Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Acute Reactogenicity after Intramuscular Immunization with Recombinant Vesicular Stomatitis Virus Is Linked to Production of IL-1β

Vaccines based on live viruses are attractive because they are immunogenic, cost-effective, and can be delivered by multiple routes. However, live virus vaccines also cause reactogenic side effects such as fever, myalgia, and injection site pain that have reduced their acceptance in the clinic. Several recent studies have linked vaccine-induced reactogenic side effects to production of the pro-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-1β (IL-1β) in humans. Our objective was therefore to determine whether IL-1β contributed to pathology after immunization with recombinant vesicular stomatitis virus (rVSV) vaccine vectors, and if so, to identify strategies by which IL-1β mediated pathology might be reduced without compromising immunogenicity. We found that an rVSV vaccine induced local and systemic production of IL-1β in vivo, and that accumulation of IL-1β correlated with acute pathology after rVSV immunization. rVSV-induced pathology was reduced in mice deficient in the IL-1 receptor Type I, but the IL-1R−/− mice were fully protected from lethal rechallenge with a high dose of VSV. This result demonstrated that IL-1 contributed to reactogenicity of the rVSV, but was dispensable for induction of protective immunity. The amount of IL-1β detected in mice deficient in either caspase-1 or the inflammasome adaptor molecule ASC after rVSV immunization was not significantly different than that produced by wild type animals, and caspase-1−/− and ASC−/− mice were only partially protected from rVSV-induced pathology. Those data support the idea that some of the IL-1β expressed in vivo in response to VSV may be activated by a caspase-1 and ASC-independent mechanism. Together these results suggest that rVSV vectors engineered to suppress the induction of IL-1β, or signaling through the IL-1R would be less reactogenic in vivo, but would retain their immunogenicity and protective capacity. Such rVSV would be highly desirable as either vaccine vectors or oncolytic therapies, and would likely be better tolerated in human vaccinees.
Positive effects of a novel cognitive remediation computer game (X-Cog) in first episode psychosis: a pilot study

Aim: Improved approaches to remediate cognitive deficits are needed. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of a novel cognitive remediation (CR) game in first episode psychosis (FEP). Methods: Participants were 11 FEP clients in two treatment arms; CR and Treatment as Usual (TAU). Baseline assessments included pre-morbid IQ, symptoms and neurocognition. The CR group had 8 sessions of therapy in a group setting with the control group receiving TAU. Post intervention groups were re-assessed for symptoms and cognitive function. Results: There were no significant differences between groups at baseline in symptoms or cognitive function. Post intervention significant improvements were observed in negative symptoms and executive function along with a significant relationship between negative symptoms and executive function in the CR group. Conclusions: These data, from a small sample, suggest that X-Cog could form part of an effective strategy to remediate cognitive deficits.
Grammatical ambiguity resolution in right hemisphere-damaged patients: Evidence from an insertion task

Abstract We examined the issue of right cerebral hemisphere (RH) participation in sentential syntax processing. A modified version of the Insertion Task of Schneiderman and Saddy 88) was administered to eight right hemisphere brain-damaged (RHD), eight left hemisphere brain-damage (LHD) and 28 right-handed control (CTR) subjects: 28 word/syntagm insertions required role reassignment of a lexical item in the stimulus sentence (Shift); 25 insertions implied only semantic reinterpretation of the sentence (Nonshift). Age, formal education, cognitive proficiency, mood and verbal intelligence were introduced as covariates in the analysis of the outcomes to partial out their influence on performance. The LHD group outperformed the RHD patients on the Shift items, though both scored similarly on other language tasks. The RHD group performed significantly worse only on the Shift items. However, there were no differences between the RHD and CTR Nonshift scores, or between the LHD and CTR Shift scores. Again, the RH.
An Empirical Survey on Automatic Machine Translation between English and Indian Languages

