Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Comparative Study of the Characteristics of Cross-Linked, Oxidized and Dual-Modified Rice Starches

: Rice starch was cross-linked with epichlorohydrin (0.3%, w/w, on a dry starch basis) and oxidized with sodium hypochlorite (2.5% w/w), respectively. Two dual-modified rice starch samples (oxidized cross-linked rice starch and cross-linked oxidized rice starch) were obtained by the oxidation of cross-linked rice starch and the cross-linking of oxidized rice starch at the same level of reagents. The physicochemical properties of native rice starch, cross-linked rice starch and oxidized rice starch were also studied parallel with those of the two dual-modified rice starch samples using rapid visco analysis (RVA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), dynamic rheometry and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). It was found that the levels of cross-linking and oxidation used in this study did not cause any significant changes in the morphology of rice starch granules. Cross-linked oxidized starch showed lower swelling power (SP) and solubility, and higher paste clarity in comparison with native starch. Cross-linked oxidized rice starch also had the lowest tendency of retrogradation and highest ability to resistant to shear compared with native, cross-linked, oxidized and oxidized cross-linked rice starches. These results suggest that the undesirable properties in native, cross-linked and oxidized rice starch samples could be overcome through dual-modification.
Bootstrapping and Evaluating Named Entity Recognition in the Biomedical Domain

We demonstrate that bootstrapping a gene name recognizer for FlyBase curation from automatically annotated noisy text is more effective than fully supervised training of the recognizer on more general manually annotated biomedical text. We present a new test set for this task based on an annotation scheme which distinguishes gene names from gene mentions, enabling a more consistent annotation. Evaluating our recognizer using this test set indicates that performance on unseen genes is its main weakness. We evaluate extensions to the technique used to generate training data designed to ameliorate this problem.
Dynamic Harmonic Analysis Through Taylor–Fourier Transform

A new dynamic harmonic estimator is presented as an extension of the fast Fourier transform (FFT), which assumes a fluctuating complex envelope at each harmonic. This estimator is able to estimate harmonics that are time varying inside the observation window. The extension receives the name “Taylor-Fourier transform (TFT)” since it is based on the McLaurin series expansion of each complex envelope. Better estimates of the dynamic harmonics are obtained due to the fact that the Fourier subspace is contained in the subspace generated by the Taylor-Fourier basis. The coefficients of the TFT have a physical meaning: they represent instantaneous samples of the first derivatives of the complex envelope, with all of them calculated at once through a linear transform. The Taylor-Fourier estimator can be seen as a bank of maximally flat finite-impulse-response filters, with the frequency response of ideal differentiators about each harmonic frequency. In addition to cleaner harmonic phasor estimates under dynamic conditions, among the new estimates are the instantaneous frequency and first derivatives of each harmonic. Two examples are presented to evaluate the performance of the proposed estimator.
On membership comparable sets

A set A is k(n) membership comparable if there is a polynomial time computable function that, given k(n) instances of A of length at most n, excludes one of the 2/sup k(n)/ possibilities for the memberships of the given strings in A. We show that if SAT is O(logn) membership comparable, then UniqueSAT/spl isin/P. This extends the work of previous authors and answers in the affirmative an open question suggested by H. Buhrman et al. (1997). Our proof also shows that if SAT is o(n) membership comparable, then UniqueSATcan be solved in deterministic time 2/sup 0(n)/. Our main technical tool is an algorithm of S. Ar et al. (1992) to reconstruct polynomials from noisy data through the use of bivariate polynomial factorization.
Isolation of Aeromonas species from clinical sources

In a period of one year, in a general hospital, Aeromonas hydrophila was isolated from 13 patients and Aeromonas shigelloides from one patient. Eight of the patients had superficial infections, two had urinary tract infections, and four had bacteriaemia. The association of Aeromonas bacteriaemia with cirrhosis of the liver and malignant disease, which has been previously reported, was observed in three of the four bacteriaemic patients. The key to laboratory diagnosis of this genus is the routine performance of the oxidase test in bacteriological procedures for the identification of Gram-negative bacilli.
Sanguis draconis, a Dragon's Blood Resin, Attenuates High Glucose-Induced Oxidative Stress and Endothelial Dysfunction in Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells

Hyperglycaemia, a characteristic feature of diabetes mellitus, induces endothelial dysfunction and vascular complications by limiting the proliferative potential of these cells. Here we aimed to investigate the effect of an ethanolic extract of Sanguis draconis (SD), a kind of dragon's blood resin that is obtained from Daemonorops draco (Palmae), on human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) under high-glucose (HG) stimulation and its underlying mechanism. Concentration-dependent (0–50 μg/mL) assessment of cell viability showed that SD does not affect cell viability with a similar trend up to 48 h. Remarkably, SD (10–50 μg/mL) significantly attenuated the high-glucose (25 and 50 mM) induced cell toxicity in a concentration-dependent manner. SD inhibited high glucose-induced nitrite (NO) and lipid peroxidation (MDA) production and reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation in HUVEC. Western blot analysis revealed that SD treatments abolished HG-induced phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK 1/2), nuclear transcription factor, κB (NF-κB), VCAM-1, and E-selectin, and it also blocked the breakdown of PARP-116 kDa protein in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, we found that SD increased the expression of Bcl-2 and decreased Bax protein expression in HG-stimulated HUVEC. Thus, these results of this study demonstrate for the first time that SD inhibits glucose induced oxidative stress and vascular inflammation in HUVEC by inhibiting the ERK/NF-κB/PARP-1/Bax signaling cascade followed by suppressing the activation of VCAM-1 and E-selectin. These data suggest that SD may have a therapeutic potential in vascular inflammation due to the decreased levels of oxidative stress, apoptosis, and PARP-1 activation.
The estimation of magnesium in plasma, muscle and bone, by atomic absorption spectrophotometry.

The use of the EEL 140 atomic absorption spectrophotometer for the determination of magnesium in plasma, skeletal muscle, and bone is described together with an examination of the pattern of chemical interference in each type of sample. The sampling procedure and preparation of each kind of sample for analysis is detailed, and recovery studies on plasma bone and muscle are presented. The mean value for plasma magnesium in 42 normal men and women was 2.16 mg/100 ml ± SD of 0.08. For 30 male Wistar strain rats, the plasma value was 2.10 mg/100 ml ± SD of 0.18. In 15 normal postmortem human muscle samples, the mean magnesium content was found to be 93 mg/100 g of dry muscle, the series range being between 83 and 101 mg/100 g. The comparable value in 49 male rats was 125 mg/100 g dry weight ± SD 1.8. Bone magnesium in femur diaphysis of 20 male rats (average weight 200 g) was 563 mg/100 g dry weight ± SD 12.7. It is concluded that this instrument, when operated in the manner suggested in our study, is technically easy to use, and gives precise, sensitive, and reproducible results for magnesium in a variety of biologic material.
Directional instability of microtubule transport in the presence of kinesin and dynein, two opposite polarity motor proteins

Kinesin and dynein are motor proteins that move in opposite directions along microtubules. In this study, we examine the consequences of having kinesin and dynein (ciliary outer arm or cytoplasmic) bound to glass surfaces interacting with the same microtubule in vitro. Although one might expect a balance of opposing forces to produce little or no net movement, we find instead that microtubules move unidirectionally for several microns (corresponding to hundreds of ATPase cycles by a motor) but continually switch between kinesin-directed and dynein- directed transport. The velocities in the plus-end (0.2-0.3 microns/s) and minus-end (3.5-4 microns/s) directions were approximately half those produced by kinesin (0.5 microns/s) and ciliary dynein (6.7 microns/s) alone, indicating that the motors not contributing to movement can interact with and impose a drag upon the microtubule. By comparing two dyneins with different duty ratios (percentage of time spent in a strongly bound state during the ATPase cycle) and varying the nucleotide conditions, we show that the microtubule attachment times of the two opposing motors as well as their relative numbers determine which motor predominates in this assay. Together, these findings are consistent with a model in which kinesin-induced movement of a microtubule induces a negative strain in attached dyneins which causes them to dissociate before entering a force-generating state (and vice versa); reversals in the direction of transport may require the temporary dissociation of the transporting motor from the microtubule. The bidirectional movements described here are also remarkably similar to the back-and-forth movements of chromosomes during mitosis and membrane vesicles in fibroblasts. These results suggest that the underlying mechanical properties of motor proteins, at least in part, may be responsible for reversals in microtubule-based transport observed in cells.
Fc-Epsilon-RI, the High Affinity IgE-Receptor, Is Robustly Expressed in the Upper Gastrointestinal Tract and Modulated by Mucosal Inflammation

