Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
HindIII Polymorphism in Carrier Detection of Hemophilia A in India: A New Primer Design

HindIII polymorphism studies were done in 67 north Indian families with hemophilia A using a new primer sequence and comparing results with the standard protocol. Amplified segment was 608 bp in size. Genetically positive hemizygous males (+) and homozygous females (+/+) showed 427, 100, and 81 size fragments, whereas heterozygous females (+/−) had 427, 181, 100, and 81-bp segments. Genotypically negative hemizygous (−) males and homozygous females (−/−) show that 427-bp and 181-bp fragments dimer formation was minimal and results matched with standard protocol in 20 cases where both polymerase chain reactions were run. The frequency of positive allele for HindIII polymorphism in 67 families was 0.38 and heterozygosity in terms of informativity was 0.46.
Evaluating Mobile Applications for Urban Tourism

With the spread of mobile communication, destinations have to decide whether, and in case how, to inform and drive their guests through smartphones. Three groups of issues must be addressed. a. Mobile content and its usability differ from those designed for desktop. b. Smartphones use web pages as well as proprietary applications. c. Smartphones connect both through telecoms and hotspots, posing specific cost problems. With a view to understanding how these issues have been addressed by urban destinations, a reasonably representative sample of forty-four European destinations was identified. To compare the quality of the mobile applications available in the sample destinations, the 7Loci meta-model – already well established for destination websites – was used. More discursively, some critical points were finally identified, and the mobile services available on-site were compared with those offered for the same cities by four global platforms: TripAdvisor, Foursquare, TripWolf and Google.
Evaluation of percutaneous permeation of flurbiprofen and ketoprofen after application of transdermal patches using a lateral sectioning approach in hairless rats

Objectives: The dispositions and pharmacokinetic parameters of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) after patch applications have typically been evaluated on a whole-skin basis, and the detailed permeation profiles remain unclear. The aim of this study was to establish a new method for clearly analyzing the flow of drugs in the skin layers and evaluating the drug levels in the target area of the skin tissue. Methods: The skin tissue areas where flurbiprofen and ketoprofen patches were applied were cut into 20 μm-thick lateral slices from the surface to the deepest layer and the drug concentrations in the slices were measured. Results: The results revealed the presence of depth-dependent concentration gradients from the surface to the deep layer and that the drug concentration in the deepest layer was less than one tenth of the surface concentration for both flurbiprofen and ketoprofen. In addition, flurbiprofen yielded higher and more rapid concentrations in the deepest skin layer adjacent to the intramuscular tissue. Conclusions: The present data suggest that our technique involving lateral slicing of skin tissues and measurement of drug concentrations allows visual understanding of drug dispositions in the skin layers and makes it possible to evaluate the drug levels in the target area of the skin tissue.
Classification Performance for Making Decisions about Products Missing from the Shelf

The out-of-shelf problem is among the most important retail problems. This work employs two different classification algorithms, C4.5 and naive Bayes, in order to build a mechanism that makes decisions about whether a product is available on a retail store shelf or not. Following the same classification methods and feature spaces, we examined the classification performance of the algorithms in four different retail chains and utilized ROC curves and the area under curve measure to compare the predictive accuracy. Based on the results obtained for the different retail chains, we identified certain approaches for the development and introduction of such a mechanism in different retail contexts.
Do Real Wages Matter in an Open Economy? The Case of Singapore: 1966-1987

Singapore is generally regarded as a small open economy which has pursued a successful export-oriented strategy. Government policy towards the labour market has been of crucial importance. This paper describes these policies and derives and estimates employment equations for both traded and non- traded sectors. As expected, traded sector employment is highly responsive to the level of the real wage in Singapore, as well as to the level of demand in Singapore's export markets. This result does not carry over to the non-traded sector, hinting at some degree of segmentation in the labour market. The impact on employment of legislation designed to encourage foreign investment, and the effect of the policy of high wage rises adopted after 1979 in order to stimulate productivity growth, ar respectively estimated and simulated using the derived employment equation. Copyright 1990 by Royal Economic Society.
Local texture description framework-based modified local directional number pattern: a new descriptor for face recognition

Texture descriptors effectively capture the surface property of images. However, almost all the available local texture descriptors encode a texture pattern using the closest neighbours. But the local texture description framework LTDF proposed earlier proved the importance of eight sampling points that lie elliptically at a certain distance apart from a pixel under consideration in distinguishing different face images. Recently, a local texture descriptor namely local directional number pattern LDN is introduced to encode the directional information of the structure of a face's texture. Incorporating the concepts of LTDF and LDN, this paper proposes a new texture descriptor namely LTDF-based modified local directional number pattern LTDF_MLDN. LTDF_MLDN describes a texture pattern with the sampling points at dissimilar area. Effectiveness of the system is tested for the different issues in face recognition using five benchmark databases. Experimental results reveal the effectiveness of the proposed descriptor over the state-of-the-art approaches.
Environmental Inequality in Metropolitan America

