Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Induction of Adaptive Response in Human Blood Lymphocytes Exposed to Radiofrequency Radiation

Abstract Sannino, A. , Sarti, M. , Reddy, S. B. , Prihoda, T. J., Vijayalaxmi and Scarfì, M. R. Induction of Adaptive Response in Human Blood Lymphocytes Exposed to Radiofrequency Radiation. Radiat. Res. 171, 735–742 (2009). The incidence of micronuclei was evaluated to assess the induction of an adaptive response to non-ionizing radiofrequency (RF) radiation in peripheral blood lymphocytes collected from five different human volunteers. After stimulation with phytohemagglutinin for 24 h, the cells were exposed to an adaptive dose of 900 MHz RF radiation used for mobile communications (at a peak specific absorption rate of 10 W/kg) for 20 h and then challenged with a single genotoxic dose of mitomycin C (100 ng/ml) at 48 h. Lymphocytes were collected at 72 h to examine the frequency of micronuclei in cytokinesis-blocked binucleated cells. Cells collected from four donors exhibited the induction of adaptive response (i.e., responders). Lymphocytes that were pre-exposed to 900 MHz RF radiation had a significantly decreased incidence of micronuclei induced by the challenge dose of mitomycin C compared to those that were not pre-exposed to 900 MHz RF radiation. These preliminary results suggested that the adaptive response can be induced in cells exposed to non-ionizing radiation. A similar phenomenon has been reported in cells as well as in animals exposed to ionizing radiation in several earlier studies. However, induction of adaptive response was not observed in the remaining donor (i.e., non-responder). The incidence of micronuclei induced by the challenge dose of mitomycin C was not significantly different between the cells that were pre-exposed and unexposed to 900 MHz RF radiation. Thus the overall data indicated the existence of heterogeneity in the induction of an adaptive response between individuals exposed to RF radiation and showed that the less time-consuming micronucleus assay can be used to determine whether an individual is a responder or non-responder.
EVALUATING UNIFORMITY IN BROILERS – FACTORS AFFECTING VARIATION

Graphs 1 compare the distribution of carcasses by on line grading classification on one side, with a “standard” population of the same average and coefficient of variation (C.V.) on the other side. One can see that the on line grading curve shifts to the left. The median (separates the on line grading weights of the flock into 2 identical sized sub-populations) is clearly inferior to the average (the sum of the weights divided by the total number of broilers). This characteristic is well known to slaughterhouse managers.
swarm optimization using dynamic tournament topology in Wanga

Particle swarm optimization (PSO) is a nature-inspired global optimization method that uses interaction between particles to find the optimal solution in a complex search space. The swarm’s evolving solution is represented by the best solution found by any particle. However, using this best solution often limits the search area. In this paper, we propose a dynamic tournament topology strategy to improve PSO. In eywords: article swarm optimization ynamic tournament topology volutionary computation rtificial neural network our method, each particle is guided by several better solutions, chosen from the entire population. The selection of the better particles is stochastic, but still favors particles with better solutions. Experimental results on benchmark functions indicate that the proposed method is promising. Furthermore, the application of our dynamic tournament topology strategy in optimization of artificial neural networks indicates that this method has favorable performance. © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Acyclovir Levels in Serum and Cerebrospinal Fluid after Oral Administration of Valacyclovir

ABSTRACT The possible involvement of herpesviruses in the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis (MS) was recently investigated in a clinical trial of valacyclovir in patients with MS. As an important part of that survey we performed an independent pharmacokinetic study in order to determine the concentration of acyclovir in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). The concentrations of acyclovir in serum and CSF were measured at steady state after 6 days of oral treatment with 1,000 mg of valacyclovir three times a day. Samples were obtained from 10 patients with MS. All patients had normal renal function, and none had signs of a damaged blood-CSF barrier. The maximum concentration of acyclovir in serum was reached after 1 to 3 h (mean ± standard deviation [SD], 27.1 ± 5.6 μM), and the minimum concentration in serum was 3.1 ± 1.1 μM (mean ± SD). The acyclovir concentrations in CSF at 2 and 8 h were essentially stable, with the mean ± SD levels being 2.5 ± 0.9 and 2.3 ± 0.7 μM, respectively. Similar levels were recorded in serum and CSF samples from five other MS patients after 6 months of oral treatment with valacyclovir at identical dosages. The area under the concentration-time curve (AUC) for acyclovir in CSF to the AUC for acyclovir in serum (CSF/serum AUC ratio) was approximately 20%. We conclude that the improved bioavailability previously reported for valacyclovir in plasma results in higher concentrations in CSF, while the CSF/serum AUC ratio remains constant.
On the Possibility of Nuclear Synthesis During Orthopositronium Formation by β +-Decay Positrons in Deuterium

