Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A 2-year study of Candida-associated denture stomatitis treatment in aged care subjects.

OBJECTIVE To test the efficacy of two methods of treatment for denture stomatitis in aged care institutions. BACKGROUND DATA Candida-associated denture stomatitis has been associated with a lack of denture hygiene. MATERIALS AND METHODS Sixty subjects with denture stomatitis were randomly divided into three groups: sodium hypochlorite denture soak, microwaving and control. Both methods of treatment were carried out on a nightly basis for 1 week, excepting the control group. Standardised photographs of the palate and microbial samples of palate, upper and lower dentures were taken before and after treatment. RESULTS Both hypochlorite and microwave irradiation significantly reduced the numbers of Candida and aerobic bacteria on both dentures and both methods significantly reduced Candida on the palate. However, palatal aerobic bacteria were not significantly reduced by either method and the controls showed insignificant changes at all three sites for both Candida and aerobes. CONCLUSION While both methods of denture disinfection were successful, except for the counts of palatal aerobic bacteria, three independent observers of the clinical photographs had difficulty in identifying the controls but were more successful with the treatments. The raters also showed that there was no difference between both methods of disinfection and this agreed with the microbiological analysis.
Complex Event Processing for Monitoring Business Processes

With Business Processes becoming more and more popular and the applications growing more complex, the need of monitoring and controlling enterprise business process systems grows. The existing solutions do not support modelbased compliance control [16] and often have limited event-abstraction capabilities. In this thesis we develop and implement a monitoring system for BPEL processes based on the ideas from Holmes et al. [15, 14], that can be used for monitoring business processes, compliance-constraint monitoring, as well as for debugging. It provides different user-interfaces for different users like high level views for non-technical personnel or debug-views for software engineers. By using model-driven engineering [5] and complex event processing we are able to build a monitoring system that can easily adapted for a variety of business process engines. From our event meta-model we generate a system, that is split into three independent components which can be distributed a long different servers and are connected via message queues. While the first component (event-listener) collects the events from the event-sources, the second component (event-processor) extract business relevant information like e.g. constraint violations from the event-streams generated by the event-listener. The third component (monitoring application) provides a user-interface for reviewing the data extracted by the event-processor.
Toward new Drosophila paradigms

The fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster is a great model system in developmental biology studies and related disciplines. In a historical perspective, I focus on the formation of the Drosophila segmental body plan using a comparative approach. I highlight the evolutionary trend of increasing complexity of the molecular segmentation network in arthropods that resulted in an incredible degree of complexity at the gap gene level in derived Diptera. There is growing evidence that Drosophila is a highly derived insect, and we are still far from fully understanding the underlying evolutionary mechanisms that led to its complexity. In addition, recent data have altered how we view the transcriptional regulatory mechanisms that control segmentation in Drosophila. However, these observations are not all bad news for the field. Instead, they stimulate further study of segmentation in Drosophila and in other species as well. To me, these seemingly new Drosophila paradigms are very challenging ones. genesis 50:585–598, 2012. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Calcineurin Binds the Transcription Factor NFAT1 and Reversibly Regulates Its Activity (*)

NFAT1 (previously termed NFATp) is a cytoplasmic transcription factor involved in the induction of cytokine genes. We have previously shown that the dephosphorylation of NFAT1, accompanied by its nuclear translocation and increased DNA binding activity, is regulated by calcium- and calcineurin-dependent mechanisms, as each of these hallmarks of NFAT1 activation is elicited by ionomycin and blocked by the immunosuppressive drugs cyclosporin A and FK506 (Shaw, K. T.-Y., Ho, A. M., Raghavan, A., Kim, J., Jain, J., Park, J., Sharma, S., Rao, A., and Hogan, P. G.(1995) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 92, 11205-11209). Here we show that the activation state of NFAT1 in T cells is remarkably sensitive to the level of calcineurin activity. Addition of cyclosporin A, even in the presence of ongoing ionomycin stimulation, results in rephosphorylation of NFAT1, its reappearance in the cytoplasm, and a return of its DNA binding activity to low levels. Similar effects are observed upon removal of ionomycin or addition of EGTA. We also demonstrate a direct interaction between calcineurin and NFAT1 that is consistent with a direct enzyme-substrate relation between these two proteins and that may underlie the sensitivity of NFAT1 activation to the level of calcineurin activity. The NFAT1-calcineurin interaction, which involves an N-terminal region of NFAT1 conserved in other NFAT family proteins, may provide a target for the design of novel immunosuppressive drugs.
Insights into testing and regression testing global variables

