Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
At(a−) phenotype: description of a family and reduced survival of At(a+) red cells in a proposita with anti‐Ata

BACKGROUND: There is a paucity of data on the August (At) blood group antigen and clinical significance of anti‐Ata. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: A proposita with the At(a‐) phenotype was identified by the finding of anti‐Ata in the cord blood eluate of her fifth live infant. Family members were studied, and a small aliquot of 51Cr‐labeled At(a+) red cells was transfused to determine survival. RESULTS: There was no evidence of hemolytic disease of the newborn, as determined by the normal hemoglobin and bilirubin and normal clinical conditions. Six of seven siblings were tested, and two At(a‐) female siblings were identified. In contrast to the proposita, neither sister had detectable anti‐Ata in her serum, although each has had only one pregnancy. A monocyte monolayer assay performed on serum from the proposita gave a result of 20‐percent hemolysis (normal, <3%), which is consistent with a clinically significant antibody. Transfusion of a small volume of allogeneic red cells that were phenotypically matched with the proposita, except for Ata, resulted in a 1‐hour survival of 95 percent, but a 24‐hour survival of only 18 percent, of the transfused cells. The survival pattern was exponential, which is characteristic of a non‐ complement‐binding IgG antibody. CONCLUSION: Despite the absence of hemolytic disease of the newborn, this example of anti‐Ata would appear to be a clinically significant antibody for the purposes of transfusion practice. Therefore, approaches to the management of clinical situations in which transfusion is required or likely should focus on the availability of autologous cells or frozen allogeneic At(a‐) red cells.
Insights on Current Pressures and Future Challenges Facing Cities: Cairo’s ranking in Worldwide Indexes

Today, more people are living in cities than ever and turning them into critical points where social, economic, technological, and ecological changes occur. Cities in developing countries including Cairo are experiencing this growth more than those in the developed countries amid the poverty, inequality, and the pervasiveness of slums that they experience. However, despite the challenges facing these cities, there are opportunities for achieving sustainability and resource efficiency. The efficiency with which resources are used is related to the quality of life of city residents. Cities that have resource efficiency integrated in their operations have higher productivity and innovation and reduced environmental impacts. Efficient use of resources depends on several factors such as redefining the understanding of the urban systems and having a shared language or standard for the evaluation of the sustainability of cities. Additionally, resource efficiency has to be aligned with human development. This paper provides a presentation of the challenges, pressures, and trends that modern cities face. In the second section, an outline of options for realizing resource efficient cities is looked at. The third section describes the approaches that cities can use to be sustainable and resource efficient.
Interleukin-17RA Promotes Humoral Responses and Glomerular Injury in Experimental Rapidly Progressive Glomerulonephritis

Background/Aims: Interleukin (IL)-17A and IL-17F are proinflammatory cytokines, which signal through a receptor complex consisting of IL-17RA and IL-17RC subunits. We sought to define the role of IL-17RA expression by leukocytes and stromal cells in nephritogenic immunity and injury in experimental glomerulonephritis. Methods: Glomerulonephritis was induced in wild-type and IL-17RA-deficient (IL-17RA-/-) mice by sheep anti-mouse glomerular basement membrane globulin. Renal injury and immune responses were assessed at day 21. Glomerulonephritis was induced in bone marrow (BM) chimeric mice, with either BM or tissue cell (TC) deficiency of IL-17RA. To assess humoral responses, WT and IL-17RA-/- mice were sensitized to sheep globulin and euthanized 10 days later. Results: IL-17RA-/- mice had reduced glomerular crescent formation, neutrophils and macrophages compared to wild-type mice, while nephritic BM-TC+ mice developed less glomerular segmental necrosis. IL-17RA expression was required in both BM and TC for maximal systemic interferon-γ expression. Antigen-specific humoral immune responses were impaired in the absence of IL-17RA. Compared to BM+TC+ mice, glomerular IgG and C3 deposition was reduced in BM+TC- and BM-TC+ mice, respectively. Humoral immunity was also impaired in BM- and TC-deficient chimeras. BM+TC- mice had fewer B cells expressing CXCR5, while IL-17RA-/- mice had abnormal germinal centre development after immunization, with reduced follicular B cell and follicular helper T-cell CXCR5 expression, explaining the impaired humoral immunity. Conclusion: IL-17RA contributes to experimental glomerulonephritis, with IL-17RA expression on both leukocytes and stromal cells being required for the full expression of nephritogenic humoral immunity.
European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ESGE) Guideline Development Policy

Numerous scientific publications explore the field of gastrointestinal (GI) endoscopy (a Pubmed search currently yields > 73000 results). Therefore, guidelines have become an indispensable tool for incorporating up-to-date knowledge into daily clinical care. Since the 1990 s, the issuing of guidelines has been a central task of the European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ESGE). Here, the ESGE clarifies the types of policy documents that it issues and the methodology used to produce them, taking into account recent methodological developments.
Économies en developpement et internationalisation des PME : le cas de Madagascar

HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access archive for the deposit and dissemination of scientific research documents, whether they are published or not. The documents may come from teaching and research institutions in France or abroad, or from public or private research centers. L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires publics ou privés. Économies en developpement et internationalisation des PME : le cas de Madagascar Josée St-Pierre, Martine Boutary, Tinasoa Razafindrazaka, Marie-Christine Monnoyer
Genetic Factors in Outcome After Traumatic Brain Injury: What the Human Genome Project Can Teach us About Brain Trauma

It is becoming increasingly clear that genetic factors modify outcome after traumatic brain injury (TBI). The best known example of this is the association between the apolipoprotein E4 allele (APOE 4 ϵ) and poorer outcomes. However, our knowledge of the many other genes that might influence outcome is still in its infancy. This article will review the basic principles underlying recent advances in genetics, and then describe the current state of knowledge regarding the impact of genetic factors on TBI outcome. We conclude that although genetic advances have implications for prognosis, their biggest contribution will be to elucidate the pathophysiology of TBI, potentially leading to new treatments.
Small signal modeling of naturally clamped soft-switching current-fed dual active bridge dc/dc converter and control design using Cypress PSoC

A detailed small signal analysis and a closed loop control design of naturally commutated current-fed dual active bridge (CFDAB) dc/dc converter are presented. Proposed converter is suitable for fuel cell vehicle between traction inverter and batteries. State-space averaging technique is used to derive the small signal model. A closed two-loop controller is designed and implemented on mixed signal processor Cypress PSoC 5. A complete design procedure is presented. Experimental waveforms from a 250W prototype with the designed controller are illustrated to verify the stability of the control system. Experimental results for step changes in load clearly show satisfactory transient performance of the converter and validate closed design. It is suitable for energy storage, interfacing two dc buses of different voltages in DC microgrid, and solar power system to boost low voltage up to peak of the utility voltage.
Carnitine and Sports Medicine: Use or Abuse?

Abstract: Carnitine has important roles in skeletal muscle bioenergetics. Skeletal muscle carnitine deficiency is associated with profound impairment of muscle function. It has thus been natural to ask if carnitine supplementation can improve skeletal muscle function and athletic performance in healthy individuals. Oral carnitine doses of several grams cause no significant clinical toxicity, further encouraging the use of carnitine as a supplement. Despite this strong foundation and 20 years of research, no compelling evidence exists that carnitine supplementation can improve physical performance in healthy subjects. The available data have been reviewed in recent publications. Several key issues are relevant to a potential therapeutic benefit of carnitine supplementation, and addressing these may provide insight into trials of carnitine therapy in healthy subjects: (1) Can carnitine supplementation increase skeletal muscle carnitine content in healthy subjects? Muscle carnitine content is not easily increased with carnitine supplementation. This reflects both the systemic pharmacokinetics of carnitine and the systems controlling transmembrane transport of carnitine in skeletal muscle. (2) How much carnitine is required to support optimal metabolism in skeletal muscle? Data are not available to definitively define the relationship between muscle carnitine content and muscle metabolic function. Extrapolation of data from several models suggests that very low amounts of carnitine are required to support muscle function. (3) Does carnitine supplementation alter energy homeostasis in healthy subjects? Several, but not all, studies suggest that subjects on carnitine supplementation have altered regulation of fuel homeostasis. However, the mechanisms of these changes, the tissues affected, and the relevance of these phenomena to exercise performance are all ill defined. (4) How can changes in performance be assessed in healthy subjects? Most studies have failed to demonstrate an objective performance improvement in healthy subjects taking carnitine. However, these negative studies must be interpreted with caution. Performance studies in athletes are conducted against a background of aggressive training regimens and nutritional interventions. Small changes, which may be very important to the athlete, may be very hard to objectify in the laboratory. Assessments must differentiate between changes in maximal aerobic capacity, ability to sustain effort at varied workloads, and the subject's perception of exertion. The interaction of carnitine supplementation with exercise training may be particularly important on theoretical and experimental bases. Systematic research in each of these areas is required to better understand the physiology, biochemistry, and pharmacology of carnitine supplementation. While data do not allow a conclusion to be drawn that carnitine is beneficial, the negative has not been proven either.
Virulence characteristics of clinical and environmental isolates of Vibrio vulnificus

