Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
CLINICAL MANIFESTATIONS OF GRAFT‐VERSUS-HOST DISEASE IN HUMAN RECIPIENTS OF MARROW FROM HL‐A-MATCHED SIBLING DONOR,S

Sixty-one evaluable patients, 19 with advanced aplastic anemia and 42 with end stage hematological malignancies, were conditioned for marrow grafting with total body irradiation or cyclophosphamide, or a combination of both. Marrow graft donors were siblings matched at the HL-A region and nonreactive in mixed leukocyte culture. All patients received methotrexate postgrafting to modify anticipated graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). Forty-three of the 61 patients developed clinically recognizable GVHD. In seven GVHD was limited to the skin. In the remaining patients, skin involvement was more severe and was followed by gastrointestinal involvement manifested by anorexia, nausea, diarrhea, abdominal pain, and malabsorption and/or liver involvement manifested by hepatomegaly, rises in serum glutamic oxaloacetic acid transaminase, and bilirubin. The severity of GVHD showed no correlation with the underlying disease, the conditioning regimen, or the day of onset after grafting. Fourteen of 25 patients without GVHD or with only skin involvement are alive. By contrast, only 5 of 36 with severe GVHD are alive. Twenty-six of the 36 patients with severe GVHD succumbed to infection, whereas only 4 of 25 without GVHD or with only skin involvement did so. The results show that despite histocompatibility matching and methotrexate therapy, GVHD remains a serious and often fatal complication of marrow transplantation.
Pricing Parisian Option under a Stochastic Volatility Model

We study the pricing of a Parisian option under a stochastic volatility model. Based on the manipulation problem that barrier options might create near barriers, the Parisian option has been designed as an extended barrier option. A stochastic volatility correction to the Black-Scholes price of the Parisian option is obtained in a partial differential equation form and the solution is characterized numerically.
An ambient assisted living system for elderly assistance applications

In last few years, the number of elderly people is more and more increasing. Consequently, various efforts were made in order to improve the quality of lifestyle for the elderly. Related to this issue, an Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) works to create better living conditions for older or disable people. AAL systems are able to continuously monitor the health status of the elderly through data coming from heterogeneous sensors. In this paper, we propose an AAL architecture for the monitoring of elderly people, able to guarantee the collection of heterogeneous sensor data as well as the detection of critical events such as the older adult fall. A remote reasoning system processes this data with the aim of generating appropriate events. In order to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed architecture, a proof of concept was used and validation functional tests were carried out.
Secretory phospholipase A2 induces dendritic cell maturation

High level of phospholipase A2 (PLA2) activity is found in serum and biological fluids during the acute‐phase response (APR). Extracellular PLA2 in fluids of patients with inflammatory diseases such as sepsis, acute pancreatitis or rheumatoid arthritis is also associated with propagation of inflammation. PLA2 activity is involved in the release of bothpro‐ and anti‐inflammatory lipid mediators from phospholipids of cellular membranes or circulating lipoproteins. PLA2 may thus generate signals that influence immune responses. Here, groupIII secretory PLA2 were tested for their ability to promote generation of functionally mature human dendritic cells (DC). PLA2 treatment of differentiating monocytes in the presence of granulocyte/macrophage colony‐stimulating factor and IL‐4 yielded cells with phenotypical and functional characteristics of mature DC. This maturation was dependent on the dose of PLA2, and PLA2‐generated DC stimulated IFN‐γ secretion by allogeneic T cells. The effects of PLA2 on DC maturation was mainly dependent on enzyme activity and correlated with the activation of NF‐κB, AP‐1 and NFAT. The data suggest that transient increase in PLA2 activity generates signals that promote transition of innate to adaptive immunity during the APR.
Analysis on the Rate of Contribution Made by Rural Education to Zhejiang Agricultural Economic Growth: a Application on the Basis of C2R Model in DEA

With the statistics of the agricultural input and output in Zhejiang province during 1996—2005 and the C2R model in Data Envelopment Analysis Method,the paper estimates the rural education's contribution rate to the agriculture economic growth.Given the non-linear relationship between the labor's education and the gross output value of agriculture,the paper conductes a linear treatment of the related data with the improved Cobb-Douglas Production Function.The analysis indicates that the total power of agricultural machinery and the use of pesticide had little effects on the gross output value of agriculture in Zhejiang province.The drive for the agriculture economic growth comes from the area of the arable land and the labor's education.Since the arable land is non-renewable resource,therefore strengthening the rural education and improving farmers' scientific and cultural quality is an important way to promote the agricultural development and improve farmers' income.
Determination of critical power using a 3-min all-out cycling test.

