Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Incorporating Unstructured Socializing Into the Study of Secondary Exposure to Community Violence

Secondary exposure to community violence, defined as witnessing or hearing violence in the community, has the potential to profoundly impact long-term development, health, happiness, and security. While research has explored pathways to community violence exposure at the individual, family, and neighborhood levels, prior work has largely neglected situational factors conducive to secondary violence exposure. The present study evaluates “unstructured socializing with peers in the absence of authority figures” as a situational process that has implications for secondary exposure to violence. Results indicate that a measure of unstructured socializing was significantly associated with exposure to violence, net of an array of theoretically relevant covariates of violence exposure. Moreover, the relationships between exposure to violence and three of the most well-established correlates of violence exposure in the literature—age, male, and prior violence—were mediated to varying degrees by unstructured socializing. The results suggest a more nuanced approach to the study of secondary violence exposure that expands the focus of attention beyond individual and neighborhood background factors to include situational opportunities presented by patterns of everyday activities.
CD137 ligand signalling induces differentiation of primary acute myeloid leukaemia cells

CD137 ligand (CD137L), a member of the tumour necrosis factor family, is expressed as a cell surface molecule. Engagement of CD137L on haematopoietic progenitor cells induces monocytic differentiation, and in peripheral monocytes CD137L signalling promotes differentiation to mature dendritic cells. We hypothesized that CD137L signalling would also induce differentiation in transformed myeloid cells. Here we show that recombinant CD137 protein, which crosslinks CD137L and initiates reverse CD137L signalling in myeloid cells, induces morphological changes (adherence, spreading), loss of progenitor markers (CD117), expression of maturation markers (CD11b, CD13) and secretion of cytokines that are indicative of myeloid differentiation. Under the influence of CD137L signalling, acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) cells acquired expression of co‐stimulatory molecules (CD80, CD86, CD40), the dendritic cell marker CD83 and dendritic cell activities, enabling them to stimulate T cells. CD137L signalling induced differentiation in 71% (15 of 21) of AML samples, irrespective of French‐American‐British classification and CD137L expression level. However, the type of response varied with the AML subtype and patient sample. In summary, this study demonstrated that CD137L signalling induced differentiation in malignant cells of AML patients, and suggests that it may be worthwhile to investigate treatment with recombinant CD137 protein as a potential novel therapeutic approach for AML.
Lack of functional erythropoietin receptors of cancer cell lines

Erythropoietin (Epo) therapy reduces red cell transfusion requirements and improves the quality of life of anemic cancer patients receiving chemotherapy. However, there is concern that Epo may promote tumor growth. We investigated by real‐time RT‐PCR, immunofluorescence microscopy, Western blotting and cell growth analysis whether human cancer cell lines (SH‐SY5Y, MCF7, HepG2, U2‐OS, HeLa, HEK293T, RCC4, HCT116, 7860wt and SW480) possess functional Epo receptors (EpoR). We detected EpoR mRNA in all cell lines. Neither hypoxia nor Epo treatment altered the level of EpoR mRNA expression. Four commonly used commercial antibodies proved to be unsuitable for immunoblot procedures because they cross‐reacted with several proteins unrelated with EpoR. Depending on the antibody used, EpoR was localized to the plasma membrane, the cytoplasm or the nucleus. Experiments with small interfering RNA showed that EpoR protein was not expressed by the tumor cells except by UT7/Epo leukemia cells, which served as an EpoR positive control line, and by cells transfected with the human EpoR gene. Apart from UT7/Epo, none of the tumor cell lines responded to Epo treatment with phosphorylation of signaling molecules or with cell proliferation. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Motion‐insensitive, steady‐state free precession imaging

