Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Dynamic energy-balance model predicting gestational weight gain.

BACKGROUND Gestational weight gains (GWGs) that exceed the 2009 Institute of Medicine recommended ranges increase risk of long-term postpartum weight retention; conversely, GWGs within the recommended ranges are more likely to result in positive maternal and fetal outcomes. Despite this evidence, recent epidemiologic studies have shown that the majority of pregnant women gain outside the target GWG ranges. A mathematical model that predicts GWG and energy intake could provide a clinical tool for setting precise goals during early pregnancy and continuous objective feedback throughout pregnancy. OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to develop and validate a differential equation model for energy balance during pregnancy that predicts GWG that results from changes in energy intakes. DESIGN A set of prepregnancy BMI-dependent mathematical models that predict GWG were developed by using data from a longitudinal study that measured gestational-changes in fat-free mass, fat mass, total body water, and total energy expenditure in 63 subjects. RESULTS Mathematical models developed for women with low, normal, and high prepregnancy BMI were shown to fit the original data. In 2 independent studies used for validation, model predictions of fat-free mass, fat mass, and total body water matched actual measurements within 1 kg. CONCLUSIONS Our energy-balance model provides plausible predictions of GWG that results from changes in energy intakes. Because the model was implemented as a Web-based applet, it can be widely used by pregnant women and their health care providers.
A chimeric IgE that mimics IgE from patients allergic to acid-hydrolyzed wheat proteins is a novel tool for in vitro allergenicity assessment of functionalized glutens

Background Acid-hydrolyzed wheat proteins (acid-HWPs) have been shown to provoke severe allergic reactions in Europe and Japan that are distinct from classical wheat allergies. Acid-HWPs were shown to contain neo-epitopes induced by the deamidation of gluten proteins. However, products with variable rates of deamidation can be found. Objectives In this work, we studied the effect of the extent of wheat proteins deamidation on its allergenicity. A recombinant chimeric IgE was produced and compared to patients’ IgE for its capacity to assess the IgE-mediated triggering potential of acid-HWPs. Methods Sera from acid-HWP allergic patients were analyzed via ELISA and a functional basophil assay for their IgE reactivity to wheat proteins with different deamidation levels. A chimeric mouse/human IgE (chIgE-DG1) specific for the main neo-epitope, QPEEPFPE, involved in allergy to acid-HWPs was characterized with respect to its functionality and its reactivity compared to that of patients’ IgE. Results Acid-HWPs with medium (30%) and high (50–60%) deamidation levels displayed a markedly stronger IgE binding and capacity to activate basophils than those of samples with weak (15%) deamidation levels. The monoclonal chIgE-DG1 allowed basophil degranulation in the presence of deamidated wheat proteins. ChIgE-DG1 was found to mimic patients’ IgE reactivity and displayed the same ability to rank acid-HWP products in a degranulation assay. Conclusion Increasing the deamidation level of products from 15% to 60% resulted in an approximately 2-fold increase in their antigenicity and a 100-fold increase in their eliciting potential. The chimeric ChIgE-DG1 may be a useful tool to evaluate functionalized glutens for their allergenic potential. By mimicking patient sera reactivity, chIgE-DG1 also provided data on the patients' IgE repertoire and on the functionality of certain repeated epitopes in gluten proteins.
Insulin-like growth factor I in the dog: a study in different dog breeds and in dogs with growth hormone elevation.

A radioimmunoassay (RIA) devised for the measurement of human insulin-like growth factor I (IGF I) was employed for the measurement of canine IGF I. Canine IGF I was extracted from plasma specimens by gel chromatography. Columns were eluted with 1 M acetic acid and the fractions representing the 55 to 85% bed volume were pooled, lyophilized and reconstituted with assay buffer. Serial dilutions of canine IGF I from both normal and acromegalic dogs when added to the RIA system gave a similar displacement pattern of human [125I]IGF I as the one obtained by the addition of unlabelled human IGF I. The dose-response curve obtained by canine IGF I paralleled the one obtained by human IGF I. Logit-log transformation and least squares fitting resulted in straight line fitting of the standard curve between 0.039 and 5 ng IGF I added per tube. The within-assay coefficient of variation (CV) was 16.7% and the between-assay CV was 21.8%. Plasma IGF I concentrations in normal dogs appeared to be a function of body size. The concentrations were 36 +/- 27 ng/ml in Cocker Spaniels, 87 +/- 33 ng/ml in Beagles, 117 +/- 34 ng/ml in Keeshonds, and 280 +/- 23 ng/ml in German Shepherds (mean +/- SEM). The mean IGF I level in a group of dogs with growth hormone (GH) elevation was 700 +/- 90 ng/ml. Though this group of dogs comprised both small and large dogs, the mean IGF I level significantly differed from the one found in German Shepherds, the largest breed studied (P less than 0.01). (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Wireless sensor networks for ambient intelligence : contributions in the sensing and computing layers

