Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
ABO blood group but not haemostasis genetic polymorphisms significantly influence thrombotic risk: a study of 180 homozygotes for the Factor V Leiden mutation

Limited data exist on the impact of additional genetic risk factors on the clinical manifestations of factor (F) V Leiden homozygotes. A retrospective multi‐centre cohort study was performed to assess the role of the FII G20210A gene mutation, the protein C (PC) promoter CG haplotype, the combination of two PC polymorphisms (A‐1641G, C‐1654T), the FXIII Val34Leu polymorphism, two thrombin‐activatable fibrinolysis inhibitor polymorphisms (Thr325Ile, Ala147Thr), two plasminogen activator inhibitor‐1 polymorphisms (‐675 4G/5G, A‐844G), the methylene‐tetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) C677T polymorphism and the ABO blood group on the thrombotic phenotype in FV Leiden homozygotes. 127 subjects with venous thrombosis and 53 asymptomatic subjects were analysed. The T allele of MTHFR C677T was more frequent in symptomatic subjects than in asymptomatic ones (68% vs. 45%, P = 0·02; odds ratio (OR) 2·8, 95% CI 1·3–5·8, after adjustment for potential confounders). For the other polymorphisms, no difference was observed between symptomatic and asymptomatic subjects. The non‐O blood group was more frequent among symptomatic carriers (84% vs. 57%, P = 0·0002; OR 4·1, 95% CI 1·7–9·7). In conclusion, except for the ABO blood group, none of the polymorphisms studied contribute strongly to the thrombotic risk in FV Leiden homozygotes.
Comparison between an online self-administered and an interviewer-administered version of the Asthma Control Questionnaire: a cross-sectional validation study

Background: Online self-management programmes for asthma have recently become available. International guidelines suggest that the Asthma Control Questionnaire (ACQ) can be used in these programmes. In order to assess the current level of control and guide therapy, the same cut-off values are being used as in conventional asthma management. However, results might differ between different types of administration of the ACQ. Aims: To assess the agreement between an online self-administered version of the ACQ and an interviewer-administered version at a routine visit. Methods: Cross-sectional data from primary care asthma patients in the Asthma Control Cost Utility Randomized Trial Evaluation (ACCURATE) trial aged 18–50 years and prescribed inhaled steroids were analysed. We selected patients who self-administered an ACQ online and subsequently had an ACQ completed by a nurse practitioner within 7 days at a trial-related control visit. ACQ scores were calculated and agreement assessed by paired t-tests, Pearson's correlation coefficient and a Bland-Altman plot. Results: A total of 351 patients were eligible (68% female, mean age 40 years). The time interval between the two versions was 3.2 days. There was a significant difference of 0.14 (95% CI 0.09 to 0.20; p<0.001) between the results of the online self-administered ACQ (mean 1.04±0.04) and the interviewer-administered ACQ results (0.90±0.04). The Pearson correlation coefficient was 0.79. The limits of agreement (−0.86, 1.14) exceeded the predefined minimal clinically important difference between results (±0.5). The Bland-Altman plot therefore showed insufficient agreement. Conclusions: Assessment of asthma control by the ACQ is influenced by the type of administration. Our results suggest that better control of asthma is perceived when interacting with a caregiver than by online self-assessment.
Single-step isolation of extracellular vesicles by size-exclusion chromatography

Background Isolation of extracellular vesicles from plasma is a challenge due to the presence of proteins and lipoproteins. Isolation of vesicles using differential centrifugation or density-gradient ultracentrifugation results in co-isolation of contaminants such as protein aggregates and incomplete separation of vesicles from lipoproteins, respectively. Aim To develop a single-step protocol to isolate vesicles from human body fluids. Methods Platelet-free supernatant, derived from platelet concentrates, was loaded on a sepharose CL-2B column to perform size-exclusion chromatography (SEC; n=3). Fractions were collected and analysed by nanoparticle tracking analysis, resistive pulse sensing, flow cytometry and transmission electron microscopy. The concentrations of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL) and protein were measured in each fraction. Results Fractions 9–12 contained the highest concentrations of particles larger than 70 nm and platelet-derived vesicles (46%±6 and 61%±2 of totals present in all collected fractions, respectively), but less than 5% of HDL and less than 1% of protein (4.8%±1 and 0.65%±0.3, respectively). HDL was present mainly in fractions 18–20 (32%±2 of total), and protein in fractions 19–21 (36%±2 of total). Compared to the starting material, recovery of platelet-derived vesicles was 43%±23 in fractions 9–12, with an 8-fold and 70-fold enrichment compared to HDL and protein. Conclusions SEC efficiently isolates extracellular vesicles with a diameter larger than 70 nm from platelet-free supernatant of platelet concentrates. Application SEC will improve studies on the dimensional, structural and functional properties of extracellular vesicles.
Effects of estrogen replacement therapy on vascular endothelial growth factor expression in choroidal and retinal vasculature.

