Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Differentiation of primary from nonprimary genital herpesvirus infections by detection of polymeric immunoglobulin A activity

We analyzed antibody responses to herpes simplex virus (HSV) in 18 patients by using sucrose gradient centrifugation and an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for antibody determination. We found that the HSV-specific immunoglobulin A (IgA) antibody in early-convalescent-phase serum specimens from all of 8 primary cases consisted solely of polymeric forms, whereas in all 10 nonprimary cases, the major component was monomeric. These results indicate that the ratio of polymeric IgA to monomeric IgA antibody activity may be useful for differentiating primary from nonprimary HSV infections.
Prucalopride decreases esophageal acid exposure and accelerates gastric emptying in healthy subjects

The 5‐HT4 receptor agonist prucalopride is a prokinetic drug which improves colonic motility. Animal data and in vitro studies suggest that prucalopride also affects gastric and esophageal motor function. We aimed to assess the effect of prucalopride on gastric emptying, esophageal motility, and gastro‐esophageal reflux in man.
Vascular changes in the chest wall after unilateral resection of the intercostal nerves in the growing rabbit

In young, growing white New Zealand rabbits the third, fourth, and fifth intercostal nerves were resected anteriorly on the right side. Six months later the animals developed structural left convex scoliosis, with a Cobb angle ranging from 15 to 31°. The vascular structure changes of the anterior chest wall were evaluated by measuring surface temperature and fluorescein intensity of the pectoral muscles, and the capillary density of the pectoral and intercostal muscle and periosteal parts of the ribs after angiography. In five normal control rabbits there was neither scoliotic deformity nor significant differences in the examined vascular variables between the right and left sides. In the animals undergoing resection, the temperature of the pectoral muscle on the side of the denervation—the right side—was significantly increased (p < 0.05), but the difference was not correlated to the degree of scoliosis. The fluorescence index was significantly greater (p < 0.05) on the right than on the left side, this difference being fairly strongly correlated to the degree of scoliosis. The capillary densities of the costal periosteum and the intercostal and the pectoral muscle were significantly greater (p < 0.05) on the right than on the left side, and the difference was positively correlated to the degree of scoliosis. The volume density of the periosteum of the ribs was likewise significantly greater on the right. These results demonstrate that unilateral resection of the intercostal nerves significantly increase the vascularity of the structures on the denervated side of the thorax. This development may account for the greater longitudinal growth of the ribs on this side and for the development of the scoliosis observed in earlier studies.
Treatment with alendronate prevents fractures in women at highest risk: results from the Fracture Intervention Trial.

BACKGROUND The efficacy of antiresorptive therapy in preventing fractures in women at highest fracture risk, such as very elderly women or those with severe osteoporosis, is uncertain. PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS Using data from a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial that enrolled 2027 postmenopausal women aged 55 to 81 years with low femoral neck bone mineral density (BMD) and existing vertebral fractures, we examined the consistency of the effect of treatment with alendronate sodium in preventing fractures within a priori-specified risk subgroups defined at baseline by age, bone density, number of preexisting vertebral fractures, and history of postmenopausal fracture. The women were randomized to oral administration of alendronate or placebo and followed up for an average of 2.9 years. The initial dose of alendronate sodium was 5 mg/d; the dosage was increased from 5 to 10 mg/d at 24 months. New vertebral fractures, the primary end point of this arm of the trial, were defined by morphometry as a decrease of 20% and at least 4 mm in any vertebral height between baseline and a follow-up radiograph at 36 months. Incident clinical fractures, the secondary end point, included nonspine and clinical (symptomatic) vertebral fractures. All clinical fractures were confirmed with x-ray film reports or, in the case of clinical vertebral fractures, x-ray films. RESULTS Overall, there was a 47% significant reduction in risk of new vertebral fractures in the alendronate group compared with the placebo group. The reduction in risk of new vertebral fracture was consistent across fracture risk categories including age (relative risk [RR], 0.49 in women < 75 years compared with 0.62 in those > or = 75 years), BMD (RR, 0.54 in women with a femoral neck BMD < 0.59 g/cm2 [median] compared with 0.53 in those with a BMD > or = 0.59 g/cm2), and number of preexisting vertebral fractures (RR, 0.58 in women with 1 vertebral fracture compared with 0.52 in those with > or = 2). The overall significant 28% reduction in risk of incident clinical fractures in the alendronate group compared with the placebo group was also observed within these subgroups. Compared with the number of lower-risk women, a similar or smaller number of high-risk women needed to be treated to prevent 1 fracture. For example, 8 women aged 75 years or older compared with 9 women younger than 75 years, or 4 women with 2 or more existing vertebral fractures compared with 16 women with 1 existing vertebral fracture, needed to be treated with alendronate for 5 years to prevent 1 new vertebral fracture. CONCLUSIONS Alendronate effectively reduces fracture risk in postmenopausal women with vertebral fractures and low BMD, including those women at highest risk because of advanced age or severe osteoporosis. Since the risk reductions observed with alendronate treatment were consistent within fracture risk categories, more fractures were prevented by treating women at highest risk.
currence of Mycobacterium avium subsp . paratuberculosis in milk at iry cattle farms : A systematic review and meta-analysis

