Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Vascular Leg Ulcers: Histopathologic Study of 293 Patients

Abstract:Vascular leg ulcers remain a challenge for the modern health care, and a systematic pathological study on this kind of lesions has not been reported so far. A total of 293 consecutive white patients with chronic leg ulcers (present for a minimum of 6 months and up to several years) referred to the Wound Care Unit (Dermatology, University of Bologna) between March 2008 and June 2011. Thirty-four patients affected by other than vascular ulcers, neoplastic or inflammatory conditions, were excluded. The remaining 259 patients affected by vascular leg ulcers were enrolled in this study. Assessment of the patients general health, skin biopsy, and vascular Doppler of the lower limbs were performed to determine the etiology and to formulate an appropriate management plan, whereas 2 punch biopsies of 3 mm were performed on the border and on the bed of each ulcer. Doppler evaluation showed the presence of vascular hemodynamic impairment in 259 patients. Of these, 181 (69.9%) patients were affected by venous insufficiency, 58 (22.4%) by venous and arterial insufficiency, and 20 (7.7%) by arterial insufficiency. Histopathologic features revealed significant differences, thus, reflecting the clinicopathologic correlation with the underlying hemodynamic impairments. In conclusion, histopathologic and hemodynamic data correlation could provide the basis for future analysis of leg ulcers pathogenesis and may improve treatment protocols. We should underline that this observational study represents a single-institute experience and that larger series are needed to confirm our observations.
Subproteomes of soluble and structure‐bound Helicobacter pylori proteins analyzed by two‐dimensional gel electrophoresis and mass spectrometry

Helicobacter pylori is one of the most common bacterial pathogens and causes a variety of diseases, such as peptic ulcer or gastric cancer. Despite intensive study of this human pathogen in the last decades, knowledge about its membrane proteins and, in particular, those which are putative components of the type IV secretion system encoded by the cag pathogenicity island (PAI) remains limited. Our aim is to establish a dynamic two‐dimensional electrophoresis‐polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (2‐DE‐PAGE) database with multiple subproteomes of H. pylori (http://www.mpiib‐berlin.mpg.de/2D‐PAGE) which facilitates identification of bacterial proteins important in pathogen‐host interactions. Using a proteomic approach, we investigated the protein composition of two H. pylori fractions: soluble proteins and structure‐bound proteins (including membrane proteins). Both fractions differed markedly in the overall protein composition as determined by 2‐DE. The 50 most abundant protein spots in each fraction were identified by peptide mass fingerprinting. We detected four cag PAI proteins, numerous outer membrane proteins (OMPs), the vacuolating cytotoxin VacA, other potential virulence factors, and few ribosomal proteins in the structure‐bound fraction. In contrast, catalase (KatA), γ‐glutamyltranspeptidase (Ggt), and the neutrophil‐activating protein NapA were found almost exclusively in the soluble protein fraction. The results presented here are an important complement to genome sequence data, and the established 2‐D PAGE maps provide a basis for comparative studies of the H. pylori proteome. Such subproteomes in the public domain will be effective instruments for identifying new virulence factors and antigens of potential diagnostic and/or curative value against infections with this important pathogen.
Operaciones cohomológicas: Un enfoque combinatorial.

En esta memoria se establece un enfoque puramente combinatorio de las operaciones cohomologicas de Steentod y Adem a nivel de cociclos. La principal motivacion para este estudio es el intentar cubrir la falta de informacion que hay actualmente en la literatura sobre las estructuras combinatorias subyacentes en estas operaciones cohomologicas. Trabajando en el contexto de la Topologia Simplicial y haciendo uso de la Teoria de Perturbacion Homologica, se disena una maquinaria algebro-combinatorial para la generacion de operaciones cohomologicas apartir de una contraccion Eilenberg-Zilber.El resultado de esta tecnica es la descripcion simplicial normalizada de morfismos que operan a nivel de cociclos y que determinan estas operaciones. Finalmente, esta formulacion explicita permite considerar este campo desde una optica algoritmica.
[Neuropsychology of eating disorders: a systematic review of the literature].

