Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Antiallergic Effects of Lactobacillus pentosus Strain S-PT84 Mediated by Modulation of Th1/Th2 Immunobalance and Induction of IL-10 Production

Background: Many types of fermented food are consumed in Japan. Although some are produced by plant-origin lactic-acid bacteria (LAB) fermentation, the physiological functions of such bacteria remain unclear. We therefore isolated LAB of plant origin from Kyoto pickles and determined the immunological activity of heat-killed preparations of plant-origin LAB. Methods: The Lactobacillus pentosus strain S-PT84 was selected from among 16 LAB of plant origin as the strongest interleukin (IL)-12-inducing strain. IL-12- and IL-10-inducing activities were determined with macrophages from BALB/c mice. The in vivo immunomodulating effect of S-PT84was determined with BALB/c mice fed S-PT84. The antiallergic activity of S-PT84 was examined in ovalbumin (OVA)/alum-administered BALB/c mice. Results: The L. pentosus strain S-PT84 induced production of both IL-12 and IL-10 in vitro. S-PT84 enhanced splenic natural-killer activity and modulated the T helper (Th) type 1/type 2 balance toward a Th1-dominant state. In the OVA-induced allergy model, orally administered S-PT84 lowered serum IgE levels and suppressed active cutaneous anaphylaxis reaction and splenic IL-4 production. IL-10 production from splenocytes of OVA-immunized mice was upregulated by feeding S-PT84. Conclusions: Despite heat-killing, S-PT84 exhibited antiallergic effects by modulating the Th1/Th2 balance and inducing regulatory T cells. The L. pentosus strain S-PT84, which is of plant origin and isolated from a traditional Japanese food, is expected to be useful for treatment of many immune diseases including allergies, tumors, infectious diseases and auto-immune diseases.
Nature and Significance of War Neuroses

taken by Mr. F. V. Welch of this institute (Plate, Figs. IA to 8B). At one time mouse tumours were all considered to be simple and non-metastatic because evidently they were observed only in younger mice, the mice being killed early. This idea can no longer be held, and there seem to be really no fundamental differences from human lung tumours. Benign adenomas occur in man similar to some seen in mice. Human lung cancer cells are generally classified as squamous, columnar, spheroidal, polygonal, round, and oat: representatives of all these have been seen in mouse cancers, although there may be some minor differences. In mice, although some cases of epidermoid cancer occur (Wells et al., 1941), the squamous cells are seen in theij lungs usually only as metastases from skin cancer . due to painting the mouse's skin with tar. In man, metastases are seen more often than in the mouse, but this may be due to differences in the vascular beds or to the erect position of the human body. Also, metastases in the brain are common in man but, so far as is known, have not yet been reported there for the mouse, although one has been reported in the skull (Wells et al., 1941). In addition human lung cancers are usually described as bronchiogenic, while only a few of the mouse cancers seem so closely connected with the larger bronchi; but it seems impo,ssible to exclude completely some connexion with terminal bronchioles. Often the mouse lung cancers are described as alveolar canceir, while only 5% of human lung cancers are thus designated (Neubuerger and Geever, 1942). Such differences may be due merely to the different lay-out of the lungs in mice and man. It may be concluded that there are no sound reasons why the results obtained with the mouse experiments may not be applied to human beings. Certainly the dust experiments often seem to produce malignant tumours similar to those seen in man.
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS ON ACOUSTICS MADRID , 2-7 SEPTEMBER 2007 SPEECH INTELLIGIBILITY OF TWO GROUPS OF CORDECTOMIZED PATIENTS AFTER LARYNGOFISSURE AND LASER SURGERY

