Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Prognostic Value of Natriuretic Peptides in Chagas’ Disease: A 3-Year Follow-Up Investigation

Background: Chagas’ disease (CD) affects around 18 million people in Latin America. To determine the diagnostic and prognostic value of natriuretic peptides in patients with CD, we measured atrial (ANP) and brain natriuretic peptide (BNP), and compared the findings with other dilated cardiomyopathies (DCM). Methods: Blood samples were obtained from 111 CD patients, 62 patients with DCM due to other causes, and 43 gender- and age-matched healthy subjects. The CD and DCM patients were subdivided according to their NYHA classification. Natriuretic peptide concentrations were determined by immunoradiometric assays. Results: ANP and more pronounced BNP levels were increased in CD and DCM patients in relation to the NYHA class. Circulating BNP concentrations were higher in CD patients in NYHA classes I–II than in the corresponding DCM patients (p = 0.020). Importantly, ANP and BNP were already significantly elevated in CD patients without systolic ventricular dysfunction (p ≤ 0.001). In CD patients, both peptides were highly correlated with echocardiographic parameters (p < 10–14). Both ANP and BNP had comparable ability to predict death or the necessity for heart transplant (p < 0.0001). Conclusion: Natriuretic peptide levels can be used as a marker of asymptomatic CD without ventricular dysfunction and thus could be an ideal tool to identify these patients for early therapy.
Role of the Vesicular Chloride Transporter ClC-3 in Neuroendocrine Tissue

ClC-3 is an intracellular chloride transport protein known to reside on endosomes and synaptic vesicles. The endogenous protein has been notoriously difficult to detect in immunohistological experiments because of the lack of reliable antibodies. Using newly generated antibodies, we now examine its expression pattern at the cellular and subcellular level. In all tissues examined, immunostaining indicated that ClC-3 is a vesicular protein, with a prominent expression in endocrine cells like adrenal chromaffin cells and pancreatic islet cells. In line with a possible function of ClC-3 in regulating vesicle trafficking or exocytosis in those secretory cells, capacitance measurements and amperometry indicated that exocytosis of large dense-core vesicles (LDCVs) was decreased in chromaffin cells from ClC-3 knock-out mice. However, immunohistochemistry complemented with subcellular fractionation showed that ClC-3 is not detectable on LDCVs of endocrine cells, but localizes to endosomes and synaptic-like microvesicles in both adrenal chromaffin and pancreatic β cells. This observation points to an indirect influence of ClC-3 on LDCV exocytosis in chromaffin cells, possibly by affecting an intracellular trafficking step.
Antibiotic resistance of E. coli isolates from urine samples of Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) patients in Pakistan

Drug resistance is becoming alarming with the passage of time worldwide in general and in third world countries in particular. Human urine specimens of patients of urinary tract infection at Sheikh Zayed hospital, Lahore, Pakistan were analyzed for drug resistance in Escherichia coli. A total of 69 Escherichia coli isolates from human urine specimens were obtained and screened for their antibiograms. A total of seven antibiotic resistance profiles were obtained with over 65% of the isolates showing multi-drug resistance. Very high resistance levels were detected against augmentin and gentamicin (87.5 &77.5 % respectively) while imipenem and tazocin recorded the least resistance levels (32.5% and 12.5% respectively) among the isolates.
Multiple maps and activity‐dependent representational plasticity in the anterior Wulst of the adult barn owl (Tyto alba)

In the present study we addressed the issue of somatosensory representation and plasticity in a nonmammalian species, the barn owl. Multiunit mapping techniques were used to examine the representation of the specialized receptor surface of the claw in the anterior Wulst. We found dual somatotopic mirror image representations of the skin surface of the contralateral claw. In addition, we examined both representations 2 weeks after denervation of the distal skin surface of a single digit. In both representations, the denervated digital representation became responsive to stimulation of the adjacent, mutually functional, digit. The mutability and multiple representations indicates that the Wulst provides the owl with sensory processing capabilities analogous to those in mammals.
Glycated albumin: a potential biomarker in diabetes

