Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Measles virus-specific cellular immunity in patients with vaccine failure

The cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) response to measles virus (MV) was studied in blood samples from 13 acute- and early convalescent-phase patients with measles infection despite previous vaccination with the live-MV vaccine. MV CTL responses were also measured in six healthy peer controls who had live-MV vaccination during childhood and in five healthy adults who had a remote history of natural measles. All patients recovered from illness without complication. Acute MV infection was diagnosed on the basis of the Centers for Disease Control criteria and by measuring MV-specific immunoglobulin G (IgG) and IgM antibodies. Elevated IgG titers occurred in 80% of the patients at 1 to 2 weeks and in 100% at 4 weeks postinfection. IgM antibodies were detectable in all patient tested and were elevated in 60% of the patients at 1 to 2 weeks postinfection. The MV-specific CTL response was enhanced in 10 of the 13 patients tested, with a mean maximal lysis of 48.5% +/- 13.3%, compared with that of healthy peer controls who had had live-MV vaccinations during childhood (mean lysis, 14.6% +/- 12.9%; n = 6) and healthy adults with a remote history of natural measles (mean, 30.8% +/- 12.2%; n = 5). Three patients had low MV CTL levels at two time points following measles, with a mean lysis of 12% +/- 1.7%. It is concluded that while there is no evidence for a deficiency in the generation of cellular immunity to MV in the majority of patients with MV vaccine failure, a small number of individuals may fail to develop an enhanced T-cell response following infection.
Adherence to Guidelines for Diabetes Care in School: Family and School Nurse Perspectives

To ensure the safe and fair treatment of children with diabetes, the American Diabetes Association (ADA) publishes guidelines for care of children with diabetes in the school setting (1–4). We surveyed 99 families of youth with type 1 diabetes (mean age 12.2 ± 3.2 years; diabetes duration 5.0 ± 3.6 years) and 51 school nurses from corresponding schools in Ohio using structured questionnaires to systematically evaluate reported adherence to these guidelines from the perspectives of key stakeholders. This study has institutional review board approval. Sixteen key ADA recommendations, taking into account guidelines with multiple components, were assessed. For 7 of the 16 ADA recommendations, fewer than half of families reported adherence, defined as providing the service usually or always. Among school nurses, fewer than half reported …
Power factor correction by PFC boost topology using average current control method

Different power converters like ac-dc or dc-dc are widely used for their flexible output voltage and high conversion efficiency. Mostly these converters are used in various electronic devices and they are designed to regulate the output voltage even in the variation of load current and input voltage. Presently, there is increasing demands of high power factor and low total harmonic distortion in the current drawn from the utility. There is a requirement of good power quality; significant efforts have been made for the developments of the PFC converters. The boost topology is widely used as PFC converter for its simplicity and efficiency. Conventional boost PFC converters are composed of a full bridge AC to DC diode rectifier followed by a boost converter. The bridge rectifier offers high conduction losses which lowers the system efficiency. A rectifier with the boost pfc topology has been analyzed in this paper to improve the power factor and power quality. Here, the open loop uncontrolled rectifier has been analyzed using Microsim Pspice software and later the controlled rectifier with pfc boost topology has been analyzed by using Matlab.
The Demand for Automobile Fuel A Survey of Elasticities

A survey is made of the international research on the response of motorists to fuel price changes and an assessment of the orders of magnitude of the relevant income and price effects. The paper highlights some new results and directions that have appeared in the literature. The evidence shows important differences between the long- and short-run price elasticities of fuel consumption. © The London School of Economics and the University of Bath 2002
Repression. I.

During animal development, gene transcription is tuned to tissue-appropriate levels. Here we uncover antagonistic regulation of transcript levels in the germline of Caenorhabditis elegans hermaphrodites. The histone methyltransferase MES-4 (Maternal Effect Sterile-4) marks genes expressed in the germline with methylated lysine on histone H3 (H3K36me) and promotes their transcription; MES-4 also represses genes normally expressed in somatic cells and genes on the X chromosome. The DRM transcription factor complex, named for its Dp/E2F, Retinoblastoma-like, and MuvB subunits, affects germline gene expression and prevents excessive repression of X-chromosome genes. Using genome-scale analyses of germline tissue, we show that common germline-expressed genes are activated by MES-4 and repressed by DRM, and that MES-4 and DRM co-bind many germline-expressed genes. Reciprocally, MES-4 represses and DRM activates a set of autosomal soma-expressed genes and overall X-chromosome gene expression. Mutations in mes-4 and the DRM subunit lin-54 oppositely skew the transcript levels of their common targets and cause sterility. A double mutant restores target gene transcript levels closer to wild type, and the concomitant loss of lin-54 suppresses the severe germline proliferation defect observed in mes-4 single mutants. Together, “ yin-yang ” regulation by MES-4 and DRM ensures transcript levels appropriate for germ-cell function, elicits robust but not excessive dampening of X-chromosome-wide transcription, and may poise genes for future expression changes. Our study reveals that conserved transcriptional regulators implicated in development and cancer counteract each other to ﬁ ne-tune transcript dosage. These that modulate that removing restores to nearer-to-normal levels.
Genome‐wide analysis of phenobarbital‐inducible genes in Drosophila melanogaster

