Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Allergic Rhinitis in Women

Allergic rhinitis is a high-prevalence disease that significantly impairs the quality of life. Its pathogenesis is quite well understood, and involves numerous cells, cytokines and mediators, which result in an inflammatory process. The triggering IgE-mediated reaction does not differ between men and women, but in females some aspects, related mainly to the hormonal frame, must be taken into account. In fact, cyclic hormonal changes can affect the severity of rhinitis, as can pregnancy, which may result in a particular form of ‘pregnancy rhinitis’. The most important and challenging aspect is the management of allergic rhinitis in pregnancy, which require a careful evaluation of the risk:benefit ratio. This review will examine the aforementioned aspects, with particular regard to the pharmacotherapy of rhinitis in pregnancy.
Acute Reduction in Ankle/Brachial Index Following Smoking in Chronic Smokers with Peripheral Arterial Occlusive Disease

The ankle-brachial systolic pressure index (ABI), a noninvasive measure of peripheral arterial occlusive disease (PAOD) severity, is considered a marker of atherosclerosis and an independent predictor of mortality. However, it is not known whether factors other than PAOD severity, such as cigarette smoking, have an effect on ABI measurement. Therefore, the authors examined the acute effects of cigarette smoking on ABI and the peripheral circulation in 10 older (63 ±10 years) chronic smokers (39 ±37 pack-years) with PAOD (ABI=0.64 ±0.14). The patients were instructed to refrain from smoking and from consuming caffeine-containing beverages for at least 12 hours before the tests. The patients were randomly assigned to 2 days of testing consisting of a nonsmoking and a smoking day. Resting heart rate, blood pressure, ABI, and calf blood flow by plethysmography were obtained on both testing days. The smoking day consisted of smoking two filter cigarettes over a period of 10 minutes before the measurement of ABI and calf blood flow. The ABI on the smoking day (0.55 ±0.11) was lower (p=0.008) than on the nonsmoking day (0.64 ±0.14) owing to a lower (p = 0.020) ankle systolic blood pressure (81 ±28 vs 93 ±28 mmHg). Brachial systolic blood pressures, heart rate, and calf blood flow were not altered by smoking (p>0.05). These results demonstrate that the acute effect of cigarette smoking lowers the ABI in chronic smokers with intermittent claudication, thereby yielding evidence of a transient deleterious effect of cigarette smoking on the peripheral circulation in chronic smokers.
Chemical Behaviour and Herbicidal Activity of Cyclohexanedione Oxime Herbicides

Benzoximate (I; Fig. 1) is an acaricide developed by Nippon Soda in 1971 (Iwataki, 1992). However, scientifics of the company observed that some benzohydroxamates showed weak herbicidal activity. After much synthetic developments, a new lead compound, an ethoxyimino dehydroacetic acid derivative (II; Fig. 1), showed a strong pre-emergence herbicidal activity against annual grass weed without any effects towards broadleaf plants. Further developmental research was performed on the cyclohexanedione skeleton to develop a new post-emergence herbicide. It was observed that the ethoximine group between the two keto groups was essential for the herbicidal activity (III; Fig. 1). Besides, when hetero atoms were introduced in the ring, the compounds showed high preemergence activity. When the ring was formed by carbons, so-called cyclohexane derivatives, the compounds showed high preand post-emergence activities. Therefore, the synthetic research was focused towards the substituents on the cyclohexanodione skeleton. The activity was higher when side chain substituents R1 and R2 (Fig. 1) were alkyl groups. As for the ring substituents, mono i-Pr and germinal dimethyl at the R3 and R3 position and ciano and methoxycarbonyl groups at the R4 position provided the maximum activity. This way, alloxydim–sodium was discovered and introduced in the market in 1978.
An Adaptive Frame Resource Allocation Strategy for TDMA-Based Cooperative Transmission

