Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Complete blood count reference intervals and age- and sex-related trends of North China Han population

Abstract Background: Defining common reference intervals (RIs) are encouraging. The aim of this study is to establish RIs for complete blood count (CBC) in a Chinese Han population and probe their age- and sex-related CBC trends. Additionally, we will compare the CBC RIs of Han with those of other races. Methods: In total 1259 Han individuals (584 male and 675 female) were recruited in North China. CBC was processed on Sysmex XE-2100, Coulter LH750 and Mindray BC5800 whose traceability was well verified. The non-parametric 2.5th–97.5th percentiles RIs were calculated. Results: The RIs for CBC parameters did not show apparent analyzer-specificity, apart from mean cellular volume (MCV), mean platelet volume (MPV), plateletcrit (PCT) and platelet distribution width (PDW). Red blood cell (RBC), hemoglobin (HBG), hematocrit (HCT), mean cellular hemoglobin (MCH), and mean cellular hemoglobin concentration (MGHC) are higher in males; and their male mean values tend to drop after 40 years; conversely, the female mean values tend to rise. Platelet (PLT) is higher in females and tends to drop after 40 years in both sexes. White blood cell (WBC) and absolute count of neutrophils (NE) and monocytes (MO) are higher in males, but there is no apparent change with age. Lymphocytes (LY) absolute count declines with age in males, but the same change in females is not obvious. RIs for HBG and HCT are similar among Han, Nordic, US European and US Mexican populations and are lower in US Africans. WBC RIs for Han and US African populations are lower than that for US Europeans and US Mexicans. Conclusions: RIs for major blood cell parameters are not method-dependent; variations obviously exist in age, sex and race. Consequently, common RIs for most CBC parameters appear inapplicable.
Relationships of stroke rate, distance per stroke, and velocity in competitive swimming.

Competitive swimmers were asked to swim at a constant velocity (v) for short distances. They wore a collar to which was attached a fine non-elastic steel wire. The wire passed over two wheels of a device attached to one end of the pool. One wheel generated an impulse for every cm of forward movement and another wheel produced an electrical signal which was directly proportional to V. Measurements of distance and time were begun at definable points in the stroke cycle and were discontinued at the end of a predetermined number of strokes. In all of the four competitive strokes, front and back crawl, butterfly, and breaststroke, the V increased as a result of increasing the stroke rate (S) and decreasing the distance per stroke (d/s). In the front crawl, the male and female swimmers who achieved the fastest V had the longest d/S at slow S. The faster male swimmers also had greater percent decrease of the d/S at their maximal V than did the less skilled persons. The back crawl was similar to the front crawl except that maximal S and V were less. Increases of V of the butterfly were related almost entirely to increases in S. Except at the highest V, d/S was decreased somewhat. In the breaststroke increased V was also associated with increasing S, but the d/S decreased much more than in the other stroke styles. Fluctuations of velocity during the stroke cycle were least in the front and back crawl (+/- 15--20%) and greatest in the butterfly and breaststroke (+ 45--50%). The results were compared to the S observed and the values for V and d/S calculated for a large group of swimmers competing in the 1976 U.S. Olympic Trials. The implications of the findings for coaching swimmers are discussed.
A Prospective, Randomized Trial Comparing the Short- and Long-term Results of Doppler-Guided Transanal Hemorrhoid Dearterialization With Mucopexy Versus Excision Hemorrhoidectomy for Grade III Hemorrhoids

