Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Comparative Investigation of the Efficacy of Three Different Adsorbents against OTA-Induced Toxicity in Broiler Chickens

The aim of our study was to determine the efficacy of three different adsorbents, inorganic (modified zeolite), organic (esterified glucomannans) and mixed (inorganic and organic components, with the addition of enzymes), in protecting broilers from the toxic effects of ochratoxin A in feed. Broilers were fed diets containing 2 mg/kg of ochratoxin A (OTA) and supplemented with adsorbents at the recommended concentration of 2 g/kg for 21 days. The presence of OTA led to a notable reduction in body weight, lower weight gain, increased feed conversion and induced histopathological changes in the liver and kidneys. The presence of inorganic, organic and mixed adsorbents in contaminated feed only partially reduced the negative effects of OTA on the broiler performances. Broilers that were fed with adsorbent-supplemented feed reached higher body weight (17.96%, 19.09% and 13.59%), compared to the group that received only OTA. The presence of adsorbents partially alleviated the reduction in feed consumption (22.68%, 12.91% and 10.59%), and a similar effect was observed with feed conversion. The applied adsorbents have also reduced the intensity of histopathological changes caused by OTA; however, they were not able to prevent their onset. After the withdrawal of the toxin and adsorbents from the feed (21–42 days), all previously observed disturbances in broilers were reduced, but more remarkably in broilers fed with adsorbents.
Synaptotagmin IV Is Present at the Golgi and Distal Parts of Neurites

Abstract: Synaptotagmin IV (SytIV) is an immediate early gene induced by membrane depolarization in PC12 cells and in rat brain. However, little is known about the function of SytIV or the functional relationship between SytIV and SytI, because SytIV has yet to be localized. Here we show that SytIV was localized at the Golgi and distal part of neurites in nerve growth factor‐differentiated PC12 cells and cultured hippocampal neurons by immunocytochemistry using an isoform‐specific antibody (anti‐SytIV). These SytIV signals were not colocalized well with SytI signals. Upon membrane depolarization, SytIV signals were increased at both the Golgi and distal part of neurites within several hours in both types of cells. We further show that the increase of SytIV protein levels results from protein kinase A‐dependent gene up‐regulation. In hippocampal neurons, SytIV was developmentally regulated. These results suggest that SytIV may play a role at the Golgi and tips of neurites during development and synaptic plasticity.
Identification and Characterization of Arabidopsis Indole-3-Butyric Acid Response Mutants Defective in Novel Peroxisomal Enzymes

Genetic evidence suggests that indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) is converted to the active auxin indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) by removal of two side-chain methylene units in a process similar to fatty acid β-oxidation. Previous studies implicate peroxisomes as the site of IBA metabolism, although the enzymes that act in this process are still being identified. Here, we describe two IBA-response mutants, ibr1 and ibr10. Like the previously described ibr3 mutant, which disrupts a putative peroxisomal acyl-CoA oxidase/dehydrogenase, ibr1 and ibr10 display normal IAA responses and defective IBA responses. These defects include reduced root elongation inhibition, decreased lateral root initiation, and reduced IBA-responsive gene expression. However, peroxisomal energy-generating pathways necessary during early seedling development are unaffected in the mutants. Positional cloning of the genes responsible for the mutant defects reveals that IBR1 encodes a member of the short-chain dehydrogenase/reductase family and that IBR10 resembles enoyl-CoA hydratases/isomerases. Both enzymes contain C-terminal peroxisomal-targeting signals, consistent with IBA metabolism occurring in peroxisomes. We present a model in which IBR3, IBR10, and IBR1 may act sequentially in peroxisomal IBA β-oxidation to IAA.
Group deliberation and the revision of judgments : an impossibility result

