Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
GnRH Stimulation Test in Precocious Puberty: Single Sample is Adequate for Diagnosis and Dose Adjustment

Objective: Gonadotropin stimulation test is the gold standard to document precocious puberty. However, the test is costly, time-consuming and uncomfortable. The aim of this study was to simplify the intravenous gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) stimulation test in the diagnosis of precocious puberty and in the assessment of pubertal suppression. Methods: Data pertaining to 584 GnRH stimulation tests (314 testsfor diagnosis and 270 for assessment of pubertal suppression) were analyzed. Results: Forty-minute post-injection samples had the greatest frequency of “peaking luteinizing hormone (LH)” (p<0.001) in the diagnostic tests when the cut-off value was taken as 5 IU/L for LH, 40th minute sample was found to have 98% sensitivity and 100% specificity in the diagnosis of precocious puberty, while the sensitivity and specificity of the 20th minute sample was 100% in the assessment of pubertal suppression. Conclusion: LH level at the 40th minute post-injection in the diagnosis of central precocious puberty and at the 20th minute post-injection in the assessment of pubertal suppression is highly sensitive and specific. A single sample at these time points can be used in the diagnosis of early puberty and in the assessment of pubertal suppression. Conflict of interest:None declared.
Urban Scaling and the Production Function for Cities

The factors that account for the differences in the economic productivity of urban areas have remained difficult to measure and identify unambiguously. Here we show that a microscopic derivation of urban scaling relations for economic quantities vs. population, obtained from the consideration of social and infrastructural properties common to all cities, implies an effective model of economic output in the form of a Cobb-Douglas type production function. As a result we derive a new expression for the Total Factor Productivity (TFP) of urban areas, which is the standard measure of economic productivity per unit of aggregate production factors (labor and capital). Using these results we empirically demonstrate that there is a systematic dependence of urban productivity on city population size, resulting from the mismatch between the size dependence of wages and labor, so that in contemporary US cities productivity increases by about 11% with each doubling of their population. Moreover, deviations from the average scale dependence of economic output, capturing the effect of local factors, including history and other local contingencies, also manifest surprising regularities. Although, productivity is maximized by the combination of high wages and low labor input, high productivity cities show invariably high wages and high levels of employment relative to their size expectation. Conversely, low productivity cities show both low wages and employment. These results shed new light on the microscopic processes that underlie urban economic productivity, explain the emergence of effective aggregate urban economic output models in terms of labor and capital inputs and may inform the development of economic theory related to growth.
N-Terminus Three Residues Deletion Mutant of Human Beta-Defensin 3 with Remarkably Enhanced Salt-Resistance

In this study, we designed and synthesized three N-terminal deletion analogs of human beta-defensin 3 (hBD-3), namely, hBD-3Δ4, hBD-3Δ7, and hBD-3Δ10, to determine the effect of N-terminal residues on the antibacterial activity and salt resistance of these peptides. The antibacterial activities and salt resistance of hBD-3 and its analogs were tested against a broad range of standard and clinically isolated strains. The deletion of nine N-terminal residues significantly reduced the antibacterial activity of hBD-3 against most of tested strains, particularly Klebsiella pneumonia. Compared with hBD-3 and other analogs, the analog with a deletion of three residues, hBD-3Δ4, exhibited significantly higher antimicrobial activity against almost all the tested strains, especially Escherichia coli and Enterococcus faecium, at high NaCl concentrations. Given its broad spectrum of antimicrobial activity and high salt resistance, hBD-3Δ4 could serve as a promising template for new therapeutic antimicrobial agents.
Electric vehicle use in public fleets: The case of the Genoa University

Electric mobility is assuming a central role in the new world energy scenario where Renewable Energy Sources (RES) have increased their contribution to the electricity production, mainly due to the fact they are characterized by a reduced environmental impact; in the aforesaid context, Electric Vehicles (EVs) can play a significant role to facilitate the integration of RES into the power grid, also within smart grid infrastructures. Public administration represents one of the sectors that can mostly benefit from the use of the EV technology in its fleets; in many countries, governments have introduced incentive policies to support the spread of the electric mobility and car manufacturers are developing EVs for urban transportation users. In this paper, the attention is focused on a smart microgrid project developed at the University of Genoa and based on the integration of RES, EVs and storage systems. In particular, the attention is here pointed on the use of the EVs to highlight the different habits of recharge adopted at the Genoa University. The paper describes the smart microgrid test-bed facility at the Savona Campus and reports the most significant results relative to an experimental campaign conducted on EVs.
Visual Analytics of Paleoceanographic Conditions

