Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Five-Year Outcome in Pediatric Patients With Mycophenolate Mofetil-Based Renal Transplantation

Background. Mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) based immunosuppression after renal transplantation has proven to be safe and beneficial for children and adolescents. However, long-term analysis, in particular of pediatric patients, is scarce. Patients. Data of 140 patients receiving MMF versus azathioprine (AZA) in combination with cyclosporine A (CsA) and prednisone without induction were analyzed with a main focus on survival and renal function in long-term follow-up. Results. After 5 years of follow-up, 44 MMF and 20 AZA patients were still on study. Graft survival of intent to treat (ITT) groups was 90.7% for MMF and 68.5% for AZA patients (P<0.001). Cumulative rejection free survival was 51.2% in MMF versus 37.0% in AZA patients (P<0.05). In association with early acute rejections (ARE), projected half-life was 14.4/4.5 years in patients with and 18.7/14.5 years without rejection in the MMF/AZA group, respectively. Conclusions. MMF based protocols improved long-term graft survival without an increase in side effects. Early ARE were associated with worse half-life of the graft, although more stressed in the AZA group. Thus, to improve quality of life in children for very long-term outcome, ARE should be further decreased and renal function should be better preserved.
Recommendation Service for Big Data Applications in Smart Cities

In this paper we present a recommendation service based on Neo4j graph data base which is applied in the context of smart cities application and leverages the potential of big data. The current work studies a modelling approach for user generated data combined with open big data and proceeds with the appropriate reference implementation and experimentation to validate recommendation services for innovative citizen- centric applications. Moreover, we study and validate performance issues of this Neo4j based recommendation service and evaluate it as a useful appliance for real-time big data application.
Effects of Bleomycin on Liver Antioxidant Enzymes and the Electron Transport System From Ad Libitum-Fed and Dietary-Restricted Female and Male Fischer 344 Rats

Dietary restriction (DR) is the only known intervention that delays aging and age-related diseases. Mechanisms proposed to explain this DR effect include a decline in free radical production and an increase in free radical detoxification. In the present study the effect of bleomycin (BLM) as a reactive oxygen species-generating antitumor drug has been evaluated on antioxidant enzymes and the electron transport system in different cellular fractions of liver in female and male Fischer 344 rats. Animals were fed ad libitum (AL) or 60% of the AL intake (DR) and were given a single intraperitoneal injection of 2.5, 5, or 10 mg BLM/kg body wt. After four weeks, BLM significantly increased glutathione peroxidase and lactate dehydrogenase activities in liver cytosol of female AL rats and increased activity even more in male rats. Similar changes were also noted for glutathione reductase and glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase activities in BLM-treated AL rats. In liver mitochondria, glutathione peroxidase was increased in female and male AL rats but was increased more in female rats. Drug treatment had no significant effect on these enzyme activities in cytosolic or mitochondrial fractions of DR animals. Profound effects of BLM were noted in activities of complexes I, III, and IV of the electron transport system in AL and DR female and male rats; however, complex II demonstrated no significant diet or treatment effect. Induced antioxidant enzyme activities in BLM-treated AL rats may be a response to excessive free radical generation due to BLM metabolism in AL animals that is mitigated by DR. Furthermore, dysfunction of the electron transport system might suggest its role in a secondary generation of free radicals during BLM metabolism contributing to its toxicity.
Unintended consequences of health information technology.

Nurses recognize that despite the known benefi ts of health information technology, the implementation and use of the electronic health record (EHR) (used interchangeably with electronic medical record), computerized provider order entry, and other technologies can lead to unanticipated and undesired effects known as unintended consequences. Unintended consequences can increase nursing documentation time; create frustration, barriers, and workarounds to implementation; lead to errors; and in some cases result in patient harm. But, nurses can act to anticipate, avoid, identify, and manage these effects. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) offers a practical online guide to help clinical informatics leaders and frontline nurses reduce unintended consequences of EHRs, citing research, clinician experiences, and case examples (AHRQ, 2011). One case example is the dilemma of the administration’s need to document organization compliance with multiple regulatory requirements through extensive documentation forms and the nurse’s need to streamline documentation time. For nurses, this dilemma presents most dramatically with an emergent admission assessment, resulting in the unintended consequence of incomplete patient records. The strategy suggested to resolve this dilemma is collaboration of administration and frontline nurses in not only planning but also governance of the EHR. Informatics leaders need to anticipate and avoid unintended consequences by being honest and upfront about the workload implications of the EHR and by supporting staffi ng or scheduling adjustments. The guide explains how clinicians can identify what unintended consequences may be occurring to intervene before a serious problem develops. Consider compliance tracking with alerts (an event common and often frustrating in nursing EHR documentation and equipment management) as an example. Nurses can
Simulation of a MEMS piezoelectric energy harvester

