Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Gender-related Differences in Maximum Gait Speed and Daily Physical Activity in Elderly Hospitalized Cardiac Inpatients

AbstractMaximum gait speed and physical activity (PA) relate to mortality and morbidity, but little is known about gender-related differences in these factors in elderly hospitalized cardiac inpatients. This study aimed to determine differences in maximum gait speed and daily measured PA based on sex and the relationship between these measures in elderly cardiac inpatients.A consecutive 268 elderly Japanese cardiac inpatients (mean age, 73.3 years) were enrolled and divided by sex into female (n = 75, 28%) and male (n = 193, 72%) groups. Patient characteristics and maximum gait speed, average step count, and PA energy expenditure (PAEE) in kilocalorie per day for 2 days assessed by accelerometer were compared between groups.Gait speed correlated positively with in-hospital PA measured by average daily step count (r = 0.46, P < 0.001) and average daily PAEE (r = 0.47, P < 0.001) in all patients. After adjustment for left ventricular ejection fraction, step counts and PAEE were significantly lower in females than males (2651.35 ± 1889.92 vs 4037.33 ± 1866.81 steps, P < 0.001; 52.74 ± 51.98 vs 99.33 ± 51.40 kcal, P < 0.001), respectively.Maximum gait speed was slower and PA lower in elderly female versus male inpatients. Minimum gait speed and step count values in this study might be minimum target values for elderly male and female Japanese cardiac inpatients.
Estimation of the Spontaneous Mutation Rate in Heliconius melpomene

We estimated the spontaneous mutation rate in Heliconius melpomene by genome sequencing of a pair of parents and 30 of their offspring, based on the ratio of number of de novo heterozygotes to the number of callable site-individuals. We detected nine new mutations, each one affecting a single site in a single offspring. This yields an estimated mutation rate of 2.9 × 10−9 (95% confidence interval, 1.3 × 10−9–5.5 × 10−9), which is similar to recent estimates in Drosophila melanogaster, the only other insect species in which the mutation rate has been directly estimated. We infer that recent effective population size of H. melpomene is about 2 million, a substantially lower value than its census size, suggesting a role for natural selection reducing diversity. We estimate that H. melpomene diverged from its Müllerian comimic H. erato about 6 Ma, a somewhat later date than estimates based on a local molecular clock.
From brane dynamics to a Kac-Moody invariant formulation of M-theories

Theories of gravity coupled to forms and dilatons may admit as solutions zero binding energy configurations of intersecting closed extremal branes. In such configurations, some branes may open on host closed branes. Properties of extremal branes reveal symmetries of the underlying theory which are well known in M-theory but transcend supersymmetry. From these properties it is possible to reconstruct all actions, comprising in particular pure gravity in D dimensions, the bosonic effective actions of M-theory and of the bosonic string, which upon dimensional reduction to three dimensions are invariant under the maximally non-compact simple simply laced Lie groups G. Moreover the features of extremal branes suggest the existence of a much larger symmetry, namely the `very-extended' Kac-Moody algebras G+++. This motivates the construction of explicit non-linear realisations of all simple G+++, which hopefully contain new degrees of freedom such as those encountered in string theories. They are defined without a priori reference to space-time and are proposed as substitutes for original field theoretic models of gravity, forms and dilatons. From the G+++ invariant theories, all algebraic properties of extremal branes are recovered from exact solutions, and there are indications that space-time is hidden in the infinite symmetry structure. The transformation properties of the exact solutions, which possibly induce new solutions foreign to conventional theories, put into evidence the general group-theoretical origin of `dualities' for all G+++. These dualities apparently do not require an underlying string theory.
Modern Methods of Sample Preparation for the Analysis of Oxylipins in Biological Samples