Cooperative relaying transmission is addressed as an effective way to offer better channel capacity and larger coverage for B3G wireless system. In this letter, an explicit adaptive frame resource allocation (AFRA) strategy for adaptive TDD-TDMA frame structure is deduced in terms of slot allocation for cooperative relaying transmission, and through the analysis and numerical simulations, the proposed scheme can contribute to obtain the superior performances for the future cooperative wireless system
Innovations in station ground testing

A sample box and ac resistance meter find contamination in surface stone. Commercial dc resistance meters verify grid integrity but have short leads and experience ac interference. A custom built micro ohmmeter addresses these deficiencies. Wenner, Schlumberger and Palmer resistivity tests differ in their ability to resolve a highly resistive deep soil layer. The classic Fall of Potential impedance test will not work at sites with external connections, leading to a new Proximity Correction method. A rational polynomial models mutual resistance in multilayer soil, which is much more efficient than image methods in grounding analysis.
The use of agar gel as a basic reference material for calibrating relaxation times and imaging parameters

The relaxation properties of agar gels render it a potentially useful basic reference material for calibrating the NMR equipment. The T1 and T2 values are close to the values observed for most biological tissues; they are stable and can be varied by controlling the concentration of MnCl2. The temperature, concentration, and volume dependence of T1 and T2 were studied.
Chemosensory Function in Patients With Vagal Nerve Stimulators

Chemosensory function is determined by the interplay of numerous sensory modalities. The present study aimed to evaluate the possible influence of electrical stimulation of the left-sided vagal nerve on gustatory and olfactory function in patients with vagal nerve stimulation (VNS). Gustation and olfaction were tested using psychophysical techniques; olfactory function was additionally evaluated using event-related potentials. A total of 11 subjects participated (six men and five women, aged 21 to 56 years). The vagal stimulator was run in “rapid cycle mode” in 10 patients, whereas one patient was treated with “normal mode” VNS. Subjects participated in two sessions, with the vagal stimulator switched on and off, respectively. The sequence of the two sessions was randomized across all participants. Using air-dilution, olfactometry event-related potentials to the specific olfactory stimulant H2S were recorded. Psychophysical tests were performed using the “Sniffin’ Sticks” test kit, a test for retronasal olfactory function, and a gustatory test based on impregnated filter paper. The study yielded the following major results: (1) VNS produced a prolongation of P2 latencies of olfactory ERP, and (2) patients with therapeutic benefit from VNS in terms of seizure control had larger amplitudes during the on period than during the off period. In conclusion, using electrophysiological measures of olfactory function, the present study indicated a significant role of VNS in the processing of olfactory information.
Power Stage and Feedback Loop Design for LLC Resonant Converter in High-Switching-Frequency Operation

As converter switching frequencies are moving toward megahertz frequencies for high power density, secondary leakage parasitics that were previously negligible have to be considered in mathematical modeling for LLC resonant converters. At high-switching-frequency operation, the power stage design must take secondary leakage inductance into account because it can affect the input–output voltage gain. In addition, the feedback loop design should consider the effect of the time delay caused by the performance limitation of a digital controller to improve the small-signal model accuracy of the converter. Using the proposed power stage and feedback control loop design considerations, the LLC resonant converter can achieve high power conversion efficiency and stability enhancement at high switching frequencies. All the proposed methods are experimentally verified using a 240-W prototype LLC resonant converter operating at 1-MHz switching frequency.
Author ' s personal copy Pyrrolizidine alkaloids from Echium glomeratum ( Boraginaceae )

The methanolic extract of the whole plant of Echium glomeratum Poir. (Boraginaceae) has afforded five pyrrolizidine alkaloids, three that were (7S, 8R)-petranine (1), (7S, 8S)-petranine (2), and (7R, 8R)-petranine (3a) or (7R, 8S)-petranine (3b), comprising a tricyclic pyrrolizidine alkaloids subclass; and two that were known but to the species: 7-angeloylretronecine (4) and 9-angeloylretronecine (5). All compounds were tested against a human tumor panel for cytotoxicity; no activity was observed (EC50 values > 20 lg/ml). 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Fetal plasma stimulates endothelial cell production of cytokines and the family of suppressor of cytokine signaling in umbilical placental vascular disease.