Despite the existence of global variables in many software systems, testing global variables has traditionally been overlooked by the testing community. This state of the practice leads to the release of some software systems with untested properties. In this paper, we present some insights into the problem of testing and regression testing global variables. A basis set of testing problems for parameters will be identified and the testing problem of global variables will be mapped onto a combination of these basis cases. It will be shown that global variables can be treated as parameters and can be tested accordingly. Testing strategies and regression testing strategies for unit, integration, and system testing global variables are described.
Adjuvant chemotherapy for gastric cancer with S-1, an oral fluoropyrimidine.

BACKGROUND Advanced gastric cancer can respond to S-1, an oral fluoropyrimidine. We tested S-1 as adjuvant chemotherapy in patients with curatively resected gastric cancer. METHODS Patients in Japan with stage II or III gastric cancer who underwent gastrectomy with extended (D2) lymph-node dissection were randomly assigned to undergo surgery followed by adjuvant therapy with S-1 or to undergo surgery only. In the S-1 group, administration of S-1 was started within 6 weeks after surgery and continued for 1 year. The treatment regimen consisted of 6-week cycles in which, in principle, 80 mg of oral S-1 per square meter of body-surface area per day was given for 4 weeks and no chemotherapy was given for the following 2 weeks. The primary end point was overall survival. RESULTS We randomly assigned 529 patients to the S-1 group and 530 patients to the surgery-only group between October 2001 and December 2004. The trial was stopped on the recommendation of the independent data and safety monitoring committee, because the first interim analysis, performed 1 year after enrollment was completed, showed that the S-1 group had a higher rate of overall survival than the surgery-only group (P=0.002). Analysis of follow-up data showed that the 3-year overall survival rate was 80.1% in the S-1 group and 70.1% in the surgery-only group. The hazard ratio for death in the S-1 group, as compared with the surgery-only group, was 0.68 (95% confidence interval, 0.52 to 0.87; P=0.003). Adverse events of grade 3 or grade 4 (defined according to the Common Toxicity Criteria of the National Cancer Institute) that were relatively common in the S-1 group were anorexia (6.0%), nausea (3.7%), and diarrhea (3.1%). CONCLUSIONS S-1 is an effective adjuvant treatment for East Asian patients who have undergone a D2 dissection for locally advanced gastric cancer. (ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00152217 [ClinicalTrials.gov].).
A Single‐cell Study of the Axonal Projections Arising from the Posterior Intralaminar Thalamic Nuclei in the Rat

Thalamostriatal projections arising from the posterior intralaminar nuclei (Pl; the parafascicular nucleus and the adjacent caudalmost part of the posterior thalamic group) were studied in rats by tracing the axons of small pools of neurons labelled anterogradely with biocytin. Thirteen Pl cells were also stained by juxtacellular application of the tracer. Relay cells of Pl nuclei have a morphology that differs radically from the classical descriptions of the bushy cells which represent the main neuronal type of the sensory thalamic relay nuclei. Pl cells have ovoid or polygonal somata of ˜20–25 μm, from which emerge four or five thick, long and poorly branched dendrites bearing spines and filamentous appendages; their dendritic domains extend for up to 1.5 mm. Before leaving the nucleus 20% of axons give off collaterals that ramify locally. All axons course through the thalamic reticular nucleus, where they emit one or two poorly branched collaterals, traverse the globus pallidus, where they also distribute collaterals, and arborize massively in the striatum and sparsely in the cerebral cortex. At the striatal level four or five collaterals leave the main axon and terminate in patches scattered dorsoventrally within a rostrocaudally oriented slab. As revealed by calbindin D‐28k immunohistochemistry, only the matrix compartment receives terminations from Pl axons. The cortical branch forms small terminal puffs centred upon layer VI of the motor cortex. Before entering the striatum some axons of the parafascicular nucleus give rise to descending collaterals that arborize in the entopeduncular nucleus, in the subthalamic nucleus and in the vicinity of the red nucleus. Other axons arising from the caudal part of the posterior group send descending branches only to the entopeduncular nucleus. These findings show that Pl cells belong to a distinct category of thalamic relay neurons which, beside their massive projection to the striatum, also distribute collaterals to other components of the basal ganglia. Moreover, these results provide the first direct evidence that virtually all Pl cells project to both striatum and cerebral cortex. Finally, it is proposed on the basis of morphological, histochemical and hodological criteria that the caudal part of the posterior thalamic group in the rat is homologous to the suprageniculate‐limitans nuclei of cats and primates.
Risk factors for preeclampsia in twin pregnancies: a population-based matched case-control study

