Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Safety, inhibition of platelet aggregation and pharmacokinetics of F(ab′) 2 fragments of the anti-glycoprotein IIb-IIIa monoclonal antibody FRaMon in high-risk coronary angioplasty

The purpose of the study was to evaluate safety, effects on platelet aggregation and pharmacokinetics of F(ab') 2 fragments of anti-glycoprotein (GP) IIb-IIIa murine monoclonal antibody FRaMon (F(ab') 2 FRaMon) upon its intravenous administration in patients undergoing high-risk coronary angioplasty. Patients were treated before angioplasty with F(ab') 2 FRaMon at 0.2 mg/kg ( n = 17) and 0.25 mg/kg ( n = 12) bolus or with abciximab at 0.25 mg/kg bolus + 12 h infusion at 0.125 w g/kg per min ( n = 29). F(ab') 2 FRaMon at both doses decreased platelet aggregation induced by 20 w M ADP to <10, <20, <40 and <70% of the predrug level at 1, 12, 24 and 72 h after injection, respectively. No significant differences were observed between F(ab') 2 FRaMon and abciximab antiaggregatory effects. In none of the patients did F(ab') 2 FRaMon cause allergic reactions, major bleedings or deep thrombocytopenia. Antibodies against F(ab') 2 FRaMon were detected in one patient. Free F(ab') 2 FRaMon was cleared from plasma within 12 h, while platelet-bound preparation occupied >95, 70-80 and 40-50% of GP IIb-IIIa at 1 and 12-24 h and 3 days after injection, respectively. Thrombotic complications within the first month after angioplasty in groups treated with F(ab') 2 FRaMon and abciximab were observed in one and two patients, respectively. The data obtained have shown that F(ab') 2 FRaMon at bolus administration to patients undergoing coronary angioplasty caused no serious side effects and at comparative dosage inhibited platelet aggregation with the same efficacy as abciximab at bolus + infusion administration.
Coding, Multicast, and Cooperation for Cache- Enabled Heterogeneous Small Cell Networks

Caching at the wireless edge is a promising approach to dealing with massive content delivery in heterogeneous wireless networks, which have high demands on backhaul. In this paper, a typical cache-enabled small cell network under heterogeneous file and network settings is considered using maximum distance separable (MDS) codes for content restructuring. Unlike those in the literature considering online settings with the assumption of perfect user request information, we estimate the joint user requests using the file popularity information and aim to minimize the long-term average backhaul load for fetching content from external storage subject to the overall cache capacity constraint by optimizing the content placement in all the cells jointly. Both multicast-aware caching and cooperative caching schemes with optimal content placement are proposed. In order to combine the advantages of multicast content delivery and cooperative content sharing, a compound caching technique, which is referred to as multicast-aware cooperative caching, is then developed. For this technique, a greedy approach and a multicast-aware in-cluster cooperative approach are proposed for the small-scale networks and large-scale networks, respectively. Mathematical analysis and simulation results are presented to illustrate the advantages of MDS codes, multicast, and cooperation in terms of reducing the backhaul requirements for cache-enabled small cell networks.
Characterization and intracellular trafficking pattern of vacuoles containing Chlamydia pneumoniae in human epithelial cells

Chlamydiae are obligate intracellular pathogens that reside within a membrane‐bound vacuole throughout their developmental cycle. In this study, the intraphagosomal pH of Chlamydia pneumoniae (Cpn) was qualitatively assessed, and the intracellular fate of the pathogen‐containing vacuole and its interaction with endocytic organelles in human epithelial cells were analysed using conventional immunofluorescence and confocal microscopy. The pH‐sensitive probes acridine orange (AO), LysoTracker (LyT) and DAMP did not accumulate in the bacterial inclusion. In addition, exposure of cells to bafilomycin A1 (BafA1), a potent acidification inhibitor, did not inhibit or delay chlamydial growth. The chlamydial compartment was not accessible to the fluid‐phase tracer Texas Red (TR)‐dextran and did not exhibit any level of staining for the late endosomal marker cation‐independent mannose‐6‐phosphate receptor (Ci‐M6PR) or for the lysosomal‐associated membrane proteins (LAMP‐1 and ‐2) and CD63. In addition, transferrin receptor (TfR)‐enriched vesicles were observed close to Cpn vacuoles, potentially indicating a specific translocation of these organelles through the cytoplasm to the vicinity of the vacuole. We conclude that Cpn, like other chlamydial spp. , circumvents the host endocytic pathway and inhabits a non‐acidic vacuole, which is dissociated from late endosomes and lysosomes, but selectively accumulates early endosomes.
Fecal levels of leukocyte markers reflect disease activity in patients with ulcerative colitis

