Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Ignorance about listeria.

Furthermore, is it possible-or, indeed, useful-to apply QALY ratings derived from data on groups to individual patients? There is obviously variation within groups: as the report comparing the four treatments concedes, "the number ofQALYs gained can vary considerably on the characteristics of the patients undergoing the treatment. " It follows that any health authority that diverted resources from one activity to another on the grounds that it bought more QALYs might well thereby prevent individual doctors from operating in cases with a higher yield than those in the favoured group. No wonder that one critic of the QALY approach has concluded that the exercise is "dependent on a wide range ofassumptions for which little or no evidence is provided. "6 Using QALYs to illustrate the limitations of economics in health care is perhaps unfair because the technique is new. Even Professor Williams, in his reply to the York sociologists in the book, concedes that there are methological difficulties and that much work remains to be done to develop the technique. He argues, however, that its use is justified by the lack of alternative tools of analysis: better to use a flawed technique that gives visibility to the criteria being used than to muddle through. But if the QALY approach were a new medical technology economists would probably be demanding stringent assessment before it was used in the NHS. And the York sociologists show that economic analysis is generally much messier in practice than it purports to be in theory. This is not to decry health economics, and the York sociologists do not aim at a demolition job. Rather they show that economics, like other disciplines that claim to be scientific, is much less tidy than the textbooks imply; that science is a process of argument rather than revelation. Within the NHS economics has introduced conceptual tools and forced everyone to think in terms ofopportunity costs and the relation between inputs and outcomes. Economists should, however, have only a supporting role-Rosencrantz, not Hamlet. There are many kinds of rationality, ofwhich the economic variety is only one. The challenge for the 1990s is to ensure that the framework of decision making in the NHS allows dialogue among these various kinds of rationality. Ironically, it has been argued that the best model of public policy making is provided not by economics but by medicine.7 The process should be based on experiential knowledge; cautious experimentation; and incremental decisions, informed but not dictated by science. RUDOLF KLEIN Professor of Social Policy, Centre for the Analysis of Social Policy, University of Bath, Bath BA2 7AY
The roles of vision and olfaction in mate location by males of the tsetse fly Glossina morsitans morsitans

ABSTRACT. The roles of visual and/or olfactory stimuli in eliciting mating responses from male Glossina morsitans morsitans Westwood were examined, using a system for automatically recording the number and duration of mating strikes made towards decoys, under controlled conditions. The results confirm that there is no olfactory component of the female sex recognition pheromone sensed by the male antennae, and the attraction of males to females appears to be visual. The absence of male‐male mating strikes was the result of the absence of female sex‐pheromone, rather than the presence of a repellent mating deterrent in the male cuticle. Experiments with coloured, artificial, sex‐pheromone‐dosed, cotton decoys showed that colour had only weak effects on attractiveness and number of encounters with decoys, and that no colour caused significant enhancement of mating responses over those shown to decoy females.
Epigenetics for dummies

In the last few years, epigenetics has seized the public imagination. Magazines like New Scientist are publishing articles with titles such as “How to change your genes by changing your lifestyle”. 1 A book called “The Epigenetic Revolution” has become a bestseller.2 The popular press regularly reports epigenetic research, including a recent study purporting to show that severe psychological trauma can be passed down through one's genes.3 Overall, it would be easy for anyone nowadays to form the impression that the genetic destiny of future generations is entirely in our own hands, DNA is highly malleable, and Darwin and Mendel have been thoroughly discredited. In this article, I want to try and bring epigenetics back down to earth, with a simple account of what it is and is not, and what epigenetic research has and has not shown so far. Epigenetics is best defined as the study of changes in organisms brought about by modification of gene expression, rather than by alteration of the genetic code in the form of DNA. The term “epigenetic” was originally coined in the 1950s, and used to denote the way that genes interact with the environment, in order to produce each individual phenotype. To describe this process at its simplest: you may be born with a capacity to be tall and confident, but if you are undernourished and abused as a child, you are likely to turn into a stunted and fearful adult instead. There is nothing very remarkable about the way genes interact with the environment in this way. Concepts …
From drivers assistance to full automation for improved efficiency and better safety

