Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Impact of Birth Weight and Smoking on Lung Function in Patients with Asthma, COPD, and Healthy Volunteers.

BACKGROUND Birth weight (BW) is an important factor for determining the development of the respiratory system. The majority of research analyzed the impact of BW on lung function in youth. BW influence and smoking on lung function in adults with asthma and COPD is an interesting issue. OBJECTIVES The aim of the study was to investigate relationships between BW, smoking, and lung function in adult healthy individuals and diagnosed with asthma or COPD. MATERIAL AND METHODS Four hundred seventy-nine subjects were divided into 5 groups: 123 healthy non-smokers, 180 healthy smokers, 72 non-smoking asthmatics, 57 smoking asthmatics, and 47 COPD patients. Relationships between 4 BW quartiles and lung function was analyzed with respect to smoking. RESULTS Impact analyzes of BW, smoking, and asthma on FVC% revealed that asthma is the only significant differentiating factor in this spirometric parameter (p < 0.01). FEV1% was significantly influenced by asthma and BW, and FEV1/ FVC% was exclusively influenced by asthma. Spirometric parameters increased proportionally to particular BW quartiles in healthy non-smokers group; however optimal BW quartile predicting increase of parameters was 2751-3250 g. In asthma, BW quartile predicting the increase of spirometric parameters was 3251-3750 g, but BW quartile predicting decrease of FEV1/FVC% was 2751-3250 g. The comparison of results between COPD group and results from other 4 groups showed that values of all parameters in patients with COPD did not change proportionally to all quartiles of BW. In terms of FEV1/FVC%, the proportional increase of parameter in BW quartile 2751-3250 g was observed. CONCLUSIONS BW, as independent factor influences on spirometric parameters of healthy individuals, patients with asthma, COPD in a differentiated manner depending on quartile of BW rather than on simple linear increase of BW, regardless of smoking.
On Risk and Disaster: Lessons from Hurricane Katrina

Foreword -Amy Gutmann Introduction -Ronald J. Daniels, Donald F. Kettl, and Howard Kunreuther PART ONE: THE CHALLENGE OF THE GULF On Their Own in Battered New Orleans -Peter G. Gosselin Using Risk and Decision Analysis to Protect New Orleans against Future Hurricanes -Detlof von Winterfeldt Planning for a City on the Brink -Kenneth R. Foster and Robert Giegengack JARring Actions that Fuel the Floods -Carolyn Kousky and Richard Zeckhauser PART TWO: THINKING ABOUT RISK Behaviorally Realistic Risk Management -Baruch Fischhoff Rationales and Instruments for Government Intervention in Natural Disasters -Michael J. Trebilcock, and Ronald J. Daniels Social Inequality, Hazards, and Disasters -Kathleen Tierney Equity Analysis and Natural Hazards Policy -Matthew D. Adler PART THREE: PRIVATE SECTOR STRATEGIES FOR MANAGING RISK Why We Under-Prepare for Hazards -Robert J. Meyer Has the Time Come for Comprehensive Natural Disaster Insurance? -Howard Kunreuther Rethinking Disaster Policy After Hurricane Katrina -Scott E. Harrington Providing Economic Incentives to Build Disaster-Resistant Structures -Harvey Ryland PART FOUR: THE GOVERNMENT'S ROLE IN DISASTER PREPAREDNESS AND RESPONSE Role of Public Health and Clinical Medicine in Preparing for Disasters -Brian Strom Hurricane Katrina as a Bureaucratic Nightmare -Vicki Bier The Katrina Breakdown -Jonathan Walters and Donald F. Kettl Acknowledgments Contributors
Human Cytomegalovirus Protein pp71 Displaces the Chromatin-Associated Factor ATRX from Nuclear Domain 10 at Early Stages of Infection

