Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Improved detection of weak, clinically significant antibodies by supplementation of polyethylene glycol with a low-ionic solution

A comparative study of 164 serum samples was carried out to determine the specificity and sensitivity of the indirect antiglobulin test (IAGT) in three different formulations: physiologic saline, low-ionic solution (RAM), and RAM supplemented with polyethylene glycol (PEG). Serum samples containing mostly weak antibodies (anti-D, -C, -E, -c, -Jka, -Fya, -K, -S, -Lea, -Lua, -M, -Cob, -P1, -I, and -Kna) were used in a 10-minute IAGT in which PEG-IAGTs were compared with saline- IAGTs and RAM-IAGTs. With the exception of anti-P1, anti-I, and an anti-Lea, PEG-IAGTs detected all the antibodies tested compared with 72.3% and 77.4% for saline-IAGTs and RAM-IAGTs, respectively. The end-point titers of at least 82% of antibodies detected by PEG-IAGTs were 1-3 dilutions higher than those by saline- and RAM-IAGTs. When specificity of PEG-IAGTs was tested using 268 randomly selected, fresh (< 1 day old) blood samples, PEG-IAGT detected 11 out of 268 samples as positive compared with 7 out of 268 by both saline-IAGTs and RAM-IAGTs. The four antibodies that were not detected were identified as anti-D, anti-E, anti-Bga, and an autoantibody known previously to be only reactive with papain-pretreated red cells. No nonspecific reactions were detected by PEG-IAGTs and no hemolysis was evident in any of the IAGTs. PEG-IAGTs were more sensitive than saline- and RAM-IAGTs. PEG-IAGTs detected all weak, clinically significant antibodies as well as four antibodies that were otherwise undetected by saline-IAGT or RAM-IAGT. The overall sensitivity of the PEGIAGT was 96.3% compared with 84.1% and 73.2% for the RAM- and saline-IAGT, respectively.
Two high-amylose maize starches with different amounts of resistant starch vary in their effects on fermentation, tissue and digesta mass accretion, and bacterial populations in the large bowel of pigs

Four groups of young pigs (n 6) were fed a diet containing 50 % maize starch as either a highly digestible waxy starch (control; 0 % amylose) or one of three resistant starch (RS) diets, namely a high-amylose maize starch (HAMS; 85 % amylose), this starch subjected to hydrothermal treatment (HTHAMS; 85 % amylose), or a blend of HAMS and HTHAMS included in equal amounts, for 21 d. Food intake and live weight at the end of the study were similar among the four groups. Ileal starch digestibility was lower in pigs fed the three RS diets but was greater for HAMS (88 %) than for HTHAMS (70 %; P < 0·05). Faecal output and large bowel digesta mass, and concentrations and pools of individual and total SCFA were higher (by about two- to threefold; all P < 0·05) and digesta pH lower (by about 1 unit, all P < 0·001) in pigs fed either HAMS or HTHAMS compared to the controls. These differences in biomarkers were seen along the length of the large bowel. Colon length was 0·5–0·9 m longer (19–35 %) in pigs fed the high-RS diets relative to those fed the highly digestible starch diet (P < 0·05). Faecal and proximal colonic lactobacilli and bifidobacteria numbers were higher (by 1 and 3 log units; P < 0·05) in pigs fed the HAMS or HTHAMS diets. Although both high-amylose starches promoted fermentation throughout the large bowel, the data suggest that the effects of HTHAMS may be more pronounced in the distal region compared to those of HAMS.
Hypoglycemia in Type 1 Diabetes

