Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Laboratory Intercomparison of the Dicentric Chromosome Analysis Assay

The study design and obtained results represent an intercomparison of various laboratories performing dose assessment using the dicentric chromosome analysis (DCA) as a diagnostic triage tool for individual radiation dose assessment. Homogenously X-irradiated (240 kVp, 1 Gy/min) blood samples for establishing calibration data (0.25–5 Gy) as well as blind samples (0.1–6.4 Gy) were sent to the participants. DCA was performed according to established protocols. The time taken to report dose estimates was documented for each laboratory. Additional information concerning laboratory organization/characteristics as well as assay performance was collected. The mean absolute difference (MAD) was calculated and radiation doses were merged into four triage categories reflecting clinical aspects to calculate accuracy, sensitivity and specificity. The earliest report time was 2.4 days after sample arrival. DCA dose estimates were reported with high and comparable accuracy, with MAD values ranging between 0.16–0.5 Gy for both manual and automated scoring. No significant differences were found for dose estimates based either on 20, 30, 40 or 50 cells, suggesting that the scored number of cells can be reduced from 50 to 20 without loss of precision of triage dose estimates, at least for homogenous exposure scenarios. Triage categories of clinical significance could be discriminated efficiently using both scoring procedures.
Development of Human Single-Chain Antibodies against SARS-Associated Coronavirus

The outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), caused by a distinct coronavirus, in 2003 greatly threatened public health in China, Southeast Asia as well as North America. Over 1,000 patients died of the SARS virus, representing 10% of infected people. Like other coronaviruses, the SARS virus also utilizes a surface glycoprotein, namely the spike protein, to infect host cells. The spike protein of SARS virus consists of 1,255 amino acid residues and can be divided into two sub-domains, S1 and S2. The S1 domain mediates the binding of the virus to its receptor angiotensin-converting enzyme 2, which is abundantly distributed on the surface of human lung cells. The S2 domain mediates membrane fusion between the virus and the host cell. Hence two strategies can be used to block the infection of the SARS virus, either by interfering with the binding of the S1 domain to the receptor or by blocking the fusion of the virus with the cell membrane mediated by the S2 domain. Several antibodies against the S1 domain have been generated and all of them are able to neutralize the virus in vitro and in vivo using animal models. Unfortunately, point mutations have been identified in the S1 domain, so that the virus isolated in the future may not be recognized by these antibodies. As no mutation has been found in the S2 domain indicating that this region is more conserved than the S1 domain, it may be a better target for antibody binding. After predicting the immunogenicity of the epitopes of the S2 domain, we chemically synthesized two peptides and also expressed one of them using a recombinant DNA method. We screened a phage displaying library of human single-chain antibodies (ScFv) against the predicted epitopes and obtained a human ScFv which can recognize the SARS virus in vitro.
Global mean sea-level rise in a world agreed upon in Paris

Although the 2015 Paris Agreement seeks to hold global average temperature to ‘well below 2 °C above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels’, projections of global mean sea-level (GMSL) rise commonly focus on scenarios in which there is a high probability that warming exceeds 1.5 °C. Using a semi-empirical model, we project GMSL changes between now and 2150 CE under a suite of temperature scenarios that satisfy the Paris Agreement temperature targets. The projected magnitude and rate of GMSL rise varies among these low emissions scenarios. Stabilizing temperature at 1.5 °C instead of 2 °C above preindustrial reduces GMSL in 2150 CE by 17 cm (90% credible interval: 14–21 cm) and reduces peak rates of rise by 1.9 mm yr−1 (90% credible interval: 1.4–2.6 mm yr−1). Delaying the year of peak temperature has little long-term influence on GMSL, but does reduce the maximum rate of rise. Stabilizing at 2 °C in 2080 CE rather than 2030 CE reduces the peak rate by 2.7 mm yr−1 (90% credible interval: 2.0–4.0 mm yr−1).
Proteomic analysis through larval development of Solea senegalensis flatfish

