Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A simple multicolor flow cytometry protocol for detection and molecular characterization of circulating tumor cells in epithelial cancers

Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) might not only serve as prognostic marker but could also be useful for monitoring treatment efficacy. A multicolor flow cytometry protocol for their detection and molecular characterization in peripheral blood was developed which consisted of erythrocyte lysis followed by staining of cells with fluorochrome‐labeled antibodies against CD45 and the epithelial markers EpCam and cytokeratin 7/8. For reducing the number of events acquired by flow cytometry, an electronic threshold for the fluorescent signals from the epithelial markers was applied. After establishment of the protocol by using spiking experiments, its suitability to determine the absolute number of CTCs as well as their expression of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and its phosphorylated form (phospho‐EGFR) in blood samples from patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN) was validated. Spiking experiments demonstrated an excellent recovery (mean 85%) and a linear performance (R2 = 0.98) of the protocol. Sensitivity and specificity were comparable to our former protocol using immunomagnetic CTC pre‐enrichment. The analysis of 33 SCCHN patient samples revealed the presence of CTCs in 33.3% of cases with a mean ± SD of 1.5 ± 0.5 CTCs per 3.75 ml blood. EGFR was expressed in 100% and phospho‐EGFR in 36.4% of the CTC+ cases. We have established a simple and sensitive multicolor flow cytometry protocol for detection of CTCs in patients with epithelial cancers including SCCHN which will allow their detailed molecular characterization. © 2012 International Society for Advancement of Cytometry
A Randomised Controlled Trial of a Play-Based Intervention to Improve the Social Play Skills of Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

There is a need for effective interventions to address the social difficulties of children with ADHD. This randomised controlled trial examined the effectiveness of a play-based intervention for improving the social play skills of children with ADHD in peer-to-peer interactions. Children with ADHD (5 to 11 years) were randomised to an intervention-first (n = 15) or waitlist control-first group (n = 14). Participants allocated to the control-first group received the intervention after a 10-week wait period. Children invited a typically-developing playmate and parents of children with ADHD participated. The intervention involved: six clinic play-sessions, weekly home-modules and a one-month home follow up. The Test of Playfulness (ToP) was scored by a blinded rater. Parent reported treatment adherence was used to assess treatment fidelity. Between group statistics were used to compare the change of the intervention-first (10-week intervention period) and control-first (10-week wait period) groups. Once all children had received the intervention, repeated measures ANOVA, post hoc Least Significance Difference tests and Cohen’s-d were used to measure effect. Changes in ToP social items were analysed using Friedman’s ANOVA. Linear regression analyses were used to identify variables that predicted change. The control-first group did not change during the wait period. The change in the intervention-first group was significantly greater than the change in the control-first group (during the wait period). When the data from the two groups were combined, the mean ToP scores of the children with ADHD (n = 29) improved significantly following the intervention, with a large effect from pre to post intervention and from pre intervention to follow up. Children maintained treatment gains at follow up. All ToP social items improved significantly following the intervention. The findings support the use of play involving parent and peer mediated components to enhance the social play skills of children with ADHD. Trial Registration: Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN12614000973617
Characterization of changes in total body composition for patients with head and neck cancer undergoing chemoradiotherapy using dual‐energy x‐ray absorptiometry

Patients with head and neck cancer experience significant weight loss secondary to concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT). Using dual‐energy X‐ray absorptiometry (DEXA) scans, we characterize total body composition changes during and after CCRT in order to develop novel clinical care models that will improve the patient's quality of life (QOL).
Quantification of Bacteria on Abiotic Surfaces by Laser Scanning Cytometry

