Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Relationship of serum lactate dehydrogenase level with first remission length in adult acute lymphocytic leukaemia

Several features have a prognostic value in adults with acute lymphocytic leukaemia (ALL). However, in about two‐thirds of all cases prognosis remains quite variable, with a substantial number of early relapses. This study shows in 118 adult patients who attained complete remission (CR) between 1978 and 1984 that pretreatment serum total lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activity was inversely correlated with first CR length. The prognostic value of LDH was higher than that of any other features both in univariable and in multivariable analysis. The value was significant in the whole series as well as in patients who lacked other high risk features. Among non‐high risk and low‐WBC count cases, patients with LDH > 500 U/l had a median first CR duration of 27 months, and a projected 5‐year relapse free survival of 36%, versus 9 months and 12% of patients with LDH > 500 U/l. These results fit well with the results of a study of ALL in children, and suggest that pretreatment serum total LDH activity is an important risk determinant in adult ALL.
Stress-Induced Susceptibility to Bacterial Infection During Cutaneous Wound Healing

Psychological stress delays wound healing and decreases immune/inflammatory responses required for bacterial clearance. To determine if stress increases the susceptibility to wound infection, female SKH-1 mice were subjected to restraint stress (RST) beginning 3 days prior to the placement of cutaneous wounds. Viable bacteria were quantified from harvested wounds. RST delayed healing by 30% and caused a 2- to 5-log increase in opportunistic bacteria (e.g., Staphylococcus aureus) when compared to wounds from control animals (p <.05). By day 7, 85.4% of the wounds from RST mice had bacterial counts predictive of infection compared to 27.4% from control mice (p <.001). To assess the role of RST-induced glucocorticoids in bacterial clearance, mice were treated with the glucocorticoid receptor antagonist RU486. RU486 reduced opportunistic bacteria by nearly 1 log in wounds from RST mice (p <.05). Thus, stress impairs bacterial clearance during wound healing, resulting in a significant increase in the incidence of opportunistic infection.
Spatial and temporal patterning of bank vole demography and the epidemiology of the Puumala hantavirus in northeastern France

SUMMARY Epidemiological data from bank voles, Myodes glareolus, naturally infected by the hantavirus Puumala (PUUV) were collected by a capture–mark–recapture protocol from 2000 to 2002 in the French department of Ardennes. Four monitored trapping sites were established in two forests located in two cantons (Flize and Monthermé). We captured 912 bank voles corresponding to 557 different individuals during 8820 trapping nights for an overall trapping success of 10·34%. The average PUUV seroprevalence was 22·4%. Characteristics of the system reported in North European countries are confirmed in France. PUUV seroprevalence and abundance of rodents appeared weakly linked. Adult voles were more frequently antibody-positive, but no difference between sexes was established. Anti-PUUV seropositive voles were captured and high seroprevalence was observed from both forests, without human infection reported in Flize canton during the study. One site among the four exhibited peculiar infection dynamics, where vole weight and infection risk were negatively correlated.
Conformai antennas for wireless communication

Antennas formed by a single cylinder with a longitudinal slot are presented. It has been shown that the antennas allow flush installation and can be efficiently used either as a single radiating element or as an element in antenna arrays. Physical phenomena that were utilized to produce uniform field distribution along the slot and as the consequence, to create optimal directivity, have been studied.
Genotoxicity and toxicity of the potential cancer‐preventive agent polyphenon E

The potential health benefits of green tea continue to attract public and scientific interests and are attributed in part to polyphenolic catechin constituents. Polyphenon E (Poly E) is a decaffeinated green tea catechin mixture containing about 50% epigallocatechin gallate and 30% other catechins. We evaluated the toxicity and genotoxicity of Poly E by using two in vitro assays: bacterial mutagenesis in a Salmonella typhimurium–E. coli assay and the L5178Y mouse lymphoma cell thymidine kinase (Tk) gene mutation assay. In addition, we used two in vivo genotoxicity assays: the mouse micronucleus assay and the Big Blue cII transgenic mouse mutation assay. Repeat‐dose toxicity evaluations were performed in mice in parallel with the Big Blue transgenic mutation assays. No significant increases in the revertant colonies were found in the bacterial mutagenesis assay, but a significant increase in the mutant frequency (MF) at the Tk locus was observed in the mouse lymphoma test system. We observed toxicity in mice when Poly E was administered at doses of 2,000 mg/kg/day. Lower doses produced no significant increases in micronucleated erythrocytes in the bone marrow of Swiss‐Webster mice and no significant increases in cII transgene MF in the liver, lung, or spleen compared with controls. These results indicate that Poly E, although toxic at high doses (2,000 mg/kg/day), poses minimal genotoxic concern. In addition, these studies highlight the importance of using both in vitro and in vivo systems in genetic toxicity screening of pharmaceuticals before they are administered to humans. Environ. Mol. Mutagen. 41:43–54, 2003. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Continuity and Change: Dealing with Political Volatility to Advance Climate Change Mitigation Strategies—Examples from the Transport Sector