PURPOSE We tested the hypothesis that the power output attained at the end of a 3-min all-out cycling test would be equivalent to critical power. METHODS Ten habitually active subjects performed a ramp test, two 3-min all-out tests against a fixed resistance to establish the end-test power (EP) and the work done above the EP (WEP), and five constant-work rate tests to establish the critical power (CP) and the curvature constant parameter (W') using the work-time and 1/time models. RESULTS The power output in the 3-min trial declined to a steady level within 135 s. The EP was 287 +/- 55 W, which was not significantly different from, and highly correlated with, CP (287 +/- 56 W; P = 0.37, r = 0.99). The standard error for the estimation of CP using EP was approximately 6 W, and in 8 of 10 cases, EP agreed with CP to within 5 W. Similarly, the WEP derived from the 3-min test (15.0 +/- 4.7 kJ) was not significantly different from, and correlated with, W' (16.0 +/- 3.8 kJ; P = 0.35; r = 0.84). CONCLUSIONS During a 3-min all-out cycling test, power output declined to a stable value in approximately the last 45 s, and this power output was not significantly different from the independently measured critical power.
Bridging the reality gap in quantum devices with physics-aware machine learning

The discrepancies between reality and simulation impede the optimisation and scalability of solid-state quantum devices. Disorder induced by the unpredictable distribution of material defects is one of the major contributions to the reality gap. We bridge this gap using physics-aware machine learning, in particular, using an approach combining a physical model, deep learning, Gaussian random field, and Bayesian inference. This approach has enabled us to infer the disorder potential of a nanoscale electronic device from electron transport data. This inference is validated by verifying the algorithm's predictions about the gate voltage values required for a laterally-defined quantum dot device in AlGaAs/GaAs to produce current features corresponding to a double quantum dot regime.
Combining Linked Data and mobiles devices to improve access to OCW

As the Web becomes increasingly populated with diverse data, it continues evolving from a Web of linked documents to a Web Linked Data. This evolution allows relationships to be expressed between content in distributed data sets, enabling the way for integration of raw data from multiple knowledge domains and heterogeneous datasets. However, as the Web becomes increasingly populated with linked data, there is also a need to support users with applications to visualize or to explore available data for a specific task, especially in mobile applications. Examples of these tasks are consuming linked data, or creating new semantic relations between data entities, people and places. With the advent of mobiles, our views and behaviors about access/interaction the Internet are shifting. Specialized applications are available as an important alternative to replace a standard web browser for mobile access. In this article, authors show a three-tier client-server architecture using Android framework. This architecture relies on the RDF data from Linked OpenCourseWare Dataset. Additionally, authors show three proof-of-concept based on architecture which integrates into a common used interface for RDF data management on mobile devices.
First Cultivation and Ecological Investigation of a Bacterium Affiliated with the Candidate Phylum OP5 from Hot Springs

ABSTRACT The phylogenetic group termed OP5 was originally discovered in the Yellowstone National Park hot spring and proposed as an uncultured phylum; the group was afterwards analyzed by applying culture-independent approaches. Recently, a novel thermophilic chemoheterotrophic filamentous bacterium was obtained from a hot spring in Japan that was enriched through various isolation procedures. Phylogenetic analyses of the isolate have revealed that it is closely related to the OP5 phylum that has mainly been constructed with the environmental clones retrieved from thermophilic and mesophilic anaerobic environments. It appears that the lineage is independent at the phylum level in the domain Bacteria. Therefore, we designed a primer set for the 16S rRNA gene to specifically target the OP5 phylum and performed quantitative field analysis by using the real-time PCR method. Thus, the 16S rRNA gene of the OP5 phylum was detected in some hot-spring samples with the relative abundance ranging from 0.2% to 1.4% of the prokaryotic organisms detected. The physiology of the above-mentioned isolate and the related environmental clones indicated that they are scavengers contributing to the sulfur cycle in nature.
Which common clinical conditions should medical students be able to manage by graduation? A perspective from Australian interns