Presence of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP) in milk for human consumption is a concern due to its possible relationship with Crohn’s disease in humans. Pasteurization effectively reduces the MAP load by four to five logs, but the efficacy depends on the MAP concentration, which depends on the prevalence among contributing herds and individuals. Considerable variation of MAP in bulk tank milk (BTM) and individual cow’s milk (IM) is reported, but factors associated with MAP occurrence in milk at farm level have not been described. This study systematically reviewed published studies aiming at estimating the occurrence of MAP in on-farm BTM and IM by metaanalysis. A total of 692 articles were identified through electronic databases and initially screened using title and abstract. The quality of the 61 potentially relevant articles was assessed using full text and 31 articles were eventually included in the meta-analysis. The apparent prevalence (AP) of MAP in BTM and IM on farm were summarized in relation to strata defined by the test used to identify MAP and the infection status of the herds/ animals. There was considerable inconsistency in the reporting, resulting in missing information potentially explaining the dispersion in the estimated AP. The overall AP and 95% confidence intervals based on PCR and culture of MAP were summarized to 0.10 (0.04–0.22) in BTM and 0.20 (0.12–0.32) in IM. Quantifying the MAP load in test-positive milk samples was not possible because very few articles provided quantitative information on individual samples. 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Corresponding author. Tel. : +45 35 33 30 35; fax: +45 35 33 30 22. E-mail addresses: hisako@life.ku. dk (H. Okura), nt@life.ku. dk (N. Toft), ssn@life.ku. dk (S.S. Nielsen).
The application of a new quantitative assay for the monitoring of integrin‐associated protein CD47 on red blood cells during storage and comparison with the expression of CD47 and phosphatidylserine with flow cytometry

BACKGROUND: After the introduction of universal leukoreduction, the role of factors other than white blood cells in red cell (RBC) storage lesion is attracting increasing attention. These include changes in the levels of CD47 and phosphatidylserine (PS) markers on RBCs during storage. The aim of this study was to monitor these changes with both flow cytometry (FACS) and a newly developed quantitative enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).
Astroblastoma: Report of a case with microsatellite analysis

A 5‐year‐old girl who developed progressive headache, vomiting, and left hemiparesis was found to have a cystic tumor with an enhanced mural nodule in the right frontoparietal region on a computed tomography examination. The lesion was histologically and ultrastructurally verified as an astroblastoma, an uncommon neuroepithelial tumor of uncertain origin. Molecular analysis using 17 microsatellite markers on chromosomes 9, 10, 11, 17, 19, and 22 showed loss of heterozygosity at the D19S412 locus on the long arm of chromsome 19. This observation suggests that there is a tumor suppressor gene in this chromosomal region, which plays a role in the pathogenesis of astroblastoma.
Cost‐effectiveness of screening the US blood supply for Trypanosoma cruzi