La presente tesis se enmarca en el campo de la asistencia a la vida en el hogar (del ingles Ambient Assisted Living, AAL), una rama de la inteligencia ambiental que trata de mejorar la vida en el hogar mediante tecnicas de inteligencia artificial. El objetivo global de la tesis es lograr avances significativos en eficiencia y prestaciones en las tecnologias aplicadas para la sensorizacion en este campo. Estos avances tecnologicos afectan a varios aspectos y niveles dentro de la capa de captacion sensorial de estos sistemas, resultando en una serie de objetivos especificos: (1) Reduccion del numero de transmisiones mediante pre-procesamiento de la senal sensorial y fusion de datos. (2) Deteccion de ocupacion en cama o sillon: mejora de las prestaciones y la fiabilidad. (3) Refuerzo de la informacion contextual mediante el uso de sensores portables. (4) Deteccion de actividad: reconocimiento de patrones y clasificacion de senal. (5) Mejora de las prestaciones mediante integracion microelectronica. El trabajo llevado a cabo durante el periodo de investigacion ha resultado en diversas contribuciones sobre los objetivos de la tesis. Con respecto al objetivo (1), se ha disenado un nuevo middleware que incorpora una maquina de estados que introduce un nuevo nivel de abstraccion, generando informacion mas elaborada. De esta forma, se ha eliminado un gran numero de transmisiones asociadas a eventos irrelevantes, generados durante transitorios en el contexto ambiental. Se ha propuesto, a su vez, un mecanismo de asentimiento especifico para AAL. Para alcanzar el objetivo (2), se han mejorado las prestaciones del sistema AAL mediante un nuevo sensor de ocupacion. Este nuevo diseno ha sido posible gracias a la caracterizacion de un nuevo modelo para el transductor basado en EMFi (ElectroMechanical Film). Por otro lado, se ha propuesto un metodo de umbralizacion adaptativo para los sensores de ocupacion basados en transductores de peso. Se ha propuesto un metodo que emplea un conjunto mixto de sensores (fijos y portables), en cumplimiento del objetivo (3), incorporando un sensor opcional basado en acelerometros. Ademas, se ha implementado y testado un prototipo del nodo sensor portable. El cumplimiento del objetivo (4) ha sido aproximado mediante el diseno de un metodo de clasificacion de senales de sensores PIR (Passive InfraRed), atendiendo a la velocidad y distancia entre el sujeto y un sensor multiple. Este metodo permite obtener dispositivos compactos que llevan a cabo computacion local y son capaces de transmitir informacion contextual de nivel de abstraccion medio de una forma eficiente. Finalmente, atendiendo al objetivo (5), se ha desarrollado un filtro CMOS (Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor ) pasa-banda de 4o orden con bajo consumo para sensores PIR. Los resultados de simulacion obtenidos a nivel de esquematico han presentado muy bajo consumo y un nivel de ruido integrado aceptable para la aplicacion senalada.
Health risk behaviors in adolescents and young adults with special health care needs

Purpose of review Adolescents and young adults with special health care needs (SHCN) are uniquely vulnerable to health risk behaviors including smoking, alcohol and illicit drug use, and sexual risk-taking. Their likelihood of experiencing adverse health outcomes because of these behaviors may be beyond that experienced by their healthier peer group. Pediatric providers are responsible for appropriately counseling these patients about healthy lifestyles. This review provides some background regarding these health risks among adolescents and young adults with SHCN with particular focus on three populations: childhood cancer survivors, congenital heart disease patients, and those with intellectual disability. Recent findings Young adults and adolescents with chronic medical conditions are as likely – and perhaps more likely – to engage in health risk behaviors. However, these behaviors are not fully addressed by primary care providers. Summary Pediatric providers are encouraged to ask adolescents and young adults with SHCN about their understanding of, and engagement in, health risk behaviors. A multidisciplinary approach to encourage a healthy lifestyle within this population may have significant health benefits.
Oral health knowledge and practice among administrative staff at Taibah university, Madina, KSA

