Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
CO exposure, puff topography, and subjective effects in waterpipe tobacco smokers.

INTRODUCTION Waterpipe tobacco smoking is increasing in popularity though the toxicant exposure and effects associated with this tobacco use method are not well understood. METHODS Sixty-one waterpipe tobacco smokers (56 males; mean age +/- SD, 30.9 +/- 9.5 years; mean number of weekly waterpipe smoking episodes, 7.8 +/- 5.7; mean duration of waterpipe smoking 8.5 +/- 6.1 years) abstained from smoking for at least 24 hr and then smoked tobacco from a waterpipe ad libitum in a laboratory. Before and after smoking, expired-air carbon monoxide (CO) and subjective effects were assessed; puff topography was measured during smoking. RESULTS The mean waterpipe use episode duration was 33.1 +/- 13.1 min. Expired-air CO increased significantly from a mean of 4.0 +/- 1.7 before to 35.5 +/- 32.7 after smoking. On average, participants took 169 +/- 100 puffs, with a mean puff volume of 511 +/- 333 ml. Urge to smoke, restlessness, craving, and other tobacco abstinence symptoms were reduced significantly after smoking, while ratings of dizzy, lightheaded, and other direct effects of nicotine increased. DISCUSSION Expired-air CO and puff topography data indicate that, relative to a single cigarette, a single waterpipe tobacco smoking episode is associated with greater smoke exposure. Abstinent waterpipe tobacco smokers report symptoms similar to those reported by abstinent cigarette smokers, and these symptoms are reduced by subsequent waterpipe tobacco smoking. Taken together, these data are consistent with the notion that waterpipe tobacco smoking is likely associated with the risk of tobacco/nicotine dependence.
New World Simian Foamy Virus Infections In Vivo and In Vitro

ABSTRACT Foamy viruses (FV) are complex retroviruses that naturally infect all nonhuman primates (NHP) studied to date. Zoonotic transmission of Old World NHP simian foamy viruses (SFV) has been documented, leading to nonpathogenic persistent infections. To date, there have been no reports concerning zoonotic transmission of New World monkey (NWM) SFV to humans and resulting infection. In this study, we developed a Western blot assay to detect antibodies to NWM SFV, a nested PCR assay to detect NWM SFV DNA, and a β-galactosidase-containing indicator cell line to assay replication of NWM SFV. Using these tools, we analyzed the plasma and blood of 116 primatologists, of whom 69 had reported exposures to NWM. While 8 of the primatologists tested were seropositive for SFV from a NWM, the spider monkey, none had detectable levels of viral DNA in their blood. We found that SFV isolated from three different species of NWM replicated in some, but not all, human cell lines. From our data, we conclude that while humans exposed to NWM SFV produce antibodies, there is no evidence for long-term viral persistence.
Structural Basis of Slow Activation Gating in the Cardiac IKs Channel Complex

Accessory β-subunits of the KCNE gene family modulate the function of various cation channel α-subunits by the formation of heteromultimers. Among the most dramatic changes of biophysical properties of a voltage-gated channel by KCNEs are the effects of KCNE1 on KCNQ1 channels. KCNQ1 and KCNE1 are believed to form nativeIKs channels. Here, we characterize molecular determinants of KCNE1 interaction with KCNQ1 channels by scanning mutagenesis, double mutant cycle analysis, and molecular dynamics simulations. Our findings suggest that KCNE1 binds to the outer face of the KCNQ1 channel pore domain, modifies interactions between voltage sensor, S4-S5 linker and the pore domain, leading to structural modifications of the selectivity filter and voltage sensor domain. Molecular dynamics simulations suggest a stable interaction of the KCNE1 transmembrane α-helix with the pore domain S5/S6 and part of the voltage sensor domain S4 of KCNQ1 in a putative pre-open channel state. Formation of this state may induce slow activation gating, the pivotal characteristic of native cardiac IKs channels. This new KCNQ1-KCNE1 model may become useful for dynamic modeling of disease-associated mutant IKs channels.
Detecting effective categories of medical incident reports for patient safety management

