Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Pseudomonas aeruginosa alginate in cystic fibrosis sputum and the inflammatory response

Alginate, a viscous polysaccharide from mucoid Pseudomonas aeruginosa, may interfere with the host defenses in patients with cystic fibrosis and chronic P. aeruginosa lung infection. The alginate concentration in the sol phase of expectorated sputum was quantitated by a biochemical method and a newly developed enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. There was a high degree of correlation between the methods, and the concentration of alginate ranged from 4 to 101 micrograms/ml with a median of 35.5 micrograms/ml when measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Alginate could not be detected in the bronchial secretions from patients without P. aeruginosa infection. In vitro investigation of alginate did not show any activation of the alternative pathway of complement, as determined by a hemolytic kinetic assay and by testing for neutrophil chemotaxis. At a high concentration, P. aeruginosa alginate caused a slight activation of the classical pathway of complement. Alginate did not cause neutrophil chemotaxis by itself but was able to reduce the neutrophil chemotactic response to N-formylmethionylleucylphenylalanine and for zymosan-activated serum. P. aeruginosa and seaweed alginates were able to prime neutrophils for increased N-formylmethionylleucylphenylalanine-induced neutrophil oxidative burst, as determined by chemiluminescence. Because of its ability to prevent attraction of neutrophils to the site of infection, lack of complement activation, and ability to enhance neutrophil oxidative burst, alginate from P. aeruginosa may contribute to the persistence and pathogenesis of chronic P. aeruginosa infection in cystic fibrosis.
Epstein-Barr virus nuclear antigen 2 induces expression of the virus-encoded latent membrane protein

Infection of Epstein-Barr virus-negative human B-lymphoma cell lines with the fully transforming B95.8 Epstein-Barr virus strain was associated with complete virus latent gene expression and a change in the cell surface and growth phenotype toward that of in vitro-transformed lymphoblastoid cell lines. In contrast, the cells infected with the P3HR1 Epstein-Barr virus strain, a deletion mutant that cannot encode Epstein-Barr nuclear antigen 2 (EBNA2) or a full-length EBNA-LP, expressed EBNAs1, 3a, 3b, and 3c but were negative for the latent membrane protein (LMP) and showed no change in cellular phenotype. This suggests that EBNA2 and/or EBNA-LP may be required for subsequent expression of LMP in Epstein-Barr virus-infected B cells. Recombinant vectors capable of expressing the B95.8 EBNA2A protein were introduced by electroporation into two P3HR1-converted B-lymphoma cell lines, BL30/P3 and BL41/P3. In both cases, stable expression of EBNA2A was accompanied by activation of LMP expression from the resident P3HR1 genome; control transfectants that did not express the EBNA2A protein never showed induction of LMP. In further experiments, a recombinant vector capable of expressing the full-length B95.8 EBNA-LP was introduced into the same target lines. Strong EBNA-LP expression was consistently observed in the transfected clones but was never accompanied by induction of LMP. The EBNA2A gene transfectants expressing EBNA2A and LMP showed a dramatic change in cell surface and growth phenotype toward a pattern like that of lymphoblastoid cell lines; some but not all of these changes could be reproduced in the absence of EBNA2A by transfection of P3HR1-converted cell lines with a recombinant vector expressing LMP. These studies suggest that EBNA2 plays an important dual role in the process of B-cell activation to the lymphoblastoid phenotype; the protein can have a direct effect upon cellular gene expression and is also involved in activating the expression of a second virus-encoded effector protein, LMP.
THERAPEUTIC STRATEGIES FOR THE INHIBITION OF INDUCIBLE NITRIC OXIDE SYNTHASE—POTENTIAL FOR A NOVEL CLASS OF ANTI‐INFLAMMATORY AGENTS

In recent years, NO, a gas previously considered a potentially toxic chemical, has become established as a diffusible universal messenger mediating cell—cell communication throughout the body. In mammals, NO is a recognized mediator of blood vessel relaxation that helps to maintain blood pressure. In the central nervous system NO acts as a non‐conventional neurotransmitter and participates in the establishment of long‐term plasticity required for memory formation. In addition, NO is responsible for some parts of the host response to sepsis and inflammation and contributes to certain disease states. A number of strategies have emerged with regard to a pharmacological control of pathological NO overproductions. This review will discuss these novel therapeutic approaches that may provide new means for clinical medicine.
Option pricing for jump in volatility and stochastic intensity

An alternative option pricing model is proposed, in which the asset prices follow the jump-diffusion model with stochastic volatility and stochastic intensity. The stochastic volatility follows the jump-diffusion. We find a formulation for the European-style option in terms of characteristic functions. The closed-form formulae of pricing for option are derived.
Variations in muscle tone of the human rectum: recordings with an electromechanical barostat.

