Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
DETECTION OF TOXIC EFFECTS OF CLOSTRIDIAL CRUDE TOXIN IN EXPERIMENTAL RATS

The present study was conducted for the detection of toxic effects of clostridial crude toxin in experimental rats. The crude toxin of Clostridium perfringens was prepared and the rats were injected intraperitoneally (IP) 0.5 ml, 1.0 ml and 2.0 ml of crude toxin. The rats were observed for 24 hrs. The crude toxin inoculated rats showed the dose dependent clinical signs; depression, rough hair coat, respiratory distress, diarrhea and rapid heart beats, whereas PBS inoculated rats did not show any clinical sings. Necropsy changes were variable however, highly dilated and distended whole intestine with blood stained semifluid contents and gas along with congestion in all the affected rats were found dose dependently. Liver, lung and kidney were congested, hemorrhagic and swollen. More or less hydrothorax was seen during the postmortem of all affected rats. The peritoneal fat was frequently congested in all affected rats. Histopathological changes in intestine (0.5 ml inoculated rats) involved congestion, slightly swollen goblet cells and hemorrhages. The most severe lesions comprised of profuse hemorrhages in the mucosa and submucosa with complete necrosis, desquamation and intense leukocytic infiltration in 2 ml inoculated rats. Affected liver (1 ml inoculated rats) exhibited engorgement of central veins, sinusoidal spaces with blood and fatty change. The hepatocytes revealed swelling, granulation and vacuolation of cell cytoplasm, extensive hemorrhage and congestion were seen in 2 ml toxin inoculated rats. Congestion and sometimes extravasation were observed in the subepicardial region of heart. The myocardium revealed mild degenerative changes in the form of granularity of myocardial fiber. In lungs there was congestion, hemorrhage and leukocytes infiltration in the interstitial spaces around the bronchioles in both 1 and 2 ml toxin inoculated rats. Affected kidneys of different doses of crude toxin showed hemorrhage, congestion and inflammatory cells dose dependently. From the above findings, it may be concluded that clostridial crude toxin induced clinical signs, gross and histopathological lesions dose dependently in experimental rats. DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.3329/pa.v21i1-2.16753 Progress. Agric. 21(1 & 2): 65 - 72, 2010
Fertility Desire and Contraceptive Utilization among People Living With HIV/AIDS on ART in Hosanna Town, Southern Ethiopia

HIV positive individuals may or may not have intention to have children. They could also have different degrees of utilization and demand for contraception. The desire of HIV infected persons to have children in the future has implication for the transmission of HIV to sexual partners or newborns. The study was designed to assess the fertility desire and contraceptive utilization among PLWHAs on ART in Hossana town. institutional based cross sectional study supplemented by in-depth interview was conducted from January to March 2010 on total sample of 321 who were on ART. Women 18-49 years and men 18-59 years were included. Data was entered by using EPI info 2000 then exported and analyzed by SPSS 17.0. Total of 117 (36.45%) of respondents were desiring children. Respondents with no children (AOR 60.89, 95% CI 8.02-462.05), those who intended to use family planning in the future (AOR 4.35, 95% CI 1.61-11.73) were more likely to desire children. 102(31.8%) were using family planning. Being married (AOR 7.83, 95% CI 1.08-56.79), having three or more children (AOR 4.54, 95% CI 1.12-18.48), and having knowledge on mother to child transmission (AOR 4.29, 95% CI 1.98-9.26) plan to have children in the future (AOR 0.29, 95% CI 0.1-0.82) were significantly associated with family planning. A high proportion of HIV positive individuals desired children. A better and evidence based understanding of fertility intentions and demand for contraception was needed to promote and protect women and men living with HIV/AIDs to make informed decisions about reproduction and to have access to appropriate sexual reproductive health services.
Compensation of Vertical Position Error Using a Force–Deflection Model in Friction Stir Spot Welding