BACKGROUND The pathophysiology of eating disorders is still unknown, with many factors possibly involved. The existence of a central nervous system (CNS) dysfunction is being investigated with particular interest. One of the most employed strategies to reach this goal is the evaluation of cognitive functioning of patients with eating disorders with neuropsychological tests. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the current knowledge about the neuropsychology of ED. METHODS We performed a review of several data bases (including MedLINE, PsychoINFO, LILACS and Cochrane Data Bank), using terms related to main theme of interest. The review comprised articles published up to January, 2004. RESULTS Anorexia Nervosa (AN) was the most studied ED from the neuropsychological point-of-view, with studies tending to elicit attentive, visuo-spatial, and visuo-constructive deficits among such patients. On the other side, patients with Bulimia Nervosa (BN) exhibited deficits in the selective aspects of attention and in executive functions. As yet, there is no study covering the neuropsychological aspects of binge-eating disorder. After successful treatment, individuals show improvement of some cognitive deficits, while other seem to persist. CONCLUSIONS The ED are possibly associated with a certain degree of neuropsychological dysfunction, even though there is no consensus with regard to which function is particularly impaired. The fact that some cognitive dysfunction tend to disappear after treatment argues in favor of the hypothesis that these are functional deficits. Other deficits, however, tend to persist, suggesting that they may precede the development of eating disorders or even contribute to their development or to a worse prognosis. The study of the neuropsychological aspects of ED may help tailoring more selective therapeutic approaches to patients suffering from these disorders.
Human endogenous retroviruses in the primate lineage and their influence on host genomes

Primates emerged about 60 million years ago. Since that time various primate-targeting retroviruses have integrated in the germ line of primate species, and some drifted to fixation. After germ line fixation, continued activity of proviruses resulted in intragenomic spread of so-called endogenous retroviruses (ERVs). Variant ERVs emerged, amplified in the genome and profoundly altered genome structures and potentially functionality. Importantly, ERVs are genome modifiers of exogenous origin. The human genome contains about 8% of sequences of retroviral origin. The human ERVs (HERVs) comprise many distinct families that amplified to copy numbers of up to several thousand. We review here the evolution of several well-characterized HERV families in the human lineage since initial germ line fixation. It is apparent that endogenous retroviruses profoundly affected the genomes of species in the evolutionary lineage leading to Homo sapiens.
A Direct Midseptal Approach to Slow Atrioventricular Nodal Pathway Ablation

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to describe a midseptal approach to selective slow pathway ablation for the treatment of AV nodal reentrant tachycardia (AVNRT). In addition, predictors of success and recurrence were evaluated. Methods: Selective ablation of the slow AV nodal pathway utilizing radiofrequency (RF) energy and a midseptal approach was attempted in 60 consecutive patients with inducible AVNRT. Results: Successful slow pathway ablation or modification was achieved in 59 of 60 patients (98%) during a single procedure. One patient developed inadvertent complete AV block (1.6%). A mean of 2,7 ±1.4 RF applications were required with mean total procedure, ablation, and fluoroscopic times of 191± 6.3, 22.8 ± 2.3, and 28.2 ±1.8 minutes, respectively. The PR and AH intervals, as well as the antegrade and retrograde AV node block cycle length, were unchanged. However, the fast pathway effective refractory period was significantly shortened following ablation (354± 13 msec vs 298 ± 12 msec; P= 0.008). The A/V ratio at successful ablation sites were no different than those at unsuccessful sites (0.22 ± 0.04 vs 0.23± 0.03). Junctional tachycardia was observed during all successful and 60 of 122 (49%) unsuccessful RF applications (P < 0.0001). A residual AV nodal reentrant echo was present in 15 of 59 (25%) patients, During a mean follow‐up of 20.1± 0.6 months (11.5–28 months) there were four recurrences (5%), 4 of 15 (27%) in patients with and none of 44 patients without residual slow pathway conduction (P = 0.002). Conclusions: A direct midseptal approach to selective ablation of the slow pathway is a safe, efficacious, and efficient technique. Junctional tachycardia during RF energy application was a highly sensitive but not specific predictor of success and residual slow pathway conduction was associated with a high rate of recurrence.
Prediction of VO2max in Children and Adolescents Using Exercise Testing and Physical Activity Questionnaire Data