OBJECTIVE We have shown that fetal plasma from pregnancies with placental vascular disease that were identified by an abnormal umbilical artery Doppler study causes endothelial cell activation. We investigated the hypothesis that this would be associated with endothelial cell production of cytokines and their natural regulators, the suppressor of cytokine signaling family. Activation of suppressor of cytokine signaling at the time of cytokine release confirms the fact that cytokine production is occurring in a stimulated cell. STUDY DESIGN Aliquots from a common culture of human umbilical vein endothelial cells were incubated with fetal plasma from normal pregnancy (n = 29 pregnancies), from umbilical placental vascular disease defined by abnormal umbilical artery Doppler waveforms (n = 38 pregnancies), and from preeclampsia with normal umbilical artery Doppler scans (n = 10 pregnancies). The expression of messenger RNA for the cytokines interleukin-6 and interleukin-8 and the members of suppressor of cytokine signaling family (cytokine-inducible SH2-containing protein, suppressor of cytokine signaling 1, 2, and 3) were assessed by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS Endothelial cell expression of interleukin-6 messenger RNA (1.94 +/- 0.24 vs 1.31 +/- 0.16) and interleukin-8 messenger RNA (2.62 +/- 0.33 vs 1.64 +/- 0.22) were enhanced in response to incubation with fetal plasma from placental vascular disease in comparison to incubation with fetal plasma from normal pregnancy. The messenger RNA expression of suppressor of cytokine signaling-2 (2.03 +/- 0.23 vs 1.37 +/- 0.16) was up-regulated significantly in placental vascular disease. Differences for cytokine-inducible SH2-containing protein, suppressor of cytokine signaling-1, and suppressor of cytokine signaling-3 were not significant. The expression of cytokines and the suppressor of cytokine signaling family did not differ from normal in the group with maternal preeclampsia and a normal umbilical study. Interestingly, in the umbilical placental vascular disease group, the results were similar in the subgroups, with or without preeclampsia in the mother. CONCLUSION We have shown that factors that cause endothelial cell injury are present in the fetal circulation in umbilical placental vascular disease. This study is the first report of cytokine production and release and activation of the suppressor of cytokine signaling family by endothelial cells in response to fetal plasma in placental vascular disease. The role of all members of the suppressor of cytokine signaling family in this process must be investigated further. The fact that both the agonist (cytokines) and the antagonist (suppressor of cytokine signaling-2) are produced points to a significant role of endothelial cells in this disease.
IFN‐γ‐rich environment programs dendritic cells toward silencing of cytotoxic immune responses

Lately, there is increasing evidence that emphasizes the regulatory functions of IFN‐γ, which serve as negative‐feedback mechanisms after, e.g., pathogen clearance, to prevent unnecessary tissue destruction. Inflammatory processes involving Th1 and cytotoxic responses are characterized by high, local IFN‐γ concentrations, followed by resolution and immune silencing. Although this is a well‐known course of events, extensive attempts to address potential differential effects of IFN‐γ in the manner of its availability (quantitatively) in the environment do not exist. We demonstrate that high doses of IFN‐γ do not induce DC maturation and activation but instead, induce specific regulatory characteristics in DCs. Considering their phenotype, high doses of IFN‐γ extensively induce the expression of ILT‐4 and HLA‐G inhibitory molecules. Interestingly, the well‐known priming effect of IFN‐γ for IL‐12p70 production is lost at these conditions, and the DC cytokine profile is switched toward an increased IL‐10/IL‐12p70 ratio upon subsequent stimulation with CD40L. Furthermore, such DCs are capable of silencing cellular immune responses and activation of cytotoxic CD8+ T lymphocytes, resulting in reduced cell proliferation and down‐regulation of granzyme B expression. Additionally, we find that in this manner, immune regulation mediated by IFN‐γ is not mainly a result of increased enzymatic activity of IDO in DCs but rather, a result of HLA‐G signaling, which can be reversed by blocking mAb. Altogether, our results identify a novel mechanism by which a Th1‐like environment programs the functional status of DCs to silence ongoing cytotoxic responses to prevent unwanted tissue destruction and inflammation.
Quantification of regulatory T cells enables the identification of high-risk breast cancer patients and those at risk of late relapse.

