Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Diurnal variation of serum chondroitin sulfate WF6 and hyaluronic acid in the healthy, traumatic knee and the osteoarthritic knee.

OBJECTIVE An understanding of diurnal change is one of the important milestones for either biomarker validation or therapeutic level monitoring. The present study determines the most suitable period during the day for serum chondroitin sulfate WF6 (CS-WF6) and hyaluronic acid (HA) collection, and identifies the possible factors which affect the estimated putative half-life of serum CS-WF6 and hyaluronic acid (HA). MATERIAL AND METHOD Forty-nine volunteers were enrolled in the present study, 22 healthy, 14 with anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury, and 13 volunteers with osteoarthritis (OA). Blood sample collection was carried out every four hours starting at 18.00 hours for 24 hours, with additional samples taken at 07:00 and 08:00 hours. Serum CS-WF6, HA levels were determined by an ELISA-based assay. RESULTS The serum CS-WF6 level was significantly different between the normal and both pathological conditions. The serum HA level was significantly different in every condition. There was no diurnal pattern of serum CS-WF6 and HA during the 24 hour period. An estimated putative half-life of serum CS-WF6 and HA was 4.32 ± 2.63 and 4.10 ± 2.34, respectively. The maximum CS-WF6, creatinine clearance (CrCl) level and body mass index (BMI) were not related to the changes of the WF6 half-life. The higher maximum HA and CrCl level related to the longer half-life of serum HA level, p = 0.008 and p = 0.001, respectively. CONCLUSION There was no diurnal pattern of serum CS-WF6 and HA due to the present study approach. Two hours after awakening in official time would be the suitable for serum CS-WF6. Two hours after awakening and after meals were suitable times for serum HA collection.
A human factors perspective: auditory alarm signals.

s International. 40/09B, 4543 (University Microfilms No. 8004002), 1979. 13. Momtahan KL. Mapping of psychoacoustic parameters to the perceived urgency of auditory warning signals [dissertation] 14. Hellier E, Edworthy J. On using psychophysical techniques to achieve urgency mapping in auditory warnings. Applied Ergonomics, 30, 167-171, 1999. 15. Brewster SA, Wright PC, Edwards A. Experimentally Derived Guidelines for the Creation of Earcons, in Proceedings of HCI 95, Huddersfield, UK, pp. 155-159, 1995. 16. McGookin DK, Brewster SA. An investigation into the identification of concurrently presented earcons. Proceedings of the 2003 International Conference on Auditory Display, Boston, MA, USA,
The Nature of Relationships in Alternative Dementia Care Environments*

RÉSUMÉ Avec l'aide de sept entrevues et l'observation de terrain conduite dans deux contextes contrastes – un établissement spécialisé pour personnes âgées et un camp de vacances d'été, nous avons constatez dans cette enquête d'analyse, que deux stratégies différentes sont utilisées par des hommes âgés souffrant de démence. Le premier est un rapport fonctionnel, le deuxième est un rapport de support. Notamment, dans des rapports de support, les participants ont employé l'humour et la nostalgie. Tandis que dans un contexte plus sociable et dépourvu de règlements (le camp de vacances par exemple), les rapports ont changé, et inclus des principes d'égalité, d'interactions personnelles, la réciprocité, et de la confiance. ABSTRACT The purpose of this exploratory study was to examine the experiences of older adults with dementia while they were in long-term care and while they were in a summer-camp setting. Participant observation and interviews took place in both settings to gain an understanding of the experiences of seven residents of the long-term care facility. In the participants' experiences in the two contrasting environments, two types of relationships were evident—functional and supportive. Differing strategies were employed by residents within these two types of relationships. Notably, in supportive relationships, participants used humour and reminiscing in ways that reflected the depth of the relationship. At summer camp, in a more open and less constrained environment, relationships were dramatically altered and included elements of equality; personal interactions; and attention, reciprocity, and trust.
Morbidity of repeat transsphenoidal surgery assessed in more than 1000 operations.