An oligoarray analysis was conducted to determine the differential expression of genes due to phenobarbital exposure in Drosophila melanogaster (w1118 strain) third instar larvae. Seventeen genes were observed to be induced with increased expression by a statistical analysis of microarrays approach with a q ≤ 0.05. At q ≤ 0.12, four more genes (Cyp12d1, DmGstd4, and two genes with unknown function) were found to be up‐regulated, and 11 genes with unknown function were found to be down‐regulated. Fifteen of these genes, Cyp4d14, Cyp6a2, Cyp6a8, Cyp12d1, Cyp6d5, Cyp6w1, CG2065, DmGstd6, DmGstd7, Amy‐p/Amy‐d, Ugt86Dd, GC5724, Jheh1, Jheh2 and CG11893, were verified using quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction. Some of these genes have been shown to be over‐transcribed in metabolically DDT‐resistant Drosophila strains.
Disclosures in Audit Committee Charters and Reports

In response to recent criticisms of audit committee performance, new SEC and stock exchange rules require companies to prepare an audit committee charter and to publish the charter in their proxy statement at least once every three years. Audit committees also must disclose how they discharged their responsibilities during the year. We study the disclosures in audit committee charters and reports by examining a random sample of 150 proxy statements filed in Spring 2001. The primary purposes of this analysis are to understand audit committee activities and to identify possible areas for further audit committee reform. We find that what audit committees say they are doing in their reports differs from what their charters say the committee should be doing. There is a generally high level of compliance with mandated audit committee disclosures, such as disclosures related to reviewing and discussing the financial statements with management. However, voluntary disclosure of audit committee activities was more .
Re-evaluation of pulsed photothermal radiometric profiling in samples with spectrally varied infrared absorption coefficient

Spectral variation of the sample absorption coefficient in mid-infrared (μIR) demands caution in photothermal radiometric measurements, because a constant μIR is regularly assumed in inverse analysis of the acquired signals. Adverse effects of such approximation were recently demonstrated in numerical simulations of pulsed photothermal radiometric (PPTR) temperature profiling in soft biological tissues, utilizing a general-purpose optimization code in the reconstruction process. We present here an original reconstruction code, which combines a conjugate gradient minimization algorithm with non-negativity constraint to the sought temperature vector. For the same test examples as in the former report (hyper-Gaussian temperature profiles, InSb detector with 3–5 µm acquisition band, signal-to-noise ratio SNR = 300) we obtain markedly improved reconstruction results, both when using a constant value μeff and when the spectral variation μIR(λ) is accounted for in the analysis. By comparing the results, we find that the former approach introduces observable artefacts, especially in the superficial part of the profile (z < 100 µm). However, the artefacts are much less severe than previously reported and are almost absent in the case of a deeper, single-lobed test profile. We demonstrate that the observed artefacts do not result from sub-optimal selection of μeff, and that they vary with specific realizations of white noise added to the simulated signals. The same holds also for a two-lobed test profile.
Dapagliflozin for the treatment of type 2 diabetes

Introduction: Despite the availability of many antihypreglycemic agents, many patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) fail to achieve the glycemic treatment goal, primarily due to progressive beta-cell dysfunction, and increased risk of hypoglycemia. Areas covered: The aim of the present article is to review the efficacy and safety of dapagliflozin, a novel antihyperglycemic drug that lowers the plasma glucose concentration by the inhibition of renal sodium-glucose cotransport, in lowering the plasma glucose concentration and the HbA1c in T2DM patents. This review summarizes the published data about the mechanism of action and clinical efficacy of dapagliflozin in lowering the HbA1c in patients with T2DM. It also discusses additional non-glycemic benefits of dapagliflozin and the safety profile of the drug. Expert opinion: Dapagliflozin is effective in lowering the plasma glucose concentration in patients with T2DM with a good safety profile. Because of its unique mechanism of action, dapagliflozin can be utilized in combination with all other antihyperglycemic agents and at all stages of the disease.
International differences in web page evaluation guidelines

The notion of quality of websites depends on the culture of the individual user. This article provides empirical evidence based on the analysis of existing evaluation guidelines from different countries and a questionnaire for users from two countries, Peru and Germany. Cultures are typically characterised by cultural dimensions which are correlated with the responses in the study presented. Some of the evidence is statistically significant. Developers of web pages and e-commerce sites with an international user group need to be aware of the fact that the evaluation criteria applied in different cultures may be different.
Short- and Long-Run Tax Elasticities: The Case of the Netherlands

