Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Management of coagulation abnormalities in liver disease

Liver disease is characterized by changes in all phases of hemostasis. These hemostatic alterations were long considered to predispose patients with liver disease towards a bleeding tendency, as they are associated with prolonged conventional coagulation tests. However, these patients may also suffer from thrombotic complications, and we now know that the hemostatic system in patient with liver disease is, in fact, in a rebalanced state. In this review we discuss the concept of rebalanced hemostasis and its implications for clinical management of patients with liver disease. For instance, there is no evidence that the use of prophylactic blood product transfusion prior to invasive procedures reduces bleeding risk. Clinicians should also be aware of the possibility of thrombosis occurring in patients with a liver disease, and regular thrombosis prophylaxis should not be withheld in these patients.
Platelets Play Differential Role During the Initiation and Progression of Autoimmune Neuroinflammation.

RATIONALE Platelets are known to participate in vascular pathologies; however, their role in neuroinflammatory diseases, such as multiple sclerosis (MS), is unknown. Autoimmune CD4 T cells have been the main focus of studies of MS, although the factors that regulate T-cell differentiation toward pathogenic T helper-1/T helper-17 phenotypes are not completely understood. OBJECTIVE We investigated the role of platelets in the modulation of CD4 T-cell functions in patients with MS and in mice with experimental autoimmune encephalitis, an animal model for MS. METHODS AND RESULTS We found that early in MS and experimental autoimmune encephalitis, platelets degranulated and produced soluble factors serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine), platelet factor 4, and platelet-activating factor, which specifically stimulated differentiation of T cells toward pathogenic T helper-1, T helper-17, and interferon-γ/interleukin-17-producing CD4 T cells. At the later stages of MS and experimental autoimmune encephalitis, platelets became exhausted in their ability to produce proinflammatory factors and stimulate CD4 T cells but substantially increased their ability to form aggregates with CD4 T cells. Formation of platelet-CD4 T-cell aggregates involved the interaction of CD62P on activated platelets with adhesion molecule CD166 on activated CD4 T cells, contributing to downmodulation of CD4 T-cell activation, proliferation, and production of interferon-γ. Blocking of formation of platelet-CD4 T-cell aggregates during progression of experimental autoimmune encephalitis substantially enhanced proliferation of CD4 T cells in the central nervous system and the periphery leading to exacerbation of the disease. CONCLUSION Our study indicates differential roles for platelets in the regulation of functions of pathogenic CD4 T cells during initiation and progression of central nervous system autoimmune inflammation.
Effect of training load structure on purine metabolism in middle-distance runners.

UNLABELLED There are no studies analyzing the effect of training loads on purine metabolism during long training periods. PURPOSE The study's purpose was to evaluate the effect of training load changes and subsequent detraining on purine metabolism in middle-distance runners during a 1-yr cycle. METHODS In four characteristic points of the training cycle, loads assigned to five intensity zones, pre- and postexercise plasma hypoxanthine (Hx) and uric acid, and erythrocyte Hx-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase (HGPRT) activity were determined in 11 male middle-distance runners at the national level, practicing competitive sport for 8.1 ± 0.3 yr and with a mean age of 22.3 ± 0.7 yr, body mass of 73.0 ± 3.4 kg, and body height of 180 ± 2.2 cm. RESULTS In the competition phase (CP), training loads in aerobic compensation and threshold zones decreased by 65.4% and by 20.5%, respectively. At the same time, anaerobic training loads increased by 132.5% in the VO(2max) zone and by 74.6% in the lactic acid tolerance zone. Postexercise Hx decreased significantly in CP by 6.2 μmol·L(-1). and increased in the transition phase (TP) by 17.4 μmol·L(-1). Both pre- and postexercise HGPRT activity increased significantly in CP by 9.3 nmol·mg(-1)·h(-1). and by 4.9 nmol·mg(-1)·h(-1). , respectively, and decreased significantly in TP by 10.6 nmol·mg(-1)·h(-1). and by 12.0 nmol·mg(-1)·h(-1). , respectively. A significant uric acid increase of 54 μmol·L(-1). was revealed merely in TP. CONCLUSIONS The effect of anaerobic training on purine metabolism is significant despite of a very short total duration of anaerobic loads. Elevated preexercise HGPRT activity in CP suggests adaptation changes consisting in a "permanent readiness" for purine salvage. The detraining in TP leads to reverse adaptation changes. Probably, plasma Hx concentration and erythrocyte HGPRT activity may be considered as a useful measure of training status.
Self-organization of the phosphatidylinositol lipids signaling system for random cell migration

