Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
HLA antigens on red cells. Implications for achieving low HLA antigen content in blood transfusions

HLA antigens on red cells were measured using the W6/32 monoclonal antibody as well as with other monoclonal antibodies directed to monomorphic determinants of HLA Class I molecules. Antibody binding was quantitated indirectly by either radioimmunoassay or flow cytometry. Red cells from approximately 50 percent of blood donors bound HLA‐A,B, and C antibodies but not antibodies to HLA‐DR or those directed to other leukocyte‐specific antigens. Persons with HLA‐B7‐positive lymphocytes consistently expressed measurable red cell HLA antigens. However, 35 percent of donors with HLA‐B7‐negative lymphtocytes also expressed HLA on red cells, and this expression did not correlate with any other HLA antigen. Storage did not affect expression of HLA antigens in red cells stored at 4°C for 21 days or in red cells that had been cryopreserved. Contrary to previous reports, red cells expressing HLA antigens also had beta‐2‐microglobulin detected, suggesting that the HLA molecules in red cells are similar to those in lymphocytes and other cells, and consequently, that they have the potential to be immunogenic. These results demonstrate that patients requiring multiple transfusions will be exposed to HLA antigens even if they receive blood units depleted of leukocytes and platelets.
Inflight Modifications of Content: Who Are the Culprits?

When a user requests content from a cloud service provider, sometimes the content sent by the provider is modified inflight by third-party entities. To our knowledge, there is no comprehensive study that examines the extent and primary root causes of the content modification problem. We design a lightweight experiment and instrument a vast number of clients in the wild to make two additional DNS queries every day. We identify candidate rogue servers and develop a measurement methodology to determine, for each candidate rogue server, whether the server is performing inflight modifications or not. In total, we discover 349 servers as malicious, that is, as modifying content inflight, and more than 1.9% of all US clients are affected by these malicious servers. We investigate the root causes of the problem. We identify 9 ISPs, whose clients are predominately affected. We find that the root cause is not sophisticated transparent in-network services, but instead local DNS servers in the problematic ISPs.
Performance of PRP Associated with Porous Chitosan as a Composite Scaffold for Regenerative Medicine

This study aimed to evaluate the in vitro performance of activated platelet-rich plasma associated with porous sponges of chitosan as a composite scaffold for proliferation and osteogenic differentiation of human adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells. The sponges were prepared by controlled freezing (−20, −80, or −196°C) and lyophilization of chitosan solutions (1, 2, or 3% w/v). The platelet-rich plasma was obtained from controlled centrifugation of whole blood and activated with calcium and autologous serum. The composite scaffolds were prepared by embedding the sponges with the activated platelet-rich plasma. The results showed the performance of the scaffolds was superior to that of activated platelet-rich plasma alone, in terms of delaying the release of growth factors and increased proliferation of the stem cells. The best preparation conditions of chitosan composite scaffolds that coordinated the physicochemical and mechanical properties and cell proliferation were 3% (w/v) chitosan and a −20°C freezing temperature, while −196°C favored osteogenic differentiation. Although the composite scaffolds are promising for regenerative medicine, the structures require stabilization to prevent the collapse observed after five days.
The Anti-Inflammatory Activity of a Novel Fused-Cyclopentenone Phosphonate and Its Potential in the Local Treatment of Experimental Colitis

