Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Characterization of Sediments for Sustainable Development: State of the Art

Sediments are the particulate matter that are transported by the flow of water and eventually get deposited at the bottom of water bodies, such as oceans, rivers, lagoons, and so forth. The deposition of these materials due to continued intervention of natural as well as anthropogenic activities is a serious concern as the storage capacity (or health) of the system is reduced or otherwise affected. Keeping in view the emerging challenges associated with proper disposal and subsequent utilization of sediments, as a manmade resource, their extraction from such locations becomes necessary. Hence, it is essential to characterize the sediments in order to devise strategies to exploit them as a manmade resource in the best possible manner. With this in view, this article highlights the importance of different attributes and aspects of the sediments (viz., physical, chemical, morphological, geotechnical, toxicological, and microbial characteristics) deposited in the water bodies that will help in assessing their potential as a substitute material to natural resources.
The European Medicines Agency Review of Decitabine (Dacogen) for the Treatment of Adult Patients With Acute Myeloid Leukemia: Summary of the Scientific Assessment of the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use.

UNLABELLED : On September 20, 2012, a marketing authorization valid throughout the European Union (EU) was issued for decitabine for the treatment of adult patients aged 65 years and older with newly diagnosed de novo or secondary acute myeloid leukemia (AML) who are not candidates for standard induction chemotherapy. Decitabine is a pyrimidine analog incorporated into DNA, where it irreversibly inhibits DNA methyltransferases through covalent adduct formation with the enzyme. The use of decitabine was studied in an open-label, randomized, multicenter phase III study (DACO-016) in patients with newly diagnosed de novo or secondary AML. Decitabine (n = 242) was compared with patient's choice with physician's advice (n = 243) of low-dose cytarabine or supportive care alone. The primary endpoint of the study was overall survival. The median overall survival in the intent-to-treat (ITT) population was 7.7 months among patients treated with decitabine compared with 5.0 months for those in the control arm (hazard ratio [HR], 0.85; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.69-1.04; p = .1079). Mature survival data after an additional year of follow-up were consistent with these results, with a median overall survival of 7.7 months in patients treated with decitabine and 5.0 months in the control arm (HR, 0.82; 95% CI, 0.68-0.99; p = .0373). Secondary endpoints, including response rates, progression-free survival, and event-free survival, were increased in favor of decitabine when compared with control treatment. The most common adverse drug reactions reported during treatment with decitabine are pyrexia, anemia, thrombocytopenia, febrile neutropenia, neutropenia, nausea, and diarrhea. This paper summarizes the scientific review of the application leading to approval of decitabine in the EU. The detailed scientific assessment report and product information (including the summary of product characteristics) for this product are available on the EMA website (http://www.ema.europa.eu). IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) remains an area of significant unmet need, especially in older patients. Older patients and those with comorbidities are often considered ineligible for standard induction therapy, and outcome for these patients is poor. Decitabine has favorable effects in terms of overall survival, which were considered clinically meaningful in the context of a manageable toxicity profile and after consideration of the lack of therapeutic alternatives for these patients. Decitabine is widely used in the treatment of AML in patients aged >60 years, as per current guidelines, including the European LeukemiaNet and the U.S. National Cancer Comprehensive Network.
Escherichia coli RNase R Has Dual Activities, Helicase and RNase

ABSTRACT In Escherichia coli, the cold shock response occurs when there is a temperature downshift from 37°C to 15°C, and this response is characterized by induction of several cold shock proteins, including the DEAD-box helicase CsdA, during the acclimation phase. CsdA is involved in a variety of cellular processes. Our previous studies showed that the helicase activity of CsdA is critical for its function in cold shock acclimation of cells and that the only proteins that were able to complement its function were another helicase, RhlE, an RNA chaperone, CspA, and a cold-inducible exoribonuclease, RNase R. Interestingly, other major 3′-to-5′ processing exoribonucleases of E. coli, such as polynucleotide phosphorylase and RNase II, cannot complement the cold shock function of CsdA. Here we carried out a domain analysis of RNase R and showed that this protein has two distinct activities, RNase and helicase, which are independent of each other and are due to different domains. Mutant RNase R proteins that lack the RNase activity but exhibit the helicase activity were able to complement the cold shock function of CsdA, suggesting that only the helicase activity of RNase R is essential for complementation of the cold shock function of CsdA. We also observed that in vivo deletion of the two cold shock domains resulted in a loss of the ability of RNase R to complement the cold shock function of CsdA. We further demonstrated that RNase R exhibits helicase activity in vitro independent of its RNase activity. Our results shed light on the unique properties of RNase R and how it is distinct from other exoribonucleases in E. coli.
Wii: Device-Free Passive Identity Identification via WiFi Signals