This study compares the environmental hazard burden experienced by Blacks, Hispanics, Pacific Islanders, Native Americans, Asian Americans, and Whites in each of the 329 metropolitan areas in the continental United States, using toxicity-weighted air pollutant concentration data drawn from the Environmental Protection Agency's Risk-Screening Environmental Indicators project to determine whether and to what degree environmental inequality exists in each of these metropolitan areas. After demonstrating that environmental inequality outcomes vary widely across metropolitan areas and that each group in the analysis experiences a high pollution disadvantage in multiple metropolitan areas and a medium pollution disadvantage in many metropolitan areas, the authors test three hypotheses that make predictions about the role that residential segregation and racial income inequality play in producing environmental inequality. Using logistic regression models to test these hypotheses, the authors find that residential segregation and racial income inequality are relatively poor predictors of environmental inequality outcomes, that residential segregation can increase and decrease racial/ethnic group proximity to environmental hazards, and that the roles income inequality and residential segregation play in producing environmental inequality vary from one racial/ethnic group to another.
The burden of death, disease, and disability due to alcohol in New Zealand.

AIM To estimate the burden of death, disease, and disability attributable to alcohol consumption in New Zealand. METHODS We applied the World Health Organization's comparative risk assessment methodology at country level; separately for Maori and non-Maori where possible. We combined the best estimates of alcohol consumption in the populations, with best estimates of alcohol-disease relationships from the international and, where available, national epidemiological literature, to calculate the proportions of alcohol-related conditions attributable to alcohol. RESULTS We estimated that 3.9% of deaths in New Zealand in 2000 were attributable to alcohol consumption (approximately 1037 deaths), and approximately 981 deaths were prevented by alcohol, resulting in a net loss of about 56 lives. As a consequence, 17,200 years of life were lost, but only 5,300 years of life gained; a net loss of almost 12,000 years of life. The burden was substantially higher for younger age groups, for men compared with women, and for Maori compared with non-Maori. Injury was the biggest contributing cause of death and years of life lost, while positive effects were largely due to reduced coronary disease mortality in elderly people. The impact of alcohol on these conditions depended on the pattern as well as volume of drinking. In a separate analysis that included estimates of morbidity, we calculated a net loss of 26,000 disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) due to alcohol in 2002, with 76% lost by men. Alcohol use disorders accounted for about half of all DALYs lost. CONCLUSIONS Five main messages emerged from the analysis that can inform policy to reduce the health burden of alcohol: there are no health benefits of drinking alcohol before middle age; pattern of drinking is an important determinant of health effects; injuries are a major component of the alcohol burden; alcohol use disorders underlie many adverse effects; and the health impact of alcohol falls inequitably on Maori.
Elevated cerebrospinal fluid levels of substance P in patients with the fibromyalgia syndrome.

OBJECTIVE To measure, and seek clinical correlates with, levels of substance P (SP) in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) patients. METHODS CSF from 32 FMS patients and 30 normal control subjects was tested for SP by radioimmunoassay. Clinical measures included tender point examination and standardized questionnaires. RESULTS CSF SP levels were 3-fold higher in FMS patients than in normal controls (P < 0.001), but they correlated only weakly with tenderness found on examination. CONCLUSION SP is significantly elevated in FMS CSF, but other abnormalities must exist in FMS to more fully explain the symptoms.
Some new deformation formulas about variance and covariance

Based on the idea of the difference method, in this paper, the difference method is applied to the calculation of the variance and covariance. The variance and covariance formulas are transformed as some new formulas by the difference method. The articles presented some original new variance and covariance formulas whose form that contains the individual difference, and leads to some corresponding new expansion formulas. The calculation of the variance and covariance about this method is less implicated with the changes of the overall sample. Finally, the theoretical analysis and practical application of image denoising show the feasibility of the new formula.
Identifying Key Components of Services in Healthcare in the Context of out-Patient in Norway