ABSTRACT The human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) tegument protein pp71, encoded by gene UL82, stimulates viral immediate-early (IE) transcription. pp71 interacts with the cellular protein hDaxx at nuclear domain 10 (ND10) sites, resulting in the reversal of hDaxx-mediated repression of viral transcription. We demonstrate that pp71 displaces an hDaxx-binding protein, ATRX, from ND10 prior to any detectable effects on hDaxx itself and that this event contributes to the role of pp71 in alleviating repression. Introduction of pp71 into cells by transfection, infection with a pp71-expressing herpes simplex virus type 1 vector, or by generation of transformed cell lines promoted the rapid relocation of ATRX from ND10 to the nucleoplasm without alteration of hDaxx levels or localization. A pp71 mutant protein unable to interact with hDaxx did not affect the intranuclear distribution of ATRX. Infection with HCMV at a high multiplicity of infection resulted in rapid displacement of ATRX from ND10, the effect being observed maximally by 2 h after adsorption, whereas infection with the UL82-null HCMV mutant ADsubUL82 did not affect ATRX localization even at 7 h postinfection. Cell lines depleted of ATRX by transduction with shRNA-expressing lentiviruses supported increased IE gene expression and virus replication after infection with ADsubUL82, demonstrating that ATRX has a role in repressing IE transcription. The results show that ATRX, in addition to hDaxx, is a component of cellular intrinsic defenses that limit HCMV IE transcription and that displacement of ATRX from ND10 by pp71 is important for the efficient initiation of viral gene expression.
Epithelial Cell Surface Sites Involved in the Polyvalent Adherence of Porphyromonas gingivalis: a Convincing Role for Neuraminic Acid and Glucuronic Acid

ABSTRACT We investigated the target structures of the epithelial cells responsible for the attachment of Porphyromonas gingivalis by immunocytofluorimetry, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and confocal microscopy. Integrins (β1, β3, and αV) and E-cadherin played no significant role. Carbohydrates (such as α-d-methylglucoside, l-fucose, d- and l-mannose, N-acetylglucosamine, and N-acetylgalactosamine) had little inhibitory effect on bacterial binding. Enzymatic treatments of the epithelial membranes and sugar competition studies showed that N-acetylneuraminic acid and glucuronic acid were involved in binding.
A Multimodal Gaze-Controlled Virtual Keyboard

New portable and noninvasive eye-trackers allow the creation of robust virtual keyboards that aim to improve the life of disabled people who are unable to communicate. This paper presents a novel multimodal virtual keyboard and evaluates the performance changes that occur with the use of different modalities. The virtual keyboard is based on a menu selection with eight main commands that allow us to spell 30 different characters and correct errors with a delete button. The system has been evaluated with 18 adult participants in three conditions corresponding to three modalities: direct selection using a mouse, with the eye-tracker to point at the desired command and a switch to select it, and with only the eye-tracker for command selection. The performance of the proposed virtual keyboard was evaluated by the speed and information transfer rate (ITR) at both the command and application levels. The average speed across subjects was 18.43 letters/min with the mouse only, 15.26 letters/min with the eye-tracker and the switch, and 9.30 letters/min with only the eye-tracker. The later provided an ITR of 44.96 and 57.46 bits/min at the letter and command levels, respectively. The results show to what extent a drop of performance can occur when switching between several modalities. While the speed decreases when controlling the virtual keyboard with the eye-tracker only, the system's performance remains functioning for severely disabled people who have their gaze as one of their only means of communication.
Increased Plasma Plasminogen Activator Inhibitor‐1 Levels: A Possible Marker of Hypertensive Target Organ Damage

High plasma plasminogen‐activator inhibitor‐1 (PAI‐1) concentrations have been reported in coronary artery disease and stroke. We therefore, prospectively studied the association of PAI‐1 with early target organ damage in patients with arterial hypertension has not been clearly established. We therefore investigated 136 subjects, 64 males and 72 females, mean age 50.0 ± 12.3 years, with newly diagnosed essential hypertension who were free of cardiovascular events and were not receiving any antihypertensive medication. Plasma PAI‐1 levels were measured by an ELISA method (STAGO). The study population was divided into two groups, group A with PAI‐1 levels below 40 ng/mL and group B with more than 40 ng/mL. The left ventricular mass was calculated according to the formula of Devereux and was normalized by the individual's body surface area (LVM/BSA). Carotid intima‐media thickness (IMT) was determined by ultrasonography. Microalbuminuria was assessed by an immunoturbidimetric method (SERA‐PAK). Group A consisted of 89 individuals with hypertension (65.4%), 41 males and 48 females and group B of 47 individuals with hypertension (34.6%), 21 males and 26 females. Individuals in group B exhibited significantly higher LVM/BSA than individuals in group A (155.9 ± 23.1 g/m2 vs. 129.7 ± 32.2 g/m2, respectively, p = 0.004) and increased IMT (0.97 ± 0.20 mm vs. 0.87 ± 0.21 mm, respectively, p < 0.001). Microalbumin excretion rate was greater in group B than group A (70.9 ± 84.4 mg/24 hrs vs. 20.9 ± 45.1 mg/24 hrs, respectively, p = 0.002). In conclusion, elevated PAI‐1 levels are associated with target organ damage in subjects with newly diagnosed arterial hypertension. Thus, it can be postulated that this fibrinolytic inhibitor may characterize hypertensives in the early stages of the atherothrombotic process.
EuroSCORE is a good global predictor of long‐term outcomes in high‐risk but not in low‐risk patients after unprotected left main angioplasty

