Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Single human leukocyte antigen flow cytometry beads for accurate identification of human leukocyte antigen antibody specificities

Background. It is difficult to assign antibody specificity for highly sensitized patients using a cell panel with multiple antigens per reaction. We describe here a single antigen bead panel for accurate identification of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) antibody specificities by flow cytometry. Methods. A total of 110 single recombinant HLAs, including 34 A locus alleles, 57 B locus alleles, and 19 C locus alleles, were produced by a mammalian expression system. These single antigens were coated onto eight different colored microbeads, which were mixed together in one tube for simultaneous detection of HLA antibodies against eight different antigens per flow cytometry test. Results. Single HLA reacted specifically with the serologically defined monoclonal antibodies. The single antigen panel provided higher resolution than the regular cell panel for antibody detection by uncovering the masked specificities. Single antigens also provided higher sensitivity than the multiple antigens coated onto beads for HLA antibody detection as demonstrated by serum dilution studies. In 10 sera from patients who had rejected a kidney transplant, single antigen beads identified antibodies to 31 of 35 antigens that were mismatched in the donor. Most important, none of the reactions were against antigens present in the recipient. Conclusion. An accurate and sensitive HLA antibody detection method is described using flow cytometry beads coated with single HLAs produced by recombinant technology. The single antigen beads should be useful in predicting negative crossmatch in highly sensitized organ recipients and highly sensitized patients requiring platelets.
Mobility and Transnationalism: Travel Patterns and Identity among Palestinian Canadians

Increased urban diversity in the metropolises of North America urges us to examine the different forms of mobility of transnational communities in cosmopolitan societies. Recent technological advancements, including developments in transport and communication networks, have significantly influenced participation in transnational activities and belonging to transnational social spaces. This study examines the relationships between long-term mobility (migration) and short-term mobility (tourism) by investigation the “visiting friends and family” travel of immigrants that best exemplifies the nexus between the two contemporary phenomena. As increasing levels of globalization and international migration are likely to be accompanied by increased transnationalism, the research uses transnationalism as a conceptual framework to study immigrants’ overseas travel. Research into the relationship between tourism and migration requires engaging with issues of citizenship as different categories of migrants have different rights in the country of settlement. This has implications for travel as revealed in the movements that occur between the places of origin of immigrants (which become destinations) and the new places of residence (which become new origins). These movements are likely to be influenced by the rights and duties of immigrants as citizens living within and moving around different states. This study examines the relationship between the overseas travel patterns of immigrants and their citizenship status. It also examines the role of ethnic and family reunion in shaping these travel patterns. The study also provides a deeper theoretical and empirical analysis of the role of ethnic reunion in shaping the travel patterns of immigrants and of the social and cultural meanings associated with the travel to the ancestral homeland. All of these issues are tackled by examining Palestinian immigrants in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and by employing a mixed methods approach engaging both quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis. Major research methods that are employed in the research include key informant interviews, questionnaire surveys, in-depth interviews, observation and field notes, and the use of secondary data. The study explored the politics of mobility for Palestinian-Canadians, an understudied population in terms of transnational practices and issues of identity and hybridity. It also explored issues of citizenship and belonging using extensive interview data with Palestinian-Canadians in the GTA. Throughout the thesis the highly politicized aspect of mobility/immobility, national identity, and national autonomy in the Palestinian case was present. The research highlighted the continuing role of state actors in determining mobility and rights, despite the increasing rhetoric of borderless mobility. The study reveals that the majority of the Palestinian Canadians travel overseas regularly and their outbound travel patterns demonstrate a significant ethnic component. Palestinian Canadians travel…
Oscillatory chloride current evoked by temperature jumps during muscarinic and serotonergic activation in Xenopus oocyte.

