Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Streptococcal M5 Protein Prevents Neutrophil Phagocytosis by Interfering with CD11b/CD18 Receptor-Mediated Association and Signaling1

Group A streptococci (GAS) are common human pathogens that express major surface-associated virulence factors designated M proteins. In this study, we explored directly the cellular mechanisms behind their supposed ability to prevent phagocytosis. Isolated human neutrophils killed an M-negative GAS mutant (ΔM5), but not the wild-type parent strain (M5). After 3 h, 3–4 times as many ΔM5 as M5 bacteria were associated with the neutrophils, and more ΔM5 than M5 bacteria were ingested. However, there was no statistically significant difference between ΔM5 and M5 bacteria in regard to the percentage of the neutrophil-associated bacteria that were ingested, indicating that M5 protein prevents an adhesion receptor-dependent association with neutrophils and not the phagocytic machinery per se. Different Abs against CD11b/CD18 (CR3) blocked adhesion and killing of ΔM5 bacteria, whereas the blocking of two other complement receptors, CD11c/CD18 (CR4) and CD35 (CR1), did not. The CD11b/CD18-mediated killing of ΔM5 bacteria resulted in protein tyrosine phosphorylations and Cdc42 activation. Furthermore, inhibition of CD11b/CD18 receptor engagement or tyrosine kinase activity blocked the ΔM5-induced activation of Cdc42 as well as the killing of these bacteria. We conclude that M5 protein interferes with the CD11b/CD18-dependent association between GAS and neutrophils, and thereby blocks subsequent ingestion of the bacteria.
Towards a business analytics capability maturity model

Business analytics (BA) systems are an important strategic investment for many organisations and can potentially contribute significantly to firm performance. Establishing strong BA capabilities is currently one of the major concerns of chief information officers. This research project aims to develop a BA capability maturity model (BACMM). The BACMM will help organisations to scope and evaluate their BA initiatives. This research-in-progress paper describes the current BACMM, relates it to existing capability maturity models and explains its theoretical base. It also discusses the design science research approach being used to develop the BACMM and provides details of further work within the research project. Finally, the paper concludes with a discussion of how the BACMM might be used in practice.
Technical Report No. 2009-556 School of Computing Queen's University Kingston, Ontario, Canada Parallel Singulations in Radio Frequency Identification

Tag collisions can impose a major delay in Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID) systems. Such collisions are hard to overcome with passive tags due to their limited capabilities. In this paper, we look into the problem of minimizing the time required to read a set of passive tags. We propose the novel concept of parallel singulation which, aided by the multiple antennas configuration, interrogates tags in sets. Multiple instances of the anti-collision scheme are executed for each set of tags in parallel and in an autonomous manner. Simulation results show that our approach makes significant improvements in reducing collisions and interrogation delay and thus increasing the reading rate and throughput of RFID systems.
A precise estimation of vocal tract parameters for high quality voice morphing

One of the most recent models for voice conversion is the classical LPC analysis-synthesis model combined with GMM, which aims to separate information from excitation and vocal tract and to learn the transformation rules with statistical methods. However, it does not work well as it is supposed to be due to the inaccuracy of the extracted feature information as well as the overly-smoothed spectral converted by traditional GMM. In this paper, we propose a novel method to solve the problem which is based on the technique of the separation of glottal waveforms and the prediction of the excitations. The final result shows that not only are the transformed vocal tract parameters matching the target one better, but also is the high quality of the synthesized speech preserved.
Clinical profile of four families with arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy caused by dominant desmoplakin mutations.

