Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
How reliable is isolated clinical hypertension defined by a single 24-h ambulatory blood pressure monitoring?

Background Isolated clinical hypertension (ICH) is characterized by a persistently elevated clinic blood pressure in the presence of a normal day-time or 24-h ambulatory blood pressure (ABP). This definition is based on a single ABP monitoring (ABPM) and little attention has been focused on the reproducibility of this condition. Objective To investigate the reliability of the criteria currently recommended by major hypertension guidelines to detect ICH based on a single 24-h ABPM session. Methods A total of 611 never-treated grade 1 and 2 hypertensive patients (mean age 46 ± 12 years) referred for the first time to our out-patient clinic, underwent repeated clinic blood pressure measurements, routine investigations, two 24-h periods of ABPM 1–4 weeks apart, cardiac and carotid ultrasound examinations. ABPM was always performed over a working day and the same daily activities were recommended during the two periods. ICH was diagnosed by the following criteria: (i) mean daytime values < 135/85 mmHg or (ii) mean 24-h blood pressure values < 125/80 mmHg during the first ABPM. Results The overall prevalence of ICH was 7.1% according to criterion (i) and 5.4% according to criterion (ii). Twenty (46.6%) of the 43 patients with mean daytime blood pressure values < 135/85 mmHg during the first ABPM, exceeded this cut-off value during the second ABPM period. Twenty-two (66.6%) of the 33 patients with mean 24-h blood pressure values < 120/80 mmHg during the first ABPM did not confirm a normal blood pressure profile during the second ABPM recording. Cardiovascular involvement was significantly lower in subjects with persistent normal ABP compared to those with non-reproducible ICH pattern or sustained hypertensives. Conclusions These findings clearly indicate that: (i) the classification of ICH on the basis of a single ABPM, using the cut-offs suggested by major hypertension guidelines, has a limited short-term reproducibility and (ii) repeated ABPM recordings should be recommended to correctly diagnose patients with ICH and improve cardiovascular risk stratification.
OF THE EXPERIMENTAL ANALYSIS OF BEHAVIOR CONTROL OF RESPONDING BY SOUNDS OF DIFFERENT QUALITY : AN EVOLUTIONARY ANALYSIS

Two experiments investigated the acquisition of discriminations between two acoustic stimuli of different quality (noise bursts vs. a 2-kHz pulsed signal) when features of the everyday environment were incorporated into the experiments. In Experiment 1, rats were trained, using food, to press a lever. Throughout all sessions, 5-s trials of noise bursts (the random stimulus) were presented, after variable intertrial intervals, through a remote speaker mounted outside the experimental enclosure. The noise bursts occurred randomly with respect to reinforcement of lever pressing and had no programmed relationship to the animal's behavior. When lever pressing was established, the 2-kHz signal was presented through a speaker adjacent to the response lever according to a different set of variable intertrial intervals. A response in the presence of the 2-kHz signal terminated the trial and was reinforced. The 2-kHz signal acquired control of responding within the first few trials, whereas the random stimulus exerted no control of responding. In Experiment 2, rats were trained to press the lever in the presence of the 2-kHz signal presented through the adjacent speaker on a variable intertrial interval. After 14 sessions, 5-s trials of noise bursts (random stimulus) were presented through the remote speaker on the second variable intertrial interval. The random stimulus initially elicited exploratory behavior, which then rapidly declined. Subsequently, the random stimulus exerted no or weak control of responding. The introduction of the random stimulus had no effect on responding in the presence of the adjacent stimulus. In Experiments 3 and 4 the random stimulus was presented through the adjacent speaker, and the stimulus correlated with reinforcement was presented through the remote speaker. In both experiments, there was persistent control of responding by the random stimulus and slow development of control by the stimulus correlated with reinforcement. In Experiment 5, both stimuli were presented through the adjacent speaker. There was persistent control of responding by the random stimulus.
Association Between Glycemic Status and the Risk of Parkinson Disease: A Nationwide Population-Based Study

