Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Transmission intensity and human immune responses to lymphatic filariasis

Our understanding of how the host immune response influences the risk of developing disease has changed dramatically over the past decade. Previously, the spectrum of disease associated with lymphatic filariasis was largely attributed to the nature of the host immune response. Now, we appreciate that the duration and intensity of infection and possibly the direct influence of parasite‐derived molecules also determine the risk of disease. Individuals chronically infected with lymphatic filariasis generally have an impaired lymphocyte proliferation response to filarial antigens and favour Th2‐type cytokine responses. This ability to down‐modulate the host immune response may help protect the host from disease. Defects in antigen‐presenting cell (APC) function appear to participate in this acquired immune hyporesponsiveness, although the mechanisms as to how this occurs are poorly understood. Here, we present evidence that repeated exposure to infective stage larvae and their secreted products may stimulate basophils and mast cells to related products that may impair APC function.
Behavior-Based Memory Resource Management for Container-Based Virtualization

Container-based virtualization is a virtualization technique at operating system level. It realizes a lightweight virtualization whose overhead is much less than hypervisor based virtualization. In a container, the programs often consume much more memory than the developer or the administrator expected. There are several methods to prevent such memory overuse. They, however, have each shortcoming such as its operation cost, the false-positive problem and so on. In this paper, we propose a new resource management method for container-based virtualization environment based on the resource consumption behavior. The method detects a wrong container that has a sign of memory overuse and makes a limitation to the detected container. A preliminary experiment for a proof-of-concept shows that it is possible to implement the proposed method in Linux kernel and it is effective to attack the problem situation.
Toward a Theory of Tuition: Prices, Peer Wages, and Competition in Higher Education *

College tuition, as the price of higher education services, defies familiar economic analysis in important ways. It is recognized that tuition is a price that covers only a fraction of the cost of producing those educational services (about a third, nationally), creating an in-kind subsidy for students (the balance being made up by large flows of donative resources from gifts, appropriations, and returns on wealth). This paper examines yet another important economic peculiarity of tuition; it takes seriously input and output markets implied by Rothschild-White (1995 JPE) in which a single event – of a student’s matriculation – is simultaneously a transaction in both an input market (where a wage is paid for a student’s peer quality) and an output market (where a price is paid for the college’s educational services). Those two prices are obscured by the fact that the peer wage is paid in the form of a discount on the price of educational services as well as by the fact that the schools’ sales (tuition) revenues are significantly augmented by those donated resources. This framing sees a school’s access to donated resources (wealth) critical in determining which market – peer quality inputs or educational services sales – will most influence its behavior. Apparent anomalies in the product market – like queues of unsatisfied customers that persist while schools refuse to expand capacity – disappear when they are seen to be the result of an input market where a queue of job applicants is used to allow the firm to select on worker – peer – quality (the result of an AkerlofYellen efficiency wage).
[Helicobacter pylori and gastric cancer: relationship with histological subtype and tumor location].

INTRODUCTION Helicobacter pylori (HP) has been implicated in the pathogenesis of gastric adenocarcinoma. Published data on HP infection and its association with both histological subtype and tumor localization are contradictory and few data are available on this topic in Spain. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the association of HP infection with histological subtype and tumor localization in a series of patients with gastric adenocarcinoma. MATERIAL AND METHOD We retrospectively reviewed all the patients diagnosed with gastric neoplasms in Hospital del Mar in Barcelona between 1995 and 2001. The histological subtype was established using Lauren's classification. Tissue samples were obtained from the surgical specimen or from endoscopic biopsies. HP infection was histologically determined through hematoxylin-eosin, Masson's trichromic, and Giemsa staining. RESULTS During the study period, 304 gastric neoplasms, 275 (90.4%) adenocarcinomas, 22 (7.2%) lymphomas, 3 (1.0%) leiomyosarcomas, 2 (0.7%) degenerated gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) and 2 (0.7%) Kaposi's sarcomas were diagnosed. In patients with adenocarcinoma, the mean age at diagnosis was 69 years and most patients were male (62%). A total of 48.1% of the neoplasms were located in the gastric antrum, 23.7% in the body and 19.1% in the fundus (13.6% in the period 1994-1997 and 25.4% in the period 1998-2001, p = 0.018). Intestinal-type gastric carcinoma was observed in 56% of the patients, diffuse-type in 28% and indeterminate-type in 16%. HP infection was confirmed in 69% of the patients (68% in intestinal subtype, 69% in diffuse subtype, and 69% in indeterminate subtype, p = 0.84), and was significantly associated with distal adenocarcinomas vs. proximal adenocarcinomas (73.6% vs 48.6%, p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS No differences were observed between the histological type of adenocarcinoma and HP infection. In the last few years, the incidence of fundic adenocarcinomas has increased. These tumors show a lower association with HP infection.
A prospective study on the safety and efficacy of angiographic embolization for pelvic and visceral injuries.

