Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effects of Fosinopril and Pravastatin on Carotid Intima-Media Thickness in Subjects With Increased Albuminuria

Background and Purpose— Elevated urinary albumin excretion (UAE) is associated with an increased carotid intima-media thickness (IMT). Because angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors as well as statins have been shown to lower UAE and the progression of IMT, we assessed the effects of fosinopril and pravastatin on carotid IMT in subjects with an increased UAE (15 to 300 mg/24 h). Methods— IMT was measured at the posterior wall of the left common carotid artery using radio-frequency signal analysis obtained by M-mode ultrasonography. 642 subjects were double-blind randomized to fosinopril 20 mg or matching placebo and to pravastatin 40 mg or matching placebo and were available for intention-to-treat analysis. Results— Mean age was 51±11 years, 65% were male, the median UAE was 22.5 (15.5 to 40.8) mg/24 h, and the mean IMT at baseline was 0.77±0.18 mm. The overall progression rate of IMT in 4 years was 0.037±0.006 mm. No significant difference in IMT progression was found between fosinopril, pravastatin, or matching placebo. IMT after 4 years was predicted by IMT at baseline, age, gender, pulse pressure, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels. Furthermore, a higher incidence of clinical events was observed in subjects with an IMT >1 mm after a mean follow-up of 46±7 months (hazard ratio, 3.13; 95% confidence interval, 1.59 to 6.16; P=0.001). Conclusions— In subjects with an increased UAE, treatment with fosinopril and pravastatin showed no significant effect on carotid IMT. Furthermore, an IMT <1 mm at baseline is an important indicator for event-free survival.
Design and evaluation of a disc-type magnetically geared PM wind generator

This paper presents the design, construction and performance evaluation of a disc-type magnetically geared permanent magnet (MGPM) machine for wind power application. The electromagnetic design for both magnetically coupled and decoupled configurations are described. Considering the complex structure of a MGPM machine, special attention is also paid to the mechanical design aspects. The optimized results show that a torque density in excess of 100 kNm/m3 could be achieved for the active gear part. However, owing to excessive losses in the low speed rotor, the prototype exhibited inferior performance. The design related aspects and issues are analyzed and discussed in detail in an attempt to outline problem areas in the design process. Relevant recommendations are also given for future design improvements.
Symptoms among Chilli Grinders

In countries where the consumption of chillies is high, the grinding of dried red chillies into a fine powder is a new industry. The majority of workers employed in this process suffer from sneezing, watering of the nose, and cough, all of which are maximal at the beginning of their employment. They develop tolerance within a variable period, after which this triad of symptoms occurs only when the atmosphere becomes heavily contaminated with chilli-powder or on inhalation of the volatilized capsaicin which is liberated when the roasted chillies are being ground. A burning sensation of the skin also occurs in most of the workers, especially when the skin is moist. Loss of weight is another common feature. All these symptoms are temporary, last only during the period of exposure, and do not produce radiological changes.
Ancient vs. recent processes as factors shaping the genetic variation of the European wild boar: are the effects of the last glaciation still detectable?

The European wild boar is an important game species, subjected to local extinctions and translocations in the past, and currently enormously and worryingly expanding in some areas where management is urgently required. Understanding the relative roles of ancient and recent events in shaping the genetic structure of this species is therefore not only an interesting scientific issue, but it represents also the basis for addressing future management strategies. In addition, several pig breeds descend from the European wild boar, but the geographical location of the domestication area(s) and the possible introgression of pig genomes into wild populations are still open questions. Here, we analysed the genetic variation in different wild boar populations in Europe. Ten polymorphic microsatellites were typed in 252 wild boars and the mtDNA control region was sequenced in a subset of 145 individuals. Some samples from different pig breeds were also analysed. Our results, which were obtained considering also 612 published mtDNA sequences, suggest that (i) most populations are similarly differentiated, but the major discontinuity is found along the Alps; (ii) except for the Italian populations, European wild boars show the signature of a postglacial demographic expansion; (iii) Italian populations seem to preserve a high proportion of preglaciation diversity; (iv) the demographic decline which occurred in some areas in the last few centuries did not produce a noticeable reduction of genetic variation; (v) signs of human‐mediated gene flow among populations are weak, although in some regions the effects of translocations are detectable and a low degree of pig introgression can be identified; (vi) the hypothesis of an independent domestication centre in Italy is not supported by our data, which in turn confirm that Central European wild boar might have represented an important source for domestic breeds. We can therefore conclude that recent human activities had a limited effect on the wild boar genetic structure. It follows that areas with high variation and differentiation represent natural reservoirs of genetic diversity to be protected avoiding translocations. In this context controlling some populations by hunting is not expected to affect significantly genetic variation in this species.
ROS generators affect quality parameters and apoptosis markers differently in red deer spermatozoa

