Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Comparison of Effectiveness of Menstrual Blood Sample and Endometrial Biopsy Sample for TB-PCR Test for Detection of Tuberculous

Background: Genital tuberculosis is most common cause of infertility in females. The actual incidence of the genital tuberculosis is not correctly known due to asymptomatic presentation and paucity of investigation. With this objective we tried to investigate effectiveness of menstrual blood and endometrial sample for TB PCR in diagnosis of endometrial tuberculosis in infertile patients Methodology: In 50 patients presented with infertility in whom the inclusion criteria are met, menstrual blood and endometrial aspiration samples were collected on day 1 and day 21 or 22 respectively in normal saline and sent for Real time TB PCR in the Molecular Biology Department of the Yashoda Super Specialty Hospital Hyderabad. The results were noted and ATT was started in cases with positive results for TB PCR with either of the samples or both. Results: The diagnosis of endometrial tuberculosis was confirmed in 12 of 50 (24%) enrolled cases by positive TB PCR (either menstrual blood sample or endometrial biopsy sample or both). Of the 12 positive cases, 10 cases (83.33%) were positive for samples, one case positive for menstrual blood and other case positive for endometrial sample (8.33% each). The sensitivity and specificity of the TB PCR for menstrual blood is 91.67% and 97.33% respectively. These 12 patients were given ATT for 6 months and monitored on monthly basis. 5 of 12 patients (41.66%) conceived. Out of which, 3 are intrauterine viable pregnancies, one is a missed abortion and another one is an ectopic. Conclusion: Genital tuberculosis is not uncommonly encountered in our community. The molecular methods should be employed for its rapid diagnosis and menstrual blood is as effective as endometrial sample for the diagnosis of tuberculous endometritis. Treatment with ATT is to be considered before switching to expensive methods like IVF-ET.
Pals, problems, and personality: the moderating role of personality in the longitudinal association between adolescents' and best friends' delinquency.

We examined the potential moderating role of Block's personality types (i.e., overcontrollers, undercontrollers, and resilients) on the longitudinal associations between adolescents' and their best friends' delinquency. Across three annual waves, 497 Dutch adolescents (283 boys, M(Age) = 13 years at Wave 1) and their best friends reported on their delinquent behaviors. Adolescents' three personality types were obtained by latent class growth analysis on their annual reports on Big Five personality. A three-group cross-lagged panel analysis was performed on three waves of data. Delinquency of overcontrollers was predicted by their best friends' delinquency, whereas delinquency of undercontrollers and resilients was not. Delinquency of undercontrollers and resilients predicted their best friends' delinquency, but overcontrollers' delinquency did not. These findings suggest that personality may play an important role in adolescents' susceptibility to the influence of friends' delinquency, as well as in youths' ability to influence friends through their own delinquency.
CD39+ regulatory T cells attenuate allergic airway inflammation

The suppressive mechanism of regulatory T cells (Tregs) has remained incompletely clarified. Recent studies found that CD39 expressed by Tregs may participate in the immunoregulatory role of Tregs. CD39‐induced ATP hydrolysis and/or adenosine generation contribute to the suppressive mechanism of Tregs. Previous studies suggested that ATP is involved in allergic airway inflammation by acting on type 2 purinergic (P2) receptors, but the role of CD39 and CD39+Tregs in allergic airway inflammation has not been elaborated.
Rough Set Model under Different Granular Computing

This paper presents rough set model under different granular computing, and compares the model under combined granular with that under single granular, also with rough set model under logical computing of granule. Results show that combination granule and logical computing of granule construct a chain, which will lay a foundation for knowledge acquisition based on information granule and induction based on dynamic granule.
Evidence of inbreeding depression but not inbreeding avoidance in a natural house sparrow population

Inbreeding is common in small and threatened populations and often has a negative effect on individual fitness and genetic diversity. Thus, inbreeding can be an important factor affecting the persistence of small populations. In this study, we investigated the effects of inbreeding on fitness in a small, wild population of house sparrows (Passer domesticus) on the island of Aldra, Norway. The population was founded in 1998 by four individuals (one female and three males). After the founder event, the adult population rapidly increased to about 30 individuals in 2001. At the same time, the mean inbreeding coefficient among adults increased from 0 to 0.04 by 2001 and thereafter fluctuated between 0.06 and 0.10, indicating a highly inbred population. We found a negative effect of inbreeding on lifetime reproductive success, which seemed to be mainly due to an effect of inbreeding on annual reproductive success. This resulted in selection against inbred females. However, the negative effect of inbreeding was less strong in males, suggesting that selection against inbred individuals is at least partly sex specific. To examine whether individuals avoided breeding with close relatives, we compared observed inbreeding and kinship coefficients in the population with those obtained from simulations of random mating. We found no significant differences between the two, indicating weak or absent inbreeding avoidance. We conclude that there was inbreeding depression in our population. Despite this, birds did not seem to actively avoid mating with close relatives, perhaps as a consequence of constraints on mating possibilities in such a small population.
The Conundrum of School Desegregation: Positive Student Outcomes and Waning Support