1. Membrane currents were recorded from voltage‐clamped oocytes of Xenopus laevis, during temperature jumps imposed by a heating light. Resting oocytes usually showed little response, but large oscillatory membrane currents developed in response to cooling steps applied during activation of 'native' muscarinic receptors. 2. Similar temperature jump (Tjump) currents were seen during activation of oscillatory chloride currents mediated by muscarinic acetylcholine (ACh), serotonin, glutamate and noradrenaline receptors, expressed in the oocyte following injection with messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) from rat brain. The Tjump response during muscarinic activation was selectively blocked by atropine, and that during serotonergic activation by methysergide. In contrast, the 'smooth' membrane currents elicited by nicotinic ACh, kainate and gamma‐aminobutyric acid (GABA) were not accompanied by Tjump responses. 3. Rapid cooling of the oocyte gave larger Tjump currents than a gradual cooling over a few seconds. The size of the Tjump current elicited by a fixed cooling step increased linearly with the preceding time of warming, becoming maximal at intervals greater than about 100 s. 4. The Tjump current was inward at a clamp potential of ‐60 mV and reversed direction at about ‐22 mV, which corresponds to the chloride equilibrium potential in the oocyte. In low‐chloride solution the reversal potential was shifted to more positive potentials, but it was almost unchanged by changes in potassium and sodium concentration. The size of the Tjump current decreased as the membrane potential was made more negative than about ‐40 mV. 5. The period of oscillation of the Tjump current increased with decreasing temperature, following a Q10 of 3.15. Depolarization also caused a small increase in period. 6. The Tjump current was not abolished in calcium‐free solution, or by addition of manganese or lanthanum to the bathing solution. However, it was abolished by intracellular injection of the calcium‐chelating agent EGTA. 7. Intracellular injection of inositol 1,4,5‐trisphosphate evoked an oscillatory membrane current, during which Tjump responses developed similar to those after muscarinic activation. Intracellular injection of calcium evoked a chloride current, but this was not accompanied by Tjump responses. 8. We conclude that the oscillatory currents evoked by temperature jumps arise from chloride channels activated by intracellular calcium. This calcium is probably mobilized from intracellular stores by inositol trisphosphate which is liberated as a result of activation of muscarinic receptors, and also receptors for serotonin and glutamate. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Prolactin, growth hormone, and luteinizing hormone-beta subunit gene expression in the cephalic and caudal lobes of the anterior pituitary gland during embryogenesis and different reproductive stages in the chicken.

Messenger RNA (mRNA) levels of prolactin (PRL), growth hormone (GH), and luteinizing hormone (LH)-beta subunit in the cephalic and caudal lobes of the anterior pituitary gland of the chicken during embryonic development and different reproductive stages were determined by Northern blot analysis and are related to hormone levels in plasma and each lobe. Steady-state levels of 1.4-kb transcript of PRL of the cephalic and caudal lobes increased on Days 18 and 20 of incubation, respectively. The levels were greater in the cephalic lobe than in the caudal lobe on Days 18 and 20 of incubation. Levels of PRL in each lobe show similar changes to those of mRNA levels. GH mRNA levels of both lobes started to increase on Day 16 of incubation but the levels were higher in the caudal lobe than in the cephalic lobe on Days 16-20 of incubation. Levels of GH in the cephalic lobe increased discontinuously, while those in the caudal lobe increased continuously on days of incubation. LH-beta mRNA was not detected in embryos. Levels of PRL mRNA increased approximately 18-, 20-, and 3-fold in hens at 1 and 3 weeks of egg incubation and brooding stages in the hen, relative to prelaying, respectively. These levels were higher in the cephalic lobe than in the caudal lobe at all stages except for prelaying stages. Levels of PRL in each lobe displayed essentially similar changes to the mRNA levels. GH mRNA levels did not significantly vary during the cycle but were higher in the caudal lobe than in the cephalic lobe. There was no difference in LH-beta mRNA levels between the two lobes but the levels were higher at prelaying and laying stages than at incubation and brooding stages. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
The Parent and Grandparent Sponsorship Program Reforms- The Consequence of a Neoliberal Shift

