Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effects of captopril on blood pressure, placental blood flow and uterine oxygen consumption in pregnant rabbits.

Uterine renin may regulate uteroplacental blood flow locally through changes in vascular resistance or systemically by supporting arterial blood pressure. Captopril (5 mg/kg) was given i.v. to 14 conscious pregnant rabbits at day 27.5 +/- 0.3 of gestation for the purpose of investigating the effects of angiotensin converting enzyme inhibition on uteroplacental blood flow and oxygen consumption. Control measurements (mean +/- S.E.M.) were compared to measurements made at 1 hr (n = 14) and at 3 to 4 hr (n = 7). Arterial blood pressure decreased from 80 +/- 3 to 66 +/- 3 mm Hg, P less than . 01, and then declined further to 56 +/- 4 mm Hg, P less than . 01. Cardiac output was unchanged at 1 hr, 799 +/- 79 vs. 705 +/- 61 ml/min, but was decreased to 634 +/- 29 ml/min by 3 to 4 hr, P less than . 01. There was no change in renal blood flow from 102 +/- 13 ml/min. Total uterine blood flow decreased from 37 +/- 5 to 29 +/- 5 ml/min, P less than . 01, and then to 23 +/- 1 ml/min, P less than . 01, whereas placental blood flow decreased from 25 +/- 4 to 19 +/- 3 to 15 +/- 3 ml/min, P less than . 01; there was no significant change in myoendometrial flow. Oxygen delivery per uterine horn decreased from 2.4 +/- 0.3 to 1.8 +/- 0.4 to 1.6 +/- 0.2 ml/min, P less than . 005. Oxygen consumption per horn decreased from 1.31 +/- 0.14 to 1.05 +/- 0.15 ml/min by 1 hr, P less than . 05, and there was no further decrease. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
High power density high efficiency dc/dc converter

In this paper, the high power density high efficiency trend of DC/DC converter is summarized. Commercial PWM dc-dc converters are discussed based on efficiency. AHB is picked to represent high efficiency PWM converter. To increase the power density, passive Integrated Power Electronics Module (IPEM) technology was utilized. However, PWM dc-dc converters meet some problems when holdup time is required. LLC excels for its low switching loss and low circulating energy at nominal condition. At a high switching frequency, passive integration technology is applied to integrate Cr, Lr, Lm, and the transformer into one module (LLCT). The SR driving method is used, which is based on the body diode forward voltage drop of SR. One 1000 W, 800 kHw, 400 V/ 48 V LLC resonant converter prototype is built based on optimal design procedure, LLCT, and SR drive. The power density of converter is 177W/inch3. The efficiency can reach as high as 96.4%.
An asymmetrical ZCS-PWM half-bridge DC-DC converter with active auxiliary edge-resonant snubber

A novel zero current soft-switching (ZCS)-PWM cell-assisted asymmetrical half-bridge (AHB) DC-DC converter topology with a high frequency (HF) link is proposed in this paper. The newly-proposed DC-DC converter consists of a PWM-controlled single-ended half-bridge HF inverter and a center-tapped rectifier linked with a HF transformer. In order to attain the wide range of ZCS commutation in the primary-side HF inverter, the active edge resonant snubber cell composed of a switched capacitor and a lossless inductor is adopted in the half-bridge leg, providing ZCS commutation for a wide range of output power under constant switching frequency. The operation characteristics of the DC-DC converter proposed here are described, and its feasibility data is demonstrated and evaluated with simulation and experimental results.
Three-Dimensional Numerical Modeling for Wind-Driven Circulation and Pollutant Transport in a Large-Scale Lake

A three-dimensional numerical model for wind-driven and pollutant transport has been developed which is comprehensive (containing the appropriate physics) and generalized (requiring minimal tuning) and adaptable to various applications of lake environment with complex bathymetry. A concentration-correction method is introduced in the paper which is simple and efficient to keep conservancy for scalar transport where large water level variation exists in the wind-driven circulation lake. Nonlinear advection scheme is used with flux limiter in the paper which can increase the accuracy and decrease the nonphysical oscillation for scalar transport. The model was tested against analytical solutions for source diffusion and Minmod was chosen as the most fit flux limiter applied to Taihu Lake, the third largest freshwater lake in China. The simulated result shows that the model can simulate the pollutant transport by wind-induced circulation correctly.
Hemodialysis Catheter-related Infection: Prophylaxis, Diagnosis and Treatment