BACKGROUND: Few randomized trials have compared the results of Doppler-guided transanal hemorrhoid dearterialization with mucopexy and excisional open hemorrhoidectomy. Few studies have reported long-term results. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to evaluate the results of Doppler-guided transanal hemorrhoid dearterialization with mucopexy compared with excisional open hemorrhoidectomy in patients with grade III hemorrhoids. DESIGN: This is a prospective randomized study registered at clinicaltrials.gov (NCT01263431). A power analysis assessed the study’s sample size. Patients were randomly assigned to undergo either hemorrhoidectomy or Doppler-guided hemorrhoid dearterialization plus mucopexy. The &khgr;2 test, Mann-Whitney U test, Student t test, and a regression model were used, as appropriate. SETTINGS: This study was conducted at the Department of Surgery, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy. PATIENTS: Fifty consecutive patients were treated for grade III hemorrhoids from July to November 2010. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary outcome was postoperative pain. The secondary outcomes included postoperative morbidity, the resumption of social and/or working activity, patient satisfaction, and the relapse of symptoms at 1 and 24 months. RESULTS: No major complications occurred in either group. The median visual analog scale scores for pain in the hemorrhoidectomy and Doppler-guided dearterialization plus mucopexy groups on days 1, 7, 14, and 30 were 7 vs 5.5, 3 vs 2.5, 1 vs 0, and 0 vs 0 (p> 0.05). The median work resumption day was the 22nd in the hemorrhoidectomy group and the 10th in the Doppler-guided dearterialization plus mucopexy group (p = 0.09). Patient satisfaction at 1 and 24 postoperative months, with the use of a 4-point scale, was 3 vs 4 and 4 vs 4 (p > 0.05). During the follow-up, 2 patients in the dearterialization group required ambulatory treatment, and 1 patient in each group required further surgery for symptom relapse. LIMITATIONS: Nonvalidated questionnaires were used in the follow-up. Cost analysis was not performed. CONCLUSION: Compared with hemorrhoidectomy, dearterialization with mucopexy resulted in similar postoperative pain and morbidity, and a similar long-term cure rate.
Reflexivity and technology in adult learning

It is argued by influential commentators such as Ulrich Beck and Scott Lash that we now live in a ‘reflexively modern' age. People are seen to now be free of the structures of modern society and driven instead by individualised opportunities to reflexively engage with their fast-changing social worlds and identities. Taking the notion of reflexive modernisation as its starting point, this paper explores the roles that information technologies (ITs) may play in supporting adults' reflexive judgements about, and reflexive engagements with, education and learning. Through an analysis of interview data with 100 adults in the UK the paper finds that whilst a minority of interviewees were using ITs to support and inform reflexive engagement with learning, the majority of individuals relayed little sign of technology-supported reflexivity when it came to their (non)engagement with education. For most people ITs were found, at best, to reinforce pre-established tendencies to ‘drift' through the formal education system. The paper concludes by considering the implications of these findings for ongoing efforts in developed countries to establish technology-supported ‘learning societies'.
Hyperproduction of recombinant ferredoxins in escherichia coli by coexpression of the ORF1-ORF2-iscS-iscU-iscA-hscB-hs cA-fdx-ORF3 gene cluster.

Fe-S proteins acquire Fe-S clusters by an unknown post-translational mechanism. To study the in vivo synthesis of the Fe-S clusters, we constructed an experimental system to monitor the expressed ferredoxin (Fd) as a reporter of protein-bound Fe-S clusters assembled in Escherichia coli. Overexpression of five Fds in a T7 polymerase-based system led to the formation of soluble apoFds and mature holoFds, indicating that assembly of the Fe-S cluster into apoFd polypeptides is a rate-limiting step. We examined the coexpression of the E. coli ORF1-ORF2-iscS-iscU-iscA-hscB-hsc A-fdx-ORF3 gene cluster, which has recently been suggested to be involved in the formation or repair of Fe-S protein [Zheng, L. , Cash, V.L. , Flint, D.H. , and Dean, D.R. (1998) J. Biol. Chem. 273, 13264-13272], with reporter Fds using compatible plasmids. The production of all five reporter holoFds examined was dramatically increased by the coexpression of the gene cluster, and apparent specificity to the polypeptides or to the type of Fe-S clusters was not observed. The increase in holoFd production was observed under the coexpression conditions in all culture media examined, with either 2 x YT medium or Terrific broth, and with or without supplemental cysteine or iron. These results indicate that the proteins encoded by the gene cluster are involved in the assembly of the Fe-S clusters in a wide variety of Fe-S proteins.
Biological Correlates Psychotic Patients of Piracetam Clinical Effects

The purpose of this controlled clinical trial was to demonstrate possible correlations between changes in bioenergetic metabolism and psychotropic drug administration in the treatment of functional psychosis. The study included twenty-six patients, eleven with schizophrenia, three with chronic atypical depression and twelve with drug-resistant endogenous depressions. A II patients were kept on continuous psychotropic medication for at least 3 weeks before starting the trial, and piracetam was given additionally in a fixed dosage of 2400 mg daily; the same numberof identical capsules was given during the pre- andpost-treatmentplacebo periods. Psycho-pathological evaluationof the patients was by the BPRS; clinical and biochemical data were evaluated statistically by the analysis of regression. The results show that in schizophrenic patients an improvement was observed in those cases who had improved biochemically, i.e. where the A TP values had increased. In drug-resistant depressions there was a rapid and significant clinical improvement after piracetam co-administration, and this went in step with a significant rise inATPlevels.
Effective Antigen-Specific Immunotherapy in the Marmoset Model of Multiple Sclerosis

