Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Blood Pressure Variability after Intravenous Thrombolysis in Acute Stroke Does Not Predict Intracerebral Hemorrhage but Poor Outcome

Background: The relevance of blood pressure variability (BPV) in the development of intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) after intravenous thrombolysis (IVT) in acute stroke still remains uncertain. Methods: 427 consecutive patients treated with IVT in the years 2007–2009 were studied. Blood pressure (BP) values were analyzed from admission to follow-up imaging scan and described as mean, maximum, minimum, standard deviation (SD), difference between maximum and minimum, successive variation (SV) and maximum SV. ICH was categorized based on radiologic criteria and symptomatic ICH (sICH) was defined as ICH plus worsening of the National Institute of Health Stroke Scale by ≧4 points or leading to death. Three-month outcome was described by means of the modified Rankin Scale. Results: We observed any ICH in 51 (11.9%) and sICH in 10 (2.3%) patients. Systolic and diastolic BP profiles, including mean, maximum, minimum, SD, difference between maximum and minimum, SV and maximum SV, did not differ between ICH-negative, ICH-positive and sICH patients. In univariate analysis, high systolic BPV was associated with sICH (p = 0.03). A logistic regression model to predict ICH only found early CT findings (OR = 2.74, 95% CI = 1.47–5.11, p < 0.01) as independently associated with ICH. Poor 3-month outcome was independently predicted by age (OR = 0.96, 95% CI = 0.94–0.97, p < 0.001), NIHSS on admission (OR = 0.84, 95% CI = 0.80–0.87, p < 0.001), ICH (OR = 0.29, 95% CI = 0.13–0.66, p < 0.01) and high systolic BPV (OR = 1.68, 95% CI = 1.05–2.69, p < 0.05). Conclusions: We demonstrate that high BPV in patients receiving IVT leads to poor outcome but does not increase the risk of ICH/sICH.
Association of HLA class I and class II polymorphisms with age-related macular degeneration.

PURPOSE To evaluate whether HLA genotypes are associated with age-related macular degeneration (AMD). METHODS HLA class I-A, -B, and -Cw and class II DRB1 and DQB1 principal allele groups were genotyped in two stages: initially for principal allele groups in a cohort of 100 AMD cases and 92 control subjects, and then, in the next 100 cases and controls from the same cohort, for alleles or allele groups with P < 0.1 on initial typing. Genotype frequencies were compared by 2 x 2 contingency tables. The strongest associations for individual HLA alleles were calculated with two-locus stratification analysis and logistic regression for all possible pair-wise HLA combinations. Bonferroni corrections were applied for multiple measurements (P(c)). Each HLA allele was subjected to logistic regression for known AMD covariates. HLA immunohistochemistry for class I antigens was performed on elderly donor eyes. RESULTS Allele Cw*0701 (P = 0.004, P(c) = 0.036) correlated positively with AMD, whereas alleles B*4001 (P = 0.003, P(c) = 0.027) and DRB1*1301(P = 0.001, P(c) = 0.009) were negatively associated. These HLA associations were independent of any linkage disequilibrium. Immunohistochemistry demonstrated differential HLA class I expression in choriocapillary endothelial cells. CONCLUSIONS Significant positive and negative associations exist between HLA alleles and AMD. HLA polymorphisms influence the development of AMD, possibly via modulating choroidal immune function.
Effects of Nitrogen and Potassium Combinations on Yields and Infestations of Maize by Busseola fusca (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) in the Humid Forest of Cameroon