Purpose Infectious complications associated with central venous catheters (CVCs) are a major source of morbidity and mortality among hemodialysis (HD) patients. This review aims to discuss prevention, diagnosis criteria and management of CVC-related infections in HD patients. Methods We searched Medline for articles published in the last 10 years, with the keywords “catheter,” “hemodialysis,” “infection,” “treatment,” “diagnosis,” “prophylaxis” and “adults. ” Only English language articles were reviewed. We reviewed prophylaxis and surveillance protocols, diagnosis criteria, including new molecular tools, and the management of catheter-related infections, including antibiotic regimen, empiric and according to causal agents, lock therapy, catheter salvage or removal choice and treatment of complications. Results To prevent infectious complications, first of all we need to avoid using catheters. If we need CVC, adoption of prophylaxis and surveillance protocols, and antibiotic ointment at the exit site reduce infectious complications. The diagnosis of CVC-related infections should be made with drainage and/or blood cultures. Empiric systemic antibiotics should cover Gram-positive and -negative microorganisms, and final regimen should be based on culture results. In selected cases, salvage of site, by CVC exchange over wire, or salvage of catheter, using antibiotic lock, under the cover of systemic antibiotics, could be attempted. Conclusions The best approach to prevent CVC-related infection would be to avoid the use of CVC. However, in patients for whom it is impossible, the adoption of adequate prophylaxis protocols, early diagnosis and effective treatment of infectious complications are essential to improve outcomes.
Magnetization and Demagnetization Studies of an HTS Bulk in an Iron Core

High-temperature superconductors (HTSs) are promising materials in a variety of practical applications due to their ability to act as powerful permanent magnets. Thus, in this paper, we have studied the influence of some pulsed and pulsating magnetic fields applied to a magnetized HTS bulk sample. The bulk sample, the iron core, the two inductors, and the current sources used to magnetize and demagnetize the superconducting bulk in the iron core are presented. Then, we detail various magnetizing and demagnetizing processes and their purposes. For the magnetization studies, we have shown that there is no significant difference between the successive process and the direct process of magnetization. The maximum trapped magnetic field (TMF) is about 1 T, 10 min after the magnetization process. For the demagnetization studies, we propose many results as a hysteresis loop corresponding to the pulsed demagnetizing field influence. Various time evolutions of the TMF are also shown, i.e., when the demagnetizing ac field is applied a few minutes after or several days after the magnetization. This leads to completely different results, from 5%/min to 1%/(6 h) of reduction of the TMF. The results presented here give many practical information to users of superconducting bulk magnets. We assume that decreasing the temperature will increase the capabilities of trapping the magnetic field. We conclude that a strong interest must be kept on the applications of HTS bulks in electrical engineering, preferably at lower temperature than 77 K.
Kinetic Modeling of Initiation of Explosion Center on Cathode Under Dense Plasma

A kinetic 1-D spherically symmetric model of heating of microprotrusion (with a curvature radius of 1 <formula formulatype="inline"><tex Notation="TeX">$\mu\hbox{m}$</tex></formula>) on the cathode under dense plasma is developed. The kinetic model is a model of 1D3V PIC/DSMC type. The model takes into account the main types of elastic and inelastic collisions of particles in the plasma as well as evaporation and thermofield electron emission from the cathode. The surrounding plasma parameters in the model are fixed on the boundary placed at a certain distance from the microprotrusion. The applied voltage drop is also fixed on the same boundary. The further evolutions of the plasma, current, and cathode temperature are calculated self-consistently taking into account the influence of the plasma generated during the process. The calculations have shown that, under the certain condition, thermal runaway is developed and the cathode surface temperature reaches the critical one. However, this instability is not caused by microprotrusion Joule heating because the current density is comparatively small <formula formulatype="inline"> <tex Notation="TeX">$(<10^{8}\ \hbox{A}/\hbox{cm}^{2})$</tex></formula> at that moment.
Successful Transarterial Guglielmi Detachable Coil Embolization of Posttraumatic Posterior Communicating Artery-Cavernous Sinus Fistula: Technical Note

