Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Recovery of ΔF508‐CFTR function by analogs of hyaluronan disaccharide

We recently discovered that hyaluronan was exported from fibroblasts by MRP5 and from epithelial cells by cystic fibrosis (CF) transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) that was known as a chloride channel. On this basis we developed membrane permeable analogs of hyaluronan disaccharide as new class of compounds to modify their efflux. We found substances that activated hyaluronan export from human breast cancer cells. The most active compound 2‐(2‐acetamido‐3,5‐dihydroxyphenoxy)‐5‐aminobenzoic acid (Hylout4) was tested for its influence on the activity of epithelial cells. It activated the ion efflux by normal and defective ΔF508‐CFTR. It also enhanced the plasma membrane concentration of the ΔF508‐CFTR protein and reduced the transepithelial resistance of epithelial cells. In human trials of healthy persons, it caused an opening of CFTR in the nasal epithelium. Thus compound Hylout4 is a corrector that recovered ΔF508‐CFTR from intracellular degradation and activated its export function. J. Cell. Biochem. 113: 156–164, 2012. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Reexamining the sick-role concept: an empirical assessment.

Despite the existence of a vast literature on sick-role adoption, there are only a few critical studies of the normative model of behavioral expectations that is the core of Parsons' formulation. This report presents evidence from a survey of 490 recently discharged patients that normative consensus on these expectations is considerably higher than one might expect from the results of illness-behavior studies.
The Bigger Picture: Picking the Right Soap Box—Is it Possible to Connect with Different Audience Targets (Practitioners and Patients) from the Same Platform?

Abstract The use of Internet and social media has skyrocketed in the past decade. It did not take long until physicians realized that they could use social media as a tool for communication with patients and colleagues. Since then use of social media has exploded and the information that has become available for physicians and their patients is remarkable. In addition, because of the immediacy of the platform, messages that are incorrect or not desired can be rapidly promoted, whether deliberately or accidentally. To obtain the best use of social media, the right platform should be chosen, and this varies depending on the group one is trying to reach, and the message or visibility desired. In this article, we review the variety of options available to users.
Evaluation of rare but severe immune related adverse effects in PD-1 and PD-L1 inhibitors in non-small cell lung cancer: a meta-analysis.

Background Programmed death-1 (PD-1) and programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1) inhibitor therapy is showing marked efficacy in advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Meanwhile, it is concomitant with distinctive immune-related adverse effects. We aim to describe the incidence of pneumonitis and other rare but severe immune-related adverse effects (IRAEs), as well as treatment related deaths. In addition, we analyze the differences in incidence of pneumonitis between PD-1 and PD-L1 inhibitors and standard-of-care chemotherapy. Methods PubMed was searched up to 24 March 2017 for clinical trials of PD-1 inhibitors (nivolumab and pembrolizumab) and PD-L1 inhibitors (atezolizumab, avelumab and durvalumab) in treatment of NSCLC. Besides, references of relevant articles were screened. Results Finally, 22 trials were included in our study, 14 with data of pneumonitis, 19 with other severe IRAEs or treatment related deaths and 5 with control groups. Incidence of all-grade pneumonitis was 2.9% (95% CI, 2.0-4.8%) and grade 3 or higher pneumonitis 2.0% (95% CI, 1.0-2.0%). Incidence of all-grade pneumonitis in PD-1 and PD-L1 inhibitor therapy (n=1,313) was significantly higher than that in chemotherapy (n=918) (OR=2.35, 95% CI, 1.32-4.20, P=0.004), but had no significance in grade 3-5 pneumonitis. Incidence of cardiorespiratory arrest (n=537) was 1.0% (95% CI, 0-2.0%), cardiac failure (n=214) 2.0% (95% CI, 1.0-5.7%), myocardial infarction (n=402) 1.0% (95% CI, 0-3.8%), stroke (n=135) 2.0% (95% CI, 0-13.0%), disease progression (n=391) 1.0% (95% CI, 0-2.9%), pancreatitis (n=700) 1.0% (95% CI, 0-2.0%) and severe skin reactions (n=836) 2.0% (95% CI, 1.0-3.8%). Incidence of treatment related deaths was 0.7%. Conclusions Immune related adverse effects can on occasion be life-threatening even though usually rare. Incidence of pneumonitis in PD-1 and PD-L1 inhibitors was significantly higher than that in chemotherapy. More studies should be conducted to investigate the incidence of these rare but life-threatening IRAEs.
Functional stratification of biomarkers selected from microarray data for understanding oral leukoplakia associated carcinogenesis