The Brown v. Board of Education (1954) decision was a landmark in many respects. Most importantly, it overturned the separate but equal doctrine embodied in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), laying the groundwork for massive change in our society. In particular, it laid the basis for dismantling state supported racial segregation in education, housing, and other important areas of life. For social scientists there is another, though less important, reason why the Brown decision was so crucial. It was the first case in which a Supreme Court decision specifically mentioned the input of social science experts (Cook, 1979). Although there is a lack of agreement about how important a role this input played, social scientists were buoyed by the fact that a statement signed by a large number of leading social scientists was cited.
A Follow-up Study of Pneumoconiosis in an Iron Foundry and Some Investigations into the Effect of Foundry Dust in the Lungs

In a survey of health and environmental condi tions in the Butterley Foundries (Keatinge and Potter, 1945) one of the principal health risks to which the workers were exposed was found to be pneumoconiosis, and it was estimated that the potential dust risk of fettlers was many times greater than that to which other workers in the foundries were exposed. Sixty foundry men, divided into broad occupational groups, five fettlers, 31 moulders, 24 others, were submitted to x-ray examination of the chest. Two out of the five fettlers examined were affected in comparison with only eight out of the 31 moulders. Since the publication of this survey a number of other inquiries have been made into the health of foundry workers and the environmental conditions in foundries (Eskildsen, 1949 ; Gordon, 1950 ; Yigliani, Parmeggiani, and Zanetti, 1948 ; Zanetti and Domp? , 1950) but the most extensive has been that undertaken by McLaughlin (1950), in which 2,767 people were examined. McLaughlin and his colleagues however found that in the iron foundry the moulder as compared with the fettler was exposed to a greater risk of silicosis probably due to the use of silica parting powders. Although several surveys have been made of the health of foundry workers, few follow-up studies appear to have been carried out in Great Britain. Since the last study of the Butterley Foundries was published nearly 10 years ago it was felt that a further survey of the incidence of respiratory disease amongst those examined on a previous occasion might prove instructive ; in considering the findings of the present survey, it must be borne in mind that it is iron-founding alone which is carried out at Butterley. There are three foundries at Butterley : No. 1 Foundry produces small, medium, and light cast i gs, a semi-mechanized basis ; No. 2 Foundry makes large castings of a general nature ; and No. 3 Foundry very light castings on a fully mechanized unit. More than 200 workers are employed in the foundries, of whom 20 are engaged in fettling, 50 in moulding, 16 in core-making, and the remainder in other work. The work done is representative of many branches of iron-founding, and th building and general conditions are of a ki d very usual in the industry. The dust environment in the Butterley Foundries has not altered materially since the previous survey was carried out and is comparable with that recorded in other iron foundries by McLaughlin (1950). Examination of the dust (at Sheffield University) showed obvious large particles, and a fine fraction was separated by suspension in tap water and decanti g into a large filter, after the larger particles had edimented. Samples of the dust after separa tio of this fine fraction showed that it contained 35 to 36% of total silica, and 38% of iron, (reckoned as Fe203) : chemical analysis (Trostel and Wynne, 1940) gave the percentage of free silica as 24-8% and x-ray analysis gave a figure of 18-5%.
Geographic Variation in California Pediatric Hospice Care for Children and Adolescents: 2007-2010

Objective: To map and describe the geographic distribution of pediatric hospice care need versus supply in California over a 4-year time period (2007-2010). Methods: Multiple databases were used for this descriptive longitudinal study. The sample consisted of 2036 children and adolescent decedents and 136 pediatric hospice providers. Geocoded data were used to create the primary variables of interest for this study—need and supply of pediatric hospice care. Geographic information systems were used to create heat maps for analysis. Results: Almost 90% of the children and adolescents had a potential need for hospice care, whereas more than 10% had a realized need. The highest density of potential need was found in the areas surrounding Los Angeles. The areas surrounding the metropolitan communities of Los Angeles and San Diego had the highest density of realized hospice care need. Sensitivity analysis revealed neighborhood-level differences in potential and realized need in the Los Angeles area. Over 30 pediatric hospice providers supplied care to the Los Angeles and San Diego areas. Conclusion: There were distinctive geographic patterns of potential and realized need with high density of potential and realized need in Los Angeles and high density of realized need in the San Diego area. The supply of pediatric hospice care generally matched the needs of children and adolescents. Future research should continue to explore the needs of children and adolescents at end of life at the neighborhood level, especially in large metropolitan areas.
Statistical Analysis of Separation Distance between Equatorial Plasma Bubbles