AIMS To characterize the clinical profile of patients belonging to families affected with autosomal dominant arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC) due to mutations of the gene encoding for the cell-to-cell adhesion protein desmoplakin (DSP). METHODS AND RESULTS Thirty-eight subjects belonging to four families showing different DSP mutations (three missense and one in the intron-exon splicing region) underwent clinical and genetic investigation, including annual 12-lead ECG, signal averaged ECG, 24 h Holter ECG, and two-dimensional echocardiography. Twenty-six family members (11 males and 15 females) were found to carry a DSP mutation. After a follow-up of 1-24 years, median 6, 14 (54%) fulfilled (mean age at diagnosis 33+/-15 years) and 12 (mean age 43+/-24 years at the last follow-up) did not fulfil the established diagnostic criteria of ARVC, although five of them had some cardiac abnormalities. Clinical presentations were palpitations in six, sudden death (SD) in three, syncope in one, and chest pain with increased myocardial enzymes in two. Abnormal 12-lead ECG findings were present in 15 cases (58%), ventricular arrhythmias in 12 (46%), and late potentials in 11 (42%). Fourteen (54%) had abnormal echocardiographic findings, with left ventricular involvement in seven of them. SD occurred in six subjects and in three it was the first symptom of the disease; moreover, one subject died due to heart failure. The annual disease-related death and SD/aborted SD were 0.028 and 0.023 patient/year, respectively. CONCLUSION Familial ARVC caused by DSP mutations is characterized by a high occurrence of SD even as first clinical manifestation. Left ventricular involvement is not a rare feature of the disease, which frequently escapes clinical diagnosis by applying the currently available criteria. Genetic screening is mandatory for early identification of asymptomatic carriers and preventive strategies within a family with a genotyped index case.
Safety of a Virosomal Adjuvanted Influenza Vaccine in Children Suffering from Chronic Disease

Children suffering from chronic disease are at increased risk for complications and mortality caused by influenza. Influenza can be most effectively prevented by vaccination. Although recommended for children with chronic disease, vaccination rates remain low in this population. One possible explanation is the parents' concern that the child's underlying disease may worsen or that adverse events following influenza vaccination may be more severe than in healthy children. Data demonstrating the safety of influenza vaccination in this population are therefore crucial and may help to increase future vaccination rates in children suffering from chronic disease. The present review summarises published data on safety following vaccination with a virosomal adjuvanted influenza vaccine in children suffering from chronic disease compared with healthy children. The vaccine was shown to be immunogenic and safe in four particularly vulner- able populations: children suffering from asthma, cystic fibrosis, diabetes, or HIV infection. No changes in the course of the underlying diseases were observed after vaccination.
The influence of stretching and warm-up exercises on Achilles tendon reflex activity.

The aim of this study was to investigate the acute effects of prior exercise (warm-up and stretching) on the electromyographic and force output of mechanically elicited triceps surae reflexes. Fifty male subjects performed eight reflex experiments under each of three successive conditions in one session: (1) no prior exercise, (2) after static stretching of the passive triceps surae (3 min) and (3) after a 10-min warm-up run on a treadmill. Tendon tap reflex force was elicited in the triceps surae of the right leg by means of a standardized reflex hammer and measured in a custom-built fixture. Electromyographic (EMG) signals were recorded with surface electrodes over the medial head of the gastrocnemius (G) and the soleus (S). Low coefficients of variation within subjects contrasted with high between-subject variations, indicating highly individual reflex characteristics. After stretching, reductions in the peak force (-5%; P < 0.05), the force rise rate (-8%; P < 0.01), the half relaxation rate (-5%; N.S.), the EMG amplitudes (G, -16%; S, -17%; P < 0.01) and integrals (G, -15%; S, -18%; P < 0.01), and an increase in EMG latencies (G, +3%; S, +1%; P < 0.01), were found compared with the values obtained without prior exercise. After running, the peak force reached the values obtained without prior exercise (-2%; N.S.), the force rise rate and half relaxation rate increased by 8 and 12%, respectively (P < 0.01), and the impulse (force-time integral; -12%), EMG amplitudes (G, -20%; S, -23%; P < 0.01), integrals (G, -18%; S, -23%; P < 0.01) and latencies (G, -1%; S, -2%; P < 0.01) decreased significantly. The changes in the force characteristics observed after the stretching treatment indicate improved muscle compliance that might reduce the risk of injury. On the other hand, the changes after the additional warm-up run had a more pronounced influence with regard to improved force development and a decreased EMG activity, which can be viewed as a performance-enhancing effect.
Mesh vs. point-to-multipoint topology: a coverage and spectrum efficiency comparison

