Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Stable antiviral expression in BALB/c 3T3 cells carrying a beta interferon sequence behind a major histocompatibility complex promoter fragment

We are exploring the use of interferon (IFN) genes for somatic cell gene therapy and have investigated the possibility of transforming cells into low constitutive IFN producers over prolonged periods of time without impeding cell survival or replication. Here we report the possibility of conferring a permanent antiviral state to cells by introducing an IFN-beta gene with a modified transcriptional control. This was achieved by placing the murine IFN-beta-coding sequence behind the IFN-inducible 0.6-kb XhoII-NruI promoter region of the H-2Kb major histocompatibility complex gene. BALB/c 3T3 cells that are normally permissive for virus infection were transformed with this construction, and 14 of the 21 clonal cell lines obtained displayed different levels of enhanced resistance to the replication of vesicular stomatitis virus, encephalomyocarditis virus, and Semliki Forest virus. The permanent antiviral state was dependent on the presence of new IFN-beta fragments in Southern blots and was accompanied by very low constitutive synthesis of IFN-beta, and the presence of construct-derived IFN mRNA could be demonstrated only after polymerase chain reaction amplification of cDNA. The antiviral state was stable over a 9-month period in culture, corresponding to about 250 cell generations, and did not affect cell replication, since the average population doubling time of these cells was not significantly different from that of the control clone. Twenty-nine control clonal cell lines, stably transformed with either the neo gene alone (22 lines) or the neo gene together with a mutated murine IFN-beta gene coding for an inactive protein (7 lines), did not develop stable antiviral expression. We conclude that low constitutive synthesis of autocrine IFN-beta is sufficient to induce a permanent antiviral state, is compatible with cell survival and replication, and therefore merits further exploration for use in somatic cell gene therapy.
Exploring the Determinants of Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Total Knee Arthroplasty: Health Insurance, Income, and Assets

Objective:To estimate national total knee arthroplasty (TKA) rates by economic factors, and the extent to which differences in insurance coverage, income, and assets contribute to racial and ethnic disparities in TKA use. Data Source:US longitudinal Health and Retirement Study survey data for the elderly and near-elderly (biennial rounds 1994–2004) from the Institute of Social Research, University of Michigan. Study Design:The outcome is dichotomous, whether the respondent received first TKA in the previous 2 years. Longitudinal, random-effects logistic regression models are used to assess associations with lagged economic indicators. Sample:Sample was 55,469 person-year observations from 18,439 persons; 663, with first TKA. Results:Racial/ethnic disparities in TKA were more prominent among men than women. For example, relative to white women, odds ratios (ORs) were 0.94, 0.46, and 0.79, for white, black, and Hispanic men, respectively (P < 0.05 for black men). After adjusting for economic factors, racial/ethnic differences in TKA rates for women essentially disappeared, while the deficit for black men remained large. Among Medicare-enrolled elderly, those with supplemental insurance may be more likely to have first TKA compared with those without it, whether the supplemental coverage was private [OR: 1.27; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.82–1.96] or Medicaid (OR: 1.18; 95% CI: 0.93–1.49). Among the near-elderly (age 47–64), compared with the privately insured, the uninsured were less likely (OR: 0.61; 95% CI: 0.40–0.92) and those with Medicaid more likely (OR: 1.53; 95% CI: 1.03–2.26) to have first TKA. Conclusions:Limited insurance coverage and financial constraints explain some of the racial/ethnic disparities in TKA rates.
A fuzzy interpolative reasoning method

Interpolative reasoning methods is a reasoning technique that is designed to deal with reasoning in sparse rule-based systems. This paper proposed a fuzzy interpolative reasoning method by using a like - gravity - center of fuzzy sets whose shapes are trapezoidal. This method allows the conditions appearing in the antecedent part and the consequence of the rules to be represented by trapezoidal fuzzy numbers. The work steps of the presented method are first constructing a new inference rule by manipulating two given adjacent rules and next by exploiting similarity information to convert the derived inference result into the conclusion. In this process, we use scale and move rate transformation operation to support such reasoning.
Systematic Intervention to Reduce Central Line–Associated Bloodstream Infection Rates in a Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Unit

