Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Chronotropic and neurohumoral markers for the evaluation of functional capacity in patients with impaired left ventricular function.

INTRODUCTION Brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) levels correlate with functional capacity in patients with heart failure. Autonomic dysfunction and baro-chemo reflex balance play a role in conditioning exercise tolerance and chronotropic competence in heart failure. In this study we examined the relationship between N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-pro-BNP) and heart rate (HR) response during cardiopulmonary exercise testing and the ability of those two markers to detect low functional class patients. METHODS We studied 100 patients (age 59 +/- 13 yrs) with heart failure and left ventricular ejection fraction 35 +/- 9% who underwent treadmill cardiopulmonary exercise testing using the Dargie protocol. HR response was assessed by the chronotropic response index (CRI), which is calculated using the formula CRI = (peak HR - rest HR) /(220 - age - rest HR) x 100 (%). Blood samples for NT-pro-BNP assessment were taken before exercise. RESULTS The overall peak VO2 achieved was 18 +/- 5 ml/kg/mm and CRI was 70 +/- 26% (normal value >80%). CRI correlated both with peak VO2 (r = 0.50, p < 0.001) and VE/VCO2 (r = -0.24, p < 0.05). Peak VO2 correlated strongly with NT-pro-BNP (r = -0.77, p < 0.001). NT-pro-BNP values >335 pg/ml showed 83% sensitivity and 76% specificity for detecting peak VO2 values <20 ml/kg/mm (AUC=86%, p < 0.001). CRI values >79% showed 70% sensitivity and 60% specificity for detecting peak VO2 values <20 ml/kg/mm (AUC=72%, p < 0.001). CRI correlated well with NT-pro-BNP at rest (r = -0.31, p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS In patients with heart failure, CR1 correlates significantly with both functional capacity derived from cardiopulmonary exercise testing and NT-pro-BNP levels. These findings may support the use of CR1 as a simple noninvasive marker of heart failure severity.
A v-H-ras-dependent hemopoietic tumor model involving progression from a clonal stage of transformation competence to autocrine interleukin 3 production

Autocrine interleukin 3 (IL-3)-secreting tumors were generated from an IL-3-dependent mouse mast cell line (PB-3c) after introduction of the v-H-ras oncogene. Tumor progression was characterized by four distinct phenotypes. The first corresponded to immortalized mast cells unresponsive to the oncogenic effect of v-H-ras. The second was expressed in a clonable subpopulation of PB-3c cells and was marked by the competence to form v-H-ras-dependent tumors (immortalized transformation competence). The third was a direct effect of v-H-ras expression on all PB-3c cells and was characterized in vitro by a reduced IL-3 requirement. Upon injection of v-H-ras-expressing, transformation-competent cells into mice, the final, fully malignant phenotype developed with a long latency period and was marked in vitro by independence of exogenous IL-3 and by autocrine IL-3 stimulation. Northern (RNA) blot analysis and an RNase A-T1 protection assay showed that IL-3 production was strictly associated with the tumor phenotype. Two of six tumors showed an alteration at the 5' region of the IL-3 gene. We conclude that v-H-ras required complementation by IL-3 gene rearrangement or an alternate event to generate autocrine mastocytomas.
C2D Spitzer-IRS spectra of disks around T Tauri stars - V. Spectral decomposition

Context. Dust particles evolve in size and lattice structure in protoplanetary disks, due to coagulation, fragmentation and crystallization, and are radially and vertically mixed in disks due to turbulent diffusion and wind/radiation pressure forces. Aims. This paper aims at determining the mineralogical composition and size distribution of the dust grains in planet forming regions of disks around a statistical sample of 58 T Tauri stars observed with Spitzer/IRS as part of the Cores to Disks (c2d) Legacy Program. Methods. We present a spectral decomposition model, named “B2C”, that reproduces the IRS spectra over the full spectral range (5–35 μm). The model assumes two dust populations: a warm component responsible for the 10 μm emission arising from the disk inner regions (≲1 AU) and a colder component responsible for the 20–30 μm emission, arising from more distant regions (≲10 AU). The fitting strategy relies on a random exploration of parameter space coupled with a Bayesian inference method. Results. We show evidence for a significant size distribution flattening in the atmospheres of disks compared to the typical MRN distribution, providing an explanation for the usual flat, boxy 10 μm feature profile generally observed in T Tauri star spectra. We reexamine the crystallinity paradox, observationally identified by Olofsson et al. (2009 , A&A, 507, 327), and we find a simultaneous enrichment of the crystallinity in both the warm and cold regions, while grain sizes in both components are uncorrelated. We show that flat disks tend to have larger grains than flared disk. Finally our modeling results do not show evidence for any correlations between the crystallinity and either the star spectral type, or the X-ray luminosity (for a subset of the sample). Conclusions. The size distribution flattening may suggests that grain coagulation is a slightly more effective process than fragmentation (helped by turbulent diffusion) in disk atmospheres, and that this imbalance may last over most of the T Tauri phase. This result may also point toward small grain depletion via strong stellar winds or radiation pressure in the upper layers of disk. The non negligible cold crystallinity fractions suggests efficient radial mixing processes in order to distribute crystalline grains at large distances from the central object, along with possible nebular shocks in outer regions of disks that can thermally anneal amorphous grains.
Daily sedentary time and its association with risk for colorectal cancer in adults

