Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Development of DNA probes for early diagnosis and epidemiological study of cryptococcosis in AIDS patients

We report the isolation of middle-repetitive DNA sequences from Cryptococcus neoformans that are species and variety specific. These probes were used for assessing strain relatedness among cryptococcal isolates from patients with and without AIDS who were from Zaire and the United States. Five distinct hybridization patterns were observed for the 60 isolates examined, regardless of the restriction enzyme used for digestion. The most common pattern among the isolates from the patients without AIDS was also the most common among the isolates from the patients with AIDS who were from the United States and was the only pattern observed for all isolates tested from patients with AIDS who were from Zaire. On the basis of the high specificity and sensitivity of the signals observed by hybridization, we suggest that these sequences provide a means for both biotyping and early diagnosis of C. neoformans.
Architectures and Codecs for Real-Time Light Field Streaming

Light field 3D displays represent a major step forward in visual realism, providing glasses-free spatial vision of real or virtual scenes. Applications that capture and process live imagery have to process data captured by potentially tens to hundreds of cameras and control tens to hundreds of projection engines making up the human perceivable 3D light field using a distributed processing system. The associated massive data processing is difficult to scale beyond a specific number and resolution of images, limited by the capabilities of the individual computing nodes. We therefore analyze the bottlenecks and data flow of the light field conversion process and identify possibilities to introduce better scalability. Based on this analysis we propose two different architectures for distributed light field processing. To avoid using uncompressed video data all along the processing chain, we also analyze how the operation of the proposed architectures can be supported by existing image / video codecs.
A qualitative study of diverse providers' behaviour in response to commissioners, patients and innovators in England: research protocol

Introduction The variety of organisations providing National Health Service (NHS)-funded services in England is growing. Besides NHS hospitals and general practitioners (GPs), they include corporations, social enterprises, voluntary organisations and others. The degree to which these organisational types vary, however, in the ways they manage and provide services and in the outcomes for service quality, patient experience and innovation, remains unclear. This research will help those who commission NHS services select among the different types of organisation for different tasks. Research questions The main research questions are how organisationally diverse NHS-funded service providers vary in their responsiveness to patient choice, NHS commissioning and policy changes; and their patterns of innovation. We aim to assess the implications for NHS commissioning and managerial practice which follow from these differences. Methods and analysis Systematic qualitative comparison across a purposive sample (c.12) of providers selected for maximum variety of organisational type, with qualitative studies of patient experience and choice (in the same sites). We focus is on NHS services heavily used by older people at high risk of hospital admission: community health services; out-of-hours primary care; and secondary care (planned orthopaedics or ophthalmology). The expected outputs will be evidence-based schemas showing how patterns of service development and delivery typically vary between different organisational types of provider. Ethics, benefits and dissemination We will ensure informants' organisational and individual anonymity when dealing with high profile case studies and a competitive health economy. The frail elderly is a key demographic sector with significant policy and financial implications. For NHS commissioners, patients, doctors and other stakeholders, the main outcome will be better knowledge about the relative merits of different kinds of healthcare provider. Dissemination will make use of strategies suggested by patient and public involvement, as well as DH and service-specific outlets.
Recombinant cholera toxin B subunit is not an effective mucosal adjuvant for oral imm_unization of mice against Helicobacter felis

