Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Persistent mucosal damage and risk of fracture in celiac disease.

CONTEXT Celiac disease (CD) is associated with an increased fracture risk, an increase that persists after diagnosis. A significant proportion of patients with CD have persistent villous atrophy (VA) on follow-up biopsy. OBJECTIVE The objective of the study was to determine whether persistent VA impacts long-term fracture risk. DESIGN This was a cohort study. SETTING AND PATIENTS We identified all patients in Sweden with histological evidence of CD who underwent a follow-up biopsy and compared patients with persistent VA with those with mucosal healing. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES The following were measured: 1) any fracture; 2) likely osteoporotic fracture (defined as fractures of the hip, distal forearm, thoracic and lumbar spine, or proximal humerus); and 3) hip fracture. RESULTS Of 7146 patients, VA was present on follow-up biopsy in 43%. There was no significant association between persistent VA and overall fractures [hazard ratio (HR) of persistent VA compared with those with healing 0.93, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.82-1.06] or with likely osteoporotic fractures (HR 1.11, 95% CI 0.84-1.46). Persistent VA was associated with an increased risk of hip fracture (HR 1.67, 95% CI 1.05-2.66). Hip fracture risk increased, depending on the degree of VA (HR for partial VA compared with those with healing 1.70, 95% CI 0.82-3.49, HR for subtotal/total VA compared with those with healing 2.16, 95% CI 1.06-4.41). CONCLUSIONS Persistent VA on follow-up biopsy is predictive of hip fracture risk. The association between persistent VA and hip fractures, but not fractures overall, implies that thinner sc tissue and fall or trauma may be mechanisms by which persistent VA confers an increased fracture risk.
[Spatial and temporal characteristics of soil moisture dynamics in Loess Plateau].

Field monitoring results of wasteland soil water content of during growing season of seven years in Zhuanyaogou valley of northwestern Shanxi Province, and the results showed that the seasonal dynamics of the soil water was controlled by annual precipitation and its distribution. The seasonal dynamics of soil water in a normal rainfall year could be divided into three stages, i.e., consumption stage from late spring to early summer, storage stage from late summer to early autumn, and second consumption stage from late autumn to early winter. The relationship equation between soil water content and measuring number was linear (1988, 1990), exponent (1992, 1995) and parabola curve (1993). The vertical profiles of soil water in the wasteland in different rainfall year were different, and the soil water content increased with increasing depth. The equations between soil water content and soil depth in all years were cubic. Taking 150 cm as a boundary, the ratio of soil water content in lower layers to upper layers was larger than 1, and the variance coefficient of soil water decreased with increasing depth. The soil water profile in 0-300 cm depth for seven year's average could be divided into three layers, i.e., active layer (above 200 cm), transitive layer (between 200-250 cm) and stable layer (below 250 cm), and the depth of each layer varied with the annual precipitation and its distribution. The ANOVA result of soil water content in extremely high rainfall showed a great difference with that in other years. The difference between soil water content in wasteland and in Caragana korshinskii plantation was significant, but was not different from that in Populus hopeiensis and Populus simonii plantation respectively. The quantitative analysis methods used in this paper facilitated the comparison of soil moisture in different region and in different vegetation.
Design and evaluation of a capacitively coupled sensor readout circuit, toward contact-less ECG and EEG

Electrophysiological signal acquisition such as ECG and EEG play an important part in modern medical monitoring and diagnostics. The measurement of these very low-level, low-frequency signals are normally made from the skin with a directly coupled sensor utilizing a conductive gel to create a low resistance path for the charge. The application of the gel is tedious and time consuming as well as requiring a clinical environment and prevents long period measurements. In this paper, a contact-less, capacitively coupled sensor — without any need for gel — together with an electronic readout circuit using a PCB is presented. A design with a very high input impedance allows for measurements of signals with amplitudes down to a few tens of microvolts and at frequencies between a few hertz to tens of hertz. Measurements show that the circuit could detect an input signal of 25 μV at 10 Hz with an SNR of 9.7 dB.
A formal approach for measuring the lexical ambiguity degree in natural language requirement specification: Polysemes and Homonyms focused