19 Fe/ascorbate, hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and hypoxanthine/xanthine oxidase (XOD) are commonly used for 20 inducing oxidative stress on spermatozoa. A comparative study of these agents was carried out on thawed 21 spermatozoa from red deer. First, we tested a high, medium and low concentration of each agent: 100, 10 and 22 1 μM Fe (hydroxil radical generator); 1 mM, 100 and 10 μM H2O2; and 100, 10 and 1 mU/mL XOD 23 (superoxide and H2O2 generator), incubating at 37 ◦C for 180 min. Intracellular ROS (H2DCFDA) increased 24 with dose and time, and similarly for the three systems at each concentration level. Motility and mitochondrial 25 membrane potential (∆ψm) were considerably decreased by H2O2 (1 mM and 100 μM) and XOD (100 and 26 10 mU/mL). Only H2O2 1 mM reduced viability. The antioxidant Trolox (10 μM) reduced intracellular ROS, 27 but could not prevent H2O2 or XOD effects. In a second experiment, we used YO-PRO-1 and M540 as 28 apoptotic and membrane-stability markers, respectively. Only H2O2 increased the proportion of apoptotic and 29 membrane-destabilized spermatozoa. Catalase added to XOD prevented ∆ψm loss, confirming that H2O2 was 30 the causative agent, not superoxide. In a third experiment, caspase activation was tested using the FLICA 31 probe. Only H2O2 increased the proportion of viable spermatozoa with activated caspases. There were 32 important differences between ROS generators, being H2O2 the most cytotoxic. Although H2O2 and XOD 33 caused ∆ψm dissipation, it did not reflect on increasing apoptotic markers. We hypothesize that a 34 subpopulation of spermatozoa may lack apoptotic markers. 35 Page 2 of 32 reproduction@bioscientifica.com Manuscript submitted for review to Reproduction
Lack of effect of cell-wall targeted antibacterials on biofilm formation and antifungal susceptibility of Candidaspecies

The use of central venous catheters (CVC) and broad-spectrum antibacterials are among the main risk factors for the development of candidemia in patients admitted to intensive care units (ICU). It is known that some antibacterials increase the resistance of these yeasts to azole antifungals. Thus, the aim of this research was to determine whether yeast present in CVC colonizations previously exposed to cell-wall targeted antibacterials benefit from a reduction in susceptibility to fluconazole and voriconazole, facilitating their ability to form biofilms. Candida albicans, C. tropicalis, C. glabrata, C. parapsilosis and C. guilhermondii were seeded into antibacterial (cefepime, meropenem, vancomycin, and piperacillin-tazobactam) gradient plates produced in Mueller-Hinton Agar. The susceptibility to fluconazole and voriconazole and the biofilm formation of the yeasts were tested before and after exposure to the antibacterials. None of the antibacterials exerted a significant effect on the in vitro susceptibility of the yeasts to the antifungal agents or on their ability to form biofilms. These results suggest that increased candidemia in ICU patients is not attributable to possible alterations in the yeasts, but is more likely caused by a weakening of the patient's general condition after long exposure to infection.
WinIPS: WiFi-Based Non-Intrusive Indoor Positioning System With Online Radio Map Construction and Adaptation

