Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Antifibrotic effect of aloe vera in viral infection-induced hepatic periportal fibrosis.

AIM To investigate the anti-oxidative and anti-fibrotic effects of aloe vera in patients with liver fibrosis. METHODS Aloe vera high molecular weight fractions (AHM) were processed by patented hyper-dry system in combination of freeze-dry technique with microwave and far infrared-ray radiation. Fifteen healthy volunteers as the control group and 40 patients were included. The patients were randomly subdivided into two equal groups: the conventional group was treated with placebo (starch), and AHM group was treated with 0.15 gm/d AHM, both for 12 consecutive weeks. The patients were investigated before and after treatment. Serum activity of aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), hyaluronic acid (HA), transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) and matrixmetalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) were determined. The reduced glutathione (GSH) and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels in liver were assayed and the expression of hepatic α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) was identified by immunohistochemistry. RESULTS At the start of the study, the hematoxylin and eosin staining revealed fibro-proliferated bile ductules, thick fibrous septa and dense inflammatory cellular infiltration in the patients before treatment. The use of AHM for 12 wk significantly ameliorated the fibrosis, inhibited the inflammation, and resulted in minimal infiltration and minimal fibrosis compared to the conventional group. The enzyme activities of the liver (ALT, AST and ALP) were attenuated after treatment in both groups, and the decrease in the AHM group was more significant as compared with the conventional group. Similar to the AST, the MDA levels were significantly higher before treatment, and were attenuated after treatment in both groups. In contrast, the hepatic glutathione content in the patients were decreased significantly in the AHM group compared to the controls. The serum levels of the fibrosis markers (HA, TGF-β and MMP-2) were also reduced significantly after treatment. The expression of α-SMA was modified in patients before and after treatment as compared with the normal controls. In the conventional group, there was only thin and incomplete parenchymal α-SMA positive septum joining the thickened centrilobular veins, while in the AHM group, few α-SMA positive cells were present in sinusoid and lobule after treatment. CONCLUSION Oral supplementation with AHM could be helpful in alleviating the fibrosis and inflammation of hepatic fibrosis patients.
Cataract Surgery in Patients with Diabetes: Management Strategies

ABSTRACT Diabetes is a chronic systemic disease that affects nearly one in eight adults worldwide. Ocular complications, such as cataract, can lead to significant visual impairment. Among the worldwide population, cataract is the leading cause of blindness, and patients with diabetes have an increased incidence of cataracts which mature earlier compared to the rest of the population. Cataract surgery is a common and safe procedure, but can be associated with vision-threatening complications in the diabetic population, such as diabetic macular edema, postoperative macular edema, diabetic retinopathy progression, and posterior capsular opacification. This article is a brief review of diabetic cataract and complications associated with cataract extraction in this population of patients.
Exploiting hashtags for adaptive microblog crawling

Researchers have capitalized on microblogging services, such as Twitter, for detecting and monitoring real world events. Existing approaches have based their conclusions on data collected by monitoring a set of pre-defined keywords. In this paper, we show that this manner of data collection risks losing a significant amount of relevant information. We then propose an adaptive crawling model that detects emerging popular hashtags, and monitors them to retrieve greater amounts of highly associated data for events of interest. The proposed model analyzes the traffic patterns of the hashtags collected from the live stream to update subsequent collection queries. To evaluate this adaptive crawling model, we apply it to a dataset collected during the 2012 London Olympic Games. Our analysis shows that adaptive crawling based on the proposed Refined Keyword Adaptation algorithm collects a more comprehensive dataset than pre-defined keyword crawling, while only introducing a minimum amount of noise.
The Intergenerational Correlation of Consumption Expenditures.