BACKGROUND: Trypanosoma cruzi, the etiologic agent of Chagas disease, is a potential threat to transfusion recipients in the United States. The cost‐effectiveness of seven testing strategies was evaluated against no testing and hierarchically in incremental analysis. Donor‐specific strategies included testing donors born in endemic countries, testing all donors a specific number of times, or testing all donors every time. Component‐specific strategies are based on screening platelet‐containing donations.
Biology of the hemopoietic microenvironment

Abstract: In adult mammals, hemopoiesis takes place primarily in the bone marrow. The steady‐state production of blood cells depends to a large extent on the interaction between hemopoietic stem/progenitor cells (HPC) and the different components of the microenvironment present in the medullary cavity. During the last three decades, in vivo and in vitro studies have allowed significant advances in understanding of the biology of such a hemopoietic microenvironment. Although not evident in histological sections, it is well known that the hemopoietic microenvironment is a highly organized structure that regulates the location and physiology of HPC. The hemopoietic microenvironment is composed of stromal cells (fibroblasts, macrophages, endothelial cells, adipocytes), accessory cells (T lymphocytes, monocytes), and their products (extracellular matrix and cytokines). Microenvironmental cells can regulate hemopoiesis by interacting directly (cell‐to‐cell contact) with HPC and/or by secreting regulatory molecules that influence, in a positive or negative manner, HPC growth. Recent in vitro studies suggest that functional abnormalities of the hemopoietic microenvironment may be implicated in the manifestation of certain hematological disorders such as aplastic anemia, and acute and chronic myelogenous leukemia. Thus, the characterization of the structure and function of the human hemopoietic microenvironment may have relevance in understanding and treating different hematological disorders.
Functional high-speed characterization and modeling of a six-layer copper wiring structure and performance comparison with aluminum on-chip interconnections

Experimental high-speed characterization and electrical modeling and simulation are presented for a six-layer Cu/SiO/sub 2/ on-chip wiring structure with 12.4-mm-long lines. Testing is performed over the temperature range -160/spl deg/C to +100/spl deg/C and across a 200-mm-diameter wafer. Very good agreement is reported between measured and simulated signal propagation and crosstalk waveforms. Modeling is done using a three-dimensional field solver and the R(f), L(f), and C matrices are used in a synthesized distributed network to simulate the signal behavior. Such a broadband analysis comprises the first comprehensive functional testing of a multi-layer Cu/SiO/sub 2/ wiring structure. The Cu interconnections are shown to be able to sustain 5.39 GHz microprocessor frequencies at T=+25/spl deg/C operation at a scaled wiring density increase of 17.5%, while comparable Al(Cu) wiring can achieve only 4.44 GHz (21.4% improvement).
Concurrent expression of MYC and BCL2 in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma treated with rituximab plus cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone.

PURPOSE Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is curable in 60% of patients treated with rituximab plus cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (R-CHOP). MYC translocations, with or without BCL2 translocations, have been associated with inferior survival in DLBCL. We investigated whether expression of MYC protein, with or without BCL2 protein expression, could risk-stratify patients at diagnosis. PATIENTS AND METHODS We determined the correlation between presence of MYC and BCL2 proteins by immunohistochemistry (IHC) with survival in two independent cohorts of patients with DLBCL treated with R-CHOP. We further determined if MYC protein expression correlated with high MYC mRNA and/or presence of MYC translocation. RESULTS In the training cohort (n = 167), MYC and BCL2 proteins were detected in 29% and 44% of patients, respectively. Concurrent expression (MYC positive/BCL2 positive) was present in 21% of patients. MYC protein correlated with presence of high MYC mRNA and MYC translocation (both P < .001), but the latter was less frequent (both 11%). MYC protein expression was only associated with inferior overall and progression-free survival when BCL2 protein was coexpressed (P < .001). Importantly, the poor prognostic effect of MYC positive/BCL2 positive was validated in an independent cohort of 140 patients with DLBCL and remained significant (P < .05) after adjusting for presence of high-risk features in a multivariable model that included elevated international prognostic index score, activated B-cell molecular subtype, and presence of concurrent MYC and BCL2 translocations. CONCLUSION Assessment of MYC and BCL2 expression by IHC represents a robust, rapid, and inexpensive approach to risk-stratify patients with DLBCL at diagnosis.
E-negotiation via Concept Tree Generation