Decade scale oceanic phenomena like El Nino are correlated with weather anomalies all over the globe. Only by understanding the events that produced the climatic conditions in the past will it be possible to forecast abrupt climate changes and prevent disastrous consequences for human beings and their environment. Paleoceanography research is a collaborative effort that requires the analysis of paleo time-series, which are obtained from a number of independent techniques and instruments and produced by a variety of different researchers and/or laboratories. The complexity of these phenomena that consist of massive, dynamic and often conflicting data can only be faced by means of analytical reasoning supported by a highly interactive visual interface. This paper presents an interactive visual analysis environment for paleoceanography that permits to gain insight into the paleodata and allow the control and steering of the analytical methods involved in the reconstruction of the climatic conditions of the past
Die organisationelle Revolution: Lassen sich die postulierten Produktivitätseffekte empirisch belegen?

The polar model of work organization is motivated by stylized facts of the last 10-20 years. A widespread process of reorganization towards innovative work practices and extended worker responsibility has been observed. The polar model derives formal conditions for such a holistic reorganization and provides stringent hypotheses on productivity effects, which are tested empirically in the paper at hand. To conlude, we do not find strong support for the productivity effect hypothesis, although the empirical polar types are concordent with the theoretical characteristics. Hence, we extend the polar model by applying lattice theoretical results. Altogether, a third and intermediate equilibrium type or work organization is derived. This type is dominated by intertemporal flexibility of production and, hence, annualized hours schemes. Technically, minimum sufficient conditions for a complementary system are established. The empirical evidence is much more in favor of the three-layer model. In particular, the hypothesis of increasing marginal productivity effects of work reorganization can be maintained.
Unprovability of circuit upper bounds in Cook's theory PV

We establish unconditionally that for every integer $k \geq 1$ there is a language $L \in \mbox{P}$ such that it is consistent with Cook's theory PV that $L \notin Size(n^k)$. Our argument is non-constructive and does not provide an explicit description of this language.
Tobacco: a product like any other?

Abstract Legislation in most countries regulates trade in poisons and highly addictive products, such as narcotics. The statements that (1) tobacco harms health and (2) causes addiction are established as facts in international and national law. Yet in Russia, and in many other countries, there is a contradiction between the open sale of this addictive poison and basic laws, such as those on product safety. Provisions in both the Russian constitution and the criminal code can be interpreted as making the sale of tobacco illegal, setting out severe penalties for those involved. Yet, remarkably, tobacco is treated quite differently from other products. In this paper, we describe the experience so far in seeking to enforce this legislation in Russia. Attempts to persuade the police to enforce the legislation have been unsuccessful, although they accept that there is a prima facie case for action but, in private, express fear of taking it. The case for action is currently being argued before the Russian Supreme Court but this could take many years to reach a conclusion. In the mean time, new legislation on the regulation of tobacco production has been passed by the State Duma, with the support of the tobacco industry, which implicitly assumes that tobacco is a lawful product, thereby creating legal confusion. We argue that the only way to redress this situation is to recognize that tobacco production and sales must be regulated in the same way as any other harmful and addictive substance.
Universal Exponentiation Algorithm A First Step towards Provable SPA-Resistance

Very few countermeasures are known to protect an exponentiation against simple side-channel analyses. Moreover, all of them are heuristic. This paper presents a universal exponentiation algorithm. By tying the exponent to a corresponding addition chain, our algorithm can virtually execute any exponentiation method. Our aim is to transfer the security of the exponentiation method being implemented to the exponent itself. As a result, we hopefully tend to reconcile the provable security notions of modern cryptography with real-world implementations of exponentiation-based cryptosystems.
A Proposal for Modeling Real Hardware, Weather and Marine Conditions for Underwater Sensor Networks

Network simulators are useful for researching protocol performance, appraising new hardware capabilities and evaluating real application scenarios. However, these tasks can only be achieved when using accurate models and real parameters that enable the extraction of trustworthy results and conclusions. This paper presents an underwater wireless sensor network ecosystem for the ns-3 simulator. This ecosystem is composed of a new energy-harvesting model and a low-cost, low-power underwater wake-up modem model that, alongside existing models, enables the performance of accurate simulations by providing real weather and marine conditions from the location where the real application is to be deployed.
Endothelin signaling activates Mef2c expression in the neural crest through a MEF2C-dependent positive-feedback transcriptional pathway