Mature T cells initially respond to Ag by activation and expansion, but high and repeated doses of Ag cause programmed cell death and can suppress T cell-mediated diseases in rodents. We evaluated repeated systemic Ag administration in a marmoset model of experimental allergic encephalomyelitis that closely resembles the human disease multiple sclerosis. We found that treatment with MP4, a chimeric, recombinant polypeptide containing human myelin basic protein and human proteolipid protein epitopes, prevented clinical symptoms and did not exacerbate disease. CNS lesions were also reduced as assessed in vivo by magnetic resonance imaging. Thus, specific Ag-directed therapy can be effective and nontoxic in primates.
In vivo embryo production in cows superovulated 1 or 2 days after ovum pick-up.

The present study evaluated superovulatory responses and in vivo embryo production in cows treated with FSH starting 1 or 2 days after ovum pick-up (OPU). Thirty-three non-lactating Nelore cows were subjected to aspiration of all follicles ≥3mm for OPU. After OPU, cows were randomly divided into two groups in which the follicle superstimulatory treatments with FSH started 1 or 2 days after OPU (Groups D1 and D2, respectively). Data are presented as the least squares mean±s.e. m. The number of follicles ≥3mm before OPU was similar between groups (~34); however, cows in Group D2 had more follicles ≥3mm on the first day of FSH (15.2±2.3 vs 7.6±1.7; P=0.04) and a higher ratio of the number of follicles at first FSH/number of follicles before OPU (0.41±0.04 vs 0.24±0.02; P=0.01). In addition, Group D2 cows had a greater superovulatory response than did cows in Group D1 (18.9±2.8 vs 9.1±1.9 corpora lutea, respectively; P<0.03). However, there was no difference in the total number of recovered ova and embryos from cows in Groups D2 and D1 (5.1±1.4 vs 4.9±1.3, respectively; P>0.10). Nevertheless Group D2 cows had more freezable embryos than Group D1 cows (3.2±1.1 vs 1.3±0.5, respectively; P<0.05). Cows from Group D2 had a much higher proportion (P<0.001) of follicles ≥8mm compared with follicles ≥6mm and <8mm at the time of the last treatment with FSH. In conclusion, to obtain a greater production of viable embryos in superovulated cows after OPU, it is recommended to wait at least 2 days before starting FSH treatment.
Gene therapy for lipoprotein lipase deficiency

Purpose of review The present review summarizes the clinical development of adeno-associated viral vector (AAV)1-lipoprotein lipase (LPL)S447X gene therapy (alipogene tiparvovec) for lipoprotein lipase deficiency. Lipoprotein lipase deficiency is a rare inherited disease characterized by severe hypertriglyceridaemia, chylomicronaemia and risk of recurrent pancreatitis or other complications. AAV1-LPLS447X gene therapy is based on the rationale that by adding episomal copies of functional LPL genes into muscle cells lacking active LPL, metabolic function could be improved or restored. Recent findings AAV1-LPLS447X is a nonreplicating and nonintegrating AAV of serotype 1 designed to deliver and express the human LPL gene variant S447X. The clinical development programme for AAV1-LPLS447X consisted of two observational studies, three open-label interventional studies and one case note review analysis. Intramuscular administration of AAV1-LPLS447X was generally well tolerated and was associated with reduction in overall pancreatitis incidence and signs of clinical improvement up to 2 years after administration. Results of interventional studies suggest that markers of postprandial metabolism could be more accurate than fasting plasma triglyceride concentration to monitor the effect of AAV1-LPLS447X. Summary The overall benefit–risk ratio of AAV1-LPLS447X gene therapy appears positive to date, particularly for the patients presenting the highest risk of complications.
Speaker identification using bagging techniques

