Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Parity-Check-Concatenated Polar Codes

In this letter, concatenation of parity-check and polar codes is proposed to improve error correction performance. In addition, a heuristic construction of the parity-check-concatenated (PCC) polar codes is proposed. Simulation results show that the PCC polar codes with the heuristic construction have evident performance gains over the cyclic redundancy check-concatenated polar codes.
C-reactive protein in vulnerable coronary plaques

Background: An increased level of serum C-reactive protein (CRP) is a known prognostic factor for acute coronary events and sudden cardiac death, and it is associated with coronary calcification. CRP is expressed in coronary arteries, but its role in the development of coronary plaques is unclear. Aim: To investigate CRP immunoreactivity in relation to the severity of coronary artery disease and plaque morphology in human left anterior descending coronary arteries (LAD). Methods: A prospective, consecutive autopsy series of 66 patients (mean age 63.4 years) in Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland. Results: CRP immunoreactivity was seen in 59% of the cases. In logistic regression analysis with age, sex and body mass index as confounders, CRP immunoreactivity in LAD was associated with >50% stenosis and plaque calcification. All three cases with acute coronary thrombosis due to rupture or erosion of the plaque showed a clear immunopositive reaction. CRP-positive cells were never detected in normal arteries, but were often found in early fibrous plaques (75%) and almost invariably present in the shoulder area of plaques with necrotic core (96%). CRP immunoreactivity adjacent to calcified areas in more stable plaques (71%) was less consistent with one-third of these plaques showing no immunoreactivity. Conclusions: CRP immunoreactivity is associated with the progression of atherosclerosis, and especially with unstable coronary plaques. The immunoreactivity could cease at the stable calcified stages of atherosclerosis.
A worm's tale: An evaluation of the natural history and infectious dynamics of Parasitodiplogaster nematodes

Mutualisms are interspecific interactions in which the fitnesses of each partner benefit from the association. Mutualisms are ubiquitous and ecologically important in nature and, as a result, a wealth of theoretical and empirical research has been conducted to better understand the interactions between mutualistic partners. However, mutualists are commonly associated with a broader community of interacting organisms that may antagonize, destabilize, or limit the fitness of these partners. In addition to the consistent communitylevel pressures, organisms must ensure their own fitness through proper sex ratio allocation even if mating patches are isolated and the potential numbers of reproductive individuals are routinely low. To empirically evaluate the dynamics of mutualist partners over geographic space and throughout time, the influence of community-level antagonists on mutualism fitness, and the processes of sex ratio adjustment to ensure successful reproduction I studied a community comprised of figs (genus Ficus), their pollinating fig wasp mutualists (genus Pegoscapus), non-pollinating fig wasp antagonists (multiple genera), and nematode associates of fig wasps (genus Parasitodiplogaster). In this dissertation, I use repeated sampling excursions, field experiments, and dissection efforts to investigate the dynamics of nematode infection in relation to their wasp hosts, the range of host specificity and community context of nematode infection, and the sex ratio adjustment of adult nematodes. Through these efforts, I found that Parasitodiplogaster nematodes are extremely common associates of pollinating and non-pollinating fig wasps in multiple New World Ficus communities. Next, observational and dissection data suggest that nematode infection may limit non-pollinators significantly more than pollinating fig wasps, implying a facultative mutualism between nematodes and pollinating wasps. Finally, analyses of adult nematode
Analysis of 40 sporadic or familial neonatal and pediatric cases with severe unexplained respiratory distress: Relationship to SFTPB

