Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Serum neopterin levels in children with hepatitis-B-related chronic liver disease and its relationship to disease severity.

AIM To evaluate serum neopterin levels and their correlations with liver function tests and histological grade in children with hepatitis-B-related chronic liver disease. METHODS The study population comprised 48 patients with chronic active hepatitis B, 32 patients with hepatitis-B-related active liver cirrhosis and 40 normal controls. Serum neopterin was measured using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. RESULTS The mean +/- SD serum neopterin levels were 14.2 +/- 5.6 nmol/L in patients with chronic hepatitis, 20.3 +/- 7.9 nmol/L in patients with liver cirrhosis and 5.2 +/- 1.4 nmol/L in control group. Serum neopterin levels were significantly higher in patients with chronic hepatitis (P = 0.005) and cirrhosis patients (P = 0.008), than in control subjects. Cirrhotic patients had significantly higher serum neopterin levels than patients with chronic hepatitis (P = 0.004). There was a positive correlation between serum neopterin levels and alanine aminotransferase levels in patients with chronic hepatitis (r = 0.41, P = 0.004) and cirrhotic patients (r = 0.39, P = 0.005). Positive correlations were detected between serum neopterin levels and inflammatory score in patients with chronic hepatitis (r = 0.51, P = 0.003) and cirrhotic patients (r = 0.49, P = 0.001). CONCLUSION Our results suggest that serum neopterin levels can be considered as a marker of inflammatory activity and severity of disease in children with hepatitis-B-related chronic liver disease.
Synthesis of Monodispersed Magnetite Particles from Different Organometallic Precursors

Organometallic precursor-based synthesis has proved successful for the preparation of uniform nanoparticles. This method is widely used because of the ease and reproducibility of the synthesis, as well as the uniformity and high crystallinity of the particles. The method consists of the decomposition of an organometallic precursor in the presence of capping groups using organic solvents with high boiling points.
MULTISPIRAL COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHIC ANGIOGRAPHY OF RENAL ARTERIES OF LIVE POTENTIAL RENAL DONORS: A REVIEW OF 118 CASES

Objectives. Review of the angiographic data of 118 live kidney donors was performed to assess the renal vessel anatomy; compare the findings with the perioperative findings using multislice spiral (MS) computed tomographic angiography (CTA) with the use of 50 mL of intravenous contrast; determine the sensitivity of this technique in the workup of live potential renal donors; and finally to discuss and compare the results of the present study with the reported results using single-slice spiral (SS) CTA, magnetic resonance angiography (MRA), and conventional angiography (CA). Methods. Retrospective analysis of the angiographic data of 118 of prospective live kidney donors was performed. All donors underwent renal angiography on MSCTA scanning using 50 mL of intravenous contrast with 1.25-mm slice thickness followed by maximum intensity projection and virtual rendering techniques postprocessing algorithms. Analysis was made on imaging and intraoperatively for the number of renal arteries as well as their bifurcation pattern, location, vessel caliber, length, and venous anatomy, and these were then compared with each other. Results. MSCTA showed clear delineation of the main renal arteries in all the donors with detailed vessel morphology. The study also revealed a 100% sensitivity in the detection of accessory renal vessels, which had an overall incidence of 26.67%, with the most common distribution in the perihilar region. Conclusions. The present study showed a 100% sensitivity and specificity in the visualization and detection of main and accessory renal vessels with the use of only 50 mL of intravenous contrast with similar results seen with CA which has so far been considered the “gold standard. ” The results on MSCTA were also better than those with the use of SSCTA and MRA in the workup of liver renal donors, with the above technique also proving to be more cost effective. The overall incidence of supernumerary vessels was the same as reported in the literature; however, a higher incidence of single aberrant vessels was seen on the right side, contrary to what has been suggested so far and was attributable to improved detection of accessory vessels less then 2 mm in diameter.
Lightning subsequent-stroke electric field peak greater than the first stroke peak and multiple ground terminations

