Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
One Year Efficacy and Safety of Lanthanum Carbonate for Hyperphosphatemia in Japanese Chronic Kidney Disease Patients Undergoing Hemodialysis

Lanthanum carbonate is a non‐calcium‐based phosphate binder for hyperphosphatemia in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). The efficacy and safety of lanthanum carbonate (LaC) on hyperphosphatemia in patients has been well documented in clinical trials in Western countries and recent relatively short‐term clinical trials in Japan. Evidence supporting its safety and efficacy in Japanese patients for longer‐term treatment is now desired for clinical practice. A non‐controlled, open‐label, multicenter, one year study of LaC to assess safety and its effect on the levels of serum phosphate, serum calcium and parathyroid hormone was performed with Japanese dialysis patients. Lanthanum carbonate was administered to patients at variable doses for a period of 46–52 weeks. Evaluation of the safety and efficacy of LaC in reducing serum phosphate was performed, in addition to extensive and systematic monitoring of the laboratory parameters related to bone turnover and cardiac health. A significant reduction in the serum phosphate level was demonstrated throughout the treatment period (P < 0.05), without any increase in the frequency or severity of drug‐related adverse events such as vomiting, nausea, and stomach discomfort. There was no clinically relevant change in vital signs, or electrocardiograms for a period. The profiles for parathyroid hormone, bone alkaline phosphates, and osteocalcin were stable in the patients concomitantly treated with vitamin D. This study provides further evidence that the administration of LaC over a period of one year is safe and effective for the reduction of serum phosphate levels in CKD patients undergoing hemodialysis.
Interaction between halogenated aromatic compounds in the Ah receptor signal transduction pathway

Many toxic and biochemical responses to halogenated aromatic compounds (HACs) such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polychlorinated dibenzo‐p‐dioxins (PCDDs) are mediated through the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR), which is an intracellular cytosolic target for HACs. Environmental exposure to HACs almost always involves complex mixtures of congeners, some of which can antagonize the action of potent HACs such as 2,3,7,8‐tetrachlorodibenzo‐p‐dioxin (TCDD). In this work we studied TCDD and representative PCB congeners, alone and in mixture, for their effect on CYP1A gene transcription and protein levels in primary rat hepatocytes. Together with our previous work, our results suggest that formation of the Ah receptor‐ligand‐DRE (dioxin response element) complex is the principal point of divergence in the mechanism between an AhR agonist and an AhR antagonist. The coplanar PCBs 77 and 126 and the mono‐ortho PCB 156 were full agonists toward CYP1A1 gene transcription and CYP1A protein levels, showing typical additive behavior with TCDD to the target molecule AhR. In contrast, the nonplanar PCB 153 antagonized the action of TCDD, even at concentrations that occupied a significant fraction of AhR molecules. Competitive inhibition explains the commonly reported decrease of ethoxyresorufin‐O‐deethylase (EROD) activity when PCBs are present in high concentrations and the antagonism of PCBs to the EROD activity of TCDD. The result is that Western blotting offers a much more reliable measure of CYP1A protein concentration than does the EROD assay, despite the greater convenience of the latter. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Environ Toxicol 19: 480–489, 2004.
Hypercholesterolemia is a prerequisite for puromycin inducible damage in mouse kidney.

BACKGROUND The mouse, as opposed to the rat, is relatively resistant to the experimental nephrosis induced by puromycin aminonucleoside. The reason for this species specificity is not known. Apolipoprotein E (apoE)-deficient mice were used to determine whether hypercholesterolemia plays a role in inducing proteinuria. METHODS Thirty-two mice were divided into normal and high cholesterol diet groups and then divided further into four subgroups: puromycin, puromycin+probucol, probucol and control. Urinary albumin of these mice was analyzed by nephelometry. The lipid peroxidation (LPO) end products malonyldialdehyde (MDA) and 4-hydroxynonenal (4-HNE) were detected by immunohistochemistry, and the expression level of the glomerular slit diaphragm protein, nephrin, was studied by immunohistochemistry and real time RT-PCR. RESULTS Overt proteinuria was induced by puromycin only in the apoE knockout mice ingesting the high cholesterol diet. The staining intensities of MDA and 4-HNE were stronger in the glomeruli of proteinuric mice compared to glomeruli of non-proteinuric mice. When serum cholesterol levels were reduced by probucol, proteinuria decreased and fewer LPO end products were seen immunohistochemically. Three and eight days after puromycin injection the level of nephrin mRNA in the kidneys of proteinuric mice decreased in comparison to the controls. Puromycin-treated mice kidneys demonstrated a clearly reduced reactivity to the nephrin antibodies. CONCLUSIONS Hypercholesterolemia, possibly via LPO, is a prerequisite for puromycin-inducible glomerular damage in the mouse. Furthermore, nephrin protein and mRNA levels appear to be candidate markers of glomerular damage in the mouse.
A mobile application for South African Sign Language (SASL) recognition

