Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Determinants of Carboxyhemoglobin Levels and Relationship with Sepsis in a Retrospective Cohort of Preterm Neonates

Carboxyhemoglobin levels in blood reflect endogenous carbon monoxide production and are often measured during routine blood gas analysis. Endogenous carbon monoxide production has been reported to be increased during sepsis, but carboxyhemoglobin levels have not been thoroughly evaluated as a biomarker of sepsis. We sought to determine whether carboxyhemoglobin levels were elevated during sepsis in a high risk population of premature neonates. We conducted a retrospective cohort study of 30 infants in two neonatal intensive care units using electronic medical and laboratory records. The majority of infants were extremely premature and extremely low birth weight, and 25 had at least one episode of sepsis. We collected all carboxyhemoglobin measurements during their in-patient stay and examined the relationship between carboxyhemoglobin and a variety of clinical and laboratory parameters, in addition to the presence or absence of sepsis, using linear mixed-effect models. We found that postnatal age had the most significant effect on carboxyhemoglobin levels, and other significant associations were identified with gestational age, hemoglobin concentration, oxyhemoglobin saturation, and blood pH. Accounting for these covariates, there was no significant relationship between the onset of sepsis and carboxyhemoglobin levels. Our results show that carboxyhemoglobin is unlikely to be a clinically useful biomarker of sepsis in premature infants, and raise a note of caution about factors which may confound the use of carbon monoxide as a clinical biomarker for other disease processes such as hemolysis.
Effects of Switching to Electronic Cigarettes with and without Concurrent Smoking on Exposure to Nicotine, Carbon Monoxide, and Acrolein

Concern has been raised about the presence of toxicants in electronic cigarette (EC) aerosol, particularly carbonyl compounds (e.g., acrolein) that can be produced by heating glycerol and glycols used in e-liquids. We investigated exposure to carbon monoxide (CO), nicotine (by measuring cotinine in urine), and to acrolein (by measuring its primary metabolite, S-(3-hydroxypropyl)mercapturic acid (3-HPMA) in urine) before and after 4 weeks of EC (green smoke, a “cig-a-like” EC, labeled 2.4% nicotine by volume) use, in 40 smokers. Thirty-three participants were using EC at 4 weeks after quitting, 16 (48%) were abstinent (CO-validated) from smoking during the previous week (EC only users), and 17 (52%) were “dual users. ” A significant reduction in CO was observed in EC-only users [–12 ppm, 95% confidence interval (CI), –16 to –7, 80% decrease) and dual users (–12 ppm, 95%CI, –19 to –6, 52% decrease). Cotinine levels also declined, but to a lesser extent (EC-only users: –184 ng/mg creatinine; 95% CI, –733 to –365, 17% decrease; and dual users: –976 ng/mg creatinine; 95%CI, –1,682 to –270, 44% decrease). Mean 3-HPMA levels had decreased at 4 weeks by 1,280 ng/mg creatinine (95%CI, –1,699 to –861, 79% decrease) in EC-only users and by 1,474 ng/mg creatinine (95%CI, –2,101 to –847, 60% decrease) in dual users. In dual users, EC use significantly reduced exposure to CO and acrolein because of a reduction in smoke intake. EC may reduce harm even in smokers who continue to smoke, but long-term follow-up studies are needed to confirm this. Cancer Prev Res; 8(9); 873–8. ©2015 AACR.
When Should There be a “ Me ” in “ Team ” ? Distributed Multi-Agent Optimization Under Uncertainty

Increasing teamwork between agents typically increases the performance of a multi-agent system, at the cost of increased communication and higher computational complexity. This work examines joint actions in the context of a multi-agent optimization problem where agents must cooperate to balance exploration and exploitation. Surprisingly, results show that increased teamwork can hurt agent performance, even when communication and computation costs are ignored, which we term the team uncertainty penalty. This paper introduces the above phenomena, analyzes it, and presents algorithms to reduce the effect of the penalty in our problem setting.
Fabrication and application of heterogeneous printed mouse phantoms for whole animal optical imaging.