The automobile has become the dominant transport mode in the world in the last century. In order to meet a continuously growing demand for transport, one solution is to change the control approach for vehicles to full driving automation, which removes the driver from the control loop to improve efficiency and reduce accidents. Recent work shows that there are several realistic paths towards this deployment: driving assistance on passenger cars; automated commercial vehicles on dedicated infrastructures; new forms of urban transport (car-sharing and cybercars). Cybercars, which are vehicles with fully automated driving capabilities, have already been put into operation in Europe, and it seems that this approach could lead the way towards full automation on most urban, and later interurban, infrastructures. The European projects CyberCars and CyberMove are exploring the technical and the socio-economic feasibility of this approach.
Sex-Related Differences in the Immune Response to Meningococcal Vaccinations During Adolescence

Background Immune responses to pediatric vaccinations have been reported to differ according to sex. Such sex-differential responses may become more pronounced during adolescence due to hormonal differences. We investigated whether the vaccine response following primary vaccination against meningococcal serogroup A (MenA), MenW and MenY and booster vaccination against MenC differed between girls and boys using data from two clinical studies. Methods Children aged 10, 12, and 15 years, who had been primed with MenC vaccination between 14 months and 6 years of age, received a booster MenC vaccination or MenACWY vaccination. Polysaccharide-specific IgG concentrations and functional antibody titers [determined with the serum bactericidal antibody (SBA) assay] were measured at baseline, 1 month, 1 year, and 3 years (only MenC group) after vaccination. We calculated geometric mean concentrations and titers (GMC and GMT) ratios for girls vs. boys adjusted for age group. Additionally, we compared the proportion protected individuals between girls and boys at all timepoints. Results This study included 342 girls and 327 boys from two clinical trials. While MenAWY antibody levels did not differ consistently 1 month after vaccination, all GMC- and GMT-ratios were in favor of girls 1 year after vaccination [range: 1.31 (1.02–1.70) for MenA IgG to 1.54 (1.10–2.16) for MenW IgG]. Overall, MenC antibody levels were slightly higher in girls at all postvaccination timepoints (GMC- and GMT-ratios: 1.16/1.17 at 1 month, 1.16/1.22 at 1 year and 1.12/1.15 3 years postvaccination). Higher MenC antibody levels were observed in 12- and 15-year-old girls compared to boys of the same age, whereas 10-year-old boys and girls had similar antibody levels. The percentage of participants protected (SBA titer ≥ 8) was very high (95–100%) at all timepoints, and did not differ significantly between boys and girls. Conclusion Antibody responses were higher in girls than in boys for all serogroups at most timepoints after primary MenAWY vaccination and booster MenC vaccination. The differences in average titers were however small and the percentage participants with protective titers was very high for both sexes.
Synandrogenic and antiandrogenic effect of progestins: comparison with nonprogestational antiandrogens.

Preliminary studies indicated that low doses of cyproterone acetate (Cyp Ac) potentiated the action of testosterone on mouse kidney. This unexpected observation prompted a more extensive evaluation of several progestins (progesterone, progesterone caproate, Cyp Ac, medroxyprogesterone acetate and megestrol acetate) as well as nonprogestational antiandrogens (flutamide, BOMT, cyproterone). The effects of these agents, both alone and in combination with testosterone, on the kidney arid male reproductive tract of the mouse were determined. Testosterone (0.1 mg/day) resulted in a 2- to 5-fold increase in kidney β3-glucuronidase activity after 6 days of treatment. Of the progestins tested, only medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA) and megestrol acetate stimulated β-glucuronidase in the kidney. Androgen-insensitive (tfm/y) mice with defective androgen receptors did not respond to high doses of MPA, suggesting that androgens and progestins share a common mechanism of action on kidney. With the exception of progeste.
Organic loading rate effect on the acidogenesis of cheese whey: a comparison between UASB and SBR reactors

ABSTRACT Volatile fatty acids (VFA) production and degree of acidification (DA) were investigated in the anaerobic treatment of cheese whey by comparison of two processes: a continuous process using a laboratory upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor and a discontinuous process using a sequencing batch reactor (SBR). The main purpose of this work was to study the organic loading rate (OLR) effect on the yield of VFA in two kinds of reactors. The predominant products in the acidogenic process in both reactors were: acetate, propionate, butyrate and valerate. The maximum DA obtained was 98% in an SBR at OLR of 2.7 g COD L−1 d−1, and 97% in the UASB at OLR at 15.1 g COD L−1 d−1. The results revealed that the UASB reactor was more efficient at a medium OLR with a higher VFA yield, while with the SBR reactor, the maximum acidification was obtained at a lower OLR with changes in the VFA profile at different OLRs applied.
Serum concentrations of asymmetric (ADMA) and symmetric (SDMA) dimethylarginine in renal failure patients.