Cholera toxin is a potent oral mucosal adjuvant for enteric imm_unization. Several studies suggest that commercial cholera toxin B subunit (cCTB; purified from holotoxin) may be an effective non‐toxic alternative for oral imm_unization. The present study was performed, using an infectious disease model, to determine if the oral mucosal adjuvanticity of CTB is dependent on contaminating holotoxin. Mice were orally imm_unized with Helicobacter felis sonicate and either cholera holotoxin, cCTB or recombinant cholera toxin B subunit (rCTB). Serum imm_unoglobulin G (IgG) and intestinal imm_unoglobulin A (IgA) antibody responses were determined and the mice were challenged with live H. felis to determine the degree of protective imm_unity induced. All orally imm_unized mice responded with serum IgG antibody titres regardless of the adjuvant used. However, only mice imm_unized with either holotoxin or the cCTB responded with an intestinal mucosal IgA response. Consistent with the production of mucosal antibodies, mice imm_unized with either holotoxin or cCTB as adjuvants were protected from challenge while mice receiving H. felis sonicate and rCTB all became infected. cCTB induced the accumulation of cAMP in mouse thymocytes at a level equal to 0.1% of that induced by holotoxin, whereas rCTB was devoid of any activity. These results indicate that CTB possesses no intrinsic mucosal adjuvant activity when administered orally. Therefore, when used as an oral adjuvant, CTB should also include small, non‐toxic doses of cholera toxin.
[Expression of interleukin-12 and interleukin-27 proteins and immune status in serum of patients with oral lichen planus].

OBJECTIVE This study aimed to conduct a preliminary study on the possible role and significance of interleukin (IL)-12 and IL-27 in the pathogeneses of oral lichen planus (OLP). METHODS Thirty cases of patients with OLP (fifteen cases of reticular OLP and fifteen cases of erosive OLP) were enrolled in this study, and twenty cases of healthy people served as controls. Lymphocyte subsets CD3+, CD4+, CD8+, CD19+, and CD16+56 [natural killer cell (NK)] were tested using flow cytometry, and humoral immunity [immunoglobulin (Ig)G, IgA, IgM, C3, C4] were examined using nephelometry assays. IL-12 and IL-27 contents in serum of patients with OLP and normal controls were detected through enzyme linked immunosorbent assay. The correlations between the levels of IL-12, IL-27, immune status, and clinical characteristics of patients with OLP were analyzed, respectively. RESULTS CD3+, CD4+, and CD8+in patients with OLP were markedly lower than the normal value, whereas CD 19+ of OLP in patients was significantly higher than the normal value (P<0.05). IgM inpatients with OLP was increased, whereas C4 was declined (P<0.05). IL-12 and IL-27 levels showed significant upregulation or ULF patients compared with control groups (P<0.05). Meanwhile, positive correlations existed between IL-12 andIL-27 levels in the serum of patients with OLP (r=0.912, P<0.01). No significant correlations of IL-12 and IL-27 epressions with clinical characteristics of OLP were found (P>0.05). Negative correlations of IL-12 and IL-27 levels with CD16+56(NK) cells were observed (r1 = -0.416, P1 = 0.022; r2 = -0.392, P2=0.032, respectively), whereas a positive correlation existed for IgG (r1=0.445, P1=0.014; n=0.549, P2=0.002, respectively). CONCLUSION A cellular immune dysfunction mainly dominate in patients with OLP, accompanied by some degree of humoral-immunity-function disorder. The abnormally high expressions of IL-12 and IL-27 are possibly synergized and promoted inflammation development in OLP. Its promotion takes place through the negatie feedback regulation of humoral immune responses, which are involved in the regulation of immune mechanisms of OLP.
High expression of disease‐related Cln6 in the cerebral cortex, purkinje cells, dentate gyrus, and hippocampal ca1 neurons

Mutations in the CLN6 gene cause a variant form of late infantile neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis, a relentless neurodegenerative disease that is inherited as an autosomal recessive trait in humans and in the naturally occurring nclf mouse strain. The CLN6 protein is localized in the endoplasmic reticulum, but it has an unknown function. To develop a molecular understanding of neurodegeneration induced by mutations in CLN6, we examined the spatial and temporal distribution of Cln6 mRNA expression in murine brain. By using Northern blot and tissue qPCR array techniques, a single Cln6 transcript was detected throughout the adult brain, with greatest expression in the cerebellum and hypothalamus. Real‐time qPCR showed 2.4–4‐fold increases in Cln6 mRNA levels in the cortex and cerebellum during the first 28 days of life, with less prominent enhancement of expression in the hippocampus. In situ hybridization analyses demonstrated Cln6 expression in brainstem, dentate gyrus, and hippocampal neurons of newborn P0 mice. From P14 onward, Cln6 expression is widely distributed throughout the brain and is most prominent in cells of cortical layers II–VI, the Purkinje cell layer, dentate gyrus, and hippocampal CA1 region of adult mice. In different regions of the brain in P0 and P28 nclf mice, the Cln6 mRNA abundance was reduced by 30–40% compared with control mice. These findings implicate Cln6 in the survival and maturation of specific neuronal populations during development and make it possible to compare regional Cln6 expression with the distribution of subsequent pathology. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
In an Unpredictable and Changing Environment: Intrapreneurial Self-Capital As a Key Resource for Life Satisfaction and Flourishing

