Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Evaluation of antibodies reactive with Campylobacter jejuni in Egyptian diarrhea patients

Serum and stool samples were collected from 128 individuals: 96 diarrhea patients and 32 apparently healthy controls. Stool specimens were cultured for enteric bacterial pathogens, while sera were screened by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for Campylobacter jejuni-reactive antibodies. Of 28 diarrhea patients who demonstrated C. jejuni-reactive antibodies (titers, > 100), 14 were culture positive for this organism. The 32 healthy controls showed significantly lower antibody titers (P < 0.05) with the exception of 10 subjects who were culture positive for C. jejuni and had reactive immunoglobulin M (IgM) (6 subjects) and IgG (7 subjects). IgA was not detected in those 10 individuals (asymptomatic). Avidity was expressed as the thiocyanate ion concentration required to inhibit 50% of the bound antibodies. The avidity was higher in symptomatic patients than asymptomatic healthy controls. IgG was less avid (0.92 M) compared to IgM (0.1 M) and IgA (1.1 M), with no correlation between antibody titer and avidity. However, the thiocyanate ion concentration required for the complete inhibition of IgG (5 M)-bound antibodies was higher than that of IgA (2 M) and IgM (3 M). This study also shows that C. jejuni antibodies were variably cross-reactive with Escherichia coli, Shigella flexneri, Shigella sonnei, and Neisseria meningitidis in addition to Campylobacter coli and Campylobacter rectus.
Ifosfamide plus paclitaxel in advanced non-small-cell lung cancer: a phase I study.

BACKGROUND Ifosfamide and paclitaxel are active drugs in the management of non-small-cell lung cancer. We have performed a phase I study using a fixed dose of ifosfamide with escalating doses of paclitaxel, with G-CSF support, in an effort to determine the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) of paclitaxel in this combination, and to describe the dose-limiting toxicities of the combination at the recommended phase II dose of paclitaxel. We also studied the feasibility of delivering the paclitaxel as a one-hour infusion at the recommended phase II dose. PATIENTS AND METHODS Thirty-one patients were treated, 25 with stage IV disease, and 6 with stage IIIB disease. Ifosfamide was administered at a dose of 1.6 g/m2 i.v. bolus daily x 3 days, with mesna uroprotection. Paclitaxel was administered as a 24-hour infusion at dose levels of 135, 170, 200, 250, and 300 mg/m2; six patients were treated with a one-hour infusion, at a dose of 250 mg/m2. G-CSF, 5 micrograms/kg, was administered subcutaneously on days 4 through 10, or until the absolute neutrophil count exceeded 4000/microliters. Cycles were repeated every 21 days. RESULTS The dose-limiting toxicity was granulocytopenia, which increased with increasing dose levels of paclitaxel. The MTD was 300 mg/m2 of paclitaxel, and the recommended phase II dose 250 mg/m2 administered as a 24-hour infusion. Other toxicities were generally mild, with only 5 patients demonstrating grade 3 neurotoxicity and 5 with grade 3 thrombocytopenia. Partial responses were seen in seven patients (23%), all in the 18 patients who received dose levels of 250 mg/m2 or higher. CONCLUSIONS Ifosfamide plus paclitaxel is an active treatment regimen in advanced non-small-cell lung cancer, and compares favorably with the results of cisplatin-based chemotherapy. A phase II study is in progress by the Cancer and Leukemia Group B, in an effort to better characterize the tolerance of the regimen, as well as its effect on tumor response and survival.
Histone Chaperone Rtt106 Promotes Nucleosome Formation Using (H3-H4)2 Tetramers*