In natural language regardless the presentation, being spoken or written we can distinguish different types of ambiguity. In this paper we will focus on written lexical ambiguity, which is caused when a word or set of words has more than one meaning. This inherent problem of natural language is generated by two types of words: Polysemes and Homonyms. Commonly requirement specifications are expressed in natural language even with the knowledge of inherent problems this have. Measuring ambiguity typically only includes the language itself as the universe; in this paper we include the transport channel and communication model to give a formal approach to find ambiguity degree based on stakeholder knowledge and how reader's brain resolves ambiguity for a given text.
A comparison of diagnostic criteria for neuroleptic malignant syndrome.

BACKGROUND A variety of diagnostic criteria for neuroleptic malignant syndrome (NMS) have been used in clinical studies of this disorder, but it is not known if different criteria consistently identify NMS. This study examines agreement between three frequently used sets of diagnostic criteria in a series of possible NMS episodes. METHOD All clinically suspected NMS episodes occurring at a large tertiary psychiatric facility during a 6-year period were evaluated by three different sets of diagnostic criteria. Agreement among these criteria was quantified statistically by means of the kappa and intraclass correlation coefficients. RESULTS The NMS diagnostic criteria examined generally demonstrated only fair agreement with one another in the diagnosis of NMS. Agreement was best among these criteria when the "probable" category was employed. A complex interaction involving both definition and structure of individual diagnostic criteria and designation of criteria as major or minor appears to contribute to these findings. CONCLUSION The published diagnostic criteria used in this study do not consistently identify NMS episodes and demonstrate different thresholds for assigning this diagnosis. These differences are not due solely to different definitions of individual criteria (e.g., fever). Possible implications of these findings for clinical practice and research are discussed.
Energetic electron precipitation during substorm injection events: High-latitude fluxes and an unexpected midlatitude signature

[1] Geosynchronous Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL-97A) satellite particle data, riometer data, and radio wave data recorded at high geomagnetic latitudes in the region south of Australia and New Zealand are used to perform the first complete modeling study of the effect of substorm electron precipitation fluxes on low-frequency radio wave propagation conditions associated with dispersionless substorm injection events. We find that the precipitated electron energy spectrum is consistent with an e-folding energy of 50 keV for energies <400 keV but also contains higher fluxes of electrons from 400 to 2000 keV. To reproduce the peak subionospheric radio wave absorption signatures seen at Casey (Australian Antarctic Division), and the peak riometer absorption observed at Macquarie Island, requires the precipitation of 50–90% of the peak fluxes observed by LANL-97A. Additionally, there is a concurrent and previously unreported substorm signature at L < 2.8, observed as a substorm-associated phase advance on radio waves propagating between Australia and New Zealand. Two mechanisms are discussed to explain the phase advances. We find that the most likely mechanism is the triggering of wave-induced electron precipitation caused by waves enhanced in the plasmasphere during the substorm and that either plasmaspheric hiss waves or electromagnetic ion cyclotron waves are a potential source capable of precipitating the type of high-energy electron spectrum required. However, the presence of these waves at such low L shells has not been confirmed in this study.
Watch the attitude: Embedding and role-shift in ASL

Much of the work on attitude predicates, spawned by Hintikka (1962), treats them as a uniform class – quantifiers over possible worlds. However, recently a number of suggestions have been made that highlight different subclasses. Here we present novel data from American Sign Language (ASL) that support a differentiation made by Anand and Hacquard (2008) concerning the objectivity and subjectivity of their complements, while also bringing into focus a special property of Sign Languages – role shift.
Low expression of insulin-like growth factor binding protein 7 associated with poor prognosis in human glioma