Background The role of the high affinity IgE receptor, FcεRI, in IgE-mediated immune responses of the gastrointestinal (GI) mucosa is poorly understood. Currently, a detailed characterization of FcεRI expression throughout the human gut is lacking. The aim of this study was to define the expression pattern of FcεRI in the GI tract. Methods/Principal Findings We compared FcεRI expression in children with gastritis/esophagitis (n = 10), celiac disease (n = 10), inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) (n = 9), and normal mucosa (n = 5). The α–subunit of FcεRI (FcεRIα), detected by immunohistochemistry, was found on cells infiltrating the mucosa of the esophagus, the stomach, and the duodenum, but was rarely detected in more distal sections of the GI tract. Accordingly, quantitative RT-PCR analysis on esophagus, stomach, duodenum, colon, and rectum biopsies revealed that FcεRIα and -β expression levels decreased towards the distal intestine. mRNA transcripts of the common Fc-receptor-γ chain were present in the entire GI mucosa. Double-immunofluorescence staining of esophageal specimens confirmed that FcεRIα was expressed on intraepithelial mast cells and Langerhans cells. The mRNA expression levels of the α, β, and γ subunits of FcεRI did not correlate with total serum IgE but were associated with mucosal inflammation. Conclusion/Significance Our data define the upper GI tract as the main site for IgE-mediated immune activation via FcεRI. Tissue mRNA levels of FcεRIα are regulated by inflammatory conditions rather than serum IgE, indicating that FcεRI might also play a role in pathologies other than allergy.
Effect of TGF-β/smad signaling pathway blocking on expression profiles of miR-335, miR-150, miR-194, miR-27a, and miR-199a of hepatic stellate cells (HSCs)

Aim: The aim of this study was to determine the effect of inhibition of TGF-β/smad signaling on the expression profiles of miR-335, miR-150, miR-194, miR-27a, miR-199a of hepatic stellate cells (HSCs). Background: Liver fibrosis is excessive deposition of extracellular matrix proteins due to ongoing inflammation and HSC activation that occurs in most types of chronic liver diseases. Recent studies have shown the importance of microRNAs in the pathogenesis of chronic liver diseases. Methods: In this study, for inhibition of TGF-β smad-signaling pathway, expressing Smad4 shRNA plasmids were transfected into HSCs. Subsequently, using Real Time-PCR, we measured the expression levels of miR-335, miR-150, miR-194, miR-27a and miR-199a. Results: Gene expression analysis showed that downregulation of Smad4 by vector Smad4shRNA significantly increased the expression levels of miR-335 (P<0.01) and miR-150 (P<0.001) and decreased the expression level of miR-27a (P<0.05). Conclusion: The results of this study suggest that blocking TGF-β smad-signaling can also differentially modulate microRNA expression in support of activation and fibrogenesis of HSCs.
A Reactive Tabu Search Metaheuristic for the Vehicle Routing Problem with Time Windows

This article develops a reactive tabu search metaheuristic for the vehicle routing and scheduling problem with time window constraints. Reactive tabu search dynamically varies the size of the list of forbidden moves to avoid cycles as well as an overly constrained search path. Intensification and diversification strategies are examined as ways to achieve higher quality solutions. The (lambda)-interchange mechanism of Osman is used as the neighborhood structure for the search process. Computational results on test problems from the literature as well as large-scale real-world problems are reported. The metaheuristic achieves solutions that compare favorably with previously reported results.
Adolescent religiousness and its influence on substance use: preliminary findings from the Mid-Atlantic School Age Twin Study

