id
stringlengths 2
9
| source
stringclasses 1
value | version
stringclasses 1
value | added
stringlengths 24
24
| created
stringlengths 24
24
| text
stringlengths 239
10.1k
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
207425871 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2018-04-03T06:01:48.912Z | 2012-03-01T00:00:00.000Z | MicroRNA-127 Inhibits Lung Inflammation by Targeting IgG Fcγ Receptor I
The molecular mechanisms of acute lung injury are incompletely understood. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are crucial biological regulators that act by suppressing their target genes and are involved in a variety of pathophysiologic processes. miR-127 appears to be downregulated during lung injury. We set out to investigate the role of miR-127 in lung injury and inflammation. Expression of miR-127 significantly reduced cytokine release by macrophages. Looking into the mechanisms of regulation of inflammation by miR-127, we found that IgG FcγRI (CD64) was a target of miR-127, as evidenced by reduced CD64 protein expression in macrophages overexpressing miR-127. Furthermore, miR-127 significantly reduced the luciferase activity with a reporter construct containing the native 3′ untranslated region of CD64. Importantly, we demonstrated that miR-127 attenuated lung inflammation in an IgG immune complex model in vivo. Collectively, these data show that miR-127 targets macrophage CD64 expression and promotes the reduction of lung inflammation. Understanding how miRNAs regulate lung inflammation may represent an attractive way to control inflammation induced by infectious or noninfectious lung injury. |
250883721 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2022-07-21T08:23:55.360Z | 1989-01-01T00:00:00.000Z | Calorimetric study of the influence of thermal cycling on the martensitic transformation of Cu-Zn-Al alloys
A calorimetric study of the effect of thermal cycling on the martensitic transformation of Cu-Zn-Al shape-memory alloys is presented. The transformation kinetics become smoother when the number of cycles increases, and start progressively at higher temperatures and finish at lower ones. The use of a high-sensitivity calorimeter has, for the first time, enabled the study of the evolution of the elastic and frictional energies involved in the thermoelastic balance. It is shown that dislocations created in thermal cycling do not result in an indefinite increase of such contributions. |
24674771 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2017-10-24T11:23:14.792Z | 2007-08-01T00:00:00.000Z | Emergency medicine in India: Why are we unable to ‘walk the talk’?
The largest democracy on earth, the second most populous country and one of the most progressive countries in the globe, India, has advanced tremendously in most conventional fields of Medicine. However, emergency medicine (EM) is a nascent specialty and is yet to receive an identity. Today, it is mostly practised by inadequately trained clinicians in poorly equipped emergency departments (EDs), with no networking. Multiple factors such as the size of the population, variation in standards of medical education, lack of pre‐hospital medical systems and non‐availability of health insurance schemes are some of the salient causes for this tardy response. The Indian medical system is governed by a central, regulatory body which is responsible for the introduction and monitoring of all specialties – the Medical Council of India (MCI). This organisation has not recognized EM as a distinct specialty, despite a decade of dogged attempts. Bright young clinicians who once demonstrated a keen interest in EM have eventually migrated to other conventional branches of medicine, due to the lack of MCI recognition and the lack of specialty status. The Government of India has launched a nationwide network of transport vehicles and first aid stations along the national highways to expedite the transfer of patients from a crash site. However, this system cannot be expected to decrease morbidity and mortality, unless there is a concurrent development of EDs. The present article intends to highlight factors that continue to challenge the handful of dedicated, full time emergency physicians who have tenaciously pursued the cause for the past decade. A three‐pronged synchronous development strategy is recommended: (i) recognise the specialty of EM as a distinct and independent basic specialty; (ii) initiate postgraduate training in EM, thus enabling EDs in all hospitals to be staffed by trained Emergency physicians; and (iii) ensure that EMs are staffed by trained ambulance officers. The time is ripe for a paradigm shift, since the country is aware that emergency care is the felt need of the hour and it is the right of the citizen. |
25217821 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2017-02-18T14:34:13.561Z | 2010-12-01T00:00:00.000Z | Dynamic Channel and Power Allocation in Cognitive Radio Networks Supporting Heterogeneous Services
Resource allocation problem in cognitive radio networks (CRN) is one of the key issues to improve the efficiency of spectrum utilization. Most of previous work on resource allocation mainly concentrates on the secondary users (SUs) with only one type of service requirement, without considering the scenario with heterogenous services requirement. In this paper, we study the dynamic channel and power allocation for SUs supporting heterogenous services in CRN. Firstly we classify the SUs by service requirement, i.e., SUs with minimum rate guarantee and SUs with best-effort services. Then we introduce the minimum rate constraints and proportional fairness constraints for SUs respectively. Under this setup, we formulate the problem of dynamic channel and power allocation for SUs as a mixed integer programming problem. And the heuristic optimal algorithm and suboptimal algorithm are proposed to realize the dynamic channel and power allocation. Extensive simulation results are presented to demonstrate the performance of the proposed scheme. |
24672421 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2017-10-17T06:41:04.434Z | 2014-11-17T00:00:00.000Z | Experimental investigation of dynamic contact angle and capillary rise in tubes with circular and noncircular cross sections.
An extensive experimental study of the kinetics of capillary rise in borosilicate glass tubes of different sizes and cross-sectional shapes using various fluid systems and tube tilt angles is presented. The investigation is focused on the direct measurement of dynamic contact angle and its variation with the velocity of the moving meniscus (or capillary number) in capillary rise experiments. We investigated this relationship for different invading fluid densities, viscosities, and surface tensions. For circular tubes, the measured dynamic contact angles were used to obtain rise-versus-time values that agree more closely with their experimental counterparts (also reported in this study) than those predicted by Washburn equation using a fixed value of contact angle. We study the predictive capabilities of four empirical correlations available in the literature for velocity-dependence of dynamic contact angle by comparing their predicted trends against our measured values. We also present measurements of rise in noncircular capillary tubes where rapid advancement of arc menisci in the corners ahead of main terminal meniscus impacts the dynamics of rise. Using the extensive set of experimental data generated in this study, a new general empirical trend is presented for variation of normalized rise with dynamic contact angle that can be used in, for instance, dynamic pore-scale models of flow in porous media to predict multiphase flow behavior. |
111157071 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2019-04-13T13:06:48.223Z | 2013-12-12T00:00:00.000Z | Industrial Evolution: Mechanical and Biological Innovation at the General Electric Research Laboratory
This paper explores the history of attempts to apply x-ray radiation as a tool of plant breeding through a case study of a short-lived research program at the General Electric Research Laboratory in the 1930s. As I show, the goal of this program was to turn the appearance of genetic variation into an efficient, predictable process—in other words, it was an effort to create a precision tool for altering genes. I further argue that in the context of the industrial research laboratory, as opposed to other sites where the use of radiation in plant breeding was explored, researchers sought in particular to align the processes of biological innovation with those of mechanical and industrial innovation. The account provides a new perspective on the history of agro-biotechnologies in an industrial context as well as on the intersecting histories of biological and other technological development. |
10739121 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2017-04-14T05:46:42.377Z | 2005-10-11T00:00:00.000Z | Binding interactions between the host cucurbit[7]uril and dendrimer guests containing a single ferrocenyl residue.
The stability of the inclusion complexes formed between the host cucurbit[7]uril and dendrimers containing a single ferrocene residue is strongly affected by the solution pH and the growth of the dendrimer, reaching its highest values on the second and third generation dendrimers, whereas no complex is formed with the first generation compound. |
23917271 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2018-04-03T02:03:14.730Z | 1993-07-01T00:00:00.000Z | Rival penalized competitive learning for clustering analysis, RBF net, and curve detection
It is shown that frequency sensitive competitive learning (FSCL), one version of the recently improved competitive learning (CL) algorithms, significantly deteriorates in performance when the number of units is inappropriately selected. An algorithm called rival penalized competitive learning (RPCL) is proposed. In this algorithm, not only is the winner unit modified to adapt to the input for each input, but its rival (the 2nd winner) is delearned by a smaller learning rate. RPCL can be regarded as an unsupervised extension of Kohonen's supervised LVQ2. RPCL has the ability to automatically allocate an appropriate number of units for an input data set. The experimental results show that RPCL outperforms FSCL when used for unsupervised classification, for training a radial basis function (RBF) network, and for curve detection in digital images. |
44798921 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2017-02-14T10:55:31.045Z | 2012-11-01T00:00:00.000Z | MMSE detector using space-time diversity coding over Rayleigh fading channels
The present paper investigates the impact of space-time diversity coding over Rayleigh fading channels when the Minimum Mean Square Error (MMSE) multiuser detector structure is used. The Bit Error Rate (BER) is used to evaluate and compare the system performances in several situations. In the final part, several conclusions are highlighted, with respect to the level of performance achieved. |
572721 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2015-03-16T19:17:14.000Z | 2011-08-01T00:00:00.000Z | Inclusion of African Americans in genetic studies: what is the barrier?
To facilitate an increase in the amount of data on minority subjects collected for genetic databases, the authors attempted to clarify barriers to African-American participation in genetic studies. They randomly sampled 78,072 subjects from the community (Missouri Family Registry, 2002-2007). Of these, 28,658 participated in a telephone screening interview, 3,179 were eligible to participate in the genetic study, and 1,919 participated in the genetic study. Response rates were examined in relation to the proportion of subjects in the area who were African-American according to US Census 2000 zip code demographic data. Compared with zip codes with fewer than 5% African Americans (average = 2% African-American), zip codes with at least 60% African Americans (average = 87% African-American) had higher proportions of subjects with an incorrect address or telephone number but lower proportions of subjects who did not answer the telephone and subjects who refused the telephone interview (P < 0.0001). Based on reported race from the telephone screening, 71% of eligible African Americans and 57% of eligible European Americans participated in the genetic study (P < 0.0001). The results of this study suggest that increasing the number of African Americans in genetic databases may be achieved by increasing efforts to locate and contact them. |
158486821 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2019-05-20T13:05:51.608Z | 2018-09-21T00:00:00.000Z | Ideology Of Reforms: Joint Programs In The French And Russian Education Systems
The article examines the ideological foundations of the education systems of Russia and France, the expectations of society and the individual's needs in this area, using the example of the content and implementation of dual programs at the second and third levels of education. The authors proceed from the systemic approach, in which any element is the result of the ideological foundations of the system and the vectors of its dynamics and transformation. Joint programs are at the epicenter of educational reforms, since they correspond to the main vectors of transformations: modernization of the educational space, internationalization, professionalization, competitiveness. Programs of this type also meet the individual's needs for his or her self-realization and receipt of a quality educational product. A comparative study of the educational ideology and policies of the two countries confirms the idea that unidirectional nature of the development vectors of national education systems create a favorable climate for the integration and internationalization of universities. Such ideological foundations as egalitarianism and meritocracy are fundamentally important for the two comparable education systems, and the type and nature of the reforms reveal a certain similarity and movement towards each other. The implementation of joint programs balances these principles and reveals the advantages and disadvantages of each of the two education systems. Despite the formal similarity of the educational space and the convergence of reforms, long-term forecasts of their results may prove to be different. In this case, joint programs play a key role in the harmonization of educational transformations. © 2018 Published by Future Academy www.FutureAcademy.org.UK |
34667371 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2018-04-03T02:42:16.770Z | 2001-01-01T00:00:00.000Z | 7E3 F(ab')2, an effective antagonist of rat alphaIIbbeta3 and alphavbeta3, blocks in vivo thrombus formation and in vitro angiogenesis.
Abciximab (c7E3 Fab, ReoPro) blocks GPIIb/IIIa and alphavbeta3 and inhibits thrombotic and proliferative events only in humans and non-human primates. The bivalent F(ab')2 fragment is an effective anti-thrombotic agent in canine models. In the present study, 7E3 F(ab')2 was also found to bind to rat GPIIb/IIIa (KD = 27 +/- 4 microg/mL) and alphavbeta3 (KD = 9 +/- 8 microg/mL), to block in vitro rat platelet aggregation (IC50 = 16 +/- 6 microg/mL), and to inhibit alphavbeta3-mediated microvessel sprout formation in a rat aortic ring assay. Following administration of 7E3 F(ab')2 (4 mg/kg) to rats, platelet aggregation was completely blocked for up to 6 h and thrombus formation in response to a rat abdominal aorta double crush injury was prevented. Effective chronic dosing was achieved with 6 mg/kg daily I.P. injections. In vitro mixing experiments indicated that 7E3 F(ab')2 redistributed to unlabeled platelets in 2 h. Ex vivo, 7E3 F(ab')2 was detected on platelets for up to 4 days after a single 4-mg/kg injection. These data suggest that 7E3 F(ab')2 may be a useful agent to study the effects of GPIIb/IIIa and alphavbeta3 blockade in rat models of thrombosis and vascular disease. |
232316771 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2021-03-23T13:37:40.044Z | 2021-01-27T00:00:00.000Z | Artificial Intelligence Bias Minimization Via Random Sampling Technique of Adversary Data
Artificial Intelligence is a growing field in technology that mimics the human neural network in order to deduct patterns based on specific datasets. Unlike conventional methods of programming where the code is told explicit rules, AI uses data to predict processes. However, due to AI's prediction of future behavior, it is highly susceptible to data tampering from adversaries who may flood the program with false information. Previous solutions have utilized random sampling, active learning, blockchain and human interaction in order to solve AI bias. In this paper we propose a scheme to address the AI bias by using a method of random sampling in order to mitigate the destruction done to hacked systems while maintaining prediction reliability. |
25469521 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2018-04-03T01:12:14.126Z | 2017-08-01T00:00:00.000Z | [Expression of human β-defensin and its relationship with inflammatory factor in human dental pulp tissue].
PURPOSE
To investigate the expression of human β-defensin(HBD) in human dental pulp tissue and to explore the regulation of HBD in pulp inflammation and the relationship among HBD family members.
METHODS
The gene expression of HBD in human dental pulp tissue was assessed in NCBI GEO profiles and was verified by RT-PCR. Human dental pulp cells were stimulated with TNF-α, IL-1α, IL-1β and IL-6 in different combinations and the expression of HBD2 was analyzed by qPCR. Human dental pulp cells were pretreated with HBD110 and then stimulated with LPS and the expression of TNF-α,IL-1α and HBD2 were analyzed by qPCR. GraphPad Prism 5.01 was used to analyze the results of the experimental and the control groups.