Speech intelligibility is inversely related to the noise generated in the vocal folds, in the resonance cavities, and in the environment. In this study the intelligibility of two cordectomized groups of patients, treated with two different surgical techniques, was analysed. One group underwent laryngofissure with conventional surgery; the other underwent surgery by laser. Each group recorded a list of 48 random items, words, and pseudowords. These lists were presented under five different conditions of S/N in an anechoic room with TDH 48 headphones. The stimuli were presented under two conditions of no noise and under three conditions the items were masked with white noise, in which S/N was +3dB, 0dB, -3dB and -6dB. The results show that without masking, intelligibility was very similar for both groups of patients. However, when the speech was masked, intelligibility was better for laryngofissure patients. Moreover, the difference in the recognition scores between the two techniques increased with the degree of masking. INTRODUCTION. The source-filter theory of speech production [1] explains speech production as the convolution of two factors: a source of vibration, which is accomplished by the vocal folds; and a resonator, located in the oral tract. So this relation can be expressed thus: S = Fv * Tr (Eq. 1) where S is speech; Fv is the source of vibration, and Tr is the oral tract or the transfer function, radiation of energy from the lips and mouth being negligible for characterization of the speech signal. To a great extent, the mechanism of source generation is independent of the filtering process. The characteristics of the source are not influenced by, nor depend on the acoustic properties of filters. During prephonation, the vocal folds are adducted, closing the glottis and obstructing the airflow. When the vocal folds abduct they start to vibrate due to the joint action of the pressure exerted by the sub-glottal retained air plus the Bernouilli effect, produced when the airflow passes from the trachea to the open glottis, a smaller opening than the trachea. Vibration of the vocal folds induces the resonances of the oral tract, an anatomical structure that looks like a 17cm long tube (depending on age and gender). In this tube the tongue modulates areas of different section and length, which acquires different resonance properties, amplifying certain bands of frequencies and attenuating others [2]. In patients with larynx diseases, if a tumour is localized in the vocal cords and it is in the first stages of development, it is possible to operate directly on the cords (cordectomy) preserving the other laryngeal structures. In the case of bilateral cordectomy, the patient can use the ventricular folds to speak or the postoperative rearrangement of the laryngeal structures [3]. The
Análise não paramétrica de falhas ao longo do calendário para alto-falantes

A analise de dados de garantia e uma importante fonte de informacao para descrever o comportamento dos tempos de falha. Cada linha de produto possui um desempenho unico ao ser iniciado o seu uso. O presente trabalho aborda uma modelagem nao parametrica para as falhas ao longo do calendario de alto-falantes, tipo subwoofer com 550 Wrms de potencia, item considerado como nao reparavel. A modelagem das falhas e apresentada conforme duas maneiras de organizacao dos dados: a) falhas ao longo do calendario no periodo de garantia para tamanho de amostras diferentes e b) falhas ao longo do calendario no periodo de garantia para tamanho de amostras iguais, as estimativas de sobrevivencia sao geradas atraves do estimador de Kaplan-Meier. Os resultados mostram que ha diferenca significativa entre as curvas geradas, e que para cada idade de falha, a curva que melhor representou as falhas e a estimada com tamanhos de amostras iguais.
Yeast Prions: Structure, Biology, and Prion-Handling Systems

SUMMARY A prion is an infectious protein horizontally transmitting a disease or trait without a required nucleic acid. Yeast and fungal prions are nonchromosomal genes composed of protein, generally an altered form of a protein that catalyzes the same alteration of the protein. Yeast prions are thus transmitted both vertically (as genes composed of protein) and horizontally (as infectious proteins, or prions). Formation of amyloids (linear ordered β-sheet-rich protein aggregates with β-strands perpendicular to the long axis of the filament) underlies most yeast and fungal prions, and a single prion protein can have any of several distinct self-propagating amyloid forms with different biological properties (prion variants). Here we review the mechanism of faithful templating of protein conformation, the biological roles of these prions, and their interactions with cellular chaperones, the Btn2 and Cur1 aggregate-handling systems, and other cellular factors governing prion generation and propagation. Human amyloidoses include the PrP-based prion conditions and many other, more common amyloid-based diseases, several of which show prion-like features. Yeast prions increasingly are serving as models for the understanding and treatment of many mammalian amyloidoses. Patients with different clinical pictures of the same amyloidosis may be the equivalent of yeasts with different prion variants.
Prediction of serotonergic treatment efficacy using age of onset and Type A/B typologies of alcoholism.

