Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Genetic Modification of Biomass to Alter Lignin Content and Structure

The transition from fossil fuels to more renewable sources of energy requires dedicated lignocellulosic feedstocks with desirable traits. The structural diversity and complexity of cell walls cause technological and scientific bottlenecks in the efficient utilization of plant biomass. The relative composition and content of the major cell wall components such as cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin determines the downstream utility of plant biomass. Lignin in the secondary cell walls is a major hindrance in the effective processing of lignocellulosic biomass. Strategies for altering the lignin profile of biomass crops through targeted manipulation of lignin biosynthetic genes using novel genetic approaches can facilitate biomass processing. Tissue specific expressions of genes, transcriptional regulation of lignin biosynthesis, and novel approaches like genome editing can aid in improving cell wall composition and plant architecture.
Microstrip Diplexer Constructed With New Types of Dual-Mode Ring Filters

-A microstrip diplexer consisting of two new types of ring filters is presented in this letter. The proposed ring filter is able to move one of transmission zeros closer to its passband corner by connecting the feeding capacitors at the different locations of the resonant ring. Thus, a diplexer implemented by connecting two kinds of ring filters with different feeding features can achieve the required isolation for the small channel separation. Then an open-stub is added at the common input port of the channel filters to achieve the required input matching at the two passbands of the diplexer. A diplexer prototype with two passbands at 1.75 GHz and 1.85 GHz with a channel separation 40 MHz was fabricated. The measured insertion losses in the pass bands are all less than 2.1 dB. The isolation between the two channels is greater than 20 dB and the input return losses of the three ports are about 20 dB.
The Cost Effectiveness of Screening Newborns for Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia

Objective: To assess the cost effectiveness of newborn screening for congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) in the U.S. newborn population. Methods: We constructed a decision model to estimate the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) of CAH screening compared to a strategy of no screening. Two types of cost effectiveness analyses (CEA) were conducted to measure ICER as net cost per life year (LY): (1) traditional CEA with sensitivity and scenario analyses, and (2) probabilistic CEA. Results: ICERs for (1) base-case analysis in traditional CEA and (2) probabilistic CEA were USD 292,000 and USD 255,700 per LY saved in 2005 USD, respectively. ICERs were particularly sensitive to assumptions regarding the mortality rate for the salt wasting type of CAH, in a range from 2 to 9%. The ICERs for best-case and worst-case scenarios were USD 30,900 and USD 2.9 million per LY saved, respectively. Conclusions: Using common benchmarks for cost effectiveness, our results indicate that CAH screening would be unlikely to be considered cost effective unless assumptions favorable to screening were adopted, although it could meet economic criteria used to assess U.S. regulatory policies. A limitation is that the analysis excludes outcomes such as correct assignment of gender and quality of life.
The need for teaching in medical audit: a survey in one medical school

Summary: Summary. A questionnaire survey was carried out among senior clinical teachers at Newcastle upon Tyne Medical School, UK about their current practice and attitudes toward the teaching of medical audit in the undergraduate curriculum. A response rate of 88% was achieved. Less than a fifth of respondents provided such teaching, but the majority were in favour of seeing the topic introduced. A variety of teaching methods were used, and feedback from students was generally favourable. A number of concerns were expressed, including the problem of curriculum overload, the timing of the teaching, and the need to ensure that the learning was experiential with a minimum of theoretical teaching. Those who were in favour of introducing such teaching, or who were unsure, were also concerned about pressures on curricular time, but some felt in addition that the topic was more appropriately a postgraduate one. A short attitude scale demonstrated a skew towards favourable attitudes among the whole group. The implications of the survey for teaching about audit and quality are discussed.
Comparative evaluation of C-reactive protein in peripheral blood of patients with healthy gingiva, gingivitis and chronic periodontitis: A clinical and particle-enhanced turbidimetric immuno-analysis

Background: C-reactive protein (CRP), an acute-phase protein monitored as a marker of inflammatory status, has been identified as a major risk factor for various systemic diseases. It is a reliable marker to infectious burdens and/or inflammation. The aim of this study was to compare and evaluate the systemic levels of CRP in the serum sample of the patients with healthy gingiva, gingivitis, and chronic periodontitis. Materials and Methods: A total of 60 systemically healthy patients were selected and divided into three groups: Patients with healthy gingiva (Group A), patients with generalized gingivitis (Group B) and patients with chronic periodontitis (Group C). Peripheral blood was collected and high-sensitive (hs)-CRP levels were estimated in the serum samples by using the particle-enhanced turbidimetric immuno-assay technique using a commercially available kit. Results: The mean hs-CRP level in Group A recorded was 0.437 ± 0.216, Group B was 0.771 ± 0.384 and Group C was 2.285 ± 0.381. A significantly elevated hs-CRP level was found in Group C as compared with Group B and A (P < 0.05). However, a moderate, but statistically significant increase in the hs-CRP levels was observed in Group B as compared with Group A (P < 0.05). The percentage of patients with elevated levels of hs-CRP >2 mg/l was significantly higher in Group C. Conclusion: The patients with chronic periodontitis demonstrated a mean hs-CRP levels higher than the patients with gingivitis and with healthy gingiva. Furthermore, with the increasing inflammation, the hs-CRP levels increased proportionately.
Uso de Sphaeralcea angustifolia (Cav.) d. don como sustituto de alfalfa para cabras

