Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Commentary: Relating social structure and health.

epidemiology today. For many years now, we have seen study after study showing relationships between health and some measure or other of socioeconomic position and circumstances. But, with honourable exceptions, studies have rarely faced up directly to the problems involved in the conceptualization and measurement of socioeconomic position (SEP). 2–6 There is seldom any account of how it has been decided to use one or other method. Studies are then compared with little consideration for the fact that some use indicators of income, others use indicators of prestige, and others use education.7,8 Even to make the distinction between class and prestige is likely to sound rather strange to many readers. As Muntaner et al. point out, the most commonly used measures of SEP have been indicators of position in a ‘system of stratification’. The term stratification is used in sociology to refer to social hierarchies in which individuals or groups can be arranged along a ranked order of some attribute. Income is one such. A more popular one is social status or prestige.9 In the US, there have been several large scale surveys that ask respondents to rank large numbers of occupations10 in terms of prestige. However, these lists cannot be exhaustive. The most widely used measures in the US therefore extrapolate prestige for all other occupations on the basis of income and education levels.10–12 This is a perfectly consistent procedure, because prestige, income, and education are all ordered ‘from high to low’. There may be problems in mixing the three up together, rather than trying to estimate their relationships to health separately, but that is a different story.13 The measurement of social class, if we use this term in the sociological sense, is quite different. Class, in contrast to stratification, indicates the employment relations and conditions of each occupation. The criteria used to allocate occupations into classes vary somewhat between the two major systems presently in widespread use: the Goldthorpe schema (and its developments) and the Wright schema.14–17 Muntaner et al. describe clearly the classificatory principals of the Wright schema, which they used in their paper. Official statistics in Great Britain now 958 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EPIDEMIOLOGY
PA-824, moxifloxacin and pyrazinamide combination therapy for tuberculosis

Introduction: New treatment regimens are urgently required for tuberculosis (TB). The existing four-drug regimen for TB is > 20 years old, with multidrug resistant (MDR) and extensively drug-resistant (XDR) TB on the increase. Areas covered: Recently, the first novel potential combination TB treatment regimen for both drug-sensitive and MDR TB incorporating a new nitroimidazole compound, PA-824, was investigated in a Phase II proof-of-concept clinical trial. This article reviews the rationale for this novel study, discusses the development strategy for PA-824 and highlights the study findings and its implications for future development of this regimen. Expert opinion: Expert opinion will be offered on the utility of this new multicomponent treatment regimen. We will highlight how this study informs the development pathway for future novel TB regimens and explore the PA-824, moxifloxacin (MOX) and pyrazinamide combination as a first step towards developing a single treatment regimen for both drug-sensitive and drug-resistant diseases.
Nerve growth factor or IL-3 induces more IL-13 production from basophils of allergic subjects than from basophils of nonallergic subjects.

BACKGROUND Studies show that nerve growth factor (NGF) exhibits immunomodulatory activity. This neurotrophin is found at high levels in the serum of asthmatic individuals, is released during allergic reactions, and is reported to augment in vitro histamine and leukotriene C4 release by human basophils. OBJECTIVE Because basophils represent a substantial source of IL-4 and IL-13, we tested the effects of NGF on the secretion of these cytokines by cells prepared from allergic subjects and cells prepared from nonallergic subjects. METHODS Cytokine and histamine were measured in culture supernatants by ELISA and fluorimetry, respectively. Both real-time RT-PCR and conventional RT-PCR were used to measure IL-13 mRNA expression. NGF receptor expression was determined by 2-color flow cytometry. RESULTS Basophil suspensions from allergic subjects secreted some 2.5-fold greater levels of IL-13 when cultured with NGF than did cells prepared from normal control subjects. Flow cytometry revealed no significant differences in TrkA receptors on basophils to explain these findings. The levels of IL-13 secreted by the 2 groups of donors also differed when cells were activated with IL-3 but not when they were activated with anti-IgE antibody. Both NGF and IL-3 failed to induce IL-13 in cell cultures depleted of basophils, suggesting that the measurable IL-13 was indeed basophil-derived. Real-time RT-PCR showed an average induction of IL-13 message above medium control that was 4.3 (+/- 1.7)-fold with NGF and 8.9 (+/- 3.7)-fold with IL-3. Finally, NGF priming resulted in a remarkable enhancement of IL-13 induced by anti-IgE. This was significantly greater than the priming observed for either the IL-4 or histamine when this stimulus was used. CONCLUSION NGF (like IL-3) can both directly stimulate IL-13 secretion and modulate IgE-mediated responses in basophils. Its enhanced effect on cells from allergic individuals raises the importance of this cytokine in the pathogenesis of allergic disease.
The effectiveness of clinical supervision in nursing: An evidenced based literature review

