Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Evaluation of C3a receptor expression on human leucocytes by the use of novel monoclonal antibodies

Varying results have been published in the past regarding the reactivity of different leucocyte subpopulations, including neutrophils, monocytes and B lymphocytes, to the anaphylatoxin C3a and its degradation product C3a(desArg). To better characterize the cellular distribution of C3a receptor (C3aR) expression, monoclonal antibodies against two different epitopes on the third extracellular domain of the human C3aR were generated. Quantification of C3aR as compared with C5aR densities was performed on peripheral blood leucocytes by quantitative indirect immunofluorescence. Eosinophils and basophils expressed similar numbers of C3aR and C5aR molecules/cell. On eosinophils 10 700±4500 (mean±SD) C3aR and 14 700±4100 C5aR were found, whereas basophils carried 8100±2100 C3aR and 13 500±3800 C5aR. Monocytes expressed approximately six times more C5aR than C3aR molecules on their surface (6000±2500 C3aR versus 34 100±9300 C5aR molecules) whereas on neutrophils, the expression of C5aR was more than 20 times higher than the expression of C3aR (3100±1000 C3aR versus 63 500±12 200 C5aR). No C3aR expression was detectable on peripheral blood‐derived B lymphocytes and on tonsillar B cells before and after stimulation with interleukin‐2/Staphylococcus aureus Cowan strain I. Our findings correspond well with the paucity of data on C3a‐induced functional activities in monocytes and neutrophils and suggest that eosinophilic and basophilic granulocytes represent the primary effector cells in the peripheral blood which can be stimulated by C3a.
A Comparison of Shopping Experiences across Three Competing Digital Retailing Interfaces

Digital retailing has been promoted in one form or another by telecommunications service providers for more than two decades. It offers customers a shopping experience distinct from physical place-based retailing. However, little is known about the characteristics and payoffs from digital retailing or the degree to which it may substitute for physical stores and malls. This article investigates the characteristics of three commonly implemented digital retailing approaches-catalog search, bundling, and virtual reality storefront-and the suitability of each approach for electronic commerce.Publishers and vendors have claimed that the rich medium of virtual reality will lead to greater sales and profits in retailing, a view refuted by our research. Although qualitatively different from other approaches, virtual reality is not clearly superior in generating profits and sales revenues. The research finds no statistically significant difference in the money spent or the number of items purchased among the three approaches. The only significant difference is the time spent shopping, which tends to be longer for virtual reality storefronts. Virtual reality retailing requires a 50 percent increase in search time over a catalog search, and a 212 percent increase over time spent when retailers bundle products on screen. In contrast to claims of many software vendors and marketing consultants who have touted virtual reality storefronts and virtual reality technologies as vehicles for increasing sale revenues, the research finds that customers are not likely to spend more on merchandise just because it is presented via a virtual reality storefront interface.
Project Northland in Croatia: Results and Lessons Learned

As part of an international public health partnership formed in 2001 we assessed the impact of Project Northland in Croatia—an adolescent alcohol school-based prevention intervention implemented in Split—on students. The curriculum was implemented in 13 randomly selected schools with another 13 schools serving as controls. The evaluation included quantitative and qualitative methods, using pre/post-tests to compare intervention and controls and follow-up focus groups with parents and teachers. Quantitative data showed the intervention was more successful in changing attitudes in the first two years, but had less impact on older students. Qualitative data suggest benefits from the program overall. Given the intervention was successful in the earlier grades it should be initiated earlier to have a greater impact. Challenges and lessons learned are offered.
An Exploratory Study of Individual and Environmental Correlates of Fear of Falling Among Community-Dwelling Seniors

Objective: The objective of this study was to identify individual and environmental correlates of fear of falling among community-dwelling seniors. Method: The study sample involved 288 community-dwelling adults aged 65 years or older going through the normal aging process. Fear of falling and a series of individual and environmental characteristics were measured with a questionnaire during home interviews. Results: Multivariate logistic regression procedures showed that the strongest correlates of fear of falling are gender, support from a spouse or partner, and residential area. Being a female as well as living in a smaller city or rural area were shown to be risk factors for fear of falling, whereas the availability of support from a spouse or partner was a protective factor. Discussion: Findings from this study suggest that researchers should adopt an ecological perspective to understanding the phenomenon of fear of falling among seniors and collect data on a broader range of individual and environmental factors.
The polyol pathway in the bovine oviduct

