Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Serum Folic Acid Activity by Improved L. casei Assay.∗ †

Summary 1) An improved L. casei assay procedure for serum folic acid activity is described. Its range of usefulness over previous procedures is increased because of greater sensitivity, better accuracy in lower ranges, stability of test organism and micromethod applicability. 2) With this improved assay, the overlap of serum folic acid activity levels among normal subjects and folic acid deficient patients is so great that this determination has no value as an index of folic acid deficiency.
A Literature Review of Research in Bug Resolution: Tasks, Challenges and Future Directions

Due to the increasing scale and complexity of software products, software maintenance especially on bug resolution has become a challenging task. Generally in large-scale software programs, developers depend on software artifacts (e.g., bug report, source code and change history) in bug repositories to complete the bug resolution task. However, a mountain of submitted bug reports every day increase the developers’ workload. Therefore, ‘How to effectively resolve software defects by utilizing software artifacts? ’ becomes a research hotspot in software maintenance. Considerable studies have been done on bug resolution by using multi-techniques, which cover data mining, machine learning and natural language processing. In this paper, we present a literature survey on tasks, challenges and future directions of bug resolution in software maintenance process. Our investigation concerns the most important phases in bug resolution, including bug understanding, bug triage and bug fixing. Moreover, we present the advantages and disadvantages of each study. Finally, based on the investigation and comparison results, we propose the future research directions of bug resolution.
Comparison between two white matter segmentation strategies: An investigation into white matter segmentation consistency

White matter segmentation is an essential step to study whole-brain structural connectivity via diffusion MRI white matter tractography. One important goal of segmentation methods is to improve consistency of the white matter segmentations across multiple subjects. In this study, we quantitatively compare two popular white matter segmentation strategies, i.e., a cortical-parcellation-based method and a groupwise fiber clustering method, to investigate their performance on consistency. Our experimental results indicate that the groupwise fiber clustering generated more consistent segmentations with lower variability across subjects. This suggests that the fiber clustering strategy could provide a potential alternative to the traditional cortical-parcellation-based brain connectivity modeling methods.
Nickel release from coins

Nickel allergy is the most frequent contact allergy and is also one of the major background factors for hand eczema. The clinical significance of nickel release from coins was discussed when the composition of euro coins was decided. Current European coinage is dominated by cupro‐nickel coins (Cu 75; Ni 25); other nickel‐containing and non‐nickel alloys are also used. Nickel release from used coinage from the UK, Sweden and France was determined. It was shown that nickel ions are readily available on the surface of used coins. After 2 min in artificial sweat, approximately 2 μg of nickel per coin was extracted from cupro‐nickel coins. Less nickel was extracted from non‐nickel coins. Nickel on the surface was mainly present as chloride. After 1 week in artificial sweat approximately 30 μg/cm2 was released from cupro‐nickel coins: less nickel was released from coins made of other nickel alloys. Theoretically, several μg of nickel salts may be transferred daily onto hands by intense handling of high‐nickel‐releasing coins.
Fgf8 drives myogenic progression of a novel lateral fast muscle fibre population in zebrafish

Fibroblast growth factors (Fgfs) have long been implicated in regulating vertebrate skeletal muscle differentiation, but their precise role(s) in vivo remain unclear. Here, we show that Fgf8 signalling in the somite is required for myod expression and terminal differentiation of a subset of fast muscle cells in the zebrafish lateral somite. In the absence of Fgf8, lateral somite cells transiently express myf5 but fail to make muscle and remain in a dermomyotome-like state characterised by pax3 and meox expression. Slow muscle fibres form and commence normal migration in the absence of Fgf8, but fail to traverse the expanded undifferentiated lateral somite. The Fgf8-independent residual population of medial fast muscle fibres is not Hedgehog dependent. However, Fgf8-independent medial fast muscle precursors are lacking in floatinghead mutants, suggesting that they require another ventral midline-derived signal. We conclude that Fgf8 drives terminal differentiation of a specific population of lateral muscle precursor cells within the early somite.
Cell Wall Turnover at the Hemispherical Caps of Bacillus subtilis