Objective Clinical supervision (CS) is attracting attention in the Australian nursing context with efforts underway to embed CS into mental health settings and to extend it to the general nursing population. The purpose of this paper is to review the available evidence regarding the effectiveness of CS in nursing practice in order to inform these efforts. Method Relevant literature was located by first accessing research articles in peer‐reviewed publications that related to CS and nursing. A total of 32 articles were retrieved. In selecting articles for review, the following criteria were then applied: the article reported an evaluation of the effectiveness of CS; the participants in the study included qualified nurses (not students or generic health care workers); the approach to CS was clearly described; and, the method of data collection and analysis, either quantitative and/or qualitative, was explained in detail. Results Of the 32 studies identified in the literature 22 studies met the inclusion criteria. One feature that differentiated the studies was research method, for example, pre‐post design; and, articles were initially grouped by method. The reported outcomes of the studies were then categorised according to Proctor’s three functions of CS. The results of the studies demonstrated that all three functions, restorative, normative and formative, were evident. The restorative function was noted slightly more frequently than the other two functions. Conclusions There is research evidence to suggest that CS provides peer support and stress relief for nurses (restorative function) as well a means of promoting professional accountability (normative function) and skill and knowledge development (formative function). SCHOLARLY PAPER
Visualized Awareness Support for Collaborative Software Development on Mobile Devices

To foster innovation and competition, an increasing number of software teams are becoming distributed. Such a distribution makes continuous collaboration and continuous awareness support a necessity and also a great challenge. Traditional desktop-based approaches are insufficient for the requirements of continuous awareness. In software development practice, an awareness tool on mobile devices is also desirable for team members to obtain the awareness information continuously. This paper addresses how to effectively present collaborative development activities using aesthetic visualization on mobile screens. Our approach supports multiple views suitable for software developers as well as team leaders. A baseline usability experiment and an eye-tracking experiment have evaluated the effectiveness and usability of the visualization method.
Association of metabolic gene polymorphisms with alcohol consumption in controls

The objectives were to study the association between metabolic genes involved in alcohol metabolism (CYP2E1 RsaI, CYP2E1 DraI, ADH1C, NQO1) and alcohol consumption in a large sample of healthy controls. Healthy subjects were selected from the International Collaborative Study on Genetic Susceptibility to Environmental Carcinogens (GSEC). Subjects with information on both alcohol consumption and at least one of the studied polymorphisms were included in the analysis (n=2224). Information on the amount of alcohol consumption was available for a subset of subjects (n=844). None of the studied genes was significantly associated with drinking habits. A significant heterogeneity with age was observed when studying the association between CYP2E1 RsaI and alcohol drinking. CYP2E1 RsaI polymorphism was significantly associated with being a never drinker at older ages (odds ratio [OR] 2.4, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.2–4.8; at ages above 68 years), while the association was reversed at ages below 47 years (OR 0.5, 95% CI 0.2–1.4). For subjects with detailed information on alcohol intake, no association between alcohol quantity and polymorphisms in metabolic genes was observed; subjects carrying the NQO1 polymorphism tended to drink more than subjects carrying the wild-type alleles. Therefore, no significant association between CYP2E1 RsaI, CYP2E1 DraI, ADH1C, NQO1 polymorphisms and alcohol consumption was observed in healthy controls.
The Neisseria gonorrhoeae photolyase orthologue phrB is required for proper DNA supercoiling but does not function in photo‐reactivation

