Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Bienestar eudaemónico y soledad emocional y social

El eudemonismo es el goce o disfrute de una manera de ser por medio de la cual se alcanza la felicidad. Esta puede concebirse y ha sido abordada de distintas maneras, una de ellas es el bienestar. Una de las caras opuestas al bienestar es la soledad, como el deseo no conseguido de mantener una relacion o relaciones interpersonales estrechas que, ademas de su faceta emocional, tiene una di-mension social. En este marco, se realizo un estudio empirico con el objetivo de analizar la relacion entre los niveles de bienestar psicosocial y de soledad social emocional, asi como probables diferencias en funcion de aspectos sociodemograficos y psicosociales. La muestra, no probabilistica intencional, esta compuesta por 780 participantes de poblacion general de Argentina. Los resultados muestran bajos niveles de soledad y niveles satisfactorios de bienestar. Interesantes diferencias surgen en funcion del plano psicologico y social del bienestar, y entre el plano emocional y social de la soledad. Otras diferencias se observan al comparar a los participantes en funcion del sexo, la edad, el estado civil, la actividad de ocio y la practica religiosa.
A Research on Non-Stationary Stochastic Demand Inventory Systems

Non-stationary stochastic lot sizing problem appears in many industrial environments where demand is nonstationary and stochastic, and replenishments require fixed freight fees. This paper presents the cost performance assessment of three inventory control strategies proposed for the stochastic lot sizing problem, namely Hua et al. (2008)’s strategy (HYHX), Tarim and Kingsman (2006)’s model (TK) and rolling horizon integrated version of Tarim and Kingsman’s model (Rolled TK), against the optimal policy, non-stationary (s, S). The computational analyses show that the rolling horizon method implementation to TK escalates the model’s performance, and HYHX and Rolled TK perform quite close to each other in terms of expected cost.
3',5'-cyclic adenosine monophosphate-regulated enhancer binding (CREB) activity is required for normal growth and differentiated phenotype in the FRTL5 thyroid follicular cell line.

The thyroid follicular cell requires elevated levels of cAMP for normal growth and optimal expression of the differentiated phenotype. The recent discovery of cAMP-regulated enhancer binding (CREB) proteins prompted us to analyze the possible role of these transcription factors in controlling thyroid cell growth and differentiated phenotype using the FRTL5 thyroid cell line as a model system. FRTL5 cells were stably transfected with an expression vector containing either the gene for wild type CREB (WTCREB) or a dominant negative mutant form of CREB, termed KCREB, which dimerizes with and inactivates endogenous CREB. Transfected clones were found to express the transfected KCREB and WTCREB mRNAs at higher levels than the endogenous CREB mRNA. Transient expression of a somatostatin-chloramphenicol acetyltransferase fusion gene in these clones demonstrated a 60% reduction of cAMP-regulated enhancer-dependent transcriptional activity in the KCREB transfected clones and wild type levels of activity in the WTCREB transfected clones. Parameters of growth (DNA synthesis and growth rate) and differentiation (iodide uptake and thyroglobulin mRNA levels) were then analyzed in the transfected clones. Transfection of WTCREB had no effect on any of the parameters examined in comparison to untransfected cells, presumably because CREB is already constitutively expressed at maximal levels in normal FRTL5 cells. However, cells expressing KCREB showed an 18-40% reduction in TSH-stimulated thymidine incorporation, a 31% increase in the length of the cell cycle, and a 4-fold reduction in TSH-stimulated iodide uptake in comparison with wild type cells or cells tranfected with wild type CREB. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Helicobacter pylori picB, a homologue of the Bordetella pertussis toxin secretion protein, is required for induction of IL‐8 in gastric epithelial cells

