Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Who publishes in “predatory” journals?

Many open access journals have a reputation for being of low quality and being dishonest with regard to peer review and publishing costs. Such journals are labeled “predatory” journals. This study examines author profiles for some of these “predatory” journals as well as for groups of more well‐recognized open access journals. We collect and analyze the publication record, citation count, and geographic location of authors from the various groups of journals. Statistical analyses verify that each group of journals has a distinct author population. Those who publish in “predatory” journals are, for the most part, young and inexperienced researchers from developing countries. We believe that economic and sociocultural conditions in these developing countries have contributed to the differences found in authorship between “predatory” and “nonpredatory” journals.
Effects of experimental warming on fungal disease progress in oilseed rape

Global warming will influence the growth and development of both crops and pathogens. The aims of this study were to investigate potential effects of future warming on oilseed rape growth and the epidemiology of the three economically important pathogens Verticillium longisporum, Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, and Leptosphaeria maculans (anamorph: Phoma lingam). We utilized climate chambers and a soil warming facility, where treatments represented regional warming scenarios for Lower Saxony, Germany, by 2050 and 2100, and compared results of both approaches on a thermal time scale by calculating degree‐days (dd) from day of sowing, December 1st and March 1st until sampling, the latter correlating best with disease progress. Regression analysis showed that plant growth and growth stages in spring responded almost linearly to increasing thermal time until 1000–1500 dd. Colonization of plant tissue by V. longisporum showed an exponential increase when exceeding 1300–1500 dd and reaching plant growth stage BBCH 74/75 (pod development). V. longisporum colonization of plants may be advanced, potentially leading to higher inoculum densities after harvest and increased economic importance of this pathogen under future warming. Sclerotia germination of S. sclerotiorum reached its maximum at 600–900 dd. Advance of these critical degree‐days may lead to earlier apothecia production, potentially advancing the infection window, whereas the future importance of S. sclerotiorum may remain constant. Severity of phoma crown canker increased linearly with increasing thermal time, but showed also large variation in response to the warming scenarios, suggesting that factors such as canopy microclimate in fall or leaf shedding over winter may play a bigger role for L. maculans infection and disease severity than higher soil temperatures. Thermal time was a suitable tool to combine and integrate data on biological responses to soil and air temperature increases from climate chamber and field experiments.
The origin of the spinomesencephalic tract in the rat: An anatomical study using the retrograde transport of horseradish peroxidase

An anatomical technique based on the retrograde transport of horseradish peroxidase (HRP) was used to investigate the projections of spinal cord neurons to the mesencephalic tegmentum in the rat. Restricted unilateral injections were confined to central grey, cuneiformis area, and superior colliculus. Injections into all these loci produced labeling in similar spinal areas. Only quantitative differences were noted.
Neuropathological study of cerebellar degeneration in prion disease

In order to clarify the relationship between cerebellar degeneration and prion protein (PrP) accumulation, 17 cases of sporadic Creutzfeldt‐Jakob disease (CJD) and three cases of Gerstmann–Sträussler syndrome (GSS) were analyzed neuropathologically. Immunohistochemical staining for PrP showed synaptic‐type deposits in all of the CJD cases. The punctate PrP stains in CJD patients were almost identical with those of synaptophysin, suggesting that PrP had accumulated in the synaptic structures. Synapses damage due to PrP accumulation seemed to develop prior to granule cell loss. PrP accumulation was inversely correlated with granule cell loss. The degree of atrophy in the molecular layer was compatible with granule cell loss. The nodulus showed severe PrP accumulation when compared with other sites in the cerebellum. How‐ever, in GSS cases, the loss of Purkinje cells and dentate nucleus neurons was obvious. Further, immunohisto‐chemical staining for PrP demonstrated Kuru plaque‐type and synaptic‐type depositions in the molecular layer, the granular cell layer, and the dentate nucleus, which was different from CJD cases.
Characterization of nickel Germanide thin films for use as contacts to p-channel Germanium MOSFETs