Twenty-four randomly selected clinical and environmental Vibrio vulnificus isolates were tested for virulence in iron-overloaded mice (250 mg of iron dextran per kg of body weight). The log10 50% lethal doses of 17 isolates were lower by greater than or equal to 3.5 log10 units in iron-overloaded mice than in control mice. These isolates were classified as virulent. The 50% lethal doses of these virulent isolates were also lower in mice that were immunosuppressed by treatment with cyclophosphamide (150 mg/kg). Four of the seven isolates initially classified as avirulent were virulent in mice that were simultaneously iron overloaded and immunosuppressed. These isolates were classified as moderately virulent. The remaining three isolates were avirulent under all conditions. The incidence of virulent strains among clinical and environmental isolates did not differ. The virulent isolates produced high titers of hemolysin, were resistant to inactivation by serum complement, produced phenolate siderophore, and utilized transferrin-bound iron. The moderately virulent isolates differed from the virulent isolates only in their increased sensitivity to inactivation by serum complement. The avirulent isolates differed from those of the other two classes in their inability to either produce significant amounts of phenolate siderophore or utilize transferrin-bound iron. A modified agar plate diffusion method for transferrin-bound iron utilization was developed to differentiate the two classes of virulent isolates from the avirulent isolates in vitro.
Re-assessing the virological approach to HIV pathogenesis: can it explain AIDS as an immunological disease?

Over 10 years after the discovery of HIV, its molecular virology still fails to explain the clinical immunology of AIDS. The prevailing paradigm of AIDS pathogenesis, called here the "virological hypothesis", argues that viral attributes such as cytopathicity, replicability, syncytiality, cell tropism, emergent virulence, and viral load explain why infection develops to a life-threatening immunodeficiency. However, these attributes-singly and in combination-are shown here to be inadequate to explain the latency, immunological damage, and clinical dynamics of the disease of AIDS. The virological paradigm cannot explain the disease-free period (clinical latency); the mechanism and dynamics of CD4 T cell loss; the reason for the onset of disease at a given time-point; the relationship of CD4 T cell loss to AIDS-type disease; nor the idiosyncratic constellation of immunological and clinical phenomena that comprise AIDS as a unique syndrome. HIV as it is currently understood does not have the virological characteristics necessary to create a disease such as AIDS through direct classical (i.e. cytopathic) mechanisms. It is clear that the pathogenesis of AIDS remains unknown. Therefore, treatment based solely on inhibiting viral mechanisms-as with antivirals-is very likely to be insufficient. In addition, the molecular epidemiology of pathogenesis has been very poor; there is an enormous amount that is not known about the clinical immunology of AIDS, and the central question remains of how CD4 cell loss relates to clinical immunodeficiency. The conclusion drawn is that the virology of HIV has been pursed at the cost of understanding AIDS itself; that an emphasis on AIDS as an immunological disease is long overdue; and that appropriate treatment of AIDS will not be possible until the clinical immunology of AIDS is understood.
Monte-Carlo Based On-Orbit Single Event Upset Rate Prediction for a Radiation Hardened by Design Latch

Heavy ion cross section data taken from a hardened-by-design circuit are presented which deviate from the traditional single sensitive volume or classical rectangular parallelepiped model of single event upset. TCAD and SPICE analysis demonstrate a SEU mechanism dominated by multiple node charge collection. Monte Carlo simulation is used to model the response and predict an on-orbit error rate.
Dual Recognition Element Lateral Flow Assay Toward Multiplex Strain Specific Influenza Virus Detection

Different influenza virus strains have caused a number of recent outbreaks killing scores of people and causing significant losses in animal farming. Simple, rapid, sensitive, and specific detection of particular strains, such as a pandemic strain versus a previous seasonal influenza, plays a crucial role in the monitoring, controlling, and management of outbreaks. In this paper we describe a dual recognition element lateral flow assay (DRELFA) which pairs a nucleic acid aptamer with an antibody for use as a point-of-care platform which can detect particular strains of interest. The combination is used to overcome the individual limitations of antibodies’ cross-reactivity and aptamers’ slow binding kinetics. In the detection of influenza viruses, we show that DRELFA can discriminate a particular virus strain against others of the same subtype or common respiratory diseases while still exhibiting fast binding kinetic of the antibody-based lateral flow assay (LFA). The improvement in specificity that DRELFA exhibits is an advantage over the currently available antibody-based LFA systems for influenza viruses, which offer discrimination between influenza virus types and subtypes. Using quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR), it showed that the DRELFA is very effective in localizing the analyte to the test line (consistently over 90%) and this is crucial for the sensitivity of the device. In addition, color intensities of the test lines showed a good correlation between the DRELFA and the qRT-PCR over a 50-fold concentration range. Finally, lateral flow strips with a streptavidin capture test line and an anti-antibody control line are universally applicable to specific detection of a wide range of different analytes.
Androgen-independent Induction of Prostate-specific Antigen Gene Expression via Cross-talk between the Androgen Receptor and Protein Kinase A Signal Transduction Pathways*

