Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The impact of smoke-free hospitality venues in Norway

After sixteen years of exemptions from section six of the Act on the prevention of the harmful effects of tobacco, an amendment to this so-called ‘Tobacco Act’ introduced a smoke-free regime to all hospitality venues in Norway from 1 June 2004.1 The previous regulations regarding the provision of smoke-free areas within bars, pubs, cafes and restaurants were thereby superseded by an absolute ban on smoking indoors. The authorities’ most important reason for revoking these exemptions was to afford employees in the hospitality industry the same protection against passive smoking as other employees had enjoyed since section six of the Tobacco Act came into effect in 1988. Furthermore, hospitality venues, night clubs and the like were seen as an important recruitment arena for smoking among young people. Importance was also attached to the fact that numerous individuals with asthma and allergies could not make use of hospitality venues because of the problems they suffered as a result of the smoky atmosphere. Moreover, the hospitality industry was having difficulty complying with existing regulations on smoke-free areas. The Standing Committee on Health and Social Affairs in the Storting (Parliament) augmented by subsequent parliamentary debate, expressed a desire for an evaluation of the smoking ban. The ban had been controversial and there was doubt with regards to the economic consequences for the hospitality industry, as well as uncertainty associated with the general public’s compliance and satisfaction. The evaluation was to present results within three years and the Norwegian Institute for Alcohol and Drug Research (SIRUS) charged with its conduct. This would be linked to a broader evaluation of the State’s tobacco prevention work in Norway. Commercial impact on the hospitality industry According to the evaluation, value-added tax (VAT) collected from the hospitality industry (restaurants, pubs and bars) increased by 5% in the first sixteen months after the ban compared with same period prior to its introduction.2 In the restaurant segment of the industry, sales went up by 6%, while typical taverns such as bars and pubs, which have significantly lower sales than the restaurant industry, reported a small downturn of 1%. VAT registrations have seasonal variations, but there is a slight upward trend in taxes collected (Figure 1) in the period from 2003 to 2005. The impact of smoke-free hospitality venues in Norway
Micro-cantilevered MEMS Biosensor for Detection of Malaria Protozoan Parasites

In this paper, the presented work aims to provide a designed model based on Finite element method for detection of Malaria protozoan parasites. Micro-cantilevers are next generation highly efficient biosensors for detection and prevention of any disease. Here, an E-shaped model for micro cantilevered biosensor is designed using COMSOL Multiphysics specifically for detection of Malaria. Microcantilever materials viz Au, Cu, Si and Pt are used for sensing Malaria protozoan with proper optimization of device structure. The studies were carried out for stress developed and displacement occurred due to force applied through these protozoan biomolecules and varying beam length. Further, the designed structure was analyzed for different beam materials available for biosensor and it was found that Au is best suitable material for detection of malaria protozoan parasites since it has best sensitivity profile among presented materials. The results were also verified through analytical approach and it was found that both results obtained through simulation and analytical methods do closely agree with each other.
Automatic speech / non-speech classification using gestures in dialogue

This paper presents an experiment carried out to determine what aspects of motion are associated with speech and what aspects are associated with non-speech in spontaneous dyadic communication. Six dialogs were analysed, and results show that the successful prediction of speech activity from motion differs considerably depending on the characteristics of the dialogue. The classification accuracy ranged from 61% to 82% using a Naive Bayes classifier. The most salient features were found to be the angular speed of the head and speed of the dominant hand.
Factors controlling nitrogen release from two forested catchments with contrasting hydrochemical responses