The oviducts likely provide optimized micro‐environments for the final maturation of gametes, fertilization, and early embryo development. Hexoses, including glucose, fructose, and sorbitol, are involved in these critical reproductive events. Monosaccharide production is controlled, in part, by the polyol pathway and requires two enzymes: an aldose reductase (AR) that reduces glucose into sorbitol, followed by its oxidation into fructose by sorbitol dehydrogenase (SDH). We analyzed the expression of AR and SDH in the isthmus and ampulla of the bovine oviduct at the proliferative, mid‐luteal, and late‐luteal phases of the estrous cycle by quantitative PCR and immunoblots. Immunochemistry and an assay of SDH activity were also performed. The quantity of hexoses in whole sections of isthmus and ampulla were determined by liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry. In sum, AR expression was restricted to the isthmus, while SDH was mostly expressed in the isthmic–ampullary junction and the ampulla, specifically concentrated in the luminal epithelium of the oviduct. The estrous cycle had no impact on protein expression of AR and SDH. Instead, the levels of AR and SDH expression were associated with higher ratios of sorbitol to fructose in the isthmus (1.6) than in the ampulla (4.1; P = 0.005). These results are discussed in light of physiological events occurring in the oviduct. Mol. Reprod. Dev. 79: 603–612, 2012. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Linking prey composition of haddock Melanogrammus aeglefinus to benthic prey availability in three different areas of the northern North Sea.

The feeding strategy and prey selection of haddock Melanogrammus aeglefinus related to the benthic infauna in the field were investigated in three different study areas (boxes) in the northern North Sea in 2007. The stomach contents of M. aeglefinus were dominated by invertebrates in all three boxes, mainly echinoderms and polychaetes, similar to the benthic communities in the field. Prey densities in the field significantly determined prey selection and, thus the feeding strategy of M. aeglefinus appeared highly opportunistic. Other prey characteristics, such as the position in the sediment or its palatability, had no significant effect on the selection process although trends were apparent that tubicolous polychaetes of the family spionids, especially Spiophanes kröyeri and Spiophanes bombyx as well as the tentaculate Phoronis spp. , were not consumed and potentially avoided due to their ability to withdraw below the feeding depths or due to chemical deterrents. High abundances of echinoderm species with hard calcareous shells in the M. aeglefinus stomachs, such as the ophiurid Ophiocten affinis and the echinoid Echinocyamus pusillus, indicated their use as grinding elements. A gradual shift from benthos to fish feeding with increasing M. aeglefinus size was not found.
The economic power of the Golden Rice opposition

Abstract Vitamin A enriched rice (Golden Rice) is a cost-efficient solution that can substantially reduce health costs. Despite Golden Rice being available since early 2000, this rice has not been introduced in any country. Governments must perceive additional costs that overcompensate the benefits of the technology to explain the delay in approval. We develop a real option model including irreversibility and uncertainty about perceived costs and arrival of new information to explain a delay in approval. The model has been applied to the case of India. Results show the annual perceived costs have to be at least US$199 million per year approximately for the last decade to explain the delay in approval of the technology. This is an indicator of the economic power of the opposition towards Golden Rice resulting in about 1.4 million life years lost over the past decade in India.
MRI of ovarian masses

MRI provides exquisite views of the pelvic anatomy through its high spatial resolution and tissue contrast, and as such plays a key role in the work up of ovarian lesions, identifying features that distinguish benign and malignant lesions. In the case of primary tumors it enables local staging and detection of metastatic disease to help guide management options such as complex surgery or the consideration of neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Functional MRI techniques such as diffusion‐weighted MRI (DW‐MRI), dynamic contrast‐enhanced MRI (DCE‐MRI) and tumor‐selective molecular imaging are currently being evaluated as possible predictive and prognostic biomarkers in the context of ovarian malignancy, and may play a larger role in routine clinical practice in the future. Herein we provide an overview of the conventional and advanced MRI techniques used to characterize ovarian masses and of the role that MR plays in the staging, treatment selection and follow up of patients with ovarian cancer. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2013;37:265–281. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Des otolithes aux satellites : méthodes et applications du traitement du signal et des images pour l'observation de l'océan