Observations of the “isotopic anomaly” of positron (Na) annihilation lifetime spectra in samples of gaseous neon of various isotopic abundance, the independent observations of the orthopositronium lifetime anomaly, and comparison of unique experimental data on the positron’s annihilation lifetime spectra in condensed deuterium (D2) and protium (H2), suggest a hypothesis on synthesis of He during the orthopositronium formation in deuterium. The decisive experiment is offered.
Superluminal Velocities in the Synchronized Space-Time

Within the framework of the non-gravitational generalization of the special relativity, a problem of possible superluminal motion of particles and signals is considered. It has been proven that for the particles with non-zero mass the existence of anisotropic light barrier with the shape dependent on the reference frame velocity results from the Tangherlini transformations. The maximal possible excess of neutrino velocity over the absolute velocity of light related to the Earth (using the clock with instantaneous synchronization) has been estimated. The illusoriness of the acausality problem has been illustrated and conclusion is made on the lack of the upper limit of velocities of signals of informational nature.
Effects of Hemizygia welwitschii leaf extract fractions on postharvest infestation of maize by Sitophilus zeamais Motsculsky (Coleoptera: Curculionidae):

As part of on-going efforts to use eco-friendly alternatives to chemical pesticides, leaf powder of Hemizygia welwitschii was sequentially extracted in hexane, acetone and methanol. Bioassays were carried out to establish the most active fraction(s) against Sitophilus zeamais in maize. Maize grains (50 g) were treated with concentrations within the range 2, 4, 6, and 10 g/kg of extract and Azadirachta indica seed oil (positive control) in the laboratory. The total number of progeny emerging from grains infested separately with S. zeamais eggs, larvae and pupae were recorded. Adult mortality counts were carried out 1, 3, 7 and 14 d post-exposure. Acetone extract was more toxic to the eggs, larvae and pupae than the other extracts, inhibiting progeny production by 90.90%, 88.10% and 100%, respectively, at the concentration 10 g/kg. For the same concentration, A. indica seed oil reduced progeny production by 100% for eggs, 96.08% for larvae and 70.93% for pupae. Hexane extract was more potent to the adult weevil than the other extracts, recording 100% mortality for the concentration 10 g/kg within 14 d. LC50 values were 0.78 (Hexane), 5.52 (acetone) and 1.69 g/kg (methanol). Extracts of H. welwitschii leaves had sufficient efficacy to be a component of storage pest management package for S. zeamais.
Plasma levels of carboxy terminal propeptide of type I procollagen and pyridinoline cross‐linked telopeptide of type I collagen in healthy school children

The aim of this study was to reveal the relationship of the plasma levels of the carboxy terminal propeptide of type I procollagen (PICP) and the pyridinoline cross‐linked carboxyterminal telopeptide domains of type I collagen (ICTP) to age and height velocity (HV), and to compare PICP and ICTP levels in those who have not reached their final height with those who have. PICP and ICTP levels were measured by RIA in 271 healthy children (161M, 110F) aged from 10 to 15 y. The HV was calculated from their health check‐up cards. The subjects were divided into two groups in this study: the final height (FH) group whose HV was < 1.0 cm/y, and the non‐final height (NFH) group whose HV in the last year was ≥ 1.0 cm/y. PICP and ICTP levels almost paralleled the values of age‐related changes of HV. Furthermore PICP and ICTP levels significantly correlated with HV. PICP and ICTP levels of the FH group were higher than those of adults previously reported. The values will be useful as reference for healthy children and growth disorder. Before reaching final height, PICP and ICTP can be useful makers of not only bone turnover but also of linear growth. Bone turnover rate is still increasingly active just after linear growth has been completed, and then it become similar to the levels of adults.
Cystic hygromas in adults.