RESULTS
27 HBDs were found to express in human dental pulp tissue in NCBI GEO Profiles. The joint overexpression of TNF-α, IL-1α, IL-1β and IL-6 increased the expression of HBD2; HBD110 increased the expression of HBD2 by increasing the expression of TNF-α and IL-1α.
CONCLUSIONS
Many other HBDs have positive expression in human dental pulp issue besides of HBD1, HBD2, HBD3, HBD4 and the inflammation factors and other HBDs can regulate the expression of HBD2 in dental pulp. |
248044021 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2022-04-09T15:08:35.020Z | 2022-04-06T00:00:00.000Z | Analyzing the Interaction of Fluorescent-labeled Proteins with Artificial Phospholipid Microvesicles using Quantitative Flow Cytometry.
In the human body, most of the major physiologic reactions involved in the immune response and blood coagulation proceed on the membranes of cells. An important first step in any membrane-dependent reaction is binding of protein on the phospholipid membrane. An approach to studying protein interaction with lipid membranes has been developed using fluorescently labeled proteins and flow cytometry. This method allows the study of protein-membrane interactions using live cells and natural or artificial phospholipid vesicles. The advantage of this method is the simplicity and availability of reagents and equipment. In this method, proteins are labeled using fluorescent dyes. However, both self-made and commercially available, fluorescently labeled proteins can be used. After conjugation with a fluorescent dye, the proteins are incubated with a source of the phospholipid membrane (microvesicles or cells), and the samples are analyzed by flow cytometry. The obtained data can be used to calculate the kinetic constants and equilibrium Kd. In addition, it is possible to estimate the approximate number of protein binding sites on the phospholipid membrane using special calibration beads. |
31195721 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2018-04-03T01:51:14.124Z | 2005-01-01T00:00:00.000Z | [Modification of C3 and C4 levels after the administration of conjugated estrogens plus medroxiprogesterone or raloxifene in postmenopausal women].
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the effect of conjugated equine estrogens (CEE) plus medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA) and raloxifene on serum levels of complement C3 and C4 fractions in postmenopausal women.
PATIENTS AND METHOD
Twenty healthy postmenopausal women were studied. In all weight, height and body mass index (BMI) were documented. FSH and estradiol levels were measured. They were randomly divided into two groups, according to the treatment they received: group I, CEE 0.625 mg/day plus MPA 2.5 mg/day (n = 7); group II, raloxifene 60 mg/day (n = 13), both treatments were continuous. Serum levels of C3 and C4 complement fractions were measured by immunonephelometry at baseline and six months after start of treatment. Differences among groups of baseline and final C3 and C4 levels were measured with Student's t test for independent and paired samples, respectively.
RESULTS
There were no differences among groups in age, weight, height and body mass index, neither in C3 and C4 levels among baseline and final levels when comparing each group separately.
CONCLUSIONS
Complement may not intervene significantly in the atherosclerotic inflammatory process in women receiving CEE plus MPA or raloxifene. |
249205221 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2022-06-01T13:14:14.085Z | 2022-01-21T00:00:00.000Z | Establishment of Edible Fungus Poverty Alleviation Wisdom Platform
With the continuous progress of information technology, big data technology has been extensively used in all aspects, especially in poverty alleviation projects. This paper analyzes the application and advantages of big data mining and Internet of things in building an edible fungus poverty alleviation intelligent platform, and puts forward that the system has four functions: processing and production monitoring, sales automation, financial information sharing and scientific and technological information sharing. The use of big data technology can reduce the management cost in the field of poverty alleviation, more effectively promote the allocation of public resources, standardize the data, and put forward new solutions for intelligent and digital management. |
38163771 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2018-04-03T04:15:14.061Z | 1979-01-01T00:00:00.000Z | Two-year review of hand infections at a municipal hospital.
Although an unromantic topic, the management of hand infection can tax the patience and skill of the modern day surgeon. The addition of antibiotics to the surgeon's armamentarium have made the job easier than in the days of Kanavel and Koch but has not altered the basic surgical principles of elevation, immobilization and properly planned drainage. Awareness of hand anatomy in relation to infection and awareness of special categories of problems are necessary in preventing crippling deformities in one of our most precious possessions--the hand. |
29707771 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2018-04-03T01:28:28.605Z | 1994-03-01T00:00:00.000Z | Pindolol induces a rapid improvement of depressed patients treated with serotonin reuptake inhibitors.
Preclinical evidence indicates that repeated treatment with antidepressant drugs (serotonin [5-HT] reuptake or monoamine oxidase [MAO] inhibitors) potentiates the ascending brain serotonergic pathways. 1,2 Also, clinical data show that the inhibition of 5-HT synthesis results in a marked worsening of patients recovering from depression who are treated with these drugs. 3-5 These findings suggest that the antidepressant effects of uptake and MAO inhibitors emerge when serotonergic activity increases. Using intracerebral microdialysis in the awake, freely moving rat, a single treatment with 5-HT uptake blockers, such as clomipramine 6 or fluvoxamine, 7 was reported to cause little or no increase of 5-HT concentration in frontal cortex at doses comparable with or higher than those used clinically. In contrast, extracellular 5-HT concentration is dramatically augmented by the same doses in the vicinity of cell bodies of serotonergic neurons, in the midbrain raphe nuclei, a preferential increase also observed after a single treatment |
95408021 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2019-04-05T03:31:26.255Z | 2010-05-13T00:00:00.000Z | Modeling of Oxidation-Driven Soot Aggregate Fragmentation in a Laminar Coflow Diffusion Flame
In this study, three different oxidation-driven soot aggregate fragmentation models with 1:1, 2:1, and 10:1 fragmentation patterns are developed and implemented into a laminar coflow ethylene/air diffusion flame, together with a pyrene-based soot model and a sectional aerosol dynamics model. It is found that the average degree of particle aggregation (n p ) in the soot oxidation region is not correctly predicted if oxidation-driven aggregate fragmentation is neglected; whereas the incorporation of aggregate fragmentation significantly improves the n p prediction in the soot oxidation region. Similar results are obtained using the 1:1 and 2:1 fragmentation patterns. However, as the pattern ratio increases to 10:1, appreciable difference in the predicted n p is observed. As the pattern ratio becomes larger, the fragmentation effect diminishes and the predicted n p approaches that of the original model neglecting fragmentation. |
229199721 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2020-11-05T09:09:32.599Z | 2021-07-01T00:00:00.000Z | Stabilization of Distributed Parameter Systems With Delays in the Boundary Based on Predictors
This article is concerned with the controller design for distributed parameter systems with time delays in the boundary. An implementable control law is presented in light of a state predictor, and a feasible calculation scheme of this control law is provided based on the adjoint theory. The resulting closed-loop system is proved to be exponentially stable. As an application, a one-dimensional Schrödinger equation with a delay input is introduced and the numerical simulation verifies the feasibility of the suggested control law. |
168103971 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2018-12-18T07:57:14.507Z | 2003-01-01T00:00:00.000Z | Small African Stock Markets: The Case of the Lusaka Stock Exchange
In trend with a global pattern and following recommendations of the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the number of stock markets in African countries has increased dramatically over the last ten years. Despite a scarcity of studies on the impact of stock markets on these economies, some policymakers have been arguing in favor of stock exchanges (national or regional) in eastern and southern Africa. The creation of such exchanges may be a premature project as they might lack an actual economic rationale. The present case study, for instance, suggests that the Lusaka Stock Exchange (LuSE) has little effect on the larger Zambian economy. |
22819321 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2018-04-03T04:34:11.087Z | 1992-06-01T00:00:00.000Z | Comparison of First-Generation and Second-Generation Blood Glucose Meters for Use in a Hospital Setting
This study evaluated and compared a first- and a second-generation blood glucose meter for precision, accuracy, and user preference. Two separate capillary blood glucose fingersticks were performed on 25 outpatients and 60 inpatients with diabetes. Samples were drawn for serum glucose determinations immediately following the capillary fingersticks. Comparison of the Accu-Chek II and Satellite G meters in the outpatient setting gave results similar to the reference laboratory's. When the meters were tested on inpatients, the blood glucose results were significantly higher than those obtained from the hospital laboratory. The Accu-Chek II was more precise than the Satellite G on both normal and high blood glucose samples. Nursing staff indicated preference for the Satellite G because of its quick testing time but not for other preference factors surveyed. Both meters provided more accurate assessments of blood glucose concentration than were obtained from the serum glucose samples routinely processed by our hospital laboratory. Use of a nonfluorinated tube and delayed separation of the sample with resultant glycolysis likely account for this difference. |
20101921 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2018-04-03T05:01:56.764Z | 1988-08-01T00:00:00.000Z | Severe congestive lupus cardiomyopathy complicated by an intracavitary thrombus: a clinical and echocardiographic followup.
Severe congestive cardiomyopathy is an uncommon complication of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). We describe a patient with active SLE and a circulating anticoagulant. She presented with a rapidly progressive cardiomyopathy, complicated by an intracavitary thrombus and cerebral infarction. The course of the disease is described, with special emphasis on the usefulness of consecutive echocardiographic studies. |
9990421 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2018-04-03T00:17:01.159Z | 1991-01-01T00:00:00.000Z | [Immunological aspects of pulmonary sarcoidosis].
Some parameters of peripheral blood cellular and humoral immunity were studied in 80 patients with different stages of pulmonary sarcoidosis, which were compared with the results obtained in 30 healthy subjects of the control group. An increase in the total count of lymphocytes, and primarily that of B-lymphocytes, was found, as compared with those in healthy subjects. T-lymphocyte changes were statistically insignificant. The IgM level was found decreased with the values of IgG and IgA being constant, as compared with those in subjects of the control group. In the group of patients there was a statistically significant decrease in the values of total complement with the values of phagocytosis in sarcoidosis patients and healthy subjects being statistically indistinguishable. |
147672171 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2019-05-08T13:30:43.684Z | 2017-11-01T00:00:00.000Z | The Effect of Cost-sharing Policy on the Dropout Rates of Public Secondary School Students in Limuru District, Kenya
The qualitative case study explores the effect of cost-sharing policy on the dropout rates of students in public secondary schools in the Limuru district, Kenya. Interviews were conducted with students who returned to school after they had raised money for tuition, teachers serving on the school district committee and the head teachers. The cost-sharing policy was viewed as a burden that has increased dropout, repetition and absenteeism in schools. Children from poor backgrounds continue to be marginalised as some national schools charge exorbitant school fees. Based on the findings the study offers some recommendations for policy-makers to consider. |
41928621 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2018-04-03T05:12:19.443Z | 2000-01-01T00:00:00.000Z | [National Multicenter study of the in vitro activity of moxifloxacin against respiratory tract pathogens]
The activity of moxifloxacin, a novel 8-methoxyquinolone, was evaluated against 1,218 respiratory pathogens isolated in nine Spanish hospitals and was compared with ciprofloxacin, sparfloxacin, amoxicillin, amoxicillin-clavulanic acid, cefuroxime, erythromycin and clarithromycin. Moxifloxacin exhibited an excellent in vitro activity against most tested isolates with MIC90 values of 0.25 mg/l for Streptococcus pneumoniae and viridans group streptococci; 0.12 mg/l for Streptococcus pyogenes; 0.25 mg/l for Streptococcus agalactiae; 0.06 and 4 mg/l for methicillin-susceptible and -resistant Staphylococcus aureus, respectively; 0.06 mg/l for Haemophilus influenzae and 0.12 mg/l for Moraxella catarrhalis. Moxifloxacin susceptibility rates were not affected by penicillin resistance in S. pneumoniae and S. viridans, by the betalactamase production in H. influenzae and M. catarrhalis or by macrolide resistance. Moxifloxacin was twice as active as sparfloxacin and four to sixteen times more active than ciprofloxacin against Gram-positive isolates. Sparfloxacin and ciprofloxacin were slightly more active than moxifloxacin when tested against H. influenzae and M. catarrhalis isolates. The microbiological data obtained confirm that moxifloxacin is a promising antimicrobial agent for treating respiratory tract infections. |
29793371 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2017-10-10T23:11:14.285Z | 2013-04-01T00:00:00.000Z | Asthma phenotypes and endotypes: an evolving paradigm for classification.
Asthma is a common chronic disease characterized by intermittent chest symptoms, variable airways obstruction, and bronchial hyperresponsiveness. Research performed over the past one to two decades has sought to better understand the heterogeneous clinical nature of asthma. Whereas older attempts at phenotyping asthma emphasized the duality of allergic vs. non-allergic asthma, more recent non-biased analyses have attempted to cluster patients by a multitude of possible features, including age of onset, atopy, severity of airways obstruction, and requirement for medication. Examples of these phenotypes include early-onset mild allergic asthma, later-onset asthma associated with obesity, and severe non-atopic asthma with frequent exacerbations. The elucidation of asthma phenotypes has been further refined by including information regarding pathophysiologic mechanisms present in different groups. These groups, called endotypes, include examples such as aspirin-exacerbated respiratory disease and allergic bronchopulmonary mycosis. A growing understanding of these mechanistically distinct groups, along with the identification of relevant cellular or molecular biomarkers, is already showing promise as a way of predicting clinical response to various asthma therapies. As the number of targeted treatments for asthma continues to grow, physicians will have the opportunity to practice an individualized approach to diagnosis and treatment, which will hopefully improve asthma outcomes and quality of life for these patients. |
4958521 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2018-04-03T00:21:39.797Z | 2016-06-17T00:00:00.000Z | Prevalence and patterns of permanent tooth agenesis in individuals with Down syndrome: a meta-analysis.