Ce document presente une synthese des activites de recherche menees depuis une dizaine d'annees en premier lieu dans le cadre du Laboratoire Ifremer-IRD de Sclerochronologie des Animaux Aquatiques et du departement Sciences et Technologies Halieutiques de l'Ifremer puis au sein du departement Signal & Communications de Telecom Bretagne et du Laboratoire en Sciences et Techniques de l'Information, de la Communication et de la Connaissance. De maniere generale, ces activites se situent a l'interface des STIC1 et de l'oceanographie. Dans le cadre d'approches interdisciplinaires, ces travaux ont vise a exploiter et developper des outils et methodes de traitement du signal et des images pour (i) fournir de nouvelles representations des processus/scenes observes, (ii) exploiter ces representations pour inferer ou reconstruire des informations d'interet du point de vue thematique. Trois domaines thematiques relevant de la teledetection de l'ocean au sens large ont ete privilegies : initialement, les otolithes comme marqueurs des traits de vie individuels des poissons et la teledetection acoustique des fonds marins et de l'ecosysteme pelagique, et plus recemment la teledetection satellitaire de la surface de l'ocean. Ces problematiques conduisent notamment a aborder differentes problematiques generiques du traitement du signal et des images telles que l'analyse de la geometrie de signaux multivaries (y compris des formes), l'analyse et la reconnaissance de textures, l'interpolation de donnees manquantes, la reconnaissance de scenes et d'objets a travers differents cadres methodologiques (modeles probabilistes, inference bayesienne, approches variationnelles, apprentissage statistique,.). A partir de cette expertise est envisage le potentiel, encore largement inexplore, d'une exploration des bases d'observations multi-echelles et multi-modales de l'ocean, pour la caracterisation et la modelisation des processus cles determinant les dynamiques des ecosystemes marins. Cette analyse met en evidence les enjeux reels du traitement de l'information dans ce contexte thematique et permet de degager des problematiques scientifiques que l'on cherchera a developper dans les prochaines annees.
Acute Effects of Plyometric Intervention—Performance Improvement and Related Changes in Sprinting Gait Variability

Abstract Maćkała, K and Fostiak, M. Acute effects of plyometric intervention—Performance improvement and related changes in sprinting gait variability. J Strength Cond Res 29(7): 1956–1965, 2015—The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of a short high-intensity plyometric program on the improvement of explosive power of lower extremities and sprint performance as well as changes in sprinting stride variability in male sprinters. Fourteen healthy male sprinters (mean ± SD: age: 18.07 ± 0.73 years, body mass: 73 ± 9.14 kg, height: 180.57 ± 8.16 cm, and best 100 m: 10.89 ± 0.23) participated in the experiment. The experimental protocol included vertical jumping such as squat jump, countermovement jump, and horizontal jumps; standing long jump and standing triple jumps to assess lower-body power, maximal running velocity; a 20-m flying start sprint that evaluated variability of 10 running steps and 60-m starting block sprint. All analyzed parameters were obtained using the new technology of OptoJump–Microgate (OptoJump, Italy). The short-term plyometric training program significantly increased the explosive power of lower extremities, both vertical and horizontal jumping improvement. However, the vertical jumps increased much more than the horizontal. The 20-m improvements were derived from an increase of stride frequency from 4.31 to 4.39 Hz because of a decrease of ground contact time from 138 to 133 milliseconds. This did not translate into step length changes. Therefore, the significantly increased frequency of stride (1.8%), which is a specific expression of ground contact time reduction during support phase, resulted in an increase of speed. The training volume of 2 weeks (with 6 sessions) using high-intensity (between 180 and 250 jumps per session) plyometric exercises can be recommended as the short-term strategy that will optimize one's probability of reaching strong improvements in explosive power and sprint velocity performance.
Irish descent, religion and food consumption in the west of Scotland

