Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Immunomodulatory effect of human bone marrow‐derived mesenchymal stromal/stem cells on peripheral blood T cells from rheumatoid arthritis patients

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a Th1/Th17‐mediated autoimmune disease whose current treatment, consisting in the blockage of inflammatory cytokines by disease‐modifying antirheumatic drugs, is not effective for all patients. The therapeutic potential of mesenchymal stromal/stem cells' (MSCs) immunomodulatory properties is being explored in RA. Here, we investigate the effect of human bone marrow (BM)‐MSCs on the expression of cytokines involved in RA physiopathology by the distinct functional compartments of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells from RA patients. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells from healthy individuals (n = 6) and RA patients (n = 12) were stimulated with phorbol myristate acetate plus ionomycin and cultured in the presence/absence of BM‐MSCs. The expression of (interleukin) IL‐2, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF‐α), and interferon‐gamma (IFN‐γ) was evaluated in naive, central memory, effector memory, and effector CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, whereas IL‐6, IL‐9, and IL‐17 expression was measured in total CD4+ and CD8+ T cells. mRNA expression of IL‐4, IL‐10, transforming growth factor beta (TGF‐β), cytotoxic T‐lymphocyte‐associated antigen 4, and/or forkhead box P3 was quantified in fluorescence‐activated cell sorting‐purified CD4+ T cells, CD8+ T cells, and CD4+ Treg. BM‐MSCs inhibited the production of TNF‐α, IL‐17, IL‐6, IL‐2, IFN‐γ, and IL‐9 by T cells from RA patients, mainly by reducing the percentage of cells producing cytokines. This inhibitory effect was transversal to all T cell subsets analyzed. At mRNA level, BM‐MSCs increased expression of IL‐10 and TGF‐β by CD4+ and CD8+ T cells. BM‐MSCs displayed a striking inhibitory action over T cells from RA patients, reducing the expression of cytokines involved in RA physiopathology. Remarkably, BM‐MSC‐derived immunomodulation affected either naive, effector, and memory T cells.
Toxicological assessment of nanoparticle interactions with the pulmonary system

Abstract Nanoparticle(NP)-based materials have breakthrough applications in many fields of life, such as in engineering, communications and textiles industries; food and bioenvironmental applications; medicines and cosmetics, etc. Biomedical applications of NPs are very active areas of research with successful translation to pharmaceutical and clinical uses overcoming both pharmaceutical and clinical challenges. Although the attractiveness and enhanced applications of these NPs stem from their exceptional properties at the nanoscale size, i.e. 1–1000 nm, they exhibit completely different physicochemical profiles and, subsequently, toxicological profiles from their parent bulk materials. Hence, the clinical evaluation and toxicological assessment of NPs interactions within biological systems are continuously evolving to ensure their safety at the nanoscale. The pulmonary system is one of the primary routes of exposure to airborne NPs either intentionally, via aerosolized nanomedicines targeting pulmonary pathologies such as cancer or asthma, or unintentionally, via natural NPs and anthropogenic (man-made) NPs. This review presents the state-of-the-art, contemporary challenges, and knowledge gaps in the toxicological assessment of NPs interactions with the pulmonary system. It highlights the main mechanisms of NP toxicity, factors influencing their toxicity, the different toxicological assessment methods and their drawbacks, and the recent NP regulatory guidelines based on literature collected from the research pool of NPs interactions with lung cell lines, in vivo inhalation studies, and clinical trials.
Anesthesia-induced Recognition Deficit is Improved in Postnatally Gonadectomized Male Rats.

BACKGROUND Preclinical investigations of the effects of general anesthesia on the young brain show differences in vulnerability of males and females to anesthetic exposure at different times during development. However, the mechanism underlying this sex difference is poorly understood. Perinatal testosterone is the primary determinant of sexual differentiation and likely plays an important role in defining the period of susceptibility to anesthetic injury. We investigated whether the removal of testosterone through gonadectomy shortly after birth would improve cognitive outcomes in male rodents after early anesthesia exposure. METHODS Male Sprague Dawley rats underwent gonadectomy at postnatal day 2 (P2), followed by exposure to 6 hours of isoflurane at P7. A control cohort of gonad-intact male littermates was simultaneously exposed. All rats were subjected to a series of object recognition and association tasks beginning at P42. Cell death in the thalamus and hippocampus was assessed in a separate cohort. RESULTS All groups performed similarly on the Novel Object Recognition task; however, the gonad-intact isoflurane group exhibited decreased performance in the more difficult tasks. This deficit was ameliorated in the gonadectomized group. Cell death was similar between both isoflurane-exposed groups, regardless of gonadectomy. CONCLUSIONS The absence of testosterone does not block cell death after anesthesia in specific brain regions of interest; however, does provide some neuroprotection as evidenced by the improved cognitive test performance during adulthood. These findings suggest that testosterone may be mechanistically involved in the sex-specific effects of anesthetic injury on the developing brain by extending the vulnerable period in male rats.
The carer's initiation : a qualitative study of the experience of family care of the dying

