Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Conference on Electrical Insulation and Dielectric Phenomena

The thickness and conductivity of a surface coating on filler particles in a composite material are critical parameters in controlling the frequency at which dielectric relaxation occurs. In this paper, experimental results are presented for composites formed from tungsten-coated glass microbubbles, embedded in a matrix of paraffin wax. The tungsten coating is of the order of 10 nm thick. There is an outer coating of alumina, a few nm thick, to prevent oxidation of the tungsten and to prevent the formation of conducting pathways in the composite. Dielectric relaxation is observed at around 10 GHz. A remarkable feature of the system is the way in which the relaxation frequency is shifted, by approximately six decades, from the calculated value for a similar composite formed with solid tungsten filler particles (≈ 10 Hz). This shift is attributed to the geometrical confinement of the conductor within a thin shell, and to the reduction in conductivity of the thin tungsten layer when compared with the conductivity of bulk tungsten.
Role for the oxyS Gene in Regulation of Intracellular Hydrogen Peroxide in Escherichia coli

ABSTRACT Intracellular hydrogen peroxide is regulated in Escherichia coli by OxyR in response to the metabolic production of H2O2. Here, we show that the untranslatedoxyS RNA controlled by OxyR has a role in this regulation. The oxyS transcript appears to affect the metabolic output of H2O2 rather than the removal of H2O2 by catalases-hydroperoxidases.
Carcinoma of bronchus presenting as hydropneumothorax.

Fig. 1 : Right sided hydropneumothorax, with collapse (Black arrow head): Before fluid aspiration Fig. 2: After drainage Black Arrow Head: Right side air bronchogram, in the middle lobe. White ArrowHead: Encysted pneumothorax in lower zone. lung cancer is one of the common malignancies encountered in daily practice, but its presentation as hydropneumothorax is rare. We report a 50 year old male, who presented to us with breathlessness and cough for last 1 month. On examination, patient was dyspneic with respiratory rate of 28 per minute, pulse rate of 94 per minute, BP of 116/70 mm of Hg. Chest examination revealed decreased movement of the right hemithorax. Percussion revealed increased resonance in supraclavicular, infraclavicular and suprascapular area, with stony dullness in other area. Breath sound was absent throughout the right side, but a succussion splash was audible. Chest X-ray revealed a hydropneumothorax, with collapsed lung (Figure 1), which was drained with a 16 gauge needle. A repeat chest Xray (Figure 2) after drainage demonstrated that upper lobe had expanded but showed air bronchogram in the region of middle lobe, with encysted pneumothorax in the right lower zone. later on bronchoscopy and HrCT thorax showed presence of a mass obstructing the middle lobe bronchus, which in FNAC turned out to be bronchial adenocarcinoma. Patient subsequently succumbed to the disease. Common roentgenological findings in lung malignancy are solitary pulmonary nodule, thick wall cavity, hilar prominence, mediastinal widening, pleural effusion and recurrent pneumonitis in a particular lobe, but presentation as hydropneumothorax and pneumothorax is rare. In our case chances of iatrogenic pneumothorax was ruled out, as patient denied any history of pleural fluid aspiration outside our hospital.
Multiparameter functional diversity of human C2H2 zinc finger proteins

C2H2 zinc finger proteins represent the largest and most enigmatic class of human transcription factors. Their C2H2-ZF arrays are highly variable, indicating that most will have unique DNA binding motifs. However, most of the binding motifs have not been directly determined. In addition, little is known about whether or how these proteins regulate transcription. Most of the ∼700 human C2H2-ZF proteins also contain at least one KRAB, SCAN, BTB, or SET domain, suggesting that they may have common interacting partners and/or effector functions. Here, we report a multifaceted functional analysis of 131 human C2H2-ZF proteins, encompassing DNA binding sites, interacting proteins, and transcriptional response to genetic perturbation. We confirm the expected diversity in DNA binding motifs and genomic binding sites, and provide motif models for 78 previously uncharacterized C2H2-ZF proteins, most of which are unique. Surprisingly, the diversity in protein–protein interactions is nearly as high as diversity in DNA binding motifs: Most C2H2-ZF proteins interact with a unique spectrum of co-activators and co-repressors. Thus, multiparameter diversification likely underlies the evolutionary success of this large class of human proteins.
Flavonoids from Feronia Limonia