We have measured the physical properties and resistivity of nickel germanide thin films formed by the rapid thermal annealing of nickel metal on p-type germanium substrates. Rutherford back scattering and high-resolution electron diffraction confirm that the stoichiometry of the resulting nickel germanide film corresponds to NiGe and has an orthorhombic unit cell with dimensions comparable to that of bulk samples. Transmission electron microscopy shows a poly-crystalline film structure with grain size > 0.1 /spl mu/m. The resistivity values for films annealed in the range 350/spl deg/C-500/spl deg/C are comparable to those of metal silicides. Measurements of the specific contact resistance suggest that values approaching 2 /spl times/ 10/sup -7/ /spl Omega/. cm/sup 2/ can be realized using NiGe formed on heavily doped p-type germanium.
Histopathological relevance in clinical spectrum of Hansen's disease.

Background: Hansen’s disease/Leprosy is one of major health problem in India, caused by Mycobacterium leprae. Diagnosed clinically based on standard Ridley Jopling’s diagnostic criteria. The clinical diagnosis and histopathological diagnosis were compared for each patient for concordance. Aim: To study clinical correlation with histopathological diagnosis of Hansen’s disease at district hospital, Warangal, Telangana state, India. Methods: Seventy five untreated patients were selected, after detailed history & clinical examination classified clinically based on Ridley & Jopling classification and 6mm punch biopsy specimen were collected, formalin fixed, sent for Haematoxylin & Eosin stain and Fite faraco stains for type of leprosy and Acid Fast Bacilli(lepra) respectively which will aid in correlating clinical diagnosis with histopathological diagnosis. Results: The clinical diagnosis based on Ridley and Jopling classification criteria were majority of them are BT(44 cases), followed by LL(15), BL(9), TT(6) and BB(1). The histopathological diagnosis showed majority of them are BT(39), BL(11), LL(10), TT(7), Indeterminate(3) & No evidence of leprosy(5) Conclusion: The clinical and histo-pathological diagnosis shown correlation in 42 cases (56%). The concordance in different spectrum of leprosy showed is TT-33%, BT-65.9%, BB-0%, BL-22.2% and LL-60% respectively.
Drymaria cordata (Linn.) Willd (Caryophyllaceae): Ethnobotany, Pharmacology and Phytochemistry

In the present paper the isolation and characterization of seven major glycolipid classes (stigmasterol, acylated stigmasteryl glucoside, stigmasteryl glucoside, monogalactosyldiacylglycerol, digalactosyldiacylglycerol, cerebroside and glucocerebroside) from Drymaria cordata (Linn.) Willd (Caryophyllaceae Family) are reported after an attempt has been made to congregate the traditional and pharmacological studies done on this important medicinal plant. Drymaria cordata is a weak spreading herb found widely dispersed in damp places all over the tropics of Africa, Asia and the Americas. There are many reports on its folk and traditional uses that include snake bite, skin diseases, peptic ulcer, headaches or nephritis, female infertility, sleeping disorders, convulsions, and febrile conditions in children. The plant has been examined on the basis of scientific in vitro and in vivo evaluations possessing the major pharmacological activities that include analgesic activity, antitussive activity, anxiolytic activity, antipyretic activity, antinociceptive activity, anti-inflammatory and antibacterial activities. The information summarized here is intended to serve as a reference tool for practitioners in the fields of ethnopharmacology, natural product chemistry and drug discovery related research.
Lung Cancer in Women with a Family History of Cancer: The Spanish Female-specific Database WORLD07.