Quantifying biogeochemical cycles of nitrogen (N) and the associated fluxes to surface waters remains challenging, given the need to deal with spatial and temporal variability and to characterize complex and heterogeneous landscapes. We focused our study on catchments S14 and S15 located in the Adirondack Mountains of New York, USA, which have similar topographic and hydrologic characteristics but contrasting stream nitrate ($\hbox{NO}_{3}^{-}$) concentrations. We characterized the mechanisms by which $\hbox{NO}_{3}^{-}$ reaches the streams during hydrological events in these catchments, aiming to reconcile our field data with our conceptual model of factors that regulate nutrient exports from forested catchments. Combined hydrometric, chemical and isotopic (δ$\hbox{NO}_{3}^{-}$) data showed that the relative contributions of both soil and ground water sources were similar between the two catchments. Temporal patterns of stream chemistry were markedly different between S14 and S15, however, because the water sources in the two catchments have different solute concentrations. During late summer/fall, the largest source of $\hbox{NO}_{3}^{-}$ in S14 was till groundwater, whereas shallow soil was the largest $\hbox{NO}_{3}^{-}$ source in S15. $\hbox{NO}_{3}^{-}$ concentrations in surface water decreased in S14, whereas they increased in S15 because an increasing proportion of stream flow was derived from shallow soil sources. During snowmelt, the largest sources of $\hbox{NO}_{3}^{-}$ were in the near‐surface soil in both catchments. Concentrations of $\hbox{NO}_{3}^{-}$ increased as stream discharge increased and usually peaked before peak discharge, when shallow soil water sources made the largest contribution to stream discharge. The timing of peaks in stream $\hbox{NO}_{3}^{-}$concentrations was affected by antecedent moisture conditions. By elucidating the factors that affect sources and transport of N, including differences in the soil nutrient cycling and hydrological characteristics of S14 and S15, this study contributes to the overall conceptualization of $\hbox{NO}_{3}^{-}$ release from temperate forested catchments. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The Predictive Role of Sequential FDG-PET/CT in Response of Locally Advanced Rectal Cancer to Neoadjuvant Chemoradiation

PurposeThis study prospectively assessed the value of sequential fluorine-18-fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography/computed tomography (FDG-PET/CT) scans for predicting the response of locally advanced rectal cancer to neoadjuvant chemoradiation. MethodsFifty consecutive patients with locally advanced rectal cancer were enrolled. The treatment consisted of concurrent chemoradiation, which included preoperative 5-fluorouracil-based chemotherapy and pelvic radiation (4500 to 5040 cGy); this was followed 8 weeks later (median: 55 d) by surgery with a curative intent. All the patients underwent FDG-PET/CT before and 5 weeks later (median: 35 d) after the completion of chemoradiation. We evaluated the measurements of the FDG uptake [maximum standardized uptake values (SUVmax)] and the percentage of SUVmax difference [(response index (RI)] between the prechemoradiation and postchemoradiation FDG-PET/CT scans. ResultsAfter chemoradiation, 32 of 50 patients (64%) were classified as responders according to the tumor regression grade, which is based on the ratio of fibrosis to residual cancer (tumor regression grade 3-4). For all the patients, the mean prechemoradiation SUVmax was 14.8, and this was significantly higher than the mean SUVmax value of 6.1 at postchemoradiation (P< 0.001). The mean RI was significantly higher in the responders than that in the nonresponder patients (62.6% vs. 31.2%, P = 0.001). The following parameters were obtained using a RI cutoff of 53.0% for defining a response to therapy: 75.0% sensitivity, 73.2% specificity, 82.8% positive predictive value, and 61.9% negative predictive value. ConclusionsThe FDG-PET/CT parameters, and especially the RI, may be best for assessing the neoadjuvant chemoradiation response of locally advanced rectal cancer and these values can potentially assist physicians for planning the optimal treatment.
K 1 and K 15 of Kaposi ’ s Sarcoma-Associated Herpesvirus Are Partial Functional Homologues of Latent Membrane Protein 2 A of Epstein-Barr Virus

The human herpesviruses Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) are associated with Hodgkin’s lymphoma (HL) and Primary effusion lymphomas (PEL), respectively, which are B cell malignancies that originate from germinal center B cells. PEL cells but also a quarter of EBV-positive HL tumor cells do not express the genuine B cell receptor (BCR), a situation incompatible with survival of normal B cells. EBV encodes LMP2A, one of EBV’s viral latent membrane proteins, which likely replaces the BCR’s survival signaling in HL. Whether KSHV encodes a viral BCR mimic that contributes to oncogenesis is not known because an experimental model of KSHV-mediated B cell transformation is lacking. We addressed this uncertainty with mutant EBVs encoding the KSHV genes K1 or K15 in lieu of LMP2A and infected primary BCR-negative (BCR ) human B cells with them. We confirmed that the survival of BCR B cells and their proliferation depended on an active LMP2A signal. Like LMP2A, the expression of K1 and K15 led to the survival of BCR B cells prone to apoptosis, supported their proliferation, and regulated a similar set of cellular target genes. K1 and K15 encoded proteins appear to have noncomplementing, redundant functions in this model, but our findings suggest that both KSHV proteins can replace LMP2A’s key activities contributing to the survival, activation and proliferation of BCR PEL cells in vivo.
The Interferon Stimulated Gene 54 Promotes Apoptosis*