Six known flavones and one flavanone glycoside were isolated from the aerial parts of Feronia limonia (Rutaceae). The structures of the flavanone glycosi de was characterized as 5-hydroxy-2-(4'-hydroxyphen yl)-2'',2''dimethyl-6-[3-methylbut-2-ene]-2, 3-dihydro-pyranochromen-4-one -4'O-β-D-glucopyranoside. The structures of the compounds were elucidated by spectral analysis.
Chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting: ESMO clinical recommendations for prophylaxis.

antiemetics 5-Hydroxytryptamine type 3 receptor (5HT3) (serotonin) antagonists, corticosteroids and aprepitant are usually given once daily. However, for delayed emesis corticosteroids are given twice daily Dopamine antagonists are given three or four times daily. For routine use oral doses are recommended [I, A]. Palonosetron is only available as an i.v. formulation. Substances of the same class are of comparable efficacy [I, A].
Inflammatory biomarkers in saliva: assessing the strength of association of diabetes mellitus and periodontal status with the oral inflammatory burden.

AIM To determine the strength of association of type 2 diabetes mellitus and periodontal disease with the oral inflammatory burden, as assessed by markers of inflammation in saliva. MATERIAL AND METHODS Unstimulated saliva samples were collected from 192 subjects with or without type 2 diabetes. β-glucuronidase (βG) was measured via a fluorometric array and interlukin-1β (IL-1β) via enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The concentration of both mediators was evaluated in relationship to clinical parameters, severity of periodontal disease and diabetes status. RESULTS Regression analysis demonstrated that diabetes and periodontal disease was independently and positively correlated with increased concentration of βG in saliva (p < 0.001). Moreover, the relative association of periodontal disease with the level of βG in saliva was greater than the strength of association of the diabetic status. IL-1β concentration in saliva was primarily associated with the severity of periodontal disease (p < 0.01), but not the presence of diabetes (p = 0.50). CONCLUSIONS This study examined the nature of the inflammatory response in the oral cavity as assessed by inflammatory markers in saliva. Both periodontal disease and diabetes mellitus were independently associated with the oral inflammatory burden, in which the effect of periodontal disease was more pronounced.
Microbiology of comedones in acne vulgaris.

Quantitative study of the microflora of 5 open and 5 closed comedones in each of 15 acne patients yielded anaerobic diphtheroids in 92 percent of lesions at a geometric mean density of 8.2 × 10 4 organisms per lesion. Open comedones (blackheads) contained higher numbers of yeasts and aerobic bacteria than closed ones (whiteheads). Study of individual comedones yields no more information than pooled samples. An association was found between severe acne and the incidence and density of Coryrnebacterium acnes group II.
Contribution of congestive heart failure and ischemic heart disease to excess mortality in rheumatoid arthritis.