The post‐embryonic development of the Senegalese sole, Solea senegalensis, a flatfish of growing interest in fisheries and aquaculture, is associated with drastic morpho‐physiological changes during metamorphosis. Although in the last two decades knowledge on sole culture has notably increased, especially in Southern Europe, its progress was restricted due to lack of methods to control reproduction, improve larval quality and increase juvenile disease resistance. A limited knowledge of the physiological, molecular and genetic mechanisms involved is at the base of such limitation. A proteomic study was carried out to explore the molecular events that occur during S. senegalensis ontogenesis. Protein expression changes were monitored in larvae from 5 to 21 dph by combining 2DE and protein identification with de novo MS/MS sequencing. An average of 6177 ± 282 spots was resolved in 2DE gels. Hierarchical cluster analysis of the 705 selected spots grouped them in eight patterns. Thirty‐four proteins were identified and assigned biological functions including structure, metabolism highlighting energy metabolism, transport, protein folding, stress response, chromatin organization and regulation of gene expression. These changes provide a sequential description of the molecular events associated with the biochemical and biological transformations that occur during sole larval development.
Improvement in Survival Among Symptomatic AIDS Patients by Exposure Category in Sao Paulo

Objective:The study assesses AIDS survival time per AIDS-case definition and exposure category in Sao Paulo State, Brazil during the periods 1992 to 1995 and 1998 to 2001. Methods:Case-fatality rate per AIDS case, Cox proportional hazards analysis, and Kaplan-Meier survival time. Results:The case-fatality rate per AIDS case in 1998 to 2001 was 37.6% for symptomatic (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/modified and/or Paho/Caracas) and 9.7% for the Brazilian asymptomatic CD4 count <350 cells/mm3 AIDS-case definitions. Heterosexual/female patients were diagnosed earlier and presented the lowest case-fatality rate, followed by homosexual/male patients, heterosexual/male patients, and injecting drug users. In the multivariate Cox proportional hazards model, the period of diagnosis (hazard ratio = 2.66; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.58 to 2.74) and AIDS-case definition (hazard ratio = 4.48; 95% CI: 4.53 to 5.16) were strong predictors of survival. For the total AIDS cases, excluding death definition and undetermined exposure category, the estimated first quarter survival time improved from 4 months in 1992 to 1995 to 50 months in 1998 to 2001. Considering only the symptomatic AIDS-case definition, however, the improvement was from 4 months in the period 1992 to 1995 to 14 months in the period 1998 to 2001. Conclusion:The survival improvement in Sao Paulo State was attributable to the introduction of antiretroviral therapy with free universal access in 1996 and to earlier diagnosis associated with the introduction in 1998 of the Brazilian asymptomatic CD4 count <350 cells/mm3 AIDS-case definition with superior sensitivity compared with the symptomatic AIDS-case definitions.
Impact of a new alcohol policy on homemade alcohol consumption and sales in Russia.

AIMS To describe the effects of Russian policy since 2006 affecting price and availability on the consumption of recorded and unrecorded alcohol, with specific reference to homemade alcohol, and to investigate other factors affecting homemade alcohol consumption and purchasing. METHODS Consumption and preferred beverage data were collected from RLMS-HSE nationwide panel surveys from 1994 to 2013, with a detailed analysis of 2012 data (18,221 respondents aged 16+ years). Official statistics on manufactured alcohol sales, regional price increase and real disposable income were used. RESULTS Homemade distilled spirits (samogon) consumption decreased together with that of recorded and unrecorded manufactured spirits since 2000. The consumption of spirits was partially replaced by the consumption of beer and wine. These trends in alcohol consumption were interrupted in 2008-2013. The interruption was more likely affected by the economic crisis and recession than by the new alcohol policy. Social networks and availability of unrecorded alcohol were more important predictors of homemade alcohol consumption and purchasing than was a recorded alcohol price increase. CONCLUSIONS Homemade alcohol consumption does not replace the declining market for recorded spirits in Russia. The effects of economic and social factors on homemade alcohol consumption are greater than are the short-term effects of the new alcohol policy. The very recent (2015) reduction of the minimum unit price of vodka may be premature.
An Asset Allocation Model with Social Insurance

