearlessly. The complete communication should take place in encrypted format. This is practically a challenging problem. This paper focuses on the Linear programming computations that take place over cloud with complete security. The proposed system takes care of data security while it is in transit and also has mechanisms to support verification of data for correctness. The empirical results reveal that the proposed system is practical and can be used in the real world systems. It is also found that the result verification of the system is computationally efficient does not incur additional cost.
Response of a Sage Grouse Breeding Population to Fire in Southeastern Idaho

Prescribed burning is a common method to eliminate sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) and has been suggested as a tool to enhance the habitat of sage grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus). Effects of this practice on sage grouse have not been evaluated rigorously. We studied effects of prescribed fire on lek (traditional breeding display areas) attendance by male sage grouse occupying low-precipitation ( P>0.10). During the postburn period (1990-94), male attendance at treatment leks declined 90% and control leks declined 63%. Although declines were similar between treatment and control leks during the preburn period, postburn declines were greater for treatment than control leks (0.05<P<0.10). We rejected the null hypothesis that for the 2 largest leks in both the treatment and control areas, counts were independent of years for preburn (0.05<P<0.10) and postburn (PR0.05) periods and concluded that breeding population declines became more severe in years following fire. Prescribed burning negatively affected sage grouse in southeastern Idaho and should not be used in low-precipitation sagebrush habitats occupied by breeding sage grouse.
Acquisition of an instrumental activity of daily living in patients with Korsakoff's syndrome: A comparison of trial and error and errorless learning

Patients with Korsakoff's syndrome show devastating amnesia and executive deficits. Consequently, the ability to perform instrumental activities such as making coffee is frequently diminished. It is currently unknown whether patients with Korsakoff's syndrome are able to (re)learn instrumental activities. A good candidate for an effective teaching technique in Korsakoff's syndrome is errorless learning as it is based on intact implicit memory functioning. Therefore, the aim of the current study was two-fold: to investigate whether patients with Korsakoff's syndrome are able to (re)learn instrumental activities, and to compare the effectiveness of errorless learning with trial and error learning in the acquisition and maintenance of an instrumental activity, namely using a washing machine to do the laundry. Whereas initial learning performance in the errorless learning condition was superior, both intervention techniques resulted in similar improvement over eight learning sessions. Moreover, performance in a different spatial layout showed a comparable improvement. Notably, in follow-up sessions starting after four weeks without practice, performance was still elevated in the errorless learning condition, but not in the trial and error condition. The current study demonstrates that (re)learning and maintenance of an instrumental activity is possible in patients with Korsakoff's syndrome.
Allergoid-specific T-cell reaction as a measure of the immunological response to specific immunotherapy (SIT) with a Th1-adjuvanted allergy vaccine.

BACKGROUND Specific immunotherapy (SIT) is believed to modulate CD4+ T-helper cells. In order to improve safety, SIT vaccines are often formulated with allergoids (chemically modified allergens). Interaction between T-cells and allergoids is necessary to influence cellular cytokine expression. There have been few reports on identification the early cellular effects of SIT. METHOD Patients allergic to grass and/or mugwort pollen (n= 21) were treated with a 4-shot allergy vaccine (Pollinex Quattro) containing appropriate allergoids (grass/rye and/or mugwort) adsorbed to L-tyrosine plus a Th1 adjuvant, monophosphoryl lipid A (MPL). Fourteen grass-allergic patients served as untreated controls. Using the peripheral blood mononuclear cells of these patients, an optimized lymphocyte transformation test (LTT) was employed to monitor the in vitro proliferative response of T-cells to an allergoid challenge (solubilised Pollinex Quattro) before the first and last injection and then 2 and 20 weeks after the final injection. Control challenges utilised preparations of a similar pollen vaccine without the adjuvant MPL and a tree pollen vaccine with and without MPL. RESULTS The LTT showed increased LTT stimulation indices (SI) in 17/20 SIT patients when the solublised vaccine preparation was used as a challenge before the last injection and 2 weeks after, in comparison to pre-treatment levels. Twenty weeks after therapy, the SI decreased to baseline level. A vaccine challenge without MPL gave lower SI levels. A challenge of a clinically inappropriate tree allergoid vaccine gave no response, and a nontreated group also showed no response. CONCLUSION Following a short-course SIT adjuvated with MPL, challenges of allergoids were shown to activate allergen-specific T cells in vitro. There was an additional stimulating effect when the challenge was in combination with MPL. There were no non-specific effects of MPL, shown by the tree allergoid/MPL control. The timing of the response was closely correlated to the treatment course; reactivity fell two weeks after the final injection and 20 weeks later it was at baseline level. Thus an immunological response to SIT was detected after very few injections. This methodology could provide a basis for monitoring the immediate progress of allergy vaccinations.
Low cytotoxicity of solid lipid nanoparticles in in vitro and ex vivo lung models