We have analyzed surfactant protein B (SP‐B) and its encoding gene (SFTPB, MIM 178640) in 40 unrelated pediatric patients with unexplained respiratory distress (URD). There was high consanguinity (eight kindreds) and an underlying autosomal recessive trait could be inferred in most cases, with overall high sex ratio (32/17) suggesting proband's gender to impact on penetrance. The clinical/biological presentations fitted into three major nosologic frameworks. I: SP‐B deficiency (nine probands), complete or incomplete, with homozygous/compoundly heterozygous mutations identified (six probands), including one from the population isolate of Réunion Island (496delG). In addition, there was a consanguineous kindred in which incomplete deficiency was unambiguously unlinked to SFTPB. II: pulmonary alveolar proteinosis (PAP, 19 probands), with typical storage of PAS‐positive material within the alveoli with foamy macrophages and variable interstitial reaction, which was diagnosed in most patients from Réunion Island. In contrast to previously published findings, mutation and/or segregation analyses excluded SFTPB as a disease locus, although slight metabolic derangement related to SP‐B and/or mild SFTPB changes could somehow contribute to disease. III: URD without evidence for SP‐B deficiency or PAP (12 probands), equally unlinked to SFTPB, although a single patient had a possibly causal, maternally‐derived, heterozygous genetic change (G4521A). The population frequency of five known and four novel SNPs was studied, providing as many potential markers for pulmonary disease related to SFTPB. Overall, URD was found to be heterogeneous, both phenotypically and genetically, even in population isolates where a founder effect might have been expected. When disease loci are identified, patient genotyping will be crucial as a diagnostic aid, for devising proper treatment, and as a basis for genetic counseling. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Prevalence of antibodies to hepatitis E virus among apparently healthy humans and pigs in Bali, Indonesia: Identification of a pig infected with a genotype 4 hepatitis E virus

In Indonesia where hepatitis E virus (HEV) is believed to be highly endemic, only three outbreaks of HEV transmission have been documented to date in restricted areas (West Kalimantan and East Java). A total of 1,115 serum samples collected from apparently healthy individuals in Bali, Lombok, and Surabaya in Indonesia in 1996 where epidemic HEV transmissions have never been reported, were tested for IgG class antibodies to HEV (anti‐HEV). In Bali, anti‐HEV was detected in 20% (54/276) of the tested population, in remarkable contrast with 4% (17/446) in Lombok and 0.5% (2/393) in Surabaya. On the other hand, antibodies to hepatitis A virus were highly prevalent in all three regions (95% in Bali, 90% in Lombok, and 89% in Surabaya). Although the majority of the population in Indonesia is Moslem, Balinese people are mostly Hindu and have a habit of consuming pork. Therefore, serum samples were obtained from the 99 farm pigs in Bali and tested for anti‐HEV and HEV RNA. The sera from 71 pigs (72%) were positive for anti‐HEV and a 2‐month‐old pig had detectable HEV RNA. The swine HEV isolate recovered from the viremic pig was named SB66‐Bali. The SB66‐Bali isolate was most closely related to the genotype 4 isolates from China, India, Japan, and Taiwan, but shared only 82.6–90.0% identity in the common 241–412 nucleotides within open reading frame 2 (ORF2). These results indicate that a presumably indigenous HEV strain(s) is circulating in Bali, Indonesia and that HEV infection may occur via zoonosis even in developing countries. J. Med. Virol. 73:38–44, 2004. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Trends in U.S. Smoking Rates in Occupational Groups: The National Health Interview Survey 1987–1994

Learning ObjectivesIdentify current rates of cigarette smoking in 209 occupations, and ways in which occupation and gender interact to determine smoking rates.Describe trends in smoking rates over the years 1987–1994, and characterize those occupational groups in which rates increased or declined in this period.Describe possible job-related measures for lowering prevalence rates of cigarette smoking. Abstract It is unknown if reductions in U.S. adult smoking rates are uniform across occupational groups. The National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) is a multistage area probability cross-sectional survey of the U.S. civilian population. Data on occupational and smoking status were collected on 141,122 adult participants from the 1987, 1988, and 1990 –1994 NHIS annual surveys. Overall smoking rates ranged from 58% in roofers to 4% in physicians, with higher rates found among blue collar professions. There were reductions in smoking from 1987–1994 within 72% of occupational groups; 19 of these downward trends were significant and occurred exclusively within white collar professions. Blue collar workers continue to smoke in large numbers, whereas white collar workers report lower rates along with corresponding significant downward trends in rates among selected occupational groups. The development of effective smoking prevention strategies targeting blue collar groups is needed.
Steady State Creep Behavior of Functionally Graded Thick Cylinder

