Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Passive or Active Inspired Gas Humidification Increases Thermal Steady‐State Temperatures in Anesthetized Infants

We tested the hypothesis that active and passive airway humidification minimize hypothermia in infants, but that maintaining normothermia does not decrease the duration of postoperative recovery. A circle system was used to ventilate the lungs of anesthetized, intubated infants who were randomly assigned to active airway humidification and warming with use of an MR450 Servo airway heater and humidifier set at 37°C (n = 10), passive airway humidification with use of the Humid-Vent Mini heat and moisture exchanger placed between the Y-piece of the circle and the endotracheal tube (n = 10), or no airway humidification and heating (control, n = 10). Anesthesia was induced with thiopental and maintained with isoflurane and nitrous oxide in oxygen. The relative humidity of inspired respiratory gases was ∼35% in the control group and ∼90% in the group undergoing active airway humidification. Initial inspired humidity in the passive humidification group (45%) increased to ∼80% after 1 h of anesthesia. Humidity differed significantly across groups at all times (P ≤ 0.05). Steady-state rectal temperatures (100--120 min after induction) were 36.2 ± 0.7°C in patients given active humidification and heating, 35.7 ± 0.9°C in the passively humidified group, and 35.2 ± 0.4°C in the control group (P ≤ 0.05 between each group). Recovery from general anesthesia was rapid in all patients and did not correlate with central temperature changes or type of humidification (P = NS). We conclude that heat and moisture exchangers are less effective than active heating and humidification, but significantly better than no humidification.
Study on Citrus Response to Huanglongbing Highlights a Down-Regulation of Defense-Related Proteins in Lemon Plants Upon ‘Ca. Liberibacter asiaticus’ Infection

Citrus huanglongbing (HLB) is a highly destructive disease of citrus presumably caused by ‘ Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus ’ (Las), a gram-negative, insect-transmitted, phloem-limited α-proteobacterium. Although almost all citrus plants are susceptible to HLB, reports have shown reduced susceptibility to Las infection in lemon ( Citrus limon ) plants. The aim of this study is to identify intra-species specific molecular mechanisms associated with Las-induced responses in lemon plants. To achieve this, comparative 2-DE and mass spectrometry, in addition to Inductively Coupled Plasma Spectroscopy (ICPS) analyses, were applied to investigate differences in protein accumulation and the concentrations of cationic elements in leaves of healthy and Las-infected lemon plants. Results showed a differential accumulation of 27 proteins, including an increase in accumulation of starch synthase but decrease in the production of photosynthesis-related proteins in Las-infected lemon plants compared to healthy plants. Furthermore, there was a 6% increase (P > 0.05) in K concentration in leaves of lemon plants upon Las infection, which support results from previous studies and might represent a common response pattern of citrus plants to Las infection. Interestingly, contrary to reports from prior studies, this study showed a general reduction in the production of defense-related pathogen-response proteins but a 128% increase in Zn concentration in lemon plants in response to Las infection. Taken together, this study sheds light on general and intra-species specific responses associated with the response of citrus plants to Las.
The development of a screening tool to evaluate gross motor function in HIV-infected infants

Neurodevelopmental delay or HIV encephalopathy is a stage four disease indicator for paediatric HIV/AIDS according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), and may be used as a criterion for initiation of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). To date, the only means of prevention of this condition is early initiation of HAART. Studies which have been carried out in South African clinics have revealed the high prevalence of this condition. In developing countries, commencement of HAART is based on declining virologic and immunologic status, as standardised neurodevelopmental assessment tools are not widely available. A standardised developmental screening tool which is suitable for use in a developing country is therefore necessary in order to screen for neurodevelopmental delay to allow for further assessment and referral to rehabilitation services, as well as providing an additional assessment criterion for initiation of HAART. The infant gross motor screening test (IGMST) was developed for this purpose. The standardisation sample of the IGMST consisted of 112 HIV-infected infants between six and 18 months of age. Item selection for the IGMST was based on the Gross Motor scale of the Bayley Scales of Infant Development (BSID)-III. Content validity was assessed by a panel of experts using a nominal group technique (NGT; agreement >80%). Concurrent validity (n=60) of the IGMST was carried out against the BSID-III, and agreement was excellent (K=0.85). The diagnostic properties of the IGMST were evaluated and revealed: sensitivity 97.4%, specificity 85.7%, positive predictive value (PPV) 92.7%, and negative predictive value (NPV) 94.7%. Reliability testing (n=30) revealed inter-rater reliability as: r=1, test-retest reliability: r=0.98 and intra-rater reliability: r=0.98. The results indicate that the statistical properties of the IGMST are excellent, and the tool is suitable for use within the paediatric HIV setting.
CMOS micromechanical bandpass filter design using a hierarchical MEMS circuit library