In this paper, we have reported our survey on systems and projects that intend to translate between English and Indian languages. Most of the translators and projects aim to translate from English to more than one Indian languages. The main challenge is due to the fact that Indian languages are quite different from European languages. In this paper, we have explored the following the following machine translation systems and projects namely Anglabharti, Anusaaraka, MaTra, Mantra, Machine Aided Translation by CDAC, UCSG-based English-Kannada Machine Translation, UNL-based Machine Translation between English, Hindi and Marathi, SHIVA and SHAKTI Machine Translation Systems, A Novel Approach for English to South Dravidian Languages Statistical Machine Translation System, and Google Translate.
A Mouth-Watering Prospect: Salivation to Material Reward

The term “hunger” and terms referring to its physiological correlates, notably “salivation,” are used to refer to desire for material rewards across languages and cultures. Is such usage is “merely metaphorical,” or can exposure to material reward cues evoke a salivary response? Results of an experiment show that individuals salivate to money when induced to experience a low power state but not when induced to experience a high power state. A second experiment shows that men salivate to sports cars when primed with a mating goal but not in a control condition. These findings suggest that salivary secretion is stimulated by material rewards in the presence of a highly active goal to obtain the rewards and that the motivation to acquire material rewards might more closely resemble physiological hunger than previously assumed. Implications for material addictions and decision making and directions for future research are discussed.
Industrial innovation diffusion: the extent of use and disuse of process technologies in engineering

Summary This paper addresses two important issues in the study of industrial innovation diffusion: the extent of use of an innovation throughout the production process, and the disuse of innovations. Evidence for the spatial patterns of use and disuse from a longitudinal survey of British engineering establishments is presented. The extent of use of technology is not found to be spatially differentiated, but reinvestment in newer technologies may be more prevalent in the core regions of the country. Rejection of technology owing to unsuitability or problems in the adoption process is found to reflect establishment-level rather than locational characteristics.
Nicotinic infertility: assessing DNA and plasma membrane integrity of human spermatozoa

Summary. Infertility remains a major problem in society, with recent data suggesting its presence in one of four couples. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the impact of nicotine (0.25, 0.5 and 0.75 mm), as a major component of cigarette smoke, in vitro, on sperm membrane [by spermatocrit and lipoperoxidation (LPO) tests], DNA integrity (by Comet assay), and viability of spermatozoa (by eosin staining) from normozoospermic men. Sperm samples were washed and diluted with phosphate‐buffered saline. A drop in spermatocrit values and an increase in thiobarbituric acid‐reactive substances/LPO rate was observed with the addition of nicotine, predominantly at a concentration of 0.75 mm, indicating a deleterious effect of nicotine on sperm membrane intactness. There was also a strong negative correlation between LPO rate and percentage viable sperm cell (r = −0.990). Data obtained from Comet assay technique revealed that nicotine could induce double‐stranded DNA breaks (11% in 0.75 mm concentration) in the sperm nuclei. The value of r between LPO rate and percentage Comets was found to be +0.976. Taken together, nicotine proved to be a potential oxidant agent in the category of environmental factors to the integrity of sperm plasma membrane and DNA.
Student Debt and The Spirit of Indenture

When we think of the founding of the early colonies, we usually think of the journey to freedom, in particular of the Puritans fleeing religious persecution to settle the Massachusetts Bay Colony. But it was not so for a majority of the first Europeans who emigrated to these shores. "Between one-half and two-thirds of all white immigrants to the British colonies arrived under indenture," according to the economic historian David W. Galenson, a total of three hundred thousand to four hundred thousand people. Indenture was not an isolated practice but a dominant aspect of labor and life in early America.
Detection of clinically amelanotic malignant melanoma and assessment of its margins by in vivo confocal scanning laser microscopy.