The ability of interferons (IFNs) to inhibit viral replication and cellular proliferation is well established, but the specific contribution of each IFN-stimulated gene (ISG) to these biological responses remains to be completely understood. In this report we demonstrate that ISG54, also known as IFN-induced protein with tetratricopeptide repeats 2 (IFIT2), is a mediator of apoptosis. Expression of ISG54, independent of IFN stimulation, elicits apoptotic cell death. Cell death and apoptosis were quantified by propidium iodide uptake and annexin-V staining, respectively. The activation of caspase-3, a key mediator of the execution phase of apoptosis, was clearly apparent in cells expressing ISG54. The anti-apoptotic B cell lymphoma-xl (Bcl-xl) protein inhibited the apoptotic effects of ISG54 as did the anti-apoptotic adenoviral E1B-19K protein. In addition, ISG54 was not able to promote cell death in the absence of pro-apoptotic Bcl family members, Bax and Bak. Analyses of binding partners of ISG54 revealed association with two homologous proteins, ISG56/IFIT1 and ISG60/IFIT3. In addition, ISG60 binding negatively regulates the apoptotic effects of ISG54. The results reveal a previously unidentified role of ISG54 in the induction of apoptosis via a mitochondrial pathway and shed new light on the mechanism by which IFN elicits anti-viral and anti-cancer effects.
Vitamin D and Immune Function

Vitamin D metabolizing enzymes and vitamin D receptors are present in many cell types including various immune cells such as antigen-presenting-cells, T cells, B cells and monocytes. In vitro data show that, in addition to modulating innate immune cells, vitamin D also promotes a more tolerogenic immunological status. In vivo data from animals and from human vitamin D supplementation studies have shown beneficial effects of vitamin D on immune function, in particular in the context of autoimmunity. In this review, currently available data are summarized to give an overview of the effects of vitamin D on the immune system in general and on the regulation of inflammatory responses, as well as regulatory mechanisms connected to autoimmune diseases particularly in type 1 diabetes mellitus.
Detection of genes for enterotoxins, exfoliative toxins, and toxic shock syndrome toxin 1 in Staphylococcus aureus by the polymerase chain reaction

Eight pairs of synthetic oligonucleotide primers were used in a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) protocol to detect genes for staphylococcal enterotoxins A to E, exfoliative toxins A and B, and toxic shock syndrome toxin 1 in Staphylococcus aureus strains isolated from clinical specimens and contaminated foods. Primers were targeted to internal regions of the toxin genes, and amplification fragments were detected after the PCR by agarose gel electrophoresis. Unequivocal discrimination of toxin genes was obtained by the PCR by using nucleic acids extracted from 88 strains of S. aureus whose toxigenicity was established biologically and immunologically. In immunological assays, two strains of S. aureus produced equivocal results for production of enterotoxin C or toxic shock syndrome toxin 1, giving an overall concordance between phenotypic and genotypic identification of 97.7%. Primer specificity was established in the PCR by using nucleic acids from known toxin-producing bacterial pathogens and from nontoxigenic S. aureus. Strains of Streptococcus spp. , including some producers of pyrogenic exotoxin A carrying the speA gene, were negative by the PCR designed to detect staphylococcal toxins. The detection limits were established for all the staphylococcal toxin genes within their respective PCR protocols. The identification of staphylococcal toxin genes in strains of S. aureus by the PCR offers a very specific, sensitive, relatively rapid, and inexpensive alternative to traditional immunological assays which depend on adequate gene expression for reliability and sensitivity.
An omnidirectional stereoscopic sensor: spherical color image acquisition

