Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Microchip electrophoresis coupled with on‐line magnetic separation and chemiluminescence detection for multiplexed immunoassay

A facile and universal strategy for multiplexed immunoassay is proposed. The strategy is based on microchip electrophoresis (MCE) coupled with on‐line magnetic separation and chemiluminescence (CL) detection. The system consisted of a microchip, an electromagnet, and a photomultiplier. The realization of multiplexed immunoassay protocol involves sampling magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) labeled antibodies, N‐(4‐aminobutyl)‐N‐ethyl‐isoluminol (ABEI) labeled antigens and free antigens in the precolumn reactor, on‐line immunoreaction, capturing the MNPs‐immunocomplexes, and the separation of unconjugated ABEI‐labeled antigens. After on‐line magnetic separation, the free ABEI‐labeled antigens were transported into the separation channel, and mixed with hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) in the presence of horseradish peroxidase in the postcolumn reactor, and producing CL emission. Using this arrangement, multiple analytes could be measured simultaneously by performing the technical operations for a single assay. As a proof‐of‐concept, the multiplexed immunoassay was evaluated for the simultaneous determination of five model analytes (i.e. hydrocortisone, corticosterone, digoxin, testosterone, and estriol). The results exhibited excellent precision and sensitivity, the relative standard deviations for nine times detection were lower than 4.7% for all the five components, and the detection limits of five analytes were in the range of 3.6–4.9 nM. The MCE system was validated using two human serum‐based control samples containing five analytes.
Analog distributed source-channel coding using sinusoids

In a wireless sensor network, it is likely that the measurements of the sensors are correlated. Distributed source coding can be used to reduce transmission rate or mitigate the effects of the channel noise in the case of analog transmission. In this paper, we propose a novel scheme for implementing distributed source-channel coding based on analog mappings. We assume that an analog source is to be transmitted to a receiver that has access to correlated side information, as in the Wyner-Ziv problem. From the Cramér-Rao lower bound, we observe general properties of analog distributed source-channel mappings. It is especially clear how the stretch factor influences the performance. From this observation we propose two different mappings based on sinusoidal waveforms. The proposed transmission scheme is numerically evaluated and shown to perform well, particularly in the low-SNR regime. Furthermore, it requires no encoding or decoding delay, making it suitable for delay-critical applications in wireless sensor networks.
Essential Role of E2F Recognition Sites in Regulation of the Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen Gene Promoter during Drosophila Development (*)

We have found sequences similar to the transcription factor E2F recognition site within the Drosophila proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) gene promoter. These sequences are located at positions −43 to −36 (site I) and −56 to −49 (site II) with respect to the cap site. Glutathione S-transferase (GST)-E2F and GST-DP fusion proteins cooperate and bind to the potential E2F sites in the PCNA promoter in vitro. A binding factor(s) to these sequences that has similar binding specificity to that of E2F was detected in nuclear extracts of Drosophila Kc cells. Furthermore, transient expression of E2F in Kc cells activated the PCNA promoter, and the target site for the activation coincided with the E2F sites. These results indicate that the PCNA gene is a likely target gene of E2F. Examination of lacZ expression from PCNA-lacZ fusion genes carrying mutations in either or both of two E2F sites introduced into flies by germ line transformation revealed that site II plays a major role in the PCNA promoter activity during embryogenesis and larval development, although both sites are required for optimal promoter activity. However, for maternal expression in ovaries, either one of the two sites is essentially sufficient to direct optimal promoter activity. These results demonstrate, for the first time, an essential role for E2F sites in regulation of PCNA promoter activity during development of a multicellular organism.
Potential Cost-effectiveness of Therapeutic Drug Monitoring for Depressed Patients Treated With Citalopram

Background: For patients treated with citalopram, it was recently shown that serum concentrations above 50 ng/mL on day 7 of treatment are associated with an improved therapeutic outcome. The aim of this post hoc analysis was to calculate a potential cost-effectiveness of therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) considering costs for hospitalization, medication, and drug analysis. Methods: The study included patients with major depression. Weekly measurements of serum concentrations and assessments of psychopathology were conducted. Results: Fifty-five patients were included in this analysis. For patients with high citalopram serum concentrations (>50 ng/mL), the mean duration of hospitalization was 49 ± 20 days, and it was 72 ± 37 days (P = 0.03) in the group with low drug concentrations (<50 ng/mL). Considering daily costs for hospitalization of 250&OV0556;, the potential savings amounted to 5750&OV0556; per patient for the 23 days. Assuming that 11% of the variation of duration of hospitalization per patient were attributed to the serum concentration of the drug, the resulting savings were 633&OV0556; per patient. Considering the officially listed price of 21&OV0556; per TDM assay, total costs for weekly measurements over a period of 10 weeks of hospitalization were 210&OV0556;. In the groups with high and low serum concentrations, daily costs for citalopram medication were 3.00 ± 0.80&OV0556; and 2.42 ± 0.70&OV0556;, respectively (P = 0.002), and the mean number of comedications was nearly identical, that is, 1.87 ± 1.74 and 1.81 ± 1.86 drugs, respectively (P = 0.919). Conclusions: The data taken together indicate that TDM-guided dosing of citalopram has the potential to be cost effective by reducing the length of hospitalization.
Long Term Nutritional Rehabilitation by Gastrostomy in Israeli Patients with Cystic Fibrosis: Clinical Outcome in Advanced Pulmonary Disease