Every person or family will face a series of important expenses. In order to avoid shocks from these expenses for individuals or families, people will probably have precautionary saving incentives which influence their strategic asset allocation. This paper reviews domestic and foreign literatures about asset allocation and precautionary saving. This paper proposes a new asset allocation model framework including both social insurance and precautionary saving. At the same time this paper gets two-period model from previous model framework and obtains analytical solution. The main innovations of the paper are combining social insurance and precautionary saving with asset allocation model, and explaining the significance of analytical solution. ¿n
Apprenticeship in England, United Kingdom

One of a series of studies on vocational education and training, this review focuses on the apprenticeship system in England and concludes with policy recommendations. England has launched a series of reforms that champion the institution of apprenticeship, and address some previous weaknesses. The reforms encourage more substantive apprenticeship programmes and a stronger funding framework. Despite these strengths, there is still some way to go to establish an apprenticeship system in England to match those of the strongest countries. This report suggests several ways in which reforms might be adapted to achieve higher quality and better outcomes. An effective apprenticeship system involves various elements such as the development of the apprentice in the workplace by the employer and the broader education of young apprentices. The report argues that England should consider introducing regulations and standards to ensure that these elements are part of all apprenticeship programmes, and that the recently introduced apprenticeship levy supports high-quality training. In comparison to other countries, England has relatively few young apprentices. The report suggests England could facilitate transition from school to work by making better use of apprenticeships targeting school leavers.
How Reliable are the Ground Motion Prediction Equations

Recently, several new ground motion prediction equations (GMPEs) have been developed in USA (NGA project) and elsewhere. Unfortunately, the predictions obtained by different models still differ considerably, even if a common database was used, as in the case of the NGA models. In this paper, a non-parametric approach (CAE method) has been used in order to obtain some information about the influence of different databases and different functional forms on the predictions. The results suggest that the predictions depend substantially on the selection of the effective database and on the adopted functional form. Both decisions rely to some extent on judgement. The influences of both subjective decisions are especially important at short distances from the source. The regional differences seem to be of the same or even smaller magnitude than the differences observed between different models proposed for the same region, at least at short and moderate distances. Aftershocks in the database generally decrease the median values and increase the scatter.
Effect of glycolysis inhibition on mitochondrial function in rat brain

Inhibition of the glycolytic enzyme glyceraldehyde‐3‐phosphate dehydrogenase enhances the neural vulnerability to excitotoxicity both in vivo and in vitro through an unknown mechanism possibly related to mitochondrial failure. However, as the effect of glycolysis inhibition on mitochondrial function in brain has not been studied, the aim of the present work was to evaluate the effect of glycolysis inhibition induced by iodoacetate on mitochondrial function and oxidative stress in brain. Mitochondria were isolated from brain cortex, striatum and cerebellum of rats treated systemically with iodoacetate (25 mg/kg/day for 3 days). Oxygen consumption, ATP synthesis, transmembrane potential, reactive oxygen species production, lipoperoxidation, glutathione levels, and aconitase activity were assessed. Oxygen consumption and aconitase activity decreased in the brain cortex and striatum, showing that glycolysis inhibition did not trigger severe mitochondrial impairment, but a slight mitochondrial malfunction and oxidative stress were present. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biochem Mol Toxicol 26:206–211, 2012; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com. DOI 10.1002/jbt.21404
Photoacoustic clutter reduction using plane wave ultrasound and a linear scatter estimation approach

In clinical photoacoustic imaging, strong light absorption in the skin and the resulting acoustic backscatter from inside the tissue are a major challenge. In the reconstructed image, these reflections, referred to as clutter, can hardly be distinguished from actual photoacoustic sources. It has been shown that especially in setups, where the strong skin absorption is within the field of view, clutter amplitudes are very strong. In this contribution, we focus on such setups with all absorbers and scatterers inside the imaging plane. Our approach uses additional plane wave ultrasound measurements from various angles that are processed according to linear scatter theory in order to approximate the reflections in the photoacoustic measurement. Using this information, the corresponding artifacts can be reduced.
Influence of the GCGC discriminator motif introduced into the ribosomal RNA P2‐ and tac promoter on growth‐rate control and stringent sensitivity.