Using data recently collected by the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, we find that the intergenerational correlation in expenditures is no larger than that in income, suggesting limited intra-family risk-sharing. On the other hand, even after controlling for the intergenerational correlation in income, the expenditures correlation remains significant. This suggests that other factors such as preferences, access to credit, and non-pecuniary inter vivos transfers potentially played a role in consumption smoothing across generations within a family. We also find that the correlation coefficients estimated using food and imputed total expenditures are smaller than that estimated using the measured total expenditures.
Investigation of Laser Beam Combining and Clean-Up via Seeded Stimulated Brillouin Scattering in Multimode Optical Fibers

Abstract : The purpose of this thesis research was to determine if stimulated Brillouin scattering amplification in multimode optical fibers would exhibit the same laser beam combining and clean-up properties exhibited by SBS oscillation, and to characterize the Brillouin amplification process in a multimode optical fiber. Beam combining in multimode fibers via SBS is being considered as a method of combining low power laser beams into a single beam having higher power and superior spatial coherence for applications such as electro-optic countermeasures. Experimental results demonstrate seeding a 9.5 mm fiber significantly reduced the pump power required to initiate SBS. An amplified Stokes beam was observed with as little as 4 mW of pump power, and the maximum conversion efficiency was 44%, similar to conversion efficiencies reported for SBS oscillation. Polarization of the Stokes beam depended on seed beam polarization. The profile of the amplified Stokes beam depended on the coupling and polarization of the seed fiber; both LP01 and LP11 modes were observed from the 9.5 mm fiber. However, the Stokes beam profile did not depend on spatial quality of the pump beam, exhibiting some of the clean-up properties associated with the SBS oscillation process.
Longitudinally Extensive Transverse Myelitis and Optic Neuropathy Associated with Syphilitic Meningomyelitis and Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection: A Case Report and Review of the Literature

The incidence of co-infection with Treponema pallidum and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is increasing in developing and developed countries. The neurological complications of both infections occasionally occur simultaneously during a clinical course. We herein report the case of an HIV carrier with syphilitic meningomyelitis and subclinical optic neuropathy. The patient presumably had latent syphilis and slowly developed longitudinally extensive transverse myelitis (LETM). A cerebrospinal fluid examination confirmed the diagnosis of active neurosyphilis based on an elevated T. pallidum hemagglutination assay index. A change in the patient's immune status, possibly due to HIV, might have converted the syphilis from latent to active, leading to LETM of the spinal cord.
Nondestructive Evaluation of Polyester Polymer Concrete

Nondestructive tests are gaining popularity for evaluating the properties of construction materials. In this study, the applicability of the impact resonance method and the ultrasonic pulse velocity method to polyester polymer and polymer concrete was investigated. The effect of specimen shape and size on the dynamic moduli, damping ratio, and pulse velocity were studied. The response of cylinders and prisms in the three fundamental modes of vibration, namely, longitudinal, transverse, and torsional, were investigated. From the longitudinal and transverse resonant frequencies, the dynamic Young's modulus of elasticity and damping ratio were determined. Using the torsional resonant frequency, the dynamic modulus of rigidity and dynamic Poisson's ratio were determined. Using the ultrasonic method, the pulse velocity in polymer and polymer concrete was measured at frequencies of 50 and 150 kHz. The dynamic modulus of elasticity was also determined from the pulse velocity and compared to the static modulus. The results of these nondestructive tests are reported.
Physical Layer Security in Three-Tier Wireless Sensor Networks: A Stochastic Geometry Approach

This paper develops a tractable framework for exploiting the potential benefits of physical layer security in three-tier wireless sensor networks (WSNs) using stochastic geometry. In such networks, the sensing data from the remote sensors are collected by sinks with the help of access points, and the external eavesdroppers intercept the data transmissions. We focus on the secure transmission in two scenarios: 1) the active sensors transmit their sensing data to the access points and 2) the active access points forward the data to the sinks. We derive new compact expressions for the average secrecy rate in these two scenarios. We also derive a new compact expression for the overall average secrecy rate. Numerical results corroborate our analysis and show that multiple antennas at the access points can enhance the security of three-tier WSNs. Our results show that increasing the number of access points decreases the average secrecy rate between the access point and its associated sink. However, we find that increasing the number of access points first increases the overall average secrecy rate, with a critical value beyond which the overall average secrecy rate then decreases. When increasing the number of active sensors, both the average secrecy rate between the sensor and its associated access point, and the overall average secrecy rate decrease. In contrast, increasing the number of sinks improves both the average secrecy rate between the access point and its associated sink, and the overall average secrecy rate.
Noninvasive spectroscopic analysis of dermatological lesions excited with N2 laser