Oxylipins are potent lipid mediators derived from polyunsaturated fatty acids, which play important roles in various biological processes. Being important regulators and/or markers of a wide range of normal and pathological processes, oxylipins are becoming a popular subject of research; however, the low stability and often very low concentration of oxylipins in samples are a significant challenge for authors and continuous improvement is required in both the extraction and analysis techniques. In recent years, the study of oxylipins has been directly related to the development of new technological platforms based on mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS)/MS), as well as the improvement in methods for the extraction of oxylipins from biological samples. In this review, we systematize and compare information on sample preparation procedures, including solid-phase extraction, liquid–liquid extraction from different biological tissues.
The Basic Property of Lys385 Is Important for Potentiation of the Human α1 Glycine Receptor by Ethanol

Ethanol alters the function of several members of the Cys-loop ligand-gated ion channel superfamily. Recent studies have shown that the sensitivity of the α1 glycine receptor (GlyR) to ethanol can be affected by the state of G protein activation mediated by the interaction of Gβγ with intracellular amino acids in the GlyR. Here, we evaluated the physicochemical property of Lys385 that contributes to ethanol modulation by using mutagenesis, patch-clamp, and biochemical techniques. A conserved substitution (K385R) did not affect either the apparent glycine EC50 (40 ± 1 versus 41 ± 0.5 μM) or the ethanol-induced potentiation (53 ± 5 versus 46 ± 5%) of the human α1 GlyR. On the other hand, replacement of this residue with glutamic acid (K385E), an acidic amino acid, reduced the potentiation of the GlyR to 10 ± 1%. Furthermore, mutations with a hydrophobic leucine (K385L), a hydrogen bond donor glutamine (K385Q), or a neutral residue (K385A) also reduced ethanol modulation. Finally, substitution by a large and hydrophobic residue (K385F) and deletion of 385 (Lys385_) reduced ethanol modulation to 10 ± 4 and 17 ± 0.4%, respectively. Experiments using dynamic cysteine substitution with a methanethiosulfonate reagent and homology modeling indicate that the basic property and the position of Lys385, probably because of its interaction with Gβγ, is critical for ethanol potentiation of the receptor.
New Implementations of the WG Stream Cipher

This paper presents two new hardware designs of the Welch-Gong (WG)-128 cipher, one for the multiple output WG (MOWG) version, and the other for the single output version WG based on type-II optimal normal basis representation. The proposed MOWG design uses signal reuse techniques to reduce hardware cost in the MOWG transformation, whereas it increases the speed by eliminating the inverters from the critical path. This is accomplished through reconstructing the key and initial vector loading algorithm and the feedback polynomial of the linear feedback shift register. The proposed WG design uses properties of the trace function to optimize the hardware cost in the WG transformation. The application-specific integrated circuit and field-programmable gate array implementations of the proposed designs show that their areas and power consumptions outperform the existing implementations of the WG cipher.
Synthesis and Photophysical Properties of Tetra- and Octasubstituted Phosphorous Oxide Triazatetrabenzcorrole Photosensitizers

The synthesis of phosphorous oxide triazatetrabenzcorroles (TBC) tetra- (9, 11) or octa- (13) substituted on the ring with halogenated functional groups is reported. The complexes are not aggregated in dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) and show solubility in solvents such as pyridine. The Q band absorption spectra of the complexes are red-shifted compared to unsubstituted PTBC. The latter complex shows a large triplet lifetime (1.7 milliseconds), higher than for MPc derivatives. The chlorinated derivatives show good triplet yields (ΦT∼ 0.46 and 0.36) and relatively long lifetimes (256 and 452 microseconds), respectively, for 11 and 13.
The Evaluation of Relevant Factors Influencing Skin Graft Changes in Color Over Time