PURPOSE To investigate the effects of estrogen replacement therapy (ERT) on vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression in choroidal and retinal vasculature in experimental rat model. METHODS Forty female Wistar rats were randomized in 4 groups in the study. Subcutaneous ERT (17beta-estradiol, 10 microg/kg/day) was administered for three months to first group without ovariectomy and to second group with ovariectomy. Rats in third group had only ovariectomy and fourth group had sham operation. At the end of the third month, all rats were sacrificed in estrous cycles determined by vaginal smear test and their right eyes were enucleated. Enucleated eyes were analyzed by immunohistochemical method for expression of VEGF. RESULTS Only ovariectomy (group 3) in rats did not change VEGF expression than the sham operated (group 4) rats. However, there was more VEGF expression in groups receiving ERT than the group 3 and 4, but increased VEGF expression was statistically significant in group 1 in comparison to group 3, and 4 in both, choroidal and retinal vasculature. CONCLUSION It was shown that ERT increases VEGF expression in choroidal and retinal vasculature, in particular in non-ovariectomized rats. Our findings suggest that ERT may be a risk factor for choroidal and retinal angiogenesis. Further studies are needed to evaluate the risks or benefits of exogenous estrogen supplementation for the choroidal and retinal angiogenesis in women (Fig. 2, Ref. 25).
Management policies for non-volatile write caches

Many computer hardware and software architectures buffer data in memory to improve system performance. Volatile disk or file caches are sometimes used to delay the propagation of writes to disk (called delayed writes). While delayed writes improve system performance, volatile caches can cause the loss of vital data during sudden failure. In this study, we investigate managing non-volatile RAM (NVRAM) caches with different simple strategies to delay writes to disk. We evaluate the performance of NVRAM caches using three measures of merit: the number of stalled writes which wait while the cache is cleaned before being serviced the mean service time far I/O requests, and the number of writes generated by cleaning the cache. Our results show that even small non-volatile write caches using simple management policies can reduce the number of writes to disk by at least 70% and as much as 80% in some cases. Our results also show that the number of stalled writes is high: 30% at best and nearly 100% at worst. Adding pro-active purging effectively decreases both stalled writes and disk write activity.
Robust lane detection and tracking for lane departure warning

Lane detection is an important component of many intelligent transportation systems. This paper proposes a novel lane departure algorithm for detecting lane markers in images acquired from a forward-looking vehicle-mounted camera. The interested targets of the algorithm are always the nearest two lanes to the automobile, and it can detect the left and right lane separately, which would generate the departure warning more precisely. As the main idea is two sure a straight line, the endpoints of segment lanes of the last image can be used as prior information to estimate lanes in the following one. It's a real-time algorithm for lane detection and tracking, which is also simple to implement. The experimental results on local streets and highways show that the suggested algorithm is very reliable and robust.
Binding of the winged‐helix transcription factor HNF3 to a linker histone site on the nucleosome

The transcription factor HNF3 and linker histones H1 and H5 possess winged‐helix DNA‐binding domains, yet HNF3 and other fork head‐related proteins activate genes during development whereas linker histones compact DNA in chromatin and repress gene expression. We compared how the two classes of factors interact with chromatin templates and found that HNF3 binds DNA at the side of nucleosome cores, similarly to what has been reported for linker histone. A nucleosome structural binding site for HNF3 is occupied at the albumin transcriptional enhancer in active and potentially active chromatin, but not in inactive chromatin in vivo. While wild‐type HNF3 protein does not compact DNA extending from the nucleosome, as does linker histone, site‐directed mutants of HNF3 can compact nucleosomal DNA if they contain basic amino acids at positions previously shown to be essential for nucleosomal DNA compaction by linker histones. The results illustrate how transcription factors can possess special nucleosome‐binding activities that are not predicted from studies of factor interactions with free DNA.
Met or matched expectations: what accounts for a successful back pain consultation in primary care?