BACKGROUND Angiographic embolization (AE) is used with increasing frequency as an alternative to surgery for control of intraperitoneal and retroperitoneal bleeding. There are no prospective studies on its efficacy, safety, and indications. PATIENTS From April 1999 to June 2001, patients with abdominal visceral organ injuries or major pelvic fractures sent for AE were prospectively studied. Patients were transported to the angiography suite either because they were hemodynamically unstable ("emergent" angiography) or hemodynamically stable but had injuries likely to bleed ("preemptive" angiography). The efficacy of AE was derived from its ability to control bleeding radiographically and clinically; the safety of AE was determined by the complications related to transport, vascular access, catheter insertion, contrast administration, and tissue necrosis after interruption of blood supply to organs. Predictors of bleeding were identified by comparing patients who showed contrast extravasation on angiography with those who did not by univariate and multivariate analysis. RESULTS Of 100 consecutive patients evaluated by angiography for bleeding from major pelvic fractures (n = 65) or solid visceral organ injuries (n = 35), 57 were found to have active contrast extravasation and were embolized, 23 were found to have indirect signs of vascular injury or ongoing hemodynamic instability and were embolized, and 20 had no signs of bleeding and were not embolized. AE was effective and safe in 95% and 94%, respectively, of 80 patients who were embolized. Four patients had recurrent bleeding after AE and five developed AE-related complications. In three of the four patients, bleeding was controlled by repeat AE. In all five patients, the complications were managed with no further sequelae. Three independent factors were predictive of bleeding identified on angiography: age older than 55 years, absence of long-bone fractures, and emergent angiography. The presence of all three independent predictors was associated with a 95% probability of bleeding; however, the probability of bleeding was still 18% when all three independent predictors were absent. CONCLUSION AE is highly effective in controlling bleeding caused by abdominal and pelvic injuries and difficult to manage by surgery. Older age, the absence of long-bone fractures, and emergent angiography increase the likelihood of finding active bleeding angiographically. However, there are no clinical characteristics to exclude reliably all patients who are not actively bleeding internally. Because of this and its reasonable safety profile, AE should be offered liberally in patients with selected injuries of the pelvis and abdominal visceral organs.
In vitro and in vivo assessment of piroxicam incorporated Aloe vera transgel

Background: The aim of the study was to develop piroxicam-Aloe vera gel (PAG) formulation and make a pharmacodynamic evaluation of the formulation. Materials and Methods: The gel was prepared by using carbopol 934 as gelling agent and methyl paraben as a preservative in an Aloe vera gel base. The formulated gel was also evaluated for physicochemical parameters like pH, viscosity, drug content, and in vitro diffusion assessment. Pharmacodynamic activity of the formulation was evaluated in Wistar albino rats. The formulated gel was compared with that of similar marketed gel (commercial piroxicam gel (CPG)) against the same parameters. Results: From in vitro studies, an effective drug release from PAG was observed to be 68.17% when compared with that of the CPG (62.71%) at 180 min indicating better drug release from the gel formulated in this study. Percentage inhibition of edema was greater for the preparation of PAG (29.57 mean percent inhibition after 60 min) compared to marketed gel which exhibited 18.3% after 60 min. Conclusion: It was concluded from the results that the Aloe vera gel acts as an effective gel base to prepare piroxicam gel with high drug loading capacity and improved anti-inflammatory effect. From the statistical analysis the formulation of PAG showed better release than the CPG at p < 0.05 level of significance.
TP0326, a Treponema pallidum
 β‐barrel assembly machinery A (BamA) orthologue and rare outer membrane protein

Definitive identification of Treponema pallidum rare outer membrane proteins (OMPs) has long eluded researchers. TP0326, the sole protein in T. pallidum with sequence homology to a Gram‐negative OMP, belongs to the BamA family of proteins essential for OM biogenesis. Structural modelling predicted that five polypeptide transport‐associated (POTRA) domains comprise the N‐terminus of TP0326, while the C‐terminus forms an 18‐stranded amphipathic β‐barrel. Circular dichroism, heat modifiability by SDS‐PAGE, Triton X‐114 phase partitioning and liposome incorporation supported these topological predictions and confirmed that the β‐barrel is responsible for the native protein's amphiphilicity. Expression analyses revealed that native TP0326 is expressed at low abundance, while a protease‐surface accessibility assay confirmed surface exposure. Size‐exclusion chromatography and blue native polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis revealed a modular Bam complex in T. pallidum larger than that of Escherichia coli. Non‐orthologous ancillary factors and self‐association of TP0326 via its β‐barrel may both contribute to the Bam complex. T. pallidum‐infected rabbits mount a vigorous antibody response to both POTRA and β‐barrel portions of TP0326, whereas humans with secondary syphilis respond predominantly to POTRA. The syphilis spirochaete appears to have devised a stratagem for harnessing the Bam pathway while satisfying its need to limit surface antigenicity.
Tubulin inhibitors: a patent review

