Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
CHOLINESTERASE ACTIVITY OF HUMAN SKIN

IT has been suggested that derangements of acetylcholine metabolism in skin may underlie the changes occurring in certain dermatoses. In view of this, more knowledge is needed both of the reactions of skin to acetyloholine and of the enzyme systems concerned in its metabolism in this tissue. The presence of cholinesterase in skin was first demonstrated conclusively by Thompson and Whittaker (1944) and by Zeller, Kocher and Maritz (1944). The former authors, working chiefly with the rat, included two assays on human skin. Ord and Thompson (1950) next showed that activity in rat skin is mainly due to a " non-specific " or pseudo-choHnesterase. Hellmann (1952), using a histochemical technique, reported cholinesterase activity in the sweat glands ofthe pads ofthe cat's paw, also chiefly ofthe " non-specific " type; after sympathectomy this activity disappeared. In skin biopsies of the human axilla, however. Hurley, Shelley and Koelle (1953), also using a histochemical method, found only specific or •' true " cholinesterase ; this was located in the nerve endings to the eccrine sweat glands. They could not detect either type of oholinesterase in other structures in the skin except to a small extent in the blood vessels. In view of these different findings in different species it was decided to undertake a more detailed survey of these enzymes in normal human skin. Because of the limitations of histochemical procedures, we have assayed enzyme activity manometrically using acetyl-^^-methylcholine and butyrylchoUne as substrates for true and pseudo-cholinesterase respectively. We have also used acetylchoUne as substrate, which is hydrolysed by both types of esterase. A few
Testing for Excess Demand in Nursing Home Care Markets

A three-part test for the presence of excess demand is replicated on data from three states in 1988: Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Oregon. No evidence of excess demand was found in Wisconsin and Oregon, and evidence in Minnesota was inconclusive. Limitations of the tests and refinements of the interpretation are discussed.
Principal component model for maternal ECG extraction in fetal QRS detection

Fetal cardiac monitoring using noninvasive abdominal leads can provide important information on fetal well-being. However, extraction of fetal electrocardiogram (fECG) from abdominal signals is often problematic because of the higher amplitude maternal ECG (mECG). The aim of this study was to introduce a principal component model for removing the maternal ECG from abdominal signals. The proposed method removes mECG waveforms with high accuracy even though abdominal movements cause morphological deviation to mECG complexes. The method can be used for single or multi-lead measurements. The proposed method was tested using 175 1 min long abdominal measurements with fetal QRS annotation markers acquired from a fetal scalp electrode. Using the presented mECG removing algorithm and matched filtering based fQRS detector, 95% sensitivity for fQRS detection and 4.84 ms RMS error for fetal RR-interval estimation were acquired.
[Study on the expression of transcription factor GATA-3 and T-bet mRNA in decidua of women with unexplained recurrent spontaneous abortion].

OBJECTIVE To investigate the roles of transcription factor GATA-3 and T-bet at the fetal-maternal interface in the pathogenesis of unexplained recurrent spontaneous abortion (URSA). METHODS The expression of GATA-3 and T-bet mRNA was examined by in situ hybridization. Decidua was obtained from 20 women with URSA and 20 normal pregnant (NP) women. RESULTS (1) The number of GATA-3 positive cells per high power field in women with URSA (25 +/- 16) was significantly lower than those in NP women (38 +/- 16) (P < 0.05). (2) The number of T-bet positive cells per high power field in women with URSA (59 +/- 17) was significantly higher than those in NP women (46 +/- 18) (P < 0.05). (3) Numbers of cells expressing GATA-3 mRNA correlated significantly with T-bet mRNA positive cell numbers in decidua (r = -0.55, P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS The results demonstrate that upregulated expression of T-bet and downregulated expression of GATA-3 are found in the decidua of women with URSA. Imbalance of GATA-3/T-bet transcription factors might interfere with type 1 helper T cell (Th1)/type 2 helper T cell (Th2) differentiation at the fetal-maternal interface and cause URSA.
Anti-TNF agents and nail psoriasis: a single-center, retrospective, comparative study