Abstract Sedentary behavior is emerging as an independent risk factor for health. However, previous studies have indicated that sedentary behaviors are associated with the colorectal cancer risk, but presented controversial results. Studies in PubMed and EMBASE were searched update to February 2017 to identify and quantify the potential dose–response association between daily sedentary time and colorectal cancer. Twenty-eight eligible studies involving a total of 47,84,339 participants with 46,071 incident cases were included in this meta-analysis. Our results showed statistically significant association between prolong television viewing time and colorectal cancer (odds ratio [OR] 1.17, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.09–1.24, P < .001). Additionally, we obtained the best fit at an inflection point of 2 hours per day in piecewise regression analysis, the summary relative risk (RR) of colorectal cancer for an increase of 2 hours per day television viewing was 1.07 (95% CI 1.05–1.10, P < .001). Furthermore, prolong occupational sitting time was correlated with a significantly higher risk of colorectal cancer (OR 1.15, 95% CI 1.08–1.22, P < .001), increasing 2 hours per day of occupational sitting time per day was associated with a 4% incremental in the risk of colorectal cancer (RR 1.04, 95% CI 1.01–1.08). Additionally, prolong total sitting time was associated with a significantly higher risk of colorectal cancer (OR 1.06, 95% CI 1.03–1.09, P < .001). Increasing 2 hours of total sitting time per day was associated with a 2% incremental in the risk of colorectal cancer (RR 1.02, 95% CI 1.01–1.06). Subgroup meta-analyses in study design, study quality, number of participants, and number of cases showed consistent with the primary findings. Prolonged television viewing, occupational sitting time, and total sitting time are associated with increased risks of colorectal cancer.
Polymorphism of CYP1A1*2C, GSTM1*0, and GSTT1*0 in a Mexican Mestizo Population: A Similitude Analysis

Abstract Cytochrome 1A1 (CYP1A1), glutathione transferase M1 (GSTM1), and glutathione transferase T1 (GSTT1) catalyze the bioactivation and detoxification of a wide variety of xenobiotic compounds that are mutagenic and/or carcinogenic (e.g., polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons). Genetic polymorphisms of these metabolizing enzymes have been shown to affect individual susceptibility to environmental carcinogenic compounds. Although several studies have been published on the relationship between CYP1A1*2C, GSTM1*0, or GSTT1*0 polymorphism and cancer, not all findings can be extrapolated to other populations because of interethnic variability. Here, we investigate the frequency of CYP1A1*2C, GSTM1*0, or GSTT1*0 in a sample of Mexican Mestizos. We find that the frequency of GSTM1*0 is 0.335, that of GSTT1*0 is 0.121, and that of GSTM1*0 + GSTT1*0 is 0.023. The frequency of CYP1A1*2C is 0.54. Similitude analysis sets the Latin American populations in a common cluster near the Asian population, suggesting that the CYP1A1*2C polymorphism may have originated from this population and suffered a founder effect in the American population. Analysis of CYP1A1*2C, GSTM1*0, and GSTT1*0 haplotypes reveals that 35% of the population has some combination of risk genotypes. Taken together, these results point to a high susceptibility of the Mexican Mestizo population to the effects of environmental carcinogens.
Evaluation of dried blood spot collection paper blotters for avian sexing by direct PCR