The analysis of medical incident reports is indispensable for patient safety management. The cycles between analysis of incident reports and proposals to medical staffs are a key point for improving the patient safety management in the hospital. Most of the incident reports include free descriptions, however, the analysis of free descriptions aren't enough in the medical area. We aimed to accumulate, to interpret information again by structured incident information, and to clarify the point that should be improved for the cause of the accident and safe medical treatment improvements in the present study. We employ the natural language processing and the network analysis for detecting effective categories of Medical Incident Report. The network analysis can find various relationships that are not only direct relationships but also indirect relationships. First, some important characteristic words were extracted in three categories of the accident's background, details, and solutions using TF-IDF measure. Next, we show the co-occurrence networks using the extracted words. Then, we detect the new categories based on the network analysis and compare between existing categories based on experts' decisions and bottom-up ones. By the network analysis, some of new perceptions for improving the patient safety management are appeared.
A branch‐and‐cut algorithm for the multi‐vehicle traveling purchaser problem with pairwise incompatibility constraints

We introduce a problem where a fleet of vehicles is available to visit suppliers offering various products at different prices and quantities, with the aim to select a subset of suppliers so to satisfy products demand at the minimum traveling and purchasing costs. Vehicles have a predefined capacity and pairs of products may be incompatible to be carried simultaneously on a same vehicle. We call this problem the multi‐vehicle traveling purchaser problem with pairwise incompatibility constraints. We show how a three‐index one‐commodity flow formulation for the problem is easy to implement with a common MILP solver, but highly nonefficient when solving large size instances. We concentrate on a formulation using connectivity constraints to exclude subtours and introduce a branch‐and‐cut framework using a preprocessing routine and the separation of different valid inequalities. We also propose a four‐step heuristic based on the solution of different subproblems and use it to provide an initial feasible solution. We run computational tests on a large set of instances with up to 50 suppliers, 100 products, and 20% of crossed incompatibility between products. Results show that two different streamlined versions of the proposed exact method largely outperform the plain solution by the commercial solver Cplex 12.3. Also, the heuristic approach is observed to be rather effective and efficient providing a valid solving alternative. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. NETWORKS, Vol. 65(2), 139–154 2015
Developing a Typology of Nursing Home Environments

Abstract Nursing homes are complex environments with large numbers of features that may impact resident quality of life. Multivariate analysis of the effects of individual features is difficult because many features are potentially confounded with one another. We used cluster analysis to identify four types of resident room environments and four types of unit/facility environments. The data were collected using a new environmental assessment instrument in 1,988 resident rooms in 131 units in 40 nursing homes in 5 states. We lay out a series of testable hypotheses about the impact of specific environmental features on resident quality of life as an agenda for future research.
Functional markers and the ‘homogeneity’ of human mesenchymal stem cells

Stem cells are characterized by the abilities to self‐renew, generate large numbers of progeny and differentiate into at least one mature cell type. Bone marrow serves as a reservoir for several classes of adult stem cells. In addition to haematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), which can reconstitute the haematopoietic system of a myeloablated host, bone marrow contains a diverse population of marrow stromal cells ( Herzog et al. 2003 ). Included among these are mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), which ex vivo can be isolated as a relatively homogeneous and undifferentiated cell population that produces multiple mature cell types including fat, bone and cartilage ( Pittenger et al. 1999 ). Under appropriate, but ill‐defined conditions, human MSCs (hMSCs) can also differentiate into other cell types, including excitable cells with neuronal‐, myogenic and cardiomyogenic‐like phenotypes. Because MSCs are multipotent and readily expandable in vitro, these cells have already been employed in early clinical studies, including the treatment of human myocardial infarction. Transplantation of autologous or allogeneic MSCs therefore represents a novel form of cellular therapy, which shows substantial promise for the treatment of a number of human diseases.
Dihydroartemisinin Ameliorates Inflammatory Disease by Its Reciprocal Effects on Th and Regulatory T Cell Function via Modulating the Mammalian Target of Rapamycin Pathway

