Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Graphical table of contents

This paper proposes a graphical table of contents (GTOC) that is functionally analogous to the table of contents. The proposed GTOC can be generated automatically from the text of documents. It visualizes document contents and relationships to allow easy access of underlying documents. It also provides various interactive tools to let the user explore the documents. Issues of how to generate such GTOC include how documents are indexed and organized, how the organized documents are visualized, and what interactive means are needed to provide necessary functionality of GTOC. These issues are discussed in this paper with a GTOC prototype based on Kohonen’s selforganizing featore map algorithm.
Vaccination issues in patients with chronic kidney disease

Infections are an important cause of morbidity and mortality among patients at all stages of chronic kidney disease. Prevention through vaccination remains the best strategy to minimize the adverse consequences associated with these infectious diseases in this, and all, populations. Unfortunately, patients with chronic kidney disease demonstrate inadequacies of specific immune-cell function that are required for generating a protective vaccine response. Nevertheless, early vaccination of this high-risk population has demonstrated good clinical outcomes during progression to late-stage disease. We review the available evidence linking immune impairment in adult patients with late-stage chronic kidney disease to diminished vaccine responses. We highlight the importance of early vaccination in disease with high risk for development of CKD and novel vaccine approaches in development that may help to address improvement in protective boosting of immunity during late-stage disease.
Toll-like receptor-based adjuvants: enhancing the immune response to vaccines against infectious diseases of chicken

Huge productivity loss due to infectious diseases in chickens is a major problem and, hence, robust development of the poultry industry requires control of poultry health. Immunization using vaccines is routine practice; however, to combat infectious diseases, conventional vaccines as well as new-generation recombinant vaccines alone, due to relatively weak immunogenicity, may not be effective enough to provide optimum immunity. With this in mind, there is a need to incorporate better and more suitable adjuvants in the vaccines to elicit the elevated immune response in the host. Over last few decades, with the increase in the knowledge of innate immune functioning, efforts have been made to enhance vaccine potency using novel adjuvants like Toll-like receptor based adjuvant systems. In this review, we will discuss the potential use of toll-like receptor ligands as an adjuvant in vaccines against the infectious diseases of chickens.
Opportunities for utilizing new technologies to increase vaccine confidence

The emergence of new digital technologies has ‘disrupted’ traditional vaccine information communication. This article reviews the impact of the Internet, social media, digital detection and mobile applications on both fueling anti-vaccine sentiment and providing a mechanism by which to address vaccine hesitancy. While the anti-vaccine community has leveraged the Internet and social media to bypass traditional sources of information and communicate with susceptible parents, digital surveillance and mobile apps offer an important opportunity for public health officials to develop new strategies to identify and address concerns in a real-time manner.
Structured Design Implementation - A Strategy for Implementing Regular Datapaths on FPGAs

SDI is a strategy for the efficient implementation of regular datapaths with fixed topology on FPGAs. It employs parametric module generators, a floorplanner based on a genetic algorithm, and a circuit compaction phase through local technology mapping and placement by ILP models. Initial results promise faster layouts than with general algorithms.
Other Bordetellas, lessons for and from pertussis vaccines

The Bordetella genus comprises nine species of which Bordetella pertussis and B. parapertussis are isolated from humans and are the most studied Bordetella species since they cause whooping cough. They both originate from B. bronchiseptica, which infects several mammals and immune compromised humans, but the intensive use of pertussis vaccines induced changes in B. pertussis and B. parapertussis populations. B. petrii and B. holmesii are other species of unknown reservoir and transmission pattern that have been described in humans. It is still unknown whether these species are pathogens for humans or only opportunistic bacteria but biological diagnosis has confirmed the presence of B. holmesii in human respiratory samples while B. petrii and the four other species have little implications for public health.
Industrial playgrounds: how gamification helps to enrich work for elderly or impaired persons in production