Abstract Background: Anti-tumor necrosis factor (TNF) agents' effect on psoriatic nails is still under investigation. Objective: To evaluate the therapeutic potentials of anti-TNF agents on psoriatic nails of patients suffering from moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis. Materials and methods: A retrospective study was conducted based on the medical records of 12 patients treated with infliximab, 14 with adalimumab and 13 with etanercept in daily practice. The Nail Psoriasis Severity Index (NAPSI) was recorded at baseline, week 12, 24 and 48. Results:At week 12, NAPSI was improved compared to baseline by 48.0% (range: 40.2–66.6%) with infliximab, 35.0% (range: 25.0–52.6%) with adalimumab and 41.7% (range: 39.5–46.4%) with etanercept. At week 24, NAPSI was improved by 80.4% (range: 66.6–90.2%) with infliximab, 70.2% (66.6–80.2%) with adalimumab and 76.1% (62.5–85.5%) with etanercept. At week 48, NAPSI was improved by 95.1% (range: 89.5–97.3%) with infliximab, 89.5% (75.0–94.8%) with adalimumab and 92.8% (84.3–96.0%) with etanercept. NAPSI percentage improvement was statistically significant across follow-up period (p = 0.000) for each anti-TNF treatment, as well as among treatments at all time points (week 12, p = 0.000; week 24, p = 0.001; week 48, p = 0.000). Conclusion: All anti-TNF agents result in a significant improvement of NAPSI score, with infliximab given the precedence and followed by etanercept and adalimumab.
An Embedded Suspended Micromachined Solenoid Inductor

A novel 3-D fabrication technique is presented to achieve very high quality factor and high inductance values for solenoid inductors. The solenoid inductor is at the same time embedded and suspended. Metal traces are deposited using a single plating step. Measured peak quality factor for the first generation of the device realized on low resistivity silicon substrate is 32. The 1 nH inductor has been fabricated with a one and a half turn solenoid
Household Conditions, Eczema Symptoms and Rhinitis Symptoms: Relationship with Wheeze and Severe Wheeze in Adolescents Living in the Polokwane Area, South Africa

Objective. Determine the prevalence and risk factors of wheeze and severe wheeze in 13-to 14-year-old children. Methods. The study was conducted August 2004 to February 2005 in the Polokwane area, South Africa. Results. The 12-month prevalence rate was 18.9% for wheeze and 9.2% for severe wheeze (n = 3,926). The presence of other allergic symptoms and industrial activities appear to increase the likelihood of wheeze, even more so for severe wheeze. Socioeconomic-related factors appear to have a protective effect on wheeze. Conclusions. Wheeze appears to be a substantial public health problem in the Polokwane area.
The Effect of Problem Based Learning on Student Motivation Towards Chemistry Classes and on Learning Strategies

Solutions and their physical properties is one of the subjects which has a significant and wide coverage in high school and university chemistry curriculum; which is related to many chemistry topics; and which helps students to explain a set of facts that they might face in daily life. As in many other countries, solutions and solubility subjects are mostly centered upon numerical problems in our country’s education system. For instance, when a solute is added to a pure dissolvent, the vapor pressure, boiling point and freezing point of the solution changes according to pure solvent. Successful solution of these quantitative results regarding the amount of this change by the students will have specific contributions for them. However, it is stated that the basic concepts of the problem were not understood sufficiently or misunderstood (Smith & Metz, 1996; Pinarbasi & Canpolat, 2003). Understanding such changes requires thinking about the behaviors of particles in a molecular sense as well as understanding how these behaviors reveal themselves in such macroscopic properties as boiling point elevation, freezing point depression and vapor pressure lowering.
Valine requirement for reproduction in swine.

Five levels of L-valine [3.3 (basal), 5.5, 7.8, 10.1 and 12.4 g/d] were fed to gilts from one estrus before mating through two pregnancies and for 30 d of a third pregnancy. Five litter-mate outcome groups of five animals each were allocated randomly to the diet treatments. Animals were individually fed 1.82 kg/d premating and during pregnancy. A common diet was fed to all animals during lactation at levels of 4.0 and 4.75 kg/d for first and second farrowings, respectively. Animals fed 3.3 g/d L-valine retained less N (P less than .10) at d 45 and 90 for two pregnancies than did animals fed higher valine levels. Plasma valine concentrations determined after a 24-h fast and 2 h postfeeding increased sharply (P less than .01) among animals fed more than 5.5 g/d L-valine. There was a treatment X bleeding time interaction (P less than .01) for plasma valine, explained by a postfeeding depression compared with a higher fasting concentration for animals fed 3.3 g/d L-valine. At all other levels of valine, the fasting and postfeeding plasma valine concentrations were equal or increased after feeding. Sow weight gain during the experiment increased (linear, P less than .05) as dietary L-valine increased. Estimated milk yield was greatest for animals fed 5.5 g/d, but average pig gain was maximized at 7.8 g/d L-valine. We conclude that 5.5 g/d L-valine met the requirement for pregnancy in this experiment. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Physicians' diagnosis of obesity status in NHANES II.