Background: Percutaneous coronary intervention is increasingly emerging as a valuable alternative to surgery for the treatment of patients with unprotected left main coronary artery (ULMCA) disease. In this study, we aimed to assess the ability of the EuroSCORE risk stratification model to predict long‐term major adverse cardiac events after unprotected left main angioplasty according to the individual level of risk. Methods: Two hundred forty‐six consecutive patients who underwent ULMCA in a single high volume center over a 5‐year period were included. Major adverse cardiac events were defined as a combined end point of cardiac death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, or target lesion revascularization. Results: Areas under the receiver‐operating characteristic curve of EuroSCORE in the entire cohort were 0.687 (P = 0.005; 95% CI: 0.575–0.846) and 0.589 (P = 0.038; 95% CI: 0.511–0.673) respectively for cardiac death and major adverse cardiac events (MACE). One hundred twenty‐four patients had a EuroSCORE value > 6 and constituted the high surgical risk (HSR) group. Actuarial 4‐year survivals free from cardiac death and free from MACE were significantly lower in this group respectively at 84% versus 93% (log rank P = 0.02) and 50% versus 74% (log rank P = 0.004). EuroSCORE was the only independent predictor of long‐term cardiac mortality by the Cox analysis (HR = 3.95, P = 0.027, 95% CI: 1.16–13.39). It had a good discriminatory power for predicting both cardiac death and MACE with AUC respectively at was 0.705 (P = 0.01, 95% CI: 0.55–0.86) and 0.65 (P = 0.013, 95% CI: 0.54–0.78) in the HSR cohort but not in the lower risk (EuroSCORE ≤ 6) cohort. Conclusion: EuroSCORE is a good predictor not only of cardiac death but also of MACE after ULMCA angioplasty; however, the discriminatory ability of EuroSCORE appears to be limited to patients with high surgical risk as defined by EuroSCORE values >6. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Broadband stripline to microstrip transition with constant impedance field matching section for applications in multilayer planar technologies

This paper presents a broadband Stripline-to-Microstrip transition with constant impedance section. In the transition the structural parameters of transmission line have been used to provide smooth electromagnetic field matching together with providing unchanged characteristic impedance along transition section. This solution eliminates the necessity of impedance transformer. The transition enables easy access to stripline circuits situated on the internal layers of multilayer structures by use of typical microstrip terminals. The transition has a simple structure for the ease of fabrication with low cost. The measured performance exhibits flat frequency response over broad bandwidth. The insertion loss is less than 0.5 dB and a return loss is better than 25 dB within frequency range 1 GHz to 10 GHz
Evaluation of Three Glycoprotein G2-Based Enzyme Immunoassays for Detection of Antibodies to Herpes Simplex Virus Type 2 in Human Sera

ABSTRACT Three new glycoprotein G-based enzyme immunoassays (ETI-HSVK-G 2, Sorin Diagnostics Biomedica [assay A]; HSV Type 2 Specific IgG ELISA, Gull Laboratories, Inc. [assay B]; Cobas Core HSV-2 IgG EIA, Roche [assay C]) for the detection of herpes simplex virus (HSV) type 2 (HSV-2)-specific antibodies were evaluated. By testing sera from 25 individuals with culture-proven HSV-2 infection, the assays showed a sensitivity of 96%. The specificities, evaluated with sera from 70 HSV antibody-negative children, 75 HSV antibody-positive children, and 69 HSV antibody-negative adults, were 100% for assay A, 96.2% for assay B, and 97.8% for assay C, respectively. Discrepant results by any of the three assays, i.e., reactivity of a specimen in only one or two assays, occurred with similar frequencies for HSV-seronegative individuals as well as HSV-seropositive children and adults. For sera with discrepant results, the positive reactivity was mostly low. Thus, for determination of the prevalence of HSV-2 antibodies, only concordantly positive results were considered. On the basis of the results obtained with sera from 41 adults with culture-proven HSV-1 infection and from 173 HSV-antibody-positive pregnant women, the HSV-2 seroprevalence was 9.8%. The results show that the new glycoprotein G2-based enzyme immunoassays are useful tools for the detection of type-specific HSV-2 antibodies. However, if only one assay is performed, careful interpretation of the results is indicated, especially if the exhibited reactivity is low, and for determination of the definitive HSV-2 serostatus, confirmatory assays may still be necessary.
Higher levels of mobility are associated with greater societal participation and better quality-of-life

