Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
CD34+-derived CD11c+ + + BDCA-1+ + CD123+ + DC: expansion of a phenotypically undescribed myeloid DC1 population for use in adoptive immunotherapy.

BACKGROUND DC are commonly defined as HLA-DR+/Lin- cells that can be CD11c+ + + CD123+/ -, termed DC1/myeloid DC that induce a Th1 response, or CD11c- CD123+ + +, termed DC2/lymphoid DC that induce a Th2 response. However, significant heterogeneity within DC preparations is apparent and supports the existence of several distinct DC subpopulations. This study aimed to expand and characterize CD34+ DC for use in immunotherapy. METHODS CD34+ cells were seeded at 1 x 10(5)/mL and expanded for 14 days in RPMI + 10% autologous plasma supplemented with GM-CSF, IL-4, Flt-3L and SCF. Maturation was induced with TNF-alpha and PGE2 for 2 days. DC were analyzed morphologically, phenotypically with a panel of MAb to lineage and DC markers, and functionally in MLR, T-cell assays and T-cell cytokine secretion by ELISA. RESULTS Significant cellular expansion was observed: 60+/-5 x 10(6) DC from 1 x 10(6) CD34+ cells (n=28). Phenotypically DC were characterized as HLA-DR+ +, CD11c+ + +, CD80+ +, CD83+, CD86+ +, CD123+ +, CD15+ +, CD33+ +, BDCA-1+ +, CD4+ and Lin-. DC displayed potent allostimulatory capacity and efficient presentation of KLH and tetanus toxin. DC-primed T cells secreted IFN-gamma (Th1); however, no detectable IL-4 (Th2) was noted. DISCUSSION We present features of CD34+ DC that have not been previously described. The CD34+ DC generated represent a population of myeloid DC functioning as DC1 but phenotypically expressing markers characteristic of both DC1 and DC2. This novel DC population is capable of inducing naive T-cell responses and can be expanded to clinically useful numbers. CD34+-derived DC represent attractive candidates for use in adoptive T-cell immunotherapy.
Screening for renal disease using serum creatinine: who are we missing?

BACKGROUND Appropriate management and timely referral of patients with early renal disease often depend on the identification of renal insufficiency by primary care physicians. Serum creatinine (SCr) levels are frequently used as a screening test for renal dysfunction; however, patients can have significantly decreased glomerular filtration rates (GFR) with normal range SCr values, making the recognition of renal dysfunction more difficult. This study was designed to estimate the prevalence of patients who have significantly reduced GFR as calculated by the Cockcroft-Gault (C-G) formula, but normal-range SCR: METHODS The study included 2781 outpatients referred by community physicians to an urban laboratory network for SCr measurement. GFR was estimated using the C-G formula. Patients were grouped according to the concordance of SCr level abnormalities (abnormal >130 micromol/l) with significantly abnormal C-G values (abnormal </=50 ml/min). The C-G value of < or =50 ml/min was chosen to reflect substantial renal impairment in all age groups. A further analysis of historical laboratory data was undertaken to determine if there were previously documented changes in renal function parameters in those patients who had overt renal dysfunction during the study period. RESULTS Of the 2781 outpatients referred, 2543 (91.4%) had normal SCr levels. Of these patients, 387/2543 (15.2%) had C-G calculated GFR < or =50 ml/min, representing substantially impaired renal function. Among patients with normal SCr, abnormal C-G values were identified in 47.3% > or =70 years old, 12.6% 60-69 years old, and 1.2% 40-59 years old. Analysis of historical available laboratory data for patients with abnormal SCr and abnormal C-G values showed that 2 years prior to the study period, 72% of this group had abnormal SCr, while 18% had normal SCr with abnormal C-G values, and 10% had normal SCr with normal C-G values. CONCLUSIONS This study documents the substantial prevalence of significantly abnormal renal function among patients identified by laboratories as having normal-range SCR: Including calculated estimates of GFR in routine laboratory reporting may help to facilitate the early identification of patients with renal impairment.
End-tidal capnometry during emergency department procedural sedation and analgesia: a randomized, controlled study.

