Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Association between IL4, IL6 gene polymorphism and lumbar disc degeneration in Chinese population

Lumbar disc disease (LDD) is a common musculoskeletal disorder, caused by degeneration of intervertebral discs of the lumbar spine and is one of the most common musculoskeletal disorders affliction in adult. There is growing evidence that LDD has strong genetic determinants. We analyze whether the IL4 and IL6 gene polymorphism is related to LDD in Chinese Han population. The participants were 498 with LDD and 463 without LDD. IL4 and IL6 gene polymorphism were determined by Sequenom MassARRAY. We found that SNPs rs1800796(OR = 1.29, 95% CI, 1.07 – 1.57, p = 0.009), rs1524107(OR = 1.28, 95% CI, 1.05 – 1.55, p = 0.013), rs2069840 (OR = 1.39, 95% CI, 1.03 – 1.89, p = 0.033) in IL6 gene were significantly associated with LDD risk at a 5% level. In addition, genetic models found IL4 gene (rs2243250) were associated with LDD. In this study, we analyzed and associated SNPs of IL4 and IL6 with LDD risk. In summary, four variations (rs1800796, rs1524107, rs2069840, rs2243250) of the selected candidate SNPs were associated with susceptibility to LDD in our study. The results of this study have the guiding significance in clinical work in the future in the treatment of lumbar disc herniation patients, not one-sided that the symptoms of low back pain only from mechanical oppression.
The compression effects of the binary tree overlapping method on digital imagery

A new method of digital image compression called binary tree overlapping (BTO) is described. With this method, an image is divided into bit planes that are transformed into a binary tree representation in which initial identical portions of different lines in the bit planes are transmitted as one path in the tree. To increase compression, distortion can be introduced by considering two lines which differ in fewer that a preset number of bit positions to be identical. A time efficient method of implementing BTO based on a communication technique called content-induced transaction overlap is outlined. With this technique, only simple, logical operations are needed and the compression time is proportional to the number of bits in the compressed image. Simulation studies indicate that BTO produces good quality images with a compression ratio of about three. In terms of implementation and compression efficiencies, BTO is comparable to first-order DPCM. >
Lymphotoxin alpha/beta and tumor necrosis factor are required for stromal cell expression of homing chemokines in B and T cell areas of the spleen

Mice deficient in the cytokines tumor necrosis factor (TNF) or lymphotoxin (LT) (cid:97) / (cid:98) lack polarized B cell follicles in the spleen. Deficiency in CXC chemokine receptor 5 (CXCR5), a receptor for B lymphocyte chemoattractant (BLC), also causes loss of splenic follicles. Here we report that BLC expression by follicular stromal cells is defective in TNF, TNF receptor 1 (TNFR1)-, LT (cid:97) - and LT (cid:98) -deficient mice. Treatment of adult mice with antagonists of LT (cid:97) 1 (cid:98) 2 also leads to decreased BLC expression. These findings indicate that LT (cid:97) 1 (cid:98) 2 and TNF have a role upstream of BLC/CXCR5 in the process of follicle formation. In addition to disrupted follicles, LT-deficient animals have disorganized T zones. Expression of the T cell at-tractant, secondary lymphoid tissue chemokine (SLC), by T zone stromal cells is found to be markedly depressed in LT (cid:97) -, and LT (cid:98) -deficient mice. Expression of the SLC-related chemokine, Epstein Barr virus–induced molecule 1 ligand chemokine (ELC), is also reduced. Exploring the basis for the reduced SLC expression led to identification of further disruptions in T zone stromal cells. Together these findings indicate that LT (cid:97) 1 (cid:98) 2 and TNF are required for the development and function of B and T zone stromal cells that make chemokines necessary for lymphocyte compartmentalization in the spleen
Recherche d'antimatière dans les rayons cosmiques en utilisant l'ombre de la Lune avec le détecteur à muons de L3