A 550 kHz CMOS micromechanical bandpass filter, is designed using a parameterized cell library, "NODAS", for schematic representation and behavioral HDL simulation. The filler employs a unique resonator and coupling spring structure implemented in a CMOS-MEMS technology. As an alternative design method, an equivalent SPICE model is derived for the filter. Frequency response around the filter passband from SPICE simulation matches that from NODAS simulation to within 2%. Compared to an equivalent SPICE model methodology: the NODAS methodology enables convenient composition and simulation of complicated MEMS. The experimental result of the fabricated device shows that the center frequency and bandwidth match NODAS simulation to within 3%, which provides component level validation of the NODAS-based MEMS design methodology. Nonideal effects such as manufacturing variations are also simulated and discussed.
USE OF PEROXIDASE-CONTAINING PLANT MATERIAL FOR THE DECONTAMINATION OF WASTEWATER AND DEODORIZATION OF ANIMAL WASTES.

Use of additives, such as polyethylene glycol (PEG), selected surfactants, chitosan gel, or activated carbon, has been shown to enhance enzymatic treatment of water polluted with organic compounds. In this study, additives were used to facilitate the removal of 2,4-dichlorophenol (DCP) from water using minced horseradish (Armoracia rusticana P. Gaertn. et al.) as a carrier of peroxidase activity. The specific objectives of the study were to (i) enhance the pollutant removal activity of minced horseradish by the addition of PEG and other additives (e.g., Tween 20, Triton X-100, and rhamnolipid); (ii) eliminate colored reaction products by the addition of chitosan; and (iii) eliminate color by amending treated water with activated carbon. The disappearance of DCP in horseradish-treated water samples amended with PEG or various surfactants (75–90%) was greatly increased over that observed in nonamended samples (29%). The effect of PEG depended on its average molecular weight. As indicated by visible spectrophotometry, enclosing horseradish pieces between 29 two sealed chitosan films completely eliminated colored reaction products; however, the decolorization was accompanied by a reduction in DCP removal (from 95 to 60%). On the other hand, commercially available activated carbon completely removed colored reaction products from the treated water without reducing the removal efficiency. Based on the results obtained, it can be concluded that the use of additives may considerably improve the quality of wastewater treated by plant materials.
Factors XI and XII as Targets for New Anticoagulants

Compared with vitamin K antagonists, the direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) are simpler to administer and are associated with less intracranial bleeding. Nonetheless, even with the DOACs, bleeding still occurs and many patients with atrial fibrillation fail to receive anticoagulant thromboprophylaxis because of the fear of bleeding. Therefore, there is an urgent need for safer anticoagulants. Recent investigations into the biochemistry of hemostasis and thrombosis have identified new targets for development of novel anticoagulants. Using data from complementary sources, including epidemiological studies and investigations in various animal models, the contact pathway has emerged as a potential mediator of thrombosis that plays a minor part in hemostasis. Consequently, factor (F) XII of the contact system and FXI in the intrinsic pathway have been identified as potentially safer targets of anticoagulation than thrombin or FXa. However, further studies are needed to identify which is the better target for the appropriate indication. This review highlights the evidence for focusing on FXI and FXII and examines the novel approaches directed at these new targets. These emerging strategies should address current unmet medical needs and provide new avenues by which to improve anticoagulant therapy by reducing the risk of bleeding.
Transplacental Uptake of Glucose Is Decreased in Embryonic Lethal Connexin26-deficient Mice