Bacterial biofilms are a persistent source of contamination, and much effort has been invested in developing antifouling surfaces or coatings. A bottleneck in developing such coatings is often the time-consuming task of screening and evaluating a large number of surface materials. An automated high-throughput assay is therefore needed. In this study, we present a promising technique, laser scanning cytometry (LSC), for automated quantification of bacteria on surfaces. The method was evaluated by quantifying young Staphylococcus xylosus biofilms on glass surfaces using LSC and comparing the results with cell counts obtained by fluorescence microscopy. As an example of application, we quantified bacterial adhesion to seven different sol-gel-based coatings on stainless steel. The surface structure and hydrophobicity of the coatings were analyzed using atomic force microscopy and water contact angle measurements. Among the coatings tested, a significant reduction in adhesion of S. xylosus was observed only for one coating, which also had a unique surface microstructure. LSC was particularly sensitive for quantification at low cell densities, and the adhered bacteria could be quantified both as cell number and as area coverage. The method proved to be an excellent alternative to microscopy for fast and reproducible quantification of microbial colonization on abiotic surfaces.
The Unified Enterprise Tax and Soes in China

AbstractCurrently proposals are actively circulating in China to move to a unified enterprise tax structure with similar tax treatment of state-owned enterprises (SOEs), other private enterprises (OPEs) and foreign investment enterprises (FIEs). FIEs presently receive significant tax preferences through a sharply lower tax rate, tax holidays and other provisions. Here we use analytical representations of SOE behavior, which differ from that of the competitive firm, to argue that a unified tax structure may not be a desirable tax change and that typically a higher tax rate on SOEs is called for on efficiency grounds. Using a worker control model with endogenously determined shirking, taxes on SOEs reduce shirking and a reduced SOE tax rate under a unified tax relaxes discipline on SOEs and losses result. Our results indicate a 0.26% of GDP welfare loss using 2004 data from a unified tax, and larger loss relative to an optimal tax scheme. Alternatively, if we use a managerial control model variant, we find a 0.19% welfare loss from a unified tax, and larger losses relative to initial higher SOE tax rates.
The Sensitivity of the CDS Market to Financial Analysts’ Forecast Revisions

We examine the impact of analysts’ earnings per share (EPS) and cash flow per share (CPS) forecast revisions on the market for credit default swaps. Earnings and cash flows directly affect the level of firm assets and equity, and prior theoretical and empirical work demonstrates they are important factors in the determination of credit spreads. Accordingly, if analysts’ forecasts and forecast revisions represent new and unexpected information, credit default swap (CDS) spreads are likely to respond. We find that while the issuance of both EPS and CPS forecast revisions relate inversely with changes in CDS spreads, cash flow forecast revisions have a larger effect, on average. We also find that the relationship between CPS forecast revisions and CDS spreads tends to be stronger in cases of financial distress. Furthermore, we do not observe an immediate significant reaction in the CDS market to analysts’ recommendation changes. Our study provides evidence that cash flow forecasts dominate earnings forecasts in some situations and that participants in the CDS market discriminate between forms of analyst output.
Decreasing House Prices and Household Mobility: An Empirical Study on Loss Aversion and Negative Equity

This paper examines the effects of loss aversion and negative equity on household mobility. We stress the importance of studying these mechanisms simultaneously. By making use of a unique administrative data set of Statistics Netherlands, covering the period 2006-2011, we estimate the effects of loss aversion and negative equity. The results provide strong evidence for loss aversion, while less evidence is found for a lock-in effect of negative equity. The results indicate that moderately underwater households do have a lower mobility, but heavily underwater households do not. Additional results indicate that the particularly high mobility of heavily underwater households is not default-driven.
Bond Market Dependence during Expansions and Recessions in the Euro-area

Multivariate extremes exhibit either tail dependence or tail independence. Instead of assuming tail (in)dependence upfront, we use a flexible copula model by Huser and Wadsworth (2017) to model extreme government bond losses in European countries. We find that bond losses across countries in the north exhibit tail dependence, in contrast to tail independence across countries in the south. Between northern and southern country pairs, we also observe tail independence, but the level of remaining tail dependence is higher than for pairs of southern countries. We show that tail (in)dependence coefficients across European countries significantly vary from expansions to recessions. Tail dependence of bond losses paired with Finland or Spain significantly decreases during recessions, whereas it increases for pairs involving France or the Netherlands, but to a lesser extent.
Effect of different recovery durations between bouts in 3-a-side games on youth soccer players' physiological responses and technical activities.