Dihydroartemisinin (DHA) is an important derivative of the herb medicine Artemisia annua L. , used in ancient China. DHA is currently used worldwide to treat malaria by killing malaria-causing parasites. In addition to this prominent effect, DHA is thought to regulate cellular functions, such as angiogenesis, tumor cell growth, and immunity. Nonetheless, how DHA affects T cell function remains poorly understood. We found that DHA potently suppressed Th cell differentiation in vitro. Unexpectedly, however, DHA greatly promoted regulatory T cell (Treg) generation in a manner dependent on the TGF-βR:Smad signal. In addition, DHA treatment effectively reduced onset of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) and ameliorated ongoing EAE in mice. Administration of DHA significantly decreased Th but increased Tregs in EAE-inflicted mice, without apparent global immune suppression. Moreover, DHA modulated the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway, because mTOR signal was attenuated in T cells upon DHA treatment. Importantly, enhanced Akt activity neutralized DHA-mediated effects on T cells in an mTOR-dependent fashion. This study therefore reveals a novel immune regulatory function of DHA in reciprocally regulating Th and Treg cell generation through the modulating mTOR pathway. It addresses how DHA regulates immune function and suggests a new type of drug for treating diseases in which mTOR activity is to be tempered.
Purification and preliminary characterization of the glycoprotein Ib complex in the human platelet membrane.

Human platelet glycoprotein Ib (GP Ib) is a major integral membrane protein that has been identified as the platelet-binding site mediating the factor VIII/von Willebrand-factor-dependent adhesion of platelets to vascular subendothelium. Recent evidence suggests that GP Ib is normally complexed with another platelet membrane protein, GP IX. In this study, human platelet plasma membranes were selectively solubilized with a buffer containing 0.1% (v/v) Triton X-100. The GP Ib complex (GP Ib plus GP IX) was purified to homogeneity in approximately 30% yield by immunoaffinity chromatography of the membrane extract using the anti-(glycoprotein Ib complex) murine monoclonal antibody, WM 23, coupled to agarose. GP Ib and GP IX were subsequently isolated as purified components by immunoaffinity chromatography of the GP Ib complex using a second anti-(glycoprotein Ib complex) monoclonal antibody, FMC 25, coupled to agarose. As assessed by dodecyl sulphate/polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, purified GP Ib was identical to the molecule on intact platelets and had an apparent relative molecular mass of 170 000 under nonreducing conditions and 135 000 (alpha subunit) and 25 000 (beta subunit) under reducing conditions. GP IX had an apparent Mr of 22 000 under both nonreducing and reducing conditions. Purified Gb Ib complex and GP Ib inhibited the ristocetin-mediated, human factor VIII/von Willebrand-factor-dependent and bovine factor VIII/von Willebrand-factor-dependent agglutination of washed human platelets suggesting the proteins had been isolated in functionally active form. GP Ib alpha had a similar amino acid composition to that previously reported for its proteolytic degradation product, glycocalicin. The amino acid compositions of GP Ib beta and GP IX were similar but showed marked differences in the levels of glutamic acid, alanine, histidine and arginine. The N-termini of GP Ib alpha and GP IX were blocked; GP Ib beta had the N-terminal sequence, Ile-Pro-Ala-Pro-. On crossed immunoelectrophoresis, both GP Ib and GP IX were found to occur in the same immunoprecipitin arc(s) whether the platelets had been solubilized in the absence or presence of the calcium-dependent protease inhibitor, leupeptin. Binding studies in platelet-rich plasma indicated a similar number of binding sites (means +/- SD) for three anti-(glycoprotein Ib complex) monoclonal antibodies: AN 51, epitope on GP Ib alpha (22 000 +/- 2700, n = 3), WM 23, epitope on GP Ib alpha (21 000 +/- 3400, n = 3), FMC 25, epitope on GP IX (20 100 +/- 2700, n = 3), and FMC 25 (Fab')2 (27 100 +/- 800, n = 2). (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Crystalline pyruvate oxidase from Escherichia coli. II. Activation by phospholipids.

