Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A TSHr-LH/CGr chimera that measures functional TSAb in Graves' disease.

CONTEXT Stimulating thyrotropin receptor (TSHr) autoantibodies (TSAb) are the cause of hyperthyroidism in Graves' disease. In a patient's serum, TSAb can coexist with antagonist TSHr autoantibodies that block TSAb stimulatory activity (TSBAb); both can vary in amount and time. OBJECTIVE The objective of the study was to create a functional assay that detects only TSAb, thus having an increased accuracy for diagnosing Graves' disease. DESIGN A TSHr chimera (Mc4) that retains an agonist-sensitive TSAb epitope but replaces a TSBAb epitope was stably transfected in cells to establish the Mc4 assay. SETTING The study was conducted at the Chieti University (Outpatient Endocrine Clinic) and the University of Pisa (the Department of Endocrinology). PATIENTS The assay was validated using sera from 170 individuals with Graves' disease, Hashimoto's thyroiditis, and nonautoimmune hyperthyroidism and normal subjects from Chieti University. A second blinded study evaluated sera from 175 patients with autoimmune thyroid disease (mainly Graves' disease) from the University of Pisa. INTERVENTIONS Interventions included the assessment of patients' sera using human wild-type TSHr (WT-TSHr), Mc4 chimera, and binding (TRAb) assays. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES The Mc4 assay has the best accuracy for diagnosing Graves' disease. RESULTS The Mc4 assay has a better diagnostic accuracy than WT-TSHr and second-generation TRAb assays. Indeed, the sensitivity of the WT-TSHr, TRAb, and Mc4 assays was 97.3, 86.5, and 100%, respectively, whereas the specificity was 93.1, 97, and 98.5%, respectively. CONCLUSION The Mc4 assay is a functional assay with improved sensitivity and specificity for the detection of TSAb and is clinically useful in diagnosing Graves' disease.
Pareto-improving and revenue-neutral congestion pricing

In this thesis, the problems of pricing are investi gated on networks with heterogeneous users. I seek the possibility and conditions through an anon ymous toll scheme to achieve a simultaneously improvement of multi-criteria system performance. First, I look into the possibility and conditions of a Pareto-improving an d Revenue-neutral congestion pricing scheme on a simple bi-mode network: this scheme aims at im proving system performance, making every individual user better off (includes increasing soc ial welfare) and having zero total revenue simultaneously. Second, comparing with the “do-noth ing” case, I look into the possibility of Pareto-improving of system performances measured in both time and monetary units (the system time and the system cost) through a congestion pric ing scheme in general networks. In the first part, since Pareto-improving and Reven ueeutral scheme suggested here charges transit users negative tolls and automobile users p ositive tolls, it can be a proper way to implement congestion pricing and transit subsidy in one step; also it will possibly improve system performance, increase social welfare and offset the inequity for the poor. I concern with two problems. First, whether or not Pareto-improving an d Revenue-neutral pricing scheme exists for certain targeted modal split flow pattern? Second, what are the different Pareto-improving situations when a bi-mode transportation system ser ve for travel groups with different VOT distributions respectively? For a general VOT distr ibution, the condition that everyone will be better off is found. Furthermore, the impacts of de tails of different travel communities’ VOT distributions on the better off situations after Re venue-neutral toll are studied and the better off situations can be classified into three cases. Then I focused on travel groups with uniform VOT distributions. A continuous range in terms of the t argeted highway flow always exists to realize everyone better off through Revenue-neutral pricing . The larger the VOT range is, the smaller the
Social comparison among competing firms

Extending social comparison theory to the context of interfirm competition, we investigate whether and under what conditions firms may benefit by deviating from consumers' views concerning firm comparisons. Based on all of the possible dyadic competitive comparisons among the 26 automakers in the United States, we found that: (1) a focal firm enjoys a greater increase in sales than the target firm when it compares itself with a more reputable target firm, even though consumers do not perceive the focal firm to be comparable to the more reputable firm; and (2) a focal firm enjoys a greater increase in sales than the target firm when it avoids comparison with a less reputable target firm, even though consumers compare the focal firm with the less reputable firm. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Mass Customization: On-line Consumer Involvement in Product Design