For 46 multiple-stroke flashes in which each stroke ground termination was located using a TV camera network and thunder ranging, 15 flashes (33%) had one or more subsequent return strokes whose initial electric field peak normalized to 100 km was greater than the first-stroke field peak of the flash. In 9 of these 15 flashes the subsequent strokes with field peaks greater than the first stroke followed the same channel as the first stroke; in five flashes the subsequent strokes with the greater peaks followed a different channel to ground; and in one flash the subsequent strokes with the greater peaks occurred both in the first-stroke channel and in a different channel. The interstroke intervals immediately preceding the 13 larger subsequent strokes that followed the first-stroke channel had a geometric mean (GM) duration of 98 ms, 1.7 times greater than the GM of 57 ms for all 199 interstroke intervals (46 flashes) without any selection. Eight of the 13 larger subsequent strokes for which leader durations were measurable had a GM leader duration of 0.55 ms, 3.3 times smaller than the GM of 1.8 ms for 117 subsequent leaders with measurable duration in a previously formed channel of the 46 multiple-stroke flashes. For the six larger subsequent strokes that created a new channel to ground, the preceding interstroke interval had a GM of 130 ms, and the leader duration had a GM of 15 ms. No subsequent stroke with peak field exceeding the first in any category had a preceding interstroke interval less than 35 ms. Analysis of direct current measurements from Switzerland shows that subsequent-stroke currents exhibit many features similar to those of Florida subsequent-stroke electric fields. In 22 Florida single-stroke and multiple-stroke ground flashes the distances between multiple channel terminations in a given flash (33 measurements) ranged from 0.3 km to 7.3 km, with a GM of 1.7 km.
Surface Textures Using a GelSi Technology

Sensing surface textures by tou capability for robots. Until recently it w a compliant sensor with high sen resolution. The GelSight sensor is co sensitivity and resolution exceeding fingertips. This opens the possibility recognizing highly detailed surface tex sensor, when pressed against a surfac map. This can be treated as an image, a the tools of visual texture analysis. W simple yet effective texture recognitio local binary patterns, and enhanced multi-scale pyramid and a Hellinger d built a database with 40 classes of ta materials such as fabric, wood, and san can correctly categorize materials from high accuracy. This suggests that the G be useful for material recognition by ro
Opposite thrust systems in northern Victoria Land, Antarctica: Imprints of Gondwana's Paleozoic accretion

Two major thrust systems with contrasting senses of displacement transect the Wilson terrane crust of northern Victoria Land, Antarctica. Along both mylonitic shear zones the central high-grade metamorphic basement is detached and thrust divergently toward the west and east over synorogenic, lower grade fore-arc and back-arc basin sedimentary rocks, respectively. Deformation was preceded by pervasive high-temperature-low-pressure metamorphism. Granites intruded the basement prekinematically and postkinematically. The structures are interpreted as results of early Paleozoic subduction of the paleo-Pacific oceanic crust under the Antarctic craton.
The influence of El Niño‐Southern Oscillation events on the northern hemisphere 500 hPa circumpolar vortex

The relationship between El Niño, the Southern Oscillation, and their joint effect (ENSO), and Northern Hemisphere 500 hPa midlatitude circulation for the 1946–1994 observational record is determined. Seasonally standardized vortex positions at a spatial resolution of 5° longitude are correlated with an equatorial Pacific sea surface temperature anomaly index and the Southern Oscillation Index (SOI). The 500 hPa circumpolar vortex is consistently expanded over the central Pacific during and for the entire year following warm ENSO periods. The vortex is contracted over North America concurrently with warm ENSO and to a lesser degree during the following season. Expansion/contraction variability is also evident over east Asia, although the linkages to warm or cold ENSO are weak. Sea surface temperatures have a stronger association with the vortex than does the SOI.
Ultrahigh Pressure Metamorphism: Ultra-high-pressure metamorphic rocks in the Western Alps