A novel fused-cyclopentenone phosphonate compound, namely, diethyl 3-nonyl-5-oxo-3,5,6,6a-tetrahydro-1H-cyclopenta[c]furan-4-ylphosphonate (P-5), was prepared and tested in vitro (LPS-activated macrophages) for its cytotoxicity and anti-inflammatory activity and in vivo (DNBS induced rat model) for its potential to ameliorate induced colitis. Specifically, the competence of P-5 to reduce TNFα, IL-6, INFγ, MCP-1, IL-1α, MIP-1α, and RANTES in LPS-activated macrophages was measured. Experimental colitis was quantified in the rat model, macroscopically and by measuring the activity of tissue MPO and iNOS and levels of TNFα and IL-1β. It was found that P-5 decreased the levels of TNFα and the tested proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines in LPS-activated macrophages. In the colitis-induced rat model, P-5 was effective locally in reducing mucosal inflammation. This activity was equal to the activity of local treatment with 5-aminosalicylic acid. It is speculated that P-5 may be used for the local treatment of IBD (e.g., with the aid of colon-specific drug platforms). Its mode of action involves inhibition of the phosphorylation of MAPK ERK but not of p38 and had no effect on IκBα.
Maximal Upstroke Velocity as an Index of Available Sodium Conductance: Comparison of Maximal Upstroke Velocity and Voltage Clamp Measurements of Sodium Current in Rabbit Purkinje Fibers

We compared the maximal upstroke velocity of action potentials in short rabbit Purkinje fibers with sodium currents measured with a two-microelecrrode voltage clamp. The number of sodium channels available to open during a sudden depolarization was varied either by blockade with tetrodotoxin or by inactivation with steady depolarizations. In both cases, the maximal upstroke velocity was found to be a very nonlinear measure of the number of available sodium channels. For example, 3 μM tetrodotoxin blocks 85% of the sodium channels, but reduces the maximal upstroke velocity by only 33%. Voltage clamp and upstroke velocity experiments were reconstructed with a computer model of the rabbit Purkinje fiber preparation that was closely based on experimental measurements of passive cable properties and sodium channel characteristics. The simulations indicate that our voltage clamp measurements of sodium current accurately report changes in channel availability, but they also show that the maximal upstroke velocity is a strongly nonlinear index of available sodium conductance. Most of the nonlinearity arises from the activation kinetics of the sodium channels: as the pool of available channels decreases, a greater percentage of those channels activate and contribute inward current at the time of the maximal upstroke velocity. Simulations predict that the maximal upstroke velocity-available sodium conductance relationship would still remain nonlinear at 37°C or under different stimulus conditions that give uniform or continuously propagated action potentials. The nonlin earity may invalidate inferences based on earlier maximal upstroke velocity experiments: the existence of two types of sodium channels with different tetrodotoxin sensitivity, steady state voltage dependence of tetrodotoxin block, voltage range over which sodium channels inactivate, and rapid, then slow recovery of sodium channel availability following a sudden repolarization. All of these conclusions need to be reevaluated.
Antennas and Propagation for In-Mouth Tongue-Controlled Devices in Wireless Body Area Networks

Tetraplegic patients have to depend upon someone else for moving the wheelchair or typing on a computer. One of the ways to make them independent is by using tongue-controlled in-mouth wireless devices. This letter presents antennas and propagation for such devices in 2.45-GHz ISM band. A monopole and a loop antenna suitable in size and performance is presented for such devices. The propagation link between the in-mouth antenna and an external antenna is measured by mimicking the use-case scenarios of such devices by placing an external antenna on a laptop and on a chair. The link loss is found to be in the range of 55-75 dB depending upon the antenna type and the scenario. Using these values of the link loss, a reliable link can be established between the in-mouth device and the external device either mounted on a wheelchair or a computer.
The functional anatomy of hippocampal theta and gamma oscillations

by Sean M. Montgomery A Dissertation submitted to the Graduate School-Newark Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Program in Integrative Neuroscience written under the direction of György Buzsáki and approved by ________________________ ________________________ ________________________ ________________________ Newark, New Jersey
Prenatal cigarette smoke exposure attenuates recovery from hypoxemic challenge in preterm infants.

