Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Quantitative immunoelectrophoresis of serum from hospitalized chronic schizophrenic and epileptic patients

Ten serum proteins are measured by quantitative immunoelectrophoresis in 20 chronic schizophrenic and nine epileptic patients. Results from each group are compared with each other and with normal values and significant differences noted. Schizophrenic patients had higher haemopexin levels and epileptic patients had higher α2 group component levels, both compared with normal subjects. Also schizophrenics had higher αPGp and α1AT levels compared with epileptics.
Parametric constitutive model of plain-weave fabric reinforced composite ply

A computational model that allows to explicitly determine orthotropic elastic constants of plain-weave fabric-reinforced composite ply as functions of microstructure parameters has been developed in this study. These relationships are not given in the form of analytical formulae (as it is in the case of approximate analytical models) but in the form of an extensive database of numerically evaluated results for different microstructure instances and a numerical scheme that interpolates the results. To build the database, a standard finite-element-based homogenization technique of a periodic representative volume element is employed. As a result, a numerical algorithm is provided that may be easily employed in FE codes as a part of a regular constitutive subroutine. Sensitivity of the composite elastic constants with respect to the microstructure parameters is also directly available from the model.
Desensitization Effect of Preseasonal Seven-Injection Allergoid Immunotherapy with Olive Pollen on Basophil Activation: The Efficacy of Olive Pollen-Specific Preseasonal Allergoid Immunotherapy on Basophils

Background: It has previously been demonstrated that subcutaneous immunotherapy with allergoids positively affects clinical and immunological parameters even after 7 preseasonal injections. However, its effect on basophil activation remains unclear. We investigated the effect of preseasonal allergoid immunotherapy on basophils and concomitantly assessed its clinical and immunological efficacy in olive pollen-monosensitized patients. Methods: This study enrolled 437 consecutive patients with respiratory allergy and positive skin prick tests (SPTs); 212 (48.5%) patients were sensitized to olive pollen, and 33 (7.5%) patients were sensitized to olive pollen only. Of these patients, 23 received preseasonal immunotherapy with an olive pollen allergoid. The olive pollen-specific basophil activation, the titrated nasal provocation test, the nasal symptom score, and olive pollen-specific IgE, IgG1 and IgG4 levels were evaluated before immunotherapy and 8 months after the end of immunotherapy in the follow-up visit. Results: In comparison to baseline evaluation, 7 preseasonal injections of an allergoid resulted in a significant decrease in the percentage of basophils expressing CD63 (29 vs. 7%, respectively, p < 0.0001) and a significant increase in the titrated nasal provocative dose (1/10 vs. 1/1, respectively, p < 0.01). SPT induration diameters caused by an olive pollen extract decreased (12 mm at baseline vs. 5.5 mm at follow-up, p < 0.005), as did nasal symptom score (7 at baseline vs. 3 at follow-up, p < 0.01). Olive pollen-specific IgE (17.5 vs. 50 kU/l, p < 0.012), IgG1 (0.16 vs. 2.9 µg/ml, p < 0.0001) and IgG4 (0.07 vs. 1.92 µg/ml, p < 0.0001) levels significantly increased. Conclusions: Immunotherapy with 7 preseasonal injections of an olive pollen allergoid decreases olive pollen-specific basophil activation over 8 months, an effect observed in vitro and in vivo.
Seeing Mountains in Mole Hills: Geographical-Slant Perception

When observers face directly toward the incline of a hill, their awareness of the slant of the hill is greatly overestimated, but motoric estimates are much more accurate. The present study examined whether similar results would be found when observers were allowed to view the side of a hill. Observers viewed the cross-sections of hills in real (Experiment 1) and virtual (Experiment 2) environments and estimated the inclines with verbal estimates, by adjusting the cross-section of a disk, and by adjusting a board with their unseen hand to match the inclines. We found that the results for cross-section viewing replicated those found when observers directly face the incline. Even though the angles of hills are directly evident when viewed from the side, slant perceptions are still grossly overestimated.
Connexin 36 Expression Regulates Neuronal Differentiation from Neural Progenitor Cells