OBJECTIVE Although mortality among patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is higher than in the general population, the relative contribution of comorbid diseases to this mortality difference is not known. This study was undertaken to evaluate the contribution of congestive heart failure (CHF) and ischemic heart disease (IHD), including myocardial infarction, to the excess mortality in patients with RA, compared with that in individuals without RA. METHODS We assembled a population-based inception cohort of individuals living in Rochester, Minnesota, in whom RA (defined according to the criteria of the American College of Rheumatology [formerly, the American Rheumatism Association]) first developed between 1955 and 1995, and an age- and sex-matched non-RA cohort. All subjects were followed up until either death, migration from the county, or until 2001. Detailed information from the complete medical records was collected. Statistical analyses included the person-years method, cumulative incidence, and Cox regression modeling. Attributable risk analysis techniques were used to estimate the number of RA deaths that would be prevented if the incidence of CHF was the same in patients with RA and non-RA subjects. RESULTS The study population included 603 patients with RA and 603 subjects without RA. During followup, there was an excess of 123 deaths among patients with RA (345 RA deaths occurred, although only 222 such deaths were expected). The mortality rates among patients with RA and non-RA subjects were 39.0 and 29.2 per 1,000 person-years, respectively. There was a significantly higher cumulative incidence of CHF (but not IHD) in patients with RA compared with non-RA subjects (37.1% versus 27.7% at 30 years of followup, respectively; P < 0.001). The risk of death associated with either CHF or IHD was not significantly different between patients with RA and non-RA subjects. If the risk of developing CHF was the same in patients with RA and individuals without RA, the overall mortality rate difference between RA and non-RA hypothetically would be reduced from 9.8 to 8.0 excess deaths per 1,000 person-years; that is, 16 (13%) of the 123 excess deaths could be prevented. CONCLUSION CHF, rather than IHD, appears to be an important contributor to the excess overall mortality among patients with RA. CHF contributes to this excess mortality primarily through the increased incidence of CHF in RA, rather than increased mortality associated with CHF in patients with RA compared with non-RA subjects. Eliminating the excess risk of CHF in patients with RA could significantly improve their survival.
Analysis, synthesis and recognition of human faces with pose variations

Face recognition is one of the most interesting and challenging problems in computer vision. A great difficulty in face recognition is the separation of intrinsic facial characteristics from extrinsic image variations. Among the latter in 2D images are pose, illumination, and expression. Unfortunately, most past studies have provided variation-specific solutions that are not applicable to other types of variation. Performance has remained inferior to human ability and sub-optimal for practical use. Our investigation focuses on one of these problems, which is processing head pose information in 2D images: analyzing, synthesizing, and identifying facial images with arbitrary pose. Our goal is twofold. One is to provide a simple and general framework which may be useful beyond the specific problem of head pose. The other is to improve the pose processing accuracy of previous studies by using this framework. We propose a localized two-stage linear system which is learned strictly from sample statistics and models shape and texture information separately. Instead of using domain-specific analytical knowledge of 3D rotation in Euclidean space, our solution utilizes a simple statistical learning framework whose applicability is not limited to the problem at hand. A wider range of head poses is covered by a number of local linear models distributed over various poses, each of which realizes a continuous mapping function which directly associates a face's representation with the corresponding 3D head angle. Our experiments prove the system to be very accurate in terms of pose estimation and image reconstruction as a function of pose while covering a greater pose range and a higher number of rotation dimensions than previous systems. The systems generalization capability over unknown poses and persons is also shown. This facilitates continuous and smooth coverage of pose variation and learning from few samples. The main contribution of this study is a solution that is simultaneously simple, general and accurate. Its data-driven nature simplifies an otherwise labor-intensive data collection procedure. Possible applications include on-line sequential learning systems and man-machine communication.
VASCULAR BIOLOGY, ATHEROSCLEROSIS, AND ENDOTHELIUM BIOLOGY Inhibition of EGF Signaling Protects the Diabetic Retina from Insulin-Induced Vascular Leakage

Diabetes mellitus is a disease with considerable morbidity and mortality worldwide. Breakdown of the blood e retinal barrier and leakage from the retinal vasculature leads to diabetic macular edema, an important cause of vision loss in patients with diabetes. Although epidemiologic studies and randomized clinical trials suggest that glycemic control plays a major role in the development of vascular complications of diabetes, insulin therapies for control of glucose metabolism cannot prevent long-term retinal complications. The phenomenon of temporary paradoxical worsening of diabetic macular edema after insulin treatment has been observed in a number of studies. In prospective studies on non e insulin-dependent (type 2) diabetes mellitus patients, a change in treatment from oral drugs to insulin was often associated with a signi ﬁ cant increased risk of retinopathy progression and visual impairment. Although insulin therapies are critical for regulation of the metabolic disease,
Condylar fractures of the proximal and middle phalanges