Steady‐state free precession (SSFP) pulse sequences employing gradient reversal echoes and short repetition time (TR) between successive rf excitation pulses offer high signal‐to‐noise ratio per unit time. However, SSFP sequences are very sensitive to motion. A new SSFP method is presented which avoids the image artifacts and loss of signal intensity due to motion. The pulse sequence is designed so that the time integral of each of the three gradients is zero over each TR time interval. The signal then consists of numerous echoes which are superimposed. These echoes are isolated by combining the data from N different scans. In each scan a specific phase shift is added during every TR interval. Each of these N isolated echoes produces a motion‐insensitive, artifact‐free image. Because all the echoes are sampled simultaneously, the signal‐to‐noise ratio per unit time in this SSFP method is higher than in existing SSFP techniques which sample only one echo at a time. The new method was implemented and used to produce both two‐ and three‐dimensional images of the head and cervical spin of a human patient. In these images the high signal intensity of cerebrospinal fluid is preserved regardless of its motion. Further work is required to evaluate the imaging parameters (TR, TE, rf tip angle) so as to give optimal tissue contrast for the various echoes. © 1990 Academic Press, Inc.
The Ultramicrobacterium “Elusimicrobium minutum” gen. nov., sp. nov., the First Cultivated Representative of the Termite Group 1 Phylum

ABSTRACT Insect intestinal tracts harbor several novel, deep-rooting clades of as-yet-uncultivated bacteria whose biology is typically completely unknown. Here, we report the isolation of the first representative of the termite group 1 (TG1) phylum from sterile-filtered gut homogenates of a humivorous scarab beetle larva. Strain Pei191T is a mesophilic, obligately anaerobic ultramicrobacterium with a gram-negative cell envelope. Cells are typically rod shaped, but cultures are pleomorphic in all growth phases (0.3 to 2.5 μm long and 0.17 to 0.3 μm wide). The isolate grows heterotrophically on sugars and ferments d-galactose, d-glucose, d-fructose, d-glucosamine, and N-acetyl-d-glucosamine to acetate, ethanol, hydrogen, and alanine as major products but only if amino acids are present in the medium. PCR-based screening and comparative 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis revealed that strain Pei191T belongs to the “intestinal cluster,” a lineage of hitherto uncultivated bacteria present in arthropod and mammalian gut systems. It is only distantly related to the previously described so-called “endomicrobia” lineage, which comprises mainly uncultivated endosymbionts of termite gut flagellates. We propose the name “Elusimicrobium minutum” gen. nov., sp. nov. (type strain, Pei191T = ATCC BAA-1559T = JCM 14958T) for the first isolate of this deep-branching lineage and the name “Elusimicrobia” phyl. nov. for the former TG1 phylum.
ConChat: A Context-Aware Chat Program

ConChat is a context-aware chat program that enriches electronic communication by providing contextual information and resolving potential semantic conflicts between users.ConChat uses contextual information to improve electronic communication. Using contextual cues, users can infer during a conversation what the other person is doing and what is happening in his or her immediate surroundings. For example, if a user learns that the other person is talking with somebody else or is involved in some urgent activity, he or she knows to expect a slower response. Conversely, if the user learns that the other person is sitting in a meeting directly related to the conversation, he or she then knows to respond more quickly. Also, by informing users about the other person's context and tagging potentially ambiguous chat messages, ConChat explores how context can improve electronic communication by reducing semantic conflicts.
Detection and identification of Dehalococcoides species responsible for in situ dechlorination of trichloroethene to ethene enhanced by hydrogen‐releasing compounds

Previous studies have shown that Dehalococcoides species are responsible for the anaerobic bioremediation of chloroethene pollution. It has been thought that co‐operation of several species is required for complete dechlorination to ethene. In the present study, we used quantitative PCR of 16 S rRNA and RDase (reductive dehalogenase) genes to examine species changes and the population of Dehalococcoides species in ground water in which the dechlorination of TCE (trichloroethene) to ethene was enhanced by delivery of hydrogen‐releasing compounds. The results have shown that at least two different Dehalococcoides species co‐operate in the dechlorination of TCE to ethene. Initially, the number of strains equipped with TCE RDase increased approx. 105‐fold. This was followed by a decrease to the original level, according to the exhaustion of TCE. Subsequently, another strain appeared, which had a VC (vinyl chloride) RDase gene similar to bvcA of Dehalococcoides sp. BAV1 and is probably responsible for the dechlorination of VC to ethene. Analysis of several genes has suggested that the former strain is like Dehalococcoides sp. FMC‐TCE, and the latter strain is similar to the Dehalococcoides sp. strain that exists in the Dehalococcoides‐containing mixed culture KB1. These results support the notion that monitoring Dehalococcoides species by the presence of RDase genes as genetic markers provides detailed information on the progress of bioremediation of chloroethenes, which will be useful to improve the efficiency of bioremediation.
Immortal time bias in retrospective analysis: Is there a survival benefit in patients with glioblastoma who received prolonged treatment of adjuvant valganciclovir?