Background Gap junction communication has been shown in glial and neuronal cells and it is thought they mediate inter- and intra-cellular communication. Connexin 36 (Cx36) is expressed extensively in the developing brain, with levels peaking at P14 after which its levels fall and its expression becomes entirely neuronal. These and other data have led to the hypothesis that Cx36 may direct neuronal coupling and neurogenesis during development. Methodology/Principal Findings To investigate Cx36 function we used a neurosphere model of neuronal cell development and developed lentiviral Cx36 knockdown and overexpression strategies. Cx36 knockdown was confirmed by western blotting, immunocytochemistry and functionally by fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP). We found that knockdown of Cx36 in neurosphere neuronal precursors significantly reduced neuronal coupling and the number of differentiated neurons. Correspondingly, the lentiviral mediated overexpression of Cx36 significantly increased the number of neurons derived from the transduced neurospheres. The number of oligodendrocytes was also significantly increased following transduction with Cx36 indicating they may support neuronal differentiation. Conclusions/Significance Our data suggests that astrocytic and neuronal differentiation during development are governed by mechanisms that include the differential expression of Cx36.
Noncompliance with antihypertensive medications

OBJECTIVE: Addressing the epidemic of poor compliance with antihypertensive medications will require identifying factors associated with poor adherence, including modifiable psychosocial and behavioral characteristics of patients.DESIGN: Cross-sectional study, comparing measured utilization of antihypertensive prescriptions with patients’ responses to a structured interview.STUDY POPULATION: Four hundred ninety-six treated hypertensive patients drawn from a large HMO and a VA medical center.DATA COLLECTION: We developed a survey instrument to assess patients’ psychosocial and behavioral characteristics, including health beliefs, knowledge, and social support regarding blood pressure medications, satisfaction with health care, depression symptom severity, alcohol consumption, tobacco use, and internal versus external locus of control. Other information collected included demographic and clinical characteristics and features of antihypertensive medication regimens. All prescriptions filled for antihypertensive medications were used to calculate actual adherence to prescribed regimens in a 365-day study period.MAIN OUTCOME OF INTEREST: Adjusted odds ratios (ORs) of antihypertensive compliance, based on ordinal logistic regression models.RESULTS: After adjusting for the potential confounding effects of demographic, clinical, and other psychosocial variables, we found that depression was significantly associated with noncompliance (adjusted OR per each point increase on a 14-point scale, 0.93; 95% confidence interval [95% CI], 0.87 to 0.99); in unadjusted analyses, the relationship did not reach statistical significance. There was also a trend toward improved compliance for patients perceiving that their health is controlled by external factors (adjusted OR per point increase, 1.14; 95% CI, 0.99 to 1.33). There was no association between compliance and knowledge of hypertension, health beliefs and behaviors, social supports, or satisfaction with care.CONCLUSIONS: Depressive symptoms may be an under-recognized but modifiable risk factor for poor compliance with antihypertensive medications. Surprisingly, patient knowledge of hypertension, health beliefs, satisfaction with care, and other psychosocial variables did not appear to consistently affect adherence to prescribed regimens.
A health policy model of CKD: 1. Model construction, assumptions, and validation of health consequences.

BACKGROUND A cost-effectiveness model that accurately represents disease progression, outcomes, and associated costs is necessary to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of interventions for chronic kidney disease (CKD). STUDY DESIGN We developed a microsimulation model of the incidence, progression, and treatment of CKD. The model was validated by comparing its predictions with survey and epidemiologic data sources. SETTING & POPULATION US patients. MODEL, PERSPECTIVE, & TIMEFRAME The model follows up disease progression in a cohort of simulated patients aged 30 until age 90 years or death. The model consists of 7 mutually exclusive states representing no CKD, 5 stages of CKD, and death. Progression through the stages is governed by a person's glomerular filtration rate and albuminuria status. Diabetes, hypertension, and other risk factors influence CKD and the development of CKD complications in the model. Costs are evaluated from the health care system perspective. INTERVENTION Usual care, including incidental screening for persons with diabetes or hypertension. OUTCOMES Progression to CKD stages, complications, and mortality. RESULTS The model provides reasonably accurate estimates of CKD prevalence by stage. The model predicts that 47.1% of 30-year-olds will develop CKD during their lifetime, with 1.7%, 6.9%, 27.3%, 6.9%, and 4.4% ending at stages 1-5, respectively. Approximately 11% of persons who reach stage 3 will eventually progress to stage 5. The model also predicts that 3.7% of persons will develop end-stage renal disease compared with an estimate of 3.0% based on current end-stage renal disease lifetime incidence. LIMITATIONS The model synthesizes data from multiple sources rather than a single source and relies on explicit assumptions about progression. The model does not include acute kidney failure. CONCLUSION The model is well validated and can be used to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of CKD interventions. The model also can be updated as better data for CKD progression become available.
Recognition of stress in speech using wavelet analysis and Teager energy operator

