Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Comparison of the Mechanical Properties of Thai Nonlatex with Commercial Latex Orthodontic Elastics for Orthodontic Application

Natural rubber latex products are used as orthodontic elastics but the increased incidence of latex allergies has led to the development of nonlatex orthodontic products. In Thailand, commercial nonlatex orthodontic elastics are not readily available and the cost of imported non latex products is relatively high. Thai non latex elasticshave been developedas alternative orthodontic products for latex-allergic patients and their costs are affordable.Objective: Tocomparethe mechanical properties of Thai nonlatex elastics with commercial natural latex orthodontic elastics for orthodontic application. Materials and Methods: Samples of imported latex orthodontic elastics [Ormco(USA), G&H (USA), Creative Orthodontics (China), Tomy Elastics (Japan)]were selected to compare their dimensional characteristics and mechanical properties with Thai non latex elastics. The dimensional characteristics of the elastics (i.e., inner diameter, cross-sectional thickness and cross-sectional area) were determined and their mechanical properties [(i.e., initial extension force (F0), 24 h- residual force (F24), percentage of force loss, force exerted at 3x the specified inner diameter(F3xID) and breaking force] were tested next. The data were analyzed with One-way ANOVA and multiple comparison by Tukey’s test was used among groups (p<0.05). Results:Significant differences of dimensional characteristics and mechanical properties were found among each brand of elastics. Thai non latex elastics had significantly different mechanical properties from natural latex elastics as reported in previous studies(p<0.05). Thai non latex elastics had the lowest initial extension force (0.82N), 24-h residual force (0.56 N) and breaking force (19.63 N, 8.183 MPa) but the highest percentage of force loss after 24 h (32.62%). However, the percentage of force loss was higher than commercial non latexelastics as previously reported. Conclusion:Thai nonlatex elastics were not comparable to those of the latex elasticsregardingmechanical properties;however,these are acceptable for orthodontic application. Therefore, the clinical selection of elastics should be based on the patient’s medical history and the specific mechanical properties of the type of elastic. Thai nonlatex orthodontic elastics can be a valid alternativefor patients with latex allergy in Thailand and this study contributes to the continuous development of Thai nonlatex orthodontic elastics.
"Negative symptoms": conceptual and methodological problems.

Research into the so-called negative symptoms of schizophrenia is plagued by often ignored problems in item identification, scale selection, quantification, clinical assessment process, and symptom (and, probably, causal) nonspecificity. Neither a negative symptom syndrome per se nor the recent rating scales designed to measure it have been validated, although some data useful in this regard have been presented for the scales. Since no criterion against which to validate these scales exists, construct validation is needed. The construct of negative symptoms, as defined by its hypothesized empirical relationships with other variables, and the procedures used to measure it must be validated simultaneously and gradually through a programmatic series of studies. In the meantime, research results pertaining to negative symptoms should be interpreted with considerable caution.
CENP-B box is required for de novo centromere chromatin assembly on human alphoid DNA

Centromere protein (CENP) B boxes, recognition sequences of CENP-B, appear at regular intervals in human centromeric α-satellite DNA (alphoid DNA). In this study, to determine whether information carried by the primary sequence of alphoid DNA is involved in assembly of functional human centromeres, we created four kinds of synthetic repetitive sequences: modified alphoid DNA with point mutations in all CENP-B boxes, resulting in loss of all CENP-B binding activity; unmodified alphoid DNA containing functional CENP-B boxes; and nonalphoid repetitive DNA sequences with or without functional CENP-B boxes. These four synthetic repetitive DNAs were introduced into cultured human cells (HT1080), and de novo centromere assembly was assessed using the mammalian artificial chromosome (MAC) formation assay. We found that both the CENP-B box and the alphoid DNA sequence are required for de novo MAC formation and assembly of functional centromere components such as CENP-A, CENP-C, and CENP-E. Using the chromatin immunoprecipitation assay, we found that direct assembly of CENP-A and CENP-B in cells with synthetic alphoid DNA required functional CENP-B boxes. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first reported evidence of a functional molecular link between a centromere-specific DNA sequence and centromeric chromatin assembly in humans.
Role of right atrial endocardial structures as barriers to conduction during human type I atrial flutter. Activation and entrainment mapping guided by intracardiac echocardiography.