Approximately 60% of Helicobacter pylori strains are cagA+ and this genotype is more frequently associated with duodenal ulcer disease. Although most wild‐type cagA+ strains are both cytotoxigenic and induce enhanced Interleukin‐8 (IL‐8) secretion in gastric epithelial cells, isogenic cagA− mutants retain full activity in these assays; thus, cagA appears to be a marker of enhanced virulence. Delineation of the nucleotide sequence of a 4 kb region upstream of cagA allowed the identification of 966 bp (picA) and 2655 bp (picB) open reading frames encoding 36 kDa and 101 kDa polypeptides, respectively. picA and picB constitute an operon in opposite orientation to cagA. The deduced picB product showed significant homology (26% identity and 50% similarity) with the Bordetella pertussis toxin secretion protein (PtlC). Of 55 H. pylori clinical isolates, the picA and picB segment was conserved exclusively in cagA+ strains and present in all isolates from patients with duodenal ulceration, versus 59% of isolates from patients with gastritis alone (P=0.01). Using gene‐replacement techniques, we constructed picA and picB mutant H. pylori strains and demonstrated that the picB gene product is involved in the induction of IL‐8 expression in gastric epithelial cells. Further, Northern blot hybridization and RT‐PCR data showed that picA and picB are co‐transcribed and an insertional mutation in picA ablates picB expression. These studies indicate a role of picA and picB in the induction of an inflammatory response in gastric epithelial cells either directly or by enabling secretion of an unidentified product, and suggest a mechanism for the overrepresentation of strains possessing these genes in patients with peptic ulceration.
Hybrid role hierarchy for the extended role based access control model

Role based access control (RBAC) has emerged as a leading access control model to other traditional access control models. However, the traditional RBAC models can not capture fine-grained authorization with mono-type inheritance. In this paper, we discuss the hybrid inheritance based on our extended RBAC model, which is very desirable for capturing the fine-grained access control permissions. When the hybrid inheritances coexist in a role hierarchy, inferring such indirect relations between a pair of roles can became very complex. In particular, we study how the new inheritance relations between roles that are indirectly related can be easily derived through the inference rules, which provides a basis for formally analyzing the hybrid inheritances.
Leiomyosarcoma of the uterus: A clinicopathologic, DNA flow cytometric, p53, and mdm-2 analysis of 49 cases.

AIM The authors analyzed in a retrospective manner the prognostic significance of p53 and mdm-2 expression, DNA ploidy, S-phase fraction (SPF), and traditional clinical and pathological prognostic factors in patients with uterine leiomyosarcomas. MATERIAL Forty-nine patients were diagnosed with uterine leiomyosarcoma (25 stage I, 4 stage II, 8 stage III, and 12 stage IV). DNA flow cytometric analysis and immunohistochemical staining for p53 and mdm-2 were performed on paraffin-embedded archival tissue from the uterine tumors. RESULTS Of the 49 patients, 35 (71%) died of disease and 2 died of intercurrent disease. The 5-year survival rate was 33%. FIGO surgical stage, DNA ploidy, SPF, mitotic index, cellular atypia, and tumor grade obtained significance (P < 0.05) in a univariate survival analysis of the leiomyosarcomas. In a multivariate analysis with survival as the end point, stage was found to be the most important factor (P = 0.007); DNA ploidy (P = 0. 045) and SPF (P = 0.041) also had independent prognostic significance. For FIGO stage I tumors, DNA ploidy (P = 0.04) and tumor grade (P = 0.01) were statistically significant in a univariate analysis, while only grade had independent prognostic significance (P = 0.01) in a multivariate analysis. In a univariate analysis including only FIGO stage I and II tumors with disease-free survival as the end point, p53 overexpression (P = 0.0016), DNA ploidy (P = 0.042), and tumor grade (P = 0.008) obtained significance. In a multivariate analysis, only p53 had independent statistical significance (P = 0.01). All p53 immunopositive stage I-II tumors recurred within 28 months from diagnosis. CONCLUSION This study found that stage represents the most important prognostic factor for uterine leiomyosarcomas. DNA ploidy and SPF had independent prognostic value. DNA flow cytometry is useful in gaining additional prognostic information. In stage I patients, tumor grade gives significant information regarding clinical outcome. In addition, p53 overexpression may predict a higher risk of recurrence in early stage leiomyosarcomas.
The comparative effectiveness of tumor necrosis factor-blocking agents in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and patients with ankylosing spondylitis: a six-month, longitudinal, observational, multicenter study.