PURPOSE To assess the clinical significance of tumor-infiltrating FOXP3-positive regulatory T cells (TR) in breast cancer patients with long-term follow-up. PATIENTS AND METHODS FOXP3-positive TR were detected by immunohistochemistry with our new, extensively characterized FOXP3 monoclonal antibody, 236A/E7. Numbers of FOXP3-positive lymphocytes in tissue microarray cores from pure ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS; n = 62), invasive breast cancer (n = 237) or from comparable areas of normal terminal duct lobular breast tissue (n = 10) were determined. A median cutoff of > or = 15 defined patients with high numbers of TR. RESULTS TR numbers were significantly higher in in situ and invasive breast carcinomas than in normal breast; invasive tumors have significantly higher numbers than DCIS (P = .001). High numbers of FOXP3-positive TR identified patients with DCIS at increased risk of relapse (P = .04) and patients with invasive tumors with both shorter relapse-free (P = .004) and overall survival (P = .007). High TR numbers were present in high-grade tumors (P < or = .001), in patients with lymph node involvement (P = .01), and in estrogen receptor (ER) -negative tumors (P = .001). Importantly, high numbers of TR within ER-positive tumors identified high-risk patients (P = .005). Unlike conventional clinicopathologic factors, high numbers of FOXP3-positive TR can identify patients at risk of relapse after 5 years. CONCLUSION These findings indicate that quantification of FOXP3-positive TR in breast tumors is valuable for assessing disease prognosis and progression, and that TR are an important therapeutic target for breast cancer. FOXP3-positive TR represent a novel marker for identifying late-relapse patients who may benefit from aromatase therapy after standard tamoxifen treatment.
Association between childhood trauma and loss of functionality in adult women with fibromyalgia Trends in Psychiatry and Psychotherapy

Objective: To investigate whether history of childhood trauma is associated with loss of functionality in adult women with fibromyalgia (FM). A secondary objective was to assess the presence of differences between depressed and non-depressed adult women with FM in a regression model for functionality. Methods: A total of 114 adult women with FM according to the American College of Rheumatology diagnostic criteria answered the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire and the Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire. All subjects were interviewed by trained psychiatrists and evaluated for depression using the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI) – Brazilian version 5.0. 0. Correlation and regression models were used to investigate associations between childhood trauma and loss of functionality among patients with FM. The sample was stratified by presence and absence of clinical depression. Results: Overall, childhood trauma was associated with of loss of functionality in adult women with FM. When stratified by depression, the regression model significantly increased the association among non-depressed patients, even after adjustment for age and use of psychotropic medications. Conclusions: Childhood trauma showed a clinically important association with loss of functionality among adult women with FM. The associations were more pronounced among subjects without comorbid depression.
Conflict Resolution at the University of Ottawa Faculty of Medicine: The Pelican and the Sign of the Triangle

In 1997 the University of Ottawa Medical School adopted a conflict-resolution policy for informally dealing with complaints of abuse, harassment and intimidation, sexual harassment, and scientific misconduct or misappropriation of intellectual property. In collaboration with the university's Faculty of Law, general conflict-resolution workshops were given for faculty and administration and mediation training was provided to medical faculty designated “complaint officers” under the policy. In this article, the authors describe the policy and training and then analyze the first major incident arising after the policy's implementation: the publication of disrespectful misogynist material in The Pelican, a medical student society newsletter. The Pelican incident is used as a “lessons learned” case study both in terms of its multiple outcomes and as an opportunity to pinpoint some important policy and practical considerations that emerged in implementing a conflict-resolution policy. The article also describes the results of a learning environment survey conducted after the Pelican incident.
Effect of the Mandatory Adoption of IFRS on Real and Accruals-based Earnings Management: Empirical Evidence From France