“Talkabout” system is aimed at face-to-face or remote e-negotiation support for work requiring creativity in cases of misunderstanding, joint discussion or conflict resolution. Talkabout provides a space in which the users themselves can express the conceptual structures of a target world when they encounter difficulties in understanding one another in communication. By showing this space to each other, users can carry out discussions aimed at improving that understanding. This in turn should lead to a consensus, or at least to a better understanding of why they cannot come to an agreement. The system achieves this by showing the conceptual differences between the users through the direct representation of concepts as ontologies, and by showing other concepts obtained from the World Wide Web. The ultimate goal of the Talkabout system is to provide a support environment for resolving misunderstandings, facilitating creative thinking, and building agreeable ontologies for use as a real-time communication mediation tool.
Low power 23-GHz and 27-GHz distributed cascode amplifiers in a standard 130nm SOI CMOS process

Two fully integrated distributed amplifiers (DA) were designed using a standard 130 nm partially-depleted silicon-on-insulator CMOS process. They make use of either body-contacted (BC) or floating-body (FB) MOSFETs, and microstrip lines. The BC-DA has a 5.4 dB gain and a unity-gain bandwidth of 23 GHz whereas the FB-DA has a 6.8 dB gain and a unity-gain bandwidth of 27 GHz. The measured output power at 1 dB compression is 5 dBm at 5 GHz and the noise figure is 6.5-7.5 dB over 6-18 GHz for both DAs. Power consumption is 58 mW at 1.4 V.
Clinical management of epileptic encephalopathies of childhood and infancy

Epileptic encephalopathies represent a group of devastating epileptic disorders that appear early in life and are characterized by pharmacoresistant generalized or focal seizures, persistent severe EEG abnormalities, and cognitive dysfunction or decline. The ictal and interictal epileptic discharges are age-specific and are either the main cause or contribute to cognitive deterioration in the idiopathic or symptomatic group respectively. Despite choosing the most appropriate anti-seizure drugs for the seizure-type and syndrome the results are often disappointing and polytherapy and/or alternative therapy becomes unavoidable. In those cases, consideration should be given to the quality of life of the child and carers. In this review we will discuss the clinical and EEG characteristics, evolution and management of age-related epileptic encephalopathies, recognized by the International League Against Epilepsy.
Network synchronization in the crash-recovery model

This work investigates the amount of information about failures required to simulate a synchronous distributed system by an asynchronous distributed system prone to crash-recovery failures. A failure detection sequencer SigmaCR for the crash-recovery failure model is defined, which outputs information about crashes and recoveries and about the state of the crashed or recovered processes. Using the simulation technique of a synchronizer, it is shown that in general it is impossible to implement a synchronizer in an asynchronous distributed system with an arbitrary number of concurrent crash-recovery faults. It is shown that a synchronizer is implementable given SigmaCR and an asynchronous distributed system with at least one correct process. Furthermore, it is proven that SigmaCR can be emulated in a synchronous distributed system and hence can be regarded as the weakest failure detection device suitable to implement a synchronizer in the crash-recovery failure model.
Role of Kupffer cells in the survival after rat liver transplantation with long portal vein clamping times