BACKGROUND The WORLD07 project is a female-specific database to prospectively analyze the characteristics of Spanish women with lung cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS We analyzed and compared lung cancer features in women with and without a family history of cancer/lung cancer. RESULTS Two thousand and sixty women were included: 876 had a family history of cancer (lung cancer, 34%) and 886 did not, with no significant differences between groups, except for smoking status (p=0.036). We found statistically significant correlations between epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation and smoking status in patients with a family history of cancer (r=-0.211; p<0.001) and lung cancer (r=-0.176; p<0.001). Longer median overall survival was observed in women with a family history of cancer and lung cancer. CONCLUSION Among Spanish women with lung cancer, a greater proportion were current smokers in those with a family history of cancer/lung cancer. There was a significant correlation between the presence of EGFR mutation and smoking.
FcγRIIB Deficiency Leads to Autoimmunity and a Defective Response to Apoptosis in Mrl-MpJ Mice1

Data suggests that modulation of FcγRIIB expression represents a significant risk factor for the development of autoimmunity. In this study, we investigated this notion in mice that possess genetics permissible for the development of autoimmunity. To this end, Mrl-MpJ Fcgr2b−/− mice were monitored for the development of autoreactivity. We found that FcγRIIB deficiency led to chronic B cell activation associated with increased germinal center and plasma cell accumulation in the spleen. Likewise, Mrl-MpJ Fcgr2b−/− mice exhibited significant serum IgG reactivity against DNA. We further analyzed the IgG isotype contribution to the anti-dsDNA response and found increases in all subtypes with the exception of IgG3. In particular, we found large increases in IgG1 and IgG2b autoreactivity correlating with significant increases in immune complex deposition and kidney pathology. Finally, we found dendritic cells derived from Mrl-MpJ Fcgr2b−/− mice greatly increased IL-12 expression upon coincubation with apoptotic thymocytes compared with wild-type controls. The results indicate that FcγRIIB is an important regulator of peripheral tolerance and attenuation of the inhibitory signal it provides enhances autoimmune disease on susceptible backgrounds. Additionally, the data indicates FcγRIIB function has a significant impact on APC activity, suggesting a prominent role in dendritic cell activity in response to interaction with particulate autoantigens.
Contact and photocontact allergy to octocrylene: a review

Octocrylene is an ultraviolet (UV)B and UVAII absorber that was introduced some 15 years ago, and is now widely used in sunscreen agents and skin care cosmetics. Since 2003, several studies, notably from France, Belgium, Spain, and Italy, have reported an increasing number of patients with photocontact allergy to octocrylene. This reaction is seen mainly in adult patients who have previously used topical products containing the non‐steroidal anti‐inflammatory drug ketoprofen. Photosensitization to ketoprofen leads, in many cases, to photocontact allergy to octocrylene; the mechanism of this reaction is unknown. Contact allergy to octocrylene also occurs, but is far less frequent, and is seen, in most cases, in children, resulting from the use of octocrylene‐containing sunscreen products. In this article, (photo)contact allergy to octocrylene is fully reviewed.
Exact finite dimensional nonlinear filters

A new nonlinear filter is derived for continuous time processes with discrete time measurements. The filter is exact, and it can be implemented in real-time with a computational complexity that is comparable to the Kalman filter. This new filter includes both the Kalman filter and the discrete time version of the Bene¿ filter as special cases. Moreover, the new theory can handle a large class of nonlinear estimation problems that cannot be solved using the Kalman or discrete time Bene¿ filters. A simple approximation technique is suggested for practical applications in which the dynamics do not satisfy the required conditions exactly. This approximation is analogous to the so-called "extended Kalman filter" [10], and it represents a generalization of the standard linearization method.
Evaluation of a new perimetric threshold strategy, SITA, in patients with manifest and suspect glaucoma.

