Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Early events during primary activation of T cells: antigen receptor cross‐linking and interleukin 1 initiate proliferative response of human T cells

To study early events during primary activation of human T cells, a simple method was developed which simultaneously allows positive selection of T cells from peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) and their polyclonal, antigen receptor‐mediated stimulation with anti‐T3 monoclonal antibodies. In the absence of accessory cells, T cells activated with matrix‐bound OKT3 express high levels of the Tac antigen within 15 h and produce interleukin 2 (IL 2). Tac expression was further enhanced by addition of exogenous IL 2. However, under these conditions purified T cells were unable to mount a proliferative response, whereas unfractionated PBL proliferated already after 24 h of culture. This unresponsiveness of purified T cells could be overcome by either re‐addition of low numbers of autologous accessory cells or semipurified human IL 1. As IL 1 had no significant effect on Tac expression of T3‐stimulated T cells, we conclude from these data that IL 1 exerts in addition to its influence on IL 2 production an effect, which allows antigen receptor‐triggered T cells to enter the cell cycle.
Radon and lung cancer.

Radon, an inert gas released during the decay of uranium-238, is ubiquitous in indoor and outdoor air and contaminates many underground mines. Extensive epidemiologic evidence from studies of underground miners and complementary animal data have documented that radon causes lung cancer in smokers and nonsmokers. Radon must also be considered a potentially important cause of lung cancer for the general population, which is exposed through contamination of indoor air by radon from soil, water, and building materials. This review describes radon's sources, levels in U.S. homes, dosimetry, the epidemiologic evidence from studies of miners and the general population, and the principal, recent risk assessments.
Pegylated interferon monotherapy of chronic hepatitis C in dialysis patients: Meta‐analysis of clinical trials

The efficacy and safety of pegylated interferon monotherapy in patients with chronic renal failure and chronic hepatitis C remains unclear, although a number of small clinical trials have been published addressing this issue. A systematic review of the literature with a meta‐analysis of clinical trials was performed in order to assess efficacy and safety of initial pegylated interferon monotherapy in chronic renal failure patients with chronic hepatitis C. The primary outcome was sustained virological response (as a measure of efficacy); the secondary outcome was drop‐out rate (as a measure of tolerability). The random effects model of Der Simonian and Laird was used, with heterogeneity and sensitivity analyses. Sixteen clinical trials (254 unique patients) were identified, five (31%) being controlled studies; the majority (15/16 = 94%) regarded patients on long‐term dialysis. The summary estimate for sustained virological response and drop‐out rate was 33% [95% Confidence Intervals (95%CI) 24–43] and 23% (95%CI, 14–33), respectively. The most frequent side‐effects requiring interruption of treatment were haematological (18%) and gastrointestinal (14%). In the group of controlled clinical trials, the summary estimate for sustained viral response and drop‐out rate was 38% (95% CI, 18–59), and 15% (95% CI, 3–26), respectively. The studies were heterogeneous with regard to sustained virological response and drop‐out rate. Pegylated IFN does not provide an added benefit in terms of virological response in comparison with standard IFN monotherapy. Tolerance to pegylated‐IFN monotherapy was unsatisfactory. Prospective trials are in progress to assess the optimal antiviral therapy for chronic hepatitis C in dialysis patients. J. Med. Virol. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc. J. Med. Virol. 82: 768–775, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Free calcium in serum. I. Determination with the ion-specific electrode, and factors affecting the results.