A system for the excitation and detection of autofluorescence induced by N2 laser light (337.1 nm, 1 divided by 1.5 mJ/pulse) on biological tissues in vivo is described. Spectra obtained with medium spectral resolution spectrograph were detected with a 512 by 512 CCD array. Spectral measurements performed on patients bearing different cutaneous diseases show that, in the wavelength range 420 - 480 nm, pathological skin tissues fluoresce less than healthy ones and these differences might be useful for diagnostic purposes.
Dehydration is how you define it: comparison of 318 blood and urine athlete spot checks

Clinical medicine defines dehydration using blood markers that confirm hypertonicity (serum sodium concentration ([Na+])>145 mmol/L) and intracellular dehydration. Sports medicine equates dehydration with a concentrated urine as defined by any urine osmolality (UOsm) ≥700 mOsmol/kgH2O or urine specific gravity (USG) ≥1.020. Objective To compare blood versus urine indices of dehydration in a cohort of athletes undergoing routine screenings. Methods 318 collegiate athletes (193 female) provided blood and urine samples and asked to rate how thirsty they were on a 10-point visual analogue scale. Serum was analysed for [Na+], while serum and UOsm were measured using an osmometer. USG was measured using a Chemstrip. Data were categorised into dehydrated versus hydrated groupings based on these UOsm and USG thresholds. Results Using UOsm ≥700 mOsmol/kgH2O to define dehydration, 55% of athletes were classified as dehydrated. Using any USG ≥1.020 to define dehydration, 27% of these same athletes were classified as dehydrated. No athlete met the clinical definition for dehydration (hypertonicity; serum [Na+]>145 mmol/L). Normonatremia (serum [Na+] between 135 mmol/L and 145 mmol/L) was maintained in 99.7% of athletes despite wide variation in UOsm (110–1298 mOsmol/kgH2O). A significant correlation was confirmed between serum [Na+] versus UOsm (r=0.18; P<0.01), although urine concentration extremes did not reflect derangement in serum markers or thirst rating. Conclusion Urine concentration thresholds classified 27%–55% of collegiate athletes as dehydrated, while no athlete was dehydrated according to blood [Na+] measurement. Practitioners should caution against using urine indices to diagnose or monitor dehydration, because urinary output is a response rather than a reflection of (tightly regulated) blood tonicity.
Prenominal and postnominal reduced relative clauses: arguments against unitary analyses

These last years, several analyses have been proposed in which prenominal and postnominal reduced relatives are merged in the same position. Kayne (1994) claims that both types of reduced relative clauses are the complement of the determiner. More recently, Cinque (2005) has proposed that both types are merged in the functional projections of the noun, at the left edge of the modifier system. In this paper, I argue against a unitary analysis of prenominal and postnominal participial reduced relatives.
DEP domain–containing mTOR–interacting protein suppresses lipogenesis and ameliorates hepatic steatosis and acute‐on‐chronic liver injury in alcoholic liver disease

Alcoholic liver disease (ALD) is characterized by lipid accumulation and liver injury. However, how chronic alcohol consumption causes hepatic lipid accumulation remains elusive. The present study demonstrates that activation of the mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) plays a causal role in alcoholic steatosis, inflammation, and liver injury. Chronic‐plus‐binge ethanol feeding led to hyperactivation of mTORC1, as evidenced by increased phosphorylation of mTOR and its downstream kinase S6 kinase 1 (S6K1) in hepatocytes. Aberrant activation of mTORC1 was likely attributed to the defects of the DEP domain‐containing mTOR‐interacting protein (DEPTOR) and the nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide–dependent deacetylase sirtuin 1 (SIRT1) in the liver of chronic‐plus‐binge ethanol‐fed mice and in the liver of patients with ALD. Conversely, adenoviral overexpression of hepatic DEPTOR suppressed mTORC1 signaling and ameliorated alcoholic hepatosteatosis, inflammation, and acute‐on‐chronic liver injury. Mechanistically, the lipid‐lowering effect of hepatic DEPTOR was attributable to decreased proteolytic processing, nuclear translocation, and transcriptional activity of the lipogenic transcription factor sterol regulatory element‐binding protein‐1 (SREBP‐1). DEPTOR‐dependent inhibition of mTORC1 also attenuated alcohol‐induced cytoplasmic accumulation of the lipogenic regulator lipin 1 and prevented alcohol‐mediated inhibition of fatty acid oxidation. Pharmacological intervention with rapamycin alleviated the ability of alcohol to up‐regulate lipogenesis, to down‐regulate fatty acid oxidation, and to induce steatogenic phenotypes. Chronic‐plus‐binge ethanol feeding led to activation of SREBP‐1 and lipin 1 through S6K1‐dependent and independent mechanisms. Furthermore, hepatocyte‐specific deletion of SIRT1 disrupted DEPTOR function, enhanced mTORC1 activity, and exacerbated alcoholic fatty liver, inflammation, and liver injury in mice. Conclusion: The dysregulation of SIRT1–DEPTOR–mTORC1 signaling is a critical determinant of ALD pathology; targeting SIRT1 and DEPTOR and selectively inhibiting mTORC1–S6K1 signaling may have therapeutic potential for treating ALD in humans. (Hepatology 2018).
The Single Lineup Paradigm: A New Way to Manipulate Target Presence in Eyewitness Identification Experiments