The synthesis of stable RNA in bacteria is known to be regulated by a stringent control mechanism. Characteristic of stringent‐regulated promoters, all ribosomal RNA promoters P1, but not P2, contain a GC‐rich discriminator sequence assumed to be important for such a control. Using site‐directed mutagenesis we have altered both the rrnB P2 and the synthetic tac promoter to the consensus GCGC discriminator motif. The modified promoters were placed upstream of the structural gene encoding the chloramphenicol acetyltransferase. The response of the modified promoters to amino acid starvation, changes in the growth rate or differences in the basal level of guanosine tetraphosphate (ppGpp) were determined in vivo. The results clearly show, that the discriminator motif is sufficient to convert the ribosomal RNA promoter P2 to a stringent, as well as growth‐rate regulated, promoter. By contrast, the same discriminator sequence linked to the synthetic tac promoter does not convert this promoter to either stringency or growth‐rate regulation. Finally, the results presented in this study reinforce the view that stringent and growth‐rate regulation utilize the same mechanism, with ppGpp being the common mediator.
Preferential Deletion Events in the Direct Repeat Locus of Mycobacterium tuberculosis

ABSTRACT The “Harlingen” IS6110 restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) cluster has linked over 100 tuberculosis cases in The Netherlands since 1993. Four Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates that were epidemiologically linked to this cluster had different spoligotype patterns, as well as slightly divergent IS6110 profiles, compared to the majority of the isolates. Sequencing of the direct repeat (DR) locus revealed sequence polymorphisms at the putative deletion sites. These deletion footprints provided evidence for independent deletions of the central region of the DR locus in three isolates, while the different genotype of the fourth isolate was explained by transmission. Our finding suggests that convergent deletions in the DR locus occur frequently. However, deletion footprints are not suitable to detect convergent deletions in the DR because they seem to be exceptional. Deletion footprints in the DR were not described previously, and we did not observe them in any public M. tuberculosis complex sequences. We conclude that preferential deletions in the DR loci of closely related strains are usually an unnoted event that interferes with clustering of closely related strains.
SHE-PWM control for asymmetrical hybrid multilevel flying capacitor and H-bridge converter

This paper presents a new asymmetrical hybrid voltage source multilevel converter controlled with selective harmonic elimination pulse width modulation (SHE-PWM) technique. The proposed hybrid multilevel converter combines the separate flying capacitor (FC) converter in series with an H-bridge converter with distinct DC voltage supply. The DC-link voltage of the FC is twice that of the H-bridge converter and the flying capacitor is regulated at voltage Vdc/2. The device-account is greatly reduced when compared with conventional multilevel converters for the same number of output voltage levels. The mathematical modules that describe the eight-level SHE-PWM waveform is developed and selected switching solution sets were presented. The performance of the converter under different loading conditions is also investigated through simulation study.
Reproducibility, validity and predictors of six-minute walk test in overweight and obese adolescents with intellectual disability