Since the formal enshrinement of Canada’s immigration objectives in the Immigration Act of 1976, Citizenship and Immigration Canada has been tasked with the responsibility of balancing the demands of the labour market and reuniting immigrant families. Policy changes in the 1990s suggest that neoliberal ideology, which promotes market economy principles, has become increasingly influential in the shaping of Canadian social policies and practices, and has had significant implications for immigration policy and admission trends (Arat-Koc, 1999). The prominence of neoliberal logic in immigration policy has resulted in the framing of immigrant value in terms of economic contributions. As a result, Family Class admissions have been the target of criticism, particularly sponsored parents and grandparents, who are absolved of meeting the point system criteria and are therefore perceived as having little ability to contribute to the economy (McLaren & Black, 2005). This paper explores the extent to which recent reforms to the parent and grandparent sponsorship program are a reflection of, and maintain, the prevailing neoliberal discourse that subordinates Family Class immigrants, especially parents and grandparents, conceiving of them as burdens to the state as opposed to contributing Economic Class entrants. This economic framework provides an incomplete picture of the contributions that sponsored parents and grandparents make to Canada. Furthermore, the insufficiency of empirical data supporting the claim that parents and grandparents are a potential burden on the state suggests that the recent reforms are an explicit expression of fear rather than fact (VanderPlaat, Ramos & Yoshida, 2011). This paper concludes with future research suggestions that lend themselves to redefining “contribution” to incorporate social, cultural, and indirect economic contributions, to provide a more nuanced conception of the value of sponsored parents and grandparents.
Serial evaluation of academic and behavioral outcome after treatment with cranial radiation in childhood.

PURPOSE To evaluate academic and behavioral outcome in radiated survivors of posterior fossa (PF) tumors. PATIENTS AND METHODS Fifty-three patients (36 males) treated for malignant PF tumors were seen for evaluation of academics and/or behavioral functioning. Forty-six patients were treated for medulloblastoma, and seven patients were treated for ependymoma. Fourteen patients were treated with reduced-dose cranial radiation, and 34 patients were treated with standard-dose cranial radiation (dose was not available for four patients). All patients received an additional boost to the PF. One patient was treated with PF radiation only. Standardized achievement tests and behavioral questionnaires were administered at different times after diagnosis for each child. First, the influence of demographic and medical variables on outcome was examined. Second, the rate of change in scores was determined using mixed model regression for patients seen for serial assessment. RESULTS The presence of hydrocephalus was related to poorer academics, but outcome was not related to radiation dose, extent of surgery, or treatment with chemotherapy. Younger age predicted poor reading ability and lower parent rating of academic achievement. Children's performance declined for spelling, mathematics, and reading. Significant declines were also evident in parent and teacher's ratings of academic ability. Behavioral functioning was generally not related to medical and demographic variables, and few clinically significant problems in externalizing behavior were evident. Increases in social and attention problems emerged over time. CONCLUSION Cranial radiation is associated with declines in academic ability, social skills, and attention. However, neither psychological distress nor behavior problems were a significant concern for this sample.
Resveratrol Inhibits IL‐1β–Induced Stimulation of Caspase‐3 and Cleavage of PARP in Human Articular Chondrocytes in Vitro