Objectives To investigate insulin-like growth factor binding protein 7 (IGFBP7) mRNA levels in human glioma and normal brain tissue, and to determine their clinical significance. Methods In this retrospective study, IGFBP7 mRNA was quantified by real-time reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction in brain tissue samples from patients with glioma and normal control subjects. Kaplan–Meier and Cox proportional hazards analyses were performed to determine any clinical and prognostic associations. Results IGFBP7 mRNA levels were significantly lower in glioma tissue (n = 120) than in normal brain tissue (n = 20). Low (i.e. below the median, 5.9) IGFBP7 mRNA levels were significantly associated with larger tumour size (≥5 cm, compared with <5 cm, diameter). Patients with high (above median) IGFBP7 had longer overall survival than those with low IGFBP7. Tumour grade and IGFBP7 mRNA level were independent predictors of overall survival. Conclusions IGFBP7 downregulation is associated with poor prognosis in glioma, and this molecule may represent both a prognostic marker and a potential therapeutic target.
Cortisol and ACTH responses to severe asphyxia in preterm fetal sheep

It has been hypothesized that the hypothalamic‐pituitary‐adrenal (HPA) axis is immature in the preterm fetus and that this compromises their ability to adapt to hypoxic stress; however, there are few direct data. We therefore examined the effects of asphyxia on HPA responses in chronically instrumented preterm fetal sheep (104 days of gestation; term is 147 days), allocated to a sham control group (n= 7) or 25 min of complete umbilical cord occlusion (n= 8), followed by recovery for 72 h. During umbilical cord occlusion there was a rapid rise in ACTH levels (230.4 ± 63.5 versus 14.1 ± 1.8 ng ml−1 in sham controls, 16‐fold) and cortisol levels (7.4 ± 4.9 versus 0.2 ± 0.1 ng ml−1, 31‐fold), with further increases after release of cord occlusion. ACTH levels were normalized by 24 h, while plasma cortisol levels returned to sham control values 72 h after asphyxia. Fetal arterial blood pressure was elevated in the first 36 h, with a marked increase in femoral vascular resistance, and correlated positively with cortisol levels after asphyxia (P= 0.05). In conclusion, the preterm fetus shows a brisk, substantial HPA response to severe hypoxia.
Output Tracking via Sliding Modes in Causal Systems with Time Delay Modeled by Higher Order Pade Approximations

Output tracking in a SISO causal uncertain nonlinear system with an output subject to a time delay is considered using sliding mode control. A higher order Pade approximation to a delay function with a known time delay is used to construct a model of a transformed system without a time delayed output and is employed in a feedback sliding mode control. This model functions as a predictor of the plant states and the plant output, but is of nonminimum phase due to the application of the Pade approximation. The method of the stable system center is used to stabilize the internal dynamics of this plant model, and a control is developed using a sliding surface to allow the plant to track an arbitrary reference profile given by an exogenous system with a known characteristic equation. Simulations of the system are performed for the plant model using a first, second and third order Pade approximations and a controller in plant feedback mode. Numerical examples for Pade approximations of increasing order are considered and compared
Leukemia-Initiating Cells in T-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) is a hematological malignancy characterized by the clonal proliferation of immature T-cell precursors. T-ALL has many similar pathophysiological features to acute myeloid leukemia, which has been extensively studied in the establishment of the cancer stem cell (CSC) theory, but the CSC concept in T-ALL is still debatable. Although leukemia-initiating cells (LICs), which can generate leukemia in a xenograft setting, have been found in both human T-ALL patients and animal models, the nature and origin of LICs are largely unknown. In this review, we discuss recent studies on LICs in T-ALL and the potential mechanisms of LIC emergence in this disease. We focus on the oncogenic transcription factors TAL1, LMO2, and NOTCH1 and highlight the significance of the transcriptional regulatory programs in normal hematopoietic stem cells and T-ALL.
Mourning and Depression: Their Similarities and Differences *