The aims of the present study were to evaluate the prevalence and patterns of permanent tooth agenesis in individuals with Down syndrome, using meta-analysis methodology. Two independent investigators carried out a literature search to locate articles pertaining to permanent tooth agenesis in individuals with Down syndrome. The outcomes of interest were the prevalence and pattern of permanent tooth agenesis. Thirteen articles were selected for inclusion. The estimated overall prevalence of permanent tooth agenesis, excluding third molars, was 54.6% (95% CI: 44-66%). Considerable heterogeneity was present across the studies. Among subjects with tooth agenesis, approximately half had three or more missing teeth. The permanent teeth with the highest prevalence of agenesis were the maxillary lateral incisor (27%), mandibular second premolar (21%) and maxillary second premolar (18%). The single most commonly absent tooth, however, was the mandibular left second mandibular premolar (19.9%), followed by the maxillary left lateral incisor (19.4%). Little data describing specific tooth-agenesis patterns were available. In conclusion, individuals with Down syndrome display high prevalence rates and severity of agenesis of permanent teeth. Proper and timely diagnosis of missing permanent teeth is thus necessary, to allow a more comprehensive long-term treatment plan and a more favorable prognosis in these individuals. |
11166321 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2014-10-01T00:00:00.000Z | 1998-09-01T00:00:00.000Z | Human pigmentation genetics: the difference is only skin deep
There is no doubt that visual impressions of body form and color are important in the interactions within and between human communities. Remarkably, it is the levels of just one chemically inert and stable visual pigment known as melanin that is responsible for producing all shades of humankind. Major human genes involved in its formation have been identified largely using a comparative genomics approach and through the molecular analysis of the pigmentary process that occurs within the melanocyte. Three classes of genes have been examined for their contribution to normal human color variation through the production of hypopigmented phenotypes or by genetic association with skin type and hair color. The MSH cell surface receptor and the melanosomal P‐protein are the two most obvious candidate genes influencing variation in pigmentation phenotype, and may do so by regulating the levels and activities of the melanogenic enzymes tyrosinase, TRP‐1 and TRP‐2. BioEssays 20:712–721, 1998.© 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. |
3830571 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2018-04-03T00:21:05.620Z | 2017-02-07T00:00:00.000Z | Seminal coagulation and sperm quality in different social contexts in captive tufted capuchin monkeys (Sapajus apella)
In the present study, we aimed to assess the influence of different social contexts on the seminal coagulation and sperm quality in captive tufted capuchin monkeys. For this, males were housed either individually, in mixed‐sex groups (with females), or in male‐only groups. Monkeys were housed in cages and each cage type (i.e., individual or group cage) was placed in a different room. Forty‐one males were subjected to semen collection by rectal electroejaculation. The degree of seminal coagulation was determined on a scale of I–IV. Seminal volume, sperm concentration, sperm motility, vigor, and plasma membrane integrity were evaluated for all ejaculate samples. All ejaculates collected showed degrees of coagulation between II and IV, where the majority presented coagulation degree IV, when collected from animals housed in groups. No statistical differences among percentages of coagula degree when samples were collected from males housed individually. Animals housed in group cages (male‐only groups and mixed‐sex groups) showed a significantly higher percentage of ejaculates at degree IV than males housed individually. Seminal volume was not affected by the coagula degree but by the housing system, where animals housed individually showed the highest volume (543 μl) when compared with those animals from male (273 μl) and mixed‐sex (318 μl) groups. No differences were observed in semen volume when comparing male‐only groups with mixed‐sex groups. Sperm motility was affected by both housing system and coagula degree. Samples with coagula degree IV from animals housed individually showed the highest (72%) sperm motility percentages. Sperm plasma membrane integrity was lower when samples were presenting coagula degree II + III and collected from male‐ (17%) or mixed‐sex (23%) groups. However, this housing system effect was not observed when sperm was obtained from coagula degree IV semen. Sperm vigor was neither affect by housing system or coagula degree. |
146750271 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2019-05-07T14:20:52.924Z | 2004-09-01T00:00:00.000Z | Strangers in the Halls: Isolation and Delinquency in School Networks
Although criminologists have long recognized the strong correlation between a person's delinquency and the delinquency of his or her friends, the mechanisms underlying this relationship remain elusive. The current study adds to research on peers and delinquency by exploring the behaviors of adolescents isolated from school friendship networks. Data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) allow me to identify an isolated population and test theoretically derived hypotheses. Results suggest that low peer attachment in and of itself fails to increase future delinquency. However, isolation in conjunction with problematic peer encounters at school was found to significantly increase delinquency and delinquent peer associations. The theoretical implications of this interaction are discussed. |
221371471 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2020-08-31T13:10:38.460Z | 2020-08-27T00:00:00.000Z | SARS-CoV-2 Nucleocapsid protein is decorated with multiple N- and O-glycans
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which causes coronavirus disease (COVID-19) started at the end of 2019 in Wuhan, China has spread rapidly and became a pandemic. Since there is no therapy available that is proven as fully protective against COVID-19, a vaccine to protect against deadly COVID-19 is urgently needed. Nucleocapsid protein (N protein), is one of the most abundant proteins in coronaviruses and is a potential target for both vaccine development and point of care diagnostics. The variable mass of N protein (45 to 60 kDa), suggests the presence of post-translational modifications (PTMs), and it is critical to clearly define these PTMs to gain the structural understanding necessary for further vaccine research. There have been several reports suggesting that the N protein is phosphorylated but lacks glycosylation. Our comprehensive glycomics and glycoproteomics experiments confirm that the N protein is highly O-glycosylated and also contains significant levels of N-glycosylation. We were able to confirm the presence of O-glycans on seven sites with substantial glycan occupancy, in addition to less abundant O-glycans on four sites. We also detected N-glycans on two out of five potential N-glycosylation sites. Moreover, we were able to confirm one phosphorylation site. Recent studies have indicated that the N protein can serve as an important diagnostic marker for coronavirus disease and a major immunogen by priming protective immune responses. Thus, detailed structural characterization of the N protein may provide useful insights for understanding the roles of glycosylation on viral pathogenesis and also in vaccine design and development. |
199508571 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2019-08-10T13:04:07.308Z | 2019-11-01T00:00:00.000Z | Effect of Cardiac Rehabilitation on Sexual Satisfaction Among Patients After Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Surgery
Outpatient cardiac rehabilitation (OCR) is an important component of a secondary prevention program in cardiac patients. The findings of the present study indicated that post-coronary artery bypass graft patients who exercise (eg, aerobic and regular purposeful exercise) in OCR experience improved level of sexual satisfaction. Purpose: After coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery, many patients experience diminished sexual function and satisfaction. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of outpatient cardiac rehabilitation (OCR) on the level of sexual satisfaction among post-CABG patients. Methods: A clinical trial was performed at the Al-Zahra Hospital, Shiraz, Iran, from July 2017 to January 2018. Based on the inclusion criteria, 104 post-CABG patients were recruited into the study. The participants were randomly assigned to the intervention (OCR) group (n = 52) or the usual care group (n = 52). The intervention group received 20 sessions of OCR, whereas the usual care group received the routine hospital care and education. Data were collected using the Index of Sexual Satisfaction and a demographic data sheet. The data were analyzed using the SPSS software, v23.0 (IBM) and the independent sample t test, paired-samples t test, and χ2 test. Results: There was no statistically significant difference in the mean pre-intervention score for sexual satisfaction between the groups. However, a statistically significant difference in the mean post-intervention score for sexual satisfaction was observed between the groups (P < .001). The difference in the mean pre- and post-intervention scores for sexual satisfaction in the intervention group was statistically significant (P < .001), whereas there was no significant difference in the usual care group. Conclusion: Post-CABG patients who completed the OCR program experienced an increased level of sexual satisfaction. It is, therefore, recommended to include an OCR program as part of the patient treatment and aftercare following CABG surgery. |
222217821 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2019-08-17T20:50:28.646Z | 2006-01-01T00:00:00.000Z | PROCEEDINGS OF THE PHYSIOLOGICAL SOCIETY
The precipitate obtained fronm bird's plasma after dilution with ten volumes of distilled water and neutralisation with a little acetic acid consists of fibrinogen and prothrombin. The presence of prothrombin in the precipitate is evident since -(1) after dissolving it in *5 % NaCl coagulation can be produced by the addition to it of thrombokinase and a soluble calcium salt, and (2) the residual fluid obtained after the removal of the clot contains large quantities of fibrin ferment. I have previously put forward the hypothesis that in blood prothrombin is intimately associated with fibrinogen, and that this relation of prothrombin to fibrinogen is retained after precipitation from stable bird's plasma. Dale and Walp ole' on the other hand deduce from their experimental results that the association of prothrombin with fibrinogen in the precipitate obtained from plasma by dilution with water is accidental and does not depend upon any specific relation of prothrombin to fibrinogen. They assume that both prothrombin and fibrinogen belong to the class of proteins known as globulin and are therefore precipitated when any fluid containing them in solution is diluted largely with water. The accuracy of these two hypotheses may be tested by determining the solubility of prothrombin in water. A solution of prothrombin may be obtained by diluting bird's plasma with water, etc., dissolving the precipitate in *5 % NaCl and adding to this fluid a minimal quantity of fibrin ferment. This fibrin ferment |
19259421 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2018-04-03T06:18:32.046Z | 1984-03-01T00:00:00.000Z | Influence of aging on vitamin D absorption and unstirred water layer dimensions in the rat.
Because of the high prevalence of metabolic bone disease in older persons, we investigated the possibility of impaired intestinal absorptive capacity for vitamin D3 in aging animals. Using a single-pass technique, we measured vitamin D absorption and mucosal accumulation in male rats 9 to 101 weeks of age. Intestinal length, water absorption, and vitamin D3 intestinal tissue concentration remained constant after 41 weeks of age. Vitamin D3 absorption increased from 1209 pmol/100 cm/hr at 9 weeks of age to 2114 pmol/100 cm/hr at 41 weeks of age and remained relatively constant thereafter. Because vitamin D3 absorption rate is partly regulated by the dimensions of the unstirred water layer, we assessed the dimensions of the UWL of our aging animals. As the animals aged, the surface area of the UWL increased from 197 to 316 cm2/100 cm, and its resistance decreased from 1.2 to 0.7 min/cm3/100 cm by 41 weeks of age and remained stable thereafter. Inasmuch as the UWL is a major regulatory step in the absorption of vitamin D, its constant dimensions after 41 weeks of age explain the normal absorption of vitamin D3 observed in our aging animals. If these findings are found to be true in humans as well, they would argue against the possibility of vitamin D3 malabsorption as a cause of metabolic bone disease seen in aging individuals. |
201619871 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2019-08-24T13:05:03.579Z | 2019-08-22T00:00:00.000Z | Resource use for older people hospitalised due to injury in a Canadian integrated trauma system: a retrospective multicenter cohort study.
BACKGROUND
Injuries represent one of the leading causes of preventable morbidity and mortality. For countries with ageing populations, admissions of injured older patients are increasing exponentially. Yet, we know little about hospital resource use for injured older patients. Our primary objective was to evaluate inter-hospital variation in the risk-adjusted resource use for injured older patients. Secondary objectives were to identify the determinants of resource use and evaluate its association with clinical outcomes.
METHODS
We conducted a multicenter retrospective cohort study of injured older patients (≥65 years) admitted to any trauma centres in the province of Quebec (2013-2016, N = 33,184). Resource use was estimated using activity-based costing and modelled with multilevel linear models. We conducted separate subgroup analyses for patients with trauma and fragility fractures.
RESULTS
Risk-adjusted resource use varied significantly across trauma centres, more for older patients with fragility fractures (intra-class correlation coefficients [ICC] = 0.093, 95% CI [0.079, 0.102]) than with trauma (ICC = 0.047, 95% CI = 0.035-0.051). Risk-adjusted resource use increased with age, and the number of comorbidities, and varied with discharge destination (P < 0.001). Higher hospital resource use was associated with higher incidence of complications for trauma (Pearson correlation coefficient [r] = 0.5, 95% CI = 0.3-0.7) and fragility fractures (r = 0.5, 95% CI = 0.3-0.7) and with higher mortality for fragility fractures (r = 0.4, 95% CI = 0.2-0.6).
CONCLUSIONS
We observed significant inter-hospital variations in resource use for injured older patients. Hospitals with higher resource use did not have better clinical outcomes. Hospital resource use may not always positively impact patient care and outcomes. Future studies should evaluate mechanisms, by which hospital resource use impacts care. |
53066321 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2018-10-09T12:10:35.458Z | 2010-11-01T00:00:00.000Z | The modulational instability in deep water under the action of wind and dissipation
The modulational instability of gravity wave trains on the surface of water acted upon by wind and under influence of viscosity is considered. The wind regime is that of validity of Miles' theory and the viscosity is small. By using a perturbed nonlinear Schrödinger equation describing the evolution of a narrow-banded wavepacket under the action of wind and dissipation, the modulational instability of the wave group is shown to depend on both the frequency (or wavenumber) of the carrier wave and the strength of the friction velocity (or the wind speed). For fixed values of the water-surface roughness, the marginal curves separating stable states from unstable states are given. It is found in the low-frequency regime that stronger wind velocities are needed to sustain the modulational instability than for high-frequency water waves. In other words, the critical frequency decreases as the carrier wave age increases. Furthermore, it is shown for a given carrier frequency that a larger friction velocity is needed to sustain modulational instability when the roughness length is increased. |
82483371 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2019-03-19T13:03:22.922Z | 2007-04-01T00:00:00.000Z | Role of RANTES in the pathogenesis of experimental colitis
Platelets and platelet‐derived chemokines eg RANTES have been implicated in the pathogenesis of chronic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). However, it remains unclear if and how platelet‐derived RANTES contributes to the blood cell recruitment and tissue injury associated with intestinal inflammation. We addressed these issues in dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)‐induced colitis in wildtype (WT) mice, WT receiving blocking antibody (mAb) to RANTES, RANTES‐deficient (RANTES−/−) mice, and RANTES−/−→WT bone marrow chimeras. Disease activity index (DAI), histopathologic injury, vascular permeability to albumin, and the adhesive interactions between leukocytes, platelets, and endothelial cells were monitored. All parameters were increased by DSS and were attenuated in RANTES−/− mice and by RANTES mAb in WT mice. A similar protection was noted in RANTES−/−→WT chimeras, suggesting that blood cells (eg, platelets) are a major source of the chemokine. Our findings implicate RANTES, likely derived from platelets, in the vascular dysfunction, inflammation, and tissue injury associated with experimental colitis, and suggest that this chemokine may be an important therapeutic target in IBD. |
8048771 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2018-04-03T00:00:36.909Z | 2001-08-01T00:00:00.000Z | Opioid Peptide–expressing Leukocytes: Identification, Recruitment, and Simultaneously Increasing Inhibition of Inflammatory Pain
Background Inflammatory pain can be effectively controlled by an interaction of opioid receptors on peripheral sensory nerve terminals with opioid peptides released from immune cells upon stressful stimulation. To define the source of opioid peptide production, we sought to identify and quantify populations of opioid-containing cells during the course of Freund’s complete adjuvant–induced hind paw inflammation in the rat. In parallel, we examined the development of stress-induced local analgesia in the paw. Methods At 2, 6, and 96 h after Freund’s complete adjuvant inoculation, cells were characterized by flow cytometry using a monoclonal pan-opioid antibody (3E7) and antibodies against cell surface antigens and by immunohistochemistry using a polyclonal antibody to &bgr;-endorphin. After magnetic cell sorting, the &bgr;-endorphin content was quantified by radioimmunoassay. Pain responses before and after cold water swim stress were evaluated by paw pressure thresholds. Results In early inflammation, 66% of opioid peptide–producing (3E7+) leukocytes were HIS48+ granulocytes. In contrast, at later stages (96 h), the majority of 3E7+ immune cells were ED1+ monocytes or macrophages (73%). During the 4 days after Freund’s complete adjuvant inoculation, the number of 3E7+ cells increased 5.6-fold (P < 0.001, Kruskal–Wallis test) and the &bgr;-endorphin content in the paw multiplied 3.9-fold (P < 0.05, Kruskal–Wallis test). In parallel, cold water swim stress–induced analgesia increased by 160% (P < 0.01, analysis of variance). Conclusions The degree of endogenous pain inhibition is proportional to the number of opioid peptide–producing cells, and distinct leukocyte lineages contribute to this function at different stages of inflammation. These mechanisms may be important for understanding pain in immunosuppressed states such as cancer, diabetes, or AIDS and for the design of novel therapeutic strategies in inflammatory diseases. |
203163671 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2018-12-11T02:15:46.678Z | 2018-11-27T00:00:00.000Z | Alteration of nitrous oxide emissions from floodplain soils by aggregate size, litter accumulation and plant–soil interactions
Abstract. Semi-terrestrial soils such as floodplain soils are
considered potential hot spots of nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions. Microhabitats
in the soil – such as within and outside of aggregates, in the detritusphere, and/or in
the rhizosphere – are considered to promote and preserve specific redox conditions. Yet
our understanding of the relative effects of such microhabitats and their interactions on
N2O production and consumption in soils is still incomplete. Therefore, we
assessed the effect of aggregate size, buried leaf litter, and plant–soil interactions
on the occurrence of enhanced N2O emissions under simulated flooding/drying
conditions in a mesocosm experiment. We used two model soils with equivalent structure
and texture, comprising macroaggregates (4000–250 µm) or microaggregates
(<250 µm) from a N-rich floodplain soil. These model soils were planted with
basket willow (Salix viminalis L.), mixed with leaf litter or left unamended.
