Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Periodicity Matters: Grating or lattice resonances in the scattering by sparse arrays of subwavelength strips and wires.

This article reviews the nature and history of the discovery of high-quality natural modes existing on periodic arrays of many subwavelength scatterers; such arrays can be viewed as specific periodically structured open resonators. These grating modes (GMs), like any other natural modes, give rise to the associated resonances in electromagnetic-wave scattering and absorption. Their complex wavelengths are always located very close to (but not exactly at) the well-known Rayleigh anomalies (RAs), determined only by the period and the angle of incidence. This circumstance has long been a reason for their misinterpretation as RAs, especially in the measurements and simulations using low-resolution methods. In the frequency scans of the reflectance or transmittance, GM resonances usually develop as asymmetric Fano-shape spikes. In the optical range, if a grating is made of subwavelength-size noble-metal elements, then GMs exist together with better-known localized surface-plasmon (LSP) modes. Thanks to high tunability and considerably higher Q-factors, the GM resonances can potentially replace the LSP-mode resonances in the design of nanosensors, nanoantennas, and solar-cell nanoabsorbers.
Role of albumin, starches and gelatins versus crystalloids in volume resuscitation of critically ill patients

Purpose of reviewThe review focuses on fluid resuscitation of critically ill patients with either colloid or crystalloid solutions. Recent findingsIn healthy patients, the volume expanding effect of colloids is greater than that of crystalloids. However, in critically ill patients, a similar amount of crystalloids and colloids is required for fluid resuscitation, suggesting a lower efficiency of colloids when capillary permeability is increased, and endothelial glycocalyx disrupted. Recent studies on synthetic colloids in surgical patients confirmed the increased risk of renal failure reported in large clinical trials performed in critically ill patients. Experimental studies suggest that albumin maintains plasma volume expansion efficiency even when the capillary permeability is impaired, and that extravasation of albumin to the interstitium is lower than that of hydroxyethyl starch. SummaryFluid administration should be tailored to patient characteristics. Synthetic colloids should be avoided when possible, especially in patients at risk for kidney injury. In critically ill patients with suspected increased permeability, colloids may not be superior to crystalloids in expanding plasma volume. Albumin appears to be less harmful than synthetic colloids, although its beneficial effects need to be further investigated. The endothelial glycocalyx layer is the key structure finely regulating intravascular fluid distribution.
4-Benzenesulfonamidobenzoic acid

In the molecule of the title sulfonamide compound, C13H11NO4S, the dihedral angle between the planes of the benzene ring and the carboxyl substituent group is 6.7 (4)°. The two aromatic rings are inclined at 45.36 (15)° to one another. In the crystal, adjacent molecules are linked via classical intermolecular N—H⋯O and O—H⋯O, and non-classical C—H⋯O hydrogen bonds, which stabilize the crystal structure.
Distinguishing dairy cooperatives from investor‐owned firms in Europe using financial indicators

The European dairy industry is facing a number of challenges related to policy changes and global trends that add pressure on their economic performance. This study uses logistic regression to analyze differences in financial and performance indicators between European dairy cooperatives and investor-owned firms. The investigated indicators are profitability, debt, operational efficiency, equity growth, size, and country dummies. The empirical application uses data from 170 European dairy firms. Cooperatives are on average less profitable, operate more efficiently, and have a stronger financial position than investor‐owned firms. Using the above‐mentioned financial and performance indicators, cooperatives appear to be well equipped to cope with the challenges ahead. [EconLit citations: Q13; M12; C25]. (C) 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Clinical factors associated with lithium response in bipolar disorders