The twenty-first century is characterized by an unpredictable and challenging work environment, and the Intrapreneurial Self-Capital (ISC) career and life construct can be seen as a core of individual intrapreneurial resources that enables people to cope with ongoing challenges, changes, and transitions founding innovative solutions when confronted with the constraints imposed by such an environment. The ISC is a challenging construct since it can enhance behavior and attitudes through specific training, unlike personality traits, which are considered substantially stable in the literature. Against this background, the present study examined the relationship between ISC and well-being (hedonic well-being and eudaimonic well-being) controlling for the effects of personality traits. The Big Five Questionnaire (BFQ), the Intrapreneurial Self-Capital Scale (ISCS), the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS), and the Flourishing Scale (FS) were administered to 258 Italian workers. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that ISC explained a percentage of incremental variance beyond that explained by personality traits in relation to both life satisfaction and flourishing. These results indicate that ISC is a key resource for hedonic well-being and eudaimonic well-being and that it offers new research and intervention opportunities.
Using Oxidation–Reduction Potential (ORP) and pH Value for Process Control of Shortcut Nitrification–Denitrification

Abstract A new low cost technology for simultaneous carbon–nitrogen removal from soybean wastewater has been developed in this study. The technology is performed through shortcut nitrification–denitrification. The process operated under real-time control of aeration and mixing time. The shortcut nitrification–denitrification in sequencing batch reactor (SBR) was achieved efficiently and steadily by controlling temperature (28 ± 0.5°C) and using real-time control strategies. This enabled the prevention of nitrite oxidation, leading to lower operational costs. The feasibility of oxidation–reduction potential (ORP) and pH value as control parameter for shortcut nitrification–denitrification process was also investigated. Results showed that the average removal efficiency of ammonium was more than 95%, and nitrosation rate ( ) was reached to 96%. At the same time, the variation of oxidation–reduction potential (ORP) and pH value was well related to organic matter degradation and ammonium oxidation in SBR. So that judgment on the ending of nitrification and denitrification can be based on the inflection point on the varied curve of ORP and pH throughout each SBR processing cycle, and thus reducing aeration and mixing time for saving energy source. The method saves organic energy up to 40% of chemical oxygen demand (COD) in denitrification process, which should reduce the need for an extra external source of organic carbon. Shorter hydraulic retention time should allow the volume of the reactors to diminish, and thus diminish investment costs. Lower oxygen demand of about 25% gives lower exploitation costs.
The Effect of Cleaning on Dust and the Health of Office Workers: An Intervention Study

Background: Office employees often experience symptoms that could be related to indoor air exposures. Methods: In an office building, 114 nonsmokers who had reported mucosal irritation complaints in a survey were selected to participate in a double-blind intervention study. The intervention was carried out in Oslo, Norway, during 1998. The offices of the intervention group were given a comprehensive cleaning, whereas the offices of the control group got a superficial cleaning as a placebo treatment. Dust concentration, health complaints, and nasal congestion were recorded before and after intervention or placebo. In the intervention group, the mean dust concentration was 67 &mgr;g/m3 before intervention and 50 &mgr;g/m3 after cleaning. Results: The intervention group reported a reduction in mucosal irritation complaints (a median reduction of 1.0 irritation index points on a scale 0–8) compared with no change in the control group. The odds ratio for reporting a 2-point reduction of the mucosal irritation symptom index was 3.5 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.2–9.1) in the intervention group compared with the control group. Nasal congestion, measured by acoustic rhinometry, was also reduced in the intervention group. The odds ratio for reduction in nasal congestion above the 70th percentile was 4.2 (CI = 1.3–11) in the intervention group versus the control group Conclusions: This experimental field trial shows that comprehensive cleaning reduces the airborne dust in offices, and also can reduce mucosal symptoms and nasal congestion.
Effect of qualitative feed restriction on energy metabolism and nitrogen retention in sheep