BACKGROUND Previously, we reported that ondansetron was efficacious at treating early-onset (< or =25-years old) but not late-onset (> or =26-years old) alcoholics in a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial (n = 321 enrolled patients, 271 of them randomized). Randomized participants underwent 11 weeks of treatment with ondansetron (1, 4, or 16 microg/kg twice daily; n = 67, 77, and 71, respectively) or identical placebo (n = 56), plus weekly standardized group cognitive behavioral therapy. METHODS For this study, we reanalyzed the original sample to determine whether the Type A/B typological classification predicts ondansetron treatment response. In this comparative analysis, k-means clustering was applied to 19 baseline measures of drinking behavior, psychopathology, and social functioning, similar to those used by Babor in the original typological derivation. A 2-factor solution described robustly 2 groups phenomenologically consistent with Type A/B classification. Subjects were subdivided into early- and late-onset alcoholics. RESULTS Seventy-two percent of Type B subjects had early-onset alcoholism (EOA); 67% of Type A subjects had late-onset alcoholism (LOA). The A/B typology better discriminated 2 clusters based upon baseline severity of alcoholism. There was a significant effect (p < 0.05) for Type B alcoholics to respond to ondansetron (4 microg/kg); however, Type A alcoholics receiving ondansetron showed no beneficial effect. Early-onset vs. late-onset classification predicted ondansetron response substantially better than Type A/B classification, which did not add to the prediction of treatment outcome. Further analyses showed that ondansetron was effective in the 33% of Type A alcoholics with EOA but ineffective in the 28% of Type B alcoholics with LOA. CONCLUSIONS Type A/B classification best discriminates alcoholic subtypes based upon baseline severity. Early- vs. late-onset classification is, however, a better predictor of response to ondansetron treatment because it might be more closely related to fundamental neurobiological processes associated with the underlying pathophysiology of alcoholism.
Prolonged (9 h) poikilocapnic hypoxia (12% O2) augments cutaneous thermal hyperaemia in healthy humans

What is the central question of this study? It is widely reported that non‐painful, local warming of the skin elicits highly reproducible vasodilatation in young healthy individuals. Systemic hypoxia also elicits cutaneous vasodilatation, although this is modest in comparison to that elicited by skin heating. The interaction of simultaneous cutaneous local thermal hyperaemia and systemic hypoxia has not been investigated. What is the main finding and its importance? When compared with normoxia, systemic hypoxaemia enhances skin vasodilator capacity in response to local skin warming. This finding has important implications for understanding the physiology of skin microvascular reactivity in individuals exposed to systemic hypoxia or with a hypoxic microenvironment of the skin.
On the design of sparse hybrid linear solvers for modern parallel architectures. (Sur la conception de solveurs linéaires hybrides pour les architectures parallèles modernes)

In the context of this thesis, our focus is on numerical linear algebra, more precisely on solution of large sparse systems of linear equations. We focus on designing efficient parallel implementations of MaPHyS, an hybrid linear solver based on domain decomposition techniques. First we investigate the MPI+threads approach. In MaPHyS, the first level of parallelism arises from the independent treatment of the various subdomains. The second level is exploited thanks to the use of multi-threaded dense and sparse linear algebra kernels involved at the subdomain level. Such an hybrid implementation of an hybrid linear solver suitably matches the hierarchical structure of modern supercomputers and enables a trade-off between the numerical and parallel performances of the solver. We demonstrate the flexibility of our parallel implementation on a set of test examples. Secondly, we follow a more disruptive approach where the algorithms are described as sets of tasks with data inter-dependencies that leads to a directed acyclic graph (DAG) representation. The tasks are handled by a runtime system. We illustrate how a first task-based parallel implementation can be obtained by composing task-based parallel libraries within MPI processes throught a preliminary prototype implementation of our hybrid solver. We then show how a task-based approach fully abstracting the hardware architecture can successfully exploit a wide range of modern hardware architectures. We implemented a full task-based Conjugate Gradient algorithm and showed that the proposed approach leads to very high performance on multi-GPU, multicore and heterogeneous architectures.
Evidenciação da Perda no Valor Recuperável de Ativos nas Demonstrações Contábeis: uma Verificação nas Empresas de Capital Aberto Brasileiras