UNLABELLED OBJECT. : While transsphenoidal surgery is associated with low morbidity, the degree to which morbidity increases after reoperation remains unclear. The authors determined the morbidity associated with repeat versus initial transsphenoidal surgery after 1015 consecutive operations. METHODS The authors conducted a 5-year retrospective review of the first 916 patients undergoing transsphenoidal surgery at their institution after a pituitary center of expertise was established, and they analyzed morbidities. RESULTS The authors analyzed 907 initial and 108 repeat transsphenoidal surgeries performed in 916 patients (9 initial surgeries performed outside the authors' center were excluded). The most common diagnoses were endocrine inactive (30%) or active (36%) adenomas, Rathke's cleft cysts (10%), and craniopharyngioma (3%). Morbidity of initial surgery versus reoperation included diabetes insipidus ([DI] 16% vs 26%; p = 0.03), postoperative hyponatremia (20% vs 16%; p = 0.3), new postoperative hypopituitarism (5% vs 8%; p = 0.3), CSF leak requiring repair (1% vs 4%; p = 0.04), meningitis (0.4% vs 3%; p = 0.02), and length of stay ([LOS] 2.8 vs 4.5 days; p = 0.006). Of intraoperative parameters and postoperative morbidities, 1) some (use of lumbar drain and new postoperative hypopituitarism) did not increase with second or subsequent reoperations (p = 0.3-0.9); 2) some (DI and meningitis) increased upon second surgery (p = 0.02-0.04) but did not continue to increase for subsequent reoperations (p = 0.3-0.9); 3) some (LOS) increased upon second surgery and increased again for subsequent reoperations (p < 0.001); and 4) some (postoperative hyponatremia and CSF leak requiring repair) did not increase upon second surgery (p = 0.3) but went on to increase upon subsequent reoperations (p = 0.001-0.02). Multivariate analysis revealed that operation number, but not sex, age, pathology, radiation therapy, or lesion size, increased the risk of CSF leak, meningitis, and increased LOS. Separate analysis of initial versus repeat transsphenoidal surgery on the 2 most common benign pituitary lesions, pituitary adenomas and Rathke's cleft cysts, revealed that the increased incidence of DI and CSF leak requiring repair seen when all pathologies were combined remained significant when analyzing only pituitary adenomas and Rathke's cleft cysts (DI, 13% vs 35% [p = 0.001]; and CSF leak, 0.3% vs 9% [p = 0.0009]). CONCLUSIONS Repeat transsphenoidal surgery was associated with somewhat more frequent postoperative DI, meningitis, CSF leak requiring repair, and greater LOS than the low morbidity characterizing initial transsphenoidal surgery. These results provide a framework for neurosurgeons in discussing reoperation for pituitary disease with their patients.
Trafficking Defects of a Novel Autosomal Recessive Distal Renal Tubular Acidosis Mutant (S773P) of the Human Kidney Anion Exchanger (kAE1)*

Autosomal dominant and recessive distal renal tubular acidosis (dRTA) can be caused by mutations in the anion exchanger 1 (AE1 or SLC4A1) gene, which encodes the erythroid chloride/bicarbonate anion exchanger membrane glycoprotein (eAE1) and a truncated kidney isoform (kAE1). The biosynthesis and trafficking of kAE1 containing a novel recessive missense dRTA mutation (kAE1 S773P) was studied in transiently transfected HEK-293 cells, expressing the mutant alone or in combination with wild-type kAE1 or another recessive mutant, kAE1 G701D. The kAE1 S773P mutant was expressed at a three times lower level than wild-type, had a 2-fold decrease in its half-life, and was targeted for degradation by the proteasome. It could not be detected at the plasma membrane in human embryonic kidney cells and showed predominant endoplasmic reticulum immunolocalization in both human embryonic kidney and LLC-PK1 cells. The oligosaccharide on a kAE1 S773P N-glycosylation mutant (N555) was not processed to the complex form indicating impaired exit from the endoplasmic reticulum. The kAE1 S773P mutant showed decreased binding to an inhibitor affinity resin and increased sensitivity to proteases, suggesting that it was not properly folded. The other recessive dRTA mutant, kAE1 G701D, also exhibited defective trafficking to the plasma membrane. The recessive kAE1 mutants formed dimers like wild-type AE1 and could hetero-oligomerize with wild-type kAE1 or with each other. Hetero-oligomers of wild-type kAE1 with recessive kAE1 S773P or G701D, in contrast to the dominant kAE1 R589H mutant, were delivered to the plasma membrane.
The A1166C polymorphism of the AT1 receptor gene is associated with collagen type I synthesis and myocardial stiffness in hypertensives

