Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Autoimmune disease complicating antiviral therapy for hepatitis C virus infection.

OBJECTIVE To review autoimmune disease complicating therapy with type I interferons (IFNs), specifically in the setting of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. METHODS This study describes 13 reported cases of drug-induced systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) associated with IFN therapy for the period reported during 1990-2002 by searching MEDLINE. In addition, 2 additional patients are presented, 1 with SLE and 1 with an antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-positive nephritis, with long-term follow-up. RESULTS Of 13 cases of SLE-like syndromes caused by IFN, 2 occurred in patients being treated for HCV infection. Two occurred in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA); 1 had Sjogren's syndrome (SS), and 1 laryngeal papillomatosis. The rest were receiving IFN for hematologic malignancies. Symptoms developed between 2 weeks and 7 years after initiation of therapy. Most developed fever and arthralgias/arthritis. Other findings included serositis manifested by tachycardia, dyspnea and pleural effusions, headaches, and hair loss. All had a positive antinuclear antibody (ANA), and the majority had double stranded (ds) DNA antibodies. Two additional patients with chronic HCV infection developed autoimmune disease after combination treatment with IFN-alpha and ribavirin. In each patient, autoimmune disease manifested as severe joint pains, myalgias, fever, rash, and proteinuria. Skin and renal biopsy specimens showed vasculitis and crescentic glomerulonephritis (GN) in the first case, and typical histologic findings of lupus nephritis in the second; clinical and laboratory features were consistent with Wegener's granulomatosis and SLE, respectively. Although both patients had mixed polyclonal cryoglobulins, they were HCV RNA and HCVAb negative. Both received corticosteroids, with gradual clinical and biochemical improvement and without recurrence of viremia. CONCLUSIONS Autoimmune disorders occur in 4% to 19% of patients receiving IFN-alpha, though SLE-like syndromes are only seen in 0.15% to 0.7%. Clinical and laboratory features of SLE in this setting resemble idiopathic disease, with a generally good outcome after discontinuance of the drug. RELEVANCE Type I IFNs may cause autoimmune disease such as SLE. As the armamentarium of drugs expands to include other biologics, such as the tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha-inhibiting drugs, the development of autoimmune diseases induced by these drugs is an important consideration for diagnosis and appropriate treatment. Semin Arthritis Rheum 32:163-173.
Terahertz Optoelectronic Down-Conversion and Phase-Locking Through Four-Wave Mixing

Optoelectronic down-conversion of a terahertz optical beatnote to a RF intermediate frequency is performed with a standard Mach-Zehnder modulator followed by a zero dispersion-slope highly nonlinear fiber. The two interleaved optical combs obtained by four-wave mixing are shown to contain more than 75 harmonics enabling to conveniently recover the phase noise of a beatnote at 770 GHz at ~500 MHz. This simple four-wave mixing assisted down-conversion architecture is implemented to a two-frequency solid-state laser in order to directly phase-lock its frequency difference. This is illustrated on a beatnote at 168 GHz directly phase locked to the local oscillator at 10 MHz.
Intratumoral CC Chemokine Ligand 5 Overexpression Delays Tumor Growth and Increases Tumor Cell Infiltration1

Chemokines participate in the antitumor immune response by regulating the movement and positioning of lymphocytes as well as effector functions and may thus be candidates for use in antitumor therapy. To test whether CCL5, a chemokine involved in the recruitment of a wide spectrum of immunocompetent cells, can control tumor growth, we forced its expression at mouse tumor sites. Tumor growth was reduced in mice with s.c. syngeneic CCL5-EL-4 compared with EL-4-injected mice, whereas both reduced tumor growth and incidence were observed in mice with OVA-expressing EG-7 transfected with CCL5 compared with EG-7-injected mice. Significant antitumor effects were observed soon after intratumoral injection of DNA plasmid coding for chimeric CCL5-Ig. Importantly, quantitative RT-PCR assays showed that the amount of CCL5 expression at the tumor site determined the effectiveness of the antitumor response, which was associated with infiltration of increased numbers of NK, CD4, and CD8 cells at the tumor site. This effect was lost in mice deficient for T/B lymphocytes (RAG-2 knockout) or for CCR5 (CCR5 knockout). Together, these data demonstrate the antitumor activity of intratumoral CCL5 overexpression, due to its recruitment of immunocompetent cells, and the potential usefulness of chimeric CCL5-Ig DNA as an agent in cancer therapy.
Inhibition of the phosphatase PTEN protects mice against oleic acid‐induced acute lung injury