Rectal wall tone (the contractile state of the rectal tunica muscularis) should mediate accommodation and influence rectal emptying. Such changes in tone however can be only inferred from changes in baseline pressure recorded with conventional manometry. We used an isobaric volumetric device, the rectal electromechanical barostat, to quantify variations in tone of the rectal wall in response to feeding and to perturbations in response to the pharmacological agents neostigmine and glucagon. The barostat quantitates muscular wall tone indirectly by measuring its reciprocal, e.g., the volume of air within a flaccid intraluminal bag that is maintained at a constant and preselected pressure, by an electronic feedback mechanism. The barostat as well as a three-channel perfused manometric catheter were positioned in the rectum of 14 healthy volunteers. Three patterns of changes were observed: 1) respiratory fluctuations, 2) rapid volume waves, and 3) slow volume changes. Rectal tone varied little during fasting; rapid or slow changes in intrabag volume were infrequent. Ingestion of a standard meal was followed by a significant decrease in barostat bag volume (85 +/- 6 ml fasting vs. 50 +/- 8 ml fed, P less than 0.05). Pharmacological agents also induced predictable responses; neostigmine decreased bag volume and induced phasic pressure activity, whereas glucagon abolished phasic pressure activity and increased barostat bag volume. Perfused manometric catheters showed no concomitant changes in baseline pressure. We concluded that a rectal barostat measured variations in human rectal tone, which were not recorded by conventional manometric techniques. These changes in rectal tone might have important functional significance.
Refeeding syndrome: what it is, and how to prevent and treat it

Refeeding syndrome is a well described but often forgotten condition. No randomised controlled trials of treatment have been published, although there are guidelines that use best available evidence for managing the condition. In 2006 a guideline was published by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) in England and Wales. Yet because clinicians are often not aware of the problem, refeeding syndrome still occurs.1 This review aims to raise awareness of refeeding syndrome and discuss prevention and treatment. The available literature mostly comprises weaker (level 3 and 4) evidence, including cohort studies, case series, and consensus expert opinion.2 Our article also draws attention to the NICE guidelines on nutritional support in adults, with particular reference to the new recommendations for best practice in refeeding syndrome.3 These recommendations differ in parts from—and we believe improve on—previous guidelines, such as those of the Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition Group of the British Dietetic Association (box 1). 4 #### Box 1 Why use the NICE guidelines on refeeding syndrome? Refeeding syndrome can be defined as the potentially fatal shifts in fluids and electrolytes that may occur in malnourished patients receiving artificial refeeding (whether enterally or parenterally5). These shifts result …
Technical Choice, Innovation and Economic Growth: Essays on American and British Experience in the Nineteenth Century . By Paul A. David. London, Cambridge University Press, 1975. Pp. x + 334. $21.00 cloth, $5.95 paper.

and Charles Kindleberger, make it clear that the approaches that Barzun rather vaguely calls quantitative can indeed provide suggestive evidence, help scrutinize theses, inform judgment. Though not all work in psychohistory or quanto-history is terribly impressive, one might observe that the guild should be large enough these days to abide a few dissidents and sophisticated enough to profit from the wrangling over method that does follow the appearance of flawed works. Clio, the virgin muse whom Barzun so vigilantly protects from the clutches of broad-shouldered disciplines, may not be as much in danger of rape as of frigidity. Still, another look is in order here. No one standard of historical literature is necessary or desirable, it may be true; perhaps no one can really act as arbiter in any case. All the same, we should pay serious heed to Barzun's definition of history if only because it does allow plenty of room for innovative work and may very well encourage the interdisciplinary writing that will prove of widest lasting importance. Rather than abandon a view of history demanding logical soundness and literary grace, historians interested in new problems and approaches might reconsider their own self-view and scholarly canons. What Barzun is saying is that, if we see ourselves as historians first and accept the premise that history is meant to be eclectic, we can have valuable history and be imaginative in our searching for evidence, posing of questions, and structuring of answers as well. As we mull over the implications of Barzun's ideas, certain fundamental questions seem to become less troublesome: is the proper business of history the study of persons, groups, systems, or forces; should history aim at explanation or understanding? What in theoiy are the obligations of the historian who borrows from other modes of inquiry? No doubt we will continue to disagree fruitfully on these matters. Nonetheless, we ought to agree that any history we write can tell a story, deal with it in time, talk about large intellectual problems in terms of a particular subject, and do it with vividness and discrimination. Though Barzun is a bit stuffy in places, he asks us to be conservative in the best sense. He is at war with "history" that is ahistorical, with scientific pretension, arcane theorizing, sloppy thinking, bad grammar, and clumsy style. We all should roll bandages for him.
Histologic comparison of a thermal dual-etched implant surface to machined, TPS, and HA surfaces: bone contact in vivo in rabbits.