AIM The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of the length of recovery durations between bouts in 4x4min 3-a-side small-sided games (SSG) on time-motion analysis, technical actions and physiological responses of players. METHODS Twelve young soccer players participated in 4 different 3-a-side games in which the recovery durations between bouts were different (R1: 1 min, R2: 2 min, R3: 3 min, and R4: 4 min). Heart rate (HR), total distance covered in different speed zones, and technical performance were monitored during all SSGs, whereas the rating of perceived exertion (RPE, CR-10) and venous blood lactate were determined at the end of the last bout of each SSG. RESULTS Results showed that SSGs-R1 induced higher %HRreserve and lower successful passes (vs. R3 and R4 conditions, P<0.05), lower total passes (vs. R4 conditions, P<0.05), and greater distance covered in walking zone (0-6.9 km.h⁻¹) (vs. other 3 conditions, P<0.05). In addition, during the SSG-R3 players covered greater distances in high-intensity running zone (>18 km.h-1), performed more tackles (vs. R1 condition, P<0.05) and had more ball contacts (vs. R1 and R2 conditions, P<0.05). CONCLUSION According to these results, it is thought that R1 and R2 are suitable for inducing higher physiological responses, while R3 and R4 are more appropriate for training aim to improve technical skills in 4x4min 3-a-side SSGs among young soccer players. These findings provide evidence for coaches to justify the selection of recovery duration between bouts in 3-a-side SSGs among young soccer players.
Antioxidant efficacy and adhesion rescue by a recombinant mussel foot protein‐6

Mytilus foot protein type 6 (mfp‐6) is crucial for maintaining the reducing conditions needed for optimal wet adhesion in marine mussels. In this report, we describe the expression and production of a recombinant Mytilus californianus foot protein type 6 variant 1 (rmfp‐6.1) fused with a hexahistidine affinity tag in Escherichia coli and its purification by affinity chromatography. Recombinant mfp‐6 showed high purification yields of 5–6 mg L−1 cell culture and excellent solubility in low pH buffers that retard oxidation of its many thiol groups. Purified rmfp‐6.1 protein showed high 2,2‐diphenyl‐1‐picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging activity when compared with vitamin C. Using the highly sensitive surface forces apparatus (SFA) technique to measure interfacial surface forces in the nano‐Newton range, we show that rmfp‐6.1 is also able to rescue the oxidation‐dependent adhesion loss of mussel foot protein 3 (mfp‐3) at pH 3. The adhesion rescue is related to a reduction of dopaquinone back to 3,4‐dihydroxyphenyl‐l‐alanine in mfp‐3, which is the reverse reaction observed during the detrimental enzymatic browning process in fruits and vegetables. Broadly viewed, rmfp‐6.1 has potential as a versatile antioxidant for applications ranging from personal products to antispoilants for perishable foods during processing and storage. © 2013 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog. , 29:1587–1593, 2013
Child health services in transition: II. Mothers' perceptions of 18‐month‐old children in the light of socio‐economic status and some subjective factors

Aim: To analyse mothers' self‐assessed quality of interaction with their children and their opinions about child difficulty with respect to socio‐economic status and subjective factors: postnatal depression, social isolation, sense of coherence and locus of control. Methods and material: A comprehensive questionnaire was completed by 1039 mothers of 18‐mo‐old children participating in the baseline measurements of a Swedish multicentre study developing and testing a new psychosocial model for the child health services. Results: All subjective factors, including the number of factors, showed significant associations with perceived interaction and difficultness. Effect sizes of subjective factors ranged from about 0.3 to 1 SD for interaction, and from about 0.2 to 0.8 SD for difficultness. As for difficultness, effect sizes were larger for boys. There were no associations between high socio‐economic status and high‐quality interaction or low child difficultness: the few significant differences in fact favoured low‐status children.
The Structure of a 19-Residue Fragment from the C-loop of the Fourth Epidermal Growth Factor-like Domain of Thrombomodulin (*)

