Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A prospective study on the prevalence of metabolic syndrome among healthy french families: two cardiovascular risk factors (HDL cholesterol and tumor necrosis factor-alpha) are revealed in the offspring of parents with metabolic syndrome.

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to estimate the longitudinal variation of prevalence of metabolic syndrome within French families and to observe biological parameters involved in cardiovascular disease among their offspring. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Three hundred seventy-one apparently healthy families (1,366 individuals) taken from the STANISLAS cohort were studied. The subjects were examined at two time points with a 5-year interval (t(0) and t(+5)). The crude prevalence of metabolic syndrome was assessed among parents according to the National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III (NCEP ATP) definition. RESULTS The prevalence of metabolic syndrome was 5.9% in men and 2.1% in women at t(0), rising to 7.2 and 5.4% in men and women, respectively, at t(+5). Children of parents having metabolic syndrome showed higher levels of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), whereas their HDL cholesterol and apolipoprotein (apo) E concentrations were lower compared with those of age- and sex-matched control subjects (P </= 0.05). When applying NCEP ATP definitions that included either antihypertensive drugs only or all the drugs involved in metabolic syndrome, we found that the three parameters shared by the three different versions of the definition were TNF-alpha, HDL cholesterol, and an interaction between alcohol consumption and parental metabolic syndrome on HDL cholesterol concentration. CONCLUSIONS Metabolic syndrome increases with age in supposedly healthy families from the STANISLAS cohort. In offspring of affected people, it seems to be predictive of higher values of TNF-alpha and low HDL cholesterol levels, which are two major cardiovascular factors. Therefore, in terms of prevention, it is important to identify and follow subjects with metabolic syndrome as well as their offspring, even in apparently healthy populations, to enable early disease management.
Spirituality's Potential Relevance to Physical and Emotional Health: A Brief Review of Quantitative Research

Longitudinal studies of community samples consistently find links between active spiritual/religious involvement and increased chances for living longer, pointing to the relevance of spirituality/religion as a potential health factor. For a large proportion of either medically ill or mental health patients, spirituality/religion may provide coping resources, enhance pain management, improve surgical outcomes, protect against depression, and reduce risk of substance abuse and suicide. However, study findings also show patient spirituality/religion may serve as a source of conflict linked with poorer health outcomes. Whether identifying helps or harms, research elucidates the potential relevance of patients’ spirituality/religion, with potential for collaboration with trained chaplains as part of the healthcare team to provide spiritual support or deal with spiritual distress for particular patient needs.
Cloning and analysis of duplicated rfbM and rfbK genes involved in the formation of GDP-mannose in Escherichia coli O9:K30 and participation of rfb genes in the synthesis of the group I K30 capsular polysaccharide

The rfbO9 gene cluster, which is responsible for the synthesis of the lipopolysaccharide O9 antigen, was cloned from Escherichia coli O9:K30. The gnd gene, encoding 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase, was identified adjacent to the rfbO9 cluster, and by DNA sequence analysis the gene order gnd-rfbM-rfbK was established. This order differs from that described for other members of the family Enterobacteriaceae. Nucleotide sequence analysis was used to identify the rfbK and rfbM genes, encoding phosphomannomutase and GDP-mannose pyrophosphorylase, respectively. In members of the family Enterobacteriaceae, these enzymes act sequentially to form GDP-mannose, which serves as the activated sugar nucleotide precursor for mannose residues in cell surface polysaccharides. In the E. coli O9:K30 strain, a duplicated rfbM2-rfbK2 region was detected approximately 3 kbp downstream of rfbM1-rfbK1 and adjacent to the remaining genes of the rfbO9 cluster. The rfbM isogenes differed in upstream flanking DNA but were otherwise highly conserved. In contrast, the rfbK isogenes differed in downstream flanking DNA and in 3'-terminal regions, resulting in slight differences in the sizes of the predicted RfbK proteins. RfbMO9 and RfbKO9 are most closely related to CpsB and CpsG, respectively. These are isozymes of GDP-mannose pyrophosphorylase and phosphomannomutase, respectively, which are thought to be involved in the biosynthesis of the slime polysaccharide colanic acid in E. coli K-12 and Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium. An E. coli O-:K30 mutant, strain CWG44, lacks rfbM2-rfbK2 and has adjacent essential rfbO9 sequences deleted. The remaining chromosomal genes are therefore sufficient for GDP-mannose formation and K30 capsular polysaccharide synthesis. A mutant of E. coli CWG44, strain CWG152, was found to lack GDP-mannose pyrophosphorylase and lost the ability to synthesize K30 capsular polysaccharide. Wild-type capsular polysaccharide could be restored in CWG152, by transformation with plasmids containing either rfbM1 or rfbM2. Introduction of a complete rfbO9 gene cluster into CWG152 restored synthesis of both O9 and K30 polysaccharides. Consequently, rfbM is sufficient for the biosynthesis of GDP-mannose for both O antigen and capsular polysaccharide E. coli O9:K30. Analysis of a collection of serotype O8 and O9 isolates by Southern hybridization and PCR amplification experiments demonstrated extensive polymorphism in the rfbM-rfbK region.
Principal Observation Ray Calibration for Tiled-Lens-Array Integral Imaging Display