This paper introduces an approach for implementing motivating mechanics from game design to production environments by integrating them in a new kind of computer-based assistive system. This process can be called "gamification". By using motion recognition, the work processes becomes transparent and can be visualized in real-time. This allows representing them as bricks in a "production game" which resembles the classic game Tetris. The aim is to achieve and sustain a mental state called "flow" resulting in increased motivation and better performance. Although the approach presented here primarily focuses on elderly and impaired workers, the enhanced assistive system or "wizard" can principally enrich work in every production environment.
Frühdiagnose nicht-bakterieller Osteitiden

Zusammenfassung Die nicht-bakterielle Osteitis (NBO) ist eine Autoinflammationserkrankung ungeklärter Pathogenese. Sie stellt eine wichtige Differenzialdiagnose der bakteriellen Osteomyelitis dar und wird dem rheumatischen Formenkreis zugeordnet. Sie kann sich in jedem Lebensalter manifestieren und einen akuten oder einen chronischen Verlauf nehmen. Eine frühzeitige Diagnosestellung bewahrt den Patienten vor langwierigen antibiotischen Behandlungen und invasiven Eingriffen. Therapie der Wahl sind nichtsteroidale Antiphlogistika.
Synthesis and secretory expression of hybrid antimicrobial peptide CecA–mag and its mutants in Pichia pastoris

The hybrid peptide CA(1–7)–M(2–12) gene was designed according to the N-terminal 1–7 amino acid sequence of the antimicrobial peptide cecropin A (CA) and the N-terminal 2–12 amino acid sequence of maganin (M) and synthesized using Pichia pastoris preferred codons. The gene was cloned into pPICZαA and transformed into the P. pastoris recipient bacterium SMD1168, regulated by the alcohol oxidase (AOX). Expression of the cecA-mag hybrid antimicrobial peptide (MW, 1.9 kDa) revealed broad-spectrum antibiotic activity and to the ability to inhibit growth of most G− and G+ bacteria. Three mutants of cecA-mag were designed and synthesized by recombination polymerase chain reaction site-directed mutagenesis to investigate the relationship between the structure and function of this antimicrobial peptide. The inhibition titers of these mutants against Staphylococcus aureus were evaluated using the agar diffusion method. Under the conditions of the same concentration and volume, the bacteriostatic diameters of three cecA-mag mutants were 1.2, 1.2 and 1.5 times, respectively, compared with the diameters of wild-type cecA-mag.
Enveloped virus-like particle platforms: vaccines of the future?

The techniques to produce effective vaccines have evolved, and the early vaccines (live, inactivated, subunit…) are no longer considered as the most appropriate for new vaccine development. We question here what will be the future vaccines, and argue that virus-like particle (VLP)–based vaccines are promising candidates. In addition to being effective vaccines against analogous viruses from which they are derived, VLPs can also be used to present foreign epitopes to the immune system. The achievement of this strategy can be illustrated by the recent development of malaria candidate vaccine. We point out recent VLP-based vaccine developments and discuss future perspectives.
Knowing Patients

Science and technology studies concerned with the study of lay influence on the sciences usually analyze either the political or the normative epistemological consequences of lay interference. Here I frame the relation between patients, knowledge, and the sciences by opening up the question: How can we articulate the knowledge that patients develop and use in their daily lives (patient knowledge) and make it transferable and useful to others, or, `turn it into science’? Elsewhere, patient knowledge is analyzed either as essentially different from or similar to medical knowledge. The category of experiential knowledge is vague and is used to encompass many types of experience, whereas the knowledge of the `expert patient’ may be assumed to have the shape of up-to-date medical information. This paper shows through a case study of people with severe lung disease that patient knowledge can be understood as a form of practical knowledge that patients use to translate medical and technical knowledge into something useful to their daily life with disease. Patients coordinate this with homegrown know-how and advice from fellow patients, weighing different values - of which `taking good care of one’s body’ is but one - that may conflict in a specific situation. These practices result in sets of techniques that may be made useful to others. The paper argues for two alternatives to state-of-the-art medical research to turn patient knowledge into science: ethnographies of knowledge practices (how patients know) and the collection and making accessible of techniques (what patients know).
Fluarix quadrivalent vaccine for influenza