Equatorial plasma bubbles in the low-latitude regions can cause loss-of-lock resulting to the availability of ground-based augmentation system (GBAS) due to increased ionospheric gradients. For realistic simulation, distances between adjacent bubbles need to be determined. In this study, we analyze the statistics of this parameter around the Suvarnabhumi international airport, Thailand. This work presents the methodology to estimate the separation distance between visible plasma bubbles on the same day. To detect the equatorial plasma bubbles, we analyze the slant total electron content (STEC), which is obtained from the dual-frequency GNSS receiver located at King Mongkut's Institute of Technology Ladkrabang (geographic, 13.7278o N, 100.7726o E). The results show that the separation distance between plasma bubbles on anomalous ionosphere are in range of 30 to 150 kilometers.
Mortality salience biases attention to positive versus negative images among individuals higher in trait self-control

Death is inevitable. One way people cope with awareness of death is to focus on the positive things in life. Consistent with this idea, reminders of personal mortality have been found to increase optimism and tune attention towards positive information. The current research tested the hypothesis that persons higher in trait self-control are especially likely to attend to positive (versus negative) stimuli under mortality salience (MS). Participants completed a measure of trait self-control, contemplated their own mortality or a control topic, and then viewed positive and negative affective images while their gaze patterns were recorded. MS increased the attention to positive (versus negative) images among participants higher in trait self-control, whereas those lower in trait self-control exhibited a non-significant trend in the opposite direction. Thus, participants higher in trait self-control showed a positivity bias after contemplating death, which may help explain why they tend to enjoy more positive outcomes in life.
Induction of Islet Cytodifferentiation by Fetal Mesenchyme in Adult Pancreatic Ductal Epithelium

Recombinant tissue consisting of adult ductal epithelium isolated from pancreas and fetal mesenchyme was transplanted subcutaneously in the inguinal region of nude mice or epididymal fat pads of rats with a tissue chamber device for short-term (8-day) or long-term (6- to 12-wk) duration. We found that recombinant tissue underwent morphogenesis and cytodifferentiation, thereby forming islets that contained cells immunocytochemically positive for insulin and glucagon. Islet cytodifferentiation occurred in ∼20% of the recombinants. In recombinants that developed into islets, the tissue was always in close association with an extracellular matrix, nerves, and blood vessels. Controls consisting of mesenchyme alone or duct epithelium alone showed no evidence of morphogenesis of cytodifferentiation. Pancreatic rudiments were also implanted to serve as positive controls. This is the first demonstration of islet cytodifferentiation from adult duct epithelium.
Agammaglobulinaemia in a girl with a mosaic of ring 18 chromosome

A patient with a mosaic karyotype 45,XX,‐18/46,XX,dic r(18)/46, XX, r(18) with multiple phenotypic abnormalities and immunodeficiency was presented at the age of 14 years. Immunological investigation revealed markedly decreased IgG, IgA and in two of three evaluations also IgM levels. Although selective IgA deficiency is frequent in patients with a ring chromosome 18, this is the third patient described with decreased levels of other immunoglobulin isotypes. The association of chromosome 18 partial deletions and immunoglobulin abnormalities suggests the presence of an as yet unrecognised gene with a pivotal role for immunoglobulin production on chromosome 18.
Linkage analysis of schizophrenia to chromosome 15.

We have mapped a sample of 68 families consisting of one or more affected sibling pairs with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder with 20 markers spanning all of chromosome 15 to investigate whether there is a locus on chromosome 15 that confers an increased susceptibility to schizophrenia using parametric and nonparametric linkage analyses. Allele sharing identical by descent and multipoint maximum likelihood score (MLS) statistics were employed. Results show excess allele sharing for multiple markers in 15q11.2-q25, a chromosomal region previously found linked to a decrease in the normal inhibition of the P50 auditory-evoked response to the second of paired stimuli, a decrease associated with schizophrenia. Excess allele sharing was found for markers spanning about 48 cM in 15q11.2-q25 (D15S1002-D15S1023). The greatest single point allele sharing was found at D15S659 (62.6%). The multipoint MLS scores were greater than 1.0 in the 30-52 cM interval delimited by ACTC and D15S150, with a maximum value of 2.0 with GENEHUNTER PLUS near D15S1039.
Identification of Marek's disease virus‐specific antigens in Marek's disease lymphoblastoid cell lines using monoclonal antibody against virus‐specific phosphorylated polypeptides

