Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Immune complex binding to erythrocyte‐CR1 (CD 35), CR1 expression and levels of erythrocyte‐fixed C3 fragments in SLE outpatients

Erythrocytes (E) from a cross‐sectional group of 22 outpatients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and/or mixed connective tissue disease (MCTD), the majority without active disease (n = 14), were analyzed for CR1 antigen expression and capacity to bind complement opsonized, radiolabeled immune complexes (IC). Furthermore, E‐bound C3 fragments and the plasma C3d concentration were determined. E‐bound C3b/iC3b fragments were not elevated in patients with SLE, whereas E from 11 out of 22 SLE patients had increased C3d levels which correlated with the plasma C3d concentration (Rs 0.73, p < 0.001). E‐fixed C3d fragments did not affect the binding of Mab or preopsonized IC to E‐CR1 and were not correlated with disease activity or medical treatment. Antigen expression of E‐CR1 measured by ELISA or agglutination showed positive correlation with the IC binding capacity of E‐CR1 (Rs 0.92 and 0.72 respectively, p < 001). The IC binding capacity of E‐CR1 from SLE patients was significantly reduced (p > 0.005), whereas the antigen expression of CR1 (ELISA) on E from the patients did not differ from that of E from healthy donors (p > 0.1). E‐CR1 antigen was measured by Mab reacting with an epitope outside the IC‐binding site of E‐CR1. E‐CR1 antigen expression or IC binding showed no correlation either with disease activity or prednisolone treatment. However, 4 og 5 patients with MCTD and 4 of 5 patients receiving Imurel® were found to have low E‐CR1 expression and capacity to bind IC. Thus, measurement of antigenic E‐CR1 in a cross‐sectional group of SLE outpatients by use of Mab reacting with an epitope outside the ligand‐binding region of CR1 did not reveal a significantly reduced CR1 expression. However, an assay for CR 1 ‐mediated IC binding showed a clearly reduced E‐CR1 function.
Jonathan Bradshaw, John Ditch, Hilary Holmes and Peter Whiteford, Support for Children: A Comparison of Arrangements in Fifteen Countries , HMSO/DSS, London, 1993, 137 pp., paper £22.95.

but as husbands protecting their own interests in the home as well as the workplace. As Marilyn Lake says of the Australian debates around motherhood endowment 'in these exchanges women spoke of the "mother" and the "women citizen"; men replied by referring to "the wife'" (p. 390). Perhaps the editors do not see this, not only because they ignore much of the feminist literature, but also because in the US, as far as social policy is recognised as a distinct academic discipline it is equated with public policy. Such are the pitfalls of comparative work.
Congenital and Compensated Vestibular Dysfunction in Childhood: An Overlooked Entity

We report five children with previously unrecognized vestibular dysfunction detected by clinical examination and confirmed by quantitative vestibular testing. Patient 1 presented with fluctuating visual acuity and intermittent nystagmus. Patient 2 had congenital hearing loss associated with imbalance, delayed motor development, and cyclic vomiting. Patient 3 had neurotrophic keratitis with an intermittent head tilt, imbalance, and motor delays. Patient 4 showed ataxia and eye movement abnormalities following traumatic brain injury and had reading difficulties. Patient 5 had episodic vertigo and eye movement abnormalities from infancy. Clinical vestibular testing emphasized spontaneous nystagmus, rapid head thrust, and assessment of post—rotatory nystagmus. Quantitative vestibular testing included the sinusoidal chair rotation and velocity step tests, measurement of dynamic visual acuity, post—head-shake nystagmus, and computerized platform posturography. Pediatric neurologists encounter children with congenital and compensated vestibular dysfunction, which can be recognized on the basis of relevant history and clinical abnormalities of the ocular-ocular reflex. (J Child Neurol 2006;21:572—579; DOI 10.2310/7010.2006.00151).
Developmental and Evaluative Contextual Usage of Peer Assessment of Research Presentations in a Graduate Tax Accounting Course