Cell walls made by Bacillus subtilis bacteria grown in D2O medium have buoyant densities in CsCl which are different from walls made by cells grown in H2O medium. Cell wall turnover was studied by measuring the change in wall buoyant density after a B. subtilis culture was shifted from growth in D2O medium to aeration in H2O medium. Walls from the hemispherical caps were isolated after preferential digestion of wall from the cylindrical regions using the B. subtilis autolytic amidase. The walls from the polar regions were found to turn over extensively.
The economic potential of precision nitrogen application with wheat based on plant sensing

Plant-based precision nitrogen fertilizer application technologies have been developed as a way to predict and precisely meet nitrogen needs. Equipment necessary for precision application of nitrogen, based on sensing of growing wheat plants in late winter, is available commercially, but adoption has been slow. This article determines the expected profit from using a plant-sensing system to determine winter wheat nitrogen requirements. We find that plant-sensing systems have the potential to be more profitable than traditional nonprecise systems, but the existing system simulated was roughly breakeven with a traditional system. Copyright (c) 2009 International Association of Agricultural Economists.
p35 and Rac1 underlie the neuroprotection and cognitive improvement induced by CDK5 silencing

CDK5 plays an important role in neurotransmission and synaptic plasticity in the normal function of the adult brain, and dysregulation can lead to Tau hyperphosphorylation and cognitive impairment. In a previous study, we demonstrated that RNAi knock down of CDK5 reduced the formation of neurofibrillary tangles (NFT) and prevented neuronal loss in triple transgenic Alzheimer's mice. Here, we report that CDK5 RNAi protected against glutamate‐mediated excitotoxicity using primary hippocampal neurons transduced with adeno‐associated virus 2.5 viral vector eGFP‐tagged scrambled or CDK5 shRNA‐miR during 12 days. Protection was dependent on a concomitant increase in p35 and was reversed using p35 RNAi, which affected the down‐stream Rho GTPase activity. Furthermore, p35 over‐expression and constitutively active Rac1 mimicked CDK5 silencing‐induced neuroprotection. In addition, 3xTg‐Alzheimer's disease mice (24 months old) were injected in the hippocampus with scrambled or CDK5 shRNA‐miR, and spatial learning and memory were performed 3 weeks post‐injection using ‘Morris’ water maze test. Our data showed that CDK5 knock down induced an increase in p35 protein levels and Rac activity in triple transgenic Alzheimer's mice, which correlated with the recovery of cognitive function; these findings confirm that increased p35 and active Rac are involved in neuroprotection. In summary, our data suggest that p35 acts as a mediator of Rho GTPase activity and contributes to the neuroprotection induced by CDK5 RNAi. CDK5 plays an important role in neurotransmission in the normal function of the adult brain, and dysregulation can lead to Tau hyperphosphorylation and cognitive impairment. Our findings suggest that p35/Rac1 signaling is critical in the CDK5 shRNAmiR‐induced neuroprotection against glutamate neurotoxicity and is also correlated with the recovery of cognitive function in 3xTg‐AD mice. CDK5 shRNAmiR blocks calpain activation, and the cleavage of p35 to p25 produced by glutamate, which generates neuroprotection in a p35 up‐regulation dependent mode and its down‐stream control of Rho GTPases, such as Rac1 and RhoA.
An experimental study evaluating the effect of Mitomycin C on the prevention of postoperative intraabdominal adhesions.

BACKGROUND Fibroblast proliferation is one of the well-known mechanisms for postoperative intraabdominal adhesion formation. Inhibition of fibroblast proliferation is an attractive field of investigation in the prevention of adhesions. Mitomycin C (MMC) is a cytotoxic agent that alkylates and crosslinks DNA and also inhibits fibroblast proliferation up to a few weeks. We aimed to determine the effect of MMC on the prevention of adhesions. MATERIALS AND METHODS Generation of adhesions in rats by brushing a 1-cm(2) area of the cecum and the peritoneum on the right side of the abdominal wall was followed by intraperitoneal administration of saline, 1 mg/kg MMC, and 0.5 mg/kg MMC in saline. After 45 days, formation of adhesions was graded. RESULTS The average adhesion scores of the control, and MMC (1 mg/kg), MMC (0.5 mg/kg) groups were 3.2 +/- 0.7, 0.8 +/- 0.6, and 0.7 +/- 0.8, respectively. Adhesion scores of the two MMC-treated groups were significantly lower than that of the control group (P < 0.001). There was no difference between the two MMC groups (P > 0.05). No side effect of MMC was observed. CONCLUSION MMC was found to be very effective in the prevention of postoperative intraabdominal adhesions.
Androgen Receptor Cross-talk with Cell Signalling Pathways