Abstract Field trials were set up in the humid forest zone of Cameroon to investigate the effects of combinations of different rates of nitrogen (N) (0, 60, and 120 kg N ha−1) and potassium (K) (0, 80, and 160 kg K ha−1) applied to the soil on the incidence and damage of the noctuid stemborer Busseola fusca (Fuller), and on maize, Zea mays L. , yield. Each N/K combination had an insecticide control to assess yield losses due to borers. In contrast to N, K had no effect on plant growth and borer incidence and damage. Across seasons and days after planting, total plant dry matter (DM) production increased with N level and it was 1.2–1.9 and 1.7–2.2 times, respectively, higher at 60 and 120 kg N ha−1 compared with 0 kg N ha−1. Total DM at harvest was strongly related to the N content of the plant at 63 d after planting. At the early growth stage, borer abundance and stem tunneling tended to increase with N level, but percentages of dead hearts did not vary with treatment. Maize grain yields increased linearly with N level, but grain yield losses decreased depending on season. Grain yield losses were 11–18.2 times higher with 0 kg N ha−1 compared with 120 kg N ha−1. The findings so far indicated that, soil application of N improves the nutritional status of maize, which consequently enhanced its tolerance to stemborer attacks. Improving soil fertility can thus be a very effective means of complementing integrated stemborer control in the humid forest zone of Cameroon.
Isolation of Biosurfactant Producing Bacteria From Poultry Breast Skin

Background Biosurfactants are surface-active compounds produced by some microorganisms. Objectives In this study, we collected surface skin samples from breast of poultry (chicken, turkey, and, quail) and screened for biosurfactant-producing bacteria. We also determined the genera of cultured strains. Materials and Methods 33 hemolytic bacterial strains (15, 11, and 7 isolates from chicken, turkey, and quail, respectively) were isolated; oil spreading (OS) and bioemulsifying activities were measured for all isolates. Results Two isolates of chicken (6.06%), three of turkey (9.1%), and three of quail (9.1%) were positive in all examinations (hemolysis, emulsification index (E24) and oil spreading). In total, eight isolates (24.24%) were positive in all examinations, out of them, seven isolates (87.5%) were gram positives, mainly belonged to Bacillus spp. , Staphylococcus spp. and Lactobacillus spp. 31 isolates (93.9%) (out of 33 hemolytic isolates) were positive in oil spreading test while only eight isolates (24.24%) were positive in E24 test. Conclusions The results showed that biosurfactant-producing bacteria are distributed in breast skin surface of examined birds. Further investigation about the composition of biosurfactants and phylogenetic determination of biosurfactant producing bacteria is suggested.
A randomised control study of partial liquid ventilation after airway lavage with exogenous surfactant in a meconium aspiration syndrome animal model

AIMS To test the hypothesis that lavage with exogenous surfactant before partial liquid ventilation in meconium aspiration syndrome (MAS) would improve debris removal, and therefore the effectiveness of partial liquid ventilation. METHODS 12 newborn piglets were randomised into 4 groups, partial liquid ventilation or gas ventilation, with and without surfactant lavage. Physiological and blood gas data were compared between groups by analysis of variance. RESULTS Arterial oxygen pressure (PaO2) was improved in the group treated with surfactant lavage when compared with the group not receiving surfactant. PaO2 in the group receiving surfactant lavage followed by partial liquid ventilation was further improved when compared with the group treated with surfactant lavage followed by gas ventilation and the group receiving partial liquid ventilation alone. CONCLUSION The effectiveness of partial liquid ventilation in MAS might be enhanced by pretreatment with exogenous surfactant bronchial lavage.
The diagnostic accuracy of 22-gauge and 25-gauge needles in endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration of solid pancreatic lesions: a meta-analysis

Background and study aims: It is uncertain if needle gauge impacts the diagnostic accuracy of endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) of pancreatic mass lesions. Our aim was to use meta-analysis to more robustly define the diagnostic accuracy of EUS-FNA for pancreatic masses using 22 G and 25 G needles. Patients and methods: Studies were identified by searching nine medical databases for reports published between 1994 and 2011, using a reproducible search strategy comprised of relevant terms. Only studies comparing the overall diagnostic accuracy of 22 G vs. 25 G EUS needles that used surgical histology or at least 6 months clinical follow up for a gold standard were included. Two reviewers independently scored the identified studies for methodology and abstracted pertinent data. When required, the original investigators were contacted to provide additional data. Pooling was conducted by both fixed-effects and random-effects models. Diagnostic characteristics (sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative likelihood ratios) with 95 % confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated. Results: Eight studies involving 1292 subjects met the defined inclusion criteria. Of the 1292 patients, 799 were in the 22 G group and 565 were in the 25 G group (both needles were used in 72 patients). The pooled sensitivity and specificity of the 22 G needle were 0.85 (95 %CI 0.82 – 0.88) and 1 (95 %CI 0.98 – 1) respectively. The pooled sensitivity and specificity of the 25 G needle were 0.93 (95 %CI 0.91 – 0.96) and 0.97 (95 %CI 0.93 – 0.99) respectively. The bivariate generalized linear random-effect model indicated that the 25 G needle is associated with a higher sensitivity (P = 0.0003) but comparable specificity (P = 0.97) to the 22 G needle. Conclusions: This meta-analysis suggests 25 G needle systems are more sensitive than 22 G needles for diagnosing pancreatic malignancy.
Cardiovascular diseases and hippocampal infarcts