Background: Rtt106 is a histone H3-H4 chaperone. Results: Rtt106 oligomerizes through its N terminus and binds (H3-H4)2 tetramers in vitro and in vivo. Conclusion: Rtt106 likely deposits (H3-H4)2 tetramers to promote nucleosome assembly. Significance: Determining the stoichiometry of H3-H4 molecules that associate with Rtt106 will increase our understanding on how nucleosomes are formed during S phase of the cell cycle. The yeast histone chaperone Rtt106 is involved in de novo assembly of newly synthesized histones into nucleosomes during DNA replication and plays a role in regulating heterochromatin silencing and maintaining genomic integrity. The interaction of Rtt106 with H3-H4 is modulated by acetylation of H3 lysine 56 catalyzed by the lysine acetyltransferase Rtt109. Using affinity purification strategies, we demonstrate that Rtt106 interacts with (H3-H4)2 heterotetramers in vivo. In addition, we show that Rtt106 undergoes homo-oligomerization in vivo and in vitro, and mutations in the N-terminal homodimeric domain of Rtt106 that affect formation of Rtt106 oligomers compromise the function of Rtt106 in transcriptional silencing and response to genotoxic stress and the ability of Rtt106 to bind (H3-H4)2. These results indicate that Rtt106 deposits H3-H4 heterotetramers onto DNA and provide the first description of a H3-H4 chaperone binding to (H3-H4)2 heterotetramers in vivo.
Racial disparities in primary prevention of incontinence among older adults at nursing home admission

Maintaining continence of nursing home (NH) residents promotes dignity and well‐being and may reduce morbidity and healthcare treatment costs. To determine the prevalence of older continent adults who received primary prevention of incontinence at NH admission, assess whether there were racial or ethnic disparities in incontinence prevention, and describe factors associated with any disparities.
Detection of significant changes in short time series

The aim of this paper is to identify significant changes, otherwise known as change-points, in short time series. The practical application that motivated this work concerns the detection of change-point differences in behavioural annual routines of living organisms (i.e. how they schedule activities in a regular way over the year). Our study case focuses on the annual routine of a specialist river bird species, the European Dipper (Cinclus cinclus), coping with drastic environmental changes in flow regime impacting their life-history stages. We compare behavioural data collected on a monthly basis in natural and altered rivers; they result in 12 values of so-called time-activity budgets expressed as mean percentage of time spent in each of 5 different behavioural activities. The methods used in this paper are based on statistical tests for detecting one or more points of breaks in time series. Different methods are compared on this first dataset : • The method of A. N. Pettitt (1979) which is based on the Mann and Whitney statistical test for comparing two samples thus 2 segmentations of the original time series; • The method of P. Hubert et al. (1989) for which the test statistic considers the squared difference between the series and a fixed segmentation. In this algorithm all possible segmentations of a time series are tested and the optimal segmentation is selected using the method of contrasts introduced by Scheffe (1959);
Descriptions of three new species and one subspecies of freshwater hardyhead (Pisces: Atherinidae: Craterocephalus) from Australia

Three new species and a new subspecies belonging to the atherinid genus Cratero­ cephalus are described. The fish from south-eastern Australia previously recognised as C. fluviatilis is described as a subspecies of the more northerly occurring C. stercusmuscarum. The two subspecies are distinguished by differences in colour pattern and vertebral counts. A new name, C. stercusmuscarum fulvus is proposed because fluviatilis is regarded as a junior synonym of C. eyresii. A hardyhead from the Northern Territory which has been erroneously identified as C. marjoriae is described as a new species - C. marianae, based on differences in transverse scale counts, position of the anus, gill raker shape, and colourpattern. Two additonal new species, C. helenae and C. lentiginosus are described from the Kimberley region of Western Australia. The former species is closely allied to C. marianae but differs in counts of midlateral scales, vertebrae, and gill rakers-. Craterocephaluslentiginosus is most closely related to C. ster,cusmuscarum, but differs from it in having con­ sistently lower meristic counts and by the presence of a lateral process on the premaxilla.
The role of water content in the decay of radiation-induced oxygen-sensitive sites in barley seeds during post-irradiation hydration.