ABSTRACT Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a chronic and metabolic disease that presents a high global incidence. Glycated hemoglobin (A1C) is the reference test for long-term glucose monitoring, and it exhibits an association with diabetic chronic complications. However, A1C is not recommended in clinical situations which may interfere with the metabolism of hemoglobin, such as in hemolytic, secondary or iron deficiency anemia, hemoglobinopathies, pregnancy, and uremia. The glycated albumin (GA) is a test that reflects short-term glycemia and is not influenced by situations that falsely alter A1C levels. GA is the higher glycated portion of fructosamine. It is measured by a standardized enzymatic methodology, easy and fast to perform. These laboratory characteristics have ensured the highlight of GA in studies from the last decade, as a marker of monitoring and screening for DM, as well as a predictor of long-term outcomes of the disease. The aim of this review was to discuss the physiological and biochemistry characteristics of the GA, as well as its clinical utility in DM.
An empirical study of adopting mobile healthcare service: the family's perspective on the healthcare needs of their elderly members.

In an aging society, the issue of increased medical costs troubles both government agencies and families with aging parents. Many elderly people require long-term care, and the medical and financial problems associated with long-term care worry their entire family. Mobile healthcare service (MHS) has been widely applied by medical practitioners and researchers for years. Unfortunately, the elderly often fear both the technology and the cost its use incurs; hence, they seldom actively adopt MHS without the prompting and support of other family members. This study highlights this issue of long-term healthcare for the elderly and extracts the factors affecting their family's intentions in adopting MHS. Based on the integration of the Theory of Planned Behavior and the Technology Acceptance Model, the factors associated with the family's intention of the aging people toward MHS are explored. Data were collected from 200 students in the "Job Master" track in a local "Executive Master of Business Administration" program. Half of them had at least one immediate family member who was older than 65 years of age. A partial least squares (PLS) analysis shows that "attitude" significantly affected the behavioral intention of adopting MHS, and "perceived usefulness" and "perceived ease-of-use" had an indirect effect via "attitude. " The PLS model explains the variance in intention (64.1%), attitude (58.1%), and perceived usefulness (33.8%). Overall, this study shows that attitude was an important determinant of MHS adoption. Gender also significantly affected the relationship between attitude and behavioral intention to adopt MHS.
Mixing time for the solid-on-solid model

We analyze the mixing time of a natural local Markov chain (the Glauber dynamics) on configurations of the solid-on-solid model of statistical physics. This model has been proposed, among other things, as an idealization of the behavior of contours in the Ising model at low temperatures. Our main result is an upper bound on the mixing time of O~(n3.5), which is tight within a factor of O~(√n). The proof, which in addition gives insight into the actual evolution of the contours, requires the introduction of several novel analytical techniques that we conjecture will have other applications.
Value Preferences, Political Orientation and Moral Reasoning of Certified Public Accountants

Numerous studies have reported a significant negative relation between moral reasoning (as measured by the Defining Issues Test) and political conservatism. However, recent studies with accounting subjects (Bailey et al. 2004, Bernardi et al. 2004) and other subjects (Bailey 2007) have found little or no relation and have called for more research. We use a sample of 309 practicing Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) to investigate this issue further and also present a variable composed of four value preferences that may explain the mixed results of prior studies. Our findings indicate a statistically significant inverse relation between moral reasoning and conservatism in univariate tests. However, this relation disappears in multivariate tests, where a composite measure of four individual value preferences (broadminded, imaginative, salvation, and obedient) from the Rokeach Value Survey is highly significant in explaining variation in moral reasoning. Our findings add to those suggesting caution in the interpretation of scores from the Defining Issues Test.
The best Sobolev trace constant as limit of the usual Sobolev constant for small strips near the boundary

In this paper we prove that the best constant in the Sobolev trace embedding $H^1(\varOmega)\hookrightarrow L^q(\partial\varOmega)$ in a bounded smooth domain can be obtained as the limit as $\varepsilon\to0$ of the best constant of the usual Sobolev embedding $H^1(\varOmega) \hookrightarrow L^q(\omega_\varepsilon,\mathrm{d} x/\varepsilon)$, where $\omega_\varepsilon=\{x\in\varOmega:\mathrm{dist}(x,\partial\varOmega)<\varepsilon\}$ is a small neighbourhood of the boundary. We also analyse symmetry properties of extremals of the latter embedding when $\varOmega$ is a ball.
Diseases of Aquatic Organisms Dis Aquat Org Streptococcus Iniae Β Β-hemolysin Streptolysin S Is a Virulence Factor in Fish Infection

