Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Possible Neuroprotective Effects of Magnesium Sulfate and Melatonin as Both Pre- and Post-Treatment in a Neonatal Hypoxic-Ischemic Rat Model

Background: Perinatal hypoxia-ischemia is a major cause of mortality and long-term neurological deficits. Objectives: The objective of this study was to compare the effects of two neuroprotective agents; magnesium sulfate and melatonin, administered alone or in combination, on brain infarct volume and TUNEL positivity in a neonatal hypoxic-ischemic (HI) rat model. Methods: After being anesthetized, 7-day-old pups (n = 80) underwent ischemia followed by exposure to hypoxia for 2 h. The pups were then divided equally and randomly into 4 groups in order to receive the vehicle (saline, control group), magnesium sulfate, melatonin or a combination of magnesium sulfate and melatonin. Treatments were administered intraperitoneally three times; the first being just before ischemia, the second after hypoxia and the third 24 h after the second dose. The pups were sacrificed on postnatal day 10, their brains harvested and evaluated for infarct volume and neuronal apoptosis. Results: Percent infarcted brain volume was significantly reduced in pups receiving the drugs (either magnesium sulfate, melatonin or their combination) compared with those receiving the vehicle. In addition, TUNEL staining showed markedly reduced numbers of TUNEL-positive cells per unit area in the CA1, CA3 and dentate gyrus regions of the hippocampus and in the cortex. However, no statistically significant differences were found regarding percent infarcted brain volume and number of TUNEL-positive cells among the drug-treated groups. Conclusions: Magnesium sulfate and melatonin, two agents acting at different stages of HI brain damage, administered either alone or in combination, significantly reduced the percent infarcted brain volume and TUNEL positivity, suggesting that these agents may confer a possible benefit in the treatment of infants with HI encephalopathy.
Methylmalonic Acid and Homocysteine in Plasma as Indicators of Functional Cobalamin Deficiency in Infants on Macrobiotic Diets

ABSTRACT: Methylmalonic acid and total honnxyslcine in plasma and scrum have previously been used as indicators of intracellular cobalamin function in adults. To assess the usefulness of quantitation of these metabolites in the diagnosis of dietary cobalamin deficiency in infants, they were determined in plasma from 41 infants (aged l0–20 mo) on a macrobiotic diet and in 50 healthy group-matched omnivorous controls. In the macrobiotic infants, both methylmalonic acid and total homocysteine were markedly increased compared with controls (8-fold and 2-fold, respectively). Both metabolites showed an inverse relation to the plasma cobalamin level. The very low cobalamin content of the macrobiotic diet and low plasma cobalamin in macrobiotic infants makes an impaired cobalamin function likely in these infants. We therefore used dietary group as an independent indicator of cobalamin status. Different test parameters for cobalamin status were evaluated by comparing their ability to discriminate between the two dietary groups. Logistic regression analysis showed that methylmalonic acid followed by total homocysteine and cobalamin, in that order, were the strongest predictors of dietary group. Mean corpuscular volume and Mb had low discriminative power. We conclude that the determination of methylmalonic acid and total homocysteine represents a sensitive and specific test for the diagnosis and follow-up of nutritional cobalamin deficiency in infants. Furthermore, the finding of high methylmalonic acid and total homocysteine in plasma of most macrobiotic infants demonstrates a functional cobalamin deficiency in these subjects.
Indentation Resilience of Conventional and Auxetic Foams

Materials with a negative Poisson's ratio (auxetic materials) demonstrate the fascinating property of becoming fatter when stretched. This phenomenon is fundamentally important to the properties of a material and a significant change in the value of the ratio has significant effects on the material's mechanical performance. This article describes foams with a negative Poisson's ratio that show better indentation resilience than conventional foams with a positive Poisson's ratio. The unusual mechanical properties of auxetic foams are attributed to the deformation characteristics of re-entrant (concave polyhedral) cell structures.
Evaluation of Injuries among a Manufacturing Industry Staff in Iran.

