Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Comparison of a functional obstacle course with an index of clinical gait and balance and postural sway.

BACKGROUND Older adults commonly experience falls because of balance and mobility problems. Better assessment methods are needed to understand and correct balance and mobility disorders. METHODS We used a low technology, functional obstacle course (FOC) to measure balance and mobility in 352 community-dwelling elderly participants. To establish concurrent validity of the FOC, we compared performance on the FOC with two established measures of balance and mobility: performance on the Tinetti Index (TI) and postural sway area measured on a force platform. RESULTS Bivariate correlation analyses revealed significant inverse correlations between FOC completion time, the TI balance and gait subscores, and the TI total score (r = -.73 to -.78). The FOC quality scores and TI balance and subscores gait and TI total scores (r = .76 to .82) were significantly positively correlated. FOC time had significant, but small, positive correlations with sway area with eyes open (r = .18) and closed (r = .17) and nonsignificant correlation with sway area with visual feedback. FOC quality also had significant, but smaller, inverse correlations with sway area with eyes open (r = -.024) and closed (r = -.015), and nonsignificant correlation with sway area with visual feedback. Regression analysis showed that TI gait and balance measures accounted for most of the variance found in FOC performance. CONCLUSIONS Our findings support the position that the FOC and the TI measure dynamic balance, whereas postural sway measures a different aspect of balance. Advantages of the FOC include the evaluation of environmentally influenced falls and balance problems.
A Novel PAX6 Mutation in Chinese Patients with Severe Congenital Aniridia

Purpose: We identified a novel mutation in Paired Box gene 6 (PAX6) and characterized its associated clinical features of severe ocular malformation in a Chinese family with congenital aniridia. Methods: We studied two patients with aniridia from a Chinese family. All patients and noncarriers in this family underwent full ophthalmologic, general and urinary examinations. Total genomic DNA was isolated from peripheral blood of two aniridia patients. PAX6 levels were determined by PCR and its mutational status was determined by sequencing. Direct sequencing detected variations in PAX6. Results: Patients had bilateral congenital nystagmus, anterior polar cataract, absence of iris tissue, and foveal hypoplasia with severely reduced visual acuity. A novel heterozygous PAX6 mutation in exon 6 c.662G>A (p.W100X) was identified which created a premature termination codon. This observed sequence alteration was not found in 100 normal controls and has not been previously reported. Conclusions: We identified a novel PAX6 mutation in a family with severe ocular malformation. Our study expands the mutational spectrum of PAX6 and enriches our knowledge of the relationship between genotype and phenotype due to these mutations.
PACCo: Privacy-friendly Access Control with Context

We propose a secure and privacy friendly way to strengthen authentication mechanisms of online services by taking context into account. The use of context, however, is often of a personal nature (e.g. location) and introduces privacy risks. Furthermore, some context sources can be spoofed, and hence, the level of trust of a verifier in a context source can vary. In this paper, a policy language to express contextual constraints is proposed. In addition, a set of protocols to gather, verify and use contextual information in access control decisions is described. The system protects user privacy as service providers do not learn precise context information, and avoids linkabilities. Finally, we have implemented this system and our experimental evaluation shows that it is practical to use.
Intratubular transplantation as a strategy for establishing animal models of testicular germ cell tumours

Testicular germ cell tumours (TGCTs) are prevalent cancers among young men. Currently, there is no reliable animal model for TGCTs. To establish such animal models, we have explored the possibility of intratubular testicular transplantation as means to deliver tumour cells into the seminiferous tubules of host animals. Our results demonstrated that transplanted cells could effectively populate the testis of a recipient mouse and develop into TGCTs. In addition, the donor cells could be transfected with a specific transgene before transplantation, thereby providing an approach to evaluate the specific effects of gene functions in the oncogenic processes. Hence, depending on selection of specific donor cells or mixtures of donor cells, transplantation models of TGCTs could be significant for studies on the pathogenesis, diagnosis and therapies of such a prevalent and important cancer in men.
Pseudotenacibaculum haliotis gen. nov., sp. nov., a new member within the Tenacibaculum-Polaribacter clade of the family Flavobacteriaceae, isolated from the intestine of adult abalones, Haliotis diversicolor and H. discushannai.