As the recent withdrawal of the United States from the Paris Agreement has shown, political volatility directly affects climate change mitigation policies, in particular in sectors, such as transport associated with long-term investments by individuals (vehicles) and by local and national governments (urban form and transport infrastructure and services). There is a large potential for cost-effective solutions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to improve the sustainability of the transport sector that is yet unexploited. Considering the cost-effectiveness and the potential for co-benefits, it is hard to understand why efficiency gains and CO2 emission reductions in the transport sector are still lagging behind this potential. Particularly interesting is the fact that there is substantial difference among countries with relatively similar economic performances in the development of their transport CO2 emissions over the past thirty years despite the fact that these countries had relatively similar access to efficient technologies and vehicles. This study aims to explore some well-established political science theories on the particular example of climate change mitigation in the transport sector in order to identify some of the factors that could help explain the variations in success of policies and strategies in this sector. The analysis suggests that institutional arrangements that contribute to consensus building in the political process provide a high level of political and policy stability which is vital to long-term changes in energy end-use sectors that rely on long-term investments. However, there is no direct correlation between institutional structures, e.g., corporatism and success in reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the transport sector. Environmental objectives need to be built into the consensus-based policy structure before actual policy progress can be observed. This usually takes longer in consensus democracies than in politically more agile majoritarian policy environments, but the policy stability that builds on corporatist institutional structures is likely to experience changes over a longer-term, in this case to a shift towards low-carbon transport that endures.
Marketing of hedge funds : a key strategic variable in defining possible roles of an emerging investment force

Hedge funds have recently received significant attention from both media and regulators, getting blamed for everything from causing volatility in the financial system to the collapse of investment banks. This thesis attempts to define hedge funds and make transparent the role they play in the investment system. Particular emphasis is given to understanding the marketing approaches pursued by hedge funds by showing how well they match the needs of private and institutional investors.
Crowdsourcing Automobile Parking Availibility Sensing Using Mobile Phones

A lack of reliable knowledge about automobile parking availability in areas such as schools, work, or major cities wastes time, energy, and fuel as people try to find available parking spaces. Real-time parking monitoring phone applications exist, but keeping accurate, reliable parking availability information proves to be a difficult task due to the unreliability of real time information, especially in less densely populated areas. In this paper, we present a parking monitoring system that uses crowdsourcing in combination with mobile phone sensors to provide accurate, reliable real-time parking availability information. We present a study of the use of the application on a university campus to demonstrate its effectiveness.
Self-heating effect and characteristic variability of gate-all-around silicon nanowire transistors for highly-scaled CMOS technology (invited)

This paper discusses self-heating effect and variability behavior of GAA SNWTs. Due to the 1-D nature of nanowire and increased phononboundary scattering in GAA structure, the selfheating effect in SNWTs based on bulk substrate is comparable or even a little bit worse than SOI devices, which may limit the ultimate performance of SNWT-based circuits and thus special design consideration is expected. On the other hand, random variation has become a practical problem at nano-scale. The characteristic variability of SNWTs is experimentally extracted and studied in detail. And the impacts of nanowire LER, the diameter-dependent annealing enhanced nanowire This paper discusses self-heating effect and variability behavior of GAA SNWTs. Due to the 1-D nature of nanowire and increased phononboundary scattering in GAA structure, the selfheating effect in SNWTs based on bulk substrate is comparable or even a little bit worse than SOI devices, which may limit the ultimate performance of SNWT-based circuits and thus special design consideration is expected. On the other hand, random variation has become a practical problem at nano-scale. The characteristic variability of SNWTs is experimentally extracted and studied in detail. And the impacts of nanowire LER, the diameter-dependent annealing enhanced nanowire
Development of wide band negative permeability structure

In recent year, negative permittivity or/and permeability materials for microwave region have been proposed. These structures can be applied to enhance an antenna property such as super gain. On the other hand, bandwidths of these structures are relatively narrow. The narrow bandwidth sometime becomes an obstacle to develop applications which utilize these materials. In this paper, we develop new wideband negative permeability structures.
Epidemiology of restaurant-associated foodborne disease outbreaks, United States, 1998–2013