Dadas as diversas mudancas introduzidas pelas leis no 11.638/07 e 11.941/09 e ao avanco que elas representam para o profissional contabil, principalmente no que diz respeito a harmonizacao com as normas internacionais, o presente estudo busca verificar se as companhias de capital aberto que reconheceram perda no valor recuperavel de ativos em 2008 seguiram as normas de divulgacao contidas no pronunciamento tecnico CPC-01, emitido pelo Comite de Pronunciamentos Contabeis, que trata do teste de recuperabilidade de ativos (impairment test). Para consecucao do objetivo verificou-se as Demonstracoes Financeiras Padronizadas (DFP) e respectivas Notas Explicativas (NE) das empresas, listadas no Ibovespa, que reconheceram perda no valor recuperavel de ativos durante o ano de 2008. O estudo caracteriza-se como exploratorio-descritivo e a abordagem do problema e qualitativa. Foi elaborado um quadro com as exigencias contidas no CPC-01 relativas a divulgacao da perda por impairment. A pesquisa revela que nenhuma das companhias analisadas divulgou, de maneira completa, todas as determinacoes emanadas pelo CPC-01, no que concerne especificamente a divulgacao da perda no valor recuperavel de ativos. As principais informacoes divulgadas pelas empresas foram: valor da perda e a maneira de mensuracao do valor recuperavel (Valor em Uso ou Valor Liquido de venda). E a principal informacao nao evidenciada por algumas empresas foi a taxa de desconto utilizada nas projecoes de fluxo de caixa descontado.
The Impact of Virtualization on Computing Systems

The invention relates to a process for the continuous extrusion forming of a thermoplastic double-walled, foam-core conduit by the sequential steps of extrusion forming an inner plastic tube, evenly coating said inner tube with foam-core layer and extrusion forming and bonding an outer tube in contact with said foam-core layer, said outer tube being generally evenly spaced apart from said inner tube by said foam-core layer providing a plastic double-walled, foam-core conduit.
Severe Acute Pancreatitis - Time for a New Stratification

Context Acute pancreatitis is a common surgical emergency. Severe acute pancreatitis has high mortality despite best efforts, and often requires intensive care. Objectives We aimed to evaluate the management and outcome of patients admitted with severe acute pancreatitis to our intensive treatment unit and identify their determinants of survival. Methods All patients admitted with severe acute pancreatitis to our intensive treatment unit between 2007 and 2010 were retrospectively reviewed. Outcome, clinico-pathological, demographic and radiological information were recorded. Results 75 patients were admitted, with an overall mortality of 32%. 51 had complete data for analysis. The median age was 64 years (range 23-95); survivors were younger (median age - 49 years) (p<0.001). There was no significant difference between survivors and non-survivors in relation to C-reactive protein (p=0.898) or lactate dehydrogenase (p=0.291). Antimicrobials did not improve survival (p=0.70), although indications and prescription regimes were heterogeneous. Significant determinants of mortality were presence of persistent organ failure or infected pancreatic necrosis (P=0.002 & P=0.003 respectively). These were used to divide patients into Groups: I – no organ failure or pancreatic necrosis; II – transient organ failure or sterile necrosis; III – persistent Organ Failure or infected pancreatic necrosis; IV – early persistent organ failure ± infected pancreatic necrosis and V – persistent organ failure and infected pancreatic necrosis. All patients who died were in groups III-V, with increasing mortality in higher groups. Conclusions Our mortality rate was comparable to the national standard, with higher fatality in older patients. Antimicrobials did not impact on survival, but this requires further evaluation. There appears to be a need to subdivide patients with severe acute pancreatitis to better reflect their outcomes. Our data shows that patients in Groups I-II are likely to do better than group III. Earlier onset of persistent organ failure (Group IV) carries poorer prognosis and combined persistent Organ Failure and infected pancreatic necrosis (Group V) carries the highest mortality. This classification appears to be a better predictor of mortality than Glasgow scoring.
Angiotensinogen and plasminogen activator inhibitor‐1 gene polymorphism in relation to chronic allograft dysfunction *