Prior research has found mixed results on the utility of peer assessment as either a proxy for instructor grading or a means of providing ungraded feedback to peers. This study examined the correlation between peer and instructor-assessed research presentations in a graduate federal income taxation class over several semesters. Using identical criteria articulated in a grading rubric, both peer and instructor assessments were used to determine grades on the research presentations and to provide feedback to the presenters. The study found that, although student-assigned grades were significantly higher than instructor-assigned grades both overall and across criteria, the student and instructor-assigned grades tended to move in the same direction across students and criteria. These results suggest that peer assessment may not be suitable as a proxy for instructor grading but may be useful in providing ungraded feedback.
DDSA: A Sampling and Validation Based Spectrum Access Algorithm in Wireless Networks

Spectrum access scheme is a fundamental component in building efficient wireless networks. Conventional methods such as proactive channel assignment is costly due to large amount of protocol overhead. Also, those algorithms suffer from its inability in dealing with channel dynamics. The opportunistic methods however, spend more time on probing, and suffer from the myopic decisions as well. We present a decision based dynamic spectrum access algorithm (DDSA), which is built upon the Markov decision process (MDP), and could adaptively handle the DSA process for higher throughput. We employ quiet probing and dynamic controlling mechanisms in DDSA, so as to achieve a reduced protocol overhead and improved adaptivity. Different from previous methods, the DDSA is a model driven method, and we use the modeling technique on the IEEE 802.11 DCF for virtual channel state probing. The modeling technique could help us improve the accuracy on channel state, and reduce protocol overhead. Using a heuristic and adaptive algorithm named `hindsight optimization', we solve the hardness in computing the MDP. Moreover, under the feasibility testing and scaling processes, the validated decision can be confidentially applied for a congestion-free DSA.
Recombinant Production of Human Interleukin 6 in Escherichia coli

In this study, we compared basic expression approaches for the efficient expression of bioactive recombinant human interleukin-6 (IL6), as an example for a difficult-to-express protein. We tested these approaches in a laboratory scale in order to pioneer the commercial production of this protein in Escherichia coli (E. coli). Among the various strategies, which were tested under Research and Development (R&D) conditions, aggregation-prone IL6 was solubilized most effectively by co-expressing cytoplasmic chaperones. Expression of a Glutathion-S-Transferase (GST) fusion protein was not efficient to increase IL6 solubility. Alteration of the cultivation temperature significantly increased the solubility in both cases, whereas reduced concentrations of IPTG to induce expression of the T7lac-promotor only had a positive effect on chaperone-assisted expression. The biological activity was comparable to that of commercial IL6. Targeting the expressed protein to an oxidizing environment was not effective in the generation of soluble IL6. Taken together, the presence of chaperones and a lowered cultivation temperature seem effective to isolate large quantities of soluble IL6. This approach led to in vivo soluble, functional protein fractions and reduces purification and refolding requirements caused by downstream purification procedures. The final yield of soluble recombinant protein averaged approximately 2.6 mg IL6/liter of cell culture. These findings might be beneficial for the development of the large-scale production of IL6 under the conditions of current good manufacturing practice (cGMP).
Effectiveness of Frequency-Matched Masking and Residual Inhibition in Tinnitus Therapy

Abstract The present study investigates residual inhibition, which is the reduction or elimination of tinnitus perception, by employing a commercially available software package designed to precisely match various sounds to a person's tinnitus. In addition, distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs) were recorded to determine outer hair cell function at the frequency at which a person's tinnitus is matched. Results showed that (1) residual inhibition occurred more often for frequency-matched stimuli than nonfrequency-matched stimuli, (2) the mean duration of residual inhibition was not significantly higher for frequency-matched stimuli compared to nonfrequency-matched stimuli, (3) residual inhibition duration was the greatest with the longest listening duration for both frequency-matched and nonfrequency-matched stimuli, and (4) there was no evidence of absent DPAOEs in the matched-frequency region of tinnitus. An interview of the participants approximately 3 to 5 weeks after completing the study revealed that none of them actually used the residual inhibition technique employed in the present study consistently at home to gain relief from their tinnitus. Results suggest that residual inhibition provides a very temporary relief of tinnitus for some patients.
Preliminary Mapping of a Putative Inhibitor-Binding Pocket for Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Integrase Inhibitors

