Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Arterial oxygen tension and saturation in hospital patients: effect of age and activity.

medicine, and her symptoms improved transiently when milk was withdrawn from her diet. She was referred six weeks later with recurrent symptoms. Physical examination yielded no unusual results. Sigmoidoscopy showed the characteristic appearances of Crohn's disease of the rectum, confirmed on biopsy. Her symptoms resolved quickly after treatment with sulphasalazine and she remained well. Case 3-A 57 year old woman developed symptoms of weight loss, easy fatigue, and diarrhoea. She presented to a practitioner of alternative medicine, who diagnosed diabetes mellitus and intestinal candidiasis in addition to an allergy to gluten, milk, and other dietary constituents. No tests were performed on blood or urine, and the diagnosis was based on the "vegatest" in which the subject holds wires connected to a galvonometer adjacent to the suspect food and the electrical response is recorded. Her weight loss continued and she was referred by her general practitioner. Investigations included a duodenal biopsy, which showed subtotal villous atrophy. After treatment with a gluten free diet the appearances of her small bowel biopsy specimens improved, she gained weight, and she remained well on a gluten free diet. Case 4-In 1981 a 13 year old girl was diagnosed as having anorexia nervosa but declined follow up and treatment. She continued to follow a highly restrictive diet until 1985, when she was seen by a food allergist who diagnosed multiple food hypersensitivity and prescribed an even more restricted diet together with a course of "enzyme potentiated desensitisation,"3 but during this she was admitted to hospital after collapsing at home. She weighed 22 kg and was hypothermic, unconscious, with bradycardia at 40 beats/min and unrecordable blood pressure. A chest radiography showed bronchopneumonia. She improved with general supportive measures and regained consciousness. Both the patient and her mother were very resistant to any nutritional support and refused any form of food unless this was discussed with the food allergist whom she had consulted before. The patient died five days after admission. The cause of death was bronchopneumonia due to anorexia nervosa.
Comparing carbon nanotube transistors - the ideal choice: a novel tunneling device design

Three different carbon nanotube (CN) field-effect transistor (CNFET) designs are compared by simulation and experiment. While a C-CNFET with a doping profile similar to a "conventional" (referred to as C-CNFET in the following) p-or n-MOSFET in principle exhibits superior device characteristics when compared with a Schottky barrier CNFET, we find that aggressively scaled C-CNFET devices suffer from "charge pile-up" in the channel. This effect which is also known to occur in floating body silicon transistors deteriorates the C-CNFET off-state substantially and ultimately limits the achievable on/off-current ratio. In order to overcome this obstacle we explore the possibility of using CNs as gate-controlled tunneling devices (T-CNFETs). The T-CNFET benefits from a steep inverse subthreshold slope and a well controlled off-state while at the same time delivering high performance on-state characteristics. According to our simulation, the T-CNFET is the ideal transistor design for an ultrathin body three-terminal device like the CNFET.
Global Epigenetic and Transcriptional Trends among Two Rice Subspecies and Their Reciprocal Hybrids[W]

This work examines the molecular basis of heterosis by comprehensively describing the epigenetic modifications and transcriptional output, including both mRNA and small RNAs, of two rice subspecies and their reciprocal hybrids. The behavior of transcriptomes and epigenomes in hybrids of heterotic parents is of fundamental interest. Here, we report highly integrated maps of the epigenome, mRNA, and small RNA transcriptomes of two rice (Oryza sativa) subspecies and their reciprocal hybrids. We found that gene activity was correlated with DNA methylation and both active and repressive histone modifications in transcribed regions. Differential epigenetic modifications correlated with changes in transcript levels among hybrids and parental lines. Distinct patterns in gene expression and epigenetic modifications in reciprocal hybrids were observed. Through analyses of single nucleotide polymorphisms from our sequence data, we observed a high correlation of allelic bias of epigenetic modifications or gene expression in reciprocal hybrids with their differences in the parental lines. The abundance of distinct small RNA size classes differed between the parents, and more small RNAs were downregulated than upregulated in the reciprocal hybrids. Together, our data reveal a comprehensive overview of transcriptional and epigenetic trends in heterotic rice crosses and provide a useful resource for the rice community.
Analysis of β-Subgroup Proteobacterial Ammonia Oxidizer Populations in Soil by Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis Analysis and Hierarchical Phylogenetic Probing