Objectives We have investigated whether the A1166C polymorphism of the angiotensin II type 1 (AT1) receptor gene modulates the effects of angiotensin II on collagen type I turnover and myocardial stiffness in hypertension. Methods We studied 255 hypertensive patients before and after 1 year of treatment with either losartan (n = 185) or atenolol (n = 70). Serum concentrations of the carboxy-terminal propeptide of procollagen type I (PIP) and the carboxy-terminal telopeptide of collagen type I (CITP), markers of extracellular collagen type I synthesis and degradation, respectively, were measured by specific radioimmunoassays. Left ventricular chamber stiffness (KLV), was determined from the deceleration time of the early mitral filling wave, as measured by Doppler echocardiography. Hypertensives were genotyped by polymerase chain reaction and divided in two subgroups: AA (n = 126) and AC/CC (n = 129). Results Baseline PIP and KLV were increased (P < 0.01) in AA hypertensives compared with AC/CC hypertensives. No changes in baseline CITP were observed between the two subgroups of hypertensives. Confounding factors were similar between the two subgroups of hypertensives. Administration of losartan was associated with reduction (P < 0.01) in PIP and KLV in AA hypertensives but not in AC/CC hypertensives. Treatment with atenolol did not change PIP and KLV in either subgroup of hypertensives. No changes in CITP were observed with the two treatments. Conclusion These findings suggest that the A1166C polymorphism of the AT1 receptor gene is associated with collagen type I synthesis and myocardial stiffness in patients with hypertensive heart disease.
German Children’s Use of Word Order and Case Marking to Interpret Simple and Complex Sentences: Testing Differences Between Constructions and Lexical Items

ABSTRACT Children and adults follow cues such as case marking and word order in their assignment of semantic roles in simple transitives (e.g., the dog chased the cat). It has been suggested that the same cues are used for the interpretation of complex sentences, such as transitive relative clauses (RCs) (e.g., that’s the dog that chased the cat) (Bates, Devescovi, & D’Amico, 1999). We used a pointing paradigm to test German-speaking 3-, 4-, and 6-year-old children’s sensitivity to case marking and word order in their interpretation of simple transitives and transitive RCs. In Experiment 1, case marking was ambiguous. The only cue available was word order. In Experiment 2, case was marked on lexical NPs or demonstrative pronouns. In Experiment 3, case was marked on lexical NPs or personal pronouns. Whereas the younger children mainly followed word order, the older children were more likely to base their interpretations on the more reliable case-marking cue. In most cases, children from both age groups were more likely to use these cues in their interpretation of simple transitives than in their interpretation of transitive RCs. Finally, children paid more attention to nominative case when it was marked on first-person personal pronouns than when it was marked on third-person lexical NPs or demonstrative pronouns, such as der Löwe ‘the-NOM lion’ or der ‘he-NOM. ’ They were able to successfully integrate this case-marking cue in their sentence processing even when it appeared late in the sentence. We discuss four potential reasons for these differences across development, constructions, and lexical items. (1) Older children are relatively more sensitive to cue reliability. (2) Word order is more reliable in simple transitives than in transitive RCs. (3) The processing of case marking might initially be item-specific. (4) The processing of case marking might depend on its saliency and position in the sentence.
Excretion of organic chlorine compounds in the urine of persons exposed to vapours of trichloroethylene and tetrachloroethylene