Cystic hygroma is a benign tumor of lymphatic origin 2 usually seen in the first two years of life. 3,4,6 Although common during the latter period, there are only occasional case reports of cystic hygromas in adults in the American literature. 1,2,6,7,9 A review of cystic hygromas seen in adults at the Albany Medical Center Hospital was prompted by the opportunity to treat a cervicomediastinal cystic hygroma in a 54-year-old female patient. The paucity of information on this subject in the current literature suggested the desirability of this brief report. Twelve patients, 16 years of age and older, were operated upon for cystic hygromas during the period 1935-1960. The cases were studied to determine the location, treatment, and course of the disease. The clinical charts, including the gross and microscopic reports of the surgical specimens, and the microscopic sections were reviewed in each case. Follow-up was obtained in 11 of
GIANT-CELL MYOCARDITIS WITH MULTIPLE ORGAN INVOLVEMENT.

SINCE the first description of giant-cell myocarditis in 1905 by Saltykow, 21 additional cases have been reported in the English literature through 1963.1-9It is the purpose of this paper to record a case having multiple organ involvement and to emphasize the giant-cell arteritis seen in the myocardium. Report of a Case The present illness of this 36-year-old white female began on Sept 1, 1961, with nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. She improved with supportive and symptomatic treatment until Sept 3, when she experienced a sudden onset of dyspnea and tachycardia with an apical rate of more than 200 beats per minute. Orthopnea and cyanosis then ensued and she entered Indianapolis Methodist Hospital in a critical state. Physical examination revealed cyanosis, difficulty in breathing, gallop rhythm, and shock. She died in refractory congestive heart failure 16 hours after entering the hospital. A thyroidectomy was performed at age 15 years because
Vendlerian Classes and the Russian Aspectual System

This paper considers the relevance of the Vendlerian lexical aspectual classification of verbs in Russian. We focus on the lexical classes of accomplishments and activities and argue that the classification of verbs into activities and accomplishments cuts across the classification into perfective and imperfective verbs. Accomplishments display incremental structure and occur as perfectives and imperfectives. Activities do not display incremental structure and also occur in the perfective and imperfective aspect. The distinction between activities and accomplishments is expressed through their interactions with what we call incremental modifiers: modifiers which are sensitive to the incremental structure of the verb meaning. These modifiers include postepenno ‘gradually’, and ‘X by X’ modifiers such as stranica za stranicej ‘page by page’ and ètaž za ètažom ‘floor by floor’. Imperfective activities do not occur with either postepenno or the ‘X by X’ modifiers, and neither do the verb forms which Padučeva 1996 calls “delimited activities” (delimitativ). Accomplishments in both the imperfective and the perfective aspects occur with postepenno and the ‘X by X’ modifiers (although some Russian speakers find some examples of perfective accomplishments with ‘X by X’ modifiers unnatural owing to what we consider to be pragmatic reasons). We show that the behavior of these modifiers generally follows if we assign accomplishments the incremental structure posited in Rothstein 2004 and treat the modifiers as directly modifying the incremental structure.
β-Lactamases in Ampicillin-Resistant Escherichia coli Isolates from Foods, Humans, and Healthy Animals