Ad hoc and mesh networks are currently under heavy research around the world. It is also becoming an area of great interest in the future network architecture such as 4G. It is expected that these networks will be dominantly present both in the proximity and wide area networks. In this paper we present performance perspectives of wireless mesh network topology in compared with point-to-multipoint (PMP) in terms of coverage and spectrum efficiency. Simulation results shows that thought the coverage efficiency of mesh networking is overwhelming, advanced methods should be used to improve its spectrum efficiency. The key results of the performance evaluation based on the simulations are presented.
Marriage Postponement in Iran: Accounting for Socio‐economic and Cultural Change in Time and Space

The mean age at marriage of Iranian women increased by three years between the mid-1980s and 2000 during a period of great socio-economic change, particularly affecting the 1971–1975 and 1976–1980 birth cohorts. This paper analyses the marriage timing and life course experience of these cohorts of women and highlights the contribution that ethnicity and changes in the socio-economic context made to the sharp marriage delay experienced by the 1976–1980 birth cohort. A discrete time hazard model is applied to the 2000 Iran Demographic and Health Survey data, which are linked to a range of time-varying district-level contextual variables created from the 1986 and 1996 Iranian censuses. The findings suggest that the marriage postponement experienced by the younger birth cohort is related to improvements in women's education and can partly be explained by the increased opportunity costs of marriage, which resulted from limited access to education after marriage. The findings also suggest that differences in marriage timing between areas predominated by certain ethnic groups became less evident for the younger birth cohort.
Identification of candidate residues for interaction of protein S with C4b binding protein and activated protein C.

Protein S is a plasma factor essential for prevention of thrombosis, partly due to its activity as a cofactor for the plasma anticoagulant protease-activated protein C. To expand knowledge about structure-function relationships in homologous protein S molecules, studies of protein S from different species have been performed. Protein S anti-coagulant activity in human, monkey, bovine, and porcine plasma has been inactivated by purified human C4b binding protein (C4BP) with dose-dependence, suggesting that each protein S can bind human C4BP and that only the free form of each is anti-coagulantly active. Purified porcine protein S has a 10-fold higher Kd for human C4BP than has human protein S. Protein S residues 420-434 provide an essential binding site for the negative regulator C4BP. cDNA sequences show that protein S residues 420-434 are highly conserved in all four species with the notable exception of Lys-429-Ile in porcine protein S. Differences between porcine and human protein S, e.g. Lys-429-Ile, Lys-43-Ala, Ser-197-Leu, Ser 199-Phe, Glu-463-Gly, Lys-571-Glu, Asn-602-Ile, Gln-607-Pro, may contribute to the decreased affinity of porcine protein S for human C4BP. Moreover, the species specificity of cofactor activities of various species of protein S is determined for human versus bovine-activated protein C, and these results, combined with sequence comparisons, agree with previous evidence that the thrombin-sensitive region and the first epidermal growth factor domain of protein S, i.e. residues 47-116, are responsible for recognition of activated protein C.
Three-dimensional Bolton-Brush Growth Study landmark data: ontogeny and sexual dimorphism of the Bolton standards cohort.