BACKGROUND Objective studies evaluating the relevant factors that affect skin graft changes in color over time have yet to be published. OBJECTIVE Therefore, the patterns of the grafted skin's color changes and the presence of relevant factors were analyzed statistically. MATERIALS AND METHODS The study included 107 skin grafts in 107 subjects. Using a chromameter, the colors of skin graft, the area adjacent to the recipient site, and the donor site were measured. The grafted skin's color changes and the color difference were analyzed with respect to several factors. RESULTS Over time, the grafted skin became lighter, redness decreased, yellowness increased, and the color difference decreased. As the donor site was lighter, the grafted skin was lighter and less red. The grafted skin was lighter in females than in males. The skin graft type was not related to the lightness and the redness. The grafted skin was lightest in the upper arm and darkest in the lower leg. The grafted skin was lighter in Fitzpatrick Skin Type III, followed by Type IV and then Type V. CONCLUSION The factors that affected the skin graft's lightness were time, the lightness of the donor, sex, the hand, the foot, and Fitzpatrick skin type.
Effects of Acute Prenatal Exposure to Ethanol on microRNA Expression are Ameliorated by Social Enrichment

Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs) are associated with abnormal social behavior. These behavioral changes may resemble those seen in autism. Rats acutely exposed to ethanol on gestational day 12 show decreased social motivation at postnatal day 42. We previously showed that housing these ethanol-exposed rats with non-exposed controls normalized this deficit. The amygdala is critical for social behavior and regulates it, in part, through connections with the basal ganglia, particularly the ventral striatum. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are short, hairpin-derived RNAs that repress mRNA expression. Many brain disorders, including FASD, show dysregulation of miRNAs. In this study, we tested if miRNA and mRNA networks are altered in the amygdala and ventral striatum as a consequence of prenatal ethanol exposure and show any evidence of reversal as a result of social enrichment. RNA samples from two different brain regions in 72 male and female adolescent rats were analyzed by RNA-Seq and microarray analysis. Several miRNAs showed significant changes due to prenatal ethanol exposure and/or social enrichment in one or both brain regions. The top predicted gene targets of these miRNAs were mapped and subjected to pathway enrichment analysis. Several miRNA changes caused by ethanol were reversed by social enrichment, including mir-204, mir-299a, miR-384-5p, miR-222-3p, miR-301b-3p, and mir-6239. Moreover, enriched gene networks incorporating the targets of these miRNAs also showed reversal. We also extended our previously published mRNA expression analysis by directly examining all annotated brain-related canonical pathways. The additional pathways that were most strongly affected at the mRNA level included p53, CREB, glutamate, and GABA signaling. Together, our data suggest a number of novel epigenetic mechanisms for social enrichment to reverse the effects of ethanol exposure through widespread influences on gene expression.
Space-time block codes: a capacity perspective

Space-time block codes are a remarkable modulation scheme discovered recently for the multiple antenna wireless channel. They have an elegant mathematical solution for providing full diversity over the coherent, flat-fading channel. In addition, they require extremely simple encoding and decoding. Although these codes provide full diversity at low computational costs, we show that they incur a loss in capacity because they convert the matrix channel into a scalar AWGN channel whose capacity is smaller than the true channel capacity. In this letter the loss in capacity is quantified as a function of channel rank, code rate, and number of receive antennas.
Wearables and Location Tracking Technologies for Mental-State Sensing in Outdoor Environments

Advances in commercial wearable devices are increasingly facilitating the collection and analysis of everyday physiological data. This article discusses the theoretical and practical aspects of using such ambulatory devices for the detection of episodic changes in physiological signals as a marker for mental state in outdoor environments. A pilot study was conducted to evaluate the feasibility of using commercial wearables in combination with location tracking technologies. The study measured physiological signals for fifteen participants, including heart rate, heart rate variability, and skin conductance. Participants’ signals were recorded during an outdoor walk that was tracked using a Global Positioning System logger. The walk was designed to pass through various types of environments including green, blue, and urban spaces, as well as a more stressful road crossing. The data that were obtained were used to demonstrate how biosensor information can be contextualized and enriched using location information. Significant episodic changes in physiological signals under real-world conditions were detectable in the stressful road crossing but not in the other types of environments. The article concludes that despite challenges and limitations of current off-the-shelf wearables, the utilization of these devices offers novel opportunities for evaluating episodic changes in physiological signals as a marker for mental state during everyday activities including in outdoor environments. Key Words: electrodermal activity, GPS, mental state, stress, wearable.
A robust protocol for proving ownership of multimedia content

