Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Decellularization of bovine small intestinal submucosa and its use for the healing of a critical‐sized full‐thickness skin defect, alone and in combination with stem cells, in a small rodent model

In this study, we initially described an efficient decellularization protocol for bovine‐derived small intestinal submucosa (bSIS), involving freeze–thaw cycles, acid/base treatment and alcohol and buffer systems. We compared the efficacy of our protocol to some previously established ones, based on DNA content and SEM and histochemical analyses. DNA content was reduced by ~89.4%, significantly higher than compared protocols. The sulphated GAG content of the remaining interconnected fibrous structure was 5.738 ± 0.207 µg/mg (55% retained). An in vitro study was performed to evaluate whether rat bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) could attach and survive on bSIS membranes. Our findings revealed that MSCs can preserve their viability and proliferate on bSIS for > 2 weeks in culture. We conducted in vivo applications for the treatment of an experimental rat model of critical sized (7 cm2) full‐thickness skin defect. The wound models treated with either MSCs‐seeded (1.5 × 106 cells/cm2) or non‐seeded bSIS membranes were completely closed by week 7 without significant differences in closure time; on the other hand, the open wound control was closed at ~47% at this time point. Immunohistopathology results revealed that the group which received MSCs‐seeded bSIS had less scarring at the end of the healing process and was in further stages of appendage formation in comparison with the non‐seeded bSIS group. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Do Physicians Respond to Web-Based Patient Ratings? An Analysis of Physicians’ Responses to More Than One Million Web-Based Ratings Over a Six-Year Period

Background Physician-rating websites (PRWs) may lead to quality improvements in case they enable and establish a peer-to-peer communication between patients and physicians. Yet, we know little about whether and how physicians respond on the Web to patient ratings. Objective The objective of this study was to describe trends in physicians’ Web-based responses to patient ratings over time, to identify what physician characteristics influence Web-based responses, and to examine the topics physicians are likely to respond to. Methods We analyzed physician responses to more than 1 million patient ratings displayed on the German PRW, jameda, from 2010 to 2015. Quantitative analysis contained chi-square analyses and the Mann-Whitney U test. Quantitative content techniques were applied to determine the topics physicians respond to based on a randomly selected sample of 600 Web-based ratings and corresponding physician responses. Results Overall, physicians responded to 1.58% (16,640/1,052,347) of all Web-based ratings, with an increasing trend over time from 0.70% (157/22,355) in 2010 to 1.88% (6377/339,919) in 2015. Web-based ratings that were responded to had significantly worse rating results than ratings that were not responded to (2.15 vs 1.74, P<.001). Physicians who respond on the Web to patient ratings differ significantly from nonresponders regarding several characteristics such as gender and patient recommendation results (P<.001 each). Regarding scaled-survey rating elements, physicians were most likely to respond to the waiting time within the practice (19.4%, 99/509) and the time spent with the patient (18.3%, 110/600). Almost one-third of topics in narrative comments were answered by the physicians (30.66%, 382/1246). Conclusions So far, only a minority of physicians have taken the chance to respond on the Web to patient ratings. This is likely because of (1) the low awareness of PRWs among physicians, (2) the fact that only a few PRWs enable physicians to respond on the Web to patient ratings, and (3) the lack of an active moderator to establish peer-to-peer communication. PRW providers should foster more frequent communication between the patient and the physician and encourage physicians to respond on the Web to patient ratings. Further research is needed to learn more about the motivation of physicians to respond or not respond to Web-based patient ratings.
Planning and Self-Control, but not Working Memory, Directly Predict Multiplication Performance in Adults