This work demonstrates the usefulness of 3D printing for optical imaging applications. Progress in developing optical imaging for biomedical applications requires customizable and often complex objects for testing and evaluation. There is therefore high demand for what have become known as tissue-simulating "phantoms. " We present a new optical phantom fabricated using inexpensive 3D printing methods with multiple materials, allowing for the placement of complex inhomogeneities in complex or anatomically realistic geometries, as opposed to previous phantoms, which were limited to simple shapes formed by molds or machining. We use diffuse optical imaging to reconstruct optical parameters in 3D space within a printed mouse to show the applicability of the phantoms for developing whole animal optical imaging methods. This phantom fabrication approach is versatile, can be applied to optical imaging methods besides diffusive imaging, and can be used in the calibration of live animal imaging data.
Differential Additive Effects of Endothelial Lipase and Scavenger Receptor-Class B Type I on High-Density Lipoprotein Metabolism in Knockout Mouse Models

Objective— Endothelial lipase (EL) is a vascular phospholipase that hydrolyzes high-density lipoprotein (HDL) as its preferred substrate. Scavenger receptor-class B type I (SR-BI) is an HDL receptor that mediates the selective uptake of cholesteryl ester. This study investigates the role of EL and SR-BI in the regulation of HDL metabolism in gene knockout mouse models. Methods and Results— We cross-bred EL−/− and SR-BI−/− mice and generated single- and double-null mice. We used biochemical, molecular biology, and nuclear magnetic resonance methods to analyze HDL concentration, composition, and structure. We found that EL and SR-BI display additive effects on HDL with evident gene dosage effects, but their mechanisms to regulate HDL concentration and composition are different. Whereas the elevated HDL cholesterol level in EL−/− mice is associated with increased phospholipid content in HDL particles, SR-BI−/− mice display markedly enlarged HDL particles shifted to larger subclasses with a phospholipid content similar to that of wild-type mice. Furthermore, absence of EL is associated with a 40% to 50% inhibition and absence of SR-BI, a ≈90% inhibition of endogenous lecithin cholesterol:acyltransferase rate. Conclusions— EL and SR-BI are major genetic determinants of HDL metabolism in vivo, each exercising independent and additive effects on HDL structure and function.
Seen Gaze-Direction Modulates Fusiform Activity and Its Coupling with Other Brain Areas during Face Processing

Gaze-contact is often a preliminary to social interaction and so constitutes a signal for the allocation of processing resources to the gazing face. We investigated how gaze direction influences face processing in an fMRI study, where seen gaze and head direction could independently be direct or deviated. Direct relative to averted gaze elicited stronger activation for faces in ventral occipitotemporal cortices around the fusiform gyrus, regardless of head orientation. Moreover, direct gaze led to greater correlation between activity in the fusiform and the amygdala, a region associated with emotional responses and stimulus saliency. By contrast, faces with averted gaze (again, regardless of head orientation) yielded increased correlation between activity in the fusiform and the intraparietal sulcus, a region associated with shifting attention to the periphery.
Fackliga organisationer och medlemmar i dagens Sverige

Bokens baksidestext: Fackligt medlemskap har lange varit sjalvklart i det genomorganiserade Sverige. Sa ar det inte langre. Under de senaste femton aren har andelen fackligt anslutna fluktuerat betydligt kraftigare an tidigare, aven om den svenska organisationsgraden fortfarande ar mycket hog. Ett nytt fenomen ar att allt fler nojer sig med att bara tillhora a-kassan. Utifran en brett upplagd intervjuundersokning redovisar och analyserar Anders Kjellberg vad som ligger bakom dessa forandringar. I boken diskuteras hur det fackliga arbetet kan fornyas for att bemota de nya tendenserna och for att forhindra en tudelning av arbetsmarknaden i "vinnare" och "forlorare". Forfattaren framhaller sarskilt aktiveringen av facket ute pa arbetsplatserna. Denna bok utkom forsta gangen 1997 och belonades 1998 med Rudolf Meidner-priset for forskning i fackforeningsrorelsens historia. I denna kraftigt utvidgade och reviderade upplaga presenteras bland annat nya data om facklig anslutning bland ungdomar, invandrare och anstallda i IT-sektorn. (Less)
A genome-wide association study of early menopause and the combined impact of identified variants