Mice that harbor a targeted homozygous defect in the gene coding for the gap junctional protein connexin26 died in utero during the transient phase from early to midgestation. From day 10 post coitum onwards, development of homozygous embryos was retarded, which led to death around day 11 post coitum. Except for growth retardation, no gross morphological alterations were detected between homozygous connexin26-defective embryos and wild-type littermates. At day 9 postcoitum, when chorioallantoic placenta started to function, connexin26 was weakly expressed in the yolk sac epithelium, between syncytiotrophoblasts I and II in the labyrinth region of the placenta, and in the skin of the embryo. At day 10 post coitum, expression of connexin26 in the placenta was much stronger than at the other locations. To analyze involvement of connexin26 in the placental transfer of nutrients, we have measured embryonic uptake of the nonmetabolizable glucose analogue 3-O-[14C]methylglucose, injected into the maternal tail vein. At day 10 post coitum, viable, homozygous connexin26-defective embryos accumulated only ∼40% of the radioactivity measured in wild-type and heterozygous littermates of the same size. We conclude that the uptake of glucose, and presumably other nutrients as well, from maternal blood into connexin26-deficient mouse embryos was severely impaired and apparently not sufficient to support the rapid organogenesis during midgestation. Our results suggest that connexin26 gap junction channels likely fulfill an essential role in the transfer of maternal nutrients and embryonic waste products between syncytiotrophoblast I and II in the labyrinth layer of the mouse placenta.
Large Margin Nearest Neighbor Embedding for Knowledge Representation

Traditional way of storing facts in triplets (head_entity, relation, tail_entity), abbreviated as (h, r, t), allows the knowledge to be intuitively displayed and easily acquired by human beings, but hardly computed or even reasoned about by AI machines. Inspired by the success in applying Distributed Representations to AI-related fields, recent studies expect to represent each entity and relation with a unique low-dimensional embedding, which is different from the symbolic and atomic framework of displaying knowledge in triplets. In this way, the knowledge computing and reasoning can be essentially facilitated by means of a simple vector calculation, i.e. h + r ≈ t. We thus contribute an effective model to learn better embeddings satisfying the formula by pulling the positive tail entities t+ together and close to h + r (Nearest Neighbor), and simultaneously pushing the negatives t-away from the positives t+ via keeping a Large Margin. We also design a corresponding learning algorithm to efficiently find the optimal solution based on Stochastic Gradient Descent in iterative fashion. Quantitative experiments illustrate that our approach can achieve the state-of-the-art performance, compared with several recent methods on some benchmark datasets for two classical applications, i.e. Link prediction and Triplet classification. Moreover, we analyze the parameter complexities among all the evaluated models, and analytical results indicate that our model needs fewer computational resources while outperforming the other methods.
Comparison of ionosonde and incoherent scatter drift measurements at the magnetic equator

It has been proposed that ionosondes can be used to measure vectorial nighttime ionospheric drifts at F region altitudes. These measurements have been validated at mid and high magnetic latitudes on campaign basis. Here we report concurrent F‐region drift measurements made at Jicamarca (11.95°S, 76.87°W), under the magnetic equator, using the main Incoherent scatter radar (ISR) and a digisonde portable ionosonde (DPS). As far as the vertical drift measurements, we show a fair agreement between the two techniques at periods when convection dominates other factors (e.g., around pre‐reversal enhancement). At other times, production and recombination dominate, and DPS vertical drifts are not reliable. For the horizontal drift component, we limited our measurements to the zonal component. We find poor agreement, being worse at times when the E region electron density is high (e.g., during the day). The amplitude of DPS zonal velocities are significantly larger than ISR zonal drifts. During the day, we find that the DPS zonal drifts are in better agreement with the drift velocity of the long wavelength equatorial electrojet (EEJ) instabilities. This is to be expected since, the diffraction pattern on the ground – to which any reflection HF drift technique will be sensitive to – is mainly, if not solely, dependent on the electron density structure at EEJ heights, where the electron irregularity density is sufficiently high to diffract the phase front of the F region reflected wave.
Checking equivalence for partial implementations