Abstract 1. Avian sexing by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) plays an important role in sexual identification of avian species with similar phenotypes. Dried blood spots (DBSs) on paper blotters can help reduce the cost and problem of sample transportation and processing. 2. In the first experiment, several kinds of papers were evaluated for collecting DBS for chicken sexing by direct PCR with different processing methods. The most practical method with cost optimality was the utilisation of Whatman grade 1 filter paper with the combination of methanol fixation and boiling. 3. A second experiment was performed to determine whether cross-contamination could occur among samples cut with the same scissors. No-clean scissors were compared with ones cleaned with bleach-ethanol combination or 0.3N HCl. The PCR results showed that all three methods provided correct amplicon sizes without any false-positives regardless of the utilisation of cleaning intervention. 4. In conclusion, a technique that is suitable for DBS collection for avian sexing by direct PCR with cost efficacy was developed, and it was also shown that the utilisation of the same pair of scissors for several DBS samples did not affect the PCR results.
A Closed-Loop Digitally Controlled MEMS Gyroscope With Unconstrained Sigma-Delta Force-Feedback

In this paper, we describe the system architecture and prototype measurements of a MEMS gyroscope system with a resolution of 0.025deg/s/ radic(Hz). The architecture makes extensive use of control loops, which are mostly in the digital domain. For the primary mode both the amplitude and the resonance frequency are tracked and controlled. The secondary mode readout is based on unconstrained SigmaDelta force-feedback, which does not require a compensation filter in the loop and thus allows more beneficial quantization noise shaping than prior designs of the same order. Due to the force-feedback, the gyroscope has ample dynamic range to correct the quadrature error in the digital domain. The largely digital setup also gives a lot of flexibility in characterization and testing, where system identification techniques have been used to characterize the sensors. This way, a parasitic direct electrical coupling between actuation and readout of the mass-spring systems was estimated and corrected in the digital domain. Special care is also given to the capacitive readout circuit, which operates in continuous time.
Acheilognathus changtingensis sp. nov., a New Species of the Cyprinid Genus Acheilognathus (Teleostei: Cyprinidae) from Southeastern China Based on Morphological and Molecular Evidence

A new species of the bitterling genus Acheilognathus, Acheilognathus changtingensis sp. nov., was recently discovered from Changting County in Hanjiang River, Fujian Province, Southeastern China. It can be diagnosed by the following combination of characters: dorsal fin with three simple and 15 (occasionally 14) branched fin rays, anal fin with three simple and 12 (occasionally 11) branched fin rays; dorsal fin pale and anal fin slightly pale; white spots on anal-fin rays forming a transverse band, and anal fin margined with white band in males. Its unique characters are the many dispersed black spots on the dorsal, anal, pelvic, caudal fins, and on the head. Using the mitochondrial cytochrome Jb gene as a molecular marker, we reconstructed phylogenetic trees of A. changtingensis sp. nov. and other species in Acheilognathus to confirm its taxonomic status and study its speciation. Analyses of both morphological and molecular data consistently indicated the taxonomic status of the present new species. The results also show that A. changtingensis sp. nov. and Acheilognathus macropterus are sister species that diverged about 14.50 MYA by geographical isolation.
Frequency and analysis of factors closely associated with the development of depressive symptoms in patients with scleroderma.

OBJECTIVE To examine the frequency of depressive symptoms and also to identify factors closely associated with their development in patients with scleroderma (systemic sclerosis, SSc). METHODS We evaluated 50 patients with SSc for factors associated with depressive symptoms using the following established scales: the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI); the Rheumatology Attitude Index for measuring helplessness; the Sense of Coherence (SOC) scale (a measure of an individual's resilience in the face of stress and capacity to cope with it); the modified Health Assessment Questionnaire for physical disability, working, and social function; support domains of Arthritis Impact Measurement Scales version 2; and a visual analog pain scale. In addition, disease severity of SSc, including skin thickness and internal organ involvement, was also examined in each patient. Multiple regression analysis was used to determine which factors correlated with depressive symptoms. RESULTS Depressive symptoms ranging from mild to severe state were seen in 46% of the patients. Total BDI scores were significantly correlated with low working ability, low social activity, low SOC, pain, and helplessness, and not associated with disease severity variables including skin score and internal organ involvement. Multiple regression analysis showed that a high level of helplessness and a low level of SOC might be closely associated with depressive symptoms in SSc. CONCLUSION Our results indicate that depressive symptoms are frequent in SSc patients. Medical staffs should pay attention to the possible risk factors for depressive symptoms, such as patient's helplessness and SOC.
Phase III Southwest Oncology Group 9415/Intergroup 0153 randomized trial of fluorouracil, leucovorin, and levamisole versus fluorouracil continuous infusion and levamisole for adjuvant treatment of stage III and high-risk stage II colon cancer.