After 48 h of flooding, a period of enhanced N2O emissions occurred in all
treatments. The unamended model soils with macroaggregates emitted significantly more
N2O during this period than those with microaggregates. Litter addition
modulated the temporal pattern of the N2O emission, leading to short-term peaks
of high N2O fluxes at the beginning of the period of enhanced N2O
emission. The presence of S. viminalis strongly suppressed the N2O
emission from the macroaggregate model soil, masking any aggregate-size effect.
Integration of the flux data with data on soil bulk density, moisture, redox potential
and soil solution composition suggest that macroaggregates provided more favourable
conditions for spatially coupled nitrification–denitrification, which are particularly
conducive to net N2O production. The local increase in
organic carbon in the detritusphere appears to first stimulate N2O emissions;
but ultimately, respiration of the surplus organic matter shifts the system towards redox
conditions where N2O reduction to N2 dominates. Similarly, the low
emission rates in the planted soils can be best explained by root exudation of
low-molecular-weight organic substances supporting complete denitrification in the anoxic
zones, but also by the inhibition of denitrification in the zone, where rhizosphere
aeration takes place. Together, our experiments highlight the importance of microhabitat
formation in regulating oxygen (O2) content and the completeness of
denitrification in soils during drying after saturation. Moreover, they will help to
better predict the conditions under which hot spots, and “hot
moments”, of enhanced
N2O emissions are most likely to occur in hydrologically dynamic soil systems
like floodplain soils.
|
25830121 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2018-04-03T01:49:54.878Z | 2002-06-07T00:00:00.000Z | Germline Stem Cells Anchored by Adherens Junctions in the Drosophila Ovary Niches
How stem cells are recruited to and maintained in their niches is crucial to understanding their regulation and use in regenerative medicine. Here, we demonstrate that DE-cadherin–mediated cell adhesion is required for anchoring germline stem cells (GSCs) in their niches in the Drosophila ovary. Two major components of this adhesion process, DE-cadherin and Armadillo/β-catenin, accumulate at high levels in the junctions between GSCs and cap cells, one of the niche components. Removal of these proteins from GSCs results in stem cell loss. Furthermore, DE-cadherin is required for recruiting GSCs to their niche. Our study demonstrates that anchorage of GSCs in their niche by DE-cadherin–mediated adhesion is important for stem cell maintenance and function. |
24276721 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2018-04-03T02:44:07.310Z | 2013-02-01T00:00:00.000Z | Phage mutations in response to CRISPR diversification in a bacterial population.
Interactions between bacteria and their coexisting phage populations impact evolution and can strongly influence biogeochemical processes in natural ecosystems. Periodically, mutation or migration results in exposure of a host to a phage to which it has no immunity; alternatively, a phage may be exposed to a host it cannot infect. To explore the processes by which coexisting, co-evolving hosts and phage populations establish, we cultured Streptococcus thermophilus DGCC7710 with phage 2972 and tracked CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats) diversification and host-phage co-evolution in a population derived from a colony that acquired initial CRISPR-encoded immunity. After 1 week of co-culturing, the coexisting host-phage populations were metagenomically characterized using 454 FLX Titanium sequencing. The evolved genomes were compared with reference genomes to identify newly incorporated spacers in S. thermophilus DGCC7710 and recently acquired single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in phage 2972. Following phage exposure, acquisition of immune elements (spacers) led to a genetically diverse population with multiple subdominant strain lineages. Phage mutations that circumvented three early immunization events were localized in the proto-spacer adjacent motif (PAM) or near the PAM end of the proto-spacer, suggesting a strong selective advantage for the phage that mutated in this region. The sequential fixation or near fixation of these single mutations indicates selection events so severe that single phage genotypes ultimately gave rise to all surviving lineages and potentially carried traits unrelated to immunity to fixation. |
73469371 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2019-03-11T17:22:44.201Z | 2019-10-01T00:00:00.000Z | Stereotactic Lesion in the Forel's Field H: A Two-Years Prospective Open-Label Study on Motor and Nonmotor Symptoms, Neuropsychological Functions and Quality of Life in Parkinson Disease.
BACKGROUND
Stereotactic lesion in the Forel's field H (campotomy) was proposed in 1963 to treat Parkinson disease (PD) symptoms. Despite its rationale, very few data on this approach have emerged. Additionally, no study has assessed its effects on nonmotor symptoms, neuropsychological functions and quality of life.
OBJECTIVE
To provide a prospective 2-yr assessment of motor, nonmotor, neuropsychological and quality of life variables after unilateral campotomy.
METHODS
Twelve PD patients were prospectively evaluated using the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS), the Dyskinesia Rating Scale and the Parkinson's disease quality of life questionnaire (PDQ39) before campotomy, and after 6 and 24 mo. Nonmotor, neuropsychiatric, neuropsychological and quality of life variables were assessed. The impact of PD on global health was also rated.
RESULTS
A significant reduction in contralateral rest tremor (65.7%, P < .001), rigidity (87.8%, P < .001), bradykinesia (68%, P < .001) and axial symptoms (24.2%, P < .05) in offmedication condition led to a 43.9% reduction in UPSDRS III scores 2 yr after campotomy (P < .001). Gait improved by 31.9% (P < .05) and walking time to cover 7 m was reduced by 43.2% (P < .05). Pain decreased by 33.4% (P < .01), while neuropsychiatric and neuropsychological functions did not change. Quality of life improved by 37.8% (P < .05), in line with a 46.7% reduction of disease impact on global health (P < .001).
CONCLUSION
A significant 2-yr improvement of motor symptoms, gait performance and pain was obtained after unilateral campotomy without significant changes to cognition. Quality of life markedly improved in parallel with a significant reduction of PD burden on global health. |
39042071 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2018-01-23T22:48:26.326Z | 2015-07-06T00:00:00.000Z | SAR raw data compression based on geometric characteristic of Gaussian curve
Because of simple and good performance, the block adaptive quantization (BAQ) algorithm becomes a popular method for spaceborne synthetic aperture radar (SAR) raw data compression. As the distribution of SAR data can be accurately modeled as Gaussian, the algorithm adaptively quantizes the SAR data using Llyod-Max quantizer, which is optimal for standard Gaussian signal. However, due to the complexity of the imaging target features, the probability distribution function of some SAR data deviates from the Gaussian distribution, so the BAQ compression performance declined. In view of this situation, this paper proposes a method to judge whether the data satisfies Gaussian distribution by using the geometrical relationship between standard Gaussian curve and a triangle whose area is equal to that of the Gaussian curve, then getting the coordinates of the intersection of two curves, and comparing the integral value within each node to form three judgment conditions. Finally, the data satisfying these conditions is compressed by BAQ, otherwise compressed by DPCM. Experimental results indicate that the proposed scheme improves the performance compared with BAQ method. |
244791071 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2021-12-02T16:10:32.187Z | 2021-11-30T00:00:00.000Z | A Study on Effects of Regional Innovation Environment on Regional Development Outcome in 4th Industrial Revolution
It can be said that the 4th industrial revolution is essential for regional development as it has a profound impact on society, economy and business. This 4th industry can innovatively develop the region. Various start-up companies around the world are growing into global companies and there is a lot of interest in wanting to become leaders of these companies. Analysis of society as a whole using big data has been attempted from a different perspective and is becoming an issue. Services founded on the artificial intelligence and Internet of Things are being introduced worldwide. As this paradigm shift is rapidly increasing, the speed of change is rapidly increasing. In order to achieve regional development results, changes in the local innovation environment will have a profound impact. The purpose of this research is to investigate the association between regional growth creation and regional development performance on the regional innovation environment. For questionnaire analysis, SPSS 22.0, a statistical package, was used for basic statistical analysis. Hypothesis testing was performed using the structural equation package Smart PLS 2.0. Factors that determine the regional innovation environment are divided into startup discovery, big data connection, and IOT technology infrastructure creation. A summary of the study follows. First, the discovery of startups had a significant effect on the creation of regional growth. Second, big data linkage had a significant effect on regional growth creation. Third, the establishment of the IOT technology base had a significant effect on the creation of regional growth. Fourth, regional growth creation had a significant effect on regional development performance. |
129610371 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2019-04-24T13:13:15.910Z | 2001-03-01T00:00:00.000Z | Vegetation and climate during the Weichselian Early Glacial and Pleniglacial in the Niederlausitz, eastern Germany — macrofossil and pollen evidence
Cryoturbated organic beds and channel fills, intercalated with sandy and gravelly fluvial units, have been studied in an opencast brown‐coal mine near Nochten (Niederlausitz), eastern Germany. The fluvial–aeolian sequence covers parts of the Early, Pleni‐ and Late‐glacial. The detailed chronology is based on 11 radiocarbon and 12 OSL dates, covering the period between ca. 100 kyr and 11 kyr BP. Basal peat deposits are correlated with an Early Weichselian interstadial. During this period boreal forests were present and minimum mean summer temperatures were > 13°C. Early Pleniglacial deposits are absent. The Middle and Late Pleniglacial environments were treeless and different types of tundra vegetation can be recognised. Minimum mean summer temperatures varied between 10 and 15°C. Vegetation and climate is reconstructed in detail for the periods around 34–38 kyr BP and 24–25 kyr BP. Around 34–38 ka, a mixture between a low shrub tundra and a cottongrass tussock–subshrub tundra was present. The botanical and sedimentological data suggest that from the Middle to the Late Pleniglacial, the climate became more continental, aridity and wind strength increased, and the role of a protecting winter snow cover decreased. A sedge–grass–moss tundra dominated around 24 and 25 kyr BP. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. |
249453671 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2022-06-08T15:12:30.443Z | 2022-06-01T00:00:00.000Z | Penpulimab plus gemcitabine in combination with cisplatin or anlotinib as first-line treatment for metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma (M NPC): A phase II study.