La mesure de l'abondance de l'antimatiere dans les rayons cosmiques a haute energie peut permettre de reveler la presence de nouvelle physique. Cette mesure est effectuee en utilisant l'ensemble Lune-champ magnetique terrestre comme un spectrometre. Dans un premier temps, une description phenomenologique des rayons cosmiques est effectuee. Le detecteur a muons de L3, l'experience L3+C et les sujets de recherche abordes, notamment les travaux sur la recherche de sources cosmiques effectues au cours de cette these, sont ensuite detailles. La derniere partie de la these est consacree a�� la simulation et a l'analyse des donnees de l'ombre de la Lune. L'ombre de la Lune est clairement observee. Aucun signal relatif a la presence d'antimatiere n'est detecte et une limite superieure sur le rapport antiproton/proton dans les rayons cosmiques autour du TeV est etablie.
A Hierarchical Regression Approach for Unconstrained Face Analysis

Head pose and facial feature detection are important for face analysis. However, many studies reported good results in constrained environment, the performance could be decreased due to the high variations in facial appearance, poses, illumination, occlusion, expression and make-up. In this paper, we propose a hierarchical regression approach, Dirichlet-tree enhanced random forests (D-RF) for face analysis in unconstrained environment. D-RF introduces Dirichlet-tree probabilistic model into regression RF framework in the hierarchical way to achieve the efficiency and robustness. To eliminate noise influence of unconstrained environment, facial patches extracted from face area are classified as positive or negative facial patches, only positive facial patches are used for face analysis. The proposed hierarchical D-RF works in two iterative procedures. First, coarse head pose is estimated to constrain the facial features detection, then the head pose is updated based on the estimated facial features. Second, the facial feature localization is refined based on the updated head pose. In order to further improve the efficiency and robustness, multiple probabilitic models are learned in leaves of the D-RF, i.e. the patch’s classification, the head pose probabilities, the locations of facial points and face deformation models (FDM). Moreover, our algorithm takes a composite weight voting method, where each patch extracted from the image can directly cast a vote for the head pose or each of the facial features. Extensive experiments have been done with different publicly available databases. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed approach is robust and efficient for head pose and facial feature detection.
Age-related changes in human blinks. Passive and active changes in eyelid kinematics.

PURPOSE The authors analyzed eyelid kinematics in normal aging subjects to test the hypothesis that eyelid movements exhibit age-related changes and that blink disorders prevalent among the elderly, in turn, represent an outcome of normal aging processes. METHODS The electromagnetic search coil technique was used to study blinks in normal human subjects for each decade from 40 to 89 years. Blink metrics (amplitude, peak velocity, and duration), main sequence relationships, and conjugacy were assessed. RESULTS Mean amplitude and peak velocity of blinks decreased with age for spontaneous blinks and, to a lesser extent, for voluntary blinks. Some but not all, of this decline could be attributed to a peripheral phenomenon, narrowed palpebral fissure width. The spontaneous blink down phase main sequence slope also declined with age. By contrast, blink rate and the coordination of movements of the two eyelids--blink conjugacy--exhibited no change. CONCLUSIONS These data demonstrate that disorders of blink systems typically seen in persons 50 years of age or older occur on a background of normal age-dependent changes in eyelid kinematics. Alterations in main sequence slope imply the operation of central adaptive systems during aging. Reduction in main sequence slope is interpreted as a reduction in aggregate orbicularis oculi motoneuron activity. Such a central neurologic adjustment in the motor output of blink systems may serve to compensate for an age-related increase in blink reflex excitability. Compensatory reduction in the main sequence relationship may offset a potentially hyperexcitable blink reflex, thereby reducing the likelihood of disorders such as blepharospasm. The authors conclude that although there are changes in the kinematics of blinking with age, such changes do not necessarily predispose an aging population to eyelid motility disorders.
Is the ligation of hernial sac necessary in herniotomy for children? A randomized controlled trial of evaluating surgical complications and duration