Introduction: Microtubules play an important role in several cellular processes, particularly in the formation of the mitotic spindle during the process of mitosis. These highly dynamic mitotic-spindle microtubules have become a successful target of cancer therapy. Microtubule-targeting agents, such as vinca alkaloids and taxanes, were used in clinic over 50 years. In past decades, development of new antimicrotubule agents that possess different structure and binding sites of tubulin has shown potent activity against the proliferation of various cancer cells, as well as in multidrug-resistant cancers. Interestingly, many of these agents represent an attractive ability that targeting the tumor blood vessels results in tumor vascular disruption. Therefore, exploring new agents and strategies may provide more effective therapeutic options in the related treatment of cancer. Areas covered: In past few years, there are many chemical compounds that successfully interferes the microtubules and display antitumor effect. In these, published compounds supply the fresh minds in modification of present drugs and new insights into the development of tubulin inhibitors. Expert opinion: This article arranges the microtubule-targeting agents that have published in patent in recent years. It may help in the investigation of new tubulin binding site and development of novel drug candidate in the future.
Consistency between increasing trends in added-sugar intake and body mass index among adults: the Minnesota Heart Survey, 1980-1982 to 2007-2009.

OBJECTIVES We described 27-year secular trends in added-sugar intake and body mass index (BMI) among Americans aged 25 to 74 years. METHODS The Minnesota Heart Survey (1980-1982 to 2007-2009) is a surveillance study of cardiovascular risk factors among residents of the Minneapolis-St Paul area. We used generalized linear mixed regressions to describe trends in added-sugar intake and BMI by gender and age groups and intake trends by weight status. RESULTS BMI increased concurrently with added-sugar intake in both genders and all age and weight groups. Percentage of energy intake from added sugar increased by 54% in women between 1980 to 1982 and 2000 to 2002, but declined somewhat in 2007 to 2009; men followed the same pattern (all P < .001). Added-sugar intake was lower among women than men and higher among younger than older adults. BMI in women paralleled added-sugar intake, but men's BMI increased through 2009. Percentage of energy intake from added sugar was similar among weight groups. CONCLUSIONS Limiting added-sugar intake should be part of energy balance strategies in response to the obesity epidemic.
Nuclear Repositioning of the Non-Translocated HLXB9 Allele in the Leukaemia Cell Line GDM-1 Harbouring a t(6;7)(q23;q36)

Transcriptionally active and inactive topologically associated domains (TADs) occupy different areas in the cell nucleus, and chromosomal rearrangements relocating TADs could determine ectopic expression of the repositioned genes. In this study, we investigated the HLXB9 gene in a myeloid leukaemia cell line, GDM-1, known to harbour a rearrangement involving chromosome 7 with a breakpoint distal to HLXB9, highly expressed in these cells. We used FISH to target the regions involved in the translocation and to distinguish the translocated chromosome from the non-translocated one in interphase nuclei. Two-dimensional analysis of the interphase FISH data indicated that the 2 HLXB9 alleles had a different localisation in the cell nuclei, with the translocated allele consistently positioned in the nuclear periphery and the normal one in the more internal portion of the nucleus, known as the transcriptionally active compartment. Our data may indicate that HLXB9 transcripts in the GDM-1 cell line do not arise from the allele located in rearranged chromosome 7, suggesting that regulation of gene expression in cancer cells harbouring chromosomal translocations might be more complex than previously thought, paving the path to further investigations on mechanisms of gene expression.
Helicobacter pylori infection and atrophic gastritis.

BACKGROUND Helicobacter pylori-infection associated gastritis is known to be a significant risk factor of gastric cancer. Serum levels of Gastrin-17 and Pepsinogen1which are respectively biomarkers of gastric antral and corpus mucosal activity are well known parameters of atrophic gastritis. OBJECTIVES To determine the prevalence of Helicobacter pylori and atrophic gastritis amongst dyspeptic patients and to compare the production of PGI and G-17 in the various atrophic stages. METHODS A total of 139 dyspeptic patients aged 46.68±15.50 years [females 106 aged47.23±15.51years, males 33 aged 44.48±14.62] were included during the one year period, March 2008-april 2009 at the district hospital Tombel. The degree of atrophy was determined by the levels of serum pepsinogen1, and gastrin-17 and the presence of Helicobacter pylori antibodies detected by an enzyme immunoassay. RESULTS The prevalence of Helicobacter pylori was 79.82% and that for atrophic gastritis was 6.6%. A decrease in mean serum levels of gastin-17 along with increasing antral atrophy was observed; the mean serum levels of pepsinogen1 were reduced during progression of corpus atrophy. CONCLUSION A weak reverse correlation(r =-0.036) was found between Gastrin-17 and Helicobacter pylori antibodies.
Distribution of proteins in concentrated skim milk reconstituted from low- and high-heat milk powders