WiFi fingerprinting-based indoor positioning system (IPS) has become the most promising solution for indoor localization. However, there are two major drawbacks that hamper its large-scale implementation. First, an offline site survey process is required which is extremely time-consuming and labor-intensive. Second, the RSS fingerprint database built offline is vulnerable to environmental dynamics. To address these issues comprehensively, in this paper, we propose WinIPS, a WiFi-based non-intrusive IPS that enables automatic online radio map construction and adaptation, aiming for calibration-free indoor localization. WinIPS can capture data packets transmitted in existing WiFi traffic and extract the RSS and MAC addresses of both WiFi access points (APs) and mobile devices in a non-intrusive manner. APs can be used as online reference points for radio map construction. A novel Gaussian process regression model is proposed to approximate the non-uniform RSS distribution of an indoor environment. Extensive experiments were conducted, which demonstrated that WinIPS outperforms existing solutions in terms of both RSS estimation accuracy and localization accuracy.
Mg2+ coordination in catalytic sites of F1-ATPase.

Coordination of the Mg2+ ion in Mg-nucleotide substrates by amino acid residue side chains in the catalytic site of Escherichia coli F1-ATPase was investigated. From the X-ray structure of the mitochondrial enzyme [Abrahams, J. P., Leslie, A. G. W. , Lutter, R. , and Walker, J. E. (1994) Nature 370, 621-628], it may be inferred that the hydroxyl of betaThr-156 is a direct ligand of Mg2+, whereas the carboxyls of betaGlu-181, betaGlu-185, and betaAsp-242 might contribute via intervening water molecules. Elimination of each respective functional group by site-directed mutagenesis, followed by determination of Mg-nucleotide and uncomplexed nucleotide binding affinities using a tryptophan probe, showed that betaThr-156, betaGlu-185, and betaAsp-242 are all involved in Mg2+ coordination, whereas betaGlu-181 is not. A derived structural model for the octahedral coordination around the Mg2+ ion is presented. The results indicate that the ADP-containing site in the X-ray structure is the catalytic site of highest affinity. Correct Mg2+ coordination is required for catalytic activity at physiological rates. Elimination of any one of the Mg2+-coordinating residues led to complete loss of Mg2+-dependent nucleotide binding cooperativity of the catalytic sites.
Sur la régularité des ondes progressives à la surface de l'eau

Resume Il a ete etabli par H. Lewy (1952) qu’une surface libre hydrodynamique qui est au moins C1 dans un voisinage d’un point q situe a la surface libre, est automatiquement Cω, eventuellement dans un voisinage plus petit de q. Ce resultat local est un exemple qui precedait la theorie developee par D. Kinderlehrer, L. Nirenberg et J. Spruck (1977 79) demontrant que dans beaucoup de cas, des surfaces libres ne peuvent pas etre d’une regularite arbitraire, et en particulier ils existent m,α tels que, si la surface en question est Cm,α, alors automatiquement elle est Cω. Nous allons presenter leurs methodes de transformation de Legendre/hodographe partielle, et les prolongements de ces methodes aux problemes en plusieures dimensions et avec la tension superficielle.
Users' Willingness to Share Data on the Internet: Perceived Benefits and Caveats

One of the major challenges of the ongoing digitalization and the ubiquitous usage of pervasive computing in all fields of our lives is to steer a sensible balance between benefits and drawbacks of using the Internet and to implement an appropriate data handling when using digital media. The broad availability of data, in line with the enormous velocity of information retrieval, is open to abuse and malpractice, with privacy threats as the most serious barrier. The consumers and their attitudes and behaviors when using the Internet play an important role in the discussion about privacy protection. The aim of the current study was to analyze Internet usage behaviors and users’ willingness to share their data when using digital services and social network sites. In a two step empirical approach, we first explore users’ perceptions of privacy in the context of Internet usage and social network sites by means of a focus group approach. In a second step, a quantitative study was carried out. Using a conjoint measurement approach, user scenarios were created from combinations of different levels of anonymization extent, data type, and benefits from sharing the data. The respondents’ task was to decide under which conditions they would be willing to share their data. 80 volunteers (50,6% women) between 14 and 60 years of age participated in the conjoint study.
The effect of spine on the bounding dynamic performance of legged system