The automatic recognition and classification of speech under stress has applications in behavioural and mental health sciences, human to machine communication and robotics. The majority of recent studies are based on a linear model of the speech signal. In this study, the nonlinear Teager Energy Operator (TEO) analysis was used to derive the classification features. Moreover, the TEO analysis was combined with the Discrete Wavelet Transform, Wavelet Packet and Perceptual Wavelet Packet transforms to produce the Normalised TEO Autocorrelation Envelope Area coefficients for the classification process. The classification was performed using a Gaussian Mixture Model under speaker-independent conditions. The speech was classified into two classes: neutral and stressed. The best overall performance was observed for the features extracted using TEO analysis in combination with the Perceptual Wavelet Packet method. The accuracy in this case ranges from 94% to 96% depending on the type of mother wavelet
Intraseasonal variations of upper tropospheric water vapor in Asian monsoon region

Abstract. This study investigates intraseasonal oscillations (ISOs) of upper tropospheric water vapor (UTWV) in the Asian monsoon region in boreal summer by using data with high spatial and temporal resolution from the AIRS instrument. There are robust intraseasonal cycles with periods of 30–60 days and 10–20 days in the UTWV field over both South Asia and East Asia. The 30–60-day oscillation accounts for more than 60 percent of the total variance. For the 30–60-day mode, the source and propagating signature of the UTWV disturbances are distinct in two monsoon sub-systems. Two patterns in the 30–60 day oscillation are seen: a South Asian pattern that originates on the western side of the Arabian Sea and moves eastward, and an East Asian pattern that develops over West Pacific and moves westward. The 10–20-day mode exhibits a uniform westward propagating signature from West Pacific to the Arabian Sea. The Asian summer monsoon region is identified as a main source for UTWV, so another special interest in this study is the relationship between monsoon activity and the 30–60-day oscillation of UTWV. The data show that the upper troposphere is moistened following intense monsoon convection with lags about 5–10 days. An examination of the low level circulation reveals that wet and dry periods in UTWV are closely related to active and break (inactive) periods in monsoon convection, suggesting that the Asian summer monsoon plays an important role in the intraseasonal variations of UTWV. Similar variability is seen in water vapor from European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) analyses.
Hospital management of severely malnourished children: comparison of locally adapted protocol with WHO protocol.

OBJECTIVES To compare the effectiveness of locally adapted Institute of Child and Mother Health (ICMH) protocol with the WHO protocol for the management of severely malnourished children in Bangladesh. DESIGN Quasi-experimental non-randomized clinical trial. SETTING Hospital based. PARTICIPANTS Severely malnourished children (2-59 mo) with weight for height<70% (n=60). INTERVENTION Children treated with either WHO protocol (Group I, n=30) or ICMH protocol (Group II, n=30). OUTCOME VARIABLES Clinical improvement, weight gain, time taken to achieve target weight gain, and mortality among the study subjects. RESULTS Mean (SD) weight related to gain in Group I and Group II was 11.2 (4.1) and 11.1 (3.9) g/kg/day, respectively. The weight gain was not related to the age group or type of malnutrition. The time taken for edema to subside (7.3 d vs 8 d) and for improvement of appetite (6.5 d to 7.3 d vs 6.7 d to 8.4 d) was similar between the groups. The target weight gain was achieved in 28.3 (11.5) days in Group I against 27.9 (6.2) days in Group II (P=0.88). The mortality rate was 6.7% in each group. CONCLUSION Treatment of severe malnutrition with locally adapted ICMH protocol using locally available foods is as efficacious as the WHO protocol.
Characterization of novel avian paramyxovirus strain APMV/Shimane67 isolated from migratory wild geese in Japan

