Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Tertiary Care Cancer Center Experience of the 2007 Outbreak of Serratia marcescens Bloodstream Infection Due to Prefilled Syringes

To the Editor—We read with interest the article by Kallen et al published in the April 2008 issue of the journal. Kallen et al presented a retrospective cohort study of bloodstream infection (BSI) in patients treated with intravenous prostanoids. The authors concluded that BSI due to gram-negative pathogens was more common in patients who received treatment with intravenous treprostinil than among patients who received treatment with intravenous epoprostenol. The authors reported the organisms that were isolated in blood samples from both groups. We believe that it is important to further examine these results. Although the novel finding in this report was the higher rate of BSI due to gram-negative pathogens among patients treated with intravenous prostanoids, the authors did not comment on the high rate of BSI due to Micrococcus spp in patients treated with epoprostenol. In the latter group, micrococci were the second most common type of bacterium isolated (11 cases); in contrast, micrococci were isolated in none of the patients who received intravenous treprostinil. Micrococcus spp have been reported consistently as the second most common etiologic agent of BSI in patients receiving epoprostenol after Staphylococcus spp. In January 2008, we submitted a paper reporting the common occurrence of BSI due to Micrococcus spp among patients treated with intravenous epoprostenol at our institution. During the period from January 2001 to December 2006, 45 cases of BSI occurred in patients who received intravenous epoprostenol through a Groshong catheter. There were 13 cases of BSI due to Staphylococcus aureus, 8 cases of BSI due to Staphylococcus epidermidis, and 5 cases of BSI due to Micrococcus spp. Because no patients at our institution were being treated with intravenous treprostinil at that time, we reviewed the blood culture results from 657 patients who were using a Groshong catheter during the same period for reasons other than pulmonary hypertension. Strikingly, we did not find any micrococcal BSIs in this group of patients. Why are cases of BSI due to Micrococcus spp more frequent in patients treated with intravenous epoprostenol, whereas they are almost nonexistent in other groups with long-term central venous catheters, including patients who are treated with intravenous treprostinil? This question may have interesting answers. Maybe epoprostenol creates the right environment for the growth of micrococci during the preparation, storage, or delivery of the drug. But the most intriguing avenue for investigation, as we also suggested, is to explore the role of the prostanoids in modulation of the immune response in vivo as has already been demonstrated in vitro. The answer to our question may have implications for the development of new types of therapy for pulmonary hypertension. acknowledgments
Econometric estimation of the determinants and impact of remittances on the Macedonian economy

Although Macedonia is among the top emigration coun tries in the world, and in spite of the fact that private transfers fro m abroad have covered more than 50% of the trade deficit in the last ten y ars, relatively little is known about the determinants of the remittances and their impact on the macroeconomic stability of the Macedonian economy. The purpose of our paper is to offer an econometric estimation of the d terminants of remittances to Macedonia and to investigate whether remittances sent to Macedonia have a stabilizing or destabilizing effec t on the Macedonian economy, especially in time of financial shocks. To achieve this objective, we estimate a vector autoregressive (VAR) model usi ng the available monthly data on migrant workers’ remittances as a dependent variable and industrial output, gross wages, unemployment ra te, consumer price indices, trade deficit, total imports and loans to private sector as independent variables in a long period (January 20 05 December 2012). We find evidence that remittances sent to Macedonia have a procyclical character meaning that they act as a boost to econo mic activity in times of economic upturns, and as a destabilizing factor to the Macedonian economy in times of economic downturns.
Neurohumoral Mechanisms in Hypertension