Previous studies have shown that bereaved people respond to their loss with a set of psychological symptoms which are in many instances indistinguishable from depressive illness, but accepted by them and their environment as normal (1,3,5). On the other hand, patients with primary affective disorder experience their condition as a “change”, “not usual self” (7), which leads them to seek help, and in this way they define themselves as patients. A comparison of frequencies of psychiatric symptoms between depressed 34, and bereaved 34, subjects matched for sex and age shows that hospitalized depressed subjects have more symptoms — 15 — than bereaved subjects (7). However, there is enough overlap that, on the basis of symptoms, the two groups cannot be differentiated satisfactorily for research purposes. In psychiatry, most diagnostic criteria are arbitrary. If they are set narrow some patients with a mild form of illness are excluded, while if broad criteria are employed persons with other conditions or no illness at all are included. For research purposes if the symptoms of depression occur only after the death of a near relative the subjects should not be included in the group diagnosed as suffering from primary affective disorder.
Note on the Definition and Calculation of the Per-Unit-Length Internal Impedance of a Uniform Conducting Wire

The Thevenin theorem is used to define the internal impedance per unit length (p.u.l.) of a uniform conducting wire of arbitrary cross-sectional geometry. Two different boundary value problems are then proposed for the calculation of the internal impedance of the wire, which are both consistent with the proposed Thevenin theorem-based definition. For the important case of rectangular conducting strips, an advantage is taken of the separable cross-sectional geometry for the development of analytical expressions for the internal impedance of the wires. It is shown that these expressions reproduce correctly both the resistance of the wire p.u. l. length at dc and the trend of R(omega) ap omegaL(omega) at sufficiently high frequencies such that the skin effect is well developed.
BD180 - a new 0.18 μm BCD (Bipolar-CMOS-DMOS) Technology from 7V to 60V

We present a new BCD technology in a 0.18 μm technology platforms with a capability of 7 to 60V high-voltage devices such as DEMOS and LDMOS. The developed 0.18 mum BCD process provides various kinds of high voltage LDMOS such as 7, 12, 20, 50, 60 V LDMOS transistors for variety of applications. The power LDMOS transistors in the process have very competitive specific on-resistance compared to previous results.
Interactions between local winds and coastal sea surface temperatures near the Canterbury coast

Abstract A modelling and observational study was conducted in 1982–83 into the relationships between airflow and sea surface temperature along the Canterbury coast near Banks Peninsula. Near‐shore sea surface temperatures dropped by as much as 3–4 °C during periods of strong offshore airflow, particularly north‐westerlies. This may have been associated with coastal upwelling. A following southerly may also have contributed to this temperature drop by moving colder water from the south. The colder water appeared to produce enhanced sea breezes owing to the resulting increased temperature difference between land and sea. Both modelling and empirical evidence is given to support this. Coastal upwelling of cold water appeared to produce decreased air temperatures near the coast, although the onshore airflow wanned up as it moved inland over warmer surfaces.
TESTING THE SPEED-UP OF PARALLEL DISCRETE EVENT SIMULATION IN HETEROGENEOUS EXECUTION ENVIRONMENTS

This paper deals with the experimental testing and verification of the earlier proposed load balancing and coupling factor criteria for the conservative parallel discrete event simulation in heterogeneous execution environments whether they can ensure a good speed-up. The definition of the relative speed-up is extended to the heterogeneous systems in a natural way. This definition is used to measure the efficiency of the parallel simulation executed by heterogeneous systems. A closed queueing network is used as the simulation model, and it is executed on different heterogeneous test systems. Among several scenarios, it is demonstrated on the example of a heterogeneous system containing 87 CPU cores of 5 different types that a good speed-up can be achieved using the load balancing and coupling factor criteria. It is shown that the extension of the definition of the relative speed-up to the heterogeneous systems made it easy to judge the speed-up of parallel discrete event simulation in heterogeneous execution environments.
PARASITISM OF ASTERIONELLA FORMOSA HASS. BY A CHYTRID IN TWO LAKES OF THE RAWAH WILD AREA OF COLORADO 1