PURPOSE To evaluate the bone contact percentage around a proprietary high-temperature dual-etched (DE) implant surface (Osseotite) versus implants with machined, hydroxyapatite (HA), and titanium plasma-sprayed (TPS) surfaces. MATERIALS AND METHODS Each implant type was placed in rabbit tibiae of the same animal and assessed at 1 to 8 weeks. Histologic sections were prepared and analyzed histomorphometrically. RESULTS The DE implant surface achieved higher levels of bone contact percentage than the other surfaces. This enhanced contact level was apparent by 3 weeks and seen at all time intervals except 2 weeks, at which machined exceeded the DE mean. In evaluating which surface outscored the others in each individual rabbit, there was a statistically significant confidence for the DE surface (P < .001). The other 3 surfaces failed to show significance, although the numeric scores for the TPS surfaces were below random expectations and the machined scores were slightly above. There was no correlation between degree of roughness and bone contact percentage. DISCUSSION Arbitrarily roughening the implant surface may not result in a large change in bone conductivity. The specific texture of the DE process yielded more contact, possibly as the result of better fibrin clot retention and growth factor enhancement. CONCLUSIONS There was no advantage demonstrated in this model to an HA surface over titanium. The bone contact to the rough HA surface scored similarly to that for the TPS surface of similar roughness, and well below that for the DE titanium surface. The DE surface appeared to have an advantage in bone contact percentage, particularly in early healing in a rabbit tibia model.
P53‐specific T cell responses in patients with malignant and benign ovarian tumors: Implications for p53 based immunotherapy

Despite intensive treatment, 70% of the ovarian cancer patients will develop recurrent disease, emphasizing the need for new approaches such as immunotherapy. A promising antigenic target for immunotherapy in ovarian cancer is the frequently overexpressed p53 protein. The aim of the study was to evaluate the nature and magnitude of the baseline anti‐p53 immune response in ovarian cancer patients. P53‐specific T cell responses were detected in both half of the ovarian cancer patients as in the group of control subjects, consisting of women with benign ovarian tumors and healthy controls. Importantly, while in the control group p53‐specific immunity was detected among the CD45RA+ naïve subset of T cells only, the p53‐specific T‐cell responses in ovarian cancer patients were also present in the CD45RO+ memory T‐cell subset, suggesting that in the cancer patients sufficient amounts of cancer‐derived p53 was presented to induce the formation of a p53‐specific memory T‐cell response. Further characterization of the p53‐specific memory T‐cell responses revealed that in addition to the type 1 cytokine IFN‐γ also the type 2 cytokines IL‐4 and IL‐5, as well as the immunosuppressive cytokine IL‐10 were produced. Notably, p53‐specific T cells were not only detected in the peripheral blood, but also among tumor infiltrating lymphocytes and in tumor‐draining lymph nodes. In conclusion, the existence of a weak mixed T‐helper type 1 and 2 p53‐specific T‐cell repertoire supports the rationale of using p53 long peptides in vaccination strategies aiming at the induction of p53‐specific Th1/CTL immunity. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Identification with monoclonal antibodies of glycoproteins of Marek's disease virus and herpesvirus of turkeys related to virus neutralization

By use of monoclonal antibodies cross-reactive with Marek's disease virus and herpesvirus of turkeys, three glycoproteins (for Marek's disease virus, gp115/110, gp63, and gp50; for herpesvirus of turkeys, gp115, gp62 and gp52) related to virus neutralization were identified. Immunization of chickens or rabbits with these glycoproteins purified by affinity chromatography resulted in production of neutralizing antibodies.
MANAGING THE CONSULTANTSHIP PROCESS

The topic of "managing the consultantship process" has to grapple with two major issues. First is separating the act of selecting the consultant from the process of managing the consultant experience. This is simple only in theory. The problem is that selection of a consultant often determines how the management process will work, or if it is, in fact, possible. The second issue is a bit different-how does one find advice or information on the topic of "management" in view of the almost romanticized view of the process? Consultants are "Business Healers"' or "Efficiency Experts"2 particularly in the private sector literature (which is most of what is available). Consultants solve all corporate (and now public) ills. Their "buttoned-down", Ivy League, efficiency mystique quells, in many cases, inquiry into their effects and, most particularly, into their means of operation. There is, of course, increasing question about their use which often becomes outright criticism. This disenchantment, however, has seldom resulted in specific discussions of "managing" the consultantship experience. This is most unfortunate for public managers who face performance audits as well as public criticism if a contract goes "sour. "
Design of a Synchronous Rectifier Controller for Limiting Reverse Current