Background Patients’ as well as doctors’ expectations might be key elements for improving the quality of health care; however, previous conceptual and theoretical frameworks related to expectations often overlook such complex and complementary relationship between patients’ and doctors’ expectations. The concept of ‘matched patient–doctor expectations’ is not properly investigated, and there is lack of literature exploring such aspect of the consultation.
Population modeling for ethanol productivity optimization in fed-batch yeast fermenters

We develop a population model that captures the cell cycle dependent production of ethanol in fed-batch yeast cultures. The dynamic model is used to compute fed-batch operating policies that maximize total ethanol production. The initial volume and glucose concentration, the feed flow rate and glucose feed concentration profiles, and the final batch time are treated as decision variables in the dynamic optimization problem. Optimal solutions computed with different ethanol production rates in the G1, S and G2/M cell cycle phases are compared. We find that the optimal solutions are insensitive to the production rate values unless ethanol is assumed to be produced only in the G1 phase. The implications of the observed cell cycle production dependencies on metabolite productivity optimization are discussed.
Computational Approaches for the Analysis of ncRNA through Deep Sequencing Techniques

The majority of the human transcriptome is defined as non-coding RNA (ncRNA), since only a small fraction of human DNA encodes for proteins, as reported by the ENCODE project. Several distinct classes of ncRNAs, such as transfer RNA, microRNA, and long non-coding RNA, have been classified, each with its own three-dimensional folding and specific function. As ncRNAs are highly abundant in living organisms and have been discovered to play important roles in many biological processes, there has been an ever increasing need to investigate the entire ncRNAome in further unbiased detail. Recently, the advent of next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies has substantially increased the throughput of transcriptome studies, allowing an unprecedented investigation of ncRNAs, as regulatory pathways and novel functions involving ncRNAs are now also emerging. The huge amount of transcript data produced by NGS has progressively required the development and implementation of suitable bioinformatics workflows, complemented by knowledge-based approaches, to identify, classify, and evaluate the expression of hundreds of ncRNAs in normal and pathological conditions, such as cancer. In this mini-review, we present and discuss current bioinformatics advances in the development of such computational approaches to analyze and classify the ncRNA component of human transcriptome sequence data obtained from NGS technologies.
Trade Liberalization and Self-Control Problems

This paper analyzes the welfare effects of trade liberalization when some individuals suffer from self-control problems and hence consume too much of goods which generate immediate benefits but entail future costs. Within a classic Ricardian model of trade, the welfare efects depend crucially on the direction of trade. In the importing country, individuals who are suciently price-sensitive and have a sufficiently strong self-control problem lose from trade. In the exporting country, all individuals unambiguously gain from trade. These ndings are however not robust to changes in the assumptions on production technology and market structure. Within a new trade model with increasing returns to scale and monopolistic competition, individuals with self-control problems can lose in both countries. In contrast to the Ricardian setting, even individuals without self-control problems can lose if the average self-control problem is stronger in their country than in the country they start trading with.
Exploiting Hierarchical Locality in Deep Parallel Architectures

Parallel computers are becoming deeply hierarchical. Locality-aware programming models allow programmers to control locality at one level through establishing affinity between data and executing activities. This, however, does not enable locality exploitation at other levels. Therefore, we must conceive an efficient abstraction of hierarchical locality and develop techniques to exploit it. Techniques applied directly by programmers, beyond the first level, burden the programmer and hinder productivity. In this article, we propose the Parallel Hierarchical Locality Abstraction Model for Execution (PHLAME). PHLAME is an execution model to abstract and exploit machine hierarchical properties through locality-aware programming and a runtime that takes into account machine characteristics, as well as a data sharing and communication profile of the underlying application. This article presents and experiments with concepts and techniques that can drive such runtime system in support of PHLAME. Our experiments show that our techniques scale up and achieve performance gains of up to 88%.
Intravascular ultrasound predictors of angiographic restenosis after sirolimus-eluting stent implantation.

AIMS In many countries, drug-eluting stent implantation is the dominant interventional strategy. We evaluated the clinical, angiographic, procedural, and intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) predictors of angiographic restenosis after sirolimus-eluting stent (SES) implantation. METHODS AND RESULTS SES implantation was successfully performed in 550 patients with 670 native coronary lesions. Six-month follow-up angiography was performed in 449 patients (81.6%) with 543 lesions (81.1%). Clinical, angiographic, procedural, and IVUS predictors of restenosis were determined. Using multivariable logistic regression analysis, the only independent predictors of angiographic restenosis were post-procedural final minimum stent area by IVUS [odds ratio (OR)=0.586, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.387-0.888, P=0.012] and IVUS-measured stent length (OR=1.029, 95% CI 1.002-1.056, P=0.035). Final minimum stent area by IVUS and IVUS-measured stent length that best separated restenosis from non-restenosis were 5.5 mm2 and 40 mm, respectively. Lesions with final minimum stent area<5.5 mm2 and stent length>40 mm had the highest rate of angiographic restenosis [17.7% (11/62)], P<0.001 compared with other groups. CONCLUSION Independent predictors of angiographic restenosis after SES implantation were post-procedural final minimum stent area by IVUS and IVUS-measured stent length. The angiographic restenosis rate was highest in lesions with stent area<5.5 mm2 and stent length>40 mm.
Energy Scavenging with Shoe-Mounted Piezoelectrics

Decreasing size and power requirements of wearable microelectronics make it possible to replace batteries with systems that capture energy from the user's environment. Unobtrusive devices developed at the MIT Media Lab scavenge electricity from the forces exerted on a shoe during walking: a flexible piezoelectric foil stave to harness sole-bending energy and a reinforced PZT dimorph to capture heel-strike energy.
Desmopressin (DDAVP) in the treatment of bleeding disorders: the first 20 years.