OBJECTIVECarotid-cavernous fistulae are uncommon but well-documented sequelae of craniofacial trauma. A rare subset may arise from the posterior communicating artery instead of from the carotid artery proper. The presentation is similar to that of carotid-cavernous fistulae, with ocular pain, chemosis, and proptosis being the common symptoms. The first successful transarterial coil embolization of this type of lesion is described. METHODSA 42-year-old man presented with severe craniocerebral injury, including multiple craniofacial fractures, after an industrial accident. He required emergent craniotomy for an open depressed cranial fracture and epidural hematoma. Six weeks after presentation, the patient began to exhibit progressive chemosis and proptosis. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed findings consistent with a carotid-cavernous fistula. RESULTSAngiography revealed a fistula between the posterior communicating artery and the cavernous sinus. The origin of the fistula in the posterior communicating artery was successfully obliterated with Guglielmi detachable coiling. Subsequent studies demonstrated no flow through the fistula and good opacification of the ipsilateral posterior cerebral artery by the vertebrobasilar system. CONCLUSIONPosterior communicating artery-cavernous fistulae are a rare sequel of trauma. They may be treated successfully with the use of transarterial coil embolization.
Identification of CD8+ T Cell Epitopes within Lytic Antigens of Human Herpes Virus 81

The human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8) is a γ herpesvirus with oncogenic potential which establishes a chronic infection that is normally controlled by the immune system of healthy individuals. In particular, CTL responses seem to play a key role in control of the infection. In this study, we characterized epitope-specific CTL responses in healthy HHV-8-seropositive individuals against four HHV-8 lytic Ags: open reading frames (ORF) 26, 70, K3, and K5. We found that the majority of subjects responded to at least one HHV-8 lytic Ag-derived epitope, and some of these epitopes represented dominant targets, suggesting that they could be relevant targets of CTL-mediated immunity in vivo, and may be involved in host control of HHV-8. Specifically, we identified three CTL epitopes from ORF 26, which are presented by HLA-A2, six CTL epitopes from ORF 70 presented by HLA-A2 (three epitopes), -A24 (two epitopes), and -B7 (one epitope), three CTL epitopes from ORF K3 presented by HLA-A2 (two epitopes) and -B7 (one epitope), and one HLA-A2 presented epitope derived from ORF K5. The identified epitopes may be regarded as useful tools for understanding the role of CTL responses to lytic Ags in individuals affected by HHV-8-associated disorders, and for the development of immunotherapies for the treatment/prevention of HHV-8-associated malignancies.
Effects of Nutritional Status on Academic Performance of Malaysian Primary School Children

Numerous factors are known to affect the academic performance of students. These include prenatal conditions, birth conditions, postnatal events, nutritional, socio-economic factors and environmental factors. This paper examines the nutritional status and its relationship with academic performance of 9-10 years old primary school children recruited randomly in Selangor, Malaysia. A standard self-administered questionnaire was utilized to obtain pertinent information and a face-to-face interview was also conducted with the parents. Results of the academic performances were extracted from the students' report cards. The intellectual performance was assessed using Raven's Coloured Progressive Matrices. Physical examination was also conducted on these students by doctors. Overall 1,405 students and 1,317 parents responded to the survey. Of these 83.6% were Malays, 11.6% Indians, and 4.2% Chinese. The majority of them (82.9%) were from urban areas. The female: male ratio was 51:49; mean age was 9.71 years. The mean height and weight were 32.3 kg and 135.2 cm respectively. Their mean BMI was 17.42 kg/cm 2, with 0.9% underweight, 76.3% normal BMI, 16.3% overweight, and 6.3% obese. Academic performance was significantly correlated with breast feeding, income and educational level of their parents, BMI, and whether they have been taking breakfast. There was a weak correlation between presence of anaemia and intellectual performance. Improving the socio-economic status of the parents will lend a helping hand in the academic performance of the students. Since breast feeding is associated with better academic and intellectual performance it must be emphasized, particularly to expectant mothers in the antenatal clinics. Asia Pac J Public Health 2005; 17(2): 81-87.
3000 non-rigid medical image registrations overnight on a single PC