PURPOSE Modest toxicity and possibly enhanced activity makes continuous-infusion fluorouracil (FU) an attractive alternative to FU plus leucovorin (FU/LV) for the adjuvant treatment of colorectal cancer. Intergroup trial 0153 (Southwest Oncology Group trial 9415) was developed to compare the efficacy of continuous-infusion FU (CIFU) plus levamisole to FU/LV plus levamisole in the adjuvant treatment of high-risk Dukes' B2 and C1 or C2 colon cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS After surgery, patients were randomly assigned to CIFU 250 mg/m(2)/d for 56 days every 9 weeks for three cycles or FU 425 mg/m(2) and LV 20 mg/m(2) daily for 5 days every 28 to 35 days for six cycles. All patients received levamisole 50 mg tid for 3 days every other week. The primary end point was overall survival (OS). RESULTS The study closed in December 1999 after an interim analysis demonstrated little likelihood of CIFU showing superiority to FU/LV within the stipulated hazard ratio. A total of 1,135 patients were registered. At least one grade 4 toxicity occurred in 39% of patients receiving FU/LV and 5% of patients receiving CIFU. However, almost twice as many patients receiving CIFU discontinued therapy early compared with those receiving FU/LV. The 5-year OS is 70% (95% CI, 66% to 74%) for FU/LV and 69% (95% CI, 64% to 73%) for CIFU. The corresponding 5-year disease-free survival (DFS) is 61% (95% CI, 56% to 65%) and 63% (95% CI, 59% to 68%), respectively. For all patients, 5-year OS is 83%, 74%, and 55%; 5-year DFS is 78%, 67%, and 47% for N0, N1, and N2-3, respectively. CONCLUSION CIFU had less severe toxicity but did not improve DFS or OS in comparison with bolus FU/LV.
Roman Rigging Material from the Red Sea Port of Myos Hormos

Excavation of the Roman port of Myos Hormos on the Egyptian Red Sea coast has revealed both the extent of the Roman harbour and a significant corpus of maritime artefacts. These include a relatively large quantity of rigging material such as brail‐rings and sailcloth dating from the late‐1st century BC to the middle of the 3rd century AD. These finds are important for our understanding of ancient shipping in the Mediterranean, Red Sea and Indian Ocean regions. © 2007 The Author
Different immunosuppressive mechanisms in multi‐drug‐resistant tuberculosis and non‐tuberculous mycobacteria patients

Previous studies have demonstrated that cells from both multi‐drug‐resistant tuberculosis (MDR‐TB) and non‐tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) patients respond poorly to mycobacterial antigens in vitro. In the present study, we compared the in vitro response of cells isolated from sensitive TB (NR‐TB)‐, MDR‐TB‐ and NTM‐infected patients. Analysis of T cell phenotype ex vivo revealed that both MDR‐TB and NTM patients present an increased percentage of CD4+CD25+‐ forkhead box protein 3 (FoxP3)+ and CD4+CD25+CD127− regulatory T (Treg) cells when compared to NR‐TB. Increased numbers of Treg cells and interleukin (IL)‐10 serum levels were detected in MDR‐TB, whereas elevated serum transforming growth factor (TGF)‐β was found in the NTM group. Cells of MDR‐TB patients stimulated with early secretory antigenic target (ESAT)‐6, but not purified protein derivative (PPD), showed a lower frequency of CD4+/interferon (IFN)‐γ+ T cells and enhanced CD4+CD25+FoxP3+, CD4+CD25+CD127− and CD4+CD25+IL‐10+ T cell population. In addition, increased IL‐10 secretion was observed in cultured MDR‐TB cells following ESAT‐6 stimulation, but not in NR‐TB or NTM patients. In vitro blockade of IL‐10 or IL‐10Rα decreased the CD4+CD25+FoxP3+ frequencies induced by ESAT‐6 in MDR‐TB, suggesting a role of IL‐10 on impaired IFN‐γ responses seen in MDR‐TB. Depletion of CD4+CD25+ T lymphocytes restored the capacity of MDR‐TB T cells to respond to ESAT‐6 in vitro, which suggests a potential role for Treg/T regulatory 1 cells in the pathogenesis of MDR‐TB. Together, our results indicate that although the similarities in chronicity, NTM‐ and MDR‐TB‐impaired antigenic responses involve different mechanisms.
Viktor Shklovskij: Differance in Defamiliarization