Early menopause (EM) affects up to 10% of the female population, reducing reproductive lifespan considerably. Currently, it constitutes the leading cause of infertility in the western world, affecting mainly those women who postpone their first pregnancy beyond the age of 30 years. The genetic aetiology of EM is largely unknown in the majority of cases. We have undertaken a meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies (GWASs) in 3493 EM cases and 13 598 controls from 10 independent studies. No novel genetic variants were discovered, but the 17 variants previously associated with normal age at natural menopause as a quantitative trait (QT) were also associated with EM and primary ovarian insufficiency (POI). Thus, EM has a genetic aetiology which overlaps variation in normal age at menopause and is at least partly explained by the additive effects of the same polygenic variants. The combined effect of the common variants captured by the single nucleotide polymorphism arrays was estimated to account for ∼30% of the variance in EM. The association between the combined 17 variants and the risk of EM was greater than the best validated non-genetic risk factor, smoking.
Differential Effects of Everolimus and Cyclosporine A on Intimal &agr;–Actin-Positive Cell Dynamics of Carotid Allografts in Mice

Background. We recently demonstrated that donor medial cells are replaced by smooth muscle &agr;-actin (SMA)-expressing host cells in murine carotid allografts. In this study, we investigated neointimal cell dynamics including effects of cyclosporine A (CsA) and everolimus (SDZ RAD, Certican). To obtain a functional readout, we measured the effects of these treatments on cardiac allografts. Methods. Heterotopic heart allotransplantation was performed between C57BL/6 (B6) and BALB/c (B/c) mice. Orthotopic carotid artery allotransplantation was performed between B6 and B/c mice expressing green fluorescent protein (GFP). Both strains served as donors and recipients. Groups of mice were treated for 4 and 8 weeks (heart and carotid recipients, respectively) with placebo, CsA 20 mg/kg per day, or everolimus 1.0 mg/kg per day using Alzet minipumps. At 2, 4, and 8 weeks, carotid grafts were harvested for histology. Results. In the GFP-B/c to B6 strain combination, everolimus but not CsA significantly reduced neointima formation and accumulation of SMA-positive host (non-GFP) cells at doses that did not fully suppress heart rejection. In the B6 to GFP-B/c strain combination, everolimus and CsA strongly prevented heart rejection under treatment, partly suppressed neointima formation, and completely prevented SMA-positive host (GFP) cell accumulation. Conclusions. Donor-derived cells expressing SMA never appear in the neointima, and such cells are completely recipient derived. Adequate immunosuppression delays or prevents the disappearance of donor cells and the appearance of host cells in the graft, a phenomenon apparently associated with the neointima formation. Even immunosuppression sufficient to prevent heart allograft rejection under treatment completely, diminishes neointima formation only by approximately 50%.
Wide-band CDMA for the UMTS/IMT-2000 satellite component

This paper describes the main aspects relevant to the development of a third-generation radio transmission technology (RTT) concept identified as satellite wide-band CDMA (SW-CDMA), which has been accepted by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) as one of the possible RTTs for the satellite component of International Mobile Telecommunications-2000 (IMT-2000). The main outcomes of the extensive system engineering effort that has led to the above ITU RTT are described. In particular, we address propagation channel characteristics, satellite diversity, power control, pilot channel, code acquisition, digital modulation and spreading format, interference mitigation, and resource allocation. Due to its similarity with respect to the terrestrial W-CDMA proposal from which it is derived, the SW-CDMA open air interface solution is described briefly, with emphasis only on the major adaptation required to best cope with the satellite environment. Quantitative results concerning the physical-layer performance over realistic channel conditions, for both forward and reverse link, are reported. A system capacity study case for a low-Earth-orbit constellation is also provided.
'What did I just say?’ Reading problems in writing with the machine

