Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Investigation of the effect of dehydration on tissue dielectric properties in ex vivo measurements

This paper discusses the impact of tissue dehydration on the dielectric properties of excised tissue samples. The effect of dehydration on the tissue surface has been characterized as a function of time after excision on freshly excised mouse liver. The dielectric properties of liver were measured over the frequency range of 500 MHz–20 GHz using an open-ended coaxial probe. Tissue samples were obtained from 7 athymic BALB/c Nude mice, and measurements were performed over the first 3.5 h post-excision at the tissue surface and in the middle of the sample (accessed via a small incision). The samples were kept in sealed containers between measurements to avoid excessive dehydration. The measured dielectric data show a change of more than 25% in both the real and imaginary parts of complex permittivity over 3.5 h after excision. Results indicate the impact of tissue dehydration on the dielectric properties, and signify the importance of considering controls in the experimental design of ex vivo dielectric measurements.
Plasma levels of gastric biomarkers in patients after bariatric surgery: biomarkers after bariatric surgery.

BACKGROUND/AIMS To investigate the profile of stomach specific biomarkers in blood plasma after bariatric surgery. METHODOLOGY The study included 20 laparoscopic gastric bypass (LGBP) and 20 laparoscopic gastric sleeve (LGS) patients operated on average 22 months earlier. The biomarkers were fasting plasma level of pepsinogen I (PGI), pepsinogen II (PGII), PGI/PGII ratio, fasting and stimulated levels of amidated gastrin-17 (G17), and Helicobacter pylori antibodies (IgG). RESULTS The prevalence of cases with abnormally low PGI (levels < 30 microg/L, seen typically in advanced atrophy of the gastric corpus mucosa, were 80 % and 40% in LGS and the LGBP groups, respectively (p = 0.013). Mean fasting G17 was normal, 3.1 +/- 4.3 pmol/L, in the LGBP patients but high, 13.9 +/- 17.2 pmol/L, in the LGS patients (p = 0.01), the levels exceeding the upper normal cut-off limit (7 pmol/L) in 40% of the LGS patients. The stimulated levels of G17 were normal (> 3 pmol/L after a protein rich drink) in all LGS patients, suggesting that the antral G cells functioned normally. CONCLUSIONS Plasma PGI tends to be low in patients after bariatric surgery, in particular after LGS. "Sleeve" resection results in impairments in the secretory functions of the gastric corpus and fundus butleaves the antral functions intact.
Effect of slow-release somatotropin on the pattern of milk yield between and within injection intervals.

Thirty-six Alpine goats (10 primiparous and 26 multiparous) were used to study the milk yield response induced by recombinant bST administered in a sustained-delivery vehicle. Eighteen goats were injected with recombinant bST at 4-wk intervals from about 7 wk postpartum for 12 wk. Patterns of milk yield were highly affected by injection of recombinant bST. Milk yield of treated goats increased from day of injection, peaked between d 3 to 5 after treatment, and then decreased progressively. This pattern of response was well fitted by a curve containing two exponential terms: Yi = A x [exp(-k1di - exp(-k2di)], where Yi = daily relative response of treated goats to recombinant bST, computed as a deviation of least squares means of milk yield at day i (i = 0,., 26) of the treatment interval from least squares means of milk yield at d 27 of the treatment interval; A = constant; k1 and k2 = response rate parameters; and di = day from treatment (i = 0,., 27). Administration of recombinant bST also improved persistency of lactation, and the overall milk yield response to exogenous hormone was 300 g/d (13.9%) higher than the yield of untreated goats. This response was due to both the short-term response immediately after injection (53%) and the medium-term effect on lactation persistency.
Induction of Antigen-Specific Th1-Type Immune Responses by Gamma-Irradiated Recombinant Brucella abortus RB51

ABSTRACT Brucella abortus strain RB51 is an attenuated rough mutant used as the live vaccine against bovine brucellosis in the United States and other countries. We previously reported the development of strain RB51 as a bacterial vaccine vector for inducing Th1-type immune responses against heterologous proteins. Because safety concerns may preclude the use of strain RB51-based recombinant live vaccines, we explored the ability of a gamma-irradiated recombinant RB51 strain to induce heterologous antigen-specific immune responses in BALB/c mice. Exposure of strain RB51G/LacZ expressing Escherichia coli β-galactosidase to a minimum of 300 kilorads of gamma radiation resulted in complete loss of replicative ability. These bacteria, however, remained metabolically active and continued to synthesize β-galactosidase. A single intraperitoneal inoculation of mice with 109 CFU equivalents of gamma-irradiated, but not heat-killed, RB51G/LacZ induced a β-galactosidase-specific Th1-type immune response. Though no obvious differences were detected in immune responses to B. abortus-specific antigens, mice vaccinated with gamma-irradiated, but not heat-killed, RB51G/LacZ developed significant protection against challenge with virulent B. abortus. In vitro experiments indicated that gamma-irradiated and heat-killed RB51G/LacZ induced maturation of dendritic cells; however, stimulation with gamma-irradiated bacteria resulted in more interleukin-12 secretion. These results suggest that recombinant RB51 strains exposed to an appropriate minimum dose of gamma radiation are unable to replicate but retain their ability to stimulate Th1 immune responses against the heterologous antigens and confer protection against B. abortus challenge in mice.
Life-history evolution in harvested populations: the role of natural predation