In subjects with type 1 diabetes, autoimmune destruction of pancreatic β-cells leads eventually to an absolute requirement for insulin replacement therapy. Insulin delivered exogenously is not subject to normal physiological feedback regulation, so it may induce hypoglycemia even in the presence of an intact counterregulatory response. The average individual with type 1 diabetes experiences about two episodes of symptomatic hypoglycemia per week, a figure that has not changed substantially in the last 20 years (1). Severe hypoglycemia (requiring help for recovery) has an annual prevalence of 30–40% and an annual incidence of 1.0 – 1.7 episodes per patient per year (1). This risk is increased markedly with the increasing duration of the disease and strict glycemic control. In subjects with type 2 diabetes, the increasing duration of the disease and the more widespread use of insulin therapy also increase the risk of severe hypoglycemia. This was reflected in a recent survey in Tayside, Scotland, which found the proportion of severe hypoglycemic episodes needing emergency medical assistance was similar between type 1 and insulin-treated type 2 diabetic patients (2). The experience of hypoglycemia is not limited to a transient impairment of cognition. We now recognize that hypoglycemia carries with it a recognized morbidity and mortality (3) and creates a negative mood-state characterized by reduced energy and increased tension (4). This may explain why hypoglycemia is greatly feared by individuals with diabetes; so much so that the fear of hypoglycemia is rated with the same degree of concern as the development of sight-threatening retinopathy or end-stage renal disease. This fear of hypoglycemia influences an individual's ability to adhere to optimal insulin replacement regimens and to put in place those measures required to achieve near-normal glucose control. In this way, hypoglycemia has emerged as a major obstacle to achieving the goals of …
Dimensional Control of Micro Components with Synchrotron Computed Tomography

An advantage of Computed Tomography (CT) is the coordinate measurement capability of small inner structures, which are not accessible with classical measurement techniques. Using the advantages of synchrotron radiation CT measurements of parts with sizes of a few millimeters are performed at BAMline of BESSY II and are expected to be used as references for further dimensional measurements with micro CT. Previous investigations were focused on external gears, which are accessible with standard Coordinate Measurement Machines (CMMs). To obtain information about the accuracy of dimensional measurements of internal gears with CT, reference data have been measured by a tactile‐optical CMM. This information is used to evaluate the performance of the CT. In addition to the first results for the evaluation of internal gear flanks, new measurements of different gear materials (steel and zirconium dioxide) will be presented. For functional evaluation, gear flanks are a matter of particular interest. Form deviations.
A facile route to develop electrical conductivity with minimum possible multi‐wall carbon nanotube (MWCNT) loading in poly(methyl methacrylate)/MWCNT nanocomposites

Today, we stand at the threshold of exploring carbon nanotube (CNT) based conducting polymer nanocomposites as a new paradigm for the next generation multifunctional materials. However, irrespective of the reported methods of composite preparation, the use of CNTs in most polymer matrices to date has been limited by challenges in processing and insufficient dispersability of CNTs without chemical functionalization. Thus, development of an industrially feasible process for preparation of polymer/CNT conducting nanocomposites at very low CNT loading is essential prior to the commercialization of polymer/CNT nanocomposites. Here, we demonstrate a process technology that involves in situ bulk polymerization of methyl methacrylate monomer in the presence of multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and commercial poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) beads, for the preparation of PMMA/MWCNT conducting nanocomposites with significantly lower (0.12 wt% MWCNT) percolation threshold than ever reported with unmodified commercial CNTs of similar qualities. Thus, a conductivity of 4.71 × 10−5 and 2.04 × 10−3 S cm−1 was achieved in the PMMA/MWCNT nanocomposites through a homogeneous dispersion of 0.2 and 0.4 wt% CNT, respectively, selectively in the in situ polymerized PMMA region by using 70 wt% PMMA beads during the polymerization. At a constant CNT loading, the conductivity of the composites was increased with increasing weight percentage of PMMA beads, indicating the formation of a more continuous network structure of the CNTs in the PMMA matrix. Scanning and transmission electron microscopy studies revealed the dispersion of MWCNTs selectively in the in situ polymerized PMMA phase of the nanocomposites. Copyright © 2012 Society of Chemical Industry
A Double-Blind, Vehicle-Controlled Clinical Study to Evaluate the Efficacy of MAS065D (XClair™), a Hyaluronic Acid-Based Formulation, in the Management of Radiation-Induced Dermatitis