RATIONALE The effects of prenatal cigarette smoke (CS) exposure and hypoxemia on cardiorespiratory control have been investigated in full-term infants. However, few data are available in preterm infants, who form a particularly vulnerable population, with developmentally immature cardiorespiratory control. OBJECTIVES To investigate the effects of prenatal CS exposure on the duration and recovery of breathing pauses and oxygen saturation levels under baseline and hypoxemic conditions in preterm infants. METHODS The study was performed on 22 (12 born to smoking and 10 to nonsmoking mothers) spontaneously breathing preterm infants between 28 and 36 weeks' gestation. Cardiorespiratory variables were recorded under baseline normoxemic and hypoxemic conditions. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS Breathing pauses, pause indices, time to recovery, percent pause recovery, oxygen saturation (Sp(O2)), periods of wakefulness, and cardiorespiratory rates were compared between the two groups. Spontaneous recovery of breathing pauses (P = 0.03) and Sp(O(2)) levels (P = 0.017) were attenuated in CS-exposed infants as compared with the control group during the hypoxemic and posthypoxemic periods, respectively. The episodes of wakefulness during the hypoxemic challenge were similar between the two groups. Furthermore, CS-exposed infants showed a greater increase in heart rate (P < 0.001) during the hypoxemic challenge when compared with control infants. CONCLUSIONS We provide evidence of how prenatal CS exposure and hypoxemic episodes affect the duration and recovery of breathing pauses in preterm infants. These observations could help explain why these infants are at a particularly high risk for sudden infant death syndrome.
Development of an Exoskeleton System for Elderly and Disabled People

For supporting daily activities of elderly and physically disabled people who have lost their body functioning of motions, we have developed a 7-DOF robotic exoskeleton system. It is intended to assist the motions of shoulder and elbow by mounting this on a wheel chair since human shoulder and elbow motions are involved in a lot of activities of everyday life. The proposed mechanism can maximize workspace while escaping singularity by combining the parallel mechanism at the wrist part. Admittance based velocity control scheme enables a variety of tasks to be implemented and allows us to achieve fast enough motion with acceptable accuracy. Preliminary results for mechanism analysis, trajectory tracking experiment are shown.
Phenotypic Complexity, Measurement Bias, and Poor Phenotypic Resolution Contribute to the Missing Heritability Problem in Genetic Association Studies

Background The variance explained by genetic variants as identified in (genome-wide) genetic association studies is typically small compared to family-based heritability estimates. Explanations of this ‘missing heritability’ have been mainly genetic, such as genetic heterogeneity and complex (epi-)genetic mechanisms. Methodology We used comprehensive simulation studies to show that three phenotypic measurement issues also provide viable explanations of the missing heritability: phenotypic complexity, measurement bias, and phenotypic resolution. We identify the circumstances in which the use of phenotypic sum-scores and the presence of measurement bias lower the power to detect genetic variants. In addition, we show how the differential resolution of psychometric instruments (i.e., whether the instrument includes items that resolve individual differences in the normal range or in the clinical range of a phenotype) affects the power to detect genetic variants. Conclusion We conclude that careful phenotypic data modelling can improve the genetic signal, and thus the statistical power to identify genetic variants by 20–99%.
N-(2,6-Dimethoxypyridin-3-yl)-9-methyl-9H-carbazole-3-sulfonamide

In the title compound, C20H19N3O4S, a novel tubulin ligand active against human cancer, the dihedral angle between the pyridine ring and the carbazole ring system is 42.87 (10)°. In the crystal, the molecules are held together by N—H⋯O and C—H⋯O hydrogen bonds into layers, which are assembled into a three-dimensional network via π–π stacking interactions between inversion-related pyridine rings, with centroid–centroid distances of 3.5101 (12) Å.
Critical difference between serial measurements of CK-MB mass to detect myocardial damage.