Oral carcinogenesis, a multistep phenomenon often precedes by oral pre-cancers like leukoplakia (OLK). Differentially expressed (DE) gene analysis of microarray data followed by functional classification provides an idea of alteration of biological functions associated with disease progression. In this context, microRNA (miRNA) microarray data analysis for functional classification is still a challenge, since most of the functions of miRNAs are yet to be discovered. The rationale of this study is to identify a subset of miRNA from microarray data, efficiency of which were evaluated using support vector machine for optimal supervised classification of OLK and OLK transformed oral squamous cell carcinoma (LK-OSCC). Another study was performed to identify subset of DE genes from gene expression database for OLK and LK-OSCC differentiation. This study further considered functional classification of target genes of DE miRNAs and DE genes and compared to understand OLK associated carcinogenesis mechanism, which is first of its kind. Result suggested that group of eight DE miRNAs, viz. miR-21, miR-142-3p, mir-223, miR-637, miR-142-5p, miR-1184 and miR-31* could classify OLK and LK-OSCC with 100% sensitivity and specificity. During comparative assessment of functionally classified target genes of DE miRNAs and mRNAs, it was observed that beside few common functional gene sets, the exclusive DE genes in miRNA target gene groups were TBC1 domain family and kinesin family while histone clusters, WD repeat domain genes, ribosomal proteins, transmembrane proteins and olfactory related proteins were significant in DE genes. Pathway analysis of the DE genes mainly showed to affect pathways especially for glutathione, drug and tyrosine metabolism as well as melanogenesis. The significant biological processes found to be affected by gene ontology analysis were mainly the response to lipid peroxide and altered secondary metabolite and melanin biosynthesis.
Androgenic regulation of expression of androgen receptor protein in the perineal motoneurons of aged male rats

Androgen might regulate expression of androgen receptors (AR) in AR‐containing motoneurons in young animals. In the present study, it was examined whether expression of AR was also regulated by androgen in aged animals. Twelve male rats were castrated at 26 months of age. Five days following castration, the animals were treated with testosterone propionate (TP; six males) or vehicle (six males) and killed 2 hours later. Six sham‐castrated rats served as controls. AR immunoreactivity was examined in motoneurons of the spinal nucleus of the bulbocavernosus (SNB) in these animals by immunohistochemistry using the polyclonal antibody PG21. In control animals, slightly intense AR immunoreactivity was confined to the nuclei of the motoneurons. AR immunoreactivity was completely eliminated in the motoneurons of castrated rats. In castrated, aged animals treated with TP, the intensity of AR immunoreactivity in the nuclei of SNB motoneurons was increased. Plasma levels of testosterone in castrated, aged animals 2 hours following treatment with TP were significantly greater than those in controls. These results suggest that expression of AR in motoneurons of the SNB in aged male rats is up‐regulated in response to androgen and that androgen may be, at least in part, involved in the process of aging of the SNB in male rats. J. Comp. Neurol. 443:383–387, 2002. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Protective effect of DNA immunization against mycobacterial infection is associated with the early emergence of interferon‐gamma (IFN‐γ)‐secreting lymphocytes