Abstract The activity of pyruvate oxidase from Escherichia coli increases 15- to 20-fold in the presence of phospholipids extracted from cell membranes. Fractionation and analysis of the phosphatides from E. coli cell envelope preparations revealed that lysophosphatidylethanolamine exhibited highest specific activity for stimulating the flavoprotein if the phospholipids were added directly to the assay mixtures. However, when water-soluble micellar preparations were substituted for direct addition of the phospholipid to the assay, all the phosphatides demonstrated higher specific activities for stimulating pyruvate oxidase. Furthermore, the differences originally noted in the activating capacities of the various cell envelope phospholipids were minimized. By measuring pyruvate oxidase activity under conditions in which the micellar phospholipid preparation was rate-limiting, Michaelis constants (Km) for various phosphatides were determined. The Km values for the cell envelope phospholipids, synthetic phosphatidylethanolamine, lecithin, and lysolecithin ranged from 0.9 to 2.2 x 10-6 m. The Km value for phosphatidylserine was somewhat higher, being 6.5 x 10-6 m. The diacylphospholipids exhibited normal Michaelis-Menten kinetics. Lysophosphatides demonstrated considerable divergence from normal Michaelis-Menten kinetics. This observation suggests that pyruvate oxidase differentiates between phospholipids according to the number of fatty acids contained within the molecular structure. The hydrophobic moieties of lecithin activate pyruvate oxidase whereas the hydrophilic portions of the molecule have no stimulatory effect. The enzyme can also be activated by fatty acids at concentrations only slightly higher than those required for maximal stimulation by micellar phospholipid preparations. Of the fatty acids tested, palmitoleic and oleic appear to be most efficient in stimulating pyruvate oxidase activity.
Synthesis of Bandstop Filters With Ultra Wide Upper Passbands

A new LP prototype-to-distributed bandstop mapping is defined to synthesize BSF's with controllable upper pass bandwidths. The synthesized filters involve resonators made up of commensurate OC and SC stubs coupled by inverters. It is shown that when inverters are approximated by several unit elements (UE) then their contribution to the response increases appreciably upon optimization. Thus, a novel approach is developed which can be used to synthesize BSF's with contributing UE's having ultra wide upper pass bands. Examples are presented with stopband centered at 1 GHz and having upper passband extending to 18 GHz.
Surgical Treatment and Recurrence of Cutaneous Nasal Malignancies: A 26-Year Retrospective Review of 1795 Patients

AbstractFrequent localization of facial malignancies in the nasal area and their required complete surgical extirpation pose a significant challenge to the plastic surgeon, who is called to perform a suitable delicate reconstruction of produced nasal skin defects. The present study was aimed to examine the role of tumor characteristics in the prognosis of patients with nasal skin cancer undergoing surgical management.A retrospective review of 1795 patients operated on for nasal cutaneous neoplasms during a 26-year period is presented in our study. Descriptive statistics were appropriately calculated; multivariate Cox regression analysis was performed regarding the possible risk factors for recurrence. Only those with a complete follow-up were included in the study. The mean age of our study population was 66.7 years with a male majority (52.4%). Basal cell carcinoma appeared as the most common histological type (87.7%), followed by squamous cell carcinoma (7.9%); the latter correlated with poor prognosis.The nasal sidewalls were the most frequent lesion location (29.8%), followed by the alae (27.8%), dorsum (21.7%), and tip (19.3%). The columella was very rarely affected (0.5%) but was associated with increased recurrence [hazard ratio, 4.74; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.12–20.00; P = 0.034]. Most patients were treated with elliptical excision and direct closure (58.7%). Local flaps (31.0%) and skin grafting (9.0%) proved very reliable surgical options, especially for larger, high-risk lesions. Recurrence transpired in 46 patients (2.6%) and 4 skin cancer–related deaths occurred.Surgical modality of choice should be individualized and carefully adjusted to patients’ needs. Moreover, more elective techniques, such as Mohs micrographic surgery or cumulative therapeutic approaches, like irradiation, should be examined as a beneficial aid to confront high-risk malignancies.
Finnish and UK English pre-teen children's text message language and its relationship with their literacy skills

