Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Efficacy of omega-3 fatty acids supplementation in treatment of uremic pruritus in hemodialysis patients: a double-blind randomized controlled trial

Background Uremic pruritus is a common and bothersome complaint among end-stage renal disease which affect between 25% and 60% of this population . But there is no decisive cure for treatment of it. In this study, the effects of omega-3 for treatment of pruritus were investigated in hemodialysis patients. Methods A double-blind randomized study was carried out in the form of placebo-controlled crossover study in four dialysis centers in Tehran, Iran during 2008. At first, 22 hemodialysis patients suffering from pruritus with previous drug resistance were selected. Next, these patients were randomly allocated into two groups of omega-3-placebo (group A) and placebo-omega-3 (group B) . Patients in group A were treated with a 1-gram Fish oil capsule for 20 days, and subsequently, they were treated with placebo for 20 days after a 14-day wash-out period . But the reverse act was done in group B.The pruritus assessment was made quantitatively through Detailed Pruritus Score. Results Pruritus was decreased up to 65% from score mean of 20.3 (95% CI: 16.7-23.8) to 6.4 (95% CI: 2.9-9.8) in omega-3 group and the decrease in the placebo group was 15% from score mean of 17.0 (95% CI: 12.4-21.6) to 14.4 (95% CI: 10.5-18.2). So the level of statistical difference was significant (P=0.0001). Discussion Omega-3 fatty acids found to be more effective than placebo in decreasing of uremic pruritus. So it seems that Omega-3 fatty acids could be used as an efficient drug for treatment of pruritus in uremic patients.
MATCHING FACES BY EXPRESSION AND IDENTITY IN6-TO 9-YEAR-OLD CHILDREN

The research questions addressed are: 1. Do children tend to match unfamiliar faces by face expression or by identity, and 2. Is this tendency age-related? A total of 60 school pupils of both sexes, aged 6 to 9 years, participated in the experiment. Photograph triads were presented to participants, one at a time. Two of the three photographs showed two different people (A and B) with the same emotional expression, while the third was the same as person A with a neutral facial expression. Participants were requested to match photographs and to choose the odd one out. Children aged 6 to 7 years tended to match faces by facial expression, while 8 to 9 year olds tended to match faces by identity. Presumably preference to match faces rather by identity than by facial expression in older children may be ascribed to the age-related development of the ability to attend selectively to face identity, without paying attention to emotional facial expression. As for the biological significance of this phenomenon, development of the ability to identify people is suggested to increase in importance with age in parallel to the increase in the level of socialization and contacts with larger community.
Compliance with physical exercise: Using a multidisciplinary approach within a dose-dependent exercise study of moderately overweight men

Aims: Sixty-one healthy, sedentary, moderately overweight young men participated in a randomised controlled trial to examine the effects of two different doses of endurance exercise on health behaviour and exercise compliance. Methods: Participants were randomised to a sedentary control group, a moderate (MOD; 300 kcal/day) or a high-dose (HIGH; 600 kcal/day) endurance exercise group for 12 weeks. A sub-set of the subjects were interviewed using pre-determined, qualitative questions to elucidate physical activity and health behaviour. In combination with the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB), a post hoc thematic analysis was conducted to connect qualitative and quantitative data in a joint analysis. Results: Of the subjects interviewed, exercise compliance expressed as 95% CI was [96.8; 103%] in the MOD group and [82.9; 99.6%] in the HIGH group. The different doses of daily exercise equally improved various metabolic health parameters. The MOD group was untroubled by the exercise load and had a positive attitude towards exercise. The HIGH group expressed increased fatigue, less positivity and perceived exercise as time-consuming. The MOD group described themselves as more energetic, and thereby may have increased physical activity levels in areas of their everyday lives that were not related to the intervention. Conclusions: A multidisciplinary approach provided explanations for similar effects of two different doses of exercise. This could not have been determined via either qualitative or quantitative methodology alone. The preconditions of the TBP were fulfilled, and it represents a methodological model to explain the high degree of compliance and motivation to exercise.
Acrylonitrile–butadiene rubber/reclaimed rubber—nylon fiber composite

