Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Insertion-deletions burden in copy number polymorphisms of the Tibetan population

BACKGROUND: Many studies have been conducted to identify either insertions-deletions (inDels) or copy number variations (CNVs) in humans, but few studies have been conducted to identify both of these forms coexisting in the same region. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To map the functionally significant sites within human genes that are likely to influence human traits and diseases. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this report, we describe an inDel map in the 1051 Tibetan CNV regions obtained through CNV genotyping using Affymetrix Genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphism 6.0 chip. InDel polymorphisms in these copy number polymorphism regions were identified with a computational approach using the 2500 deoxyribonucleic acid sequences obtained from the 1000 Genome Project. RESULTS: The study identified a total of 95935 inDels that range from 1 bp to several bps in length which were found scattered across regulatory regions, exons and in introns of genes underlying the CNVs. A study on the distribution of inDels revealed that the majority of inDels were found in coding regions of the genome than the noncoding, while within the genes, inDels in intron regions were more followed by exonic regions and finally the regulatory regions. CONCLUSION: Study of inDels in CNV regions contribute to the enhanced understanding of the role played by the two variations and their collective influence on the genome. Further, a collection of these inDel genetic markers will aid in genetic mapping, further understanding of the phenotypic variability, identification of disease genes and in detecting novel CNVs.
Managing Cytokine Release Syndrome Associated With Novel T Cell-Engaging Therapies

AbstractChimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-modified T cells and bispecific T cell–engaging antibodies have demonstrated dramatic clinical responses in recent clinical trials. The hallmark of these novel highly active immunotherapies is nonphysiologic T cell activation, which has correlated not only with greatly increased efficacy but also with notable toxicity in some cases. We and others have observed a cytokine release syndrome (CRS), which correlates with both toxicity and efficacy in patients receiving T cell–engaging therapies. In addition to elevations in effector cytokines, such as interferon-&ggr;, cytokines associated with hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis or macrophage activation syndrome, such as interleukin (IL)-10 and IL-6, may also be markedly elevated. Whereas corticosteroids may control some of these toxicities, their potential to block T cell activation and abrogate clinical benefit is a concern. Detailed studies of T cell proliferation and the resultant immune activation produced by these novel therapies have led to more targeted approaches that have the potential to provide superior toxicity control without compromising efficacy. One approach we have developed targets IL-6, a prominent cytokine in CRS, using the IL-6R antagonist tocilizumab. We will review the pathophysiology and management options for CRS associated with T cell–engaging therapies.
Computer aided analysis of prostate histopathology images to support a refined Gleason grading system

The Gleason grading system used to render prostate cancer diagnosis has recently been updated to allow more accurate grade stratification and higher prognostic discrimination when compared to the traditional grading system. In spite of progress made in trying to standardize the grading process, there still remains approximately a 30% grading discrepancy between the score rendered by general pathologists and those provided by experts while reviewing needle biopsies for Gleason pattern 3 and 4, which accounts for more than 70% of daily prostate tis- sue slides at most institutions. We propose a new computational imaging method for Gleason pattern 3 and 4 classification, which better matches the newly established prostate cancer grading system. The computer- aided analysis method includes two phases. First, the boundary of each glandular region is automatically segmented using a deep convolutional neural network. Second, color, shape and texture features are extracted from superpixels corresponding to the outer and inner glandular regions and are subsequently forwarded to a random forest classifier to give a gradient score between 3 and 4 for each delineated glandular region. The F1 score for glandular segmentation is 0.8460 and the classification accuracy is 0.83±0.03.
Preventing and treating eclamptic seizures