The aim of this study was to explore the experience of carers of family members dying at home with particular reference to their expectations and preparedness for the dying process. It was a qualitative, longitudinal study which initially followed a grounded theory approach. However, as a theatrical metaphor became apparent from the data the approach changed to dramaturgical analysis. Face to face semi-structured interviews were conducted with fifteen carers before and after the death of their family member. Carers were found to be performing a leading role in home palliative care but they experienced a universal sense of uncertainty and of being unrehearsed for their role in the dying process. They were reluctant to seek information to give them a script for their performance because it was painful and difficult to contemplate their family member dying. They needed the direction of health professionals and the support of paid carers but had variable experiences of these services. Carers’ performance types were also variable but tended to be towards the combative or the pragmatic end of a continuum. Their experience was illuminated through the dramaturgical metaphor of a play called the Carer’s Initiation. The climax of the play was the death of the family member followed by the finale in which they watch over the body until it is removed and they finally face a future without their family member. The carer’s initiation highlighted policy and practice implications for improving the preparation and support of carers for the dying process.
Low-Power Design of Digital VLSI Circuits around the Point of First Failure

As an increase of intelligent and self-powered devices is forecasted for our future everyday life, the implementation of energy-autonomous devices that can wirelessly communicate data from sensors is crucial. Even though techniques such as voltage scaling proved to effectively reduce the energy consumption of digital circuits, additional energy savings are still required for a longer battery life. One of the main limitations of essentially any low-energy technique is the potential degradation of the quality of service (QoS). Thus, a thorough understanding of how circuits behave when operated around the point of first failure (PoFF) is key for the effective application of conventional energy-efficient methods as well as for the development of future low-energy techniques. In this thesis, a variety of circuits, techniques, and tools is described to reduce the energy consumption in digital systems when operated either in the safe and conservative exact region, close to the PoFF, or even inside the inexact region. A straightforward approach to reduce the power consumed by clock distribution while safely operating in the exact region is dual-edge-triggered (DET) clocking. However, the DET approach is rarely taken, primarily due to the perceived complexity of its integration. In this thesis, a fully automated design flow is introduced for applying DET clocking to a conventional single-edge-triggered (SET) design. In addition, the first static true-single-phase-clock DET flip-flop (DET-FF) that completely avoids clock-overlap hazards of DET registers is proposed. Even though the correct timing of synchronous circuits is ensured in worst-case conditions, the critical path might not always be excited. Thus, dynamic clock adjustment (DCA) has been proposed to trim any available dynamic timing margin by changing the operating clock frequency at runtime. This thesis describes a dynamically-adjustable clock generator (DCG) capable of modifying the period of the produced clock signal on a cycle-by-cycle basis that enables the DCA technique. In addition, a timing-monitoring sequential (TMS) that detects input transitions on either one of the clock phases to enable the selection of the best timingmonitoring strategy at runtime is proposed. Energy-quality scaling techniques aim at trading lower energy consumption for a small degradation on the QoS whenever approximations can be tolerated. In this thesis, a low-power methodology for the perturbation of baseline coefficients in reconfigurable finite impulse response (FIR) filters is proposed. The baseline coefficients are optimized to reduce the switching activity of the multipliers in the FIR filter, enabling the possibility of scaling the power consumption of the filter at runtime. The area as well as the leakage power of many system-on-chips is often dominated by embedded memories. Gain-cell embedded DRAM (GC-eDRAM) is a compact, low-power and
Multi-Target Tracking With Multiple 2D Range Scanners

We propose a novel efficient online method for tracking performers on stage. Most existing tracking methods have focused on using expensive, high-performing sensors, such as multilayer lidar sensors or high-resolution, short-range radars. Image sensor-based methods are not appropriate for tracking performers on stage because of challenging illumination conditions caused by lighting effects. In this paper, we introduce a robust multi-target tracking method based on the sensor fusing of two-dimensional distance sensors such as single-layer lidar sensors that have a relatively lower cost than the aforementioned types of sensors. In our method, measurements from each sensor are transformed into a reference coordinate system and objects are detected with those transformed measurements. Then, the object detections are used in generating or extending the trajectories of targets by detection-to-trajectory matching. In our experiments, we quantitatively evaluated the proposed method with a newly constructed dataset which consists of two scenarios simulating performances on stage. We collected the scan results of two single-layer lidar sensors and image frames captured by a camera sensor for each scenario. The experimental results show that the proposed method robustly tracks performers in challenging scenarios, in which the performers move abruptly and are densely located.
Assessing the Functions of Non-Suicidal Self-Injury: Factor Analysis of Functional Assessment of Self-Mutilation among Adolescents