Human behavior data is the basis of behavior analysis, and usually we need to collect large quantities of data before analysis. Most existing data collection methods are labor intensive works in which the volunteers need to be asked to behave naturally under the monitoring of researchers. Identity identification can be used in passive data collection of human behavior analysis systems in big data. Previous researches show the sensing potential of WiFi signals in a device-free passive manner. It is confirmed that human's gait is unique from each other like fingerprint and iris. As a result, researchers start to explore the ability of WiFi in human identification. However, the identification accuracy of existing approaches is not satisfactory in practice. In this paper, we present Wii, a device-free WiFi-based Identity Identification approach utilizing human's gait based on Channel State Information (CSI) of WiFi signals. Principle Component Analysis (PCA) and low pass filter are applied to remove the noises in the signals. We then extract entities' gait features from both time and frequency domain. Based on these features, Wii realizes identity identification through a Support Vector Machine (SVM) with Radial Basis Function (RBF) kernel. It is implemented using commercial WiFi devices and evaluated in a typical indoor scenario. The results indicate that Wii achieves high identification accuracy with low computational cost and has the potential to work in human behavior analysis systems.
The effects of prescription drug copayments on statin adherence.

BACKGROUND High copayments may present a barrier to medication adherence among patients with chronic conditions such as hyperlipidemia. OBJECTIVE To assess the effects of statin copayments on statin adherence among individuals with employer-based insurance. STUDY DESIGN We used a cross-sectional time-series design, with patient as the cross section and month as the time unit. METHODS Medical and pharmacy claims among continuously enrolled statin users were selected from the 2000-2003 Medstat MarketScan database. Generalized estimating equation models were used to estimate the effects of copayment changes on statin adherence. Adherence was derived from the medication possession ratio, which represents the percentage of days on therapy each month. Separate estimates were obtained for new statin users (n = 142 341) and for continuing statin users (n = 92 344). RESULTS Higher copayments were associated with lower statin adherence rates. A 100% index copayment increase had a larger effect on monthly adherence (2.6 and 1.1 percentage point decreases in adherence among new users and continuing users, respectively [both P < .01]) than a 100% copayment increase over time (a 1.1 percentage point decrease among new users [P < .01] and a nonsignificant decrease among continuing users). In all models, new statin users were more price sensitive than continuing users. CONCLUSIONS High copayments are a financial barrier to statin adherence. The index copayment amount can affect compliance with statin use. Given the relationship between statin use and decreased frequency of cardiovascular events and procedures, the implications of high copayments should be considered by policy makers.
Genomic Distribution and Inter-Sample Variation of Non-CpG Methylation across Human Cell Types

DNA methylation plays an important role in development and disease. The primary sites of DNA methylation in vertebrates are cytosines in the CpG dinucleotide context, which account for roughly three quarters of the total DNA methylation content in human and mouse cells. While the genomic distribution, inter-individual stability, and functional role of CpG methylation are reasonably well understood, little is known about DNA methylation targeting CpA, CpT, and CpC (non-CpG) dinucleotides. Here we report a comprehensive analysis of non-CpG methylation in 76 genome-scale DNA methylation maps across pluripotent and differentiated human cell types. We confirm non-CpG methylation to be predominantly present in pluripotent cell types and observe a decrease upon differentiation and near complete absence in various somatic cell types. Although no function has been assigned to it in pluripotency, our data highlight that non-CpG methylation patterns reappear upon iPS cell reprogramming. Intriguingly, the patterns are highly variable and show little conservation between different pluripotent cell lines. We find a strong correlation of non-CpG methylation and DNMT3 expression levels while showing statistical independence of non-CpG methylation from pluripotency associated gene expression. In line with these findings, we show that knockdown of DNMTA and DNMT3B in hESCs results in a global reduction of non-CpG methylation. Finally, non-CpG methylation appears to be spatially correlated with CpG methylation. In summary these results contribute further to our understanding of cytosine methylation patterns in human cells using a large representative sample set.
Efecte de la ingesta de fitosterols i pectines sobre el perfil lipídic en conills d'índies

