Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Germline humanization of a murine Aβ antibody and crystal structure of the humanized recombinant Fab fragment

Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of dementia, affecting 26 million people worldwide. The Aβ peptide (39–43 amino acids) derived from the proteolytic cleavage of the amyloid precursor protein is one of the main constituents of amyloid plaques associated with disease pathogenesis and therefore a validated target for therapy. Recently, we characterized antibody fragments (Fab and scFvs) derived from the murine monoclonal antibody WO‐2, which bind the immunodominant epitope (3EFRH6) in the Aβ peptide at the N‐terminus. In vitro, these fragments are able to inhibit fibril formation, disaggregate preformed amyloid fibrils, and protect neuroblastoma cells against oligomer‐mediated toxicity. In this study, we describe the humanization of WO‐2 using complementary determining region loop grafting onto the human germline gene and the determination of the three‐dimensional structure by X‐ray crystallography. This humanized version retains a high affinity for the Aβ peptide and therefore is a potential candidate for passive immunotherapy of Alzheimer's disease.
A Case Report of Pediatric Fulminant Hepatitis Treated With Plasma Diafiltration

Abstract: Plasma diafiltration (PDF) is blood purification therapy in which simple plasma exchange is performed with a membrane plasma separator while dialysate flows outside the hollow fibers. A 14‐year‐old boy with fulminant hepatitis underwent two sessions of PDF and one session of hemodiafiltration. We infused filtered replacement fluid for artificial kidneys at a dialysate flow rate of 600 mL/h and a replacement flow rate of 450 mL/h. We infused fresh frozen plasma (1200 mL) and 25% albumin solution (50 mL) intravenously over 8 h. Each PDF session lasted 8 h. The patient's total bilirubin, interleukin‐18, and cystatin C levels decreased with treatment, and he recovered from hepatic failure. PDF may be an extremely useful blood purification therapy for pediatric fulminant hepatitis in terms of both medical economics and cytokine removal.
Ultra-sound and artificial intelligence applied to the diagnostic of insulations in the field

This work studies the feasibility of implementing a system for diagnosis in the field of electrical insulation based on ultrasonic noise and artificial neural networks. Such system, proved functional under laboratory conditions, extracts spectral information from the ultrasonic noise emitted by the corona discharges that occur in electric equipment and correlates it with degrees of pollution previously defined. To achieve this classification, artificial neural networks are employed. The results show the viability of the method in the field, but they also show that its reliability is proportional to the size and diversity of the available database.
Assessment of Bone Quality by Quantitative Ultrasound of Proximal Phalanges of the Hand and Fracture Rate in Children and Adolescents with Bone and Mineral Disorders

Bone quality by quantitative ultrasound and fracture rate were assessed in 135 (64 males) children and adolescents aged 3-21 y with bone and mineral disorders such as chronic anticonvulsants or glucocorticoids treatment, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, celiac disease, paucity of intrahepatic bile ducts, autoimmune hepatitis, genetic diseases, idiopathic juvenile osteoporosis, disuse osteoporosis, β-thalassemia major, survivors of acute lymphoblastic leukemia, liver transplantation, calcium deficiency, and nutritional or X-linked hypophosphatemic rickets. Amplitude-dependent speed of sound through the distal end of the first phalangeal diaphysis of the last four fingers of the hand was measured by an ultrasound device. In the majority of patients cortical area to total area ratio by metacarpal radiogrammetry (n=120) and lumbar bone mineral density (BMD) by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (n=99) were also assessed. In patients with X-linked hypophosphatemic rickets radial BMD by single-photon absorptiometry instead of lumbar BMD was measured. Mean values of amplitude-dependent speed of sound, cortical area to total area ratio, lumbar BMDarea, or lumbar BMD corrected for bone sizes estimated by a mathematical model (BMDvolume), as well as mean values of radial BMD in patients with X-linked hypophosphatemic rickets, expressed as z score, were significantly reduced (p < 0.0001) in comparison with their reference values (−1.7 ± 1.0, −2.0 ± 0.9, −3.0 ± 1.3, −1.9 ± 1.0, −2.7 ± 0.7, respectively). A positive relationship was found between amplitudedependent speed of sound and cortical area to total area ratio (r = 0.90, p < 0.0001), lumbar BMDarea (r = 0.62, p < 0.0001), or lumbar BMDvolume (r = 0.66, p < 0.0001). Fifty-two patients (38.5%) had suffered fractures in the 6 mo preceding the bone measurements, the radial distal metaphysis being the most frequent fracture site (28.8%). Mean values of amplitude-dependent speed of sound, cortical area to total area ratio, lumbar BMDarea, or lumbar BMDvolume, expressed as z score, of fractured patients were significantly lower (p < 0.0001) than those of fracture-free patients (−2.2 ± 1.0 and −1.4 ± 0.8, −2.6 ± 0.9 and −1.7 ± 0.7, −3.5 ± 1.2 and −2.5 ± 1.0, −2.5 ± 1.0 and −1.3 ± 0.7, respectively). Phalangeal quantitative ultrasound may be a useful method to assess bone quality and fracture risk in children and adolescents with bone and mineral disorders.
Method Mathematical Model of Consensus Building in Work of Technical Committees on Standardization