We describe the treatment of 74 patients with phalangeal condylar fractures. Twelve patients presenting with undisplaced fractures were initially treated nonoperatively; of these, five displaced, requiring fixation. The remaining seven patients, all children, united uneventfully. Sixty-two patients presenting with displaced fractures were treated with internal fixation using a single lag screw through a lateral approach. The patients were treated semi-electively on a day surgery unit. Twenty-seven patients with unicondylar fractures, all operated on within 2 weeks of injury, regained full range of movement. Thirty-eight patients had loss of extension (range 10–35°) with fixed flexion contractures at the proximal interphalangeal and thumb interphalangeal joints and extensor lag at the distal interphalangeal joints (overall mean extension loss 10°). Although fixation was technically easier during the first week, a delay of 2 weeks before fixation made little difference to the outcome. In our experience, fractures can be taken down and fixed internally even 8 weeks after injury. If nonoperative treatment is initially embarked upon, close monitoring is required with weekly radiographs up to 3 weeks, as these fractures will frequently displace.
Brain natriuretic peptide predicts successful cardioversion in patients with atrial fibrillation and maintenance of sinus rhythm.

BACKGROUND Brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) is released from the heart by hemodynamically induced muscle stretch. Patients with atrial fibrillation have higher levels of BNP than those in sinus rhythm. OBJECTIVE To assess the usefulness of BNP as a predictor of successful cardioversion in patients with persistent atrial fibrillation and subsequent maintenance of sinus rhythm. SUBJECTS AND METHODS Twenty patients undergoing cardioversion for persistent atrial fibrillation were enrolled. BNP levels were measured before electric cardioversion, and 30 min and two weeks after cardioversion. Baseline echocardiograms and 12-lead electrocardiograms were obtained from all patients. Patients with valvular disease, previous mitral valve surgery or significant left ventricular dysfunction were excluded. RESULTS The mean BNP level and the mean heart rate were significantly higher before cardioversion than 30 min after (197+/-132 pg/mL versus 164+/-143 pg/mL, P=0.02, and 77+/-17 beats/min versus 57+/-12 beats/min, P=0.0007, respectively). Patients who reverted back to atrial fibrillation after two weeks had a baseline BNP of 293+/-106 pg/mL, while those who remained in sinus rhythm for two weeks had a lower baseline BNP of 163+/-122 pg/mL (P=0.02). CONCLUSION In patients with persistent atrial fibrillation, BNP levels are associated with successful cardioversion and maintenance of sinus rhythm two weeks after cardioversion.
Cross-national differences in the prevalence and correlates of burden among older family caregivers in the World Health Organization World Mental Health (WMH) Surveys

Background Current trends in population aging affect both recipients and providers of informal family caregiving, as the pool of family caregivers is shrinking while demand is increasing. Epidemiological research has not yet examined the implications of these trends for burdens experienced by aging family caregivers. Method Cross-sectional community surveys in 20 countries asked 13 892 respondents aged 50+ years about the objective (time, financial) and subjective (distress, embarrassment) burdens they experience in providing care to first-degree relatives with 12 broadly defined serious physical and mental conditions. Differential burden was examined by country income category, kinship status and type of condition. Results Among the 26.9–42.5% respondents in high-, upper-middle-, and low-/lower-middle-income countries reporting serious relative health conditions, 35.7–42.5% reported burden. Of those, 25.2–29.0% spent time and 13.5–19.4% money, while 24.4–30.6% felt distress and 6.4–21.7% embarrassment. Mean caregiving hours per week in those giving any time were 16.6–23.6 (169.9–205.8 h/week per 100 people aged 50+ years). Burden in low-/lower-middle-income countries was 2- to 3-fold higher than in higher-income countries, with any financial burden averaging 14.3% of median family income in high-, 17.7% in upper-middle-, and 39.8% in low-/lower-middle-income countries. Higher burden was reported by women than men and for conditions of spouses and children than parents or siblings. Conclusions Uncompensated family caregiving is an important societal asset that offsets rising formal healthcare costs. However, the substantial burdens experienced by aging caregivers across multiple family health conditions and geographic regions threaten the continued integrity of their caregiving capacity. Initiatives supporting older family caregivers are consequently needed, especially in low-/lower-middle-income countries.
No lasting effects of plain packaging on cigarette pack retrieval time in small Australian retail outlets