The objectives of the study were to report the development of a core curriculum that details the clinical conditions medical students should be able to manage upon graduation; and to canvass the opinion of interns (first-year postgraduate doctors) regarding their perceptions of the level of skill required to manage each condition. Literature relating to core curriculum development and training of junior medical officers was reviewed and stakeholders in the education and training of medical students and junior doctors in the state of New South Wales, Australia (intern supervisors, academics, registrars, nurses and interns) were consulted. The final curriculum spanned 106 conditions, 77 'differentiated' and 29 'undifferentiated'. Four levels of skill at which conditions should potentially be managed were also identified: 'Theoretical knowledge only'; 'Recognize symptoms and signs without supervision'; Initiate preliminary investigations, management and/or treatment without supervision'; and 'Total investigation, management and/or treatment without supervision'. The list of conditions in the curriculum was converted to a survey format and a one-in-two random sample of interns (n = 193) practising in New South Wales who graduated from the state's three medical schools were surveyed regarding the level of skill required for managing each clinical condition at graduation. A total of 51.3% of interns responded to the survey. Interns felt they should be able to initiate preliminary investigation, management and/or treatment for most conditions in the curriculum, with more than half acknowledging this level of management for 53 of the differentiated and 28 of the undifferentiated conditions. It is concluded that developing core curricula in medical education can involve multiple stakeholders, including junior doctors as the consumers of educational experiences. The data gathered may be useful to medical schools revising their curricula.
No increase in hemorrhagic complications with thromboprophylaxis using low‐molecular‐weight heparin soon after cesarean section

Aim: Data from Japanese women have been lacking regarding hemorrhagic complications due to low‐molecular‐weight heparin (LMWH) as thromboprophylaxis. Thus, targeting Japanese women, we made an effort to determine: (i) whether the administration of LMWH soon after cesarean section increases the risk of hemorrhagic complications compared to that of unfractionated heparin; and (ii) how it elongates the activated partial thromboplastin time.
An extended role for the nucleoid structuring protein H‐NS in the virulence gene regulatory cascade of Shigella flexneri

The H‐NS nucleoid structuring protein has been shown previously to play a negative role in controlling virulence gene expression in Shigella flexneri by repressing transcription of the virF and virB regulatory genes and the VirF‐dependent icsA structural gene under non‐permissive growth conditions. Here, we show that H‐NS also acts at the promoters of the VirB‐dependent structural genes in the regulatory cascade. H‐NS protein binds to the promoter regions in vivo and in vitro. The promoters were shown physically and by in silico analysis to contain regions of DNA curvature, a feature of H‐NS binding sites. H‐NS binding sites were determined by DNase I footprinting at the icsB and the virA promoters. The locations of these sites were consistent with a role for H‐NS as a transcription repressor. The VirB‐dependent structural gene promoters were found to respond directly to the H‐NS repressor, revealing a level of control that is additional to that exerted by the H‐NS‐dependent virB activator gene. Moreover, the promoters were sensitive to the level of VirB protein in the cell, requiring a threshold level of VirB to be reached before becoming active. A model is discussed in which the levels of expression of the structural genes reflect the outcome of competition between the countervailing regulatory activities of the H‐NS and VirB proteins.
X-ray emission processes in stars and their immediate environment

A decade of X-ray stellar observations with Chandra and XMM-Newton has led to significant advances in our understanding of the physical processes at work in hot (magnetized) plasmas in stars and their immediate environment, providing new perspectives and challenges, and in turn the need for improved models. The wealth of high-quality stellar spectra has allowed us to investigate, in detail, the characteristics of the X-ray emission across the Hertzsprung-Russell (HR) diagram. Progress has been made in addressing issues ranging from classical stellar activity in stars with solar-like dynamos (such as flares, activity cycles, spatial and thermal structuring of the X-ray emitting plasma, and evolution of X-ray activity with age), to X-ray generating processes (e.g., accretion, jets, magnetically confined winds) that were poorly understood in the preChandra/XMM-Newton era. I will discuss the progress made in the study of high energy stellar physics and its impact in a wider astrophysical context, focusing on the role of spectral diagnostics now accessible.
Voltage-gated K+ currents in mouse articular chondrocytes regulate membrane potential