ABSTRACT A combination of denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) and oligonucleotide probing was used to investigate the influence of soil pH on the compositions of natural populations of autotrophic β-subgroup proteobacterial ammonia oxidizers. PCR primers specific to this group were used to amplify 16S ribosomal DNA (rDNA) from soils maintained for 36 years at a range of pH values, and PCR products were analyzed by DGGE. Genus- and cluster-specific probes were designed to bind to sequences within the region amplified by these primers. A sequence specific to all β-subgroup ammonia oxidizers could not be identified, but probes specific for Nitrosospira clusters 1 to 4 and Nitrosomonas clusters 6 and 7 (J. R. Stephen, A. E. McCaig, Z. Smith, J. I. Prosser, and T. M. Embley, Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 62:4147–4154, 1996) were designed. Elution profiles of probes against target sequences and closely related nontarget sequences indicated a requirement for high-stringency hybridization conditions to distinguish between different clusters. DGGE banding patterns suggested the presence ofNitrosomonas cluster 6a and Nitrosospiraclusters 2, 3, and 4 in all soil plots, but results were ambiguous because of overlapping banding patterns. Unambiguous band identification of the same clusters was achieved by combined DGGE and probing of blots with the cluster-specific radiolabelled probes. The relative intensities of hybridization signals provided information on the apparent selection of different Nitrosospira genotypes in samples of soil of different pHs. The signal from theNitrosospira cluster 3 probe decreased significantly, relative to an internal control probe, with decreasing soil pH in the range of 6.6 to 3.9, while Nitrosospira cluster 2 hybridization signals increased with increasing soil acidity. Signals from Nitrosospira cluster 4 were greatest at pH 5.5, decreasing at lower and higher values, while Nitrosomonascluster 6a signals did not vary significantly with pH. These findings are in agreement with a previous molecular study (J. R. Stephen, A. E. McCaig, Z. Smith, J. I. Prosser, and T. M. Embley, Appl. Environ. Microbiol 62:4147–4154, 1996) of the same sites, which demonstrated the presence of the same four clusters of ammonia oxidizers and indicated that selection might be occurring for clusters 2 and 3 at acid and neutral pHs, respectively. The two studies used different sets of PCR primers for amplification of 16S rDNA sequences from soil, and the similar findings suggest that PCR bias was unlikely to be a significant factor. The present study demonstrates the value of DGGE and probing for rapid analysis of natural soil communities of β-subgroup proteobacterial ammonia oxidizers, indicates significant pH-associated differences in Nitrosospira populations, and suggests that Nitrosospira cluster 2 may be of significance for ammonia-oxidizing activity in acid soils.
Thyroid Function in Very Preterm Infants: Influences of Gestational Age and Disease

It is not known how immaturity and disease influence postnatal thyroid function in infants <30 wk of gestational age. We performed serial measurements of plasma thyroxine (T4), free T4 (FT4), triiodothyronine (T3), reverse T3 (rT3), TSH, and T4-binding globulin (TBG) in 100 infants of <30 wk of gestation, during the first 8 postnatal weeks, to investigate the influences of disease and gestational age on the time course of thyroid hormones. One hundred infants were divided twice into two groups: 1) in a group of 25-28 and of 28-30 wk of gestation; and 2) in a sick and a healthy group, with similar gestational ages. The time course of T4, FT4, T3, TSH, and TBG, but not rT3 differed significantly (p < 0.005) between the gestational age groups. T4 and FT4 decreased to levels below the cord blood value with a deeper FT4 nadir on d 7 in the youngest group. Disease decreased T4, FT4, T3, TSH, and TBG concentrations especially during the 1st wk after birth (p < 0.005). However, the FT4 nadir on d 7 was similar in sick and healthy infants. After 3 wk, T4, FT4, T3, and TBG were higher in the sick group compared with the healthy group. rT3 levels were not increased in sick infants. We conclude that the extent of the FT4 decrease after birth in infants of <30 wk gestation is mainly influenced by gestational age and probably reflects a transient depletion of thyroidal hormone reserves. rT3 cannot be used as a marker of nonthyroidal illness in very preterm infants.
Pharmacological NAD-Boosting Strategies Improve Mitochondrial Homeostasis in Human Complex I–Mutant Fibroblasts