Two rod-shaped marine bacterial strains named FDZSB0410T and FDZWPB0420, were isolated from the intestine of two adult abalone species, Haliotis diversicolor and Haliotis discushannai, respectively. The strains were non-flagellated, motile by gliding, oxidase-positive but catalase-negative, and agar-degrading. The two strains had identical 16S rRNA gene sequences with the highest sequence similarity less than 96.0 % with species of the genera Tenacibaculumand Polaribacter within the family Flavobacteriaceae. Phylogenetic analysis indicated the strains represented an independent cluster neighbouring with the species of the genera Tenacibaculum and Polaribacter. Strain FDZSB0410T can grow under conditions at 15 to 37 °C with optimum of 30 °C, salinity range from 3 to 4 % (NaCl, w/v) with optimum of 3 %, and pH range from 7 to 8 with optimum of pH 7. The predominant fatty acids of strain FDZSB0410T consisted of iso-C15 : 0, iso-C15 :1 G, summed feature 3 (comprising C16 : 1ω7c/C16 : 1ω6c), iso-C13 : 0, iso-C17 : 0 3-OH, and iso-C15 : 0 3-OH. The ubiquinone system detected was MK-6. The flexirubin pigment was absent, but the carotenoid was present. The polar lipids were identified as aminolipid, glycolipid, phosphatidylglycerol, an unknown phospholipid and four unknown lipids. The DNA G+C content was 35.3 mol%. On the basis of the genotypic and phenotypic characterizations, strain FDZSB0410T and strain FDZWPB0420 represent a novel species of a new genus in the family Flavobacteriaceae, for which the name Pseudotenacibaculum haliotis gen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain of the type species is FDZSB0410T (=KCTC 52127T=MCCC 1A01897T).
Mitochondrial genome of the bull shark Carcharhinus leucas (Carcharhiniformes: Carcharhinidae)

Abstract The bull shark Carcharhinus leucas is a large elasmobranch species widespread in tropical and warm oceans, rivers and lakes. We first determine the complete mitogenome of C. leucas in this article. It is 16,704 bp in length, consists 37 genes and one control region with the typical gene order in vertebrates. The ND6 gene used the rare AGG as stop codon. The 22 tRNA genes ranged from 67 to 75 bp. The tRNA-Ser2 lacks the dihydrouridine arm and cannot form the typical cloverleaf structure. The control region is 1066 bp in length with high A + T and low G contents.
A Combinatorial Approach to Multi-session Testing of Stateful Web Services

Most researches on web service testing have been focused on single session test where all messages are correlated. However, web services should support multisession interactions as part of the functional requirements. Concurrent multi-session testing is useful but non-deterministic. This paper proposes a combinatorial approach for multi-session test sequence generation by multiplexing single session test sequences.The paper shows that directly multiplexing operation sequences is impractical, and it introduces inverse operation sequence and condition combinations to reduce the search space. However, finding optimal operation sequences to completely cover the condition combinations turns out to be NP hard as it is equivalent to the classic set covering and Hamiltonian cycle problems. To address this issue, we introduce the concept of pivotal condition and devised a counting scheme to generate complete condition transition graphs for pivotal conditions. An efficient random walk algorithm is proposed to minimize condition transition graphs with guaranteed coverage of pivotal conditions. The proposed algorithms have been implemented and their performances are reported in the experimental results.
A Ping-Pong Arm Action Recognition Method by Equal-Ratio Coefficient Filter

A method is proposed to recognize realtime ping-pong player’s action in Microsoft Kinect Sensor environment. A model containing three angles is established to represent ping-pong arm action features through skeletal data. Constructing an equalratio filter to calculate the likelihood probabilities for every action type in every skeletal frame data. The filter considers most poses and employs a coefficient to adjust the weights of the arm poses. The experimental results show that this method not only keep high real-time performance but also has high accuracy.
Membrane Oxidation Enables the Cytosolic Entry of Polyarginine Cell-penetrating Peptides*

Arginine-rich peptides can penetrate cells and consequently be used as delivery agents in various cellular applications. The activity of these reagents is often context-dependent, and the parameters that impact cell entry are not fully understood, giving rise to variability and limiting progress toward their usage. Herein, we report that the cytosolic penetration of linear polyarginine peptides is dependent on the oxidation state of the cell. In particular, we find that hypoxia and cellular antioxidants inhibit cell penetration. In contrast, oxidants promote cytosolic cell entry with an efficiency proportional to the level of reactive oxygen species generated within membranes. Moreover, an antibody that binds to oxidized lipids inhibits cell penetration, whereas extracellularly administered pure oxidized lipids enhance peptide transport into cells. Overall, these data indicate that oxidized lipids are capable of mediating the transport of polyarginine peptides across membranes. These data may also explain variability in cell-penetrating peptide performance in different experimental conditions. These new findings therefore provide new opportunities for the rational design of future cell-permeable compounds and for the optimization of delivery protocols.
Adrenomedullin as a novel antiproliferative factor of vascular smooth muscle cells