BACKGROUND The importance of barriers in atrial flutter has been demonstrated in animals. We used activation and entrainment mapping, guided by intracardiac echocardiography (ICE), to determine whether the crista terminalis (CT) and eustachian ridge (ER) are barriers to conduction during typical atrial flutter in humans. METHODS AND RESULTS In eight patients, ICE was used to guide the placement of 20-pole and octapolar catheters along the CT and interatrial septum and a roving catheter to nine sites: just posterior (1) and anterior (2) to the CT along the lateral right atrium, at the fossa ovalis (3), and just posterior and anterior to the ER at the low posterolateral (4 and 5), low posterior (6 and 7), and low posteromedial (8 and 9) right atrium. Entrainment was performed, and each site was considered within the flutter circuit if the postpacing interval-flutter cycle length (PPI-FCL) and the stimulus time-activation time (stim time-act time) were < 10 msec. Split potentials were recorded along the CT with components activated in a low-to-high pattern and a high-to-low pattern. Conduction times, as percentage of FCL, were significantly different at sites on either side of the CT and ER: site 1 (33 +/- 13%) and site 2 (43 +/- 12%) (P = .02), site 4 (48 +/- 24%) and site 5 (75 +/- 8.9%) (P = .02), and site 6 (22 +/- 10%) and site 7 (82 +/- 5.3%) (P = .0009). During entrainment, no surface fusion was observed at sites 5, 7, or 9. The PPI-FCL and stim time-act time were not significantly different than 0 at sites 2, 7, 5, or 9, indicating that they were within the flutter circuit, whereas sites 1, 3, 4, and 6 were not. CONCLUSIONS ICE enabled the correlation of functional electrophysiological properties with specific anatomic landmarks, identifying the CT and ER as barriers to conduction during human atrial flutter.
Spatial heterogeneity of myocardial perfusion predicts local potassium channel expression and action potential duration.

AIMS In the heart, there is not only a transmural gradient of left ventricular perfusion and action potential duration (APD), but also spatial heterogeneity within each myocardial layer, where local blood flow and energy turnover vary more than three-fold between individual regions. We analysed at high spatial resolution whether a corresponding heterogeneity also extends to ion channel gene expression and APD. METHODS AND RESULTS In the open-chest beagle dog, left ventricular 300 microL samples of very low or high flow were identified by radioactive microspheres and expression levels determined by quantitative PCR. The distribution of epicardial APD was assessed by mapping local activation repolarization intervals (ARIs) and QT interval (QT). ERG, the potassium channel mediating IKr, and KChIP2, the interacting protein modulating Ito, were increased in Low flow (3.3- and 2.5-fold, P < 0.001 and <0.05, respectively; n = 6 hearts, 30-31 samples each) as compared with High flow areas. This suggested enhanced repolarizing currents in Low flow areas, and in consequence, mathematical model analysis predicted a shorter local APD upon enhanced ERG and IKr. Epicardial mapping revealed a patchy, temporally stable APD pattern (n = 11), a small apico-basal gradient and an APD prolongation induced by the ERG blocker dofetilide predominantly in areas of short basal ARI or QT, respectively (n = 9). In addition, in Short QT areas, ERG expression was three-fold increased (P < 0.05, n = 4). CONCLUSION The spatial pattern of perfusion is matched by the novel patterns of K+ channel expression and APD. Whenever this newly recognized intramural dispersion of APD increases, it may contribute to arrhythmogenesis.
More for your money: exploiting performance heterogeneity in public clouds