Mitochondrial disorders are devastating genetic diseases for which efficacious therapies are still an unmet need. Recent studies report that increased availability of intracellular NAD obtained by inhibition of the NAD-consuming enzyme poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP)-1 or supplementation with the NAD-precursor nicotinamide riboside (NR) ameliorates energetic derangement and symptoms in mouse models of mitochondrial disorders. Whether these pharmacological approaches also improve bioenergetics of human cells harboring mitochondrial defects is unknown. It is also unclear whether the same signaling cascade is prompted by PARP-1 inhibitors and NR supplementation to improve mitochondrial homeostasis. Here, we show that human fibroblasts mutant for the NADH dehydrogenase (ubiquinone) Fe-S protein 1 (NDUFS1) subunit of respiratory complex I have similar ATP, NAD, and mitochondrial content compared with control cells, but show reduced mitochondrial membrane potential. Interestingly, mutant cells also show increased transcript levels of mitochondrial DNA but not nuclear DNA respiratory complex subunits, suggesting activation of a compensatory response. At variance with prior work in mice, however, NR supplementation, but not PARP-1 inhibition, increased intracellular NAD content in NDUFS1 mutant human fibroblasts. Conversely, PARP-1 inhibitors, but not NR supplementation, increased transcription of mitochondrial transcription factor A and mitochondrial DNA–encoded respiratory complexes constitutively induced in mutant cells. Still, both NR and PARP-1 inhibitors restored mitochondrial membrane potential and increased organelle content as well as oxidative activity of NDUFS1-deficient fibroblasts. Overall, data provide the first evidence that in human cells harboring a mitochondrial respiratory defect exposure to NR or PARP-1, inhibitors activate different signaling pathways that are not invariantly prompted by NAD increases, but equally able to improve energetic derangement.
Do risk factors for childhood infections and malnutrition protect against asthma? A study of Brazilian male adolescents.

OBJECTIVES We studied the association between early life conditions and asthma in adolescence. METHODS We conducted a population-based birth cohort study involving 2250 male 18-year-olds residing in Brazil. RESULTS Approximately 18% of the adolescents reported having asthma. Several childhood factors were found to be significantly associated with increased asthma risk: being of high socioeconomic status, living in an uncrowded household, and children being breastfed for 9 months or longer. CONCLUSIONS The present results are consistent with the "hygiene hypothesis," according to which early exposure to infections provides protection against asthma. The policy implications of our findings are unclear given that risk factors for asthma protect against serious childhood diseases in developing countries.
Axonemal Localization of the Dynein Component DNAH5 Is Not Altered in Secondary Ciliary Dyskinesia

Primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD) is a heterogeneous genetic disorder characterized by recurrent airway infections and situs inversus in half of affected individuals. Diagnosis currently relies on demonstration of abnormal ciliary ultrastructure or altered ciliary beat. Alterations encountered in secondary ciliary dyskinesia (SCD) caused by inflammation often complicate the diagnostic workup. We have recently shown that in respiratory epithelial cells from PCD patients with outer dynein arm defects the dynein protein DNAH5 is mislocalized and either completely or partially absent from the ciliary axoneme. In this study, we addressed the question whether SCD might affect axonemal DNAH5 localization in respiratory cells. To induce SCD in vitro, we treated primary human respiratory epithelial cell cultures with interleukin-13 (IL-13). Ciliary function and ultrastructure were assessed by high-speed videomicroscopy and transmission electron microscopy, respectively. For in vivo localization of DNAH5, we performed nasal brushing biopsies in patients with evidence of SCD. Expression of DNAH5 was analyzed by immunofluorescence microscopy. IL-13–treated cells showed evidence of SCD. Ciliary beat frequency was significantly reduced and ultrastructural analyses showed axonemal disorganization compared with control cells. High-resolution immunofluorescence studies of respiratory epithelial cells with SCD identified in vitro and in vivo normal axonemal DNAH5 localization. DNAH5 localization is not altered by SCD, indicating a high potential for immunofluorescence analysis as a novel diagnostic tool in PCD.
A 10-bit 50-MS/s SAR ADC With a Monotonic Capacitor Switching Procedure