Influenza A and B infections cause significant morbidity and mortality. Over the past 30 years, two main influenza B strains have been circulating globally. The trivalent influenza vaccine used in the last 25 years contains one B strain, with approximately 31% of B strain disease coverage over the last 10 years. Fluarix quadrivalent vaccine, containing two A and two B strains, combines the components of two existing trivalent vaccines to prevent this mismatch. This review gives an overview of the published data about Fluarix quadrivalent vaccines, showing an immunogenicity and safety profile of the vaccine comparable with the two licensed trivalent vaccines containing the same strains, but with no evidence for efficacy in the literature. Future vaccines aim for a universal influenza vaccine that will give a long-lasting protection against all influenza strains.
Current Concepts of the Ischemic Penumbra: Introduction

The concept of the ischemic penumbra is now more than 20 years old and has become increasingly important as the potential for treating acute ischemic stroke expands. Many definitions of the ischemic penumbra have been proposed in relationship to the modalities used to derive information about the presence and evolution of this ischemic region.1 Perhaps the simplest but most clinically and pharmacologically relevant definition is “ischemic tissue potentially destined for infarction but not yet irreversibly injured and the target of acute therapies. ”2 The reliable detection of the ischemic penumbra would provide much important information for both clinicians and researchers. Imaging provides a window for the potential identification of the ischemic penumbra and much effort has been and will be expended regarding the development of reliable imaging techniques for …
The Empty Fortress: Infantile Autism and the Birth of the Self.

Certain syndromes are notable for their uniqueness, certain others for their bizarre character, and still others, although rare, for the relationship which they bear to other more common disorders. All of these are true of early infantile autism. The fact that this particular symptom complex may be related to schizophrenia, and therefore may improve an avenue for understanding about such children, has been recognized for some time. Equally important, the behavorial and emotional processes seen in such children suggest a possible avenue of knowledge concerning the normal development of children as portrayed in an abnormal situation. Outstanding among American authors in the handling of such children is Bruno Bettelheim. His work has paved the way for the intensive understanding of the therapy of very disturbed children for decades. This book combines much previous work into a rather entrancing presentation of three seriously disturbed, autistic children with a presentation of the
Regulation of cytotoxic T-Lymphocyte trafficking to tumors by chemoattractants: implications for immunotherapy

Cancer immunotherapy has recently emerged as an important treatment modality. FDA approval of provenge, ipilimumab and pembrolizumab has started to deliver on the long awaited promise of cancer immunotherapy. Many new modalities of immunotherapies targeting cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) responses, such as adoptive cell therapies and vaccines, are in advanced clinical trials. In all these immunotherapies, migration of CTLs to the tumor site is a critical step for achieving therapeutic efficacy. However, inefficient infiltration of activated CTLs into established tumors is increasingly being recognized as one of the major hurdles limiting efficacy. Mechanisms that control migration of CTLs to tumors are poorly defined. In this review, the authors discuss the chemoattractants and their receptors that have been implicated in endogenous- or immunotherapy-induced CTL recruitment to tumors and the potential for targeting these pathways for therapeutic efficacy.
Prenatal and early postnatal exposure to high-saturated-fat diet represses Wnt signaling and myogenic genes in offspring rats