Despite increasing need for friction stir spot welding (FSSW) for high-temperature softening materials, system deflection due to relatively high plunging force remains an obstacle. System deflection results in the vertical position error of a welding tool and insufficient plunge depth. In this study, we used adaptive control to maintain plunge depth, the plunging force was coaxially measured, and the position error was estimated using a force–deflection model. A linear relationship was confirmed between the force and deflection; this relationship is dependent on the stiffness of the welding system while independent of process parameters and base materials. The proposed model was evaluated during the FSSW of an Al 6061-T6 alloy sheet and a dissimilar metal combination of Al 6061-T6 alloy/dual phase (DP) 590 steel. Under varying process parameters, the adaptive control maintained a plunge depth with an error of less than 50 μm. Conventional position control has a maximum error of nearly 300 μm.
Statistics of local multiple alignments

SUMMARY BLAST statistics have been shown to be extremely useful for searching for significant similarity hits, for amino acid and nucleotide sequences. Although these statistics are well understood for pairwise comparisons, there has been little success developing statistical scores for multiple alignments. In particular, there is no score for multiple alignment that is well founded and treated as a standard. We extend the BLAST theory to multiple alignments. Following some simple assumptions, we present and justify a significance score for multiple segments of a local multiple alignment. We demonstrate its usefulness in distinguishing high and moderate quality multiple alignments from low quality ones, with supporting experiments on orthologous vertebrate promoter sequences.
Quality of life and metrics of achievement in long‐term adult survivors of pediatric heart transplant

Many children who undergo heart transplantation will survive into adulthood. We sought to examine the QOL and capacity for achievement in long‐term adult survivors of pediatric heart transplantation. Adults >18 yr of age who received transplants as children (≤18 yr old) and had survived for at least 10 yr post‐transplant completed two self‐report questionnaires: (i) Ferrans & Powers QLI, in which life satisfaction is reported as an overall score and in four subscale domains and is then indexed from 0 (very dissatisfied) to 1 (very satisfied); and (ii) a “Metrics of Life Achievement” questionnaire regarding income, education, relationships, housing status, and access to health care. A total of 20 subjects completed the survey. The overall mean QLI score was 0.77 ± 0.16. Subjects were most satisfied in the family domain (0.84 ± 0.21) and least satisfied in the psychological/spiritual domain (0.7 ± 0.28). Satisfaction in the domains of health/functioning and socioeconomic were intermediate at 0.78 and 0.76, respectively. Most respondents had graduated from high school, reported a median annual income >$50 000/yr, and lived independently. Adult survivors of pediatric heart transplant report a good QOL and demonstrate the ability to obtain an education, work, and live independently.
2 Related Literature and Stylized Facts

During the past three decades both the skill and the experience premium increased significantly in English-speaking countries, leading to higher wage inequality. The skill premium increases within any experience group. On the contrary, the experience premium rises significantly within the group of unskilled workers, while it remains flat among the skilled ones. Existing theoretical literature fails to provide a unified explanation of these facts. Using a model of asymmetric information, credit market imperfections and employer learning, I propose a microfounded justification for these recent patterns of wage inequality. In particular, I show that the relaxation of credit constraints decreased the initial wage for unskilled and inexperienced labor and this generated an increase in the experience premium within the group of unskilled workers. This suggests that a decrease in real minimum wages, allows initial salaries to fall, which in turn amplifies economic inequality. The mirror image between real minimum wages and economic inequality is a pattern that finds strong empirical support in many countries and especially in US, UK and Canada. My theory is also consistent with a rising skill premium within both the group of experienced and inexperienced workers.
Very High Cycle Fatigue Behaviors and Surface Crack Growth Mechanism of Hydrogen-Embrittled AISI 304 Stainless Steels

The influence of hydrogen embrittlement on the fatigue behaviors of AISI 304 stainless steel is investigated. The fatigue endurance limits of the untreated and hydrogen-embrittled materials were almost the same at 400 MPa, and hydrogen embrittlement had little influence even though the sample contained about 8.1 times more hydrogen. Thus, the sensitivity of hydrogen gas in this material is very low. A surface crack initiation, growth, coalescence, and micro ridge model is proposed in this study. Slip line formation ⇒ microcrack formation ⇒ increases in the crack width, and blunting of the crack tip as it grows ⇒ formation of many slip lines because of deformation in the shear direction ⇒ growth of the crack in the shear direction, forming micro ridges, coalescence with adjacent cracks ⇒ continuous initiation, growth, coalescence, and ridge formation of surface cracks and specimen breakage.
Changes in the Airborne Bacterial Community in Outdoor Environments following Asian Dust Events