Himalaya barley seeds ranging in water content from 1.2 to 12.8% were exposed in vacuo to 25 krads of Co60 gamma rays. After irradiation they were hydrated in either oxygenated or oxygen-free water at 0°C for various periods of time before transfer to the opposite hydration atmosphere or before the free radical signal was measured by EPR. Radiobiological damage was measured in terms of seedling injury, and the EPR data are presented in terms of signal amplitude. The results showed that the development of oxygen-dependent damage occurs faster than the rate at which oxygen-sensitive sites are lost during the postirradiation hydration process. Although seed water content influenced the initial and final injury levels, this factor appeared to have little influence on the above-mentioned rates. Data obtained by EPR techniques indicate the possibility of at least two radical components. Furthermore, there was a sizable signal remaining in the irradiated seeds even after 16 hours of hydration. The data also sugg.
Competing allotropes of Bi deposited on the Al13Co4(100) alloy surface

The growth and stability of Bi thin films on the Al13Co4(100) surface has been investigated from the submonolayer to high-coverage regime by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and low-energy electron diffraction (LEED) for temperatures ranging from 57 to 633 K. Initially, Bi adsorption leads to the formation of a pseudomorphic monolayer, followed by the growth of islands of different heights with increasing coverage. The in-plane structure, island height, and island morphology indicate that these islands adopt either a pseudocubic (110) or hexagonal (111) orientation normal to the surface. The (110)-oriented islands correspond to bilayer stacking (either two or four monolayers in height) while the (111)-oriented islands correspond to either three- or four-layer stacking. The in-plane orientation of (110) islands with respect to the substrate is random, while (111) islands adopt one of four possible orientations. In addition, the (111) islands show a moire structure. The fact that Bi islands grow with either (110) or (111) orientation simultaneously on the same substrate relates to a subtle energy balance between both orientations according to ab initio calculations, allowing both structures to coexist. The island density dependence versus both deposition temperature and flux, their most frequent structure type, reshaping effects, and chemical reactivity of the different allotropes are also discussed in this paper.
High-titer packaging cells producing recombinant retroviruses resistant to human serum

Novel retroviral protein expression constructs were designed to retain minimal retroviral sequences and to express dominant selectable markers by reinitiation of translation after expression of the viral genes. HT1080 cells were selected as producer cells for their ability to release high-titer viruses that are resistant to inactivation by human serum. Two HT1080-based packaging cell lines which produce Moloney murine leukemia virus cores with envelope glycoproteins of either amphotropic murine leukemia virus (FLYA13 line) or cat endogenous virus RD114 (FLYRD18 line) are described. Direct comparison with previous retroviral packaging systems indicated that 100-fold-higher titers of helper-free recombinant viruses were released by the FLYA13 and FLYRD18 lines.
Hexokinase specificity of some tumor tissue extracts.

The substrate specificity of hexokinase preparations from Ehrlich ascites cells, a spontaneous adenocarcinoma, Jensen sarcoma, and Walker carcinoma was studied with a number of sugars which differed in structure from glucose at one or more carbon atoms used as substrates. A marked variation in specificity was found. The preparations from Jensen sarcoma and Ehrlich ascites cells were relatively specific for glucose and some C-2 analogs. The preparations from the adenocarcinoma and Walker carcinoma were nonspecific and brought about phosphorylation of a number of sugars differing from glucose in many positions. Inhibition of the hexokinase preparation from Ehrlich ascites tumor cells by altrose and talose was observed.
Risk of Thyroid Cancer after Adult Radiation Exposure: Time to Re-Assess?

To protect workers and the public from the harmful effects of radiation exposure, it is important that regulatory bodies and advisory organizations have as complete an understanding as possible of the risks according to gender, age at exposure, time since exposure, health status and other related variables. The 2011 disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant complex again alerted the world to the possibility that large groups, including many adults, can be exposed to 131I, it reminds us that it is important to understand the effect of age at exposure on cancer risk to achieve effective radiation protection and to plan for responses to future nuclear accidents or terrorist events involving radiation.
Gender and Pensions: An Analysis of Factors Affecting Women's Private Pension Scheme Membership in the United Kingdom

There has been considerable debate about the future sustainability of pension provision and, in particular, the precarious position of many female pensioners. The reasons for women's lower participation rates in private pensions than men's require greater investigation. Using the General Lifestyle Survey (GLF) 2008, this article examines the impact of various characteristics on the likelihood of contributing to a private pension, such as educational attainments, income, occupational group, full-time/part-time status, and whether an individual has any dependent children. It shows that these characteristics play an important role in access to private pensions. Finally, it suggests that strategies to alleviate disadvantages must take into account the complex circumstances that individuals experience throughout the life course, which result in gendered pension provision.
Design and development of an anthropocentric negotiation model