Free (ionic) calcium in human serum was measured with a commercially available ion-specific electrode, together with a saturated-KCl salt bridge, a saturated-calomel reference electrode, and a direct-reading electrometer. Effects of sodium, potassium, and magnesium on the electrode values for calcium were assessed and a rationale demonstrated for the use of calcium standards containing 140 mmol of NaCl, 5 mmol of KCl, and 0.55 mmol of MgCl2 per liter. Trypsin, triethanolamine, and heparin bind calcium; therefore, their use is to be avoided. Variability is greatly decreased if the serum is from a fasting subject and if the collection tube is completely filled, transported on ice, and handled anaerobically. The range for free calcium for 86 apparently healthy adults was 1.175-1.375 mmol/liter when measured at 25°C. The precision (coefficient of variation) of duplicates was 0.6%; the long-term precision ≃2.0%.
Randomized Comparison of Topical Prednisolone Acetate 1% Versus Fluorometholone 0.1% in the First Year After Descemet Membrane Endothelial Keratoplasty

Purpose: The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy and side effects of prednisolone acetate 1% versus fluorometholone 0.1% after Descemet membrane endothelial keratoplasty (DMEK). Methods: DMEK recipients used prednisolone acetate 1% for 1 month, and they were randomized to either prednisolone or fluorometholone for months 2 through 12. Dosing was 4 times daily in months 1 to 3, thrice daily in month 4, twice daily in month 5, and once daily in months 6 to 12. The main outcomes were immunologic rejection episodes and intraocular pressure (IOP) elevation (defined as ≥24 mm Hg or ≥10 mm Hg increase over the preoperative baseline level), assessed by the Kaplan–Meier survival analysis. Results: The study included 325 eyes (99% were white, 96% had Fuchs dystrophy, and 9% had a previous glaucoma diagnosis). No eyes (0%) assigned to prednisolone versus 2 eyes (1.4%) assigned to fluorometholone experienced a possible (n = 1) or probable (n = 1) rejection episode (P = 0.17). Both rejection episodes resolved successfully with increased topical steroids. In the prednisolone arm, a significantly higher proportion exceeded the defined IOP elevation threshold (22% vs. 6%, P = 0.0005), and glaucoma medications were initiated or increased more often (17% vs. 5%, P = 0.0003). The most frequent reasons for discontinuing the assigned intervention were IOP management (n = 13 eyes assigned to prednisolone) or inflammation management (n = 3 eyes assigned to fluorometholone). One-year endothelial cell loss was comparable in both arms (30% vs. 31%, P = 0.50). Conclusions: DMEK has a remarkably low rejection episode rate (<1% through 1 year), as confirmed in this prospective randomized study. This provides a unique opportunity to reduce postoperative topical corticosteroid strength and thereby reduce the risk of steroid-associated complications.
Dural puncture and subdural injection: a complication of lumbar transforaminal epidural injections.

CASE REPORT Two cases are presented in which the complication of dural puncture is documented in the context of a lumbar transforaminal epidural steroid injection. The hazard of dural puncture during transforaminal epidural injections, the anatomy of the dural and thecal sac, the potential for subdural injections, and relevant literature are reviewed. DESIGN Report of two cases. BACKGROUND Lumbar transforaminal epidural steroid injections are a commonly employed procedure for the treatment of lumbar radiculopathy. The optimal target point lies at the "6 o' clock" position of the pedicle. Contrast is injected to confirm proper placement of the needle and correct flow of the medication through the epidural space. Despite apparent proper placement of the needle, a potential complication exists of puncturing the dura while performing this procedure. Spinal injectionists should recognize the subsequent contrast patterns associated with this complication. CONCLUSION Subdural and intrathecal spread of contrast is rarely seen with transforaminal injections and thus can be easily overlooked. Becoming familiar with the images presented in these cases may help alert the interventionalist of a dural puncture, and thus avoid injection of medications into the intrathecal and subdural spaces.
Infantile onset CMT2D/dSMA V in monozygotic twins due to a mutation in the anticodon‐binding domain of GARS

Mutations in the GARS gene cause Charcot‐Marie‐Tooth 2D and distal spinal muscular atrophy type V – allelic disorders characterized by predominantly distal upper extremity weakness and atrophy, typically beginning during the second decade of life. We report monozygotic twin girls with onset of weakness in infancy and a previously reported GARS mutation within the anticodon‐binding domain. The severity and remarkable similarity in phenotypes of these girls and the reported case suggest that mutations within the anticodon‐binding domain are more damaging to aminoacyl tRNA synthetase function than those within other domains of GARS.
The androgen receptor gene and its influence on the development and progression of prostate cancer