The prenatal and early postnatal period is a key developmental window for nutrition status, and high-fat exposure in this period has been shown to be associated with type 2 diabetes, obesity and other features of metabolic disorders later in life. The present study was designed to investigate the underlying molecular mechanisms and role of relative genes involved in this process. We investigated the impact of prenatal and early postnatal exposure to a high-saturated-fat diet on the regulation of the Wnt signaling pathway and myogenic genes in skeletal muscle of rat offspring as well as the serum and muscle physiological outcomes. Timed-pregnant Sprague-Dawley rats were fed either a control (C, 16% kcal fat) or high-saturated-fat diet (HF, 45% kcal fat) throughout gestation and lactation. After weaning, female offspring were fed a control diet to generate two offspring groups: control diet-fed offspring of control diet-fed dams (C/C) and control diet-fed offspring of HF diet-fed dams (HF/C). The serum glucose of the HF/C offspring (5.58 ± 0.26 mmol/L) was significantly higher than that of C/C offspring (4.97 ± 0.28 mmol/L), and the Homeostasis Model Assessment-Insulin Resistance of HF/C offspring (2.00 ± 0.11) was also significantly higher when compared with C/C (1.84 ± 0.09). Furthermore, HF/C offspring presented excessive intramuscular fat accumulation (1.8-fold, P < 0.05) and decreased muscle glycogen (1.3-fold, P < 0.05), as well as impairment of muscle development at the age of 12 weeks. Meanwhile, we observed the repression of Wnt/β-catenin signaling and myogenic genes in HF/C offspring. The present study indicates that prenatal and early postnatal exposure to a high-saturated-fat diet suppresses the development of skeletal muscle and myogenic genes via Wnt/β-catenin signaling, and the inappropriate muscle development could potentially contribute to the predisposition of offspring to develop metabolic-syndrome-like phenotype in adulthood.
Childhood Diabetes and Mood Disorders

Clinical vignette A 16 year old male wasdiagnosed with type 1 diabetes mellitus three months ago. His condition was uncontrolled with a hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) of 9.0%. He has been meetingmonthly with his diabetes treatment team, but struggling at carbohydrate counting and managing insulin. The patient'smother has a history of depression,polysubstance abuse, and frequently failed to attendscheduled appointments. At the three month follow up visit, his HbA1c was 9.6%. He now reported sadness, low energy, and insomnia, decreased interest in sports or social contact, and feeling hopeless.
Förster resonance energy transfer-based sensor targeting endoplasmic reticulum reveals highly oxidative environment

The glutathione thiol/disulfide couple is the major redox buffer in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER); however, mechanisms by which it contributes to the tightly regulated redox environment of this intracellular organelle are poorly understood. The recent development of genetically encoded, ratiometric, single green fluorescent protein-based redox-sensitive (roGFP) sensors adjusted for more oxidative environments enables non-invasive measurement of the ER redox environment in living cells. In turn, Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) sensors based on two fluorophore probes represent an alternative strategy for ratiometric signal acquisition. In previous work, we described the FRET-based redox sensor CY-RL7 with a relatively high midpoint redox potential of −143 mV, which is required for monitoring glutathione potentials in the comparatively high oxidative environment of the ER. Here, the efficacy of the CY-RL7 probe was ascertained in the cytosol and ER of live cells with fluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry. The sensor was found to be fully reduced at steady state in the cytosol and became fully oxidized in response to treatment with 1-chloro-2,4-dinitrobenzene, a depletor of reduced glutathione (GSH). In contrast, the probe was strongly oxidized (88%) upon expression in the ER of cultured cells. We also examined the responsiveness of the ER sensor to perturbations in cellular glutathione homeostasis. We observed that the reductive level of the FRET sensor was increased two-fold to about 28% in cells pretreated with N-acetylcysteine, a substrate for GSH synthesis. Finally, we evaluated the responsiveness of CY-RL7 and roGFP1-iL to various perturbations of cellular glutathione homeostasis to address the divergence in the specificity of these two probes. Together, the present data generated with genetically encoded green fluorescent protein (GFP)-based glutathione probes highlight the complexity of the ER redox environment and indicate that the ER glutathione pool may be more oxidized than is currently considered.
Recent advances in the development of subunit-based RSV vaccines

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a major cause of lower respiratory tract infections causing pneumonia and bronchiolitis in infants. RSV also causes serious illness in elderly populations, immunocompromised patients and individuals with pulmonary or cardiac problems. The significant morbidity and mortality associated with RSV infection have prompted interest in RSV vaccine development. In the 1960s, a formalin-inactivated vaccine trial failed to protect children, and indeed enhanced pathology when naturally infected later with RSV. Hence, an alternative approach to traditional killed virus vaccines, which can induce protective immunity without serious adverse events, is desired. Several strategies have been explored in attempts to produce effective vaccine candidates including gene-based and subunit vaccines. Subunit-based vaccine approaches have shown promising efficacy in animal studies and several have reached clinical trials. The current stage of development of subunit-based vaccines against RSV is reviewed in this article.
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis and the Potential Role of T Cells