BACKGROUND Nitric oxide (NO) synthesis is inhibited by the ADMA that accumulates in the plasma of patients with renal failure; however, the concentration of SDMA also is enhanced. Therefore, it has been hypothesized that ADMA and SDMA may contribute to hypertension in these patients. METHODS We measured the concentrations of ADMA, SDMA and 21 endogenous amino acids in 257 persons by high pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC). RESULTS The plasma concentrations of both ADMA and SDMA were significantly elevated in patients with chronic renal failure (CRF). The increase was more pronounced for SDMA (2.05 +/- 0.1 micromol/L vs. 0.5 +/- 0.04 micromol/L), whereas it was only moderate for ADMA (0.85 +/- 0.03 micromol/L vs. 0.73 +/- 0.06 micromol/L). In dialysis patients, the concentrations were further increased (ADMA, 1.05 +/- 0.04 micromol/L; SDMA, 2.68 +/- 0.13 micromol/L). After kidney transplantation, the concentration of SDMA returned to the baseline value (1.15 +/- 0.11 micromol/L), but that of ADMA remained enhanced (0.99 +/- 0.06 micromol/L). CONCLUSIONS In CRF, especially the concentration of SDMA is significantly increased. Not only ADMA, but also SDMA are likely to be responsible for hypertension. Competition for reabsorption between SDMA and arginine within the kidney has to be considered for the interpretation of changes in the ratio between dimethylarginines and arginine in renal failure. Hemodialysis is not suitable for a long-lasting removal of methylarginines. Whether the administration of arginine could have promising effects on hypertension and complications of CRF needs to be studied in prospective trials.
Topical AC-11 abates actinic keratoses and early squamous cell cancers in hairless mice exposed to Ultraviolet A (UVA) radiation.

AC-11 is an aqueous extract of the botanical, Uncaria tomentosa, which has a variety of effects that enhance DNA repair and down regulate inflammation. AC-11 is essentially free of oxindole alkaloids (< 0.05%, w/w) but contains more than 8% carboxy alkyl esters (CAEs) as their active ingredients. Three groups of 10 outbred SK-1 hairless or SK-II hairless strains of mice each were treated with AC-11 at 0.5%, 1.5%, and 3.0% in a non-irritating, dye-free, perfume-free, and fragrance-free vanishing cream vehicle. Ten mice used vehicle only and 10 were untreated. Each concentration of AC-11 and was applied daily to the backs of the mice prior to exposure to a 1,600-watt solar simulator used in this work (Solar Light Co. Philadelphia, PA) emitting (mainly Ultraviolet A (UVA) and B (UVB) radiation) duration of the experimental period with UVB wavelengths was filtered out with a 1.0 cm Schott WG 345 filter. AC-11 with a peak absorption at 200nm does act as a sun block. We tested for and focused on clinical appearance of mice and histological appearance of tumors in mice rather than metrics of radiation generated inflammation. Tumor progression scores were assigned as follows: 4+ = extensive tumor development; 3+ = early malignancies (raised palpable plaques)(early squamous cell cancers) 2+ = firm scaling, palpable keratosis (actinic keratoses); 1+ = light scaling with erythema. Following a total cumulative dose of 738 J/cm2, 85.7% all of the irradiated control animals, which did not receive AC-11 had precancerous actinic keratosis (AK)-type lesions (2+) (64.3% versus 42.9%) or early squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) (3+) (21.4% vs. 4.8%), in comparison with 47.7 % of AC-11-treated animals. There were no significant differences between the AC-11 groups. Three months after cessation of exposure to UVA radiation, the lesions in all but three of the 14 animals which were treated with AC-11 that were still evaluable irradiated with UVA radiation progressed to papillomas and frank squamous cell carcinomas (+4 responses). AC-11 retarded, but did not stop, carcinogenesis progression. It is possible that if AC-11 was continuously applied tumors would not have in mice treated with AC-11 for a limited period. While we do not know how AC-11 exerts its DNA repair and anti-inflammatory effects, AC-11 is therapeutic for the treatment at the time of development of actinic keratoses and squamous cell carcinomas in mice and by extension humans. Without the constant presence of AC-11 these protective effects do not occur.
Conceptual design of object-oriented databases for fuzzy engineering information modeling