Background and purpose: Injury to the lung parenchyma is a constitutional feature shared by many lung diseases. The protein, phosphatase and tensin homologue deleted on chromosome Ten (PTEN) is a major suppressor of phosphoinositide‐3 kinase/Akt signalling, a vital survival pathway in lung parenchymal cells. Based on this, we hypothesized that PTEN inhibition in vivo would enhance cell tolerance to stress thereby preventing acute lung injury.
Induction and quantification of prefrontal cortical network plasticity using 5 Hz rTMS and fMRI

Neuronal plasticity is crucial for flexible interaction with a changing environment and its disruption is thought to contribute to psychiatric diseases like schizophrenia. High‐frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is a noninvasive tool to increase local excitability of neurons and induce short‐time functional reorganization of cortical networks. While this has been shown for the motor system, little is known about the short‐term plasticity of networks for executive cognition in humans. We examined 12 healthy control subjects in a crossover study with fMRI after real and sham 5 Hz rTMS to the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). During scanning, subjects performed an n‐back working memory (WM) task and a flanker task engaging cognitive control. Reaction times during the n‐back task were significantly shorter after rTMS than after sham stimulation. RTMS compared with sham stimulation caused no activation changes at the stimulation site (right DLPFC) itself, but significantly increased connectivity within the WM network during n‐back and reduced activation in the anterior cingulate cortex during the flanker task. Reduced reaction times after real stimulation support an excitatory effect of high‐frequency rTMS. Our findings identified plastic changes in prefrontally connected networks downstream of the stimulation site as the substrate of this behavioral effect. Using a multimodal fMRI‐rTMS approach, we could demonstrate changes in cortical plasticity in humans during executive cognition. In further studies this approach could be used to study pharmacological, genetic and disease‐related alterations. Hum Brain Mapp 35:140–151, 2014. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Corporate governance and intellectual capital disclosure. An empirical analysis of the Italian listed companies

Intellectual capital (IC) as well as disclosure of information on IC has in recent years gained importance. IC is the key issue in strengthening a firm’s c ompetitive position and in achieving its objectives. The purpose of this study is to investigate some determinants of the disclosure of IC in annual reports. In particular the aim of this research is to analyse the internal mechanisms of corporate governance (board composition, role duality, ownership structure, auditor type and size of audit committee), which influence the intellectual capital disclosure in corporate annual reports for a sample of all listed Italian firms at 31 st December 2010. It has been used a disclosure index as a dependent variable, (ICD), and the method used to measure it is content analysis.
Hypokalemia at the Time of Admission to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) Increases the Need for Mechanical Ventilation and Time of Ventilation in Critically Ill Trauma Patients

© 2017 Advanced Biomedical Research | Published by Wolters Kluwer Medknow Sir, For critically ill trauma patients who suffer from respiratory failure, mechanical ventilation (MV) is an essential and universal form of treatment. [1] Hypokalemia normally occurs immediately after trauma, and it appears that hypokalemia occurs more frequently in the more severely injured. [2,3] Hypokalemia, a frequent electrolyte imbalance encountered in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), is an important cause of morbidity and mortality in critically ill patients. [4,5] In our research, we found that no investigation has been done on the relationship of hypokalemia with the need for connecting critically ill trauma patients to an MV, duration of MV or the length of stay in the ICU . The aim of this study is to defi ne the prevalence of hypokalemia on admission in critically ill trauma patients and to evaluate the relationship of the potassium level with organ failure, ventilator need, and duration of MV.
Isolation of a Human Homolog of Osteoclast Inhibitory Lectin That Inhibits the Formation and Function of Osteoclasts

Osteoclast inhibitory lectin (OCIL) is a newly recognized inhibitor of osteoclast formation. We identified a human homolog of OCIL and its gene, determined its regulation in human osteoblast cell lines, and established that it can inhibit murine and human osteoclast formation and resorption. OCIL shows promise as a new antiresorptive.
Emergence of Extended-Spectrum-β-Lactamase (CTX-M-9)-Producing Multiresistant Strains of Salmonella enterica Serotype Virchow in Poultry and Humans in France