Background: Herniotomy is a common operation done by pediatric surgeons. Recent studies have shown that high ligation in herniation in adult is not necessary, but this method was not fully evaluated in children. We compared non-ligation with high-ligation sac in herniotomy in terms of surgical complications and duration. Materials and Methods: This randomized controlled trial study was done on 104 children with inguinal hernia at Al-Zahra Hospital, Isfahan, Iran, between 2011 and 2013. Patients were equally randomized to undergo herniotomy with ligation of sac at the internal ring level or to undergo herniotomy without sac ligation. Patients were followed up just after the operation, and in the 1 st , 6 th , and 12 th weeks postoperation to discover early (scrotal hematoma, edema, wound infection, and postoperation fever) and late (adhesion and recurrence) complications. Also, duration of operation was recorded for each group. Results: The incidence of early complications (nine cases in high-ligation and eight cases in non-ligation group) was the same in both groups (P = 0.402). No late complication was observed in any group. The mean duration of operation in high-ligation group (18.84 ± 5.47 min) was significantly shorter than non-ligation group (21.46 ± 9.03 min) (P < 0.001). Conclusion: Complications are the same in herniotomy with or without ligation of the sac, but the duration of the non-ligation procedure is shorter than that of high-ligation. We suggest that herniotomy without sac ligation in children be the procedure of choice to save time and also to prevent any other possible complications such as nerve damage, spermatic cord injury, or peritoneal tearing.
Production and properties of migration inhibitory factor and interferon in the circulation of mice with delayed hypersensitivity.

Further evidence is presented of the coordinate production and similar properties of two mediators, migration inhibitory factor (MIF) and interferon, in the circulation of BCG-infected mice inoculated with specific antigen (Old Tuberculin, OT). In addition, the interferon elicited by OT in BCG-infected mice is shown to be a distinct molecular species of viral inhibitor and is designated “Type II interferon. ” The designation “Type I interferon” is used to describe the viral inhibitor produced in BCG-infected or control mice given nonspecific stimuli such as bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or Newcastle disease virus (NDV). Although Type II interferon possesses the biologic attributes required to classify a viral inhibitor as “interferon,” it, as well as MIF, differs markedly from Type I interferon in stability at pH 2 and at 56°C, range of species specificity, and antigenicity. Antibodies against highly purified L cell interferon induced by NDV (anti-Type I interferon antibodies) neutralize the activity of interferons elicited in mice by nonspecific stimuli such as LPS or NDV. In contrast, the antiviral activity of Type II interferon and the macrophage-inhibitory activity of MIF, elicited by specific antigen in mice with delayed hypersensitivity, are not affected by high concentrations of antibody against Type I interferon. Evidence is presented which emphasizes the striking similarities in properties of MIF and Type II interferon, although it is not possible to determine whether the two mediators are the same or different protein molecules.
Interobserver Reliability and Intraobserver Reproducibility of the Fernandez Classification for Distal Radius Fractures

We have evaluated the clinical application of the Fernandez classification without questioning the scientific validity, by assessing the interobserver reliability and intraobserver reproducibility. A set of 25 radiographs of distal radius fractures were given to six assessors along with details of Fernandez classification. The assessors classified the fractures on two different occasions 3 months apart. The outcome was assessed using kappa statistics and demonstrated poor interobserver reliability and intraobserver reproducibility. Caution should be exercised when using this classification for clinical practice and research.
PHYLOGENETIC ANALYSIS OF BARTONELLA DETECTED IN RODENT FLEAS IN YUNNAN, CHINA

Previous studies have demonstrated a diversity of Bartonella spp. in rodent populations in Yunnan Province, China. Although Bartonella spp. have been isolated from cat fleas and cattle ticks collected from their animal hosts, little is known about Bartonella carried by rodent fleas. In this study, Bartonella DNA was detected by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in two of five species of rodent fleas. These included Xenopsylla cheopis and Ctenophthalmus lushuiensis, which were collected from Rattus tanezumi flavipectus and from the nests of voles, respectively, during 1997 from two sites in western Yunnan Province, China. Sequence analysis of the Bartonella citrate synthase gene (gltA) amplicons obtained from six of 65 grouped flea samples showed that Bartonella genetic variants were clustered in four groups. One from Xenopsylla cheopis was identical to Bartonella tribocorum, whereas the other three genotypes from Ctenophthalmus lushuiensis were related to the vole-associated Bartonella isolates and cat-associated Bartonella clarridgeiae. This is the first detection of this Bartonella variant from fleas in China. Therefore, further investigations are needed to clarify the distribution of Bartonella in rodents and their ectoparasites in China to define the role of these arthropods in the transmission routes of Bartonella.
A Library Development Framework for a Coarse Grain Reconfigurable Architecture