Membrane currents and resting potential of isolated primary mouse articular chondrocytes maintained in monolayer cell culture for 1-9 days were recorded using patch clamp methods. Quantitative RT-PCR showed that the most abundantly expressed transcript of voltage-gated K+ channels was for Kv1.6, and immunological methods confirmed the expression of Kv1.6 a-subunit proteins. These chondrocytes expressed a large time- and potential-dependent, Ca2+-independent 'delayed rectifier' K+ current. Steady-state activation was well-fit by a Boltzmann function with a threshold near -50 mV, and a half-activation potential of -35.0 mV. The current was 50% blocked by 1.48 mM tetraethylammonium, 0.66 mM 4-aminopyridine, and 20.6 nM a-dendrotoxin. The current inactivated very slowly at membrane potentials in the range of the resting potential of the chondrocytes. Resting membrane potential of the chondrocytes at room temperature (19-21 oC) and in 5 mM external K+ was -46.4 ± 1.3 mV (mean ± s.e.m; n=23), near the 'foot' of the activation curve of this K+ current. Resting potential was depolarized by an average of 4.2 ± 0.8 mV by 25 mM TEA, which blocked about 95% of the K+ current. At a membrane potential of -50 mV, the apparent time constant of inactivation (tauin) was 37.9 s, and the 'steady-state' current level was 19% of that at a holding potential of -90 mV; at -40 mV, tauin was 20.3 s, and 'steady-state' current was 5% of that at -90 mV. These results demonstrate that in these primary cultured, mouse articular chondrocytes steady-state activation of a voltage-gated K+ current contributes to resting membrane potential. However, this current is also likely to have a significant physiological role in repolarizing the chondrocyte following depolarizing stimuli that might occur in conditions of membrane stretch. For example, activation of TRP ('transient receptor potential') non-specific cation channels in these cells during cyclic loading and unloading of the joint cartilage, or in response to hypertonic challenge is expected to result in depolarization and Ca2+ entry. Potassium currents are required to maintain the resting membrane potential.
Development and validation of a new Spanish instrument to measure health-related quality of life in patients with allergic rhinitis: the ESPRINT questionnaire.

OBJECTIVES To develop and validate an instrument to measure health-related quality of life (HRQOL) specific to patients with allergic rhinitis (AR) and primarily for use in Spanish and Spanish-speaking populations. METHODS An initial item pool was generated from literature review, focus groups with AR patients, and consultations with clinical experts. Item reduction was performed using clinimetric and psychometric approaches after administration of the item pool to 400 AR patients. The resulting instrument's internal consistency, test-retest (2-4 weeks) reliability, known groups and convergent validity, and sensitivity to change were tested in a longitudinal, observational, multicenter study in 210 AR patients who also completed the Rhinoconjunctivitis Quality of Life Questionnaire (RQLQ). RESULTS The new questionnaire took a mean (SD) of 7.1 (5.4) minutes to answer. Floor and ceiling effects were less than 15% on all dimensions. Cronbach's alpha values and intraclass correlation coefficient values for six of the sevendimensions and the overall score exceeded 0.70. Statistically significant differences (P < 0.01) were observed on all ESPRINT-28 dimensions and the overall score between patients with mild (mean overall score 1.97, SD 0.99), moderate (mean overall score 2.78, SD 0.88), and severe AR (mean overall score 3.89, SD 0.87). Patients with persistent AR had worse scores (P < 0.05) on all dimensions than patients with intermittent AR. Correlations between the ESPRINT-28 and the RQLQ were generally as expected. Effect sizes for score changes between the two study visits ranged from 0.96 to 1.76 for individual dimensions and the overall score. CONCLUSIONS This new, Spanish-developed instrument to measure HRQOL in AR patients has shown good reliability, validity, and sensitivity to change. It has also proved easy to use and administer.
Fluoride content and labelling of toothpastes marketed in India.