OBJECTIVE The treatment of craniofacial reconstructive surgery patients may benefit from comparison to average referent three-dimensional landmark data. These data may be useful for diagnosis, treatment planning, prosthetic design, or outcomes assessment. With regard to subadult patients, we hypothesize that the pattern of ontogenetic shape change of same sex, same ethnicity, referent populations will show gross uniformity. We present a preliminary shape analysis of 50 three-dimensional landmarks derived from 317 Bolton-Brush Growth Study biorthogonal image pairs. We determine which landmarks can be collected from scanned radiographs reliably by four operators for the precisely locatable points, ontogenetic trends in landmark configuration shape change, and patterns of sexual dimorphism. PARTICIPANTS Participants were Bolton standards individuals (16 male and 16 female) who contributed biplane cephalograms seven or more times with annual or greater spacing between ages 3 and 18 years. DESIGN After removing outliers, we searched for ontogenetic heterogeneity, including sexual dimorphism and within sex-specific Procrustes coordinate shape spaces. RESULTS A cut-off of 4.3-mm interoperator error left 32 landmarks in our analysis. Three different approaches (principal component analysis, age-trend analysis, and principal components of age residuals) all found no patterns of individual variation around sex-specific average trends of shape change. Male shape change peaks at age 15, a correlate of the growth spurt. CONCLUSIONS Simultaneous frontal and lateral anatomic landmark identification improves three-dimensional localization reliability. Three-dimensional craniodental shape change from ages 8 to 18 within the Bolton standards presents little heterogeneity. Considerations of ethnicity aside, these may be initial grounds for use of these data as a normative referent.
Disharmonische Partnerbeziehung der Eltern und kindliche Entwicklung im Säuglings- und Kleinkindalter

Praxis der Kinderpsychologie und Kinderpsychiatrie 41 (1992) 4, S. 114-118 Padagogische Teildisziplin: Padagogische Psychologie; Padagogik der fruhen Kindheit; als elektronischer Volltext verfugbar
L impossible approche positive des risques sociaux

Apres avoir rappele les principaux enjeux semantiques, ideologiques et methodologiques du recours a la notion de risque social, nous soutenons qu'une approche positive du risque social, meme limitee du fait de la reconnaissance du risque comme construction sociale, est possible et necessaire.
A fast calculation method of 2-dimensional MUSIC for simultaneous estimation of DOA and frequency

A fast calculation method of 2-dimensional MUSIC, which can estimate two parameters such as DOA and frequency, is proposed. In the proposed method, 2-dimensional search calculation is substituted with FFT (Fast Fourier Transformation) and convergent calculation. Simulation results showed the proposed method is approximately twenty times faster than the conventional method.
Organization of decision support systems for crisis management

The article presents structural logic schemes of building decision support systems in crisis situations with providing support for video conferencing based on heterogeneous networks. The proposed structural solutions allow implementing them with the use of any data transmission systems of the conditions of implementation of new compression technology based on the presented methods and models of adaptive encoding digital-out the images of preset quality. It is shown that the use of improved compression technology based on the methods for adaptive coding can be definitely implemented on H.32x protocol type platform without additional technical changes or communication equipment replacement and can achieve higher video transmission speed via communication channels.
Qualitative and Quantitative PCR Measures of Cytomegalovirus in Patients With Advanced HIV Infection Who Require Transfusions

Summary: The Viral Activation Transfusion Study (VATS) was a randomized trial that compared leukocyte‐reduced transfusions with unfiltered red blood cell transfusions in HIV and cytomegalovirus (CMV) antibody‐positive patients with anemia who were undergoing their first blood transfusion. The relations of the baseline qualitative and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) measures of plasma CMV viremia, HIV RNA, CD4+ cell counts, and quality of life in these study subjects were examined. The 511 study subjects had a median CD4+ cell count equal to 15 cells/mm3, and 110 (21.5%) had CMV viremia by qualitative assay. In multivariate models, frequency of positive qualitative CMV increased with decreasing CD4+ cell counts (p = .04 trend), higher HIV RNA (p < .001), and a history of CMV disease (p < .001). Quantitative CMV PCR were performed on the 110 qualitative assay‐positive study subjects. Median CMV viral load was 1780 copies/ml. In multivariate regression models, lower CD4+ cell count (p = .03), and a history of CMV disease (p < .001) correlated with the level of CMV load. HIV RNA load and CMV load were not correlated. A lower Karnofsky score was associated with both the presence and quantity of CMV DNA.
Giving up control to pursue growth: The evolution of corporate ownership after IPO *

Recent research documents that ownership concentration is higher in countries with weak investor protection. However, drawing on panel data on corporate ownership in 34 countries between 1995 and 2006, we show that these market-wide characteristics bear little relation to the ownership structure of newly public firms, which almost universally list with low float. What reconciles these two stylized facts? We show that firms in countries with strong investor protection are more likely to experience decreases in ownership concentration after listing, that these decreases appear to occur in response to growth opportunities, and that they are associated with new share issuance. Therefore, one of the key reasons that ownership concentration falls as firms age following their IPO in countries with strong investor protection is that firms raise capital and grow, diluting blockholders in the process.
Nasopharyngeal brush biopsies and detection of nasopharyngeal cancer in a high-risk population.