The growing demand of portable electronic devices has created the demand of long lasting recharged source of power. Non-environmental friendly conventional batteries with limited lifetimes are no longer a feasible option. This paper proposes a piezoelectric, vibration based energy harvester. The design and simulation of a MEMS piezoelectric cantilever beam with interdigitated electrodes is described. The micro-energy harvester is formed using a silicon substrate, ZnO piezoelectric layer, Pt electrodes and nickel proof mass. Finite elementt simulation was conducted using CoventorWare© to obttain the device at resonance frequency, output voltage and optimum dimensions.
The effect of five antibacterial agents on the physiological levels of serum nitric oxide in mice

In addition to their action on microorganisms, antibacterial agents have been reported to affect host defense mechanisms. Nitric oxide (NO) that is produced by a number of cell types in the innate immune response is bactericidal, but when produced in excessive amounts it could be detrimental to the host. In this study, five antibacterial agents (gentamicin, tobramycin, imipenem, tigecycline, isoniazid) were compared with respect to their ability to affect NO production in mice. Groups of mice were injected with the different antibacterial agents, and at different time intervals post-injection serum NO levels were determined using the Griess reagent. All the antibacterial agents tested showed a significant effect in reducing NO levels in mice. It could be hypothesized that the excessive production of NO in infectious diseases is in most instances suppressed by the antibacterial agent(s) used.
Identification and characterization of microsatellite loci in the tuliptree, Liriodendron tulipifera (Magnoliaceae)1

Premise of the study: Twenty-three polymorphic microsatellite loci (simple sequence repeats) were identified and characterized for Liriodendron tulipifera (Magnoliaceae), a species native to eastern North America, to investigate its genetic diversity, population structure, and mating system. Methods and Results: Using Illumina HiSeq paired-end reads from genomic DNA, searches for repeat motifs identified approximately 280,000 potentially amplifiable loci. Of 77 loci tested, 51 amplified consistently. When genotyped using 30 to 52 total adult trees from three old-growth populations in Maryland, Virginia, and New Jersey, USA, 23 loci were polymorphic. These loci exhibited four to 13 alleles, and observed and expected heterozygosities ranged from 0.233 to 0.865 and 0.272 to 0.876, respectively. Conclusions: The microsatellite marker loci presented here will be valuable in population genetic studies of L. tulipifera because they do not suffer from ascertainment bias and show high polymorphism.
A Prospective Audit of 805 Consecutive Patients With Penetrating Abdominal Trauma

Background: Global trends of penetrating abdominal trauma (PAT) have seen a shift toward a selectively conservative management strategy. However, its widespread adoption for gunshot injuries has been sluggish. The purpose of this study is to compare the injury mechanisms of gunshot (GSW) and stab wounds (SW) to the abdomen in presentation, management, and outcomes. Methods: Prospective cohort study, set in Cape Town, South Africa, over 2 years. All patients presenting to the center with PAT during this time were included. Presentation, management, and outcomes were compared by injury mechanism, with a focus on the operative strategy (operative vs nonoperative). Results: During the study period, 805 patients (SW 37.6%; GSW 62.4%) with PAT were managed. Immediate laparotomies were performed in 119 (39.3%) SW and 355 (70.7%) GSW, with a therapeutic laparotomy rate of 85.7% and 91.8% for SW and GSW, respectively. Nonoperative management (NOM) was implemented in 184 SW (60.7%) and 147 GSW (29.3%) (P < 0.001), with a 92.9% and 92.5% success rate for SW and GSW, respectively. The therapeutic laparotomy rate for the delayed laparotomies (DOM) was 69.2% for SW, and 90.9% for GSW. The accuracy of clinical assessment (with adjuncts) in determining the need for laparotomy was: GSW—92% and SW—91%. Univariate analysis revealed the mechanism not to be associated with DOM. The overall mortality rate was 7.2%, and nonfatal morbidities 22.2%. Conclusion: Although GSW is a more morbid and often fatal injury, the general principles of selective conservatism hold true for both GSW and SW, equally.
Semantically Motivated Subcategorization Acquisition