The effect of diphenylmethane diisocyanate (MDI)–polyethyleneglycol (PEG) resin on the cure characteristics and mechanical properties of nitrile rubber/whole tyre reclaim—short nylon fiber composite—was studied. At a constant loading of 5 phr, the resin composition was varied. The minimum torque and (maximum − minimum) torque increased with isocyanate concentration. Scorch time and cure time showed a reduction on introduction of bonding agent. Properties like tensile strength, tear strength, and abrasion resistance increased with increase in MDI/PEG ratio, and these properties are higher in the longitudinal direction of fiber orientation. Compression set increased with isocyanate concentration and the resilience remain unchanged. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Adv Polym Techn 20: 281–288, 2001
Nonlinear Temperature Gradient Effects in Dowel Jointed Concrete Slabs

The effect of nonlinearity in Temperature Gradient Profile (TGP) on dowel jointed concrete slabs is examined using nonlinear Three-Dimensional Finite Element (3DFE) modeling. The model's thermal response is validated versus field-measured data collected from a heavily instrumented section on the Robert Byrd Highway (Route 33) near Elkins, West Virginia, USA. Results indicate that TGP nonlinearity has its maximum effect on the longitudinal stress 0.28 m away from the transverse joint, i.e. near the end of the embedded dowel bars. A TGP that includes a uniform temperature drop is shown to induce a large magnitude of tensile thermal stress at mid slab. This stress is unaffected by the extent of nonlinearity in TGP and depends on the magnitude of temperature drop and the difference between slab top and bottom temperatures. It is shown that dowel bar bending, due to slab curling, introduces a significant edge restraint to slab contraction and expansion due to ambient temperature changes. Mid-slab longitudinal stress is shown to be minimal for a 4.6 m long slab.
Attenuation Correction for Small Animal PET Images: A Comparison of Two Methods

In order to extract quantitative parameters from PET images, several physical effects such as photon attenuation, scatter, and partial volume must be taken into account. The main objectives of this work were the evaluation of photon attenuation in small animals and the implementation of two attenuation correction methods based on X-rays CT and segmentation of emission images. The accuracy of the first method with respect to the beam hardening effect was investigated by using Monte Carlo simulations. Mouse- and rat-sized phantoms were acquired in order to evaluate attenuation correction in terms of counts increment and recovery of uniform activity concentration. Both methods were applied to mice and rat images acquired with several radiotracers such as18F-FDG, 11C-acetate, 68Ga-chloride, and 18F-NaF. The accuracy of the proposed methods was evaluated in heart and tumour tissues using 18F-FDG images and in liver, kidney, and spinal column tissues using 11C-acetate, 68Ga-chloride, and 18F-NaF images, respectively. In vivo results from animal studies show that, except for bone scans, differences between the proposed methods were about 10% in rats and 3% in mice. In conclusion, both methods provide equivalent results; however, the segmentation-based approach has several advantages being less time consuming and simple to implement.
Abdominal Cocoon Syndrome is a Rare Cause of Mechanical Intestinal Obstructions: A Report of Two Cases