Abstract The focus of this paper is on the UHP rocks of the western Alps and particularly on the southern Dora-Maira massif where demonstrated coherency and a wide range of lithologies preserve UHP mineral species. The coesite-bearing Brossasco-Isasca Unit (BIU) of the southern Dora-Maira massif (DMM) is a coherent fragment of Variscan continental crust involved in the Alpine collisional orogenic belt. Two complexes were recognized: (1) a “polymetamorphic complex,” consisting of paraschist with minor eclogite, marble, and fine-grained phengite-rich gneiss. Some paraschists contain relics of Variscan amphibolite-facies rocks; (2) a “monometamorphic complex,” consisting of orthogneiss with local augen fabric, which contains relics of undeformed metagranitoids and pyrope-bearing whiteschist layers. The primary intrusive relations between “polymetamorphic” and “monometamorphic” complexes are indicated by the local occurrence, all along the main contact, of relics of thermally metamorphosed paraschists. The Variscan age of the granitoid emplacement into the pre-Alpine amphibolite-facies basement is constrained by a 303 ± 1 Ma U/Pb zircon age. Therefore, before the Alpine orogeny the BIU consisted of a Variscan amphibolite-facies basement intruded by late-Variscan granitoids. The peak metamorphic conditions within the BIU are constrained by the occurrence of pyrope + coesite instead of talc + kyanite and of the divariant assemblage jadeite + pyrope + glaucophane and are estimated to be P = 33 ± 3 kbar and T = 750 ± 30° C.
Inflammatory hypoxia induces syndecan‐2 expression through IL‐1b–mediated FOXO3a activation in colonic epithelia

Chronic inflammation is known to be a key causative factor in tumor progression, but we do not yet fully understand the molecular mechanism through which inflammation leads to cancer. Here, we report that the dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)‐induced mouse model of chronic colitis is associated with increases in the serum level of IL‐1β and the colonic epithelial expression of the cell‐surface heparan sulfate proteoglycan, syndecan‐2. We further show that IL‐1β stimulated the transcription of syndecan‐2 via NF‐κB–dependent FOXO3a activation in CCD841CoN normal colonic epithelial cells and early‐stage HT29 colon cancer cells. Inflammatory hypoxia was observed in the colonic epithelia of mice with chronic colitis, suggesting that hypoxic stress is involved in the regulation of syndecan‐2 expression. Consistently, experimental inflammatory hypoxia induced hypoxia inducible factor‐1α–dependent FOXO3a expression and the p38 MAPK‐mediated nuclear localization of FOXO3a. FOXO3a directly mediated syndecan‐2 expression in both cell lines and the colonic epithelia of mice with DSS‐induced colitis. Moreover, syndecan‐2 expression was detected in azoxymethane/DSS‐induced colon tumors. Together, these data demonstrate that inflammatory hypoxia up‐regulates syndecan‐2 via the IL‐1β–NF‐κB–FOXO3a pathway. These findings provide new mechanistic in‐sights into inflammatory hypoxia–mediated syndecan‐2 expression to connect chronic inflammation and the development of colon cancer. —Choi, S. , Chung, H. , Hong, H. , Kim, S. Y. , Kim, S. ‐E. , Seoh, J.‐Y. , Moon, C. M. , Yang, E. G. , Oh, E. ‐S. Inflammatory hypoxia induces syndecan‐2 expression through IL‐1β‐mediated FOXO3a activation in colonic epithelia. FASEB J. 31, 1516–1530 (2017) www.fasebj. org
On the development of a new methodology for groundwater‐Driven health risk assessment

A methodology and hypothetical case study are presented for incorporation of uncertainty and variability into calculations of human health risk appropriate for regional, or basin‐scale, groundwater management problems. Uncertainty in well water concentration is introduced through complex contaminant migration patterns in the subsurface. Variability is considered in parameters related to individual behavior patterns and biological effects and to groundwater extraction and distribution networks. A joint uncertainty and variability (JUV) analysis is used to generate a two‐dimensional distribution or risk surface that spans both transport uncertainty as well as individual variability. Cuts in this distributional surface (fractiles of variability and percentiles of uncertainty) are presented and discussed. Comparisons with alternative approaches based upon deterministic transport models are also made. In addition, important distinctions are made between the case where household water is derived from the nearest well and the case where household water is mixed from many wells in a distribution system.
Clinical Outcomes of Tenofovir Versus Zidovudine-based Regimens Among People Living with HIV/AIDS: a Two Years Retrospective Cohort Study