Abstract Objective: To evaluate associated factors for preeclampsia in twin gestations and to compare incidences of pregnancy complications among twin pregnancies with vs. without preeclampsia. Patients and methods: We performed a case-control study using a population dataset of twin pregnancies delivered after 24 weeks of gestation, in Slovenia, between 1997 and 2009. Cases were twin gestations complicated by preeclampsia and controls were cases matched by gestational age, parity, and chorionicity. Results: We identified 181 cases (4.7%) of preeclampsia among 3885 twins and 542 matched controls. High pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) and gestational diabetes were significantly associated with preeclampsia [odds ratio (OR) 1.8, 95% CI 1.26, 2.77 for overweight (BMI 25.0–29.9); OR 4.72, 95% CI 2.83, 7.89 for obese (BMI≥30), and OR 2.19, 95% CI 1.03, 4.68 for gestational diabetes]. The association was not significant for preexisting hypertension, maternal age, smoking, and pregnancy following assisted reproduction. Placental complications (previa, abruption, or adherent placenta) were more common, and low birth weight less common in the preeclampsia group (P=0.03 and P=0.01, respectively). Conclusions: High pre-pregnancy BMI carries an especially high risk for the development of preeclampsia and its complications in twin gestation.
Selective Gene Expression of Latent Murine Gammaherpesvirus 68 in B Lymphocytes

ABSTRACT Intranasal infection of mice with murine gammaherpesvirus 68 (MHV-68), a virus genetically related to the human pathogen Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus, results in a persistent, latent infection in the spleen and other lymphoid organs. Here, we have determined the frequency of virus infection in splenic dendritic cells, macrophages, and several B-cell subpopulations, and we quantified cell type-dependent virus transcription patterns. The frequencies of virus genome positive cells were maximal at 14 days postinfection in all splenic cell populations analyzed. Marginal zone and germinal center B cells harbored the highest frequency of infection and the former population accounted for approximately half the total number of infected B cells. Analysis of virus transcription during the establishment of latency revealed that virus gene expression in B cells was restricted and dependent on the differentiation stage of the B cell. Notably, transcription of ORF73 was detected in germinal center B cells, a finding in agreement with the predicted latent genome maintenance function of ORF73 in dividing cells. At late times after infection, virus DNA could only be detected in newly formed and germinal center B cells, which suggests that B cells play a critical role in facilitating life-long latency.
Trajectory tracking for multiple unicycles in the environment with obstacles

In the paper trajectory tracking algorithm including collision avoidance behaviour is presented. Dynamic properties of the robots are taken into account. Obstacles are assumed to be convex. Artificial potential functions (APF) are used to avoid collisions between robots and with static obstacles in the environment. Stability proof for the presented algorithm is shown and simulation results are presented to illustrate effectiveness of the algorithm.
Cardiorespiratory recordings from infants dying suddenly and unexpectedly at home.

