Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Intensive chemotherapy induction followed by interferon‐alpha maintenance in patients with Philadelphia chromosome‐positive chronic myelogenous leukemia

In a pilot study, 32 patients with Philadelphia chromosome‐positive chronic myelogenous leukemia were treated with intensive chemotherapy induction followed by interferon‐alpha (IFN‐A) maintenance. Intensive chemotherapy consisted of three cycles of daunorubicin 120 mg/m2 on day 1, cytarabine 80 mg/m2 daily for 10 days, vincristine 2 mg on day 1, and prednisone 100 mg daily for 5 days (DOAP). Maintenance therapy with IFN‐A at a doses of 3 × 106 to 5 × 106 units/m2 daily was adjusted according to counts and toxicity. The outcome of patients was compared with a matched historic population of 64 patients treated with IFN‐A alone. Overall, 60% of patients had a cytogenetic response (partial or complete) with induction chemotherapy, but only eight (25%) had a sustained cytogenetic response with IFN‐A maintenance. After a median follow‐up of 67 months, the 6‐year survival rate of the 32 patients was 58%, compared with 36% for the matched historic group (P = 0.084). The incidence of lymphoid blastic transformation in the two groups was 25% and 48%, respectively (P = 0.10) and durable cytogenetic responses, 25% and 19%, respectively (P = 0.48). In summary, the addition of intensive chemotherapy induction to IFN‐A maintenance does not improve the survival rate, incidence of lymphoid blastic transformation, or incidence of durable cytogenetic response compared with the results achieved with IFN‐A therapy alone.
Risk Factors for and Prediction by Caregivers of Extubation Failure in ICU Patients: A Prospective Study*

Objective:The influence of delirium, ICU-acquired paresis, and cardiac performance on extubation outcome has never been evaluated together. We aimed to assess the respective role of these factors on the risk of extubation failure and to assess the predictive accuracy of caregivers. Design and Setting:Prospective observational study of all planned extubations in a 13-bed medical ICU of a teaching hospital. Interventions:On the day of extubation, muscle strength of the four limbs, criteria for delirium, cardiac performance, cough strength, and the risk of extubation failure predicted by caregivers were prospectively assessed. Extubation failure was defined as the need for reintubation within the following 7 days. Measurements and Main Results:Over the 18-month study period, 533 patients required intubation. Among the 225 patients intubated for more than 24 hours who experienced a planned extubation attempt, 31 patients (14%) required reintubation within the 7 days following extubation. In multivariate analysis, duration of mechanical ventilation more than 7 days prior to extubation, ineffective cough, and severe systolic left ventricular dysfunction were the three independent factors associated with extubation failure. Although patients considered at high risk for extubation failure had higher reintubation rate, prediction of extubation failure by caregivers at time of extubation had high specificity but low sensitivity. Conclusions:An ineffective cough, a prior duration of mechanical ventilation more than 7 days, and severe systolic left ventricular dysfunction were stronger predictors of extubation failure than delirium or ICU-acquired weakness. Only one-third patients who required reintubation were considered at high risk for extubation failure by caregivers.
Photosensitivity in patients with lupus erythematosus: a clinical and photobiological study of 100 patients using a prolonged phototest protocol

Summary Background There is a clear relationship between ultraviolet (UV) radiation (UVR) and the clinical manifestations of patients with lupus erythematosus (LE). Cutaneous lesions are induced or exacerbated by exposure to UVR. Of patients with LE, 24–83% are reported to be photosensitive to UVR. LE tumidus appears to be the most photosensitive subtype of LE, followed by subacute cutaneous LE (SCLE). In general, the history of patients with LE correlates poorly with the presence or absence of photosensitivity, due to a delayed time interval between UV exposure and exacerbation of skin lesions. Phototesting using artificial UVR and visible light is a reliable way of diagnosing photosensitivity.
How to use central venous pressure measurements

Purpose of reviewCentral venous pressure is a very common clinical measurement, but it is frequently misunderstood and misused. As with all hemodynamic measurements, it is important to understand its basic principles. Recent findingsThis analysis indicates that it is best to always consider the significance of central venous pressure in the context of the corresponding cardiac output. Even more important is the use of dynamic measures to interpret the meaning of the central venous pressure. This includes the hemodynamic response to fluid load, respiratory variations in central venous pressure, and even the change in central venous pressure with changes in the patient's overall status. SummaryThe clinical application of central venous pressure measurement requires a good understanding of the concept of the interaction of the function of the heart with the function of the return of blood to the heart.
Optimization of Fairness for HTTP Adaptive Streaming with Network Assistance in LTE Mobile Systems