The suspect in eyewitness lineups may be guilty or innocent. These possibilities are traditionally simulated in eyewitness identification studies using a dual-lineup paradigm: All witnesses observe the same perpetrator and then receive one of two lineups. In this paradigm, the suspect’s guilt is manipulated by including the perpetrator in one lineup and an innocent suspect in the other. The lineup is then filled with people matched to either the suspect (resulting in different fillers in perpetrator-present and perpetrator-absent lineups) or to the perpetrator (resulting in the same fillers in each lineup). An inescapable feature of the dual-lineup paradigm is that the perpetrator-present and perpetrator-absent lineups differ not only in the suspect’s guilt, but also in their composition. Here, we describe a single-lineup paradigm: Subjects observe one of two perpetrators and then all subjects receive the same lineup containing one of the perpetrators. This alternative paradigm allows manipulation of the suspect’s guilt without changing the lineup’s composition. In three experiments, we applied the single-lineup paradigm to explore suspect-filler similarity and consistently found that increasing similarity reduced perpetrator identifications but did little to prevent innocent suspect misidentifications. Conversely, when fillers were matched to the perpetrator using a dual-lineup paradigm, increasing similarity reduced identification of perpetrators and innocent suspects. This finding suggests that the effect of filler similarity may depend on the person to whom the fillers are matched. We suggest that the single-lineup paradigm is a more ecologically valid and better controlled approach to creating suspect-matched lineups in laboratory investigations of eyewitness memory than existing procedures.
Validation of the Standardized Universal Pain Evaluations for Rheumatology Providers for Children and Youth (SUPER‐KIDZ)

• STUDY DESIGN: Longitudinal observational clinimetric study with repeated measures. • BACKGROUND: No validated multidimensional pain measure for children and youth with juvenile idiopathic arthritis exists. • OBJECTIVE: To determine the test‐retest reliability, construct validity, and responsiveness of English and French versions of the Standardized Universal Pain Evaluations for Rheumatology Providers for Children and Youth (SUPER‐KIDZ). • METHODS: Measurement properties of the SUPER‐KIDZ (older child, younger child, and parent versions) were prospectively evaluated in patients (aged 4 to 18 years) with juvenile idiopathic arthritis at 2 centers. Internal consistency of the 3 subscales was measured using ordinal reliability alpha. Test‐retest reliability for each subscale was evaluated with intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) from participants assumed to have stable pain (over a 1‐week period with no change in treatment). Correlations of SUPER‐KIDZ scores with validated measures determined construct validity. Responsiveness of SUPER‐KIDZ subscales was evaluated in patients with improvement in pain, using standardized response mean and linear mixed‐model regression. • RESULTS: Seventy‐one children aged 8 to 18 years and 29 parent‐child dyads aged 4 to 7 years were included. Seventy‐four percent of participants were female, with a median of 3 active joints (interquartile range, 1–5). Internal consistency was strong (&agr; = .78‐.96) for pain characteristics, interference, and emotional functioning SUPER‐KIDZ subscales. Good test‐retest reliability (ICC≥0.80) was found for the pain characteristics subscale in older‐ and younger‐child versions. Most other subscales had satisfactory reliability coefficients (ICC≥0.70). Correlations of 0.50 or greater were found between the older‐child SUPER‐KIDZ scores and the Childhood Health Assessment Questionnaire and Patient‐Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System depressive symptoms items, as well as the younger‐child pain‐intensity item and the Faces Pain Scale‐Revised. Strong responsiveness was found for all subscales (standardized response mean, 0.63–1.54; significant linear mixed‐model regression), except for the older‐child emotional functioning subscale. • CONCLUSION: The SUPER‐KIDZ has shown good internal consistency and responsiveness, and satisfactory test‐retest reliability. Construct validity was moderate for the younger‐ and older‐child versions, but weak for the parent version.
Association between arterial stiffness and wave reflection with subsequent development of placental-mediated diseases during pregnancy: findings of a systematic review and meta-analysis