Abstract: Chronic allograft dysfunction (CAD) is the most common cause of allograft failure in the long‐term, and current immunologic strategies have little effect on this condition. The renin‐angiotensin system (RAS) plays important roles progression of chronic renal disease. It is thought that plasminogen activator inhibitor‐1 (PAI‐1) functions in the RAS, in addition to involvement in thrombotic risk and fibrosis. This study investigated possible links between angiotensinogen (AGT) genotypes (M235T/MM, MT, TT) and PAI‐1 genotypes (4G4G, 4G5G, 5G5G) and CAD assessments of both types of polymorphism were performed in 82 renal allograft recipients. One hundred healthy subjects were also investigated for AGT polymorphism, and 80 healthy subjects for PAI‐1 polymorphism. Genotypes were determined using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) sequence‐specific primers, and PCR followed by restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis. Kidney recipients with CAD had significantly lower frequencies of the MM genotype and the M allele than the recipients without CAD (p < 0.05 and <0.001). The transplant recipients with CAD also had significantly lower frequencies of the 5G5G genotype and the 5G allele than those without CAD (p < 0.001 and <0.05). Determination of AGT M235T and PAI‐1 genotypes prior to transplantation may help identify patients who at risk for chronic renal transplant dysfunction.
The Spectrum of Adverse Reactions After Treatment with Injectable Fillers in the Glabellar Region: Results from the Injectable Filler Safety Study

BACKGROUND For the glabellar region, severe partly vascular adverse events have been reported after treatment with injectable fillers. METHODS AND MATERIALS For this study, data from the Injectable Filler Safety Study, a German‐based registry for those reactions, was analyzed to characterize adverse events seen in the glabellar region. Patients were analyzed descriptively. RESULTS Forty of 139 registered patients reported adverse events in the glabellar region. All patients were female, with an average age of 52.3. Nineteen patients with adverse reactions to hydroxyethylmethacrylate (HEMA) and ethylmethacrylate (EMA) in a fixed combination with hyaluronic acid (HA) and 10 patients with adverse reactions to different hyaluronic acid products were reported; five patients reacted to poly‐l‐lactic acid (PLA). The most common adverse reactions to HEMA/EMA in HA and PLA were nodules and hardening. In HA‐treated patients, erythema and inflammation, swelling, and pain were most frequent. The adverse reactions to HEMA/EMA in HA were severe in 50% of the patients. Severe adverse reactions were found to a lesser extent in patients treated with HA and PLA. Potential vascular complications were documented in only two patients. CONCLUSION Adverse reactions seen in the glabella are overwhelmingly product associated and to a lesser extent location associated. Vascular complications with necrosis and ulceration were rare. Dr. Rzany is an advisor for Johnson & Johnson, Merz, Pharmaceuticals GmbH, Q‐Med, and Teoxane Laboratoires.
Restraint use among nursing home residents: cross-sectional study and prospective cohort study.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES To investigate (1) the prevalence of physical restraints and psychoactive medication, (2) newly administered physical restraints, frequency of application of the devices and frequency of psychoactive medication on demand during 12-month follow-up and (3) characteristics associated with restraint use in nursing homes. BACKGROUND High quality data on restraint use in German nursing homes are lacking so far. Such information is the basis for interventions to achieve a restraint-free care. DESIGN Cross-sectional study and prospective cohort study. SETTING AND SUBJECTS Thirty nursing homes with 2367 residents in Hamburg, Germany. METHODS External investigators obtained prevalence of physical restraints by direct observation on three occasions on one day, psychoactive drugs were extracted from residents' records and prospective data were documented by nurses. RESULTS Residents' mean age was 86 years, 81% were female. Prevalence of residents with at least one physical restraint was 26.2% [95% confidence interval (CI) 21.3-31.1]. Centre prevalence ranged from 4.4 to 58.9%. Bedrails were most often used (in 24.5% of residents), fixed tables, belts and other restraints were rare. Prevalence of residents with at least one psychoactive drug was 52.4% (95% CI 48.7-56.1). The proportion of residents with at least one physical restraint after the first observation week of 26.3% (21.3-31.3) cumulated to 39.5% (33.3-45.7) at the end of follow-up (10.4 SD 3.3 months). The relative frequency of observation days with at least one device ranged from 4.9-64.8% between centres. No characteristic was found to explain centre differences. CONCLUSIONS The frequency of physical restraints and psychoactive drugs in German nursing homes is substantial. Pronounced centre variation suggests that standard care is possible without restraints. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE Effective restraint minimisation approaches are urgently warranted. An evidence-based guideline may overcome centre differences towards a restraint-free nursing home care.