INTRODUCTION Streptococcus iniae infection is a threat to the productivity of intensive finfish aquaculture operations worldwide, with annual economic losses measured in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Originally isolated from the freshwater dolphin Inia geoffrensis (Pier & Madin 1976), S. iniae infects a wide range of fish species such as tilapia (Press et al. 1998), yellowtail (Kitao 1982), trout (Eldar & Ghittino 1999), and hybrid striped bass (Evans et al. 2000). Clinical symptoms of S. iniae infection in fish include loss of orientation, lethargy, anorexia, ulcers, exophthalmia, and erratic swimming (Bercovier et al. 1997). Mortality is often attributed to a severe meningoencephalitis (Bercovier et al. 1997). In rare cases, S. iniae causes infection in humans who have handled diseased fish (Weinstein et al. 1997). Despite the need for novel approaches to treatments and prevention, phosphoglucomutase (Buchanan et al. 2005) and capsular polysaccharide (Miller & Neely 2005, Locke et al. 2007) are the only 2 S. iniae viru-lence factors characterized to date in the context of fish pathogenesis. A characteristic helpful in identifying Streptococcus iniae in the clinical laboratory is β-hemolysis, a zone of clearing surrounding colonies grown on blood agar media. With this phenotype, S. iniae resembles the leading human pathogen S. pyogenes, the agent of 'strep throat' and a wide variety of other mucosal or deep tissue infections (Carapetis et al. 2005). The primary factor responsible for β-hemolysis in S. pyogenes is streptolysin S (SLS), a small, pore-forming cytotoxin ABSTRACT: Streptococcus iniae is a leading pathogen of intensive aquaculture operations worldwide , although understanding of virulence mechanisms of this pathogen in fish is lacking. S. iniae possesses a homolog of streptolysin S (SLS), a secreted, pore-forming cytotoxin that is a proven viru-lence factor in the human pathogen S. pyogenes. Here we used allelic exchange mutagenesis of the structural gene for the S. iniae SLS precursor (sagA) to examine the role of SLS in S. iniae pathogenic-ity using in vitro and in vivo models. The isogenic ΔsagA mutant was less cytotoxic to fish blood cells and cultured epithelial cells, but comparable to wild-type (WT) S. iniae in adherence/invasion of epithelial cell monolayers and resisting phagocytic killing by fish whole blood or macrophages. In a hybrid striped bass infection model, loss of SLS production led to marked virulence attenuation, as injection of the ΔsagA mutant at 1000× the WT lethal dose (LD 80) produced only 10% mortality. The neutralization of …
Physical activity, physical fitness, and general health perception among individuals with rheumatoid arthritis.

OBJECTIVE To describe self-reported physical activity and physical fitness and to identify correlates of physical activity and general health perception. METHODS Data on self-reported physical activity, physical fitness, activity performance, and disease activity were collected from a sample of 298 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). RESULTS Forty-seven percent of our sample reported physical activity behaviors that did not comply with public health recommendations. A majority of the patients had decreased lower-limb muscle function (72%), grip force (94%), joint motion (94%), and functional balance (68%). Correlations between self-reported physical activity and other variables were r(s) = 0.25 or less. Variation in general health perception was explained (total adjusted R(2) = 0.65) by pain and activity performance. CONCLUSION Our findings indicate that there is a case for recommendations on and support for healthy physical activity behaviors among people with RA.
Bias in Qualitative Research: Voices from an Online Classroom