Case series Patient: Male, 30 • Male, 47 Final Diagnosis: Abdominal cocoon syndrome Symptoms: Abdominal pain • nausea • vomiting Medication: — Clinical Procedure: Operation Specialty: Surgery Objective: Rare disease Background: Abdominal cocoon syndrome is also known in the literature as sclerosing peritonitis or sclerosing encapsulating peritonitis. It is characterized by total or partial encapsulation of abdominal viscera by a fibrous membrane. It has been reported mainly in adolescent women and the majority of the cases are of unknown etiology. Preoperative diagnosis is difficult and is usually established during laparotomy. We present 2 cases of acute mechanical intestinal obstruction caused by sclerosing encapsulating peritonitis. Case Report: Two male patients, ages 30 and 47, were admitted to our emergency department for mechanical intestinal obstruction. They were treated surgically and were diagnosed with abdominal cocoon syndrome. Conclusions: If abdominal cocoon syndrome is diagnosed pre-operatively and acute abdomen symptoms are not observed, surgery is unnecessary. If surgery is inevitable, membrane resection and bridotomy must be performed, as in our 2 cases. If resection is going to be performed, primary anastomosis is not recommended. Iatrogenic injuries that happened during the operation should not be immediately repaired, because creation of the stoma from the proximal part of the injury is recommended.
A 90nm 12ns 32Mb 2T1MTJ MRAM

Since MRAM cells have unlimited write endurance, they can be used as substitutes for DRAMs or SRAMs. MRAMs in electronic appliances enhance their convenience and energy efficiency because data in MRAMs are nonvolatile and retained even in the power-off state. Therefore, 2 to 16Mb standalone MRAMs have been developed [1–4]. However, in terms of their random-access times, they are not enough fast (25ns) [1] as substitutes for all kinds of stand-alone DRAMs or SRAMs. To attain a standalone MRAM with both a fast random-access time and a large capacity, we adopt a cell structure with 2 transistors and 1 magnetic tunneling junction (2T1MTJ), which we previously published for a 1Mb embedded MRAM macro [5]. We need to develop circuit schemes to achieve a larger memory capacity and a higher cell-occupation ratio with small access-time degradation. We describe the circuit schemes of a 32Mb MRAM, which enable 63% cell occupation ratio and 12ns access time.
Long-Term Prognosis of Medically Treated Patients With Internal Carotid or Middle Cerebral Artery Occlusion: Can Acetazolamide Test Predict It?

Background and Purpose— The importance of hemodynamic parameters for predicting outcome in patients with occlusive carotid disease remains controversial. The present study was aimed at testing the hypothesis that regional cerebrovascular reactivity (rCVR) to acetazolamide can be a reliable predictor of subsequent ischemic stroke in medically treated patients with internal carotid artery or middle cerebral artery occlusion. Methods— Seventy-seven symptomatic patients were enrolled in this prospective, longitudinal cohort study. All patients met inclusion criteria of cerebral angiography, no or localized cerebral infarction on MRI or CT, and no or minimal neurological deficit. Regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) and rCVR to acetazolamide were quantitatively determined by 133Xe SEPCT. All patients were categorized into 4 types on the basis of SPECT studies. Results— During an average follow-up period of 42.7 months, 16 total and 7 ipsilateral ischemic strokes occurred. The annual risks of total and ipsilateral stroke in patients with decreased rCBF and rCVR were 35.6% and 23.7%, respectively, risks that are higher than those in other types of patients. When strokes were categorized into patients with and without decreased rCBF and rCVR, Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed that the risks of total and ipsilateral stroke in patients with decreased rCBF and rCVR were significantly higher than in those without (P <0.0001 and P =0.0001, respectively, log-rank test). Relative risk conferred by decreased rCBF and rCVR was 8.0 (95% CI, 1.9 to 34.4) for ipsilateral stroke and 3.6 (95% CI, 1.4 to 9.3) for total stroke. Conclusions— Decreased rCBF and rCVR to acetazolamide may identify a subgroup of patients who have a higher risk of subsequent ischemic stroke when treated medically.
Interaction of Protease-Activated Receptor 2 with G Proteins and β-Arrestin 1 Studied by Bioluminescence Resonance Energy Transfer