Bacterial abundance and community compositions have been examined in aeolian dust in order to clarify their possible impacts on public health and ecosystems. The influence of transcontinentally transported bacterial cells on microbial communities in the outdoor environments of downwind areas should be determined because the rapid influx of a large amount of bacterial cells can disturb indigenous microbial ecosystems. In the present study, we analyzed bacteria in air samples (approximately 100 m3 d−1) that were collected on both Asian dust days and non-Asian dust days over 2 years (between November 2010 and July 2012). Changes in bacterial abundance and community composition were investigated based on their 16S rRNA gene amount and sequence diversity. Seasonal monitoring revealed that airborne bacterial abundance was more than 10-fold higher on severe dust days, while moderate dust events did not affect airborne bacterial abundance. A comparison of bacterial community compositions revealed that bacteria in Asian dust did not immediately disturb the airborne microbial community in areas 3,000–5,000 km downwind of dust source regions, even when a large amount of bacterial cells were transported by the atmospheric event. However, microbes in aeolian dust may have a greater impact on indigenous microbial communities in downwind areas near the dust source. Continuous temporal and spatial analyses from dust source regions to downwind regions (e.g., from the Gobi desert to China, Korea, Japan, and North America) will assist in estimating the impact of atmospherically transported bacteria on indigenous microbial ecosystems in downwind areas.
Microtubule‐associated protein tau in human prostate cancer cells: Isoforms, phosphorylation, and interactions

Tau is a microtubule‐associated protein whose function has been investigated primarily in neurons. Recently, tau expression has been correlated with increased drug resistance in various cancers of non‐neuronal tissues. In this report, we investigate the tau expressed in cancerous prostate lines ALVA‐31, DU 145, and PC‐3. Prostate cancer tau is heat‐stable and highly phosphorylated, containing many of the modifications identified in Alzheimer's disease brain tau. RT‐PCR and phosphatase treatment indicated that all six alternatively spliced adult brain tau isoforms are expressed in ALVA‐31 cells, and isoforms containing exon 6 as well as high molecular weight tau isoforms containing either exon 4A or a larger splice variant of exon 4A are also present. Consistent with its hyperphosphorylated state, a large proportion of ALVA‐31 tau does not bind to microtubules, as detected by confocal microscopy and biochemical tests. Finally, endogenous ALVA‐31 tau can interact with the p85 subunit of phosphatidylinositol 3‐kinase, as demonstrated by co‐immunoprecipitations and in vitro protein‐binding assays. Our results suggest that tau in prostate cancer cells does not resemble that from normal adult brain and support the hypothesis that tau is a multifunctional protein. J. Cell. Biochem. 108: 555–564, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Squamous cell carcinoma antigen‐immunoglobulin M complexes as novel biomarkers for hepatocellular carcinoma

Early detection of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), one of the most common and deadly tumors worldwide, still is difficult due to the lack of adequate biomarkers that show high sensitivity and specificity. The authors recently demonstrated that squamous cell carcinoma antigen (SCCA) variants were overexpressed remarkably in all surgically resected HCCs.
Codon usage: Nature's roadmap to expression and folding of proteins

Biomedical and biotechnological research relies on processes leading to the successful expression and production of key biological products. High‐quality proteins are required for many purposes, including protein structural and functional studies. Protein expression is the culmination of multistep processes involving regulation at the level of transcription, mRNA turnover, protein translation, and post‐translational modifications leading to the formation of a stable product. Although significant strides have been achieved over the past decade, advances toward integrating genomic and proteomic information are essential, and until such time, many target genes and their products may not be fully realized. Thus, the focus of this review is to provide some experimental support and a brief overview of how codon usage bias has evolved relative to regulating gene expression levels.
Validation of the Social Appearance Anxiety Scale: Factor, Convergent, and Divergent Validity