Automatic acquisition of subcategorization lexicons from textual corpora has become increasingly popular. Although this work has met with some success, resulting lexicons indicate a need for greater accuracy. One significant source of error lies in the process of hypothesis selection which is used for removing noise from automatically acquired subcategorization frames (SCFs). In this paper we describe a more accurate semantically-driven approach to hypothesis selection which can be used to improve large-scale SCF acquisition.
How can Stress Affect Your Work Performance? Quantitative Field Study on Qatari Banking Sector

The paper has focused on the work stress and its causes with relation to job performance at the Qatari’s bank sector. The paper has showed that the work stress demands extra efforts on their performance which may not be proportionate to their capabilities. This may cause work stress and pressure levels, its intensity defer according to individual capabilities. A sample (n=124) was randomly selected from Qatari Banking Sector and various statistical analyses were performed on this data. The analysis has showed that the unclear roll given to the employees and the workload have direct relationship with work stress. One of main findings is work stress has a negative impact on employee’s performance. Also, the employee’s level of stress perception is influenced by their job title.
The sodium‐calcium exchanger is a mechanosensitive transporter

This report describes the influence of fluid flow and osmotically induced volume changes on Na+–Ca2+ exchange (NCX) activity in transfected CHO cells. Exchange activity was measured as Na+‐dependent Ca2+ or Ba2+ fluxes using the fluorescent probe fura‐2. When exchange activity was initiated by superfusing Ba2+‐containing solutions over the cells for a 20 s interval, a high rate of Ba2+ uptake was observed while the solution was being applied but the rate of Ba2+ uptake declined > 10‐fold when the solution flow ceased. Ba2+ efflux in exchange for extracellular Na+ or Ca2+ (Ba2+–Ca2+ exchange) was similarly biphasic. During NCX‐mediated Ca2+ uptake, a rapid increase in cytosolic [Ca2+] to a peak value occurred, followed by a decline in [Ca2+]i to a lower steady‐state value after solution flow ceased. When NCX activity was initiated by an alternate procedure that minimized the duration of solution flow, the rapid phase of Ba2+ influx was greatly reduced in magnitude and Ca2+ uptake became nearly monophasic. Solution superfusion did not produce any obvious changes in cell shape or volume. NCX‐mediated Ba2+ and Ca2+ influx were also sensitive to osmotically induced changes in cell volume. NCX activity was stimulated in hypotonic media and inhibited in hypertonic media; the osmotically induced changes in activity occurred within seconds and were rapidly reversible. We conclude that NCX activity is modulated by both solution flow and osmotically induced volume changes.
Ageing‐related changes in the cortical processing of otolith information in humans

Acoustic short tone bursts (STB) trigger ocular and cervical vestibular‐evoked myogenic potentials (oVEMPs/cVEMPs) by activating irregular otolith afferents. Simultaneously, STBs introduce an artificial net acceleration signal of otolith origin into the vestibular network. VEMP parameters as diagnostic otolith processing markers have been shown to decline after the age of thirty. To delineate the differential effects of healthy ageing on the cortical vestibular subnetwork processing otolith information, we measured cVEMPs and the differential effects of unilateral STB in three age groups (20–40, 40–60 and 60+; n = 42) using functional neuroimaging. STB evoked responses in the main vestibular hubs in the parieto‐opercular cortex. Whereas cVEMP amplitudes declined linearly with age, analysis of the BOLD response size depicted a u‐shaped curve. Vestibular perception of the otolith stimulus on the other hand remained unchanged with age. Therefore, we propose that the comparably larger BOLD responses past the age of sixty could reflect a mechanism of central sensitisation for otolith perception to counterbalance the concurrent peripheral vestibular and somatosensory function decline.
Rate adaptation design for adaptive modulation/coding systems with hybrid ARQ