Heating, acidification and concentration and the order in which these processes are applied induce a number of changes to milk components. Heating of skim milk above 60 °C results in denaturation of whey proteins and association of denatured /? lactoglobulin with /c-casein (Sawyer, 1969). Heating also causes changes in equilibria of milk salts (Pyne, 1962), dephosphorylation of casein (Belec & Jenness, 1962), cleavage of iV-acetylneuraminic acid residues from /c-casein and formation of dehydroalanine, lysinoalanine and Maillard reaction products (Walstra & Jenness, 1984). Acidification of milk is used in the manufacture of a number of dairy products such as yogurt, labneh and cottage cheese. Milks given a high preheat treatment gel at a higher pH (Heertje et al. 1985). It is known that acidification of milk causes dissolution of colloidal calcium phosphate and that this is sometimes accompanied by release of casein into the serum (Rose, 1968; Dalgleish & Law, 1988, 1989). Concentration of milk induces a decrease in pH with consequent effects on the partitioning of minerals.
Clinical outcomes and graft characteristics in pediatric matched sibling donor transplants using granulocyte colony‐stimulating factor‐primed bone marrow and steady‐state bone marrow

Abstract: Matched sibling donor (MSD) transplant is a life‐saving procedure for children with various hematological malignancies and non‐malignancies. Traditionally, steady‐state bone marrow (S‐BM) has been used as the source of stem cells. More recently, peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) after granulocyte‐colony stimulating factor (G‐CSF) mobilization has gained popularity. Adult studies of G‐CSF‐primed BM (G‐BM) have shown that it produces rapid white blood cell engraftment like PBSC, but with less chronic graft‐vs.‐host disease. No such study has been published in pediatric patients. We conducted a pilot clinical trial of G‐BM for pediatric patients. Ten patients were enrolled and were compared to a contemporaneous group of 12 patients who received S‐BM. Patients in the G‐BM group received a higher dose of total nucleated cells/kg (7.01 vs. 3.76 × 108, p = 0.0009), higher granulocyte–macrophage colony‐forming units (CFU‐GM)/kg (7.19 vs. 3.53 × 105, p = 0.01) and had shorter inpatient length of stay (28 vs. 40 days, p = 0.04). The engraftment, transfusion requirement and disease‐free survival between the two groups were similar. We concluded that G‐BM should be considered as an alternative graft source to S‐BM, with the benefits of larger graft cell dose, higher CFU‐GM dose and shorter length of stay.
Stock Returns and Future Tense Language in 10-K Reports

This paper shows that firms talking less about the future in their annual reports generate positive abnormal returns of about 5% annually. I measure how much companies talk about the future in their annual 10-K reports by the frequency of the verbs will, shall, and going to. The evidence favors a risk-based interpretation: firms that use less future tense in their report offer higher returns since they are riskier. These results are consistent with finance theories stating that investors need to be rewarded for holding stocks of firms that put less information about the future in the marketplace.
Characterization of Streptococcus agalactiae Isolates of Bovine and Human Origin by Randomly Amplified Polymorphic DNA Analysis

ABSTRACT Streptococcus agalactiae is considered one of the major causes of bovine intramammary infections. It is also found in the vaginas of women without any apparent clinical symptoms, but reports of neonatal infections, causing significant morbidity, are relatively frequent. The aim of this study was to evaluate the genetic diversity of S. agalactiae strains isolated from bovine milk and from asymptomatic women in Québec, Canada, by randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis. A total of 185 bovine isolates and 38 human isolates were first serotyped for capsular polysaccharide by double diffusion in agarose gel (bovine isolates) and coagglutination (human isolates). Strains were then studied by RAPD using 3 primers, designated OPS11, OPB17, and OPB18, which were selected from 12 primers. Thirty-eight percent of bovine isolates and 82% of human isolates could be serotyped. Prevalent serotypes were type III (28%) for bovine isolates and types V (26%) and III (24%) for human isolates. RAPD results showed that, taken together, all isolates (of bovine and human origin) shared 58% similarity. Ninety-four percent of these isolates were clustered in four groups (I, II, III, and IV) with 70% similarity among them. Three clusters, A (48 isolates), B (14 isolates), and C (32 isolates), with 79 to 80% similarity were identified within group IV, whereas the three other groups did not present any clusters. Despite some clustering of human isolates, relatively high diversity was seen among them. Relatively high heterogeneity was observed with the RAPD profiles, not only for field strains belonging to different serotypes but also for those within a given serotype.