The androgen receptor (AR) is implicated in regulation of cellular events in advanced prostate cancer. It is expressed in primary tumours as well as in metastases from patients who failed endocrine therapy. Activation of the AR in metastatic tumours occurs as a result of increased sensitivity of the receptor, point mutations that alter activation spectrum and in response to various nonsteroidal compounds. Peptide growth factors that activate the signalling pathway of mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPK) stimulate AR activity in ligand-independent or synergistic manner. Outcome of nonsteroidal activation depends on cellular and promoter context. AR activation by Her-2/neu is associated with enhanced tumour growth of the LAPC-4 xenograft. The issue whether MAPK or protein kinase Akt involved in growth factor signalling directly phosphorylate the AR is a matter of debate. AR ligand-independent activation by protein kinase A activators was also demonstrated. Under physiological conditions, potentiation of AR activity by low doses of androgen might be of importance in prostate cancer patients who receive endocrine therapy. Interleukin-6 (IL-6) and related cytokines also activate AR in a ligand-independent and synergistic manner. IL-6 is a pleiotropic regulator of tumour growth, which in some prostate cancers acts as a paracrine growth inhibitor and in other cases as an autocrine growth stimulator. Activation of the AR by IL-6 requires functional pathways of Janus kinases/signal transducers and activators of transcription factors and MAPK. Studies on AR co-activators implicated in ligand-independent activation may further improve understanding of cross-talk between signalling pathways.
Epidemiology, Etiology and Pathophysiology of Traveler’s Diarrhea

Traveler’s diarrhea (TD) is the most frequent health problem in travelers to developing countries. Several personal and environmental risk factors are at the basis of TD acquisition and are discussed in this paper. TD is caused by a wide range of infectious organisms, ETEC and EAEC bacteria strains being the main enteropathogens incriminated in TD. Other causative bacteria are: Shigella spp. , Campylobacter spp. , Vibrio spp. , Aeromonas spp. , Salmonella spp. , and Plesiomonas spp. Parasite species are also included: Cyclospora cayetanensis, Giardia lamblia, Crystosporidium, Entamoeba histolytica, as well as viruses: rotavirus, adenovirus, Norwalk virus. Due to the great diversity of pathogens incriminated, several pathophysiological mechanisms have been described and some of them are still poorly understood. The clinical symptoms present are also quite variable, although inflammatory and non-inflammatory diarrhea have been established as a classical and basic classification of diarrhea.
Calculation of the transformation kernels for the functional transformation method

The main challenge in the application of the Functional Transformation Method is the determination of the transformation kernels for the forward and inverse Sturm-Liouville transformation. This paper presents a straightforward way for their calculation from the eigenfunctions and eigenfrequencies of the underlying physical system. The proposed form of the eigenfunctions is based on a beneficial representation of the matrix exponential. A suitable approach for the calculation of eigenfrequencies is also presented. Two extended examples demonstrate the proposed algorithms.
Calcium carbonate and reduction of levothyroxine efficacy.