The effect of the spinal joint on the dynamic performance of a legged system in bounding gait is presented in this paper. We employ the simplified quadruped passive model to discuss the underlying mechanism of the bounding gait pattern. A comparison between the dynamic model with and without the spinal joint suggests that the model with a spinal joint is superior to the model with a rigid body in dynamic indicators including the vertical fluctuation of the centre of mass (CoM), leg forces and energy consumption. The effects of different initial included angles of the spinal joint and different initial vertical positions of the CoM on the dynamics of bounding are also analysed. We found that a low level of the energy consumption and leg forces can be obtained with the proper initial included angle and initial vertical position of the CoM, and there exists an optimal situation for each horizontal running velocity that the lowest energy consumption and the lowest leg forces could be obtained at the same time. Graphical abstract
Serum Galactomannan Screening for Diagnosis of Invasive Pulmonary Aspergillosis in Children After Stem Cell Transplantation or with High-Risk Leukemia

Both transplanted and leukemia patients are at high risk (HR) for invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA). Methods for rapid diagnosis are crucial. Our objective was to investigate the impact of serial serum galactomannan assay (GMA) screening on IPA diagnosis in children. Between January 2010 and December 2011, all children following stem cell transplantation (SCT) or with HR leukemia were prospectively included. Serum samples for GMA were taken once-twice weekly. Results >. 5 were considered positive. Patients suspected of having IPA were stratified as possible, probable, and definite. Forty-six children (median age, 8 years) were included, 38 after SCT (32 allogeneic), 8 with HR leukemia. A total of 510 samples were taken; screening period was 1–6 months for 34 patients. GMA was negative in 28 patients, all but one without suspicion of IPA. Eighteen patients had positive GMA: while four (22%) were upgraded to probable IPA, fourteen (78%) were considered as false positives (FP), some associated with piperacillin-tazobactam treatment. GMA sensitivity and specificity were 0.8 and 0.66, respectively; positive- and negative-predictive values (PPV, NPV) were 0.22 and 0.96, respectively. GMA may have a role in evaluating HR children for IPA. Both NPV and FP rates are high. The cost benefit of early detection versus over-diagnosis should be further studied.
Diffuse abnormalities of the trachea and main bronchi.

713 bnormalities of the central airways may produce symptoms such as cough, dyspnea, wheezing, or stridor, but there is frequently a delay in diagnosis. If central airways abnormalities are clinically suspected, further evaluation of tracheobronchial lesions is best performed with CT. A variety of diseases may affect the airways, resulting in either focal or diffuse narrowing or enlargement. This pictorial essay focuses on diffuse abnormalities of the major airways. We recognize that the distinction of diffuse from focal airway abnormalities is somewhat arbitrary and is complicated by the fact that many diseases can cause either focal or diffuse airway narrowing. For purposes of this review, however, we will discuss only those diseases that most commonly result in long-segment or multifocal airway disease.
Evaluation of Sensititre Automated Reading and Incubation System for Automated Reading of Sensititre Broth Microdilution Susceptibility Plates

ABSTRACT The Sensititre Automated Reading and Incubation System (ARIS) performs automated reading of Sensititre identification and susceptibility plates. ARIS susceptibility results were compared to manually read results. A total of 212 isolates (3,352 organism-antimicrobial agent combinations) yielded 99.4% essential agreement and categorical error rates of 0.2% minor, 0% major, and 1.0% very major. ARIS yields accurate susceptibility results compared to plates read manually.
Stylized Facts as an Instrument for Literature Review and Cumulative Information Systems Research