Objective: The aim of this cross sectional study was to assess the factor analysis of Functional Assessment of Self-Mutilation (FASM) among Iranian adolescents with non-suicidal self-injury. Method: In this study, 646 high school students, with the mean age of 16.55 ± 0.7, were selected using a multistage cluster sampling method; they completed FASM and the demographic form. Data were analyzed using the descriptive statistics, chi-square (χ2), independent sample t test, MANOVA, and confirmatory factor analyses (CFA). Results: Of the participants, 178 reported at least 1 episode of NSSI during the previous year. The mean age of the participants when they first harmed themselves was 14.64 (±1.71). Most of them reported to engage in NSSI impulsively (39.32%) and experienced little (31.5%) or moderate physical pain (31.5%) There were no significant differences between males and females in severity of NSSI, frequency of NSSI, thinking about NSSI prior to engaging in the act, and age of onset. The results of the confirmatory factor analysis supported the 4-factor model of NSSI functions suggested by Nock and Prinstine [Χ2/df = 1.84; RMSEA = 0.07; GFI = 0.82; AGFI = 0.77]. The most frequent function for engaging in NSSI was Automatic Negative Reinforcement. Conclusion: Findings of this study supported the structural validity of the FASM; thus, this tool can be useful in treatment and research contexts as a measure of NSSI functions. Moreover, this study found that adolescents engage in non-suicidal self-injury because of 4 distinct reinforcement processes. The study findings have important implications for the assessment and treatment of NSSI.
Does a good cop really never get wet? The impact of weather on stop and frisk

The study of discretionary police activity has largely focused on the demographic characteristics (particularly ethnicity) of the parties involved. This study proposes a police action model that facilitates a more-holistic analysis of individual and situational influences on police actions. This model is used to generate hypotheses about the relationship between police stop and search/frisk and weather (temperature and precipitation) in London and New York City. After controlling for other situational factors (such as public holidays and special events) and for the frequency of street crime, increasing temperatures are associated with small increases in police stops, while precipitation (rain and snow) is associated with substantial decreases. These relationships disappear, however, when stops conducted indoors (e.g. in shopping malls) are modeled. This research suggests that analysis of discretionary police activity should consider the influence of the environment as well as other factors.
Identification of Mechanisms and Pathways Involved in MLL2-Mediated Tumorigenesis

Identification of Mechanisms and Pathways Involved in MLL2-Mediated Tumorigenesis by Chun-Chi Chang Department of Pathology Duke University Date:_______________________ Approved: ___________________________ Yiping He, Supervisor ___________________________ Salvatore Pizzo ___________________________ Hai Yan An abstract of a thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in the Department of Pathology in the Graduate School of Duke University
Vitamin supplementation and athletic performance.

: Vitamins serve primarily as regulators of metabolic functions, many of which are critical to exercise performance. Depending upon the nature of their sport, e.g., strength, speed, power, endurance, or fine motor control, athletes may use megadoses of various vitamins in attempts to increase specific metabolic processes important to improved performance. Surveys have indicated that most elite athletes do take vitamin supplements, often in dosages greater than 50-100 times the United States Recommended Dietary Allowances. The theoretical basis underlying the use of each vitamin depends upon its specific metabolic function in relation to sport. Vitamin A functions to maintain night vision; thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, and pantothenic acid are all involved in muscle cell energy metabolism; niacin may also block free fatty acid release; pyridoxine is involved in the synthesis of hemoglobin and other oxygen transfer protein; folic acid and vitamin B12 are integrally involved in red blood cell (RBC) development; vitamins C and E are antioxidants, possibly preventing the destruction of the red blood cell membrane during exercise; vitamin D may be involved in muscle cell energetics through its influence on calcium. These are but a few of the possible metabolic functions of vitamins which have been suggested to have ergogenic applications to sport. Research has shown that a vitamin deficiency impairs physical performance. If this deficiency is corrected, performance usually improves. In general, vitamin supplementation to an athlete on a well-balanced diet has not been shown to improve performance. However, additional research with certain vitamins appears to be warranted, such as with the vitamin B complex and fine motor control, and with vitamin E and endurance at high altitudes. Moreover, research with megadose supplementation may also be necessary.
Identification of fungi associated with soybeans and effective seed disinfection treatments