BACKGROUND This prospective, randomized trial was undertaken to evaluate the utility of adding end-tidal capnometry (ETC) to pulse oximetry (PO) in patients undergoing procedural sedation and analgesia (PSA) in the emergency department (ED). METHODS The patients were randomized to monitoring with or without ETC in addition to the current standard of care. Primary endpoints included respiratory adverse events, with secondary endpoints of level of sedation, hypotension, other PSA-related adverse events and patient satisfaction. RESULTS Of 986 patients, 501 were randomized to usual care and 485 to additional ETC monitoring. In this series, 48% of the patients were female, with a mean age of 46 years. Orthopedic manipulations (71%), cardioversion (12%) and abscess incision and drainage (12%) were the most common procedures, and propofol and fentanyl were the sedative/analgesic combination used for most patients. There was no difference in patients experiencing de-saturation (SaO2<90%) between the two groups; however, patients in the ETC group were more likely to require airway repositioning (12.9% vs. 9.3%, P=0.003). Hypotension (SBP<100 mmHg or <85 mmHg if baseline <100 mmHg) was observed in 16 (3.3%) patients in the ETC group and 7 (1.4%) in the control group (P=0.048). CONCLUSIONS The addition of ETC does not appear to change any clinically significant outcomes. We found an increased incidence of the use of airway repositioning maneuvers and hypotension in cases where ETC was used. We do not believe that ETC should be recommended as a standard of care for the monitoring of patients undergoing PSA.
The design of the optic nerve in fish

Abstract Fish have large eyes, with short optic nerves that are continually flexed by compensatory eye movements during swimming. Here, I review the tissue construction of the fish optic nerve, to see how the glia and axons are adapted to withstand these mechanical stresses, which are not normally encountered by CNS tissue within the skull. As in other lower vertebrates, the optic nerve astrocytes are highly unusual: their intermediate filaments are composed of cytokeratins (Giordano et al., 1989), not GFAP. Their processes are linked together by desmosomes, forming thin transverse lace-like partitions, placed at quasi-regular intervals longitudinally (Maggs & Scholes, 1990). This accordion-like arrangement is interpreted as providing a flexible tissue-skeleton for the optic nerve. A new observation is that the optic axons run in coherent parallel waves. This pattern, which is complementary to that of the astroglia, reversibly accommodates limited axial stretches. The waves are equivalent to those underlying the optical banding of Fontana (1781) in peripheral nerves, but wavelength (30 μm) and amplitude (5 μm) are about an order of magnitude less, reflecting the much smaller average size of the optic axons. The pattern also occurs in mammals, and may be restricted to the visual pathway: if present elsewhere in the CNS, nerve-fiber waves are inconspicuous at best. In fish, the astroglial partitions occur in register with the waves, suggesting that steric interactions between developing axons and glia may help to establish, or stabilize, the regular longitudinal spacing. This may have functional as well as mechanical implications, since the astrocytes form perinodal associations and their pattern is one which strongly clusters the nodes of Ranvier.
Methodology for Short Term Forecasts of Tourism Flows. Economics Research Section, Policy Planning and Industry Relations Branch, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1A 0H6. January 1977. 32p

Research Utilization in Wildland Recreation Management : A Preliminary Analysis. Stephen F. McCool and Richard M. Schreyer. Journal of Leisure Research, Volume 9, Number 2, Second Quarter 1977, pp. 98-109. National Recreation and Park Association, 1601 North Kent Street, Arlington, Virginia 22209. $2.50. Application of recreation research has become an increasing concern of both managers and scientists. An understanding of the entire research disseminationutilization process will help increase the effectiveness of research applications efforts. A model of the managerscientist, problem-solving dialogue was used to describe wildland recreation research utilization. The model consists of the following elements: user self serving, need processing, solution building, and solution processing, and microand macro-system building. Linkages between managers and researchers were found to be weak, although managers were not ignorant of the research system. Managers with high participation in one element participated frequently in other system elements. Direct contact with researchers was found to
Educating For Democracy Preparing Undergraduates For Responsible Political Engagement