Objective. A prominent feature of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is the presence of inflammatory cells in the gut mucosa, and which contribute to the ongoing inflammatory process. The aim of the study was to evaluate fecal neutrophil, eosinophil, mast cell and macrophage markers in the assessment of disease activity in patients with ulcerative colitis (UC). Methods. Twenty‐eight patients with active UC; 4 with proctitis, 16 with left‐side colitis and 8 with total colitis, were included in the study. Patient history, endoscopy and histopathology were examined and fecal and serum samples were evaluated at inclusion and after 4 and 8 weeks of treatment. Fecal samples were analysed for myeloperoxidase (MPO), eosinophil protein X (EPX), mast cell tryptase, IL‐1β and TNF‐α using immunoassays. Blood samples were analysed for MPO, EPX, C‐reactive protein, orosomucoid and leucocyte counts. Results. Fecal MPO and IL‐1β levels were elevated in all patients at inclusion despite different disease extensions. Striking reductions in fecal levels of MPO, EPX, tryptase and IL‐1β were observed after 4 weeks of treatment in 20/28 patients with complete remission after 8 weeks. No further reductions were seen in 20/27 patients at 8 weeks. Endoscopic score correlated to IL‐1β at all visits (p<0.01), to MPO at visits 2 and 3 (p<0.05, p<0.001), EPX at visit 2 (p<0.05) and tryptase at visit 3 (p<0.01). Levels of fecal markers also related to histological indices of the disease. Conclusions. Measurements of fecal MPO, EPX and IL‐1β could be objective complements to endoscopical and histopathological evaluations in the daily care of patients with UC.
Impairment of Thymus-Dependent Responses by Murine Dendritic Cells Infected with Foot-and-Mouth Disease Virus1

Foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) is a cytopathic virus that experimentally infects mice, inducing a thymus-independent neutralizing Ab response that rapidly clears the virus. In contrast, vaccination with UV-inactivated virus induces a typical thymus-dependent (TD) response. In this study we show that dendritic cells (DCs) are susceptible to infection with FMDV in vitro, although viral replication is abortive. Infected DCs down-regulate the expression of MHC class II and CD40 molecules and up-regulate the expression of CD11b. In addition, infected DCs exhibit morphological and functional changes toward a macrophage-like phenotype. FMDV-infected DCs fail to stimulate T cell proliferation in vitro and to boost an Ab response in vivo. Moreover, infection of DCs in vitro induces the secretion of IFN-γ and the suppressive cytokine IL-10 in cocultures of DCs and splenocytes. High quantities of these cytokines are also detected in the spleens of FMDV-infected mice, but not in the spleens of vaccinated mice. The peak secretion of IFN-γ and IL-10 is concurrent with the suppression of Con A-mediated proliferation of T cells obtained from the spleens of infected mice. Furthermore, the secretion of these cytokines correlates with the suppression of the response to OVA, a typical TD Ag. Thus, infection of DCs with FMDV induces suppression of TD responses without affecting the induction of a protective thymus-independent response. Later, T cell responses are restored, setting the stage for the development of a long-lasting protective immunity.
Ability of oblique foot radiographs to detect erosions in early arthritis: results in the ESPOIR cohort.