The accumulation of scientific knowledge is an important objective of information systems (IS) research. Although different review approaches exist in the continuum between narrative reviews and meta-analyses, most reviews in IS are narrative or descriptive—with all related drawbacks concerning objectivity and reliability—because available underlying sources in IS do typically not fulfil the requirements of formal approaches such as meta-analyses. To discuss how cumulative IS research can be effectively advanced using a more formalized approach fitting the current situation in IS research, in this paper, we point out the potential of stylized facts (SFs). SFs are interesting, sometimes counterintuitive patterns in empirical data that focus on the most relevant aspects of observable phenomena by abstracting from details (stylization). SFs originate from the field of economics and have been successfully used in different fields of research for years. In this paper, we discuss their potential and challenges for literature reviews in IS. We supplement our argumentation with an application example reporting our experience with SFs. Because SFs show considerable potential for cumulative research, they seem to be a promising instrument for literature reviews and especially for theory development in IS.
New Zealand general practitioners' characteristics and workload: the National Primary Medical Care Survey.

AIMS To describe the characteristics and workload of New Zealand general medical practitioners (GPs). METHODS Data were collected from a stratified random sample of GPs as part of the The National Primary Medical Care Survey carried out in 2001. RESULTS Data were submitted by 244 practitioners; a 62% response rate. Women made up 63% of the GP workforce aged under 40 years, but only 19% of those aged over 50 years. New Zealand graduates made up 69% of GPs; graduates from other areas occupied particular niches in the GP workforce. Each week, GPs worked (on average) 4 days and saw 102 patients. Eighty percent undertook after-hours work, and the average on-call roster was 1-in-8. At least 8% of visits to GPs occurred after-hours. Parameters of workload were lower for women and for those working in community-owned clinics, and higher for those working outside cities. CONCLUSIONS An increasing proportion of GPs are women, and more GPs are working part time. In addition, if the changes in primary healthcare add to GPs' responsibilities, then more doctors will be needed. At present, GPs' workload is high in rural areas, which suggests inadequate recruitment; the distribution of GPs is a more important workforce issue than absolute numbers.
Portfolio Flows to Emerging Capital Markets: Do Corporate Transparency and Public Governance Matter?

This paper focuses on flows to emerging capital markets (ECMs) and examines the importance of corporate transparency and public governance in attracting portfolio flows to ECMs. This paper's empirical investigation centers on the hypothesis that ceteris paribus, ECMs with better quality accounting standards and good governance attract higher levels of portfolio equity and bond flows. To assess the incremental impact of each of these factors, a pooled time series, cross-sectional model was econometrically tested for 17 ECMS over the 1998-2002 time period. Our empirical analysis demonstrates a positive association between public governance, corporate transparency, and portfolio flows after controlling for other macroeconomic factors. The results suggest that good public governance and high accounting quality are important determinants of portfolio flows to ECMs. Finally, the paper establishes that while portfolio equity flows are significantly attracted to ECMs with strong democratic institutions, there is no significant association between portfolio bond flows and the presence of democratic institutions.
Effects of Ocimum basilicum L. extract on experimental acute inflammation.

UNLABELLED Our study investigated the effects of Ocimum basilicum L. tincture (1:10) in acute inflammation induced with turpentine oil (i.m. 0.6 ml/100 g b.w.) in Wistar male rats. MATERIAL AND METHODS The results were compared with those from a positive control group with experimental inflammation and a group treated with diclofenac (30 mg/100 g b.w.). The effects were assessed by measuring total leukocyte count and differential leukocyte count expressed as a percentage, a test of in vitro phagocytosis, and the evaluation of nitric oxide synthesis by measuring the metabolites, nitrites and nitrates, and the co-product citrulline. RESULTS Ocimum basilicum tincture significantly reduced the total leukocyte count, monocyte percentage, activation of circulating phagocytes, but had a slight inhibitory effect on NO synthesis. Compared to diclofenac, Ocimum basilicum tincture had a smaller inhibitory effect on all tested parameters. CONCLUSION The tested Ocimum basilicum tincture has important anti-inflammatory effects on bone marrow acute phase response and a reduced one on NO synthesis.