Ninety nine percent of all maternal deaths occur in developing countries. Pre-eclampsia or eclampsia is responsible for many of these, accounting for 50 000 deaths annually. Large randomised trials in developing countries and systematic reviews have shown the usefulness of magnesium sulphate in treating recurrent eclamptic seizures and in the prophylaxis of eclampsia.1–3 Despite this evidence magnesium sulphate remains underused. In 1995 the Eclampsia Trial Collaborative Group did an impressive study in developing countries and showed unequivocally that magnesium sulphate given intramuscularly or intravenously is superior to phenytoin or diazepam in reducing recurrent eclamptic seizures.1 Seizures were a half or a third less likely to recur after treatment with magnesium. Maternal mortality was also lower in women allocated magnesium rather than phenytoin or diazepam, although this did not achieve statistical significance. Recent Cochrane reviews, however, indicated a significant reduction in maternal mortality with magnesium.2 Magnesium was also associated with less maternal and neonatal morbidity than phenytoin. Recently the findings of this study were extended to indicate the …
Consumer evaluations of extensions and their effects on the core brand

Extensions as forms of new product development strategy have been discussed to a great extent during the last decade, however, there have been limited reviews of the literature. This article reassesses the work on brand and line extensions and integrates it into a conceptual framework. The latter shows that extension and core brand evaluations are affected by consumer perceptions of fit. Moderating factors that influence the relationship between fit and consumer evaluations of the extension and the core brand are also identified. The framework is subsequently used to develop concrete research propositions to guide further research in the area.
The Capital Structure of Private Equity-Backed Firms

In this paper we study one fundamental tension between private equity fund and management in private equity-backed firms and show that capital structure (of private equity-back firms) is a mechanism to resolve the tension. The paper offers rationale for several characteristics of private equity investment. We show that buyout deals of private equity need to be partially leveraged even though private equity fund may not be financially constrained at the deal level. Furthermore, we show that there exists an optimal level of leverage in buyouts and the maturity of debt of leverage is long-term. The paper implies that capital structure decisions of private equity-backed firms are quite different with public firms.
Complex electrical conductivity of water-in-oil microemulsions.

The behavior of frequency-dependent electrical conductivity and permittivity close to the percolation threshold of a two-component system is interpreted in terms of formation of polydispersed fractal clusters. We derive an explicit form of the scaling function for the complex conductivity and its limit of validity. The measurements performed on two water-in-oil microemulsion systems are very well accounted for and show the expected scaling behavior. Stretched exponential behavior of the polarization correlation function is also obtained.
Company tax - effective tax rates on profits

Considerable controversy surrounds the measurement of profit in company accounts. Continuous inflation has underlined some of the problems involved. Current accounting practice in the United Kingdom and Ireland also obscures the amount of direct tax that companies pay. Kay and King (1980, p. 193) comment that the "effect of this accounting practice is that many companies, especially in manufacturing industry, show substantial tax charges in their accounts when in fact they are paying little or no tax at all". A similar comment applies to Irish companies as accounting standards in Ireland follow closely those in the United Kingdom. In addition, many features of United Kingdom Finance Acts are incorporated into subsequent Irish Finance Acts. A combination of differing or controversial measures of profit and obscure reporting of tax paid makes the calculation of tax rates on profits for the corporate sector a difficult if not arbitrary process. This paper attempts to estimate effective direct tax rates, calculated from published accounts of Irish companies, during the period 1964-79. An estimate of direct tax payments by companies may not be the same as an estimate of the incidence of direct tax on companies. This is because companies may be able to shift the burden of tax through higher prices on their products, so that the consumers of these products ultimately end up paying the tax. In other words, the formal incidence of a tax may not be the same as the effective incidence. Indeed many economists would agree with Kay and King (1980, p. 10) that in the long run the formal incidence of a tax is irrelevant to its effective incidence. The same may not be true in the short run. The traditional argument as stated, for example, by Kaldor (1956, p. 14), was that to the extent that firms maximise profits the formal incidence is equal to the effective incidence. Others have argued that oligopolistic behaviour rather than competitive behaviour is more normal in a modern economy. Hence, the introduction of a profits tax may result in a general rise in prices. King (1977, p. 248) argues that the incidence of corporate tax in an economy dominated by oligopolies depends on a number of complex factors, such as the determinants of corporate investment, and is difficult to estimate. There have been a number of empirical investigations of the extent of short-run shifting of corporation tax, not all of which are in agreement as to the extent to which short-run shifting takes place. For example, Dusansky (1972) con-
Successful transjugular intrahepatic portal-systemic shunt in an ineligible liver transplant patient with primary biliary cirrhosis with refractory ascites and aplastic anemia