The aim of the study was to demonstrate the style of text language used by Finnish pre-teen texters (n = 65) and determine how their text language related to their traditional literacy skills, and compare descriptively these results with earlier results from work with young English texters. Three kinds of text messages (natural texts, elicited texts and elicited replies) were recorded after cognitive and literacy skills were assessed. Relationships between text language and standard literacy skills were shown to be different between the two languages, and we propose that those differences arise from both the structures of the languages themselves, and the communities of linguistic practice in the two countries. We compared, with a subsample (n = 16), natural, spontaneous text messages with those elicited in experimental conditions, demonstrating metalinguistic sensitivity in these young texters. The conclusion regarding the Finnish text register is that it very closely approximates spoken register Finnish, rather than more formal written Finnish.
Cloning of a cDNA for a T cell-specific serine protease from a cytotoxic T lymphocyte.

A new serine protease was encoded by a clone isolated from a murine cytotoxic T-lymphocyte complementary DNA library by an RNA-hybridization competition protocol. Complementary transcripts were detected in cytotoxic T lymphocytes, spleen cells from nude mice, a rat natural killer cell leukemia, and in two of eight T-helper clones (both cytotoxic), but not in normal mouse kidney, liver, spleen, or thymus, nor in several tested T- and B-cell tumors. T-cell activation with concanavalin A plus interleukin-2 induced spleen cells to express this gene with kinetics correlating with the acquisition of cytolytic capacity. The nucleotide sequence of this gene encoded an amino acid sequence of approximately 25,700 daltons, with 25 to 35 percent identity to members of the serine protease family. The active site "charge-relay" residues (His57, Asp102, and Ser195 of the chymotrypsin numbering system) are conserved, as well as the trypsin-specific Asp (position 189 in trypsin). A Southern blot analysis indicated that this gene is conserved in humans, mouse, and chicken. This serine protease may have a role in lymphocyte lysis and a "lytic cascade. "
Learning Long-term Dependencies with Deep Memory States

Training an agent to use past memories to adapt to new tasks and environments is important for lifelong learning algorithms. Training such an agent to use its memory efficiently is difficult as the size of its memory grows with each successive interaction. Previous work has not yet addressed this problem, as they either use backpropagation through time (BPTT), which is computationally expensive, or truncated BPTT, which cannot learn long-term dependencies, to train recurrent policies. In this paper, we propose a reinforcement learning method that addresses the limitations of truncated BPTT by using a learned critic to estimate truncated gradients and by saving and loading hidden states outputted by recurrent neural networks. We present results showing that our algorithm can learn long-term dependencies while avoiding the computational constraints of BPTT. These results suggest that our method can potentially be used to train an agent that stores and effectively learns from past memories.
Genetic analysis of spatial foraging patterns and resource sharing in bumble bee pollinators

Conservation biologists, evolutionary ecologists and agricultural biologists require an improved understanding of how pollinators utilize space and share resources. Using microsatellite markers, we conducted a genetic analysis of space use and resource sharing at several spatial scales among workers of two ecologically dissimilar bumble bee species (Bombus terrestris and B. pascuorum) foraging in an urban landscape (London, UK). At fine scales, the relatedness of workers visiting small patches of flowers did not differ significantly from zero. Therefore, colonies shared flower patches randomly with other colonies, suggesting that worker scent‐marks deterring visits to unrewarding flowers have not evolved as signals benefiting nestmates. To investigate space use at intermediate scales, we developed a program based on Thomas & Hill's maximum likelihood sibship reconstruction method to estimate the number of colonies utilizing single sites. The average number of colonies (95% confidence limits) sending workers to forage at sites of ≈ 1 ha in area was 96 colonies (84–118) in B. terrestris and 66 colonies (61–76) in B. pascuorum. These values are surprisingly high and suggested that workers travelled far from their colonies to visit the sites. At the landscape scale, there was little or no genetic differentiation between sites. We conclude that urban habitats support large bumble bee populations and are potentially valuable in terms of bumble bee conservation. In addition, bumble bee‐mediated gene flow in plants is likely to occur over large distances and plant–bumble bee conservation requires landscape‐scale action.