ABSTRACT During 2002 to 2003, eight Salmonella enterica serotype Virchow poultry and poultry product isolates from various sources (chicken farms, poultry slaughterhouse, or retail store) and one S. enterica rough strain isolated from human feces were found to produce extended-spectrum β-lactamase CTX-M-9. Poultry and poultry product isolates were recovered from different locations in the southwest of France. The human rough isolate had sequences of flagellin genes (fliC and fljB) typical of serotype Virchow and ribotyping and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) patterns closely similar to those of serotype Virchow strains. PFGE confirmed the clonal relationship between the poultry isolates, while the human isolate displayed a pattern with 94% homology. The blaCTX-M-9 gene was located on a conjugative plasmid and was shown to be linked to orf513. Plasmid profiling found a very similar EcoRI restriction pattern in six transconjugants studied, including transconjugants obtained from the human isolate. A single hatchery, supplying chicks to the six farms, was identified. Emergence of extended-spectrum β-lactamase-producing S. enterica strains in food animals is a major concern, as such strains could disseminate on a large scale and lead to antibiotic therapy difficulties.
Speed contingencies, number of stimulus presentations, and the nodality effect in equivalence class formation.

Two experiments compared performances on conditional discrimination tasks using single-participant designs with and without speed contingencies. Experiment 1 was a systematic replication of Spencer and Chase (1996). Experiment 2 presented equal numbers of training and testing trials. In each experiment, 2 female undergraduates participated. Each formed three five-member and three seven-member equivalence classes in Experiments 1 and 2, respectively. Response speed was an inverse function of nodal number and relational type in Experiment 1, but only of relational type (i.e., baseline, symmetry, transitivity, and equivalence) in Experiment 2, with and without the speed contingency. Accuracy tended to peak without the speed contingency in both experiments. Adding the speed contingency increased response speeds in both experiments, more so in Experiment 2 with a lower limited hold for I participant. The results of Experiment 2 cast doubt on previous reports of the nodality effect and on the notion of "relatedness" among class members, and they support a reinforcement-contingency, rather than a structural, account of equivalence class formation.
Chemical risk for hairdressers

There is a range of potential health hazards in hairdresser occupational environment, including biological, chemical, physical and ergonomic factors. Relations of hairdressers and customers are developing psycho emotional stress. The hairdressers are contacting with different chemicals (hair dyes, bleaching agents, permanent waves solutions, hair conditioners, hair spray and parfumes (3). Hairdressers may be exposed to a variety of irritative and allergic substances capable of causing skin and airway symptoms and diseases related to work (1, 2, 6, 7, 9, 11, 12, 13). Few exposure studies exist from hairdressing saloons (3, 4, 8). Ethanol and ammonia are accepted as more characteristic of volatile substances in these investigations, as well as isopropanol and toluene were found in most of air samples.
AI2-THOR: An Interactive 3D Environment for Visual AI

We introduce The House Of inteRactions (THOR), a framework for visual AI research, available at this http URL AI2-THOR consists of near photo-realistic 3D indoor scenes, where AI agents can navigate in the scenes and interact with objects to perform tasks. AI2-THOR enables research in many different domains including but not limited to deep reinforcement learning, imitation learning, learning by interaction, planning, visual question answering, unsupervised representation learning, object detection and segmentation, and learning models of cognition. The goal of AI2-THOR is to facilitate building visually intelligent models and push the research forward in this domain.
Do Behavioral Biases Affect Order Aggressiveness?

We extend previous studies on the effect of behavioral biases on investor hold/sell decisions, and examine whether behavioral biases affect the order submission strategies. We use a unique database provided by the Shanghai Stock Exchange, which contains order submissions and executions as well as trading records of all investors. We find investors are less (more) aggressive in submitting sell orders for stocks that experienced losses (gains). The sell order aggressiveness is negatively related to the size of losses, but has a quadratic relationship with the size of gains. Results are consistent with the combination of disposition and house money effects.
Using PT-symmetry in plasmonic systems for switching and dynamic memory applications