PURPOSE To evaluate the performance of the new perimetric threshold strategy SITA relative to older methods. METHOD Thirty-two patients with either glaucoma or ocular hypertension performed two threshold visual field tests with each of three threshold strategies, SITA, Humphrey Full Threshold, and Fastpac. Testing was distributed over three visits, and testing order was balanced between strategies to control for order effects. RESULTS SITA tests consumed 54% of the time taken by Full Threshold tests on average, and 85% of Fastpac tests; SITA's test times were significantly shorter than those of Full Threshold (p<0.0001) and Fastpac (p=0.0008). Test-retest threshold variability did not differ significantly between strategies. Intertest variability of the pattern deviation analysis was lowest in SITA (p<0.01) relative to both Full Threshold and Fastpac. Both SITA and Fastpac showed higher than expected average sensitivities relative to Full Threshold. SITA and Fastpac showed approximately the same amount of visual field loss. There was a significant relationship between Mean Deviation and the SITA function used to shorten stimulus sequences at points where measurement errors are small (p<0.0001). CONCLUSION Our results suggest that SITA matches the precision of older thresholding methods, consuming considerably and significantly less test time. This indicates that SITA could replace Full Threshold as the standard clinical test used in glaucoma management, without decreasing the quality of test results.
Role of 2,4-Diacetylphloroglucinol in the Interactions of the Biocontrol Pseudomonad Strain F113 with the Potato Cyst Nematode Globodera rostochiensis

The potato cyst nematode Globodera rostochiensis is an important pest of potato (Solanum tuberosum). Pseudomonas fluorescens F113, which produces 2,4-diacetylphloroglucinol (DAPG), was investigated as a potential biocontrol agent against G. rostochiensis. Exposure of nematode cysts to the pseudomonad, under in vitro conditions or in soil microcosms, almost doubled the ability of the eggs to hatch. The percentage of mobile juveniles was reduced threefold following their incubation in the presence of the pseudomonad, both in vitro and in soil. Results obtained with a transposon-induced DAPG-negative biosynthetic mutant of F113 and its complemented derivative with restored DAPG synthesis showed that the ability of strain F113 to produce DAPG was responsible for the increase in hatch ability and the reduction in juvenile mobility. Similar effects on egg hatch ability and juvenile mobility of G. rostochiensis were obtained in vitro by incubating nematode cysts and juveniles, respectively, in the presence of synthetic DAPG. DAPG-producing P. fluorescens F113 is proposed as a potential biocontrol inoculant for the protection of potato crops against the potato cyst nematode.
TNF and IL‐6 mediate MIP‐1α expression in bleomycin‐induced lung injury

Previously, macrophage inflammatory protein‐1α (MIP‐1α), a member of the C‐C chemokine family, has been implicated in bleomycin‐induced pulmonary fibrosis, a model of the human disease idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Neutralization of MIP‐1α protein with anti‐MIP‐1α antibodies significantly attenuated both mononuclear phagocyte recruitment and pulmonary fibrosis in bleomycin‐challenged CBA/J mice. However, the specific stimuli for MIP‐1α expression in the bleomycin‐induced lesion have not been characterized. In this report, two mediators of the inflammatory response to bleomycin, tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and interleukin‐6 (IL‐6), were evaluated as putative stimuli for MIP‐1α expression after bleomycin challenge in CBA/J mice. Elevated levels of bioactive TNF and IL‐6 were detected in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid and lung homogenates from bleomycin‐treated CBA/J mice at time points post‐bleomycin challenge, which precede MIP‐1α protein expression. Treatment of bleomycin‐challenged mice with soluble TNF receptor (sTNFr) or anti‐IL‐6 antibodies significantly decreased MIP‐1α protein expression in the lungs. Furthermore, normal alveolar macrophages secreted elevated levels of MIP‐1α protein in response to treatment with TNF plus IL‐6 or bleomycin plus IL‐6, but not TNF, bleomycin, or IL‐6 alone. Finally, leukocytes recovered from the BAL fluid of bleomycin‐challenged mice secreted higher levels of MIP‐1α protein, compared to controls, when treated with TNF alone. Based on the data presented here, we propose that TNF and IL‐6 are part of a cytokine network that modulates MIP‐1α protein expression in the profibrotic inflammatory lesion during the response to intratracheal bleomycin challenge. J. Leukoc. Biol. 64: 528–536; 1998.
Development and validation of a clinical prediction rule for severe community-acquired pneumonia.