SUMMARY Although contamination of food can occur at any point from farm to table, restaurant food workers are a common source of foodborne illness. We describe the characteristics of restaurant-associated foodborne disease outbreaks and explore the role of food workers by analysing outbreaks associated with restaurants from 1998 to 2013 reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Foodborne Disease Outbreak Surveillance System. We identified 9788 restaurant-associated outbreaks. The median annual number of outbreaks was 620 (interquartile range 618–629). In 3072 outbreaks with a single confirmed aetiology reported, norovirus caused the largest number of outbreaks (1425, 46%). Of outbreaks with a single food reported and a confirmed aetiology, fish (254 outbreaks, 34%) was most commonly implicated, and these outbreaks were commonly caused by scombroid toxin (219 outbreaks, 86% of fish outbreaks). Most outbreaks (79%) occurred at sit-down establishments. The most commonly reported contributing factors were those related to food handling and preparation practices in the restaurant (2955 outbreaks, 61%). Food workers contributed to 2415 (25%) outbreaks. Knowledge of the foods, aetiologies, and contributing factors that result in foodborne disease restaurant outbreaks can help guide efforts to prevent foodborne illness.
Post‐laminectomy Kyphosis

Post-laminectomy spinal deformity occurs in 50% of children undergoing laminectomies for cord tumors. Kyphosis is the most frequent deformity found. The integrity of the facet joints appears to be one of the most important factors in the development of this kyphosis. More children are surviving after treatment of these tumors and a pessimistic attitude is not warranted. Observation of a progressing deformity is not acceptable treatment. When kyphosis develops, early prompt bracing must be started. For a progressive or severe kyphosis, an anterior spine fusion is indicated. This is reinforced by a posterior fusion with Harrington instrumentation. Surgical reconstruction is indicated in children recovering from extensive laminectomies but with a good prognosis.
Pti1p and Ref2p found in association with the mRNA 3′ end formation complex direct snoRNA maturation

Eukaryotic RNA polymerase II transcribes precursors of mRNAs and of non‐protein‐coding RNAs such as snRNAs and snoRNAs. These RNAs have to be processed at their 3′ ends to be functional. mRNAs are matured by cleavage and polyadenylation that require a well‐characterized protein complex. Small RNAs are also subject to 3′ end cleavage but are not polyadenylated. Here we show that two newly identified proteins, Pti1p and Ref2p, although they were found associated with the pre‐mRNA 3′ end processing complex, are essential for yeast snoRNA 3′ end maturation. We also provide evidence that Pti1p probably acts by uncoupling cleavage and polyadenylation, and functions in coordination with the Nrd1p‐dependent pathway for 3′ end formation of non‐polyadenylated transcripts.
PAX6 and Congenital Eye Malformations

The PAX6 gene is a paradigm for our understanding of the molecular genetics of mammalian eye development. Twelve years after its identification it is one of the most intensively studied genes, both in terms of its diverse and complex functions during oculogenesis and its role in an ever-increasing variety of human congenital eye malformations. The PAX6 field has benefited greatly from the continued input of clinicians, human geneticists and developmental biologists. This review summarizes the latest data on the PAX6 mutation spectrum and recent insights into Pax6 function from the mouse.
Regulation of the immune response by SHIP.

Multiple lines of experimental data indicate that SHIP1 is an important negative regulator of the immune system. SHIP1 has been demonstrated to control survival and proliferation, as well as differentiation. In the cases of some inhibitory receptors, such as Fc gamma RIIB1, the molecular mechanisms of control by SHIP1 are established. For other receptors, particularly activating receptors where SHIP1 appears to set activation thresholds, the mechanisms remain to be discovered. Further study on SHIP and other SHIP family members could be critical for our understanding the negative regulation in multiple hematopoietic lineages and the immune system as a whole.
Long-Term Effects of Early-Life Development: Evidence from the 1959 to 1961 China Famine

This paper estimates the effects of maternal stress and malnutrition using the 1959-1961 Chinese famine as a natural experiment. Observed forty years later in the 2000 China Census (1% sample), Famine survivors showed impaired literacy, labor market, wealth, and marriage market outcomes. In addition, maternal malnutrition reduced the sex ratio (males to females) in two generations – those prenatally exposed and their children – presumably through heightened male mortality. This tendency toward female cohorts is interpretable in light of the Trivers-Willard (1973) hypothesis, according to which parents in poor condition should skew the offspring sex ratio toward daughters. Hong Kong Natality micro data from 1984-2004 further confirm this pattern. The persistence of poor nutrition in China – particularly in rural areas and among girls – suggests that health and economic outcomes will be compromised well into the 21st century.
Dedifferentiated Liposarcoma of the Left Thigh: a Rare Case