The prevalence of hippocampal lesions such as hippocampal infarcts have not been studied in detail even though hippocampal alterations are known to be associated with various clinical conditions such as age‐related degenerative disorders and epilepsy. Methods: Here we defined the hippocampal infarcts and assessed the prevalence of this lesion in large unselected population of 1,245 subjects age ranging from 1 to 99 years (mean age 79 ± 1 S.E.M). Furthermore, we assessed the association of these lesions with various cardio‐ and cerebro‐vascular disorders and other neurodegenerative lesions. The prevalence of hippocampal infarct in the study population of 1,245 subjects was 12%, increasing to 13% when only those with a clinically diagnosed cognitive impairment (n = 311) were analyzed. Large hemispheric brain infarcts were seen in 31% of the study subjects and these lesions were strongly associated with cardiovascular risk factors such as hypertension (43%), coronary disease (32%), myocardial infarct (22%), atrial fibrillation (20%), and heart failure (20%). In contrast, hippocampal infarcts displayed a significant association only with large hemispheric brain infarct, heart failure, and cardiovascular index as assessed postmortem. It is noteworthy that only widespread hippocampal infarcts were associated with clinical symptoms of cognitive impairment or epilepsy. The surprisingly low prevalence of 12% of hippocampal infarcts in aged population found here and the failure to detect an association between this lesion and various cerebro‐ cardio‐vascular lesions is intriguing. Whether susceptibility to ischemia in line with susceptibility to neuronal degeneration in this region is influenced by still undetermined risk‐ factors need further investigation. Furthermore it should be noted that the size of the hippocampal tissue damage, i.e., small vs. large cystic infarcts is of significance regarding clinical alterations. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Coordinated Microgrid Frequency Regulation Based on DFIG Variable Coefficient Using Virtual Inertia and Primary Frequency Control

This paper proposes a variable coefficient combined virtual inertia and primary frequency control strategy for doubly fed induction generators (DFIG) in coordination with diesel generator to participate in wind/photovoltaic/diesel microgrid frequency regulation. The frequency response characteristic is analyzed under different wind speeds with corresponding inertia control parameters different. A 10% wind power margin is preserved through overspeed control and pitch angle control to offset the decrease of wind output power after temporary extra power surge, and provide a permanent frequency support for microgrids. The influence of droop control gain setting is also illustrated under different wind velocities. By continuously adjusting the control parameters according to wind speed variation, a variable coefficient method is realized. The method can guarantee an efficient implementation of this strategy in time-varying conditions. Finally, this coordinated control strategy is tested in a storage-independent microgrid with solar, wind, and diesel generators.
Phenological Metrics Derived over the European Continent from NDVI3g Data and MODIS Time Series

Time series of normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) are important data sources for environmental monitoring. Continuous efforts are put into their production and updating. The recently released Global Inventory Modeling and Mapping Studies (GIMMS) NDVI3g data set is a consistent time series with 1/12° spatial and bi-monthly temporal resolution. It covers the time period from 1981 to 2011. However, it is unclear if vegetation density and phenology derived from GIMMS are comparable to those obtained from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) NDVI with 250 m ground resolution. To check the consistency between GIMMS and MODIS data sets, a comparative analysis was performed. For a large European window (40 × 40°), data distribution, spatial and temporal agreement were analyzed, as well as the timing of important phenological events. Overall, only a moderately good agreement of NDVI values was found. Large differences occurred during winter. Large discrepancies were also observed for phenological metrics, in particular the start of season. Information regarding the maximum of season was more consistent. Hence, both data sets should be well inter-calibrated before being used concurrently.
Forebrain-Specific Glutamate Receptor B Deletion Impairs Spatial Memory But Not Hippocampal Field Long-Term Potentiation