Conceptual data modeling is essential for engineering applications. IDEF1X Integration Definition for Information Modeling data model provides a formal framework for consistent modeling of the data necessary for the integration of various functional areas and its basic idea has been extensively applied in current industry. Information in real-world applications is often vague or ambiguous. Fuzziness is inherent in many engineering activities. In order to completely model fuzzy engineering information at different abstraction levels of data model, object instances and attribute values in the IDEF1X data model, this paper introduces three levels of fuzziness into the IDEF1X data model, and the formal descriptions and the corresponding graphical representations are hereby presented. The formal transformation from the fuzzy IDEF1X data model to the fuzzy object-oriented database model is investigated. The formal transformation approaches proposed in the paper are demonstrated with examples.
Zuzahlungsbedingter Leistungsverzicht und finanzielle Belastung durch Zuzahlungen bei Personen über 50 in Deutschland

[Einleitung . ] Ziel der vorliegenden Studie ist zum einen die Analyse der Determinanten der mit Zuzahlungen einhergehenden finanziellen Belastung und zum anderen die Analyse der Bestimmungsfaktoren, welche einen zuzahlungsbedingten Verzicht auf Gesundheitsleistungen begunstigen. Dabei soll insbesondere der Zusammenhang zwischen finanzieller Belastung und dem Verzicht auf Gesundheitsleistungen analysiert werden. Im Fokus der Studie stehen gesetzlich und privat versicherte Personen in Deutschland, welche mindestens 50 Jahre alt sind. Fur diese Subgruppe ist die vorliegende Fragestellung von besonderer Relevanz, da die Inanspruchnahme von Gesundheitsleistungen und das damit einhergehende Zuzahlungsvolumen aufgrund von altersbedingter Morbiditat in dieser Altersgruppe uberdurchschnittlich hoch ist (Bohm, Tesch-Romner, Ziese 2009). Das weitere Papier ist folgendermasen aufgebaut: In Abschnitt 2 wird auf die verwendeten okonometrischen Modelle und die Regressionsstrategien eingegangen sowie nahere Informationen zum zugrunde liegenden Datensatz und den einzelnen Variablen gegeben. Daraufhin werden in Abschnitt 3 die Ergebnisse der empirischen Analyse dargestellt und interpretiert. Abschliesend erfolgt eine kurze Diskussion der Ergebnisse und es werden mogliche Implikationen aus den Ergebnissen diskutiert (Abschnitt 4).
A double-edged sword: R loops as threats to genome integrity and powerful regulators of gene expression

R loops are three-stranded nucleic acid structures that comprise nascent RNA hybridized with the DNA template, leaving the nontemplate DNA single-stranded. These structures form naturally during transcription even though their persistent formation can have deleterious effects on genome integrity. Interestingly, an increasing number of studies also suggest that R loops function as potential gene expression regulators. Here, Skourti-Stathaki and Proudfoot review the most recent findings about R loops, highlighting their opposite roles in cellular fitness.
Reactive Astrocytes Derived From Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Suppress Oligodendrocyte Precursor Cell Differentiation

Astrocytes are instrumental in maintaining central nervous system (CNS) homeostasis and responding to injury. A major limitation of studying neurodegenerative diseases like multiple sclerosis (MS) is lack of human pathological specimens obtained during the acute stages, thereby relegating research to post-mortem specimens obtained years after the initiation of pathology. Rodent reactive astrocytes have been shown to be cytotoxic to neurons and oligodendrocytes but may differ from human cells, especially in diseases with genetic susceptibility. Herein, we purified human CD49f+ astrocytes from induced pluripotent stem cells derived from individual patient and control peripheral leukocytes. We compared TNF and IL1α stimulated human reactive astrocytes from seven persons with MS and six non-MS controls and show their transcriptomes are remarkably similar to those described in rodents. The functional effect of astrocyte conditioned media (ACM) was examined in a human oligodendrocyte precursor cell (OPC) line differentiation assay. ACM was not cytotoxic to the OPCs but robustly inhibited the myelin basic protein (MBP) reporter. No differences were seen between MS and control stimulated astrocytes at either the transcript level or in ACM mediated OPC suppression assays. We next used RNAseq to interrogate differentially expressed genes in the OPC lines that had suppressed differentiation from the human ACM. Remarkably, not only was OPC differentiation and myelin gene expression suppressed, but we observed induction of several immune pathways in OPCs exposed to the ACM. These data support the notion that reactive astrocytes can inhibit OPC differentiation thereby limiting their remyelination capacity, and that OPCs take on an immune profile in the context of inflammatory cues.
Molecular Basis of the Receptor Binding Specificity Switch of the Hemagglutinins from both the 1918 and 2009 Pandemic Influenza A Viruses by a D225G Substitution