This paper describes an original stereoscopic sensor acquisition of color spherical images derived from panoramic images taken at different 3D space positions. The sensor principle is based on the rotation, under the control of two stepping motors, of two monochromatic linear CCD cameras around two perpendicular axes. The first axis, horizontal gets through the optical centers of the two cameras and allows acquiring color stereo-panoramas. The second axis, vertical gets through the middle of the optical centers. It extends the acquisition to the whole scene. The mechanical sensor architecture allows us to obtain cylindrical stereoscopic images along a ring path. A specific orthographic projection from the color panoramic images provides a couple of color spherical images. Experimental results show the high precision of the acquisition and high quality of the color spherical pictures. This sensor is particularly well adapted for the acquisition of scenes over 360/spl times/360 degrees for multimedia and motion pictures.
A new approach to BOR-FDTD Subgridding

In this paper the approach followed by Chilton et all. to develop a provably passive and stable 3D FDTD subgridding technique, is adapted to Body-Of-Revolution (BOR) FDTD. To this end a new set of basis functions is presented together with the mechanism to assemble them into an overall mesh consisting of coarse and fine mesh cells. To preserve the explicit nature of the leapfrog time stepping algorithm, appropriate mass-lumping concepts, again specifically adapted to the BOR-FDTD situation, are invoked. Numerical examples for toroidal cavities demonstrate the stability and accuracy of the method.
Joint recovery of carrier frequency and symbol timing for extremely bandwidth-efficient satellite links

Efficient estimation and synchronisation of transmission parameters is key for any satellite receiver, which is especially true for the recovery of carrier frequency and symbol timing. In this respect, a joint feedback solution has been analysed and tested in some recent work conducted by the authors. However, it turned out that the capture range of the carrier frequency is limited by the selected roll-off factor (excess bandwidth), which means that the synchroniser would not work properly for extremely bandwidth-efficient transmission schemes. This motivated them to modify the feedback structure by introducing a different filter operated in parallel to the receiver matched filter. In the sequel, it could be verified by analytical and simulation results that the initial frequency offset synchronised successfully can reach up to ±50% of the symbol rate irrespective of the selected modulation scheme, the roll-off factor, the signal-to-noise ratio value and the timing offset the satellite link is operated with. On top of that, a non-linear modification of the timing error detector has been investigated in detail, since the output of the conventional solution is nullified in case of extremely small excess bandwidths.
ASED ON S TATEMENT E XTRACTION

Product reviews are valuable resource for information seeking and decision making purposes. Products such as smart phone are discussed based on their aspects e.g. battery life, screen quality, etc. Knowing user statements about aspects is relevant as it will guide other users in their buying process. In this paper, we automatically extract user statements about aspects for a given product. Our extraction method is based on dependency parse information of individual reviews. The parse information is used to learn patterns and use them to determine the user statements for a given aspect. Our results show that our methods are able to extract potentially useful statements for given aspects.
HITEC: a test generation package for sequential circuits

Presents HITEC, a sequential circuit test generation package to generate test patterns for sequential circuits, without assuming the use of scan techniques or a reset state. Several new techniques are introduced to improve the performance of test generation. A targeted D element technique is presented, which greatly increases the number of possible mandatory assignments and reduces the over-specification of state variables which can sometimes result when using a standard PODEM algorithm. A technique to use the state knowledge of previously generated vectors for state justification, without the memory overhead of a state transition diagram is presented. For faults that were aborted during the standard test generation phase, knowledge that was gained about fault propagation, by the fault simulator, is used. These techniques, when used together, produce the best published results for the ISCAS89, sequential benchmark circuits. <<ETX>>
Mutant and Infectious Prion Proteins Display Common Biochemical Properties in Cultured Cells (*)