We manage to pay for you this proper as capably as simple exaggeration to acquire those all. We find the money for educating for democracy preparing undergraduates for responsible political engagement and numerous books collections from fictions to scientific research in any way. accompanied by them is this educating for democracy preparing undergraduates for responsible political engagement that can be your partner.
Stakeholder's experiences, expectations and decision making on reproductive care: An ethnographic study of three districts in northern Ghana

Background In Ghana, priority-setting for reproductive health service interventions is known to be rudimentary with little wider stakeholder involvement. In recognizing the need for broad stakeholder engagement to advance reproductive care provision and utilization, it is necessary to jointly study the varied stakeholder views on reproductive care services. Methods We applied an ethnographic study approach where field data was collected between March-May 2015 in three rural districts of northern Ghana. Data was collected among women with recent births experiences (n = 90), health care providers (n = 16) and policy actors (n = 6). In-depth interviews and focus group discussions was applied to collect all data. Each stakeholder participant’s audio file was transcribed, and repeatedly read through to identify similar and divergent views in data. A coding scheme guided coding processes. All transcripts were then imported into QSR NVivo 11 for further analysis. Results Four themes emerged. Women participants accentuated that sex and sexuality values of men have changed over time, and drives gender roles, parity levels and decision making on reproductive care needs at community levels. Sexual stigma on reproductive care reduces the willingness of women to voice poor experiences related to their previous reproductive experiences. All stakeholders’ highlighted clinical treatments for post-abortion care are minimally covered under the fee exemption policy for antenatal and postnatal care. Policy processes on service delivery protocols still is top-down in Ghana. Conclusions Health teams working to improve sexual and reproductive health care must find suitable context strategies that effectively work to improve women reproductive care needs at their operational levels. Private sector participation and informal community support clutches are encouraged to advance the delivery of reproductive care services.
Liver tissue engineering and cell sources: issues and challenges

Liver diseases are of major concern as they now account for millions of deaths annually. As a result of the increased incidence of liver disease, many patients die on the transplant waiting list, before a donor organ becomes available. To meet the huge demand for donor liver, alternative approaches using liver tissue engineering principles are being actively pursued. Even though adult hepatocytes, the primary cells of the liver are most preferred for tissue engineering of liver, their limited availability, isolation from diseased organs, lack of in vitro propagation and deterioration of function acts as a major drawback to their use. Various approaches have been taken to prevent the functional deterioration of hepatocytes including the provision of an adequate extracellular matrix and co‐culture with non‐parenchymal cells of liver. Great progress has also been made to differentiate human stem cells to hepatocytes and to use them for liver tissue engineering applications. This review provides an overview of recent challenges, issues and cell sources with regard to liver tissue engineering.
Perceptual-Motor Dysfunction

The study of perceptual motor function is relatively new and much scientific information has yet to be determined in the search for a sound basis for treatment procedures. Theories are being developed, but it must be remembered that theories are not facts—theories are temporary explanations, and always changing in the light of new facts. Scientists look for facts to support their theories, and where there are no facts, it is necessary in the meantime, to bridge the gaps with our professional judgment. What we hope to share with you is something of the ongoing research being conducted by Dr. A. Jean Ayres, an occupational therapist, on the staff of the University of Southern California. She would be the first to tell you, we are sure, that her theory and recommendations go beyond what is scientifically derived fact, and that the treatment procedures which she outlines must be considered provisional. As she told us, this area of knowledge is changing rapidly and we must be prepared to change with it. However, we, as practising therapists have a responsibility to our patients now, and so must do what we can in the light of the knowledge available. In the past, we have been impelled to approach this problem, each in our own way, fumblingly, and with a great sense of inadequacy and frustration. When you have heard what we have to say, we trust you will feel as we do, that Dr. Ayres has provided an exciting guide to our thinking and a stimulus to our future treatment procedures. We feel that as the therapists, we owe Dr. Ayres a profound debt of gratitude for her original contribution to this field of dysfunction which has plagued therapists, teachers and parents alike. Perception is the organization of impulses for insight and use. Motor ability is the prime means by which man makes use of perceptual stimuli. Thus, perceptual motor function is concerned with the recognition, interpretation and use of information about ourselves and our environment.
Research on a Millimeter-Wave Phased Array With Wide-Angle Scanning Performance