Introduction: Participation rates and quality-of-life (QoL) have been a major focus of rehabilitation programmes and outcome studies following traumatic brain injury (TBI). The extent to which mobility limitations impact on participation rates and QoL has not been thoroughly explored. The main aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between mobility limitations, participation rates and QoL following TBI. Methods: Thirty-nine people who had sustained an extremely severe TBI were recruited from a major rehabilitation facility. Mobility was quantified using the high-level mobility assessment tool (HiMAT). The Brain Injury Community Rehabilitation Outcome (BICRO-39) and Community Integration Questionnaire (CIQ) were used to measure participation rates and the shorter version of the World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQoL-BREF) and Assessment of Quality-of-Life (AQoL-2) were used to measure QoL. Results: Mobility was most strongly correlated with the total BICRO-39 score (r = −0.60, p < 0.001) and the mobility domain (r = −0.59, p < 0.001) of the BICRO-39. Although mobility had a significant relationship with health-related QoL, AQoL-2 (r = 0.60, p < 0.001), it was most strongly related to the AQoL-2 independent living domain (r = 0.79, p < 0.001). Conclusion: Greater capacity to mobilize was associated with higher participation rates and better QoL.
Normative Grundlagen gesellschaftlicher Entwicklung: Herausforderungen und Chance einer normativen Entwicklungszusammenarbeit

apparent contradictions are dissolving as research from many disci-plines converges on a few shared principles, including the importance of moral in-tuitions, the socially functional (rather than truth-seeking) nature of moral thinking, and the coevolution of moral minds with cultural practices and institutions that create diverse moral communities. “
Cancer Therapy: Preclinical TargetingCD73Enhances theAntitumorActivity of Anti-PD-1 and Anti-CTLA-4 mAbs

Purpose: Monoclonal antibodies (mAb) that block programmed death (PD)-1 or cytotoxic T lymphocyte antigen (CTLA-4) receptors have been associated with durable clinical responses against a variety of cancer types and hold great potential as novel cancer therapeutics. Recent evidence suggest that targeted blockade of multiple immunosuppressive pathways can induce synergistic antitumor
Combining treatment with myo-inositol and D-chiro-inositol (40:1) is effective in restoring ovary function and metabolic balance in PCOS patients

Abstract Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), a relevant cause of infertility, is a heterogeneous, endocrine disorder affecting up to 10–15% of women in reproductive age. Besides hyperandrogenism, insulin resistance (IR) plays a key role in such syndrome. Insulin-sensitizing drugs, such as Metformin, are effective in treating hyper-insulinemic PCOS patients. Recently, inositols – myo-inositol (MI) and D-chiro-inositol (DCI) – have shown to be an efficient and safe alternative in PCOS management, as both inositol isoforms are able to counteract downstream consequences of insulin resistance. Yet, whereas DCI contributes in mediating insulin activity mainly on non-ovarian tissues, MI displays specific effects on ovary, chiefly by modulating glucose metabolism and FSH-signaling. Moreover, MI may also improve ovarian functions by modulating steroid metabolism through non-insulin-dependent pathways. As DCI and MI activity likely involves different biological mechanisms, both inositol isoforms can be synergistically integrated according to a multitargeted design, by combining MI and DCI in a ratio corresponding to their physiological plasma relative amount (40:1). New experimental and clinical evidence with MI plus DCI evidenced the suitability of such integrated approach, and provided promising results. Further studies need to investigate thoroughly the molecular mechanism and confirm such preliminary data.
Trade-Off Phillips Curve, Inflation and Economic Implication: The Kenyan Case