OBJECTIVE To assess the usefulness of using oblique foot radiographs in addition to posteroanterior radiographs of the hands and feet for detecting erosions in patients with recent-onset arthritis. METHODS We included 813 patients from the prospective French ESPOIR cohort with arthritis of <6 months' duration and >or=2 swollen joints. Baseline standardized posteroanterior radiographs of the hands and feet and oblique radiographs of the feet were assessed by 2 blinded readers for erosions typical for rheumatoid arthritis (ETRA) and the Sharp score as modified by van der Heijde. RESULTS A total of 715 complete sets were available. Mean +/- SD total Sharp scores were 3.6 +/- 6.6, 2.5 +/- 6.3, and 1.8 +/- 5 for the hand and wrist, foot, and oblique foot, respectively. ETRA were visible in 160 (22.4%) of 715 patients (95% confidence interval [95% CI] 19.4-25.6). They were seen on hand radiographs in 86 (53.7%) of 160 patients (95% CI 45.7-61.6), on posteroanterior foot radiographs in 91 (56.9%) of 160 patients (95% CI 48.8-64.6), and on oblique foot radiographs in 84 (52.5%) of 160 patients (95% CI 44.5-60.4). ETRA were visible at the feet, but not at the hands, in 74 (46%) of 160 patients (95% CI 38.4-54.3), among whom 22 (30%) had erosions only on the posteroanterior view, 16 (21%) only on the oblique view, and 36 (48.6%) on both. CONCLUSION ETRA were found in 22.4% of patients. Adding an oblique foot radiograph identified 16 (10%) of 160 additional patients (95% CI 6-16), compared with 27.5% and 13.8% identified by adding posteroanterior radiographs of the hands and feet, respectively.
131I-labeled peptides as caspase substrates for apoptosis imaging.

UNLABELLED Nonivasive assessment of programmed cell death is currently an attractive research topic for the follow-up of tumor therapy and myocardial infarction. Apoptosis imaging with (99m)Tc-HYNIC-annexin V (HYNIC is hydrazinonicotinamide) is based on the binding of the tracer to externalized phosphatidylserine residues. Concurrently with the externalization of phosphatidylserine, a series of caspases are activated after the onset of apoptosis. These enzymes were chosen as an alternative target for apoptosis imaging. METHODS Ten radiolabeled peptides containing the DEVDG sequence, selective for downstream caspases such as caspase-3, were synthesized and evaluated for their uptake kinetics using an apoptosis test system. The molecular requirement of the peptides for being accepted as caspase substrate was studied using a competitive enzyme assay and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry. RESULTS Within this series of peptides, radioiodinated Tat(49-57)-yDEVDG-NH(2) (7) and Tat(57-49)-yDEVDG-NH(2) (8) were favorably taken up by apoptotic cells (12.54% +/- 1.18% and 12.63% +/- 1.17% after 10-min incubation, respectively) as compared with the controls (7.50% +/- 0.92% and 8.04% +/- 0.28%). The enhanced uptake is interpreted as the interaction of the labeled peptide or fragment with activated caspases. Proof of caspase substrate specificity of peptide 7 and YDEVDG-NH(2) (2) was substantiated. The former peptide was shown to have a stronger competition with the fluorescent Z-DEVD-R110 for caspase-3 than peptide 2. In addition, mass spectrometry revealed only fragmentation for peptide 7. CONCLUSION It could be demonstrated that peptides consisting of DEVDG and Tat sequence are caspase substrates with enhanced uptake and retention in apoptotic cells. Current efforts are focused on alternative radioisotopes that include radiometal complexes to further improve these characteristics.
History of the surgical management of pulmonary metastases and development of the International Registry.

Pulmonary metastasectomy has been gradually recognized as a potentially curative treatment in properly selected cases, and a greater number of patients are now being offered salvage surgery. The results of the International Registry of Lung Metastases (IRLM) have defined the long-term survival after metastasectomy and provided a new classification system combining anatomical and biological features to assess prognosis in the various primary tumors.
Possible role of REG Iα protein in ulcerative colitis and colitic cancer