Using a channel theory framework, this experimental study investigated the on-line involvement of consumers in product design, a mass customization approach. Three treatments varying the level of participants' design involvement in the design of a T-shirt were developed to simulate a Web-based retail environment. Results established an overall interest in design involvement, some support for higher levels of design involvement in shopping for apparel, and higher satisfaction with a Web site's navigation and usability as involvement increased. The study demonstrated that the Internet provides an acceptable interactive platform and distribution channel for consumer design involvement and should be considered by e-tailers. Additional research directions are recommended.
Sequence of the 1918 pandemic influenza virus nonstructural gene (NS) segment and characterization of recombinant viruses bearing the 1918 NS genes

The influenza A virus pandemic of 1918–1919 resulted in an estimated 20–40 million deaths worldwide. The hemagglutinin and neuraminidase sequences of the 1918 virus were previously determined. We here report the sequence of the A/Brevig Mission/1/18 (H1N1) virus nonstructural (NS) segment encoding two proteins, NS1 and nuclear export protein. Phylogenetically, these genes appear to be close to the common ancestor of subsequent human and classical swine strain NS genes. Recently, the influenza A virus NS1 protein was shown to be a type I IFN antagonist that plays an important role in viral pathogenesis. By using the recently developed technique of generating influenza A viruses entirely from cloned cDNAs, the hypothesis that the 1918 virus NS1 gene played a role in virulence was tested in a mouse model. In a BSL3+ laboratory, viruses were generated that possessed either the 1918 NS1 gene alone or the entire 1918 NS segment in a background of influenza A/WSN/33 (H1N1), a mouse-adapted virus derived from a human influenza strain first isolated in 1933. These 1918 NS viruses replicated well in tissue culture but were attenuated in mice as compared with the isogenic control viruses. This attenuation in mice may be related to the human origin of the 1918 NS1 gene. These results suggest that interaction of the NS1 protein with host-cell factors plays a significant role in viral pathogenesis.
Speckle filtering of ultrasound images using a modified non-linear diffusion model in non-subsampled shearlet domain

Speckle filtering is of great interest for the ultrasound medical images in which various noises and artefacts are introduced because of various limitations of the acquisition systems and techniques. Speckle is a prime factor to degrade the quality and most importantly, texture information present in the ultrasound images. This study presents a despeckling method based on a modified non-linear diffusion model and non-subsampled shearlet transform (NSST). As a new image representation method with the different features of localisation, directionality and multiscale, the NSST is utilised to provide the effective representation of the image coefficients. The modified anisotropic diffusion is applied to the noisy coarser NSST coefficients to improve the denoising efficiency and preserve the edge features effectively. In the diffusion process, the non-local pixel information is incorporated to evaluate the gradient of eight connected neighbouring pixels with an adaptive grey variance. The performance of the proposed method is evaluated for both the standard test and real ultrasound images. Experimental results show that the proposed method produces better results of noise suppression with the preservation of more edges compared with several existing methods.
Laparoscopic versus open surgery for rectosigmoid and rectal cancer.

OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to evaluate feasibility and safety of laparoscopic surgery for rectosigmoid cancer and rectal cancer. MATERIAL AND METHOD Twenty four patients who underwent laparoscopic surgery for rectosigmoid cancer or rectal cancer were retrospectively evaluated. Results were compared with those of 25 patients who had open surgery at the same period. The procedures of both groups were anterior resection, low anterior resection, coloanal anastomosis, abdominoperineal resection and subtotal colectomy. RESULTS The mean operative time was significantly increased in the laparoscopic group. However, this group showed faster recovery of bowel function. There were no differences in the distal margin and yield of harvested lymph nodes of resected specimens. Although anastomotic leakage was comparable between 2 groups, surgical wound infection was significantly higher in open surgery group. CONCLUSION Laparoscopic surgery for rectosigmoid cancer and rectal cancer is feasible and can be performed safely with comparable oncological clearance.
Intrahepatic bile ducts develop according to a new mode of tubulogenesis regulated by the transcription factor SOX9.