Abstract Research has consistently shown that religiousness is associated with lower levels of alcohol and drug use, but little is known about the nature of adolescent religiousness or the mechanisms through which it influences problem behavior in this age group. This paper presents preliminary results from the Mid-Atlantic School Age Twin Study, a prospective, population-based study of 6–18-year-old twins and their mothers. Factor analysis of a scale developed to characterize adolescent religiousness, the Religious Attitudes and Practices Inventory (RAPI), revealed three factors: theism, religious/spiritual practices, and peer religiousness. Twin correlations and univariate behavior-genetic models for these factors and a measure of belief that drug use is sinful reveal in 357 twin pairs that common environmental factors significantly influence these traits, but a minor influence of genetic factors could not be discounted. Correlations between the multiple factors of adolescent religiousness and substance use, comorbid problem behavior, mood disorders, and selected risk factors for substance involvement are also presented. Structural equation modeling illustrates that specific religious beliefs about the sinfulness of drugs and level of peer religiousness mediate the relationship between theistic beliefs and religious/spiritual practices on substance use. Limitations and future analyses are discussed.
Why the Indian Subcontinent Holds the Key to Global Tiger Recovery

With only ∼3,000 wild individuals surviving restricted to just 7% of their historical range, tigers are now a globally threatened species. Therefore, conservation efforts must prioritize regions that harbor more tigers, as well try to capture most of the remaining genetic variation and habitat diversity. Only such prioritization based on demographic, genetic, and ecological considerations can ensure species recovery and retention of evolutionary flexibility in the face of ongoing global changes. Although scientific understanding of ecological and demographic aspects of extant wild tiger populations has improved recently, little is known about their genetic composition and variability. We sampled 73 individual tigers from 28 reserves spread across a diversity of habitats in the Indian subcontinent to obtain 1,263 bp of mitochondrial DNA and 10 microsatellite loci. Our analyses reveals that Indian tigers retain more than half of the extant genetic diversity in the species. Coalescent simulations attribute this high genetic diversity to a historically large population size of about 58,200 tigers for peninsular India south of the Gangetic plains. Furthermore, our analyses indicate a precipitous, possibly human-induced population crash ∼200 years ago in India, which is in concordance with historical records. Our results suggest that only 1.7% (with an upper limit of 13% and a lower limit of 0.2%) of tiger numbers in historical times remain now. In the global conservation context our results suggest that, based on genetic, demographic, and ecological considerations, the Indian subcontinent holds the key to global survival and recovery of wild tigers.
Treatment of Chronic Plantar Heel Pain With Radiofrequency Neural Ablation of the First Branch of the Lateral Plantar Nerve and Medial Calcaneal Nerve Branches.

From March 2012 to February 2013, 37 patients experiencing plantar heel pain for ≥6 months despite treatment with physical therapy and other conservative treatment modalities were followed up. If neurogenic heel pain originating from the first branch of the lateral plantar nerve was present, with or without the medial calcaneal nerve, diagnostic nerve blocks to these nerves were performed for confirmation. If the pain was determined to be of neurogenic origin, radiofrequency neural ablation (RFNA) was applied to the corresponding sensory nerve endings. Pain was evaluated using the visual analog scale, and patients were followed for at least one year. A total of 41 feet from 37 patients (30 [81.1%] females, 7 [18.9%] males; mean age, 50.7 ± 1.6 years; mean body mass index, 30.6 ± 0.7 kg/m(2)) were included. The mean visual analog scale scores improved significantly from 1 to 6 to 12 months after the procedure relative to before the procedure, with 88% of all patients rating the treatment as either very successful or successful at 12 months postoperatively. RFNA applied to both the first branch of the lateral plantar nerve and the medial calcaneal nerve sensory branches (16 [39%] feet) and only the first branch of the lateral plantar nerve sensory branches (25 [61%] feet) showed similarly high levels of success. Of the 41 feet, 28 [68.3%] had received extracorporeal shockwave therapy, 35 [85.4%] had received steroid injections, and 22 [53.7%] had received both extracorporeal shockwave therapy and steroid injections before RFNA as an index procedure. All were unresponsive to these previous treatments. In contrast, almost all (88%) were treated successfully with RFNA. Despite a high incidence of neurologic variations, with a precise diagnosis and good application of the technique using the painful points, chronic plantar heel pain can be treated successfully with RFNA.
Medical Image Registration Using Evolutionary Computation: An Experimental Survey