Sixteen computer-writers were informally interviewed about how they use the computer for writing tasks. While the writers felt that the computer was useful for some writing tasks, they also indicated that writing with the computer had disadvantages. They reported reading problems such as difficulty in locating information, difficulty in detecting errors, and difficulty in reading their texts critically. Three experimental studies were conducted to compare the performance of college students reading texts displayed on a computer terminal screen and on a printed hard copy. Findings indicate that visual/spatial factors influence locational recall, information retrieval, and appropriate reordering of text. As computers become increasingly sophisticated and useful for teaching a wide variety of skills, schools at every level are acquiring machines, and educators in every subject area are enthusiastic about using the computer in the classroom. Language studies are no exception and much effort has gone into developing innovative software for writers, such as Writer's Workbench, developed by Bell Labs (Frase, 1983), and WANDAH, developed for the IBM-PC (Von Blum and Cohen, 1984). The strengths of the machineprocessing speed and large memory capacity make it ideal for some parts of the writing process. Speed in reformatting text facilitates surface editing and eliminates the need to retype when trying alternative wording or organization. Interactive databases allow writers to check spelling and grammar, and networking between machines lets writers comment on one another's work easily and quickly and may encourage collaborative writing. Daiute ( 1983) outlines some of the physical and psychological constraints that she believes computers can help overcome. Elsewhere, Daiute and Taylor (1981) show that using a computer may improve children's revising skills. Eight elementary school students used a word processing program called "Catch" for five weeks. Post-tests (written with pen and paper) showed that after using "Catch," students made more revisions per word and more types of revision. Post-tests also contained fewer errors and received higher holistic ratings. However, Gould (1981) found that expert writers using text The authors would like to thank Sandra Bond and Wilfred J. Hansen of the Information Technology Center, and Christine Neuwirth of the English Department, for their help and support. Research in the Teaching of English, Vol. 20, No. 1, February 1986
miR-141 regulates TGF-β1-induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition through repression of HIPK2 expression in renal tubular epithelial cells

Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) plays a critical role in embryonic development, wound healing, tissue regeneration, cancer progression and organ fibrosis. The proximal tubular epithelial cells undergo EMT, resulting in matrix-producing fibroblasts and thereby contribute to the pathogenesis of renal fibrosis. The profibrotic cytokine, TGF-β, is now recognized as the main pathogenic driver that has been shown to induce EMT in tubular epithelial cells. Increasing evidence indicate that HIPK2 dysfunction may play a role in fibroblasts behavior, and therefore, HIPK2 may be considered as a novel potential target for anti-fibrosis therapy. Recently, members of the miR-200 family (miR-200a, b and c and miR-141) have been shown to inhibit EMT. However, the steps of the multifactorial renal fibrosis progression that these miRNAs regulate, particularly miR-141, are unclear. To study the functional importance of miR-141 in EMT, a well-established in vitro EMT assay was used to demonstrate renal tubulointerstitial fibrosis; transforming growth factor-β1-induced EMT in HK-2 cells. Overexpression of miR-141 in HK-2 cells, either with or without TGF-β1 treatment, hindered EMT by enhancing E-cadherin and decreasing vimentin and fibroblast-specific protein 1 expression. miR-141 expression was repressed during EMT in a dose- and time-dependent manner through upregulation of HIPK2 expression. Ectopic expression of HIPK2 promoted EMT by decreasing E-cadherin. Furthermore, co-transfection of miR-141 with the HIPK2 ORF clone partially inhibited EMT by restoring E-cadherin expression. miR-141 downregulated the expression of HIPK2 via direct interaction with the 3′-untranslated region of HIPK2. Taken together, these findings aid in the understanding of the role and mechanism of miR-141 in regulating renal fibrosis via the TGF-β1/miR-141/HIPK2/EMT axis, and miR-141 may represent novel biomarkers and therapeutic targets in the treatment of renal fibrosis.
Stage of Change of Cigarette Smoking in Alcohol-Dependent Patients