We demonstrate the fundamental importance of glutamate receptor B (GluR-B) containing AMPA receptors in hippocampal function by analyzing mice with conditional GluR-B deficiency in postnatal forebrain principal neurons (GluR-BΔFb). These mice are as adults sufficiently robust to permit comparative cellular, physiological, and behavioral studies. GluR-B loss induced moderate long-term changes in the hippocampus of GluR-BΔFb mice. Parvalbumin-expressing interneurons in the dentate gyrus and the pyramidal cells in CA3 were decreased in number, and neurogenesis in the subgranular zone was diminished. Excitatory synaptic CA3-to-CA1 transmission was reduced, although synaptic excitability, as quantified by the lowered threshold for population spike initiation, was increased compared with control mice. These changes did not alter CA3-to-CA1 long-term potentiation (LTP), which in magnitude was similar to LTP in control mice. The altered hippocampal circuitry, however, affected spatial learning in GluR-BΔFb mice. The primary source for the observed changes is most likely the AMPA receptor-mediated Ca2+ signaling that appears after GluR-B depletion, because we observed similar alterations in GluR-BQFb mice in which the expression of Ca2+-permeable AMPA receptors in principal neurons was induced by postnatal activation of a Q/R-site editing-deficient GluR-B allele.
Creating and probing electron whispering-gallery modes in graphene

A circular route to confine electrons Physical barriers are used to confine waves. Whether it is harbor walls for sea waves, a glass disk for light, or the “whispering gallery” circular chamber walls in St. Paul's Cathedral for sound, the principle of confinement—reflection—is the same. Zhao et al. used that same principle to confine electrons in a nanoscale circular cavity in graphene. Periodic patterns within the cavity were associated with an electronic wave version of whispering gallery modes. The tunability of the cavity size may provide a route for the manipulation of electrons in graphene and similar materials. Science, this issue p. 672 A scanning probe is used to form a cavity in graphene for the confinement of electrons. The design of high-finesse resonant cavities for electronic waves faces challenges due to short electron coherence lengths in solids. Complementing previous approaches to confine electronic waves by carefully positioned adatoms at clean metallic surfaces, we demonstrate an approach inspired by the peculiar acoustic phenomena in whispering galleries. Taking advantage of graphene’s gate-tunable light-like carriers, we create whispering-gallery mode (WGM) resonators defined by circular pn junctions, induced by a scanning tunneling probe. We can tune the resonator size and the carrier concentration under the probe in a back-gated graphene device over a wide range. The WGM-type confinement and associated resonances are a new addition to the quantum electron-optics toolbox, paving the way to develop electronic lenses and resonators.
Imbalance of purine metabolism in hepatomas of different growth rates as expressed in behavior of xanthine oxidase (EC 1.2.3.2).

The behavior of the rate-limiting enzyme of purine catabolism, xanthine oxidase (EC 1.2.3.2); was examined in normal liver, in 17 hepatomas of different growth rates, and in rapidly growing differentiating and regenerating liver. Xanthine oxidase activity was measured in the supernatant fluid prepared by centrifugation of 5% homogenates at 100,000 X g for 30 min. There was no uricase activity in the supernatant fluid. The affinity of xanthine oxidase to xanthine was similar in normal liver and in slow- and rapidly growing hepatomas (Km=6 to 8 muM), and theoptimum pH was 8.0; at pH 7.4, the activity was 80% of that at the pH optimum. A standard assay was worked out for the liver and hepatoma systems; the enzyme activity was linear during 60-min incubation and proportionate with amounts of protein added over a range of 0.5 to 3.0 mg. Xanthine oxidase specific activity was 9 times higher in small intestine than in liver. Activities in lung, spleen, kidney, heart, testes, and thymus were 67, 59, 21, 19, 8, and 8%, and in skeletal muscle, brain, and bone marrow activities were 5% of that of the liver. In regenerating liver, xanthine oxidase activity was not changed from that of the liver of sham-operated controls up to 96 hr after operation. The activity of the average differentiating liver cell was less than 5% of that of adult liver during the first week after birth. At postnatal ages of 18, 25, 30 and 40 days, the activity rose to 18, 46, 76, and 94%, respectively, of that of the adult liver. In starvation, hepatic xanthine oxidase activity per cell was preferentially depleted as compared to the decline in protein concentration. Upon refeeding, the enzymatic activity was restored more slowly than the protein content. Since xanthine oxidase activity was decreased in all examined hepatomas, including the slowest-growing, well-differentiated neoplasms, the altered activity of this enzyme appears to be.linked with neoplastic transformatiobosyl 1-pyrophosphate amidotransferase (EC 2.4.2.14), was increassed in the hepatomas, the reprogramming of gene expression results in an imbalance that favors the synthetic over the catabolic potential. This enzymatic imbalance should confer selective advantages to the cancer cells.
AMBER: Adaptive energy management for on-chip hybrid video memories