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the use of a treadmill walk-jog-run exercise test previously validated in adults and physical activity questionnaire data to estimate maximum oxygen consumption (VO2max) in boys (n = 62) and girls (n = 66) aged 12 to 17 years old. Methods: Data were collected from Physical Activity Rating (PA-R) and Perceived Functional Ability (PFA) questionnaires, a walk-jog-run submaximal treadmill exercise test, and a maximal graded exercise test. Results: Regression analysis resulted in the development of 2 models to predict VO2max. Submaximal exercise test data were used to build the following model (R2 = .73; SEE = 4.59 mL + kg− 1 + min− 1): VO2max (mL + kg− 1 + min− 1) = 26.890+(5.877 × Gender; 0 = female; 1 = male) − (0.782 × Body Mass Index [BMI])+(0.438 × PFA Score) +(2.712 × Treadmill Speed; mph) +(0.746 × Age) +(0.449 × PA-R Score). Maximal exercise test data were used to build the following model (R2 = .83; SEE = 3.63 mL + kg− 1 + min− 1): VO2max (mL + kg− 1 + min− 1) = 10.716+(1.334 × Maximal Treadmill Grade) +(5.203 × Treadmill Speed; mph) +(3.494 × Gender; 0 = female; 1 = male) − (0.413 × BMI) +(0.249 × PFA). Conclusions: The results of this study demonstrate, for the first time, that regression equations that use both exercise data and physical activity questionnaire data can accurately predict VO2max in youth. The submaximal and maximal exercise tests that use self-selected treadmill speeds can be used to assess cardiorespiratory fitness of youth with a wide range of fitness levels.
Tunable Passively  $Q$-switched Erbium-Doped Fiber Laser With Carbon Nanotubes as a Saturable Absorber

An all-fiber tunable passively Q-switched erbium-doped fiber (EDF) laser is presented. Saturable absorbers are constructed by optically driven deposition of single-wall carbon nanotubes on fiber connectors. A low pump threshold of 11.1 mW is achieved. Self-mode-locking effect is also observed, and it could be suppressed by splicing an extra unpumped EDF into the laser ring cavity. The laser can be tuned by applying axial strain on the fiber Bragg grating which serves as a narrowband external mirror of the cavity.
Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa, Willd.) as a source of dietary fiber and other functional components

Four varieties of an Andean indigenous crop, quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.), were evaluated as a source of dietary fiber, phenolic compounds and antioxidant activity. The crops were processed by extrusion-cooking and the final products were analyzed to determine the dietary fiber, total polyphenols, radical scavenging activity, and in vitro digestibility of starch and protein. There were no significant differences in the contents of total dietary fiber between varieties of quinoa. In all cases, the contents of total and insoluble dietary fiber decreased during the extrusion process. At the same time, the content of soluble dietary fiber increased. The content of total phenolic compounds and the radical scavenging activity increased during the extrusion process in the case of all 4 varieties. There were significant differences between the varieties and the content of total polyphenols. The in vitro protein digestibility of quinoa varieties was between 76.3 and 80.5% and the in vitro starch digestibility was between 65.1 and 68.7%. Our study demonstrates that quinoa can be considered a good source of dietary fiber, polyphenols and other antioxidant compounds and that extrusion improves the nutritional value.
A survey of injection site lesions in fed cattle in Canada.