HTTP adaptive streaming is becoming dominant for commercial video streaming services. It is typically the client that chooses the rate based on estimation of the available network bandwidth in order to avoid the client buffer to be underrun or overrun. However, the unfairness among the clients and between the clients and other competing traffic has been identified as one of major issues that lead to degraded user service quality and system capacity. Therefore, this paper proposes a network assisted rate adaptation method for HTTP streaming in the radio access network. The simulation results show that the network rate assistance is able to guarantee a fair share of the network resources. As a result, the system capacity and the user service quality can be improved.
Vaccine-elicited CD4 T cells induce immunopathology after chronic LCMV infection

For vaccines, CD4+ T cells can spell trouble The ideal vaccine elicits immune memory—either antibodies or memory T cells—to protect the host from subsequent infections. T cell–mediated immunity requires both helper CD4+ T cells and cytotoxic CD8+ T cells to kill virus-infected cells. But what happens when a vaccine only elicits CD4+ memory T cells? Penaloza-MacMaster et al. probed this question by giving mice a vaccine that generated only memory CD4+ T cells against lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV). Instead of protecting mice against chronic LCMV, vaccinated mice developed massive inflammation and died. Virus-specific CD8+ T cells or antibodies protected mice from the pathology. These results may have implications for vaccines against chronic viruses such as HIV. Science, this issue p. 278 Severe immunopathology kills virally infected mice that received vaccines targeting only CD4+ T cells. CD4 T cells promote innate and adaptive immune responses, but how vaccine-elicited CD4 T cells contribute to immune protection remains unclear. We evaluated whether induction of virus-specific CD4 T cells by vaccination would protect mice against infection with chronic lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV). Immunization with vaccines that selectively induced CD4 T cell responses resulted in catastrophic inflammation and mortality after challenge with a persistent strain of LCMV. Immunopathology required antigen-specific CD4 T cells and was associated with a cytokine storm, generalized inflammation, and multi-organ system failure. Virus-specific CD8 T cells or antibodies abrogated the pathology. These data demonstrate that vaccine-elicited CD4 T cells in the absence of effective antiviral immune responses can trigger lethal immunopathology.
Factors Influencing the Development of Rangeland Fire Protection Associations: Exploring Fire Mitigation Programs for Rural, Resource-Based Communities

ABSTRACT Increases in wildfire frequency and extent in rangelands pose a growing threat to private property and ecosystem health. The state of Idaho, USA, recently promoted rangeland fire protection associations (RFPAs)—nonprofit organizations of local citizens who contribute to firefighting efforts on public rangelands—as one way to mitigate rangeland wildfire risk. This study used in-depth interviews with RFPA members and land management professionals to explore the local circumstances that influenced the establishment and functioning of one RFPA. Results indicate that intergenerational ties to “working the land,” existing reciprocity among neighbors, a culture of self-reliance, and informal social networks all contributed to RFPA formation and functioning. Interaction between RFPA members and professionals improved their relationships and promoted shared understandings about wildfire response. We conclude by discussing conditions that might enable or inhibit RFPAs in other areas and how our findings advance research on adapting mitigation programs to local context.
Esomeprazole-Based 1-Week Triple Therapy Directed by Susceptibility Testing for Eradication of Helicobacter pylori Infection in Children

Background: Poor compliance to therapy and antibiotic resistance are the main causes for failure of anti-Helicobacter pylori therapy. Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of esomeprazole-based triple therapy directed by susceptibility testing. Methods: Symptomatic children with H. pylori infection, who underwent successful susceptibility testing and were colonized by no double-resistant strain, received 1-week triple therapy with esomeprazole, amoxicillin and either clarithromycin or metronidazole. Success of eradication was investigated by 13C-urea breath test. Results: Fifty-eight children (median age, 11.4 years; range, 2.2-17.7 years; 81% immigrants) were included. Helicobacter pylori was resistant to clarithromycin in 5 (9%) and to metronidazole in 9 children (16%). Eradication was successful in 49 (92%) of 53 children receiving esomeprazole, amoxicillin and clarithromycin and in all 5 children treated with metronidazole instead of clarithromycin, resulting in an eradication rate of 93% (95% confidence interval, 83%-98%, intention-to-treat analysis). All 4 treatment failures occurred in immigrants with language problems; 2 of them were obviously noncompliant. Conclusion: Esomeprazole-based 1-week triple therapy directed by susceptibility testing is highly effective for eradication of H. pylori infection in children.
Arabidopsis JINGUBANG Is a Negative Regulator of Pollen Germination That Prevents Pollination in Moist Environments[OPEN]