Background and aims: Although regenerating gene (REG) Iα protein may be involved in the inflammation and carcinogenesis in the gastrointestinal tract, its pathophysiological role in ulcerative colitis (UC) and the resulting colitic cancer remains unclear. We investigated expression of the REG Iα gene and its protein in UC and colitic cancer tissues. We examined whether cytokines are responsible for REG Iα gene expression and whether REG Iα protein has a trophic and/or an antiapoptotic effect on colon cancer cells. Methods: Expression of REG Iα mRNA and its gene product in UC tissues was analysed by real time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemistry, respectively. The effects of cytokines on REG Iα promoter activity were examined in LoVo cells by luciferase reporter assay. The effects of REG Iα protein on growth and H2O2 induced apoptosis were examined in LoVo cells by MTT and TUNEL assays, respectively. Results: REG Iα protein was strongly expressed in inflamed epithelium and in dysplasias and cancerous lesions in UC tissues. The level of REG Iα mRNA expression in UC tissues correlated significantly with severity of inflammation and disease duration. REG Iα promoter activity was enhanced by stimulation with interferon γ or interleukin 6. REG Iα protein promoted cell growth and conferred resistance to H2O2 induced apoptosis in LoVo cells. REG Iα protein promoted Akt phosphorylation and enhanced Bcl-xL and Bcl-2 expression in LoVo cells. Conclusions: The REG Iα gene is inducible by cytokines and its gene product may function as a mitogenic and/or an antiapoptotic factor in the UC-colitic cancer sequence.
Designing Training in Manufacturing Organizations Using the Genre-based Method

This paper discusses the analysis and design of training material in manufacturing organizations. Delivery of complex, large machines, such as airplanes, paper machines, or cabin cruisers, requires massive customer training, which must be tailored according to the specific training groups and features of the individual machine delivered. Hundreds of trainers and trainees can be involved. Thus the analysis and design of training is important. A small amount of automation or process improvement can lead to remarkable resource savings and free trainers' resources for educational design. We view the content of training as modular and hierarchical. It is proposed here that the trainers should be allowed to define the content they produce. We present the way we operationalized the theory of genres of organizational communication for a participatory genre-based method for analyzing variances of topical content within genres of training. We also discuss the potential for enhancing the production of content for training by content reuse using XML transformation techniques. Due to variation in customized content we propose reusing raw content sources and topic structures, rather than re-using learning objects as such for the assembly of raw learning content.
β-Glucans are involved in immune-modulation of THP-1 macrophages.

SCOPE We aimed to examine different immunological aspects of β-glucans derived from different food sources (oat, barley and shiitake) on phorbol myristate acetate (PMA)-differentiated THP-1 macrophages. Commercially purified barley β-glucan (commercial BG) and lentinan were included to compare β-glucans from the same origin but different degree of purity and processing. METHODS AND RESULTS Chemical composition and molecular weight distribution of β-glucan samples were determined. Inflammation-related gene expression kinetics (IL-1β, IL-8, nuclear factor kappa B [NF-κB] and IL-10) after 3, 6 and 24 h of stimulation with 100 μg/mL β-glucan were investigated. All tested β-glucans mildly upregulated the observed inflammation-related genes with differential gene expression patterns. Similar gene expression kinetics, but different fold induction values, was found for the crude β-glucan extracts and their corresponding commercial forms. Pre-incubation of THP-1 macrophages with β-glucans prior to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) exposure decreased the induction of inflammation-related genes compared to LPS treatment. No production of nitric oxide (NO) and hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) was detected in β-glucan stimulated THP-1 macrophages. Phagocytic activity was not different after stimulation by β-glucan samples. CONCLUSION Based on these in vitro analyses, it can be concluded that the analysed β-glucans have varying levels of immunomodulating properties, which are likely related to structure, molecular weight and compositional characteristic of β-glucan.
Improved binary similarity measures for software modularization

Various binary similarity measures have been employed in clustering approaches to make homogeneous groups of similar entities in the data. These similarity measures are mostly based only on the presence or absence of features. Binary similarity measures have also been explored with different clustering approaches (e.g., agglomerative hierarchical clustering) for software modularization to make software systems understandable and manageable. Each similarity measure has its own strengths and weaknesses which improve and deteriorate the clustering results, respectively. We highlight the strengths of some well-known existing binary similarity measures for software modularization. Furthermore, based on these existing similarity measures, we introduce several improved new binary similarity measures. Proofs of the correctness with illustration and a series of experiments are presented to evaluate the effectiveness of our new binary similarity measures.
Comparing phonology of dyads of children with typical development and protracted development