Neisseria gonorrhoeae (Gc) is an obligate human pathogen and the causative agent of the sexually transmitted infection, gonorrhoea. Despite the fact that the gonococcus is not normally exposed to UV irradiation or visible light, the bacterium expresses a phrB orthologue, which in other organisms encodes a DNA photolyase that repairs UV‐induced pyrimidine dimers with energy provided by visible light. We show that a Gc phrB mutant is not more sensitive to UV irradiation, independent of visible light exposure, and that the Gc phrB cannot complement an Escherichia coli phrB mutant strain. The Gc phrB mutant had a reduced colony size that was not a result of a growth defect and the mutant cells exhibited an altered morphology. Although the phrB mutant exhibited increased sensitivity to oxidative killing; it showed increased survival on media containing nalidixic acid or rifampicin, but did not have an increased mutation rate to these antibiotics or spectinomycin and kasugamycin. The Gc phrB mutant showed increased negative DNA supercoiling, but while the protein bound double‐stranded DNA, it did not express topoisomerase activity. We conclude that the Gc PhrB has a previously unrecognized role in maintaining DNA supercoiling that is important for normal cell physiology.
Open source hardware based automated gardening system using low-cost soil moisture sensor

One of the problems faced by people living in cities is lack of time. Many people have gardens in their homes. Maintenance of these gardens is tedious and time consuming task. The main aim is to implement a cost effective automated gardening system. This system helps in solving the above problem by being efficient and using fewer resources. The system uses low cost efficient soil moisture, light and temperature sensors to decide when and how much water will be provided to the potted plants. Programming languages like embedded C and python is used to configure the microcontroller. The data would be displayed through a GUI created using processing. The user will also be able to control the entire system remotely as well as monitor the sensor readings.
RFID based localization techniques for indoor environment

In this paper, the Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology is used for indoor localization (i.e. location estimation). The location of a RFID reader is estimated based on the known locations of the RFID tags attached to the ceiling with 60 cm separation. Two arranged pattern of tags are considered. One is a square arranged pattern and another one is a triangle arranged pattern. Then, two simple location estimation methods are employed. The basic principle of location estimation for both methods is based on the average of the locations of detected tags observed by the reader. For the first estimation method, only maximum and minimum coordinates of detected tag are average. But for the second estimation method, all coordinates of detected tag are average. The effectiveness of tag arranged pattern and the location estimation methods is evaluated by the indoor experiment data. The results of the location estimated by both methods are compared. Also, the results of location estimation using the square and triangle arranged patterns are also shown. It is illustrated that the triangle arranged patterns gives better results than the square pattern in some certain. Moreover, the location estimations error for all observed locations for both methods are less than 30 cm. Furthermore, the average of the location estimation error for both methods is less than 15 cm. This is satisfied and applicable for some indoor applications.
Dual-Band Miniature Coupled Double Loop GPS Antenna Loaded With Lumped Capacitors and Inductive Pins

A miniature coupled double loop (CDL) antenna for dual-band GPS application is presented. The antenna layout employs lumped capacitors and inductive pins over a moderately high permittivity Rogers TMM10i (εr = 9.8) substrate to concurrently achieve the goals of size miniaturization, high radiation efficiency, and proper spacing of L2 and L1 band resonance frequencies. For performance verification, an antenna prototype has been fabricated over a 500 mil thick substrate with an overall L2 band size of λ0/8.8×λ0/8.8×λ0/19.4. The antenna operates with > 50% less area as compared to a conventional L2 band patch realized over the same substrate. The measured broadside RHCP realized gains are 4.9 and 3.1 dB over a 24"×24" ground plane with 26 and 35 MHz 3 dB realized gain bandwidths at the L2 and L1 bands, respectively. The antenna operates with 82% L2 and 72% L1 band measured radiation efficiencies.
Assessing the Agreement Between Two Quantitative Assays with Repeated Measurements