Prostate adenocarcinoma has the highest incidence of any malignancy and is the second leading cause of cancer‐related deaths in men in industrialized countries. The development and progression of prostate cancer are dependent on testosterone and dihydrotestosterone; the androgen receptor is the vehicle through which these androgens exert their regulation on prostate cellular proliferation and differentiation. As a result, much effort has been devoted to elucidating the role of the androgen receptor in prostate cancer. The CAG and GGN trinucleotide repeats in exon 1 of the androgen receptor gene have been linked to prostate cancer risk and progression in some studies. Also, androgen receptor gene amplification may be a mechanism of prostate cancer cell adaptation to hormonal therapy. In addition, androgen receptor somatic mutations can result in receptors that have altered binding specificity when compared with wild‐type receptors and heightened affinity for hormones other than testosterone and dihydrotestosterone. Gene amplification and somatic mutations, coupled with the fact that various growth factors have been shown to stimulate androgen receptor activity independently of androgens, may enable prostate cancer cells to grow despite testicular‐androgen ablation. Unfortunately, current medical therapy for metastatic prostate cancer is deficient, hormone‐refractory prostate cancer is a major obstacle in treatment, and, as a result, prostate cancer mortality is still significant. Further study of the function of the androgen receptor will offer a better understanding of prostate cancer pathogenesis and progression, aiding the development of more effective treatments for this disease.
Combined Effects of Densified Polystyrene and Unprocessed Fly Ash on Concrete Engineering Properties

The present study evaluated the combined effects of two types of waste materials of expanded polystyrene (EPS) and unprocessed fly ash (FA) on different properties of concrete. A novel recycling technique of densifying waste EPS is used to produce a novel lightweight aggregate (LWA). This new technique has solved the problem of segregation in concrete by coating EPS particles with a natural binder of clay and cement. Nine different concrete mixtures with a water to cement ratio of 0.8 were used. The densified EPS and unprocessed FA were partially replaced with natural aggregate and Portland cement, respectively. The engineering properties, including workability, density, compressive strength, ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV), and water absorption (WA) were investigated at different curing times. According to the experimental results, there is a decrease in compressive strength and UPV with increasing this novel LWA content in concrete. However, by using a suitable mix design, the utilisation of these two waste materials in concrete using an appropriate recycling technique is possible.
Management of Behavioral Health Provider Networks in Private Health Plans

We explored the techniques used by private health plans or by their contracted managed behavioral healthcare organizations (MBHOs) to maintain networks of behavioral health providers. In particular, we focused on differences by health plans' product types (health maintenance organization, point-of-service plan, or preferred provider organization) and contracting arrangements (MBHO contracts, comprehensive contracts, or no contracts). More than 94% of products selected providers using credentialing standards, particular specialists, or geographic coverage. To retain providers viewed as high quality, 54% offer reduced administrative burden and 44% higher fees. Only 16% reported steerage to a core group of highest-quality providers and few reported an annual bonus or guaranteed volume of referrals. Some standard activities are common, but some health plans are adopting other approaches to retain higher-quality providers.
Developmental Coordination of Gamete Differentiation with Programmed Cell Death in Sporulating Yeast