Models and experiments of the evolution of age- and/or size-at-maturation in response to population harvesting have consistently shown that selective harvesting of older and larger individuals can cause earlier maturation. These predictions, however, are all based on singlespecies considerations and thus crucially neglect the selective forces caused or mediated by species interactions. Here we develop simple models of phenotypic evolution of age-at-firstreproduction in a prey population subject to different types of predation and harvesting. We show that, in the presence of natural predation, the potential evolutionary response of age-atfirst-reproduction to population harvesting is ambiguous: harvesting can cause either earlier or later maturation depending on the type of predator interaction and its strength relative to the fishing pressure. The counterintuitive consequences of harvesting result from the indirect effects that harvesting of a prey population has on the selection pressure exerted by its natural predator, since this selection pressure itself typically depends on prey density. If harvest rates are high, the direct selection pressures considered in classical analyses prevail and harvesting decreases the age-at-first-reproduction, whereas at lower harvest rates the indirect, interspecifically mediated effects of harvesting can qualitatively overturn predictions based on simpler single-species models.
Echocardiographic evaluation of systolic and diastolic heart function in patients suffering from beta-thalassemia major aged 5-10 years at the Zahedan Research Center for Children and Adolescent Health.

OBJECTIVE Cardiac complications are the major cause of morbidity and mortality in beta-thalassemia major. The aim of the study was to evaluate right (RV) and left (LV) ventricular systolic and diastolic functions using myocardial performance index in young, asymptomatic children suffering from thalassemia major, for early detection of cardiac function impairment, preventing further cardiac damage by modifying disease progression and treatment. METHODS A case-controlled, cross-sectional study involving 80 patients suffering from beta- thalassemia major and 80 children adjusted in terms of age and sex served as a control group were studied in Research Center for Children and Adolescent Health Zahedan. The relevant echocardiographic parameters were measured in both subject groups: myocardial performance index (MPI), isovolumic relaxation time (IRT), isovolumic contraction time (ICT), pre-ejection period (PEP), ejection time (ET), PEP/ET ratio, deceleration time (DT) and acceleration time (AT). Data were analyzed by unpaired Student t test. RESULTS The left ventricular mean IRT in the patient group was 114+/-21 and in the control group 94+/-10 msec (p=0.05). The mean MPI (LV) in the patient group was 0.58+/-0.18 and in the control group 0.41+/-0.08 (p=0.05). The mean ET (LV) in the patient group was 237+/-36 msec and in the control group 266+/-25 msec (p=0.05). The mean ET (RV) in the patient group was 237+/-39 msec and in the control group 261+/-36 msec (p=0.05). CONCLUSION There is an early systolic and diastolic dysfunction in children younger than 10 years with beta-thalassemia major. Even in young asymptomatic children with beta-thalassemia major, serial echocardiography seems warranted in order to adjust cardioprotective therapy.
Direct Evidence from Single-Cell Analysis that Human α-Defensins Block Adenovirus Uncoating To Neutralize Infection

ABSTRACT Human α-defensins are evolutionarily conserved effectors of the innate immune response with broadly acting antibacterial activity. Their role in antiviral immunity is less well understood. We previously showed that these antimicrobial peptides are potent inhibitors of human adenovirus infection. Based on biochemical studies and indirect evidence from confocal microscopy, we proposed that defensins bind to and stabilize the virus capsid and neutralize infection by preventing the release of the endosomalytic protein VI. To determine whether defensin action also restricts exposure of the viral genome, we developed a system to evaluate adenovirus uncoating during cell entry by monitoring the exposure of BrdU-labeled viral genomes. This assay allowed us to determine the kinetics of uncoating of virus particles in single cells. Using this assay, we now provide direct evidence that human α-defensins block adenovirus infection by preventing uncoating during cell entry.
Prediction of coreceptor usage by five bioinformatics tools in a large Ethiopian HIV-1 subtype C cohort