While a large social-choice-theoretic literature discusses the aggregation of individual judgments into collective ones, there is relatively little formal work on the revision of individual judgments in group deliberation. I develop a model of judgment revision and prove a baseline impossibility result: Any judgment revision function satisfying some initially plausible conditions is the identity function, under which no opinion change occurs. I identify escape routes from this impossibility and argue that successful group deliberation must be holistic: it cannot generally be restricted to one proposition at a time but must focus on larger webs of interconnected propositions. This echoes the Duhem-Quine holism thesison scienti c theory testing. My approach opens up a new way of analyzing deliberative processes axiomatically. This paper was presented at the 8th Augustus De Morgan Workshop, Kings College, London, 11/2006, the 2nd Indian Conference on Logic and Its Relationship with Other Disciplines, IIT-Bombay, 1/2007, the Dutch Social Choice Colloquium, University of Tilburg, 6/2007, and seminars at the London School of Economics, 5/2007, the Australian National University, 9/2007, the University of Bristol, 10/2007, and the University of Edinburgh, 1/2008. I thank the participants at these occasions and Richard Bradley, Franz Dietrich, Wulf Gaertner, Robert Goodin, Mathias Koenig-Archibugi, David Makinson, Katie Steele and Leif Wenar for comments.
Computational models of visual selective attention: A review

We review some of the major computational models of visual selective attention in terms of how they apply to psychological data and to theoretical concepts derived from experiments concerned with stimulus filtering, visual search and spatial cueing. We also review attempts to model neuropsychological disorders of visual object recognition and attention, including visual agnosia and neglect. We highlight how computational models can unite several dichotomies in psychological models: space-based versus object-based selection; early versus late selection; representational versus attentional accounts for neurological deficits. A comparison of the models exposes weaknesses and advantages in different accounts, but it also highlights that most models suggest that competitive interactions in visual selection are the basis for attentional effects in human data. There is also agreement across models on explaining neurological disorders as due to imbalances in competition following damage to certain areas of the brain. We propose that computational models clarify theoretical accounts of visual selective attention and integrate concepts across areas. The models provide a useful contribution to psychological research.
Estimating HIV Incidence Based on Combined Prevalence Testing

Summary Knowledge of incidence rates of HIV and other infectious diseases is important in evaluating the state of an epidemic as well as for designing interventional studies. Estimation of disease incidence from longitudinal studies can be expensive and time consuming. Alternatively, Janssen et al. (1998, Journal of the American Medical Association 280, 42–48) proposed the estimation of HIV incidence at a single point in time based on the combined use of a standard and “detuned” antibody assay. This article frames the problem from a longitudinal perspective, from which the maximum likelihood estimator of incidence is determined and compared with the Janssen estimator. The formulation also allows estimation for general situations, including different batteries of tests among subjects, inclusion of covariates, and a comparative evaluation of different test batteries to help guide study design. The methods are illustrated with data from an HIV interventional trial and a seroprevalence survey recently conducted in Botswana.
Alloyed coatings for dispersion strengthened alloys

Processing techniques were developed for applying several diffusion barriers to TD-Ni and TD-NiCr. Barrier coated specimens of both substrates were clad with Ni-Cr-Al and Fe-Cr-Al alloys and diffusion annealed in argon. Measurement of the aluminum distribution after annealing showed that, of the readily applicable diffusion barriers, a slurry applied tungsten barrier most effectively inhibited the diffusion of aluminum from the Ni-Cr-Al clad into the TD-alloy substrates. No barrier effectively limited interdiffusion of the Fe-Cr-Al clad with the substrates. A duplex process was then developed for applying Ni-Cr-Al coating compositions to the tungsten barrier coated substrates. A Ni-(16 to 32)Cr-3Si modifier was applied by slurry spraying and firing in vacuum, and was then aluminized by a fusion slurry process. Cyclic oxidation tests at 2300 F resulted in early coating failure due to inadequate edge coverage and areas of coating porosity. EMP analysis showed that oxidation had consumed 70 to 80 percent of the aluminum in the coating in less than 50 hours.
A prospective, randomised trial of transapical transcatheter aortic valve implantation vs. surgical aortic valve replacement in operable elderly patients with aortic stenosis: the STACCATO trial.