To assess the critical difference in serial measurements of CK-MBmass and the ability of this critical difference to detect myocardial damage, we studied 110 patients in whom an acute myocardial infarction (AMI) had been ruled out. Blood samples were drawn at 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 12, 16, 20, and 24 h after onset of symptoms. With a critical difference of 72.6%, an increase of >2.0 microg/L between two CK-MBmass measurements was determined to be significant. Twenty-three of the non-AMI patients had an increase in CK-MBmass >2.0 microg/L, but five of these did not have an abnormal concentration of troponin T (i.e., not >0.1 microg/L). Also among the 110 non-AMI patients, 22 did have an abnormal troponin T value, 18 of whom (82%) also had CK-MBmass increased by >2.0 microg/L. In 20 of the 23 patients with an increase in CK-MBmass >2.0 microg/L, this increase was detected from the values for two samples collected at 5 and 12 h after onset of symptoms. In conclusion, using the critical difference for CK-MBmass defined as an increase >2.0 microg/L detected myocardial damage in patients without AMI.
Endothelial Plasticity: Shifting Phenotypes through Force Feedback

The endothelial lining of the vasculature is exposed to a large variety of biochemical and hemodynamic stimuli with different gradients throughout the vascular network. Adequate adaptation requires endothelial cells to be highly plastic, which is reflected by the remarkable heterogeneity of endothelial cells in tissues and organs. Hemodynamic forces such as fluid shear stress and cyclic strain are strong modulators of the endothelial phenotype and function. Although endothelial plasticity is essential during development and adult physiology, proatherogenic stimuli can induce adverse plasticity which contributes to disease. Endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EndMT), the hallmark of endothelial plasticity, was long thought to be restricted to embryonic development but has emerged as a pathologic process in a plethora of diseases. In this perspective we argue how shear stress and cyclic strain can modulate EndMT and discuss how this is reflected in atherosclerosis and pulmonary arterial hypertension.
Migraine in the United States: Epidemiology and patterns of health care use

ObjectiveTo determine the prevalence and distribution of migraine in the United States as well as current patterns of health care use. MethodsA random-digit-dial, computer-assisted telephone interview (CATI) survey was conducted in Philadelphia County, PA, in 1998. The CATI identifies individuals with migraine (categories 1.1 and 1.2) as defined by the diagnostic criteria of the International Headache Society with high sensitivity (85%) and specificity (96%). Interviews were completed in 4,376 subjects to identify 568 with migraine. Those with 6 or more attacks per year (n = 410) were invited to participate in a follow-up interview about health care utilization and family impact of migraine; 246 (60.0%) participated. ResultsThe 1-year prevalence of migraine was 17.2% in females and 6.0% in males. Prevalence was highest between the ages of 30 and 49. Whereas 48% of migraine sufferers had seen a doctor for headache within the last year (current consulters), 31% had never done so in their lifetimes and 21% had not seen a doctor for headache for at least 1 year (lapsed consulters). Of current or lapsed consulters, 73% reported a physician-made diagnosis of migraine; treatments varied. Of all migraine sufferers, 49% were treated with over-the-counter medications only, 23% with prescription medication only, 23% with both, and 5% with no medications at all. ConclusionRelative to prior cross-sectional surveys, epidemiologic profiles for migraine have remained stable in the United States over the last decade. Self-reported rates of current medical consultation have more than doubled. Moderate increases were seen in the percentage of migraine sufferers who use prescription medications and in the likelihood of receiving a physician diagnosis of migraine.
Spectroscopic study of GRO J1655-40: the outburst and the decline.

We have analysed 53 optical spectra (40 taken during the outburst peak and 13 during the decline) of the Soft X–ray Transient GRO J1655-40 (=X–Ray Nova Scorpii 1994). The Hα flux during outburst shows a periodicity of 1.3 days, which is almost exactly one half of the one obtained by Bailyn et al. (1995b) from radial velocity variations. A possible explanation for this behaviour is provided. We also notice that the spectral emission features shrink or turn into absorption lines with an emission core during the decline. This is typical of Soft X–ray Transients and suggests that an expansion of the disk takes place after the outburst peak phase.
First Streptococcus agalactiae Isolates Highly Resistant to Quinolones, with Point Mutations in gyrA and parC