Summary Mathematical model of consensus building in work of technical committees on standardization is developed. The model is based on consensus model proposed by DeGroot. Main issues of consensus achievement in development of standards are analyzed in conditions of proposed model. Results of modelling showing dependence of consensus achievement time of number of members of technical committee on standardization are presented.
Neonatal outcome in pre-eclamptic patients.

BACKGROUND Pre-eclampsia (PE) is defined as hypertension (blood pressure of 140/90 mm Hg on two occasion 4-6 hour apart or single reading of diastolic blood pressure of >110 mm Hg) and proteinuria developing after 20 weeks of pregnancy up to 6 weeks post partum in previously normotensive, non-proteinuric women. The aim of this study was to determine the neonatal outcome in babies born ofpre-eclamptic patients. METHODS It is a cross-sectional comparative study and was carried out in department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology unit C of Ayub Teaching Hospital, Abbottabad from 1st January 2007 to 30th June 2007. The study population included all cases presenting with pre-eclampsia after 20 weeks gestation to emergency and OPD and controls (Normal subject without pre-eclampsia). RESULTS A total of 73 cases of pre-eclampsia were recorded in study period and were matched for age, gestational age and parity with controls. Neonatal outcome data showed a perinatal mortality of 328 neonates per 1000 total births, major cause being still births and intrauterine death (IUD). Decreased APGAR score was present in 31 cases and 3 controls. CONCLUSION Pre-eclampsia has great implication on adverse neonatal outcome. The various complications seen are low APGAR score, IUD, low birth weight, intrauterine growth restriction and increased need for admission to Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).
The Correlation Between the National Survey of Student Engagement Indicators and First Year Student Achievement, Satisfaction, And Retention

THE CORRELATION BETWEEN THE NATIONAL SURVEY OF STUDENT ENGAGEMENT INDICATORS AND FIRST YEAR STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT, SATISFACTION, AND RETENTION Larry Peck Old Dominion University, 2017 Director: Dr. Jill E. Stefaniak The purpose of this study was to determine if the National Survey of Student Engagement indicators (NSSE), High-Impact Practices, demographic variables and non-involvement factors can significantly predict student achievement, satisfaction, and retention. The sample included data from 493 freshmen from a large public university in the Southeastern United States who participated in the National Survey of Student Engagement in 2015 and 2016. This study seeks to benefit instructional designers, educators, and educational institutions to maximize their resources and efforts to achieve maximum achievement, retention, and satisfaction. The study concluded that achievement is highly correlated with higher-order learning, learning strategies, effective teaching practices, quality of interactions, and ethnicity. Retention is highly correlated with effective teaching practices. A positive student experience is highly correlated with quality of interactions and a supportive environment. A student being willing to choose the same school again is highly correlated with quality of interactions and a supportive environment. These findings can guide institutions of higher learning in the use of limited resources to maximize student retention, achievement, and satisfaction. An institution can choose to focus on achievement, retention, student satisfaction, or all three outcomes, depending on the type and allocation of institutional resources.
Novel Peroxisomal Populations in Subcellular Fractions from Rat Liver