Introduction: Liposarcoma is generally classified into four subtypes: a) well-differentiated liposarcoma/atypical lipomatous tumor, b) dedifferentiated liposarcoma, c) myxoid/round cell liposarcoma, and d) pleomorphic liposarcoma. Dedifferentiated liposarcoma is mostly seen in the region of retroperitoneum. Aim: To present a case of dedifferentiated liposarcoma in a rare site of location: the lower extremity. Case Report: A 24-year-old woman presented with a firm painful mass, 3x2 cm in diameter on the medial side of left thigh. MRI demonstrated a lesion on that location showing low signal intensity on T1-wieghted and high signal intensity on T2A-wieghted sequences. After an excisional biopsy the histopathological examination via Haematoxylin and Eosin firstly revealed the diagnosis of malign undifferentiated tumor. The results of immunohistochemical evaluations were as follows: SMA (-), HMB45 (-), S100 (+, focally), Desmin (-), Vimentin (+, focally), CD68 (+, focally), CD34 (-), LCA (-), and Inhibin (-). The final histopathological diagnosis was dedifferentiated liposarcoma. Conclusions: In English-language literature data for dedifferentiated liposarcoma of the lower extremities are very restricted. Although imaging with CT and MRI, the final and distinct diagnosis is made immunohistochemically. A clinician should be aware of the presence of a dedifferentiated liposarcoma within a mass on the lower extremities.
Alginate Nanoparticles as a Promising Adjuvant and Vaccine Delivery System

During last decades, diphtheria has remained as a serious disease that still outbreaks and can occur worldwide. Recently, new vaccine delivery systems have been developed by using the biodegradable and biocompatible polymers such as alginate. Alginate nanoparticles as a carrier with adjuvant and prolong release properties that enhance the immunogenicity of vaccines. In this study diphtheria toxoid loaded nanoparticles were prepared by ionic gelation technique and characterized with respect to size, zeta potential, morphology, encapsulation efficiency, release profile, and immunogenicity. Appropriate parameters (calcium chloride and sodium alginate concentration, homogenization rate and homogenization time) redounded to the formation of suitable nanoparticles with a mean diameter of 70±0.5 nm. The loading studies of the nanoparticles resulted in high loading capacities (>90%) and subsequent release studies showed prolong profile. The stability and antigenicity of toxoid were evaluated by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and ouchterlony test and proved that the encapsulation process did not affect the antigenic integrity and activity. Guinea pigs immunized with the diphtheria toxoid-loaded alginate nanoparticles showed highest humoral immune response than conventional vaccine. It is concluded that, with regard to the desirable properties of nanoparticles and high immunogenicity, alginate nanoparticles could be considered as a new promising vaccine delivery and adjuvant system.
The Role Of Relationship Learning As The Mediator Of The Market Orientation Impact Toward Competitive Advantage And Marketing Performance Of The Furniture Companies In Java Island

Relationship learnings is the main essential requirement to create company’s innovation power to enhance its competitive advantage. The relationship learning of furniture compa-nies in Indonesia has been considered in low level compared to China and other Asian countries. This also has a significant effect toward marketing performance in term of bilateral trade relationship between Indonesia and China. The link phenomenon of market orientation with the awareness about relationship behavior of furnitures companies in China has much more dominant role to win the competition. The connection or network (Guan Xi - 关 系 ) has been used to maintain business relation amongst furniture companies in China for information sharing from academicians, suppliers and even competitors. Apparently, furnitures companies Indonesia haven’t got used to it. Companies here are less paying atten-tion on this remarkable source to generate a new innovation or design, even making market surveys to support innovation capability. The purpose of this research is to analize the followings, (1). The effect of market orientation toward relationship learnings, (2). The effect of market orientation toward competitive advantage, (3). The effect of relationship learning toward competitive advantage, (4). The effect of market orientation toward marke-ting performance, (5). The effect of relationship learning toward marketing performance, (6). The effect of competitive advantage toward marketing performance of furnitures com-panies in Java island region. The research objects are all furniture companies in Java island region which consists of Surabaya, Semarang, Bandung and Jabodetabek with total number about 830 companies, with furniture company as analysis unit. 90 companies were being taken for the samples. This research has using SEM (Structural Equation Model) as the analysis tool to estimate the reciprocal effect by involving interverning variable. The analysis’ results showing that the market orientation has a possitive effect to marke-ting performance of furnitures companies in Java island region thru relationship learning. Keyword: market orientation, relationship learnings, competitive advantage, marketing performance
BURROWING FLY LARVAE (PHILORNIS PORTERI) ASSOCIATED WITH MORTALITY OF EASTERN BLUEBIRDS IN FLORIDA

We investigated mortality among nestling eastern bluebirds (Sialia sialis) in Polk and Highlands counties, Florida (USA) in 1999–2001. At least six species of maggots from three families of muscoid flies, Calliphoridae, Sarcophagidae, and Muscidae were found associated with the nestlings. Philornis porteri, the only species of obligate bird parasite collected, was found in the contents of two nests, in the ear canal and the musculature of the jaw of one nestling, and in the abdominal subcutis of another. This is the first record of bluebird parasitism by P. porteri. Although some nestlings were infested by tissue-invading fly larvae antemortem, the role of these maggots in the overall mortality was not clear.