Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Formal Model of Structure-Independent Databases

In this paper weâd like to propose a formal model of structure-independent databases. This formal model allows to describe and implement not only different SIDB that are implemented on relational technology, but also the tools of working with them. Model contains set of relations and operations which are basic and can be supplemented depending on the characteristics and requirements of implementation. To provide the flexibility structure-independent databases presupposes manipulation of data and metadata structures
Deficits in Facial Emotion Processing in Mild Cognitive Impairment

Background: Patients with Alzheimer disease consistently demonstrate impaired performance on tests of facial emotion processing. However, it remains unclear how early in the neurodegenerative process these deficits emerge. Methods: We approached this question by examining facial emotional processing in a ‘pre-dementia’ condition, amnestic mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Nine single-domain amnestic MCI subjects, 14 multiple-domain amnestic MCI subjects (MCI-MD), and 68 normal control subjects were assessed with the Florida Affect Battery. Results: After adjustment for age and gender, analyses of performance across the facial affect processing subtests of the Florida Affect Battery demonstrated intact performance in the single-domain MCI group but significantly impaired performance in the MCI-MD group, particularly on a test of facial affect discrimination. Within the MCI-MD group, men performed disproportionately worse than women. Performance on facial affect discriminations in the MCI-MD group correlated most robustly with performance on tests of frontal/executive function. Conclusion: These data suggest that facial emotion processing can be impaired in MCI prior to the more marked cognitive deficits seen with clinically diagnosed Alzheimer disease.
Genetic and cellular evidence of decreased inflammation associated with reduced incidence of posttraumatic arthritis in MRL/MpJ mice.

OBJECTIVE To examine the relationship between inflammation and posttraumatic arthritis (PTA) in a murine intraarticular fracture model. METHODS Male C57BL/6 and MRL/MpJ "superhealer" mice received tibial plateau fractures using a previously established method. Mice were killed on day 0 (within 4 hours of fracture) and days 1, 3, 5, 7, 28, and 56 after fracture. Synovial tissue samples, obtained prior to fracture and on days 0, 1, 3, 5, and 7 after fracture, were examined by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction for gene expression of proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines. Synovial fluid and serum samples were collected to measure cytokine concentrations, using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Whole joints were examined histologically for the extent of synovitis and cartilage degradation, and joint tissue samples from all time points were analyzed immunohistochemically to evaluate the distribution of interleukin-1 (IL-1). RESULTS Compared to C57BL/6 mice, MRL/MpJ mice had less severe intraarticular and systemic inflammation following joint injury, as evidenced by lower gene expression of tumor necrosis factor α and IL-1β in the synovial tissue and lower protein levels of IL-1α and IL-1β in the synovial fluid, serum, and joint tissues. Furthermore, after joint injury, MRL/MpJ mice had lower gene expression of macrophage inflammatory proteins and macrophage-derived chemokine (CCL22) in the synovial tissue, and also had reduced acute and late-stage infiltration of synovial macrophages. CONCLUSION C57BL/6 mice exhibited higher levels of inflammation than MRL/MpJ mice, indicating that MRL/MpJ mice are protected from PTA in this model. These data thus suggest an association between joint tissue inflammation and the development and progression of PTA in mice.
Evidence of High-Frequency Genomic Reassortment of Group A Rotavirus Strains in Bangladesh: Emergence of Type G9 in 1995