ABSTRACT Influenza A virus uses sialic acids as cell entry receptors, and there are two main receptor forms, α2,6 linkage or α2,3 linkage to galactose, that determine virus host ranges (mammalian or avian). The receptor binding hemagglutinins (HAs) of both 1918 and 2009 pandemic H1N1 (18H1 and 09H1, respectively) influenza A viruses preferentially bind to the human α2,6 linkage receptor. A single D225G mutation in both H1s switches receptor binding specificity from α2,6 linkage binding to dual receptor binding. However, the molecular basis for this specificity switch is not fully understood. Here, we show via H1-ligand complex structures that the D225G substitution results in a loss of a salt bridge between amino acids D225 and K222, enabling the key residue Q226 to interact with the avian receptor, thereby obtaining dual receptor binding. This is further confirmed by a D225E mutant that retains human receptor binding specificity with the salt bridge intact.
Budesonide/formoterol maintenance and reliever therapy in adolescent patients with asthma

Asthma control is often suboptimal in adolescents, but few studies have evaluated asthma treatments in this population. This post hoc analysis assessed the efficacy and safety of budesonide/formoterol (BUD/FORM) maintenance and reliever therapy (MART) for treatment of persistent asthma in adolescent (age 12–17 years) subgroups within six randomised, double-blind trials. The primary end-point was time to first severe exacerbation. Secondary end-points included number of severe exacerbations, asthma-related symptoms, night-time awakenings, morning peak expiratory flow, forced expiratory volume in 1 s, as-needed medication use and five-item asthma control questionnaire scores. In adolescents (n=1847), BUD/FORM MART was similar to or more effective than comparators across each of the studies in reducing the risk of a first severe exacerbation (hazard ratios (HR) BUD/FORM MART versus comparators 0.15–1.01; pooled HR 0.49, 95% CI 0.34–0.70), with comparable outcomes to the adult subgroups (n=12 197). Similar treatment benefits for BUD/FORM MART were observed for secondary end-points. As-needed medication use was lower with BUD/FORM MART than comparators, and BUD/FORM as-needed use was lower in adolescents than adults. Treatment was well tolerated. This analysis supports the use of BUD/FORM MART in adolescents with persistent asthma, its efficacy and safety being consistent with that reported for adults. The efficacy/safety of BUD/FORM MART in adolescents with persistent asthma is consistent with that reported in adults http://ow.ly/UYLv30fGDPF
A Large and Persistent Carbon Sink in the World’s Forests

Net average global annual uptake of atmospheric carbon dioxide by forests was 1.1 petagrams of carbon, roughly one-sixth of fossil fuel emissions. The terrestrial carbon sink has been large in recent decades, but its size and location remain uncertain. Using forest inventory data and long-term ecosystem carbon studies, we estimate a total forest sink of 2.4 ± 0.4 petagrams of carbon per year (Pg C year–1) globally for 1990 to 2007. We also estimate a source of 1.3 ± 0.7 Pg C year–1 from tropical land-use change, consisting of a gross tropical deforestation emission of 2.9 ± 0.5 Pg C year–1 partially compensated by a carbon sink in tropical forest regrowth of 1.6 ± 0.5 Pg C year–1. Together, the fluxes comprise a net global forest sink of 1.1 ± 0.8 Pg C year–1, with tropical estimates having the largest uncertainties. Our total forest sink estimate is equivalent in magnitude to the terrestrial sink deduced from fossil fuel emissions and land-use change sources minus ocean and atmospheric sinks.