Combining Adaptive Modulation/Coding (AMC) and hybrid ARQ (HARQ) is considered in an analytic framework. Using Chase combining, optimum rate adaptation are derived for an AMC/HARQ system under instantaneous and average error constraints, as well as an unconstrained situation. The results show that throughput gain depends on the maximum number of retransmissions, the imposed error constraint and the characteristics of error performance curves of the MCS set. The throughput degradation due to the practical error constraints can be effectively compensated by using ARQ, with a low number of the maximum retransmissions.
Evidence for GABA‐A receptor dysregulation in gambling disorder: correlation with impulsivity

As a behavioural addiction, gambling disorder (GD) provides an opportunity to characterize addictive processes without the potentially confounding effects of chronic excessive drug and alcohol exposure. Impulsivity is an established precursor to such addictive behaviours, and GD is associated with greater impulsivity. There is also evidence of GABAergic dysregulation in substance addiction and in impulsivity. This study therefore investigated GABAA receptor availability in 15 individuals with GD and 19 healthy volunteers (HV) using [11C]Ro15‐4513, a relatively selective α5 benzodiazepine receptor PET tracer and its relationship with impulsivity. We found significantly higher [11C]Ro15‐4513 total distribution volume (VT) in the right hippocampus in the GD group compared with HV. We found higher levels of the ‘Negative Urgency’ construct of impulsivity in GD, and these were positively associated with higher [11C]Ro15‐4513 VT in the amygdala in the GD group; no such significant correlations were evident in the HV group. These results contrast with reduced binding of GABAergic PET ligands described previously in alcohol and opiate addiction and add to growing evidence for distinctions in the neuropharmacology between substance and behavioural addictions. These results provide the first characterization of GABAA receptors in GD with [11C]Ro15‐4513 PET and show greater α5 receptor availability and positive correlations with trait impulsivity. This GABAergic dysregulation is potential target for treatment.
Contribution Nuclear translocation of DJ-1 during oxidative stress-induced neuronal cell death

Loss-of-function mutations in the PARK7/DJ-1 gene cause early onset autosomal-recessive Parkinson disease. DJ-1 has been implicated in protection of neurons from oxidative stress and in regulation of transcriptional activity. However, whether there is a relationship between the subcellular localization of DJ-1 and its function remains unknown. Therefore, we examined the subcellular localization of DJ-1 during dopaminergic neurodegeneration induced by various insults. Immunoblotting and immunocytochemistry showed that the nuclear pool of DJ-1 dramatically increased in both MN9D dopaminergic neuronal cells and primary cultures of mesencephalic dopaminergic neurons after 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) treatment. This was paralleled by a corresponding decrease in its cytosolic level, indicating drug-induced nuclear translocation of DJ-1. The same phenomenon was detected in other cell death paradigms induced by pro-oxidants including hydrogen peroxide and cupric chloride. Consequently, cotreatment with the antioxidant N-acetyl-L-cysteine blocked the translocation of DJ-1 into the nucleus. However, mutation at cysteine 106 had no effect on the translocation of DJ-1 into the nucleus, suggesting that reactive oxygen species-mediated downstream signaling and/or modifications other than oxidative modification are involved in its nuclear translocation. Ectopic expression of nucleus localization signal (NLS)-tagged DJ-1 prevented cell death from 6-OHDA. We investigated whether nuclear DJ-1 was involved in transcriptional regulation and found that DJ-1 was localized in promyelocytic leukemia bodies, and this localization increased upon 6-OHDA treatment. We also confirmed that binding of DJ-1 and promyelocytic leukemia bodies indeed increased after 6-OHDA treatment. Consequently, expression levels of acetylated p53 and PUMA were downregulated in cells overexpressing DJ-1 or NLS-tagged DJ-1. Taken together, our data suggest that nuclear translocation of DJ-1 may protect neurons from cell death after oxidative stress. & 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Subnuclear associations of the v-myb oncogene product and actin are dependent on ionic strength during nuclear isolation