BACKGROUND Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is an important tumor in many countries. Ethnic and regional factors strongly influence disease risk. NPC is usually diagnosed late in disease development, and 10-year survival rates are as low as 10%. Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), a possibly causative agent, is present in all cells of essentially all undifferentiated NPCs. We wished to determine the following: 1) whether an ambulatory nasopharyngeal brush biopsy could provide sufficient tumor cell DNA for the detection of EBV and 2) whether the detection of EBV in this locale reflects the presence of tumor cells or simply EBV carrier status. METHODS We collected nasopharyngeal tissue via ambulatory brush biopsies from 21 patients with newly diagnosed NPC and from 157 subjects with other otolaryngologic complaints. The majority of study subjects were from high-risk populations. Sample DNA was analyzed for the presence of EBV genomic sequences by use of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). RESULTS Ninety-six percent of samples yielded sufficient DNA for PCR amplification. Nineteen of 21 patients with NPC brushed positive for EBV DNA, while all but two (1.3%) of 149 informative control subjects were negative for EBV (two-sided P<.0001). One of the EBV-positive control subjects had an EBV-positive inverted sinonasal papilloma; the other EBV-positive control subject exhibited no overt clinical disease. CONCLUSION Demonstration of EBV DNA in nasopharyngeal brush biopsy specimens detects NPC with a sensitivity of at least 90% (95% confidence interval = 89.63%-91.32%) and a specificity of approximately 99% (95% confidence interval = 98.64%-98.68%). This technique merits further testing as a possible ambulatory screening strategy in high-risk populations.
SELF-ORGANIZING FEDERALISM: COLLABORATIVE MECHANISMS TO MITIGATE INSTITUTIONAL COLLECTIVE ACTION DILEMMAS

Part I. Self-Organizing Versus Centralized Solutions to Institutional Collective Action Problems: Theoretical Considerations: 1. Self-organizing governance of institutional collective action dilemmas: an overview Richard C. Feiock and John T. Scholz 2. Can consolidation preserve local autonomy? Mitigating vertical and horizontal dilemmas Andrew B. Whitford 3. The institutional collective action perspective on self-organizing mechanism: market failures and transaction cost problems Annette Steinacker 4. Conflict, power, and irreconcilable preferences: some limits to self organizing mechanism Bryan Jones Part II. Integrating Metropolitan Service Provision: Networks, Contracts, Agreements, and Special Districts: 5. Adaptive versus restrictive contracts: can they resolve different risk problems? Simon Andrew 6. Do risk profiles of services alter contractual patterns? A comparison across multiple metropolitan services Manoj Shrestha 7. Special districts versus contracts: complements or substitutes? Megan Mullin 8. The political market for intergovernmental cooperation Kenneth N. Bickers, Stephanie Post and Robert M. Stein Part III. Integrating Regional Policies through Networks, Joint Ventures, and Partnerships: 9. Collaborative institutions, functional areas, and beliefs: what are their roles in policy networks? Christopher M. Weible 10. Sustaining joint ventures: the role of resource exchange and the strength of inter-organizational relationship Ramiro Berardo 11. Institutional collective action in an ecology of games Mark Lubell, Adam Henry and Mike McCoy 12. Enhancing vertical and horizontal self-organization: harnessing informal networks to integrate policies within and between governments in the European Union Paul Thurner Part IV. Self-Organizing Governance and Institutional Collective Action: 13. Self-organizing mechanisms for mitigating institutional collective action dilemmas: an assessment and research agenda Richard C. Feiock and John T. Scholz.