For identification of the antigens specific to Marek's disease virus (MDV) in virus‐non‐producer lymphoblastoid cell lines established from a tumor of Marek's disease (MD), hybridomas producing monoclonal antibodies (MABs) against the antigens were isolated. Immunogens for preparation of the hybridomas were purified from the lysate of an MD‐lymphoblastoid cell line, MSB I, by affinity chromatography coupled with chicken anti‐MDV serum immunoglobulin G. Three of the MAbs obtained, MB1, MB2 and MB3, were specific to MDV by immunofluorexence test. An immunofluorexence test using MB2 antibody showed that immunofluorexence‐positive cells in non‐producer MD‐lymphoblastoid line cells became detectable when the culture temperature was shifted from 41° C to 33° C or when treatment with 5‐iodo‐2‐deoxyuridine (IUdR) was performed, indicating that the antigen reactive with MB2 antibody is an MDV‐specific early antigen. This temperature shift of IUdR‐treatment did not induce other MDV‐specific antigens, such as late gene products of MDV, detected with MAbs. MB1 and MB2 antibodies immunoprecipitated 4 MDV‐specific phosphorylated polypeptides with molecular weights (MWs) of 43,000 (43kd), 39kd, 36kd and 24kd from chick embryo fibroblasts productively infected with virulent MDV. In the place of 43kd, phosphorylated 44kd polypeptide was precipitated from avirulent MDV‐infected fibroblasts. However, MB3 antibody did not precipitate any MDV‐specific polypeptides from infected fibroblasts. These results suggest that the phosphorylated polypeptides are MDV‐specific polypeptides predominantly expressed in non‐producer MD‐lymphoblastoid cell lines.
The role of aromatic residues in the hydrophobic core of the villin headpiece subdomain

Small autonomously folding proteins are of interest as model systems to study protein folding, as the same molecule can be used for both experimental and computational approaches. The question remains as to how well these minimized peptide model systems represent larger native proteins. For example, is the core of a minimized protein tolerant to mutation like larger proteins are? Also, do minimized proteins use special strategies for specifying and stabilizing their folded structure? Here we examine these questions in the 35‐residue autonomously folding villin headpiece subdomain (VHP subdomain). Specifically, we focus on a cluster of three conserved phenylalanine (F) residues F47, F51, and F58, that form most of the hydrophobic core. These three residues are oriented such that they may provide stabilizing aromatic–aromatic interactions that could be critical for specifying the fold. Circular dichroism and 1D‐NMR spectroscopy show that point mutations that individually replace any of these three residues with leucine were destabilized, but retained the native VHP subdomain fold. In pair‐wise replacements, the double mutant that retains F58 can adopt the native fold, while the two double mutants that lack F58 cannot. The folding of the double mutant that retains F58 demonstrates that aromatic–aromatic interactions within the aromatic cluster are not essential for specifying the VHP subdomain fold. The ability of the VHP subdomain to tolerate mutations within its hydrophobic core indicates that the information specifying the three dimensional structure is distributed throughout the sequence, as observed in larger proteins. Thus, the VHP subdomain is a legitimate model for larger, native proteins.
Novel approaches in the treatment of myositis and myopathies

The inflammatory myopathies are a heterogeneous group of disorders characterized by muscle weakness and inflammation. Although no standard therapeutic guidelines exist, traditional treatment has included corticosteroids and a variety of second-line immunosuppressants. As treatment of refractory disease has been difficult, newer agents and approaches have been used with varying response. The advent of standardized treatment response criteria by the International Myositis Assessment and Clinical Studies (IMACS) group has helped investigators to evaluate and compare clinical trial outcomes in a more rigorous fashion. The use of intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG), rituximab, biologic agents including tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitors, stem-cell transplantation, gene therapy, and vascular occlusion resistance training are reviewed here. As our understanding of disease pathogenesis at the immunologic, genetic, and molecular level expands, the discovery of novel therapeutic targets hold promise for the successful treatment of these conditions.
Private Antitrust Enforcement in the Presence of Pre-Trial Bargaining

We study the effect of encouraging private actions for breaches of competition law. We develop a model in which a plaintiff, who may have private information about whether a breach of law has been committed, decides whether to open a case against a defendant. If opened, the case may be settled out of court or may proceed to full trial. The authorities can facilitate private actions by lowering the costs of opening a case or of proceeding to a full trial, or by raising the damages to be expected in the event of success. We show that facilitating private action increases the number of cases opened and sometimes but not always makes plaintiffs more aggressive in pre-trial bargaining. The latter, if it occurs, tends to make defendants who have committed anti-trust violations more likely to settle than innocent defendants. We also show that for screening to work requires the Court to be committed to rely only on submitted evidence in the case, and not on other possibly relevant background material. We finally study how to design the rules so as to enhance the role of private litigation on antitrust enforcement and prove that it is better to increase damages that to reduce costs of initiating a suit. In particular we find large benefits from introducing a system of compensation for Defendants found non-liable, paid by unsuccessful plaintiffs.