Actualment, les malalties cardiovasculars son la primera causa de mortalitat als paisos desenvolupats, on el consum de greix, ric en acids grassos saturats, i el de colesterol es elevat. En aquests paisos, es troben comercialitzats un gran nombre de productes als que sels han afegit fitosterols i/o pectines. Nombrosos estudis clinics atribueixen, tant als fitosterols com a les pectines, propietats hipocolesterolemiants. No obstant, cap daquests estudis ha avaluat els efectes daquests compostos quan, al mateix temps, lalimentacio es rica en acids grassos saturats i colesterol. Por aquesta rao, es va plantejar lestudi dels efectes de la addicio de fitosterols i pectines sobre el perfil lipidic en conills dindies, quan aquests ingredients funcionals es subministren conjuntament amb greixos amb alt contingut en acids grassos saturats i colesterol. Con aquests plantejament previ, liaddicio de fitosterols no va modificar els valors de colesterol en sang mentre que, al seu torn es va incrementar labsorcio dacids grassos saturats de cadena mitja (laurico i miristic) i es va disminuir el colesterol output. Per altra banda, laddicio de pectina tampoc va disminuir les concentracions de colesterol plasmatiques, possiblement degut a una hidrolisis prematura daquesta fibra. En resum, en el nostre estudi laddicio de pectina i fitosterols subministrats conjuntament amb una alimentacio rica en greixos amb alt contingut en acid grassos saturats i colesterol no va tenir cap efecte beneficios sobre el perfil lipidic del model animal utilitzat en aquest assaig. " SUMMARY: Nowadays, cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death and illness in developed countries, where the consumption of saturated fat and cholesterol is high. In these countries, many functional foods enriched with phytosterols and pectin (described as cholesterol-lowering agents) are on the food market. However, they should never be used to counterbalance the effects of an unhealthy diet. Thus, the aim of this thesis was to study the effects of a high-saturated diet enriched with phytosterols and pectin on the lipid profile in an animal model. Phytosterol addition to high-saturated diet did not lower cholesterolemia, did enhance absorption of medium-chain saturated fatty acids (lauric and myristic) and did reduce in cholesterol output. Moreover, pectin addition did not reduce plasma cholesterol concentrations, maybe because of an early breakdown of this soluble fiber. Thus, in our study, the addition of phytosterols and pectin to a high-saturated diet did not show any beneficial effect on the lipid profile. "
Recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein-2 stimulates osteoblastic maturation and inhibits myogenic differentiation in vitro

The in vitro effect of recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein-2 (rhBMP-2) on osteogenic and myogenic differentiation was examined in two clonal cell lines of rat osteoblast-like cells at different differentiation stages, ROB-C26 (C26) and ROB-C20 (C20). The C26 is a potential osteoblast precursor cell line that is also capable of differentiating into muscle cells and adipocytes; the C20 is a more differentiated osteoblastic cell line. Proliferation was stimulated by rhBMP-2 in C26 cells, but inhibited in C20 cells. rhBMP-2 greatly increased alkaline phosphate (ALP) activity in C26 cells, but not in C20 cells. The steady-state level of ALP mRNA was also increased by rhBMP-2 in C26 cells, but not in C20 cells. Production of 3',5'-cAMP in response to parathyroid hormone (PTH) was dose-dependently enhanced by adding rhBMP-2 in both C26 and C20 cells, though the stimulatory effect was much greater in the former. There was neither basal expression of osteocalcin mRNA nor its protein synthesis in C26 cells, but they were strikingly induced by rhBMP-2 in the presence of 1 alpha,25- dihydroxyvitamin D3. rhBMP-2 induced no appreciable changes in procollagen mRNA levels of type I and type III in the two cell lines. Differentiation of C26 cells into myotubes was greatly inhibited by adding rhBMP-2. The inhibitory effect of rhBMP-2 on myogenic differentiation was also observed in clonal rat skeletal myoblasts (L6). Like BMP-2, TGF-beta 1 inhibited myogenic differentiation. However, unlike BMP-2, TGF-beta 1 decreased ALP activity in both C26 and C20 cells. TGF-beta 1 induced neither PTH responsiveness nor osteocalcin production in C26 cells, but it increased PTH responsiveness in C20 cells. These results clearly indicate that rhBMP- 2 is involved, at least in vitro, not only in inducing differentiation of osteoblast precursor cells into more mature osteoblast-like cells, but also in inhibiting myogenic differentiation.
Effects of Glycemic Control on Protective Responses Against Hypoglycemia in Type 2 Diabetes

