Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Stability of glucose in plasma with different anticoagulants

Abstract Background: People with hyperglycemia, especially those who are pregnant, depend on accurate blood glucose measurements for correct diagnosis of diabetes and monitoring. Glycolysis after blood draw, however, decreases glucose concentrations in blood that is collected at room temperature in the absence of a stabilizer. Cold temperatures (4°C) inhibit glycolysis; but prompt cooling and processing of each blood sample in the cold is difficult to achieve in routine clinical practice. Therefore, preservatives are used to stabilize glucose during blood collection and processing procedures that are performed at room temperature. This study examined the effect of different anticoagulants (EDTA, heparin, oxalate), with or without glycolysis inhibitors (NaF, citrate), on the stability of glucose in plasma samples – obtained from blood that was collected and stored at room temperature for up to 24 h. Methods: Venous blood was collected from 60 volunteers; each donor blood sample was divided into six tubes, each one containing a different anti-glycolysis–anticoagulant composition. Terumo VENOSAFE™ Glycemia tubes contained NaF/citrate buffer)/Na2EDTA; NaF/Na-heparin; and NaF/K2oxalate. Sarstedt tubes contained NaF/citrate; NaF/Na2EDTA; and K2EDTA. At 0, 2, 8 and 24 h, plasma was obtained for glucose measurements using the Glucose Hexokinase and Glucose Oxidase methods, and the ADVIA® 1800 Clinical Chemistry System. Results: Both methods demonstrated minimal glycolysis by 24 h (<3.8%) for the three Terumo VENOSAFE™ Glycemia tubes, and the Sarstedt S-Monovette GlucoEXACT tube that contained NaF/citrate. Glycolysis was higher in tubes containing NaF/Na2EDTA-alone (11.7%) and K2EDTA-alone (85%). Conclusions: Terumo VENOSAFE™ Glycemia tubes (containing NaF/citrate buffer/Na2EDTA; NaF/Na-heparin; and NaF/K2oxalate) and the Sarstedt S-Monovette® GlucoEXACT tubes (containing NaF/citrate) are suitable for shipping venous whole blood samples to the testing laboratory within 24 h at room temperature.
Neuronal activity in the second somatosensory cortex of monkeys (Macaca mulatta) during active touch of gratings.

1. In penetrations made into the upper bank of the lateral sulcus in two monkeys (Macaca mulatta), cells were isolated from the second somatosensory cortex (SII). During single-cell recordings, animals performed an active touch task in which they rubbed their fingertips over pairs of gratings differing in groove width and indicated which was the smoother surface. Hand motion and downward applied force were measured and recorded during these strokes. 2. In this survey, 151 penetrations provided observations on 352 cells that responded to passive stimulation of the digits or during performance of the active touch task. Consistent with previous reports, receptive fields (RFs) in SII were large, often multi-digit, and frequently included a portion or all of the hand and occasionally the arm. Modality was determined for 92 of 127 fully characterized cells, and included 70 cutaneous, 5 deep, 11 Pacinian corpuscle, and 6 joint cells. Characteristic of SII, modality could not be defined in 35 cells that were unresponsive to passive stimulation or whose responses varied widely over time. 3. Response properties of a subgroup of 79 cells in SII resembled those previously studied in the primary somatosensory cortex (SI) and ventroposterior lateral nucleus of the thalamus (VPL) using identical procedures. Correlation analysis revealed that 29 of these cells, like a portion of cells in SI, responded to changes in groove width independent of force or velocity. This selectivity could be considered a form of feature specificity. 4. In contrast to SI and VPL, transient responses to the fingertips contacting small elevated metal bars, which demarcated the beginning, middle, and end of strokes across the gratings, were seen in a majority of SII cells (109/127). During contact with bars, 89 cells displayed excitatory responses and 20 cells showed suppressed activity. Twelve cells, which responded to bars in isolation from gratings, provided a possible example of increased stimulus selectivity. 5. Passive stimulation failed to activate 16 cells that responded, in some cases differentially to gratings or force, during the task. Responses of nine other cells demonstrated task-dependent modulation in the form of response reduction or enhancement during selected portions of the stroke. In these same cells, response changes did not occur under comparable stimulus conditions in other portions of the stroke that differed only in behavioral context. These types of selective response modulations, not noted in our previous studies of VPL or SI, suggest that mechanisms regulating sensory inputs may affect SII. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
1 The Role of Physical Factors in Cell Differentiation , Tissue Repair and Regeneration