OBJECTIVE. Our goal was to determine whether an intervention involving staff education, increased awareness, and practice changes would decrease central line–associated bloodstream infection rates in a pediatric cardiac ICU. METHODS. A retrospective, interventional study using an interrupted time-series design was conducted to compare central line–associated bloodstream infection rates during 3 time periods for all patients admitted to our pediatric cardiac ICU between April 1, 2004, and December 31, 2006. During the preintervention period (April 2004 to December 2004), a committee was convened to track and prevent nosocomial infections. Pretesting demonstrated knowledge deficits regarding nosocomial infection prevention, and educational tools were developed. During the partial intervention period (January 2005 to March 2006), a comprehensive central line–associated bloodstream infection prevention initiative was implemented, including establishment of a unit-based infection control nurse position, education for physicians and nurses, real-time feedback on central line–associated bloodstream infection data, implementation of central venous line insertion, access, and maintenance bundles, and introduction of daily goal sheets on rounds that emphasized timely central venous line removal. Central line–associated bloodstream infection rates in the preintervention, partial intervention, and full intervention (April 2006 to December 2006) periods were compared. RESULTS. The estimated mean preintervention central line–associated bloodstream infection rate was 7.8 infections per 1000 catheter-days, which decreased to 4.7 infections per 1000 catheter-days in the partial intervention period and 2.3 infections per 1000 catheter-days in the full intervention period. The preintervention central line–associated bloodstream infection rate was significantly higher than the median rate of 3.5 infections per 1000 catheter-days for multidisciplinary PICUs reporting to the National Healthcare Safety Network. During the full intervention period, our central line–associated bloodstream infection rate was lower than this pediatric benchmark, although statistical significance was not achieved. CONCLUSIONS. A multidisciplinary, evidence-based initiative resulted in a significant reduction in central line–associated bloodstream infections in our pediatric cardiac ICU.
Aspects of glucose uptake in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

A wild-type Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain showed simple saturation kinetics for glucose uptake, with a Km of 4 mM when cells were obtained from exponential growth on glucose, and a similar, single Km of 2 to 8 mM was found under a variety of other growth conditions. Later in growth on glucose, and during ethanol utilization, a second kinetic component was observed, which might reflect either artifacts of membrane alteration or a Km in the molar range.
What Makes a Leadership Preparation Program Exemplary?

As members of the review committee for the first Exemplary Educational Leadership Preparation (EELP) Award given by the University Council for Educational Administration (UCEA), we were charged with naming a recipient of the award and ranking the other nominees. We were gratified that 10 excellent educational leadership preparation programs were nominated, but once we began the process, it soon became apparent that simply ranking these programs was not the best way to proceed because of at least two reasons. First, as some programs were stronger in certain areas than others, and no one program was the best in everything, it was difficult for us to agree upon a consensual rank order. Instead, we found that we were more likely to reach an agreement by clustering the programs into three categories—those that were strong, but for one reason or another fell short of being exemplary (perhaps because of a limited number of faculty); those that seemed on the cusp of excellence, but lacked sufficient evidence of success because they were still in the early years of their development; and finally, those that we could all agree deserved to be called exemplary. The second reason we opted to avoid a simple rank order is that it was clear that different programs could take different paths to success and by trying to identify the best program, it could lead to the false impression that there was a single best approach to becoming exemplary. Our field has suffered through too many attempts at creating a “one best model” (Jacobson, 1990), and we did not want to give credence to this idea. One size does not fit all, and in reading the applications, it became increasingly clear that context was critical to how a preparation program could best serve its community. What works best in Chicago might have to take an entirely different focus and form in San Antonio and vice versa, yet both could easily earn the accolade of “exemplary. ”
The precipitation of polyanions by long-chain aliphatic ammonium salts. 6. The affinity of substituted ammonium cations for the anionic groups of some biological polymers.