Abstract: Resveratrol is a polyphenolic phytoalexin that is present in various fruits, in the skin of red grapes and peanuts. Recent studies have shown that resveratrol exhibits potent antioxidant properties and is able to exert anti‐inflammatory and anti‐catabolic properties in several cell types. The pro‐inflammatory cytokine interleukin‐1β (IL‐1β) plays a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of osteoarthritis (OA) in humans and animals. In this article we investigated whether resveratrol is able to block the effects of IL‐1β, specifically the activation of caspase‐3 and subsequent cleavage of poly (ADP‐ribose) polymerase (PARP) in human articular chondrocytes. Cultures of human chondrocytes were prestimulated with 10 ng/mL IL‐1β for 1, 12, and 24 h before being co‐treated with IL‐1β and 100 μM resveratrol or 50 μM of the caspase inhibitor Z‐DEVD‐FMK for 1, 12, and 24 h, respectively in vitro. Resveratrol significantly reduced the IL‐1β‐induced inhibition of expression of cartilage‐specific collagen type II and signal transduction receptor β1‐integrin in a time‐dependent manner. Incubation of chondrocytes with IL‐1β resulted in the activation of caspase‐3 and PARP cleavage. These effects were abolished through co‐treatment with resveratrol. Furthermore, co‐treatment of IL‐1β‐stimulated cells with the caspase inhibitor Z‐DEVD‐FMK blocked activation of caspase‐3 and PARP cleavage, suggesting that this process is a caspase‐dependent pathway. In summary, our results confirm that resveratrol is an effective inhibitor of chondrocyte apoptosis in vitro. These findings suggest that this dietary polyphenolic compound may have future applications in the nutraceutical‐based therapy of human and animal OA.
Patterns of disease in concordant parent–child pairs with multiple sclerosis

Background: Although the exact etiology of MS remains elusive, there is good evidence that genetic factors play an important role. These factors are likely to be polygenic, exerting both independent and interactive effects on the expression of MS. They may determine susceptibility and/or shape the clinical course. Methods: The authors studied clinical phenotype in 245 concordant parent–child pairs recruited from a national register of familial disease over a 10-year period. Data were examined in order to determine the effect of parental sex on expression of disease in the offspring. Results: Allowing for the observed sex ratio of 2.6 F:1 M in this group of patients, sex pairings of parents and offspring were close to those expected. When assessed independently there was no evidence that either the sex of the affected offspring or the line of inheritance influenced disability, age at onset, or disease course. However, trends were observed toward greater disability and an increased frequency of primary progressive disease in offspring of affected fathers and an earlier age at onset in offspring of affected mothers. The highest mean Expanded Disability Status Scale score was observed in male offspring of affected fathers (5.64) and this group was also more likely to have primary progressive disease (OR 1.92). Thirty-one percent of families had an additionally affected offspring with no preferential maternal or paternal transmission. Conclusions: In offspring of concordant parent–child families with MS who are at high risk of inheriting increased numbers of susceptibility genes there is no evidence for a parent of origin effect distorting sex ratios in affected offspring, but parent of origin may influence disability and disease course as well as increasing the risk to additional offspring within the same family. The mechanism of these effects is not clear but may result from interactions between genes encoded at different loci (epistasis), which each independently influence susceptibility and phenotype.
Apprentissage de signatures de facteurs de transcription à partir de données d'expression

Résumé. L’inférence de signatures de facteurs de transcription à partir des données puces à ADN a déjà été étudié dans la communauté bioinformatique. La principale difficulté à résoudre est de trouver un ensemble d’heuristiques pertinentes, afin de contrôler la complexité de résolution de ce problème NP-difficile. Nous proposons dans cet article une solution heuristique alternative à celles utilisées dans les approches bayésiennes, fondée sur la recherche de motifs fréquents maximaux dans une matrice discrétisée issue des données numériques de puces ADN. Notre méthode est appliquée sur des données de cancer de vessie de l’Institut Curie et de l’Hôpital Henri Mondor de Créteil.
Sleeping position and sudden infant death syndrome in Norway 1967-91.

OBJECTIVE--To investigate, in a population based national study, the association between sleeping position of infants and the occurrence of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). DESIGN--A retrospective survey and registry based ecological study. A questionnaire based surveillance of sleeping position was obtained in a random sample (n = 34,799) and surveillance of SIDS was based on all infants born in Norway 1967-91, surviving the perinatal period. Variables studied from the questionnaire were usual sleeping position (placed), breast feeding at 3 months, and maternal smoking in pregnancy, and from the Medical Birth Registry maternal age, birth order, and birth weight. RESULTS--Proportion of infants sleeping prone increased from 1970 (7.4%) to 1989 (49.1%) and dropped in 1990 (26.8%) and 1991 (28.3%). Occurrence of SIDS increased from 1970 (1.1/1000) to 1989 (2.0) before dropping in 1990 and 1991 (1.1). IMPLICATION AND RELEVANCE OF RESULTS--A cause effect relationship between prone sleeping and SIDS as suggested in previous studies is supported by the present; and so far only, national study of infants' sleeping position.
Resource Allocation in Non-Orthogonal and Hybrid Multiple Access System With Proportional Rate Constraint