The experience of a traditional marketplace was enhanced by the fact that it constituted more than just a place of economic transaction, which was often secondary to the opportunities for social contact by Kontolemakis G. , Kanellis P., Martakos D. , (2004). In this vein, research continuously defines new ways aiming to offer 'real life-like' representations of products and services within electronic marketplaces along with the procedures that accommodate transactions between buyers and sellers. This paper aims in defining an anthropocentric negotiation model.
A Fuzzy Lyapunov–Krasovskii Functional Approach to Sampled-Data Output-Feedback Stabilization of Polynomial Fuzzy Systems

This paper presents an output-feedback exponential stabilization condition of sampled-data polynomial fuzzy control systems under variable sampling rates. Compared with previous work, the proposed method is less conservative because of the newly developed time-dependent fuzzy Lyapunov–Krasovskii functional that is based on the conventional fuzzy Lyapunov function. Moreover, the controller is allowed to contain polynomial gain matrices, thereby improving the control performance and design flexibility. This is realized by assuming the difference between the continuous- and discrete-time state vectors as time-varying norm-bounded uncertainties, which are manipulated using a robust control technique. A new sufficient condition is introduced to cast the stability condition containing the integral term as the sum-of-square conditions. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed method is validated by simulations.
Risk‐adapted stratification for optimally intensive treatment assignment of pediatric patients with non‐Hodgkin lymphoma is an effective strategy in developing countries

Pediatric patients with non‐Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) in developing countries (DCs) present with greater tumor load even at lower stages and with comorbidities that impact therapy delivery. This causes toxic mortality with “standard” intensive protocols or recurrences with “gentler” treatment.
Regulating Exchanges and Alternative Trading Systems: A Law and Economics Perspective

New trading technologies are transforming securities markets, and with their rise have come important questions regarding the regulation of new and traditional trading mechanisms. This article provides a law and economics perspective on the regulation of alternative trading systems. We argue that alternative trading systems play a distinct role in the market and in particular solve the conflict‐of‐interest problem that exists between brokers and dealers. We propose a general strategy for their regulation that incorporates this economic role. We suggest a regulatory framework that permits providers of services to opt into particular regulatory frameworks as a way of fostering innovation and competition. The functional approach we outline is consistent with the Securities and Exchange Commission's regulatory objectives of fairness, efficiency, and transparency of market transactions.
Canada declares bisphenol A a 'dangerous substance': Questioning the safety of plastics.

1Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta; 2División de Investigación Básica, Instituto Nacional de Cancerología, Mexico City, Mexico; 3Department of Pediatrics, Dalhousie University, IWK Health Centre, Halifax, Nova Scotia Correspondence: Dr Irena Buka, Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit, Second floor, Mother Rosalie Health Services Centre, 16930–87 Avenue, Edmonton, Alberta T5R 4H5. Telephone 780-735-2731, fax 780-735-2794, e-mail irenabuka@capitalhealth.ca Accepted for publication October 7, 2008 The Canadian government has recently taken a bold step in becoming the first country to declare bisphenol A (BPA) a ‘dangerous substance’, thereby raising strong consideration for its banning (1). It is a synthetic petroleumbased chemical present in a variety of hard plastic products (eg, baby bottles, food storage containers, plastic drinking bottles, food can linings and dental sealants), and has the potential to leach into food. Leaching is accelerated particularly by heating (2). To date, no longitudinal human health effect epidemiological studies have been published. BPA is an endocrine disruptor and may mimic the hormone estrogen. A recently published review (3) of the literature identified 115 published animal studies, 81% of which found significant effects at low levels of exposure to BPA, meaning that the effects were observed when using less than 50 mg/kg of body weight/day – the accepted ‘no observed adverse effect’ level for BPA (3). Approximately one-third of those studies found effects when testing concentrations below 50 μg/kg/day. The described adverse effects are related to endocrine disruption (estrogenic effects) and include (4):
Combined low-dose mycophenolate mofetil and tacrolimus for lupus nephritis with suboptimal response to standard therapy: a 12-month prospective study