G protein-coupled receptors are well recognized as being able to activate several signaling pathways through the activation of different G proteins as well as other signaling proteins such as β-arrestins. Therefore, understanding how such multiple GPCR-mediated signaling can be integrated constitute an important aspect. Here, we applied bioluminescence resonance energy transfer (BRET) to shed more light on the G protein coupling profile of trypsin receptor, or protease-activated receptor 2 (PAR2), and its interaction with β-arrestin1. Using YFP and Rluc fusion constructs expressed in COS-7 cells, BRET data revealed a pre-assembly of PAR2 with both Gαi1 and Gαo and a rapid and transient activation of these G proteins upon receptor activation. In contrast, no pre-assembly of PAR2 with Gα12 could be detected and their physical association can be measured with a very slow and sustained kinetics similar to that of β-arrestin1 recruitment. These data demonstrate the coupling of PAR2 with Gαi1, Gαo, and Gα12 in COS-7 cells with differences in the kinetics of GPCR-G protein coupling, a parameter that very likely influences the cellular response. Moreover, this further illustrates that pre-assembly or agonist-induced G protein interaction depends on receptor-G protein pairs indicating another level of complexity and regulation of the signaling of GPCR-G protein complexes and its multiplicity.
Phonotactics, Neighborhood Activation, and Lexical Access for Spoken Words

Probabilistic phonotactics refers to the relative frequencies of segments and sequences of segments in spoken words. Neighborhood density refers to the number of words that are phonologically similar to a given word. Despite a positive correlation between phonotactic probability and neighborhood density, nonsense words with high probability segments and sequences are responded to more quickly than nonsense words with low probability segments and sequences, whereas real words occurring in dense similarity neighborhoods are responded to more slowly than real words occurring in sparse similarity neighborhoods. This contradiction may be resolved by hypothesizing that effects of probabilistic phonotactics have a sublexical focus and that effects of similarity neighborhood density have a lexical focus. The implications of this hypothesis for models of spoken word recognition are discussed.
Development of a Spectropolarimetric Remote Sensing Capability

Abstract : A Bomem 200 series Fourier transform infrared spectrometer and FLIR Systems Inc InGaAs infrared (IR) camera was used to measure the degree of linear polarization (DOLP) from a metal and glass surfaces. This was accomplished by placing a wire grid polarizer in front of the aperture of the FTIR and IR camera to measure the polarized reflection from the target material. For the IR camera, an average of pixel counts was collected over the area of the target to measure to DOLP. Factors impacting the accuracy of the measurements from the FTIR are calibration, instrument self emission, and alignment error. Factors impacting the value of the DOLP from the material are the complex index of refraction, angle of incidence, and surface roughness. Results of these measurements match theory with varying success and also show the limitation and challenges associated with the physical limitation of the equipment used.
Genetic Parentage and Local Population Structure in the Socially Monogamous Upland Sandpiper

Abstract. For a single lineage of birds, the diversity of mating systems and parental care among shorebirds (Charadrii) is high, which has made them an important group for investigations of the evolution of social mating systems. From 2003 to 2007, we studied a population of the Upland Sandpiper (Bartramia longicauda) at Konza Prairie Biological Station in northeastern Kansas. Our objectives were to determine the genetic mating system of this socially monogamous shorebird and to determine whether spatial patterns of philopatry and nest placement might affect opportunities for extra-pair mating. We used six microsatellite markers to estimate rates of extra-pair paternity in 58 family groups (107 parents, 184 offspring). We found that 30% of broods contained extra-pair offspring, representing 15% of chicks, the highest rate of extra-pair paternity ever reported in a socially monogamous shorebird. High rates of extra-pair paternity were not due to the degree of relatedness between partners in mated pairs, and they did not result in greater diversity among broods with extra-pair young. We used a spatial genetic-autocorrelation analysis and found evidence for relatedness among females nesting <1 km apart. The Upland Sandpiper might have a high rate of extra-pair paternity because related females nest synchronously and in close proximity, but the probability of extra-pair young was not related to nest density or distance to nearest nest. Female-biased natal philopatry is unusual among birds but is consistent with the mate-defense mating system of the Upland Sandpiper.
Primary open angle glaucoma is associated with a specific p53 gene haplotype