BACKGROUND Occupational injury is related to personal characteristics. This phenomenon is a controversial issue. This paper presents the relationships of certain occupational and individual characteristics with frequency of occupational injuries. METHODS A standardized injury questionnaire was completed for 199 employees in a big Iranian industrial company (MAPNA Group) by the researcher in the presence of the subjects. The data were analyzed using zero-inflated Poisson regression with random effects. RESULTS We demonstrated a significant relation between the marital status (P< 0.001) and score of injures (P < 0.001) with number of injuries by employees. Technicians and supervisors have high chance of "not to be injured at all" relative to workers (P< 0.05). Technicians and supervisors have less number of injuring than workers have (P< 0.05). In addition, increasing assessment score decreases the number of injuring of employees (P< 0.001). CONCLUSION Due to being aware of the risks and remedial measures, married employees and workers should be assisted by occupational specialists.
Difficulties in Learning Inheritance and Polymorphism

This article reports on difficulties related to the concepts of inheritance and polymorphism, expressed by a group of 22 in-service CS teachers with an experience with the procedural paradigm, as they coped with a course on OOP. Our findings are based on the analysis of tests, questionnaires that the teachers completed in the course, as well as on observations made during the course. The article suggests that the difficulties are mostly caused by the learners’ ignorance about a programming model for inheritance and polymorphism. Such a model is presented in the appendix. The article offers a classification of the difficulties into the following four clusters: (1) alternative (partial) models, (2) analogies to the use of inheritance and conversion in day-to-day life or in imperative programming, (3) lack of understanding of hierarchies and their role in inheritance, and (4) difficulties due to approaches to teaching, and their impact on the students understanding, as well as, with difficulties that arose in previous stages of learning OOP and have yet not been resolved.
Clinical microbiology laboratories do not always detect resistance of Haemophilus influenzae with disk or tablet diffusion methods

The performance of disk diffusion testing of Haemophilus influenzae was evaluated in 20 laboratories. Thirteen disk‐medium‐breakpoint‐inoculum modifications were used in Finnish clinical microbiology laboratories. The performance of various methods was evaluated by testing a susceptible control strain and one with non‐β‐lactamase‐mediated ampicillin resistance 10 times in 16 laboratories. Gaps in millimeters were measured between these two groups of results. The strains were separated by a gap of at least 5 mm in 8/16 laboratories testing ampicillin, in 7/15 laboratories testing cefaclor, in 5/16 laboratories testing cefuroxime, and in 15/16 laboratories testing trimethoprim‐sulfa. Detection of ampicillin resistance was better with 2.5 μg tablets than with 10 μg disks or 33 μg tablets. For MIC‐determinations, 785 isolates and their disk diffusion results were collected. None of the 12 clinical isolates with non‐β‐lactamase‐mediated ampicillin resistance was detected as resistant in the participating laboratories. The ampicillin and cefaclor results of the isolates were no better even when a laboratory was able to separate the control strains. Cefaclor results were unreliable because of poor disk diffusion‐MIC correspondence and incoherent breakpoint references. Interlaboratory variation of the zone diameters caused false intermediate results of cefuroxime‐susceptible strains. When ampicillin, cefaclor and cefuroxime were tested, the discrimination of laboratories using disks and tablets was equal, whereas the laboratories using paper disks were better able to detect trimethoprim‐sulfa resistance.
Ammonia blockade of intestinal epithelial K 1 conductance