We address the potential of a coupled plasmonic waveguides system with gain featuring a PT symmetry configuration for the realization of switching and dynamic memory applications based on a non-reciprocal modal behavior. The possibility for a perfect switching operation in such a nonconservative layout combining loss and gain is demonstrated. The positive role of losses allowing to lower the total amount of gain required for switching is particularly emphasized.
Effects of glycerol, equilibration time and antioxidants on post‐thaw functional integrity of bovine spermatozoa directly obtained from epididymis

This work aimed to evaluate the effect of stabilisation times, glycerol concentration, and the catalase and superoxide dismutase supplementation of diluent on parameters of frozen‐thawed spermatozoa from epididymis of Nelore bulls: Experiment 1: spermatozoa diluted in Tris‐egg yolk with glycerol (3%, 5% or 7%) and stabilisation times (0, 2 or 4 hr at 5°C); Experiment 2: Tris‐egg yolk only, Tris‐egg yolk with catalase (CAT, 50 or 100 U ml−1) or superoxide dismutase (SOD, 50 or 100 U ml−1). Frozen‐thawed spermatozoa were evaluated for kinetic parameters, plasma membrane and acrosome integrity, mitochondrial activity and IVF capacity. ALH and BCF were affected (p < .05) by glycerol at 3% after 4‐hr equilibration time and 7% after 2‐hr equilibration time. Glycerol 3% had lower (p < .05) iPM and iAc after 4 hr. Glycerol 5% had greater (p < .05) hPMM after 4 hr and iAc after 2 hr than at 0 hr. SOD 100 U ml−1 had lower (p < .05) linearity and wobble compared to control group. No was observed differences to fertilisation rate (p < .05) among groups. In conclusion, glycerol 5% in Tris‐egg yolk extender for 4 hr is suitable for the preservation of sperm kinetics and membrane integrity. CAT (50 and 100 U ml−1) or SOD (50–100 U ml−1) had no beneficial effects on sperm kinetics, plasma and acrosomal membrane integrity, mitochondrial activity or the capacity for IVF of frozen‐thawed spermatozoa from epididymis of Nelore bulls.
Preventing the heterosexual spread of AIDS. Are we giving our patients the best advice?

THE EPIDEMIC of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) epidemic is an unprecedented public health threat; it constitutes the leading cause of premature mortality in some areas of the United States, and it is growing rapidly. 1 Until a cure is developed, the only way to control the epidemic is through prevention strategies directed at the three modes of spread of infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Preventing spread of infection by infusion or inoculation of blood involves making blood products safe and teaching intravenous drug users how to avoid infection. Preventing the perinatal spread of infection to newborn babies involves testing prospective mothers for HIV antibodies and advising those who test positive to avoid pregnancy or, if already pregnant, to consider abortion. In this report we consider strategies for controlling the third and most common mode of spread, sexual contact . A recent report by Friedland and Klein 2 recommends educating
Targetedmetabolic reconstruction : a novel approach for the characterization of plant ^ pathogen interactions

Genome-scale metabolic reconstruction (GEMR), along with flux balance analysis, has been widely used to study complex metabolic networks in several microbial organisms. This approach is of particular applicability in biological systems where the lack of kinetics data is typical.This is the case of plant^pathogen interactions, where these methods open the possibility of studying host metabolic network phenotype during the interaction with pathogens. Since GEMRs are based on sequenced genomes, its applicability to organisms where genomic information is lacking is limited. Here we describe an alternative approach to GEMR: targeted metabolic reconstruction, where network reconstruction is guided by transcriptomic data instead of genomic information. This approach is being applied successfully in our laboratory for the Phytophthora infestansçSolanum tuberosum pathosystem.
Cell‐selective intracellular delivery of a foreign enzyme to endothelium in vivo using vascular immunotargeting