A framework for efficiently capturing the rich micro architectural space of a substantial Matlab like library of DSP functions for a regular Coarse Grain Reconfigurable Architecture (CGRA) fabric is proposed. A subset of C has been proposed to model the DSP functions and an automatic tool to generate the configware for the CGRA fabric developed. A method to estimate the average energy of such functions is reported with error margin of less than 3%. Such a framework is proposed as the basis for raising the abstraction to automate synthesis of the entire physical layers.
Advances in the immunological monitoring of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.

In children with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL), measurements of minimal residual disease (MRD) during therapy provide crucial information about the response to treatment and the risk of relapse. Flow cytometry is a practical and widely applicable tool for monitoring MRD in patients with ALL. This approach is based on the identification of immunophenotypes expressed by leukaemic cells but not by normal lympho-haematopoietic cells in bone marrow and peripheral blood. These phenotypes can identify one leukaemic cell among 10 000 normal cells and are currently applicable to at least 90% of patients with ALL. A strong correlation between flow cytometric measurements of MRD during clinical remission and treatment outcome has been demonstrated, suggesting that these assays should be incorporated into treatment protocols.
Empowering In-Memory Relational Database Engines with Native Graph Processing

The plethora of graphs and relational data give rise to many interesting graph-relational queries in various domains, e.g., finding related proteins satisfying relational predicates in a biological network. The maturity of RDBMSs motivated academia and industry to invest efforts in leveraging RDBMSs for graph processing, where efficiency is proven for vital graph queries. However, none of these efforts process graphs natively inside the RDBMS, which is particularly challenging due to the impedance mismatch between the relational and the graph models. In this paper, we propose to treat graphs as first-class citizens inside the relational engine so that operations on graphs are executed natively inside the RDBMS. We realize our approach inside VoltDB, an open-source in-memory relational database, and name this realization GRFusion. The SQL and the query engine of GRFusion are empowered to declaratively define graphs and execute cross-data-model query plans formed by graph and relational operators, resulting in up to four orders-of-magnitude in query-time speedup w.r. t. state-of-the-art approaches.
A Monosynaptic GABAergic Input from the Inferior Colliculus to the Medial Geniculate Body in Rat

The goal was to investigate possible monosynaptic GABAergic projections from the inferior colliculus (IC) to thalamocortical neurons of the medial geniculate body (MGB) in the rat. Although there is little evidence for such a projection in other sensory thalamic nuclei, a GABAergic, ascending auditory projection was reported recently in the cat. In the present study, immunohistochemical and tract-tracing methods were used to identify neurons in the IC that contain GABA and project to the MGB. GABA-positive projection neurons were most numerous in the central nucleus and less so in the dorsal and lateral cortex. They were rare in the lateral tegmental system and brachium of the IC. The dorsal nucleus of the lateral lemniscus also contained GABA-positive projection neurons. In brain slices, stimulation of the brachium produced monosynaptic inhibitory postsynaptic potentials in morphologically identified thalamocortical relay neurons. The inhibitory potentials cannot originate locally, because they persisted when ionotropic glutamatergic transmission was blocked. Typically, brachium stimulation elicited a GABAA-mediated inhibitory potential followed by an excitatory potential and a longer latency GABAB-mediated inhibitory potential. We conclude that the GABA-containing neurons of the IC make short-latency, monosynaptic inputs to the thalamocortical projection neurons in the MGB. Such inputs may distinguish the main auditory pathway from indirect or tegmental auditory pathways as well as from other sensory systems. Monosynaptic inhibitory inputs to the medial geniculate may be important for the regulation of firing patterns in thalamocortical neurons.
Adaptive Fuzzy Tracking Control with Compressor and Limiters for Uncertain Nonlinear Systems