According to current concepts, new peroxisomes are formed by division of pre-existing peroxisomes or by budding from a peroxisomal reticulum. Recent cytochemical and biochemical data indicate that protein content in peroxisomes are heterogenous and that import of newly synthesized proteins may be restricted to certain protein import-competent peroxisomal subcompartments (Yamamoto, K., and Fahimi, H. D.(1987) J. Cell Biol. 105, 713-722; Heinemann, P., and Just, W. W. (1992) FEBS Lett. 300, 179-182; Lüers, G. , Hashimoto, T. , Fahimi, H. D. , and Völkl, A. (1993) J. Cell Biol. 121, 1271-1280). We have observed that substantial amounts of peroxisomal proteins are found together with “microsomes” (100,000 × g pellet) after subcellular fractionation of rat liver homogenates. In this study we have investigated the origin of these peroxisomal proteins by modified gradient centrifugation procedures in Nycodenz and by analysis of enzyme activity distributions, Western blotting, and immunoelectron microscopy. It is concluded that much of this material is confined to novel populations of “peroxisomes. ” Immunocytochemistry on gradient fractions showed that some vesicles were enriched in acyl-CoA oxidase and peroxisomal multifunctional enzyme (“catalase-negative”) whereas others were enriched in catalase and thiolase (“acyl-CoA oxidase-negative”). Double immunolabeling experiments verified the strong heterogeneity in the protein contents of these vesicles and also identified peroxisomes varying in size from about 0.5 μm (“normal peroxisomes”) to extremely small vesicles of less than 100 nm in diameter. The possibility that these vesicles may be related to different subcompartments of a larger peroxisomal structure involved in protein import and biogenesis will be discussed.
Transcriptional Elements Involved in the Repression of Ribosomal Protein Synthesis

ABSTRACT The ribosomal proteins (RPs) of Saccharomyces cerevisiae are encoded by 137 genes that are among the most transcriptionally active in the genome. These genes are coordinately regulated: a shift up in temperature leads to a rapid, but temporary, decline in RP mRNA levels. A defect in any part of the secretory pathway leads to greatly reduced ribosome synthesis, including the rapid loss of RP mRNA. Here we demonstrate that the loss of RP mRNA is due to the rapid transcriptional silencing of the RP genes, coupled to the naturally short lifetime of their transcripts. The data suggest further that a global inhibition of polymerase II transcription leads to overestimates of the stability of individual mRNAs. The transcription of most RP genes is activated by two Rap1p binding sites, 250 to 400 bp upstream from the initiation of transcription. Rap1p is both an activator and a silencer of transcription. The swapping of promoters between RPL30 and ACT1 orGAL1 demonstrated that the Rap1p binding sites ofRPL30 are sufficient to silence the transcription ofACT1 in response to a defect in the secretory pathway. Sir3p and Sir4p, implicated in the Rap1p-mediated repression of silent mating type genes and of telomere-proximal genes, do not influence such silencing of RP genes. Sir2p, implicated in the silencing both of the silent mating type genes and of genes within the ribosomal DNA locus, does not influence the repression of either RP or rRNA genes. Surprisingly, the 180-bp sequence of RPL30 that lies between the Rap1p sites and the transcription initiation site is also sufficient to silence the Gal4p-driven transcription in response to a defect in the secretory pathway, by a mechanism that requires the silencing region of Rap1p. We conclude that for Rap1p to activate the transcription of an RP gene it must bind to upstream sequences; yet for Rap1p to repress the transcription of an RP gene it need not bind to the gene directly. Thus, the cell has evolved a two-pronged approach to effect the rapid extinction of RP synthesis in response to the stress imposed by a heat shock or by a failure of the secretory pathway. Calculations based on recent transcriptome data and on the half-life of the RP mRNAs suggest that in a rapidly growing cell the transcription of RP mRNAs accounts for nearly 50% of the total transcriptional events initiated by RNA polymerase II. Thus, the sudden silencing of the RP genes must have a dramatic effect on the overall transcriptional economy of the cell.
Student departure: analyzing the customer service experience, commitment to the institution, and overall satisfaction as predictors : a study at the University of Northern Colorado.