The aim of this work was to assess the accuracy of physicians' subjective assessments of obesity status. The subjects were participants in The Second National Health and Nutrition Examination (NHANES II) Survey. The physicians' subjective judgments of obesity were compared to BMI, an objective measure of actual body mass. Subjects with a body mass index (BMI = weight in kg/(height in cm/100)2) less than or equal to 27.5 were classified as normal weight and those with a BMI greater than or equal to 30.4 were considered to be obese. Physicians were accurate in their diagnosis of the normal weight group with only 4.03% being misdiagnosed as obese. However, 12.6% of the obese group was misdiagnosed as normal weight. The odds of an incorrect normal weight diagnosis increased with age. Similarly, as the fat distribution ratio increased, i.e., a more central pattern, the odds of being actually obese but incorrectly diagnosed as normal weight increased. Men were more likely than women to be incorrectly diagnosed as normal weight. Non-Caucasian normal weight persons appear to have been diagnosed more stringently than Caucasians as they were more likely to be misdiagnosed as obese regardless of their gender. There appear to be several variables affecting the physicians' subjective assessment of obesity status in this data set.
Evaluation of two novel self-anchoring barbed sutures in a prophylactic laparoscopic gastropexy compared with intracorporeal tied knots.

OBJECTIVE To compare laparoscopic gastropexy using 2 self-anchoring barbed sutures to gastropexy using laparoscopically tied intracorporeal knots. STUDY DESIGN Prospective, randomized controlled, clinical trial. ANIMALS Dogs (n = 30) weighing >16 kg. METHODS Dogs were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 laparoscopic gastropexy groups: group 1 (controls), intracorporeal 2-0 polydioxanone sutures (PDSII, Ethicon); group 2, barbed suture (0 Quill™ PDO; Angiotech); and group 3, barbed suture (2-0 V-Loc™ 180; Covidien). Gastropexy suturing time (GST) and total surgery time (TST) were recorded for each dog. Complications were recorded. Each dog was examined by ultrasound (1, 3, and 6 months postoperatively) to ensure persistence of the gastropexy. One dog each in group 2 and group 3 had 2nd look laparoscopy to evaluate the gastropexy. RESULTS All gastropexies were intact at 6 months. Mean GST was significantly longer for group 1 (36 minutes; range, 25-46 minutes) than for groups 2 (20 minutes; range, 16-37 minutes) and 3 (19 minutes; range, 15-30 minutes; P < .05), which were not significantly different from each other. Likewise TSTs for groups 2 and 3 were significantly shorter than for group 1 (P < .05). CONCLUSION Barbed sutures (Quill™ and V-Loc™) allowed for effective intracorporeal laparoscopic suturing of an incisional gastropexy without tying intracorporeal knots.
Improving Robustness of Feature Representations to Image Deformations using Powered Convolution in CNNs

In this work, we address the problem of improvement of robustness of feature representations learned using convolutional neural networks (CNNs) to image deformation. We argue that higher moment statistics of feature distributions could be shifted due to image deformations, and the shift leads to degrade of performance and cannot be reduced by ordinary normalization methods as observed in experimental analyses. In order to attenuate this effect, we apply additional non-linearity in CNNs by combining power functions with learnable parameters into convolution operation. In the experiments, we observe that CNNs which employ the proposed method obtain remarkable boost in both the generalization performance and the robustness under various types of deformations using large scale benchmark datasets. For instance, a model equipped with the proposed method obtains 3.3\% performance boost in mAP on Pascal Voc object detection task using deformed images, compared to the reference model, while both models provide the same performance using original images. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work that studies robustness of deep features learned using CNNs to a wide range of deformations for object recognition and detection.
Developmental language disorders--a follow-up in later adult life. Cognitive, language and psychosocial outcomes.