Sign Language uses manual hand and body gestures as well as non-manual facial expressions as a means of communication between deaf and hearing communities. A communication divide exists between the deaf and hearing communities, to the disadvantage of the deaf. This paper explores the design and implementation of a mobile application for South African Sign Language recognition. The application connects, via Bluetooth, to an instrumented glove developed by the University of Cape Town. The objective is to recognize the manual alphabet and manual numeric digits that have static gestures (31 signs in total). Two neural networks (one with a log-sigmoid, and one with a symmetric Elliott activation function) and a Support Vector Machine (SVM) were compared. The SVM was chosen for implementation primarily because of its high accuracy of 99% and its superior robustness. The mobile application is developed for Android and allows the user to connect to a Bluetooth glove, display and dictate the classification output and calibrate the connected glove. On a low-end smartphone, the classification time did not exceed 45ms, the memory usage did not exceed 15 MB, and the battery life during typical usage was approximately 11 hours.
A Relationship between Expectation (Before) and Satisfaction (After) Receiving Services of Thai Consumers from Domestic Low-Cost Airlines

This study employs sampling of 400 Thai people who live in Bangkok and have used air transportation to travel. A random convenience sampling technique is used to collect data. The results found that at 0.05 significance level the differences of means of Thai consumers’ expectations (before) and satisfaction (after) receiving services in the service marketing mix, the results of all aspects are different both in general and for each aspect of the service marketing mix. Average levels of expectations before receiving services are higher than satisfaction after receiving services in all aspects, as well. When analyzing further to the correlation between average means, the means of expectations before receiving services are higher than those of satisfaction after receiving services in general. As in all aspects of the service marketing mix, any aspect that has a big difference between expectations before receiving services and satisfaction after receiving services has low correlation. Keywords—Domestic Low-Cost Airlines, Expectation Before Receiving Services, Relationship, Satisfaction After Receiving Services, Thai Consumers.
A closed — Form analytical solution to the radiation problem from a short dipole antenna above flat ground using spectral domain approach

In this paper we consider the problem of radiation from a vertical short (Hertzian) dipole above flat ground with losses, which represents the well - known in the literature `Sommerfeld radiation problem'. We end - up with a closed - form analytical solution to the above problem for the received electric and magnetic field vectors above the ground in the far field area. The method of solution is formulated in the spectral domain, and by inverse three - dimensional Fourier transformation and subsequent application of the Stationary Phase Method (SPM) the final solutions in the physical space are derived. To our knowledge, the above closed - form solutions are novel in the literature for the Sommerfeld radiation problem.
Analyzing the effects of driver behavior within an adaptive ramp control scheme: A case-study with ALINEA

Freeway traffic control strategies such as ramp metering and variable speed limits are gaining importance in relieving freeways congestion. Along with reducing the travel time, freeway traffic control strategies are also considered as key players in improving the traffic safety and decreasing the vehicle emissions. Traffic simulation tools overtook the real-world implementations, for testing traffic control strategies, with less time consumption, and economical and more flexible traffic analysis environment. This paper presents a micro-simulation based case-study on Istanbul freeways, where it discusses: the microscopic model calibration, the impact of ramp metering strategy Asservissement Lineaire ďEntrée Autoroutiere (ALINEA) on the traffic characteristics and traffic oscillations, and the impact of driver's behavior at merges on ALINEA's performance. The control algorithm is utilized online by integrating VISSIM with MATLAB via COM.
HfO2/Al2O3 multilayer for RRAM arrays: a technique to improve tail-bit retention