Objective The objective of this paper is to evaluate the efficacy of combined mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) and tacrolimus (TAC) for lupus nephritis with suboptimal response to standard therapy. Methods Inclusion criteria for patients: (1) biopsy-confirmed active lupus nephritis; and (2) inadequate response to ≥2 immunosuppressive regimens. While prednisolone (≤10 mg/day) and angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors were continued, immunosuppressive agents were replaced by combined MMF (1 g/day) and TAC (4 mg/day). Patients were followed every 2 months for the clinical response and adverse events at 12 months. Results Twenty-one patients were recruited (20 women; age 35.8 ± 9.2 years; systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) duration 111 ± 51 months). The histological classes of lupus nephritis were: IV/III (33%), V + III/IV (33%) and pure V (33%). The creatinine clearance (CrCl), urine protein-to-creatinine ratio (uP/Cr) and serum albumin was 82.4 ± 33 ml/min (<90 ml/min in 57%), 3.27 ± 1.5 and 30.1 ± 5.9 g/l, respectively. Thirteen (62%) patients had active urinary sediments and 17 (81%) patients had active lupus serology. At 12 months, eight (38%) patients had very good response, one (5%) patient had good response and five (24%) patients had partial response. Significant improvement in uP/Cr, albumin, complement C3 and anti-dsDNA titer, and stabilization of CrCl was observed in the responders. Thirty-three adverse events were reported in 18 patients: major infection requiring hospitalization (6%), infection not requiring hospitalization (27%), herpes infection (9%), diarrhea (12%), cramps (9%), dyspepsia (6%), transient increase in serum Cr (6%), alopecia (4%), facial twitching (3%), tremor (3%) and diabetes mellitus (3%). None of these had led to protocol withdrawal. Conclusions Combined low-dose MMF and TAC is an option for lupus nephritis that fails to respond adequately to standard regimens, with two-thirds of patients improving after 12 months. Longer-term observation is needed to confirm its efficacy and safety.
c-Myc or Cyclin D1 Mimics Estrogen Effects on Cyclin E-Cdk2 Activation and Cell Cycle Reentry

ABSTRACT Estrogen-induced progression through G1 phase of the cell cycle is preceded by increased expression of the G1-phase regulatory proteins c-Myc and cyclin D1. To investigate the potential contribution of these proteins to estrogen action, we derived clonal MCF-7 breast cancer cell lines in which c-Myc or cyclin D1 was expressed under the control of the metal-inducible metallothionein promoter. Inducible expression of either c-Myc or cyclin D1 was sufficient for S-phase entry in cells previously arrested in G1 phase by pretreatment with ICI 182780, a potent estrogen antagonist. c-Myc expression was not accompanied by increased cyclin D1 expression or Cdk4 activation, nor was cyclin D1 induction accompanied by increases in c-Myc. Expression of c-Myc or cyclin D1 was sufficient to activate cyclin E-Cdk2 by promoting the formation of high-molecular-weight complexes lacking the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p21, as has been described, following estrogen treatment. Interestingly, this was accompanied by an association between active cyclin E-Cdk2 complexes and hyperphosphorylated p130, identifying a previously undefined role for p130 in estrogen action. These data provide evidence for distinct c-Myc and cyclin D1 pathways in estrogen-induced mitogenesis which converge on or prior to the formation of active cyclin E-Cdk2-p130 complexes and loss of inactive cyclin E-Cdk2-p21 complexes, indicating a physiologically relevant role for the cyclin E binding motifs shared by p130 and p21.
Learning the positions of words relative to a marker element.

The learning of conditional definitions of position—"first after g," "second after g"—was studied by exposing children to a subset of the sentences of a miniature, semantically empty, "language. " This contained 2 phrase types, fA and gPQ, occurring alone or in either order. Ss learned the structure, including the conditional positional definitions. Errors in sentence-completion test problems indicated a tendency to confuse homologous positions in the 2 phrases, particularly early in learning. The relationships learned could not reasonably be represented by a finite state diagram, and 1 kind of state diagram incorporating a push-down store seemed more appropriate than another. It was argued that finite state diagrams do not capture the properties of associations, particularly remote associations, and that an association might better be regarded as a rule relating contingent items to an entry in a short-term store, or, perhaps, as a contextsensitive rewrite rule.