Integral imaging display (IID) is a promising technology to provide realistic 3D image without glasses. To achieve a large screen IID with a reasonable fabrication cost, a potential solution is a tiled-lens-array IID (TLA-IID). However, TLA-IIDs are subject to 3D image artifacts when there are even slight misalignments between the lens arrays. This work aims at compensating these artifacts by calibrating the lens array poses with a camera and including them in a ray model used for rendering the 3D image. Since the lens arrays are transparent, this task is challenging for traditional calibration methods. In this paper, we propose a novel calibration method based on defining a set of principle observation rays that pass lens centers of the TLA and the camera's optical center. The method is able to determine the lens array poses with only one camera at an arbitrary unknown position without using any additional markers. The principle observation rays are automatically extracted using a structured light based method from a dense correspondence map between the displayed and captured pixels. Experiments show that lens array misalignments can be estimated with a standard deviation smaller than 0.4 pixels. Based on this, 3D image artifacts are shown to be effectively removed in a test TLA-IID with challenging misalignments.
Management of sugarcane stem borer Chilo infuscatellus (Snellen) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) through Trichogramma chilonis (Ishii) (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae) and selective use of insecticides.

Studies regarding the management of sugarcane stem borer, Chilo infuscatellus through different release levels of Trichogramma chilonis (Ishii) and selective use of insecticides i.e. Corbofuran 3G @ 8 kg/Acre and Thimet 5G @ 10 kg/Acre in comparison with T. chilonis were carried out in two different experiments, in the sugarcane fields of the Research Farm Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Agricultural University Peshawar, during 2008. In the first experiment regarding the different release levels of T. chilonis i.e. single release (T1, @ 8 Trichocards/Acre), double release (T2, @ 16 Trichocards/Acre), triple release (T3, 24 Trichocards/Acre) quadruple release (T4, 32 Trichocards/Acre) and T5 (Control, no release). Highest mean percent parasitism (62.60%) and lowest mean percent infestation (1.25%) of the sugarcane stem borer was observed in quadruple release plot (T4). It was followed by the triple release plot (T3), with mean percent parasitism of 52.74% and percent infestation of 1.57%. In the 2 nd experiment regarding the use of T. chilonis in comparison with insecticides in the treated plots, highest mean percent parasitism (66.61%) and lowest mean percent infestation (0.49%) of the sugarcane stem borer was observed in the quadruple release of Trichocards. Increased yield (46.29 tones / ha) was also recorded in the quadruple release of Trichocards. Both insecticides showed statistically same response in percent infestation of sugarcane stem borer and also yield of sugarcane, while higher percent parasitism was recorded in the Carbofuran 3G treated plots as compared with the Thimet 5G treated plots. Based on these results Trichocards (@32 Trichocards/Acre) are recommended for the management of sugarcane stem borer instead of insecticides. Moreover, this practice may have significant role to protect the environment and conserve the natural resources from insecticides contamination.
Mobile case-based decision support for intelligent patient knowledge management