Ogata, M. , Yoshiko, T. , and Tomokuni, K. (1971). Brit. J. industr. Med.,28, 386-391. Excretion of organic chlorine compounds in the urine of persons exposed to vapours of trichloroethylene and tetrachloroethylene. Male volunteers were exposed to 170 p.p.m. of trichloroethylene vapour either for 3 hours or for 7 hours with one break of 1 hour; or to 87 p.p.m. of tetrachloroethylene vapour for 3 hours. Urine was collected frequently up to 100 hours after the start of exposure, and was analysed for trichloroethanol and trichloroacetic acid. After trichloroethylene exposure, trichloroethanol was excreted most rapidly shortly after exposure ceased, and trichloroacetic acid most rapidly 42 to 69 hours after exposure ceased. Total recoveries of trichloroethylene inhaled, up to 100 hours, were: trichloroethanol, after 3 hours' exposure, 53·1%; after 7 hours' exposure, 44%; trichloroacetic acid, similarly: 21·9% and 18·1%. The effects of exposure on blood pressure, pulse rate, flicker value, and reaction time were measured. The diastolic blood pressure was decreased significantly after 3 hours' exposure to 170 p.p.m. trichloroethylene. After tetrachloroethylene exposure, in 67 hours trichloroacetic acid was excreted to 1·8% tetrachloroethylene retained and an unknown chloride equivalent to 1·0%. Urine samples from 10 workers in an automobile parts factory were analysed for trichloroethanol and trichloroacetic acid. Trichloroethanol concentrations in the urine taken after work were higher than in the urine taken before work while for trichloroacetic acid the concentrations were reversed, due to the difference in the time course of excretion. The urinary levels of trichloroethanol, trichloroacetic acid, and total trichloro compounds were almost proportional to the environmental concentration of trichloroethylene.
A new virtual environment paradigm for high functioning autism intended to help attentional disengagement in a social context Bridging the gap between relevance theory and executive dysfunction

This article presents a review of the question regarding the link between social communication difficulties and altered executive functions (which are cognitive functions involved in the control of behavior, such as planning, inhibition, working memory etc) in high functioning autism. We first analyze the difficulties experienced by people with high functioning autism in processing contextual cues during social conversations. We extend this approach to a broader scope including verbal and non-verbal communication. Indeed, understanding social interactions requires integrating and connecting transient multimodal social cues. The article then focuses on the alterations reported in high functioning autism concerning the ability to process facial expressions during an ongoing conversation. This ability involves attentional resources that are discussed in light of the executive dysfunction attributed to autism. On this basis, we hypothesize that the difficulties in appreciating the synergy between facial expressions and speech could be linked to impairments in shifting attention from one to the other. A new experimental paradigm designed for testing this hypothesis is presented. It relies on a virtual environment system based on eye-tracking technology enabling users to control the visual display via their gaze. The intent behind this apparatus is to compensate for the deficits in shifting attention attributed to autism. We finally describe the procedure devised for testing this new virtual environment paradigm and conclude on its potential therapeutic use.
The Liturgy of the Epiphany Season and the Epiphanies of Joyce

It has long been recognized that Joyce's writing is a texture of epiphanies and that the basic pattern in most of his major works is a chronological cycle tracing man's life from childhood and youth to maturity and sometimes age. The combination of these devices largely explains the structure of Dubliners and A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, and both are used in conjunction with other techniques in Ulysses and Finnegans Wake. Although Joyce's use of them has been much discussed, the influences that led him to combine them have been less fully explored. The purpose of this paper is to assess the effect of the liturgy of the Epiphany season on Joyce's concept of epiphany and his use of the cycle pattern at the period he was writing Dubliners. Related liturgical influences on Dubliners will be discussed.
Fracture resistance of thin-walled roots restored with different post systems.

AIM To compare the fracture resistance of thin-walled roots after restoration with different types of post systems. METHODOLOGY One hundred and sixty-five decoronated maxillary central incisors were root filled and randomly assigned to three groups with respect to the remaining dentine thickness of root (1.0 mm, 1.5 mm, 2.0 mm). Each group was randomly divided into five equal subgroups. The subgroups were restored with one of the following post systems: polyethylene woven fibre (R), composite resin cured by light-transmitting post + glass fibre post (L), electrical glass fibre post (E), composite corono-radicular restoration (C) and cast metal post (M). Standard cores were constructed using composite resin in the first four groups. The samples were subjected to a gradually increasing force (1 mm min(-1)). The force required to fracture was recorded. The data was analysed with anova and Tukey test (P = 0.05). RESULTS The cast metal post group had the highest fracture strength (P < 0.001). There was no significant difference in fracture resistance between the other four groups. Fracture resistance was affected largely by the remaining dentine thickness in fibre post groups; however, the difference was not significant. On the contrary in the cast metal post group load failure was inversely influenced by axio-proximal dimension of dentine walls. CONCLUSION The cast post group had a higher fracture strength than resin groups. The force required to fracture the roots was similar for all fibre post systems and for all dentine thicknesses.
The development and validation of a one‐bit comparison for evaluating the maturity of tag distributions in a Web 2.0 environment