The development of more effective anti‐tuberculosis (TB) vaccines would contribute to the global control of TB. Understanding the activated/memory T cell response to mycobacterial infection and identifying immunological correlates of protective immunity will facilitate the design and assessment of new candidate vaccines. Therefore, we investigated the kinetics of the CD4+ T cell response and IFN‐γ production in an intravenous challenge model of Mycobacterium bovis bacille Calmette–Guérin (BCG) before and after DNA immunization. Activated/memory CD4+ T cells, defined as CD44hiCD45RBlo, expanded following infection, peaking at 3–4 weeks, and decreased as the bacterial load fell. Activated/memory CD4+ T cells were the major source of IFN‐γ and the level of antigen‐specific IFN‐γ‐secreting lymphocytes, detected by ELISPOT, paralleled the changes in bacterial load. To examine the effects of a DNA vaccine, we immunized mice with a plasmid expressing the mycobacterial secreted antigen 85B (Ag85B). This led to a significant reduction in mycobacteria in the liver, spleen and lung. This protective effect was associated with the rapid emergence of antigen‐specific IFN‐γ‐secreting lymphocytes which were detected earlier, at day 4, and at higher levels than in infected animals immunized with a control vector. This early and increased response of IFN‐γ‐secreting T cells may serve as a correlate of protective immunity for anti‐TB vaccines.
Music emotion classification using double-layer support vector machines

This paper presents a two-layer system for detecting emotion in music. The selected target emotion classes are angry, happy, sad, and peaceful. We presented an audio feature set comprising the following types of audio features: dynamics, rhythm, timbre, pitch, and tonality. With the feature set, a support vector machines (SVMs) is applied to each target emotion class with calm emotion as the background class to train a hyperplane. With the four hyperplanes trained from angry, happy, sad, and peaceful, each test clip can output four decision values. This decision values are regarded as the new features to train a second-layer SVMs for classifying the four target emotion classes. The experiment result shows that our double layer system has a good performance on music emotion classification.
An adaptive scheduling of PHEV charging: Analysis under imperfect data communication

Because of rising environmental concern and depleting of oil resources, a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) is considered to be a potential substitution of a fossil fuel-based vehicle. With the development of smart grid, real-time pricing (RTP) is being implemented. The charging of PHEVs can be scheduled adaptively to RTP so that the power consumption cost can be minimized. In this paper, a battery replacement strategy is adopted for a charging process in a charging station. We develop the scheduling scheme for PHEV charging. An optimization problem is formulated and solved for an optimal charging policy that minimizes the cost due to power consumption and performance degradation. In addition, the impact of incomplete power price information (e.g., due to unavailability of data communication channel) is analyzed. The numerical results show that if multiple data communication channels are available for transferring the power price information, the scheduling performance can be improved significantly.
Central corneal thickness of Pakistani adults.

OBJECTIVE To determine the average central corneal thickness (CCT) of healthy adults in the ophthalmology clinic of a tertiary care hospital of Pakistan. METHODS This was a cross-sectional study conducted in the ophthalmology clinics of Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi Pakistan. One hundred normal subjects (200 eyes) were studied. An ultrasound pachymeter was used to measure CCT. RESULTS The mean (+/- SD) age of the study population was 44.29 +/- 15.18 years with a median of 47 years (range: 16-73). Twenty three percent of the subjects had diabetes mellitus, 29% hypertension and 6% had history of ischaemic heart disease. The mean (SD) CCT measurements were 531.08 +/- 33.37) and 531.29 +/- 33.33 micrometers in the right and left eyes respectively and were not significantly different from each other. There was no statistically significant correlation between CCT and IOP (r = 0.158, p = 0.12). We did not find a significant association between CCT and other independent variables like age, sex, presence of co-morbidity i.e. Diabetes Mellitus (DM), Hypertension (HTN), Ischaemic Heart Disease (IHD), myopia, hypermetropia, systemic and eye medication use. CONCLUSIONS The average CCT values obtained in the hospital-based study closely match those of the African Americans. A population-based study would be needed to provide unbiased CCT estimate in Pakistani population.
Phylogenetic comparison of serotonin‐immunoreactive neurons in representatives of the Chilopoda, Diplopoda, and Chelicerata: Implications for arthropod relationships