Hospitals everywhere are integrating health data using electronic health record (EHR) systems, and disparate and multimedia patient data can be input by different caregivers at different locations as encapsulated patient profiles. Healthcare institutions are also using the flexibility and speed of wireless computing to improve quality and reduce costs. We are developing a mobile application that allows doctors to efficiently record and access complete and accurate real-time patient information. The system integrates medical imagery with textual patient profiles as well as expert interactions by healthcare personnel using knowledge management and case-based reasoning techniques. The application can assist other caregivers in searching large repositories of previous patient cases. Patients' symptoms can be input to a portable device and the application can quickly retrieve similar profiles which can be used to support effective diagnoses and prognoses by comparing symptoms, treatments, diagnosis, test results and other patient information.
WICE: a Web-based intelligent cost estimator for real-time decision support

Real-time response to construction cost estimation request is crucial for firms to survive and grow in the construction industry. However, no existing construction cost estimating system fulfills this need thus far. We describe a joint effort by the academia and the industrial partner on developing such a system. Advanced Web-based intelligence techniques are employed in the proposed system including WWW, neuro-fuzzy system, and data mining. The industrial partner is in charge of providing knowledge sources, including expert judgments and historical data, for conceptual cost estimation. A Web-based intelligent cost estimator (WICE) is resulted. The testing results show that the proposed system provides not only a globally accessible and promptly responding means for cost estimation, but also an effective and reliable tool for real-time decision-making.
Supporting activity based computing paradigm in global software development

Global software development (GSD) teams have to use multiple tools to perform both complex and even simple tasks involving many context switches that can be frustrating. To lessen these issues, researchers are looking at providing new plug-ins whereas commercial vendors are flooding the market with comprehensive solutions often in the form of platforms. The current file- and application- oriented desktop metaphor can hardly support the collaborative and distributed nature of GSD teams. We assert that the Activity-Based Computing (ABC) paradigm has the potential for addressing the tool support related challenges of GSD. We have been incrementally designing and developing a flexible middleware (ABC4GSD) for supporting ABC in GSD. In this paper we present the theoretical foundations underpinning our approach and the architectural overview of a middleware for supporting ABC in GSD. Moreover, we briefly present a prototype leveraging the features provided by the middleware as a proof of concept.
Gesture Controlled Virtual Instrument with Dynamic Vibrotactile Feedback

paper investigates whether a dynamic vibrotactile feedback improves the playability of a gesture controlled virtual instrument. The instrument described in this study is based on a virtual control surface that player strikes with a hand held sensor-actuator device. We designed two tactile cues to augment the stroke across the control surface: a static and dynamic cue. The static cue was a simple burst of vibration triggered when crossing the control surface. The dynamic cue was continuous vibration increasing in amplitude when approaching the surface. We arranged an experiment to study the influence of the tactile cues in performance. In a tempo follow task, the dynamic cue yielded significantly the best temporal and periodic accuracy and control of movement velocity and amplitude. The static cue did not significantly improve the rhythmic accuracy but assisted the control of movement velocity compared to the condition without tactile feedback at all. The findings of the study indicate that careful design of dynamic vibrotactile feedback can improve the controllability of gesture based virtual instrument.
Rule-Based Maintenance of Post-Requirements Traceability Relations

An accurate set of traceability relations between software development artifacts is desirable to support evolutionary development. However, even where an initial set of traceability relations has been established, their maintenance during subsequent development activities is time consuming and error prone, which results in traceability decay. This paper focuses solely on the problem of maintaining a set of traceability relations in the face of evolutionary change, irrespective of whether generated manually or via automated techniques, and it limits its scope to UML-driven development activities post-requirements specification. The paper proposes an approach for the automated update of existing traceability relations after changes have been made to UML analysis and design models. The update is based upon predefined rules that recognize elementary change events as constituent steps of broader development activities. A prototype traceMaintainer has been developed to demonstrate the approach. Currently, traceMaintainer can be used with two commercial software development tools to maintain their traceability relations. The prototype has been used in two experiments. The results are discussed and our ongoing work is summarized.
Comparative Pathology of Murine Mucolipidosis Types II and IIIC