The ever increasing leakage power of memories in a system has motivated researches for exploiting unconventional memory architectures. Non-Volatile Memory (NVM) used in conjunction with the conventional on-chip SRAMs has given birth to the hybrid memory paradigm, which can be intelligently exploited to reduce the energy consumption while tackling the high read and write latencies of NVMs. We present a novel scheme AMBER that aims at minimizing the total memory energy consumption of a video processing system by leveraging the application-specific properties and distinct latency and power properties of different memory types. AMBER also features architectural support for data-fetching from external memory and adaptively filling the different on-chip memories. We employ AMBER in the next-generation High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) standard to minimize the energy consumption of the new complex motion prediction process. Experimental results demonstrate that our AMBER scheme achieves significant energy savings (average 43%) for the on-chip memory.
Author ' s personal copy A Fast Quartet tree heuristic for hierarchical clustering

The Minimum Quartet Tree Cost problem is to construct an optimal weight tree from the 3ð 4Þ weighted quartet topologies on n objects, where optimality means that the summed weight of the embedded quartet topologies is optimal (so it can be the case that the optimal tree embeds all quartets as nonoptimal topologies). We present a Monte Carlo heuristic, based on randomized hill-climbing, for approximating the optimal weight tree, given the quartet topology weights. The method repeatedly transforms a dendrogram, with all objects involved as leaves, achieving a monotonic approximation to the exact single globally optimal tree. The problem and the solution heuristic has been extensively used for general hierarchical clustering of nontree-like (non-phylogeny) data in various domains and across domains with heterogeneous data. We also present a greatly improved heuristic, reducing the running time by a factor of order a thousand to ten thousand. All this is implemented and available, as part of the CompLearn package. We compare performance and running time of the original and improved versions with those of UPGMA, BioNJ, and NJ, as implemented in the SplitsTree package on genomic data for which the latter are optimized. & 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Dopamine Transporter Genotype Dependent Effects of Apomorphine on Cold Pain Tolerance in Healthy Volunteers

The aims of this study were to assess the effects of the dopamine agonist apomorphine on experimental pain models in healthy subjects and to explore the possible association between these effects and a common polymorphism within the dopamine transporter gene. Healthy volunteers (n = 105) participated in this randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over trial. Heat pain threshold and intensity, cold pain threshold, and the response to tonic cold pain (latency, intensity, and tolerance) were evaluated before and for up to 120 min after the administration of 1.5 mg apomorphine/placebo. A polymorphism (3′-UTR 40-bp VNTR) within the dopamine transporter gene (SLC6A3) was investigated. Apomorphine had an effect only on tolerance to cold pain, which consisted of an initial decrease and a subsequent increase in tolerance. An association was found between the enhancing effect of apomorphine on pain tolerance (120 min after its administration) and the DAT-1 polymorphism. Subjects with two copies of the 10-allele demonstrated significantly greater tolerance prolongation than the 9-allele homozygote carriers and the heterozygote carriers (p = 0.007 and p = 0.003 in comparison to the placebo, respectively). In conclusion, apomorphine administration produced a decrease followed by a genetically associated increase in cold pain tolerance.