e18032 Background: Cisplatin (P)-based combination regimen is the backbone in the first-line treatment of M NPC while the toxicity limited its usage. This study investigated the efficacy and safety of penpulimab (an anti-programmed death-1 antibody) plus gemcitabine (G) in combination with cisplatin (P) or anlotinib (a multikinase inhibitor) as first-line treatment of these pts. Methods: This is a multicenter, three cohorts, randomized, phase II study (NCT04736810). Pts with histologically confirmed regional or distant M NPC who had measurable lesions per RECIST 1.1 and received no systemic treatment for metastatic lesions were enrolled. Other inclusion criteria included 18-75 years old and ECOG PS 0-1. Pts in cohort A, B and C were given G + P + penpulimab + anlotinib; G + P + penpulimab or G + penpulimab + anlotinib, respectively. G (1000mg/m2, d1, d8) and P (80mg/m2, d1) were given intravenously for 4 to 6 cycles, 3 weeks per cycle. Penpulimab (200mg, d1) and anlotinib (12mg, qd, d1-14) were given intravenously and orally respectively until confirmed disease progression, or unacceptable toxicities, or up to 2 years, whichever occurred firstly. Pts who developed disease progression but still had clinical benefit could receive penpulimab and anlotinib continuously based on the decision of physicians. The primary endpoint was objective response rate (ORR). Here we report the preliminary results of this study. Results: Between March 2021 and September 2021, 17 pts were randomly assigned to cohort A (n = 5), B (n = 5) or C (n = 7), and the median age was 52, 49 and 52 years old, respectively. Nearly half (7/17, 41.2%) had liver metastasis and the majority (5/7, 71.4%) was in the cohort C. At the data cutoff date on January 17, 2022, the median treatment cycles were 6, 8, 8 across three cohorts. All pts received tumor response and the confirmed ORR was 80.0%, 80.0% and 100%. The details of tumor response were summered in followed table. Notably, in cohort C, 1 pts achieved confirmed complete response (CR) and all others had confirmed partial response (PR). Replacement of cisplatin with anlotinib seemed to show better safety profile that ≥ grade 3 adverse events (AEs) occurred in 6 pts (85.7%) in cohort A, 5 (100%) in cohort B while only 4 (57.1%) in group C. Moreover, the overall incidence of serious AEs was 28.6%, 20%, 14.3% across three cohorts. The most common ≥ grade 3 AEs were white blood cell decreased and neutrophil count decreased. Conclusions: This preliminary analysis indicated that penpulimab plus gemcitabine and anlotinib had promising efficacy and favorable tolerance profile as first-line treatment for M NPC. Further investigate is ongoing. Clinical trial information: NCT04736810. [Table: see text] |
3070921 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2014-10-01T00:00:00.000Z | 2008-05-12T00:00:00.000Z | Solving two-person zero-sum repeated games of incomplete information
In repeated games with incomplete information, rational agents must carefully weigh the tradeoffs of advantageously exploiting their information to achieve a short-term gain versus carefully concealing their information so as not to give up a long-term informed advantage. The theory of infinitely-repeated two-player zero-sum games with incomplete information has been carefully studied, beginning with the seminal work of Aumann and Maschler. While this theoretical work has produced a characterization of optimal strategies, algorithms for solving for optimal strategies have not yet been studied. For the case where one player is informed about the true state of the world and the other player is uninformed, we provide a non-convex mathematical programming formulation for computing the value of the game, as well as optimal strategies for the informed player. We then describe an efficient algorithm for solving this difficult optimization problem to within arbitrary accuracy. We also discuss how to efficiently compute optimal strategies for the uninformed player using the output of our algorithm. |
121300171 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2019-04-19T13:11:59.254Z | 2011-02-07T00:00:00.000Z | A Binomial Test of Group Differences With Correlated Outcome Measures
Building on previous arguments for why educational researchers should not provide effect-size estimates in the face of statistically nonsignificant outcomes (Robinson & Levin, 1997), Onwuegbuzie and Levin (2005) proposed a 3-step statistical approach for assessing group differences when multiple outcome measures are individually analyzed within the same study. One suggested Step 3 strategy was to conduct a binomial (or “sign”) test of the number of between-group outcome mean differences that are in the same direction. However, because multiple measures within a study typically are correlated, the binomial test's independence assumption will be violated. In the present investigation, the authors (a) performed a Monte Carlo simulation study to assess the Type I error behavior of the binomial test under varying degrees of independence-assumption violations, resulting in a table of adjusted critical values; and (b) illustrated use of this table by applying its adjusted critical values to a real research example. |
2212721 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2016-10-09T20:37:22.850Z | 2001-01-01T00:00:00.000Z | Immunological Studies in Malignant Melanoma : Importance of TNF and the Thioredoxin System
Hydrogen peroxide is known to be involved in redox signaling pathways that regulate normal processes and disease progression, including cytokine signaling, oxidative stress, and cancer. In studies on immune surveillance against cancer, hydrogen peroxide was found to disrupt cytotoxic T-cell function, thus contributing to tumor escape. In this study, secretion of TNF-containing vesicles of rab9+ endosomal origin, termed exosomes, was investigated using GFP-TNF constructs. We observed a polarized intracellular trafficking and apical secretion of TNF-positive nanovesicles. Cell-to-cell transfer of TNF was observed in exosomes in real-time microscopy, occurring separate from the melanin/melanosome compartment. Exosomes were prepared by ultracentrifugation or immunoisolation on anti-β2-microglobulin magnetic beads. TNF as well as TNF receptors 1 and 2 were present in the exosomes as determined by Western blot, flow cytometry, and deconvolution microscopy. The functional significance of melanoma-derived exosomes was established by their signaling competence with ability to generate significantly higher ROS levels in T cells compared with sham exosomes (P = 0.0006). In conclusion, we report here, for the first time, that TNF is found in tumor cell-derived exosomes and that these exosomes transmit redox signaling in trans to neighboring cells. The results are of importance for a better understanding of tumor escape mechanisms. |
252255871 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2022-09-15T17:07:00.470Z | 2022-09-08T00:00:00.000Z | Body Weight Prediction using Recursive Partitioning and Regression Trees (RPART) Model in Indian Black Bengal Goat Breed: A Machine Learning Approach
Background: Live body weight (BW) of livestock animals is truly mirror image of all activities of genetics, nutrition, production, reproduction and health status. Thus, the knowledge of calculating BW is of great importance to the producer and critical for goat farming and business. However, there is an unavailability of suitable scales, leading to inaccuracies in decision-making. The present work aimed to predict the live BW of Indian Black Bengal goat using certain morphometric data. Methods: The live BW and eight body measurement data from 1427 disease free, non-pregnant goats aged 25.87±10.47 months with 2.78±1.21 number of parity were collected. The data were first subjected to stepwise regression analysis to achieve the best-fitted model for BW prediction by comparing coefficient of determination (R2) and determining the combination of body dimensions that explained variation in the dependent variable. Further, Recursive Partitioning and Regression Trees (RPART) model, a machine learning tool was deployed to predict BW using certain body measurements.
Result: The results of stepwise regression model clearly indicated that heart girth (HG) and punch girth (PG) measurements influenced live BW mostly, but the predictive capabilities (Low R2) of this statistical model were low. The stepwise regression model could not satisfactorily predict BW due to the problem of multicollinearity. Out of eight independent variables, the most important variables emerged from RPART were only HG and PG based on the largest reduction in overall sums of squares error. RPART generated a decision tree with minimal expected error to precisely predict live BW. Hence, RPART model was found to provide better predictive result than stepwise regression model in accurately predicting BW from body measurement variables in Black Bengal goats.
|
17501221 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2017-03-23T18:35:50.361Z | 1989-01-01T00:00:00.000Z | Protein content and protein synthesis rates of planktonic marine bacteria
Bacterial carbon production is an important parameter in understanding the flows of carbon and energy in aquatic ecosystems, but has been difficult to measure. Present methods are based on measuring the rate of cell production, and thus require a knowledge of cellular carbon content of the growing bacteria to convert cell production into carbon production. We have examined the possibility that protein synthesis rate of pelagic bacteria might serve as the basis for directly estimating bacterial carbon production. We measured bacterial protein content and protein production of pelagic bacteria. Bacterial protein content was measured as amino acids by high performance liquid chromatography of cell hydrolysates of bacterial assemblages of mean diameters from 0.026 to 0.4 km. Cellular protein:volume (w/v) in the largest bacteria was 15.2 '10 (similar to cultured Escherichia coli] but increased with decreasing cell size to 46.5 % in 0.026 pm bacteria. Protein per bacterium was correlated with cell volume by the power function y = 8 8 . ~ 2 ~ ' (r2 = 0.67; p C 0.01; n = 25) . An inventory of major bacterial macromolecular pools revealed that cell protein:dry weight and cell protein:carbon were essentially constant (63 % and 54 %. respectively) for the entire cell size range although cell protein:volume increased with decreasing cell size. Thus, the smaller cells in the size range were rich in carbon and dry weight and poor in water compared with larger cells. We established the experimental conditions for estimating protein synthesis on the basis of 3H leucine incorporation by bacteria, and determined the necessary parameters (including the intracellular isotope dilution by HPLC) for converting 3~ leucine incorporation into protein synthesis rate. In samples from Scripps Institution of Oceanography pier the intracellular isotope dilution was only 2-fold. In a field study in Southern California Bight bacterial protein production and %I-thymidine incorporation methods yielded comparable rates of bacterial production. Bacterial protein production method was an order of magnitude more sensitive and yielded bacterial carbon production directly without the need to know the cell size of the part of the assemblage in growth state. |
107943371 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2014-10-01T00:00:00.000Z | 2002-01-01T00:00:00.000Z | Relating Neural Network Performance to Morphological Differences in Embodied Agents
A new peach tree of standard size, which yields heavy crops of large fruit in about the last week of July to the first week of August in Avon, Ohio. The tree is spreading in habit and of normal density. Fruit has an attractively patterned overcolor a golden ground color; fruit is large, freestone, of rounded, attractive shape, and has firm, juicy yellow flesh with some red flecking. The tree, being self-fertile, may be planted alone in a home garden without having to plant a pollinator tree within pollination distance. |
232220121 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2021-03-14T13:07:16.884Z | 2021-01-01T00:00:00.000Z | Black Male School Leaders: Protectors and Defenders of Children, Community, Culture, and Village
This study explored the ways in which the race-gendered identities and lived experiences of Black male K-12 public and independent school leaders inform their leadership in support of students, community, and village. The study draws from critical theories and perspectives, including a framework of Black Masculine Caring (BMC), critical race theory, culturally relevant and responsive leadership, leadership for social justice, and their relationship to and with a theory of Black male school leadership. The qualitative study used survey, phenomenological, and visual elicitation methods to examine the personal and professional experiences, philosophies, and praxis of 14 Black male school leaders. Study findings are presented as an intergenerational dialog with participants, based on their years of leadership experience. These leaders exhibit a liberatory care-based approach to leadership as an expression of social justice advocacy, civil rights activism, community and evidenced action-orientated commitment to a dismantling of structured and systemic forms of racism, anti-Black racism entrenched segregation, and other inequities that discriminate and disproportionately marginalize significant numbers of students and their communities. As captured through the narratives shared, this is evidenced through greater, and positively encouraged, levels of parental and other community member involvement in school activities, as a core aspect of the leadership and decision-making processes. The research expands understanding of paradigms of critical race leadership and disrupts the normative educational leadership that ill-serve significant sections of our student populations and communities. |
247168871 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2022-03-02T06:23:44.521Z | 2022-03-01T00:00:00.000Z | Single port surgery in pediatric age: report of first 300 cases.
BACKGROUND
In recent years, evolution of surgery has led to laparoscopy and then to single port surgery. In pediatric age, few papers have been published about single port procedures; in particular, no one has described the use of the Octoport device. We present our exeprience using a new device.
METHODS
A retrospective analysis of first 300 cases was performed collecting the data of all patients treated with Octoport device from October 2017 to September 2021. Epidemiological data, diagnosis, operative times and complications were analyzed. Post-operative pain was compared with standard laparoscopy.
RESULTS
A total of 300 procedures were performed during the study period. The age range was 1-17 years. The conversion rate was 3.6% (11 patients) including both conversion to traditional laparoscopy and to laparotomy. Pain management was comparable to traditional laparoscopy. The complication rate was 3.6%, in one case leading to re-do surgery. All the cases in our Unit were successfully completed, with complications mainly related to the original pathology rather than to the technique itself.
CONCLUSIONS
The learning curve for Octoport use proved to be functional as for standard laparoscopy. In this study, surgical indications for the use of single port laparoscopy were defined, discerning favorable and unfavorable procedures. A proven superiority of this technique over traditional laparoscopy is yet to be defined, but Octoport has proved to be a safe and easy tool to reduce invasiveness of procedures in pediatric surgery with better cosmetic results. |
1905571 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2017-07-11T22:11:14.324Z | 1992-11-01T00:00:00.000Z | "7-tetrahydrobiopterin," a naturally occurring analogue of tetrahydrobiopterin, is a cofactor for and a potential inhibitor of the aromatic amino acid hydroxylases.
The ability of 2-amino-4-hydroxy-7-[dihydroxylpropyl-(L-erythro)-5,6,7,8-tetrahyd ropterin] ("7-tetrahydrobiopterin" or 7-BH4) to substitute for the natural cofactor tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4) has been studied in vitro in the reactions of the three mammalian aromatic amino acid hydroxylases. With rat liver phenylalanine hydroxylase, the apparent Km for 7-BH4 is 160 microM, a value that is approximately 60-fold greater than that for the natural cofactor. In contrast, the hydroxylase reaction is severely inhibited by as little as 1 microM 7-BH4 when assayed in the presence of physiological concentrations of BH4. This inhibition can be overcome either by an increase in the concentration of BH4 or a decrease in the concentration of phenylalanine. With both rat brain tryptophan hydroxylase and rat pheochromocytoma tyrosine hydroxylase, the Km value for 7-BH4 is about one order of magnitude greater than the Km for BH4. Accordingly, 7-BH4 is a poor competitive inhibitor of both tryptophan and tyrosine hydroxylase. Thus, our results suggest that the observed hyperphenylalaninemia in patients who excrete 7-BH4 in their urine may arise directly from the inhibition of phenylalanine hydroxylase by low levels of this pterin. On the other hand, it is less likely that low levels of 7-BH4 would affect the activity of tyrosine or tryptophan hydroxylase in vivo. |
143449571 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2014-10-01T00:00:00.000Z | 1997-08-01T00:00:00.000Z | 4. Socioeconomic Indexes for Occupations: A Review, Update, and Critique
Following a review of the history and sources of socioeconomic indexes for occupations, we estimate a new set of indexes for 1990 Census occupation lines, based on relationships between the prestige ratings obtained by Nakao and Treas in the 1989 General Social Survey and characteristics of occupational incumbents in the 1990 Census. We also investigate theoretical and empirical relationships among socioeconomic and prestige indexes, using data from the 1994 General Social Survey. Many common occupations, especially those held by women, do not fit the typical relationships among prestige, education, and earnings. The fit between prestige and socioeconomic characteristics of occupations can be improved by statistical transformation of the variables. However, in rudimentary models of occupational stratification, prestige-validated socioeconomic indexes are of limited value. They give too much weight to occupational earnings, and they ignore intergenerational relationships between occupational education and occupational earnings. Levels of occupational education appear to define the main dimension of occupational persistence across and within generations. We conclude that composite indexes of occupational socioeconomic status are scientifically obsolete. |
36289671 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2018-04-03T03:42:30.271Z | 1986-04-01T00:00:00.000Z | Sorption of 5-fluorouracil from aqueous solutions onto methyl methacrylate nanoparticles.
The sorption of 5-fluorouracil from aqueous solutions onto poly(methyl methacrylate) was investigated. Linear sorption isotherms were obtained and no crystallinity of the nanoparticles after sorption was detectable by X-ray analysis indicating a partitioning of the drug into the polymer particles-forming a solid solution. Standard enthalpy, standard entropy and standard free energy of sorption were -36.9 kJ mol-1, -85.0 J mol-1 K-1 and -12.0 kJ mol-1, respectively. |
13257721 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2017-07-11T16:55:00.939Z | 2004-06-01T00:00:00.000Z | Gene expression signatures in chronic and aggressive periodontitis: a pilot study.