Objectives: Several studies have shown a linear correlation between nutritional status and pulmonary function in patients with cystic fibrosis. Our study aims were: 1) To evaluate the effect of nutritional supplementation via gastrostomy on nutritional, clinical, and pulmonary parameters, and 2) To identify predicting factors for success of long-term nutritional rehabilitation. Methods: Twenty-one Israeli patients, aged 8 months to 20 years, underwent gastrostomy insertion from 1992 to 2001. All patients were pancreatic insufficient, and all carried severe mutations (W1282X in 62% of the patients). Anthropometric and clinical data were obtained for each patient: 0−12 months before and 6−12 months and 18−24 months after gastrostomy placement. Standard deviation scores (SDS) for height, weight, and body mass index as well as percent of height-appropriate body weight were calculated. Results: The mean percent-of-predicted forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) decreased significantly during the first year of gastrostomy feeding (n = 16), from 44.2% ± 13.9 to 41% ± 13.3 (P = 0.05). However, during the second year of therapy (n = 10), a trend toward improvement was observed (from 39.4 ± 12.1 to 41.4 ± 16.1). Weight, and BMI z-scores as well as weight percent-of ideal body weight increased significantly. Height z-score for age decreased during the first year (from −1.9 ± 1.3 to −2.1 ± 1.4), However, a trend toward improvement was observed during the second year. A significant correlation was found between the change in weight z-score and height z-score during the first (r = 0.488, P = 0.016) and the second (r = 0.825, P < 0.001) years. There was no difference between compliers and noncompliers regarding height, weight, and BMI either before or after gastrostomy placement. A significant correlation between age at insertion of gastrostomy and improvement in height z-score (r = 0.52, P = 0.016) was observed. Cystic fibrosis related diabetes (n = 8) did not affect the response to supplemental feeding. Conclusions: We observed a trend toward improvement of pulmonary disease during the second year, and a significant improvement in weight, height, and BMI z-scores. Compliance, diabetes, and young age prior to tube insertion did not predict success of nutritional rehabilitation.
Intensity Demodulation Based Fiber Sensor for Dynamic Measurement of Acoustic Wave and Lateral Pressure Simultaneously

In this paper, we propose an intensity demodulation based fiber sensor for dual-parameters sensing of acoustic wave and lateral pressure. The sensor consists of a long period fiber grating (LPFG) inserted into a Sagnac interferometer (SI). The LPFG is kept straight and fixed on a polyethylene terephthalate membrane for acoustic detection. A tunable laser source (TLS) is utilized to illuminate the sensor. The acoustic wave will produce a time-varying intensity signal that consists of an alternating current (ac) component and a direct current (dc) component. The ac component contains the acoustic information, while the dc level is determined by the transmittance of the sensor in the static condition (without acoustic signal applied on the sensor). Since the lateral pressure induced wavelength shift of the SI will change the transmittance at the TLS wavelength, the dc level varies with different lateral pressure applied on the sensor. Therefore, the acoustic wave and lateral pressure can be demodulated, respectively, by monitoring the ac component and dc level in the output signal. In the experiment, output time-domain signals with 500 Hz ac components and different dc values are acquired when 500 Hz acoustic wave and different lateral pressure is applied on the sensor.
Glycomic and Proteomic Profiling of Pancreatic Cyst Fluids Identifies Hyperfucosylated Lactosamines on the N-linked Glycans of Overexpressed Glycoproteins*