ABSTRACT Three isolates of Streptococcus agalactiae highly resistant to multiple fluoroquinolones were isolated in Japan. Compared with susceptible strains of S. agalactiae, these quinolone-resistant strains had double point mutations within the quinolone resistance-determining regions of gyrA and parC; Ser-81 was changed to Leu (TCA → TTA) in the amino acid sequence deduced from gyrA, and Ser-79 was changed to Phe (TCC → TTC) in the amino acid sequence deduced from parC. Comparative sequence analysis revealed the possibility of gene transfer between S. agalactiae and another beta-hemolytic streptococcus, Streptococcus difficile.
Genetic differentiation among North Atlantic killer whale populations

Population genetic structure of North Atlantic killer whale samples was resolved from differences in allele frequencies of 17 microsatellite loci, mtDNA control region haplotype frequencies and for a subset of samples, using complete mitogenome sequences. Three significantly differentiated populations were identified. Differentiation based on microsatellite allele frequencies was greater between the two allopatric populations than between the two pairs of partially sympatric populations. Spatial clustering of individuals within each of these populations overlaps with the distribution of particular prey resources: herring, mackerel and tuna, which each population has been seen predating. Phylogenetic analyses using complete mitogenomes suggested two populations could have resulted from single founding events and subsequent matrilineal expansion. The third population, which was sampled at lower latitudes and lower density, consisted of maternal lineages from three highly divergent clades. Pairwise population differentiation was greater for estimates based on mtDNA control region haplotype frequencies than for estimates based on microsatellite allele frequencies, and there were no mitogenome haplotypes shared among populations. This suggests low or no female migration and that gene flow was primarily male mediated when populations spatially and temporally overlap. These results demonstrate that genetic differentiation can arise through resource specialization in the absence of physical barriers to gene flow.
People as Wealth in Turu Society

IT SEEMS TO ME that anthropology has reached a state of economic sophistication sufficient to make it unnecessary to be concerned over the treatment of people as wealth. Gray has argued the point with respect to African marriage (Gray 1960), and in our own society we are aware that there is no moral problem involved in treating people in some respects as wealth. We award variable amounts to plaintiffs because of bodily injuries from automobile accidents, we buy and sell rights in athletes, and we purchase the time of laborers. We recognize that the services and the bodies of people have economic value, whatever other values they may have. Applying this point of view in Africa, a whole new dimension of African life may be uncovered, as not only marriage arrangements but negotiations regarding compensation for injury to the bodies of persons are revealed to be a kind of exchange system. The purpose of this paper is to describe in part how such a general system of exchange of rights in persons appears to work, and how it worked, in Turu society. In the course of exploring the Turu system, light may also be cast upon some old problems in African ethnology, particularly the matters of the relation of sister's son and mother's brother, the relation of brideprice and bloodwealth, the relation of patrilineality and matrilineality, and the operation of the feud in segmentary societies. The Turu, a Bantu-speaking people of about 175,000 population, who formerly had a classic segmentary, patrilineal society, and who grow bulrush millet as well as herd large numbers of cattle, sheep, and goats, dwell in the inland drainage region of Singida District on the mainland of Tanzania. , Turu think of people in one respect as social beings and in another as wealth of the same order as cattle, grain, and other material goods. This is seen in the distinction that is made with respect to "conflicts between people" and "conflicts between cattle. " The former refers to disputes stemming from attack on the social position of someone, such as an unwarranted insult aimed at a senior by a junior. The latter conflict relates to disputes about property, for which the word "cattle" is a synonym or common denominator referring not only to cattle as such but to other goods and people insofar as they are property. For example, if the beating of a woman gives rise to a dispute between her husband and her owners, 1 Further background information on the Turu may be obtained in Schneider (1964, 1966) and Von Sick (1916).
Results evaluation of max rule, min rule and product rule in score fusion multibiometric systems

— this paper discusses about unibiometric systems, multibiometric systems, product rule, max rule and min rule of score level fusion. Score level fusion is used to generate scores of a person. Min max normalization scheme is used for normalization which normalizes scores between 0 and 1. The proposed method also evaluates the results between product rule, min rule and max rule.