During November 1996 to January 1997, a survey was conducted at 5 Canadian purveyors to measure the prevalence of injection site lesions in the top butt, boneless blade, outside round, inside round, and eye of the round. As trimmers were cutting these subprimals into steaks, technicians monitored each steak for grossly obvious scars. These scars were trimmed, weighed, and scored as either a "clear scar," "woody callus," or "cyst. " All scars were subsequently examined histologically and classified as a "clear scar," "woody callus," "scar with nodules," "mineralized scar," or "cyst. " Pieces were observed for broken needles while being processed and none were found. The estimated prevalence of injection site lesions was 18.8% (95% CI, 16.4% to 21.2%) in top butts, 22.2% (95% CI, 18.8% to 25.7%) in boneless blades, 4.9% (95% CI, 3.6% to 6.3%) in the eye of round, 1.8% (95% CI, 1.1% to 2.9%) in the inside round, and 7.6% (95% CI, 5.6% to 9.8%) in the outside round. Some top butts originated from American fed cattle; the estimated prevalence of lesions was 9.0% (95% CI, 5.9% to 12.9%) in American top butts and 22.3% (95% CI, 19.4% to 25.3%) in Canadian top butts. The median weight of the lesions varied among subprimals and ranged from 64 g to 117 g. Histologically, 13% of the scars were clear scars, 47% were woody calluses, 5% were mineralized scars, 34% were scars with nodules, 0.2% were cysts, and 0.9% were normal fat infiltrations. An economic analysis estimated an average loss of $8.95 per fed animal processed or $19 million dollars annually to the Canadian beef industry from injection scars.
Desperately Seeking IS Curriculum Relevance: Teaching Information Systems in a Cross-Functional Context

The information systems academic community has been searching for an effective response to the steep decline in enrollment in IS programs. Researchers have identified the design of the introductory IS course as a critical opportunity for increasing student interest in the IS field. In this paper we describe our experience redesigning an introductory IS course in the context of a semester long cross-functional product development project for college juniors. By including practitioners in the design process, we identified four areas to be addressed to increase the career relevance of the course and used this agenda to develop new content which tied the IS course more closely to the semester project, especially in the area of online marketing.
Nodulation of Cyclopia spp. (Leguminosae, Papilionoideae) by Burkholderia tuberum.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Species of the genus Burkholderia, from the Betaproteobacteria, have been isolated from legume nodules, but so far they have only been shown to form symbioses with species of Mimosa, sub-family Mimosoideae. This work investigates whether Burkholderia tuberum strains STM678 (isolated from Aspalathus carnosa) and DUS833 (from Aspalathus callosa) can nodulate species of the South African endemic papilionoid genera Cyclopia (tribe Podalyrieae) and Aspalathus (Crotalarieae) as well as the promiscuous legume Macroptilium atropurpureum (Phaseoleae). METHODS Bacterial strains and the phylogeny of their symbiosis-related (nod) genes were examined via 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Seedlings were grown in liquid culture and inoculated with one of the two strains of B. tuberum or with Sinorhizobium strain NGR 234 (from Lablab purpureus), Mesorhizobium strain DUS835 (from Aspalathus linearis) or Methylobacterium nodulans (from Crotalaria podocarpa). Some nodules, inoculated with green fluorescence protein (GFP)-tagged strains, were examined by light and electron microscopy coupled with immunogold labelling with a Burkholderia-specific antibody. The presence of active nitrogenase was checked by immunolabelling of nitrogenase and by the acetylene reduction assay. B. tuberum STM678 was also tested on a wide range of legumes from all three sub-families. KEY RESULTS Nodules were not formed on any of the Aspalathus spp. Only B. tuberum nodulated Cyclopia falcata, C. galioides, C. genistoides, C. intermedia and C. pubescens. It also effectively nodulated M. atropurpureum but no other species tested. GFP-expressing inoculant strains were located inside infected cells of C. genistoides, and bacteroids in both Cyclopia spp. and M. atropurpureum were immunogold-labelled with antibodies against Burkholderia and nitrogenase. Nitrogenase activity was also shown using the acetylene reduction assay. This is the first demonstration that a beta-rhizobial strain can effectively nodulate papilioinoid legumes. CONCLUSIONS Papilionoid legumes from widely different tribes can be nodulated by beta-rhizobia, forming both indeterminate (Cyclopia) and determinate (Macroptilium) nodules.
Risk Factors for Secondary Depression among Mexican Americans and Non-Hispanic Whites: Alcohol Use, Alcohol Dependence, and Reasons for Drinking