Background Genotypic tropism testing (GTT) has been developed largely on HIV-1 subtype B. Although a few reports have analysed the utility of GTT in other subtypes, more studies using HIV-1 subtype C (HIV-1C) are needed, considering the huge contribution of HIV-1C to the global epidemic. Methods Plasma was obtained from 420 treatment-naïve HIV-1C infected Ethiopians recruited 2009–2011. The V3 region was sequenced and the coreceptor usage was predicted by five tools: Geno2Pheno clinical–and clonal–models, PhenoSeq-C, C-PSSM and Raymond’s algorithm. The impact of baseline tropism on antiretroviral treatment (ART) outcome was evaluated. Results Of 352 patients with successful baseline V3 sequences, the proportion of predicted R5 virus varied between the methods by 12.5% (78.1%-90.6%). However, only 58.2% of the predictions were concordant and only 1.7% were predicted to be X4-tropic across the five methods. Compared pairwise, the highest concordance was between C-PSSM and Geno2Pheno clonal (86.4%). In bivariate intention to treat (ITT) analysis, R5 infected patients achieved treatment success more frequently than X4 infected at month six as predicted by Geno2Pheno clinical (77.8% vs 58.7%, P = 0.004) and at month 12 by C-PSSM (61.9% vs 46.6%, P = 0.038). However, in the multivariable analysis adjusted for age, gender, baseline CD4 and viral load, only tropism as predicted by C-PSSM showed an impact on month 12 (P = 0.04, OR 2.47, 95% CI 1.06–5.79). Conclusion Each of the bioinformatics models predicted R5 tropism with comparable frequency but there was a large discordance between the methods. Baseline tropism had an impact on outcome of first line ART at month 12 in multivariable ITT analysis but only based on prediction by C-PSSM which thus possibly could be used for predicting outcome of ART in HIV-1C infected Ethiopians.
Overcoming the NAH syndrome for inspection deployment

Despite considerable evidence to show that inspections can help reduce costs and improve quality, inspections are not widely deployed in the software industry. One of the likely reasons for this is the "not applicable here (NAH)" syndrome-developers and managers believe that in their environment, inspections will not provide the benefits seen by other organizations. One of the big challenges for deploying inspections is to overcome this syndrome. We describe two experiments that can be conducted, with little effort, in an organization to obtain data from the organization to build a case for inspections. By conducting one of these experiments, we were able to effectively overcome the NAH syndrome in our organization-many developers and managers are now ready to try inspections in their projects. Though the purpose of the experiment was to overcome the syndrome, the data from the experiment also shows how code inspections compare with unit testing in terms of defect detection capability, and the effect of inspections on the overall cost of development.
Condition Monitoring of Grease Lubricated Rolling Bearings by Acoustic Emission Measurements

The behaviour of grease lubrication of rolling bearings is less known than the behaviour of oil lubrication in the same type of tribological systems, although greases are the most common lubricants for rolling bearings. Problems connected with the lubrication of grease lubricated rolling bearings arise from starvation of the contact zone and contaminants in the lubricant. This thesis presents a new tool for predictive condition monitoring of grease lubricated rolling bearings. The tool consists of acoustic emission measurement technology, of guidelines for interpreting the AE measurement results and of an empirical model for prediction of the acoustic emission pulse count rate. Significant features of grease lubrication in rolling bearings are the starvation and the time dependence of the lubrication situation and the behaviour of the lubrication situation that does not follow the classical EHL theory for oil lubricated rolling bearings. The six papers presented in this thesis deal with mechanisms of grease lubrication and verification of the behaviour of grease lubrication in a real rolling bearing application. The conclusions regarding the running situation of the bearing are based on the measurement of the acoustic emission generated by the running of the bearing. Paper A gives an overview of the vibration signature monitoring of rolling bearings. A special case, an extremely slowly rotating rolling bearing, is presented in Paper C. Papers B and D deal with monitoring of the contaminants in the lubricating grease. The influence of the grease and running parameters on the lubrication situation of a rolling bearing has been the goal in Papers E and F.
Teasing, Taunting, and the Politics of Politeness: High Sociometric Status Is Associated with Expectation-Consistent Behavior

Research examining face-to-face status hierarchies suggests that individuals attain respect and admiration by engaging in behavior that influences others' judgments of their value to the group. Building on this research, we expected that high-status individuals would be less likely to engage in behaviors that violate group norms and expectations, relative to low-status individuals. Adolescent participants took part in an interaction in which they teased an opposite-gender friend (Study 1) or an experiment in which taunting or cheering expectations were manipulated (Study 2). Consistent with the hypothesis, high-status boys and girls engaged in teasing behaviors consistent with their gender roles, relative to their low status counterparts (Study 1). In Study 2, high-status boys engaged in more direct provocation and off-record commentary while taunting, and more affiliative behavior while cheering on their partner, relative to low-status boys. Discussion focused on how expectation-consistent actions help individuals maintain elevated status.
Indirect estimation of fiber/polymer bond strength and interfacial friction from maximum load values recorded in the microbond and pull-out tests. Part I: local bond strength