Speech recognition is widely researched, but little discussion is available within computer science algorithms literature. Computer scientists are interested in speech recognition computational problems. As against what was said, speaker recognition ensures automatic recognition of the speaker based on his/her voice's characteristics. Text-dependent speaker recognition is a focused on in this study. A simple approach to text dependent speaker identification is provided by this paper based on Coiflet wavelets for feature extraction which is followed by Singular value decomposition for feature selection. Classification is through using Naïve Bayes and bagging techniques.
Infection‐stimulated infraosseus inflammation and bone destruction is increased in P‐/E‐selectin knockout mice

Infections of the dental pulp commonly result in infraosseus inflammation and bone destruction. However, the role of phagocytic leucocytes in the pathogenesis of pulpal infections has been uncertain. In this work we used P/E−/− selectin‐deficient mice, which lack rolling adhesion of leucocytes to endothelium and mimic the human syndrome, leucocyte adhesion deficiency II (LAD‐II), to test the hypothesis that phagocytic leucocytes protect against pulpal infection and subsequent periapical infraosseus bone resorption. P/E−/− mice and P/E+/+ wild‐type controls were subjected to surgical pulp exposure, and both groups were infected with a mixture of pulpal pathogens including Prevotella intermedia, Fusobacterium nucleatum, Peptostreptococcus micros and Streptococcus intermedius. Animals were killed after 20 days, and the extent of infraosseus bone destruction was quantified by histomorphometry. In two separate experiments, P/E−/− mice had significantly greater bone resorption than P/E+/+ controls. The increased bone destruction correlated with a twofold decrease in polymorphonuclear (PMN) infiltration into periapical nflammatory tissues of P/E−/− mice. P/E−/− mice had higher tissue levels of the bone resorptive cytokine, interleukin (IL)‐1α. Tissue levels of IL‐2, IL‐4, IL‐10, tumour necrosis factor‐α (TNF‐α) and interferon‐γ (IFN‐γ) were all higher in P/E−/− mice, but the increases were not statistically significant. Only IL‐12 was higher in P/E+/+ mice, possibly reflecting a greater number of infiltrating monocytes in wild‐type mice. These findings demonstrate that phagocytic leucocytes are protective in this model, and suggest that elevated expression of inflammatory cytokines is responsible for the observed bone destruction.
Measuring Ventilatory Activity with Structured Light Plethysmography (SLP) Reduces Instrumental Observer Effect and Preserves Tidal Breathing Variability in Healthy and COPD

The use of a mouthpiece to measure ventilatory flow with a pneumotachograph (PNT) introduces a major perturbation to breathing (“instrumental/observer effect”) and suffices to modify the respiratory behavior. Structured light plethysmography (SLP) is a non-contact method of assessment of breathing pattern during tidal breathing. Firstly, we validated the SLP measurements by comparing timing components of the ventilatory pattern obtained by SLP vs. PNT under the same condition; secondly, we compared SLP to SLP+PNT measurements of breathing pattern to evaluate the disruption of breathing pattern and breathing variability in healthy and COPD subjects. Measurements were taken during tidal breathing with SLP alone and SLP+PNT recording in 30 COPD and healthy subjects. Measurements included: respiratory frequency (Rf), inspiratory, expiratory, and total breath time/duration (Ti, Te, and Tt). Passing-Bablok regression analysis was used to evaluate the interchangeability of timing components of the ventilatory pattern (Rf, Ti, Te, and Tt) between measurements performed under the following experimental conditions: SLP vs. PNT, SLP+PNT vs. SLP, and SLP+PNT vs. PNT. The variability of different ventilatory variables was assessed through their coefficients of variation (CVs). In healthy: according to Passing-Bablok regression, Rf, TI, TE and TT were interchangeable between measurements obtained under the three experimental conditions (SLP vs. PNT, SLP+PNT vs. SLP, and SLP+PNT vs. PNT). All the CVs describing “traditional” ventilatory variables (Rf, Ti, Te, Ti/Te, and Ti/Tt) were significantly smaller in SLP+PNT condition. This was not the case for more “specific” SLP-derived variables. In COPD: according to Passing-Bablok regression, Rf, TI, TE, and TT were interchangeable between measurements obtained under SLP vs. PNT and SLP+PNT vs. PNT, whereas only Rf, TE, and TT were interchangeable between measurements obtained under SLP+PNT vs. SLP. However, most discrete variables were significantly different between the SLP and SLP+PNT conditions and CVs were significantly lower when COPD patients were assessed in the SLP+PNT condition. Measuring ventilatory activity with SLP preserves resting tidal breathing variability, reduces instrumental observer effect and avoids any disruptions in breathing pattern induced by the use of PNT-mouthpiece-nose-clip combination.
A Flexible FPGA-Based Quasi-Cyclic LDPC Decoder