JINGUBANG, a novel negative regulator of pollen germination, regulates jasmonic acid synthesis in pollen by interacting with TCP4 and controls pollen germination in moist environments. The molecular mechanism of pollen germination and pollen tube growth has been revealed in detail during the last decade, while the mechanism that suspends pollen grains in a dormant state is largely unclear. Here, we identified the JINGUBANG (JGB) gene by screening pollen-specific genes for those that are unnecessary for pollen germination. We showed that the pollen of the jgb loss-of-function mutant exhibited hyperactive germination in sucrose-only medium and inside the anther, while this phenotype was rescued by the transgenic expression of JGB in jgb plants. JGB contains seven WD40 repeats and is highly conserved in flowering plants. Overexpression of JGB inhibits pollen germination. These results indicate that JGB is a novel negative regulator of pollen germination. In addition, we found that jasmonic acid (JA) abundance was significantly elevated in jgb pollen, while exogenous application of methyl jasmonate rescued the inhibition of pollen germination in plants overexpressing JGB. Based on the molecular features of JGB and on the finding that it interacts with a known JA biosynthesis-related transcription factor, TCP4, we propose that JGB, together with TCP4, forms a regulatory complex that controls pollen JA synthesis, ensuring pollination in moist environments.
Political Branding in U.S. Elections: Content Analysis of U.S. Presidential Campaign Logos from 1968-2016

Presidential campaign logos are unique icons in our democratic society. Their saliency and how they are perceived by the general public is tantamount to the success of the campaigns themselves. Due to the rise of social media, the online world has significantly changed the playing field for political branding, design, and candidate appeal. This study explores how the rise of social media has reshaped political branding in American presidential election campaigns. Presidential candidate logos from 1968 to the 2016 election cycle were analyzed for this study. Year of election, political party, shapes, colors, typography, slogans, and URL presence were all studied in this analysis of the 171 logos of major candidates during these election cycles. This study found that political branding has experienced some notable changes while other elements have remained the same. Not surprisingly, the appearance of the colors red, white, and blue, as well as stars and stripes are common occurrences in American presidential campaign logos across both time and political party. The content of the logos has remained consistent— what has changed is the improvements of the designs themselves.
Demonstration of 8-mode 32-Gbit/s millimeter-wave free-space communication link using 4 orbital-angular-momentum modes on 2 polarizations

This paper reports an experimental demonstration of modal multiplexing using orbital angular momenta (OAM) in the millimeter-wave regime (28 GHz). Using 1 GBaud/s signals with 16-QAM modulation, a data rate of 32 Gbit/s is obtained by employing 4 different OAM modes (l= -3,-1,+1 and +3) on two orthogonal linear polarization states. Without any digital post-processing, the receiver can separate the different data streams since crosstalk among the OAM channels is low: measured to be better than -23dB with a 28 GHz narrowband carrier on a single polarization, and better than -16dB on both polarization states. The bit-error rate (BER) of 8 channels is measured, and found the raw BER is below 3.8×10-3, thus allowing efficient use of forward error correction (FEC) codes.
Estrogens inhibit l‐glutamate uptake activity of astrocytes via membrane estrogen receptor α

We investigated the effects of estrogen‐related compounds including xenoestrogens [17β‐estradiol (E2), 17α‐ethynylestradiol (EE), diethylstilbestrol (DES), p‐nonylphenol (PNP), bisphenol A (BPA) and 17α‐estradiol (17α)] on l‐glu uptake by cultured astrocytes via glutamate‐aspartate transporter (GLAST). After 24 h treatment, E2 inhibited the l‐glu uptake at 1 µm and higher concentrations. EE and DES also inhibited the l‐glu uptake at 1 nm and higher concentrations. The other four compounds had no effect. The effects of E2, EE and DES were completely blocked by 10 nm of ICI182 780 (ICI). β‐Estradiol 17‐hemisuccinate : bovine serum albumin (E2‐BSA), a membrane‐impermeable conjugate of E2, also elicited the inhibition of l‐glu uptake at 1 nm and higher concentrations, and the effect was blocked by ICI. 16α‐Iodo‐17β‐estradiol (16αIE2), an estrogen receptor α (ERα) selective ligand, revealed an inhibitory effect at 10 nm, while genistein, an ERβ selective ligand, failed to reveal such an effect at this concentration. Western blot analysis showed that the predominant ER of cultured astrocytes was ERα. The colocalization of ERα with GLAST on plasma membranes was immunohistochemically detected in these cells. From these results, we concluded that estrogens down‐regulate l‐glu uptake activity of astrocytes via membrane ERα.
Antioxidant properties and xanthine oxidase inhibitory effects of Tamus communis L. root extracts

This study was conducted to search for xanthine oxidase (XO) inhibitors from the root extracts of Tamus communis L. traditionally used in folk medicine in Algeria. Root extracts with different solvents were screened for purified milk xanthine oxidase inhibition. The root extracts (methanol, chloroform and ethyl acetate) and proteins, obtained in distilled water, inhibited bovine, sheep and human milk XO from three species in a concentration‐dependent manner, with an additional superoxide scavenging capacity, which reached its highest level with ethyl acetate extract (IC50 = 0.15, 0.04 and 0.09 g/L) for bovine XO, sheep XO and human XO, respectively. The antioxidant potential was confirmed with the non‐enzymatic method, total radical‐trapping antioxidant parameter (TRAP) assay, which showed that the Tamus communis L. extracts have a potential antioxidant activity in the same order obtained by using the reduction of cytochrome c, an enzymatic method, in which the antioxidant activity followed a decreasing order: ethyl acetate extract > chloroform extract > protein. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Longterm Efficacy and Safety of Abatacept in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis Treated in Routine Clinical Practice: Effect of Concomitant Methotrexate after 24 Weeks