We consider the problem of checking whether a partial implementation can (still) be extended to a complete design which is equivalent to a given full specification. Several algorithms trading off accuracy and computational resources are presented: starting with a simple 0,1,X-based simulation, which allows approximate solutions, but is not able to find all errors in the partial implementation, we consider more and more exact methods finally covering all errors detectable in the partial implementation. The exact algorithm reports no error if and only if the current partial implementation conforms to the specification, i.e. it can be extended to a full implementation which is equivalent to the specification. We give a series of experimental results demonstrating the effectiveness and feasibility of the methods presented.
Sirtuin 1 activation alleviates cholestatic liver injury in a cholic acid–fed mouse model of cholestasis

Sirtuin1 (Sirt1; mammalian homolog of Saccharomyces cerevisiae enzyme Sir2) is a transcriptional and transactivational regulator of murine farnesoid X receptor (Fxr), which is the primary bile acid (BA) sensor, and critical regulator of BA metabolism in physiological and pathophysiological conditions. Previous studies have suggested compromised Sirt1 expression in rodent models of cholestatic liver injury. We hypothesized that Sirt1 could be potentially targeted to alleviate cholestatic liver injury. In cultured primary human hepatocytes, SIRT1 messenger RNA was down‐regulated after GCA treatment, potentially through induction of microRNA (miR)‐34a, whereas tauroursodeoxycholic acid induced SIRT1 expression without affecting miR‐34a expression. Sirt1 expression was also significantly down‐regulated in three mouse models of liver injury (bile duct ligation, 1% cholic acid [CA] fed, and the Mdr2−/− mouse). Mice fed CA diet also demonstrated hepatic FXR hyperacetylation and induction of the Janus kinase/p53 pathway. Mice fed a CA diet and concurrently administered the Sirt1 activator, SRT1720 (50 mg/kg/day, orally), demonstrated 40% and 45% decrease in plasma alanine aminotransferase and BA levels, respectively. SRT1720 increased hepatic BA hydrophilicity by increasing tri‐ and tetrahydroxylated and decreasing the dihydroxylated BA fraction. SRT1720 administration also inhibited hepatic BA synthesis, potentially through ileal fibroblast growth factor 15– and Fxr‐mediated inhibition of cytochrome p450 (Cyp) 7a1 and Cyp27a1, along with increased hepatic BA hydroxylation in association with Cyp2b10 induction. SRT1720 administration significantly induced renal multidrug resistance‐associated protein 2 and 4, peroxisome proliferator‐activated receptor gamma coactivator 1‐α, and constitutive androstance receptor expression along with ∼2‐fold increase in urinary BA concentrations. Conclusion: SRT1720 administration alleviates cholestatic liver injury in mice by increasing hydrophilicity of hepatic BA composition and decreasing plasma BA concentration through increased BA excretion into urine. Thus, use of small‐molecule activators of Sirt1 presents a novel therapeutic target for cholestatic liver injury. (Hepatology 2016;64:2151‐2164).
E-Governance: Past, Present and Future in India

Due to widespread demand of E-governance and exponentially increasing size of data, new technologies like Open source solutions and cloud computing need to be incorporated. In this paper, the latest trends of technology that the government of most of the country has adopted have been discussed. While working on this project we have concluded that E-Governance has made the working of government more efficient and more transparent to its citizens We have also presented an exhaustive list of E-Governance projects which is currently being used in India and in international scenario. We have provided a mechanism for improving E-Governance by including technologies such as Open Source and Cloud Computing.
Emerging Equity Markets and Economic Development

We provide an analysis of real economic growth prospects in emerging markets after financial liberalizations. In contrast with previous research, we identify the financial liberalization dates and examine the influence of liberalizations while controlling for a number of other macroeconomic and financial variables. Our work also introduces an econometric methodology that allows us to use extensive time-series as well as cross-sectional information for our tests. We find across a number of different specifications that financial liberalizations are associated with significant increases in real economic growth.
Pregnancy Outcomes Among Obese Women and Their Offspring by Attempted Mode of Delivery