The aim of this study was to investigate the potential cytotoxicity of solid lipid nanoparticles (SLN) for human lung as a suitable drug delivery system (DDS). Therefore we used a human alveolar epithelial cell line (A549) and murine precision-cut lung slices (PCLS) to estimate the tolerable doses of these particles for lung cells. A549 cells (in vitro) and precision-cut lung slices (ex vivo) were incubated with SLN20 (20% phospholipids in the lipid matrix of the particles) and SLN50 (50% phospholipids in the lipid matrix of the particles) in increasing concentrations. The cytotoxic effects of SLN were evaluated in vitro by lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. Vitality of lung slices was controlled by staining with calcein AM/ethidium homodimer 1 using confocal laser scanning microscopy and followed by quantitative image analysis with IMARIS software. A549 cell line revealed a middle effective concentration (EC50) for MTT assay for SLN20 of 4080 μg/ml and for SLN50 of 1520 μg/ml. The cytotoxicity in terms of LDH release showed comparable EC50 values of 3431 μg/ml and 1253 μg/ml for SLN20 and SLN50, respectively. However, in PCLS we determined only SLN50 cytotoxic values with a concentration of 1500 μg/ml. The lung slices seem to be a more sensitive test system. SLN20 showed lower toxic values in all test systems. Therefore we conclude that SLN20 could be used as a suitable DDS for the lung, from a toxicological point of view.
Pyrimethamine pharmacokinetics in human immunodeficiency virus-positive patients seropositive for Toxoplasma gondii

Pyrimethamine pharmacokinetics were studied in 11 human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive patients who were seropositive for exposure to Toxoplasma gondii and were taking zidovudine (AIDS Clinical Trials Group Protocol 102). Pyrimethamine was administered at 50 mg daily for 3 weeks to achieve steady state, and pharmacokinetic profiles were determined after administration of the last dose. Noncompartmental and compartmental analyses were performed. Population pharmacokinetic analysis assuming a one-compartment model yielded the following estimates: area under the 24-h concentration-time curve, 42.7 +/- 12.3 micrograms.h/ml; halflife, 139 +/- 34 h; clearance, 1.28 +/- 0.41 liters/h; volume of distribution, 246 +/- 641; and absorption rate constant, 1.5 +/- 1.3 liters/h. These values are similar to those seen in subjects without HIV infection. Pyrimethamine pharmacokinetics did not differ significantly in those subjects who were intravenous drug users. Adverse effects were noted in 73% of those initially enrolled in this study, leading to discontinuation for 38%. No association was noted between pyrimethamine levels and the incidence of adverse events. No significant differences were seen in zidovudine pharmacokinetic parameters obtained from studies performed before and during treatment with pyrimethamine. In summary, pyrimethamine exhibited pharmacokinetics in HIV-infected patients that were similar to those in non-HIV-infected subjects and it did not alter the pharmacokinetics of zidovudine in these patients.
Magnetic camera for visualizing magnetic fields of home appliances

Household appliances need to meet electromagnetic compatibility standards. We have developed a system to detect, observe and monitor magnetic field strength generated from electrical components and household appliances. The system comprises of an array of Hall Effect sensors, a video camera and a computer. Using the proposed system, magnetic field strength of tested device can be captured and displayed in a three-dimensional surface map. Several examples are demonstrated to capture and observe the magnetic field strength of tested devices.
Outcome of tibial shaft fractures with severe soft tissue injury treated by unreamed nailing versus external fixation.

MATERIALS Between 1987 and 1991, 114 fresh tibial shaft fractures with severe soft tissue injury, which met the inclusion criteria, were treated and retrospectively reviewed. There were 48 cases in the unreamed nail (unreamed tibial nail (UTN)) group and 66 cases in the external fixation (EF) group. METHODS Soft tissue injury was classified by the Gustilo and Tscherne methods. There were 18 AO type A, 56 type B, and 40 type C fractures. There were no significant difference in fracture type, soft tissue injury, age, and additional injury between the groups. Outcome was assessed using the Karlström score after 28 months. RESULTS There were a significantly higher number of reoperations in the EF group. Mean time to bony healing was 25.8 weeks. In the EF group, there was a 26% rate of pin tract infection, whereas 19% of cases had bolt breakages in the UTN group. In the UTN group, 40% had good results, compared with 27% in the EF group. In the UTN group, there were significantly fewer ante- and recurvatum deformities of more than five degrees. CONCLUSIONS Treatment of tibial fractures by UTN, compared with EF, gave a lower reoperation rate and better functional outcome.
Simple behavioural and physical interventions for nocturnal enuresis in children.