Creep behavior of thick-walled functionally graded cylinder consisting of AlSiC and subjected to internal pressure and high temperature has been analyzed. The functional relationship between strain rate with stress can be described by the well known threshold stress based creep law with a stress exponent of five. The effect of imposing non-linear particle gradient on the distribution of creep stresses in the thick-walled functionally graded composite cylinder has been investigated. The study revealed that for the assumed non-linear particle distribution, the radial stress decreases throughout the cylinder, whereas the tangential, axial and effective stresses have averaging effect. The strain rates in the functionally graded composite cylinder could be reduced to significant extent by employing non-linear gradient in the distribution of reinforcement. Keywords—Functionally Graded Material, Pressure, Steady State Creep, Thick-Cylinder.
Lubrication of soft viscoelastic solids

Lubrication flows appear in many applications in engineering, biophysics and nature. Separation of surfaces and minimisation of friction and wear is achieved when the lubricating fluid builds up a lift force. In this paper we analyse soft lubricated contacts by treating the solid walls as viscoelastic: soft materials are typically not purely elastic, but dissipate energy under dynamical loading conditions. We present a method for viscoelastic lubrication and focus on three canonical examples, namely Kelvin–Voigt, standard linear and power law rheology. It is shown how the solid viscoelasticity affects the lubrication process when the time scale of loading becomes comparable to the rheological time scale. We derive asymptotic relations between the lift force and the sliding velocity, which give scaling laws that inherit a signature of the rheology. In all cases the lift is found to decrease with respect to purely elastic systems.
Perceptions of HAART among gay men who declined a treatment offer: Preliminary results from an interview-based study

As part of a prospective study of treatment decision making among people with HIV infection, we explored perceptions of HAART in a cohort who declined a treatment offer. This was a qualitative study in which 26 gay men were interviewed in relation to their views about HAART soon after treatment was recommended by their HIV physician. Fifteen themes were associated with the decision to decline HAART. These were grouped under three broad categories: doubts about personal necessity for HAART, concerns about potential adverse effects of taking HAART and satisfaction with the amount of personal control over the decision. These findings provide new insights into the type of beliefs that might inform people's evaluation of their perceived need for HAART and their concerns about HAART. Initiatives to support informed decisions should take account of these perceptions.
The Role of the Placenta in Perinatal Stroke: A Systematic Review

Context: Placental pathology may be an important missing link in the causal pathway of perinatal stroke. The study aim was to systematically review the literature regarding the role of the placenta in perinatal stroke. MEDLINE, Embase, Scopus, and Web of Science electronic databases were searched from 2000 to 2019. Studies were selected based on predefined criteria. To enable comparisons, placental abnormalities were coded using Redline’s classification. Results: Ten studies met the inclusion criteria. Less than a quarter of stroke cases had placental pathology reported. Placental abnormalities were more common among children with perinatal stroke than in the control group. The most frequent placental abnormality was Redline’s category 2 (thrombo-inflammatory process). Conclusions: Placental abnormalities appear to be associated with perinatal stroke, supporting additional indirect evidence and biological plausibility of a causative role. However, the results should be interpreted cautiously considering the low frequency of placental examination and lack of uniformity in placental pathology reporting. Clinical Trial Registration: PROSPERO Registration no: CRD42017081256.
Thrombin Induces Thromboplastin Synthesis in Cultured Vascular Endothelial Cells

Summary Cultured human umbilical vein endothelial cells responded to thrombin (10−2 – 10 NIH u/ml) with a 2-5 fold increase in thromboplastin activity. The maximum response was reached after 4 hr in serum-free medium. The effect of thrombin was fully inhibited by the presence of 50% (v/v) fetal calf serum or more in the medium, by preincubation of thrombin with hirudin or by treatment of thrombin with N-bromosuccinimide or phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride. The thrombin-induced thromboplastin activity was inhibited by incubation of the cells with cycloheximide (2 μg/ml) or actinomycin D (2 μg/ml) showing that the response depended on de novo protein and RNA synthesis. It was also suppressed by exposure of the cells to two different phosphodiesterase inhibitors, 3-butyl-l-methyl-xanthine (5 · 10−4 M) and rac-4 (3-butoxy-4-methoxybenzyl)-2-imidazole (5 · 10−4 M), to the transmethylation inhibitors 3-deazaadenosine (10−5 M) and 1-homocysteine thiolactone (2 · 10−5 M) in combination and to the intracellular calcium antagonist 8-(N,N-diethylamino)-octyl 3,4,5,-tri-methoxybenzoate hydrochloride (8 · 10−5 M). Our results suggest that small amounts of thrombin can induce thromboplastin synthesis in endothelial cells in vitro and that this synthesis probably is regulated by the intracellular level of cAMP, by cytoplasmic Ca2+ and possibly also by transmethylation reactions.
Mushrooms as therapeutic agents