Hrnjez, Bruce J., Jaekyung C. Song, Madhu Prasad, Julio M. Mayol, and Jeffrey B. Matthews. Ammonia blockade of intestinal epithelial K1 conductance. Am. J. Physiol. 277 (Gastrointest. Liver Physiol. 40): G521–G532, 1999. —Ammonia profoundly inhibits cAMP-dependent Cl2 secretion in model T84 human intestinal crypt epithelia. Because colonic lumen concentrations of ammonia are high (10–70 mM), ammonia may be a novel regulator of secretory diarrheal responsiveness. We defined the target of ammonia action by structure-function analysis with a series of primary amines (ammonia, methylamine, ethylamine, propylamine, butylamine, pentylamine, hexylamine, heptylamine, and octylamine) that vary principally in size and lipid solubilities. The amine concentrations required for 50% inhibition of Cl2 secretion in intact monolayers and 50% inhibition of outward K1 current (IK) in apically permeabilized monolayers vs. the logs of the respective amine partition coefficients give two plots that are strikingly similar in character. Half-maximal inhibition of short-circuit current (Isc) by ammonia was seen at 6 mM and for IK at 4 mM; half-maximal inhibition for octylamine was 0.24 mM and 0.19 mM for Isc and IK, respectively. The preferentially water-soluble hydrophilic amines (ammonia, methylamine, ethylamine) increase in blocking ability with decreasing size and lipophilicity. Conversely, the preferentially lipid-soluble hydrophobic (propylamine, butylamine, pentylamine, hexylamine, heptylamine, octylamine) amines increase in blocking ability with increasing size and lipophilicity. Ammonia does not affect isolated apical Cl2 conductance; amine-induced changes in cytosolic and endosomal pH do not correlate with secretory inhibition. We propose that ammonia in its protonated ammonium form (NH4 ) inhibits cAMP-dependent Cl2 secretion in T84 monolayers by blocking basolateral K1 channels.
The Development of Executive Functioning and Theory of Mind

Preschoolers' theory-of-mind development follows a similar age trajectory across many cultures. To determine whether these similarities are related to similar underlying ontogenetic processes, we examined whether the relation between theory of mind and executive function commonly found among U.S. preschoolers is also present among Chinese preschoolers. Preschoolers from Beijing, China (N = 109), were administered theory-of-mind and executive-functioning tasks, and their performance was compared with that of a previously studied sample of U.S. preschoolers (N = 107). The Chinese preschoolers out-performed their U.S. counterparts on all measures of executive functioning, but were not similarly advanced in theory-of-mind reasoning. Nonetheless, individual differences in executive functioning predicted theory of mind for children in both cultures. Thus, the relation between executive functioning and theory of mind is robust across two disparate cultures. These findings shed light on why executive functioning is important for theory-of-mind development.
Depth of Intrastromal Corneal Ring Segments by OCT

Purpose. To compare the depth of intrastromal corneal ring segments (ICRS) with the expected depth value using optical coherence tomography (OCT). Methods. This was a retrospective comparative study in an ophthalmic unit in a government hospital, the Baruch Padeh Medical Center, Poriya, Israel. Ten eyes of 8 patients with 18 ICRS were reviewed. Eleven segments were Intacs (Addition Technology, Inc.) and 7 Kerarings (Mediphacos). Using anterior segment OCT (OPKO OTI) the shortest distance from the epithelium to the segment at 3 points was measured for each segment. The 3 points are proximal, middle, and distal to the incision. Results. The mean depth of the 18 segments was 360±68 μm. The mean maximal and minimal depths were 383±70 and 336±72 μm, respectively. The mean depths of the distal, central, and proximal point measurements of all ICRS were 358±79, 361±77, and 362±59 μm, respectively; no significant difference was found. No part of the segments tended to be more superficial than others (p=0.98). There was no significant difference between Intacs and Kerarings depths (p=0.43). There was a significant difference between the expected ICRS depth and the OCT measurements (mean 480±20) and 360±68), respectively. Conclusions. The ICRS actual depth was less than expected. There was mild variability in segment depth, both between segments and along the same segment. No significant difference was found between the depth of Intacs and Kerarings.
Fast Control of DNA Replication in Response to Hypoxia and to Inhibited Protein Synthesis in CCRF-CEM and HeLa Cells