This paper discusses components of service in healthcare. Four components of a service (service customer, service worker, service setting and service process) were introduced. Yet these components have not been explored in healthcare cases. We identified the key components through our case study with out-patient histories, involving electronic health record systems. Based on our analysis we propose a set of components to be considered for designing stakeholder-centred services in healthcare. The result of this study might be useful to the health informatics researchers to better understand the service interactions in today’s healthcare in a more analytic and holistic way by taking the service engineering perspective, at the same time to the service engineering or design researchers to have a deeper insight of the services in healthcare and the components to be considered when designing the services.
A Protocol for Generation of Clinical Grade mRNA‐Transfected Monocyte‐Derived Dendritic Cells for Cancer Vaccines

With the aim of producing large quantities of mRNA‐transfected monocyte‐derived dendritic cells (DCs) to be used as cancer vaccines, a new clinical grade procedure has been developed. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) obtained by leukapheresis were enriched for monocytes by immunomagnetic depletion of CD19+ B cells and CD2+ T cells employing the ISOLEX 300i device. After 5 days of culture of enriched monocytes in gas permeable Teflon bags, using serum‐free medium supplemented with granulocyte/macrophage‐colony stimulating factor and interleukin‐4 (IL‐4), immature DCs were generated. Following transfection with mRNA from three human prostate cancer cell lines (DU145, LNCaP and PC‐3), employing a newly developed square wave electroporation procedure, the immature DCs were immediately transferred to Teflon bags and matured for 48 h, using serum‐free medium supplemented with IL‐1α, IL‐6, tumour necrosis factor‐α and PGE2. The electroporation procedure efficiently transferred mRNA into the DCs with minor effect on the viability of the cells. The generated matured transfected DCs show high expression of the antigens CD83, CD80, CD86 and human leucocyte antigen‐DR. Freezing and thawing of the transfected matured DCs had minor effect on cell viability and the phenotype. From 4 × 109 PBMCs, about 1 × 108 transfected matured DCs are produced. The thawed transfected DCs were able to elicit primary T‐cell responses in vitro against antigens encoded by the prostate cancer mRNA as shown by enzyme‐linked immunospot assay using mock‐transfected DCs as control. Based on these results, clinical trials in cancer patients have been initiated.
Reforming the Global Reserve System

The current global reserve system evolved out of the unilateral decision by the U.S. in 1971 to abandon the gold-dollar parity and convertibility of dollars for gold for governments and central banks established at Bretton Woods. Although other currencies can compete with the US dollar as international means of payments and potential foreign exchange reserve assets, this competition has been weak due to the “network externalities” in the use of currencies and the fact that the USA has by far the largest market for liquid Treasury securities. Thus, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) data on the composition of allocated foreign exchange reserves, in third quarter of 2013, 61.4% were held in US dollars, 24.2% in euros and 14.4% in other currencies. On top of that, over 80% of foreign exchange transactions are managed in US dollars. So, in a significant sense, the current system can be called a fiduciary dollar standard. The other feature is that alternative reserve currencies float against each other – an issue that links to the debate on the exchange rate system (or, rather, “non-system”), an issue that would not be discussed here.
Restaurant Daily Deals: Customers' Responses to Social Couponing

A survey of 931 U.S. consumers finds that those who have purchased daily deals from a casual dining, fastcasual, or quick-service restaurant are not noticeably different in behavior or attitudes from those who have not done so. One difference in attitudes provides insight into those who purchase social coupons: they like to be “market mavens,” who stay on the cusp of market trend and price information. Those who purchased daily deals were significantly more likely to be younger, be married, and have a higher income than non-purchasers. On balance, the study indicated that the benefits of offering a social coupon seem to outweigh the disadvantages. Many of the potential concerns about offering a social coupon, including poor tipping, overwhelming the staff, and customer disloyalty, are not substantiated. There was some evidence of cannibalization, as 44 percent of those using a social coupon reported being frequent customers, but the coupons also brought back infrequent customers and attracted a substantial percentage of new customers. Most critically, many of the new and infrequent customers said they would return to the restaurant and pay regular prices, as well as recommend the restaurant to friends. New customers in particular would not have tried the restaurant without the daily deal offer. All customer groups said they considered the restaurant to be a good value, even without the discount offer.
Distress Classification of Korean Firms