The issue of bias in qualitative research is an important one, and demands special attention and discussion in any qualitative research methods class. This reflective paper, written in the tradition of teacher-research, presents an analysis of how my students and I, working in an online classroom environment, learn together about the role researcher self and subjectivity play in designing and conducting qualitative research. While researcher bias and subjectivity are commonly understood as inevitable and important by most qualitative researchers, the beginners in qualitative research classes are generally not very comfortable with the idea of research that is not value-neutral. A systematic and reflective analysis of some of the teaching and learning activities, and of the online exchanges in these classes suggests that issues that require more critical thinking and reflection are dealt better using the power of written word. When students write down how their understanding of an issue is developing, the knowledge gained from the experience of putting the idea in comprehensible sentences is many times the knowledge gained when they make a verbal and often casual comment on the issue being discussed in the classroom. Since online instruction allows students to work at their own pace, factors such as differences in students' ability to communicate through verbal or written expression, and their level of understanding of the content can be better addressed in an online classroom. The students' and instructor's voices in this paper, and the unique framework in which they are organized convey their increased understanding of qualitative research as a process of self-discovery. Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 License. This article is available in The Qualitative Report: https://nsuworks.nova. edu/tqr/vol7/iss1/2 Bias in Qualitative Research: Voices from an Online
Molecular Characterization of the Salmonella enterica Serovar Typhi Vi-Typing Bacteriophage E1

ABSTRACT Some bacteriophages target potentially pathogenic bacteria by exploiting surface-associated virulence factors as receptors. For example, phage have been identified that exhibit specificity for Vi capsule producing Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi. Here we have characterized the Vi-associated E1-typing bacteriophage using a number of molecular approaches. The absolute requirement for Vi capsule expression for infectivity was demonstrated using different Vi-negative S. enterica derivatives. The phage particles were shown to have an icosahedral head and a long noncontractile tail structure. The genome is 45,362 bp in length with defined capsid and tail regions that exhibit significant homology to the S. enterica transducing phage ES18. Mass spectrometry was used to confirm the presence of a number of hypothetical proteins in the Vi phage E1 particle and demonstrate that a number of phage proteins are modified posttranslationally. The genome of the Vi phage E1 is significantly related to other bacteriophages belonging to the same serovar Typhi phage-typing set, and we demonstrate a role for phage DNA modification in determining host specificity.
Biomechanical Evaluation of Relationship of Screw Pullout Strength, Insertional Torque, and Bone Mineral Density in the Cervical Spine

Background: Understanding of implant failure mechanisms is important in the successful utilization of anterior cervical plates. Many variables influence screw purchase, including the quality of the bone. The purpose of this study was to assess the relationship of screw pullout and screw insertional torque across a wide range of bone mineral densities (BMDs). Methods: A total of 54 cervical vertebrae in 12 cervical spines were evaluated for BMD using dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry scanning. Actual and perceived peak torques of 3.5-mm anterior cervical screws were determined at each level followed by screw pullout strength testing. Results: A high correlation was observed between screw pullout strength and BMD. However, there was a low correlation of peak insertional torque to pullout strength. Conclusion: These findings suggest the quality of the bone is more instrumental in the success or failure of anterior cervical screws than is the insertional torque with which the screws are placed.
Review and survey of compact and broadband Microstrip Patch Antenna

Microstrip Patch Antenna is generally used in modern communication devices. Study of past few year shows that, most of work on MPA is focused on designing compact sized Microstrip Antenna. As per Microstrip Patch Antenna offer low profile, low cost and low volume. Study of literature of past few year shows that, the leading work on MPA is focused on designing compact sized broadband microstrip antenna. But inherently MPA have narrow bandwidth so to enhance bandwidth various techniques are engaged. Today Communication devices support several applications which require higher bandwidth; such as mobile phones these days are getting thinner and smarter but many application supported by them require higher bandwidth, so microstrip antenna used for performing this operation should provide wider bandwidth as well as their size should be compact so that it should occupy less space while keeping the size of device as small as possible. In this paper a review of different techniques used for compact and broadband microstrip patch antenna is given.
Adding aggressive error correction to a high-performance compressing flash file system