A transjugular intrahepatic portal-systemic shunt (TIPS) is a standard way to decompress the portal system in cirrhotic patients as a bridge to orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT). Traditionally, TIPS has been indicated for certain portal hypertensive sequelae such as refractory ascites, varices treatment and even hepato-hydrothorax. Herein is a case report on the efficacy of TIPS in an OLT ineligible patient with primary biliary cirrhosis and aplastic anemia who had developed refractive ascites requiring serial paracentesis and esophageal varices. He survived 2.5 years post-TIPS placement and died from complications related to severe leucopenia and the development of sepsis.
Understanding the relationship between attribute performance and overall satisfaction: Theory, measurement and implications

Purpose – There is a pressing need for practitioners to adopt viable analytic procedures that may help them optimize resource allocation to strengthen customer satisfaction. This paper reviews a range of procedures used for measuring customer satisfaction that are identified in the literature and tests which procedures might be more useful to practitioners.Design/methodology/approach – Customer satisfaction measurement procedures developed in the literature are reviewed to assess the non‐linear and asymmetric relationship between attribute performance and overall satisfaction. A convergent validity test between the two measurement procedures that the review suggests are the most suitable for application in practice is then conducted to discover the relative merits of each. The test is based on an empirical investigation carried out in the mobile communication industry.Findings – Two measurement procedures were identified as the most appropriate to practitioners, “regression with dummy variables” and the “.
Distilling useful clones by contextual differencing

Clone detectors find similar code fragments and report large numbers of them for large systems. Textually similar clones may perform different computations, depending on the program context in which clones occur. Understanding these contextual differences is essential to distill useful clones for a specific maintenance task, such as refactoring. Manual analysis of contextual differences is time consuming and error-prone. To mitigate this problem, we present an automated approach to helping developers find and analyze contextual differences of clones. Our approach represents context of clones as program dependence graphs, and applies a graph differencing technique to identify required contextual differences of clones. We implemented a tool called CloneDifferentiator that identifies contextual differences of clones and allows developers to formulate queries to distill candidate clones that are useful for a given refactoring task. Two empirical studies show that CloneDifferentiator can reduce the efforts of post-detection analysis of clones for refactorings.
Differential expression of RARβ isoforms in the mouse striatum during development: A gradient of RARβ2 expression along the rostrocaudal axis

The retinoic acid receptor RARβ is highly expressed in the striatum of the ventral telencephalon. We studied the expression pattern of different RARβ isoforms in the developing mouse striatum by in situ hybridization. We found a differential ontogeny of RARβ2 and RARβ1/3 in embryonic day (E) 13.5 lateral ganglionic eminence (striatal primordium). RARβ2 mRNA was detected primarily in the rostral and ventromedial domains, whereas RARβ1/3 mRNAs were enriched in the caudal and dorsolateral domains. Notably, by E16.5, a prominent decreasing gradient of RARβ2 mRNA was present in the developing striatum along the rostrocaudal axis, i.e., RARβ2 was expressed at higher levels in the rostral than the caudal striatum. No such gradient was found for RARβ1/3 and RARβ3 mRNAs. The rostrocaudal RARβ2 gradient gradually disappeared postnatally and was absent in the adult striatum. The differential expression pattern of RARβ isoforms in the developing striatum may provide an anatomical basis for differential gene regulation by RARβ signaling. Developmental Dynamics 233:584–594, 2005. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Maintaining Densest Subsets Efficiently in Evolving Hypergraphs