Objectives: To assess the reproducibility and validity of the six-minute walk test (6MWT) and predictors of the six-minute walk distance (6MWD) in adolescents with overweight or obesity and intellectual disability (ID). Study design: Sixty-one adolescents with overweight or obesity and mild-to-moderate ID (intelligent quotient [IQ] 40–70; age 14–22 years) participated in this study. To test reproducibility, 39 of the participants performed the 6MWT twice with an interval of 1 week. To test validity (n = 39), peak oxygen uptake (peak VO2) was measured on a bicycle ergometer. For the predictor study (n = 61), weight, height, peak VO2 and quadriceps strength were measured, and IQ and orthopedic conditions were collected from the participants’ medical records. Results: There was no significant difference between the means of the two 6MWTs (571.3 vs. 576.5 m; p = 0.452). The intraclass correlation coefficient was 0.82, indicating good reliability. The smallest real difference was 82.6 m. 6MWD correlated significantly with relative peak VO2 (β = 0.69) indicating validity. Relative peak VO2, height, IQ, body mass index (BMI) and quadriceps strength are predictors of the 6MWD in this population. Conclusion: 6MWT is a reliable and valid test in adolescents with overweight or obesity and ID. Low IQ, overweight/obesity and low physical fitness contribute to the outcome of the 6MWT. Implications for Rehabilitation The six-minute walk test (6MWT) with continuous verbal encouragement is a valid and reliable field test in a population of adolescents with overweight and intellectual disability (ID). The main variables associated with the six-minute walk distance in this specific population are relative peak oxygen uptake (VO2), height, intelligent quotient (IQ), body mass index and quadriceps strength. Specific characteristics of a population with ID (low IQ, higher prevalence of overweight, lower physical fitness) are contributing largely to the outcome of the 6MWT and thereby makes this test interesting for clinical use.
Golden goose or white elephant? Exploring lifelong learning through the professional group of operating department practitioners

General findings indicated practitioners were engaging in a variety of learning as advocated by their regulatory body, and thus meeting their professional and organisational responsibilities. Further investigation presents a tale of contrasts:from the positive experiences of learning which are driven by a commitment to delivering high standards of patient care, to the negative experiences with regards to participation and provision. Participation was hampered by a range of structural and organisational barriers, some of which were identified as being unique to this group.Providing a 'snap-shot' of learning within the NHS at a time of challenge and financial constraints the research questions the underpinning philosophy of lifelong learning policy in promoting inclusivity and prosperity and exposes deficiencies within organisational policy.
Support for quality metrics in metamodelling

The maturity of Model Driven Engineering facilitates the development of domain specific languages. Their creation relies on the definition of metamodels, but also on their corresponding visual notations. One can wonder about the quality of any new language, which can result in inunderstandable diagrams with inappropriate notations. Then our goal is to provide indicators about the quality of notations thanks to metrics. In this paper, we present functions that are necesary to calculate these metrics in a metamodeling environment. Then we introduce how metrics are integrated in a modeling environment named ModX.
Poverty, subsidised housing and Lufhereng as a prototype megaproject in Gauteng

Abstract:Projected to accommodate at least 22,500 households by 2023, Lufhereng is called the City of Johannesburg's biggest integrated development. Emphasising both mixed income housing and economic activity, the provincial authority considers Lufhereng 'a blue-print', showcasing 'exactly the type of ground-breaking project that Gauteng Province needs to lead sustainable economic growth and ensure future prosperity'. Located on the western edge of Soweto the development is argued by Provincial planners to be a natural extension of the township originating under segregationist South Africa, yet from a City perspective it has been an outlying locale of low development priority. To counter its spatial disconnect from significant employment nodes the Province and the City propose inter alia both subsistence farming and commercial agriculture to 'become an economic catalyst for the region'. A significant proportion of Lufhereng's population will be at the very bottom of the income spectrum in fully state subsidized houses. Drawing on studies of lived experiences of subsidized housing in South Africa this paper shows the relevance for megaprojects of the concepts of 'invented co-production' and 'incubator urbanism'. Invented co-production refers to residents' unplanned modifications of their built environment or reshaping of their household, evident in other low income housing interactions and likely to emerge in megaprojects despite their highly planned and controlled ambitions. Incubator urbanism re-centres attention on the importance of underlying infrastructure to poor households despite locational and economic disconnects. These two concepts, apparent in Lufhereng, both challenge yet also feed into the conceptualizations of forthcoming megaprojects.