Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Disruption of Ultradian and Circadian Rhythms of Blood Pressure in Nondipper Hypertensive Patients

Ultradian rhythms in blood pressure (BP) are known to exist, but their modification in hypertension is largely unknown. The present study was undertaken to assess the integrity of ultradian and 24-hour BP rhythms in dipper (n=100) and nondipper (n=20) hypertensive patients compared with 44 dipper normotensive individuals. Fourier analysis was used to fit ultradian (12, 8, and 6 hour) and 24-hour rhythms in BP and heart rate (HR). Mesor, amplitude, and acrophase were calculated for individual and overall rhythm curves. All subjects showed significant ultradian or 24-hour BP and HR rhythms. Systolic and diastolic BP mesor was higher in hypertensive patients compared with normotensive patients. The percentage of variability in ambulatory BP that could be explained by fitting ultradian and 24-hour rhythms was reduced in nondippers compared with normotensives or dippers. Amplitude of ultradian and 24-hour rhythms in BP increased in dippers and decreased in nondippers. Ultradian and 24-hour rhythms in HR did not differ among the 3 groups examined. Results indicate that in nondippers, blunted ultradian and 24-hour rhythm amplitude in BP was accompanied by a loss of rhythm integrity.
Influence of learning styles on the practical performance after the four-step basic life support training approach – An observational cohort study

Background Learning and training basic life support (BLS)—especially external chest compressions (ECC) within the BLS-algorithm—are essential resuscitation training for laypersons as well as for health care professionals. The objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of learning styles on the performance of BLS and to identify whether all types of learners are sufficiently addressed by Peyton’s four-step approach for BLS training. Methods A study group of first-year medical students (n = 334) without previous medical knowledge was categorized according to learning styles using the German Lernstilinventar questionnaire based on Kolb’s Learning Styles Inventory. Students’ BLS performances were assessed before and after a four-step BLS training approach lasting 4 hours. Standardized BLS training was provided by an educational staff consisting of European Resuscitation Council-certified advanced life support providers and instructors. Pre- and post-intervention BLS performance was evaluated using a single-rescuer-scenario and standardized questionnaires (6-point-Likert-scales: 1 = completely agree, 6 = completely disagree). The recorded points of measurement were the time to start, depth, and frequency of ECC. Results The study population was categorized according to learning styles: diverging (5%, n = 16), assimilating (36%, n = 121), converging (41%, n = 138), and accommodating (18%, n = 59). Independent of learning styles, both male and female participants showed significant improvement in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) performance. Based on the Kolb learning styles, no significant differences between the four groups were observed in compression depth, frequency, time to start CPR, or the checklist-based assessment within the baseline assessment. A significant sex effect on the difference between pre- and post-interventional assessment points was observed for mean compression depth and mean compression frequency. Conclusions The findings of this work show that the four-step-approach for BLS training addresses all types of learners independent of their learning styles and does not lead to significant differences in the performance of CPR.
Remodeling of coronary vessels during aging in purebred beagles.

We compared six young (1 year) and six senescent (11 years) purebred beagles to determine the effects of aging on the coronary microvasculature. The hearts were perfusion-fixed in vitro, and myocardial specimens were subjected to microscopic image analysis. Absolute left ventricular mass increased by 55% with age, while cardiocyte cross-sectional area increased by 10% and 30% in the midmyocardium and endomyocardium, respectively. Although capillary numerical density was lower in the senescent dogs (16% in midmyocardium and 19% in endomyocardium), volume density was similar in the two groups because capillary diameter increased significantly with age in both regions. Capillary length density was reduced by 27% with age in the endomyocardium of the old beagles. Wall/lumen ratios of arterioles of three size classes (less than or equal to 15, 16-25, and 26-50 microns) were found to be nearly identical for the two age groups. Mean arteriolar diameter increased within the smallest size class in both ventricular regions. In contrast, a twofold or greater increase in wall thickness with age occurred in the left anterior descending coronary artery and its first branch, which was mainly due to expansion of the medial interstitium. The connective tissue fraction of the myocardium was significantly higher in the senescent than in the young in the epimyocardium and midmyocardium but not in the endomyocardium. These data provide evidence for three conclusions regarding aging of coronary vessels in beagles. First, a decline in capillary length density is limited to the endomyocardium. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Entericidin Is Required for a Probiotic Treatment (Enterobacter sp. Strain C6-6) To Protect Trout from Cold-Water Disease Challenge