ABSTRACT This study was designed to assess the efficacy and tolerability of MAS065D (Xclair™) compared to a vehicle control in the management of radiation dermatitis in patients receiving radiotherapy for breast cancer. Twenty patients were randomized blindly to use the two study substances, three times daily, on separate sections of irradiated skin throughout the duration of radiotherapy and for two weeks afterwards. Patients were monitored before therapy, weekly during therapy, and for 2 weeks after radiotherapy was completed. Skin appearance according to National Cancer Institute (NCI) toxicity criteria, erythema rating, transepidermal water loss (TEWL), skin hydration, patients' view of itch, pain, acceptance, and view of each cream and adverse events, were monitored; at the final visit patients and investigators expressed their preference for one of the creams. MAS065D showed statistically significant superiority in the outcomes of NCI grading for radiation dermatitis and erythema. Patients' and investigators' preferences for one of the study substances were statistically in favor of MAS065D. Very few patients recorded nonzero itch and pain scales, so no significant differences emerged between the two groups. It was concluded that MAS065D can provide an effective option for managing radiation dermatitis although further studies are needed to assess its effect on pain and itch.
Human Cytomegalovirus Up-Regulates the Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinase (PI3-K) Pathway: Inhibition of PI3-K Activity Inhibits Viral Replication and Virus-Induced Signaling

ABSTRACT Infection of quiescent fibroblasts with human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) was found to cause a rapid activation of cellular phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3-K). Maximum PI3-K activation occurred from 15 to 30 min postinfection. This activation was transient, and by 2 h postinfection (hpi), PI3-K activity had declined to preinfection levels. However, at 4 hpi, a second tier of PI3-K activation was detected, and PI3-K activity remained elevated relative to that of mock-infected cells for the remainder of infection. The cellular kinases Akt and p70S6K and the transcription factor NF-κB were activated in a PI3-K-dependent manner at similar times following HCMV infection. Analysis using UV-irradiated virus indicated that no viral protein synthesis was necessary for the first phase of PI3-K activation, but viral protein expression was required for the second tier of PI3-K activation. Treatment of infected fibroblasts with LY294002, a potent and specific inhibitor of PI3-K kinase activity, caused a 4-log decrease in viral titers. LY294002 did not inhibit viral entry, but it did decrease viral immediate-early gene expression. In addition, the protein levels of two viral early genes required for DNA replication, UL84 and UL44, were significantly lower in the presence of LY294002. Furthermore, viral DNA replication was strongly inhibited by LY294002 treatment. This inhibition of viral DNA replication could be reversed by adding back the products of PI3-K activity (PI-3,4-P2 and PI-3,4,5-P3), demonstrating that the effect of LY294002 on the viral life cycle was specifically due to the inhibition of PI3-K activity. These results are the first to suggest that PI3-K mediates HCMV-induced activation of host cell mitogenic pathways. They also provide strong evidence that PI3-K activation is important for initiation of viral DNA replication and completion of the viral lytic life cycle.
Transmitted Drug Resistance Mutations in Antiretroviral-Naïve Injection Drug Users with Chronic HIV-1 Infection in Iran

The growing incidence and transmission of drug resistant HIV-1 strains due to widespread use of antiretroviral therapy (ART) can jeopardize the success of first-line ART. While there is a known moderate prevalence of transmitted drug resistance (TDR) among newly infected Iranians, no data exist about the rate of these primary resistance mutations among the ART-naïve, chronically infected individuals who are, in fact, the main candidates for ART initiation. To address this issue, we collected blood samples from 40 ART-naïve injection drug-users (IDUs) with chronic HIV-1 infection (seroconversion time ranging from 2 to 9 years) living in Sanandaj, Iran, followed by sequencing of the protease and reverse-transcriptase regions from their HIV-1 genome. Phylogenetic analyses of the sequenced regions revealed that all samples were CRF35_AD. Transmitted resistance mutations were interpreted as surveillance drug-resistant mutations (SDRMs) based on the world health organization (WHO) algorithm. The frequency of SDRMs to any class of antiretroviral drugs was 15%, which included mutations to nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs, 10%), with M41L and M184V as the most common (5%), and non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs, 5%), with K103N as the only detected mutation (5%). Although not in the WHO SDRMs list, several minor protease inhibitor resistant mutations listed in the International Antiviral Society-USA panel were identified, of which M36I, H69K, L89M/V/I (each one 100%) and K20R/T (92.5%) can be considered as polymorphic signatures for CRF35_AD. The relatively high rate of TDR mutations in our study raises concerns about the risk of treatment failure in chronically infected IDUs of Sanandaj city. These results suggest that routine resistance testing should be considered before the therapy initiation in this area. Additional surveillance studies are required to generalize this deduction to other cities of Iran.
Capacity bounds for multiuser channels with non-causal channel state information at the transmitters