We explore the problem of proving ownership or origin of multimedia content like image/video or audio signals through watermarking. The need for watermarking arises out of the insufficiency of present copyright laws for claiming ownership of digital content. Watermarking schemes however, are threatened by counterfeit attacks, which primarily use the freedom available in choice of signature or choice of the watermarking method. A restrictive protocol for watermarking could go a long way in rendering counterfeit attacks extremely difficult. We suggest a comprehensive protocol as an extension of the one suggested by Craver et al. , that makes it possible for the true owner to claim ownership unambiguously, while making it extremely difficult for a pirate to do so.
Multi-Illuminant Estimation With Conditional Random Fields

Most existing color constancy algorithms assume uniform illumination. However, in real-world scenes, this is not often the case. Thus, we propose a novel framework for estimating the colors of multiple illuminants and their spatial distribution in the scene. We formulate this problem as an energy minimization task within a conditional random field over a set of local illuminant estimates. In order to quantitatively evaluate the proposed method, we created a novel data set of two-dominant-illuminant images comprised of laboratory, indoor, and outdoor scenes. Unlike prior work, our database includes accurate pixel-wise ground truth illuminant information. The performance of our method is evaluated on multiple data sets. Experimental results show that our framework clearly outperforms single illuminant estimators as well as a recently proposed multi-illuminant estimation approach.
Diffusion Tensor Imaging of Guillain‐Mollaret Triangle in Patients with Hypertrophic Olivary Degeneration

The aim of the study is to analyze diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) characteristics of the Guillain‐Mollaret triangle (GMT) in patients with hypertrophic olivary degeneration (HOD) and to investigate their correlation with previously reported histopathology. DTI was performed in 10 patients diagnosed with HOD. Fractional anisotropy, apparent diffusion coefficient, axial diffusivity, and radial diffusivity were measured in the inferior olivary nucleus (IO), the central tegmental tract, the red and the dentate nuclei, and the superior cerebellar peduncle of HOD patients and compared to age, sex, and side‐matched 10 neurologically normal population. The prominent finding on DTI in affected IO was an increase in radial diffusivity compatible with demyelination. While conventional magnetic resonance imaging did not show any sign of involvement in the other components of GMT, DTI demonstrated signal changes in all anatomical components of the GMT. Main DTI findings in GMT of patients with HOD were an increase in radial diffusivity representing demyelination and an increase in axial diffusivity that is reflective of neuronal hypertrophy. DTI parameters can reflect the spatiotemporal evolution of transneuronal degeneration associated with HOD in a manner consistent with the known pathologic stages of HOD.
The role of iron in the skin and cutaneous wound healing

In this review article we discuss current knowledge about iron in the skin and the cutaneous wound healing process. Iron plays a key role in both oxidative stress and photo-induced skin damage. The main causes of oxidative stress in the skin include reactive oxygen species (ROS) generated in the skin by ultraviolet (UVA) 320–400 nm portion of the UVA spectrum and biologically available iron. We also discuss the relationships between iron deficiency, anemia and cutaneous wound healing. Studies looking at this fall into two distinct groups. Early studies investigated the effect of anemia on wound healing using a variety of experimental methodology to establish anemia or iron deficiency and focused on wound-strength rather than effect on macroscopic healing or re-epithelialization. More recent animal studies have investigated novel treatments aimed at correcting the effects of systemic iron deficiency and localized iron overload. Iron overload is associated with local cutaneous iron deposition, which has numerous deleterious effects in chronic venous disease and hereditary hemochromatosis. Iron plays a key role in chronic ulceration and conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and Lupus Erythematosus are associated with both anemia of chronic disease and dysregulation of local cutaneous iron hemostasis. Iron is a potential therapeutic target in the skin by application of topical iron chelators and novel pharmacological agents, and in delayed cutaneous wound healing by treatment of iron deficiency or underlying systemic inflammation.
Hospital use and health status of women during the 5 years following the birth of a premature, low-birthweight infant.