ABSTRACT Flavobacterium psychrophilum causes bacterial cold-water disease in multiple fish species, including salmonids. An autochthonous Enterobacter strain (C6-6) inhibits the in vitro growth of F. psychrophilum, and when ingested as a putative probiotic, it provides protection against injection challenge with F. psychrophilum in rainbow trout. In this study, low-molecular-mass (≤3 kDa) fractions from both Enterobacter C6-6 and Escherichia coli K-12 culture supernatants inhibited the growth of F. psychrophilum. The ≤3-kDa fraction from Enterobacter C6-6 was analyzed by SDS-PAGE, and subsequent tandem mass spectroscopy identified EcnB, which is a small membrane lipoprotein that is a putative pore-forming toxin. Agar plate diffusion assays demonstrated that ecnAB knockout strains of both Enterobacter C6-6 and E. coli K-12 no longer inhibited F. psychrophilum (P < 0.001), while ecnAB-complemented knockout strains recovered the inhibitory phenotype (P < 0.001). In fish experiments, the engineered strains (C6-6 ΔecnAB and C6-6 ΔecnAB) and the wild-type strain (C6-6) were added to the fish diet every day for 38 days. On day 11, the fish were challenged by injection with a virulent strain of F. psychrophilum (CSF 259-93). Fish that were fed C6-6 had significantly longer survival than fish fed the ecnAB knockout strain (P < 0.0001), while fish fed the complemented knockout strain recovered the probiotic phenotype (P = 0.61). This entericidin is responsible for the probiotic activity of Enterobacter C6-6, and it may present new opportunities for therapeutic and prophylactic treatments against similarly susceptible pathogens.
HYDRAULIC RESISTANCE INDUCED BY DEPOSITION OF SEDIMENT IN POROUS MEDIUM. TECHNICAL NOTE

This note investigates the deposition of the instantaneously released sediment into a gravel matrix and the hydraulic resistance induced by the rapid siltation. The experimental results reveal that the depositional patterns of the sediment are governed by the gravel-sediment size ratio, the amount of sediment released, and the seepage flowrate. The observations also indicate that the stable stage of sediment deposition is reached shortly after the occurrence of sudden slump. A regression relation is developed to quantify the stable-stage hydraulic resistance with the major governing factors. Given the hydraulic resistance, one can use the siltation equation to evaluate the hydraulic conductivity of the silted porous medium. With such information, planning of the engineering alternatives to meet the seepage flow requirements is made possible.
Pediatric NUT-midline carcinoma: Therapeutic success employing a sarcoma based multimodal approach

ABSTRACT A subset of poorly differentiated squamous cell carcinomas, NUT midline carcinomas (NMC) are characterized by a translocation t(15;19)(q13;p13) [1]. The prognosis is generally dismal [2] and therapeutic success has been limited to exceptional cases [3]. We present two cases of pediatric NMC from two different institutions treated according to a multimodal sarcoma approach involving surgery, chemotherapy, and focal radiotherapy. One patient has remained in complete continuous remission for over 6 years, while the other is in CR in early follow-up off therapy. Our proposed multimodal strategy apparently meets the aggressive biologic nature of NMC and should be considered for further evaluation in this context potentially in the setting of a clinical trial.
The Bibliometrics of Vocabulary Acquisition: An Exploratory Study

This paper presents a bibliometric analysis of the research literature on L2 vocabulary acquisition published in 2006. The paper uses a methodology known as Inclusive Author Co-citation. The method uses the pattern of citations appearing in a body of research papers to generate a map of an area of research. These maps reveal ‘hidden colleges’ within a subject field. The analysis presented here is based on citation data for 101 authors who are significantly cited in the 2006 literature. The analysis identifies four research clusters in the data. The two principle clusters – accounting for 96% of the data – are a psycholinguistic cluster dominated by de Groot, Kroll and David Green, and a mainstream vocabulary cluster dominated by Nation and Laufer. The two clusters are largely self-contained, with very dense patterns of connections between the members of the individual clusters. The analysis identifies only a small number of links between these two clusters. The network dissolves into 30 smaller clusters if the main players are removed from the analysis. The analysis broadly supports intuitive analyses of the L2 vocabulary acquisition literature, but provides some new objective data which supports these intuitions. The paper also suggests that co-citation analysis of this sort might provide a way of mapping changes in the discipline over time.
Differential gene expression by Moniliophthora roreri while overcoming cacao tolerance in the field.