Physical factors may induce significant biological effects, therefore they can be applied in biomedical and biotechnological fields in order to drive and modulate biological processes. It is well known that both humoral and physical factors (in particular, but not limited to the mechanical ones) are necessary for maintaining tissue homeostasis. Both biochemical and physical factors can induce the cells to reprogram their functions to adapt dynamically to the environmental conditions.
Complications of intravenous catheterization in horses.

INTRODUCTION Intravenous catheterization is a necessity for continuous administration of intravenous fluids and for intermittent intravenous access to avoid discomfort and potential complications of repeated needle insertions into the vein. Intravenous catheterization is commonly performed and well tolerated in horses, but catheter associated complications have been reported. The most commonly reported complication is thrombophlebitis, but others such as venous air embolism, exsanguination and catheter fragmentation may also occur. This article aims to review clinical signs, pathogenesis, diagnosis, therapy, risk factors and prevention of common catheter associated complications.
Jointly cooperative decode-and-forward relaying for secondary spectrum access

A new transmission protocol for joint cooperation between a primary and secondary user in a cognitive radio system is proposed. If successful decoding is achieved, the primary/secondary transmitters behave as relays for the other system. With more efficient use of the communication resource, performance is enhanced. The proposed scheme builds on the work in [1] and offers improved outage probabilities for both the primary and secondary systems. The paper provides a full characterization of the Markov Chain describing the protocol behavior and a closed form expression for the stationary distribution of the chain. Furthermore, exact computation or tight approximations for the outage probabilities for all states of the chain are derived. Simulation results exhibit a performance improvement between 22 and 48 percent for primary system and an uniform decrease of outage probability for secondary system.
Do Incumbents Improve Service Quality in Response to Entry? Evidence from Airlines' On-Time Performance

We examine if and how incumbent firms respond to entry and entry threats using nonprice modes of competition. Our analysis focuses on airline service quality. We find that incumbent on-time performance OTP actually worsens in response to entry, and even entry threats, by Southwest Airlines. Since Southwest is both a top-performing airline in OTP and a low-cost carrier LCC, we conjecture that this response by incumbents may be due to a cost-cutting strategy that allows for intense postentry price competition along with preentry deterrence, or it may be due to a postentry differentiation strategy along with preentry accommodation. Further analysis of entry and entry threats by other airlines is inconclusive, providing evidence that is partially consistent with both hypotheses. Nonetheless, the phenomenon of worsening OTP can only be observed when the potential entrant is a LCC Southwest, Jet Blue, and AirTran. Data, as supplemental material, are available at http://dx.doi. org/10.1287/mnsc.2014. 1918 . This paper was accepted by by Bruno Cassiman, business strategy.
Some Properties of Nonstar Steps in Addition Chains and New Cases Where the Scholz Conjecture Is True

Let ? (n) be the smallest possible length of addition chains for a positive integer n. Then Scholz conjectured that ? (2n? 1)? n+? (n)? 1, which still remains open. It is known that the Scholz conjecture is true when ? (n)? 4, where ? (n) is the number of 1's in the binary representation of n. In this paper, we give some properties of nonstar steps in addition chains and prove that the Scholz conjecture is true for infinitely many new integers including the case where ? (n)=5.
Plasma membrane cholesterol: a critical determinant of cellular energetics and tubular resistance to attack.