In this work, the HfO2/Al2O3 multilayer structure is applied for RRAM arrays. Compared to HfO2 RRAM, the data retention failure of tail bits is suppressed significantly, especially for the high resistance state (HRS). The retention of tail bits is studied in detail by temperature simulation and crystallization analysis. We attribute the improvement of tail-bit retention to the decreased oxygen ion diffusivity caused by the Al2O3 layer. Furthermore, the HfO2/Al2O3 multilayer structure exhibits higher crystallization temperature, thus leading to fewer grain boundaries around the filament during the operations. With fewer grain boundaries, oxygen ion diffusion is suppressed, leading to fewer tail bits and better retention.
Characterization of a baculovirus gene encoding a small conotoxinlike polypeptide

We identified a gene of Autographa californica nuclear polyhedrosis virus (AcMNPV) that encodes a small cysteine-rich polypeptide which has size and sequence similarity to omega-conotoxins, a class of calcium ion (Ca2+) channel inhibitors, found in the venom of cone snails. Transcriptional analysis indicated that the 159-bp open reading frame, which we named ctl, and a downstream 984-bp open reading frame are transcribed as a single 1.3-kb bicistronic late RNA. The mature ctl gene product was identified as a small secreted protein by high-pressure liquid chromatography fractionation of extracellular fluid. Viruses with a site-specific deletion in ctl appeared normal with regard to the kinetics and virulence of infection, both in vitro and in vivo. Although we studied the behavior of wild-type and mutant virus-infected insects in some detail, a biological role for ctl in AcMNPV infection remains to be established.
Reduction of endothelial injury after hypothermic lung preservation by initial leukocyte-depleted reperfusion.

OBJECTIVES Leukocyte depletion has been shown to ameliorate the effects of reperfusion injury in many organ systems. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of leukocyte depletion on functional and endothelial markers of pulmonary performance after cold ischemic injury. METHOD Groups of 6 rat lungs were flushed with University of Wisconsin solution and then stored at 4 degrees C for 4 hours. They then underwent sanguine reperfusion for 30 minutes, during which time functional measures (gas exchange, pulmonary artery, and airway pressures) were made and after which the lungs underwent estimation of endothelial permeability by measurement of the capillary filtration coefficient (in grams per centimeter of water per minute per grams of wet lung tissue) by a gravimetric technique. Four groups were studied: group 1 underwent no reperfusion, group 2 underwent 30 minutes of reperfusion, group 3 underwent 30 minutes of leukocyte-deplete reperfusion with an in-line leukocyte filter (PALL), and group 4 underwent 10 minutes of leukocyte-depleting reperfusion followed by 20 minutes of normal reperfusion. RESULTS The capillary filtration coefficient increased between group 1 and group 2 animals (1.05 +/- 0.32 to 3.07 +/- 0.47 [mean +/- SEM]; P <.01). Complete leukocyte depletion caused the greatest diminution in the capillary filtration coefficient (0.392 +/- 0.07, P <.001), but initial leukocyte depletion (group 4) also showed a significant diminution (0.74 +/- 0.3, P <.01). Complete or initial leukocyte depletion caused no significant change in functional measures of pulmonary performance. Complete leukocyte depletion produced less pulmonary leukostasis, as assessed by means of myeloperoxidase activity. CONCLUSION Initial and continued leukocyte depletion are associated with amelioration of reperfusion-induced endothelial injury after cold ischemic injury.
Dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI measurement of renal function in healthy participants