Frosty pod rot (FPR) of Theobroma cacao (cacao) is caused by the hemibiotrophic fungus Moniliophthora roreri. Cacao clones tolerant to FPR are being planted throughout Central America. To determine whether M. roreri shows a differential molecular response during successful infections of tolerant clones, we collected field-infected pods at all stages of symptomatology for two highly susceptible clones (Pound-7 and CATIE-1000) and three tolerant clones (UF-273, CATIE-R7 and CATIE-R4). Metabolite analysis was carried out on clones Pound-7, CATIE-1000, CATIE-R7 and CATIE-R4. As FPR progressed, the concentrations of sugars in pods dropped, whereas the levels of trehalose and mannitol increased. Associations between symptoms and fungal loads and some organic and amino acid concentrations varied depending on the clone. RNA-Seq analysis identified 873 M. roreri genes that were differentially expressed between clones, with the primary difference being whether the clone was susceptible or tolerant. Genes encoding transcription factors, heat shock proteins, transporters, enzymes modifying membranes or cell walls and metabolic enzymes, such as malate synthase and alternative oxidase, were differentially expressed. The differential expression between clones of 43 M. roreri genes was validated by real-time quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. The expression profiles of some genes were similar in susceptible and tolerant clones (other than CATIE-R4) and varied with the biotrophic/necrotropic shift. Moniliophthora roreri genes associated with stress metabolism and responses to heat shock and anoxia were induced early in tolerant clones, their expression profiles resembling that of the necrotrophic phase. Moniliophthora roreri stress response genes, induced during the infection of tolerant clones, may benefit the fungus in overcoming cacao defense mechanisms.
Fetal cardiac abnormalities identified prior to 14 weeks' gestation

An increasing number of patients are presenting at early gestational age as being at high risk for congenital heart disease, as a result of ultrasound screening by nuchal translucency. The feasibility and accuracy of fetal echocardiography was assessed in a series of pregnancies studied before 14 weeks' gestation.
R&D—Productivity Dynamics: Causality, Lags, and ‘Dry Holes’

We study four issues in R&D-productivity dynamics: does R&D Granger cause productivity, is there a lag between R&D and its productivity effects, does the potency of R&D vary in timing and magnitude, and what is the role of R&D spillovers and aggregate shocks. The results suggest that R&D causes productivity but not vice versa, productivity responds to changes in R&D with a considerable lag, the potency of R&D varies in timing and magnitude, and that the elasticity of productivity with respect to aggregate shocks is high, but negligible with respect to R&D spillovers.
Analytical Model for Calculating the Radiation Field of Microstrip Antennas With Artificial Magnetic Superstrates: Theory and Experiment

A fast analytical solution for the radiation field of a microstrip antenna loaded with a generalized superstrate is proposed using the cavity model of microstrip antennas in conjunction with the reciprocity theorem and the transmission line analogy. The proposed analytical formulation for the antenna's far-field is much faster when compared to full-wave numerical methods. It only needs 2% of the time acquired by full-wave analysis. Therefore the proposed method can be used for design and optimization purposes. The method is verified using both numerical and experimental results. This verification is done for both conventional dielectric superstrates, and also for artificial superstrates. The analytical formulation introduced here can be extended for the case of a patch antenna embedded in a multilayered artificial dielectric structure. Arguably, the proposed analytical technique is applied for the first time for the case of a practical microstrip patch antenna working in the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) band and covered with a superstrate made of an artificial periodic metamaterial with dispersive permeability and permittivity.
Augmented production of colony-stimulating factor in C3H/HeN mice immunized with Nocardia rubra cell wall skeleton