Background: Although the prevalence of dental caries is decreasing in developed countries, it is still increasing in developing countries. No studies have reported on the oral health status of adults in Saudi Arabia; the role models and parents for the younger generation. Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study carried out between January and June 2012 and included 200 randomly chosen Taibah university staff members. Each participant received a self-administered questionnaire and consent form detailing the objectives and rational of the study. Results: The response rate was 74%; mean age was 32.6 years and almost 90% had obtained higher educational qualifications. Nearly, half (48%) cleaned their teeth in the morning and evening, 77% used a tooth stick and toothbrush and almost 90% used tooth paste regularly. Under two-thirds (61%) visited the Dentist only when necessary and 13% had never visited a Dentist. The treatment received included restorations (35%), scaling and polishing (21%) and extractions (18%). Of those who did not visit the Dentist, 40% cited the high cost as the reason. The majority (78%) were aware that sugar is harmful for the teeth. Under half (46%) used tobacco and 36% had medical conditions. Those who visited the Dentist were more likely to brush twice daily ( P =0.04) and of those who brushed regularly, 50% knew the number of permanent teeth present ( P =0.04) and 57% were aware of the benefits of fluoride ( P =0.01). Conclusion: The majority of respondents had a poor level of knowledge regarding oral hygiene. This was reflected in their poor and inconsistent brushing habits and their lack of utilization of dental services.
Diagnosis and course of early-onset arthritis: results of a special early arthritis clinic compared to routine patient care.

OBJECTIVE Early arthritis patients referred to an Early Arthritis Clinic (EAC) (n = 233) were compared to 241 patients from the routine out-patient clinic with respect to lag time between the onset of symptoms and the visit to the rheumatologist, clinical presentation and the consistency of the diagnosis after 1 yr. RESULTS The reduction in median lag time for the EAC patients was at least 3 months. An insidious onset of symptoms was found more often in the rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients in the routine clinic. In 70% of all cases, a diagnosis could be made after 2 weeks and, if the clinical diagnosis was definite RA, this hardly changed during the following year. Early erosions were seen in 25% of RA patients and were associated with a positive rheumatoid factor (OR 2.08, 95% CI 0.95 4.59). CONCLUSION An early diagnosis of RA at the EAC is possible and reliable; the high frequency of erosions illustrates the need for early treatment.
Circulating adipocyte fatty acid-binding protein, juvenile obesity, and metabolic syndrome

Abstract Adipocyte fatty acid-binding protein (A-FABP) links obesity and metabolic syndrome (MetS) and might be targeted in future therapies. Its utility as a MetS biomarker has been suggested in adults but has not been examined in children/adolescents. Our objectives were to identify metabolic parameters associated with A-FABP elevation in children and adolescents and to evaluate the effect of obesity intervention and A-FABP diagnostic utility. A-FABP and anthropometric, metabolic, and inflammatory indices were measured in 31 lean and 114 overweight/obese children and adolescents and reassessed after obesity intervention (1 year; diet and enhanced physical activity, with or without metformin). A-FABP was significantly higher in overweight/obese than lean individuals, where it correlated with insulin, waist circumference (WC), and 2-h glucose independent of body mass index (BMI), age, gender, and developmental stage. The pattern of A-FABP associations differed between sexes. As a MetS indicator, A-FABP had 68% accuracy. The weight reduction program was effective in reducing A-FABP, BMI%, WC, triglycerides, and cholesterol. In conclusion, elevation in A-FABP is associated with MetS components independent of BMI status and can be reduced by diet and enhanced physical activity. A-FABP as a single MetS biomarker has a moderate accuracy.
Learning Deeply Supervised Visual Descriptors for Dense Monocular Reconstruction