Vascular immunotargeting, the administration of drugs conjugated with antibodies to endothelial surface antigens, has the potential for drug delivery to the endothelium. Our previous cell culture studies showed that biotinylated antibodies to PECAM‐1 (a highly expressed endothelial surface antigen) coupled with streptavidin (SA, a cross‐linking protein that facilitates anti‐PECAM internalization and targeting) may provide a carrier for the intracellular delivery of therapeutic enzymes. This paper describes the PECAM‐directed vascular immunotargeting of a reporter enzyme (β‐galactosidase, β‐Gal) in intact animals. Intravenous injection of [125I]SA‐β‐Gal conjugated with either anti‐PECAM or IgG led to a high 125I uptake in liver and spleen, yet β‐Gal activity in these organs rapidly declined to the background levels, suggesting rapid degradation of the conjugates. In contrast, anti‐PECAM/[125I]SA‐β‐Gal, but not IgG/[125I]SA‐β‐Gal, accumulated in the lungs (36.0±1.3 vs. 3.9±0.6% injected dose/g) and induced a marked elevation of β‐Gal activity in the lung tissue persisting for up to 8 h after injection (10‐fold elevation 4 h postinjection). Using histochemical detection, the β‐Gal activity in the lungs was detected in the endothelial cells of capillaries and large vessels. The anti‐PECAM carrier also provided 125I uptake and β‐Gal activity in the renal glomeruli. Predominant intracellular localization of anti‐PECAM/SA‐β‐Gal was documented in the PECAM‐expressing cells in culture by confocal microscopy and in the pulmonary endothelium by electron microscopy. Therefore, vascular immunotargeting is a feasible strategy for cell‐selective, intracellular delivery of an active foreign enzyme to endothelial cells in vivo, and thus may be potentially useful for the treatment of acute pulmonary or vascular diseases. —Scherpereel, A. , Wiewrodt, R. , Christofidou‐Solomidou, M. , Gervais, R. , Murciano, J.‐C. , Albelda, S. M. , Muzykantov, V. R. Cell‐selective intracellular delivery of a foreign enzyme to endothelium in vivo using vascular immunotargeting. FASEB J. 15, 416‐426 (2001).
Effects of inbreeding on milk and fat production, stayability, and calving interval of registered Ayrshire cattle in the northeastern United States.

Inbreeding coefficients of 30,794 registered Ayrshire cows were calculated from relationships between sire and maternal male ancestors. Average inbreeding coefficient of all cows was less than 1% and of the 5,202 inbred cows was 5.4%. Fewer than 2% of inbred cows had coefficients greater than 15%. Percent of inbred cows increased from 23% of cows born in 1972 to 43% in 1980. Over the same period average inbreeding coefficient of all cows increased from 1.2 to 2.0%, but average coefficient of inbred cows decreased from 5.6 to 4.7%. Effects of inbreeding on first lactation, 305-day, 2X, mature equivalent milk and fat production (kg), 48-mo stayability (proportion of cows surviving to 48 mo of age), and first calving interval (days) were estimated by a model that included fixed effects for herd-year-seasons, sire-maternal grandsire groups, inbreeding, and random effects for sires and maternal grandsires within groups. Inbreeding was included in the model as a classification (six classes according to inbreeding coefficient: 0, 0+ to 5-%, 5 to 10-%, 10 to 15-%, 15 to 25-%, and 25 to 35-% and one class for cows with indeterminate inbreeding). Estimates of differences between inbreeding classes 0+ to 5-% through 25 to 35-% and the zero inbreeding class indicated that milk and fat production decreased with increased inbreeding. Effects of inbreeding on stayability and calving interval were small. Inbreeding was fitted also as a linear covariate. Regressions of milk, fat, stayability, and calving interval on inbreeding coefficients were -23, -1, -. 008, and -. 095 per 1% increase of inbreeding coefficient.
A Screen Printed Phenanthroline-Based Flexible Electrochemical Sensor for Selective Detection of Toxic Heavy Metal Ions

A flexible electrochemical sensor was screen printed on polyethylene terephthalate. Carbonand silver-based inks were used for metallization of the working, counter, and reference electrodes. 1,10-phenanthroline and its derivative naphtho[2,3-a]dipyrido[3,2-h:2',3'-f]phenazine-5,18-dione were synthesized as sensitive layers for Hg2+ and Pb2+, respectively. Cyclic voltammetry response of the sensor resulted in reduction peaks at 0.2 and -0.6 eV for the selective detection of Hg2+ and Pb2+, respectively. An 87% and 9% change in the average peak currents were observed for the 50-μM concentration of Pb2+ and Hg2+, respectively, against a reference signal established for deionized water. The response of the electrochemical sensor demonstrated the use of traditional printing processes and synthesized chemicals for the selective detection of heavy metal ions.