C3H/HeN mice subcutaneously injected repeatedly with Nocardia rubra cell wall skeleton (N-CWS) acquired cellular immunity against N-CWS. In these N-CWS-immunized mice, the serum colony-stimulating factor (CSF) and granulocyte-macrophage colony-forming units in the bone marrow remarkably increased after an intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection of N-CWS compared with those in normal control mice given an single i.p. injection. To analyze the effects of secondary immune response to N-CWS on CSF production by splenocytes, whole mononuclear leukocytes (WMNL), nylon fiber-nonadherent splenocytes (NADC), and plastic-adherent splenocytes (ADC) were cultured in the presence of N-CWS, and then the supernatants of each cell fraction were assayed for CSF. A fraction of WMNL from immunized mice was found to produce more CSF than WMNL from control mice, and either fraction of NADC or ADC separated from WMNL produced markedly less potent CSF when cultured separately. However, when NADC from immunized mice were cultured with ADC from either immunized or normal mice, CSF production recovered to the level shown by WMNL. The role of ADC could be substituted for by cell-free culture medium of either ADC plus N-CWS or the J774 cell line, in which high interleukin-1 activity was detected. A surface marker study showed that depletion of either Lyt-1.1+ or Lyt-2.1+ cells caused a striking loss of CSF production. These data suggested that CSF in the sera of immunized mice challenged with an N-CWS i.p. injection is mainly produced by N-CWS-sensitized T lymphocytes with help of a macrophage-derived humoral factor(s).
Fasting During Pregnancy and Children's Academic Performance

We consider the effects of daytime fasting by pregnant women during the lunar month of Ramadan on their children's test scores at age seven. Using English register data, we find that scores are . 05 to . 08 standard deviations lower for Pakistani and Bangladeshi students exposed to Ramadan in early pregnancy. These estimates are downward biased to the extent that Ramadan is not universally observed. We conclude that the effects of prenatal investments on test scores are comparable to many conventional educational interventions but are likely to be more cost effective and less subject to "fade out".
Dendritic Cells Decreased the Concomitant Expanded Tregs and Tregs Related IL-35 in Cytokine-Induced Killer Cells and Increased Their Cytotoxicity against Leukemia Cells

Regulatory T cells (Tregs) are potent immunosuppressive cells and essential for inducing immune tolerance. Recent studies have reported that Tregs and Tregs related cytokines can inhibit the antitumor activity of cytokine-induced killer (CIK) cells, but dendritic cells co-cultured CIK (DC-CIK) cells can be used for induction of a specific immune response by blocking of Tregs and TGF-β, IL-10. As a novel identified cytokine, IL-35 is specially produced by Tregs and plays an essential role in immune regulation. However, it remains unknown whether IL-35 roles in tumor immunotherapy mediated by CIK and DC-CIK cells. In this study, we cultured CIK and DC-CIK cells from the same healthy adult samples, and investigated their phenotype, proliferation, cytotoxic activity against leukemia cell lines K562 and NB4 by FCM and CCK-8, measured IL-35, TGF-β and IL-10 protein by ELISA, detected Foxp3, IL-35 and IL-35 receptor mRNA by Real-time PCR, respectively. We found Tregs and IL-35 concomitantly expanded by a time-dependent way during the generation of CIK cells, but DC significantly down-regulated the expression of them and simultaneously up-regulated the proliferation ability as well as cytotoxic activity of CIK cells against leukemia cell lines. Therefore, our data suggested that DC decreased concomitant expanded Tregs and Tregs related IL-35 in CIK cells and might contribute to improve their cytotoxicity against leukemia cells in vitro.
The Australian Bogong Moth Agrotis infusa: A Long-Distance Nocturnal Navigator