Abstract In order to elucidate whether data about the fast regulation of DNA replication in dependence on oxygen supply and on a functioning protein synthesis, previously elaborated with Ehrlich ascites cells, are valid for human cells too, we repeated key experiments with CCRF-CEM and HeLa cells. The most important techniques employed were DNA fibre autoradiography and alkaline sedimentation analyses of growing (pulselabeled) daughter strand DNA. It was found that CCRF-CEM and HeLa cells responded to transient hypoxia and to transient inhibition of protein synthesis in an almost identical fashion. Scheduled replicon initiations were reversibly suppressed and the progress rates of replication forks, which were already active before the respective inhibitory conditions were established, were reversibly slowed down. The inclusion of the fork progress rate in the response differs from Ehrlich ascites cells, which respond only by suppressing initiation. Further circumstances of the fast oxygen dependent response, concerning the behaviour of ribonucleotide reductase and of the dNTP pools, revealed no significant differences among the three cell lines. The striking identity of the response of each of the cell lines to hypoxia and to inhibited protein synthesis prompts the suspicion that converging fast regulatory pathways act on the cellular replication machinery. The phenomena as such seem to be rather widespread among mammalian cells.
Osteoporosis as a risk factor for distal radial fractures: a case-control study.

BACKGROUND Distal radial fractures occur earlier in life than hip and spinal fractures and may be the first sign of osteoporosis. The aims of this case-control study were to compare the prevalence of osteopenia and osteoporosis between female and male patients with low-energy distal radial fractures and matched controls and to investigate whether observed differences in bone mineral density between patients and controls could be explained by potential confounders. METHODS Six hundred and sixty-four female and eighty-five male patients who sustained a distal radial fracture, and 554 female and fifty-four male controls, were included in the study. All distal radial fractures were radiographically confirmed. Bone mineral density was assessed with use of dual x-ray absorptiometry at the femoral neck, total hip (femoral neck, trochanter, and intertrochanteric area), and lumbar spine (L2-L4). A self-administered questionnaire provided information on health and lifestyle factors. RESULTS The prevalence of osteoporosis was 34% in female patients and 10% in female controls. The corresponding values were 17% in male patients and 13% in male controls. In the age group of fifty to fifty-nine years, 18% of female patients and 5% of female controls had osteoporosis. In the age group of sixty to sixty-nine years, the corresponding values were 25% and 7%, respectively. In adjusted conditional logistic regression analyses, osteopenia and osteoporosis were significantly associated with distal radial fractures in women. Osteoporosis was significantly associated with distal radial fractures in men. CONCLUSIONS The prevalence of osteoporosis in patients with distal radial fractures is high compared with that in control subjects, and osteoporosis is a risk factor for distal radial fractures in both women and men. Thus, patients of both sexes with an age of fifty years or older who have a distal radial fracture should be evaluated with bone densitometry for the possible treatment of osteoporosis.
A Prioritized Resource Reservation Scheme with QoS-Violation Assessment

Multimedia applications such as video conferencing, multimedia news and distance learning require stringent quality of service (QoS) that the current Internet cannot provide. Specifications of differentiated services (DiffServ) were proposed with the hope that the services of legacy Internet and third generation (3G) networks present opportunities to offer end-to-end QoS guaranteed multimedia applications and services. In this paper we propose a prioritized resource reservation scheme for real-time applications. This scheme has the capability of QoS-violation assessment for interactive best-effort users. The probability of resource starvation is predicted by analyzing the traffic behavior of call requests. Such a scheme allows for providing Internet services to end users over DiffServ, and regulates network utilization by means of the prediction of resource starvation to avoid QoS violation.
On the effect of movement on the localization accuracy in practical wireless networks

The problem of localization involves estimating the position of a user from a number of noisy sensor measurements. In a practical wireless network, these sensor measurements cannot be collected instantaneously and arrive after a certain delay. In a dynamic scenario where the users move around, this delay will render some measurements out-dated and, if not taken into account, have a negative effect on the localization performance. This paper consists of two parts, in the first part we investigate the effect of user movement on the measurement models for ranging. In the second part we use these models to analyze the impact of movement on the accuracy of the position estimate by means of the Cramer-Rao lower bound (CRLB) which bounds the performance of the estimation.
Invariant feature extraction from event based stimuli