This pilot study examined gene expression signatures in pathological gingival tissues of subjects with chronic or aggressive periodontitis, and explored whether new subclasses of periodontitis can be identified based on gene expression profiles. A total of 14 patients, seven with chronic and seven with aggressive periodontitis, were examined with respect to clinical periodontal status, composition of subgingival bacterial plaque assessed by checkerboard hybridizations, and levels of serum IgG antibodies to periodontal bacteria assayed by checkerboard immunoblotting. In addition, at least two pathological pockets/patient were biopsied, processed for RNA extraction, amplification and labeling, and used to study gene expression using Affymetrix U-133 A arrays. Based on a total of 35 microarrays, no significantly different gene expression profiles appeared to emerge between chronic and aggressive periodontitis. However, a de novo grouping of the 14 subjects into two fairly robust clusters was possible based on similarities in gene expression. These two groups had similar clinical periodontal status and subgingival bacterial profiles, but differed significantly with respect to serum IgG levels against the important periodontal pathogens Porphyromonas gingivalis, Tannerella forsythensis and Campylobacter rectus. These early data point to the usefulness of gene expression profiling techniques in the identification of subclasses of periodontitis with common pathobiology. |
42952271 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2018-04-03T05:28:04.035Z | 2005-01-01T00:00:00.000Z | Theophrastus' biological opuscula and the Hippocratic Corpus: a critical dialogue?
Recent work on Theophrastus' biological opuscula opens new perspectives on the still obscure relations between this author and the Hippocratic writings. The three short treatises On Fatigue, On Sweat, On Dizziness, present unquestionable resemblances with many Hippocratic notions, but still more differences from them. This suggests a possible critical dialogue, using allusions to, and substitutions from, certain Hippocratic writings such as Regimen. Reading such writings in the light of the Theophrastean material reveals in them such important themes as differences and causes, which coincide with Theophrastus' own epistemological interests and which may have played some role in his research. |
98197871 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2019-04-06T13:03:21.487Z | 2012-10-16T00:00:00.000Z | Derivatives of menthothiophene as chiral dopants for nematic liquid crystals
New chiral derivatives of thiophene fused with menthane, camphor or the 3R-3-methylcyclohexane ring were prepared and studied as chiral dopants in cholesteric liquid crystalline mixtures. The helical twisting power of the most effective compounds of this series, menthothiophenes, was strong enough to obtain selective reflection of visible light at 16 wt% concentration of the dopant in a non-chiral nematic host. |
220318721 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2020-07-03T13:35:56.918Z | 2008-08-01T00:00:00.000Z | Sacrificing the Career or the Family?
This article addresses the question of women's agency in traditionalist religion, through a study of self-narratives by women in the Orthodox Jewish community of Antwerp, Belgium. Women who study or work outside the boundaries of their community were interviewed about their experiences in negotiating gender ideologies by moving in and between the `secular' and `religious' spaces of higher education, work and home. Various subject positions emerged in terms of either rejecting, separating or reconciling dominant community norms regarding women's proper role with personal trajectories of self-realization and individual autonomy. On the one hand, the results confirm the possibility of women's agency within religious-traditionalist settings and in that sense subscribe to some recent feminist theoretical challenges to secularism. However, it is argued that the younger generation faces more restrictions in negotiating religious and secular gender-role expectations in the Antwerp context. Their prospects depend on the dynamic between global fundamentalist tendencies and local liberal state policies of multicultural accommodation. |
98101021 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2019-04-06T13:05:09.914Z | 2005-10-13T00:00:00.000Z | Incidence of Pathogenic Microorganisms in Aquacultured Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)
ABSTRACT Quantitative levels of six known pathogens (Listeria monocytogenes, Clostridium botulinum, Salmonella species, Vibrio cholerae, Yersinia enterocolitica, and Y. pseudotuberculosis) and aerobic plate counts were measured at five aquaculture facilities. The farmed rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) and trout fillets were sampled at two different growing seasons to monitor for microbial hazards. Listeria spp. was identified in both whole trout and trout fillets from all five facilities sampled from both growing seasons. Presumptive Clostridium botulinum spores were also identified from all five facilities for both seasons. The growing season did not affect pathogen levels and there was no evidence that any one aquacultural system was superior to the others. Salmonella spp., Vibrio cholerae, and Yersinia spp. were not isolated from any of the trout samples analyzed. |
60053221 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2015-07-06T21:03:06.000Z | 1994-05-01T00:00:00.000Z | Interpreter composition issues in the formal verification of a processor-memory module
This report describes interpreter composition techniques suitable for the formal specification and verification of a processor-memory module using the HOL theorem proving system. The processor-memory module is a multichip subsystem within a fault-tolerant embedded system under development within the Boeing Defense and Space Group. Modeling and verification methods were developed that permit provably secure composition at the transaction-level of specification, significantly reducing the complexity of the hierarchical verification of the system. |
25283021 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2017-06-21T05:33:52.420Z | 2004-01-01T00:00:00.000Z | Diagnosis of urinary schistosomiasis: a novel approach to compare bladder pathology measured by ultrasound and three methods for hematuria detection.
We aggregated published data from field studies documenting prevalence of Schistosoma haematobium infection and bladder pathology determined by ultrasonography or hematuria detected by reagent strip, questionnaire, or visual examination. A mathematical expression was used to describe the associations between prevalence of pathology/morbidity and infection. This allows for indirect comparison of these methods, which are rarely used simultaneously. All four methods showed a similar, marked association with infection. Surprisingly, ultrasound revealed higher prevalences of pathology in schools than in communities with the same prevalence of infection, implying a need for age-related cut-off values. Reagent strip testing yielded a higher prevalence than questionnaire, which in turn was higher than by visual examination. After correction for morbidity due to other causes, a consistent ratio in prevalence of hematuria of 3:2:1 resulted for the three respective methods. The simple questionnaire approach is not markedly inferior to the other techniques, making it the best option for field use. |
247230671 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2022-03-05T14:09:00.612Z | 2021-08-01T00:00:00.000Z | Hyperspectral Image Target Detection Using Deep Ensembles for Robust Uncertainty Quantification
Deep learning (DL) has been widely proposed for target detection in hyperspectral image (HSI) data. Yet, standard DL models produce point estimates at inference time, with no associated measure of uncertainty, which is vital in high-consequence HSI applications. In this work, we develop an uncertainty quantification (UQ) framework using deep ensemble (DE) learning, which builds upon the successes of DL-based HSI target detection, while simultaneously providing UQ metrics. Specifically, we train an ensemble of convolutional deep learning detection models using one spectral prototype at a particular time of day and atmospheric condition. We find that our proposed framework is capable of accurate target detection in additional atmospheric conditions and times of day despite not being exposed to them during training. Furthermore, in comparison to Bayesian Neural Networks, another DL based UQ approach, we find that DEs provide increased target detection performance while achieving comparable probabilities of detection at constant false alarm rates. |
102411771 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2019-04-08T13:11:30.829Z | 2016-01-30T00:00:00.000Z | New Catalytic Systems for Hydrofining and Dearomatization Processes of Oil Fractions
Abstract Various aspects of application of nonconventional support components (fulfilled alumina adsorbent and kaolin clay) and; their influence on a proportion of catalytic active and inert phases as a part of multilayered catalytic systems are reviewed. Operating experience of some elaborated catalysts for hydrocarbon oils hydrofining in the industrial reactor G-24 is also discussed. |
28092621 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2018-04-03T01:07:13.478Z | 2006-09-01T00:00:00.000Z | Risk factors for recurrent hemorrhage after successful mesenteric arterial embolization.
The objective of this study was to describe the risk factors and to determine the outcomes after recurrent gastrointestinal hemorrhage after successful mesenteric arterial embolization A retrospective analysis was undertaken of a single-center experience with mesenteric arterial embolization performed for gastrointestinal hemorrhage over a 5-year period. Statistical analyses including Student's t test and Fisher's exact test were used to compare results. For the years 2001 through 2005, 36 patients (10 women; average age, 60.8 years) underwent 37 technically successful mesenteric embolizations for acute gastrointestinal hemorrhage. Two (5.4%) cases required surgical intervention for cessation of hemorrhage, and six (16.2%) patients died during their hospitalization after technically successful embolization. Nine (24.3%) patients experienced in-hospital rehemorrhage, and of these, five (55.6%) died. Risk factors for rehemorrhage included intra-abdominal malignancy (P < 0.05), transfusion requirement greater than 10 units before angiography (P < 0.05), and the source of hemorrhage other than solitary gastroduodenal artery hemorrhage (P < 0.05). The failure of initial embolization was associated with an increased incidence of death (55.6% vs 5.0%; P < 0.05) and operative intervention to cease hemorrhage (P < 0.05). The failure of technically successful mesenteric embolization is not uncommon and is associated with identifiable risk factors. Risk factor awareness should assist in patient selection for and timing of mesenteric embolization. |
38044571 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2018-04-03T04:12:08.239Z | 1989-02-01T00:00:00.000Z | FGF and EGF act synergistically to induce proliferation in BC3H1 myoblasts
BC3H1 muscle cells proliferate when grown in high concentrations of FBS (20%). Lowering the FBS concentration to 0.5% causes the cells to stop proliferating and is permissive for the morphological and biochemical differentiation of BC3H1 cells. Exposure of differentiated BC3H1 myocytes to high concentrations of serum or to the purified growth factors FGF or TGF‐b induced a shutdown of this differentiation program but did not induce cell proliferation (Olson et al.,J. Cell Biol.,103: 1799‐1805, 1986; Lathrop et al., Cell Biol.,100:1540–1547, 1985, and Cell Biol., 101:2194–2198,1985). We explored the possibility that BC3H1 cells require factors to act synergistically to induce proliferation. We found that EGF and FGF function in a synergistic fashion to stimulate BC3H1 proliferation. Moreover, the temporal requirement for these growth factors suggest that they are functioning as competence and progression factors for BC3H1 cell proliferation. |
38102471 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2018-04-03T04:11:31.648Z | 1975-10-01T00:00:00.000Z | Evaluation of B-mode ultrasound as a means of improving radium dosimetry in the treatment of gynecologic cancer.
The radiation dose to the base of the bladder and anterior rectal wall during radium applications for gynecologic cancer is a function of the distances between the source and the bladder and rectum. Precise measurement of these distances depends on a number of factors and cannot be obtained with current radiographic localization techniques. B-mode ultrasound is useful as a means of supplementing available information. While it is not necessarily more accurate than standard radiographs, it offers a three-dimensional appreciation of pelvic anatomy and does appear to be more accurate than transverse axial tomography. |
204115771 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2019-10-03T09:05:10.339Z | 2019-09-30T00:00:00.000Z | Mathematical Model for the Dynamics of Glucose, Insulin and β-Cell Mass under the Effect of Trauma, Excitement and Stress
In this work, we presented a mathematical model for the dynamics of glucose, insulin and beta-cell mass under the influence of trauma, excitement and/or stress, the model is an improvement on the work by [1]. We defined and incorporated a parameter to represent the effectiveness of epinephrine in suppressing insulin secretion and a parameter Ge representing epinephrine induced glucose increase as the factors that affect glucose and insulin homeostasis. The model which consists of a system of three nonlinear ordinary differential equations was used to investigate the effect of epinephrine on glucose, insulin and beta-cell mass dynamics. The result of the study showed that; In the presence of epinephrine, the blood glucose increased and the blood insulin decreased due to suppression by the hormone, despite the fact that there is an increase in beta-cell mass the system remained extremely hyperglycemic. Furthermore, the result of the numerical experiment carried out indicated that frequent epinephrine secretion into the blood induced prolong and extreme hyperglycemia. Frequent epinephrine secretion increases the risk of diabetes in humans. In view of the findings of this study, we recommend that there should be massive and continuous health education, especially for communities living in the areas where the stated agents (trauma, excitement and stress) of epinephrine secretion are common. |
4934421 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2017-08-27T16:49:37.897Z | 2017-01-03T00:00:00.000Z | Health program in a Brazilian school.
Objective:
To analyze the School Health Program (SHP) through the perceptions of managers and health professionals.
Materials and methods:
This was a descriptive, cross-sectional, and qualitative study that conducted interviews with 21 individuals using the lexical analysis of Bardin's speech and processed the data through the Alceste software.
Results:
In the interviewees' perception, verification of blood pressure, visual acuity, weight, height, body mass index, oral health, preventive actions and educational lectures are recommended in the program's guidelines. The schools do not have available and adequate space for the staff to perform the work. The predominant exchange occurs between the health and education secretaries. The actions that provided opportunities to students were primarily promotion, prevention, and health education; funding is the responsibility of the Ministry of Health and Municipal Secretary of Health.
Conclusions:
The structures, exchanges, and available resources were insufficient for the development of the program. |
152947271 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2015-03-06T19:42:58.000Z | 2010-07-01T00:00:00.000Z | Revisiting the NAFTA Agenda on Climate Change
The three NAFTA signatories have a shared interest in harmonizing climate change policy, and while they have made steps in that direction, there is still much that can be done to promote renewable energy development and other measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Authors Jeffrey J. Schott and Meera Fickling examine channels for energy and environmental cooperation among the three North American countries in light of limited progress in international climate talks and scaled back energy legislation being vetted in the US Senate. Suggestions include: harmonizing renewable energy standards and trading of renewable electricity credits, improving cross-border transmission capacity between the United States and Mexico, and using NAFTA institutions for data collection and monitoring of regional climate policies and for capacity building in Mexico. |
132016971 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2019-04-26T14:27:05.209Z | 2017-04-09T00:00:00.000Z | Swachh Bharat Abhiyan: The Clean India Mission
Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (SBA), one of the flagship programme’s of the government, has heralded a change in the sphere of sanitation programmes in the country. Though India has made strides in improving sanitations standards, the dismal sanitation statistics for both rural and urban areas still leave much to be desired. With sanitation as a key priority, SBA was introduced by restructuring the erstwhile Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan (NBA) for raising the standards in sanitation.Since its launch on 2nd October 2014, the country has seen an unprecedented scaling up of sanitation related activities. States are competing with each other to fulfill goals and targets by 2019 which is the target date to achieve an open-defecation free country.