Debido a lo erratico de las cosechas agricolas en las zonas aridas y semiaridas de Mexico, esto como resultado de la agricultura de temporal practicada por la mayoria de los campesinos en el norte de Mexico, el campesino tiende a diversificar sus actividades en el medio rural. Una de las actividades mas importantes que complementan la actividad agricola del campesino y que le aseguran alimento de alta calidad, es la explotacion de las cabras.
Nasal carriage of Staphylococcus aureus and antistaphylococcal immunoglobulin E antibodies in atopic dermatitis

Twelve atopic dermatitis patients were studied to investigate the relationship between levels of antistaphylococcal immunoglobulin E antibodies in serum and quantitative cultures of Staphylococcus aureus strains from the anterior nares and chronic lesions. A positive correlation was found between logarithmic counts of S. aureus strains from the anterior nares and levels of antistaphylococcal immunoglobulin E in serum. The observation is important for understanding the pathophysiology of atopic dermatitis.
Overexpression of S100A2 protein as a prognostic marker for patients with stage I non small cell lung cancer

S100A2, a calcium‐binding protein, recently became of major interest because of its differential expression during transformation and metastasis in various tumors. The purpose of this study was to investigate the prognostic significance of S100A2 expression in the early‐stage non small lung cancer (NSCLC). Immunohistochemical analysis to determine the percentage of cells staining positive for S100A2 was performed on 11 NSCLC tissue microarray slides containing samples from 113 patients with pathologic stage I NSCLC who had undergone curative surgery. S100A2 was expressed in samples from 79 patients (69.9%). Kaplan‐Meier analysis showed that patients whose tumors had positive S100A2 expression had a significantly lower overall survival and disease‐specific survival rate at 5 years after surgery than did patients with negative S100A2 expression (p < 0.001 and p < 0.001, respectively). Age at diagnosis, histologic type of cancer, degree of differentiation and smoking history did not have a statistically significant effect on survival. Multivariate analysis confirmed that S100A2 expression is a better predictor for disease‐specific survival than were other clinical and histologic variables tested. Our results suggested that the expression of the S100A2 protein in stage I NSCLC indicates poor prognosis and may be used to identify patients with early‐stage NSCLC who might benefit from adjuvant treatment. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
A metamaterial based broadband microstrip antenna

In this paper, a broad bandwidth and high gain rectangular patch antenna using planar-patterned metamaterial concept is proposed. Top patch has seperated micro triangular patterns with periodic gaps while the ground plane etched with crossed strip-line gaps. The patterned metal patch and ground plane form a coupled capacitive-inductive circuit of negative index metamaterial. Extended bandwidth from a few hundred megahertz to a few gigahertz is demonstrated. In addition, experimental and theoretical power reception performances of metamaterial and patch antennas for different selected frequencies are compared.
Evidence for cerebellar-frontal subsystem changes in children treated with intrathecal chemotherapy for leukemia: enhanced data analysis using an effect size model.

BACKGROUND Following brain insult in early childhood, the later maturing neocerebellum and frontal lobes frequently show abnormalities. OBJECTIVE To investigate the morphologic characteristics and function of a proposed cerebellar-frontal subsystem in children treated for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) with intrathecal methotrexate using quantitative magnetic resonance imaging, neuropsychological measures, nonlinear multiple regression analysis, and a statistical effect size model that augments interpretive validity of nonsignificant statistical findings, particularly from small sample size studies. DESIGN Comparison and relationship of magnetic resonance imaging morphometry of cerebellar lobuli I-V and VI-VII and prefrontal cortices, and performance on 5 neuropsychological tests assessing visual-spatial attention, short-term memory, and visuomotor organization and coordination between childhood survivors of ALL and a matched control group. PARTICIPANTS Ten childhood survivors of ALL treated between 1982 and 1989 with standard 3-year intrathecal chemotherapy, and matched control subjects. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Morphometric results of cerebellar lobuli I-V and VI-VII and prefrontal cortices, and results of Trail-Making Tests, Rey-Osterreith Complex Figure Test, WISC-III Coding. RESULTS Significant effect size model values for outcome measures in the ALL group support deficits in lobuli VI-VII and prefrontal cortices, and neuropsychological performance. Multiple regression analysis results were consistent with hypothesized involvement of a cerebellar-frontal brain subsystem. CONCLUSION Treatment of children with ALL with intrathecal methotrexate before 5 years of age has structural and functional effects on the developing neocerebellar-frontal subsystem.
An official American Thoracic Society/European Respiratory Society statement: asthma control and exacerbations: standardizing endpoints for clinical asthma trials and clinical practice.