Phosphatidylinositol (PtdIns) lipids have been identified as key signaling mediators for random cell migration as well as chemoattractant-induced directional migration. However, how the PtdIns lipids are organized spatiotemporally to regulate cellular motility and polarity remains to be clarified. Here, we found that self-organized waves of PtdIns 3,4,5-trisphosphate [PtdIns(3,4,5)P3] are generated spontaneously on the membrane of Dictyostelium cells in the absence of a chemoattractant. Characteristic oscillatory dynamics within the PtdIns lipids signaling system were determined experimentally by observing the phenotypic variability of PtdIns lipid waves in single cells, which exhibited characteristics of a relaxation oscillator. The enzymes phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) and phosphoinositide-3-kinase (PI3K), which are regulators for PtdIns lipid concentrations along the membrane, were essential for wave generation whereas functional actin cytoskeleton was not. Defects in these enzymes inhibited wave generation as well as actin-based polarization and cell migration. On the basis of these experimental results, we developed a reaction-diffusion model that reproduced the characteristic relaxation oscillation dynamics of the PtdIns lipid system, illustrating that a self-organization mechanism provides the basis for the PtdIns lipids signaling system to generate spontaneous spatiotemporal signals for random cell migration and that molecular noise derived from stochastic fluctuations within the signaling components gives rise to the variability of these spontaneous signals.
Bilingual Word Embeddings for Bilingual Terminology Extraction from Specialized Comparable Corpora

Bilingual lexicon extraction from comparable corpora is constrained by the small amount of available data when dealing with specialized domains. This aspect penalizes the performance of distributional-based approaches, which is closely related to the reliability of word’s cooccurrence counts extracted from comparable corpora. A solution to avoid this limitation is to associate external resources with the comparable corpus. Since bilingual word embeddings have recently shown efficient models for learning bilingual distributed representation of words, we explore different word embedding models and show how a general-domain comparable corpus can enrich a specialized comparable corpus via neural networks
Kynurenic acid content in anti-rheumatic herbs.

INTRODUCTION The use of herbal medicines is common among people living in rural areas and increasingly popular in urbanized countries. Kynurenic acid (KYNA) is a metabolite of kynurenine possessing anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidative and pain reliving properties. Previous data indicated that the content of KYNA in the synovial fluid of patients with rheumatoid arthritis is lower than in patients with osteoarthritis. Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic, systemic inflammatory disorder affecting about 1% of the world's population. AIM The aim of the presented study was to investigate the content of KYNA in 11 herbal preparations used in rheumatic diseases. MATERIALS AND METHODS The following herbs were studied: bean pericarp, birch leaf, dandelion root, elder flower, horsetail herb, nettle leaf, peppermint leaf and willow bark. An anti-rheumatic mixture of the herbs Reumatefix and Reumaflos tea were also investigated. The herbs were prepared according to producers' directions. In addition, the herbal supplement Devil's Claw containing root of Harpagophytum was used. KYNA content was measured using the high-performance liquid chromatography method, and KYNA was detected fluorometrically. RESULTS KYNA was found in all studied herbal preparations. The highest content of KYNA was found in peppermint, nettle, birch leaf and the horsetail herb. The lowest content of KYNA was found in willow bark, dandelion root and in the extract from the root of Harpagophytum. CONCLUSION These findings indicate that the use of herbal preparations containing a high level of KYNA can be considered as a supplementary measure in rheumatoid arthritis therapy, as well as in rheumatic diseases prevention.
Media and Religion: Rodja TV’s Involvement in The Civil Society Discourse for Community Development