According to the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation (MDWS), sanitation coverage has gone up from 42 percent in October 2014 to 60 percent in 2017. As per MWDS, three states – Kerala, Himachal Pradesh and Sikkim – 85 districts across the country and 1,52,535 villages have already been declared open defecation free (ODF). These achievements have clearly contributed to making sanitation a political priority. The Ministry has also come up with ODF Sustainability Guidelines with a view to address sustainability. |
133813621 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2019-04-27T13:07:33.195Z | 2017-10-26T00:00:00.000Z | Modeling of Regional Climate over the Tibetan Plateau
The modeling of climate over the Tibetan Plateau (TP) started with the introduction of Global Climate Models (GCMs) in the 1950s. Since then, GCMs have been developed to simulate atmospheric dynamics and eventually the climate system. As the highest and widest international plateau, the strong orographic forcing caused by the TP and its impact on general circulation rather than regional climate was initially the focus. Later, with growing awareness of the incapability of GCMs to depict regional or local-scale atmospheric processes over the heterogeneous ground, coupled with the importance of this information for local decision-making, regional climate models (RCMs) were established in the 1970s. Dynamic and thermodynamic influences of the TP on the East and South Asia summer monsoon have since been widely investigated by model. Besides the heterogeneity in topography, impacts of land cover heterogeneity and change on regional climate were widely modeled through sensitivity experiments.In recent decades, the TP has experienced a greater warming than the global average and those for similar latitudes. GCMs project a global pattern where the wet gets wetter and the dry gets drier. The climate regime over the TP covers the extreme arid regions from the northwest to the semi-humid region in the southeast. The increased warming over the TP compared to the global average raises a number of questions. What are the regional dryness/wetness changes over the TP? What is the mechanism of the responses of regional changes to global warming? To answer these questions, several dynamical downscaling models (DDMs) using RCMs focusing on the TP have recently been conducted and high-resolution data sets generated. All DDM studies demonstrated that this process-based approach, despite its limitations, can improve understandings of the processes that lead to precipitation on the TP. Observation and global land data assimilation systems both present more wetting in the northwestern arid/semi-arid regions than the southeastern humid/semi-humid regions. The DDM was found to better capture the observed elevation dependent warming over the TP. In addition, the long-term high-resolution climate simulation was found to better capture the spatial pattern of precipitation and P-E (precipitation minus evapotranspiration) changes than the best available global reanalysis. This facilitates new and substantial findings regarding the role of dynamical, thermodynamics, and transient eddies in P-E changes reflected in observed changes in major river basins fed by runoff from the TP. The DDM was found to add value regarding snowfall retrieval, precipitation frequency, and orographic precipitation.Although these advantages in the DDM over the TP are evidenced, there are unavoidable facts to be aware of. Firstly, there are still many discrepancies that exist in the up-to-date models. Any uncertainty in the model’s physics or in the land information from remote sensing and the forcing could result in uncertainties in simulation results. Secondly, the question remains of what is the appropriate resolution for resolving the TP’s heterogeneity. Thirdly, it is a challenge to include human activities in the climate models, although this is deemed necessary for future earth science. All-embracing further efforts are expected to improve regional climate models over the TP. |
17545421 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2017-02-16T23:40:22.774Z | 2015-12-07T00:00:00.000Z | Smart Home System for Patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment
Estimates suggest that up to 20% of adults over age 70 years may have Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI, cognitive changes without dementia) [1]. Such individuals may be able to function more effectively in their environment with some supportive services. Embedded automated systems could help provide additional protection from accidental injury and support for executing daily activities for individuals with MCI. In this paper, illustration of a home monitoring embedded system to increase safety and functionality to those with cognitive disabilities is provided. A proof-of-concept implementation of an automated garage door monitoring system that can monitor the open/closed status of the garage door, but also monitor other environmental variables has been developed in this investigation. The obtained sensor data is then used to execute particular macros, per situation, and react accordingly in order to circumvent injury and improve daily functioning of patients with mild cognitive impairment. |
236147021 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2021-07-21T14:01:35.607Z | 2021-04-01T00:00:00.000Z | Antiarthritic activity of asiaticoside against the Freund's complete adjuvant-induced rheumatoid arthritis in experimental wistar rats
Background: Rheumatoid synovial inflammation occurs at the synovial joint, which is activated by the articular system and mediated by the immune cells. In the case of untreated rheumatoid arthritis, the inflammation may affect the extra-articular system including cardiovascular, hepatic, respiratory, circulatory, and neuromuscular systems, which may ultimately interfere with the quality of life of patients with rheumatoid arthritis. This, in turn, reduces the life expectancy of the patient. Materials and Methods: The effectiveness of asiaticoside was evaluated by the Freund's complete adjuvant (FCA)-induced rheumatoid arthritis model using experimental Wistar rats. According to our results, asiaticoside exhibited potent anti-arthritic activity in contrast to the control animals in the FCA-induced rheumatoid arthritic model. Results: The parameters of arthritis such as reduced body weight, increased paw volume and pro-inflammatory cytokines, and cartilage destruction were significantly (P < 0.05) affected by the administration of asiaticoside. It significantly (P < 0.01) increased the body weight, decreased the paw volume and pro-inflammatory cytokines, restored the blood components, increased the levels of antioxidant enzymes, and protected the cartilage. Conclusion: Asiaticoside exhibited potential anti-arthritic activity against FCA-induced rheumatoid arthritis in experimental rats. |
43411721 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2018-04-03T05:35:23.730Z | 2016-08-01T00:00:00.000Z | Autophagy generates citrullinated peptides in human synoviocytes: a possible trigger for anti-citrullinated peptide antibodies.
OBJECTIVES
Autophagy may represent a functional processing event that creates a substrate for autoreactivity. In particular, autophagy may play a role in the pathogenesis of RA, since autophagy is a key cellular event involved in the generation of citrullinated peptides, with consequent breakage of tolerance. Thus, in RA, autophagy may be the common feature in several situations (including smoking, joint injury and infection) that may drive the adaptive responses to citrullinated self-proteins. The aim of this study was the analysis, in vitro, of the role of autophagy in the generation of citrullinated peptides and, in vivo, of the relationship between autophagy and the production of anti-CCP antibodies (Abs).
METHODS
For autophagy induction, fibroblast-like synoviocytes, primary fibroblasts and monocytes were stimulated with tunicamycin or rapamycin. Peptidyl arginine deiminase activity was tested by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and protein citrullination was evaluated by western blotting. The main citrullinated RA candidate antigens, vimentin, α-enolase and filaggrin, were demonstrated by immunoprecipitation. The relationship between autophagy and anti-CCP Abs was analysed in 30 early-active RA patients.
RESULTS
Our results demonstrated in vitro a role for autophagy in the citrullination process. Cells treated with tunicamycin or rapamycin showed peptidyl arginine deiminase 4 activation, with consequent protein citrullination. Immunoblotting and immunoprecipitation experiments, using specific Abs, identified the main citrullinated proteins: vimentin, α-enolase and filaggrin. In vivo, a significant association between levels of autophagy and anti-CCP Abs was observed in treatment-naïve early-active RA patients.
CONCLUSION
These findings support the view that the processing of proteins in autophagy generates citrullinated peptides recognized by the immune system in RA. |
220307671 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2020-07-02T10:08:31.209Z | 2019-09-01T00:00:00.000Z | An Approach Towards Enhancement of Review Summarization Using Sequence Model And Word Embedding
Traditionally, extraction-based text summarization techniques have simply relied upon statistical measures for extraction of major points in a document. With popularization of deep learning in solving problems in the field of Natural Language Processing, there is a need to incorporate deep learning to improve the effectiveness of summarization methods. In this paper, we explore the results and findings of our approach to improve review summarization as well as to delineate the capabilities of these language models in improving Natural Language Understanding. The aim of our summarization approach is to generate a gist of customers’ feedback of a product which would provide vendors and other customers with the necessary understanding in order to make informed purchases. Our proposed summarization approach is split into four major steps: Keyword Extraction, Sentiment Analysis, Adjective Mining and Sentence Extraction. Afterwards, all the outputs of these steps are combined to provide the user with summary of all reviews about a product. |
22655971 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2018-04-03T01:22:32.308Z | 2009-08-01T00:00:00.000Z | [Primary anterior focus debridement and bone autograft with internal fixation via transperitoneal approach for tuberculosis of lumbosacral junction].
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the clinical outcomes of primary anterior focus debridement, bone autograft, and internal fixation via transperitoneal approach in treating tuberculosis of the lumbosacral junction.
METHODS
From February 2002 to April 2007, 16 patients with tuberculosis of the lumbosacral junction underwent anterior radical debridement, autologous iliac bone graft (two pieces of iliac bone, 5 cm x 3 cm in size), and internal fixation via transperitoneal approach, including 4 males and 12 females aged 27-63 years old (average 38 years old). The course of the disease ranged from 6 to 18 months (average 10 months). All patients experienced various degrees of pain in the lumbosacral area and toxic symptoms of the tuberculosis. Nine cases were complicated with radicular pain in the lower extremities, and 3 cases had saddle area anaesthesia. Two cases were initially diagnosed as lumbar intervertebral disc protrusion and treated accordingly. The segments involved by the tuberculosis were L5-S1 level in all cases. The average erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) was 61 mm/hour. Imaging examination confirmed the diagnosis of spinal tuberculosis. All cases received four antitubercular drugs and nutrition support for nerve before operation. Operation was performed when hepatorenal function was normal, and the toxic symptom of the tuberculosis was under control or ESR was decreased.
RESULTS
Operation was performed safely in all cases without injuries of abdominal viscera, major blood vessel, cauda equina nerve and ureter. All wounds healed by first intention. No recurrence of tuberculosis and formation of sinuses occurred. All cases were followed up for 12-37 months (average 21 months). No such complications as tuberculous peritonitis and intestinal obstruction occurred. No postoperative erectile dysfunction and retrograde ejaculation occurred in the 4 male patients. ESR was recovered to normal 3-6 months after operation, and regular X-ray and CT exams showed no displacement of grafted bone. All patients achieved bony fusion 12 months after operation without the occurrence breakage and loosening of titanium plate and screw. The radical pain in the lower extremities and the saddle area anaesthesia disappeared. Four patients had pain in the iliac donor site, 2 patients had mild pain in the lumbosacral area, and the pain was eliminated after symptomatic treatment. The therapeutic effect was graded as excellent in 14 cases and good in 2 cases according to the therapeutic effect evaluation criteria of Chen and co-workers.
CONCLUSION
The surgical treatment of tuberculosis of the lumbosacral junction with primary anterior focus debridement, bone autograft, and internal fixation via transperitoneal approach can achieve satisfying bony fusion and reconstruct spinal stability. |
2499221 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2018-04-03T03:17:58.081Z | 1989-11-01T00:00:00.000Z | The null T cell in pig blood is not an NK cell.
Up to 50% of the blood lymphocytes in young pigs are thymus-derived, lack all subset-specific markers and appear immunologically unresponsive, with no known functional role. In an examination of their possible role in natural killing, NK activity was found in unpurified mononuclear cells and in preparations of unselected and nylon non-adherent lymphocytes (T cells and Null cells). However, NK activity was abolished by removing the E rosette forming T cells using a rat IgM anti-pig CD2 monoclonal antibody and rabbit complement, but not by control treatments with a non-binding rat IgM monoclonal reagent and complement or with any other reagent alone. Thus the resting Null T cell appears not to play a significant role in natural killing. |
29214521 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2018-04-03T01:20:56.371Z | 2006-02-01T00:00:00.000Z | Yin and yang: the case for integrative cancer care.
Traditional western allopathic medicine operates on a disease-focused model. Identification of symptoms is important primarily for the clues they provide to an underlying disease process. If the underlying disease process can be correctly identified and successfully treated, the symptoms should resolve. While this model is logical and allows for great successes in the treatment of profound disease, the model can be less successful for the treatment of ‘premorbid’ symptomatology (symptoms that are occurring without an identifiable pathologic disease process) or for the treatment of symptoms that persist despite ‘successful’ treatment of a disease, or even symptoms caused by the treatment itself. |
219405221 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2020-05-21T00:10:22.608Z | 2020-01-01T00:00:00.000Z | Development and production of Chinese large blast furnaces in 2019 compared with 2015–2016
By comparing the production indexes of large blast furnaces (BF) in China between the first half of 2019 and 2015–2016, the production status, reductant consumption, raw materials and operation conditions have been reviewed. In the first half of 2019, Chinese large BFs still had made a lot of achievements, but it is also discovered by comparison that not only the raw materials quality but also the large BFs stability have the trend of getting worse, so some work should be done to stop and recover the unfavorable situation. Based on that, the expectations of enhancing the raw materials quality and improving the operation conditions are suggested. Large BFs make great contributions to energy saving, low-carbon, high automatic, environmental protection and economic development, so there will be more large BFs constructed and put into production in China in the future. |
236273921 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2021-07-26T00:06:08.399Z | 2021-06-08T00:00:00.000Z | Exploring the influence of channel leadership style on channel commitment in a franchising context
Purpose
This paper aims to explore franchisor–franchisee relationships in the context of plural forms. Plural forms implies the co-existence of franchised and non-franchised outlets of a given company. More specifically, the paper examines the impact of franchisors’ leadership styles on franchisees’ relationship commitment when the company franchised outlets co-exist with independent non-franchised outlets. Specifically, this study operationalize the plural forms phenomenon in franchising, using multi-channel complexity as a moderator. The mediating role of relational capital is also examined.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected from 254 franchisees. The hypothesized model was tested using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM).
Findings
The results indicate that all three – participative, supportive and directive leadership styles of franchisors increase relationship commitment. In a high channel complexity context, a supportive leadership style is the most effective, whereas, in a low channel complexity context, a participative style is the most effective. Relational capital also partially mediated the relationships between leadership styles and relationship commitment.
Practical implications
Franchisors should follow a participative leadership style when channel complexity is low. However, as they add new channels and the channel complexity increases, franchisors should shift toward a supportive leadership style to maintain existing franchisees’ commitment. In current environments, managers should avoid using directive leadership in favor of the other two leadership styles.
Originality/value
The present study is the first to examine the influence of channel leadership style on relationship commitment in an environment of multiple channel complexity.
|
25705271 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2018-04-03T05:32:45.737Z | 2000-04-14T00:00:00.000Z | Liver function and hepatitis markers in carriers of hepatitis B virus in New Zealand.
AIMS
The Hepatitis Foundation has identified many chronic carriers of hepatitis B virus (HBV) in community surveys of schools and family contacts. This study reports the characteristics of carriers and the relationship between hepatitis markers and liver function.
METHODS
Demographic data from confirmed chronic carriers of HBV in the North Island were correlated with liver function and hepatitis markers. Longitudinal data were obtained by following a cohort for two years with regular blood tests.