Background: Tenofovir (TDF) based regimen is one of the first line agents that has been utilized routinely since 2013 in Ethiopia. Unfortunately, there is limited information regarding the Clinical outcomes and associated risk factors in this setting, where patients generally present late, have high rates of TB and other infectious conditions. Methods: A two year retrospective cohort study was conducted from February 10/2015 to March 10/2015 at Jimma University Specialized Hospital. A total of 280 records were reviewed by including data from September 3, 2012 to July 31, 2014. Records were selected using a simple random sampling technique. Data was collected on socio-demographic, clinical and drug related variables. Data was analyzed using STATA 13.1. Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression were used to compare survival experience and identify independent predictors. Propensity score matching analysis was conducted to elucidate the average treatment effects of each regimen over opportunistic infections. Results: Of 280 patients, 183(65.36%) were females and 93(33.32%) of females belong to Tenofovir group. Through 24 months analysis, TDF based regimen had a protective effect against death and opportunistic infections (OIs), (AHR=0.79, 95% CI [0.24, 2.62]) and (AHR=0.78, 95%CI [0.43, 1.4] respectively. The average treatment effect of TDF/3TC/EFV was (-71/1000, p=0.026), while it was (+114/1000, p=0.049) for AZT/3TC/EFV. However, TDF/3TC/NVP was associated with statistically insignificant morbidity reduction (-74/1000, p=0.377). Those with body mass-index (BMI) <18.5kg/m2 (AHR=3.21, 95%CI [0.93, 11.97]) had higher hazard of death. Absence of baseline prophylaxis (AHR=8.22, 95% CI [1.7, 39.77]), Cotrimoxazole prophylaxis alone (AHR=6.15, 95% CI [1.47, 26.67]) and BMI<18.5kg/m2 (AHR=2.06, 95% CI [1.14, 3.73]) had higher hazards of OIs. Conclusion: The survival benefit of TDF based regimen was similar to AZT based regimen and therefore can be used as an alternative for HIV/AIDS patients in resource limited setups. However, since this study was not dealt with toxicity of the regimens, we recommend to conduct high quality design on this issue.
Protein–RNA interactions: Structural analysis and functional classes

A data set of 89 protein–RNA complexes has been extracted from the Protein Data Bank, and the nucleic acid recognition sites characterized through direct contacts, accessible surface area, and secondary structure motifs. The differences between RNA recognition sites that bind to RNAs in functional classes has also been analyzed. Analysis of the complete data set revealed that van der Waals interactions are more numerous than hydrogen bonds and the contacts made to the nucleic acid backbone occur more frequently than specific contacts to nucleotide bases. Of the base‐specific contacts that were observed, contacts to guanine and adenine occurred most frequently. The most favored amino acid–nucleotide pairings observed were lysine–phosphate, tyrosine–uracil, arginine–phosphate, phenylalanine–adenine and tryptophan–guanine. The amino acid propensities showed that positively charged and polar residues were favored as expected, but also so were tryptophan and glycine. The propensities calculated for the functional classes showed trends similar to those observed for the complete data set. However, the analysis of hydrogen bond and van der Waal contacts showed that in general proteins complexed with messenger RNA, transfer RNA and viral RNA have more base specific contacts and less backbone contacts than expected, while proteins complexed with ribosomal RNA have less base‐specific contacts than the expected. Hence, whilst the types of amino acids involved in the interfaces are similar, the distribution of specific contacts is dependent upon the functional class of the RNA bound. Proteins 2007. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Flow mechanism of the Des Moines lobe of the Laurentide ice sheet

Abstract Rapid flow of the Des Moines lobe of the Laurentide ice sheet may have been related to its unlithified substrate. New reconstructions of the lobe, based on moraine elevations, sediment subsidence during moraine deposition, and flow-direction indicators, indicate that the lobe may have been ∼3 times thicker than in previous reconstructions. Nevertheless, implied basal shear stresses are <15 kPa, so internal ice deformation was not significant. Instead, the lobe likely moved by a combination of sliding, plowing of particles through the bed surface, and bed shear. Consolidation tests on basal till yield preconsolidation stresses of 125–300 kPa, so effective normal stresses on the bed were small. A model of sliding and plowing indicates that at such stresses most particles gripped by the ice may have plowed easily through the till bed, resulting in too small a shear traction on the bed to shear it at depth. Consistent with this prediction, measurements of orientations of clasts in basal till yield a weak fabric, implying pervasive bed shear strain less than ∼2, although some stronger fabrics have been reported by others. We infer, tentatively, that movement was principally at the bed surface by plowing.
Trellis turbo-codes in flat Rayleigh fading with diversity