BACKGROUND The assessment of asthma control is pivotal to the evaluation of treatment response in individuals and in clinical trials. Previously, asthma control, severity, and exacerbations were defined and assessed in many different ways. PURPOSE The Task Force was established to provide recommendations about standardization of outcomes relating to asthma control, severity, and exacerbations in clinical trials and clinical practice, for adults and children aged 6 years or older. METHODS A narrative literature review was conducted to evaluate the measurement properties and strengths/weaknesses of outcome measures relevant to asthma control and exacerbations. The review focused on diary variables, physiologic measurements, composite scores, biomarkers, quality of life questionnaires, and indirect measures. RESULTS The Task Force developed new definitions for asthma control, severity, and exacerbations, based on current treatment principles and clinical and research relevance. In view of current knowledge about the multiple domains of asthma and asthma control, no single outcome measure can adequately assess asthma control. Its assessment in clinical trials and in clinical practice should include components relevant to both of the goals of asthma treatment, namely achievement of best possible clinical control and reduction of future risk of adverse outcomes. Recommendations are provided for the assessment of asthma control in clinical trials and clinical practice, both at baseline and in the assessment of treatment response. CONCLUSIONS The Task Force recommendations provide a basis for a multicomponent assessment of asthma by clinicians, researchers, and other relevant groups in the design, conduct, and evaluation of clinical trials, and in clinical practice.
Compact Polarimetric Response of Rape (Brassica napus L.) at C-Band: Analysis and Growth Parameters Inversion

Growth parameters like biomass, leaf area index (LAI) and stem height play an import role for crop monitoring and yield prediction. Compact polarimetric (CP) SAR has shown great potential and similar performance to fully-polarimetric (FP) SAR in crop mapping and phenology retrieval, but its potential in growth parameters inversion has not been fully explored. In this paper, a time series of images of CP SAR was simulated from five FP SAR data gathered during the entire growth season of rape. CP response of 27 parameters, relying on Stokes parameters and their child parameters, decomposition parameters and backscattering coefficients, were extracted and investigated as a function of days after sowing (DAS) during the whole rape growth cycle to interpret their sensitivity to each growth parameter. Then, random forest (RF) was chosen as an automatic approach for the growth parameters inversion method, and its results were compared with traditional single-parameter regression models. Most of the CP parameters showed high sensitivity with growth parameters and great potential for growth parameters inversion. Among all of the regression models, the quadratic regression model showed the best performance for all of the growth parameters inversion, the best result for biomass inversion was the third component of the Stokes parameters (g3) with R2 of 0.765 and RMSE of 73.20 g/m2. For LAI and stem height was one of the Stokes child parameters, the circular polarization ratio (Uc), with R2 of 0.857 and 0.923 and RMSE of 0.66 and 18.71 cm, respectively. RF showed the highest accuracy and smallest RMSE for all of three growth parameters inversion; R2 for biomass, LAI and stem height were 0.93, 0.96 and 0.95, respectively; RMSE were 46.24 g/m2, 0.25 and 13.5 cm, respectively. However, there are also some CP parameters, which showed low sensitivity to growth parameters, that had high importance for RF inversion. The results confirmed the potential of CP data and the RF method in growth parameters inversion, but they also confirmed that it was difficult to give a physical interpretation for the RF inversion model.
Logic characterisation of p/q-recognisable sets

Let $\frac{p}{q}$ be a rational number. Numeration in base $\frac{p}{q}$ is defined by a function that evaluates each finite word over $A_p=\{0,1,\ldots,{p-1}\}$ to a rational number in some set $N_{\frac{p}{q}}$. In particular, $N_{\frac{p}{q}}$ contains all integers and the literature on base $\frac{p}{q}$ usually focuses on the set of words that are evaluated to integers; it is a rather chaotic language which is not context-free. On the contrary, we study here the subsets of $(N_{\frac{p}{q}})^d$ that are $\frac{p}{q}$-recognisable, i.e. realised by finite automata over $(A_p)^d$. First, we give a characterisation of these sets as those definable in a first-order logic, similar to the one given by the B\"uchi-Bruy\`ere Theorem for integer bases. Second, we show that the order relation and the modulo-$q$ operator are not $\frac{p}{q}$-recognisable.
Why do Westerners self‐enhance more than East Asians?