OBJECTIVE To compare the effectiveness of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-blocking agents (etanercept and infliximab) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS). METHODS Data from an ongoing longitudinal, observational study in Norway were used to assess changes in health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in patients with RA (n = 291) and AS (n = 62). Patients received anti-TNF therapy, and changes in scores on the Short Form 36 (SF-36), SF-6D, modified Health Assessment Questionnaire, and visual analog scales for patients' assessments of pain, fatigue, and global status from baseline to followup examinations at 3 and 6 months were compared. Data were adjusted for age, sex, and baseline values and are presented as crude estimates as well as standardized response means. RESULTS Both groups had improvements in all measures at 3 and 6 months. At 3 months, the changes were significantly better in the AS group compared with the RA group for all measures except the SF-36 social functioning scores. At 6 months, all changes were numerically greater in the AS group. Differences were significant for the SF-36 role emotional scores and were borderline significant for the SF-36 physical functioning, role physical, and vitality scores and for the SF-6D scores. CONCLUSION In this real-life setting, patients with AS experienced improvement in HRQOL that was comparable to, and sometimes greater than, that observed in RA patients. These results support the idea that patients with AS should have the same access to TNF-blocking agents as patients with RA.
Flattening effect of corneal cross-linking depends on the preoperative severity of keratoconus

Abstract A retrospective observational study was conducted to validate the effect of corneal cross-linking (CXL) on eyes with progressing keratoconus, depending on severity. In total, 45 eyes of 33 patients (age: 23.9 ± 6.8 years, range: 14–42 years) with progressive keratoconus who underwent CXL were enrolled. Examinations were performed at pre-, 1, 3, 6, and 12 months after surgery. In addition to a slit lamp microscopy, measurement of visual acuity, the steepest keratometric value (Kmax), the thinnest corneal thickness (TCT), and the corneal endothelial cell density (ECD) were assessed. Change in Kmax (&Dgr;Kmax) was calculated by subtracting the preoperative Kmax from the 12-month postoperative Kmax. CDVA, TCT, and ECD did not change significantly throughout the follow-up period. Kmax was 56.4 ± 7.2 D preoperatively and 54.3 ± 5.6 D at 12 months after CXL (P = .174). The average value of &Dgr;Kmax was −2.23 ± 4.31 D at 12 months after CXL. &Dgr;Kmax was negatively correlated with preoperative Kmax (&rgr; = −0.5517, P = .0001), and positively correlated with preoperative TCT (&rgr; = 0.4791, P = .0012). However, no correlation was observed between Kmax and patient age or the decrease ratio of ECD. The more flattening was obtained after CXL in cases with the more advanced keratoconus. No complication, including corneal endothelial damage, was observed even in advanced cases.
A single preoperative oral dose of valdecoxib, a new cyclooxygenase-2 specific inhibitor, relieves post-oral surgery or bunionectomy pain.

BACKGROUND The trend toward day-case surgery, with discharge on oral medication, has highlighted the need for effective and safe analgesics that facilitate a rapid recovery and discharge time. This study evaluated the analgesic efficacy, dose dependency, duration of action, and safety of the cyclooxygenase-2 specific inhibitor, valdecoxib, administered before oral or orthopedic surgery. METHODS Eligible healthy adult patients were scheduled to undergo either extraction of two impacted third molar teeth (n = 284) or bunionectomy surgery (n = 223) with local anesthesia in two randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled studies conducted at three centers in the United States. Patients received a single, preoperatively administered oral dose of placebo or 10 (oral surgery only), 20, 40, or 80 mg valdecoxib. Analgesic efficacy was assessed postoperatively, over a 24-h treatment period, or until the patient required rescue medication. Efficacy measures included time to rescue medication, proportion of patients requiring such rescue, pain intensity, and the Patient's Global Evaluation of Study Medication. RESULTS In both studies, all doses of valdecoxib produced analgesia with a duration (time to rescue analgesia) and magnitude (Pain Intensity, Patient's Global Evaluation) significantly greater than placebo. A dose-dependent effect was observed up to 40 mg valdecoxib, with an 80-mg dose providing no additional analgesic benefit. In both models, all doses of valdecoxib were well tolerated, with no clinically significant treatment-related gastrointestinal, renal, or platelet-derived adverse events, and no evidence of a dose-related increase in adverse events. CONCLUSIONS Preoperative orally administered valdecoxib provides well-tolerated and effective analgesia for mild to moderate postoperative pain.
Seizure recurrence after a 1st unprovoked seizure