OBJECTIVE To enumerate the fluoride content and labelling practices of toothpastes marketed in India and to determine if the content is in accordance with the information provided on the packaging. METHOD In vitro analysis of total and free available fluoride in 5 adult and 5 children's fluoride toothpastes in India using fluoride ion electrode. Information on the tube and carton was checked to assess the labelling. RESULTS The mean Total Fluoride concentrations (TF) in the toothpastes labelled 1,000 ppm, 500ppm and 458 ppm were 1,000, 500 and 449mg/L (sd values 3, 5 and 4mg/L) respectively. The toothpastes' Total Soluble Fluoride (TSF) concentration was generally slightly less than the TF concentration. Overall mean percentage of TSF concentration was 94% sd 9%. The mean percentage of TSF concentration in SMFP (sodium monofluorophosphate)/CaCO3 (calcium carbonate) containing toothpastes was 86% sd 16% while that in NaF (sodium fluoride)/Si (silica) based toothpastes was 98% sd 1% and 95% sd 1% in the remaining toothpastes with unknown abrasive. NaF/Si based toothpastes had more TSF concentration than the others (p<0.05). All the information required by the Indian regulations was shown on all 10 toothpastes. CONCLUSION The available fluoride content of one of the ten toothpastes was substantially less than the total fluoride content. Although the toothpastes were labelled following the guidelines of the regulatory body of India, 3 of the 10 failed to mention the abrasive present.
vFetch: Video prefetching using pseudo subscriptions and user channel affinity in YouTube

Video streaming is responsible for the largest portion of traffic in fixed and mobile networks. Yet, forecasts expect this amount to grow further. Especially for mobile devices connected to cellular networks, high QoE video streaming can be a challenge as the user data volume is metered and eventually limited. Also, the connection quality may vary severely. Prefetching videos is an approach to mitigate this issue. Here, videos that the user is likely to watch in advance are prefetched on the user's smartphone, e.g., while he is connected to WiFi. However, this approach can only be efficient if only the videos that are interesting for the respective user are prefetched. This constitutes a major estimation and prediction challenge. To this end, this paper presents three contributions: First, a user study over multiple months that draws valuable insights on the user video request behavior. Second, we propose a novel privacy-preserving prefetching framework denoted vFetch that prefetches videos based, e.g., on the user's affinity of YouTube channels. Third, a trace-based evaluation and parameter study that demonstrates vFetch's efficiency with a hit rate of ∼50% for a 50 GB cache.
Specific Binding of the Xanthomonas campestris pv. vesicatoria AraC-Type Transcriptional Activator HrpX to Plant-Inducible Promoter Boxes

ABSTRACT The pathogenicity of the plant-pathogenic bacterium Xanthomonas campestris pv. vesicatoria depends on a type III secretion system which is encoded by the 23-kb hrp (hypersensitive response and pathogenicity) gene cluster. Expression of the hrp operons is strongly induced in planta and in a special minimal medium and depends on two regulatory proteins, HrpG and HrpX. In this study, DNA affinity enrichment was used to demonstrate that the AraC-type transcriptional activator HrpX binds to a conserved cis-regulatory element, the plant-inducible promoter (PIP) box (TTCGC-N15-TTCGC), present in the promoter regions of four hrp operons. No binding of HrpX was observed when DNA fragments lacking a PIP box were used. HrpX also bound to a DNA fragment containing an imperfect PIP box (TTCGC-N8-TTCGT). Dinucleotide replacements in each half-site of the PIP box strongly decreased binding of HrpX, while simultaneous dinucleotide replacements in both half-sites completely abolished binding. Based on the complete genome sequence of Xanthomonas campestris pv. vesicatoria, putative plant-inducible promoters consisting of a PIP box and a −10 promoter motif were identified in the promoter regions of almost all HrpX-activated genes. Bioinformatic analyses and reverse transcription-PCR experiments revealed novel HrpX-dependent genes, among them a NUDIX hydrolase gene and several genes with a predicted role in the degradation of the plant cell wall. We conclude that HrpX is the most downstream component of the hrp regulatory cascade, which is proposed to directly activate most genes of the hrpX regulon via binding to corresponding PIP boxes.