While NAND flash memories have rapidly increased in both capacity and performance and are increasingly used as a storage device in many embedded systems, their reliability has decreased both because of increased density and the use of multi-level cells (MLC). Current MLC technology only specifies the minimum requirement for an error correcting code (ECC), but provides no additional protection in hardware. However, existing flash file systems such as YAFFS and JFFS2 rely upon ECC to survive small numbers of bit errors, but cannot survive the larger numbers of bit errors or page failures that are becoming increasingly common as flash file systems scale to multiple gigabytes. We have developed a flash memory file system, RCFFS, that increases reliability by utilizing algebraic signatures to validate data and Reed-Solomon codes to correct erroneous or missing data. Our file system allows users to adjust the level of reliability they require by specifying the number of redundancy pages for each erase block,allowing them to dynamically trade off reliability and storage overhead. By integrating error mitigation with advanced features such as fast mounting and compression, we show, via simulation in NANDsim, that our file system can outperform YAFFS and JFFS2 while surviving flash memory errors that would cause data loss for existing flash file systems.
Inhibition of AMP-Activated Protein Kinase Protects Pancreatic β-Cells From Cytokine-Mediated Apoptosis and CD8+ T-Cell–Induced Cytotoxicity

OBJECTIVE—Apoptotic destruction of insulin-producing pancreatic β-cells is involved in the etiology of both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) is a sensor of cellular energy charge whose sustained activation has recently been implicated in pancreatic β-cell apoptosis and in islet cell death posttransplantation. Here, we examine the importance of β-cell AMPK in cytokine-induced apoptosis and in the cytotoxic action of CD8+ T-cells. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS— Clonal MIN6 β-cells or CD1 mouse pancreatic islets were infected with recombinant adenoviruses encoding enhanced green fluorescent protein (eGFP/null), constitutively active AMPK (AMPK-CA), or dominant-negative AMPK (AMPK-DN) and exposed or not to tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin-1β, and interferon-γ. Apoptosis was detected by monitoring the cleavage of caspase-3 and DNA fragmentation. The cytotoxic effect of CD8+ purified T-cells was examined against pancreatic islets from NOD mice infected with either null or the AMPK-DN–expressing adenoviruses. RESULTS— Exposure to cytokines, or expression of AMPK-CA, induced apoptosis in clonal MIN6 β-cells and CD1 mouse pancreatic islets. By contrast, overexpression of AMPK-DN protected against the proapoptotic effect of these agents, in part by preventing decreases in cellular ATP, and lowered the cytotoxic effect of CD8+ T-cells toward NOD mouse islets. CONCLUSIONS— Inhibition of AMPK activity enhances islet survival in the face of assault by either cytokines or T-cells. AMPK may therefore represent an interesting therapeutic target to suppress immune-mediated β-cell destruction and may increase the efficacy of islet allografts in type 1 diabetes.
Low-power transimpedance amplifier for near infrared spectroscopy

This paper presents the design and the post layout simulation of a high-sensitivity low-power Transimpedance Amplifier (TIA) for frequency domain functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy (FD-fNIRS). It consumes 194 μW from 1.2 V DC supply. This low power will increase the battery life of the NIRS portable system. The proposed TIA achieves 103.3 dBΩ transimpedance gain, 22 MHz bandwidth and 6.3 nA integrated input noise current using a photodiode with 2 pF capacitance. The demonstrated TIA is simulated using 130 nm CMOS technology occupying an area of 0.0012 mm2. Post amplifier stages are presented to increase the total gain and to interface the ADC in the next stage. The complete receiver achieves 120.6 dBΩ gain, 19.9 MHz bandwidth, 6.6 nA total input noise and consumes 2.4 mW from 1.2 V DC supply.
Effects of Visual-Field Inversions on the Reverse-Perspective Illusion

The ‘reverse-perspective’ illusion entails the apparent motion of a stationary scene painted in relief and containing misleading depth cues. We have found that, using prism goggles to induce horizontal or vertical visual-field reversals, the illusory motion is greatly reduced or eliminated in the direction for which the goggles reverse the visual field. We argue that the illusion is a consequence of the observer's inability to reconcile changes in visual information due to body movement with implicit knowledge concerning anticipated changes. As such, the reverse-perspective illusion may prove to be useful in the study of the integration of linear perspective and motion parallax information.