Pancreatic cancer is now the fourth leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States, and it is associated with an alarmingly low 5-year survival rate of 5%. However, a patient's prognosis is considerably improved when the malignant lesions are identified at an early stage of the disease and removed by surgical resection. Unfortunately, the absence of a practical screening strategy and clinical diagnostic test for identifying premalignant lesions within the pancreas often prevents early detection of pancreatic cancer. To aid in the development of a molecular screening system for early detection of the disease, we have performed glycomic and glycoproteomic profiling experiments on 21 pancreatic cyst fluid samples, including fluids from mucinous cystic neoplasms and intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms, two types of mucinous cysts that are considered high risk to undergo malignant transformation. A total of 80 asparagine-linked (N-linked) glycans, including high mannose and complex structures, were identified. Of special interest was a series of complex N-linked glycans containing two to six fucose residues, located predominantly as substituents on β-lactosamine extensions. Following the observation of these “hyperfucosylated” glycans, bottom-up proteomics experiments utilizing a label-free quantitative approach were applied to the investigation of two sets of tryptically digested proteins derived from the cyst fluids: 1) all soluble proteins in the raw samples and 2) a subproteome of the soluble cyst fluid proteins that were selectively enriched for fucosylation through the use of surface-immobilized Aleuria aurantia lectin. A comparative analysis of these two proteomic data sets identified glycoproteins that were significantly enriched by lectin affinity. Several candidate glycoproteins that appear hyperfucosylated were identified, including triacylglycerol lipase and pancreatic α-amylase, which were 20- and 22-fold more abundant, respectively, following A. aurantia lectin enrichment.
Intravitreal dexamethasone effectively reduces postoperative inflammation after vitreoretinal surgery.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE Corticosteroids remain the mainstay for control of ocular inflammation after vitreous surgery. A controlled, randomized, prospective study was performed to evaluate the effectiveness of a single intravitreal injection of dexamethasone phosphate on postoperative inflammation after simple vitreous surgery in patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy and macular pucker. PATIENTS AND METHODS Aqueous cell flare intensity was measured preoperatively and on days 1, 10, and 90 in 56 consecutive patients who underwent vitreous surgery for proliferative diabetic retinopathy and macular pucker. Subjects were consecutively randomized to two groups: 400 microg of intravitreal dexamethasone (treatment group) or no dexamethasone (control group) RESULTS Before surgery, cell and flare intensity was similar in both groups. Flare intensity was significandy lower at 10, 30, and 90 days in the proliferative diabetic retinopathy treatment group (P < .05). CONCLUSION Intravitreal dexamethasone significantly alleviates postoperative inflammation after vitreous surgery and is a useful adjunct.
Inequality in Wages Among Men: An Examination of the Bachelor Wage Penalty

MANTON, MARION ROSE. Inequality in Wages Among Men: An Examination of the Bachelor Wage Penalty. (Under the direction of Dr. Catherine R. Zimmer). Married men earn more than single men. Statistically significant wage disparities have been documented in each of twelve industrialized countries. These analyses have ignored the impact of cohabitation on wages. Using data from the National Survey of Families and Households, this study extends the research designs of earlier studies by including the cohabiting status of unmarried men. It investigates the adequacy of the needs, wife as a resource, and statistical discrimination theories. The inclusion of the cohabiting variable suggests that marriage is a stronger predictor of income than cohabitation status. The cohabitation variable also casts doubt on both the needs theory and the wife as a resource theory. There is no evidence to suggest that the presence of a partner and family causes an employer to provide a wage premium as suggested by the needs theory. Nor is there evidence to suggest that the presence of a child or workplace participation by a partner results in a wage penalty as suggested by the wife as a resource argument. The most important finding in this work is the interaction effect between experience and marital status for never married men. Since I use cross-sectional data I cannot present a life course interpretation. However, for this group of men, the interaction effect suggests that at the outset, married men do earn more than never married men, but with more years of experience these differences disappear. This finding supports statistical discrimination. INEQUALITY IN WAGES AMONG MEN: AN EXAMINATION OF THE BACHELOR WAGE PENALTY
Impaired sexual activity in male adults with partial androgen insensitivity.

CONTEXT Choosing the sex of rearing of an XY neonate with a major sexual ambiguity and a mutated androgen receptor remains one of the more difficult questions of neonatal endocrinology. A direct consequence of this choice is the accomplishment of sexual function in adulthood. There is very limited knowledge of the sexual performance of patients with partial androgen insensitivity syndrome. OBJECTIVE The objective of this study is to describe physical acts of sexuality in partial androgen insensitivity syndrome patients reared as males. DESIGN We were able to obtain factual information regarding the sexual activity of 15 adult patients who had been reared as males and followed at our institution since birth. We evaluated their sexual performance using two validated questionnaires (Golombok-Rust Inventory of Sexual Satisfaction and International Index of Erectile Dysfunction). RESULTS We documented a major impairment of all parameters of sexual activity. CONCLUSION This long-term insight into the consequences of male sex assignment will have to be balanced by a study of the consequences of female sex assignment.
Alirocumab: PCSK9 inhibitor for LDL cholesterol reduction