In this paper we study the densest subgraph problem, which plays a key role in many graph mining applications. The goal of the problem is to find a subset of nodes that induces a graph with maximum average degree. The problem has been extensively studied in the past few decades under a variety of different settings. Several exact and approximation algorithms were proposed. However, as normal graph can only model objects with pairwise relationships, the densest subgraph problem fails in identifying communities under relationships that involve more than 2 objects, e.g., in a network connecting authors by publications. We consider in this work the densest subgraph problem in hypergraphs, which generalizes the problem to a wider class of networks in which edges might have different cardinalities and contain more than 2 nodes. We present two exact algorithms and a near-linear time r-approximation algorithm for the problem, where r is the maximum cardinality of an edge in the hypergraph. We also consider the dynamic version of the problem, in which an adversary can insert or delete an edge from the hypergraph in each round and the goal is to maintain efficiently an approximation of the densest subgraph. We present two dynamic approximation algorithms in this paper with amortized polog update time, for any ε > 0. For the case when there are only insertions, the approximation ratio we maintain is r(1+ε), while for the fully dynamic case, the ratio is r2(1+ε). Extensive experiments are performed on large real datasets to validate the effectiveness and efficiency of our algorithms.
A Hybrid DC Vacuum Circuit Breaker for Medium Voltage: Principle and First Measurements

A novel concept of hybrid dc vacuum circuit breakers (VCBs), based on the combination of zero-voltage switching (ZVS) and zero current switching principle, was developed to meet the needs of the dc zonal distribution system on shipboard rated for a current of several kiloamperes and a voltage of several kilovolts. In normal operation, the VCB handles the continuous flow of dc current, minimizing the onstate losses. When protection against the fault is requested, the current is first divided between the VCB and the static branch before being quickly interrupted under a forced commutation principle. Laboratory tests have been dedicated to characterize the reliability of the high-current commutation from the VCB to the static branch and the turnoff characteristic of the silicon-controlled rectifier under high-current conditions. Finally, the critical design of the high-speed VCB is discussed.
24h seismocardiogram monitoring in ambulant subjects

Sternal seismocardiogram (SCG) is the assessment of microvibrations produced by the beating heart as detected by an accelerometer positioned on the sternum. This signal reflects mechanical events of the heart contraction, including the opening and closure of mitral and aortic valves and maximal blood flow acceleration. Traditionally, SCG has been detected in a laboratory setting with the subject lying at rest in supine position. Aims of this study were 1) to investigate the feasibility of a SCG monitoring over the 24 hours in ambulant subjects, and 2) to calculate number and time distribution of the SCG estimates obtainable over the 24 hours. In 5 healthy subjects ECG, respiration, body accelerations and sternal SCG were recorded for 24 hours in a workday by a smart garment recently developed in our laboratory, the MagIC-SCG system. Each recording was split into a series of contiguous 5-s data segments and SCG was estimated in each segment where the magnitude of the acceleration vector was <;4 milli-g (this condition indicates that the subject was not moving). All the 24-h recordings were found of good quality and could be entirely analyzed. A large number of SCG estimates could be obtained over the 24 hours. In particular, more than 100 estimates per hour were available during the day; at night this rate was three times higher. Thus our study indicates that not only the 24h SCG monitoring in daily life is feasible but also that possible changes over time in SCG and its derived parameters may be tracked with an extreme temporal detail.
A comparative study of motivation and learning strategies between American and Chinese undergraduate engineering students

This paper presents the results of a comparative study of motivation and learning strategies between American and Chinese undergraduate engineering students. A total of 109 sophomore engineering students from two American and Chinese universities responded to a Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ) survey. The survey includes six motivation scales (totaling 31 items) and nine learning strategy scales (totaling 50 items). Descriptive statistics and independent sample t-tests are performed to analyze students' responses to each MSLQ scale. The results show that statistically significant differences exist in three motivation scales and six learning strategy scales between American and Chinese students surveyed. Overall, American students exceed Chinese students in motivation, but fall behind in learning strategies.
Characterization of Calu-3 cell monolayers as a model of bronchial epithelial transport: organic cation interaction studies