Empirical evidence suggests that working memory (WM) is closely related to arithmetic performance. WM, which is the ability to monitor and update recent information, underlies various cognitive processes and behaviors including planning, self-regulation, and self-control. However, only a few studies have examined whether WM uniquely explains variance in arithmetic performance when other WM-related domain-general factors are taken into account. In this study, we examined whether WM explains unique variance in arithmetic performance when planning, self-regulation, and self-control are considered as well. We used the Tower of London task as a measure of planning, self-rated reports as a measure of self-regulation and self-control, and WM measures, to test which of these domain-general functions predicts complex multiplication performance. Results showed that planning predicted multiplication accuracy and self-control predicted response time, while WM and self-regulation did not predict complex multiplication performance. Although WM was not a direct predictor of multiplication performance, it possibly exerted its influence as part of planning ability. We suggest that complex multiplication is not predicted by WM per se, but rather by WM-related general cognitive and behavioral factors, namely self-control and the planning component of executive functions.
Is Human Kallikrein 11 in Non-small Cell Lung Cancer Treated Chemoradiotherapy Associated with Survival?

Purpose Involvement of human kallikreins (hKs) in human cancers has been reported and several hKs are promising biomarkers of various cancers. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prognostic significance of hK11 expression in patients with non-metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Materials and Methods The study included 44 patients with NSCLC. hK11 expression was determined by immunohistochemical staining. Results The estimation of disease-free and overall survival by Kaplan-Meier was 11 months and 17 months, respectively. The estimation of overall survival by Kaplan-Meier was significantly higher in patients with hK11 strongly positive (2+) than in those with hK11 weakly positive (1+) (20 months vs. 11 months, p=0.032). Although not statistically different, the estimation of disease-free survival by Kaplan-Meier was higher in patients with hK11 strongly positive (2+) than in those with hK11 weakly positive (1+) (12 months vs. 9 months, p=0.113). Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that the overall survival rates were significantly associated with response to chemoradiotherapy and the degree of staining with hK11. Conclusion The stronger hK11 expression in NSCLC appears to be associated with better survival rates. hK11 may be a prognostic biomarker of NSCLC.
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and the Risk of Stroke

Rationale: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has been identified as a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases such as myocardial infarction. The role of COPD in cerebrovascular disease is, however, less certain. Although earlier studies have suggested that the risk for stroke is also increased in COPD, more recent investigations have generated mixed results. Objectives: The primary objective of our review was to quantify the magnitude of the association between COPD and stroke. We also sought to clarify the nature of the relationship between COPD and stroke by investigating whether the risk of stroke in COPD varies with age, sex, smoking history, and/or type of stroke and whether stroke risk is modified in particular COPD phenotypes. Results: The MEDLINE and EMBASE databases were searched in May 2016 to identify articles that compared stroke outcomes in people with and without COPD. Studies were grouped by study design to distinguish those that reported prevalence of stroke (cross‐sectional studies) from those that estimated incidence (cohort or case‐control studies). In addition, studies were stratified according to study population characteristics, the nature of COPD case definitions, and adjustment for confounding (smoking). Heterogeneity was assessed using the I2 statistic. We identified 5,493 studies, of which 30 met our predefined inclusion criteria. Of the 25 studies that reported prevalence ratios, 11 also estimated prevalence odds ratios. The level of heterogeneity among the included cross‐sectional studies did not permit the calculation of pooled ratios, save for a group of four studies that estimated prevalence odds ratios adjusted for smoking (prevalence odds ratio, 1.51; 95% confidence interval, 1.09‐2.09; I2 = 45%). All 11 studies that estimated relative risk for nonfatal incident stroke reported increased risk in COPD. Adjustment for smoking invariably reduced the magnitude of the associations. Conclusions: Although both prevalence and incidence of stroke are increased in people with COPD, the weight of evidence does not support the hypothesis that COPD is an independent risk factor for stroke. The possibility remains that COPD is causal in certain subsets of patients with COPD and for certain stroke subtypes.
Dynamic Response of Pultruded Glass-Graphite/Epoxy Hybrid Composites Subjected to Transverse High Strain-Rate Compression Loading