Neurohumoral mechanisms operating via the catecholamines are discussed in their relationship to such hypertensive diseases as pheochromocytoma and labile and established essential hypertension. 2. In pheochromocytoma, diagnosis depends almost entirely on identification of increased amounts of catecholamine metabolites in the urine. Because of the danger, manipulative or invasive procedures both for diagnosis and during surgery should be kept at a minimum. 3. In established essential hypertension, reactivity to norepinephrine and plasma norepinephrine are increased, whereas norepinephrine uptake and apparent secretion rate are decreased. 4. In labile essential hypertension, reactivity to epinephrine and probably plasma epinephrine are increased and uptake of epinephrine decreased. 5. Labile hypertension with all its characteristics may or may not coexist with established essential hypertension with all its features. 6. The sympathetic nervous system is also involved in other types of hypertensive disease. Many patients with renovascular hypertension as well as with primary and secondary hyperaldosteronism also have essential hypertension. Angiotensin II affects the sympathetic nervous system and the juxtaglomerular apparatus appears to be beta adrenergic receptor activated, at least in part.
Aminopeptidases function as endocytic receptors in the trophotaenial placenta of the goodeid fish, Ameca splendens (Teleostei: Atheriniformes).

Viviparity in goodeid teleosts is characterized by the elaboration of trophotaeniae, extraembryonic proctodaeal appendages facilitating maternal-embryonic nutrient transfer. The trophotaenial absorptive cells (TACs) express aminopeptidases (APs) such as APA, APN, gamma-glutamyltransferase (gamma-GT), dipeptidyl aminopeptidase (DAP) IV, and neutral endopeptidase (NEP) as inferred from the results of cleavage experiments with, respectively, Glu-alpha-(4M beta NA), Ala-(4M beta NA), Glu-gamma-(4M beta NA), Gly-Pro-(4M beta NA), and Gl-(Ala)(3)-(4M beta NA). Enzyme reaction product was localized to the apical and basolateral plasma membrane as well as to some intracellular compartments. In the accompanying report (Schindler, 2003) evidence is presented that the trophotaeniae of Ameca splendens embryos randomly, yet specifically, bind and ingest proteins as well as certain copolymers of amino acids. Present results demonstrate that endocytosis is significantly inhibitable by unspecific proteinase inhibitors, such as diisopropylphosphorofluoride, phenylmethanesulfonylfluoride, antipain, 1.10-phenanthroline, and dithiothreitol. The specific microbial AP inhibitors amastatin, bestatin, and phosphoramidon suppressed protein binding to TACs more effectively when added in combination than did either agent alone. Moreover, in the presence of 4M beta NA assay substrates of APs the capability of TACs to bind proteins was significantly reduced. Conversely, the rate at which 4M beta NA substrates were cleaved by trophotaenial APs was modified in the presence of proteins. Depending on protein concentrations the AP-catalyzed reactions either decreased or increased in velocity. Analysis of the enzyme kinetics by methods of linear transformation suggests that proteins bind to APs competitively, thereby adopting the role of enzyme inhibitors. On the other hand, protein binding to APs appears to be a signal to translocate enzymes from an internal pool to the surface membrane. In the presence of primaquine, the rate of AP-catalyzed cleavage of 4M beta NA substrates was significantly reduced. That can be put down to the fact that weak bases disrupt the recycling of endocytosed membrane constituents. In conclusion, there is evidence that APs in the trophotaenial placenta of A. splendens function as scavenger receptors mediating in the delivery of embryotrophic proteins for lysosomal degradation.
AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF THE SYSTEMIC ALTERATION OF NITROIMIDAZOLES IN THE MIDDLE STAGE OF EMBRYONIC DEVELOPMENT