BACKGROUND Near-infrared confocal scanning laser microscopy (CSLM) represents a novel imaging technique for in vivo microscopic analysis of skin lesions, including pigmented lesions. OBJECTIVES To investigate the feasibility of detecting a clinically amelanotic malignant cutaneous melanoma using CSLM and to explore the use of this technique for assessing its margins. PATIENTS AND METHODS Two lesions from 2 patients were imaged and analyzed using CSLM. Sites suspected to represent melanoma or benign skin on CSLM were marked as such; then, biopsy specimens were obtained for diagnosis using conventional histological analysis. Both lesions were stained for melanin pigment and analyzed immunohistochemically for the expression of melanosomal markers. In 1 case, a biopsy specimen was also examined with electron microscopy. RESULTS The images obtained using CSLM allowed recognition of an abnormal intraepidermal melanocytic proliferation that was distinctly different from normal skin. Comparison of the sites examined using CSLM and subsequently using conventional histological methods revealed that CSLM correctly identified intraepidermal melanoma and benign skin. Fontana-Masson stains and immunohistochemical and ultrastructural studies showed that clinically amelanotic melanoma cells contained melanosomes and rare melanin granules. CONCLUSIONS We demonstrated, for the first time, the detection of clinically amelanotic melanoma using CSLM. This technique may aid in the early detection of clinically barely visible or nonpigmented melanomas and may facilitate preoperative noninvasive assessment of their margins.
Towards an Agent-oriented Framework for Serious Games - Architecting with Behavioural Software Agents

Agent-oriented software architectures for serious games and game development frameworks are beginning to receive attention. They are viewed as potentially valuable solutions to support the rapid and inexpensive development of games with high usability and playability. This problem domain also has challenging technical quality of service requirements (modifiability, performance, flexibility, scalability, concurrency, portability, integration of diverse technologies), which need to be carefully considered in the architecture. Here, we present a collection of high level requirements (goals) for this problem domain and argue that a new, agent-oriented component based solution is needed that explicitly models agent-based behaviour. We propose an agent-oriented extension of the adaptive object-model pattern in this research; a running example on requirements engineering software engineering education is used to help explain the architecture. The architecture is discussed with respect to the technical quality of service requirements.
Capturing Unique Dimensions of Youth Organized Activity Involvement

Despite increased focus on the effects of organized activities on youth development, there is currently no consensus about the best way to assess various dimensions of involvement. This article explores the complexities of assessing involvement and focuses specifically on the following organized activity dimensions: (a) breadth, (b) intensity, (c) duration/consistency, and (d) engagement. For each dimension, the article examines the theoretical underpinnings for why it is important to measure the dimension, presents measurement issues that have arisen in previous studies, describes how the dimension relates to developmental outcomes, and offers recommendations for assessing it in future use. A conceptual model is presented to describe issues that are important to consider when assessing various dimensions of organized activity involvement in future research.
Roles of the influenza virus polymerase and nucleoprotein in forming a functional RNP structure

Influenza virus transcription and replication is performed by ribonucleoprotein particles (RNPs). They consist of an RNA molecule covered with many copies of nucleoprotein (NP) and carry a trimeric RNA polymerase complex. RNA modification analysis and electron microscopy performed on native RNPs suggest that the polymerase forms a complex with both conserved viral RNA (vRNA) ends, whereas NP binding exposes the RNA bases to the solvent. After chemical removal of the polymerase, the bases at the vRNA extremities become reactive to modification and the vRNPs behave as structures with free ends, as judged from the observation of salt‐induced conformational changes by electron microscopy. The vRNA appears to be completely single‐stranded in polymerase‐free RNPs despite a partial, inverted complementarity of the vRNA ends. The absence of a stable double‐stranded panhandle structure in polymerase‐free RNPs has important implications for the mechanism of viral transcription and the switch from transcription to replication.
An International Comparison of the Effects of Government Agricultural Support on Food Budget Shares