Polyanions are quantitatively precipitated from aqueous solution by cationic detergents such as cetylpyridinium chloride (Scott, 1955, 1960). The water-insoluble complexes are soluble in salt solutions, provided that the salt concentration is not below a certain critical level, the critical salt concentration. The value of the critical salt concentration depends on the nature of the salt (Scott, 1955), the structure and molecular weight of the polyanion (Scott, 1955, 1956; Laurent, Ryan & Pietruszkiewicz, 1960), and the chain length (Scott, 1961) and cationic group of the detergent. It is, however, a constant for the polyanion, if the salt and cationic detergent are defined, and this finding has been applied to the fractionation of polyanion mixtures of biological origin [see, for example, Scott (1960)]. In the hope of improving and elucidating the fractionation procedures, the present investigation was carried out to determine the effect on the critical salt concentration of the cationic group of the detergent (including primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary ammonium compounds, and pyridinium and guanidinium salts). In making this comparison one is probably assessing the relative affinity of variously substituted cationic nitrogen for the negative groups of the polyanions. The results are therefore of interest in a wider sphere, since such cationic groups are found in many dyes, drugs, antiseptics and polycations of biological importance, and their biological activity may depend primarily on the possession of a cationic nitrogen function.
Divergent effects of chronic HIV-1 infection on human thymocyte maturation in SCID-hu mice.

We have recently developed a modified SCID-hu mouse model in which the implanted human thymus and liver (hu-thy/liv) and human peripheral T cells become infected with HIV-1 after i.p. inoculation. By using this model, we evaluated the effect of HIV-1 infection on thymic maturation and observed that different HIV-1 strains had divergent effects of thymic maturation. Although minimal effects on continued thymopoiesis in the hu-thy/liv implant were observed after chronic infection with two primary patient isolates, HIV-1(28) and HIV-1(59), and with HIV-1ADA, HIV-1Ba-L, HIV-1JR-CSF, HIV-1JR-FL, and HIV-1SF162, significant thymocyte depletion was detected after infection with HIV-1IIIB and HIV-1RF. Thus, the effect of HIV-1 infection on thymocyte maturation may depend upon the strain of HIV-1 infecting the thymus. Despite the minimal effects on thymopoiesis observed in the hu-thy/liv implanted in SCID-hu mice 6 mo after infection with HIV-1(28), significant changes were seen in the human T cell population circulating in the peripheral blood of these mice. These changes ranged from an inversion of the CD4/CD8 ratio of peripheral human T cells in some SCID-hu mice to the almost complete depletion of peripheral human T cells observed in other SCID-hu mice. Because these effects were associated with the detection of HIV-1 infection of the peripheral human T cells, these modified SCID-hu mice should prove to be a valuable model for investigating the effects of chronic HIV-1 infection on the peripheral human T cell population.
Vagus Nerve Stimulation Therapy in Pediatric Patients With Refractory Epilepsy: Retrospective Study

This six-center, retrospective study evaluated the effectiveness, tolerability, and safety of vagus nerve stimulation in children. Data were available for 125 patients at baseline, 95 patients at 3 months, 56 patients at 6 months, and 12 patients at 12 months. The typical patient, aged 12 years, had onset of seizures at age 2 years and had tried nine anticonvulsants before implantation. Collected data included preimplant history, seizures, implant, device settings, quality of life, and adverse events. Average seizure reduction was 36.1% at 3 months and 44.7% at 6 months. Common adverse events included voice alteration and coughing during stimulation. Rare adverse events, unique to this age group, included increased drooling and increased hyperactivity. Quality of life improved in alertness, verbal communication, school performance, clustering of seizures, and postictal periods. We concluded that vagus nerve stimulation is an effective treatment for medically refractory epilepsy in children. (J Child Neurol 2001;16:843—848).
Is there a relationship between governance mechanisms and regulatory capture: the mediating effects of regulation