In the last few decades, image registration (IR) has been established as a very active research area in computer vision. Over the years, IR's applications cover a broad range of real-world problems including remote sensing, medical imaging, artificial vision, and computer-aided design. In particular, medical IR is a mature research field with theoretical support and two decades of practical experience. Traditionally, medical IR has been tackled by iterative approaches considering numerical optimization methods which are likely to get stuck in local optima. Recently, a large number of medical IR methods based on the use of metaheuristics such as evolutionary algorithms have been proposed providing outstanding results. The success of the latter modern search methods is related to their ability to perform an effective and efficient global search in complex solution spaces like those tackled in the IR discipline. In this contribution, we aim to develop an experimental survey of the most recognized feature-based medical IR methods considering evolutionary algorithms and other metaheuristics. To do so, the generic IR framework is first presented by providing a deep description of the involved components. Then, a large number of the latter proposals are reviewed. Finally, the most representative methods are benchmarked on two real-world medical scenarios considering two data sets of three-dimensional images with different modalities.
Life Span of Ventricular Fibrillation Frequencies

Abstract— The nature and organization of electrical activity during ventricular fibrillation (VF) are important and controversial subjects dominated by 2 competing theories: the wavebreak and the dominant mother rotor hypothesis. To investigate spatiotemporal characteristics of ventricular fibrillation (VF), transmembrane potentials (Vm) were recorded from multiple sites of perfused rabbit hearts using a voltage-sensitive dye and a photodiode array or a CCD camera, and the time-frequency characteristics of Vm were analyzed by short-time fast Fourier transform (FFT) or generalized time-frequency representation with a cone-shaped kernel. The analysis was applied to all pixels to track VF frequencies in time and space. VF consisted of blobs, which are groups of contiguous pixels with a common frequency and an ill-defined shape. At any time t, several VF frequency blobs coexisted in the field of view, and the number of coexisting blobs was on average 5.9±2.1 (n=8 hearts) as they appeared and disappeared discontinuously with time and were not fixed in space. The life span of frequency blobs from birth to either annihilation or breakup to another frequency had a half-life of 0.39±0.13 second (n=4 hearts). The Ca2+ channel blocker nifedipine increased the stability of VF frequencies and reduced the number of frequency blobs progressing to a single frequency. In conclusion, VF consists of dynamically changing frequency blobs, which have a short life span and can be modified by pharmacological interventions, suggesting that VF is maintained by dynamically changing multiple wavelets.
HOW DYNAMICS , MANAGEMENT , AND GOVERNANCE OF RESOURCE DEPLOYMENTS INFLUENCE FIRM-LEVEL PERFORMANCE

To help understand how firms develop and maintain dynamic capabilities, we examine the effects of the dynamics, management, and governance of R&D and marketing resource deployments on firm-level economic performance. In a sample of technology-based entrepreneurial firms, we find that a history of increased investments in marketing is an enduring source of competitive advantage. We also find that managers’ firm-specific experience positively moderates the relationship between R&D deployment intensity and economic returns. In addition, institutional ownership boosts economic returns from marketing deployments by subjecting these deployments to increased scrutiny and by sending positive signals to the market about the firm. Copyright  2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Preterm birth does not increase the risk of traumatic dental injuries or unintentional injuries

To evaluate the prevalence of traumatic dental injuries (TDIs) and unintentional injuries (UIs) in Swedish children from 0 to 12 years of age, comparing those who were born preterm with matched full‐term controls. The associations between TDI and UI and medical health problems or socio‐demographic characteristics were also studied.