This paper presents a low-power 10-bit 50-MS/s successive approximation register (SAR) analog-to-digital converter (ADC) that uses a monotonic capacitor switching procedure. Compared to converters that use the conventional procedure, the average switching energy and total capacitance are reduced by about 81% and 50%, respectively. In the switching procedure, the input common-mode voltage gradually converges to ground. An improved comparator diminishes the signal-dependent offset caused by the input common-mode voltage variation. The prototype was fabricated using 0.13-¿m 1P8M CMOS technology. At a 1.2-V supply and 50 MS/s, the ADC achieves an SNDR of 57.0 dB and consumes 0.826 mW, resulting in a figure of merit (FOM) of 29 fJ/conversion-step. The ADC core occupies an active area of only 195 × 265 ¿m2.
A Fast SVM Training Algorithm

A fast support vector machine (SVM) training algorithm is proposed under SVM's decomposition framework by effectively integrating kernel caching, digest and shrinking policies and stopping conditions. Kernel caching plays a key role in reducing the number of kernel evaluations by maximal reusage of cached kernel elements. Extensive experiments have been conducted on a large handwritten digit database MNIST to show that the proposed algorithm is much faster than Keerthi et al.'s improved SMO, about nine times. Combined with principal component analysis, the total training for ten one-against-the-rest classifiers on MNIST took less than an hour. Moreover, the proposed fast algorithm speeds up SVM training without sacrificing the generalization performance. The 0.6% error rate on MNIST test set has been achieved. The promising scalability of the proposed scheme paves a new way to solve more large-scale learning problems in other domains such as data mining.
Parameterized Synthesis

We study the synthesis problem for distributed architectures with a parametric number of finite-state components. Parameterized specifications arise naturally in a synthesis setting, but thus far it was unclear how to decide realizability and how to perform synthesis. Using a classical result from verification, we show that for specifications in LTL\X, parameterized synthesis of token ring networks is equivalent to distributed synthesis of a network consisting of a few copies of a single process. Adapting a result from distributed synthesis, we show that the latter problem is undecidable. We then describe a semi-decision procedure based on bounded synthesis and show applicability on a simple case study. Finally, we sketch a general framework for parameterized synthesis based on cut-off results for verification.
The role of an ancestral hyperpolarization-activated cyclic nucleotide-gated K+ channel in branchial acid-base regulation in the green crab, Carcinus maenas

ABSTRACT Numerous electrophysiological studies on branchial K+ transport in brachyuran crabs have established an important role for potassium channels in osmoregulatory ion uptake and ammonia excretion in the gill epithelium of decapod crustaceans. However, hardly anything is known of the actual nature of these channels in crustaceans. In the present study, the identification of a hyperpolarization-activated cyclic nucleotide-gated potassium channel (HCN) in the transcriptome of the green crab Carcinus maenas and subsequent performance of quantitative real-time PCR revealed the ubiquitous expression of this channel in this species. Even though mRNA expression levels in the cerebral ganglion were found to be approximately 10 times higher compared with all other tissues, posterior gills still expressed significant levels of HCN, indicating an important role for this transporter in branchial ion regulation. The relatively unspecific K+-channel inhibitor Ba2+, as well as the HCN-specific blocker ZD7288, as applied in gill perfusion experiments and electrophysiological studies employing the split gill lamellae revealed the presence of at least two different K+/NH4+-transporting structures in the branchial epithelium of C. maenas. Furthermore, HCN mRNA levels in posterior gill 7 decreased significantly in response to the respiratory or metabolic acidosis that was induced by acclimation of green crabs to high environmental PCO2 and ammonia, respectively. Consequently, the present study provides first evidence that HCN-promoted NH4+ epithelial transport is involved in both branchial acid-base and ammonia regulation in an invertebrate. Summary: The present study is the first to describe a highly conserved HCN-like potassium channel to be involved in acid-base and ammonia regulation in an invertebrate branchial epithelium.
Variations of the UNC13D Gene in Patients with Autoimmune Lymphoproliferative Syndrome