ABSTRACT The gametogenesis program of the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, also known as sporulation, employs unusual internal meiotic divisions, after which all four meiotic products differentiate within the parental cell. We showed previously that sporulation is typically accompanied by the destruction of discarded immature meiotic products through their exposure to proteases released from the mother cell vacuole, which undergoes an apparent programmed rupture. Here we demonstrate that vacuolar rupture contributes to de facto programmed cell death (PCD) of the meiotic mother cell itself. Meiotic mother cell PCD is accompanied by an accumulation of depolarized mitochondria, organelle swelling, altered plasma membrane characteristics, and cytoplasmic clearance. To ensure that the gametes survive the destructive consequences of developing within a cell that is executing PCD, we hypothesized that PCD is restrained from occurring until spores have attained a threshold degree of differentiation. Consistent with this hypothesis, gene deletions that perturb all but the most terminal postmeiotic spore developmental stages are associated with altered PCD. In these mutants, meiotic mother cells exhibit a delay in vacuolar rupture and then appear to undergo an alternative form of PCD associated with catastrophic consequences for the underdeveloped spores. Our findings reveal yeast sporulation as a context of bona fide PCD that is developmentally coordinated with gamete differentiation.
Characterization of Intestinal Microbiota in Ulcerative Colitis Patients with and without Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS There is an unexplained association between ulcerative colitis [UC] and primary sclerosing cholangitis [PSC], with the intestinal microbiota implicated as an important factor. The study aim was to compare the structure of the intestinal microbiota of patients with UC with and without PSC. METHODS UC patients with PSC [PSC-UC] and without PSC [UC] were identified from biobanks at Oslo University Hospital, Foothills Hospital Calgary and Mount Sinai Hospital Toronto. Microbial DNA was extracted from colonic tissue and sequencing performed of the V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene on Illumina MiSeq. Sequences were assigned to operational taxonomic units [OTUs] using Quantitative Insights Into Microbial Ecology [QIIME]. Microbial alpha diversity, beta diversity, and relative abundance were compared between PSC-UC and UC phenotypes. RESULTS In all, 31 PSC-UC patients and 56 UC patients were included. Principal coordinate analysis [PCoA] demonstrated that city of sample collection was the strongest determinant of taxonomic profile. In the Oslo cohort, Chao 1 index was modestly decreased in PSC-UC compared with UC [p = 0.04] but did not differ significantly in the Calgary cohort. No clustering by PSC phenotype was observed using beta diversity measures. For multiple microbial genera there were nominally significant differences between UC and PSC-UC, but results were not robust to false-discovery rate correction. CONCLUSIONS No strong PSC-specific microbial associations in UC patients consistent across different cohorts were identified. Recruitment centre had a strong effect on microbial composition. Future studies should include larger cohorts to increase power and the ability to control for confounding factors.
A role for meta‐analysis in hydrology

Research in hydrology has evolved from a rich history of site‐based (usually catchment‐based) field data collection. These studies typically have a small sample size—that is, one study hillslope or catchment and usually no replication. Although different to many other scientific fields where replication is sacrosanct, such field‐based discovery science has driven much of what we know about infiltration, run‐off processes, and ecohydrological dynamics. But although field work at single sites continues to unearth new forms of hydrological behaviour—and this is much needed to understand better “how catchments work”—process inference by one‐off field experiments has significant limitations. Although some of these limitations can be mediated by replication and stronger adherence to the scientific method and formal hypothesis testing (Hooper, 2001; Pfister & Kirchner, 2017), many limitations remain. One tool that has not yet been fully exploited in hydrology is meta‐ analysis. We are certainly not the first to advocate for meta‐analysis in hydrology, and we note important previous work in large‐scale erosion and sediment delivery (Corbel, 1964; Milliman & Syvitski, 1992) and forest hydrology (Farley, Jobbagy, & Jackson, 2005). Nevertheless, uptake has been limited generally. Muchmore common is the traditional “review paper” where an author identifies studies on a particular topic, summarizes their findings, and reports a conclusion in narrative form. But while useful, reviews lack transparency and are subjective (Borenstein, Hedges, Higgins, & Rothstein, 2010). This is something of a double whammy in a field such as hydrology where the field studies often reviewed are themselves one‐off and exploratory in nature! Consequently, a review paper author may assign implicitly more weight or credence to one study over another based on criteria that are not always articulated. Although such narrative reviews do serve a useful role as a stock‐taking for the state‐of‐knowledge about a particular research question (with many recent examples), they are not objective and they are not quantitative.
Context effects on tone and intonation processing in Mandarin