OBJECTIVE This study examined the health status and hospital use of women after the birth of a premature, low-birthweight infant. METHODS The subjects were women with infants who participated in a multisite, randomized trial of an early intervention program. The outcomes examined were (1) a maternal health rating of poor or fair (i.e., poorer health) 5 years following delivery and (2) hospital use for a non-pregnancy-related condition. RESULTS By the fifth year after delivery, 29.7% of the women had been hospitalized for a non-pregnancy-related condition. Women who reported poorer health status (adjusted relative risk [RR] = 2.39; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.86, 3.07) or who had asthma (RR = 2.24; CI = 1.31, 3.80) were at greatest risk. After 5 years, 16.9% of the women said they were in poorer health. The number of intervening years in poorer health (1 year, RR = 3.17; CI = 2.04, 4.94; > 1 year, RR = 8.42; CI = 2.20, 12.88), more than 1 year of poverty (RR = 3.28; CI = 1.90, 5.66), obesity (RR = 3.30; CI = 1.44, 7.55), and more than 1 year of employment (RR = 0.55; CI = 0.36, 0.86) were all significantly associated with poorer health. CONCLUSIONS The continued, substantial morbidity and hospital use of women with a premature, low-birthweight infant has not previously been reported. This observation needs to be verified.
Species Variation in the Mechanisms of Mesenchymal Stem Cell‐Mediated Immunosuppression

Bone marrow‐derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) hold great promise for treating immune disorders because of their immunoregulatory capacity, but the mechanism remains controversial. As we show here, the mechanism of MSC‐mediated immunosuppression varies among different species. Immunosuppression by human‐ or monkey‐derived MSCs is mediated by indoleamine 2,3‐dioxygenase (IDO), whereas mouse MSCs utilize nitric oxide, under the same culture conditions. When the expression of IDO and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) were examined in human and mouse MSCs after stimulation with their respective inflammatory cytokines, we found that human MSCs expressed extremely high levels of IDO, and very low levels of iNOS, whereas mouse MSCs expressed abundant iNOS and very little IDO. Immunosuppression by human MSCs was not intrinsic, but was induced by inflammatory cytokines and was chemokine‐dependent, as it is in mouse. These findings provide critical information about the immunosuppression of MSCs and for better application of MSCs in treating immune disorders. STEM CELLS 2009;27:1954–1962
Usefulness of FDG PET for assessment of early recurrent epithelial ovarian cancer.

OBJECTIVE The purpose of our study was to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of FDG positron emission tomography (PET) in comparison with CT in detecting recurrent ovarian carcinoma and its ability to reveal small tumor recurrence. MATERIALS AND METHODS We reviewed the records of 31 consecutive patients with pathologically proven epithelial carcinoma who underwent FDG PET 1 month before second-look surgery to assess recurrent tumor. Of these 31 patients, 21 patients also underwent CT 1 month before second-look surgery. The diagnostic accuracies of FDG PET (n = 31), CT (n = 21), and combined FDG PET and CT (n = 21) in detecting recurrent tumor were calculated and compared with each other using the Bennett's test in 21 patients who underwent both imaging studies. Detection rates of individual tumors relative to their sizes were compared between FDG PET and CT using the McNemar test. RESULTS The sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of FDG PET, CT, and combined FDG PET and CT for revealing recurrent ovarian cancer were 45.3%, 99.7%, 91.0%; 54.5%, 99.6%, 91.7%; 58.2%, 99.6%, 92.4%, respectively. We found no statistically significant difference in the diagnostic accuracy of FDG PET, CT, and combined FDG PET and CT (chi(2) < 5.991). Detection rates of tumor nodules found on CT were significantly greater than those on FDG PET when nodule size was 0.3-0.7 cm (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION FDG PET did not improve the overall diagnostic accuracy in detecting recurrent ovarian carcinoma compared with CT. Rather, FDG PET was inferior to CT in its ability to reveal small-tumor recurrence.