One of the many claims made by the tobacco industry against Australia's plain packaging legislation was that plain standardised packaging would make it harder for retailers to locate and retrieve packs for customers.1 ,2 The industry argued this would lead to substantially longer transaction times, customer frustration, security issues and, ultimately, loss of trade from smaller convenience to larger discount outlets.3 A real-world study of a panel of small retail outlets by our group aimed to investigate this claim. We found only a small, temporary increase in cigarette pack retrieval times immediately following plain packaging implementation on 1 December 2012.4 By the second week of December 2012, pack retrieval times had returned to levels that were no different to baseline months, as was the case for February 2013. The pack retrieval protocol was repeated a …
Regulation of insulin response in skeletal muscle cell by caveolin status

Recent studies on the role of caveolin‐1 in adipocytes showed that caveolin has emerged as an important regulatory element in insulin signaling but little is known on its role in skeletal muscle cells. In this study, we demonstrate for the first time that caveolin‐1 plays a crucial role in insulin dependent glucose uptake in skeletal muscle cells. Differentiation of L6 skeletal muscle cells induce the expression of caveolin‐1 and caveolin‐3 with partial colocalization. However in contrast to adipocytes, phosphorylation of insulin receptor β (IRβ) and Akt/Erk was not affected by the respective downregulation of caveolin‐1 or caveolin‐3 in the muscle cells. Moreover, the phosphorylation of IRβ was detected not only in the caveolae but also in the non‐caveolae fractions of the muscle cells despite the interaction of IRβ with caveolin‐1 and caveolin‐3. These data implicate the lack of relationship between caveolins and IRβ pathway in the muscle cells, different from the adipocytes. However, glucose uptake was reduced specifically by downregulation of caveolin‐1, but not that of caveolin‐3. Taken together, these observations suggest that caveolin‐1 plays a crucial role in glucose uptake in differentiated muscle cells and that the regulation of caveolin‐1 expression may be an important mechanism for insulin sensitivity, implying the role of muscle cells for type 2 diabetes. J. Cell. Biochem. 99: 747–758, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
pLoc‐mAnimal: predict subcellular localization of animal proteins with both single and multiple sites

Motivation Cells are deemed the basic unit of life. However, many important functions of cells as well as their growth and reproduction are performed via the protein molecules located at their different organelles or locations. Facing explosive growth of protein sequences, we are challenged to develop fast and effective method to annotate their subcellular localization. However, this is by no means an easy task. Particularly, mounting evidences have indicated proteins have multi‐label feature meaning that they may simultaneously exist at, or move between, two or more different subcellular location sites. Unfortunately, most of the existing computational methods can only be used to deal with the single‐label proteins. Although the ‘iLoc‐Animal’ predictor developed recently is quite powerful that can be used to deal with the animal proteins with multiple locations as well, its prediction quality needs to be improved, particularly in enhancing the absolute true rate and reducing the absolute false rate. Results Here we propose a new predictor called ‘pLoc‐mAnimal’, which is superior to iLoc‐Animal as shown by the compelling facts. When tested by the most rigorous cross‐validation on the same high‐quality benchmark dataset, the absolute true success rate achieved by the new predictor is 37% higher and the absolute false rate is four times lower in comparison with the state‐of‐the‐art predictor. Availability and implementation To maximize the convenience of most experimental scientists, a user‐friendly web‐server for the new predictor has been established at http://www.jci‐bioinfo.cn/pLoc‐mAnimal/, by which users can easily get their desired results without the need to go through the complicated mathematics involved. Contact xxiao@gordonlifescience.org or kcchou@gordonlifescience.org Supplementary information Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.