BACKGROUND & AIMS A number of diseases are characterized by defective formation of the intrahepatic bile ducts. In the embryo, hepatoblasts differentiate to cholangiocytes, which give rise to the bile ducts. Here, we investigated duct development in mouse liver and characterized the role of the SRY-related HMG box transcription factor 9 (SOX9). METHODS We identified SOX9 as a new biliary marker and used it in immunostaining experiments to characterize bile duct morphogenesis. The expression of growth factors was determined by in situ hybridization and immunostaining, and their role was studied on cultured hepatoblasts. SOX9 function was investigated by phenotyping mice with a liver-specific inactivation of Sox9. RESULTS Biliary tubulogenesis started with formation of asymmetrical ductal structures, lined on the portal side by cholangiocytes and on the parenchymal side by hepatoblasts. When the ducts grew from the hilum to the periphery, the hepatoblasts lining the asymmetrical structures differentiated to cholangiocytes, thereby allowing formation of symmetrical ducts lined only by cholangiocytes. We also provide evidence that transforming growth factor-beta promotes differentiation of the hepatoblasts lining the asymmetrical structures. In the absence of SOX9, the maturation of asymmetrical structures into symmetrical ducts was delayed. This was associated with abnormal expression of CCAAT/Enhancer Binding Protein alpha and Homolog of Hairy/Enhancer of Split-1, as well as of the transforming growth factor-beta receptor type II, which are regulators of biliary development. CONCLUSIONS Our results suggest that biliary development proceeds according to a new mode of tubulogenesis characterized by transient asymmetry and whose timing is controlled by SOX9.
Response of Phobic Patients to Direct Computer Assessment

Summary Computerized assessment which is objective, standardized and easily repeated has been shown to be acceptable to general psychiatric patients. Fifty-three subjects (43 phobics and 10 normals feigning phobias) showed no unusual apprehension in approaching this novel procedure; all were able to complete the computer interview. Furthermore, half of them claimed that they found the interview more acceptable and found it easier to communicate with the computer than with a clinician. Only nine patients preferred the clinician. The reasons for this are discussed.
Hormonal association and sexual dysfunction in patients with impaired fasting glucose: a cross-sectional and longitudinal study.

INTRODUCTION The category of impaired fasting glucose (IFG) denotes a state of nondiabetic hyperglycemia, considered a risk factor for the further development of diabetes mellitus (DM) and cardiovascular (CV) diseases. AIM The aim of the present study is to evaluate the impact of IFG on sexual health in men. In addition, its effect on CV morbidity and mortality will also be addressed. METHODS A consecutive series of 3,451 men (mean age 57.3 ± 10.1 years) attending our outpatient clinic for sexual dysfunction was retrospectively studied. A subset of this sample (N = 1,687) was enrolled in a longitudinal study. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Several clinical, biochemical (including testosterone), and instrumental (penile color Doppler ultrasound) factors were evaluated. IFG was defined by fasting glucose concentrations between 5.6 and 6.9 mmol/L (100-125 mg/dL). A higher threshold (6.1-6.9 mmol/L, 110-125 mg/dL) was also considered. RESULTS Among the patients studied, 747 (21.7%) had DM. In addition, 659 (19.1%) subjects were classified as IFG. Patients with IFG, however defined, more often had severe ED, reduced penile blood flow, and overt hypogonadism when compared with patients with normal glucose levels. In addition, men with ED and IFG show poorer blood pressure and lipid profile with an overall increase in CV risk. Unadjusted incidence of major adverse CV events was significantly associated with baseline DM, whereas there was a trend toward higher risk also for IFG, but this did not reach statistical significance. Conversely, both IFG and DM were significantly associated with a higher risk of fatal and nonfatal cerebral events. CONCLUSIONS Checking glucose and testosterone levels is mandatory in subjects with ED because testosterone substitution in impotent IFG subjects might ameliorate not only their sexual life but also their overall health.
Altered expression pattern of topoisomerase IIalpha in ovarian tumor epithelial and stromal cells after platinum-based chemotherapy.