Mortality and morbidity of people of Irish descent in Britain is high, including from cardiovascular causes potentially linked with diet. The west of Scotland has long had a pattern of Irish migration, where migrants were poorer than the host population, and their different religious background gave rise to prolonged discrimination. This paper uses data collected in 1987/88 from the west of Scotland Twenty-07 study to test whether dietary differences due to poverty or to other factors have persisted among the descendents of these migrants. Being born of Catholic parents was the index of Irish descent used, these respondents consumed less of a factor represented by fruit, yoghurt and vegetables, and more of one represented by snacks and processed foods than the rest of the sample. The picture for those reporting current Catholic affiliation in adulthood was similar. Differences are largely associated with social class and mediated not by low income but by educational disadvantage. The findings suggest the continuation of a diet affected by limited opportunities for social mobility, and thus by obstacles to sustained educational advancement, among the descendants of Irish migrants even after several generations.
Retrospective analysis of quality improvement when using liposome bupivacaine for postoperative pain control

Background/objective Liposome bupivacaine, a prolonged-release bupivacaine formulation, recently became available at the Naval Medical Center San Diego (NMCSD); before availability, postsurgical pain for large thoracic/abdominal procedures was primarily managed with opioids with/without continuous thoracic epidural (CTE) anesthesia. This retrospective chart review was part of a clinical quality initiative to determine whether postsurgical outcomes improved after liposome bupivacaine became available. Methods Data from patients who underwent laparotomy, sternotomy, or thoracotomy at NMCSD from May 2013 to May 2014 (after liposome bupivacaine treatment became available) were compared with data from patients who underwent these same procedures from December 2011 to May 2012 (before liposome bupivacaine treatment became available). Collected data included demographics, postoperative pain control methods, opioid consumption, perioperative pain scores, and lengths of intensive care unit and overall hospital stays. Results Data from 182 patients were collected: 88 pre-liposome bupivacaine (laparotomy, n=52; sternotomy, n=26; and thoracotomy, n=10) and 94 post-liposome bupivacaine (laparotomy, n=49; sternotomy, n=31; and thoracotomy, n=14) records. Mean hospital stay was 7.0 vs 5.8 days (P=0.009) in the pre- and post-liposome bupivacaine groups, respectively, and mean highest reported postoperative pain score was 7.1 vs 6.2 (P=0.007), respectively. No other significant between-group differences were observed for the overall population. In the laparotomy subgroup, there was a reduction in the proportion of patients who received CTE anesthesia post-liposome bupivacaine (22% [11/49] vs 35% [18/52] pre-liposome bupivacaine). Conclusion Surgeons and anesthesiologists have changed the way they manage postoperative pain since the time point that liposome bupivacaine was introduced at NMCSD. Our findings suggest that utilization of liposome bupivacaine may be a useful alternative to epidural anesthesia.
Presence of three distinct genotypes within the Paragonimus westermani complex in northeastern India

SUMMARY The name Paragonimus westermani (Kerbert, 1878) is commonly applied to members of a species complex that includes the well-known Asian lung fluke of medical and veterinary importance. Unambiguous molecular and morphological evidence showing the presence of a member of the complex in India has recently been published. In the present study we report the occurrence of 2 more members of the P. westermani complex in northeastern (NE) India. Surveys of the freshwater crabs Maydelliatelphusa lugubris in NE India revealed 2 morphologically distinct types of lung fluke metacercariae. Phylogenetic analyses, using DNA sequences from ITS2, 28S and cox1 gene regions indicate that these lung metacercariae belong to P. westermani complex. Type 1 metacercariae have a more basal position within the complex whereas type 2 metacercariae are closely related to the relatively derived forms of P. westermani from NE Asia (Japan, Korea, China) and Vietnam. A third type of metacercaria (type 3), detected in another crab host, Sartoriana spinigera in Assam, was phylogenetically close to P. siamensis, also a member of the P. westermani group. Molecular evidence has demonstrated the existence of 3 genotypes of lung flukes within the Paragonimus westermani complex in NE India. Two of these were previously unknown.
[Sexual assault: medicolegal findings and legal outcomes (analysis of 756 cases)].