The populations of Asterionella formosa Hass. in two subalpine lakes in the Rawah Wild Area, Colorado, were composed of colonies of five distinct size classes based on frustule length. The spring bloom in these two lakes was dominated by cells of the Beta or Gamma population, whereas the fall pulse was dominated by cells of the Alpha and Beta, or Alpha populations. The Beta population was physiologically unique in that it was parasitized by the chytrid Rhizophidium planktonicum Canter. The development of the parasite population could not be correlated with the concentration or the growth phase of the host population. The occurrrence of parasitism did not noticeiceably affect the population growth patterns of the Asterionella populations.
Microarray transcript profiling distinguishes the transient from the acute type of megakaryoblastic leukaemia (M7) in Down's syndrome, revealing PRAME as a specific discriminating marker

Transient myeloproliferative disorder (TMD) is a unique, spontaneously regressing neoplasia specific to Down's syndrome (DS), affecting up to 10% of DS neonates. In 20–30% of cases, it reoccurs as progressive acute megakaryoblastic leukaemia (AMKL) at 2–4 years of age. The TMD and AMKL blasts are morphologically and immuno‐phenotypically identical, and have the same acquired mutations in GATA1. We performed transcript profiling of nine TMD patients comparing them with seven AMKL patients using Affymetrix HG‐U133A microarrays. Similar overall transcript profiles were observed between the two conditions, which were only separable by supervised clustering. Taqman analysis on 10 TMD and 10 AMKL RNA samples verified the expression of selected differing genes, with statistical significance (P < 0·05) by Student's t‐test. The Taqman differences were also reproduced on TMD and AMKL blasts sorted by a fluorescence‐activated cell sorter. Among the significant differences, CDKN2C, the effector of GATA1‐mediated cell cycle arrest, was increased in AMKL but not TMD, despite the similar level of GATA1. In contrast, MYCN (neuroblastoma‐derived oncogene) was expressed in TMD at a significantly greater level than in AMKL. MYCN has not previously been described in leukaemogenesis. Finally, the tumour antigen PRAME was identified as a specific marker for AMKL blasts, with no expression in TMD. This study provides markers discriminating TMD from AMKL‐M7 in DS. These markers have the potential as predictive, diagnostic and therapeutic targets. In addition, the study provides further clues into the pathomechanisms discerning self‐regressive from the progressive phenotype.
Evidence for purine nucleoside phosphorylase (PNP) release from rat C6 glioma cells

Intracellular purine turnover is mainly oriented to preserving the level of triphosphate nucleotides, fundamental molecules in vital cell functions that, when released outside cells, act as receptor signals. Conversely, high levels of purine bases and uric acid are found in the extracellular milieu, even in resting conditions. These compounds could derive from nucleosides/bases that, having escaped to cell reuptake, are metabolized by extracellular enzymes similar to the cytosolic ones. Focusing on purine nucleoside phosphorylase (PNP) that catalyzes the reversible phosphorolysis of purine (deoxy)‐nucleosides/bases, we found that it is constitutively released from cultured rat C6 glioma cells into the medium, and has a molecular weight and enzyme activity similar to the cytosolic enzyme. Cell exposure to 10 μM ATP or guanosine triphosphate (GTP) increased the extracellular amount of all corresponding purines without modifying the levels/activity of released PNP, whereas selective activation of ATP P2Y1 or adenosine A2A metabotropic receptors increased PNP release and purine base formation. The reduction to 1% in oxygen supply (2 h) to cells decreased the levels of released PNP, leading to an increased presence of extracellular nucleosides and to a reduced formation of xanthine and uric acid. Conversely, 2 h cell re‐oxygenation enhanced the extracellular amounts of both PNP and purine bases. Thus, hypoxia and re‐oxygenation modulated in opposite manner the PNP release/activity and, thereby, the extracellular formation of purine metabolism end‐products. In conclusion, extracellular PNP and likely other enzymes deputed to purine base metabolism are released from cells, contributing to the purinergic system homeostasis and exhibiting an important pathophysiological role.