This study used path analysis to test a model positing that relevant governance mechanisms will have both direct and indirect relationships with regulatory captures (RCs) through the mediating effects of regulation. Based on a sample (n = 193) of regulatory public employees, results generally supported the hypothesised model for both supervisor- and self-assessed RCs. Accountability had a direct relationship with individual regulatory captures (RC-I), participation had a direct relationship with organisational regulatory captures (RC-O), and regulation had a direct relationship with both RC-I and RC-O. In addition, regulation partially mediated the relationship between accountability and both RC-O and RC-I. Overall, the results show that governance mechanisms differentially predict RCs and that regulators' attitudes about their regulation explain, in part, these associations between governance mechanisms and regulatory captures.
Auxological Computer Based Network for Early Detection of Disorders of Growth and Weight Attainment

INTRODUCTION For several years practising pediatricians and pediatric endocrinologists in Leipzig have been collaborating closely to achieve early detection of growth disorders. As a result of this collaboration a data-bank was established in September 1998 into which height and weight measurements were entered and related to age and gender. This well established network of pediatricians in practice, pediatric endocrinologists and the auxological data-bank functions well. METHODS All data are anonymized and continually monitored. By September 2000, the data for 60,984 children had been assessed. The data were evaluated using the German Synthethic Norm Curve for body height and German normal data for BMI. Pathology of growth dynamics was assumed when change in height SDS was greater than 0.5 height SDS/year. RESULTS Analysis showed that 2,216 children (3.6%) had a height greater than the 97th percentile and 2,775 children (4.5%) had a height less than the 3rd percentile of the normative reference. BMI above the 97th percentile was found in 7,687 children (12.6%) and below the 3rd percentile in 2,678 children (4.4%). When assessing growth development (n = 5,665), 194 (3.4%) showed acceleration and 155 (2.7%) showed deceleration of growth. CONCLUSION The computer-based monitoring system is useful to document short-term and long-term changes of growth and weight attainment in the general population. The presence of growth disorders and/or disturbed weight gain can be detected early in the individual child.
'Hospice' versus 'hospital' care--re-evaluation after 10 years as seen by surviving spouses.

This study compares terminal cancer care in 1967-69 with care in 1977-79 as evaluated by surviving spouses of patients who died in St Christopher's Hospice and other local hospitals. Patients and their surviving spouses reported less personal distress in both settings in 1977-79 than in 1967-69 and the patients were also thought to have suffered less pain. These differences were found before, during and, in surviving spouses, after the period of terminal care. They were confirmed in subsamples of 30-34 patients matched for age, sex, socio-economic status and duration of terminal period. Improvements may be attributable to the training in terminal care provided by staff of the Hospice since 1967 and augmented in its Study Centre which was opened in 1973. Although pain and distress in the patient is no longer a major problem in either setting, spouses in 1977-79 remain less anxious at St Christopher's Hospice than at other hospitals; they play a larger part in the care of the patient and are in closer contact with staff before and after bereavement.
Some Remarks on a Recent Paper by Borch

In his recent paper, “An Attempt to Determine the Optimum Amount of Stop Loss Reinsurance”, presented to the XVIth International Congress of Actuaries, Dr. Karl Borch considers the problem of minimizing the variance of the total claims borne by the ceding insurer. Adopting this variance as a measure of risk, he considers as the most efficient reinsurance scheme that one which serves to minimize this variance. If x represents the amount of total claims with distribution function F (x), he considers a reinsurance scheme as a transformation of F (x). Attacking his problem from a different point of view, we restate and prove it for a set of transformations apparently wider than that which he allows. The process of reinsurance substitutes for the amount of total claims x a transformed value Tx as the liability of the ceding insurer, and hence a reinsurance scheme may be described by the associated transformation T of the random variable x representing the amount of total claims, rather than by a transformation of its distribution as discussed by Borch. Let us define an admissible transformation as a Lebesgue-measurable transformation T such that where c is a fixed number between o and m = E (x). Condition (a) implies that the insurer will never bear an amount greater than the actual total claims. In condition (b), c represents the reinsurance premium, assumed fixed, and is equal to the expected value of the difference between the total amount of claims x and the total retained amount of claims Tx borne by the insurer.
Highly sensitive cardiac troponin T values remain constant after brief exercise- or pharmacologic-induced reversible myocardial ischemia.