ABSTRACT We characterized 1,534 rotavirus (RV) strains collected in Bangladesh from 1992 to 1997 to assess temporal changes in G type and to study the most common G and P types using reverse transcription-PCR, oligonucleotide probe hybridization, and monoclonal antibody-based enzyme immunoassay. Results from this study combined with our previous findings from 1987 to 1991 (F. Bingnan et al., J. Clin. Microbiol. 29:862–868, 1991, and L. E. Unicomb et al., Arch. Virol. 132:201–208, 1993) (n = 2,515 fecal specimens) demonstrated that the distribution of the four major G types varied from year to year, types G1 to G4 constituted 51% of all strains tested (n = 1,364), and type G4 was the most prevalent type (22%), followed by type G2 (17%). Of 351 strains tested for both G and P types, three globally common types, type P[8], G1, type P[4], G2, and type P[8], G4, comprised 45% (n = 159) of the strains, although eight other strains were circulating during the study period. Mixed G and/or P types were found in 23% (n = 79) of the samples tested. Type G9 RVs that were genotype P[6] and P[8] with both long and short electrophoretic patterns emerged in 1995. The finding of five different genotypes among G9 strains, of which three were frequently detected, suggests that they may have an unusual propensity for reassortment that exceeds that found among the common G types. We also detected antigenic changes in serotypes G2 and G4 over time, as indicated by the loss of reactivity with standard typing monoclonal antibodies. Our data suggest that a vaccine must provide protection against type G9 RVs as well as against the four major G types because G9 strains constituted 16% (n = 56) of the typeable RV strains and have predominated since 1996.
Glass furnace, simplified modelling for control and real time simulation

Glass furnace is an intensive energy consuming industrial process, and the efforts made to optimise its operation are great. Currently, in many countries over the world, the most important challenge for glass industrials is to meet at low cost the more and more severe environmental constraints on pollutants emissions. Control of combustion and better furnace operation are two fields where much can be gained. The need of rapid models for control algorithms and real time simulation is therefore important. Already good results have been obtained In using the zonal approach for the combustion chamber. We present here the application of this method to the whole furnace, aimed at obtaining a rapid model for the global plant.
Examination of Quality Indicators in Public and Private Pre-Kindergarten Classrooms in Indiana.

The purpose of this study was to examine the current state of pre-kindergarten classrooms in the state of Indiana through the perspectives of public and private pre-kindergarten program directors. Survey results revealed a high concentration of female pre-kindergarten directors within the state of Indiana. Although directors rated their teaching staffs with a high level of early education background, they themselves felt less confident about their backgrounds in this field. Descriptive data also revealed that private student–teacher ratios are smaller, their instructional days are longer, their programs have been established for longer periods of time, and their directors have had longer tenures than their public counterparts. Statistical testing found that directors of public urban schools reported a higher quality rating than suburban and rural pre-kindergarten programs, based on the quality composite score. It was determined that student–teacher ratio and school type (public, private) both served as significant predictors of the quality composite score. It was revealed that as student–teacher ratio increases, the perceived pre-kindergarten quality decreases. Results also showed that pre-kindergarten directors’ perceived quality is less within the private setting than in the public setting, based on the composite quality score. The overarching purpose of this study was to provide an awareness of the potential benefits that quality pre-kindergarten programming could yield for the future citizens of Indiana as a whole and if perceived quality exists to some degree.
Rapid diagnosis of Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection in children by polymerase chain reaction.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Endemic atypical pneumonia was noted in central Taiwan during 2005. The serological response to Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection was usually poor in its early course; convalescent serum was needed in most cases, which was sometimes difficult to obtain in children. Empiric antimicrobial therapy was usually initiated before serological testing. A rapid test would be useful to define the etiology and initiate appropriate management. We studied the usefulness of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis for diagnosis in this setting. METHODS This 1-year prospective study conducted during 2005 in central Taiwan enrolled 307 hospitalized children (aged 3 months to 16 years) with respiratory tract infections, some complicated with systemic manifestations, such as encephalitis and skin rash. Fifty one patients were excluded due to unavailability of data or lack of consent. PCR analysis of samples using a primer set for the P1 gene of M. pneumoniae was compared to serological testing, including particle agglutinin test and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. RESULTS 263 throat swabs from 256 patients were available for PCR tests, and serological tests were performed in 140 children (55%) with clinical suspicion of atypical pneumonia. Eighty two children (32%) were positive by the PCR method and 76 (30%) were serologically positive. Seventy one patients (87%) with duration of disease onset of 2 to 7 days had positive PCR results. The mean age of patients with M. pneumoniae infection was 5.2 years, with 27% of patients <2 years old and 73% of patients >2 years of age. The diagnoses were as follows: pneumonia (n = 44); pneumonia complicated with pleural effusion (n = 12); bronchitis and bronchopneumonia (n = 18); asthmatic bronchitis (n = 2); croup syndrome (n = 1); pharyngitis (n = 3); and herpangina (n = 2). Coinfection with bacteria or virus was found in 21% of patients with M. pneumoniae infection. CONCLUSIONS The PCR method could provide earlier diagnosis of M. pneumoniae infection and was useful to identify variable clinical features of infection, especially in younger children.
Analysis of distributed parameter estimation in WSN with unreliable nodes