Extending previous work using Graphical Processing Units (GPUs) for medical image registration purposes, a medical image registration package has been developed capable of performing 3D non-rigid (free-form) registrations in less than a minute for typical MRI images from OASIS dataset (an average of 15s on a desktop with NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 graphics card with 512 processing cores and an average of 45s on a laptop with NVIDIA GeForce 445M graphics card with 144 processing cores). Registration is done by minimizing an objective cost function (negative Mutual Information) subject to smoothness constraints. Typically 106 – 107 parameters are found using one control point per voxel. The program can be used in both diffeomorphic and non-diffeomorphic (faster) modes. The program has been written in C++ and NVIDIA CUDA programming languages performing expensive operations on the GPU. In order to test the validity of the results, the IBSR human brain database was used: pairs of segmented images were registered to each other and a median overlap ratio of segmented ROIs were calculated giving a value of not less than 0.61 in for skull stripped brains. This value has not been exceeded by any of image registration packages tested by Klein et al. 2009 in an equivalent calculation. A fully automatic atlas construction algorithm was built on top of the image registration engine and was tested on both human brains from OASIS and IBSR datasets and murine images obtained from Wolfson Brain Imaging Centre. A graphical user interface was written using Nokia QT framework to make the package easily usable.
Strategy for Diagnosis of Congenital Toxoplasmosis: Evaluation of Methods Comparing Mothers and Newborns and Standard Methods for Postnatal Detection of Immunoglobulin G, M, and A Antibodies

ABSTRACT In a study involving 14 laboratories supported by the European Community Biomed 2 program, we evaluated immunologic methods for the postnatal diagnosis of congenital toxoplasmosis (CT). Among babies born to mothers who seroconverted to positivity for toxoplasmosis during pregnancy, we analyzed 55 babies with CT on the basis of persistent anti-Toxoplasma immunoglobulin G (IgG) at 1 year of life and 50 control babies without anti-Toxoplasma IgG at 1 year of life in the absence of curative treatment with pyrimethamine-sulfonamides. We tested in-house methods such as the enzyme-linked immunofiltration assay (ELIFA) or Immunoblotting (IB) for the detection of IgG or IgM; these methods allowed comparison of the immunologic profiles of the mothers and the infants. We compared ELIFA and IB with a commercial enzyme immunoassay (EIA) or in-house immunosorbent agglutination assay (ISAGA) for the detection of IgM or IgA. The performances of combinations of methods were also assessed. A cumulative sensitivity of 98% during a 1-year follow-up was obtained with the ELIFA plus ISAGA combination. Only one case of CT was missed by the ELIFA plus ISAGA combination, whereas three cases were missed by the IB plus ISAGA combination, even though 48% of patients with CT were treated with pyrimethamine-sulfonamides, which are known to inhibit antibody neosynthesis. A similar performance was obtained with either ELIFA or IB in combination with EIA. The difference in performance between ELIFA plus ISAGA and IB plus ISAGA was not statistically significant (P = 0.31), and we conclude that both combinations of tests can be used for the diagnosis of CT in newborns.
Canine Liver Iron, Copper, and Zinc Concentrations and Association with Histologic Lesions

Concentrations of iron, copper, and zinc were measured in livers of 95 dogs that were suspected of having liver disease. Iron concentrations ranged from 177 to 7,680 ppm (dry weight basis); 54 dogs had iron concentrations greater than the normal concentration of 1,200 ppm. Iron stores were present in Kupffer cells and macrophages but not hepatocytes. The dogs did not have lesions of hemochromatosis. Dogs with high liver iron tended to have high liver copper and inflammatory lesions. High liver copper concentrations usually were associated with hepatocellular necrosis and fibrosis. High liver zinc was found in only 5 animals and was accompanied by histologic inflammatory lesions in one. In humans, increased iron concentration in the liver exacerbates liver damage caused by a variety of insults, and the same may be true for dogs.
Apoptosis and Expression of Bcl-2, Bcl-XL, and Bax in Renal Cell Carcinomas