In order to extend the scanning range of a phased array and maintain the scanning gain flatness, a novel millimeter-wave phased array with four linearly-arranged pattern reconfigurable elements is presented in this communication. The phased array has been designed, fabricated, measured and analyzed. The active patterns of each reconfigurable element are measured at different reconfigurable modes and the pattern scanning performance of the phased array is synthesized by using these active patterns. Furthermore, a genetic algorithm is used to lower the level of side lobes of the proposed phased array. The results show that the phased array can scan its main lobe from -75° to +75° in the elevation plane with a gain fluctuation less than 3 dB.
Relation of the first hypertension-associated event with medication, compliance and persistence in naïve hypertensive patients after initiating monotherapy.

OBJECTIVE To analyze the relation of medication, compliance and persistence with the risk of the first hypertension associated event in naïve hypertensive patients after initiating monotherapy with any of the first-line antihypertensive drug classes. METHODS A retrospective cohort study in the IMS Disease Analyzer database was performed. The study cohort comprised all previously untreated hypertensive patients who were free from hypertension-associated comorbidities, in whom new monotherapy with angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs), ACE-inhibitors (ACEIs), beta-blockers (BBs), calcium channel blockers (CCBs) or diuretics was initiated. Compliance and persistence were determined within 2 years. The relation between medication, compliance, persistence and risk of the first hypertension-associated event was analyzed using a Cox regression model. Outcomes in the ARB cohort were compared with outcomes in each other drug class cohort separately and with outcomes in the group of non-ARBs (pooled data). RESULTS 7,661 patients were identified with a follow-up of at least 2 years (totaling 45,585 patient-years of follow-up). ARBs were associated with more favorable measures (all p < 0.05) of compliance (0.86 vs. 0.82 and 0.74, respectively) and persistence (509 days vs. 459 and 324 days) compared with the group of non-ARBs and diuretics, respectively. The risk of the first hypertension-associated event was higher (all p < 0.05) with diuretics (adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) 0.68), BBs (0.79), CCBs (0.78), and the group of non-ARBs (0.81) and was similar with ACEIs (aHR 0.93, p = 0.37) compared to ARBs. Overall, high compliance was associated with a reduced risk of the first event (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION Our real-world data suggest that initiating a treatment with ARB monotherapy shows significant benefits in most outcomes including hypertension-related complications compared to other antihypertensive drug monotherapies. The documented impact of compliance on the risk of the first event should have clinical and policy implications.
Explaining Variation in Broker Strategies: A Lab-in-the-Field Experiment in Senegal

The implications of clientelism for democratic accountability are mixed: Brokers not only help coordinate votes for collective gain but also exploit their position to advance personal interest. I argue that brokers use distinct strategies—persuasion, reciprocation, and punishment—to motivate voters as a function of their local institutional context. Competitively selected brokers whose preferences are aligned with those of followers can rely more on persuasion than instrumental inducements. Economically autonomous brokers are more likely to rely on sanctions than reciprocity. Evidence to support both the proposed typology of broker strategies and their determinants is collected in Senegal, a clientelistic democracy where group-level heterogeneity generates natural variation in broker types. A coordination game played with real brokers illustrates that participants are less likely to sacrifice personal gain when brokers are competitively selected, more likely when they most fear retribution. Qualitative data suggest that results from the laboratory game plausibly generalize to behavior in elections.
The protonmotive force is required for maintaining ATP homeostasis and viability of hypoxic, nonreplicating Mycobacterium tuberculosis