ABSTRACT Molecular modeling studies have identified a putative human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) integrase (IN) inhibitor-binding pocket for l-chicoric acid (l-CA) and other inhibitors of IN (C. A. Sotriffer, H. Ni, and A. McCammon, J. Med. Chem. 43:4109-4117, 2000). By using site-directed mutagenesis of several amino acid residues identified by modeling studies, a common inhibitor-binding pocket on IN was confirmed for l-CA and the diketo acid L-731,988. Specifically, the single mutations E92K, Q148A, K156A, K156R, G140S, and G149S, as well as the double mutations C65S-K156N and H67D-G140A were evaluated for their effects on enzymatic activity and inhibitor susceptibility. Each recombinant IN was attenuated for 3′-end processing and strand transfer activities. Most proteins were also attenuated for disintegration; the IN that contained K156R and C65S-K156N, however, displayed disintegration activity similar to that of IN from HIVNL4-3. All mutant IN proteins demonstrated decreased susceptibility to l-CA, while all mutant proteins except E92K and K156R demonstrated resistance to L-731,988. These data validate the computer modeling data and demonstrate that l-CA and L-731,988 share an overlapping inhibitor-binding pocket that involves amino acids Q148, C65, and H67. The resistance studies confirm that L-731,988 fills one-half of the inhibitor-binding pocket and binds to Q148 but excludes E92, while l-CA fills the entire binding groove and thus interacts with E92. These results provide “wet laboratory” evidence that molecular models of the HIV IN inhibitor-binding pocket can be used for drug discovery.
An assessment of the apex microarray technology in genotyping patients with Leber congenital amaurosis and early-onset severe retinal dystrophy.

PURPOSE Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA) and early-onset severe retinal dystrophy (EOSRD) are genetically heterogeneous, with 11 genes currently implicated. The LCA chip may be used to interrogate many variants in one hybridization reaction. The purpose of this study was to assess the utility of this technology. METHODS One hundred fifty-three patients with LCA and EOSRD were screened using an array (Asper Ophthalmics, Tartu, Estonia) containing 344 published disease-causing variants and polymorphisms in eight genes: AIPL1, GUCY2D, CRB1, CRX, RPGRIP1, RPE65, MERTK, and LRAT. One hundred thirty-six probands underwent bidirectional sequencing of the full coding region of the RPE65 gene. The same technique was also used to confirm CRB1 and AIPL1 mutations initially identified with the Apex chip (Asper Ophthalmics). Single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) analysis within control populations was performed for two variants, P701S and W21R, on the chip for GUCY2D. RESULTS Of the possible 109,392 interrogations, 3,346 (3.06%) failed on one strand whereas 259 (0.47%) failed on both. The chip reported mutations in 68 (44%) patients; 26 patients had two alleles identified (17%). Direct sequencing of RPE65 showed no discrepancies, whereas sequencing of AIPL1 and CRB1 revealed seven samples called erroneously. The SNP analysis of both GUCY2D variants revealed equal prevalence in the EOSRD panel and the normal population. Subsequent reanalysis, after excluding these polymorphisms, revealed one (18.3%) or two (11.7%) mutations identified in 46 patients. When evaluated by diagnosis, 46% of patients with LCA had one or two mutations identified, compared with 24% of patients with EOSRD. CONCLUSIONS This approach is a rapid and reasonably low-cost technique for identifying both previously identified mutations and common polymorphisms. The addition of further genes and mutations to the chip will improve its utility, though it is advised that all results be checked by direct sequencing.
Public Access Computing in South Africa: Old Lessons and New Challenges