In a previous study, the energy absorption and dynamic response of different combinations of cylindrical fiber-reinforced pultruded hybrid composite samples made of unidirectional glass and graphite fiber/epoxy, were investigated under longitudinal compression loading. It was found that placing glass fibers in the inner core of composites resulted in a higher ultimate compressive strength and specific energy absorption. In this study, the dynamic responses of pultruded glass-graphite/epoxy hybrid specimens with rectangular cross-section subjected to transverse compression loading are reported. Crack initiation and propagation was monitored using a high-speed video camera, and the effects of hybridization were analyzed. It was found that the location of glass or graphite fibers inside the pultruded composites has no significant effect on the ultimate compressive strength under such transverse compression loading. The energy absorption in all the hybrid specimens was almost identical. Graphite/epoxy composite showed higher specific energy absorption due to its lower density, and glass/epoxy composite had the lowest specific energy absorption.
Spatio-Temporal Data Comparisons for Global Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) H5N1 Outbreaks

Highly pathogenic avian influenza subtype H5N1 is a zoonotic disease and control of the disease is one of the highest priority in global health. Disease surveillance systems are valuable data sources for various researches and management projects, but the data quality has not been paid much attention in previous studies. Based on data from two commonly used databases (Office International des Epizooties (OIE) and Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)) of global HPAI H5N1 outbreaks during the period of 2003–2009, we examined and compared their patterns of temporal, spatial and spatio-temporal distributions for the first time. OIE and FAO data showed similar trends in temporal and spatial distributions if they were considered separately. However, more advanced approaches detected a significant difference in joint spatio-temporal distribution. Because of incompleteness for both OIE and FAO data, an integrated dataset would provide a more complete picture of global HPAI H5N1 outbreaks. We also displayed a mismatching profile of global HPAI H5N1 outbreaks and found that the degree of mismatching was related to the epidemic severity. The ideas and approaches used here to assess spatio-temporal data on the same disease from different sources are useful for other similar studies.
Association of serum vitamin B12 and folate with mortality in incident hemodialysis patients

Background Vitamin B12 (B12) and folate are essential vitamins that play important roles in physiological processes. In the general population, many studies have evaluated the association of these vitamins with clinical outcomes, yet this association in hemodialysis (HD) patients remains unclear. Methods We examined the association of serum folate and B12 with mortality in a 5-year cohort of 9517 (folate) and 12 968 (B12) HD patients using Cox models with hierarchical adjustment for sociodemographics, comorbidities, and laboratory variables associated with the malnutrition and inflammation complex syndrome. The associations of baseline B12 and folate (separately) with all-cause mortality were evaluated across five categories of B12 [<400 (reference), 400-<550, 550-<650, 650-<750 and ≥750 pg/mL] and folate [<6.2, 6.2-<8.4, 8.4-<11 (reference), 11-<14.3 and ≥14.3 ng/mL]. Results The study cohort with B12 measurements had a mean ± standard deviation age of 63 ± 15 years, among whom 43% were female, 33% were African-American, and 57% were diabetic. Higher B12 concentrations ≥550 pg/mL were associated with a higher risk of mortality after adjusting for sociodemographic and laboratory variables. However, only lower serum folate concentrations <6.2 ng/mL were associated with a higher risk of all-cause mortality when adjusted for sociodemographic variables [adjusted hazard ratio (95% confidence-interval): 1.18 (1.03-1.35)]. Conclusions Higher B12 concentrations are associated with higher all-cause mortality in HD patients independent of sociodemographics and laboratory variables, whereas lower folate concentrations were associated with higher all-cause mortality after accounting for sociodemographic variables. Further studies are warranted to determine the optimal B12 and folate level targets in this population.
Majority Voting-Based Reduced Precision Redundancy Adders

Fault-tolerant systems are usually implemented with triple modular redundancy (TMR)-based protection techniques which has a huge area and power overhead. Previous works have shown that this overhead can be improved by using reduced precision redundancy (RPR)-based approaches for intrinsically precision-tolerant applications like image and video processing. The error detection and steering logic required in the RPR schemes utilize subtraction and comparisons which are more complex hardware operations than TMR voting. This overhead is affordable for complex hardware structures, for example, finite impulse response filters, but for simple structures like adders, it can be significant. In this letter, it is shown that combining the traditional TMR voting with the RPR brings up considerable savings in area and power budget when applied to very-large-scale integration adder circuits.
Prevalence, Mortality, and Health Care Use among Patients with Cluster B Personality Disorders Clinically Diagnosed in Quebec: A Provincial Cohort Study, 2001-2012