OBJECTIVE Previous studies have suggested that diabetes increases the risk of Parkinson disease (PD); however, this has not been conclusively established. We analyzed the risk of PD based on baseline glucose tolerance status in a large-scale cohort representative of the general Korean population. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS This analysis was performed in a cohort of 15,168,021 adults aged ≥40 years who underwent health checkups under the National Health Insurance Service between January 2009 and December 2010. The clinical course of subjects was monitored until December 2016. Subjects were classified into the following groups: no diabetes, impaired fasting glucose (IFG), diabetes duration <5 years, and diabetes duration ≥5 years. We analyzed the adjusted hazard ratio of PD for each group. RESULTS During the observation period of 49,076,148.74 person-years, PD occurred in 31,577 patients. Compared with the nondiabetes group, the adjusted hazard ratio was 1.038 (95% CI, 1.009–1.067) in the IFG group, 1.185 (95% CI, 1.143–1.229) in the diabetes duration <5 years group, and 1.618 (95% CI, 1.566–1.672) in the diabetes duration ≥5 years group. These results were consistent with those of the subgroup analysis, and the presence of diabetes further increased the risk of PD regardless of comorbidities such as cardiovascular, cerebrovascular, and chronic kidney diseases. CONCLUSIONS This population-based cohort study suggests that diabetes is an independent risk factor for PD.
Acylation of the antimicrobial peptide CAMEL for cancer gene therapy

Abstract Obtaining ideal gene delivery vectors is still a major goal in cancer gene therapy. CAMEL, a short hybrid antimicrobial peptide, can kill cancer cells by membrane lysis. In this study, we constructed a series of non-viral vectors by attaching fatty acids with different chain lengths to the N-terminus of CAMEL. Our results showed that the cellular uptake and transfection efficiency of acyl-CAMEL started to significantly increase from a chain length of 12 carbons. C18-CAMEL was screened for gene delivery because it had the highest transfection efficiency. Surprisingly, C18-CAMEL/plasmid complexes displayed strong endosomal escape activity after entering cells via endocytosis. Importantly, C18-CAMEL could deliver p53 plasmids to cancer cells and significantly inhibited cell proliferation by the expression of p53. In addition, the C18-CAMEL/p53 plasmid complexes and the MDM2 inhibitor nutlin-3a showed significantly synergistic anticancer activity against MCF-7 cells expressing wild-type p53. Conclusively, our study demonstrated that conjugation of stearic acid to antimicrobial peptides is a simple and successful approach for constructing efficient and economical non-viral vectors for cancer gene therapy.
Certified nonprofit professionals early career decisions and college student loan debt

In the United States today college students graduate with more than $35,000 in student loan debt (Berman, 2015). There is little research as to what the impact of this debt has had on the career choices and trajectories of these graduates particularly those considering entering the nonprofit sector. The nonprofit sector serves millions of people across the United States every year (National Center for Charitable Statistics, 2016). In order to stay current, these organizations need to hire highly qualified professionals. The Nonprofit Leadership Alliance (NLA) offers a professional credential to students that enter their program. This credential titled Certified Nonprofit Professional (CNP) is a mark of the preparedness and readiness of college graduates to enter the nonprofit field. Those with a CNP are proven to be seven times more likely to rise to the level of director or higher in the nonprofit field than those who do not have the credential (Nonprofit Leadership Alliance, 2015a). This study investigates Certified Nonprofit Professionals select demographics and career demographics and college student loan debt. The study analyzes Certified Nonprofit Professionals from around the country. Demographics that were considered include gender, graduation year, race, educational degree, student type (traditional, nontraditional, etc.) and leader/member (concerning the participant’s involvement in the student organization). Career demographics include sector of first job, length of time in first job, whether the respondents’ job was hourly or salary, and whether or not they had a second job. CERTIFIED NONPROFIT PROFESSIONALS EARLY CAREER DECISIONS AND COLLEGE STUDENT LOAN DEBT An Abstract of a Thesis Submitted In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts Kristina Elizabeth-Ann Kofoot University of Northern Iowa May 2017
Silica polymorphs in lunar granite: Implications for granite petrogenesis on the Moon