Endothelin signaling is essential for neural crest development, and dysregulated Endothelin signaling is associated with several neural crest-related disorders, including Waardenburg and other syndromes. However, despite the crucial roles of this pathway in neural crest development and disease, the transcriptional effectors directly activated by Endothelin signaling during neural crest development remain incompletely elucidated. Here, we establish that the MADS box transcription factor MEF2C is an immediate downstream transcriptional target and effector of Endothelin signaling in the neural crest. We show that Endothelin signaling activates Mef2c expression in the neural crest through a conserved enhancer in the Mef2c locus and that CRISPR-mediated deletion of this Mef2c neural crest enhancer from the mouse genome abolishes Endothelin induction of Mef2c expression. Moreover, we demonstrate that Endothelin signaling activates neural crest expression of Mef2c by de-repressing MEF2C activity through a Calmodulin-CamKII-histone deacetylase signaling cascade. Thus, these findings identify a MEF2C-dependent, positive-feedback mechanism for Endothelin induction and establish MEF2C as an immediate transcriptional effector and target of Endothelin signaling in the neural crest. Summary: The MADS box transcription factor MEF2C is identified as an immediate downstream target of endothelin and is part of a positive-feedback mechanism for endothelin induction in the neural crest.
Men and masculinity

* Editorial * Caroline Sweetman * Men, masculinity, and 'gender in development' * Andrea Cornwall * Men, masculinities and the politics of development * Sarah C White * Disintegration conflicts and the restructuring of masculinity * Judith Large * The role of men in families: achieving gender equity and supporting children * Patrice L Engle * Violence, rape, and sexual coercion: everyday love in a South African township * Katharine Wood and Rachel Jewkes * 'Crabs in a bucket': re-forming male identities in Trinidad * Niels Sampath * Gender workshops with men: experiences and reflections * Kamla Bhasin * New masculinity: a different route * Gonzalo Falabella G * Resources: o Further reading o Articles and papers o Magazines, newsletters and journals o NGO's, organisations and groups o Internet resources.
Genome‐wide gene expression profiling of cervical cancer in Hong Kong women by oligonucleotide microarray

An analysis of gene expression profiles obtained from cervical cancers was performed to find those genes most aberrantly expressed. Total RNA was prepared from 29 samples of cervical squamous cell carcinoma and 18 control samples, and hybridized to Affymetrix oligonucleotide microarrays with probe sets complementary to over 20,000 transcripts. Unsupervised hierarchical clustering of the expression data readily distinguished normal cervix from cancer. Supervised analysis of gene expression data identified 98 and 139 genes that exhibited >2‐fold upregulation and >2‐fold downregulation, respectively, in cervical cancer compared to normal cervix. Several of the genes that were differentially regulated included SPP1 (Osteopontin), CDKN2A (p16), RPL39L, Clorf1, MAL, p11, ARS and NICE‐1. These were validated by quantitative RT‐PCR on an independent set of cancer and control specimens. Gene Ontology analysis showed that the list of differentially expressed genes included ones that were involved in multiple biological processes, including cell proliferation, cell cycle and protein catabolism. Immunohistochemical staining of cancer specimens further confirmed differential expression of SPP1 in cervical cancer cells vs. nontumor cells. In addition, 2 genes, CTGF and RGS1 were found to be upregulated in late stage cancer compared to early stage cancer, suggesting that they might be involved in cancer progression. The pathway analysis of expression data showed that the SPP1, VEGF, CDC2 and CKS2 genes were coordinately differentially regulated between cancer and normal. The present study is promising and provides potential new insights into the extent of expression differences underlying the development and progression of cervical squamous cell cancer. This study has also revealed several genes that may be highly attractive candidate molecular markers/targets for cervical cancer diagnosis, prognosis and therapy. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
OFSwitch13: Enhancing ns-3 with OpenFlow 1.3 Support

The world is witnessing the rapid evolution of communication technologies, and meeting current market requirements is virtually impossible with traditional network architectures. Many works point to the use of Software Defined Networking (SDN) paradigm and the OpenFlow protocol as enabling solutions to overcome current limitations. Despite the fact that the Network Simulator 3 (ns-3 ) already has a module that supports OpenFlow simulations, it is possible to note that the available implementation provides a very outdated protocol version (0.8.9). As many new major features were introduced up to the latest versions, it is interesting to have some of them available for use. In this context, this paper presents the OFSwitch13: a module to enhance the ns-3 with OpenFlow 1.3 technology support. This module provides both an OpenFlow 1.3 switch device and a controller application interface. Details about module design and implementation are discussed throughout this paper, and a case study scenario is used to illustrate some of the available OFSwitch13 module features.
Pathogenesis of Afa/Dr Diffusely Adhering Escherichia coli