The solution structure has been determined for a 19-residue peptide that is fully folded at room temperature. The sequence of this peptide is based on the C-loop, residues 371-389, of the fourth epidermal growth factor-like domain of thrombomodulin, a protein that acts as a cofactor for the thrombin activation of protein C. Despite its small size, the peptide forms a compact structure with almost no repeating secondary structure. The results indicate the structure is held together by hydrophobic interactions, which in turn stabilize the two β-turns in the structure. The first β-turn in the C-loop represents a conserved motif that is found in the published structures of five other epidermal growth factor-like proteins. The critical role of Phe376 in the stabilization of the first β-turn is consistent with mutagenesis data with soluble thrombomodulin. The results also show that a small subdomain of a larger protein can fold independently, and therefore it could act as an initiation site for further folding.
Ocular Ferning Test – Effect of Temperature and Humidity on Tear Ferning Patterns

Background: The ocular ferning test is used as a diagnostic aid to evaluate patients with dry-eye disease. The ferning phenomenon is a dendritic growth form of dried tear fluid. The influence of temperature and relative humidity (rH) on the morphology of tear ferning patterns was investigated. Methods: Two microliters of tear fluid of 5 volunteers with normal tear function were dropped onto a microscope slide with a pipette and were dried in a climatic chamber at four different temperatures (20, 22, 24 and 26°C) and at four different grades of rH (30, 40, 50 and 60%) at each temperature. The dried droplet was divided according to distinct morphological features into a center, transition zone and margin. The center of the dried droplet was classified into four types according to the system of Rolando. Results: In the temperature range between 20 and 26°C, rH has a strong influence on the ferning patterns. At these temperatures, increasing rH resulted in a deterioration of type I ferning obtained at 30% rH to type II or type III at 60% rH in all subjects. Otherwise, at rH of 30, 40 and 50%, no definite influence of temperature between 20 and 26°C was observed. At an rH of 60%, the ferning patterns changed with increasing temperature from 20 to 26°C from type II to type III. Conclusion: High humidity can modify and deteriorate the ferning patterns of tear fluid from subjects with normal tear function. To obtain reproducible results using the ocular ferning test, stable conditions are necessary. An rH not higher than 50% at a temperature range between 20 and 26°C produced ferning patterns without interstitial spaces which could be related to the best quality according to the system of Rolando.
Lipid and polymeric carrier-mediated nucleic acid delivery

Importance of the field: Nucleic acids such as plasmid DNA, antisense oligonucleotide, and RNA interference (RNAi) molecules, have a great potential to be used as therapeutics for the treatment of various genetic and acquired diseases. To design a successful nucleic acid delivery system, the pharmacological effect of nucleic acids, the physiological condition of the subjects or sites, and the physicochemical properties of nucleic acid and carriers have to be thoroughly examined. Areas covered in this review: The commonly used lipids, polymers and corresponding delivery systems are reviewed in terms of their characteristics, applications, advantages and limitations. What the reader will gain: This article aims to provide an overview of biological barriers and strategies to overcome these barriers by properly designing effective synthetic carriers for nucleic acid delivery. Take home message: A thorough understanding of biological barriers and the structure–activity relationship of lipid and polymeric carriers is the key for effective nucleic acid therapy.
Ultrasonography predicts achievement of Boolean remission after DAS28-based clinical remission of rheumatoid arthritis