Abstract Granitic lunar samples largely consist of granophyric intergrowths of silica and K-feldspar. The identification of the silica polymorph present in the granophyre can clarify the petrogenesis of the lunar granites. The presence of tridymite or cristobalite would indicate rapid crystallization at high temperature. Quartz would indicate crystallization at low temperature or perhaps intrusive, slow crystallization, allowing for the orderly transformation from high-temperature silica polymorphs (tridymite or cristobalite). We identify the silica polymorphs present in four granitic lunar samples from the Apollo 12 regolith using laser Raman spectroscopy. Typically, lunar silica occurs with a hackle fracture pattern. We did an initial density calculation on the hackle fracture pattern of quartz and determined that the volume of quartz and fracture space is consistent with a molar volume contraction from tridymite or cristobalite, both of which are less dense than quartz. Moreover, we analyzed the silica in the granitic fragments from Apollo 12 by electron-probe microanalysis and found it contains up to 0.7 wt% TiO2, consistent with initial formation as the high-temperature silica polymorphs, which have more open crystal structures that can more readily accommodate cations other than Si. The silica in Apollo 12 granitic samples crystallized rapidly as tridymite or cristobalite, consistent with extrusive volcanism. The silica then inverted to quartz at a later time, causing it to contract and fracture. A hackle fracture pattern is common in silica occurring in extrusive lunar lithologies (e.g., mare basalt). The extrusive nature of these granitic samples makes them excellent candidates to be similar to the rocks that compose positive relief silicic features such as the Gruithuisen Domes.
Thermal, Mechanical, and Degradation Properties of Nanocomposites Prepared using Lignin-Cellulose Nanofibers and Poly(Lactic Acid)

A variety of nanocomposites were prepared using lignin-cellulose nanofibers (L-CNF) and poly(lactic acid) (PLA) via a solvent casting process. Acid hydrolysis and high-pressure homogenization processes were used to produce L-CNF from unbleached kraft pulps. Tensile tests were conducted on thin films, and the nanocomposites containing 3 wt. % L-CNF showed a 32.4% increase in tensile strength compared to that of neat PLA. Dynamic mechanical analysis showed that the tensile storage modulus increased in the viscoelastic temperature region with increasing L-CNF content in the nanocomposites. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) showed that all the materials investigated were thermally stable from 25 to 310 oC. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) showed a decrease in the cold crystallization temperature. A positive effect on the crystallization of PLA polymers in the nanocomposites with added L-CNF was observed using DSC and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. The degradation profiles and swelling ratios of the nanocomposites improved.
Pancytopenia, a Rare Hematologic Manifestation of Brucellosis in Children

The records of 54 children with brucellosis were evaluated retrospectively. Among them, eight patients (14.8%) with pancytopenia were identified in a 7-year period between 1996 and 2003. Six of the eight patients with pancytopenia had Brucella melitensis isolated from blood cultures, and all eight patients had Brucella agglutination titers of at least 1:320. Agglutination test titers did not correlate with the degree of pancytopenia. Fever was the most common manifestation, followed by malaise, anorexia, sweating, weight loss, and gastrointestinal symptoms. Most patients had hepatosplenomegaly, and bone marrow aspiration specimens showed hyper-cellularity or normocellularity. Hemophagocytosis (3 patients) and histiocytic hyperplasia (4 patients) were observed in bone marrow examinations of eight patients, but bone marrow aplasia and granulomas were not detected. All children recovered completely; the pancytopenia was transient and resolved after the antibiotic treatment of Brucella infection. Brucellosis should be considered as a possible diagnosis among patients with pancytopenia.
Understanding sit-to-stand through experimentation and constraint-based modelling