We propose a novel architecture, the event-based Generative Adaptive Subspace Self-Organizing Map (GASSOM) for learning and extracting invariant representations from event streams originating from neuromorphic vision sensors. The framework is inspired by feed-forward cortical models for visual processing. The model, which is based on the concepts of sparsity and temporal slowness, is able to learn feature extractors that resemble neurons in the primary visual cortex. Layers of units in the proposed model can be cascaded to learn feature extractors with different levels of complexity and selectivity. We explore the applicability of the framework on real world tasks by using the learned network for object recognition. The proposed model achieve higher classification accuracy compared to other state-of-the-art event based processing methods. Our results also demonstrate the generality and robustness of the method, as the recognizers for different data sets and different tasks all used the same set of learned feature detectors, which were trained on data collected independently of the testing data.
UGT1A1 promoter genotype correlates with SN-38 pharmacokinetics, but not severe toxicity in patients receiving low-dose irinotecan.

PURPOSE To study the association between UDP-glucuronosyltransferase 1A1 (UGT1A1) genotypes and severe toxicity as well as irinotecan disposition in pediatric patients with solid tumors receiving low-dose, protracted irinotecan (15 to 75 mg/m2 daily for 5 days for 2 consecutive weeks). PATIENTS AND METHODS Seventy-four patients on five institutional clinical trials received irinotecan (15 to 75 mg/m2) daily intravenously or orally for 5 days for 2 consecutive weeks. Genomic DNA was genotyped for UGT1A1*28, and patients were designated as 6/6, 6/7, or 7/7 depending on the number of TA repeats in the UGT1A1 promoter region. Patients were evaluated for gastrointestinal and hematologic toxicity, as well as baseline and maximal serum bilirubin levels. Toxicity and pharmacokinetic results were evaluated during courses 1 and 2 of irinotecan therapy. RESULTS The frequencies of 6/6, 6/7, and 7/7 genotypes were 27 (36.5%), 36 (48.6%), and 9 (12.2%) of 74 patients, respectively. Patients with 7/7 genotype had a statistically greater baseline total bilirubin than patients with 6/6 or 6/7 genotype (P = .005). UGT1A1*28 genotype was not associated with grade 3 and 4 neutropenia (P = .21 for course 1; P = .23 for course 2) or diarrhea (P = .176 for course 1; P = .87 for course 2). However, patients with the 7/7 genotype tended to have higher SN-38 area under the plasma time-concentration curve (AUC) values and lower SN-38G/SN-38 AUC ratios. CONCLUSION Severe toxicity was not increased in pediatric patients with the 7/7 genotype when treated with a low-dose protracted schedule of irinotecan. Therefore, UGT1A1 genotyping is not a useful prognostic indicator of severe toxicity for patients treated with this irinotecan dosage and schedule.
Facial emotional expressions recognition based on Active Shape Model and Radial Basis Function Network

Facial emotional expressions recognition (FEER) is important research fields to study how human beings reflect to environments in affective computing. With the rapid development of multimedia technology especially image processing, facial emotional expressions recognition researchers have achieved many useful result. If we want to recognize the human's emotion via the facial image, we need to extract features of the facial image. Active Shape Model (ASM) is one of the most popular methods for facial feature extraction. The accuracy of ASM depends on several factors, such as brightness, image sharpness, and noise. To get better result, the ASM is combined with Gaussian Pyramid. In this paper we propose a facial emotion expressions recognizing method based on ASM and Radial Basis Function Network (RBFN). Firstly, facial feature should be extracted to get emotional information from the region, but this paper use ASM method by the reconstructed facial shape. Second stage is to classify the facial emotion expressions from the emotional information. Finally get the model which is matched with the facial feature outline after several iterations and use them to recognize the facial emotional expressions by using RBFN. The experimental result from RBFN classifiers show a recognition accuracy of 90.73% for facial emotional expressions using the proposed method.