This paper compares the performance of two schemes for joint channel estimation and turbo-decoding of high-rate trellis turbo-codes in flat Rayleigh fading, where antenna diversity is available at the receiver. The first method relies on iterative quantized phase estimation, and the second on optimum filtering of pilot and coded symbols. For Doppler rates of practical interest, simulations indicate that optimum pilot filtering is superior to approximating the channel phase with a quantized Markov model. The optimum filtering approach also has lower complexity. For an absolute measure of performance, proximity to channel capacity is also discussed. Iterative joint channel estimation and turbo-decoding with either method is demonstrated to achieve almost all the capacity gain due to receiver antenna diversity.
in Chemically Induced Thymic Lymphomas Alleles ras Differential Expression of the Normal and Mutated K-Updated Version

The presence of point mutations in the K-ras gene was examined in murine thy mie lymphomas induced by a single dose of /V-methylnitrosourea by the RNase A mismatch cleavage method and by allelic-specific oligonucleotide hybridization of in vitro amplified DNA by polymerase chain reaction. The results show that the frequency of mutations is lower than that of tumors induced by multiple W-methylnitrosourea treatments. Four mutations identified were the aspartic acid at codon 12, a G:C to V:I transition in its second position. A G:C to I :A transversion in codon 146 was also found in one thymic lymphoma, changing the amino acid alanine to serine. The use of the RNase A assay allowed an estimation of the relative expression levels of both normal and mutant K-ras alÃ-eles. The results show that in approximately one half of the tumors the mutant alÃ-eleis predominantly expressed, suggesting that the normal alÃ-elehas been lost or that the mutant alÃ-elehas been amplified relative to the normal. Altogether, these findings are consistent with ras mutations occurring in some instances during tumor development and with a ras effect being not strictly dominant but favoring selection for increasing levels of expression from the oncogenic alÃ-ele. (9). Only two members of the ras gene family, the N-ras and li ras genes, have been found activated so far in this mouse system. Methods for induction of tumors in experimental animals fall into two categories: fractionated exposure to a carcinogen and a single dose. Our aim in this study was to compare these two types of protocols. Therefore, we induced thymic lympho mas in mice after one single injection of NMU in an attempt to understand whether the frequency and spectrum of ras mu tations correlate with the carcinogen dose by comparing these results with our previous ones using multiple doses (8). The methods we used for determining the presence of mutations in the K-ras gene as well as their nature and position were gene amplification by PCR and the RNase A protection assay. The particular advantage of the RNase A protection assay is that it permits the separate detection of the message for each alÃ-ele. This method allows for an estimation of the relative expression of both normal and mutant ras alÃ-elesin the same tumor cells (10).
Piracetam: Novelty in a Unique Mode of Action

Extensive research of the recent years has demonstrated that piracetam is effective in the treatment of cognitive decline in aging and dementia. It is usually much more active in situations of impaired brain function. Accordingly, its mechanism of action has been associated with neurochemical deficits of the aged brain relevant to cognitive dysfunctions. Since many of these neurochemical deficits depend on changes of membrane properties, including fluidity, it is of special importance that piracetam not only modifies membrane properties by interacting with the polar head moieties of the phospholipid bilayer, but also that this effect is more pronounced in membranes of aged as opposed to young animal and human brains, and that this mechanism also has specific relevance for brain membranes of Alzheimer's disease patients. Altering membrane properties might also be involved in vascular effects of piracetam such as improved erythrocyte deformability and normalization of hyperactive platelet aggregation. This novel mechanism of piracetam thus combines a rather non-specific physico-chemical mode of action with the pharmacological and clinical experience with this unique drug - effects are always much more pronounced when function is impaired.
A Fast Static Index Pruning Algorithm

As a query processing optimization technique over inverted index, static index pruning can significantly reduce index size and query processing time. A fast static index pruning algorithm is presented, which is a term-centric method and adopts BM25 weighting as the pruning measure. The algorithm scans through documents set with one pass and directly builds pruned index, and therefore avoids the construction of original index. The correctness of the algorithm is proved and the theoretical analysis reveals that its IO performance takes precedence over other algorithms. The experiments based on TREC data set also show that the fast static index pruning algorithm requires less time to build pruned index, and the pruning effectiveness outperforms the baseline method.