BACKGROUND Little is known on the adult outcome and longitudinal trajectory of childhood developmental language disorders (DLD) and on the prognostic predictors. METHOD Seventeen men with a severe receptive DLD in childhood, reassessed in middle childhood and early adult life, were studied again in their mid-thirties with tests of intelligence (IQ), language, literacy, theory of mind and memory together with assessments of psychosocial outcome. They were compared with the non language disordered siblings of the DLD cohort to control for shared family background, adults matched to the DLD cohort on age and performance IQ (IQM group) and a cohort from the National Child Development Study (NCDS) matched to the DLD cohort on childhood IQ and social class. RESULTS The DLD men had normal intelligence with higher performance IQ than verbal IQ, a severe and persisting language disorder, severe literacy impairments and significant deficits in theory of mind and phonological processing. Within the DLD cohort higher childhood intelligence and language were associated with superior cognitive and language ability at final adult outcome. In their mid-thirties, the DLD cohort had significantly worse social adaptation (with prolonged unemployment and a paucity of close friendships and love relationships) compared with both their siblings and NCDS controls. Self-reports showed a higher rate of schizotypal features but not affective disorder. Four DLD adults had serious mental health problems (two had developed schizophrenia). CONCLUSION A receptive developmental language disorder involves significant deficits in theory of mind, verbal short-term memory and phonological processing, together with substantial social adaptation difficulties and increased risk of psychiatric disorder in adult life. The theoretical and clinical implications of the findings are discussed.
Characteristics of Cryptosporidium transmission in pre-weaned dairy cattle in 1 Henan , China 2 3 Running title : Cryptosporidium spp . in dairy cattle

24 25 To estimate the prevalence and public health significance of cryptosporidiosis in 26 pre-weaned calves in China, 801 fecal samples from eight farms in seven areas in 27 Henan Province were examined for Cryptosporidium oocysts. The overall infection 28 rate of Cryptosporidium was 21.5%, with the farm in Xinxiang having the highest 29 prevalence (40%). No significant difference in infection rates was observed between 30 seasons. Cryptosporidium spp. were characterized by PCR-restriction fragment length 31 polymorphism (RFLP) analysis of the small subunit (SSU) rRNA gene and DNA 32 sequencing of the 60 kDa glycoprotein (gp60) gene. The SSU rRNA-based PCR 33 identified four Cryptosporidium species, including C. parvum (54/172), C. bovis 34 (65/172), C. ryanae (19/172), C. andersoni (12/172), and the occurrence of infections 35 with mixed species (22/172). The earliest detection of C. bovis was in calves of one 36 week of age, showing that the prepatent period was shorter than the previously stated 37 10-12 days. Infections with C. parvum peaked in summer, whereas C. bovis 38 dominated in autumn and winter. There was no apparent difference in the age of cattle 39 infected with either C. parvum or C. bovis. Sequencing analysis of the gp60 gene 40 showed all 67 C. parvum samples belonged to subtype IIdA19G1. These findings 41 suggested that the transmission of Cryptosporidium spp. in pre-weaned calves in 42 Henan, China appeared to be different from other areas both at genotype and subtype 43 levels. Further molecular epidemiologic studies (including samples from both calves 44 and humans) are needed to elucidate the transmission dynamics and public 45 significance of C. parvum in cattle in China. 46 on N ovem er 5, 2017 by gest ht://jcm . sm . rg/ D ow nladed fom
HMEC-1: establishment of an immortalized human microvascular endothelial cell line.