There are at present disparate published results with regard to the relevance of the Bcl-2 gene family, levels of apoptosis, and cell proliferation in the development and progression of renal cell carcinoma (RCC). The present study analyses the inter-relationship between the expression of representatives of the anti-apoptotic (Bcl-2, Bcl-XL) or pro-apoptotic (Bax) Bcl-2 proteins, incidence of apoptosis, and mitosis in a selected small group of 22 graded RCCs that had paired normal renal tissue, or non-neoplastic tissue in the renal biopsy specimen. The cases were chosen to determine the feasibility of measuring these parameters as potential surrogate markers of progression or treatment failure of the cancers. The results showed that in approximately 50% of the RCCs, where Bcl-2 and/or Bcl-XL expression was high, apoptosis was not detected, and when expression of these proteins was low or not found, increased levels of apoptosis were seen. In most of the remaining 50% of samples, high levels of Bcl-XL but not Bcl-2 were negatively correlated with low levels of apoptosis (Bcl-XL: r=−0.437, P=0.07 and Bcl-2: r=+0.560, P=0.02). For the same group of samples, high Bax expression was found in association with apoptosis (r=+0.578, P=0.02). A novel finding was an association between low expression of Bcl-2 and/or Bcl-XL in normal tissue and the level of expression of these proteins in the RCCs, an intrinsic variation that may be an individual patient factor. The results indicate that, in RCCs with increased expression of Bcl-2 and/or Bcl-XL, levels of apoptosis are minimal and these combined factors may assist in progression of the cancers and resistance to treatments.
Oral Vaccination with Salmonella Simultaneously Expressing Yersinia pestis F1 and V Antigens Protects against Bubonic and Pneumonic Plague1

The gut provides a large area for immunization enabling the development of mucosal and systemic Ab responses. To test whether the protective Ags to Yersinia pestis can be orally delivered, the Y. pestis caf1 operon, encoding the F1-Ag and virulence Ag (V-Ag) were cloned into attenuated Salmonella vaccine vectors. F1-Ag expression was controlled under a promoter from the caf1 operon; two different promoters (P), PtetA in pV3, PphoP in pV4, as well as a chimera of the two in pV55 were tested. F1-Ag was amply expressed; the chimera in the pV55 showed the best V-Ag expression. Oral immunization with Salmonella-F1 elicited elevated secretory (S)-IgA and serum IgG titers, and Salmonella-V-Ag(pV55) elicited much greater S-IgA and serum IgG Ab titers than Salmonella-V-Ag(pV3) or Salmonella-V-Ag(pV4). Hence, a new Salmonella vaccine, Salmonella-(F1+V)Ags, made with a single plasmid containing the caf1 operon and the chimeric promoter for V-Ag allowed the simultaneous expression of F1 capsule and V-Ag. Salmonella-(F1+V)Ags elicited elevated Ab titers similar to their monotypic derivatives. For bubonic plague, mice dosed with Salmonella-(F1+V)Ags and Salmonella-F1-Ag showed similar efficacy (>83% survival) against ∼1000 LD50 Y. pestis. For pneumonic plague, immunized mice required immunity to both F1- and V-Ags because the mice vaccinated with Salmonella-(F1+V)Ags protected against 100 LD50 Y. pestis. These results show that a single Salmonella vaccine can deliver both F1- and V-Ags to effect both systemic and mucosal immune protection against Y. pestis.
Casemix adjustment of managed care claims data using the clinical classification for health policy research method.

OBJECTIVES The objective of this study was to explore the use of the Clinical Classification for Health Policy Research (CCHPR) as a casemix adjustment method for examining physician practice patterns. METHODS The data source was 2 years of administrative claims from an 86,000 member health maintenance organization in southeastern Michigan. The CCHPR version 2 algorithm, which is in the public domain, was used to assign each claim to one of 260 clinical categories. CCHPR and age-sex categories were used as explanatory variables in multiple linear regression models with approved claims payments in dollars as the outcome variable. Regressions were performed retrospectively for 1994 and 1995, and with 1994 claims' history to predict 1995 utilization. Similar regressions were performed with age-sex categories alone, and also with the ambulatory diagnostic groups. RESULTS The adjusted R2 value of the retrospective regression models for total approved dollars was 0.42 for both study years when CCHPR categories were used. In contrast, age-sex explanatory variables alone achieved an R2 of 0.02. CONCLUSIONS The CCHPR method appears to be a promising tool to understand variability in physician resource utilization in managed care.