Prion diseases are unusual neurodegenerative disorders that can be both infectious and inherited. Both forms are hypothesized to result from a posttranslational structural alteration in the cell surface glycoprotein PrP (cellular isoform of the prion protein) that converts it into the protease-resistant isoform PrP (scrapie isoform of the prion protein). However, a direct comparison of molecular events underlying these two manifestations of prion diseases has not been possible, because there has been no cell culture model for the familial forms. We report here that when mutant prion proteins associated with three different inherited prion disorders of humans are expressed as their murine homologues in cultured Chinese hamster ovary cells, the proteins are protease-resistant and detergent-insoluble, two biochemical properties characteristic of infectious PrP. In addition, each mutant protein remains tightly associated with the plasma membrane after enzymatic cleavage of its glycosylphosphatidylinositol anchor, a property that we now show is also typical of infectious PrP. The cell culture system described here is the first in vitro model for familial prion diseases and provides compelling evidence that infectious and genetic cases share common molecular features.
Identification of Routing Determinants in the Cytosolic Domain of a Secretory Granule-associated Integral Membrane Protein*

We have investigated the trafficking of integral membrane peptidylglycine α-amidating monooxygenase (PAM) in the neuroendocrine AtT-20 cell line. This bifunctional enzyme has two domains which together catalyze the COOH-terminal α-amidation of peptidylglycine substrates yielding amidated products stored in secretory granules. As soluble proteins, both catalytic domains were independently targeted to secretory granules. In contrast, membrane PAM was largely localized to the trans-Golgi network (TGN). Upon truncation of its cytoplasmic COOH-terminal domain, membrane PAM was less efficiently cleaved by secretory granule enzymes and accumulated on the plasma membrane. When transferred to the lumenal domain of the interleukin 2 receptor α-chain (Tac protein), the cytoplasmic domain of PAM caused rerouting of Tac from the surface to the TGN and supported internalization of Tac antibody from the plasma membrane. To define sequences in the cytoplasmic domain of integral membrane PAM involved in its trafficking, we expressed PAM proteins containing truncations, deletions, or point mutations in the COOH-terminal cytoplasmic domain. PAM proteins were not retained in the TGN when half of the cytoplasmic domain was deleted; such proteins accumulated on the plasma membrane, were not efficiently internalized, and were cleaved to generate a bifunctional PAM protein that was not stored in secretory granules. A tyrosine-based internalization motif was identified, which was not required for efficient cleavage of full-length integral membrane PAM by secretory granule enzymes. Deletion of an 18-amino acid domain surrounding this Tyr residue both diminished cleavage of membrane PAM by secretory granule enzymes and eliminated internalization of PAM from the plasma membrane. The cytoplasmic domain is responsible for retaining membrane PAM in the TGN and for retrieving membrane PAM from the cell surface, while the lumenal catalytic domains of PAM appear to be responsible for targeting the protein to secretory granules.
Dietary inflammatory index before diagnosis and survival in an Italian cohort of women with breast cancer

Abstract The dietary inflammatory indexTM (DII) has been shown to correlate with concentrations of several inflammatory markers and a variety of chronic disease endpoints, including cancers of various anatomic sites. We investigated whether the DII was associated with the risk for death among women with breast cancer (BrCa). This retrospective cohort study included 1453 women with BrCa, diagnosed between 1990 and 1994, and previously enrolled in a case–control study in northern Italy. With a median follow-up of 12·6 years, we observed 503 deaths, among which 398 were due to BrCa. The usual diet was assessed at BrCa diagnosis using a validated FFQ. DII scores were calculated using thirty-one foods/nutrients. Hazard ratios (HR) of death from all causes or from BrCa, with corresponding 95 % CI, were calculated using the Cox models, adjusted for age at diagnosis, tumour stage, oestrogen/progesterone receptor status and other potential confounders. The median DII score of the study women was −1·23, with a relatively narrow range (interquartile range −2·24 to −0·11), indicating a mainly anti-inflammatory diet. There was no difference in survival according to DII tertiles, neither considering all-cause mortality (HRtertile III v. I 1·00; 95 % CI 0·78, 1·28) nor BrCa-specific mortality (HRtertile III v. I 0·97; 95 % CI 0·73, 1·27). Study findings did not suggest an association between the inflammatory potential of diet, measured by the DII, and the survival of BrCa women. However, further studies are needed in populations reporting higher DII scores and a broader range of variability in the scores.