The method used to isolate nuclei has a direct effect on the subnuclear association of the v-myb product, p48v-myb, and nuclear actin. Analysis of nuclei subjected to various isolation procedures showed that disruption of native nuclear structure during hypotonic treatment resulted in dissociation of p48v-myb from the nuclear matrix.
Experimental Investigation of Ballistic Carrier Transport for Sub-100-nm Ge n-MOSFETs

We demonstrate an experimental study on the ballistic transport behavior of sub-100 nm GeOI n-MOSFETs, by adopting an ultrafast pulsed I–V system for measurement. High performance GeOI n-MOSFETs suffer severer self-heating effect and traps in the dc characterization process than in a “real” high-speed IC circuit. In this letter, the ballistic transport parameters for nanoscale Ge n-MOSFETs are extracted by the pulsed I–V method, and is compared with the SOI n-MOSFETs. The ballsiticity for Ge MOSFETs is higher than Si transistors at the same gate length <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${L}_{\text {G}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>. Furthermore, the scalability of the ballistic parameters for Ge n-MOSFETs is modeled and predicted for the sub-10-nm technology nodes.
A moment method analysis of an aperture coupled rectangular dielectric resonator antenna

An efficient but rigorous model based on the surface integral equation (SIE) approach is proposed for the analysis of the antenna. The dielectric resonator (DR) is modeled in terms of equivalent surface electric and magnetic currents using combined field integral equations (CFIE) formulation. The CFIE, the microstrip feedline and the associated coupling mechanism are formulated as a set of coupled equations in the spatial domain in the form of the mixed potential integral equations (MPIE). The coupled integral equations are solved by use of the method of moments (MoM) using Galerkin's procedure. In the microstrip region, closed-form Green's functions are employed in the calculation to enhance the numerical efficiency. It is demonstrated that the proposed model is very economical in usage of computer resources for generating accurate results for the input impedance.
Behavior of dieldrin in soil: microplot field studies on the influence of soil type on biological activity and absorption by carrots.

An experiment was conducted under field conditions, using micro plots, with the object of studying the behavior of similar concentrations of dieldrin in soil in relation to soil type. Five soil types were used with organic contents ranging from 1 to 70%. The results indicated that persistence, vertical movement, insecticidal activity, and availability of dieldrin residues in soil for absorption by carrots were proportional not to concentration of the insecticide but to the organic content of the soil. It is suggested that in developing environmental criteria for pesticides, it will be necessary to consider not only the results of residue analyses but also the factors which will influence insecticide behavior in soil.
Epithelial thickness in the normal cornea: three-dimensional display with Artemis very high-frequency digital ultrasound.

PURPOSE To characterize the in vivo epithelial thickness profile in a population of normal eyes. METHODS An epithelial thickness profile was measured by Artemis 1 (ArcScan Inc) very high-frequency (VHF) digital ultrasound scanning across the central 10-mm diameter of the cornea of 110 eyes of 56 patients who presented for refractive surgery assessment. The average, standard deviation, minimum, maximum, and range of epithelial thickness were calculated for each point in the 10x10-mm Cartesian matrix and plotted. Differences between the epithelial thickness at the corneal vertex and peripheral locations at the 3-mm radius were calculated. The location of the thinnest epithelium was found for each eye and averaged. Correlations of corneal vertex epithelial thickness with age, spherical equivalent refraction, and average keratometry were calculated. RESULTS The mean epithelial thickness at the corneal vertex was 53.4+/-4.6 microm, with no statistically significant difference between right and left eyes, and no significant differences in age, spherical equivalent refraction, or keratometry. The average epithelial thickness map showed that the corneal epithelium was thicker inferiorly than superiorly (5.9 microm at the 3-mm radius, P<.001) and thicker nasally than temporally (1.3 microm at the 3-mm radius, P<.001). The location of the thinnest epithelium was displaced on average 0.33 mm temporally and 0.90 mm superiorly with reference to the corneal vertex. CONCLUSIONS Three-dimensional thickness mapping of the corneal epithelium demonstrated that the epithelial thickness is not evenly distributed across the cornea; the epithelium was significantly thicker inferiorly than superiorly and significantly thicker nasally than temporally with a larger inferosuperior difference than nasotemporal difference.