We followed 208 patients identified on the day of their 1st unprovoked seizure for a mean duration of 4 years. Seizures recurred in 64. Recurrence risks were estimated to be 14%, 29%, and 34% at 1, 3, and 5 years following the 1st episode. A history of previous neurologic insult (remote symptomatic) was associated with a 2.5-fold increased risk of recurrence. Among idiopathic cases, a sibling with epilepsy, a generalized spike and wave EEG, or a history of acute symptomatic seizure increased risk for recurrence. Among remote symptomatic cases, status epilepticus, a prior acute symptomatic seizure, or Todd's paresis increased risk. Depending upon clinical features, recurrence risk at 5 years following a 1st seizure ranged from 23% to 80%. Treatment with anticonvulsant medication was not associated with a decrease in recurrence risks.
Pelvic growth: Ontogeny of size and shape sexual dimorphism in rat pelves

The mammalian pelvis is sexually dimorphic with respect to both size and shape. Yet little is known about the differences in postnatal growth and bone remodeling that generate adult sexual dimorphism in pelvic bones. We used Sprague‐Dawley laboratory rats (Rattus norvegicus), a species that exhibits gross pelvic size and shape dimorphism, as a model to quantify pelvic morphology throughout ontogeny. We employed landmark‐based geometric morphometrics methodology on digitized landmarks from radiographs to test for sexual dimorphism in size and shape, and to examine differences in the rates, magnitudes, and directional patterns of shape change during growth. On the basis of statistical significance testing, the sexes became different with respect to pelvic shape by 36 days of age, earlier than the onset of size dimorphism (45 days), although visible shape differences were observed as early as at 22 days. Males achieved larger pelvic sizes by growing faster throughout ontogeny. However, the rates of shape change in the pelvis were greater in females for nearly all time intervals scrutinized. We found that trajectories of shape change were parallel in the two sexes until age of 45 days, suggesting that both sexes underwent similar bone remodeling until puberty. After 45 days, but before reproductive maturity, shape change trajectories diverged because of specific changes in the female pelvic shape, possibly due to the influence of estrogens. Pattern of male pelvic bone remodeling remained the same throughout ontogeny, suggesting that androgen effects on male pelvic morphology were constant and did not contribute to specific shape changes at puberty. These results could be used to direct additional research on the mechanisms that generate skeletal dimorphisms at different levels of biological organization. J. Morphol. , 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Molecular pathology of familial central diabetes insipidus.

Diabetes insipidus is caused by either the lack of arginine-vasopressin (AVP) in central diabetes insipidus (CDI) or the resistance to the action of this hormone in nephrogenic diabetes insipidus (NDI). While the causes of CDI and NDI are mostly acquired, a small percentage is hereditary in either a dominant (CDI) or recessive manner (NDI). Familial CDI is typically of late onset and slowly progressive during the first few years of life, in contrast to the frequently severe dehydration
Secondary organic aerosol from VOC mixtures in an oxidation fl ow reactor