As an organization, public higher education is going through a significant paradigm shift. There is more focus on the institutions collective productivity in an effort to increase student persistence and retention, and overall graduation rates. The value added nature of higher education continues to be examined by every stakeholder, requiring institutions to articulate results while being more efficient. Accountability and fiscal responsibility coupled with dwindling resources necessitate hitting the “re-start button” in order to survive. Students and parents serve as higher education’s primary constituents and their expectations for higher education have risen dramatically. They demand the best educational experience, state of the art facilities, expanded curriculum, and personalized learning opportunities (Lueddek, 1999). With the evolving times, customary practices and broad-based student retention initiatives may no longer be effective based on the opportunities today’s students have through non-traditional channels. College and university leadership need to support a more service-orientated culture and re-think what it means to keep students persisting. As a result, the way most institutions within higher education currently think and conduct business does not afford aggressive strategies required to continue to function in this new paradigm. Opportunities for modification to the higher education ethos may be revealed in how the private sector does its core work with customers. The purpose of this study examined the extent to which the following three constructs: perceptions of the customer service experience, expressions of commitment to the institution, and overall satisfaction of first year students, living on campus, predicted/explained student departure at the University of Northern Colorado (UNC). For this study, student departure was based on enrollment status at time of official reporting known as census period. Using convenience sampling, the MapWorks® First Year Transition Survey was administered
Sport and Recreation Are Associated With Happiness Across Countries

Purpose: Preliminary findings suggest sport participation is positively associated with happiness. However, it is unknown if this association is universal and how sport compares to other leisure activities in terms of an association with happiness. This study had 3 objectives: (a) to test if sport membership is associated with happiness, (b) to test if this relationship is universal, and (c) to compare sport membership to other leisure activities. Method: Hierarchal Bernoulli modeling was used to analyze the 6th wave (2014) of the World Values Survey (nSs = 67,736, ncountries = 48). The critical variables included measures of membership in different leisure activities (e.g., sport membership) and self-reported happiness. Results: Even when controlling for known covariates such as perceived health, those who report sport/recreation membership are more likely to report being happy compared with non-sport members (OR = 1.38; 95% CI [1.24, 1.53]). Being a member of a sport organization had a greater association with happiness than did being a member of other leisure activities. Follow-up analyses suggested that this association is nearly universal. Conclusions: This study offers initial evidence that sport membership elicits happiness across many different societies. Although the causal direction remains unclear, this study establishes a positive association between happiness and sport membership. Future research should target the mechanism(s) of this effect, which we hypothesize are meaningful social relations.
Solitary hypervascular liver metastasis from neuroendocrine tumor mimicking hepatocellular cancer: All that glitters is not gold

Neuroendocrine tumor metastases to the liver can mimic primary hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) on imaging, cytology, and core biopsy. We present a case study along with the literature review of a patient who presented as a solitary liver mass mimicking HCC and subsequently underwent a partial hepatectomy. The histopathology and immunohistochemisrty of the resected specimen revealed metastatic neuroendocrine carcinoma. Positron emission tomography (PET) scan with 68Ga-DOTA-NaI-octreotide (68Ga-DOTANOC) localized the primary tumor in the ileum. A curative follow-up surgery for resection of the small bowel containing the primary tumor was carried out. This case illustrates the shortcomings of routine imaging methods, utility of immunocytochemistry and the importance of 68Ga-DOTANOC PET in determining the metastatic spread as well as the origin of neuroendocrine tumors (NETs). This case report attempts to highlight the current imaging paradigms and management strategy of midgut and other NET's at the point of detection, staging and follow-up.
Characterization of Human Activating Transcription Factor 4, a Transcriptional Activator That Interacts with Multiple Domains of cAMP-responsive Element-binding Protein (CREB)-binding Protein (CBP)*