AIMS In a prospective randomised trial we aimed to compare transapical transcatheter aortic valve implantation (a-TAVI) with surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) in operable elderly patients. METHODS AND RESULTS The study was designed as a randomised controlled trial of a-TAVI (Edwards SAPIEN heart valve system; Edwards Lifesciences, Irvine, CA, USA) vs. SAVR. Operable patients with isolated aortic valve stenosis and an age ≥75 years were included. The primary endpoint was the composite of all-cause mortality, cerebral stroke and/or renal failure requiring haemodialysis at 30 days. After advice from the Data Safety Monitoring Board, the study was prematurely terminated after the inclusion of 70 patients because of an excess of events in the a-TAVI group. The primary endpoint was met in five a-TAVI patients (two deaths, two strokes, and one case of renal failure requiring dialysis) vs. one stroke in the SAVR group (p=0.07). In the a-TAVI group, one patient was converted to SAVR because of an abnormally positioned heart, and four patients were re-operated with open heart surgery because of annulus rupture (n=1), severe paravalvular leakage (n=2), and blockage of the left coronary artery (n=1). In the SAVR group, one patient was converted to TAVI because of a large intra-thoracic goitre. CONCLUSIONS Given the limitations of a small prematurely terminated study, our results suggest that a-TAVI in its present form may be associated with complications and device success rates in low-risk patients similar or even inferior to those found in high-risk patients with aortic valve stenosis. This will probably change in the near future with improved catheter based devices and better pre-procedural assessment.
Genetic Algorithm Based Optimal Block Mapping Method for LSB Substitution

The least-significant-bit (LSB) substitution which is commonly used in steganography would degrade the quality of host image significantly when embedding high-capacity information. To overcome this drawback, we present an optimal block mapping LSB method based on genetic algorithm, which is out of researchers¿ concern but fundamentally important. Additionally we discuss the rule to select the best block size. The main idea is to minimize the degradation of the stego image by finding a best mapping function between host and secret image blocks at global scope. The experimental result is promising. The advantage of our method over most commonly used LSB strategy is obvious in enhancing PSNR value while having a secluded statistic peculiarity.
Multi Features Combination for Pedestrian Detection

In this paper, we propose a new approach for pedestrian detection in crowded scene from static images. The method is based on hybrid features, one type of middle-level features, which compose of multi features include gradient features, Edgelet features and haar-like features, three low-level feature sets. The gradient features focus on the local point information, the Edgelet features focus on the local edge information and the haar-like features focus on the local region information of the image. We use two stages of Adaboost to train the final classifier. In the first stage, the whole image is divided into many small windows which all include numerous low-level features. Adaboost is used in each window to get one middle-level feature which composes of some best features including gradient features, Edgelet features and haar-like features in this window. Secondly, from all middle-level features, Adaboost is used again to get the final classifier. Experiment results on common datasets and comparisons with some previous methods are given.
Is “shy bladder syndrome” a subtype of social anxiety disorder? A survey of people with paruresis

Paruresis is characterized by the fear of not being able to urinate in public bathrooms and has been classified by some to be a sub‐type of social anxiety disorder (social phobia). Despite the existence of a consumer advocacy organization, the “Intentional Paruresis Association (www.paruresis.org),” there is sparse literature on this condition. A survey of people affiliated with the “International Paruresis Association” was undertaken using a self‐report questionnaire with items that addressed demographic variables, the phenomenology of paruresis, comorbid disorders, and the impact of symptoms on quality of life. Sixty‐three patients (59M, 4F) completed the questionnaire. The mean age of the subjects was 38.1±12 years, with the mean duration of symptoms being 24.5±13 years. Paruresis impacts significantly on sufferers' lives, with approximately one third limiting or avoiding parties, sports events, or dating and just over half of the sample limiting the job they choose to do. Social anxiety disorder (SAD) and depression are the most common comorbid disorders and the most common disorders in family members. Analysis of Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS) scores showed higher performance than social interaction subscale scores across the whole sample (whether suffering from SAD or not.) However, compared to subjects without co‐morbid SAD, those with comorbidity had higher total, performance, and social interaction scores. Thus, paruresis can be a chronic and disabling symptom, and there seems to be an association between paruresis and other performance anxieties. Further research to characterize paruresis and to determine effective treatments is needed. Depression and Anxiety 16:84–87, 2002. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Exocrine Pancreatic Function: Evaluation with MR Imaging Before and After Secretin Stimulation