Autoimmune lymphoproliferative syndrome (ALPS) is caused by genetic defects decreasing Fas function and is characterized by lymphadenopathy/splenomegaly and expansion of CD4/CD8 double-negative T cells. This latter expansion is absent in the ALPS variant named Dianzani Autoimmune/lymphoproliferative Disease (DALD). In addition to the causative mutations, the genetic background influences ALPS and DALD development. We previously suggested a disease-modifying role for the perforin gene involved in familial hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (FHL). The UNC13D gene codes for Munc13-4, which is involved in perforin secretion and FHL development, and thus, another candidate for a disease-modifying role in ALPS and DALD. In this work, we sequenced UNC13D in 21 ALPS and 20 DALD patients and compared these results with sequences obtained from 61 healthy subjects and 38 multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. We detected four rare missense variations in three heterozygous ALPS patients carrying p.Cys112Ser, p.Val781Ile, and a haplotype comprising both p.Ile848Leu and p.Ala995Pro. Transfection of the mutant cDNAs into HMC-1 cells showed that they decreased granule exocytosis, compared to the wild-type construct. An additional rare missense variation, p.Pro271Ser, was detected in a healthy subject, but this variation did not decrease Munc13-4 function. These data suggest that rare loss-of-function variations of UND13D are risk factors for ALPS development.
The acetylcholine‐induced flare response in evaluation of small fiber dysfunction

We inotophoresed acetylcholine on the dorsum of the foot and simultaneously measured flare and sweat responses using laser Doppler and sudorometric techniques, respectively. We compared these responses with those induced by histamine. Both acetylcholine and histamine produced dosedependent flare, but only acetylcholine produced sweat responses. Responses to acetylcholine and histamine were blocked by hexamethonium chloride and pyrilamine maleate, respectively (p < 0.01). We compared flare and sweat responses in 26 control subjects, 21 asymptomatic diabetic patients and 41 patients (17 diabetic, 24 nondiabetic) with pain symptoms suggestive of small fiber neuropathy and normal sensation (n = 15) or mild to moderate (n = 19) or severe (n = 7) sensory loss. No patient had trophic foot lesions. Basal skin blood flow and maximal flare responses were not significantly different among the various subgroups (Control subjects, 49 ± 7.4; asymptomatic diabetic patients, 29 ± 4; patients with small fiber neuropathy and normal sensation, 34 ± 6; with neuropathy and mild to moderate sensory loss, 29 ± 4.8; and with neuropathy and severe sensory loss, 35 ± 5 ml/100 gm, for flare response, respectively). Flare responses lower than the lowest found in control subjects occurred in 5 of 21 asymptomatic diabetic patients, 4 of 15 patients with small fiber neuropathy and normal sensation, 5 of 19 with neuropathy and mild to moderate sensory loss, and 1 of 7 with neuropathy and severe sensory loss. Abnormal (persistent or decreased) sweat responses occurred in 10 of 21 asymptomatic diabetic patients, 12 of 15 patients with small fiber neuropathy and normal sensation, 13 of 19 with neuropathy and mild to moderate sensory loss, and 7 of 7 with neuropathy and severe sensory loss. Acetylcholine and histamine stimulate the afferent branch of the flare axon reflex by nicotinic and H1 receptors, respectively. Concurrent measurement of flare and sweat responses, but not the flare alone, may identify patients with small fiber neuropathy, in the absence of trophic foot lesions.
The Attitude and Motivation of English Language Teachers towards the Use of Computers

The rapid development of computer technology has altered the way education is being delivered. This is especially so in the delivery of the English language course where the combination of various media attributes of the computer has the capability to enhance instructional outcomes. This paper reports on the study undertaken to elucidate the level of the attitude and motivation of English teachers in the usage of the computer for the delivery of the English course and the associated problems and constraints faced by them. The study is qualitative and quantitative in nature and involved 62 English teachers from 12 schools in a selected district in Malaysia. The findings revealed that the majority of the teachers had a positive attitude, were highly motivated towards the use of computers to teach English and actually used them for teaching and learning purposes. The findings also revealed that intrinsic rewards, such as responsibilities, a sense of self-worth and accomplishments, played an important role in enhancing the positive attitude and motivation.