Dear Editor: We read with interest “Effects of valganciclovir as an add-on therapy in patients with cytomegalovirus-positive glioblastoma: A randomized, double-blind, hypothesis-generating study”. Stragliotto et al. reported a randomized study, VIGAS, which showed no significant difference in tumor growth or median survival in the Valganciclovir arm. However, the explorative analysis showed a significantly better median survival of 24.1 months in patients receiving >6 months of Valganciclovir versus 13.1 months in patients receiving 0–6 months of treatment. In addition, the same group conducted a retrospective study of 50 patients who received Valganciclovir, which showed the median survival was 25.0, 30.1 and 56.4 months for all patients, patients with at least 6 months of treatment and patients with continuous use, respectively. The result was significantly better than contemporary controls (13.5 months, p< 0.001). The authors suggested that long-term Valganciclovir treatment may be required for a clinical effect on outcome. Indeed, there seemed to be a “dose-response relationship”—the patients who received longer course of treatment had better outcome. Nonetheless, it is likely that “immortal time bias” could explain this result. “Immortal time” refers to a time span in the follow-up period during which the outcome could not have occurred because of exposure definition. For example, death “cannot” occurred in the first 6 months of follow-up in the group of patients who received at least 6 months of treatment (Fig. 1). More extremely, if a cohort is defined as a group of patients who received 10 years of treatment, the survival would certainly be longer than 10 years. In conventional survival analysis, the immortal time bias confers a spurious survival advantage to the treated group. The work of van Walraven et al. demonstrated that, in leading clinical journals, more than 40% of studies containing survival analyses with a time-dependent factor were susceptible to immortal time bias. Fortunately, the bias could be prevented using time-dependent analysis, such as Cox regression with treatment status as a time-dependent covariate. We are looking forward that reanalysis of the original data can be performed.
A Vendian–Cambrian boundary succession from the northwestern margin of the Siberian Platform: stratigraphy, palaeontology, chemostratigraphy and correlation

Siberia contains several key reference sections for studies of biological and environmental evolution across the Proterozoic–Phanerozoic transition. The Platonovskaya Formation, exposed in the Turukhansk region of western Siberia, is an uppermost Proterozoic to Cambrian succession whose trace and body fossils place broad limits on the age of deposition, but do not permit detailed correlation with boundary successions elsewhere. In contrast, a striking negative carbon isotopic excursion in the lower part of the Platonovskaya Formation permits precise chemostratigraphic correlation with uppermost Yudomian successions in Siberia, and possibly worldwide. In addition to providing a tool for correlation, the isotopic excursion preserved in the Platonovskaya and contemporaneous successions documents a major biogeochemical event, likely involving the world ocean. The excursion coincides with the palaeontological breakpoint between Ediacaran- and Cambrian-style assemblages, suggesting a role for biogeochemical change in evolutionary events near the Proterozoic–Cambrian boundary.
Surface Acoustic Wave Devices Based on High Quality Temperature-Compensated Substrates