Mushrooms have been known for their nutritional and culinary values and used as medicines and tonics by humans for ages. In modern terms, they can be considered as functional foods which can provide health benefits beyond the traditional nutrients. There are monographs that cover the medicinal and healing properties of some individual traditional mushrooms. There has been a recent upsurge of interest in mushrooms not only as a health food which is rich in protein but also as a source of biologically active compounds of medicinal value which include complementary medicine/dietary supplements for anticancer, antiviral, hepatoprotective, immunopotentiating and hypocholesterolemic agents. However the mechanisms of the various health benefits of mushrooms to humans still require intensive investigation, especially given the emergence of new evidence of their health benefits. In the present paper the medicinal potential of mushrooms is being discussed.
Comparing the Preventive Effect of 2 Percent Topical Lidocaine and Intravenous Atropine on Oculocardiac Reflex in Ophthalmological Surgeries Under General Anesthesia

Background: The current study aimed to determine preventive effect of 2 percent topical xylocaine on oculocardiac reflex in ophthalmological surgeries except strabismus, including retinal detachment and vitrectomy with scleral buckling under general anesthesia. Methods: A randomized controlled clinical trial was carried out on 150 patients aged 18-90 years undergoing ophthalmological surgeries under general anesthesia. Samples randomly divided into the experimental group (received four drops of 2 percent topical xylocaine instilled in desired eye) and control group (received 0.5 mg atropine sulfate injection). Systolic, diastolic and mean arterial blood pressure of patients and baseline heart rate were recorded. They were compared regarding the incidence of bradycardia, heart rate less than 60 beats/minute, hypotension and blood pressure less than 90 mm/Hg. Data were analyzed by Statistical Package for the Social Sciences software version 20 using Chi-square and ANOVA. Results: The difference between two groups was not statistically significant regarding demographic and basic variables. The incidence of bradycardia in both groups was respectively (90.7 percent vs. 17.3 percent), heart rate less than 60 beats/minute (40 percent vs. 13.3 percent), hypotension (76 percent vs. 32 percent) and blood pressure less than 90 mmHg was (28 percent vs. 8 percent). Accordingly, the differences between both groups were statistically significant (P > 0.001). Conclusions: The preventive impact of topical xylocaine upon oculocardiac reflex in ophthalmological surgeries such as retinal detachment and vitrectomy with scleral buckling under general anesthesia was less effective than that of atropine injection. Therefore, to avoid this reflex in high-risk patients, injecting atropine would be safer.
Increased plasma concentrations of osteoprotegerin in type 2 diabetic patients with microvascular complications.

OBJECTIVE Osteoprotegerin (OPG) is a newly identified inhibitor of bone resorption. Recent studies indicate that OPG also acts as an important regulatory molecule in the vasculature. Plasma levels of OPG seem to be elevated in subjects with diabetes as well as in non-diabetic subjects with cardiovascular disease. The aim of the present study was to examine the association between plasma OPG levels and microvascular complications and glycemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes. DESIGN AND METHODS Four groups of 20 subjects in each, individually matched for age and gender, were included in the study: (i) subjects with normal glucose tolerance (NGT); (ii) subjects with impaired glucose tolerance (IGT); (iii) type 2 diabetic patients without retinopathy; and (iv) type 2 diabetic patients with diabetic maculopathy (DMa). Plasma concentration of OPG was measured in duplicate by a sandwich ELISA method. Furthermore, fundus photography, flourescein angiography, and measurements of urinary albumin excretion rate (RIA) were performed. RESULTS Plasma OPG was significantly higher in diabetic (iii+iv) than in NGT (i) subjects (3.04+/-0.15 vs 2.54+/-0.16 ng/ml, P<0.05). Plasma OPG was significantly higher in the DMa (iv) group than in the NGT (i) group (3.25+/-0.23 vs 2.54+/-0.16 ng/ml, P=0.01). Moreover, plasma OPG was significantly higher (3.61+/-0.36 ng/ml) in the group of diabetic subjects with both microalbuminuria and DMa (n=7) than in the NGT (i) (2.54+/-0.16 ng/ml, P<0.01), IGT (ii) (2.82+/-0.21 ng/ml, P<0.05), and no retinopathy (iii) groups (2.83+/-0.20 ng/ml, P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS We found increased levels of OPG in plasma from diabetic patients with microvascular complications. This finding indicates that OPG may be involved in the development of vascular dysfunction in diabetes [corrected].
On the Complexity of Learning Neural Networks