Abstract Applying the orthotopic rat liver transplantation (ORLT) model, postoperative survival has been shown to be mainly dependent on the portal vein clamping time (PVCT). It was hypothesized that prolonged intestinal congestion was responsible for the activation of Kupffer cells (KC) with overproduction of TNF, secondary to splanchnic endotoxin accumulation and release on reperfusion. The role of KCs was directly investigated in the context of long PVCTs by eliminating them (using liposome-encapsulated dichloromethylene diphosphonate), by preventing their activation (using a calcium channel blocker, nisoldipine) and by inhibiting TNF production (using thalidomide). Livers from different groups of rats were transplanted following 24-h cold preservation in the UW solution with long PVCTs (from 18–21 min). KCs depletion, preservation with nisoldipine and pretreatment with thalidomide significantly improved survival in conditions using long PVCTs. KC depletion and nisoldipine preservation had no effect on liver enzymes or pathological findings while lung injury was significantly improved. The present data confirm that, in the context of ORLT with long PVCTs, KCs are directly responsible for the systemic endotoxin-like shock syndrome and their effect is mediated through overproduction of TNF.
Détection et suivi d'interfaces d'objets déformables : application à la mécanique des fluides

Le problème traité dans cet article concerne la mesure de déformations locales d'interfaces d'objets déformables en vue d'étudier leur dynamique. Les objets considérés peuvent être des solides déformables ou des fluides, qui ne disposent pas obligatoirement de frontières nettement définies sur toute leur périphérie, et dont les images sont éventuellement bruitées. La méthode proposée repose sur une transformation en ondelettes qui nous permet de sélectionner les frontières qui sont des interfaces et d'estimer leur amplitude et leur longueur de transition. Des points caractéristiques sont ensuite détectés le long de ces interfaces, et la mesure de déformation se fait en suivant ces points entre les images successives. Nous présentons une application à l'étude de la pénétration d'un jet diesel dans une chambre de combustion. ABSTRACT
The effects of stress on components of the respiration cycle.

Some respiratory correlates of affect were examined by a computer partitioning of breath duration mid inspiration, expiration, and postexpiration pause components. Negative affects (primarily anxiety and hostility) were induced by showing stress films. The subjects' affects were assessed by a mood adjective checklist, and respiration by measures of thoracic and abdominal circumference during the viewing of stress and neutral films. No stress effect was observed on total breath time (respiration rate). However, expiration nines were longer and pause limes shorter during the stress than during the neutral 61ms. It is suggested that these changes may be due to increased tension in respiratory muscle groups. It was also found that breath times were longer during the first film viewed by the subjects than during then during subsequent films This pattern was observed when the subjects were cautiously attentive, and is attributed primarily to an increase in inspiration duration.
Molecular detection and typing of human papillomavirus in laryngeal carcinoma specimens

Conclusions. Human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA was detected in 32% of laryngeal carcinoma biopsy samples studied. The genotypes identified were high-risk types, the most frequent being HPV 16. Viral DNA was integrated into the host genome (genotype HPV 16), providing supporting evidence for a role of HPV in the carcinogenic pathway of laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma. Objective. HPV has been detected in laryngeal lesions, both benign and neoplastic, with a variable frequency (8–60%). These viral agents have been proposed as an adjuvant or cofactor in head and neck carcinogenesis because of their oncogenic properties. The aims of this study were to identify HPV in laryngeal carcinoma samples and to describe the physical state of the viral genome, i.e. its integration to the host DNA. Material and methods. Formalin-fixed, paraffin wax-embedded tumor samples from patients with newly diagnosed laryngeal carcinomas were collected. The HPV genome was identified using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with primers complementary to the conserved region L1 (MY09-11). Genotyping was accomplished by restriction fragment length polymorphism. Samples positive for HPV 16 were assayed by PCR with primers complementary to region E2, interrupted during viral genome integration. Results. Ten of the 31 samples (32%) were positive for HPV DNA and all of the samples were positive for human β-globin. The genotypes identified were HPV 16 (n=3), HPV 58 (n=2) and HPV 39, 45, 51, 59, 66 and 69 (n=1 for each). The three samples positive for HPV 16 had lost region E2, meaning that the viral DNA had been integrated into the host genome.