Periodic restrictions in feed quality and quantity is an important phenomenon in regions where animal production should bridge the gap between periods of forage production separated by a dry season. Eighteen Swifter male lambs, weaned at the age of ca. three months, were used to quantify effects of feed quality restriction and realimentation on changes in energy and nitrogen metabolism. The diet consisted of grass straw (17 MJ of gross energy [GE] and 46 g crude protein [CP] per kg dry matter [DM]) on an ad libitum basis and 35 g/kg0.75/d mixed concentrates (16.5 MJ of GE and 173 g CP per kg DM). At the age of ca. 3.5 months the animals were randomly divided into six blocks, based on live weight, according to a randomized complete block design. Within each block, the animals were randomly assigned to two restricted treatments (R1 and R2) and an unrestricted control (C) treatment. Treatments R1 and R2 were subjected to feed quality restriction by withholding the concentrate for 3 and 4.5 months, respectively. A modified linear model was developed to study the effects of restriction and realimentation. The comparison between treatments was made by analyzing the data of the R1 and R2 animals as deviations from the control animal in each block. During the restriction period, restricted animals lost weight and showed negative energy (EB) and nitrogen balances (NB), whereas their intake of low quality roughage increased significantly. During the realimentation period (5 and 6 months for the R1 and R2 animal, respectively), the R1 and R2 animals grew significantly faster than the control animals. The realimented animals persisted in ingesting significantly more low quality roughage and their EB and NB were significantly greater that those of the control animals. The R2 animals needed a longer period of realimentation because of a longer period of restriction. The expression of compensatory growth was mainly related to a sustained higher grass straw (low quality roughage) intake during the realimentation periods, and a significantly greater efficiency of metabolizable energy intake. The maintenance requirement of realimented animals was significantly lower only during the initial stages of realimentation compared with the controls. It seemed as if a three months feed restriction period in weaned sheep was better than 4.5 months.
Structure and function studies of glucagon‐like peptide‐1 (GLP‐1): the designing of a novel pharmacological agent for the treatment of diabetes

Glucagon‐like peptide‐1 (GLP‐1) is a proglucagon‐derived peptide secreted from gut endocrine cells in response to nutrient ingestion. The multifaceted actions of GLP‐1 include the following: (1) the stimulation of insulin secretion and of its gene expression, (2) the inhibition of glucagon secretion, (3) the inhibition of food intake, (4) the proliferation and differentiation of beta cells, and (5) the protection of beta‐cells from apoptosis. The therapeutic utility of the native GLP‐1 molecule is limited by its rapid enzymatic degradation by a serine protease termed dipeptidyl peptidase‐IV (DPP‐IV). The present article reviews the research studies aimed at elucidating the biosynthesis, metabolism, and molecular characteristics of GLP‐1 since it is from these studies that the development of a GLP‐1‐like pharmacological agent may be derived. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Alteration of the immune response of the common marine mussel Mytilus edulis resulting from exposure to cadmium