Much research finds that Westerners self‐enhance more than East Asians, with the exception of studies using the implicit associations test for self‐esteem (IATSE). We contrasted Japanese and Canadians on a new measure of self‐enhancement under low‐ and high‐attentional load to assess whether cultural differences vary across controlled and automatic processes. Participants also completed measures of relational mobility and the IATSE. Results indicated that Japanese and Asian‐Canadians were more self‐critical than Euro‐Canadians, both under high‐ and low‐attentional load. This cultural difference was partially mediated by relational mobility. The IATSE showed no cultural differences, but this measure did not positively correlate with any of the other measures in the study, suggesting that it is not a valid measure of ‘true’ self‐feelings. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The application of computational fluid dynamics simulation technique to ocean boat anti-disturbance tracking controller

This article presents the verification problem of estimating boat hull damping parameters using the computational fluid dynamics technique. In addition, a Lyapunov-based path control system will be introduced to centify the estimation result. The controller should satisfy the following features: firstly, maintaining that the boat dynamic model which includes path, velocity, and orientation errors are asymptotically stable; secondly, ensuring the actuation is operating normally under the nonlinear hydrodynamic system and actual environment limitation; thirdly, working with the anti-disturbance algorithm which includes a projection update law. The final part of the article introduces the procedure proving that the computational fluid dynamics simulation result and Lyapunov direct method controller are acceptable for the ocean boat nonlinear dynamic system. It is confirmed that the control system simulation can improve computational fluid dynamics technology instead of an actual experiment. It can solve the estimation problem caused by limitations in equipment or funds.
Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococcus spp. Isolated from Wastewater and Chicken Feces in the United States

ABSTRACT Vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus spp. (VRE) were isolated from sewage and chicken feces but not from other animal fecal sources (dog, cow, and pig) or from surface waters tested. VRE from hospital wastewater were resistant to ≥20 μg of vancomycin/ml and possessed the vanA gene. VRE from residential wastewater and chicken feces were resistant to 3 to 5 μg of vancomycin/ml and possessed the vanC gene.
Sleep-disordered breathing in patients with atrial fibrillation and normal systolic left ventricular function.

BACKGROUND Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is more common in patients with atrial fibrillation (AFib). Recently, an additional association between central sleep apnea/Cheyne-Stokes respiration (CSA/CSR) and AFib has been described. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence and type of sleep-disordered breathing in patients with AFib and normal systolic left ventricular function. METHODS 150 patients (110 men and 40 women, aged 66.1 +/- 1.7 years) underwent cardiorespiratory polygraphy, capillary blood gas analysis, measurement of NT-proBNP, and echocardiography to determine the diameter of the left atrium (LAD) and the peak systolic pulmonary artery pressure (PAP). RESULTS Sleep-disordered breathing was documented in 74% of all patients with AFib (43% had OSA and 31% had CSA/CSR). Patients with CSA/CSR had a higher PAP, a higher apnea-hypopnea index, a greater LAD, and a lower capillary blood pCO(2) than patients with OSA. CONCLUSIONS Patients with AFib were found to have not only a high prevalence of obstructive sleep apnea, as has been described previously, but also a high prevalence of CSA/CSR. It remains unknown whether CSA/CSR is more common in AFib because of diastolic dysfunction or whether phenomena associated with CSA/CSR predispose to AFib. Further research on this question is needed.
Fluoroscopic caudal epidural injections in managing chronic axial low back pain without disc herniation, radiculitis, or facet joint pain

Background Chronic low back pain without disc herniation is common. Various modalities of treatments are utilized in managing this condition, including epidural injections. However, there is continued debate on the effectiveness, indications, and medical necessity of any treatment modality utilized for managing axial or discogenic pain, including epidural injections. Methods A randomized, double-blind, actively controlled trial was conducted. The objective was to evaluate the ability to assess the effectiveness of caudal epidural injections of local anesthetic with or without steroids for managing chronic low back pain not caused by disc herniation, radiculitis, facet joints, or sacroiliac joints. A total of 120 patients were randomized to two groups; one group did not receive steroids (group 1) and the other group did (group 2). There were 60 patients in each group. The primary outcome measure was at least 50% improvement in Numeric Rating Scale and Oswestry Disability Index. Secondary outcome measures were employment status and opioid intake. These measures were assessed at 3, 6, 12, 18, and 24 months after treatment. Results Significant pain relief and functional status improvement (primary outcome) defined as a 50% or more reduction in scores from baseline, were observed in 54% of patients in group 1 and 60% of patients in group 2 at 24 months. In contrast, 84% of patients in group 1 and 73% in group 2 saw significant pain relief and functional status improvement in the successful groups at 24 months. Conclusion Caudal epidural injections of local anesthetic with or without steroids are effective in patients with chronic axial low back pain of discogenic origin without facet joint pain, disc herniation, and/or radiculitis.