Infrastructure-as-a-system compute clouds such as Amazon's EC2 allow users to pay a flat hourly rate to run their virtual machine (VM) on a server providing some combination of CPU access, storage, and network. But not all VM instances are created equal: distinct underlying hardware differences, contention, and other phenomena can result in vastly differing performance across supposedly equivalent instances. The result is striking variability in the resources received for the same price. We initiate the study of customer-controlled placement gaming: strategies by which customers exploit performance heterogeneity to lower their costs. We start with a measurement study of Amazon EC2. It confirms the (oft-reported) performance differences between supposedly identical instances, and leads us to identify fruitful targets for placement gaming, such as CPU, network, and storage performance. We then explore simple heterogeneity-aware placement strategies that seek out better-performing instances. Our strategies require no assistance from the cloud provider and are therefore immediately deployable. We develop a formal model for placement strategies and evaluate potential strategies via simulation. Finally, we verify the efficacy of our strategies by implementing them on EC2; our experiments show performance improvements of 5% for a real-world CPU-bound job and 34% for a bandwidth-intensive job.
Differences in brain-derived neurotrophic factor between neonates born to mothers with normal and low ferritin.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Maternal iron deficiency in late pregnancy, labor, and the postpartum period has an indirect impact to decrease neurotrophin concentration in the fetal hippocampus, namely brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). It plays an important role in the development of learning, memory, and behavior. The aim of this study was to determine the differences in BDNF between neonates born to mothers with normal and low ferritin. METHODS AND STUDY DESIGN This was an observational study with a cross-sectional design involving 20 term pregnant women with normal ferritin (>=12 ng/mL) and 20 term pregnant women with low ferritin (<12 ng/mL). Samples were taken from Yarsi hospital, BMC hospital, and Hardi clinic located in Padang, from August 2015 to February 2016. Umbilical cord plasma was examined directly after delivery using an enzymelinked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) employed at the Biomedical Laboratory of Andalas University. Mean differences were statistically assessed by independent samples t-test. RESULTS Plasma BDNF concentrations in neonates born to mothers with normal and low ferritin were 3.81±1.37 ng/mL and 2.78±1.19 ng/mL, respectively (p=0.015). CONCLUSIONS Plasma BDNF was lower in neonates born to mothers with low serum ferritin.
Markers of capacity to utilize fatty acids in human skeletal muscle: relation to insulin resistance and obesity and effects of weight loss

A number of biochemical defects have been identified in glucose metabolism within skeletal muscle in obesity, and positive effects of weight loss on insulin resistance are also well established. Less is known about the capacity of skeletal muscle for the metabolism of fatty acids in obesity‐related insulin resistance and of the effects of weight loss, though it is evident that muscle contains increased triglyceride. The current study was therefore undertaken to profile markers of human skeletal muscle for fatty acid metabolism in relation to obesity, in relation to the phenotype of insulin‐resistant glucose metabolism, and to examine the effects of weight loss. Fifty‐five men and women, lean and obese, with normal glucose tolerance underwent percutaneous biopsy of vastus lateralis skeletal muscle for determination of HADH, CPT, heparin‐releasable (Hr) and tissue‐extractable (Ext) LPL, CS, COX, PFK, and GAPDH enzyme activities, and content of cytosolic and plasma membrane FABP. Insulin sensitivity was measured using the euglycemic clamp method. DEXA was used to measure FM and FFM. In skeletal muscle of obese individuals, CPT, CS, and COX activities were lower while, conversely, they had a higher or similar content of FABPC and FABPPM than in lean individuals. Hr and Ext LPL activities were similar in both groups. In multivariate and simple regression analyses, there were significant correlations between insulin resistance and several markers of FA metabolism, notably, CPT and FABPPM. These data suggest that in obesity‐related insulin resistance, the metabolic capacity of skeletal muscle appears to be organized toward fat esterification rather than oxidation and that dietary‐induced weight loss does not correct this disposition. —Simoneau, J.‐A. , Veerkamp, J. H. , Turcotte, L. P., Kelley, D. E. Markers of capacity to utilize fatty acids in human skeletal muscle: relation to insulin resistance and obesity and effects of weight loss. FASEB J. 13, 2051–2060 (1999)
Image quality of thoracic 64-MDCT angiography: imaging of infants and young children with or without general anesthesia.