SUMMARY Over the last few years, dramatic increases in our knowledge about diffusely adhering Escherichia coli (DAEC) pathogenesis have taken place. The typical class of DAEC includes E. coli strains harboring AfaE-I, AfaE-II, AfaE-III, AfaE-V, Dr, Dr-II, F1845, and NFA-I adhesins (Afa/Dr DAEC); these strains (i) have an identical genetic organization and (ii) allow binding to human decay-accelerating factor (DAF) (Afa/DrDAF subclass) or carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) (Afa/DrCEA subclass). The atypical class of DAEC includes two subclasses of strains; the atypical subclass 1 includes E. coli strains that express AfaE-VII, AfaE-VIII, AAF-I, AAF-II, and AAF-III adhesins, which (i) have an identical genetic organization and (ii) do not bind to human DAF, and the atypical subclass 2 includes E. coli strains that harbor Afa/Dr adhesins or others adhesins promoting diffuse adhesion, together with pathogenicity islands such as the LEE pathogenicity island (DA-EPEC). In this review, the focus is on Afa/Dr DAEC strains that have been found to be associated with urinary tract infections and with enteric infection. The review aims to provide a broad overview and update of the virulence aspects of these intriguing pathogens. Epidemiological studies, diagnostic techniques, characteristic molecular features of Afa/Dr operons, and the respective role of Afa/Dr adhesins and invasins in pathogenesis are described. Following the recognition of membrane-bound receptors, including type IV collagen, DAF, CEACAM1, CEA, and CEACAM6, by Afa/Dr adhesins, activation of signal transduction pathways leads to structural and functional injuries at brush border and junctional domains and to proinflammatory responses in polarized intestinal cells. In addition, uropathogenic Afa/Dr DAEC strains, following recognition of β1 integrin as a receptor, enter epithelial cells by a zipper-like, raft- and microtubule-dependent mechanism. Finally, the presence of other, unknown virulence factors and the way that an Afa/Dr DAEC strain emerges from the human intestinal microbiota as a “silent pathogen” are discussed.
Phylogeny of the Genus Flavivirus

ABSTRACT We undertook a comprehensive phylogenetic study to establish the genetic relationship among the viruses of the genusFlavivirus and to compare the classification based on molecular phylogeny with the existing serologic method. By using a combination of quantitative definitions (bootstrap support level and the pairwise nucleotide sequence identity), the viruses could be classified into clusters, clades, and species. Our phylogenetic study revealed for the first time that from the putative ancestor two branches, non-vector and vector-borne virus clusters, evolved and from the latter cluster emerged tick-borne and mosquito-borne virus clusters. Provided that the theory of arthropod association being an acquired trait was correct, pairwise nucleotide sequence identity among these three clusters provided supporting data for a possibility that the non-vector cluster evolved first, followed by the separation of tick-borne and mosquito-borne virus clusters in that order. Clades established in our study correlated significantly with existing antigenic complexes. We also resolved many of the past taxonomic problems by establishing phylogenetic relationships of the antigenically unclassified viruses with the well-established viruses and by identifying synonymous viruses.
TWEAK-Fn14 Cytokine-Receptor Axis: A New Player of Myocardial Remodeling and Cardiac Failure

Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) has been firmly established as a pathogenic factor in heart failure, a significant socio-economic burden. In this review, we will explore the role of other members of the TNF/TNF receptor superfamily (TNFSF/TNFRSF) in cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) focusing on TWEAK and its receptor Fn14, new players in myocardial remodeling and heart failure. The TWEAK/Fn14 pathway controls a variety of cellular activities such as proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis and has diverse biological functions in pathological mechanisms like inflammation and fibrosis that are associated with CVDs. Furthermore, it has recently been shown that the TWEAK/Fn14 axis is a positive regulator of cardiac hypertrophy and that deletion of Fn14 receptor protects from right heart fibrosis and dysfunction. We discuss the potential use of the TWEAK/Fn14 axis as biomarker for CVDs as well as therapeutic target for future treatment of human heart failure based on supporting data from animal models and in vitro studies. Collectively, existing data strongly suggest the TWEAK/Fn14 axis as a potential new therapeutic target for achieving cardiac protection in patients with CVDs.
Molecular mechanisms underlying group A streptococcal pathogenesis

Group A Streptococcus (GAS) is a versatile human pathogen causing diseases ranging from uncomplicated mucosal infections to life‐threatening invasive disease. The development of human‐relevant animal models of GAS infection and introduction of new technologies have markedly accelerated the pace of discoveries related to GAS host–pathogen interactions. For example, recently investigators have identified pili on the GAS cell surface and learned that they are key components for adherence to eukaryotic cell surfaces. Similarly, the recent development of a transgenic mouse expressing human plasminogen has resulted in new understanding of the molecular processes contributing to invasive infection. Improved understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis of GAS pharyngeal, invasive and other infections holds the promise of assisting with the development of novel preventive or therapeutic agents for this prevalent human pathogen.