Understanding sit-to-stand through experimentation and modelling R. H. Mitchell, University of Bath, 2004 Industrial workstation design has included little concern for matching operator ability with the tasks concerned, which was in part responsible for user injury. Consequently, an improved ergonomic design input was required. An investigation was conducted to understand the whole body movement kinematic characteristics of sit-to-stand (STS) to create an design aid in the form of a computational human movement model. Critical actions that occurred throughout STS were established to provide a generalised motion characterisation, and the constraints which influenced STS movement patterns were obtained from this. The influence of three factors: rise duration, initial seated posture and seat height were experimentally investigated on spatiotemporal characteristics to form a series of regression equations. This provided a means of predicting whole body mass centre (CM) trajectory for STS movements over a range of conditions. Movement constraints and predicted CM trajectory were used to drive a manikin model that was based on experimental data of a single subject. When validated against this subject, root mean square difference between model and experimental lower limb joint angle displacement data was just 4.2°. Knee and ankle joint rotations successfully achieved accuracy levels to remain within established ranges of natural variability. The model was further validated against two additional subjects representing different body types. The average joint angle displacement predictions fell within 5.7° and it was concluded that the model could represent a range of able-bodied subjects. With the generalised rise scheme, the study radically progressed the understanding of CM spatiotemporal characteristics throughout STS, particularly with reference to the stability strategies chosen to overcome varying rise demands. This was the first human movement investigation to apply a factorial experimental design, a novel approach resulting in a comprehensive presentation of main and interaction effects occurring in STS responses. A kinetic energy motion definition was developed to bound STS, providing real improvement over traditional methods. Subsequently, the study has offered a number of useful methodologies and results that can be used alongside the manikin model by clinicians, engineers, and human movement scientists.
Human T lymphocyte subpopulations: studies of the mechanism by which T cells bearing Fc receptors for IgG suppress T-dependent B cell differentiation induced by pokeweed mitogen.

The mechanism by which human T lymphocytes bearing receptors for IgG (TG cells) suppress B cell differentiation promoted by pokeweed mitogen (PWM) and helper TM cells was studied. In this model system, autologous TG cells were shown to suppress via soluble factors released without detectable cell proliferation. In order to release these factors, TG cells needed to interact with PWM in addition to their reaction with IgG immune complexes during the isolation procedure. Suppression occurred only when TG cells were added early to mixtures of helper T and B cells cultured in the presence of PWM. B lymphocytes appeared to be resistant to suppression under a variety of experimental conditions. B cells “preactivated” by helper cells and PWM differentiated into plasma cells without any further help and were resistant to suppression by TG cells. B lymphocytes re-isolated from 2-day cultures containing TM cells, TG cells, and PWM retained their capacity to differentiate into plasma cells when cultured with helper T cells and PWM. B cell differentiation induced by helper supernatants was resistant to activated TG cells or their soluble factors. When TM cells were preincubated with suppressor supernatants, their ability to induce B cell differentiation was reduced; in contrast, similar pretreatment of B cells had no effect on their differentiation. These results suggest that TG cells can suppress the induction of polyclonal B cell differentiation by acting indirectly on helper TM cells.
PENGARUH GROWTH OPPORTUNITY, KEBIJAKAN HUTANG DAN STRUKTUR KEPEMILIKAN TERHADAP NILAI PERUSAHAAN