Nitroimidazole compounds have been traditionally used in the veterinary and human medicine, but their uses are sometimes associated with some side effects. Toxicopathological effects of nitroimidazoles have always been a major concern. There is scant information available about the pathological alterations of nitroimidazole compounds in the embryo. The objective of this study was to determine the macroscopic and microscopic lesions of metronidazole in the chicken embryo. Fertile broiler eggs were divided into two equal treatment groups as follows: group 1: saline-injected group, the eggs were injected with sterile physiological saline solution into the chorioallantoic sac. Group 2, individuals were injected with metronidazole at a dosage of 25 mg/Kg egg-weight three times into the chorioallantoic sac. Macroscopically, the embryos were stunted. The feet and wings were small and the feather formation was seriously affected. In this group, the embryos were affected by schistosomus reflexus. Microscopically, all organs were hyperemic. Based on macroscopic and microscopic findings, it is concluded that metronidazole at the above-mentioned concentration is toxic to the chicken embryo. The current study also advises caution in the extended use of nitroimidazole compounds.
Targeted Expression of Human Vitamin D Receptor in Adipocytes Decreases Energy Expenditure and Induces Obesity in Mice*

Our previous studies demonstrated a high fat diet-resistant lean phenotype of vitamin D receptor (VDR)-null mutant mice mainly due to increased energy expenditure, suggesting an involvement of the VDR in energy metabolism. Here, we took a transgenic approach to further define the role of VDR in adipocyte biology. We used the aP2 gene promoter to target the expression of the human (h) VDR in adipocytes in mice. In contrast to the VDR-null mice, the aP2-hVDR Tg mice developed obesity compared with the wild-type counterparts without changes in food intake. The increase in fat mass was mainly due to markedly reduced energy expenditure, which was correlated with decreased locomotive activity and reduced fatty acid β-oxidation and lipolysis in the adipose tissue in the transgenic mice. Consistently, the expression of genes involved in the regulation of fatty acid transport, thermogenesis, and lipolysis were suppressed in the transgenic mice. Taken together, these data confirm an important role of the VDR in the regulation of energy metabolism.
Intelligibility of synthetic speech in noise and reverberation

Synthetic speech is a valuable means of output, in a range of application contexts, for people with visual, cognitive, or other impairments or for situations were other means are not practicable. Noise and reverberation occur in many of these application contexts and are known to have devastating effects on the intelligibility of natural speech, yet very little was known about the effects on synthetic speech based on unit selection or hidden Markov models. In this thesis, we put forward an approach for assessing the intelligibility of synthetic and natural speech in noise, reverberation, or a combination of the two. The approach uses an experimental methodology consisting of Amazon Mechanical Turk, Matrix sentences, and noises that approximate the real-world, evaluated with generalized linear mixed models. The experimental methodologies were assessed against their traditional counterparts and were found to provide a number of additional benefits, whilst maintaining equivalent measures of relative performance. Subsequent experiments were carried out to establish the efficacy of the approach in measuring intelligibility in noise and then reverberation. Finally, the approach was applied to natural speech and the two synthetic speech systems in combinations of noise and reverberation. We have examine and report on the intelligibility of current synthesis systems in real-life noises and reverberation using techniques that bridge the gap between the audiology and speech synthesis communities and using Amazon Mechanical Turk. In the process, we establish Amazon Mechanical Turk and Matrix sentences as valuable tools in the assessment of synthetic speech intelligibility.
EEG-based BCI system for classifying motor imagery tasks of the same hand using empirical mode decomposition

In this paper, we present an EEG-based brain-computer interface (BCI) system for classifying motor imagery (MI) tasks of the same hand using empirical mode decomposition (EMD) method. The EMD method is employed to decompose the EEG signals into a set of intrinsic mode functions (IMFs). Then, a set of features is extracted from the obtained IMFs. These features are used to construct a three-layer hierarchical classification model to discriminate between four MI tasks of the same hand, namely rest, wrist-related tasks, finger-related task, and grasp-related task. In order to evaluate the performance of the proposed approach, we have collected EEG signals for 18 able-bodied subjects while imaging to perform the four MI tasks. Experimental results demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed approach in decoding MI tasks of the same hand based on analyzing EEG signals using the EMD method.
Pixantrone for the treatment of aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphoma

Importance of the field: At present there is no standard treatment for patients with relapsed or refractory aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma who progress following second-line therapy. Anthracyclines are highly active drugs, but their use in this setting is limited by cumulative cardiac toxicity. Pixantrone is a new aza-anthracenedione structurally similar to mitoxantrone and anthracyclines. This compound has been developed to minimize cardiac toxicity without reducing efficacy. Areas covered in this review: This review summarizes the preclinical and clinical trial data for the use of pixantrone for the treatment of aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphoma. What the reader will gain: An overview of the mechanism of action of pixantrone, preclinical data, clinical efficacy, safety data and future developments for this compound. Take home message: Pixantrone has been shown to be superior to other single-agent therapies for the salvage treatment of relapsed/refractory aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The pixantrone application will be submitted to the regulatory authorities in the USA and in Europe.
High-level hands-free control of wheelchair – a review

Abstract A vital perception in designing human–machine interfaces for people with disabilities is hands-free control. It is important in setting up communication among a machine and the part of human body. Nowadays, hands-free control is extensively used to help disabled people to control the wheelchair. The hands-free control functions are not only helpful to elderly and disabled, but also useful for normal people who might require using their hands for other tasks at the same time. As a result, normal people are capable of manipulating multiple tasks at the same time. The wheelchair is manoeuvred using brainwaves, eyes and facial muscles movements, voice, tongue, gesture. The mobility using a powered wheelchair improves the quality of life of the aged people and the people with mobility impairments significantly. These powered wheelchairs can be actuated using various high-level control interfaces. In this review, the use of natural biological signals and non-biological signal to do the hands-free control of powered wheelchair is presented in this article.
Comparison of Inner Ear Contrast Enhancement among Patients with Unilateral Inner Ear Symptoms in MR Images Obtained 10 Minutes and 4 Hours after Gadolinium Injection

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Recently 4-hour delayed-enhanced 3D-FLAIR MR imaging has been used in pathophysiologic analysis of the inner ear in many auditory diseases, including sudden sensorineural hearing loss, but comparison among different time points is not clear in patients with unilateral inner ear symptoms. We compared the signal-intensity ratios of the inner ears in patients with unilateral inner ear symptoms on 10-minute delayed-enhanced and 4-hour delayed-enhanced 3D-FLAIR MR images after IV gadolinium injection. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The 10-minute delayed-enhanced and 4-hour delayed-enhanced 3D-FLAIR MR images were retrospectively analyzed. Signal-intensity ratios between the cerebellum and inner ear structures, such as the cochleae, vestibules, and vestibulocochlear nerve were assessed. Multiple comparisons were performed. RESULTS: Signal-intensity ratios of the affected cochleae, vestibules, and vestibulocochlear nerve were higher than those of unaffected sides in both 10-minute delayed-enhanced and 4-hour delayed-enhanced images. At the affected side, signal-intensity ratios of the vestibulocochlear nerve were higher in patients with nonsudden sensorineural hearing loss than in those with sudden sensorineural hearing loss on both 10-minute delayed-enhanced and 4-hour delayed-enhanced images. The signal-intensity ratios of some affected inner ear structures were higher than those of the unaffected sides in a group of 30 patients with sudden sensorineural hearing loss and 20 patients with nonsudden sensorineural hearing loss on 10-minute delayed-enhanced and 4-hour delayed-enhanced images. CONCLUSIONS: Signal-intensity ratios of the inner ear show statistically significant increases in many diseases, especially neuritis, in 10-minute delayed-enhanced and 4-hour delayed-enhanced images. The 4-hour delayed-enhanced images may be superior in neural inflammatory–dominant conditions, while 10-minute delayed-enhanced images may be superior in neural noninflammatory–dominant conditions.
The Predictive Role of Stock Market Return for Real Activity in Thailand