The nocturnal Bogong moth (Agrotis infusa) is an iconic and well-known Australian insect that is also a remarkable nocturnal navigator. Like the Monarch butterflies of North America, Bogong moths make a yearly migration over enormous distances, from southern Queensland, western and northwestern New South Wales (NSW) and western Victoria, to the alpine regions of NSW and Victoria. After emerging from their pupae in early spring, adult Bogong moths embark on a long nocturnal journey towards the Australian Alps, a journey that can take many days or even weeks and cover over 1000 km. Once in the Alps (from the end of September), Bogong moths seek out the shelter of selected and isolated high ridge-top caves and rock crevices (typically at elevations above 1800 m). In hundreds of thousands, moths line the interior walls of these cool alpine caves where they “hibernate” over the summer months (referred to as “estivation”). Towards the end of the summer (February and March), the same individuals that arrived months earlier leave the caves and begin their long return trip to their breeding grounds. Once there, moths mate, lay eggs and die. The moths that hatch in the following spring then repeat the migratory cycle afresh. Despite having had no previous experience of the migratory route, these moths find their way to the Alps and locate their estivation caves that are dotted along the high alpine ridges of southeastern Australia. How naïve moths manage this remarkable migratory feat still remains a mystery, although there are many potential sensory cues along the migratory route that moths might rely on during their journey, including visual, olfactory, mechanical and magnetic cues. Here we review our current knowledge of the Bogong moth, including its natural history, its ecology, its cultural importance to the Australian Aborigines and what we understand about the sensory basis of its long-distance nocturnal migration. From this analysis it becomes clear that the Bogong moth represents a new and very promising model organism for understanding the sensory basis of nocturnal migration in insects.
Enhanced Production of Farnesol by Candida albicans Treated with Four Azoles

ABSTRACT The dimorphic fungus Candida albicans excretes farnesol, which is produced enzymatically from the sterol biosynthetic intermediate farnesyl pyrophosphate. Inhibition of C. albicans by four azole antifungals, fluconazole, ketoconazole, miconazole, and clotrimazole, caused elevated farnesol production (10- to 45-fold). Furthermore, farnesol production occurs in both laboratory strains and clinical isolates (J. M. Hornby et al., Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 67:2982-2992, 2001) of C. albicans.
Generators of the ring of bounded operators

J. A. Dieudonn6 suggested in conversation that some small number of projections might suffice to generate the ring 43 of all bounded operator on separable Hilbert space JC. There is some analogy between such a result and the theorem that a compact connected metric group can be generated by two elements. ' The analogy is still closer for Theorem 2 below. In this paper, operators A, will be said to "generate" the smallest ring (i.e., weakly closed self-adjoint algebra) containing A, . and the constants.
Transcranial doppler ultrasound assessment of intracranial hemodynamics in children with diabetic ketoacidosis

The pathophysiology of acute neurological complications of diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) in children and adolescents is not completely understood. We sought to establish whether transcranial Doppler (TCD) was able to monitor the changes of cerebral blood flow regulatory mechanisms, as measured by cerebral blood velocities (CBF‐V), Gosling's pulsatility index (PI), and cerebral vascular reactivity (VR), prior to and during treatment of DKA. The increased values of PI suggested an increase of intracranial pressure (ICP) due to the existence of cerebral vasoparalysis, based on the low values of VR prior to treatment and 6 hours after initiation of treatment. At 24 hours, the correction of hematocrit and pH was associated with a significant decrease of PI, suggesting a decrease of ICP, likely due to a return of vascular tone in response to the low PaCO2. This was further supported by an increase of VR in all patients. At 48 hours, when PaCO2 returned to normal, the PI remained low and the VR increased further, suggesting a complete reversal of vasoparalysis and a return of cerebral blood flow regulatory mechanisms. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Reconfiguration and optimal capacitor placement for losses reduction

This paper presents a deterministic approach for network reconfiguration and a heuristic technique for optimal capacitor placement for power-loss reduction and voltage profile improvement in distribution networks. Related to the reconfiguration, a Minimum Spanning Tree (MST) algorithm is utilized to determine the configuration of minimum losses. After that, a Genetic Algorithm (GA) is implemented to achieve the greatest savings through the optimal capacitor placement. The objective of this study is to analyze the benefits that the reconfiguration and optimal placement of capacitors have in the grid. The proposed algorithms have been implemented in two IEEE test systems. Results indicate that substantial annual savings may be obtained through the application of these two techniques and taking into account these two techniques complementarily can become quite efficient.