The techniques aimed at adhesion strength measurement between reinforcing fibers and polymer matrices (the pull-out and microbond tests) involve the measurement of the force, F max, required to pull out a fiber whose end is embedded in the matrix. Then, this maximum force value is used to calculate such interfacial parameters as the apparent bond strength, τapp, and the local interfacial shear strength (IFSS), τd. However, it has been demonstrated that the F max value is influenced by interfacial friction in already debonded regions, and, therefore, these parameters are not purely 'adhesional' but depend, in an intricate way, on interfacial adhesion and friction. In the last few years, several techniques for separate determination of adhesion and friction in micromechanical tests have been developed, but their experimental realization is rather complicated, because they require an accurate value of the external load at the moment of crack initiation. We have developed a new technique which uses the relationship between the maximum force and the embedded length ('scale factor') to separately measure fiber-matrix interfacial adhesion and friction. Using the equation for the current crack length as a function of the applied load, based on a stress criterion of interfacial debonding, we modeled the pull-out and microbond experiments and obtained the maximum force value versus the embedded length. By varying τd and interfacial friction, τf, to fit experimental plots, both interfacial parameters were estimated. The micromechanical tests were modeled for three types of specimen geometries (cylindrical specimens, spherical droplets, and matrix hemispheres in the pull-out test) with different levels of residual thermal stresses and interfacial friction. The effect of all these factors on the experimental results is discussed, and the importance of specimen geometry is demonstrated. One of the most interesting results is that the 'ultimate' IFSS (the limiting τapp as the embedded length tends to zero) is not always equal to the 'local' bond strength.
Mechanisms leading to nonlinear electrical response of a nano p-SiC/silicone rubber composite

It is well known that hopping of charge carriers via spatially and energetically distributed localized states is a primary transport mechanism in many disordered semiconductors and polymeric dielectrics. In this contribution, the nonlinear I-V physics of a 25 vol% 50 nm p-SiC/silicone rubber composite for high voltage field grading application was investigated, and a composite bulk hopping mechanism proposed. It is hypothesized that nearest-neighbor hole hopping occurs through thin rubbery layers between the SiC particles, and is the mechanism governing the nonlinear electric response of SiC/silicone rubber nanocomposites.
Mechanism of Heparin Activation of Antithrombin

To determine the role of individual saccharide residues of a specific heparin pentasaccharide, denoted DEFGH, in the allosteric activation of the serpin, antithrombin, we studied the effect of deleting pentasaccharide residues on this activation. Binding, spectroscopic, and kinetic analyses demonstrated that deletion of reducing-end residues G and H or nonreducing-end residue D produced variable losses in pentasaccharide binding energy of ∼15–75% but did not affect the oligosaccharide’s ability to conformationally activate the serpin or to enhance the rate at which the serpin inhibited factor Xa. Rapid kinetic studies revealed that elimination of the reducing-end disaccharide marginally affected binding to the native low-heparin-affinity conformational state of antithrombin but greatly affected the conversion of the serpin to the activated high-heparin- affinity state, although the activated conformation was still favored. In contrast, removal of the nonreducing- end residue D drastically affected the initial low-heparin-affinity interaction so as to favor an alternative activation pathway wherein the oligosaccharide shifted a preexisiting equilibrium between native and activated serpin conformations in favor of the activated state. These results demonstrate that the nonreducing-end residues of the pentasaccharide function both to recognize the native low-heparin-affinity conformation of antithrombin and to induce and stabilize the activated high-heparin-affinity conformation. Residues at the reducing-end, however, poorly recognize the native conformation and instead function primarily to bind and stabilize the activated antithrombin conformation. Together, these findings establish an important role of the heparin pentasaccharide sequence in preferential binding and stabilization of the activated conformational state of the serpin.
Numbers and Letters: Exploring an Autistic Savant’s Unpractised Ability

This paper describes an individual with autism and high-level calendar calculation ability who could perform a set of unpractised letter/number association tasks. The savant’s performance was compared with that of two control participants, one a departmental secretary and the other a professor of mathematics. The facility with which the savant could master the rules governing the relationships between the series of items suggests that he possessed a flexibility of mental processing transcending his ability of calendar calculation. Furthermore, he could recalibrate previous knowledge to solve new hitherto unpractised tasks. When presented with novel problems, the savant, unlike the mathematician, made no initial errors at all on any of the presented tasks, thereby indicating his fast and spontaneous recognition of new rules and of new relationships between items. It is concluded that a cognitive style of ‘weak central coherence’ as adopted by autistic savants may protect single representations from being retained in the form of stable enduring wholes, and that such a segmentation strategy may allow for the transformation, reorganization and reconstruction of the relationship between single items of information.