We report surface acoustic wave (SAW) devices based on two kinds of novel and optimized high quality piezoelectric substrates. SAW devices with excellent temperature stability and electromechanical coupling coefficient using the layered structures LiTaO3 (LT)/Si and LiNbO3 (LN)/SiO2/Si as the substrates are fabricated. These structures exhibit superior temperature performance than the conventional LT, LN substrates and reported related works with the SiO2 interlayer and Si substrate providing temperature compensation and thermal diffusion block, respectively. SAW device fabricated on the optimized LT/Si substrate shows a parabolic frequency-temperature relation with near zero temperature coefficient of frequency (TCF) in a low temperature range. SAW device fabricated on the novel LN/SiO2/Si substrate shows excellent performance with near constant TCF about -18 ppm/°C and electromechanical coupling coefficient (K2) near 18.69%. Theoretical analysis and performance comparison with reported works are presented to elucidate the temperature compensation mechanism of the proposed layered structures.
Evidence for a Matriptase-Prostasin Proteolytic Cascade Regulating Terminal Epidermal Differentiation*

Recent gene ablation studies in mice have shown that matriptase, a type II transmembrane serine protease, and prostasin, a glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored membrane serine protease, are both required for processing of the epidermis-specific polyprotein, profilaggrin, stratum corneum formation, and acquisition of epidermal barrier function. Here we present evidence that matriptase acts upstream of prostasin in a zymogen activation cascade that regulates terminal epidermal differentiation and is required for prostasin zymogen activation. Enzymatic gene trapping of matriptase combined with prostasin immunohistochemistry revealed that matriptase was co-localized with prostasin in transitional layer cells of the epidermis and that the developmental onset of expression of the two membrane proteases was coordinated and correlated with acquisition of epidermal barrier function. Purified soluble matriptase efficiently converted soluble prostasin zymogen to an active two-chain form that formed SDS-stable complexes with the serpin protease nexin-1. Whereas two forms of prostasin with molecular weights corresponding to the prostasin zymogen and active prostasin were present in wild type epidermis, prostasin was exclusively found in the zymogen form in matriptase-deficient epidermis. These data suggest that matriptase, an autoactivating protease, acts upstream from prostasin to initiate a zymogen cascade that is essential for epidermal differentiation.
Transient Characteristics of Wearable Antennas and Radio Propagation Channels for Ultrawideband Body-Centric Wireless Communications

This paper presents transient characterization of ultrawideband (UWB) body-worn antennas and on-body radio propagation channels for body-centric wireless communications. A novel miniaturized CPW-fed tapered slot antenna is proposed and used for transient measurements of UWB radio channels for body area network (BAN) and personal area network (PAN) scenarios. Unlike conventional UWB CPW-fed antennas, the proposed antenna employs two diverging tapered slots to provide smooth and stable impedance matching. Fidelity analysis is applied to evaluate the time-domain behavior of body-worn antennas and it is found that average fidelity obtained is 88% and 86% for the conventional coplanar waveguide fed antenna and the tapered slot antenna, respectively. However, the tapered slot antenna shows a significant size reduction and hence is suited for body-centric wireless communications.
The effect of continuous intake of tritiated water (HTO) on the liver chromosomes of mice.

Chromosomal damage in the livers of mice exposed to continuous intake of triated water (HTO) was evaluated. Hale--Stoner Brookhaven mice were maintained on HTO (3 .mu.Ci/ml) for 90, 330, (500, 560), and 700 days. The experimental animals and age-matched controls were partially hepatectomized to stimulate liver cell division and the frequency of chromosome aberrations in metaphase cells of the liver was used as an index of radiation-induced change. When liver cell chromosomes from mice on HTO water were compared with those from age-matched controls, there was a higher level of damage in the animals on HTO. This was true for both hyperdiploid and diploid cells. At the 5% level, however, the increase was not statistically significant. When the data were analyzed without four animals, one with a clone of abnormal cells and three with an unusual distribution of chromosome damage, there was a significant increase in the level of chromosome damage in the livers of mice on HTO for either 330 or (500, 560) days. The level of chromosome damage following HTO ingestion was similar on a per rad basis to that seen in Chinese hamster livers after protracted /sup 60/Co gamma exposure or internally deposited /sup 144/Ce, an energeticmore » beta emitter. The data support the concept that on a per rad basis the risk for chromosome breakage following tritium exposure as HTO is similar to that from other beta--gamma emitters. « less
Investigation by syringe method of effect of tampons on production in vitro of toxic shock syndrome toxin 1 by Staphylococcus aureus

A syringe method was designed to test the effect of tampons on the growth of three toxic shock syndrome-associated strains of Staphylococcus aureus and their in vitro production of toxic shock syndrome toxin 1 (TSST-1) under different conditions. Various amounts of TSST-1 were recovered from different tampons inoculated with these strains. Generally, the addition of 10% porcine blood to the growth medium, incubation in the presence of 5% CO2, or the combination of these two factors resulted in the stimulation of TSST-1 production.
Selegiline in comparison with methylphenidate in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder children and adolescents in a double-blind, randomized clinical trial.

OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to examine the selegiline treatment compared to methylphenidate (MPH) in children and adolescents with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). METHOD Forty subjects, aged 6-15 years, boys and girls, who were diagnosed as having ADHD, using the criteria of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders- Fourth Edition (DSM-IV), were randomly assigned to receive either selegiline or MPH for 60 days. Treatment outcomes were assessed using the Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Scale (ADHS) administered at baseline and on days 14, 28, 42, and 60 following the commencement of treatment. Side effects were also rated. RESULTS There were no significant differences between sex, age, weight, and ethnicity of participants in the 2 groups. Both groups showed a significant improvement over the 60 days of treatment resulting from the teachers' and parents' ADHS scores across the treatment. CONCLUSION Following the trial, MPH did not effect greater mean improvement as a result of the parents' or teachers' ADHS scores than selegiline. Thus, selegiline appears to be effective and well tolerated for ADHD in children and adolescents.
Arbitrage in the Foreign Exchange Market: Turning on the Microscope

This paper provides real-time evidence on the frequency, size, duration and economic significance of arbitrage opportunities in the foreign exchange market. We investigate deviations from the covered interest rate parity (CIP) condition using a unique data set for three major capital and foreign exchange markets that covers a period of more than seven months at tick frequency. The analysis unveils that: i) short-lived violations of CIP arise; ii) the size of CIP violations can be economically significant; iii) their duration is, on average, high enough to allow agents to exploit them, but low enough to explain why such opportunities have gone undetected in much previous research using data at lower frequency.
Susceptibility of Helicobacter Pylori to the Antibacterial Activity of Manuka Honey

Honey is a traditional remedy for dyspepsia, and is still used for this by some medical practitioners although there is no rational basis for its use. The finding that Helicobacter pylori is probably the causative agent in many cases of dyspepsia has raised the possibility that the therapeutic action of honey may be due to its antibacterial properties. Consequently, the sensitivity of Helicobacter pylori to honey was tested, using isolates from biopsies of gastric ulcers. It was found that all five isolates tested were sensitive to a 20% (v/v) solution of manuka honey in an agar well diffusion assay, but none showed sensitivity to a 40% solution of a honey in which the antibacterial activity was due primarily to its content of hydrogen peroxide. Assessment of the minimum inhibitory concentration by inclusion of manuka honey in the agar showed that all seven isolates tested had visible growth over the incubation period of 72 h prevented completely by the presence of 5% (v/v) honey.
IL-19, IL-20 and IL-24: potential therapeutic targets for autoimmune diseases

IL-19, IL-20 and IL-24 are members of the IL-10 family of cytokines, the human IL-19, IL-20 and IL-24 genes are all located on the q32 region of chromosome 1, and the three cytokines also share a common receptor IL-20R1/IL-20R2 heterodimer. These cytokines due to the similarity and shared receptor usage, are quite overlapping in function. Recently, the available evidence has indicated that interaction of these cytokines with their receptors might exhibit pro-inflammatory effects on autoimmune diseases, particularly psoriasis and rheumatoid arthritis. Since an imbalance between anti- and pro-inflammatory cytokines contribute to the development of autoimune diseases, these cytokines may be implicated in the pathogenesis of autoimmunity. In this paper, we concisely discuss the biological features of IL-19, IL-20 and IL-24, and focus on their potential roles in autoimmune diseases. Hopefully the information obtained will lead to a better understanding of the pathogenesis and development of novel therapeutic strategies for autoimmune diseases.