UDP-GlcNAc: lysosomal enzyme N-acetylglucosamine-1-phosphotransferase (GlcNAc-1-phosphotransferase) is an α2β2γ2 hexameric enzyme that catalyzes the first step in the synthesis of the mannose 6-phosphate targeting signal on lysosomal hydrolases. In humans, mutations in the gene encoding the α/β subunit precursor give rise to mucolipidosis II (MLII), whereas mutations in the gene encoding the γ subunit cause the less severe mucolipidosis IIIC (MLIIIC). In this study we describe the phenotypic, histologic, and serum lysosomal enzyme abnormalities in knockout mice lacking the γ subunit and compare these findings to those of mice lacking the α/β subunits and humans with MLII and MLIIIC. We found that both lines of mutant mice had elevated levels of serum lysosomal enzymes and cytoplasmic alterations in secretory cells of several exocrine glands; however, lesions in γ-subunit deficient (Gnptab -/-) mice were milder and more restricted in distribution than in α/β-subunit deficient (Gnptab -/-) mice. We found that onset, extent, and severity of lesions that developed in these two different knockouts correlated with measured lysosomal enzyme activity; with a more rapid, widespread, and severe storage disease phenotype developing in Gnptab -/- mice. In contrast to mice deficient in the α/β subunits, the mice lacking the γ subunits were of normal size, lacked cartilage defects, and did not develop retinal degeneration. The milder disease in the γ-subunit deficient mice correlated with residual synthesis of the mannose 6-phosphate recognition marker. Of significance, neither strain of mutant mice developed cytoplasmic vacuolar inclusions in fibrocytes or mesenchymal cells (I-cells), the characteristic lesion associated with the prominent skeletal and connective tissue abnormalities in humans with MLII and MLIII. Instead, the predominant lesions in both lines of mice were found in the secretory epithelial cells of several exocrine glands, including the pancreas, and the parotid, submandibular salivary, nasal, lacrimal, bulbourethral, and gastric glands. The absence of retinal and chondrocyte lesions in Gnptab -/- mice might be attributed to residual β-glucuronidase activity. We conclude that mice lacking either α/β or γ subunits displayed clinical and pathologic features that differed substantially from those reported in humans having mutations in orthologous genes.
The Utility of Data Transformation for Alignment, De Novo Assembly and Classification of Short Read Virus Sequences

Advances in DNA sequencing technology are facilitating genomic analyses of unprecedented scope and scale, widening the gap between our abilities to generate and fully exploit biological sequence data. Comparable analytical challenges are encountered in other data-intensive fields involving sequential data, such as signal processing, in which dimensionality reduction (i.e., compression) methods are routinely used to lessen the computational burden of analyses. In this work, we explored the application of dimensionality reduction methods to numerically represent high-throughput sequence data for three important biological applications of virus sequence data: reference-based mapping, short sequence classification and de novo assembly. Leveraging highly compressed sequence transformations to accelerate sequence comparison, our approach yielded comparable accuracy to existing approaches, further demonstrating its suitability for sequences originating from diverse virus populations. We assessed the application of our methodology using both synthetic and real viral pathogen sequences. Our results show that the use of highly compressed sequence approximations can provide accurate results, with analytical performance retained and even enhanced through appropriate dimensionality reduction of sequence data.
Consistent, Coherent, Creative: The 3 C's of Graphic Organizers