The phylogenetic relationships within the Arthropoda have been discussed controversially for more than a century. Comparative studies on structure and development of the nervous system have contributed important arguments to this discussion. Arthropods have individually identifiable neurons that can be used as characters in phylogenetic studies. In the present report, the arrangement of serotonin‐immunoreactive neurons in the ventral nerve cord was examined in seven representatives of the Chelicerata, Chilopoda, and Diplopoda. The goal of this analysis was to determine whether number, arrangement, and axonal morphology of the serotonergic neurons in these groups are similar to the pattern found in representatives of the Hexapoda and Crustacea, as explored in a previous study. The results indicate that the pattern in the seven species examined here does not correspond to that present in the Hexapoda and Crustacea. In particular, the pattern in Chilopoda and Diplopoda is clearly different from that of the Hexapoda. The hexapodan pattern most closely resembles that of the Crustacea. These findings are discussed with regard to recent reports on the mechanisms of neurogenesis in these taxa. Furthermore, the proposed ground patterns of the various groups are reconstructed and the characters are plotted on two competing hypotheses of arthropod phylogeny, the traditional Tracheata hypothesis and an alternative hypothesis derived from molecular and recent morphological data, the Tetraconata concept. The data discussed in this article moderately support the Tetraconata hypothesis. J. Morphol. 259:198–213, 2004. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Colonization behaviors of mountain pine beetle on novel hosts: Implications for range expansion into northeastern North America

As climates change, thermal limits may no longer constrain some native herbivores within their historical ranges. The mountain pine beetle, Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins, is a tree-killing bark beetle native to western North America that is currently expanding its range. Continued eastward expansion through the newly invaded and novel jack pine (Pinus banksiana Lamb.) trees of the Canadian boreal forest could result in exposure of several species of novel potential host pines common in northeastern North America to this oligophagous herbivore. Due to the tightly co-evolved relationship between mountain pine beetle and western pine hosts, in which the insect utilizes the defensive chemistry of the host to stimulate mass attacks, we hypothesized that lack of co-evolutionary association would affect the host attraction and acceptance behaviors of this insect among novel hosts, particularly those with little known historical association with an aggressive stem-infesting insect. We studied how beetle behavior differed among the various stages of colonization on newly cut logs of four novel potential pine host species; jack, red (P. resinosa Ait.), eastern white (P. strobus L.) and Scots (P. sylvestris L.) pines, as well as two historical hosts, ponderosa (P. ponderosa Dougl. ex. Laws. var. scopulorum Engelm.) and lodgepole (P. contorta Dougl. var. latifolia Engelm.) pines. Overall, we found that beetle colonization behaviors at each stage in the colonization process differ between pine hosts, likely due to differing chemical and physical bark traits. Pines without co-evolved constitutive defenses against mountain pine beetle exhibited reduced amounts of defensive monoterpenoid chemicals; however, such patterns also reduced beetle attraction and colonization. Neither chemical nor physical defenses fully defended trees against the various stages of host procurement that can result in tree colonization and death.
Develop a framework of performance measurement and improvement system for lean manufacturing activity

A R T I C L E I N F O Lean manufacturing, Performance measurement and improvement system Received 01 October 2012 Accepted 01 June 2013 Available online 30 June 2013 Given the complexity, diversity and dynamic developments of business environment, conventional financial performance measures are inadequate for the present manufacturing environment. In this paper the development of a Performance Measurement and Improvement System (PMIS) framework for lean manufacturing practice is proposed. The PMIS framework is constructed by considering the hierarchical levels of the organization and multiple criteria for the lean manufacturing practice performance indicators. Identifying the relevant concepts, various methods associated with lean’s PMIS framework for lean manufacturing practice was developed from survey of literature. The PMIS framework consist of measurements throughout the organization that reflect the company’s lean strategies and goals, which it designed to motivate and monitor lean behaviour, and improve measurement results (continues improvement). This was produced the system in respect to the derived the key performance indicators that is applicable to organisations of various sizes (large, medium and small companies) within a range of industries. ________________________________ * Corresponding Author
Building detection from aerial images using Hough transform and intensity information