Tags generated by domain experts reaching a consensus under social influence reflect the core concepts of the tagged resource. Such tags can act as navigational cues that enable users to discover meaningful and relevant information in a Web 2.0 environment. This is particularly critical for nonexperts for understanding formal academic or scientific resources, also known as hard content. The goal of this study was to develop a novel one‐bit comparison (OBC) metric and to assess in what circumstances a set of tags describing a hard‐content resource is mature and representative. We compared OBC with the conventional Shannon entropy approach to determine performance when distinguishing tags generated by domain experts and nonexperts in the early and later stages under social influence. The results indicated that OBC can accurately distinguish mature tags generated by a strong expert consensus from other tags, and outperform Shannon entropy. The findings support tag‐based learning, and provide insights and tools for the design of applications involving tags, such as tag recommendation and tag‐based organization.
Relaxation times of choline, creatine and N‐acetyl aspartate in human cerebral white matter at 1.5 T

Several studies have investigated the T1 and T2 relaxation time of choline, creatine and N‐acetyl aspartate in cerebral white matter in normal human subjects. However, these studies demonstrate a large variation in T1 and T2 values. In the present study, relaxation times of choline, creatine and N‐acetyl aspartate were determined in cerebral white matter in 15 control subjects (age 21 ± 2 y, mean ± SD) at 1.5 T. Using PRESS, seven or eight data points were obtained to fit the T1 and T2 relaxation curves to, respectively. The mean voxel size was 14 cm3. The T1 relaxation times of choline, creatine and N‐acetyl aspartate were 1091 ± 132 (mean ± SD), 1363 ± 137 and 1276 ± 132 ms. The T2 relaxation times were 352 ± 52, 219 ± 29 and 336 ± 46 ms, respectively. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Bioactive natural products from novel microbial sources

Despite the importance of microbial natural products for human health, only a few bacterial genera have been mined for the new natural products needed to overcome the urgent threat of antibiotic resistance. This is surprising, given that genome sequencing projects have revealed that the capability to produce natural products is not a rare feature among bacteria. Even the bacteria occurring in the human microbiome produce potent antibiotics, and thus potentially are an untapped resource for novel compounds, potentially with new activities. This review highlights examples of bacteria that should be considered new sources of natural products, including anaerobes, pathogens, and symbionts of humans, insects, and nematodes. Exploitation of these producer strains, combined with advances in modern natural product research methodology, has the potential to open the way for a new golden age of microbial therapeutics.
UHF Radar Designed for Inshore Wave Watcher and Ocean Power Application

This paper presents a remote sensing method for the measurement of inshore wave energy, which can be used for the investigation of some regional coast for building wave power plants and monitoring the waves near dykes. It is designed to operate at UHF channel, and it is a portable and low power system, it can measure the movement of sea surface simultaneously without probing into the water. The field test on the beach of Zhujiajian Island proved that the system can be used successfully.
Uninsured Idiosyncratic Investment Risk and Aggregate Saving

This paper augments the neoclassical growth model to study the macroeconomic effects of idiosyncratic investment risk. The general equilibrium is solved in closed form under standard assumptions for preferences and technologies. Relative to complete markets, the steady state is characterized by both a lower interest rate and a lower capital stock when the elasticity of intertemporal substitution is sufficiently high. For plausible calibrations of the model, the reduction in aggregate savings and income is quantitatively significant. Finally, cyclical variation in private investment risks is shown to amplify the transitional dynamics.