This study is an attempt to construct and test a distress classification model for Korean companies. Utilizing a sample of 34 distressed firms from the most recent 1990-1993 period and a matched (by industry and year) sample of non-failed firms, we observe the classification accuracy of two models. Both models utilize measures of firm size, asset turnover, solvency and leverage with one model available for testing only on publicly traded companies and one model is applicable to all public and private entities. We observe excellent classification accuracy based on data from the first two years prior to distress. And, although the accuracy drops off after t-2, the models still provide effective early warnings of distress in many cases. The results of this study are of particular relevance in the current financial market scenario of increased deregulation and greater individual financial institution decisions making.
Dementia of the Aged: Disease or Atypical‐Accelerated Aging? Biopathological and Psychological Perspectives

here is presently much concern regarding the growing population of the elderly, their age-deT pendent diseases, their impact on our health-care system, and the need for future health care planning as well as the need for research to formulate an effective plan. The most rapidly growing group in our population, on a percentage basis, is over age 85; they have a current average life expectancy of 5.1 years for men and 6.3 years for women. This group currently represents about 9% of our population, and it is estimated that it will represent about 19% by 2040. ' Of perhaps greatest concern regarding the growing burden of age-dependent diseases are the dementias. Some reports show a prevalence of 0.1% in those 55-64, rising to 5%-7% in those 65 and over and to 10%20% in the over-85 age group,' but one report estimates a prevalence of over 47% in those over age 85.3 Several strategies have been proposed to deal with the increase in the most prevalent age-dependent diseases. One proposal4 advocates the adoption of a lifestyle which would reduce the effects of risk factors in order to obtain a compression of morbidity that would shorten the period between the onset of disability and the time of death. However, the dementias do not appear to be amenable to this solution since the only known risk factors are age, family history, and sex (predominance in females); a few cases are also associated with head trauma. Another proposal5 advocates an expansion of research with the goal of postponing aging, thereby extending the human lifespan and perhaps also delaying the time of onset of age-dependent diseases, including the dementias. At present, with a few exceptions, investigators generally regard dementia, particularly dementia of Alzheimer type (DAT), as a disease distinct from biological aging. Their strategy appears to conform to the traditional medical model, aiming to discover preventive measures (risk factors) or develop therapeutic agents; several drugs have already been tested with little success, in patients with DAT. However, until it is determined whether the dementias of the aged are diseases which conform to the traditional medical model or represent a direct extension of biological aging phe-
The quasispecies distribution

The quasispecies model was introduced in 1971 by Manfred Eigen to discuss the first stages of life on Earth. It provides an appealing mathematical framework to study the evolution of populations in biology, for instance viruses. We present briefly the model and we focus on its stationary solutions. These formulae have a surprisingly rich combinatorial structure, involving for instance the Eulerian and Stirling numbers, as well as the up--down coefficients of permutations.
Regional cerebral glucose metabolism in dementia with Lewy bodies and Alzheimer's disease

Objective: To delineate the features of regional cerebral metabolic rate of glucose(CMRglc) in dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB). Methods: We compared absolute CMRglc in 12 patients with a clinical diagnosis of DLB, 12 patients with a clinical diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD), and 12 normal volunteers (NC), using 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) and PET. The three groups were matched for age and sex, and there were no differences in disease duration or severity of cognitive disturbances between the DLB and AD groups. Results: CMRglc was significantly lower in patients with DLB than in that of NC in most parts of the brain, except the sensorimotor cortices, basal ganglia, thalamus, and pons. Between the DLB and AD groups, there were significant regional CMRglc differences in the medial and lateral occipital lobes. In DLB and AD, the CMRglc reduction patterns were similar, though the global metabolic reduction was larger in DLB, and the occipital CMRglc reduction in DLB could differentiate DLB from AD. The relative occipital CMRglc(normalized to the sensorimotor CMRglc) was a useful measure for the differential diagnosis of DLB from AD. The sensitivity and the specificity were 92% when using the minimal value of the normalized occipital CMRglc in the NC group as the cut-off point. Conclusion: These different regional CMRglc reductions substantiate the pathologic, neurochemical, and clinical differences between DLB and AD.
Linking obesity to colorectal cancer: Application of nutrigenomics

Diet is one of the most affective environmental factors in cancer development. Due to complicated nature of the diet, it has been very difficult to provide clear explanations for the role of dietary components in carcinogenesis. However, as high‐throughput omics techniques became available, researchers are now able to analyze large sets of gene transcripts, proteins, and metabolites to identify molecules involved in disease development. Bioinformatics uses these data to perform network analyses and suggest possible interactions between metabolic processes and environmental factors. Obesity is known as one of the most closely related risk factors of colorectal cancer (CRC). Metabolic disturbances due to a positive energy balance may trigger and accelerate CRC development. In this review, we have summarized reports on genes, proteins and metabolites that are related to either obesity or CRC, and suggested candidate molecules linking obesity and CRC based on currently available literature. Possible application of bioinformatics for a large scale network analysis in studying cause‐effect relationship between dietary components and CRC are suggested.