The persistence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis despite prolonged chemotherapy represents a major obstacle for the control of tuberculosis. The mechanisms used by Mtb to persist in a quiescent state are largely unknown. Chemical genetic and genetic approaches were used here to study the physiology of hypoxic nonreplicating mycobacteria. We found that the intracellular concentration of ATP is five to six times lower in hypoxic nonreplicating Mtb cells compared with aerobic replicating bacteria, making them exquisitely sensitive to any further depletion. We show that de novo ATP synthesis is essential for the viability of hypoxic nonreplicating mycobacteria, requiring the cytoplasmic membrane to be fully energized. In addition, the anaerobic electron transport chain was demonstrated to be necessary for the generation of the protonmotive force. Surprisingly, the alternate ndh-2, but not -1, was shown to be the electron donor to the electron transport chain and to be essential to replenish the [NAD+] pool in hypoxic nonreplicating Mtb. Finally, we describe here the high bactericidal activity of the F0F1 ATP synthase inhibitor R207910 on hypoxic nonreplicating bacteria, supporting the potential of this drug candidate for shortening the time of tuberculosis therapy.
In vivo gene therapy for alpha-fetoprotein-producing hepatocellular carcinoma by adenovirus-mediated transfer of cytosine deaminase gene.

The alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) gene is normally expressed in fetal liver and is transcriptionally silent in adult liver but overexpressed in human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Here, we demonstrate that replication defective recombinant adenoviral vectors, containing the human AFP promoter/enhancer, can be used to express the Escherichia coli cytosine deaminase (CD) gene (AdAFPCD) and the beta-galactosidase gene (AdAF-PlacZ) in AFP-producing HCC cell lines. Expression of the CD gene by adenovirus from the AFP promoter/enhancer (AdAFPCD) induced cells sensitive to 5-fluorocytosine (5FC) in the AFP-producing cells but not in the AFP-nonproducing cells. Transduction by an adenoviral vector harboring an ubiquitous strong promoter and CD gene showed enzymatic activity and 5FC killing in all cell lines. When AdAFPlacZ was injected into the s.c. established hepatoma in vivo, expression of the beta-galactosidase gene was confined to AFP-producing HCC xenografts. Moreover, HCC xenografts regressed by transduction with AdAFPCD and subsequently with 5FC treatment in vivo. These findings suggest that utilization of the AFP promoter/enhancer in an adenoviral vector can confer selective expression of a heterologous suicide gene in hepatocellular carcinoma cells in vitro and in vivo.
Zeroth-Order Complete Discretizations of Integral-Equation Formulations Involving Conducting or Dielectric Objects at Very Low Frequencies

We present the Self-Loop basis functions, a divergence-conforming set with zero charge density. These basis functions allow a rearrangement of the Linear-linear basis functions set to overcome the low-frequency breakdown. We show the accuracy and stability at very low frequencies of the Linear-linear discretizations of (i) electric-field integral equation for perfectly conducting objects and (ii) the Poggio-Miller-Chang-Harrington-Wu-Tsai formulation, for dielectric bodies.
Masculinity as Masquerade: "Gay" Macho in the Novels of Jean Genet

This paper examines the representation of macho masculinity found in Jean Genet's novels through the framework of theories of gender performativity. While Genet's novels have been condemned by contemporary gay critics for representing homosexuality as an abject or failed masculinity, it is argued that emphasis on this aspect of his work has tended to overshadow the importance of the virile, phallic man to his work. Genet's homoeroticisation of machismo provides a focus for analysis of his representation of masculinity as a whole, and especially of the relationship between heterosexual and homosexual men found in his novels. Rather than reading Genet's representation of macho as a specifically "gay" macho that confirms the heterocentric privileging of heterosexual masculinity, this paper argues that, in Genet's novels, all macho is represented as inherently performative in a way that questions the logic of heterocentric privilege. For the first time he began to doubt that this invisible power, his ideal, which he served and behind which he sheltered himself, might only be composed of human weaknesses (Genet 1990c, 51).