Detection of buildings is a significant branch of the automated aerial image interpretation problem. Automatic detection of buildings enables construction of maps, detecting changes, and monitoring urbanization. Due to the complexity and uncontrolled appearance of the scene, an intelligent fusion of different methods gives better results. To solve this problem different methods have been proposed but each of them has some shortcomings and as a consequence does not work properly in all geographical regions. In this paper, a novel semiautomatic approach for building detection using Hough transform and intensity information is presented. This method benefits from segmentation of aerial images using great tools. This segmentation will be able to estimate the centres' location of building in an image independent of geographical region's properties. Besides, it uses the Hough transform for verifying the appearance of building in estimated centres. Experimental results show the positive abilities of proposed method.
Design and tuning of wideband two-layer Substrate Integrated Waveguide directional couplers

In this paper, design process of several 20dB wideband coupler on the basis of SIW using modeling the coupler by distributed low-pass filter prototypes and using chebyshev coefficients for these prototypes have been done. The base of work is the Bethe coupling theory for small apertures that has been expanded for large apertures. The type of apertures for our designs includes circular, rectangular and square. Also a Riblet-Saad coupler has been designed and simulated. We also introduced a new method to calibrate aperture dimensions to obtain our desired coupling. Finally, a comparison between different types of couplers has been done.
Subclinical psychiatric conditions and suicide risk

allowed per event). Importantly, drop-out from group therapy is not only considered a problem when caused by adverse effects of the treatment. It is rather assumed that drop-outs have an influence on the cohesion of the group—which is a core mechanism of action (2)—and must therefore always be considered as very disruptive (3), triggering possible negative effects or lack of effectiveness for the same or other patients. The colleagues further asked for readmission rates of our patients after discharge from the clinic. Of our 180 study patients, 38 patients (21.1%) were readmitted within 2.5 years to the hospital. Additionally, 10 patients (5.6%) consulted our rescue center but were not readmitted. Patients who dropped out from at least one group during inpatient treatment showed a higher, although not statistically significant, risk for readmission (28.3%) than patients who continued all groups (18.1%, P = 0.16, Fisher exact test, two-sided). Patients who dropped out from all groups (n = 11) differed significantly from patients who continued all or at least one group (54.5% vs. 18.9% risk for readmission,P = 0.01). In a Cox regressionmodel, however, none of the used adverse event measures significantly predicted readmission or consultation of the rescue center. Relapse predicting factors reported in the literature (4, 5), personality disorder, treatment response, or symptom level at discharge revealed significant effects in univariate analyses (all P < 0.05) but not in a combined model. We conclude that further studies are necessary to establish a putative relationship between adverse events during inpatient treatment and their long-term outcome. R. Schneibel , G. Wilbertz, C. Scholz, M. Becker, T. Bschor, D. Schmoll Department of Psychiatry, Schlosspark-Hospital, Berlin, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Charit e Universit€ atsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Psychologische Hochschule Berlin, Berlin, and Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Technical University Dresden, Dresden, Germany E-mail: rebecca.schneibel@googlemail.com
Application of Photoluminescence to High-Efficiency Silicon Solar Cell Fabrication

Photoluminescence (PL) characterization techniques have recently emerged as an accurate, fast, powerful tool for developing high-efficiency silicon solar cells. In this paper, we demonstrate the application of different PL techniques to several important aspects of high-efficiency solar cell development at UNSW: wafer handling, furnace contamination, process-induced defects, cell design and cell process monitoring
Computerized chromosome identification by aid of the quinacrine mustard fluorescence technique.

The identification of the eight chromosome types in the C-group in the human metaphase plate offers very great difficulties with conventional methods. The fluorescence patterns after quinacrine mustard treatment are, however, clearly different for all the chromosome types. In order to test whether these differences between patterns are statistically significant eight sets of patterns, one set from each chromosome type, have been subjected to Fourier analysis in a computer and the statistical validity of the individual types of patterns calculated. The result was that the pattern types are clearly separated significantly in a statistical sense. Furthermore, the observations show that the pattern curves can be characterized by a relatively low number of Fourier parameters, making automatic machine recognition and classification of the chromosomes easy. For the other human chromosome groups the situation is still simpler. Work towards still further automatization of the chromosome sorting in human metaphases is in progress.