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to evaluate the expression of topoisomerase IIalpha (TOP2A) in epithelial and stromal cells of ovarian cancer. METHODS TOP2A expression was analyzed prospectively in normal and tumor epithelial and adjacent stromal cells using quantitative real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) after laser microdissection (n = 38), RNA in situ hybridization (n = 13), and immunohistochemistry (n = 69). RESULTS TOP2A mRNA was detected by RNA in situ hybridization in all ovarian cancer samples, with stronger hybridization signals in tumor epithelial cells compared to adjacent stromal cells. The same expression pattern was found by immunohistochemistry (P = .0001). Very interestingly, specific change was found in recurrent ovarian cancer after platinum-based chemotherapy: TOP2A expression decreased in tumor epithelial cells of recurrent ovarian cancer compared to primary ovarian cancer (P = .056), whereas it increased in tumor-adjacent stromal cells in carboplatin-treated recurrent tumors compared to primary ovarian cancer (P = .023). CONCLUSION TOP2A mRNA and protein expression in ovarian cancer exhibits specific patterns in tumor epithelial and adjacent stromal cells, which are differentially modulated after platinum-based chemotherapy. These data support the recently discovered importance of the stromal compartment in tumor progression and suggest that tumor stromal cells might be relevant to the development of chemotherapy resistance in ovarian cancer.
Former Audit Firm Personnel as Cfos: Effect on Earnings Management

Corporate hiring of former audit personnel to fill key financial positions is a practice that has attracted attention from the media, the accounting profession, and regulators. The concern is that the former external auditor who now holds a key position with the client may be able to circumvent the audit or exert pressure on the audit team and adversely influence audit quality. Using corporate SEC filings, we compare a sample of 172 test companies that appointed personnel who were former employees of the companies' external auditors, to the position of CFO, with a control sample of companies that appointed new CFOs that were not affiliated with their auditors. We investigate whether earnings management (measured by the level of discretionary accruals) is greater for the test sample compared to the control sample during the two years following appointment of the CFO. Both univariate and multivariate results for signed discretionary accruals suggest some support for the hypothesis that firms with affiliated CFOs are associated with greater earnings management than firms without affiliated CFOs. Further, the results for signed discretionary accruals suggest that the association is stronger for non-partners who moved from the audit firm to the client with little or no time gap. The results for absolute discretionary accruals do not suggest differences, on average, in earnings management between affiliated and unaffiliated CFOs. However, they do indicate some earnings management relative to unaffiliated CFOs by CFOs who were formerly non-partners and who had little or no time gap between leaving the audit firm and joining the client firm, although at much weaker levels of significance.
The Effectiveness of Car Advertising Media: Perceptions of Generation-Y Consumers

Car advertising is new and unique form of Out-of-home advertising and presents a unique opportunity for advertisers to reach a variety of targeted audience profiles. This study explores the effectiveness of car advertising from the perspective of Generation Y consumers. The target audience comprises students between the ages of 18 and 30 years at two of the largest residential universities in South Africa. Convenience sampling was used and a total of 400 questionnaires were completed. The results indicated that there is a positive correlation between recall and attention paid to car advertising; between attitudes towards advertising on cars and the recall thereof; and consumer’s general attitude towards advertising and their attitude towards car advertising. It also revealed that car advertising is far from being unnoticed by Generation Y, who, in fact, accepted it better than was anticipated. The findings also implied that the medium is more effective when respondents’ have a more positive attitude towards advertising in general.
Effects of garlic extract on oxidant/antioxidant status and atherosclerotic plaque formation in rabbit aorta.