Non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA), which has attracted a lot of attention recently due to its superior spectral efficiency, could play a vital role in improving the capacity of future networks. In this paper, a resource allocation scheme is developed for a downlink multi-user NOMA system. An optimization problem is formulated to maximize the sum rate under the total power and proportional rate constraints. Due to the complexity of computing the optimal solution, we develop a low complexity sub-optimal solution for a two-user scenario and then extend it to the multi-user case by proposing a user-pairing approach as well as a number of power allocation techniques that facilitate dealing with a large number of users in NOMA system. Simulation results support the effectiveness of the proposed approaches and show the close performance to the optimal one. In addition, we propose a new hybrid multiple access technique that combines the properties of NOMA and the orthogonal frequency division multiple access. Simulation results show that the proposed hybrid method provides better performance than NOMA in terms of the overall achievable sum rate and the coverage probability.
Neutralizing antibody immune response in children with primary and secondary rotavirus infections

We have characterized the neutralizing antibody immune response to six human rotavirus serotypes (G1 to G4, G8, and G9) in Brazilian children with primary and secondary rotavirus infections and correlated the response with the G serotype of the infecting rotavirus strain. Twenty-five children were studied: 17 had a single rotavirus infection, 4 were reinfected once, and 4 experienced three infections. Two of the reinfections were by non-group A rotaviruses. Among the 25 primary infections, we observed homotypic as well as heterotypic responses; the serotype G1 viruses, which accounted for 13 of these infections, induced mostly a homotypic response, while infections by serotype G2 and G4 viruses induced, in addition to the homotypic, a heterotypic response directed primarily to serotype G1. Two of the primary infections induced heterotypic antibodies to 69M, a serotype G8 virus that by RNA electrophoresis analysis was found not to circulate in the population during the time of the study. The specificity of the neutralizing antibody immune response induced by a virus of a given serotype was the same in primary as well as secondary infections. These results indicate that the heterotypic immune response induced in a primary rotavirus infection is an intrinsic property of the virus strain, and although there seem to be general patterns of serotype-specific seroconversion, these may vary from serotype to serotype and from strain to strain within a serotype.
Small changes in outpatients lupus activity are better detected by clinical instruments than by laboratory tests.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate and compare responsiveness of laboratory and clinical measures over 4 months in outpatient systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). METHODS We studied 23 patients with SLE at monthly intervals during 4 mo and collected demographic data, prednisone dose, global patient and physician assessment of disease activity on 10 cm visual analog scales (VAS), scores on 3 clinical measures of lupus disease activity [SLE disease activity index (SLEDAI), SLE activity measure (SLAM), lupus activity index (LAI)], and results of 5 routine laboratory tests [erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), anti-dsDNA, C3, C4, circulating immune complexes]. We calculated correlations between a particular measure and our gold standard (physician's VAS) for individual patients and pooled this information using a novel application of the meta-analytic approach. RESULTS The range of disease activity by patient and physician VAS varied from inactive to moderately active> Change in patient global assessment and all 3 clinical measures showed significant positive correlations with change in physician VAS (p < 0.05). Change in ESR, anti-dsDNA, or level of C3, C4, or circulating immune complexes did not correlate with change in physician VAS. CONCLUSION Clinical measures of disease activity in SLE are more responsive to small changes than traditional laboratory tests. All 3 clinical measures appeared to perform equally well. At least one SLE disease activity measure should be used in SLE trials. The new analytic method will likely be of value in similar evaluations of responsiveness in other diseases.