ABSTRACT TEM-, SHV-, and OXA-type β-lactamases were studied by PCR with 124 ampicillin-resistant (AMPr) Escherichia coli isolates recovered from foods of animal origin (n = 20) and feces of humans (n = 49) and healthy animals (n = 55). PCR showed that 103 isolates were positive for TEM and negative for SHV and OXA. Three E. coli isolates showed a positive reaction for OXA, and one showed a positive reaction for SHV. The remaining 17 E. coli isolates were negative for the three enzymes by PCR. Fifty-seven of the 103 blaTEM amplicons were sequenced. Different molecular variants of blaTEM-1 were found in 52 isolates: blaTEM-1a (n = 9), blaTEM-1b (n = 36), blaTEM-1c (n = 6), and blaTEM-1f (n = 1). Four inhibitor-resistant TEM (IRT) β-lactamase-encoding genes were also detected: blaTEM-30c (IRT-2), blaTEM-34b (IRT-6), blaTEM-40b (IRT-11), and blaTEM-51a (IRT-15). A new blaTEM gene, named blaTEM-95b, which showed a mutation in amino acid 145 (P→A) was detected. It was found in a food isolate of chicken origin (AMPr, amoxicillin-clavulanic acid susceptible). The promoter region in 24 blaTEM amplicons was analyzed, and the weak P3 promoter was found in 23 of them (blaTEM-1 in 20 amplicons and blaTEM-51a, blaTEM-30c, and blaTEM-95b in 1 amplicon each). The strong Pa/Pb promoter was found only in the blaTEM-34b gene. No extended-spectrum β-lactamases were detected. Mutations at position −42 or −32 in the ampC gene promoter were demonstrated in 4 of 10 E. coli isolates for which the cefoxitin MIC was ≥16 μg/ml. Different variants of blaTEM-1 and IRT blaTEM genes were found among the AMPrE. coli isolates from foods and the feces of humans and healthy animals, and a new gene, blaTEM-95b (P3), was detected.
Lean Project Deployment Planning : An Assessment of Current Practice

Lean Construction emerged from the Lean Production System. While some companies and some construction projects have been transitioning their practices to align with Lean construction principles, many organizations and projects within the industry find it difficult to transform their delivery and production approaches. Through interviews with leading experts in the adoption of Lean principles on construction projects, we found that there is a significant opportunity to provide additional resources to project teams to help them define a consistent approach toward planning the integration of Lean principles into their delivery processes for projects. This paper summarizes the finding from interviewing 16 Lean experts, who are also industry practitioners, and outlines a plan to develop a structured procedure for developing Lean deployment plans for construction projects. The goal of the Lean deployment plan is to ensure that Lean principles and practices are embedded into the processes performed on each project to better deliver value for the client, and improve the overall safety, cost, schedule, and quality performance on the project. This paper is the first step toward defining a procedure, grounded in both practice and theory, to improve the lean deployment planning process.
Ontology-Based Framework Applied to Money Laundering Investigations

Criminal investigations face a deluge of structured and unstructured data obtained from heterogeneous sources like forensic reports or wiretap transcriptions. In these cases, finding relevant information can be a complex task. Ontologies have been successfully applied to several domains including legal, cybercrime and digital forensics. In this paper it is proposed a framework based on ontology engineering, that provides an unified approach to represent and reason with the criminal investigation data. Moreover, this framework is applied to the specific use case of money laundering.
Case studies on large PV plants: Harmonic distortion, unbalance and their effects

Some case studies on PV systems are reported with reference to harmonic distortion, unbalance and their effects on protection systems. The experiences are related to: i) laboratory experiments made on commercial LV inverters aimed to study their harmonic impact; ii) harmonics produced by an existing PV plant both at lower and higher frequencies; iii) voltage unbalances caused by high penetration of single-phase connected PV sources; and, finally, iv) untimely tripping of protection systems of overhead lines fed by large PV plants.
Management of Large Software Development Efforts

The high development and maintenance costs, and the late delivery experienced by many organizations when developing large software systems is well documented. Modern software practices have evolved to overcome many of the technical difficulties associated with software development. To a large extent, however, the high costs and schedule slippages can be traced to management, not technical, deficiencies. This article develops an approach for managing the software development effort that exploits the benefits of modern software practices in staffing, planning, and controlling software development.
Recent developments in the composition and cost of bank funding in the euro area Changes

Changes in the composition and cost of bank funding have important implications for the provision of credit and, consequently, for economic output and inflation. Banks’ funding costs are affected by monetary policy, but the transmission of policy depends on many factors, including the strength of banks’ balance sheets and the macroeconomic environment. Therefore, developments in bank funding can be different across euro area banks and countries. This article gives an overview of recent developments in the composition and cost of bank funding, including capital, and shows that they varied across the euro area over the period of the financial crisis, which had an impact on the transmission of monetary policy. The interaction between monetary policy measures (both standard and non-standard) and banks’ funding conditions is also discussed.
Protein intake in women with breast cancer before , during , and after treatment 1