IN 1977 DESMOPRESSIN (1-deamino-8-D-arginine vasopressin, abbreviated DDAVP), a derivative of the antidiuretic hormone, was used for the first time to treat patients with hemophilia A and von Willebrand disease (vWD), the most frequent congenital bleeding disorders. [1][1] After the original clinical
Principal component models for sparse functional data

SUMMARY The elements of a multivariate data set are often curves rather than single points. Functional principal components can be used to describe the modes of variation of such curves. If one has complete measurements for each individual curve or, as is more common, one has measurements on a fine grid taken at the same time points for all curves, then many standard techniques may be applied. However, curves are often measured at an irregular and sparse set of time points which can differ widely across individuals. We present a technique for handling this more difficult case using a reduced rank mixed effects framework.
RBP: robust broadcast propagation in wireless networks

Varying interference levels make broadcasting an unreliable operation in low-power wireless networks. Many routing and resource discovery protocols depend on flooding (repeated per-node broadcasts) over the network. Unreliability at the broadcast-level can result in either incomplete flooding coverage or excessive re-flooding, making path maintenance either unreliable or expensive. We present RBP, a very simple protocol that bolsters the reliability of broadcasting in such networks. Our protocol requires only local information, and resides as a service between the MAC and network layer, taking information from both. We show that RBP improves reliability while balancing energy efficiency. RBP is based on two principles: First, we exploit network density to achieve near-perfect flooding reliability by requiring moderate (50-70%) broadcast reliability when nodes have many neighbors. Second, we identify areas of sparse connectivity where important links bridge dense clusters of nodes, and strive for guaranteed reliability over those links. We demonstrate, through both testbed experiments and controlled simulations, that this hybrid approach is advantageous to providing near-perfect reliability for flooding with good efficiency. Testbed experiments show 99.8% reliability with 48% less overhead than the level of flooding required to get equivalent reliability, suggesting that routing protocols will benefit from RBP.
Dextran: Influence of Molecular Weight in Antioxidant Properties and Immunomodulatory Potential

Dextrans (α-d-glucans) extracted from Leuconostoc mesenteroides, with molecular weights (MW) of 10 (D10), 40 (D40) and 147 (D147) kDa, were evaluated as antioxidant, anticoagulant and immunomodulatory drugs for the first time. None presented anticoagulant activity. As for the antioxidant and immunomodulatory tests, a specific test showed an increase in the dextran activity that was proportional to the increase in molecular weight. In a different assay, however, activity decreased or showed no correlation to the MW. As an example, the reducing power assay showed that D147 was twice as potent as other dextrans. On the other hand, all three samples showed similar activity (50%) when it came to scavenging the OH radical, whereas only the D10 sample showed sharp activity (50%) when it came to scavenging the superoxide ion. D40 was the single dextran that presented with immunomodulatory features since it stimulated the proliferation (~50%) of murine macrophages (RAW 264.7) and decreased the release of nitric oxide (~40%) by the cells, both in the absence and presence of lipopolysaccharides (LPS). In addition, D40 showed a greater scavenging activity (50%) for the hydrogen peroxide, which caused it to also be the more potent dextran when it came to inhibiting lipid peroxidation (70%). These points toward dextrans with a 40 kDa weight as being ideal for antioxidant and immunomodulatory use. However, future studies with the D40 and other similarly 40 kDa dextrans are underway to confirm this hypothesis.
The Effect of Relative Formant Amplitude on the Perceived Identity of Synthetic Vowels

The perceptual effect of varying the relative amplitude of the formants in two-formant synthetic vowels has been investigated. It was found that as the amplitude of the second formant was reduced the identity of each sound was firstly independent of the relative amplitude, then became ambiguous and finally changed to that of a vowel of correct first formant frequency. These experiments were performed with isolated vowel sounds of 240 and 480 msec. duration, and with vowels in an /h-d/ context. The shift in the mean second formant frequency of the vowel areas in the F1-F2 space which accompanied the change in perceived identity was gradual for isolated vowels but abrupt for /h-d/ words. A greater uniformity between the responses of different listeners was observed with the vowels in context. These results are interpreted to indicate that a perceptual mechanism behaviourally similar to peak-picking operates when the format amplitudes are within 28 db. but that various biases of the listeners, and a possible subsidiary mechanism which cannot be precisely evaluated, dominated responses when the formant amplitudes differed by more than 28 db.
MEMORY AND MIND

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