OBJECTIVE To determine the effects of glycemic control on the counterregulatory responses to hypoglycemia in type 2 diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Seven poorly controlled type 2 diabetes patients (mean HbA1c, 11.3 ± 1.1%) were studied by stepped hyperinsulinemic hypoglycemic clamp (nadir, 2.4 mmol/1) before and after improving glycemic control with insulin treatment. Counterregulatory hormones, symptoms, and four-choice reaction time were measured at each glucose plateau. RESULTS In patients with poorly controlled type 2 diabetes, counterregulatory hormone responses began at higher plasma glucose levels than did those in healthy subjects (epinephrine, 4.4 ± 0.2 vs. 3.7 ± 0.2 mmol/1, P = 0.011). After significant improvement in glycemic control (mean HbA1c, 8.1 ± 0.9%, P < 0.001) was achieved without severe hypoglycemia, hormonal responses started at much lower plasma glucose levels (e.g., epinephrine, 3.5 ± 0.3 mmol/1, P = 0.005) and were significantly reduced in magnitude (e.g., area under epinephrine response curve, 306 ± 93 vs. 690 ± 107 nmol · min−1 · l−1, P = 0.012). This was accompanied by a change in the plasma glucose threshold at which hypoglycemic symptoms first developed from 3.6 ± 0.2 to 3.0 ± 0.2 mmol/1 (P = 0.019). In contrast, the plasma glucose threshold at which four-choice reaction time deteriorated did not change significantly (3.1 ±0.1 vs. 2.9 ± 0.1 mmol/1, P = 0.125). CONCLUSIONS Counterregulatory responses begin at normoglycemia in poorly controlled type 2 diabetes. Improving glycemic control with insulin therapy normalizes hormonal responses but lowers the plasma glucose levels at which hypoglycemic symptoms develop to levels associated with impairment of four-choice reaction time, a marker of cognitive function. This process potentially increases the risk of severe hypoglycemia, but to a lesser extent than occurs in type 1 disease.
Driving style recognition method using braking characteristics based on hidden Markov model

Since the advantage of hidden Markov model in dealing with time series data and for the sake of identifying driving style, three driving style (aggressive, moderate and mild) are modeled reasonably through hidden Markov model based on driver braking characteristics to achieve efficient driving style. Firstly, braking impulse and the maximum braking unit area of vacuum booster within a certain time are collected from braking operation, and then general braking and emergency braking characteristics are extracted to code the braking characteristics. Secondly, the braking behavior observation sequence is used to describe the initial parameters of hidden Markov model, and the generation of the hidden Markov model for differentiating and an observation sequence which is trained and judged by the driving style is introduced. Thirdly, the maximum likelihood logarithm could be implied from the observable parameters. The recognition accuracy of algorithm is verified through experiments and two common pattern recognition algorithms. The results showed that the driving style discrimination based on hidden Markov model algorithm could realize effective discriminant of driving style.
Estimation and partition of heritability in human populations using whole-genome analysis methods.