In this article we analyze the diffusion normalized least mean square (NLMS) and its set-membership version (SM-NLMS) diffusion algorithms in a scenario where sensor nodes are subjected to different noise variances. We show through simulation that the SM-NLMS is a more robust algorithm in such condition, in addition to the provided reduced energy consumption. We also show that, in such context, the reduced feedback SM-NLMS (RF-SM-NLMS) presents a similar performance when compared to the SM-NLMS with an additional energy saving and lower channel occupancy. Moreover, we propose an adaptive way to choose the SM-NLMS and RF-SM-NLMS parameters in order to provide further performance enhancement in the presence of nodes subjected to different noise variances.
A bispecific transmembrane antibody simultaneously targeting intra‐ and extracellular epitopes of the epidermal growth factor receptor inhibits receptor activation and tumor cell growth

Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) plays an important role in essential cellular processes such as proliferation, survival and migration. Aberrant activation of EGFR is frequently found in human cancers of various origins and has been implicated in cancer pathogenesis. The therapeutic antibody cetuximab (Erbitux) inhibits tumor growth by binding to the extracellular domain of EGFR, thereby preventing ligand binding and receptor activation. This activity is shared by the single chain antibody fragment scFv(225) that contains the same antigen binding domain. The unrelated EGFR‐specific antibody fragment scFv(30) binds to the intracellular domain of the receptor and retains antigen binding upon expression as an intrabody in the reducing environment of the cytosol. Here, we used scFv(225) and scFv(30) domains to generate a novel type of bispecific transmembrane antibody termed 225.TM.30, that simultaneously targets intra‐ and extracellular EGFR epitopes. Bispecific 225.TM.30 and related membrane‐anchored monospecific 225.TM and TM.30 proteins carrying extracellular scFv(225) or intracellular scFv(30) antibody fragments linked to a transmembrane domain were expressed in EGFR‐overexpressing tumor cells using a doxycycline‐inducible retroviral system. Induced expression of 225.TM.30 and 225.TM, but not TM.30 reduced EGFR surface levels and ligand‐induced EGFR activation, while all three molecules markedly inhibited tumor cell growth. Co‐localization of 225.TM with EGFR was predominantly found on the cell surface, while interaction with 225.TM.30 and TM.30 proteins resulted in the redistribution of EGFR to perinuclear compartments. Our data demonstrate functionality of this novel type of membrane‐anchored intrabodies in tumor cells and suggest distinct modes of action of mono‐ and bispecific variants.
Fault Diagnosis in Transmission Lines: Trends and Main Research Areas

Fault diagnosis in transmission lines constitutes a problem in power systems with relevant technical and economic impact for independent system operators and also for the asset owner itself. Several techniques have been proposed in the literature to deal with this problem in a significant number of applications. This survey presents the main research areas and the trends in transmission line fault diagnosis in power systems. Classification of strategies and their relationship with applications are shown and discussed.
[Influence of rhinologic usual and unusual drugs on fibroblasts from nasal polyps in cell culture].