Background: To fully exploit organic cation transporters for targeted drug delivery in the lung, the use of a readily available and well-characterized tissue culture model and cheap easily detectable substrates is indispensable. Objectives: To investigate the suitability of Calu-3 as tissue model for characterizing organic cation permeation across the bronchial cells using a fluorescent dye, 4-(4-(Dimethylamino)styryl)-N-methylpyridinium iodide (4-DI-1-ASP). Methods: Substrate uptake, inhibition, and transport were performed to establish active transport mechanism. Organic cation transporter expression was determined with quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), immune-histochemistry, and fluorescent microscopy. Results: 4-Di-1-ASP uptake in Calu-3 cells was concentration (Km = 2.7 ± 0.3 mM, Vmax = 4.6 ± 2.6 nmol/µg protein/30 min), temperature (uptake at 37°C>>4°C), and pH dependent (higher uptake at pH ≥ 7). L-carnitine, verapamil, and corticosterone significantly inhibited its uptake with IC50 of 28.2, 0.81, and 0.12 mM, respectively. Transport of the dye across the cells was polarized (AP→BL transport was 2.5-fold > BL→AP), saturable (Km = 43.9 ± 3.2) (µM; Vmax =0.0228± nmol/cm2/sec) and reduced 3-fold by metabolic inhibition. The expression pattern of the organic cation transporters (OCT) and carnitine/organic cation transporter (OCTN) isoforms was: OCT1<<OCT3 <OCTN1<OCTN2; OCT2 was not detected. Conclusions: Based on qPCR, immunohistochemistry, uptake and transport data, the Calu-3 cells can be used as a model for not only studying strategies for optimizing the effect of inhaled organic cations, but also for cross-validating newly-developed respiratory cell lines.
OFF-BALANCE SHEET ACTIVITIES AND BANK RISKS: AN INVESTIGATION OF THE LISTED COMMERCIAL BANKS IN CHINA (1999–2013)

Based on a broad set of 16 listed commercial banks in China during the period 1999–2013, this paper makes the empirical analysis of the relationship between the development of off-balance sheet (OBS) activities and the banks' overall risk, bankruptcy risk and credit risk. Innovation of this article is mainly reflected in: (1) Considering different types of risk variables, it gives a more comprehensive disclosure of the bank's risk characteristics. (2) Dividing the research object into joint-stock commercial banks and state-owned commercial banks, and get some new test results: The development of OBS business of state-owned commercial banks increases the overall risk, bankruptcy risk and credit risk significantly. While in joint-stock commercial banks sample, the development of OBS business reduces the overall risk significantly.
Inhalable Dust Measurements as a First Approach to Assessing Occupational Exposure in the Pharmaceutical Industry

Occupational exposure to active ingredients in the pharmaceutical industry has been the subject of very few published studies. Nevertheless, operations involving active powdered drugs or dusty operations potentially lead to operator exposure. The aim of this study was to collect occupational exposure data in the pharmaceutical industry for production processes involving powdered active ingredients. While the possibility of assessing drug exposure from dust level is examined, this article focuses on inhalable dust exposure, without taking chemical risk into account. A total of 377 atmospheric (ambient and personal) samples were collected in nine drug production sites (pharmaceutical companies and contract manufacturing organizations) and the dust levels were assessed. For each sample, relevant contextual information was collected. A wide range of results was observed, both site- and operation-dependent. Exposure to inhalable dust levels varied from 0.01 mg/m3to 135 mg/m3. Though restricted to dust exposure, the study highlighted some potentially critical situations or operations, in particular manual tasks (loading, unloading, mechanical actions) performed in open systems. Simple preventive measures such as ventilation, containment, and minimization of manual handling should reduce dust emissions and workers’ exposure to inhalable dust.