After Soeharto’s fall in 1998, a plethora of different types of media discovered ways to grow and expand in Indonesia. After Indonesia accepted the democratic political system, freedom of expression became part of everyday life. As pillars of democracy, the media are the tools par excellence for the expression of the people’s ideas. Established in 2007, Rodja TV started its own discourse amidst civil society. The aim of this paper is to see the involvement of Rodja TV in the civil society discourse for community development. To what extent Rodja TV’s discourse has involved the four civil society spheres - private, public, market, and the state - and how it pursued the creation of the exemplified community it promotes. This paper takes the qualitative approach and uses data gathered from observation, documents, and interviews. Apparently, Rodja TV has adopted a safe discourse by showing its propensity for mainstream Sunni Islam rather than taking the jihadi approach to politics that strives for the establishment of an Islamic state. Rodja TV’s main targets are localism and globalism but it is open to local values and selected expressions of modernism. However, it does not criticise the Indonesian government and fights terrorism. While the station initially targeted a limited audience, because it broadcasts information about Islamic tenets, its public audience widened and members of Muslim associations, businessmen, and members of the government have become attracted to Rodja TV’s programs. Keywords: Rodja TV, da‘wa, umma, civil society, salaf(ism).
Learning Strategies Mediated by Technologies: Use and Observation of Teachers

Abstract The appropriate use of digital information requires skills that enable regulation of cognitive thinking. This research is focused on building a scale that measures the learning strategies used by teachers and the ones they observe being practiced by their students, either adopting classical media technologies or the internet, besides pursuing evidence of internal consistency for such scale. Altogether, 515 teachers from Parana and Mato Grosso do Sul states in Brazil participated in the research. The first stage was focused on preparing the questions, and the second on the search for evidence of internal consistency for the Learning Strategies Used and Observed by Teachers (LSUOT) scale. The results revealed the reliability of the tool by internal structural analysis, showing its psychometric properties. It is safe to consider that the results can make contributions to teachers in the utilization and teaching of strategies that make the learning process in this current digital society easier.
Animal Fiber Classification Based on Fuzzy Neural Network

Scale pattern of cashmere and fine wool is different and that is a major reference distinguishing them from each other. A technique commonly used consists of analyzing their SEM image for detecting cuticle scale edge height (CSH) of fiber. However, the method is expensive and only a small quantity of fiber samples is detected, which make the average error approach 8 percent. In this paper, a new method is presented. The color light microscope images of fiber captured by CCD camera are transformed into skelrtonzied binary images only having one pixel wide and showing only fiber and scale edge details. Then four basic shape parameters of fiber scale are measured and a database composed of numerical data of four comparable indexes, which are fiber diameter, scale interval, normalized scale perimeter and normalized scale area, is established. A FNN classifier is developed based on them. The simulation results show that whether on training set or testing set, the model can always distinguish cashmere from fine wool (70s) effectively and the average classification accuracy are higher than 90 percent.
Decreasing prevalence of Helicobacter pylori according to birth cohorts in urban China.

BACKGROUND/AIMS The Helicobacter pylori prevalence has been decreasing in many parts of the world. This study aimed to investigate the current epidemiological status of H. pylori infection in urban China. MATERIALS AND METHODS The study included 51,299 subjects aged ≥18 years who underwent health checkups between April 2013 and June 2016 in a city of China. H. pylori infection was determined by detecting H. pylori urease-IgG antibodies. Statistical analyses included chi-square tests for trends and curve fitting. RESULTS The overall H. pylori prevalence was found to be 31.9%, with the highest prevalence in the 1950-1959 birth cohort. It was lower in the subsequent birth cohorts (trends, p<0.001). The decrease in H. pylori prevalence was correlated with the increase in per capita gross domestic product (GDP) and real per capita GDP; the power model was best fitted (R2=0.914 and 0.997 and p=0.011 and 0.000, respectively). CONCLUSION There has been a striking decrease in the H. pylori prevalence in urban China. The birth cohort effect and economic growth are the most likely causes of this phenomenon.
Tight coupling of astrocyte energy metabolism to synaptic activity revealed by genetically encoded FRET nanosensors in hippocampal tissue