RATIONALE Objective strategies are needed to improve the diagnosis of severe community-acquired pneumonia in the emergency department setting. OBJECTIVES To develop and validate a clinical prediction rule for identifying patients with severe community-acquired pneumonia, comparing it with other prognostic rules. METHODS Data collected from clinical information and physical examination of 1,057 patients visiting the emergency department of a hospital were used to derive a clinical prediction rule, which was then validated in two different populations: 719 patients from the same center and 1,121 patients from four other hospitals. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS In the multivariate analyses, eight independent predictive factors were correlated with severe community-acquired pneumonia: arterial pH < 7.30, systolic blood pressure < 90 mm Hg, respiratory rate > 30 breaths/min, altered mental status, blood urea nitrogen > 30 mg/dl, oxygen arterial pressure < 54 mm Hg or ratio of arterial oxygen tension to fraction of inspired oxygen < 250 mm Hg, age > or = 80 yr, and multilobar/bilateral lung affectation. From the beta parameter obtained in the multivariate model, a score was assigned to each predictive variable. The model shows an area under the curve of 0.92. This rule proved better at identifying patients evolving toward severe community-acquired pneumonia than either the modified American Thoracic Society rule, the British Thoracic Society's CURB-65, or the Pneumonia Severity Index. CONCLUSIONS A simple score using clinical data available at the time of the emergency department visit provides a practical diagnostic decision aid, and predicts the development of severe community-acquired pneumonia.
THE ROLE OF GINSENOSIDE-Rd IN CISPLATIN-INDUCED ACUTE RENAL FAILURE

Ginsenoside-Rd has been proved to decrease the severity of renal injury induced by cisplatin, in which proximal urinaferous tubules represent the main site of injury. When ginsenoside-Rd was given orally at a dose of 1 or 5 mg/kg body weight/day for 30 consecutive days prior to cisplatin injection, the activities of the antioxidation enzymes superoxide dismutase and catalase were higher, while malondialdehyde levels in serum and renal tissue were lower in the treated rats than in the controls. The levels of urea nitrogen and creatinine in serum were decreased in rats given ginsenoside-Rd. Decreased urinary levels of glucose, sodium and potassium reflected a protective action against the renal dysfunction caused by cisplatin. In addition, it was demonstrated that ginsenoside-Rd affected cultured proximal tubule cells exposed to cisplatin.
Power evaluation of asymptotic tests for comparing two binomial proportions to detect direct and indirect association in large-scale studies

Asymptotic tests are commonly used for comparing two binomial proportions when the sample size is sufficiently large. However, there is no consensus on the most powerful test. In this paper, we clarify this issue by comparing the power functions of three popular asymptotic tests: the Pearson’s χ2 test, the likelihood-ratio test and the odds-ratio based test. Considering Taylor decompositions under local alternatives, the comparisons lead to recommendations on which test to use in view of both the experimental design and the nature of the investigated signal. We show that when the design is balanced between the two binomials, the three tests are equivalent in terms of power. However, when the design is unbalanced, differences in power can be substantial and the choice of the most powerful test also depends on the value of the parameters of the two compared binomials. We further investigated situations where the two binomials are not compared directly but through tag binomials. In these cases of indirect association, we show that the differences in power between the three tests are enhanced with decreasing values of the parameters of the tag binomials. Our results are illustrated in the context of genetic epidemiology where the analysis of genome-wide association studies provides insights regarding the low power for detecting rare variants.
Endoscopic Middle Ear Surgery

One hundred sixty-five middle ear procedures were performed with an endoscope, a camera, and a video monitor instead of the microscope. The endoscope offers the following advantages: 1) it visualizes the whole tympanic membrane and the ear canal without having to manipulate the patient's head or the microscope, 2) it extends the operative field in transcanal procedures into structures usually hidden from the microscope (anterior tympanic perforation, posterior retraction pocket, facial recess, and hypotympanum), and 3) it visualizes structures from multiple angles as opposed to the microscope's single axis along the ear canal. Disadvantages of the endoscope include the one-handed surgical technique, a loss of depth perception, limited magnification, and the need for training. The endoscope holds the greatest promise in tympanoplasty and cholesteatoma surgery and should increase the utilization of transcanal over postauricular procedures.