This paper investigated the trade-off and inflation drivers based on the Phillips curve framework to determine the relationship and their impact between inflation, unemployment and output for Kenyan case from 2006:M1 to 2016:M12 by contrasting the 2SLS on 2 different measures of marginal cost with 3 differently instrumented shocks. Results confirmed; (1) significant trade-off that reduced inflation by 2.09% and 0.08% when unemployment and output respectively increase by 1%, while, 1% increase in output demeaned unemployment by 0.02%, (2) the forward-looking inflation and unemployment significantly drive observed inflation, and (3) unlike monetary supply, oil shocks best accounts for the observed dynamics. Although laudable policies been implemented by fiscal and macro-economic planners, they have not achieved the odds to sufficiently contain the import shocks, making both unemployment and the rational expectations to significantly drive the observed inflation. However, revisiting of the incumbent fiscal policies and their tight implementation would facilitate long term price stabilities to reduce the inflationary dynamics. To the significant import shocks, the state should foster feasible macro-economic diversifications, investments policies, modern technologies in real economic activity production, and renewable energy sourcing that would facilitate robust economic growth that would curb large revenue outflows due to commodity imports and cushioning the devaluation of the Kenyan shilling.
Vertical Co-operation in Creative Micro-Enterprises: A Case Study of Textile Crafts of Matiari District, Pakistan

Despite their cultural and economic importance, creative micro-enterprises have received very little attention from academia research, especially with respect to vertical co-operation—customers and suppliers—and innovation. This study aims to fill the literature gap by studying how vertical co-operation improves the performance of micro-enterprises in textile crafts through innovation. A questionnaire was used to collect data from creative micro-enterprises in the textile craft sector operating in the Matiari District of Pakistan. To test the construct validity of the research, Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) were conducted, and to examine the hypotheses, the bootstrap re-sampling method was used with the SPSS PROCESS macro developed by Hayes. The findings of this study indicate that vertical co-operation positively and significantly affects the innovation and performance of creative micro-enterprises in textile crafts. In addition, we find that innovation plays a significant mediating role between vertical co-operation and performance. Furthermore, contrary to some studies, we empirically provide evidence regarding innovation in craft in terms of product development (design, size, shape, color, etc.), improvement in quality, and replacement/modification of tools.
A Low-Leakage Body-Guarded Analog Switch in 0.35-  $\mu\mbox{m}$ BiCMOS and Its Applications in Low-Speed Switched-Capacitor Circuits

A low-leakage body-guarded analog switch (BGswitch) for slow switched-capacitor (SC) circuits is presented. The improvement of accuracy in SC circuits employing BG-switches is demonstrated by comparing their performance with counterparts employing conventionally biased CMOS switches in three applications: sample-and-hold (S/H) amplifier, SC amplifier, and highvoltage drain-extended MOSFET (DEMOS). The leakage currents of BG-switch-enabled circuits are characterized across process variations and different operation voltages in all demonstrated applications. With nominal output voltages at room temperature, the average absolute leakage current of BG-switch-enabled S/H amplifier (12.02 aA), SC amplifier (54.52 aA), and DEMOS (53.71 fA) show leakage current improvement of 21, 28, and 17 dB, respectively, compared with equivalent circuits utilizing transmission gates (TGs). BG-switch-enabled S/H circuits and SC amplifiers with average performance exhibit lower leakage currents up to 100 °C compared with TG-enabled circuits. The demonstrated applications utilizing BG-switches were fabricated in a standard 0.35-μm BiCMOS process.
Federal-level Government Participation and State-level Electoral Performance: A Party-based Analysis of Land Elections in Germany, 1949–2017

To what extent does the federal political arena contaminate the regional one in Germany? Does a party’s position as government or opposition on the federal level have a systematic impact on its performance in Land elections? Land elections are often characterised as second order elections, but existing empirical studies that use real election data suffer from important methodological problems. Unlike previous approaches using survey data or comparing vote shares in regional and federal elections, we analyse contamination in two ways. First, we test whether a party’s role at the federal level has a systematic impact on gaining or losing office at the Land level. Second, we examine the vote difference of parties relative to their result in the previous election in the Land. Drawing on a complete dataset of all Land elections from 1949 to 2017, we find confirmation for two phenomena well known in comparative electoral studies. First, the anti-incumbency effect: government parties tend to lose votes. In the German context, as in many other multilevel systems, this is exacerbated by the second effect: contamination. Gaining power or votes on the Land level is very difficult when a party is in government on the federal level.