BACKGROUND Nocturnal enuresis (bedwetting) is a socially disruptive and stressful condition which affects around 15-20% of five year olds, and up to 2% of young adults. Although there is a high rate of spontaneous remission, the social, emotional and psychological costs can be great. Simple behavioural methods of treating bedwetting include reward systems such as star charts given for dry nights, lifting or waking the children at night to urinate, retention control training to enlarge bladder capacity (bladder training) and fluid restriction. OBJECTIVES To assess the effects of simple behavioural interventions on nocturnal enuresis in children, and to compare these with other interventions. SEARCH STRATEGY We searched the Cochrane Incontinence Group trials register. The reference list of a previous version of this review was also searched. Date of the most recent search: December 2001. SELECTION CRITERIA All randomised or quasi-randomised trials of simple behavioural interventions for nocturnal enuresis in children up to the age of 16. Trials focused solely on daytime wetting were excluded. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS In a previous version of this review, trials up to 1997 were independently assessed by two reviewers. Previous trials were re-assessed, and further trials were assessed for quality, and data were extracted by another reviewer. MAIN RESULTS Twelve reliable trials met the inclusion criteria, involving 748 children of whom 365 received a simple behavioural intervention. However, within each comparison each outcome was addressed by single trials only, precluding meta-analysis. In single small trials, reward systems (e.g. star charts), lifting and waking were each associated with significantly fewer wet nights, higher cure rates and lower relapse rates compared to controls. There was not enough evidence to evaluate retention control training (bladder training), whether compared with controls or dry bed training, or used as a supplement to alarms, or versus desmopressin. Cognitive therapy may have lower failure and relapse rates than star charts, but this finding was based on one small trial only. One small trial of poor quality suggested that star charts were initially less successful than amitriptyline but this difference did not persist after the treatments stopped. REVIEWER'S CONCLUSIONS Simple behavioural methods may be effective for some children, but further trials are needed, in particular in comparison with treatments known to be effective, such as desmopressin, tricyclic drugs and alarms. However, simple methods could be tried as first line therapy before considering alarms or drugs, because these alternative treatments may be more demanding and may have adverse effects.
The female and the fragile X syndrome: data on clinical and psychological findings in 7 fra(X) carriers

In this report we present precise data on the clinical, intellectual and behavioural findings in 7 young fra(X) positive girls. The two most common and most important findings are an overgrowth syndrome present from birth on and common behavioural features like severe attentional problems and extreme shyness and anxiety. These symptoms seem to constitute the major criteria for fra(X) screening in prepubertal girls. The findings in previous studies are compared with the present observations.
Metaphorical perceptions of prospective EFL teachers related to Turkish education system

Arastirmanin amaci, ogretmen adaylarinin egitim sisteminin girdi, surec ve cikti boyutundaki temel kavramlarina iliskin algilarinin metafor yoluyla belirlenmesidir. Arastirmada olgubilim deseni kullanilmistir. Calisma grubunu, Gaziantep Universitesi Egitim Fakultesi Ingiliz Dili Egitimi bolumu ile pedagojik formasyon sertifika programina kayitli Fen-Edebiyat Fakultesi Ingiliz Dili ve Edebiyati son sinif ogrencileri olusturmaktadir. Katilimcilardan egitim sisteminin girdi, surec ve cikti boyutundaki ogretmen, ogrenci, veli, okul, okul muduru, ogretim programi, ogretim materyali, ogretim ilke ve yontemleri, olcme-degerlendirme, etik, sinif yonetimi, basari ve mezun kavramlarina iliskin tanimlamalar yapmalari istenmistir. Veriler icerik analizine tabi tutulmustur. Ogretmen adaylari egitim sisteminin 13 ogesine iliskin toplam 528 metafor uretmislerdir. Bu metaforlardan 269 tanesi olumlu, 109 tanesi olumsuz, 150 tanesi ise sistemin ogelerinin temel ozellikleri ile ilgilidir. 34 fen-edebiyat fakultesi ogrencisi 338 farkli metafor uretirken; 18 egitim fakultesi ogrencisi 190 metafor uretmistir. Son sinif ogrencisi ogretmen adaylarinin ogretmen, ogrenci, veli, okul, okul muduru, ogretim materyali, ogretim ilke ve yontemleri, olcme-degerlendirme etik ve basari algilari her iki grup icin benzerlik gosterirken PFSP ogrencilerin mezun kavramina iliskin algilari daha olumlu, egitim fakultesi ogrencilerinin ogretim programi konusunda gorusleri olumsuz, sinif yonetimine iliskin gorusleri daha olumludur.
Effects of Head Orientation on Gaze Perception: How Positive Congruency Effects Can be Reversed