OBJECTIVES We describe the medico-legal findings in a population of sexual assault cases assessed in an urban referral center, analyse the legal outcomes in each case and determine whether the medico-legal findings were associated with conviction of the assailant. MATERIALS AND METHODS We performed a retrospective study of medico-legal reports in all the sexual assault cases reported in Tours during a 7-year period. Legal outcomes were obtained from courtroom proceedings. The relationship between the outcomes and the circumstances of the case was analyzed by logistic regression. RESULTS 756 cases were enrolled. 68.3% of the cases involved children under 15 years old. Genital trauma occurred in 6.8% of the girls and 6% of the boys in this group. 31.7% of all the victims were aged 15 years or more. Genital injury was documented in 11.3% of the women. 36.3% of the assailants were convicted. Examination at the request of the police authorities and previous acquaintance of the assailant by the victim were significantly associated with conviction. The presence of general body and/or genital trauma was not associated with conviction. CONCLUSION Non-medical variables must be thoroughly collected by the medical examiner. Physical evidence of trauma was neither predictive nor essential for conviction.
Subcortical afferents to the hippocampal formation in the monkey

The distribution of neurons in the basal telencephalon, the diencephalon, and the brainstem that project to the hippocampal formation has been analyzed in mature cynomolgus monkeys (Macaca fascicularis) by the injection of horseradish peroxidase into different rostro‐caudal levels of the hippocampal formation. After injections which involve Ammon's horn, the dentate gyrus, and the subicular complex, retrogradely labeled neurons are found in the following regions: in the amygdala (specifically in the anterior amygdaloid area, the basolateral nucleus, and the periamygdaloid cortex); in the medial septal nucleus and the nucleus of the diagonal band; in the ventral part of the claustrum; in the substantia innominata and the basal nucleus of Meynert; in the rostral thalamus (specifically in the anterior nuclear complex, the laterodorsal nucleus, the paraventricular and parataenial nuclei, the nucleus reuniens, and the nucleus centralis medialis); in the lateral preoptic and lateral hypothalamic areas, and especially in the supramammillary and retromammillary regions; in the ventral tegmental area, the tegmental reticular fields, the raphé nuclei (specifically in nucleus centralis superior and the dorsal raphé nucleus), in the nucleus reticularis tegmenti pontis, the central gray, the dorsal tegmental nucleus, and in the locus coeruleus.
Active Locomotive Intestinal Capsule Endoscope (ALICE) System: A Prospective Feasibility Study

Owing to the limitations of the conventional flexible endoscopes used in gastrointestinal diagnostic procedures, which cause discomfort and pain in patients, a wireless capsule endoscope has been developed and commercialized. Despite the many advantages of the wireless capsule endoscope, its restricted mobility has limited its use to diagnosis of the esophagus and small intestine only. Therefore, to extend the diagnostic range of the wireless capsule endoscope into the stomach and colon, additional mobility, such as 3-D locomotion, and steering of the capsule endoscope, is necessary. Previously, several researchers reported on the development of mobility mechanisms for the capsule endoscope, but they were unable to achieve adequate degrees of freedom or sufficiently diverse capsule motions. Therefore, we proposed a novel electromagnetic actuation system that can realize 3-D locomotion and steering within the digestive organs. The proposed active locomotion intestinal capsule endoscope (ALICE) consists of five pairs of solenoid components and a capsule endoscope with a permanent magnet. With the magnetic field generated by the solenoid components, the capsule endoscope can perform various movements necessary to the diagnosis of the gastrointestinal tract, such as propulsion in any direction, steering, and helical motion. From the results of a basic locomotion test, ALICE showed a propulsion angle error of less than 4° and a propulsion force of 70 mN. To further validate the feasibility of ALICE as a diagnostic tool, we executed ex vivo testing using small intestine extracted from a cow. Through the basic mobility test and the ex vivo test, we verified ALICE's usefulness as a medical capsule endoscopic system.