Low-density parity check (LDPC) error correction decoders have become popular in diverse communications systems, owing to their strong error correction performance and their suitability to parallel hardware implementation. A great deal of research effort has been invested into the implementation of LDPC decoder designs on field-programmable gate array (FPGA) devices, in order to exploit their high processing speed, parallelism, and re-programmability. Meanwhile, a variety of application-specific integrated circuit implementations of multi-mode LDPC decoders exhibiting both inter-standard and intra-standard reconfiguration flexibility are available in the open literature. However, the high complexity of the adaptable routing and processing elements that are required by a flexible LDPC decoder has resulted in a lack of viable FPGA-based implementations. Hence in this paper, we propose a parameterisable FPGA-based LDPC decoder architecture, which supports run-time flexibility over any set of one or more quasi-cyclic LDPC codes. Additionally, we propose an off-line design flow, which may be used to automatically generate an optimized HDL description of our decoder, having support for a chosen selection of codes. Our implementation results show that the proposed architecture achieves a high level of design-time and run-time flexibility, whilst maintaining a reasonable processing throughput, hardware resource requirement, and error correction performance.
Modulation of DNA Binding Protein Affinity Directly Affects Target Site Demethylation

ABSTRACT It has recently been shown that in Xenopus, DNA demethylation at promoter regions may involve protein-DNA interactions, based on the specificity of the demethylated sites. Utilizing a stable episomal system in human cells, we recently mapped the sites and dissected the steps of demethylation at oriP sites bound by EBNA1 protein. Although it is clear that protein binding is required for demethylation of the oriP sites, it is uncertain whether this is a unique feature of the replication origin or whether it is a general phenomenon for all DNA sequences to which sequence-specific proteins are bound. In the present study, we utilize the well-defined Escherichia coli lac repressor/operator system in human cells to determine whether protein binding to methylated DNA, in a region that is neither a replication origin nor a promoter, can also lead to demethylation of the binding sites. We found that demethylation specified by protein binding is not unique to the replication origin or to the promoter. We also found that transcriptional activity does not influence demethylation of thelac operator. Isopropyl-β-d-thiogalactopyranoside (IPTG), an inhibitor of the lac repressor, can prevent demethylation of thelac operator DNA sites and can modulate demethylation of the lac operator by affecting the binding affinity of thelac repressor. Using this system, a titration of protein binding can be done. This titration permits one to infer that protein binding site occupancy is the determinant of demethylation at DNA sites and permits a determination of how this process progresses over time.
Mathematical characterization of coupled Pi-shaped DNG metamaterial structure

In this paper, a coupled Pi-shaped double negative metamaterial has been validated using two established retrieval methods: Nicolson-Rose-Weir method and Transmission-Reflection Method. The proposed unit cell was designed on a Rogers RO3010 substrate with dielectric constant of 10.2 and a thickness of 1.28 mm. The simulation has been performed under commercially available CST Microwave Studio environment. The proposed structure has been achieved DNG characteristics at 7.89 GHz. The effective parameters of the proposed structure have been retrieved using MATLAB for both TR and NRW methods and compared the results.
Ownership effects on R&D spending in India: does external borrowing matter?

State owned enterprises (SOEs) act as economic units when they operate in industries alongside private firms. These enterprises have social objectives since they are owned by the government and economic objectives since they operate in industries. Research and development (R&D) is one of the strategies available to SOEs which is a public good. Thus, against the multidimensional redistributive objective function of the government, R&D acts as a bridge between social and economic objectives of SOEs. The current study focuses on this particular feature for Indian public and private firms. Specifically, R&D expenditure by public sector enterprises and private sector enterprises listed on the National Stock Exchange is compared for 2015. The study employs propensity score matching and regression methods and finds that listed public sector enterprises spend more than the listed private sector enterprises in India. The study also suggests that external borrowing acts as a stronger tool to increase R&D spending for private firms more than the state owned ones.