The stunning empirical successes of neural networks currently lack rigorous theoretical explanation. What form would such an explanation take, in the face of existing complexity-theoretic lower bounds? A first step might be to show that data generated by neural networks with a single hidden layer, smooth activation functions and benign input distributions can be learned efficiently. We demonstrate here a comprehensive lower bound ruling out this possibility: for a wide class of activation functions (including all currently used), and inputs drawn from any logconcave distribution, there is a family of one-hidden-layer functions whose output is a sum gate, that are hard to learn in a precise sense: any statistical query algorithm (which includes all known variants of stochastic gradient descent with any loss function) needs an exponential number of queries even using tolerance inversely proportional to the input dimensionality. Moreover, this hard family of functions is realizable with a small (sublinear in dimension) number of activation units in the single hidden layer. The lower bound is also robust to small perturbations of the true weights. Systematic experiments illustrate a phase transition in the training error as predicted by the analysis.
Microbial Polysaccharides Template Assembly of Nanocrystal Fibers

Biological systems can produce extraordinary inorganic structures and morphologies. The mechanisms of synthesis are poorly understood but are of great interest for engineering novel materials. We use spectromicroscopy to show that microbially generated submicrometer-diameter iron oxyhydroxide (FeOOH) filaments contain polysaccharides, providing an explanation for the formation of akaganeite pseudo–single crystals with aspect ratios of ∼1000:1. We infer that the cells extrude the polysaccharide strands to localize FeOOH precipitation in proximity to the cell membrane to harness the proton gradient for energy generation. Characterization of organic compounds with high spatial resolution, correlated with mineralogical information, should improve our understanding of biomineralization mechanisms.
All‐trans‐ and 9‐cis‐Retinoic Acid Enhance the Cholinergic Properties of a Murine Septal Cell Line: Evidence that the Effects Are Mediated by Activation of Retinoic Acid Receptor‐α

Abstract: We investigated the effects of retinoids on the cholinergic properties of a murine septal cell line, SN56. Treatment of the cells with all‐trans‐retinol (vitamin A), all‐trans‐retinal, all‐trans‐retinoic acid (t‐RA), 9‐cis‐retinoic acid (9c‐RA), or 13‐cis‐retinoic acid caused time‐ and concentration‐dependent increases in choline acetyltransferase activity (up to 3.4‐fold) and in intracellular acetylcholine levels (up to 2.5‐fold, with respective EC50 values of 68, 50, 18, 15, and 56 nM). Furthermore, treatment with either t‐RA or 9c‐RA at 1 µM for 48 h resulted in an increase in the expression of choline acetyltransferase mRNA by threefold that of controls. These data and the presence of putative retinoic acid response elements in the 5′ region of the murine choline acetyltransferase gene indicate that retinoids stimulate choline acetyltransferase transcription in murine cholinergic neurons. No additivity or synergism was observed between the effects of t‐RA and 9c‐RA on any of these cholinergic properties of SN56 cells, suggesting a common mechanism of action of the two retinoids. However, a combined treatment with t‐RA and forskolin, which activates adenylate cyclase, resulted in an additive increase in acetylcholine content. Using an antagonist selective for the retinoic acid receptor‐α subtype, Ro 41‐5253, we found that the effects of t‐RA and 9c‐RA on acetylcholine levels were abolished. An agonist selective for retinoic acid receptor‐α, Ro 40‐6055, increased acetylcholine levels to a similar extent as t‐RA and 9c‐RA, and this effect was blocked by the antagonist. Our results suggest that retinoids modulate the cholinergic phenotype of septal neurons by activation of retinoic acid receptor‐α.