Secretin-stimulated magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (SS-MRCP) enhances standard pancreatic imaging in chronic pancreatitis. Diffusion-weighted MRI added to SS-MRCP allows a qualitative and potentially quantitative estimate of pancreatic exocrine secretion, providing an alternative to standard “tube” tests.
Pregnancy termination in relation to risk of breast cancer.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the association between pregnancy terminations and risk of breast cancer. DESIGN AND SETTING Population-based case-control study in Wisconsin, Massachusetts, Maine, and New Hampshire. STUDY PARTICIPANTS Cases were women younger than 75 years with a new diagnosis of breast cancer (n = 6888), identified from statewide tumor registries. Controls younger than 65 years (n = 9529) were randomly selected from lists of licensed drivers, or for older subjects, from lists of Medicare beneficiaries. EXPOSURES AND OUTCOMES: Breast cancer risk in relation to spontaneous or induced abortions. RESULTS After adjustment for parity, age at first birth, and other risk factors, pregnancy termination (induced or spontaneous) was associated with a relative risk (RR) of breast cancer of 1.12 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.04 to 1.21), compared with the risk among women who had never had a termination. Induced terminations were associated with a RR of 1.23 (95% CI, 1.00 to 1.51), which was somewhat greater than the risk associated with spontaneous terminations (RR, 1.11; 95% CI, 1.02 to 1.20). The association with induced abortions was stronger for those performed before legalization of abortion in 1973 (RR, 1.35; 95% CI, 1.01 to 1.80) than after this time (RR, 1.12; 95% CI, 0.84 to 1.49), suggesting a bias in reporting this sensitive procedure. CONCLUSIONS A weak positive association was observed between abortion--whether induced or spontaneous--and risk of breast cancer. The increase in risk of breast cancer was somewhat greater among women with a history of induced terminations. However, this association may be due to reporting bias and was not significantly different than the slight risk for spontaneous terminations.
Determination of the material properties of polymers using laser-generated broadband ultrasound

Abstract. In the non-destructive determination of material properties, the utilization of ultrasound has proven to be a viable tool. In the presented paper, a laser is used to create broadband acoustic waves in plate-shaped specimens by applying the photoacoustic effect. The waves are detected using a purpose-built ultrasonic transducer that is based on piezoceramics instead of the commonly used piezoelectric polymer films. This new transducer concept allows for detection of ultrasonic waves up to 10 MHz with high sensitivity, thereby allowing the characterization of highly damping materials such as polymers. The recorded data are analysed using different methods to obtain information on the propagation modes transmitted along the specimen. In an inverse procedure, the gained results are compared to simulations, yielding approximations for the specimen's material properties.
Detection and genomic characterization of a mammary-like adenocarcinoma

Whole-genome and transcriptome sequencing were performed to identify potential therapeutic strategies in the absence of viable treatment options for a patient initially diagnosed with vulvar adenocarcinoma. Genomic events were prioritized by comparison against variant distributions in the TCGA pan-cancer data set and complemented with detailed transcriptome sequencing and copy-number analysis. These findings were considered against published scientific literature in order to evaluate the functional effects of potentially relevant genomic events. Analysis of the transcriptome against a background of 27 TCGA cancer types led to reclassification of the tumor as a primary HER2+ mammary-like adenocarcinoma of the vulva. This revised diagnosis was subsequently confirmed by follow-up immunohistochemistry for a mammary-like adenocarcinoma. The patient was treated with chemotherapy and targeted therapies for HER2+ breast cancer. The detailed pathology and genomic findings of this case are presented herein.
Lung protective ventilatory strategies in acute lung injury and acute respiratory distress syndrome: from experimental findings to clinical application