The public access computing (PAC) ecosystem in South Africa includes public libraries, telecenters, and cybercafés. These PAC venues offer marginalized and underserved populations opportunities to use computers and the Internet to meet their information needs. Based primarily on interviews with telecenters and cybercafé staff, and on focus group workshops with telecenter and cybercafé users, we assess the relative strengths and weaknesses of telecenters and cybercafés and their contribution to community development. Government‐sponsored telecenters continue to exhibit the same problems reported a decade ago, and libraries are slow in offering technological services. However, cybercafés set up through entrepreneurial initiatives fulfill an increasingly important niche and introduce a strategic business model for entrepreneurs in disadvantaged communities. Learning from the experience of cybercafés can be an effective way to overcome the shortcomings of telecenter experiences of the last decade in South Africa. New business models in the PAC ecosystem, such as the entrepreneur model, need to be rooted within a developmental agenda in order to ensure that ICT facilitate meaningful outcomes amongst needy communities and that a local context for the social appropriation and effective use of ICTs prevails.
Linking affective commitment to supervisor to work outcomes

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between affective commitment to the supervisor and three work outcomes: innovative work behaviour and two types of learning behaviours, namely, feedback seeking for self‐improvement and error reporting. Additionally, it seeks to examine the mediating role of work engagement in these relationships.Design/methodology/approach – In total, 192 research scientists from six science research centres in Ireland completed self‐reported questionnaires. Structural equation modelling was used to test the research hypotheses.Findings – Results indicated that as hypothesised, work engagement fully mediated the link between affective commitment to the supervisor and the three employee outcomes included in this study.Research limitations/implications – The cross sectional design of this study does not permit causal inferences. Additionally, all data were self‐reported and therefore common method variance may be an issue. Despite these limitations, the res.
The Mental Health Needs of Low-Income Pregnant Teens

While the rates of teen childbearing have declined in the United States, adolescents who become pregnant and decide to bear and rear their babies are often from low-income, highly stressed families and communities. This article will describe the psychosocial problems of pregnant urban teens and how exposure to interpersonal trauma and current mental health problems may affect their prenatal health behavior, a vulnerable arena that has significance for infant development. It will discuss nurse home visiting as a preventive intervention with proven effectiveness in enhancing maternal prenatal health and behavior and the health and development of children born to mothers at risk, and how a nurse–family collaboration with social workers can facilitate this mission. By providing collaborative care that addresses psychosocial, health, and mental health concerns, interventions like home visiting can reach their full potential.
The Impact of Questionnaire Administration Mode on Response Rate and Reporting of Consensual and Nonconsensual Sexual Behavior1

Computer-administered self-interviewing (CASI) has been advocated as a way of overcoming underreporting of sensitive sexual behaviors. The present study compared reports of consensual and nonconsensual sexual behaviors (including childhood and adulthood sexual victimization) among women using CASI (n = 1014) versus a self-administered questionnaire (SAQ; n = 318). Women, ages 18-30 years old, were recruited through random-digit dialing in the community. Response rates were significantly higher for the SAQ, which was sent and returned by mail (87.6% of those eligible), than for the CASI, which involved in-person assessment at a central location (61.4%). There were a few modest differences in reports of consensual or nonconsensual sexual behavior according to mode of administration, suggesting greater willingness to report sexual experiences among the SAQ sample. Mailed SAQ following telephone contact and with financial incentive may be a cost-effective way of obtaining data on sexual behavior from a community sample.
Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions and Tourist Behaviors: A Review and Conceptual Framework

This paper develops a conceptual framework for analyzing tourist behaviors and identifies three categories of behaviors based on the applications of Hofstede’s cultural dimensions and the processes underlying these influences. Our findings indicate that tourist behaviors in the Before-Travel, During-Travel, and After-Travel stages differ significantly in terms of the applicability and process through which Hofstede’s cultural dimensions operate. The results of our analysis suggest three categories of behavioral patterns, namely, “Social Interaction Driven Travel Behaviors,” (SID), “Risk Tendencies Driven Travel Behaviors,” (RTD), and “Collectivity Orientation Driven Travel Behaviors,” (COD). SID relates to the evaluation of travel experiences in the after-travel stage. The dominant cultural values associated with SID are Individualism/Collectivism, Masculinity/Femininity, and Power Distance. These three values act either independently or in pairs or all three together. RTD relates to the consumption of travel products in the during-travel stage, and COD relates to the formation of travel preferences in the before-travel stage. Individualism/Collectivism and Uncertainty Avoidance are associated with both RTD and COD. However, the underlying processes differ for these two categories of travel behaviors. In addition to their independent influences on travel behaviors, these two values associated with RTD and COD also have an interactive effect. For RTD, the Uncertainty Avoidance motive determines the Individualism/Collectivism outcome, whereas, for COD, the opposite is true: the Individualism/Collectivism determines the Uncertainty Avoidance outcome. The paper also discusses the application of a fifth cultural dimension, Confucian Dynamism (short-term versus long-term orientation), for the study of tourists’ behaviors.
Vulnerability of Xylem to Cavitation and Embolism