This study investigated how Mandarin listeners process tone and intonation when the F 0 encodings of the lexical tone and intonation are in conflict or in congruency and the role context plays during these processes. Tone and intonation identification experiments were conducted within neutral vs. constraining semantic contexts. Tone identification was much easier than intonation identification irrespective of contexts. Participants could perceive tones accurately and quickly in both question and statement intonation. However, intonation identification was greatly deteriorated within the neutral semantic context. Questions ending with a rising tone and a falling tone were equally difficult to identify. In a constraining semantic context, questions ending with a falling tone were much better identified. Thus, top-down information provided by the constraining semantic context does play an important role in disentangling intonation information from tone information.
The influence of Emotional Intelligence and Spiritual Intelligence in engineering entrepreneurial creativity and innovation

An engineer can be an entrepreneur. The engineer has all the technical knowledge to build and design. The purpose of this study is to analyse the influence of Emotional Intelligence and Spiritual Intelligence on Innovation. A total of 88 successful entrepreneurs from Malaysia participated in this study. The GENOS Emotional Intelligence questionnaire and Spiritual Intelligence (Integrated Spiritual Intelligence Scale) was used in the study. It was found that Spiritual Intelligence influences 99.8% of the variations in Innovations of the entrepreneurs.
A proposed link between nitrogen and carbon metabolism involving protein phosphorylation in bacteria

We demonstrate that certain phosphoryl transfer proteins of the bacterial phosphotransferase system (PTS), the fructose‐ and mannitol‐specific IIA proteins or domains, are homologous to a class of proteins, one of which is known to affect transcription of some of the nitrogen‐regulatory σ54‐dependent operons in Klebsiella pneumoniae. The phosphorylatable histidyl residue in the homologous PTS proteins and the consensus sequence in the vicinity of the active‐site histidine are fully conserved in all members that comprise this family of proteins. A phylogenetic tree of the eight protein members of this family was constructed, and a “signature” sequence that can serve for the identification of new protein members of this family is proposed. These observations suggest that PTS‐catalyzed protein phosphorylation may provide a regulatory link between carbon and nitrogen assimilation in bacteria.
Study on the effects of wood flour geometry on physical and mechanical properties of wood-plastic composites

The present study is focused on the effects of the shape and size of Fagus orientalis wood flour on physical and mechanical properties of HDPE based wood plastic composites (WPC). Variables included two mesh sizes (20 and 60), as well as five different contents of ground shavings (0, 25, 50, 75, and 100%) mixed with sawdust; totally 10 treatments. HDPT content was 40% in all formulations. Panels were compression molded and physical and mechanical tests were carried out in accordance with ASTM D2240 standard specifications. Results showed that mesh size can only significantly affect the hardness in the studied wood-plastic composites. On the other hand, increasing the proportion of the ground shavings possessing higher aspect ratio (l/d) increased both flexural strength and hardness. This increasing effect however was not observed for ground shavings beyond 50%. It was also concluded that while the addition of ground shavings up to 50% could improve the mechanical properties, higher proportions would reduce some of the properties, particularly the impact strength. In was concluded that the panel made of 50% wood flour combined with 50% ground shavings exhibited overall suitable properties for most applications.
MEMS-based quartz oscillators and filters for on-chip integration

We report on the development of a new microelectronicmechanical system (MEMS)-based quartz resonator technology that allows for the processing and integration of VHF to UHF high-Q oscillators and filters with high-speed silicon or III-V electronics. This paper describes the first demonstration of prototype oscillators and filters using this newly developed technology. We present impedance, Q, and temperature sensitivity data of UHF resonators along with phase noise and Allan deviation measurements. Our first 2-pole filter data showing low insertion loss are also presented. Finally, the results of power handling measurements are described for applications where high levels of background signals are present.