Despite the heavy burden of tobacco-related problems in alcohol-dependent patients, little effort has been directed toward reducing the prevalence of smoking in these patients. It seems reasonable to develop nicotine addiction treatments for alcohol-dependent patients based on the smoker’s stage of change. To assess the stage of change for tobacco consumption and possible quitting barriers in alcohol-dependent patients, 88 consecutively admitted inpatients of a Swiss university-affiliated alcohol withdrawal clinic were interviewed with a semistructured schedule. More than half of the alcohol-dependent smokers (50.7%) considered the possibility of smoking cessation or had already decided to stop, although the majority (83.1%) were highly dependent smokers. Positive reinforcers were factors influencing motivation both to stop smoking as well as to continue smoking, whereas negative reinforcers had no influence. As recovering alcoholic patients are often interested in smoking cessation and the introduction of nicotine treatment interventions has been shown not to jeopardize the outcome of alcohol treatment, alcohol treatment programs should include counseling for smoking cessation. Education and training for staff is essential, as their beliefs and habits remain an important barrier.
Forensic Collection and Analysis of Thumbnails in Android

JPEG thumbnail images are of interest in forensic investigations as images from the thumbnail cache could be intact even when the original pictures have been deleted. In addition, a deleted thumbnail is less likely to be fragmented due to its small size. The focus of existing literature is generally on the desktop environment. Considering the increasing capability of smart mobile devices, particularly Android devices, to take pictures and videos on the go, it is important to understand how thumbnails can be collected from these devices. In this paper, we examine and describe the various thumbnail sources in Android devices and propose a methodology for thumbnail collection and analysis from Android devices. We also demonstrate the utility of our proposed methodology using a case study (e.g. thumbnails could be recovered even when the file system is heavily fragmented). Our findings also indicate that collective information obtained from the recovered fragmented JPEG image (e.g. metadata) and the thumbnail could be akin to recovering the full image for forensic purposes.
International prevalence of physical activity in youth and adults

Understanding population prevalences of physical activity is important to develop benchmarks for current baseline levels to monitor future changes, and for making country/regional comparisons. The purpose was to review the global prevalence of physical activity levels among youth and adults. Standardized literature searches for articles about national prevalences of physical activity were conducted in PubMed. A total of 34 studies in adults and 28 studies in youth were deemed contemporary (1996 – present) and met the inclusion criteria for this review. Wide variability was present between countries in the prevalence of physical activity (as measured and defined by individual studies). Studies with the highest reported prevalences of physical activity were for men in Sweden (77%), women in Denmark (81%), 12‐ to 15‐year‐old boys in Australia (74%) and <12‐year‐old girls (75%) in China. The countries with the lowest reported prevalences of physical activity were men in Brazil (4%), women in Saudi Arabia (2%) and Thailand (2%), and 17‐ to 18‐year‐old boys (0%) and 17‐ to18‐year‐old girls (0%) in Russia. The ranges of prevalence of physical activity, mode of data collection, and determination of meeting the physical activity threshold vary greatly between countries. However, the aggregation of these data can be a useful resource to practitioners, interventionists and epidemiologists.
DNA fingerprinting of 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene-induced and spontaneous CD-1 mouse liver tumors.

Determining to what degree chemicals and environmental agents contribute to the development of cancer would be materially enhanced by the ability to distinguish chemically induced tumors from those that arise spontaneously. Using DNA fingerprinting as an assay, we investigated whether somatic DNA rearrangements are more frequent in chemically induced mouse liver tumors than they are in spontaneous mouse liver tumors. Tumors were induced by a single i.p. injection of 12-day old male Crl:CD-1(ICR)BR (CD-1) mice with 20 nmol/g 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]-anthracene and were harvested 9 to 12 months after injection. Spontaneous tumors were obtained from 94- to 98-week old male CD-1 mice. We detected 8 rearrangements in 14 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene-induced tumors, which corresponds to a high rearrangement frequency of about 2% (of the minisatellite bands examined). Furthermore, 6 of these rearrangements included complete band losses which must have occurred early in tumor development. However, only 2 band changes were observed in 15 spontaneous tumors, and both changes were intensity shifts which may represent rearrangements that occurred later during tumor progression. Histological examination showed that the higher frequency of rearrangements in 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene-induced tumors versus spontaneous tumors was not related to differences in the degree of tumor progression or malignancy. Our results suggest that DNA fingerprinting may be a valuable assay for differentiating certain chemically induced tumors from spontaneous tumors.