BACKGROUND Cholesterol is a major component of plasma membranes, forming membrane microdomains ("rafts" or "caveolae") via hydrophobic interactions with sphingolipids. We have recently demonstrated that tubule cholesterol levels rise by 18 hours following diverse forms of injury, and this change helps to protect kidneys from further damage (so-called acquired cytoresistance). The present study was undertaken to better define the effects of membrane cholesterol/microdomains on tubule homeostasis and cell susceptibility to superimposed attack. METHODS Plasma membrane cholesterol was perturbed in normal mouse proximal tubular segments with either cholesterol esterase (CE) or cholesterol oxidase (CO). Alternatively, cholesterol-sphingomyelin complexes were altered by sphingomyelinase (SMase) treatment. Changes in cell energetics (ATP/ADP ratios + ouabain), viability [lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release], phospholipid profiles, and susceptibility to injury (Fe-induced oxidant stress, PLA2, Ca2+ ionophore) were determined. The impacts of selected cytoprotectants were also assessed. RESULTS Within 15 minutes, CE and CO each induced approximately 90% ATP/ADP ratio suppressions. These were seen prior to lethal cell injury (LDH release), and it was ouabain resistant (suggesting decreased ATP production, not increased consumption). SMase also depressed ATP without inducing cell death. After 45 minutes, CE and CO each caused marked cytotoxicity (up to 70% LDH release). However, different injury mechanisms were operative since (1) CE, but not CO, toxicity significantly altered cell phospholipid profiles, and (2) 2 mmol/L glycine completely blocked CE- but not CO-mediated cell death. Antioxidants also failed to attenuate CO cytotoxicity. Disturbing cholesterol/microdomains with a sublytic CE dose dramatically increased tubule susceptibility to Fe-mediated oxidative stress and Ca2+ overload, but not PLA2-mediated damage. CONCLUSION Intact plasma membrane cholesterol/microdomains are critical for maintaining cell viability both under basal conditions and during superimposed attack. When perturbed, complex injury pathways can be impacted, with potential implications for both the induction of acute tubular damage and the emergence of the postinjury cytoresistance state.
A Diary Study of Self-Compassion, Upward Social Comparisons, and Body Image-Related Outcomes.

BACKGROUND Self-compassion may protect individuals experiencing poor body image and associated maladaptive outcomes. The purpose of the study was to examine within-person associations (whilst controlling for between-person differences) between appearance-related self-compassion, appearance-related threats (operationalised as upward appearance comparisons), and body image-related variables, namely, social physique anxiety, drive for thinness, and body dissatisfaction. METHODS A diary methodology was used whereby young women (n = 126; Mage = 21.26) responded to brief online surveys three times per day (11am, 3pm, and 7pm) every second day for one week (i.e. a total of 12 measurement points). RESULTS Results of mixed linear modeling revealed that both state appearance-related upward comparisons and self-compassion independently predicted all three outcomes in a positive and negative fashion, respectively. No significant interaction effects between state appearance-related upward comparisons and self-compassion were found. CONCLUSIONS The results suggested that appearance-based self-compassion was important, not just when there was a potential threat to body image via upward appearance comparisons. The findings highlight the importance of fostering self-compassion on a daily level.
Comparison of odor-active compounds in grapes and wines from vitis vinifera and non-foxy American grape species.

Native American grape (Vitis) species have many desirable properties for winegrape breeding, but hybrids of these non-vinifera wild grapes with Vitis vinifera often have undesirable aromas. Other than the foxy-smelling compounds in Vitis labrusca and Vitis rotundifolia , the aromas inherent to American Vitis species are not well characterized. In this paper, the key odorants in wine produced from the American grape species Vitis riparia and Vitis cinerea were characterized in comparison to wine produced from European winegrapes (V. vinifera). Volatile compounds were extracted by solid-phase microextraction (SPME) and identified by gas chromatography-olfactometry/mass spectrometry (GC-O/MS). On the basis of flavor dilution values, most grape-derived compounds with fruity and floral aromas were at similar potency, but non-vinifera wines had higher concentrations of odorants with vegetative and earthy aromas: eugenol, cis-3-hexenol, 1,8-cineole, 3-isobutyl-2-methoxypyrazine (IBMP), and 3-isopropyl-2-methoxypyrazine (IPMP). Elevated concentrations of these compounds in non-vinifera wines were confirmed by quantitative GC-MS. Concentrations of IBMP and IPMP were well above sensory threshold in both non-vinifera wines. In a follow-up study, IBMP and IPMP were surveyed in 31 accessions of V. riparia, V. rupestris, and V. cinerea. Some accessions had concentrations of >350 pg/g IBMP or >30 pg/g IPMP, well above concentrations reported in previous studies of harvest-ripe vinifera grapes. Methyl anthranilate and 2-aminoacetophenone, key odorants responsible for the foxiness of V. labrusca grapes, were undetectable in both the V. riparia and V. cinerea wines (<10 μg/L).
Cardiopulmonary effects of prolonged anesthesia via propofol-medetomidine infusion in ponies.