Background: Cluster B personality disorders (PDs) are prevalent mental health conditions in the general population (1%-6% depending on the subtype and study). Affected patients are known to be heavier users of both mental and medical health care systems than patients with other clinical conditions such as depression. Methods: Several rates were estimated using data from the integrated monitoring system for chronic diseases in the province of Quebec, Canada. It provides a profile of annual and period prevalence rates, mortality rates, and years of lost life as well as health care utilisation rates for Quebec residents. All Quebec residents are covered by a universal publicly managed care health plan. It is estimated that the monitoring system includes 99% of Quebec’s 8 million inhabitants. Results: Quebec residents aged 14 years and older were included in the study. The lifetime prevalence of cluster B PDs was 2.6%. The mean years of lost life expectancy were 13 for men and 9 for women compared to the provincial population. The 3 most important causes of death are suicide (20.4%), cardiovascular diseases (19.1%), and cancers (18.6%). In 2011 to 2012, 78% had consulted a general practitioner and 62% a psychiatrist, 44% were admitted to an emergency department, and 22% were hospitalised. Conclusions: Considering mortality, cluster B personality disorder is a severe condition, is highly prevalent in the population, and is associated with heavy health care services utilisation, especially in emergency settings.
Approaches for Empirical Bayes Confidence Intervals

Abstract Parametric empirical Bayes (EB) methods of point estimation date to the landmark paper by James and Stein (1961). Interval estimation through parametric empirical Bayes techniques has a somewhat shorter history, which was summarized by Laird and Louis (1987). In the exchangeable case, one obtains a “naive” EB confidence interval by simply taking appropriate percentiles of the estimated posterior distribution of the parameter, where the estimation of the prior parameters (“hyperparameters”) is accomplished through the marginal distribution of the data. Unfortunately, these “naive” intervals tend to be too short, since they fail to account for the variability in the estimation of the hyperparameters. That is, they do not attain the desired coverage probability in the EB sense defined by Morris (1983a, b). They also provide no statement of conditional calibration (Rubin 1984). In this article we propose a conditional bias correction method for developing EM intervals that corrects these deficiencies.
YIELD PERFORMANCE AND ELEMENT PROFILING OF DIFFERENT STRAINS OF LENTINULA EDODES (BERK.) PEGLER

Among five strains OE-388 took minimum period of 62 and 58 days for spawn run and produce maximum number of sporophore i.e. 80.16 and 69.50 and yield i.e. 2468.33 and 2070.50 g/800 g wheat straw which is significantly higher than the yield obtain from other strains in two seasons, respectively. Whereas strain OE-28 showed poor result in terms of taking maximum days for spawn run i.e. 68 days and produce minimum number of sporophore i.e. 65.67 and 47.33 and poor yield 830 and 715.67 g/0.8 kg wet wheat straw as compair to other strains. Amongst the five strains OE-388 contains high value of magnesium (109.51 mg/100 g dry wt.), iron (3.83 mg/100 g dry wt.), zinc (7.71 mg/100 g dry wt.), manganese (4.59 mg/100 g dry wt.) and copper (1.5 mg/100 g dry wt.) followed by OE-28. However toxic elements were not detected in any strains.
Plasma osteoprotegerin and breast cancer risk in BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation carriers