Background: Bipolar disorder is a common chronic illness characterized by high levels of morbidity and all-cause mortality. Lithium is one of the gold standard mood stabilizer treatments, but the identification of good, partial and non-responders in clinical settings is inconsistent. Methods: We used an established rating scale (the Alda scale) to classify the degree of lithium response (good response, partial response, non-response) in a large, multicentre clinically representative sample of well-characterized cases of bipolar disorders I and II. Next, we examined previously reported clinical predictors of response to determine which factors significantly differentiated between the three response groups. Results: Of 754 cases, 300 received lithium, for at least 6 months, as a treatment for bipolar disorder (40%). Of these cases, 17% were classified as good response, 52% as partial response and 31% as non-response. Lifetime history of mixed episodes (p = 0.017) and alcohol use disorders (p = 0.015) both occurred in >20% of partial response and non-response groups but <10% of good response cases. Family history of bipolar disorder I was of borderline statistical significance, being more frequent in the good response group (38%) compared with the non-response group (18%). There was a trend (p = 0.06) for bipolar disorder II to be associated with non-response. Conclusions: Only three factors previously identified as predictors of lithium response significantly differentiated the response groups identified in our sample. Interestingly, these factors have all been found to co-occur more often than expected by chance, and it can be hypothesized that they may represent a shared underlying factor or dimension. Further prospective studies of predictors and the performance of the Alda scale are recommended.
Complex Regulation of the Organic Hydroperoxide Resistance Gene (ohr) from XanthomonasInvolves OhrR, a Novel Organic Peroxide-Inducible Negative Regulator, and Posttranscriptional Modifications

ABSTRACT Analysis of the sequence immediate upstream of ohrrevealed an open reading frame, designated ohrR, with the potential to encode a 17-kDa peptide with moderate amino acid sequence homology to the MarR family of negative regulators of gene expression. ohrR was transcribed as bicistronic mRNA with ohr, while ohr mRNA was found to be 95% monocistronic and 5% bicistronic with ohrR. Expression of both genes was induced by tert-butyl hydroperoxide (tBOOH) treatment. High-level expression ofohrR negatively regulated ohr expression. This repression could be overcome by tBOOH treatment. In vivo promoter analysis showed that the ohrR promoter (P1) has organic peroxide-inducible, strong activity, while the ohrpromoter (P2) has constitutive, weak activity. Only P1 is autoregulated by OhrR. ohr primer extension results revealed three major primer extension products corresponding to the 5′ ends ofohr mRNA, and their levels were strongly induced by tBOOH treatment. Sequence analysis of regions upstream of these sites showed no typical Xanthomonas promoter. Instead, the regions can form a stem-loop secondary structure with the 5′ ends ofohr mRNA located in the loop section. The secondary structure resembles the structure recognized and processed by RNase III enzyme. These findings suggest that the P1 promoter is responsible for tBOOH-induced expression of the ohrR-ohr operon. The bicistronic mRNA is then processed by RNase III-like enzymes to give high levels of ohr mRNA, while ohrR mRNA is rapidly degraded.
Preliminary efficacy of a daily living skills intervention for adolescents with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder

Daily living skills deficits are strongly associated with poor adult outcomes for individuals with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder, and yet, there are no group interventions targeting daily living skills. Seven adolescents with autism spectrum disorder and their parents participated in a feasibility pilot of a 12-week manualized group treatment targeting specific daily living skills (i.e. morning routine, cooking, laundry, and money management). Outcomes included the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales, Second Edition (Vineland-II) age equivalence scores and four goal attainment scaling scores. Adolescents demonstrated significant improvement on two Vineland-II subdomains and on all goal attainment scaling scores at post-treatment and 6-month follow-up. The intervention has promise for improving critical daily living skills’ deficits that affect independent living and employment. Limitations and implications for future studies are discussed.
Identification of Greek Takeover Targets and Coherent Policy Implications

The main purpose of this paper is the identification of the characteristics of takeover targets in a small open economy like Greece, using the market for corporate control (MCC) hypothesis as theoretical background. Contrary to this hypothesis, the results indicate that the motives for merging or acquisition activities are basically of strategic character. Using a sample of 35 acquired and 105 non-acquired firms, the sampling process was initially performed by a modified methodology of state-based sampling, even if its nature cannot be recognized by the classical maximum likelihood estimator (MLE) of logit model. Subsequently, taking into account the small size of the sample, we develop and use, in the logit context, the bootstrap MLE as an advanced alternative method for reducing inherit bias and inefficiency. The findings remain uniform supporting the strategic motives explanation in actual takeover activities, a fact that clearly illustrates the framework of merger policies followed by the Greek Competition Committee during the period under study.
An Iterative Scheme for Leverage-Based Approximate Aggregation