Visual SLAM (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping) methods typically rely on handcrafted visual features or raw RGB values for establishing correspondences between images. These features, while suitable for sparse mapping, often lead to ambiguous matches at texture-less regions when performing dense reconstruction due to the aperture problem. In this work, we explore the use of learned features for the matching task in dense monocular reconstruction. We propose a novel convolutional neural network (CNN) architecture along with a deeply supervised feature learning scheme for pixel-wise regression of visual descriptors from an image which are best suited for dense monocular SLAM. In particular, our learning scheme minimizes a multi-view matching cost-volume loss with respect to the regressed features at multiple stages within the network, for explicitly learning contextual features that are suitable for dense matching between images captured by a moving monocular camera along the epipolar line. We utilize the learned features from our model for depth estimation inside a real-time dense monocular SLAM framework, where photometric error is replaced by our learned descriptor error. Our evaluation on several challenging indoor scenes demonstrate greatly improved accuracy in dense reconstructions of the well celebrated dense SLAM systems like DTAM, without compromising their real-time performance.
Identification of Diverse Alphacoronaviruses and Genomic Characterization of a Novel Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-Like Coronavirus from Bats in China

ABSTRACT Although many severe acute respiratory syndrome-like coronaviruses (SARS-like CoVs) have been identified in bats in China, Europe, and Africa, most have a genetic organization significantly distinct from human/civet SARS CoVs in the receptor-binding domain (RBD), which mediates receptor binding and determines the host spectrum, resulting in their failure to cause human infections and making them unlikely progenitors of human/civet SARS CoVs. Here, a viral metagenomic analysis of 268 bat rectal swabs collected from four counties in Yunnan Province has identified hundreds of sequences relating to alpha- and betacoronaviruses. Phylogenetic analysis based on a conserved region of the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase gene revealed that alphacoronaviruses had diversities with some obvious differences from those reported previously. Full genomic analysis of a new SARS-like CoV from Baoshan (LYRa11) showed that it was 29,805 nucleotides (nt) in length with 13 open reading frames (ORFs), sharing 91% nucleotide identity with human/civet SARS CoVs and the most recently reported SARS-like CoV Rs3367, while sharing 89% with other bat SARS-like CoVs. Notably, it showed the highest sequence identity with the S gene of SARS CoVs and Rs3367, especially in the RBD region. Antigenic analysis showed that the S1 domain of LYRa11 could be efficiently recognized by SARS-convalescent human serum, indicating that LYRa11 is a novel virus antigenically close to SARS CoV. Recombination analyses indicate that LYRa11 is likely a recombinant descended from parental lineages that had evolved into a number of bat SARS-like CoVs. IMPORTANCE Although many severe acute respiratory syndrome-like coronaviruses (SARS-like CoVs) have been discovered in bats worldwide, there are significant different genic structures, particularly in the S1 domain, which are responsible for host tropism determination, between bat SARS-like CoVs and human SARS CoVs, indicating that most reported bat SARS-like CoVs are not the progenitors of human SARS CoV. We have identified diverse alphacoronaviruses and a close relative (LYRa11) to SARS CoV in bats collected in Yunnan, China. Further analysis showed that alpha- and betacoronaviruses have different circulation and transmission dynamics in bat populations. Notably, full genomic sequencing and antigenic study demonstrated that LYRa11 is phylogenetically and antigenically closely related to SARS CoV. Recombination analyses indicate that LYRa11 is a recombinant from certain bat SARS-like CoVs circulating in Yunnan Province.
Smad3 Protein Levels Are Modulated by Ras Activity and during the Cell Cycle to Dictate Transforming Growth Factor-β Responses*

Transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) regulates many biological processes, and aberrant TGF-β signaling is implicated in tumor development. Smad3 is a central component of the TGF-β signaling pathway, and once activated, Smad3 forms complexes with Smad4 or other receptor-regulated Smads, which accumulate in the nucleus to transcriptionally regulate TGF-β target genes. Because Smad3 plays a significant role in mediating the activities of TGF-β, we examined its regulation during tumor development using a well characterized tumor model. We demonstrate that Smad3 levels are dramatically reduced in the tumorigenic cell line transformed with activated H-Ras compared with the normal parental epithelial cells. Interestingly, we also observe a cell cycle-dependent regulation of Smad3 in both cell types, with high Smad3 levels in quiescent cells and a significant drop in Smad3 protein levels in proliferating cells. Smad3 is regulated at the mRNA level and at the level of protein stability. In addition, functional analysis indicates that down-regulation of Smad3 levels is required for the tumor cells to proliferate in the presence of TGF-β, because ectopic expression of Smad3 in the tumorigenic cell line restores the growth inhibitory response to TGF-β. In contrast, expression of high levels of Smad3 did not interfere with the ability of these cells to undergo epithelial to mesenchymal transition upon TGF-β stimulation. Altogether, our results suggest that the level of Smad3 protein is an important determinant of the progression of tumorigenesis. High levels of Smad3 are required for the tumor suppressor activities of TGF-β, whereas lower levels are sufficient for the tumor promoting functions.
Effects of the jaw‐thrust manoeuvre in the semi‐sitting position on securing a clear airway during fibreoptic intubation

Securing a clear airway is important for successful fibreoptic intubation. We investigated whether the jaw‐thrust manoeuvre in the 25° semi‐sitting position improves airway clearance compared with the supine position in 88 anaesthetised patients randomly assigned to the two positions. After induction of anaesthesia, the fibreoptic bronchoscope was advanced into the mouth along the dorsum of the tongue during the jaw‐thrust manoeuvre. Airway clearance was assessed at the level of the soft palate and epiglottis. Patients in the 25° semi‐sitting position had clearer airways (judged subjectively by a three‐level scale) than those in the supine position at the soft palate level (p = 0.012). At the level of the epiglottis, airway clearance was equally good in both positions. The mean (SD) times to view the vocal cord and carina were shorter in the 25° semi‐sitting position (4 (1) s and 8 (1) s, respectively) compared with the supine position (6 (3) s and 11 (3) s; p < 0.001, respectively). The time to achieve intubation was also shorter in the 25° semi‐sitting position (21 (5) s) than in the supine position (25 (7) s; p = 0.018).
Changes in pars esophageal tissue appearance of the porcine stomach in response to transportation, feed deprivation, and diet composition.

Experiment 1 used 48 pigs to evaluate the effect of diet particle size, fat content, and a 24-h fast (FST) on pars esophageal (PE) tissue damage. Following a FST, a 750-microm, 550-microm, or 550-microm diet with 7.9% added fat was fed for 28 d. Additional pigs were fed the 550-microm fat-added diet with a FST every 7 d. The initial FST induced erosion (EROS) of the PE (P < .05). A 550-microm diet maintained the FST-induced EROS (P < .05). The 750-microm diet allowed the PE to heal. Sixteen pigs were used in Exp. 2 to evaluate transportation and FST-induced changes in PE. A FST following transportation induced keratinization (KERT) and EROS of the PE (P < .05). In Exp. 3, restraint and a FST followed by a 750-microm diet on PE was investigated using 48 pigs. A FST induced PE KERT and EROS, which was reduced to pre-FST levels ( P < .05) within 3 to 14 d by a 750-microm diet. In Exp. 4, 70 pigs were fed 750-microm or 550-microm diets following transportation and subsequent FST. Within 7 d, healing (P < .05) of FST-induced PE damage was observed with a 750-microm diet. A 550-microm diet maintained (P < .05) the transportation/FST-induced PE damage. Thirty pigs were used in Exp. 5 to investigate the effect of restraint for 24 h and FST on PE. A FST and the combination of restraint and FST induced similar levels of PE damage that were greater than pre-restraint/FST levels (P < .05).
The influence of color on emotional perception of natural scenes.

Is color a critical factor when processing the emotional content of natural scenes? Under challenging perceptual conditions, such as when pictures are briefly presented, color might facilitate scene segmentation and/or function as a semantic cue via association with scene-relevant concepts (e.g., red and blood/injury). To clarify the influence of color on affective picture perception, we compared the late positive potentials (LPP) to color versus grayscale pictures, presented for very brief (24 ms) and longer (6 s) exposure durations. Results indicated that removing color information had no effect on the affective modulation of the LPP, regardless of exposure duration. These findings imply that the recognition of the emotional content of scenes, even when presented very briefly, does not critically rely on color information.