This study evaluates econometrically the effect of government support to agriculture on a measure of the affordability of food in 10 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries. The panel model we construct specifically utilizes two values calculated by the OECD: Producer Support Estimates as a percentage of gross farm receipts and the Consumer Nominal Protection Coefficient. These two variables represent transfers from taxpayers to agricultural producers through government programs and transfers from consumers to government through protectionist measures, respectively. By using dummy variables, we find implications for groups of countries on the basis of their relative levels of support and protection.
Pathological mechanisms in experimental autoimmune myasthenia gravis. II. Passive transfer of experimental autoimmune myasthenia gravis in rats with anti-acetylcholine recepotr antibodies

Passive transfer of experimental autoimmune myasthenia gravis (EAMG) was achieved using the gamma globulin fraction and purified IgG from sera of rats immunized with Electrophus electricus (eel) acetylcholine receptor (AChR). This demonstrates the critical role of anti-AChR antibodies in impairing neuromuscular transmission in EAMG. Passive transfer of anti-AChR antibodies from rats with chronic EAMG induced signs of the acute phase of EAMG in normal recipient rats, including invasion of the motor end-plate region by mononuclear inflammatory cells. Clinical, eletrophysiological, histological, and biochemical signs of acute EAMG were observed by 24 h after antibody transfer. Recipient rats developed profound weakness and fatigability, and the posture characteristic of EAMG. Striking weight loss was attributable to dehydration. Recipient rats showed large decreases in amplitude of muscle responses to motor nerve stimulation, and repetitive nerve stimulation induced characteristic decrementing responses. End-plate potentials were not detectable in many muscle fibers, and the amplitudes of miniature end-plate potentials were reduced in the others. Passively transferred EAMG more severely affected the forearm muscles than diaphragm muscles, though neuromuscular transmission was impaired and curare sensitivity was increased in both muscles. Some AChR extracted from the muscles of rats with passively transferred EAMG was found to be complexed with antibody, and the total yield of AChR per rat was decreased. The quantitative decrease in AChR approximately paralleled in time the course of clinical and electrophysiological signs. The amount of AChR increased to normal levels and beyond at the time neuromuscular transmission was improving. The excess of AChR extractable from muscle as the serum antibody level decreased probably represented extrajunctional receptors formed in response to functional denervation caused by phagocytosis of the postsynaptic membrane by macrophages. The amount of antibody required to passively transfer EAMG was less than required to bind all AChR molecules in a rat's musculature. The effectiveness of samll amounts of antibody was probably amplified by the activation of complement and by the destruction of large areas of postsynaptic membrane by phagocytic cells. A self-sustaining autoimmune response to AChR was not provoked in animals with passively transferred EAMG.
Constraint, pathology, and adaptation: How can we tell them apart?

Adaptation is a central concept of modern evolutionary biology, but remains a difficult one nevertheless. Definitions of adaptation are often confounded with definitions of natural selection, rendering them somewhat circular and difficult to operationalize. Williams introduced a definition that avoids such tautology and a strategy for testing adaptive claims against chance as an alternative explanation for design complexity. Gould and Lewontin ([1979]: Proc R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 205:581–598) challenged this strategy for pitting adaptation against a straw alternative, and argued that constraint is often the cause of design complexity. The field of Darwinian medicine has underscored the fact that adaptation can also be difficult to discriminate from pathology, which can also produce design complexity. We suggest that an updated version of Williams' strategy is to consider any claim of adaptation against constraint and pathology as alternatives. We use an example drawn from the intersection of human reproductive ecology and developmental biology to illustrate how this updated strategy can be applied. Where we can generate distinct predictions for the three alternative hypotheses, constraint, pathology, and adaptation, we have a better situation in which to evaluate adaptive claims with a real possibility of falsification. We view this strategy as an improvement over Williams' original suggestion, but not as a definitive strategy. Further advances, however, will likely also be based on a sound understanding of the concept of adaptation and the identification of the strongest competing alternatives to it. Am. J. Hum. Biol., 2007. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
The Role of Relapse Prevention and Goal Setting in Training Transfer Enhancement