The current data explosion poses great challenges to approximate aggregation with high efficiency and accuracy. To address this problem, we propose a novel approach to calculate the aggregation answers with a high accuracy using only a small portion of the data. We introduce leverages to reflect individual differences in the data from a statistical perspective. Two kinds of estimators, the leverage-based estimator, and the sketch estimator (a "rough picture" of the aggregation answer), are in constraint relations and iteratively improved according to the actual conditions until their difference is below a threshold. Due to the iteration mechanism and the leverages, our approach achieves a high accuracy. Moreover, some features, such as not requiring recording the sampled data and easy to extend to various execution modes, such as the online mode, make our approach well suited to deal with big data. Experiments show that our approach has an extraordinary performance, and when compared with the uniform sampling, our approach can achieve high-quality answers with only 1/3 sample size.
Comparative analysis of Haar and Skin color method for face detection

Face detection is the fundamental part of any face processing system. It is growing as an active research area in field of image processing. Various methods like feature based, skin color and appearance based model are proposed. But because of dynamicity of human face, speed and accuracy become the issue point. The aim of this paper is to have comparative analysis Haar Classifier and Skin color detection method for face detection. Using Viola Jones for haar detection rate for facial feature like nose, eye and mouth is calculated. The efficiency achieved by Haar for face is 89.42% while that in skin color model is 84.61%. This paper also emphasize on some applications of face detection.
The chromosome complement of human gametes.

The comparisons of observed and predicted rates of chromosomally abnormal gametes for two major classes of abnormality and for three specific trisomies are summarized in Table 2.10. As can be seen there is not very good agreement between the two sets of data. For sperm the observed abnormality rates are, with the exception of polyploidy, all in excess of those predicted. For structural abnormalities the excess is absurd and suggests that most structural abnormalities seen in sperm chromosomes may be preparation artefacts. On the other hand, it could be argued that the excess of hyperhaploidy among sperm is real and represents those trisomic conceptuses lost in the early stages of pregnancy. However, both chromosome 21 and the sex chromosomes are represented more often than any other chromosomes. Recent observations among all clinically recognized pregnancies do not suggest an excess of trisomy 21 conceptions arising from non-disjunction in spermatogenesis. As can be seen from Table 2.10, the observed frequencies of trisomy 21 is 10 times greater than that predicted, a difference that seems too great to be accounted for by early pregnancy wastage. While the X chromosome does appear to undergo non-disjunction much more frequently than the autosomes during spermatogenesis, the increase is restricted to non-disjunction of the XY bivalent at the first male meiotic division. In this class the observed and predicted frequencies are rather similar and it is even possible that the observed excess in sperm is accounted for by early post-zygotic loss. However, with the exception of the 24, XY class, the distribution of individual chromosomes among the hyperhaploid sperm bears little relation to that predicted. The most likely explanation for this is that banding of sperm chromosomes is of such poor quality that there are many errors in the identification of individual chromosomes. Most authors use some form of Q banding and this technique should give unequivocal identification of the highly-fluorescent Y chromosome even when other chromosomes are not clearly distinguishable. An increased accuracy of Y-chromosome identification may account for the relative concordance between observed and predicted rates of 24, XY sperm. By the same argument, 24, YY sperm might be expected to be accurately enumerated. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Effect of Retinoids on the Release and Gene Expression of Tumor Necrosis Factor‐α in Human Peripheral Blood Monocytes