This paper provides estimates for the base elasticities of Dutch taxes, paying particular attention to differences between short-and long-term elasticities, and allowing for asymmetric adjustment. Estimates are presented for five tax categories for the period 1970-2005, after making appropriate corrections for effects of discretionary tax measures. The empirical results indicate that shortterm elasticities often are lower than long-term ones, notably when taxes are subdued. Consequently, shocks to tax revenues tend to be aggravated by the dynamics of short-term elasticities. Ignoring differences between short- and long-term elasticities contributes to revenue ‘surprises’ and an incorrect assessment of the fiscal stance. JEL Classification: H2, H62, H68
Differences in activation of G2/M checkpoint in keratinocytes after genotoxic stress induced by hydrogen peroxide and ultraviolet a radiation

Long-wave ultraviolet radiation (UVA) may cause extensive DNA damage via reactive oxygen species (ROS). In this study we examined whether UVA- and H2O2-mediated DNA damage have equivalent effects on the induction of G2/M phase checkpoint and cell cycle progression in a transformed keratinocyte cell line HaCaT. By employing single cell gel electrophoresis (comet assay) we determined the equipotent doses of UVA and H2O2 with respect to the induction of alkali-labile sites (an indicator of oxidative DNA decay). However, in contrast to H2O2 which caused a pronounced G2/M cell cycle arrest 24h after treatment, UVA irradiation did not affect cell cycle progression. Increasing UVA doses up to 150 kJ/m2 did not affect cell cycle and proliferation whereas increasing H2O2 concentrations caused a cell cycle block or cell death. Cytometric analysis revealed that G2/M cell cycle arrest took place beyond the cyclin B1 restriction point. We conclude that the DNA damage induced by UVA is easily repaired and does not perturb cell growth, whereas the H2O2-induced damage leads ultimately to cell cycle arrest or cell death.
Interleukin‐18 plays a role in both the alum‐induced T helper 2 response and the T helper 1 response induced by alum‐adsorbed interleukin‐12

Previous studies have shown that the antigen‐specific T helper 2 (Th2) response induced by alum adjuvants is interleukin (IL)‐4 independent. As a role for IL‐18 in Th2 induction has recently been described, in addition to its role in enhancing Th1 responses, we have studied the Th2 response induced by ovalbumin (OVA) adsorbed to alum in wild‐type and IL‐18‐deficient mice. Our results indicate that while endogenous IL‐18 facilitates alum‐induced IL‐4 production, OVA‐specific immunoglobulin G1 (IgG1) and IgE production remain unaffected. Furthermore, antigen‐specific Th1 responses induced with alum/IL‐12‐adsorbed OVA were demonstrated to be highly IL‐18 dependent. Despite these observations, injection of BALB/c mice with exogenous IL‐18 adsorbed to alum/OVA did not alter IL‐4 or interferon‐γ production by T cells and had little effect on the relative production of IgG1/IgG2a antibody subclasses compared with alum/OVA inoculated mice. However, the previously described synergism between IL‐12 and IL‐18 in Th1 induction was evident as the Th1‐promoting activity of alum/IL‐12 against adsorbed OVA was greatly augmented by the coadministration of IL‐18. These results indicate that while alum‐induced IL‐18 can facilitate Th2 induction, the addition of exogenous IL‐18 cannot further enhance the alum‐induced Th2 response.
Relationships of Changes in Pharmacokinetic Parameters of Substrate Drugs in Drug–Drug Interactions on Metabolizing Enzymes and Transporters

A general objective of drug–drug interaction (DDI) studies is to determine whether potential interactions of new molecular entities with concomitantly administered other drugs exist and, if DDIs occur, whether dosage adjustments are required. A typical end point for DDI evaluations is the ratio of area under the plasma concentration–time curve (AUC) of substrate drugs (AUCR), whereas the ratios of maximal plasma concentration (Cmax) and terminal half‐life (t1/2) are also important to understand DDI mechanisms (CmaxR and t1/2R, respectively). Because changes in substrate AUC by precipitant drugs ultimately result from alterations of Cmax and t1/2, AUCR can be considered a hybrid parameter of CmaxR and t1/2R, for example, AUCR ≈ CmaxR × t1/2R. The primary objective of this study was to investigate the relationships between AUCR, CmaxR, and t1/2R in physiologically based pharmacokinetic model–predicted and clinically observed DDI results. First, the model‐predicted results showed the excellent proportional relationship between AUCR and (CmaxR × t1/2R) in DDI results of virtual substrates having a wide range of oral bioavailability with coadministration of ketoconazole, ritonavir, and rifampin. Second, the reasonable proportional relationships were also observed in the clinically observed DDI results of midazolam and statins (atorvastatin, cerivastatin, fluvastatin, lovastatin, pitavastatin, pravastatin, rosuvastatin, and simvastatin) with various inhibitors and inducers. Finally, these results suggest that utilization of the proportional relationship between AUCR and (CmaxR × t1/2R) can provide an additional framework to further interpret DDI results reasonably and clearly. Furthermore, the proportional relationship can be purposely used to assess study design and pharmacokinetic analyses in DDI studies.
Futures Basis for Cotton: Impact of Globalization and Structural Change