The potassium ion, K+, a neuronal signal that is released during excitatory synaptic activity, produces acute activation of glucose consumption in cultured astrocytes, a phenomenon mediated by the sodium bicarbonate cotransporter NBCe1 (SLC4A4). We have explored here the relevance of this mechanism in brain tissue by imaging the effect of neuronal activity on pH, glucose, pyruvate and lactate dynamics in hippocampal astrocytes using BCECF and FRET nanosensors. Electrical stimulation of Schaffer collaterals produced fast activation of glucose consumption in astrocytes with a parallel increase in intracellular pyruvate and biphasic changes in lactate. These responses were blocked by TTX and were absent in tissue slices prepared from NBCe1-KO mice. Direct depolarization of astrocytes with elevated extracellular K+ or Ba2+ mimicked the metabolic effects of electrical stimulation. We conclude that the glycolytic pathway of astrocytes in situ is acutely sensitive to neuronal activity, and that extracellular K+ and the NBCe1 cotransporter are involved in metabolic crosstalk between neurons and astrocytes. Glycolytic activation of astrocytes in response to neuronal K+ helps to provide an adequate supply of lactate, a metabolite that is released by astrocytes and which acts as neuronal fuel and an intercellular signal.
Serum cardiac troponin I concentrations in dogs with leishmaniasis: correlation with age and clinicopathologic abnormalities.

BACKGROUND There is anecdotal evidence of myocardial injury in dogs with leishmaniasis due to generalized vasculitis and myocarditis. OBJECTIVE The aims of this study were to evaluate serum concentration of cardiac troponin I (cTnI) as an indicator of myocardial injury in dogs with leishmaniasis and to assess the relationship between cTnI concentration and age, serum antibody titer, and a variety of blood analytes. METHODS In this retrospective study, serum cTnI concentration was measured in dogs with leishmaniasis and in age-matched healthy dogs. Diagnosis was based on clinical signs and moderate-to-high seropositivity for Leishmania as measured by ELISA. Correlations between cTnI concentration and ELISA seropositivity, PCV, concentrations of serum creatinine, total protein, albumin, and globulin, albumin:globulin ratio (A/G), and urine protein:creatinine ratio (UPC) were investigated. The Mann-Whitney test was used to compare analytes between dogs with normal and increased (> 0.06 μg/L) cTnI concentration and to compare cTnI concentrations between dogs with and without anemia, azotemia, and proteinuria. RESULTS In dogs with leishmaniasis (n = 40), median cTnI concentration was higher than in control dogs (n = 11) (P = .011). Sixteen dogs (40%) with leishmaniasis had increased cTnI concentration; cTnI was moderately to weakly correlated with decreased albumin concentration, decreased A/G, increased UPC, decreased PCV, positive Leishmania titer, and increased age. Dogs with leishmaniasis had significantly higher total protein and globulin concentrations and lower PCV, albumin concentration, and A/G than control dogs. Hematologic and biochemical analytes did not differ significantly between dogs with cTnI concentration within the reference interval and those with increased concentrations. Concentration of cTnI was higher in proteinuric dogs compared with nonproteinuric dogs (P = .017). CONCLUSION A proportion of dogs with leishmaniasis have increased serum cTnI concentration, indicative of some degree of cardiac injury. Additional studies are needed to investigate the relationship between leishmaniasis and possible myocardial injury.
Effects of n-3 pufas on fasting plasma glucose and insulin resistance in patients with impaired fasting glucose or impaired glucose tolerance.

AIM to evaluate if a supplementation with n-3 PUFAs at high doses could give a regression of the condition of impaired glycemia. METHODS we enrolled 281 overweight/obese patients with impaired fasting glucose (IFG) or impaired glucose tolerance (IGT); 138 subjects were randomized to n-3 PUFAs group, 1 g three times a day, and 143 to placebo for 18 months. We assessed at baseline, and after 9, and 18 months: circumferences, body mass index (BMI), fasting plasma glucose (FPG), fasting plasma insulin (FPI), HOMA-index, lipid profile. At baseline and at the end of the study, all patients underwent an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). RESULTS we observed a decrease of glycemia and HOMA-IR with n-3 PUFAs, compared to baseline, and to placebo. Fasting plasma insulin decreased with n-3 PUFAs and increased with placebo. HDL-cholesterol increased after 18 months of n-3 PUFAs, while triglycerides decreased compared to baseline and to placebo. After OGTT performed at the end of the study, more patients returned to a condition of euglycemia with n-3 PUFAs compared to placebo. CONCLUSIONS n-3 PUFAs were effective in reducing glycemia in patients affected by IFG or IGT and seem to be helpful to slow the development of type 2 diabetes mellitus. © 2016 BioFactors, 42(3):316-322, 2016.
Performance Measurement Systems in Public Service Networks. The What, Who, and How of Control