Primary open angle glaucoma (POAG) is the second commonest cause of blind registration in the United Kingdom and affects approximately 70 million people worldwide.1,2 The major risk factors are intraocular pressure, ethnicity, refractive errors, and vascular function. There is also clear evidence from population, case control, and twin studies of a heritable element to POAG.3,4 The genes encoding myocilin and optineurin have been be linked to POAG in large families with autosomal dominant inheritance, and a number of chromosomal loci are being studied for a possible genetic association with glaucoma.5–10 It appears that POAG is a complex trait and multiple genes contribute to the phenotype and increase individuals’ susceptibility to glaucomatous optic neuropathy. Quite independently, a number of recent studies suggest that apoptosis of the retinal ganglion cells is an important mechanism behind glaucoma.11,12 Apoptosis is a form of genetically controlled, programmed cell death, which is under extensive research, especially in cancer,13–15 neuronal injury,16 and neurodegenerative disorders.17,18 During the primary regulatory steps of apoptosis, a signal of cellular distress activates the tumour suppressor protein p53. This protein acts like a “guardian of the genome”, regulating subsequent apoptotic events through several oncogenes, principally bax and bcl-2 . 13 Further apoptotic events include changes in mitochondria with cytochrome c release and activation of cystein proteases (caspases), which digest the dying cell from within.19 It is therefore of great interest that one study showed an association between genetic polymorphic variants of the p53 gene and POAG. In a Chinese study, a cytosine (C) residue at codon 72 of the p53 gene was significantly more common in POAG patients than control subjects.20 In another study carried out on an Indian cohort, a second polymorphism (a 16 bp duplication in …
Quality and standardisation of Royal Jelly

Departamento de Alimentos e Nutricao Experimental, Faculdade de Ciencias Farmaceuticas da Universidade de Sao Paulo (USP), Sao Paulo, Brazil. Received 26 June 2008, accepted subject to revision 18 August 2008, accepted for publication November 2008. *Corresponding author: Email: annagloria.sabatini@entecra.it
High-Fidelity Coding with Correlated Neurons

Positive correlations in the activity of neurons are widely observed in the brain. Previous studies have shown these correlations to be detrimental to the fidelity of population codes, or at best marginally favorable compared to independent codes. Here, we show that positive correlations can enhance coding performance by astronomical factors. Specifically, the probability of discrimination error can be suppressed by many orders of magnitude. Likewise, the number of stimuli encoded—the capacity—can be enhanced more than tenfold. These effects do not necessitate unrealistic correlation values, and can occur for populations with a few tens of neurons. We further show that both effects benefit from heterogeneity commonly seen in population activity. Error suppression and capacity enhancement rest upon a pattern of correlation. Tuning of one or several effective parameters can yield a limit of perfect coding: the corresponding pattern of positive correlation leads to a ‘lock-in’ of response probabilities that eliminates variability in the subspace relevant for stimulus discrimination. We discuss the nature of this pattern and we suggest experimental tests to identify it.
Extreme wide-temperature range 8-bit digital to analog converter in bulk CMOS process

An 8-bit 20k samples-per-second digital-to-analog converter (DAC) capable of operating within the extreme wide-temperature range was developed in a 130nm bulk CMOS technology. Emphasis was placed on the design of a temperature insensitive operational amplifier (op-amp) used in DAC. A novel approach for common mode-feedback with a nested miller compensation op-amp was used in combination with other established methods to mitigate the negative effects of high temperatures on bulk CMOS devices. At 225 °C, the op-amp had a power consumption of 647 μW, with a DC gain of 76 dB, a unity gain bandwidth of 56.8 MHz and a phase margin of 100 degrees. The functionality of the 8-bit DAC was characterized at all operating corners over the extreme wide-temperature range.