We demonstrate that human activating transcription factor 4 (hATF4), a member of the activating transcription factor/cAMP-responsive element-binding protein (ATF/CREB) family of transcription factors, is a potent transcriptional activator in both mammalian cells and yeast. The N-terminal 113 amino acids of hATF4 activate transcription efficiently, and unexpectedly, the C-terminal bZip DNA binding domain of hATF4 also activates transcription, albeit weakly. Our results indicate that hATF4 interacts with several general transcription factors: TATA-binding protein, TFIIB, and the RAP30 subunit of TFIIF. In addition, hATF4 interacts with the coactivator CREB-binding protein (CBP) at four regions: 1) the KIX domain, 2) a region that contains the third zinc finger and the E1A-interacting domain, 3) a C-terminal region that contains the p160/SRC-1-interacting domain, and 4) the recently identified histone acetyltransferase domain. Interestingly, both the N-terminal and C-terminal regions of hATF4 interact with the above general transcription factors and CBP, providing a mechanistic explanation for their ability to activate transcription. Consistent with its role as a coactivator, CBP potentiates the ability of hATF4 to activate transcription. The potential significance of the interaction between hATF4 and multiple factors is discussed.
Emigration after socialist regime in Lithuania: why the West is still the best?

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to review the emigration situation after the socialist regime and to reveal the main reasons for emigration in present-day Lithuania answering the question why “the West is still the best” remains important to modern Lithuania. Design/methodology/approach Statistical analysis of emigration during 1980-2015 in Lithuania was presented. Reasons for emigration were identified through a review of the scientific literature on emigration theories and push-pull factors. A questionnaire was prepared according to the proposed model to reveal the main reasons for Lithuanian emigration. In total, 1,586 migrants from Lithuania participated in the survey during October-November 2015. Findings The results revealed the main reasons for emigration according to push and pull factors related to economic issues, such as too low wages, differences between wages and income inequality, price policies and unemployment rates. However, non-economic reasons, particularly having relatives living abroad, influence the decision to migrate as well. A comparative analysis was made according to respondents’ occupation in the home country, their age and gender. In addition, it was found that emigration has become a community value and norm in Lithuania. Research limitations/implications The study was conducted over the internet. Therefore, only people using the internet participated in this study. Moreover, it is noted that only 21 percent of the respondents were male. Practical implications Based on migration theories, a list of push and pull migration reasons were identified. The findings present the main reasons for migration, which are based not only on statistical data, but also on survey responses in the case of Lithuania. Differences among demographic groups of respondents according to their occupation, gender and age were highlighted and targeted solutions could be applied in practice. Potential measures for decreasing emigration could also be designed based on these findings. Social implications Migration was proposed as a community value and norm in Lithuania. Originality/value Based on the migration theories and a questionnaire survey, the paper discusses reasons for emigration after the end of the socialist regime in Lithuania concentrating on the main reasons for emigration in contemporary Lithuania. In addition, it offers insights into demographic differences in reasons for emigration in relation to occupation, age and gender.
Equality of Educational Opportunity: A Myth or Reality in U.S. Schooling.

To explore whether equality of educational opportunities is a reality in US eighth grade mathematics classrooms, this paper utilizes data from US states and districts that participated in the 1999 TIMSS-R study. Analyses explore the relationship between classroom coverage of specific mathematics content and student achievement as measured by the TIMSS-R international mathematics scaled score. District/state level SES indicators demonstrated significant relationships with both the dependent variable of interest, mathematics achievement, and the classroom level measure of content coverage. A 3-level model demonstrated a significant effect of classroom content coverage on student achievement while controlling for student background at the student level and SES at all three levels, documenting significant differences in mathematics learning opportunities among US eighth grade classrooms. Equality of Educational Opportunity ii u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u