The proof of concept that proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) inhibition affects cholesterol levels was first established after the demonstration that PCSK9 loss-of-function mutations result in a significant drop in circulating LDL cholesterol levels. Subsequent studies revealed that PCSK9 binds the epidermal growth factor precursor homology domain-A on the surface LDL Receptor (LDLR) and directs LDLR and PCSK9 for lysosomal degradation. Alirocumab (also known as SAR236553/REGN727) is a monoclonal antibody that binds circulating PCSK9 and blocks its interactions with surface LDLR. Alirocumab clinical trials with different doses on different administration schedules were shown to significantly reduce LDL cholesterol both as a mono-therapy and in combination with statins or ezetimibe. Although there is great potential for anti-PCSK9 therapies in the management of cholesterol metabolism, there is no clear evidence yet that blocking PCSK9 reduces cardiovascular disease outcome. This is being investigated in ongoing Phase III clinical trials with alirocumab.
THE IMPACT OF REGIONAL TRADE AGREEMENTS TO THE COMMODITY TRADE FLOWS (CASE STUDY: INTERNATIONAL PALM OIL TRADE)

Indonesia and Malaysia are the major exporters of palm oil in South East Asia. South East Asia Regional Trade Agreement can affect worldwide trade flow of palm oil. The objective of this study is to examine the effect of the Regional Trade Agreement on the trade flows of Indonesian and Malaysian palm oil. The effect is analyzed with gravity model. The result shows positive dynamic effect of Free Trade Agreement to palm oil trade flow. Regional Trade Agreement has higher impact to Malaysia than Indonesia due to dissimilar government policies.
School Health and Nutrition: Policy and Programs

This paper argues that there is now reliable evidence that ill health and malnutrition affect education access, participation, completion, and achievement, and that school-based health and nutrition programs can provide a cost-effective and low-cost solution. International coordination around this issue has been helped by a consensus framework to “Focus Resources on Effective School Health (FRESH),” developed jointly by UNESCO, WHO, UNICEF, Education International, and the World Bank, and launched at the World Education Forum in Dakar in April 2000 as part of the global effort to achieve the goal of Education for All (EFA). The need for school health and nutrition programs as part of EFA actions is now recognized by both countries and development partners, and examples of successful practical sector programs that have gone to scale are presented for both low- and middle-income countries. This paper argues that, despite this progress, there are two key unresolved issues related to the targeting of nutrition interventions toward school-age children. The first concerns the role of food as an incentive for participation in education, and the second concerns the appropriate target age group for nutrition interventions. It is suggested that finding clear answers to these key policy questions in nutrition could profoundly influence the impact of future school health and nutrition programs.
The Role of Outliers in Growth Curve Models: A Case Study of City-based Fertility Rates in Turkey

Fertility rate, the most important indicator of a population growth in a region or a country is defined as the ratio of actual births to number of women in reproductive age group. The purpose of this study is to create growth curve models (GCM) for fertility rates and then make predictions from these models for various age groups in cities of Turkey. To achieve this, we have used the data published online by Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK). These city-based data consist of number of women with different ages and their healthy births in 2009-2015. However, multiple outliers in the data will negatively impact the estimators and predictions. To overcome these problems outliers should be purified from the data. By using GCM in the analysis of outliers we observed that outlying cities differ from other cities not only in fertility rates but also in socio-economic status. It is also observed that making future predictions with models containing all the cities (some of which are possible outliers) can be misleading in interpreting results.
Behavior of Foundation Piles for Offshore Wind Energy Plants under Axial Cyclic Loading

Offshore wind energy plants promise to become an important source of energy in the near future. It is expected that within 10 years, wind parks with a total capacity of thousands of megawatts will be installed in European seas. The foundation of such offshore wind energy plants plays an important role in the stability of these structures. High demands have to be made concerning foundation design and construction methods to find economical and technically optimal solutions. Two foundation concepts which will be used in this field are the jacket and the tripod. Under the wind and waves action, the piles will be subjected to highly cyclic tension or compressive loading. Regarding design practice and research in the field of the soil-structure- interaction the behavior of these foundations could be covered using numerical modeling. A two- dimensional numerical model using the finite element system ABAQUS will be developed. In this model the material behavior of the subsoil is described using an elasto-plastic constitutive model with Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion. A new approach based on cyclic shear deformation along the pile was implemented in ABAQUS to simulate numerically the behaviour of tension piles under cyclic loading. Preliminary results are presented concerning the capacity of piles under cyclic axial loading.