Emerging evidence suggests a role of receptor activator of nuclear factor κB (RANK)/RANK ligand (RANKL) signaling in breast cancer development. Lower osteoprotegerin (OPG) levels, the endogenous decoy receptor for RANKL which competes with RANK for binding of RANKL, has been reported among BRCA mutation carriers. Whether low OPG levels contribute to the high breast cancer risk in this population is unknown. OPG concentrations were measured in plasma of 206 cancer-free BRCA mutation carriers using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Subjects were categorized as high vs. low based on the median of the entire cohort (95 ng/mL) and followed for a new diagnosis of breast cancer. Cumulative incidence by baseline plasma OPG concentration was estimated using Kaplan-Meier survival analysis. Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate the adjusted hazard ratios for the association between plasma OPG and breast cancer risk. Over a mean follow-up period of 6.5 years (range 0.1–18.8 years), 18 incident breast cancer cases were observed. After ten years of follow-up, the cumulative incidence of breast cancer among women with low OPG was 21%, compared to 9% among women with high OPG (P-log rank = 0.046). After multivariate adjustment, women with high plasma OPG had a significantly decreased risk of developing breast cancer, compared to women with low OPG (HR = 0.25; 95%CI 0.08–0.78; P = 0.02). These data suggest that low OPG levels are associated with an increased risk of BRCA-associated breast cancer. Targeting RANK signalling may represent a plausible, non-surgical prevention option for BRCA mutation carriers.
A new efficient SC integrator scheme for high‐speed low‐power applications

A new solution to implement efficient switched‐capacitor (SC) integrators is presented. In the proposed scheme, voltage buffers are opportunely introduced in order to prevent direct connection between the output and the capacitive feedback network of the circuit that characterizes classical SC integrator topologies during the charge transfer phase. Design guidelines to optimize the settling performances of the proposed circuit are also given. To demonstrate the possible advantages of the new solution, the proposed integrator is designed in a commercial 0.35−µm CMOS technology. It is shown that compared with classical SC integrator topologies, the proposed configuration allows a significant improvement of the integrator speed to be achieved for a given power budget. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Redox Changes During the Cell Cycle in the Embryonic Root Meristem of Arabidopsis thaliana

Abstract Aims: The aim of this study was to characterize redox changes in the nuclei and cytosol occurring during the mitotic cell cycle in the embryonic roots of germinating Arabidopsis seedlings, and to determine how redox cycling was modified in mutants with a decreased capacity for ascorbate synthesis. Results: Using an in vivo reduction-oxidation (redox) reporter (roGFP2), we show that transient oxidation of the cytosol and the nuclei occurred at G1 in the synchronized dividing cells of the Arabidopsis root apical meristem, with reduction at G2 and mitosis. This redox cycle was absent from low ascorbate mutants in which nuclei were significantly more oxidized than controls. The cell cycle-dependent increase in nuclear size was impaired in the ascorbate-deficient mutants, which had fewer cells per unit area in the root proliferation zone. The transcript profile of the dry seeds and size of the imbibed seeds was strongly influenced by low ascorbate but germination, dormancy release and seed aging characteristics were unaffected. Innovation: These data demonstrate the presence of a redox cycle within the plant cell cycle and that the redox state of the nuclei is an important factor in cell cycle progression. Conclusions: Controlled oxidation is a key feature of the early stages of the plant cell cycle. However, sustained mild oxidation restricts nuclear functions and impairs progression through the cell cycle leading to fewer cells in the root apical meristem. Antioxid. Redox Signal. 27, 1505–1519.
Chelating Agents of a New Generation as an Alternative to Conventional Chelators for Heavy Metal Ions Removal from Different Waste Waters

In the aqueous media free metal ions catalyze many reactions disadvantageous for man. Therefore it is necessary to control accessibility and a number of metal ions both during technological processes and in their final products. This aim could be achieved owing to metal ions complexation by the compounds characterized by complex formation ability. Therefore, the chelating agents belonging predominantly to two different groups i.e. aminopolycarboxylates (APCAs) and polyphosphonates are commonly used (Nowack, 2007; Knepper, 2003). APCAs containing carboxylic groups connected to one or a few atoms of nitrogen are able to complex metal ions by formation around them one or a few stable heteroatom rings. This phenomenon is called chelating. Forming of stable complexes with metal ions is the base of their application for analytical and industrial purposes. The complexes formed due to chelation are dissolved in water and metal ions found in them do not exhibit such chemical activity as uncomplexed ions. Because of the importance of chelating agents they are produced and used in large quantities and their behaviour as well as their effect on the environment have received considerable attention.