BACKGROUND Using a new precommercial high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T (hsTnT) assay, we evaluated whether hsTnT increases after reversible myocardial ischemia. METHODS In 195 patients undergoing nuclear stress testing (ST) using single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) for suspected ischemic heart disease, we measured hsTnT before and 18 min, 4 h, and 24 h after the stress test. Thirty patients were excluded before ST because of cardiac troponin T (cTnT) >30 ng/L (0.03 mug/L) as measured by the fourth-generation commercial test. Another 65 patients were excluded because of a combination of fixed and reversible perfusion defects (PDs) after SPECT. RESULTS We studied 18 patients with reversible PDs, 41 patients with fixed PDs, and 41 patients without any PDs. Of these 100 patients, 61 received dynamic ST and 39 pharmacological ST. Median baseline hsTnT concentrations (25th, 75th percentile) were comparable in patients with reversible, fixed, and no PDs [5.57 (2.47, 12.60), 8.01 (4.55, 12.44), and 6.90 (4.63, 10.59) ng/L, respectively]. After ST, median hsTnT concentrations did not change in the reversible, fixed, or no PD groups from baseline to 18 min [-0.41 (-0.81, 0.01), 0.01 (-0.75, 0.79), and 0.36 (-0.42, 1.01) ng/L] or from baseline to 4 h [-0.56 (-1.82, 0.74), 0.24 (-0.60, 1.45), and 0.23 (-0.99, 1.15) ng/L]. Median baseline hsTnT concentrations tended to be higher in patients undergoing pharmacological vs dynamic ST; however, there were no significant increases in hsTnT concentrations after either type of ST. CONCLUSIONS Elevation of cTnT is rather a consequence of irreversible myocyte death than reversible myocardial ischemia after exercise or pharmacologic myocardial ischemia.
Single-Fed Microstrip Patch Antenna With Switchable Polarization

A single-fed reconfigurable microstrip antenna that can provide various polarization diversities is presented in this paper. The antenna is excited by a microstrip feed line through aperture coupling. When two PIN diodes are used to respectively reconfigure the coupling slot and the open stub of the feed line, the polarization of the microstrip antenna can be switched between vertical and horizontal polarizations. For the reconfigurable antenna with the linear polarization diversity, it can be converted to a circularly-polarized antenna with switchable polarization sense by introducing a perturbation segment. Moreover, an antenna with the quadri-polarization diversity, including dual orthogonal linear polarizations and two circular polarizations, is also developed from the structure of the switchable circular polarization microstrip antenna, and only three diodes are required. Details of the antenna design are shown, and the measured results for the constructed prototype are also exhibited and discussed.
No amicable divorce? Challenging the notion that sexual antagonism drives sex chromosome evolution

Although sexual antagonism may have played a role in forming some sex chromosome systems, there appears to be little empirical or theoretical justification in assuming that it is the driving force in all cases of sex chromosome evolution. In many species, sex chromosomes have diverged in size and shape through the accumulation of mutations in regions of suppressed recombination. It is commonly assumed that recombination is suppressed in sex chromosomes due to selection to resolve sexually antagonistic pleiotropy. However, the requirement for a sex chromosome‐specific mechanism for suppressing recombination is questionable, since more general models of recombination suppression on autosomes also appear to be applicable to sex chromosomes. Direct tests of the predictions of the sexual antagonism hypothesis offer only limited support in specific sex chromosome systems and circumstantial evidence remains open to interpretation.