BACKGROUND Nasal polyposis is treated by surgery and/or by medication but in parts without permanent remission. Fibroblasts and their proliferation are involved in the complex mechanism of polyp genesis. Therefore we have analysed the influence of 12 medications on fibroblasts from nasal polyps growing in vitro. METHOD Nasal polyps, obtained during usual surgical procedure, are enzymatically digested and cultured in serum containing media. The growing cells are identified as fibroblasts using flow cytometry with a AS02-FITC antibody (Dianova). The analysis is achieved with 5 - 6 different fibroblast cultures in each medicament tested, mostly using concentrations of the active substance from 0.006 to 1.333 mg/ml. The fibroblasts are cultured 4 days in the presence of active substances or as controls. Finally the cells are trypsinated and counted. RESULTS Mometason, Beclomethason, Fluticason, Verapamil and Timolol are the group with the strongest reduction of fibroblasts. Mometason shows a reduction to 6 % of controls at a concentration of 30 micro g/ml whereas the reduction at this concentration amounts to 30 - 60 % in the other members of this group. Mesazalin, Methylprednisolone and Pentoxifylline demonstrate the smallest influence; Prednisolon-21-hydrogen-succinate, Pilocarpin, Piroxicam and Diclofenac show an effect on a middle level. CONCLUSIONS A strong reduction of fibroblasts from nasal polyps in vitro is possible with usual rhinological medicaments but also with unusual substances in this field.
The Status and Decomposition Model of Carbon Emissions for Jiangsu Province

With the rapid socio-economic development of China,energy consumption and environmental problems have become increasingly serious,especially the effect which results from the increasing carbon emission and becomes the worldwide focus.Global warming has great effect on agriculture and food security,water safety,ecological safety and public health security.It has brought severe challenges to the sustainable development of human society.As a provincial economy in China,Jiangsu is facing more and more severe pressure to reduce CO2 emission.Thus,this article analyzes the total amount,intensity,per capita of carbon emissions both in the three industries and the whole province of Jiangsu from 1997 to 2007;then it compares carbon emissions of the terminal energy consumption in six economic sectors in 1996 with that in 2007.A decomposition model of carbon emissions for Jiangsu Province is set up by LMDI method.The model is adopted to analyze the influence of economic development,industrial structural change,technical progress,energy structure to carbon emissions change in Jiangsu from 1996 to 2007.The results show that the economic development is the dominant factor causing the growth of carbon emissions,and the reduction factors are technical progress and energy structure,and the influence of the industrial structural change is small.In the end,the policy suggestions are offered.
Basket Options on Heterogeneous Underlying Assets

Basket options are among the most popular products of the new generation of exotic options. This attraction is explained by the fact that they can efficiently and simultaneously hedge a wide variety of intrinsically different financial risks. They are flexible enough to include all the risks faced by non-financial firms. Unfortunately, the existing literature on basket options considers only homogeneous baskets where all the underlying assets are identical and hedge the same kind of risk. Moreover, the empirical implementation of basket-option models is not yet well developed, particularly when they are composed of heterogeneous underlying assets. This paper focus on the modelization and the parameters estimation of basket options on commodity price with stochastic convenience yield, exchange rate, and domestic and foreign zero-coupon bonds in a stochastic interest rates setting. We empirically compare the performance of the heterogeneous basket option to that of a portfolio of individual options. The results show that the basket strategy is less expensive and more efficient. We apply the maximum-likelihood method to estimate the different parameters of the theoretical basket model as well as the correlations between the variables. Monte Carlo studies are conducted to examine the performance of the maximum-likelihood estimator in finite samples of simulated data. A real data study is presented.
Chemical Defense and Antifouling Activity of Three Mediterranean Sponges of the Genus Ircinia