Understanding genetic variation of complex traits in human populations has moved from the quantification of the resemblance between close relatives to the dissection of genetic variation into the contributions of individual genomic loci. However, major questions remain unanswered: How much phenotypic variation is genetic; how much of the genetic variation is additive and can be explained by fitting all genetic variants simultaneously in one model, and what is the joint distribution of effect size and allele frequency at causal variants? We review and compare three whole-genome analysis methods that use mixed linear models (MLMs) to estimate genetic variation. In all methods, genetic variation is estimated from the relationship between close or distant relatives on the basis of pedigree information and/or single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). We discuss theory, estimation procedures, bias, and precision of each method and review recent advances in the dissection of genetic variation of complex traits in human populations. By using genome-wide data, it is now established that SNPs in total account for far more of the genetic variation than the statistically highly significant SNPs that have been detected in genome-wide association studies. All SNPs together, however, do not account for all of the genetic variance estimated by pedigree-based methods. We explain possible reasons for this remaining "missing heritability. "
Urban rivers: novel ecosystems, new challenges

Urban rivers can be considered novel or hybrid ecosystems, and as such have experienced substantial biotic and abiotic changes that render them problematic to return to historic system states. Many urban river interventions have limited ecological benefits because such novelty is not considered, and fundamental changes in state are extremely difficult, if not impossible, to reverse while maintaining the societal functions of the system. Consequently, interventions have tended to focus on societal benefits rather than ecological improvements. But perhaps a more appropriate response is to embrace the ecological novelty inherent to urban rivers rather than trying to reverse or remove it, and find ways to enhance ecological function alongside novel conditions and species assemblages. Ecological engineering techniques have only been applied in a limited way to heavily urbanized rivers, but may represent the best options available within these highly compromised systems. The development of such techniques presents several challenges, including understanding and accepting biotic and abiotic novelty, increasing ecological functioning and resilience rather than restoring extirpated species, and rigorously testing interventions to determine efficacy. In part this will require a cultural shift in perception of urban rivers, particularly among managers, engineers and conservationists, to allow novel habitat creation and the establishment of atypical biotic assemblages. Such change sits within a wider ecological agenda to incorporate a greater range of species alongside humans in the urban environment, and improve urban ecosystem services. Urban rivers also present notable scientific opportunities, including more radical experimentation, system cocreation, and comparisons across global urban regions. WIREs Water 2014, 1:19–29. doi: 10.1002/wat2.1007
Development and evaluation of quality control dried blood spot materials in newborn screening for lysosomal storage disorders.

BACKGROUND Lysosomal storage disorders (LSDs) comprise more than 40 genetic diseases that result in the accumulation of products that would normally be degraded by lysosomal enzymes. A tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS)-based method is available for newborn screening for 5 LSDs, and many laboratories are initiating pilot studies to evaluate the incorporation of this method into their screening panels. We developed and evaluated dried blood spot (DBS) QC materials for LSDs and used the MS/MS method to investigate their suitability for LSD QC monitoring. METHODS We incubated 3.2-mm punches from DBS controls for 20-24 h with assay cocktails containing substrate and internal standard. Using MS/MS, we quantified the resulting product and internal standard. Samples were run in triplicate for 3 consecutive days, and results were reported as product-to-internal standard ratios and enzyme activity units (micromol/L/h). RESULTS Enzyme activity interday imprecision (CV) for the high, medium, and low series were 3.4%-14.3% for galactocerebroside alpha-galactosidase, 6.8%-24.6% for acid alpha-galactosidase A, 7.36%-22.1% for acid sphingomyelinase, 6.2%-26.2% for acid alpha-glucocerebrosidase, and 7.0%-24.8% for lysosomal acid alpha-glucosidase (n = 9). In addition, DBS stored at -20 degrees and 4 degrees C showed minimal enzyme activity loss over a 187-d period. DBS stored at 37 degrees and 45 degrees C had lower activity values over the 187-day evaluation time. CONCLUSIONS Suitable QC materials for newborn screening of LSDs were developed for laboratories performing DBS LSD screening. Good material linearity was observed, with goodness-of-fit values of 0.953 and higher. The QC materials may be used by screening laboratories that perform LSD analysis by MS and/or more conventional fluorescence-based screening methods.