This review addresses the physiological background and the current status of evidence regarding ventilator‐induced lung injury and lung protective strategies. Lung protective ventilatory strategies have been shown to reduce mortality from adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). We review the latest knowledge on the progression of lung injury by mechanical ventilation and correlate the findings of experimental work with results from clinical studies. We describe the experimental and clinical evidence of the effect of lung protective ventilatory strategies and open lung strategies on the progression of lung injury and current controversies surrounding these subjects. We describe a rational strategy, the open lung strategy, to accomplish an open lung, which may further prevent injury caused by mechanical ventilation. Finally, the clinician is offered directions on lung protective ventilation in the early phase of ARDS which can be applied on the intensive care unit.
An empirical study on the evolution of design patterns

Design patterns are solutions to recurring design problems, conceived to increase benefits in terms of reuse, code quality and, above all, maintainability and resilience to changes. This paper presents results from an empirical study aimed at understanding the evolution of design patterns in three open source systems, namely JHotDraw, ArgoUML, and Eclipse-JDT. Specifically, the study analyzes how frequently patterns are modified, to what changes they undergo and what classes co-change with the patterns. Results show how patterns more suited to support the application purpose tend to change more frequently, and that different kind of changes have a different impact on co-changed classes and a different capability of making the system resilient to changes.
Telangiectasia as a potential clinical marker of microvascular lesions in systemic sclerosis patients from EUSTAR data in China.

OBJECTIVES To investigate the prevalence and clinical relevance of telangiectasia in Chinese patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc). METHODS Data from 230 SSc EUSTAR patients from Peking Union Medical College Hospital (2009-2011) that fulfilled the 1980 American College of Rheumatology SSc classification criteria were prospectively collected. Demographic, clinical, and laboratory data were calculated between groups with and without telangiectasia, and a six-minute walk test, pulmonary function test (PFT), transthoracic echocardiography (TTE), right heart catheterisation (RHC) and modified Rodnan skin score (mRSS) were performed. RESULTS 96 patients (41.7%) were diagnosed with telangiectasia. There were no significant differences between patients with and without telangiectasia based on gender, age at onset, Raynaud's phenomenon (RP) duration, or SSc classification. Disease duration both from RP onset of patients and from first non-RP manifestation of patients with telangiectasia was significantly longer than patients without (p<0.05). RP (97.9% vs. 90.3%), finger/toe sclerosis (96.9% vs. 88.1%), facial sclerosis (68.8% vs. 53.7%), digital ulcers (DUs; 40.6% vs. 23.1%), digital pitting (49.0% vs. 33.8%), joint contracture (20.8% vs. 10.4%) and erythrocyte sedimentation rate elevation (26.7% vs. 14.8%) were significantly greater in telangiectasia patients (p<0.05). There were no differences in autoantibody development between patients with and without telangiectasia (p>0.05). PFT showed that forced vital capacity (77.0±17.26 vs. 83.05±16.53, p=0.005) and diffusion capacity for CO of the lung (58.9±19.4 vs. 65.7±19.7, p=0.030) were lower, while forced expiratory volume ratio (87.02±7.8 vs. 84.33±7.1, p=0.029) was higher in SSc with telangiectasia. Pulmonary artery hypertension (PAH) prevalence (25.0% vs. 14.2%) was significantly greater in patients with telangiectasia. CONCLUSIONS Telangiectasia are common in Chinese SSc patients and usually associated with DUs, RP, and PAH. Telangiectasia could be a clinical marker of microvascular disease in SSc.