The common marine mussel A4yt~lus edulls was used in laboratory-controlled experiments to investigate the effects of exposure to cadmium on immune capability Haemolymph was extracted from mussels exposed for 7 d to 40 and 400 pg 1 ' of cadmium, and assays were carned out to investlgate the potent~al for immune response The assays included total and differential haemocyte counts, the release of lntracellular and extracellular reactive oxygen metabolites, phagocytosis, release of degradatlve enzymes and uptake of neutral red Cadmium at 400 pg 1 ' resulted In sign~ficantly en hanced numbers of circulating haemocytes and increased uptake of neutral red No alteration was demonstrated in proportions of circulat~ng haemocyte types phagocytosls or product~on of reactive oxygen metabolites The release of degradative enzymes during phagocytosis was found to be signiflcantly suppressed at the 40 pg 1 ' cadmium concentration Assays to determine the immune funct~on may provide a sensitive measure of the health status of an individual or population under pollutant stress However the variabihty in effects produced in different aspects of llnmune function emphasises the need for a multi-assay approach to monitonng pollution The observed effects on immunocompetence, at environmentally realistic levels of contaminant, support the vlew that a relat~onship exlsts between pollution and i i~~munomodulation I aqudtic organisms
The Olivopontocerebellar Atrophies

Dejerine and Thomas in 19001 introduced the descriptive term olivopontocerebellar atrophy (OPCA) to refer to two sporadic cases of a late adult-onset cerebellar syndrome in one of which postmortem examination revealed atrophy of the cerebellar cortex, inferior olivae, the middle cerebellar peduncles, and the gray matter of the pons. Since then, numerous reports describing various types of OPCA, many of which were familial, have appeared in the literature. Presently the OPCA are considered to consist of a group of heterogeneous neurologic disorders that share some common clinical and pathologic characteristics. They usually present with cerebellar ataxia in association with other neurologic manifestations, such as corticospinal deficits, cranial nerve dysfunction, and extrapyramidal signs (parkinsonism, dystonia, or chorea). Pathologically they are characterized by OPCA (as originally defined by Dejerine-Thomas) and in some patients by changes in the basal ganglia, spinal cord, and other central nervous system areas. Thus, the OPCA are disorders with multiple system degeneration that link the cerebellar atrophies with the extrapyramidal diseases. The etiology of these afflictions, as with the other diseases wih system atrophy, remains largely unknown. However, the familial occurrence of many OPCA implicates genetic defects, such as mutations of enzymes or structural proteins, in their pathogenesis. Recent studies revealed that a form of OPCA is associated with abnormal metabolism of a major excitatory amino acid as a result of a defect in the enzyme glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH). The elucidation of the basic mechanisms responsible for the neurodegenerative changes in OPCA may prove to be of great importance in understanding the phenomenon of premature nerve cell death that characterizes all disorders with system atrophy. CLASSIFICATION
Adult Respiratory Distress Syndrome

Acute lung injury (ALI) is a condition of significant hypoxemia and bilateral infiltrates on chest radiography without evidence of left atrial pressure elevation. Adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) represents the most severe form of ALI, characterized by extreme refractory hypoxemia. The focus of this study is ARDS in adult patients. First described in 1967 by Ashbaugh et al, with further categorization by Murray et al using a lung injury score, ARDS can mimic other disease processes yet differs in terms of treatment and prognosis. It was therefore important to establish diagnostic criteria for ARDS and ALI. In 1992, the American-European Consensus Conference (AECC) defined ALI and ARDS (Table 1); this criterion is still used today. Limitations of the AECC criteria include variability in radiography interpretation and lack of lung compliance measurement and positive end expiratory pressure (PEEP) level when degree of hypoxemia is measured.
Automatic Classification of Music Genre Using Masked Conditional Neural Networks

Neural network based architectures used for sound recognition are usually adapted from other application domains such as image recognition, which may not harness the time-frequency representation of a signal. The ConditionaL Neural Networks (CLNN) and its extension the Masked ConditionaL Neural Networks (MCLNN) are designed for multidimensional temporal signal recognition. The CLNN is trained over a window of frames to preserve the inter-frame relation, and the MCLNN enforces a systematic sparseness over the network's links that mimics a filterbank-like behavior. The masking operation induces the network to learn in frequency bands, which decreases the network susceptibility to frequency-shifts in time-frequency representations. Additionally, the mask allows an exploration of a range of feature combinations concurrently analogous to the manual handcrafting of the optimum collection of features for a recognition task. MCLNN have achieved competitive performance on the Ballroom music dataset compared to several hand-crafted attempts and outperformed models based on state-of-the-art Convolutional Neural Networks.