Abstract Sprouts can be a vehicle for the transmission of several pathogens capable of causing human illness, and the potential source of contamination is seed used for sprouting. The limited information about seed‐borne pathogens as well as their incidence on soybean seeds for soybean sprout industry led the objectives of this study that were to identify seed‐borne pathogens on commercial sprout soybean seeds and to evaluate different decontamination treatments on disinfection effectiveness and sprout quality. Seeds of “MFS‐561,” a sprout soybean cultivar, from three production regions were used in this study. The internal transcribed spacer (ITS1 and ITS2) DNA sequences of the isolated fungi from MFS‐561 seeds were used for species identification. Seven disinfection treatments were evaluated on their effectiveness on reducing fungal incidence and impact on sprout characteristics. Out of 55 fungal isolates obtained from the soybean seeds, seven species and six genera were identified. The most frequent genera across regions were Alternaria, Diaphorte, and Fusarium. The treatment of soaking seeds in 2% calcium hypochlorite for 10 min and 5% acetic acid for 2 min before sprouting were promising seed disinfection treatments as they significantly reduced fungi incidence without any negative effects on sprout quality.
Cytomegalovirus renal infection: Rare manifestation of a common post‐transplant viral infection—A case series

Cytomegalovirus is the most common viral infection in organ transplant recipients that usually affects the brain, lungs, liver, and gastrointestinal tract. Renal involvement of Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is otherwise rare. We present six cases of biopsy‐proven CMV renal infection. Five out of the six patients had detectable CMV viremia. Kidney biopsy revealed glomerulopathy in four cases and tubulointerstitial involvement in two cases. All patients exhibited decline in renal function at the onset of infection. Four out of six patients had improvement of renal function following treatment of CMV disease. To date, this is the largest case series of pure biopsy‐proven CMV renal infection described in a single center.
The effect of Cassia angustifolia (senna) leaves on the fasting blood sugar in a sample of mild diabetic Yemeni patients

Senna is an herb indigenous to Africa, Arabia and India, and is mentioned in the traditional Islamic medicine as a remedy for many diseases. This article is performed to study the effect of senna leaves on fasting blood sugar (FBS) in twenty male Yemeni patients with type II diabetes mellitus (FBS 130-150 mg/100ml), with no other health problems. Three clinical trials were performed, in the first trial each patient received two placebo tablets daily for 10 days, and in the second trial each patient received the standard hypoglycemic herb: fenugreek seeds 6 grams daily for 10 days, and in the third and last trial each patient received a macerate of 200 mg of senna leaves daily for 10 days. A washout period of two weeks was kept between each two successive trials. The results showed that senna leaves significantly lowered the FBS by 14.3%, fenugreek seeds by 12%, while placebo tablets did not change this parameter in the patients.
Le mécanisme de l'allongement osseux par la technique d'Ilizarov.

Distraction osteogenesis relies on two local factors: 1 degree mechanical stretching multiplicates the fibroblastic population; 2 degrees hypoxia, by vessel elongation and cellular compaction, induces osteogenic stress protein metabolism. Progressive return to aerobic conditions assumes permanency of the new osseous structures. The precise technical procedure of Ilizarov brings under control the osteogenic process with unprecedented human clinical results.
Evaluation and NPM – as seen from the perspective of evaluation

Peter Dahler-Larsen | In an era of New Public Management (NPM), it is important to discuss the role of evaluation. In order to do so, assumptions need to be unpacked. Neither NPM nor evaluation are fixed terms. Borrowing a substitution hypothesis and a complementarity hypothesis from Balthasar and Rieder (2009), this article discusses the role of evaluation in these two scenarios and suggests that evaluation may learn from and respond to a situation where it is put in a defensive role. However, a more offensive role is also possible. Critical discussions of NPM take place in many countries, so NPM is not historically inevitable. Evaluation is much more than a management instrument, so a symmetric comparison between NPM and evaluation may be unfair. Beyond NPM, evaluation may have important roles to play in a modern, democratic society.
Processing of different spatial scales in the human brain

Humans navigate across a range of spatial scales, from rooms to continents, but the brain systems underlying spatial cognition are usually investigated only in small-scale environments. Do the same brain systems represent and process larger spaces? Here we asked subjects to compare distances between real-world items at six different spatial scales (room, building, neighborhood, city, country, continent) under functional MRI. Cortical activity showed a gradual progression from small to large scale processing, along three gradients extending anteriorly from the parahippocampal place area (PPA), retrosplenial complex (RSC) and occipital place area (OPA), and along the hippocampus posterior-anterior axis. Each of the cortical gradients overlapped with the visual system posteriorly and the default-mode network (DMN) anteriorly. These results suggest a progression from concrete to abstract processing with increasing spatial scale, and offer a new organizational framework for the brain’s spatial system, that may also apply to conceptual spaces beyond the spatial domain.