BACKGROUND AND AIM The results of a number of studies suggest that garlic (or garlic extracts) may have favourable effects against the development of atherosclerosis. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of garlic extract supplementation on oxidant/antioxidant status and atherosclerotic plaque formation in rabbit aortic tissue. METHODS AND RESULTS Twenty-two male New Zealand White rabbits were fed a cholesterol-supplemented diet (0.5 g/Kg/day) and nine control rabbits a regular diet for four months. At the end of this period, atherosclerotic plaque formation and antioxidant activity were measured in the aortic tissue of the controls and seven of the cholesterol-fed animals. Of the remaining 15 experimental animals, seven were fed normal laboratory diet and eight a normal diet plus garlic extract (1.5 ml/Kg/day) for a further three months before atherosclerotic plaque formation and antioxidant activity were measured in the aortic tissue of both groups. The cholesterol-fed animals showed a significantly impaired antioxidant system associated with increased plaque formation. However, garlic extract supplementation significantly improved antioxidant status and reduced the plaque surface area. CONCLUSIONS In this experimental model, garlic extract dietary supplementation activated the antioxidant system and decreased peroxidation in aortic tissue. There was also a reduction in atherosclerotic plaque area. Although further studies are required to elucidate the mechanisms involved, the protective activity of garlic extract may be due to its antioxidant properties.
Dynamic voltage and frequency scaling for neuromorphic many-core systems

We present a dynamic voltage and frequency scaling technique within SoCs for per-core power management: the architecture allows for individual, self triggered performance-level scaling of the processing elements (PEs) within less than 100ns. This technique enables each core to adjust its local supply voltage and frequency depending on its current computational load. A test chip has been implemented in 28nm CMOS technology, as prototype of the SpiNNaker2 neuromorphic many core system, containing 4 PEs which are operational within the range of 1.1V down to 0.7V at frequencies from 666MHz down to 100MHz; the effectiveness of the power management technique is demonstrated using a standard benchmark from the application domain. The particular domain area of this application specific processor is real-time neuromorphics. Using a standard benchmark — the synfire chain — we show that the total power consumption can be reduced by 45%, with 85% baseline power reduction and a 30% reduction of energy per neuron and synapse computation, all while maintaining biological real-time operation.
Identification of a 35S U4/U6.U5 tri-small nuclear ribonucleoprotein (tri-snRNP) complex intermediate in spliceosome assembly

The de novo assembly and post-splicing reassembly of the U4/U6.U5 tri-snRNP remain to be investigated. We report here that ZIP, a protein containing a CCCH-type zinc finger and a G-patch domain, as characterized by us previously, regulates pre-mRNA splicing independent of RNA binding. We found that ZIP physically associates with the U4/U6.U5 tri-small nuclear ribonucleoprotein (tri-snRNP). Remarkably, the ZIP-containing tri-snRNP, which has a sedimentation coefficient of ∼35S, is a tri-snRNP that has not been described previously. We also found that the 35S tri-snRNP contains hPrp24, indicative of a state in which the U4/U6 di-snRNP is integrating with the U5 snRNP. We found that the 35S tri-snRNP is enriched in the Cajal body, indicating that it is an assembly intermediate during 25S tri-snRNP maturation. We showed that the 35S tri-snRNP also contains hPrp43, in which ATPase/RNA helicase activities are stimulated by ZIP. Our study identified, for the first time, a tri-snRNP intermediate, shedding new light on the de novo assembly and recycling of the U4/U6.U5 tri-snRNP.
Temporal aspects of spatial task performance during intermittent hypoxia in the rat: evidence for neurogenesis

Intermittent hypoxia (IH) during sleep, such as occurs in obstructive sleep apnea, leads to degenerative changes in the hippocampus, and is associated with spatial learning deficits in the adult rat. We report that in Sprague–Dawley rats the initial IH‐induced impairments in spatial learning are followed by a partial functional recovery over time, despite continuing IH exposure. These functional changes coincide with initial decreases in basal neurogenesis as shown by the number of positively colabelled cells for BrdU and neurofilament in the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus, and are followed by increased expression of neuronal progenitors and mature neurons (nestin and BrdU‐neurofilament positively labelled cells, respectively). In contrast, no changes occurred during the course of IH exposures in the expression of the synaptic proteins synaptophysin, SNAP25, and drebrin. Collectively, these findings indicate that the occurrence of IH during the lights on period results in a biphasic pattern of neurogenesis in the hippocampus of adult rats, and may account for the observed partial recovery of spatial function.