The Social Appearance Anxiety Scale (SAAS) was created to assess fear of overall appearance evaluation. Initial psychometric work indicated that the measure had a single-factor structure and exhibited excellent internal consistency, test—retest reliability, and convergent validity. In the current study, the authors further examined the factor, convergent, and divergent validity of the SAAS in two samples of undergraduates. In Study 1 (N = 323), the authors tested the factor structure, convergent, and divergent validity of the SAAS with measures of the Big Five personality traits, negative affect, fear of negative evaluation, and social interaction anxiety. In Study 2 (N = 118), participants completed a body evaluation that included measurements of height, weight, and body fat content. The SAAS exhibited excellent convergent and divergent validity with self-report measures (i.e., self-esteem, trait anxiety, ethnic identity, and sympathy), predicted state anxiety experienced during the body evaluation, and predicted body fat content. In both studies, results confirmed a single-factor structure as the best fit to the data. These results lend additional support for the use of the SAAS as a valid measure of social appearance anxiety.
Solitary Synchronous Metastatic Gastric Cancer Arising from T1b Renal Cell Carcinoma: A Case Report and Systematic Review

Metastasis to the stomach from renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is extremely rare. Usually, gastric metastasis seems to be a late event in patients with RCC and is accompanied by disseminated tumor spread to other organs. Solitary synchronous gastric metastasis from small, localized RCC has rarely been reported. We report a case of 79-year-old man with synchronous gastric metastasis presenting with a single erosive lesion from pT1 RCC. The patient underwent radical nephrectomy and endoscopic resection for metastatic gastric cancer. The resected specimen showed an ill-defined tumor, approximately 0.6 cm long, with a clear resection margin. The morphologic features of the tumor cells were consistent with those of metastatic RCC of the clear cell type. At 6 months's follow-up, the patient did not show local recurrence or additional metastasis on upper endoscopy and computed tomography scan.
Effects of Sigh on Regional Lung Strain and Ventilation Heterogeneity in Acute Respiratory Failure Patients Undergoing Assisted Mechanical Ventilation*

Objective:In acute respiratory failure patients undergoing pressure support ventilation, a short cyclic recruitment maneuver (Sigh) might induce reaeration of collapsed lung regions, possibly decreasing regional lung strain and improving the homogeneity of ventilation distribution. We aimed to describe the regional effects of different Sigh rates on reaeration, strain, and ventilation heterogeneity, as measured by thoracic electrical impedance tomography. Design:Prospective, randomized, cross-over study. Setting:General ICU of a single university-affiliated hospital. Patients:We enrolled 20 critically ill patients intubated and mechanically ventilated with PaO2/FIO2 up to 300 mm Hg and positive end-expiratory pressure at least 5 cm H2O (15 with acute respiratory distress syndrome), undergoing pressure support ventilation as per clinical decision. Interventions:Sigh was added to pressure support ventilation as a 35 cm H2O continuous positive airway pressure period lasting 3–4 seconds at different rates (no-Sigh vs 0.5, 1, and 2 Sigh(s)/min). All study phases were randomly performed and lasted 20 minutes. Measurements and Main Results:In the last minutes of each phase, we measured arterial blood gases, changes in end-expiratory lung volume of nondependent and dependent regions, tidal volume reaching nondependent and dependent lung (Vtnondep and Vtdep), dynamic intratidal ventilation heterogeneity, defined as the average ratio of Vt reaching nondependent/Vt reaching dependent lung regions along inspiration (VtHit). With Sigh, oxygenation improved (p < 0.001 vs no-Sigh), end-expiratory lung volume of nondependent and dependent regions increased (p < 0.01 vs no-Sigh), Vtnondep showed a trend to reduction, and Vtdep significantly decreased (p = 0.11 and p < 0.01 vs no-Sigh, respectively). VtHit decreased only when Sigh was delivered at 0.5/min (p < 0.05 vs no-Sigh), while it did not vary during the other two phases. Conclusions:Sigh decreases regional lung strain and intratidal ventilation heterogeneity. Our study generates the hypothesis that in ventilated acute respiratory failure patients, Sigh may enhance regional lung protection.
Deformation-induced surface roughening of an Al-Mg alloy