Abstract This study compares data from three functionally monolingual Spanish-speaking children with protracted phonological development (PPD; Chávez-Peón et al., 2012) and three language- and age-matched children with typical development (TD) at two time points to highlight similarities and differences in patterns of production. Spanish data were analyzed using an adapted version of Ingram and Ingram’s Basic Analysis and an assessment of phonological similarity. Results indicate that children differed with regard to phonology at both time points. Children with PPD evidenced less developed skills at both time points and varying development across aspects. Differences within and between children were highlighted when examining scores over time. Aspects of the children’s phonologies at Time 1 showed varying degrees of positive change at Time 2. These data are consistent with previous research, and additionally offer specific information gleaned from innovative analyses, which may prove to be useful in future research.
What Do a Million Observations Have to Say About Loan Defaults? Opening the Black Box of Relationships

Using a unique dataset of more than 1 million loans made by 296 German banks, we evaluate the impact of many aspects of customer–bank relationships on loan default rates. Our research suggests a practical solution to reducing loan defaults for new customers: Have the customer open a simple transactions account – savings or checking account. Observe for some time and then decide whether to make a loan. Loans made under this model have lower default, as banks can use historical data about their borrowers to establish a baseline against which new client-related information can be evaluated. Banks assemble this historical information through relationships of different forms. We define relationships in many different ways to capture non-credit relationships, transaction accounts, as well as the depth and intensity of relationships, and find each of these can provide information that helps reduce default – even establishing a simple savings or checking account and observing the activity prior to loan granting can help reduce loan defaults. Our results show that banks with relationship-specific information act differently compared with banks that do not have this information both in screening and subsequent monitoring borrowers which helps reduce loan defaults.
Public news in the exchange rate market

In this thesis, we tackle the question of how newly available public information is absorbed in the FX market. The existing literature uses a standardized news transformation on macroeconomic data before using it in time-series models, due to a link between the transformation and the rational expectations hypothesis. Our results challenge a de facto approach by highlighting that the choice of the news transformation has a significant effect on the results. In addition, we propose several methodological improvements to the popular time-series approach. However, combining low frequency macroeconomic indicators and high-frequency FX processes in time-series models creates an ill-structured problem. To shed new light on the popular existing methodology, we propose an innovative way of restructuring the problem so that less restrictive methods - such as scaling laws, dominance testing and probability metrics - can be applied. Our results show weak evidence for a widely reported observation that new information causes elevated levels of volatility in FX markets, and in fact the reverse is observed in some cases. Further investigation reveals that the only significant factor driving FX news shocks is an anticipation effect of the news release. Once we account for the anticipation effect, we observe that most releases have positive influence irrespective of the sign of the data indicator released.
A randomized study of radiation treatment in small cell bronchial carcinoma treated with two types of four‐drug chemotherapy regimens

Of an unselected series of 133 patients with small cell bronchial carcinoma, 110 patients (54 with extensive disease and 56 with limited disease) were randomly allocated to receive either chemotherapy with cyclop hosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and methotrexate, alternating after four cycles with cyclophosphamide, lomustine, vincristine, and methotrexate, or the same chemotherapy combinations together with irradiation at 40 Gy to the primary tumor area and the adjacent mediastinum. In patients with extensive disease the total response rates were 70% and 86% and the median survival 7.6 and 9.2 months, respectively. There were no long‐term survivors, and no advantage was gained from radiation combination treatment. The results confirm previously reported findings. In limited disease the complete remission rates were 68% and 64%, the partial remission rates 26% and 28%, and the median survival was 14.8 and 15.4 months, respectively. There were no statistically significant differences favoring either treatment regimen. The disease‐free survival exceeding 2 years in the two respective groups was 6.5% and 25%; this difference was not statistically significant. A slight advantage of combined radiation and chemotherapy in the direction of better long‐term survival was confirmed by the 4‐year disease‐free survival rate of 12% as compared with 0% in the nonirradiation group. This difference was statistically significant. There was considerable toxicity with both treatment regimens. The addition of radiation treatment to the chemotherapy most likely benefits patients with limited disease. The overall median survival of all the unselected 133 patients (nonrandomized included) was 10.3 months, and the cure rate was 3%.