Several past studies have considered how perceived head orientation may be combined with perceived gaze direction in judging where someone else is attending. In three experiments we tested the impact of different sources of information by examining the role of head orientation in gaze-direction judgements when presenting: (a) the whole face; (b) the face with the nose masked; (c) just the eye region, removing all other head-orientation cues apart from some visible part of the nose; or (d) just the eyes, with all parts of the nose masked and no head orientation cues present other than those within the eyes themselves. We also varied time pressure on gaze direction judgements. The results showed that gaze judgements were not solely driven by the eye region. Gaze perception can also be affected by parts of the head and face, but in a manner that depends on the time constraints for gaze direction judgements. While “positive” congruency effects were found with time pressure (i.e., faster left/right judgements of seen gaze when the seen head deviated towards the same side as that gaze), the opposite applied without time pressure.
Is the enthesitis-related arthritis subtype of juvenile idiopathic arthritis a form of chronic reactive arthritis?

OBJECTIVE Enteric organisms are known to trigger reactive arthritis. The enthesitis-related arthritis (ERA) form of juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) clinically resembles reactive arthritis. Therefore, we looked for a role of enteric bacteria in ERA. METHODS Synovial fluid (SF) was obtained from 26 patients with ERA and 10 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Blood specimens were also obtained from patients with ERA and from 10 normal individuals. Lymphocyte proliferation assays were done on whole blood and SF mononuclear cells using as antigens crude lysates of the enteric bacteria Salmonella typhimurium, Yersinia enterocolitica, Shigella flexneri and Campylobacter jejuni. Crude lysate of Escherichia coli was used as a control antigen. HLA-B27 typing was done using the polymerase chain reaction. Homing of gut-specific T cells (CD103+) to the synovial compartment was studied using tri-colour flow cytometry. The antigen-specific cytokine profile was determined by flow cytometry. RESULTS Antigen-specific lymphoproliferative responses were observed in 14 of 26 patients. Among these patients, 12 showed a response in SF (four each to S. typhimurium and C. jejuni, and in two each to S. flexneri and Y. enterocolitica), and two patients in blood (S. typhimurium in both). None of the healthy controls showed a response in the blood. Lymphoproliferative responses in SF were more frequent in patients with JIA (12/26) than in controls with RA (1/10, P < 0.05). Patients with an antigen-specific response had a higher ratio of SF/blood CD103+ T cells compared with those with no antigen-specific response (P < 0.01). Antigen-specific as well as mitogen-stimulated cytokine production showed a Th1 bias. CONCLUSION Enteric bacteria may have a role in exacerbation of disease in patients with ERA. The immune response in patients with ERA is Th1-dominant.
The Henry Ford Hospital Headache Disability Inventory (HDI)

Article abstract –To quantify the impact of headache on daily living, we developed a 25-item headache disability inventory (HDI). The alpha version of the HDI (α-HDI) consisted of 40 items, each requiring a “yes” (four points), “sometimes” (two points), or “no” (zero points) response based on items derived empirically from case history responses of subjects with headache. From the α-HDI, we derived a 25-item beta version (β-HDI) with the items subgrouped into functional and emotional subscales. The internal consistency/reliability was strong, as was construct validity. The test-retest reliability for the β-HDI was acceptable for the total score and functional and emotional subscale scores. A 29-point change (95% confidence interval) or greater in the total score from test-retest must occur before the changes can be attributed to treatment effects. The HDI is useful in assessing the impact of headache, and its treatment, on daily living.
The Influence of Physical Activity on the Shoulder Load and Ultrasonography Findings in Manual Wheelchair Users

The Influence of Physical Activity on the Shoulder Load and Ultrasonography Findings in Manual Wheelchair Users The aim of this study was to determine whether physical activity affects the forces applied on the shoulder and the development of shoulder ultrasonography abnormalities in manual wheelchair users. Following a high intensity wheelchair propulsion test, changes in shoulder kinetics and ultrasound variables were compared in a group of 17 physically active (PA) and in 12 less physically active (LPA) wheelchair users (WUs). The variables analysed were shoulder kinetics and ultrasound variables at the beginning and at the end of the test. In both groups, the test increased the peak shoulder forces and moments in almost all directions, although these changes were stronger for horizontal and superior forces in PAWUs.