Background High repeatability, accuracy, and precision for renal function measurements need to be achieved to establish renal dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) as a clinically useful diagnostic tool. Purpose To investigate the repeatability, accuracy, and precision of DCE-MRI measured renal perfusion and glomerular filtration rate (GFR) using iohexol–GFR as the reference method. Material and Methods Twenty healthy non-smoking volunteers underwent repeated DCE-MRI and an iohexol–GFR within a period of 10 days. Single-kidney (SK) MRI measurements of perfusion (blood flow, Fb) and filtration (GFR) were derived from parenchymal intensity time curves fitted to a two-compartment filtration model. The repeatability of the SK-MRI measurements was assessed using coefficient of variation (CV). Using iohexol–GFR as reference method, the accuracy of total MR–GFR was determined by mean difference (MD) and precision by limits of agreement (LoA). Results SK-Fb (MR1, 345 ± 84; MR2, 371 ± 103 mL/100 mL/min) and SK–GFR (MR1, 52 ± 14; MR2, 54 ± 10 mL/min/1.73 m2) measurements achieved a repeatability (CV) in the range of 15–22%. With reference to iohexol–GFR, MR–GFR was determined with a low mean difference but high LoA (MR1, MD 1.5 mL/min/1.73 m2, LoA [−42, 45]; MR2, MD 6.1 mL/min/1.73 m2, LoA [−26, 38]). Eighty percent and 90% of MR–GFR measurements were determined within ± 30% of the iohexol–GFR for MR1 and MR2, respectively. Conclusion Good repeatability of SK-MRI measurements and good agreement between MR–GFR and iohexol–GFR provide a high clinical potential of DCE-MRI for renal function assessment. A moderate precision in MR-derived estimates indicates that the method cannot yet be used in clinical routine.
A ZVS Grid-Connected Full-Bridge Inverter With a Novel ZVS SPWM Scheme

A zero-voltage switching (ZVS) grid-connected full-bridge inverter and its modulation schemes are investigated. A novel sinusoidal pulse width modulation scheme for the ZVS full-bridge inverter (ZVS SPWM) is proposed in this paper. The ZVS SPWM is evolved from the double-frequency SPWM by adding gate drive to the auxiliary switch. The ZVS condition is analyzed and the circulation loss of the resonant branch is optimized by adjusting the energy storage in the resonant inductor. The reverse recovery of the body-diode of MOSFET is relieved and ZVS is realized for both main and auxiliary switches. The filter inductors are significantly reduced with higher switching frequency. The design guideline of resonant parameters and the implementation of ZVS SPWM in DSP controller are introduced. The ZVS SPWM scheme is verified on a 3-kW inverter prototype. According to the experimental result, peak efficiency as 98.8% is achieved.
Possible role for the essential GTP-binding protein Obg in regulating the initiation of sporulation in Bacillus subtilis

We fused obg, encoding an essential GTP-binding protein in Bacillus subtilis, to the LacI-repressible, IPTG (isopropyl-beta-D-thiogalactopyranoside)-inducible promoter Pspac. Depletion of Obg, following removal of IPTG, caused a defect in sporulation and in expression of sporulation genes that are activated by Spo0A approximately P. These defects were significantly relieved by a mutation in spo0A (rvtA11) that bypasses the normal phosphorylation pathway, indicating that Obg might normally be required, either directly or indirectly, to stimulate activity of the phosphorelay that activates Spo0A.
Leader selection in cooperative network based on MDL subspace algorithm for cognitive radio

This paper presents a simple and robust algorithm for determining a leader node in a cooperative network based on MDL (Minimum Description Length) subspace algorithm. The algorithm aims to improve the performance of the cooperating network in a spectrum sensing problem for cognitive radio. The outline of the communication and selection process is described and the SNR (signal to noise ratio) estimation algorithm is given. Simulation results show that the algorithm outperforms the non-cooperating network and a cooperating diffusion network with uniform combination weights.
Outcomes of Laparoscopic Gastric Greater Curvature Plication in Morbidly Obese Patients

Background Laparoscopic gastric greater curvature plication (LGGCP) is a restrictive bariatric procedure without gastrectomy. However, limited literature on effectiveness of gastric plication exists. Objectives We assessed LGGCP's efficacy, effects on associated comorbidities, safety and the rate of complications, and patient satisfaction with LGGCP's outcomes among morbidly obese patients. Method Analysis of retrospectively data collected from medical records of 26 patients who had undergone LGGCP at Hamad General Hospital, Qatar, during 2011-2012. Results Most patients (92%) were Qatari nationals. The sample's mean age was 35.1 years. Mean duration of hospital stay was 3.9 ± 1.2 days. Mean preoperative BMI was 40.7 kg/m2 that decreased at 2 years to 34.6 kg/m2. LGGCP's effects on comorbidities were such that 7.6% of patients experienced resolutions of their comorbidities. There were no mortality or postoperative complications that required reoperation. Six patients (23%) were satisfied with the LGGCP's outcomes while 10 patients (38.5%) underwent sleeve gastrectomy subsequently. Conclusion LGGCP had acceptable short term weight loss results, exhibited almost no postoperative complications, and improved patients' comorbidities. Despite the durability of the gastric fold, some patients regained weight. Future research may assess the possibility of an increase in the gastric pouch size postplication associated with weight regain.
Graph Clustering with Dynamic Embedding