Stock market return is one of financial variables that contain information to forecast real activity such as industrial production and real GDP growth. However, it is still controversial that stock market return can have a predictive content on real activity. This paper attempts to investigate the ability of stock market return to predict industrial production growth (or real activity) in Thailand, which is an emerging market economy. The standard causality test and the equal forecast evaluation of nested models are employed. For the purpose of forecasting, the data are divided into two periods: the data for the in-sample and the out-of-sample periods. The test of equal forecasting ability is also used. Using monthly data from January 1993 to December 2011, it is found that the model augmented with stock return variable outperforms the benchmark model in the forecast horizon of two months. The results seem to support the notion that stock market return is a predictor of industrial output growth in the short run. Moreover, the standard Granger causality test using the in-sample data also supports this notion. The findings offers a useful insight to investors, financial managers and policymakers on the role of stock market return in forecasting real economic activity. Specifically, a change in stock market return is a signal for revising investment decision by investors and portfolio managers.
The effects of cosolvents on the action of pharmaceutical buffers.

The pKa values of a number of pharmaceutical conjugate buffer acids were determined in several cosolvent-water mixtures. The pKa values were observed to differ by as much as 2pH units from the aqueous pKa values. Increases in the pKa values of acidic buffer species were observed in all cases except boric acid in polyol-water mixtures. This was presumed to be due to a well-known complexation interaction between glycols and borate. Decreases in pKa were observed for the amine buffers except glutamic acid where the charges on the protonated and unprotonated species are different from other amines. A weak interaction between THAM and glycerol was evident from an unexpected increase in pKa with cosolvent concentrations. Unexpectedly high pKa changes in dimethylsulfoxide-water mixtures for some of the solutes demonstrate the importance of nonelectrostatic solvent effects on the changes in pKa values in semiaqueous solvent systems. These data can be used to determine the pH range over which various buffers will be effective in different cosolvent-water mixtures. In addition, the simultaneous effects of dilution on the pHp of a poorly soluble drug and pH of formulations containing cosolvent-buffer mixtures is considered. It is shown that a consideration of these effects can be used to develop parenteral dosage forms which will have improved physical stability when diluted during injection or upon mixing with infusion solutions.
Erythroid Expression and Oligomeric State of the AQP3 Protein*

Biochemical and biophysical studies have shown that the strictly water-permeable aquaporins have a tetrameric structure, whereas results concerning the oligomeric state of GlpF, the glycerol facilitator of Escherichia coli, are dependent upon the analytical technique used. Here, we analyzed the oligomerization of the AQP3 aquaglyceroporin, which presents a mixed selectivity for water, glycerol, and urea. At first, based on transcript detection by reverse transcription-PCR from human erythroid tissues and membrane expression detected by flow cytometry analysis, we demonstrated that AQP3 is expressed on human and rat but not on mouse red blood cells. Then, the quaternary structure of AQP3 was determined using as models human red blood cell membranes, which carry both AQP1 and AQP3, and two heterologous expression systems:Xenopus laevis oocyte, for density and size estimation of aquaporins, and Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast, which expressed a non-glycosylated form of AQP3. By velocity sedimentation in sucrose gradient after non-denaturing detergent solubilization, AQP3 was essentially found as mono- and dimeric species in conditions under which AQP1 preserved its tetrameric structure. Freeze-fracture studies on oocyte plasma membranes gave a size of AQP3 particles in favor of a dimeric or trimeric structure. Finally, by cross-linking experiments with red blood cell membranes, AQP3 is visible as different oligomeric structures, including a tetrameric one.
The window distribution of multiple TCPs with random loss queues

Two approximate techniques for analyzing the window size distribution of TCP flows sharing a random early detection (RED) like bottleneck queue are presented. Both methods presented first use a fixed point algorithm to obtain the mean window sizes of the flows, and the mean queue length in the bottleneck buffer. The simpler of the two methods then uses the 'square root formula' for TCP; the other method is more complicated. More often than not, the simpler method is slightly more accurate; this is probably due to the fact that window sizes of the different flows are negatively correlated.