OBJECTIVE: To compare maternal and neonatal morbidities among obese women and their offspring by attempted delivery approach. METHODS: We performed a retrospective cohort study of 47,372 obese women at delivery (body mass index 30 or greater) eligible for vaginal delivery who were carrying singleton vertex fetuses at 37 weeks of gestation or greater. Prior cesarean delivery, congenital anomalies, and antepartum stillbirth were exclusion criteria. We analyzed outcomes by attempted delivery route and stratified by parity. The composite maternal outcome included intensive care admission, death, hemorrhage, transfusion, or thromboembolism. The neonatal composite included intensive care unit admission, death, seizure, ventilator use, birth injury, or asphyxia. Adjusted relative risks (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using Poisson regression. RESULTS: Among nulliparous women attempting vaginal delivery (n=15,268), the success rate was 72.6% and among parous women (n=23,426), it was 93.7%. The maternal composite outcome rate was not statistically higher among nulliparous women (7.7% compared with 4.2% [adjusted RR 1.58, 95% CI 0.96–2.59]) but it was among parous women (7.6% compared with 2.5% [adjusted RR 2.45, 95% CI 1.23–4.90]) attempting vaginal delivery related to hemorrhage, blood transfusion, or both. In contrast, the neonatal composite outcome rate was lower in parous women (6.0% compared with 11.6% [adjusted RR 0.65, 95% CI 0.51–0.83]) but not in nulliparous women (10.2% compared with 12.4% [adjusted RR 0.91, 95% CI 0.74–1.12]) parous. CONCLUSION: In obese nulliparous women, attempted vaginal delivery was not associated with increased composite maternal or neonatal morbidity. In obese parous women, attempted vaginal delivery was associated with increased composite maternal morbidity and lower composite neonatal morbidity. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: II
SPECT OF THE BRAIN IN CHILDHOOD AUTISM: EVIDENCE FOR A LACK OF NORMAL HEMISPHERIC ASYMMETRY

Autism is thought to be associated with abnormal hemispheric specialization and left‐hemispheric dysfunction. Brain functional imaging using 133Xe‐SPECT (single photon emission computed tomography) was used to measure left/right asymmetry and absolute values of regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) in 18 children with autism aged from four to 17 years and 10 age‐matched controls. All controls but only 10 children with autism were right‐handed. The left‐to‐right indices, both hemispheric and regional, were positive in controls, indicating higher left than right rCBF values, but were negative in patients with autism. This inversion was statically significant for total hemispheres, sensorimotor and language‐related cortex and was explained by a significant decrease of the left absolute rCBF values in these regions in the patients with autism. The inversion was independent of handedness, sex and age. These results confirm the existence of left‐hemispheric dysfunction in childhood autism, especially in the cortical areas devoted to language and handedness, leading to anomalous hemispheric specialization.
Two-Step Solid Lipid Extrusion as a Process to Modify Dissolution Behavior

Extrudates based on varying ratios of the triglyceride tripalmitin and the hydrophilic polymer polyethylene glycol as matrix formers were produced as oral dosage forms with controlled release characteristics. The extrudates were processed below the melting points of the excipients and contained the hydrophobic model drug chloramphenicol. The influence of the ratio of the matrix formers on drug dissolution was investigated, with an increase in the water-soluble polymer content increasing the drug release rate. In addition, the effect of varying the extrusion process on the extrudate structure and drug dissolution was investigated. Two-step extrusion was performed, which comprised an initial extrusion step of drug and one matrix component followed by milling these extrudates and a second extrusion step for the milled extrudates mixed with the second matrix component. Initial extrusion with polyethylene glycol led to increased dissolution rates, while initial extrusion with tripalmitin led to decreased dissolution rates compared to the dissolution characteristics of extrudates containing the same composition produced by one-step extrusion. Thus, two-step solid lipid extrusion can successfully be used as a process to modify the dissolution behavior of extrudates.