The atmospheric organic aerosol is a tremendously complex system in terms of chemical content. Models generally treat the mixtures as ideal, something which has been questioned owing to modelmeasurement discrepancies. We used an oxidation flow reactor to produce secondary organic aerosol (SOA) mixtures containing oxidation products of biogenic (a-pinene, myrcene and isoprene) and anthropogenic (m-xylene) volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The resulting volume concentration and chemical composition was measured using a scanning mobility particle sizer (SMPS) and a highresolution time-of-flight aerosol mass spectrometer (HR-ToF-AMS), respectively. The SOA mass yield of the mixtures was compared to a partitioning model constructed from single VOC experiments. The single VOC SOA mass yields with no wall-loss correction applied are comparable to previous experiments. In the mixtures containing myrcene a higher yield than expected was produced. We attribute this to an increased condensation sink, arising from myrcene producing a significantly higher number of nucleation particles compared to the other precursors. Isoprene did not produce much mass in single VOC experiments but contributed to the mass of the mixtures. The effect of high concentrations of isoprene on the OH exposure was found to be small, even at OH reactivities that previously have been reported to significantly suppress OH exposures in oxidation flow reactors. Furthermore, isoprene shifted the particle size distribution of mixtures towards larger sizes, which could be due to a change in oxidant dynamics
Appropriate generation rate constraint (GRC) modeling method for reheat thermal units to obtain optimal load frequency controller (LFC)

This paper focuses on choosing a suitable dynamic model for simulation of generation rate constraint (GRC) for load frequency control (LFC) of an interconnected realistic reheat thermal-thermal power system. Two different dynamic models for simulation of the GRC are investigated in details which are named as open loop and closed loop GRC models. These models have been used widely in literature interchangeably without any further description to the reason of selected modeling method and its suitability. This paper makes an attempt to help in choosing more effective and appropriate GRC structure pertained to reheat thermal units based on dynamic simulations to obtain optimal LFC. Reheat thermal units are examined with different GRC models. Then, integral of time multiplied squared error (ITSE) performance index is minimized by an improved particle swarm optimization (IPSO) algorithm to optimize proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller parameters. All simulations are performed in MATLAB/SIMULINK environment. The results of eigenvalue analysis, dynamic simulations, and robustness analysis reveal the appropriate GRC modeling method for thermal units to attain high-performance and optimal LFC design.
Efflux Pumps of Mycobacterium tuberculosis Play a Significant Role in Antituberculosis Activity of Potential Drug Candidates

ABSTRACT Active efflux of drugs mediated by efflux pumps that confer drug resistance is one of the mechanisms developed by bacteria to counter the adverse effects of antibiotics and chemicals. To understand these efflux mechanisms in Mycobacterium tuberculosis, we generated knockout (KO) mutants of four efflux pumps of the pathogen belonging to different classes. We measured the MICs and kill values of two different compound classes on the wild type (WT) and the efflux pump (EP) KO mutants in the presence and absence of the efflux inhibitors verapamil and l-phenylalanyl-l-arginyl-β-naphthylamide (PAβN). Among the pumps studied, the efflux pumps belonging to the ABC (ATP-binding cassette) class, encoded by Rv1218c, and the SMR (small multidrug resistance) class, encoded by Rv3065, appear to play important roles in mediating the efflux of different chemical classes and antibiotics. Efflux pumps encoded by Rv0849 and Rv1258c also mediate the efflux of these compounds, but to a lesser extent. Increased killing is observed in WT M. tuberculosis cells by these compounds in the presence of either verapamil or PAβN. The efflux pump KO mutants were more susceptible to these compounds in the presence of efflux inhibitors. We have shown that these four efflux pumps of M. tuberculosis play a vital role in mediating efflux of different chemical scaffolds. Inhibitors of one or several of these efflux pumps could have a significant impact in the treatment of tuberculosis. The identification and characterization of Rv0849, a new efflux pump belonging to the MFS (major facilitator superfamily) class, are reported.
Towards recyclable system requirements

With the increasing importance and complexity of software systems in cars, car manufacturers are faced with new challenges: very large specification documents with a fast growing portion concerning software must be handled by engineers without dedicated backgrounds in computer science. The development must be accompanied by completely new processes. All this is under the pressure to reduce time-to-market and development costs. In this paper we focus on the early phase of software development and describe a planned approach to obtain high quality and well structured requirement specifications by revisiting development artifacts of former similar systems. We present experiences in following this approach with concrete methods, namely introducing use cases in this case. The benefits and difficulties with this method are discussed and future research directions are pointed out.