This article reviews the effect of two post-training transfer interventions (relapse prevention [RP] and goal setting [GS]) on trainees’ ability to apply skills gained in a training context to the workplace. Through a review of post-training transfer interventions literature, the article identifies a number of key issues that remain unresolved or underexplored, for example, the inconsistent results on the impact of RP on transfer of training, the lack of agreement on which GS types are more efficient to improve transfer performance, the lack of clarity about the distinction between RP and GS, and the underlying process through which these two post-training transfer interventions influence transfer of training. We offer some recommendations to overcome these problems and also provide guidance for future research on transfer of training.
Worker Participation in an Integrated Health Promotion/Health Protection Program: Results From the WellWorks Project

According to prior reports, blue-collar workers are less likely to participate in worksite health promotion programs than are white-collar workers. This study examined worker participation in the WellWorks worksite cancer prevention intervention, which integrated health promotion and health protection. Analyses were conducted to assess relationships among participation in health promotion and health protection programs, and workers' perceptions of management changes to reduce potential occupational exposures. Results indicate that blue-collar workers were less likely to report participating in health promotion activities than white-collar workers. A significant association was observed between participation in nutrition- and exposure-related activities, suggesting that participation in programs to reduce exposures to occupational hazards might contribute to blue-collar workers' participation in health promotion activities. Furthermore, when workers were aware of changes their employer had made to reduce exposures to occupational hazards, they were more likely to participate in both smoking control and nutrition activities, even when controlling for job category. These findings have clear implications for future worksite cancer prevention efforts.
It’s All about Control

Workers’ ability to control their work schedules and hours varies significantly among industrialized countries. We integrate and extend prior research from a variety of literatures to examine antecedents of control and worker outcomes. Using hierarchical linear modeling and data for 21 countries from the 1997 ISSP Work Orientations Survey supplemented with national indicators developed from a variety of sources, we find that control is associated with country characteristics (affluence, welfare state generosity, union coverage, and working-time regulations), worker attributes (being male, being older, and being better educated), and job characteristics (working part-time, being self-employed, having higher earnings, and having more advancement opportunities). We also examine the relationship of control to job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and strain-based work-family conflict. Generally, low levels of control are linked to negative outcomes for workers, especially for women, an effect sometimes modulated by country-level policy measures.
Identification of a Sporozoite-Specific Antigen from Toxoplasma gondii

Abstract Reduction of risk for human and food animal infection with Toxoplasma gondii is hampered by the lack of epidemiological data documenting the predominant routes of infection (oocyst vs. tissue cyst consumption) in horizontally transmitted toxoplasmosis. Existing serological assays can determine previous exposure to the parasite, but not the route of infection. We have used difference gel electrophoresis, in combination with tandem mass spectroscopy and Western blot, to identify a sporozoite-specific protein (T. gondii embryogenesis-related protein [TgERP]), which elicited antibody and differentiated oocyst- versus tissue cyst–induced infection in pigs and mice. The recombinant protein was selected from a cDNA library constructed from T. gondii sporozoites; this protein was used in Western blots and probed with sera from T. gondii–infected humans. Serum antibody to TgERP was detected in humans within 6–8 mo of initial oocyst-acquired infection. Of 163 individuals in the acute stage of infection (anti–T. gondii IgM detected in sera, or <30 in the IgG avidity test), 103 (63.2%) had detectable antibodies that reacted with TgERP. Of 176 individuals with unknown infection route and in the chronic stage of infection (no anti–T. gondii IgM detected in sera, or >30 in the IgG avidity test), antibody to TgERP was detected in 31 (17.6%). None of the 132 uninfected individuals tested had detectable antibody to TgERP. These data suggest that TgERP may be useful in detecting exposure to sporozoites in early T. gondii infection and implicates oocysts as the agent of infection.