Objective: Breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer in women accounting for 16% of cancer diagnosis.It is the second cause of cancer related deaths among women. Medical treatments such as chemotherapy can negatively interfere with nutritional status. The objective of this study was to assess the intake of proteins before, during and after chemotherapy treatment in a cohort of women with non-metastatic breast cancer (stage I, II) treated at the Valencian Institute of Oncology.
RATIONAL DESIGN OF DNA VACCINES FOR THE INDUCTION OF HPV16 E6 AND E7 SPECIFIC CYTOTOXIC T CELL RESPONSES

Many DNA vaccine candidates have been developed for the treatment of HPV16 induced malignancies. Most of these vaccines consist of a fusion of E7 with a “carrier-protein” that functions to increase the potency of the vaccine. The nature of these carrier-proteins varies widely, and the mechanisms proposed to explain the enhanced immunogenicity of such fusions are often linked to the biological function of the carrier-protein. However, the potentiating effect of these carrier-proteins might also be explained by more general mechanisms such as the provision of CD4+ T cell help, increased antigen stability or altered subcellular localization of the antigen. To assess whether these more generic mechanisms could suffice to generate highly immunogenic DNA vaccines, we evaluated a series of modular HPV E7 DNA vaccines in which the presence of CD4+ T cell help, the presence of an endogenous carrier protein and the subcellular localization of the antigen could be systematically altered. Using this approach we demonstrate that the addition of an element that provides CD4+ T cell help and an element that enforces ER localization/retention are both necessary and sufficient to create markedly effective E7 directed DNA vaccines. Importantly, the resulting design rules also apply to an HPV16 E6 directed DNA vaccine. The thus developed “HELPER HPV DNA vaccines” encode only very limited additional sequences besides the antigen, thereby reducing the risk of antigenic competition and/or autoimmunity. Koen Oosterhuis, Esil Aleyd, Kim Vrijland, Ton N. Schumacher and John B. Haanen 1 division of Immunology, the netherlands cancer Institute, plesmanlaan 121, 1066 cX, amsterdam, the netherlands; * these authors contributed equally to this work Submitted for publication
Diabetes mellitus—a global pandemicKeynote lecture presented at the Wonca conference in Prague in June 2013

Abstract The huge increase in the number of people with diabetes mellitus over recent decades raises questions about early diagnosis, intensive treatment and primary prevention. Insulin and oral agents’ discoveries have improved the prognosis of patients with diabetes, but vascular complications still remain the main cause of increased morbidity and mortality. Therefore, strategies oriented to the prevention of diabetes and its complications are the main goal in the care of diabetic patients. Further intensive efforts will be necessary not only by the community of physicians and scientists, but also governments, industry, non-governmental organizations and by individuals engaging in a healthier lifestyle. Better diabetes awareness and lifestyle changes may significantly reduce the main problems with diabetes.
Muon excess following a gamma-ray burst event detected at the International Space Station

At UT 2012-04-24 16:47:14, the Gas Slit Camera (GSC) of the Japanese Monitor of All-sky X-ray Image (MAXI) instrument on the International Space Station (ISS) detected a short x-ray transient lasting about 34 seconds. The MAXI/GSC transient was most likely a gamma-ray burst (GRB), because of the high galactic latitude, spectral hardness ratio and the absence of known bright x-ray source at the detected position. In addition, the MAXI/GSC transient coordinates were in the field of view of the inclined Tupi muon telescope located at ground (3 m above sea level) at in the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA) region. We report here that the Tupi telescope registered a muon excess with a signal significance 6.2 σ within the MAXI/GMC transient time period. Assuming a power law function with a spectral index of -1.54 in the tail of the primary gamma ray energy spectrum, we can conclude that the fluence obtained from the muon excess detected by the Tupi telescope is consistent with the preliminarily value obtained by the MAXI team.