WATER RELATIONS AND THE VULNERABLE PIPELINE . 19 EARLY EFFORTS TO DETECT CAVITATION AND EMBOLISM . 21 ACOUSTIC DETECTION OF CAVITATION . 22 Audio (Low-Frequency) Detection . 22 Ultrasonic Detection . 22 Physics of Sound Propagation . 24 HYDRAULIC DETECTION OF EMBOLISM . 25 CAVITATION AND EMBOLISM IN NATURE . 26 MECHANISMS OF EMBOLISM FORMATION. 27 Water Stress-Induced Embolism . 27 Embolism Formation by Winter Freezing . 29 Pathogen-Induced Embolism . 29 EMBOLISM REPAIR . 30 VULNERABILITY OF XYLEM TO WATER STRESS-INDUCED EMBOLISM . 31 HYDRAULIC ARCHITECTURE AND SUFFICIENCY OF TREES . 33 SUMMARY . 35
Girls in the ’Hood: How Safety Affects the Life Chances of Low-Income Girls

Adolescents growing up in high-poverty neighborhoods are at risk for a range of negative outcomes. Girls face specific threats because of their gender—omnipresent harassment, pressure for early sexual initiation, pervasive intimate partner violence, and high risk of sexual assault.This article uses mixed-methods data from the Three-City Study of Moving to Opportunity (MTO) to explore how moving to lower-poverty neighborhoods may have influenced adolescent girls’ life chances. MTO families moved to neighborhoods with lower levels of violent crime overall, but MTO girls also experienced a substantial reduction in the “female fear,” Gordon and Riger’s term for the fear of sexual harassment, coercion, and rape. The authors argue that this change is a plausible explanation for the notable improvements in MTO girls’ well-being.
Ontological Traceability over the Unified Process

Traceability refers to the ability to link information in a process chain. This paper proposes the integration of ontologies into the Unified Process (UP) (Jacobson et al., 1999) to provide concept-based traceability throughout the software lifecycle. This approach allows the integration of the different models of a software system including business, requirements, analysis and design models in a lower granularity degree than conventional requirements traceability approaches. To assist the designers in creating the ontology and linking concepts to artifacts we provide a tool integrated with an UML modeler
Critical thinking in education: a review

National governments and employers have argued that it is important for all sectors of education to prepare individuals who are able to think well and for themselves. 'Good thinking' and 'thinking well' are commonly used terms bound up with what is called 'critical thinking' in the research literature. Evidence is presented in this paper, however, which suggests that not all students may be good at critical thinking; nor do some teachers appear to teach students 'good thinking' skills. A review of the research literature in this area was undertaken and the methods and conceptions of teaching likely to inhibit and enhance critical thinking are outlined, as well as what is required to improve students' thinking skills. Ways forward in teaching critical thinking, and in helping students to learn to think well and for themselves, are described and discussed.
Modeling and Pricing of Variance and Volatility Swaps for Local Semi-Markov Volatilities in Financial Engineering

We consider a semi-Markov modulated security market consisting of a riskless asset or bond with constant interest rate and risky asset or stock, whose dynamics follow gemoetric Brownian motion with volatility that depends on semi-Markov process. Two cases for semi-Markov volatilities are studied: local current and local semi-Markov volatilities. Using the martingale characterization of semi-Markov processes, we find the minimal martingale measure for this incomplete market. Then we model and price variance and volatility swaps for local semi-Markov stochastic volatilities.