In this paper, capacity inner and outer bounds are established for multiuser channels with Channel State Information (CSI) known non-causally at the transmitters: The Multiple Access Channel (MAC), the Broadcast Channel (BC) with common information, and the Relay Channel (RC). For each channel, the actual capacity region is also derived in some special cases. Specifically, it is shown that for some deterministic models with non-causal CSI at the transmitters, similar to Costa's Gaussian channel, the availability of CSI at the deterministic receivers does not affect the capacity region.
SARSOP: Efficient Point-Based POMDP Planning by Approximating Optimally Reachable Belief Spaces

IN Proc. Robotics: Science & Systems, 2008 Abstract—Motion planning in uncertain and dynamic environ- ments is an essential capability for autonomous robots. Partially observable Markov decision processes (POMDPs) provide a principled mathematical framework for solving such problems, but they are often avoided in robotics due to high computational complexity. Our goal is to create practical POMDP algorithms and software for common robotic tasks. To this end, we have developed a new point-based POMDP algorithm that exploits the notion of optimally reachable belief spaces to improve com- putational efficiency. In simulation, we successfully applied the algorithm to a set of common robotic tasks, including instances of coastal navigation, grasping, mobile robot exploration, and target tracking, all modeled as POMDPs with a large number of states. In most of the instances studied, our algorithm substantially outperformed one of the fastest existing point-based algorithms. A software package implementing our algorithm will soon be released at http://motion.comp.nus.edu. sg/ projects/pomdp/pomdp.html.
Research on the Image Detection of Moving Objects in Natural Environment

This paper proposed a new solution to the situation that the moving objects detection in natural environment might be disturbed by some natural conditions, such as wind, light, etc. Firstly, the background image was modeled with Gaussian mixture models, to eliminate the interference of some slight and cyclical movements caused by wind, like branches swinging. Secondly, the foreground was segmented through background subtraction, and the background model was updated to adapt to the gradual change of illumination. Finally, the shadows of moving objects were detected and removed in HSV color model, meaning that the detection was completed. The experiment verified that the solution above can effectively realize the preliminary detection of moving objects in natural environment.
Empirical Determination of the Diffusion Coefficient of Carbon in Austenite in Carburizing Phase of the Gas-Carburizing-Sintering Process

Numerical simulation of a mass-diffusion analysis requires several parameters in order to comply with experimental method of gas – carburizing of iron powder compacts. Among the known parameters of mass-diffusion process, the diffusivity is an uncertain parameter in terms of its value. Different formulas can be found in literature but most of them are empirical determined since different results of carbon content are obtained by numerical mass-diffusion analysis. For iron powder compacts with rectangular shape subjected to gas – carburizing – sintering process it was determined the average carbon content in several layers. Based on these determinations and on the characteristics of mass diffusion analysis using Abaqus software it was empirically determined the diffusivity dependency on the carburizing time.
Prognostic significance of electrocardiogram and cine magnetic resonance imaging parameters in patients with idopathic dilated cardiomyopathy