To the Editor. —I would like to report an interaction between 2 commonly prescribed drugs, levothyroxine sodium and calcium carbonate, which reduces levothyroxine efficacy. This inhibition may be reversed by separating the administration of these 2 medications. In a recent evaluation of 3 women with thyroid cancer who werereceivinglevothyroxinetosuppressserumthyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) levels, it was noted that simultaneous ingestion of some calcium formulations reduced levothyroxine effectiveness (Table). For example, patient 1 took levothyroxine (125 μg/d) and had a baseline serum TSH concentration of 0.08 mU/L (normal, 0.5-4.0 mU/L). She subsequently began to take calcium carbonate (in the form of Tums) for prevention of osteoporosis, often taking it together with levothyroxine. She experienced fatigue and a 4.5-kg weight gain over the next 5 months, and her serum TSH level was found to have risen to 13.3 mU/L. She then stopped taking calcium carbonate but maintained her levothyroxine regimen. Three weeks later her serum TSH level had declined to 0.68 mU/L. In patients 2 and 3 (Table), there was also loss of efficacy of levothyroxine when it was taken simultaneously with oyster shell calcium carbonate (in the form of Os-Cal). In both patients, levothyroxine activity was restored by administering it in the morning and administering calcium carbonate after lunch and dinner. Interestingly, patient 3 previously took a different form of calcium carbonate (Giant brand) with levothyroxine without affecting TSH suppression. Decreased bioavailability induced by simultaneous intake of other medications (eg, aluminum-containing antacids, iron, cholestyramine, sucralfate) is a well-known occurrence with levothyroxine therapy.1 Decreased absorption could similarly account for the calcium carbonate effect. Calcium carbonate itself or, alternatively, excipients or contaminants in the preparation2 could form insoluble chelates with levothyroxine.3 Differences in excipients or contaminants or variations in rates of dissolution2 could explain the discrepant effects of the 2 calcium carbonate preparations used by patient 3. Given that both calcium and levothyroxine are used together in a large number of patients, this phenomenon is likely to be widespread. Special attention should be directed toward postmenopausal women, as these individuals most frequently use calcium supplements to prevent osteoporosis and, in addition, often require therapy with levothyroxine.4 Separating administration of these medications by at least 4 hours should provide a simple method for maintaining levothyroxine efficacy.
The Biology of Mental Defect

0ur jn.VV'1'ch have, over the past 30 years, so significantly modified our views and stimulated treas erest. Advances in medicine and genetics in the past decade "have shattered many ^red concepts of mental subnormality. " This third edition is therefore most welcome. He]er) 8reat deal of the book has been rewritten with the assistance of J. M. Berg and 3ri(j t, an8-Brown. As before, the first six chapters give a general account of the subject, s0i^e e rest are concerned with special conditions. These include gene defects, chromoAlt^ an? malies, foetal malformation and environmentally determined disabilities. are the emphasis is on the biological basis of the problem, the broader social aspects Th? USSec* a t'ie Ser)eral outlook is humanitarian. range ,ere are numerous figures and tables and the valuable references, which cover a wide
Short‐term surgical outcomes and patient quality of life between robotic and laparoscopic extralevator abdominoperineal excision for adenocarcinoma of the rectum

INTRODUCTION Some studies advocate a laparoscopic extralevator abdominoperineal excision (l‐ELAPE) approach for low rectal cancer. The da Vinci™ robot (r‐ELAPE) technique has potential to overcome some limitations of l‐ELAPE, such as reduction of the learning curve and more precise tissue handling. It is unknown whether this approach results in improved surgical or quality of life outcomes compared with l‐ELAPE. This study aimed to address this issue. METHODS Consecutive patients having undergone either robotic or laparoscopic ELAPE for adenocarcinoma were studied. All operations were performed by two surgeons experienced in laparoscopic and recently introduced robotic surgery. Surgical outcomes were determined by postoperative histology and short‐term complications. Quality of life was prospectively assessed using the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer QLC‐CR30 and QLC‐CR29 questionnaires. RESULTS A total of 22 patients (11 r‐ELAPE) with a median follow‐up of 13 months (8 months robotic; 22 months laparoscopic) were studied. The groups were similarly matched for age, gender, American Society of Anesthesiologists status, preoperative chemoradiotherapy and tumour height. All had R0 resection. There was no significant difference in short‐term surgical outcomes between groups. There was no significant difference in mean global health scores between the two groups (74 ± 14 r‐ELAPE vs. 73 ± 10 l‐ELAPE). The r‐ELAPE group had a lower mean impotence score compared with the I‐ELAPE group (55.5 ± 40 vs. 72.2 ± 44), although this was not statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS The newly introduced r‐ELAPE was non‐inferior to l‐ELAPE in either patient quality of life or surgical outcomes. Robotic surgery could be particularly beneficial in the technically challenging area of low rectal cancer surgery with a shorter learning curve than laparoscopy.
Influence of Coping, Social Support, and Depression on Subjective Health Status Among HIV-Positive Adults With Different Sexual Identities