A model of commodity futures contract basis was developed based on Working’s theory of the price of storage. An error-correction model was estimated for the basis for the InterContinental Exchange (ICE) #2 cotton contract maturing in December during 2000-08. The model was also extended to incorporate the impact of changes in market activity that evolved as financial markets and commodity price behavior underwent significant changes after 2005. The model captured the inversion of basis following the collapse of China’s crop in 2003, but the shock realized during 2008 may have been in part driven by one-time events not included in the model. Estimates from the error-correction model suggest an extended period for the return of basis to equilibrium, spanning from about 1 ½ to 2 months.
Private construction as a general indicator of urban development: The case of Israel

Abstract The paper argues that the extent to which a particular urban locality is able to attract private developers can be considered as a prominent indicator of its socioeconomic prosperity. A general model of factors determining the location of private construction across urban areas is suggested and tested using the 1992–1994 statistical data available for urban settlements in Israel. In addition, the effect of population size on private construction in urban areas is investigated. In the case of Israel, the highest per‐capita rates of private construction are found in settlements of a particular size (70 000–80 000 residents). Based on this conclusion, a strategy of ‘redirecting priorities’ to developing the peripheral regions of the country is suggested. This strategy proposes the concentration of state and local financial resources on selected development settlements until they reach the above population threshold and become more attractive for private developers, followed by the sequential transfe.
Pain on injection of propofol: The mitigating influence of metoclopramide using different techniques

Background: Metoclopramide administered intravenously (iv) immediately before injection of propofol, after mixing with propofol, or after a rubber tourniquet for 1 min before propofol injection will reduce pain induced by propofol injection. In this study, these three different techniques in reducing propofol injection pain with metoclopramide were compared with lidocaine or saline to evaluate the most effective method in reducing propofol injection pain.
The Relationship between Mission Statements and Firm Performance: An Exploratory Study

This paper examines the relationship between mission statements and firm performance using a sample of 136 large Canadian organizations. Previous writings suggest that mission statements are essential for superior organizational performance results. However, there is little empirical evidence to support this claim. The data from the present study demonstrate that mission statements and some of their specific characteristics are selectively associated with higher levels of organizational performance. The paper concludes with several propositions to guide future research.
Determinants of Urban Household Consumption in Latin America: A Summary of Evidence from the ECIEL Surveys

During 1966-72, the ECIEL Program of Joint Studies on Latin American Economic Integration (Estudios Conjuntos Sobre Integraci6n Econ6mica Latinoamericana, coordinated in Rio de Janeiro) undertook householdbudget surveys in 19 cities in 10 South American countries. I present here a selection of findings based on this information for 10 cities in five Andean countries (Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela) collected in 1966-69 and analyzed during 1971-75. This project has coincided with a resurgence of interest in the role of saving in the economic growth of lessdeveloped countries and therefore in the factors determining how income is allocated between consumption and saving. However, most of the studies reviewed in a recent survey of the literature are based on macroeconomic data, usually on cross-national or time-series analysis of national accounts aggregates. ' While there have also been many studies based on household-
Customer Relationship Management Processes in Retail Banking - Best Practice and Business Value Evaluation

A competitive implementation of customer relationship management (CRM) in retail banking requires business processes aligned to the value contribution. The objective of this paper is to derive a reference process on macro-level from industry best practice and validate its applicability in a survey. Furthermore, we introduce a new method for evaluating existing business process implementations with respect to the business value, as measured by the value of the customer base as relevant overall key performance measure. Comparing the individual company process and the reference process, in-house and external experts can evaluate the gaps by using the decision calculus method. This allows a clear recommendation on the prioritization of potential process modifications and quantifies their effect in terms of business value.
FDG PET/CT findings in malignant intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm of the bile ducts.

Abstract: A 58-year-old man with no significant symptoms was referred to the hospital due to the presence of an intrahepatic cystic tumor and a dilated intrahepatic bile duct. F-18 FDG PET/CT demonstrated intense FDG uptake in the marginal region of the cystic tumor. Subsequently, the patient underwent a right hemihepatectomy with extrahepatic bile duct resection. The histopathology revealed a malignant intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm of the bile ducts with dysplasia. This report thus documents the FDG PET findings in malignant intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm of the bile ducts, which showed an intense FDG uptake in the tumor.