An avian paramyxovirus (APMV) isolated from goose feces (APMV/Shimane67) was biologically, serologically and genetically characterized. APMV/Shimane67 showed typical paramyxovirus morphology on electron microscopy. On hemagglutination inhibition test, antiserum against APMV/Shimane67 revealed low reactivity with other APMV serotypes and vice versa. The fusion (F) protein gene of APMV/Shimane67 contained 1,638 nucleotides in a single open reading frame encoding a protein of 545 amino acids. The cleavage site of F protein contained a pair of single basic amino acid (VRENR/L). The nucleotide and deduced amino acid sequences of the F gene of APMV/Shimane67 had relatively low identities (42.9–62.7% and 28.9–67.3%, respectively) with those of other APMVs. Phylogenetic analysis showed that APMV/Shimane67 was related to NDV, APMV-9 and APMV-12, but was distinct from those APMV serotypes. These results suggest that APMV/Shimane67 is a new APMV serotype, APMV-13.
Evaluation of bioactive glass and demineralized freeze dried bone allograft in the treatment of periodontal intraosseous defects: A comparative clinico-radiographic study

Aim: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of demineralized freeze dried bone allograft (DFDBA) and bioactive glass by clinically and radiographically in periodontal intrabony defects for a period of 12 months. Materials and Methods: Ten systemically healthy patients diagnosed with chronic periodontitis, with radiographic evidence of at least a pair of contralateral vertical osseous defects were included in this study. Defect on one-side is treated with DFDBA and the other side with bioactive glass. Clinical and radiographic measurements were made at baseline 6 month and 12 month after the surgery. Results: Compared to baseline, the 12 month results indicated that both treatment modalities resulted in significant changes in all clinical parameters (gingival index, probing depth, clinical attachment level (CAL) and radiographic parameters (bone fill); P < 0.001*). However, sites treated with DFDBA exhibited statistically significantly more changes compared to the bioactive glass in probing depth reduction (2.5 ± 0.1 mm vs. 1.8 ± 0.1 mm) CAL gain 2.4 ± 0.1 mm versus 1.7 ± 0.2 mm; (P < 0.001*). At 12 months, sites treated with bioactive glass exhibited 56.99% bone fill and 64.76% bone fill for DFDBA sites, which is statistically significant (P < 0.05*). Conclusion: After 12 months, there was a significant difference between the two materials with sites grafted with DFDBA showing better reduction in probing pocket depth, gain in CAL and a greater percentage of bone fill when compared to that of bioactive glass.
LINKING AUDITORY SCENE ANALYSIS AND ROBUST ASR BY MISSING DATA TECHNIQUES

The ‘missing data’ approach to robust Automatic Speech Recognition assumes that when the speech is one of several sound sources, some spectral-temporal regions will remain uncorrupted and can be used as ’reliable evidence’ for recognition. Identification of these regions can be thought of as placing a ‘mask’ over the spectral data. Arguments for the missing data premise can be found in [6] and are summarised in [10]. The authors have developed and applied techniques for adapting ContinuousDensity Hidden Markov Model recognisers to the incomplete data case [6, 20, 11, 1, 2]. Several other groups have reported related work [17, 12, 16]. In this paper we briefly review the technique, and show how softening the decision about which regions are deemed to be reliable improves results. In the work reported up to this point, simple noise estimates have bee using to estimate local signalto noise ratio, and this estimate has been used to define the masks. We now introduce harmonicity constraints as an additional cue (motivated by auditory scene analysis [3, 7, 5]) for identifying sourcespecific regions. Results are reported on the AURORA task [14]. We also discuss the idea of ‘multi-source decoding’, which generalises recognition algorithms for the case where initial grouping processes identify spectral temporal regions dominated by a single source but do not decide on the identity of the source.
A Guanine Nucleotide-independent Inwardly Rectifying Cation Permeability Is Associated with P2Y1 Receptor Expression in Xenopus Oocytes*