The effect of retinoic acid (RA) and retinol (ROH) on the release of tumor necrosis factor (TNF) by human peripheral blood monocytes (HPBM) was determined. HPBM were cultured for various periods of time in either 5% complete (cAB) or delipidized (DLS) AB serum. TNF release (L929 cytolytic assay) in the presence of cAB occurred during the first 3 days of in vitro culture. Delipidization of AB serum completely inhibited the lipopolysaccharide (LPS)‐induced release of TNF by HPBM. Addition of RA (0.5 μM) to DLS restored LPS‐induced TNF release by HPBM, and supplementation with ROH (1.0 μM) resulted in release of TNF‐like activity, but only after 3 days of in vitro culture. The maintenance of TNF release by the addition of exogenous RA after 3 days of in vitro culture suggested that depletion of endogenous RA was partially responsible for loss of TNF‐like activity. The levels of endogenous TNF protein and mRNA were not influenced by delipidization of serum and were found to be similar to those of HPBM cultured in the presence of AB serum. TNF protein and mRNA were undetectable in HPBM ROH‐treated cell lysates, although cytolytic activity was observed in culture supernatants. These results suggest that retinoids are required for the release of cytolytic factors from HPBM and that non‐TNF cytolytic factors may be released by these cells at different stages of maturation.
Do Amide Local Anesthetics Play a Therapeutic Role in the Perioperative Management of Cancer Patients?

Cancer is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide, with about 14 million estimated new cases and 8 million deaths annually. For solid tumors such as breast cancer, surgical removal remains an essential and vital part of the overall treatment strategy. However, the perioperative period is increasingly recognized as a timepoint with the potential to influence patient outcomes profoundly. First, the mechanical process of tumor resection and subsequent regenerative processes may promote the recurrence of local residual disease. Second, perioperative immunosuppression may impair the host’s ability to attack circulating tumor cells (CTCs) or distant micrometastases. Third, some drugs administered perioperatively, such as opioids, have been alleged to promote tumor growth in their own right. Therefore, theoretically, regional anesthetic strategies, using local anesthetics to reversibly block nerve impulse propagation, seem to be ideally suited to treat perioperative cancer patients. These techniques, among their other effects, decrease the surgical stress response, preserve
Proposal for an optimized protocol for intravenous administration of insulin in diabetic patients undergoing 18F-FDG PET/CT

The objective of this study was to evaluate the usefulness and impact of insulin administration before an 18F-FDG PET/computed tomography (CT) examination in diabetic patients in order to propose an optimized protocol that can reduce blood glucose levels without increasing muscular 18F-FDG uptake. A total of 130 patients underwent an 18F-FDG PET/CT. Twenty patients had glucose levels greater than 180 mg/dl and received endovenous insulin before 18F-FDG injection (group 1); 10 patients had glucose levels greater than 160 mg/dl and lower than 200 mg/dl and received no insulin (group 2); 100 patients were euglycemic (group 3). Biodistribution was adequate in 19 of 20 patients in group 1. Values of standardized uptake value in the gluteal muscle were 0.50±0.18 for group 1, 0.48±0.10 for group 2, and 0.49±0.08 for group 3; no significant differences in muscular 18F-FDG uptake could be found among the three groups. No adverse events were recorded. In conclusion, our protocol has been demonstrated to be safe and effective, with only a minor impact on glucose biodistribution and apparently without affecting PET accuracy.
Double-Blinded, Placebo-Controlled Trial Of Midodrine For Exercise Performance Enhancement In Tetraplegia:A Pilot Study

Abstract Background/Objective: Spinal cord injury (SCI) impairs cardiovascular autonomic responses to exercise and, depending on the Ievei of injury, may result in hypotension and pathologic fatigue with exertion. Other clinical populations with sympathetic regulatory dysfundion, but without skeletal muscle paralysis, exhibit similar signs and symptoms. Their ability to engage in physical adivity improves with elevation of blood pressure through pharmacologic treatment: Midodrine, an oral alpha-sympathomimetic agent, has been shown to be safe and efficacious for this purpose. Use of this medication in individuals with SCI merits investigation. Methods: Double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized, crossover, within-subjeds protocol. Four participants with chronic,motor-complete injuries from C6 to C8 underwent 4 peak exercise tests (PXT) using a wheelchair ergometer, following administration of midodrine, 5 mg, 10 mg, and placebo, in random order. Heart rate, blood pressure, oxygen consumption (V02) , and perceived exertion were measured. Results: Treatment with midodrine, 10 mg, was associated with elevated systolic blood pressure during peak exercise in 3 participants. Two participants showed a concurrent decrease in perceived exertion and increase in V02 . No adverse effeds of midodrine were evident. Condusion: Midodrine enhances exercise performance in some individuals with SCI, similar to other clinical populations with cardiovascular autonomic dysfundion.
Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Gene‐Activated Matrix (VEGF165‐GAM) Enhances Osteogenesis and Angiogenesis in Large Segmental Bone Defects