The authors examined associations between psychosocial variables (coping self-efficacy, social support, and cognitive depression) and subjective health status among a large national sample (N = 3,670) of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive persons with different sexual identities. After controlling for ethnicity, heterosexual men reported fewer symptoms than did either bisexual or gay men and heterosexual women reported fewer symptoms than did bisexual women. Heterosexual and bisexual women reported greater symptom intrusiveness than did heterosexual or gay men. Coping self-efficacy and cognitive depression independently explained symptom reports and symptom intrusiveness for heterosexual, gay, and bisexual men. Coping self-efficacy and cognitive depression explained symptom intrusiveness among heterosexual women. Cognitive depression significantly contributed to the number of symptom reports for heterosexual and bisexual women and to symptom intrusiveness for lesbian and bisexual women. Individuals likely experience HIV differently on the basis of sociocultural realities associated with sexual identity. Further, symptom intrusiveness may be a more sensitive measure of subjective health status for these groups.
Supplementing frequency domain interpolation methods for character animation

The animation of human characters entails difficulties exceeding those met simulating objects, machines or plants. A person’s gait is a product of nature affected by mood and physical condition. Small deviations from natural movement are perceived with ease by an unforgiving audience. Motion capture technology is frequently employed to record human movement. Subsequent playback on a skeleton underlying the character being animated conveys many of the subtleties of the original motion. Played-back recordings are of limited value, however, when integration in a virtual environment requires movements beyond those in the motion library, creating a need for the synthesis of new motion from pre-recorded sequences. An existing approach involves interpolation between motions in the frequency domain, with a blending space defined by a triangle network whose vertices represent input motions. It is this branch of character animation which is supplemented by the methods presented in this thesis, with work undertaken in three distinct areas. The first is a streamlined approach to previous work. It provides benefits including an efficiency gain in certain contexts, and a very different perspective on triangle network construction in which they become adjustable and intuitive user-interface devices with an increased flexibility allowing a greater range of motions to be blended than was possible with previous networks. Interpolation-based synthesis can never exhibit the same motion variety as can animation methods based on the playback of rearranged frame sequences. Limitations such as this were addressed by the second phase of work, with the creation of hybrid networks. These novel structures use properties of frequency domain triangle blending networks to seamlessly integrate playback-based animation within them. The third area focussed on was distortion found in both frequencyand timedomain blending. A new technique, single-source harmonic switching, was devised which greatly reduces it, and adds to the benefits of blending in the frequency domain.
Anangu oral health: the status of the Indigenous population of the Anangu Pitjantjatjara lands.

OBJECTIVE To describe oral health in the Anangu Pitjantjatjaraku lands in South Australia and to compare with earlier surveys and national data. DESIGN Descriptive. SETTING Data were collected at the time of dental care service provision, according to World Health Organization protocols, at the request of the Nganampa Health Council on optical mark reader forms. PARTICIPANTS There were 356 Anangu adults and 317 children surveyed. RESULTS The mean number of teeth affected by dental caries in the deciduous dentition in young children, aged 5-6 years, was double (mean 3.20) that of the overall Australian child population aged 5-6 years (mean 1.44). In contrast to the decline in deciduous caries in Australian children generally, Anangu children aged 5-9 years had a 42% increase in the mean number of teeth affected since 1987. Adults experienced low levels of dental caries, but severe periodontal disease was more prevalent among diabetics (79%) compared with-non-diabetics (13.8%). Tooth loss was found more frequently among adults with diabetes (mean 5.51) than non-diabetics (mean 1.53). CONCLUSIONS Oral health promotion strategies, in association with general health strategies, need to be developed to improve oral health in this remote Aboriginal population.