Patients with idopathic dilated cardimyopathy (IDC) and reduced left ventricular function have a limited prognosis. Aim of this study was the evaluation of parameters of cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMRI) and ECG for prognosis. 149 patients with IDC were studied by CMRI for hemodynamic and late enhancement (LE) analysis and followed for a mean of 986 plusmn 588 days. QRS and QTc intervals were measured. In total we recorded 16 parameters including NYHA status, age and diabetes mellitus. Combined endpoint was cardiac death, sudden death (SCD) or rehospitalization for pump failure. We used a bootstrap approach over the cases combined with a stepwise parameter selection method to find the most relevant variables in a Cox proportional hazard model. We found that 3 parameters, namely QRS duration > 110 ms, left ventricular enddiastolic volume index, and left ventricular cardiac index were most predictive.
Influence of dispersoids on microstructure evolution and work hardening of aluminium alloys during tension and cold rolling

The influence of dispersoids on work hardening of aluminium during tension and cold rolling has been studied by comparing Al–Mn alloys containing similar amounts of solutes but various dispersoid densities. The microstructure evolution with deformation strain was examined in transmission and scanning electron microscopy. It is found that a high density of fine dispersoids strengthens the materials significantly, but their strengthening effect diminishes as the strain increases. From a series of Bauschinger tests, it is found that the internal stress, due to particles, increases rapidly at the initial stage of deformation, but saturates at strains larger than 5%. It is concluded that the internal stress makes a small contribution to the work hardening and contributes to less than 10% of the total flow stress during monotonic loading at strains larger than 5%. The work-hardening behaviour has been correlated to the corresponding microstructure, and the strengthening mechanisms are discussed.
An overview on various approaches to Gastroretentive dosage forms

Over the past four decades, gastro retentive dosage forms have recently become a leading methodology in the field of site-specific orally administered controlled release drug delivery system. Gastroretentive dosage forms have the potential to improve local therapy with an increase of short gastric residence time and unpredictable gastric emptying time and decrease the variation in bioavailability which is unobserved, in other commercially available preparations. With the advent to current scientific and patented literature, this review have covered in detail the recent developments of FDDS including the physiological and formulation variables affecting gastric retention, classification, approaches to design single and multiple unit floating systems, formulation aspects and invitro and invivo studies to evaluate the performance.
Ion Fluxes through KCa2 (SK) and Cav1 (L-type) Channels Contribute to Chronoselectivity of Adenosine A1 Receptor-Mediated Actions in Spontaneously Beating Rat Atria

Impulse generation in supraventricular tissue is inhibited by adenosine and acetylcholine via the activation of A1 and M2 receptors coupled to inwardly rectifying GIRK/KIR3.1/3.4 channels, respectively. Unlike M2 receptors, bradycardia produced by A1 receptors activation predominates over negative inotropy. Such difference suggests that other ion currents may contribute to adenosine chronoselectivity. In isolated spontaneously beating rat atria, blockade of KCa2/SK channels with apamin and Cav1 (L-type) channels with nifedipine or verapamil, sensitized atria to the negative inotropic action of the A1 agonist, R-PIA, without affecting the nucleoside negative chronotropy. Patch-clamp experiments in the whole-cell configuration mode demonstrate that adenosine, via A1 receptors, activates the inwardly-rectifying GIRK/KIR3.1/KIR3.4 current resulting in hyperpolarization of atrial cardiomyocytes, which may slow down heart rate. Conversely, the nucleoside inactivates a small conductance Ca2+-activated KCa2/SK outward current, which eventually reduces the repolarizing force and thereby prolong action potentials duration and Ca2+ influx into cardiomyocytes. Immunolocalization studies showed that differences in A1 receptors distribution between the sinoatrial node and surrounding cardiomyocytes do not afford a rationale for adenosine chronoselectivity. Immunolabelling of KIR3.1, KCa2.2, KCa2.3, and Cav1 was also observed throughout the right atrium. Functional data indicate that while both A1 and M2 receptors favor the opening of GIRK/KIR3.1/3.4 channels modulating atrial chronotropy, A1 receptors may additionally restrain KCa2/SK activation thereby compensating atrial inotropic depression by increasing the time available for Ca2+ influx through Cav1 (L-type) channels.