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME) is a multifactorial disorder defined by symptom-specific criteria and characterised by severe and prolonged fatigue. CFS/ME typically affects a variety of bodily systems, including the immune system. Patients with CFS/ME exhibit significantly reduced Natural Killer (NK) cell activity suggesting immune which may be hallmarks of changes in the adaptive immune system, potentially including T cell subsets and function. The principal purpose of T cells is to regulate immune responses and maintain immune homeostasis. These regulatory measures can often be compromised during illness and may present in a number of diseases including CFS/ME. This review paper examines the role of T cells in CFS/ME and the potential impact of T cells on CFS/ME immune profiles with an evaluation of the current literature.
Infants too young to receive pneumococcal conjugate vaccine benefit from herd immunity

▴ Poehling KA, Talbot TR, Griffin MR, et al . Invasive pneumococcal disease among infants before and after introduction of pneumococcal conjugate vaccine. JAMA2006;295:1668–74 [OpenUrl][1][CrossRef][2][PubMed][3][Web of Science][4] The Netherlands and the UK have recently joined a relatively small number of European countries to recommend a heptavalent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV7) as part of universal childhood immunisation programmes. PCV7 was incorporated into the US childhood vaccination programme in June 2000 and is recommended for all children aged 2–23 months. Since is introduction, evidence has shown that the rate of … [1]: {openurl}? query=rft.jtitle%253DJAMA%26rft.stitle%253DJAMA%26rft.issn%253D0002-9955%26rft.aulast%253DPoehling%26rft.auinit1%253DK. %2BA. %26rft.volume%253D295%26rft.issue%253D14%26rft.spage%253D1668%26rft.epage%253D1674%26rft.atitle%253DInvasive%2BPneumococcal%2BDisease%2BAmong%2BInfants%2BBefore%2Band%2BAfter%2BIntroduction%2Bof%2BPneumococcal%2BConjugate%2BVaccine%26rft_id%253Dinfo%253Adoi%252F10.1001%252Fjama.295. 14.1668%26rft_id%253Dinfo%253Apmid%252F16609088%26rft.genre%253Darticle%26rft_val_fmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Ajournal%26ctx_ver%253DZ39.88-2004%26url_ver%253DZ39.88-2004%26url_ctx_fmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Actx [2]: /lookup/external-ref? access_num=10.1001/jama.295. 14.1668&link_type=DOI [3]: /lookup/external-ref? access_num=16609088&link_type=MED&atom=%2Fthoraxjnl%2F61%2F7%2F610.atom [4]: /lookup/external-ref? access_num=000236707300022&link_type=ISI
Reliability of heroin users’ reports of drug use behaviour using a 24 month timeline follow-back technique to assess the impact of the australian heroin shortage

Background: In early 2001 Australia experienced a dramatic disruption to heroin supply. In order to investigate the impact of this phenomenon, heroin users were interviewed retrospectively to determine drug use behaviour over a two year period. Aim: To examine the reliability of the timeline follow-back (TLFB) technique in determining heroin users’ patterns of drug use and related behaviours over a 24 month period. Method: 27 current heroin users were recruited through drug use services and interviewed about their drug use behaviour retrospectively using the calendar method of the TLFB. Test–retest reliability was measured over seven days. Results: Recall of regular drug use was generally reliable. Recall was poorest during January–April 2001, the peak period of the heroin shortage. Recall of criminal activity and weekly expenditure on drugs was variable, though generally poor. Recall of treatment entry and drug related health problems such as overdose was also variable. Conclusion: The 24 month TLFB did not obtain information reliable enough to examine sporadic drug use or overall changes in the patterns of drug use associated with the heroin shortage. To avoid this situation cohorts of injecting drug users need to be established as these phenomena cannot be accurately studied retrospectively.