The functional properties of the G protein-coupled P2Y1 receptor were investigated in Xenopus oocytes. Incubation of oocytes expressing either the human or turkey P2Y1 receptor with adenine nucleotide agonists resulted in an increase in Cl− current and activation of a novel cation current with an inwardly rectifying current-voltage relationship. Activation of either the human P2Y2 (P2U-purinergic) or M1 muscarinic receptor expressed in oocytes resulted in an increase in Cl− current similar to that observed in P2Y1 receptor-expressing oocytes but had no effect on cation current. P2 receptor agonists stimulated both the cation current and Cl− current in P2Y1 receptor-expressing oocytes with EC50 values and an order of potency (2-methylthioadenosine diphosphate > 2-methylthioadenosine triphosphate (2MeSATP) > ATP > UTP) that were similar to those previously observed for activation of phospholipase C in 1321N1 human astrocytoma cells stably expressing the human or turkey P2Y1 receptor. The P2Y receptor antagonists suramin and pyridoxal phosphate 6-azophenyl-2′-4′-disulfonic acid both shifted to the right the concentration-response relationship for 2MeSATP for stimulation of oocyte currents. Although injection of oocytes with either GDPβS (guanyl-5′-yl thiophosphate) or GTPγS (guanosine 5′-3-O-(thio)triphosphate) resulted in loss of adenine nucleotide-promoted Cl− channel activation, neither guanine nucleotide altered the 2MeSATP-stimulated cation current. These data are consistent with the view that activation of the novel cation current by the P2Y1 receptor does not involve a G protein. Tail current analysis of the novel P2Y1 receptor-associated cation conductance revealed that the open channel current-voltage relationship was outwardly rectifying with a reversal potential of −38 mV for the turkey P2Y1 receptor and −36 mV for the human P2Y1 receptor. Replacement of Na+ with K+ ions in the bathing solution produced a shift in reversal potential to near zero mV, but significant outward rectification remained. The cation current was not permeable to either Ca2+ or Ba2+ and exhibited steady-state inactivation at holding potentials below −60 mV. These results indicate that the P2Y1 receptor exhibits both metabotropic properties and a novel G protein-independent ionotropic response when expressed in Xenopus oocytes.
Efficient template-based path imitation by invariant feature mapping

We propose a novel approach for robot movement imitation that is suitable for robotic arm movement in tasks such as reaching and grasping. This algorithm selects a previously observed path demonstrated by an agent and generates a path in a novel situation based on pairwise mapping of invariant feature locations present in both the demonstrated and the new scenes using minimum distortion and minimum energy strategies. This One-Shot Learning algorithm is capable of not only mapping simple point-to-point paths but also adapting to more complex tasks such as involvement of forced waypoints. As compared to traditional methodologies, our work does not require extensive training for generalisation as well as expensive run-time computation for accuracy. Cross-validation statistics of grasping experiments show great similarity between the paths produced by human subjects and the proposed algorithm.
The In vitro Fertilization of Ovine Oocytes in the Presence of Oviductal Cells and its Effect on the Expression of Zygote Arrest 1 (Zar1) and Subsequent Embryonic Development

Background The cells of mammalian female reproductive tract have been widely used for in vitro fertilization (IVF). This study was designed to study the effects of oviductal epithelial cells (OECs) and their conditioned medium during IVF on subsequent embryonic development and the relative abundance of zygote arrest 1 (Zar1) transcript in ovine zygotes. Methods The in vitro matured ovine oocytes were randomly fertilized in the following culture conditions: I) SOFaaBSA+20% sheep serum (control), II) SOFaa BSA+20% sheep serum (50 µl) in the presence of OECs, III) SOFaaBSA+20% sheep serum (100 µl) in the presence of OECs, and IV) OECs conditioned medium (CM). Sigma Stat (Version 2.0) software and one-way ANOVA were considered for statistical analysis. A p<0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results The cleavage, blastocyst, and hatched blastocyst rates in OECs and CM groups were significantly lower than the control group (p<0.01). In co-cultured groups, the application of two different volumes of IVF medium showed no difference in embryonic developmental indices. The Zar1 gene expression in zygotes produced in the presence of OECs was significantly higher than those produced in the control and CM groups (p<0.05). Conclusion Neither the presence of oviductal epithelial cells nor their conditioned medium could improve the developmental potential of ovine embryos during IVF. Moreover, no relationship was observed between the relative abundance of Zar1 transcript in zygotes produced in different conditions and the corresponding subsequent embryonic development.