Transcription of the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) gene escapes regulation by androgens in advanced prostate cancer. To determine the molecular mechanism(s) of androgen-independent regulation of the PSA gene, the possibility that the androgen receptor (AR) is activated in the absence of androgen by stimulation of protein kinase A (PKA) was investigated. Activation of PKA by forskolin resulted in elevated expression of the PSA gene in androgen-depleted LNCaP cells, an effect that was blocked by the antiandrogen, bicalutamide. Further evidence that induction of PSA gene expression was dependent on AR was obtained from experiments using PC3 cells devoid of AR. Neither PSA, PB, nor ARR3androgen-responsive reporters could be induced by activation of PKA in the absence of transfected AR. In addition, when nuclear AR from forskolin-treated LNCaP cells was incubated with oligonucleotides encoding an androgen response element of the PSA promoter and examined by electromobility shift assay, an increase in AR-androgen response element complex formation was observed. Lastly, cotransfection of an expression vector for a chimeric protein encoding the amino-terminal domain of the human AR linked to Gal4 and a 5xGal4UAS reporter gene construct resulted in activation of the amino-terminal domain of the AR by stimulation of PKA activity. These results demonstrate androgen-independent induction of PSA gene expression in prostate cancer cells by an AR-dependent pathway.
Krieg, Frieden und Mediation - eine wettkampftheoretische Perspektive

Since the Refugee Crisis and the subsequent focus on combating the causes of migration, efforts to promote the peaceful resolution of armed conflicts have gained in importance and urgency, both in Germany and at the international level. Since 2016, the German Federal Government has significantly increased its commitment to the prevention, stabilization and termination of civil wars. Based on the economic theory of contests, this paper outlines options for how third parties can support peaceful resolution of armed conflicts. In contest theory, peace is interpreted as a stationary equilibrium of military capabilities of the warring parties. The transition from war to peace is either (1) a result of the individual rationality of the parties (endogenous peace) and, depending on the military configuration, can take place with or without the involvement of a mediator (passive mediation), or (2) the result of a targeted intervention of a third party in the calculus of (at least) one of the conflict parties (exogenous peace; active mediation). A contest theory analysis provides new insights into the value of third parties in the transition from war to peace. According to the analysis, (3) passive mediation can be used in 25% of all conceivable military configurations. (4) The 'mutually hurting stalemate' proposed in the mediation literature as a prerequisite for peace negotiations is an absolute exception (2.7%). (5) Passive mediation is much more likely in situations of 'one-sided weakness' (11.1%). To be effective (6) a passive mediator must dispose of immaterial resources such as impartiality, discretion and credibility. (7) Active mediation can be used in the remaining 75% of all conceivable military configurations. (8) To be effective, an active peace broker must have significant material resources (finances, military capabilities, private information). For potential active mediators with limited resources, cooperation with powerful fourth parties could be an attractive option.
De la pertinence informationnelle des chiffres comptables publiés par les sociétés cotées sur les Bourses d'Afrique de l'Ouest (B.R.V.M et Ghana Stock Exchange)

This paper examines the value relevance of accounting numbers published by listed companies on the markets BRVM (SYSCOHADA) and the GSE (IFRS). This study is part of the problem of the quality of accounting in emerging markets and of the current debate on the adoption of IFRS in the OHADA space. Through the methodology of the studies of associations, the results show: (1) The model (linear/non-linear) the most adequate for to write the relationship between accounting numbers and stock performance according to the indicator used; (2) The accounting earnings is more relevant on the BRVM by report to the GSE. And, the book value of equity is more informative on the GSE; (3) the effect of the presence of auditor(s) external(s) Big is not significant on this relationship.
Antecedents of tax compliance of small business enterprises: a developing country perspective

PurposeThe purpose of this study was to investigate the contribution of attitude towards electronic tax system, adoption of electronic tax system and isomorphic forces to tax compliance of small business enterprises (SBEs) in a developing country in a single study.Design/methodology/approachThis study is cross-sectional and correlational. Data were collected through a questionnaire survey of 214 owner-managed SBEs in Uganda through their managers. Data were analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences.FindingsAttitude towards electronic tax system, adoption of electronic tax system and isomorphic forces significantly contribute to tax compliance to the extent of 57.4 per cent. Isomorphic forces have a high predictive power of tax compliance as compared with attitude towards electronic tax system. Further, coercive, normative and mimetic isomorphism as constructs of isomorphic forces are significantly associated with tax compliance.Research limitations/implicationsGiven that this study was cross-sectional, monitoring changes in behaviour over time was not possible. The results are useful for policy makers and taxpayers in developing countries. These results can also be generalized to other developing countries especially those in Africa and other continents dominated by developing countries.Originality/valueTo the researchers’ knowledge, this is the first study to examine the contribution of attitude towards electronic tax system, adoption of electronic tax system and isomorphic forces to tax compliance of SBEs in a developing country in a single study on the African scene.