OBJECTIVE To determine cardiopulmonary effects of total IV anesthesia with propofol and medetomidine in ponies and effect of atipamezole on recovery. ANIMALS 10 ponies. PROCEDURE After sedation was induced by IV administration of medetomidine (7 microg/kg of body weight), anesthesia was induced by IV administration of propofol 12 mg/kg) and maintained for 4 hours with infusions of medetomidine (3.5 microg/kg per hour) and propofol 10.07 to 0.11 mg/kg per minute). Spontaneous respiration was supplemented with oxygen. Cardiopulmonary measurements and blood concentrations of propofol were determined during anesthesia. Five ponies received atipamezole (60 microg/kg) during recovery. RESULTS During anesthesia, mean cardiac index and heart rate increased significantly until 150 minutes, then decreased until cessation of anesthesia. Mean arterial pressure and systemic vascular resistance index increased significantly between 150 minutes and 4 hours. In 4 ponies, PaO2 decreased to < 60 mm Hg. Mean blood propofol concentrations from 20 minutes after induction onwards ranged from 2.3 to 3.5 microg/ml. Recoveries were without complications and were complete within 28 minutes with atipamezole administration and 39 minutes without atipamezole administration. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE During total IV anesthesia of long duration with medetomidine-propofol, cardiovascular function is comparable to or better than under inhalation anesthesia. This technique may prove suitable in equids in which prompt recovery is essential; however, in some animals severe hypoxia may develop and oxygen supplementation may be necessary.
Sensorless variable speed single-phase induction motor drive system based on direct rotor flux orientation

The single-phase induction motor (SPIM) is one of the electrical machines more used in the World, and can be found in several fractional and sub-fractional horsepower applications in houses, offices, shoppings, farms, and industries. The introduction of more sophisticated applications has required the use of variable speed drives for SPIM, where the adoption of sensorless techniques is the more reasonable option for speed control due to the low cost of this electrical machine. A proposal for sensorless variable speed SPIM drive based on direct rotor field orientation techniques is presented in this paper. None transformation is used in order to eliminate the asymmetry of the stator windings of the SPIM. The rotor speed is estimated from an flux observer, which is based on two independent linear feedback control systems. The speed and flux estimatives are used in two control loop based on PID regulators, which determine the voltages to be applied to the SPIM windings by a three-legs VSI inverter. Using computer simulations, two situations are considered in order to demonstrate the satisfactory performance of the proposed sensorless speed control for SPIM drives: variations on rotor speed reference and the application of mechanical load.
Rapid and sensitive detection of mumps virus RNA directly from clinical samples by real‐time PCR

A rapid, sensitive, and specific assay to detect mumps virus RNA directly from clinical specimens using a real‐time PCR assay was developed. The assay was capable of detecting five copies of standard plasmid containing cDNA from the mumps virus F gene. No cross‐reactions were observed with other members of Paramyxoviridae, or with viruses or bacteria known to be meningitis pathogens. Seventy‐three clinical samples consisting of throat swabs collected from patients with parotitis, and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) collected from patients with aseptic meningitis, were examined with a real‐time PCR assay developed by the authors, reverse‐transcription nested‐PCR (RT‐n‐PCR), and virus isolation using cell culture. Like the RT‐n‐PCR assay, the real‐time PCR assay could detect mumps virus RNA in approximately 70% of both throat swabs and CSF samples, while, by tissue culture, mumps virus was isolated from only approximately 20% of CSF and 50% of throat swab samples. In addition, the real‐time PCR assay could be developed easily into a quantitative assay for clinical specimens containing more than 1,800 copies of mumps virus RNA/ml by using serial dilutions of the standard plasmid. The results suggest that the real‐time PCR assay is useful for identification of mumps virus infections, not only in typical cases, but also in suspected cases, which show only symptoms of meningitis or encephalitis. J. Med. Virol. 75:470–474, 2005. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Comparison of alternative analytical techniques for the characterisation of the human serum proteome in HUPO Plasma Proteome Project