The study of human microvascular endothelial cells has been limited, because these cells are difficult to isolate in pure culture, are fastidious in their in vitro growth requirements, and have a very limited lifespan. In order to overcome these difficulties, we have transfected human dermal microvascular endothelial cells (HMEC) with a PBR-322-based plasmid containing the coding region for the simian virus 40 A gene product, large T antigen, and succeeded in immortalizing them. These cells, termed CDC/EU.HMEC-1 (HMEC-1), have been passaged 95 times to date and show no signs of senescence, whereas normal microvascular endothelial cells undergo senescence at passages 8-10. HMEC-1 exhibit typical cobblestone morphology when grown in monolayer culture, express and secrete von Willebrand's Factor, take up acteylated low-density lipoprotein, and rapidly form tubes when cultured on matrigel. HMEC-1 grow to densities three to seven times higher than microvascular endothelial cells and require much less stringent growth medium. HMEC-1 will grow in the absence of human serum, whereas microvascular endothelial cells require culture medium supplemented with 30% human serum. These cells express other cell-surface molecules typically associated with endothelial cells, including CD31 and CD36 and epitopes identified by monoclonal antibodies EN4 and PAL-E. They also express the cell adhesion molecules ICAM-1 and CD44 and following stimulation with interferon-gamma express major histocompatibility complex class II antigens. HMEC-1 specifically bind lymphocytes in cell adhesion assays. Thus HMEC-1 is the first immortalized human microvascular endothelial cell line that retains the morphologic, phenotypic, and functional characteristics of normal human microvascular endothelial cells.
Effectiveness of a cooling jacket with reference to physiological responses in iron foundry workers

Personal cooling garments (PCGs) have gained increased attention in recent years due to heat stress and strain in the working environment. The present study was conducted in hot environments of an iron foundry to evaluate the efficacy of a battery-operated PCG. Twenty-four workers were exposed to climatic conditions of 35.89 ± 1.25 °C, 35% relative humidity during 90-min work with PCG and habitual clothing (HC). Mean weighted skin temperature was significantly lower by 4.84 ± 1.05 °C compared with HC 0.38 ± 1.02 °C (p < 0.05). A statistically significant difference was also observed for 0.492 ± 0.26 g mean sweat loss in the PCG group compared with 0.775 ± 0.42 g in the HC group (p < 0.05). Heart rate, and back and chest skin temperatures were comparatively more reduced in the PCG group compared with the HC group. PCG provides a practical and economical way of alleviating the physiological effects of heat stress when environmental control is not feasible.
What’s Past (and Present) Is Prologue: Interactions Between Justice Levels and Trajectories Predicting Behavioral Reciprocity

Much of organizational justice research has tended to take a static approach, linking employees’ contemporaneous justice levels to outcomes of interest. In the present study, we tested a dynamic model emphasizing the interactive influences of both justice levels and trajectories for predicting behavioral social exchange outcomes. Specifically, our model posited both main effects and interactions between present justice levels and past justice changes over time in predicting helping behavior and voluntary turnover behavior. Data over four yearly measurement periods from 4,348 employees of a banking organization generally supported the notion that justice trajectories interact with absolute levels to predict both outcomes. Together, the findings highlight how employees invoke present fairness evaluations within the context of past fairness trends—rather than either in isolation—to inform decisions about behaviorally reciprocating at work.
Efficacy of a Genetically Engineered Candida albicans tet-NRG1 Strain as an Experimental Live Attenuated Vaccine against Hematogenously Disseminated Candidiasis

ABSTRACT We report on the efficacy of the genetically engineered Candida albicans tet-NRG1 strain as an experimental live, attenuated vaccine against disseminated candidiasis in both immunocompetent and immunodeficient mice mostly dependent on T-cell immunity. This experimental vaccination model may represent an important tool to unravel the mechanisms of protective immunity during candidiasis.
Impact of Intrauterine Dextrose Therapy on Reproductive Performance of Lactating Dairy Cows Diagnosed with Clinical Endometritis Following a Randomized Clinical Trial

ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS . v VITA . vi LIST OF TABLES . ix LIST OF FIGURES . xi CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION . 1 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW . 3 2.1 DEFINING UTERINE DISEASES AND DIAGNOSIS . 3 2.2 UTERINE INVOLUTION POSTPARTUM . 6 2.3 DESCRIPTION OF UTERINE CONTAMINANTS . 7 2.4 RISK FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH UTERINE DISEASES . 8 2.5 PREVALENCE OF METRITIS AND ENDOMETRITIS . 9 2.6 IMPACT ON FERTILITY . 10 2.7 TREATMENTS . 12 2.8 DESCRIPTION OF THE PROBLEM AND JUSTIFICATION . 18 CHAPTER 3: MATERIALS AND METHODS . 20 3.1 ANIMALS, FACILITIES AND FEEDING MANAGEMENT . 20