Abstract Objectives. To determine whether ultrasonography (US) predicts Boolean remission in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients who had achieved disease activity score in 28 joints (DAS28)-based remission criteria. Methods. Thirty-one RA patients in DAS28-based clinical remission were recruited. US semiquantitatively determined Gray scale (GS) and power Doppler (PD) signal scores in the bilateral wrists and all metacarpophalangeals and proximal interphalangeals. Total GS score and total PD score were calculated as the sum of individual scores for each joint. Results. Among 22 RA patients, who maintained DAS28 remission for 2 years, 16 met Boolean remission criteria at the end of study. Both total GS and total PD scores at baseline were significantly lower in Boolean remission group than non-remission group. There was no significant difference in other baseline parameters, including duration of disease, duration of remission, mTSS, and disease activity composite parameters between the two groups. Among the factors for Boolean remission criteria at 2 years, patient global assessment score was associated with total GS score at the entry, while swollen joint count was related to total PD score. Conclusions. Null or low grade of GS and PD findings in US are associated with achieving Boolean remission. Thus, US is essential for assessment and prediction of “deeper remission” of RA.
Peptide mapping of proteins in human body fluids using electrospray ionization Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry.

Human body fluids have been rediscovered in the post-genomic era as great sources of biological markers and perhaps particularly as sources of potential protein biomarkers of disease. Analytical tools that allow rapid screening, low sample consumption, and accurate protein identification are of great importance in studies of complex biological samples and clinical diagnosis. Mass spectrometry is today one of the most important analytical tools with applications in a wide variety of fields. One of the fastest growing applications is in proteomics, or the study of protein expression in an organism. Mass spectrometry has been used to find post-translational modifications and to identify key functions of proteins in the human body. In this study, we review the use of human body fluids as sources for clinical markers and present new data that show the ability of Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance (FTICR) mass spectrometry (MS) to identify and characterize proteins in four human body fluids: plasma, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), saliva, and urine. The body fluids were tryptically digested without any prior separation, purification, or selection, and the digest was introduced into a 9.4 T FTICR mass spectrometer by direct-infusion electrospray ionization (ESI). Even though these samples represent complex biological mixtures, the described method provides information that is comparable with traditional 2D-PAGE data. The sample consumption is extremely low, a few microliters, and the analysis time is only a few minutes. It is, however, evident that the separation of proteins and/or peptides must be included in the methodology, in order to detect low-abundance proteins and other proteins of biological relevance.
Three-dimensional ultrahigh-resolution optical coherence tomography of macular diseases.

PURPOSE To demonstrate a new generation of three-dimensional (3-D) ultrahigh-resolution optical coherence tomography (UHR OCT) technology for visualization of macular diseases. METHODS One hundred forty eyes with a distinct disease in each of the posterior pole compartments were examined with 3-D UHR OCT. 3-D imaging was performed with a high axial resolution of 3 mum with a compact, commercially available, ultra-broad-bandwidth (160 nm) titanium:sapphire laser at a video rate of up to 25 B-scans/s. Each tomogram consisted of 1024 x 1024 pixels, resulting in 25 megavoxels/s. RESULTS 3-D UHR OCT offers high-precision 3-D visualization of macular diseases at all structural levels. The UHR modality allows identification of the contour of the hyaloid membrane, tractive forces of epiretinal membranes, and changes within the inner limiting membrane. The system provides quality 3-D images of the topographic dynamics of traction lines from the retinal surface down to the level of the photoreceptor segments. Intraretinal diseases are identified by their specific location in different layers of the neurosensory ultrastructure. Photoreceptor inner and outer segments are clearly delineated in configuration and size, with a characteristic peak in the subfoveal area. The microarchitecture of choroidal neovascularization is distinctly imaged, related leakage can be identified, and the volume can be quantified. CONCLUSIONS High-speed UHR OCT offers unprecedented, realistic, 3-D imaging of ocular diseases at all epi-, intra- and subretinal levels. A complete 3-D data set of the macular layers allows a comprehensive analysis of focal and diffuse diseases, as well as identification of dynamic pathomechanisms.