Abstract We propose a statistical test in evaluating the equivalence (or agreement) between assay values x and y obtained using two methods in assay or instrument validation, where both x and y are measurements of an unobserved analyte z. Our method builds on the availability of repeated measurements from each sampled subject, which enables us to assess the agreement in terms of the conditional mean of the difference x − y given z as well as the conditional variance of x − y given z. With the help of repeated measurements and a large number of sampled subjects, our method does not require any distributional assumption on (x, y, z) or any model assumption on the conditional mean (or variance) of x − y. Furthermore, our test is designed so that when the null hypothesis is rejected, we can conclude that the two assay methods do not have practically meaningful difference with a high statistical assurance, which is an approach adopted in the assessment of bioequivalence between two drug products.
A sensitive non-radioactive PCR-RFLP analysis for detecting point mutations at 12th codon of oncogene c-Ha-ras in DNAs of gastric cancer

Point mutations at 12th codon of oncogene c-Ha-ras were identified in gastrocarcinoma cell line (1). Several methods have been used to determine the point mutations of ras family in different laboratories, such as restriction fragment length polymorphysms (RFLP) analysis, oligonucleotide probe hybridization, RNAse A mismatch cleavage analysis, etc. In this report, a sensitive non-radioactive method was used to detect the mutations at 12th codon of c-Ha-ras in gastric cancer. The general procedure includes polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification of a 100bp fragment (covering the sequence around 12th codon) from total DNA of gastric cancer (2), and RFLP analysis after complete digestion of the amplified 100bp fragments with restriction endonuclease Hpall. Since Hpall recognition site is located in the center of the 100bp fragment and overlapping with the 12th codon, any change of the first 0̂ second nucleoti''. e of this codon will destroy the Ijpall site. Thus, the 1OObp fragments from the wild type of c-Ha-ras could be digested into two 50bp fragments by Hpall; those from the mutated c-Ha-ras could not be cleaved. DNAs from a solid tumor (8405) and two cell lines (PACM-82 and MGC 80-3) of gastric cancer were analysed. Through the pattern of k% polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, it is obvious that the MGC80-3 DNA contained the wild type c-Ha-ras, PACM-82 contained two homozygous alleles of point mutated c-Ha-ras, while 8405 carried one wild type and one mutated alleles. By this PCR-RFLP analysis, point mutations at 12th codon of c-Ha-ras were identified in 2 cell ]ines and 5 solid tumors of gastric cancer out of 3 cell lines and 18 solid tumors. This method is proved to be accurate, sensitive and time saving.
Absence of MHC class II expression distinguishes fetal from adult B lymphopoiesis in mice.

Early B-lineage progenitor cells (Pro-B) isolated from murine fetal liver and adult bone marrow can differentiate to the immature B cell stage in a stromal cell-dependent culture system and to mature B cells upon transfer into immunodeficient SCID mice. By using immunofluorescence analysis, we found that progenitor cells from day 16 fetus differentiating in culture lacked MHC class II expression during the Pre-B and immature B cell stages, whereas such expression was readily apparent on the surface of corresponding adult-derived populations. RT-PCR analysis of RNA message levels for the four class II genes (A alpha, A beta, E alpha, E beta) yielded completely concordant results. B cells of fetal progeny did eventually express class II upon further maturation in vivo. Thus, the onset of class II expression is uniquely delayed during fetal B cell differentiation. This result explains an apparent paradox, i.e., that class II expression is absent from B cells in neonatal spleen but present as early as the Pre-B cell stage in adult bone marrow. Furthermore, we suggest that such distinct programs of class II expression during fetal and adult lymphopoiesis could result in differences in susceptibility to tolerance.
Implementing HPV Vaccines: Public Knowledge, Attitudes, and the Need for Education