RESULTS
Of 2778 confirmed carriers of HBV most were children or young adults and 56% were male. Sixty percent were Maori and 26% Pacific Island people. Loss of HBsAg occurred at less than 1% per year compared to 9% for HBeAg. Mean ages for 50% loss of HBeAg were 14 years for children of HBV negative mothers and 19 years for those of HBV carrier mothers. Fewer adult males than females were HBeAg positive. Alanine aminotransferase levels above 50 IU/L were found in 16% of HBeAg positive and 6% HBeAg negative cases. Other factors significantly associated with raised alanine aminotransferase were male gender (OR 1.8) and age more than 15 years (OR 2.0). Thirty five percent of HBeAg positive carriers with raised alanine aminotransferase levels spontaneously seroconverted to HBeAg negative in two years. However, raised alanine aminotransferase in HBeAg negative carriers was persistent in most cases and 38% had HBV-DNA detectable in serum.
CONCLUSIONS
HBV carriage is less benign in adults than children, even after loss of HBeAg. It is recommended that all HBV carriers have regular checks of liver function. Those with persistent abnormality should be strongly advised to restrict alcohol and be assessed for possible antiviral treatment. |
10570771 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2018-04-03T00:15:39.962Z | 1985-01-01T00:00:00.000Z | Noise exposure levels from model airplane engines.
Previous research indicates that noise levels from unmuffled model airplane engines produce sufficient noise to cause TTS. The present study explored SPLs of smaller engines under 3.25 cc (.19 cu. in.) and the effectiveness of engine mufflers. Results showed that model airplanes can exceed a widely used damage risk criterion (DRC) but that engine mufflers can reduce levels below DRC. Handling model gasoline engines should be added to the list of recreational activities such as snow-mobile and motorcycle riding, shooting, etc. in which the participant's hearing may be in jeopardy. Suggestions are presented to the model engine enthusiast for avoiding damage to hearing. |
20972771 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2018-04-03T02:22:21.446Z | 2015-01-01T00:00:00.000Z | The epithelial sodium channel γ-subunit is processed proteolytically in human kidney.
The epithelial sodium channel (ENaC) of the kidney is necessary for extracellular volume homeostasis and normal arterial BP. Activity of ENaC is enhanced by proteolytic cleavage of the γ-subunit and putative release of a 43-amino acid inhibitory tract from the γ-subunit ectodomain. We hypothesized that proteolytic processing of γENaC occurs in the human kidney under physiologic conditions and that proteinuria contributes to aberrant proteolytic activation. Here, we used monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) with specificity to the human 43-mer inhibitory tract (N and C termini, mAbinhibit, and mAb4C11) and the neoepitope generated after proteolytic cleavage at the prostasin/kallikrein cleavage site (K181-V182 and mAbprostasin) to examine human nephrectomy specimens. By immunoblotting, kidney cortex homogenate from patients treated with angiotensin II type 1 receptor antagonists (n=6) or angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (n=6) exhibited no significant difference in the amount of full-length or furin-cleaved γENaC or the furin-cleaved-to-full-length ratio of γENaC compared with homogenate from patients on no medication (n=5). Patients treated with diuretics (n=4) displayed higher abundance of full-length and furin-cleaved γENaC, with no significant change in the furin-cleaved-to-full-length γENaC ratio. In patients with proteinuria (n=6), the inhibitory tract was detected only in full-length γENaC by mAbinhibit. Prostasin/kallikrein-cleaved γENaC was detected consistently only in tissue from patients with proteinuria and observed in collecting ducts. In conclusion, human kidney γENaC is subject to proteolytic cleavage, yielding fragments compatible with furin cleavage, and proteinuria is associated with cleavage at the putative prostasin/kallikrein site and removal of the inhibitory tract within γENaC. |
62434971 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2019-02-15T14:08:04.781Z | 2013-09-01T00:00:00.000Z | Simulation Study of Vector Control System with Speed and Flux Closed-Loop
Through the rotor-flux-oriented vector control equation and the decoupling control based on vector control method, this paper studied the design method of the flux regulator in the vector control system. The vector control system is design with flux division link, and gets in an ideal performance of timing in the matlab simulation. |
108251271 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2015-07-20T21:03:00.000Z | 2009-12-15T00:00:00.000Z | Security measures in wired and wireless networks
The purpose of this study is to review contemporary wireless network protocols and areas that affect the ability of wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) technology to secure data transmitted over wireless networks. The research approach takes the form of a case study, in collating the methods used by existing protocols in the implementation of wireless Security Trust Models within their networks. So the paper follows a case study methodology on all the wireless protocols provided by the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers.
Wireless protected access Wi-Fi protected access; version 2 (WPA2) protocol has provided a more secure means for securing wireless networks but has only provided stronger encryption as it has a longer key which takes longer to decipher. So far, researchers have acknowledged that location privacy is critical to the security of data transmitted by wireless technology.
The security reality though, is that even with the implementation of the purportedly secure standards for wireless systems e.g. the 802.1x suite; there are insecure gaps where the information in transit remains in its plain unprotected form for some seconds before it is re-encrypted into another format for transmission. It is at such security holes that the information criminals tend to attack.
In this paper, we identify the various security related challenges faced by wireless protocols. This study is useful as it provides lessons for ICT managers, directors, academia and organizations, who wish to develop install or are already using wireless networks within their offices. |
17244221 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2014-10-01T00:00:00.000Z | 1998-01-01T00:00:00.000Z | Steps to a General Theory of Habitability
A theoretical basis is presented for a unified discussion of the sustainability and habitability of the built environment. This theory is inspired by concepts in human ecology, information theory, and thermodynamics. It suggests, in a first approximation, to subsume the quality of the built environment in view of provision of comfort, flexibility, control, and informational quality as a “Habitability Index,” which, ideally, could be ordered on a negentropic scale. Likewise, the environmental impact of buildings may be captured in terms of a “Sustainability Index,” which is assumed to inversely correspond to the entropy increase (in the relevant environmental system) attributable to the building activity. |
28545921 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2018-04-03T01:14:29.982Z | 1977-01-01T00:00:00.000Z | Correcting prominent ears with the island technique.
A surgical procedure is described which corrects the ansiform ear by repositioning and reconstructing the anthelix and the anterior crus with the formation of the triangular fossa. This corrects the scaphoconchal angle and improves the cephaloauricular angle, overcoming the problem of prominent ears. Correction in early childhood is recommended in order to avoid personality problems that may result from the deformity, particularly in boys. The technique employed yields important advantages: (1) prolonged use of the helmet-type of surgical dressing is unnecessary; (2) scars are less conspicuous; (3) the outcome is attractive and normal; (4) bleeding and inflammatory complications are avoided; and (5) recurrence of the malformation is unlikely. |
14476671 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2015-03-19T23:44:59.000Z | 2014-04-07T00:00:00.000Z | The Effect of Visa Policies on International Migration Dynamics
The effectiveness of migration policies has been widely contested, yet evidence has remained inconclusive due to conceptual and methodological limitations. Moreover, a general ‘receiving country bias’ in migration research, causes prior studies to focus on the effects of policies on inflows and fail to assess the simultaneous effect of policies on outflows. From a theoretical viewpoint, immigration restrictions reduce both inflows and outflows and, hence, overall circulation, which renders their effect on net migration theoretically ambiguous. To test this hypothesis, and using unique migration and visa datasets compiled by the DEMIG project (covering 38 countries over the 1973–2012 period), this paper assesses the short and long-term effects of travel visa policies on bilateral (country-to-country) inflow and outflow dynamics. The results suggest that travel visa policies significantly decrease inflows, but that this effect is to a large extent undermined by decreasing outflows of the same migrant groups. This seems to confirm that migration restrictions decrease circulation and tend to encourage long-term settlement, and thereby significantly reduce the responsiveness of migration to economic fluctuations in destination and origin societies. |
204230571 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2019-10-10T09:30:48.998Z | 2019-09-01T00:00:00.000Z | Intelligent System for Air Quality Monitoring Assessment using the Raspberry Pi Platform
In this paper, an intelligent system that uses the Raspberry Pi platform and the machine learning model to predict the values of various pollutants in the air, based on temperature, humidity, and pressure is proposed. Two sensors for measuring temperature, humidity, and barometric pressure are used by the system to collect data for the machine learning model. Two user interfaces are developed to help users in interacting with the model, and to monitor the predicted values. Finally, the results of the proposed air quality system are presented and analyzed and the future work has been outlined. |
169247621 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2019-05-30T23:47:21.616Z | 2019-04-02T00:00:00.000Z | China’s Demand for Energy and Mineral Resources by 2035
Since 2000, China’s consumption of energy and mineral resources has grown rapidly, and its consumption of some important mineral resources has even exceeded half of the global consumption. Mediumand long-term resource demand forecast is an important basis for national policy formulation and strategic planning. Based on historical statistics such as China’s population, GDP, and mineral resources consumption, this paper adopts the S-shape rule of per capita consumption, the demand analogy and proportional relationship measurement algorithm, and the departmental consumption method, to systematically predict the demand for 43 types of major mineral resources before 2035. Results show that China’s demand for mineral resources has changed from high-speed growth to differential growth; its demand for most of the bulk minerals will peak by 2025; the structure of primary energy sources will change dramatically when their demand peak by 2030, with the demand for Coal falling from 60.4% in 2017 to 46.3%, that for natural gas increasing from 6.6% to 13.2%, and that for non-fossil energy increasing from 13.6% to 23.4%; and demand for most strategic emerging minerals will continue to grow before 2035, and the global structure and pattern of supply and demand for energy and mineral resources will change greatly. |
789521 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2014-10-01T00:00:00.000Z | 1998-10-13T00:00:00.000Z | Distributed network flow control based on dynamic competitive markets
Network applications require a certain level of network performance for their proper operation. These individual guarantees can be provided if sufficient amounts of network resources are available; however, contention for the limited network resources may occur. For this reason, networks use flow control to manage network resources fairly and efficiently. This paper presents a distributed microeconomic flow control technique, that models the network as competitive markets. In these markets switches price their link bandwidth based on supply and demand, and users purchase bandwidth so as to maximize their individual quality of service (QoS). This decentralized flow control method provides a Pareto optimal and equitable (QoS-fair) bandwidth distribution. Simulation results using actual MPEG-compressed video traffic show utilization over 95% and better QoS control than max-min. |
8966821 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2014-10-01T00:00:00.000Z | 2014-01-01T00:00:00.000Z | Double exponential transformation in the Sinc-Galerkin method for the solution of problems in calculus of variations
In this paper, sinc-Galerkin method based on the double exponential transformation is used for finding the solution of boundary value problems which arise from the problems of calculus of variations. This approximation reduces the problems to an explicit system of algebraic equations. We use some numerical examples to illustrate the accuracy and implementation of the method. |
41780621 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2018-04-03T05:09:42.003Z | 2015-02-02T00:00:00.000Z | [Psychiatric and Social Aspects of Patients with Fragile X Syndrome].
OBJECTIVE
The goal of the study was to describe the burden of psychosocial risks, of mental illnesses and the ways of treatment of patients with fragile X syndrome (FRX).
METHOD
Data from a sample of 46 FRX-patients stemming from a prospective multicenter (N = 12) registry study (EXPLAIN) were analyzed with regard to psychosocial burden and treatment.
RESULTS
More than 50 % of all participants reported about relatives suffering from FRX, too. The majority of participants did not finish school and was suffering from one or another kind of mental problems. Younger participants (< 18 yrs.) tended to suffer from expansive disorders. Older participants were rather burdened by internalizing symptoms and disorders. Disorders were usually treated by psychotropic drugs added by logopedic therapies and occupational therapies (more than once a month). In our sample 90.6 % of younger and more than 64.3 % of older patients were still living with their parents.
CONCLUSIONS
Patients with FRX often suffer from additional mental disorders and should be diagnosed and treated early. |
24297771 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2018-04-03T03:45:22.565Z | 1989-07-01T00:00:00.000Z | Phosphorylase synthesis in diabetic hepatocytes and cardiomyocytes.
Whereas total cardiac glycogen phosphorylase activity appears to be unaffected by severe insulin deficiency, a diabetes-induced decreased in hepatic glycogen phosphorylase activity has been demonstrated by our laboratory and others using liver extracts, isolated perfused liver, and cultured hepatocytes. The loss of activity in diabetic liver can be correlated with a drop in protein levels. Using primary cultures of cells from normal and diabetic rats and phosphorylase specific antibodies, we found a corresponding decrease in phosphorylase synthesis in diabetic hepatocytes cultured for 2 days in a serum-free, chemically defined medium. When hepatocytes are cultured in the presence of insulin, triiodothyronine, and cortisol, there is a significant recovery in the rate of phosphorylase synthesis after 3 days. Over the 3-day time period, there is no significant difference in the rate of phosphorylase degradation in normal compared with diabetic hepatocytes. Total protein synthesis in both hepatocytes and cardiomyocytes is unaffected by diabetes, as is phosphorylase synthesis in cultured cardiomyocytes. |
19850871 | s2ag/train | v2 | 2017-06-27T04:31:13.347Z | 2004-07-01T00:00:00.000Z | [Antenatal corticosteroid use and clinical evolution of preterm newborn infants].
OBJECTIVES
To describe the use of antenatal corticosteroid and clinical evolution of preterm babies.
METHODS
An observational prospective cohort study was carried out. All 463 pregnant women and their 514 newborn babies with gestational age ranging from 23 to 34 weeks, born at the Brazilian Neonatal Research Network units, were evaluated from August 1 to December 31, 2001. The data were obtained through maternal interview, analysis of medical records, and follow-up of the newborn infants. Data analysis was performed with the use of chi-square, t Student, Mann-Whitney, and ANOVA tests and multiple logistic regression, with level of significance set at 5%.
RESULTS
Treatment was directly associated with the number of prenatal visits, with maternal hypertension and with the antenatal use of tocolytic agents. Babies from treated pregnant women presented better Apgar scores at the 1st and 5th minute, reduced need for intervention in the delivery room and lower SNAPPE II. They were born with higher birth weight, longer gestational age and needed less surfactant use, ventilation, and oxygenation time. After multiple logistic regression, the use of antenatal corticosteroid independently improved birth conditions, decreased ventilation time, being related to increased occurrence of neonatal sepsis.
CONCLUSIONS
The use of corticosteroid was associated with better prenatal care and birth conditions, better preterm evolution but higher risk of infection. |