Based on the same HUPO reference specimen (C1‐serum) with the six proteins of highest abundance depleted by immunoaffinity chromatography, we have compared five proteomics approaches, which were (1) intact protein fractionation by anion‐exchange chromatography followed by 2‐DE‐MALDI‐TOF‐MS/MS for protein identification (2‐DE strategy); (2) intact protein fractionation by 2‐D HPLC followed by tryptic digestion of each fraction and microcapillary RP‐HPLC/microESI‐MS/MS identification (protein 2‐D HPLC fractionation strategy); (3) protein digestion followed by automated online microcapillary 2‐D HPLC (strong cation‐exchange chromatography (SCX)‐RPC) with IT microESI‐MS/MS; (online shotgun strategy); (4) same as (3) with the SCX step performed offline (offline shotgun strategy) and (5) same as (4) with the SCX fractions reanalysed by optimised nanoRP‐HPLC‐nanoESI‐MS/MS (offline shotgun‐nanospray strategy). All five approaches yielded complementary sets of protein identifications. The total number of unique proteins identified by each of these five approaches was (1) 78, (2) 179, (3) 131, (4) 224 and (5) 330 respectively. In all, 560 unique proteins were identified. One hundred and sixty‐five proteins were identified through two or more peptides, which could be considered a high‐confidence identification. Only 37 proteins were identified by all five approaches. The 2‐DE approach yielded more information on the pI‐altered isoforms of some serum proteins and the relative abundance of identified proteins. The protein prefractionation strategy slightly improved the capacity to detect proteins of lower abundance. Optimising the separation at the peptide level and improving the detection sensitivity of ESI‐MS/MS were more effective than fractionation of intact proteins in increasing the total number of proteins identified. Overall, electrophoresis and chromatography, coupled respectively with MALDI‐TOF/TOF‐MS and ESI‐MS/MS, identified complementary sets of serum proteins.
Local refinement of phonetic boundaries: a general framework and its application using different transition models

In the last few years we have been experimenting with an automatic phonetic segmentation and labeling system based on a modified HMM phonetic recognizer followed by a local phonetic boundary refinement system. During this period we have used different approaches for the local refinement, including fuzzy rules and neural networks. In this paper we present a unified framework for the local refinement of phonetic boundaries that has allowed us to thoroughly evaluate and compare these approaches and yet another one based on gaussian mixture models. Results show that neural networks outperform the rest of the approaches in speaker dependent mode, achieving a precision almost equal to a manual segmentation. In speaker independent mode, however, neural networks and fuzzy rules achieve almost the same performance, a bit worse than a manual segmentation.
Cost efficiency estimates of maize production in Nepal: a case study of the Chitwan district.

This study was carried out to analyze the cost efficiency of maize production in the chitwan district, nepal with a view to predict economic efficiencies using stochastic frontier cost function. The primary data were collected from 180 maize farmers representing 12 village development committees (VDcs) including one municipality of the district during May–June 2005 for the cropping year 2004–2005. Among various factors, use of manure accounted the highest share in the production cost followed by labour and tractor costs. The maximum-likelihood (ML) estimates of the parameters revealed that estimated coefficients of cost of tractor, animal power, labour, fertilizer, manure, seed and maize output gave positive coefficients and were significant at 5% level. Further, quantitative estimates obtained from the cost function shows the mean cost efficiency of 1.634 indicating that an average maize farms from the study incurred about 63% costs above the frontier cost-an indication of inefficiency. Also, the significant years of schooling of the household head and maize area in the inefficiency model indicated the positive effect of these factors on cost efficiency of the farms. From the analysis of scale effect among maize farms, it was revealed that the maize farms experienced an increasing return to scale, that is, the output increased more proportionately than the total production cost.