Objective. Our study aimed to evaluate the longterm efficacy and safety of abatacept (ABA), and to explore factors that increase its longterm efficacy in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) treated in routine clinical practice. Methods. There were 231 participants with RA treated with ABA who were prospectively registered in a Japanese multicenter registry. They were followed up for at least 52 weeks. Results. Mean age of the patients was 64.3 years, mean disease duration was 12.1 years, mean 28-joint Disease Activity Score (DAS28)-C-reactive protein was 4.49, and 48.5% of patients were concomitantly treated with methotrexate (MTX). Overall retention rate of ABA was 77.1% at 52 weeks; 14.8% of patients discontinued because of inadequate response and 3.5% because of adverse events. The proportion of patients achieving DAS28-defined low disease activity (LDA) significantly increased from baseline to 52 weeks (7.3% to 43.8%, p < 0.01); 40.9% of patients who did not achieve LDA at 24 weeks had more than 1 categorical improvement in DAS28-defined disease activity at 52 weeks. Multivariate logistic regression revealed concomitant MTX use to be an independent predictor of the categorical improvement in DAS28-defined disease activity from 24 to 52 weeks (adjusted OR 3.124, p = 0.010). Conclusion. In routine clinical practice, ABA demonstrated satisfactory clinical efficacy and safety in patients with established RA for 52 weeks. The clinical efficacy of ABA increased with time even after 24 weeks, and this was strongly influenced by concomitant MTX use. Our study provides valuable real-world findings on the longterm management of RA with ABA.
Sedentary behaviour among elite professional footballers: health and performance implications

Background Elite athletes should have little concern about meeting recommended guidelines on physical activity. However, sedentary behaviour is considered a health risk independent of physical activity, and is recognised in public health guidelines advising against prolonged sedentary time. There has been very little research on athletes’ physical activity behaviour outside elite sport. Methods Given health and performance links, we investigated in-season post-training activity levels in 28 elite professional footballers during the English Premiership season. Players volunteered to wear a triaxial wrist accelerometer for 1 week, removing it only for training and matches. In total, 25 players met the inclusion criteria for analysis. Players recorded on average 632.6 min wear time p/day during the post-training period (SD±52.9) for a mean of 3.8 days (SD±1.5). Results On average, players recorded 76.2 min p/day (SD±28.8) of moderate or vigorous activity post-training. The majority (79%) of post-training time was spent in sedentary activities (500.6 min per day±59.0). Conclusions Professional footballers are alarmingly sedentary in their leisure time, and comparatively more so than non-athletic groups of a similar age and older. This raises questions over optimum recovery and performance, as well as long-term health and cardiovascular risk. Worryingly, retirement from elite sport is likely to further imbalance activity and sedentary behaviour. Promoting regular periodic light to moderate leisure time activity could be beneficial. Further research and provision of education and support for players is required in this area.
Contracting and gender equity in Tanzania: using a value chain approach to understand the role of gender in organic spice certification

Abstract Value chain development (VCD) initiatives within the horticultural and organic sectors in Africa are promising strategies to improve smallholder welfare. Contracting institutional arrangements are a common feature of VCD initiatives and are increasing in number in sub-Saharan Africa as a way to source organic products from smallholder producers. The objective of this study is to better understand men and women's participation in spice producing households that sell under contract and in conventional market chains in the East Usambaras, Tanzania. We draw on New Institutional Economics, political economy and the value chain analysis framework to assess the potential role of contracting to promote gender equity among smallholder organic horticultural producers. We describe intra-household decision making over resources and marketing, access to benefits of contracting, and labor distribution between men and women in contracting and non-contracting households. We then extend the gender analysis to evaluate the role of gender in contracting and conventional value chains operating within the community and district. Using a cross-sectional research design and data collected through 13 focus group discussions, 54 personal interviews and 156 household questionnaires, we show that contracting reduces transaction costs in the chain compared with the conventional trade. However, norms in the wider political economic context give rise to gendered patterns of participation in both household and chain activities in contracting and non-contracting households. Our findings suggest that contracting does not provide significant opportunities for women in married households to participate and benefit based on limited participation in decision-making and access to trainings. Divorced women and widows gain access to contract employment opportunities to earn income. This study highlights the importance of understanding gender relations in the household and community to guide the development of gender equitable VCD initiatives and contracting approaches.