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to compare the image quality of thoracic CT angiography (CTA) studies performed with two techniques--with general anesthesia and without general anesthesia--for infants and for children younger than 5 years. MATERIALS AND METHODS All consecutively registered infants and young children (age, ≤ 5 years) who underwent contrast-enhanced thoracic CTA from November 2005 to October 2010 were categorized into two groups: general anesthesia and awake (i.e., no general anesthesia). Two radiologists independently evaluated image quality by quantifying the degree of motion artifact at three anatomic levels (upper, middle, and lower lung zones). Motion artifacts were graded on an ordinal scale (0, no motion; 1, mild; 2, moderate; 3, severe), and the Pearson chi-square test was used to assess whether the degree of motion artifact differed between the general anesthesia and awake groups in the upper, middle, and lower lung zones. Logistic regression analysis was performed to determine whether image quality based on the presence or absence of motion artifact in any lobe was related to general anesthesia versus the awake state; age and sex were covariates. Interobserver agreement between two reviewers was evaluated with kappa statistics. RESULTS There were a total of 135 patients (mean age 1.0 year), 95 in the awake group (70%) and 40 in the general anesthesia group (30%). No significant difference was found between the two groups in percentage of studies with motion artifact detected in each lung zone and the total motion artifact score. Results of multivariable logistic regression analysis indicated that image quality was not influenced by age (p = 0.52) or sex (p = 0.20). There was excellent interobserver kappa agreement between reviewers for detecting motion artifact in the upper, middle, and lower lung zones (all κ > 0.90, p < 0.001). CONCLUSION There is no significant difference in image quality of thoracic CTA with 64-MDCT assessed by degree of motion artifact with and without general anesthesia. The results of this study support use of thoracic CTA without general anesthesia in the care of young pediatric patients who meet screening criteria for awake imaging studies.
Analysis of a Charge Cluster Mutation of Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1 UL34 and Its Extragenic Suppressor Suggests a Novel Interaction between pUL34 and pUL31 That Is Necessary for Membrane Curvature around Capsids

ABSTRACT Interaction between pUL34 and pUL31 is essential for targeting both proteins to the inner nuclear membrane (INM). Sequences mediating the targeting interaction have been mapped by others with both proteins. We have previously reported identification of charge cluster mutants of herpes simplex virus type 1 UL34 that localize properly to the inner nuclear membrane, indicating interaction with UL31, but fail to complement a UL34 deletion. We have characterized one mutation (CL04) that alters a charge cluster near the N terminus of pUL34 and observed the following. (i) The CL04 mutant has a dominant-negative effect on pUL34 function, indicating disruption of some critical interaction. (ii) In infections with CL04 pUL34, capsids accumulate in close association with the INM, but no perinuclear enveloped viruses, cytoplasmic capsids, or virions or cell surface virions were observed, suggesting that CL04 UL34 does not support INM curvature around the capsid. (iii) Passage of UL34-null virus on a stable cell line that expresses CL04 resulted in selection of extragenic suppressor mutants that grew efficiently using the mutant pUL34. (iv) All extragenic suppressors contained an R229→L mutation in pUL31 that was sufficient to suppress the CL04 phenotype. (v) Immunolocalization and coimmunoprecipitation experiments with truncated forms of pUL34 and pUL31 confirm that N-terminal sequences of pUL34 and a C-terminal domain of pUL31 mediate interaction but not nuclear membrane targeting. pUL34 and pUL31 may make two essential interactions—one for the targeting of the complex to the nuclear envelope and another for nuclear membrane curvature around capsids.
Chaos detection in microwave circuits using harmonic balance commercial simulations

In the present work a method has been developed for the detection of chaotic responses in microwave circuits. The new technique is based on the use of commercial harmonic balance software, which constitutes a major advantage for microwave circuit designers. In order to validate the new method, the bifurcation loci of Chua's chaotic circuit have been obtained and successfully compared with time domain simulations. The proposed method is readily applicable to IMPATT, Gunn and tunnel diode microwave oscillators.
Photometry of the five marginally studied open clusters Collinder 74, Berkeley 27, Haffner 8, NGC 2509, and VdB-Hagen 4

Context. The stellar populations in the outer Galactic disk are a subject of wide interest nowadays. To contribute to a better picture of this part of the Galaxy, we have studied the nature of five marginally investigated star clusters (Collinder 74, Berkeley 27, Haffner 8, NGC 2509, and VdB-Hagen4) by means of accurate CCD photometry in the V and I passbands. These clusters are in fact located in the third Galactic quadrant. Aims. We aim to obtain the basic parameters of these objects, which in some cases are still disputed in the literature. In the case of VdB-Hagen 4 we provide the first estimate of its fundamental parameters, while for Haffner 8 we present the first CCD photometry. Methods. The analysis is based on the comparison between field stars decontaminated color magnitude diagrams and stellar models. Particular care is devoted to the the assessment of the data quality and the statistical field star decontamination. The Padova library of stellar isochrones is adopted in this study. Results. The analysis we carried out allowed us to solve a few inconsistencies in the literature regarding Haffner 8 and NGC 2509. Collinder 74 is found to be significantly older than reported before. VdB-Hagen 4 is a young open cluster located more than 20 kpc from the Galactic center. Such an extreme distance is compatible with the cluster belonging to the Norma-Cygnus arm.
A phase II trial of bryostatin 1 in patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma

Bryostatin 1 is a naturally occurring macrocyclic lactone with promising antitumour and immunomodulatory function in preclinical and phase I clinical investigations. In this phase II study, 17 patients with progressive non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma of indolent type (NHL), previously treated with chemotherapy, received a median of 6 (range 1–9) intravenous infusions of 25 μg/m2 bryostatin 1 given once weekly over 24 hours. In 14 evaluable patients no responses were seen. Stable disease was attained in one patient for 9 months. The principal toxicities were myalgia and phlebitis. Treatment was discontinued early because of toxicity alone (phlebitis) in 2 patients, toxicity in addition to progressive disease in 3 patients (myalgia and phlebitis n = 2; thrombocytopenia n = 1) and progressive disease in 5 patients. The results fail to demonstrate efficacy of this regimen of bryostatin 1 in the treatment of NHL. In light of preclinical data that demonstrate synergy between bryostatin 1 and several cytotoxic agents and cytokines, clinical studies to investigate bryostatin 1 in combination are warranted. We also present data to demonstrate that central venous lines may be used in future studies to avoid phlebitis. © 2001 Cancer Research Campaign
Towards Domain-Independent Argumentative Zoning: Evidence from Chemistry and Computational Linguistics

Argumentative Zoning (AZ) is an analysis of the argumentative and rhetorical structure of a scientific paper. It has been shown to be reliably used by independent human coders, and has proven useful for various information access tasks. Annotation experiments have however so far been restricted to one discipline, computational linguistics (CL). Here, we present a more informative AZ scheme with 15 categories in place of the original 7, and show that it can be applied to the life sciences as well as to CL. We use a domain expert to encode basic knowledge about the subject (such as terminology and domain specific rules for individual categories) as part of the annotation guidelines. Our results show that non-expert human coders can then use these guidelines to reliably annotate this scheme in two domains, chemistry and computational linguistics.
Longstanding Hyperthyroidism Is Associated with Normal or Enhanced Intrinsic Cardiomyocyte Function despite Decline in Global Cardiac Function

Thyroid hormones (THs) play a pivotal role in cardiac homeostasis. TH imbalances alter cardiac performance and ultimately cause cardiac dysfunction. Although short-term hyperthyroidism typically leads to heightened left ventricular (LV) contractility and improved hemodynamic parameters, chronic hyperthyroidism is associated with deleterious cardiac consequences including increased risk of arrhythmia, impaired cardiac reserve and exercise capacity, myocardial remodeling, and occasionally heart failure. To evaluate the long-term consequences of chronic hyperthyroidism on LV remodeling and function, we examined LV isolated myocyte function, chamber function, and whole tissue remodeling in a hamster model. Three-month-old F1b hamsters were randomized to control or 10 months TH treatment (0.1% grade I desiccated TH). LV chamber remodeling and function was assessed by echocardiography at 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 months of treatment. After 10 months, terminal cardiac function was assessed by echocardiography and LV hemodynamics. Hyperthyroid hamsters exhibited significant cardiac hypertrophy and deleterious cardiac remodeling characterized by myocyte lengthening, chamber dilatation, decreased relative wall thickness, increased wall stress, and increased LV interstitial fibrotic deposition. Importantly, hyperthyroid hamsters demonstrated significant LV systolic and diastolic dysfunction. Despite the aforementioned remodeling and global cardiac decline, individual isolated cardiac myocytes from chronically hyperthyroid hamsters had enhanced function when compared with myocytes from untreated age-matched controls. Thus, it appears that long-term hyperthyroidism may impair global LV function, at least in part by increasing interstitial ventricular fibrosis, in spite of normal or enhanced intrinsic cardiomyocyte function.