We evaluated demographic (age, gender, income), cultural (ethnicity, acculturation), clinical (alcohol use, alcohol dependence), and motivational (subjective reasons for drinking) potential risk factors for secondary depression in 372 persons with lifetime alcohol abuse or dependence (from a randomly selected community sample of 2393). Lifetime alcohol abuse or dependence increased the risk of major depression by a factor of approximately 2 to 7. Recent secondary depression was present in 2% to 18% of persons meeting criteria for alcohol use disorders. Low income, female gender, and, among Mexican Americans, low acculturation were associated with increased risk of secondary depression. Persons with lifetime alcohol diagnoses who currently drank, but did not name relaxation as a reason for drinking, were also at higher risk for secondary depression. Drinking to forget was associated with increased risk of secondary depression among Mexican American alcoholics, but not among non- Hispanic white alcoholics. Current abstinence was associated with greater risk among lifetime alcoholics born in Mexico, but not among those born in the United States.
Education of hyporesponsive NK cells by cytokines

NK‐cell tolerance to self is mediated via engagement of inhibitory receptors by cognate MHC molecules. This event is critical for NK‐cell education to achieve functional competence. Thus, NK cells expressing self‐MHC‐specific inhibitory receptors are responsive to activating stimuli while those lacking such receptors are hyporesponsive. Nevertheless, the mechanisms underlying NK‐cell education are still poorly understood. Here, we show that after stimulation with cytokines, hyporesponsive NK cells acquire stable expression of killer Ig‐like receptors (KIR) as reflected by DNA hypomethylation of their KIR locus. Remarkably, only hyporesponsive NK cells that acquire KIR in the presence of their cognate MHC molecule gain functional competence and this process can occur in the absence of any accessory cells. Acquisition of competence does not result in autoreactivity, since acquired KIR are functional and therefore able to inhibit NK‐cell cytotoxicity. Our data demonstrate that competent NK cells can be generated by cytokine stimulation, suggesting that NK‐cell education might not only be an early event which takes place during NK‐cell development but might also occur in the periphery during an immune response.
Restraint and Seclusion of People on Compulsory Treatment Orders in Victoria, Australia in 2008–2009

In Victoria, people with an intellectual disability who have shown behaviour that is a significant risk of serious harm to others may be detained within government-funded disability accommodation by either a court or civil order. The aim of such orders is both to protect the public and at the same time provide treatment to the person with a disability, so that the person will be able to return to live more independently within the community. Little is known about the characteristics or use of restraint and seclusion with this particular group. Thus, the aim of this study was to examine this group's characteristics and compare the use of restraint and seclusion to other people with an intellectual disability who were subjected to restraint and seclusion, but not detained. The practice and policy implications of the results are discussed from an interdisciplinary perspective with recommendations for professionals working in the field.
Few-cycle and cavity-enhanced optical parametric amplification

Optical parametric amplifiers have emerged as important optical sources by extending the properties of few-cycle laser sources, which exist only in materials with sufficiently large gain bandwidths, to wide array of spectral ranges. The work reported in this thesis relates to two areas for the continued development of optical parametric amplification based sources. First, we present a white light seeded, carrier-envelope stable, degenerately pumped OPA producing near tranform-limited sub 7 fs , 3 pIJ pulses at the driver wavelength from a long pulse, non-CEP stable Ti:sapphire regenerative amplifier. Problems to the spectral phase jump at the driver wavelength, 800 nn, were avoided by using a near infrared OPA to produce white light continuum down to 800 nm where the spectral phase is smooth. Secondly, enhancement cavities are used in conjunction with parametric amplifiers resulting in a new technique entitled, cavity-enhanced optical parametric chirped-pulse amplification (C-OPCPA). C-OPCPA increases the capabilities of nonlinear crystals and can allow continued scaling of parametric amplifier systems to high repetition rate. This work contains the first theoretical and experimental investigation of C-OPCPA. Numerically, passive pump pulse shaping of the intracavity pump power is shown to enable octave spanning gain. Experimentally, a first proof-of-principle experiment demonstrates a 78 MHz C-OPCPA with more than 50% conversion with under 1 W of incident pump power. A comparison to a single pass system shows improvements in the C-OPCPA of orders of magnitude in conversion efficiency and 3 fold increase in phase matching bandwidth in 10 and 20 mm periodically poled lithium niobate phase matched for parametric amplification with 1030 nm pump wavelength and a 1550 nm signal wavelength. A Yb-fiber laser based CPA system producing up to 5 W of 500 fs pulses comprises the pump source, and a Er-fiber laser the signal. Thesis Supervisor: Franz X. Kdrtner Title: Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science