This article reviews qualitative research on public knowledge and attitudes to HPV vaccines, focusing on socio-economically challenged populations. Keyword searches were conducted on MEDLINE and ISI Web of Science for relevant peer-reviewed literature in English. A high acceptance of HPV vaccines was found despite low knowledge about HPV (types, prevalence, transmission, health risks, and cervical screening). Facilitators of HPV vaccine uptake included fear of cancer and desire to protect children's health. Barriers included low knowledge levels, perception of HPV vaccines as potential causes of sexual disinhibition, concerns about vaccine costs, social stigma, adverse effects, and parental unwillingness to permit vaccination of pre-adolescent children. Despite acceptance of HPV vaccines, implementation in low-resource settings faces social and economic difficulties. To pursue and strengthen cervical screening in these settings, public education about HPV is key.
Imatinib mesylate impairs Flt3L-mediated dendritic cell expansion and antitumor effects in vivo.

Appel et al[1][1] reported in January that the paradigmatic KIT, PDGFR, ABL tyrosine kinase inhibitor imatinib mesylate (STI571/Gleevec), known to induce potent antitumor effects in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and gastrointestinal stromal tumors, acts on nonmalignant hematopoietic cells,
Sensitivity of urban stormwater systems to runoff from green/pervious areas in a changing climate Sensibilité des systèmes de gestion des eaux pluviales urbaines aux apports des secteurs verts et perméables, dans un contexte de changement climatique

Urban areas consist of both impervious and pervious areas/surfaces which contribute in different ways to the total urban area surface runoff. The impervious area runoff has been extensively studied and routinely included when assessing the capacity of drainage systems, but the green/pervious areas’ potential to contribute (or not) to the runoff is not fully understood. The urban pervious areas are also seen as having potential for measures to adapt the system for a changing future climate. This paper reviews the green/pervious area contribution to urban runoff, and its’ impact on urban stormwater systems. It focuses on infiltration and evaporation processes related to changes in rainfall, using a study area and model sensitivity analysis successively changing model/physical parameters from a baseline scenario. The results show that changes in the infiltration capacity (e.g. when the soil is or is not saturated) will have an impact on the urban area and the urban drainage system, both in volume and on the hydraulic system performance. Evapotranspiration (as described in this study) is by itself not a significant factor affecting the urban drainage system capacity. With a growing interest in the promotion and use of green/pervious areas in the urban environment, these components should be studied further, both for constructed facilities and natural areas.
Antigenic mimicry of mammalian intermediate filaments by mycoplasmas

A murine monoclonal antibody raised against Mycoplasma hyorhinis specifically reacted by indirect immunofluorescence with mammalian intermediate filaments. The antibody recognized a related epitope on a 74,000-molecular-weight protein of M. hyorhinis and on components of similar size from other pathogenic mycoplasmas. This defines a shared antigenic structure of interest in autoantibody development during mycoplasmal diseases.
Rotational Core Loss and Permeability Measurements in Machine Laminations with Reference to Permeability Asymmetry

Rotational core loss and vector magnetization in electrical steel laminations are investigated under the circular 2D rotating field. The loss under a rotating field is compared with the loss under a pulsating field, and the behavior of the dynamic hysteresis loops in both cases are explained with reference to permeability asymmetry. The permeability of the magnetic material under the rotating field tends to change based on the flux direction. Experimental data is obtained using a new test fixture based on an electromagnetic Halbach array, which is capable of measuring rotational and pulsating losses in circular steel laminations. The measurements were performed for M15 gauge 29 electrical steel material at three typical frequencies of industrial interest (60 Hz, 400 Hz, and 1 kHz), and results are presented and discussed. It is found that there is a relation between the direction of applied field and the permeability, in addition to a strong effect on the permeability in the case of rotational flux when compared to pulsating flux.