We analyze the deformation-induced surface roughening of an Al-Mg alloy. One aspect of our work is an effort to model the exact roughening behavior of a mesoscale-size specimen that contains a small number of grains. Such a specimen is obtained using prestrain, recrystallization annealing and subsequent machining. It contains one layer of grains through the thickness and is tested under uniaxial tension. A laser confocal microscope is then used in order to measure the surface profile of a deformed specimen. We apply crystal plasticity finite element method to a voxel model of a given specimen. The exact arrangement of grains in the voxel model is reconstructed from a pair of electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) scans using a custom-developed shape interpolation procedure. The material properties of the Al-Mg alloy are found using an efficient black-box optimizer. The exact shape of the deformed specimen wasn’t fully captured, however results on average surface roughness show good matching between model and experiment.
Online noise estamation using stochastic-gain HMM for speech enhancement

— We propose a noise estimation algorithm for single-channel noise suppression in dynamic noisy environments. A sto-chastic-gain hidden Markov model (SG-HMM) is used to model the statistics of nonstationary noise with time-varying energy. The noise model is adaptive and the model parameters are estimated online from noisy observations using a recursive estimation algo-rithm. The parameter estimation is derived for the maximum-like-lihood criterion and the algorithm is based on the recursive expectation maximization (EM) framework. The proposed method facilitates continuous adaptation to changes of both noise spectral shapes and noise energy levels, e.g., due to movement of the noise source. Using the estimated noise model, we also develop an estimator of the noise power spectral density (PSD) based on recursive averaging of estimated noise sample spectra. We demonstrate that the proposed scheme achieves more accurate estimates of the noise model and noise PSD, and as part of a speech enhancement system facilitates a lower level of residual noise.
Tracing information flow on a global scale using Internet chain-letter data

Although information, news, and opinions continuously circulate in the worldwide social network, the actual mechanics of how any single piece of information spreads on a global scale have been a mystery. Here, we trace such information-spreading processes at a person-by-person level using methods to reconstruct the propagation of massively circulated Internet chain letters. We find that rather than fanning out widely, reaching many people in very few steps according to “small-world” principles, the progress of these chain letters proceeds in a narrow but very deep tree-like pattern, continuing for several hundred steps. This suggests a new and more complex picture for the spread of information through a social network. We describe a probabilistic model based on network clustering and asynchronous response times that produces trees with this characteristic structure on social-network data.
Poly(2‐hydroxyethyl acrylate) hydrogels reinforced with graphene oxide: Remarkable improvement of water diffusion and mechanical properties

This work was supported by Project GV/2016/067 of the Generalitat Valenciana. AFM, and the stress-strain assay was conducted by the authors in the Microscopy Service of the Universitat Politecnica de Valencia, whose advice is greatly appreciated. The authors acknowledge M. Monleon-Pradas for his helpful discussions.
Polyester-based microparticles of different hydrophobicity: the patterns of lipophilic drug entrapment and release

Abstract The paper is devoted to the investigation of the effect of polyester hydrophobicity and ability for crystallisation on lipophilic drug loading and release from microparticles fabricated on the base of these polymers. Poly(l-lactic acid), poly(d, l-lactic acid) and poly (lactic acid-co-glycolic acid) were synthesised by ring-opening polymerisation using stannous octoate as catalyst, while poly(caprolactone) (PCL) and poly(ω-pentadecalactone) (PPDL) formation was catalysed by lipase. The particles were formed via single emulsion evaporation/diffusion method. The particles obtained were studied using SEM, XRD and DSC methods. The degradation of particles based on different polyesters, entrapment and release of a model hydrophobic drug (risperidone®) were thoroughly studied. The effect of particles hydrophobicity and crystallinity on these parameters was of most interest. The drug entrapment is greater for the hydrophobic polymers. Drug release was more rapid from crystalline particles (PLLA, PCL, PPDL), than from amorphous PDLLA and PLGA ones.