OBJECTIVE Little is known about the mechanism of death during sudden infant death. To study the mechanism, we obtained data on six infants who died while on a memory-equipped cardiorespiratory monitor. METHODS Waveforms of respiration and heart rate trend were available for five infants; an alarm log only was available for the sixth. These printouts were reviewed with attention to mechanism and time to death. RESULTS All infants were born prematurely; autopsies reported the cause of death as sudden infant death syndrome in three cases and bronchopulmonary dysplasia in the others. Bradycardia, which played a more prominent role than central apnea, was preceded by tachycardia in two deaths. Resuscitation occurred within 1 minute in four cases; no response to alarms occurred in the other two cases, apparently because the parents were desensitized by prior meaningless alarms. Five patients died within 20 minutes, whereas one death due to sudden infant death syndrome was prolonged. CONCLUSION Bradycardia is an important feature in all six of these infant deaths. Although its etiology is unknown, hypoxemia or obstructive apnea may precede bradycardia. Home monitors equipped to detect these possible antecedents will yield further insight into sudden infant death.
Active proxy masking for protecting private RFID tags

With RFID technology, an item can be conveniently identified by the identifier of the RFID tag attached to it. Some private information of a tag could however be disclosed because a snooper may derive meaningful information from such an identifier and trace the tag's itinerary. To prevent privacy disclosure from tag IDs, we propose to use an active RFID proxy masking device, known as aRPM, to block the identifier of a tag during an interrogation session. The main idea of our scheme is to masquerade an identifier with a bit-synchronized mask when the identifier is being emitted. With our scheme, only authorized interrogators know the secret mask and are able to reveal the identifier by removing the mask. Experimental results show that our solution is practical and effective as compared with existing methods.
Delivery of MicroRNA-126 by Apoptotic Bodies Induces CXCL12-Dependent Vascular Protection

Apoptotic endothelial cells release microRNA-containing microvesicles to modulate the responses of neighboring cells and reduce atherosclerosis in mice. Sounding the Alarm In addition to its importance in development and homeostasis, apoptotic cell death is implicated in a number of diseases, including atherosclerosis. Apoptotic endothelial cells at atherosclerotic plaques release microvesicles known as apoptotic bodies into the circulation, and their abundance correlates with negative indicators of disease. Zernecke et al. showed that apoptotic bodies from endothelial cells contained microRNA-126 (miR-126). Neighboring vascular cells took up the microvesicles, which allowed miR-126 to reduce the abundance of an inhibitor of the signaling of the chemokine receptor CXCR4, resulting in the increased production of CXCL12, the ligand for CXCR4. CXCL12 mediated the recruitment to atherosclerotic plaques of progenitor cells from the bone marrow, which limited plaque size. Apoptotic bodies isolated from human patients with atherosclerosis reduced the size of plaques in different mouse models of atherosclerosis. Thus, dying endothelial cells send alarm signals in the form of packaged microRNA to neighboring cells to trigger a healing response that reduces atherosclerosis. Apoptosis is a pivotal process in embryogenesis and postnatal cell homeostasis and involves the shedding of membranous microvesicles termed apoptotic bodies. In response to tissue damage, the CXC chemokine CXCL12 and its receptor CXCR4 counteract apoptosis and recruit progenitor cells. Here, we show that endothelial cell–derived apoptotic bodies are generated during atherosclerosis and convey paracrine alarm signals to recipient vascular cells that trigger the production of CXCL12. CXCL12 production was mediated by microRNA-126 (miR-126), which was enriched in apoptotic bodies and repressed the function of regulator of G protein (heterotrimeric guanosine triphosphate–binding protein) signaling 16, an inhibitor of G protein–coupled receptor (GPCR) signaling. This enabled CXCR4, a GPCR, to trigger an autoregulatory feedback loop that increased the production of CXCL12. Administration of apoptotic bodies or miR-126 limited atherosclerosis, promoted the incorporation of Sca-1+ progenitor cells, and conferred features of plaque stability on different mouse models of atherosclerosis. This study highlights functions of microRNAs in health and disease that may extend to the recruitment of progenitor cells during other forms of tissue repair or homeostasis.
New Constraints on the Lyman Continuum Escape Fraction at z ~ 1.3