Graph clustering (or community detection) has long drawn enormous attention from the research on web mining and information networks. Recent literature on this topic has reached a consensus that node contents and link structures should be integrated for reliable graph clustering, especially in an unsupervised setting. However, existing methods based on shallow models often suffer from content noise and sparsity. In this work, we propose to utilize deep embedding for graph clustering, motivated by the well-recognized power of neural networks in learning intrinsic content representations. Upon that, we capture the dynamic nature of networks through the principle of influence propagation and calculate the dynamic network embedding. Network clusters are then detected based on the stable state of such an embedding. Unlike most existing embedding methods that are task-agnostic, we simultaneously solve for the underlying node representations and the optimal clustering assignments in an end-to-end manner. To provide more insight, we theoretically analyze our interpretation of network clusters and find its underlying connections with two widely applied approaches for network modeling. Extensive experimental results on six real-world datasets including both social networks and citation networks demonstrate the superiority of our proposed model over the state-of-the-art.
The impact of overdiagnosis on the selection of efficient lung cancer screening strategies

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recently updated their national lung screening guidelines and recommended low‐dose computed tomography (LDCT) for lung cancer (LC) screening through age 80. However, the risk of overdiagnosis among older populations is a concern. Using four comparative models from the Cancer Intervention and Surveillance Modeling Network, we evaluate the overdiagnosis of the screening program recommended by USPSTF in the U.S. 1950 birth cohort. We estimate the number of LC deaths averted by screening (D) per overdiagnosed case (O), yielding the ratio D/O, to quantify the trade‐off between the harms and benefits of LDCT. We analyze 576 hypothetical screening strategies that vary by age, smoking, and screening frequency and evaluate efficient screening strategies that maximize the D/O ratio and other metrics including D and life‐years gained (LYG) per overdiagnosed case. The estimated D/O ratio for the USPSTF screening program is 2.85 (model range: 1.5–4.5) in the 1950 birth cohort, implying LDCT can prevent ∼3 LC deaths per overdiagnosed case. This D/O ratio increases by 22% when the program stops screening at an earlier age 75 instead of 80. Efficiency frontier analysis shows that while the most efficient screening strategies that maximize the mortality reduction (D) irrespective of overdiagnosis screen through age 80, screening strategies that stop at age 75 versus 80 produce greater efficiency in increasing life‐years gained per overdiagnosed case. Given the risk of overdiagnosis with LC screening, the stopping age of screening merits further consideration when balancing benefits and harms.
The Arabidopsis Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinase Is Important for Pollen Development1[W][OA]

Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase has been reported to be important for normal plant growth. To characterize the role of the enzyme further, we attempted to isolate Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) plants that do not express the gene, but we could not recover homozygous mutant plants. The progeny of VPS34/vps34 heterozygous plants, harboring a T-DNA insertion, showed a segregation ratio of 1:1:0 for wild-type, heterozygous, and homozygous mutant plants, indicating a gametophytic defect. Genetic transmission analysis showed that the abnormal segregation ratio was due to failure to transmit the mutant allele through the male gametophyte. Microscopic observation revealed that 2-fold higher proportions of pollen grains in heterozygous plants than wild-type plants were dead or showed reduced numbers of nuclei. Many mature pollen grains from the heterozygous plants contained large vacuoles even until the mature pollen stage, whereas pollen from wild-type plants contained many small vacuoles beginning from the vacuolated pollen stage, which indicated that vacuoles in many of the heterozygous mutant pollen did not undergo normal fission after the first mitotic division. Taken together, our results suggest that phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase is essential for vacuole reorganization and nuclear division during pollen development.