Go public companies will pay more attention to the factors which can increase firm value. Firm value is the main key to attract investor to invest their capital. Therefore, this research is meant to test the influence of growth opportunity, debt policy, and ownership structure to the firm value. The population of this research is all companies which are listed in Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX). The samples are manufacturing companies which are listed in Indonesia Stock Exchange in 2010-2014 periods. The samples have been taken by using purposive sampling based on certain criteria. The data analysis technique has been carried out by using descriptive analysis and multiple regressions analysis. The result of this research shows that growth opportunity does not have any influence to the firm value. Because growth opportunity does not attach directly in financial statement so that not all investors are able to read directly these growth opportunity in financial statement which has been reported by the company. Debt policy does not have any significant influence to the firm value. The managerial ownership structure does not have any influence to the firm value. Because not all companies have managerial stock but these companies still produce well and capable to optimize their firm value. The institutional ownership structure has significant influence to the firm value. Keyword: Growth opportunity, debt policy, ownership structure, firm value
TUMORIGENESIS AND NEOPLASTIC PROGRESSION CD147-Dependent Heterogeneity in Malignant and Chemoresistant Properties of Cancer Cells

CD147 (alias or basigin), an integral plasma membrane glycoprotein and a member of the Ig superfamily, is widespread in normal tissues, but highly up-regulated in many types of malignant cancer cells. CD147 is multifunctional, with numerous binding partners. Recent studies suggest that complexes of CD147 with the hyaluronan receptor CD44 and associated transporters and receptor tyrosine kinases are enriched in the plasma membrane of cancer stem-like cells. Here, we show that subpopulations of tumor cell lines constitutively expressing high levels of cell-surface CD147 exhibit cancer stem-like cell properties; that is, they exhibit much greater invasiveness, anchorage-independent growth, spheroid formation, and drug resistance in vitro and higher tumorigenicity in vivo than those constitutively expressing low levels of cell-surface CD147. Primary CD147-rich cell subpopulations derived from mouse mammary adenocarcinomas also exhibit high levels of invasiveness and spheroid-forming capacity, whereas CD147-low cells do not. Moreover, localization at the plasma membrane of CD44,
ROXY1, a member of the plant glutaredoxin family, is required for petal development in Arabidopsis thaliana

We isolated three alleles of an Arabidopsis thaliana gene named ROXY1, which initiates a reduced number of petal primordia and exhibits abnormalities during further petal development. The defects are restricted to the second whorl of the flower and independent of organ identity. ROXY1 belongs to a subgroup of glutaredoxins that are specific for higher plants and we present data on the first characterization of a mutant from this large Arabidopsis gene family for which information is scarce. ROXY1 is predominantly expressed in tissues that give rise to new flower primordia, including petal precursor cells and petal primordia. Occasionally, filamentous organs with stigmatic structures are formed in the second whorl of the roxy1 mutant, indicative for an ectopic function of the class C gene AGAMOUS (AG). The function of ROXY1 in the negative regulation of AG is corroborated by premature and ectopic AG expression in roxy1-3 ap1-10 double mutants, as well as by enhanced first whorl carpeloidy in double mutants of roxy1 with repressors of AG, such as ap2 or lug. Glutaredoxins are oxidoreductases that oxidize or reduce conserved cysteine-containing motifs. Mutagenesis of conserved cysteines within the ROXY1 protein demonstrates the importance of cysteine 49 for its function. Our data demonstrate that, unexpectedly, a plant glutaredoxin is involved in flower development, probably by mediating post-translational modifications of target proteins required for normal petal organ initiation and morphogenesis.
Fixation Prediction and Visual Priority Maps for Biped Locomotion

This paper presents an analysis of the low-level features and key spatial points used by humans during locomotion over diverse types of terrain. Although, a number of methods for creating saliency maps and task-dependent approaches have been proposed to estimate the areas of an image that attract human attention, none of these can straightforwardly be applied to sequences captured during locomotion, which contain dynamic content derived from a moving viewpoint. We used a novel learning-based method for creating a visual priority map informed by human eye tracking data. Our proposed priority map is created based on two fixation types: first exploiting the observation that humans search for safe foot placement and second that they observe the edges of a path as a guide to safe traversal of the terrain. Texture features and the difference between them, observed at the region around an eye position, are employed within a support vector machine to create a visual priority map for biped locomotion. The results show that our proposed method outperforms the state-of-the-art, particularly for more complex terrains, where achieving smooth locomotion needs more attention on the traversing path.