In this paper, a novel reverse current limiting circuit and the relative mechanism are both designed for the controlling loops of a peak-current-mode synchronous buck converter. The formulation and simulation results show that reverse current threshold is adjustable by changing the emitter junction's area ratio. When applying it to a typical condition of distributed power system (DPS), the efficiency under light load and middle load is 2%~4% up and the transient response from heavy load to light load is improved than that without reverse current limiting circuit.
Factors affecting hope in a sample of fatigued breast cancer outpatients

Abstract Objective: The aims of this study of women with breast cancer were: to describe the levels of hope and compare hope scores for these patients with a sample from the general Norwegian population; to describe the relationship between hope and fatigue; and finally to evaluate the effect of demographic and clinical characteristics and fatigue on hope. Method: A total of 160 Norwegian outpatients with cancer and fatigue (>2.5 on a 0–10 scale) completed the Herth Hope Index (HHI), Fatigue Questionnaire (FQ), and Self-administered Comorbidity Questionnaire (SCQ). Results: The mean age of the women was 55.3 years (SD = 9.4), 81% lived with someone, and 67% were employed. The most common comorbidities were back pain (42%), osteoarthritis (26%), and headache (19%). The fatigued breast cancer patients reported significantly higher total hope scores than the general Norwegian population (p < .0001). The difference was largest in the individual item “I can see a light in the tunnel,” to which the cancer sample reported the highest scores, but they also felt more “scared about the future. ” Total hope score was negatively correlated with total fatigue (TF), mental fatigue (MF), and chronic fatigue (CF), but not with physical fatigue (PF). Demographic and clinical characteristics were not significantly related to hope, except that patients who were married or living with someone showed significantly higher total hope scores. Significance of results: The higher levels of hope in breast cancer patients compared with the general Norwegian population may reflect a response shift in patients after getting a cancer diagnosis. The fact that a significant relationship was found between total hope scores and living arrangements may indicate that hope is easier to establish when patients have someone to relate to or receive support from. Hope and total fatigue were significantly, but weakly correlated.
An Experimental Test of the Interaction of the Insurance and Information-Signaling Hypotheses in Auditing*

Three incentives for hiring auditing services have been proposed in the literature: (1) to signal outsiders about the company's prospects, (2) to provide a potential source of loss recovery for investors (insurance), and (3) to reduce agency costs. The objective of this study is to examine the potential for the first two (signaling and insurance) to interact while controlling for agency costs. We conduct an experiment in which highly experienced financial analysts provide stock price estimates for a company that is under financial stress. We manipulate, between participants, the signal provided by the audit opinion (goingâ€ concern modification, yes/no) and the ability of investors to recover losses from auditors. The key finding is that the effect of the goingâ€ concern opinion on investor value judgements is moderated by the extent to which the auditor provides an insurance function. Specifically, the negative effect of a goingâ€ concern opinion on the analysts' stock price estimates is reduced by the extent that the environment treats the auditor as an insurer.
Leadership in global business environment through a vision creation process

Purpose – Few works have dealt with the impact of a corporation's country of origin on the perception of the qualities and behaviour expected of its leaders. This paper seeks to focus on these aspects with special attention to the specific nature of the Japanese leadership style. The choice of Japan was conditioned neither by the author's admiration for this country, nor by his admiration for their unusual determination to attain perfection, but mainly by the position that Japanese corporations occupy in the global economy. The main objective of the work is to analyze the nature of the vision creation process.Design/methodology/approach – The research project incorporated surveys of and interviews with 2,000 of the world's largest corporations (the Forbes Global 2000 database (2006 version)). Findings – Japanese corporations' leaders more frequently opt for giving their subordinates a free hand in shaping their own visions than leaders of the other researched corporations. However, in nearly all the cases .
Worker participation and firm performance : evidence from Germany and Britain

The Freeman–Lazear works council/worker involvement model is assessed over two distinct industrial relations regimes. In non‐union British establishments our measures of employee involvement are associated with improved economic performance, whereas for unionized plants negative results are detected. The suggestion is that local distributive bargaining can cause the wrong level of worker involvement to be chosen. Also consistent with the model is our finding that mandatory works councils do not impair, and may even improve, the performance of larger German establishments. Yet smaller plants with works councils under‐perform, illustrating the problem of tailoring mandates to fit heterogeneous populations.