The main purpose of this study is to examine whether the mandatory IFRS adoption within French listed companies provides higher earnings quality. More precisely, we study the impact of mandatory IFRS adoption on two approaches of earnings management: real and accruals-based earnings management. This study focuses on a sample of 1488 firm-year observations, 124 firms drawn from the 250 French-listed companies during the period from 1999 to 2011. We use the panel data for our analysis. Specifically, the FGLS estimator method is conducted in our regression models. Our results indicate that the absolute value of discretionary accruals is significantly reduced six years after the mandatory adoption of IFRS. We also find a negative association between the real earnings management and the mandatory adoption of IFRS. Overall, we can deduce that earnings quality is improved in the post-IFRS period in the French context.
A pr 2 01 3 Self-similar solutions with compactly supported profile of some nonlinear Schrödinger equations

This paper deals with the study of “sharp localized” solutions of a nonlinear type Schrödinger equation in the whole space R , N > 1, with a zero order term, in modulus, like a power m less than one of the modulus of the solution, and with a non zero external forcing term f . Our fundamental assumption is that such an exponent m verifies m ∈ (0, 1). The self-similar structure of the solution is justified from the assumption that the external forcing term satisfies that f(t, x) = tF (tx) for some complex exponent p and for some profile function F which is assumed to be with compact support in R . We show the existence of solutions u(t, x) = tU(tx), with a profile U , which also have compact support in R , reason why we call as “sharp localized” solutions to this type of solutions. The proof of the localization of the support of the profile U uses some suitable energy method applied to the stationary problem satisfied by U after some unknown transformation.
Degradation of Alkyl Methyl Ketones by Pseudomonas veronii MEK700

ABSTRACT Pseudomonas veronii MEK700 was isolated from a biotrickling filter cleaning 2-butanone-loaded waste air. The strain is able to grow on 2-butanone and 2-hexanol. The genes for degradation of short chain alkyl methyl ketones were identified by transposon mutagenesis using a newly designed transposon, mini-Tn5495, and cloned in Escherichia coli. DNA sequence analysis of a 15-kb fragment revealed three genes involved in methyl ketone degradation. The deduced amino acid sequence of the first gene, mekA, had high similarity to Baeyer-Villiger monooxygenases; the protein of the second gene, mekB, had similarity to homoserine acetyltransferases; the third gene, mekR, encoded a putative transcriptional activator of the AraC/XylS family. The three genes were located between two gene groups: one comprising a putative phosphoenolpyruvate synthase and glycogen synthase, and the other eight genes for the subunits of an ATPase. Inactivation of mekA and mekB by insertion of the mini-transposon abolished growth of P. veronii MEK700 on 2-butanone and 2-hexanol. The involvement of mekR in methyl ketone degradation was observed by heterologous expression of mekA and mekB in Pseudomonas putida. A fragment containing mekA and mekB on a plasmid was not sufficient to allow P. putida KT2440 to grow on 2-butanone. Not until all three genes were assembled in the recombinant P. putida was it able to use 2-butanone as carbon source. The Baeyer-Villiger monooxygenase activity of MekA was clearly demonstrated by incubating a mekB transposon insertion mutant of P. veronii with 2-butanone. Hereby, ethyl acetate was accumulated. To our knowledge, this is the first time that ethyl acetate by gas chromatographic analysis has been definitely demonstrated to be an intermediate of MEK degradation. The mekB-encoded protein was heterologously expressed in E. coli and purified by immobilized metal affinity chromatography. The protein exhibited high esterase activity towards short chain esters like ethyl acetate and 4-nitrophenyl acetate.