This study explores the concept of a network Performance Measurement System (PMS) and how it helps in terms of what is being controlled in the network, which exerts control and how this control is achieved. In analyzing PMSs, the distinction was made between their hierarchical and their socializing components. An exploratory case study was carried out on a public service network in charge of a local public transport. Findings from the case study are used to reach a preliminary conceptualization whereby network PMSs are systems consisting of three main building blocks activated on demand by three main network actors and where there is coexistence and blending between hierarchical and socializing practices.
Quasi-Lumped-Element Filter-Integrated Single-Pole Double-Throw Switch

In this paper, the capacitively coupled LC resonators with loaded p-i-n diodes are used to develop fixed-response filter-integrated single-pole double-throw (SPDT) switch. The filter-integrated on-state channel with reverse-biased p-i-n diodes can be designed and synthesized using the coupled-resonator filter theory, and the off-state channel with forward-biased p-i-n diodes exhibits high suppression. A 1-GHz filter-integrated SPDT switch with ripple bandwidth of 195 MHz is designed to demonstrate the proposed design concept. Measured results show that it has a low on-state insertion loss (IL) of 1.03 dB, a wide passband, high off-state suppression (OSS), high port-to-port isolation, and compact circuit size. Since both the properly misaligned resonant frequencies of LC resonators and weakly coupling between LC resonators also result in high suppression, a frequency-agile filter-integrated switchless SPDT switch without p-i-n diodes can be designed by using the varactor diodes to realize the corresponding capacitors. A frequency-agile filter-integrated switchless SPDT switch with constant 1-dB fractional bandwidth of 19.5% is also designed. Measured results show that its operating frequency can be tuned from 0.612 to 1.088 GHz with corresponding frequency tuning range of 58% and IL varying from 2.8 to 2.3 dB. Good return loss, high OSS, and port-to-port isolation can be also observed.
The embryonic human choriocapillaris develops by hemo‐vasculogenesis

The purpose of this study was to characterize normal human choroidal vascular development from 6–23 weeks gestation (WG). Markers of endothelial cells (EC) (CD34, CD31, vWf), angioblasts and EC (CD39), leukocytes (CD45), erythroblasts (epsilon chain of hemoglobin, Hb‐e), proliferating cells (Ki67), and VEGFR‐2 were employed. At 6–7 WG, many erythroblasts were observed within islands of precursor cells in the choriocapillaris layer and others were independent from the islands. Many erythroblasts (Hb‐ϵ+) were also positive for EC markers and/or VEGFR‐2. By 8–12 WG, most of the Hb‐ϵ cells had disappeared and vascular lumens became apparent. At 14–23 WG, some EC were proliferating on the scleral side of choriocapillaris in association with forming deeper vessels. In conclusion, embryonic choriocapillaris appears to form initially by hemo‐vasculogenesis (blood vessels and blood cells form simultaneously from common precursors) while angiogenesis appears to be the mode of intermediate and large choroidal vessel development in the fetus. Developmental Dynamics 236:2089–2100, 2007. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
The Sensitivity of the Dinoflagellate Crypthecodinium cohnii to Transient Hydrodynamic Forces and Cell‐Bubble Interactions

The increased interest in the benefits of omega‐3 fatty acids for human health has resulted in the commercial development of the dinoflagellate Crypthecodinium cohnii for production of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). The growing market demand for DHA requires highly efficient, very large scale cultures of DHA. While the effects of hydrodynamic forces on dinoflagellates have been investigated for several decades, the majority of the work focused on the negative effects of oceanic turbulence on the population growth of environmentally important dinoflagellates. In contrast, significantly less is known on the effect of hydrodynamic forces encountered by algae in bioprocesses. Unlike other studies conducted on algae, this study employed a microfluidic, flow contraction device to evaluate the effect of transient hydrodynamic forces on C. cohnii cells. It was found that C. cohnii cells can sustain the energy dissipation rate of 5.8 × 107 W/m3 without lysis. However, an obvious sublethal effect, the loss of flagella, was observed at a lower level of 1.6 × 107 W/m3. Finally the cell‐bubble interaction and the effect of bubble rupture were also explored to simulate the conditions of sparged bioreactors.