The defense roles and the antifouling activity of the organic extracts and the major metabolites of the sponges Ircinia oros, I. variabilis and I. spinosula were investigated. The antifeedant activity was tested in experimental aquaria on the generalist predator fish Thalassoma pavo as well as in coastal ecosystems rich in fishes. Some of the major metabolites exhibited high levels of antifeedant activity. The antifouling activity was tested in laboratory assays, against representatives of the major groups of fouling organisms (marine bacteria, marine fungi, diatoms, macroalgae and mussels). All extracts showed promising levels of activity. As was expected, no single extract was active in all tests and some fractions that were effective against one organism showed little or no activity against the others. The high but variable level of antifouling activity in combination with the absence of toxicity (tested on the development of oyster and sea urchin larvae) shows the potential of these metabolites to become ingredients in environmentally friendly antifouling preparations.
Effects of O 6‐alkylguanine‐DNA alkyltransferase deficiency in Escherichia coli as the host for the detection of mutations in lacI transgenic mice

Transgenic mice are widely used to detect gene mutations in vivo induced by a variety of chemicals. It is known, however, that no mutagenicity of methyl methanesulfonate (MMS) is detected in epididymal sperm in various transgenic mice assays, although MMS induces the dominant lethal and specific locus mutations in male mice. To investigate the issue of whether unrepaired lesions in DNA of mature sperm can be transformed into mutations during replication of the lambda phage in Escherichia coli cells, we developed an E. coli strain YG5152, which is a derivative of strain SCS‐8 but is deficient in the genes encoding O 6‐alkylguanine‐DNA alkyltransferases. When lambda LIZα phages were treated with MMS or N‐ethyl‐N‐nitrosourea (ENU) in vitro and infected to the E. coli strains, the mutant frequencies of lacI were markedly higher in strain YG5152 than in strain SCS‐8. When Big Blue™ mice were treated with MMS (160 mg/kg) or ENU (125 or 250 mg/kg) and the phages rescued from mature sperm were infected to the strains, the mutation frequency (MF) of phages from ENU‐treated mice at a dose of 250 mg/kg in strain YG5152 was about two times higher than that in strain SCS‐8. However, no increase in the MF was observed in the MMS‐treated mice even in strain YG5152. These results suggest that, although strain YG5152 efficiently detects ex vivo mutations caused by mutagenic alkyl adducts formed by MMS in lambda phage DNA, no detectable levels of mutagenic methyl adducts are present in mature sperm of MMS‐treated mice. Possible reasons for this lack of mutagenicity of MMS in mature sperm using transgenic mice assays are discussed. Environ. Mol. Mutagen. 34:221–226, 1999 © 1999 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
[Dose reduction through gridless technique in digital full-field mammography].

PURPOSE To determine the role of the scatter grid in digital full-field mammography with respect to image quality and dose and to compare the experimental results with initial clinical experience. MATERIALS AND METHODS A phantom consisting of 205 fields that enclose gold dots of different thickness and size (CD-Mam phantom, Medical Department, Nijmegen, Netherlands) was used for digital full-field mammography with the conventional grid module and a special gridless module. Four different breast thicknesses were simulated using Plexiglas as scatter material. First, the phantom was exposed at the parameter and dose settings automatically selected in each experimental setup (with and without grid). Subsequently, the phantom was exposed at the different simulated breast thicknesses using the gridless module in combination with the parameters automatically selected for the grid module. This was followed by a series of phantom mammograms obtained with the experimental setup reversed. The 16 mammograms were evaluated by 3 readers and the results compared considering breast thickness, radiation dose, and quality. The gridless module was used for preoperative labeling in 16 patients for comparison of mammograms obtained with and without a grid. RESULTS For the same entrance dose used in routine mammography, digital mammography without grid is superior to digital mammography with grid when performed on simulated thin breasts (Plexiglas less than 3 cm), with no difference found when performed on simulated large breasts. The advantages of gridless mammography are more pronounced at a markedly reduced entrance dose (identical parenchymal dose without and with grid using the dose automatically selected for the gridless module). This tendency is confirmed by the initial clinical comparison. CONCLUSION Gridless digital full-field mammography has the potential to reduce the dose further, in addition to already known mechanisms of dose reduction. However, the gridless system must be adjusted (markedly higher "switch-off dose" at the detector) to achieve an overall dose reduction since gridless mammography is inferior to grid mammography for identical doses at the detector plane.