Here are some realities ol" today's classrooms: • Rooms are tilled with students whose learning needs stretch across a wideranging continuum. • The movement to educate students with special needs in least restrictive environments, which are often general education classrooms, adds to the challenges facing both general and special education teachers. • Most students with learning difficulties are expected to learn the same rigorous content as their typical peers. These realities leave many teachers frustrated and overwhelmed. Fortunately, educators have a vast number of research-based teaching techniques, strategies, and devices to assist them in meeting students' needs IFisher & Schumaker, W5]. Deciding which instructional tools to use is a daunting responsibility. Tlie task becomes more complex when students have special educational needs that make it difficult for them to understand, organize, or recall important concepts or content (Fountas A t^innell, 2001). Graphic organizers are a specific instructional organization tool available to teachers; these tools have proven to a r * t e a c h i n g t h e c o n c e p t o f g r a p h i c o r g a n i s h e i r s t u d e n t * .
POSTFIRE RESPONSE AND GENETIC DIVERSITY IN ERICA COCCINEA: CONNECTING POPULATION DYNAMICS AND DIVERSIFICATION IN A BIODIVERSITY HOTSPOT

Understanding the processes of biological diversification is a central topic in evolutionary biology. The South African Cape fynbos, one of the major plant biodiversity hotspots out of the tropics, has prompted several hypotheses about the causes of generation and maintenance of biodiversity. Fire has been traditionally invoked as a key element to explain high levels of biodiversity in highly speciose fynbos taxa, such as the genus Erica. In this study, we have implemented a microevolutionary approach to elucidate how plant‐response to fire may contribute to explain high levels of diversification in Erica. By using microsatellite markers, we investigated the genetic background of seeder (fire‐sensitive) and resprouter (fire‐resistant) populations of the fynbos species Erica coccinea. We found higher within‐population genetic diversity and higher among‐population differentiation in seeder populations and interpreted these higher levels of genetic diversification as a consequence of the comparatively shorter generation times and faster population turnover in the seeder form of this species. Considering that genetic divergence among populations may be seen as the initial step to speciation, the parallelism between these results and the pattern of biodiversity at the genus level offers stimulating insights into understanding causes of speciation of the genus Erica in the Cape fynbos.
A novel circular-polarized array antenna based on substrate integrated waveguide for satellite communication

A circular-polarized array antenna having a novel feeding structure like a substrate integrated waveguide(SIW), SIW-based power divider, and sequentially rotated cavity-backed single element is proposed for satellite communication and enhancement of electrical performances in a double-layered fabrication. The bandwidth enhancements in terms of CP generation and broadband impedance matching characteristics are accomplished by using a fixed phase shifter and simple shorting via between the top patch and bottom ground plane. In addition, a broadband impedance bandwidth of 10% and a RHCP axial ratio of 5.7% have been obtained under the condition of less than VSWR 2:1 and axial ratio −3 dB, respectively.
HPV 9G DNA Chip: 100% Clinical Sensitivity and Specificity

ABSTRACT We describe a novel HPV 9G DNA chip test for the accurate and reliable genotyping of human papillomavirus (HPV). The HPV 9G DNA chip test established its efficiency in terms of a signal-to-background ratio (SBR) of 200, which is 50 times superior to commercial HPV DNA chips, and 100% target-specific hybridization at 25°C. We compared the genotyping results for the 439 clinical samples by the HPV 9G DNA chip test with the sequencing results for the MY11/GP6+ (M2) primer set-mediated PCR products. The discrimination of HPV genotypes in the 151 HPV-positive clinical samples by the HPV 9G DNA chip test were 100% identical with the sequencing analysis. The clinical sensitivities of HPV genotyping by the HPV 9G DNA chip test and a commercial HPV DNA chip test were 100% and 88%, respectively. However, the clinical specificities of HPV genotyping by the HPV 9G DNA chip test and the commercial HPV DNA chip test were 100% and 94%, respectively. The 100% clinical sensitivity and specificity of the HPV 9G DNA chip test make it a promising diagnostic tool for HPV genotyping.
Combining greedy algorithms with expert guided manipulation for the definition of a balanced prosodic Spanish-catalan radio news corpus

This article reports the process of building a bilingual (Sp anishCatalan) text corpus balanced in parallel taking into accou nt prosodic features for both languages. We propose an expert guideline for text manipulation that in combination with gr eedy algorithms significantly improves the quality of the select ed corpus. The application of this methodology to a radio news corpus empirically supports the proposed strategy.