We examine deep far-UV (1600 Å) imaging of the HDF-N and the HUDF to search for leaking Lyman continuum radiation from starburst galaxies at z ~ 1.3. There are 21 (primarily sub-L*) galaxies with spectroscopic redshifts between 1.1 < z < 1.5, and none are detected in the far-UV. We fit stellar population templates to the galaxies' optical/near-infrared SEDs to determine the starburst age and level of dust attenuation for each individual galaxy, giving a more accurate estimate of the intrinsic Lyman continuum ratio, f1500/f700, and allowing a conversion from f700 to relative escape fraction (fesc,rel). We show that previous high-redshift studies may have underestimated the amplitude of the Lyman break, and thus the relative escape fraction, by a factor ~2. Once the starburst age and intergalactic H I absorption are accounted for, 18 galaxies in our sample have limits to the relative escape fraction, fesc,rel < 1.0 with some limits as low as fesc,rel < 0.10 and a stacked limit of fesc,rel < 0.08. This demonstrates, for the first time, that most sub-L* galaxies at this redshift do not have large escape fractions. When combined with a similar study of more luminous galaxies at the same redshift, we show that, if all star-forming galaxies at z ~ 1 have similar relative escape fractions, the value must be less than 0.14 (3 σ). We also show that less than 20% (3 σ) of star-forming galaxies at z ~ 1 have relative escape fractions near unity. These limits contrast with the large escape fractions found at z ~ 3 and suggest that the average escape fraction has decreased between z ~ 3 and z ~ 1.
An overview of the efficacy and safety of fenfluramine and mazindol in the treatment of obesity.

OBJECTIVE To assess the validity of the perceptions that appetite-suppressant drugs are ineffective, potentially addictive, and fraught with side effects, we reviewed the effectiveness and safety of two such drugs with purported low abuse potential in the treatment of obesity: mazindol and fenfluramine hydrochloride. DATA SOURCES Relevant studies in English published before September 1991 were identified using MEDLINE, accompanied by a cross-referenced manual search. STUDY SELECTION All randomized clinical trials conducted with adults for at least 6 weeks' duration with weight change as an outcome. DATA EXTRACTION Data extracted from each report included key study characteristics, clinical information, co-interventions, and outcomes, including dropouts due to either adverse drug effects or perceived lack of effect. DATA SYNTHESIS Of 36 acceptable trials, 35 were double-blinded, 32 were placebo-controlled, and 13 were cross-over. Median duration of drug therapy was 12 weeks. In studies reporting such data, mean patient age was 41 years, and mean baseline weight was 84 kg (143% of ideal body weight). Among 1163 patients receiving drug therapy and 866 patients receiving placebo, mean weight loss across all trials was 5.2 and 1.9 kg, respectively (P < .001). Among 32 direct comparisons between drug and placebo, the mean weight loss by sample size was 3.0 kg greater in the treatment group (P < .001), and did not vary in subgroup analyses of trial type, drug, or dose. Similar proportions of treatment and placebo groups dropped out (20% vs 22%; P = .34); however, overall dropout rates were higher in parallel trials (25% vs 9% for crossover trials). Dropouts due to adverse drug effects were more common in the treatment group (7% vs 2%; P < .001), while those due to perceived lack of effect were more common in the placebo group (6% vs 2%; P < .001). Mazindol resulted in fewer dropouts due to adverse drug effects (4% vs 9%; P < .001) and a perceived lack of effect (1% v 3%; P = .04). No drug addiction or adverse drug effects requiring medical intervention were reported. CONCLUSION The apparent short-term efficacy of these appetite-suppressant drugs and the lack of severe adverse drug effects or addiction suggest that they may be useful in the treatment of obesity. Further study of these agents with attention to long-term efficacy, safety, and health consequences is warranted.
McCollough effects: experimental findings and theoretical accounts.

McCollough effects, a group of visual contingent aftereffects involving color and contour, have been the subject of a recent body of literature. While a number of investigations have simply reported variations of the original phenomenon, others have closely examined characteristics of these effects and the conditions under which they can be optimally produced. Indications that their spatial specificity is similar to that of single cortical cells investigated electrophysiologically in animals have inspired several models; however, the extraordinary persistence of the effects is difficult to explain at a single-unit level. -Findings which suggest that McCollough effects have characteristics like those of learned responses may help to resolve this paradox.