Healing of fractures is dependent on vascularization of bone, which is in turn promoted by VEGF. It was shown that 0.1 and 1 mg of pVEGF165‐GAM led to a significant increase in vascularization and bone regeneration in defects that would otherwise have led to atrophic nonunions.
Machine-assisted phonemic analysis

There is a consensus between many linguists that half of all languages risk disappearing by the end of the century. Documentation is agreed to be a priority. This includes the process of phonemic analysis to discover the contrastive sounds of a language with the resulting benefits of further linguistic analysis, literacy, and access to speech technology. A machine-assisted approach to phonemic analysis has the potential to greatly speed up the process and make the analysis more objective. Good computer tools are already available to help in a phonemic analysis, but these primarily provide search and sort database functionality, rather than automated analysis. In computational phonology there have been very few studies on the automated discovery of phonological patterns from surface level data such as narrow phonetic transcriptions or acoustics. This thesis addresses the lack of research in this area. The key scientific question underpinning the work in this thesis is "To what extent can a machine algorithm contribute to the procedures needed for a phonemic analysis? ". A secondary question is "What insights does such a quantitative evaluation give about the contribution of each of these procedures to a phonemic analysis? " It is demonstrated that a machine-assisted approach can make a measurable contribution to a phonemic analysis for all the procedures investigated; phonetic similarity, phone recognition & alignment, complementary distribution, and minimal pairs. The evaluation measures introduced in this thesis allows a comprehensive quantitative comparison between these phonemic analysis procedures. Given the best available data and the machine-assisted procedures described, there is a strong indication that phonetic similarity is the most important piece of evidence in a phonemic analysis. The tools and techniques developed in this thesis have resulted in tangible benefits to the analysis of two under-resourced languages and it is expected that many more languages will follow.
Directed evolution of Tau class glutathione transferases reveals a site that regulates catalytic efficiency and masks co-operativity.

A library of Tau class GSTs (glutathione transferases) was constructed by DNA shuffling using the DNA encoding the Glycine max GSTs GmGSTU2-2, GmGSTU4-4 and GmGSTU10-10. The parental GSTs are >88% identical at the sequence level; however, their specificity varies towards different substrates. The DNA library contained chimaeric structures of alternated segments of the parental sequences and point mutations. Chimaeric GST sequences were expressed in Escherichia coli and their enzymatic activities towards CDNB (1-chloro-2,4-dinitrobenzene) and the herbicide fluorodifen (4-nitrophenyl α,α,α-trifluoro-2-nitro-p-tolyl ether) were determined. A chimaeric clone (Sh14) with enhanced CDNB- and fluorodifen-detoxifying activities, and unusual co-operative kinetics towards CDNB and fluorodifen, but not towards GSH, was identified. The structure of Sh14 was determined at 1.75 Å (1 Å=0.1 nm) resolution in complex with S-(p-nitrobenzyl)-glutathione. Analysis of the Sh14 structure showed that a W114C point mutation is responsible for the altered kinetic properties. This was confirmed by the kinetic properties of the Sh14 C114W mutant. It is suggested that the replacement of the bulky tryptophan residue by a smaller amino acid (cysteine) results in conformational changes of the active-site cavity, leading to enhanced catalytic activity of Sh14. Moreover, the structural changes allow the strengthening of the two salt bridges between Glu(66) and Lys(104) at the dimer interface that triggers an allosteric effect and the communication between the hydrophobic sites.