of defamiliarization oppose life to death, the vital to the fossilized, created fullness to eroded emptiness, a graphic image to effacement and the empty algebraic symbol, aesthetic perception to habitual recognition, the lively force and beauty of a word at its coining to worn stereotype and dead metaphor: in 1914, he inaugurated a metaphorics and a rhetoric that traced a consistent trajectory for more than a decade of Formalist literary-critical theorizing. He began (in "The Resurrection of the Word") by defending Futurist poetic experimentation and neologisms, protesting against a prevailing "graveyard of language" and praising Futurism as an indispensable effort to induce perception of the "word" and, immediately beyond it, of the "world" and its "things": "Only the creation of new forms of art can restore to man sensation of the world, can resurrect things and kill pessimism. "' He went on to make well-known attempts to distinguish poetic from practical language on the basis of the former's perceptibility (oshchutimost). But Shklovskij first consolidated these views in his 1917 essay "Art as Device," which can be considered his chief contribution to the first stage of Formalist analysis.2 In this essay aesthetic perception openly
Fabled Futures: Migration and Mobility for Samoans in American Football

Since the 1970s, Samoan participation in American gridiron football has grown exponentially. In American Sāmoa (and other transpacific Samoan communities), football has come to represent both a real and imagined “way out” of what appears to many as a strangled field of possibility. The visibility and vibrancy of football in American Sāmoa is rooted in Samoan histories of migration to the United States, Samoan cultural sensibilities, the changing market of the American football industry, and narrowing economic opportunities. The transnational nature of football migration is key to understanding the appeal of playing football, the rewards that accrue to successful players, and how these resources have continued to transform conditions of possibility (materially and ideologically) for young people in the islands. This article explores the layered and complex motivations for football participation as shaped by prospective forms of capital, transnational sporting institutions, and historical contingency. Focused on history, economy, and a transformed vision of the future, it offers a critical genealogy of football in (American) Sāmoa and Samoans in football.
Game & Watch: Are "Let's Play" Gaming Videos as Immersive as Playing Games?

Let's Play videos, where players record themselves playing games, are a new and popular way of experiencing game content. To investigate the experience of watching Let's Play videos, we had 40 participants watch a video of someone playing a racing game. The same participants also played the racing game and watched footage of an actual racing event. After each media experience, participants completed a modified version of the Immersive Experience Questionnaire (IEQ). Results show that IEQ scores were highest after participants played the game, and lowest after passively watching the non-gaming content; watching the Let's Play video was in between. When watching the Let's Play video, participants who were familiar with the game had lower IEQ scores than participants who were new to the game. These results show that actively controlling a game generates a deeper immersive experience than passively watching others play - watching is not as immersive as playing.
Lymphocyte Transformation and Hepatitis I. Impairment of Thymidine Incorporation and DNA Polymerase Activity 1

Summary Lymphocytes from patients with viral hepatitis were found to be hyporesponsive to the replicating stimulus of phytohemagglutinin (PHA) in vitro. This was shown by an impairment both in the induction of DNA polymerase activity and thymidine incorporation into the cellular DNA by PHA-stimulated lymphocytes. The deficit is transient and occurs with the onset of clinical symptoms.
Complete Sequence of pJIE186-2, a Plasmid Carrying Multiple Virulence Factors from a Sequence Type 131 Escherichia coli O25 Strain

ABSTRACT The complete sequence of a 137-kb plasmid, pJIE186-2, from a sequence type 131 (ST131) Escherichia coli strain was determined. pJIE186-2 contained IncF replicons (FIB, FIIA, and FIAΔ), an incomplete conjugative region, and multiple virulence factors (sitABCD, iucABCD-iutA, iroCDEN, etsABC, hlyF, iss, ompT, and vagCD) but no antimicrobial resistance genes. The host strain also had another plasmid, pJIE186-1, carrying multiple resistance genes. The two plasmids conferred selective advantages for the host strain, contributing to the recent emergence of ST131 E. coli.