Objective: We present a comprehensive systematic review of published literature to examine, whether arterial stiffness and wave reflection measurements during pregnancy differed between healthy patients and patients with placental-mediated diseases including preeclampsia (PET), small for gestational age (SGA), fetal death, and placental abruption, and a quantitative assessment of the findings using the meta-analysis approach. Methods: We searched Medline, Embase, and The Cochrane Library for studies of arterial stiffness in pregnancy, analyzed pregnancy outcomes and conducted the meta-analysis of data evaluated by trimesters of pregnancy. Hemodynamic parameters evaluated included: pulse wave velocity (PWV), augmentation index (AIx), and augmentation index-75 (AIx-75). Results: We screened 2806 citations, reviewed 36 studies and included nine (n = 15 923) studies for further quantitative assessment. Compared with healthy pregnancy, measures of arterial stiffness and wave reflection were consistently increased among pregnant women who subsequently developed PET during all trimesters. In the first trimester, mean AIx-75 (%) in the PET group was significantly higher with estimated standardized mean difference (SMD) of 0.90 [95% confidence intervals (95% CI) 0.07–1.73; P = 0.034]. In the second trimester, the PET group had significantly higher PWV (m/s) with estimated SMD of 1.26 (95% CI 0.22–2.30; P = 0.018). Concerning the SGA group, mean AIx (%) was greater during the second trimester only: 65.5 (SD 15.6) vs. 57.0 (11.2), P < 0.01. Conclusion: There is significant increase in arterial stiffness and wave reflection parameters among pregnant women who subsequently developed PET and SGA fetuses. Larger studies with consistent methodological designs are required to evaluate the role and usefulness of arterial stiffness and wave reflection measurements as a screening tool for placental-mediated diseases during pregnancy.
Domestic Cats Constitute a Natural Reservoir of Human Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli Types

Feces of 70 diarrhoeic and 230 non‐diarrhoeic domestic cats from São Paulo, Brazil were investigated for enteropathogenic (EPEC), enterohaemorrhagic (EHEC) and enterotoxigenic (ETEC) Escherichia coli types. While ETEC and EHEC strains were not found, 15 EPEC strains were isolated from 14 cats, of which 13 were non‐diarrhoeic, and one diarrhoeic. None of 15 EPEC strains carried the bfpA gene or the EPEC adherence factor plasmid, indicating atypical EPEC types. The EPEC strains were heterogeneous with regard to intimin types, such as eae‐θ (three strains), eae‐κ (n = 3), eae‐α1 (n = 2), eae‐ι (n = 2), one eae‐α2, eae‐β1 and eae‐η each, and two were not typeable. The majority of the EPEC isolates adhered to HEp‐2 cells in a localized adherence‐like pattern and were positive for fluorescence actin staining. The EPEC strains belonged to 12 different serotypes, including O111:H25 and O125:H6, which are known to be pathogens in humans. Multi locus sequence typing revealed a close genetic similarity between the O111:H25 and O125:H6 strains from cats, dogs and humans. Our results show that domestic cats are colonized by EPEC, including serotypes previously described as human pathogens. As these EPEC strains are also isolated from humans, a cycle of mutual infection by EPEC between cats and its households cannot be ruled out, though the transmission dynamics among the reservoirs are not yet understood clearly.