This paper proposes a novel robust adaptive fuzzy controller for uncertain nonlinear systems with external disturbance. At first, the definitions of compressor and limiter with adjustable parameters are described, an adaptive fuzzy controller with updated laws of the parameters in compressor and estimate values of the fuzzy approximation accuracies is introduced. It is do not need special attention to the logic structure of fuzzy logic system, but focus on the parameters of compressor, limiter and fuzzy approximation accuracies. So the adaptive fuzzy control method in this paper can not only reduce the number of on-line updated parameters but also be suited to various types of fuzzy logic systems with fuzzy rules or without any rules. Finally, the tracking controller in this paper can guarantee the tracking errors and the states of the closed-loop system to be bounded. The superior tracking performance of the proposed method is illustrated with simulation results.
Impact of Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy on Physical Fitness, Physical Activity, and Health-related Quality of Life of Patients With Resectable Esophageal Cancer

Objective:Neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) followed by radical surgery is the standard treatment for patients with resectable esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) in Japan. However, some adverse events associated with NAC may result in a decrease in physical fitness that may influence the patient’s ability to tolerate surgery. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of NAC on physical fitness, physical activity, and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of patients with ESCC. Methods:In this prospective study, we investigated 27 consecutive patients with newly diagnosed resectable ESCC who were scheduled to receive NAC followed by surgery between January 2009 and November 2010. Primary endpoints were change from baseline in physical fitness (knee extensor muscle strength and 6-min walking distance) and physical activity after NAC. A secondary endpoint was change from baseline in HRQOL. Results:Physical fitness and physical activity level after NAC did not differ significantly from those before NAC. With regard to HRQOL, only social functioning was significantly different (P=0.04). The change in physical activity demonstrated a significant correlation with the change in 6-minute walking distance (r=0.45, P=0.02). Conclusions:NAC had no impact on physical fitness and physical activity in patients with ESCC. This result indicated that there was no need for a physiotherapy intervention during NAC to prevent a decline in these parameters.
The impact of P-glycoprotein mediated efflux on absorption of 11 sedating and less-sedating antihistamines using Caco-2 monolayers

Caco-2 cells were used to compare P-gp mediated efflux and passive permeability using bidirectional transport of 11 antihistamines. An efflux ratio >2 indicated active efflux, with PSC833 and GF120918 used as functional P-gp inhibitors. Antihistamines were measured directly by HPLC or LC/MS. Fexofenadine had an efflux ratio of 37, yet had negligible passive permeability, even in the presence of a pH gradient (0.1 × 10−6 cm/sec). Its precursor, terfenadine, had an efflux ratio of 2.5, while cetirizine, desloratadine and hydroxyzine were 4, 7 and 14, respectively. After incubation with P-gp inhibitors, these ratios dropped significantly. Loratadine, by contrast, had equivalent transport in both directions and passive permeability was high (24 × 10−6 cm/sec). Dimenhydrinate was the only other sedating antihistamine to exhibit efflux, with a ratio of 10. Gradient conditions of pH (6/7.4) increased efflux of terfenadine and desloratadine to over 31 and 38 fold respectively, yet this increased efflux was not associated with P-gp. Altering functional P-gp in the gut is likely to influence absorption of some sedating antihistamines such as dimenhydrinate and hydroxyzine and most less-sedating antihistamines except loratadine. In addition, desloratadine exhibits pH dependent efflux which could further induce variable absorption of this antihistamine.
Antioxidant activity of some seaweed from the gulf of Thailand

Four species of seaweed, Sargassum binderi Sonder, Amphiroa sp. , Turbinaria conoides (J. Agardh) Kuzting and Halimeda macroloba Decaisne, were collected from the Gulf of Thailand. Seaweeds were extracted with water or ethanol and examined for phenolic compounds and antioxidant activities by measuring the scavenging activity of both ABTS and DPPH radicals. In general, the aqueous extracts (AE) showed higher antioxidant activities and phenolic contents than ethanolic extracts (EE). Therefore, AE were chosen for three additional assays: superoxide anion scavenging assay, anti-lipid peroxidation in liver homogenate and reducing power. T. conoides extract showed the highest antioxidation activity in all assays. Therefore, the dried T. conoides had a potential to antioxidative agent in nutraceutical products. © 2011 Friends Science Publishers