Objective The present study was designed to examine whether adrenomedullin affects fetal calf serum (FCS) stimulated proliferation in cultured rat vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs). Methods Rat VSMCs were grown from explants of Sprague-Dawley rat aorta and were grown using the standard cell culture method. After incubation for 24 h with various concentrations of adrenomedullin in the presence of 5% FCS, trichloroacetic acid-insoluble tritiated thymidine was measured in a liquid scintillation counter. After incubation for 48 h, cell counts were performed. Cyclic adenosine 3,5-monophosphate (AMP) levels were determined by radioimmunoassay. Results Rat adrenomedullin exhibited concentration dependent inhibition of the FCS-stimulated increase in thymidine incorporation between 10-7 and 10-9 mol/l and of cell number at 10-7 mol/l. However, the calcitonin generelated peptide (CGRP) receptor antagonist human CGRP(8-37) abolished these antiproliferative effects of rat adrenomedullin. Inhibition by adrenomedullin of FCS-stimulated cellular proliferation was paralleled by an increase in the cellular level of cyclic AMP. 8-Bromocyclic AMP, a cyclic AMP analogue, and forskolin, an activator of adenylate cyclase, inhibited the FCS-stimulated increase in thymidine incorporation and cell number. Conclusions These results suggst that adrenomedullin inhibits FCS-stimulated proliferation in cultured rat VSMCs, probably through a cyclic AMP-dependent process. Taken together with the finding that adrenomedullin is synthesized in and secreted from vascular endothelial cells, adrenomedullin may play a role as an antiproliferative factor for VSMCs in a paracrine fashion.
Efficacy of bone marrow, blood, stool and duodenal contents cultures for bacteriologic confirmation of typhoid fever in children

The relative efficacy of cultures made from duodenal contents (obtained by string capsules), bone marrow, blood and rectal swab was compared in 118 pediatric patients, 2 to 13 years old with suspected typhoid fever. Only 47% of children 2 to 6 years old tolerated the string device, as compared with 89% in children 7 to 13 years old (P < 0.05). The four culture techniques were performed and at least one was positive for Salmonella typhi in 43 patients. Bone marrow cultures were positive in 84% of the confirmed cases, a sensitivity significantly greater than for duodenal contents (42%), blood (44%) and stool (65%) cultures. Higher recovery rates for blood cultures were found during the first week of illness than later (70 vs. 22%). Bone marrow cultures remain the most effective method for the recovery of S. typhi. Stool cultures appear to be more effective in children than in adults. Duodenal contents cultures offer little advantage in young (2 to 6 years old) children.
Stimulus‐secretion coupling: the concept and clues from chromaffin and other cells

This lecture summarizes the knowledge in a field dubbed autopharmacology: the secretion by a body cell of a substance prompted by an internal stimulus. The majority of the work reported on here was with the adrenal chromaffin cell. Topics covered describing and proving the release of secretion into the chromaffin cells extracellular environment are means of intracellular recording from chromaffin cells and the effect of acetylcholine on membrane potential and consequences of exposing the cell to acetylcholine (altered membrane chemistry increased membrane permeability entry of sodium and calcium ions and depolarization). Also postulated are 2 possible mechanisms of catecholamine secretion (both involve release directly from chromaffin granules to the cell exterior through frank rupture of the adherent membranes of granule and cell i.e. exocytosis or through some greatly increased permeability at the adhesion site). The lecture then focuses on calcium and stumulus secretion coupling in other systems including the exocrine glands neurones and neurosecretory cells the mast cell and polymorphonuclear leukocytes. In a concluding discussion on the role of calcium in secretory mechanisms the presence of prostaglandin in effluent from adrenal glands exposed to acetylcholine is mentioned as evidence of the secretory mechanism being a chemical reaction.
Trichuris sp. and Strongyloides sp. Infections in a Free-Ranging Baboon Colony

abstract: We conducted cross-sectional surveys of parasites infecting a large free-living colony of baboons at the Southwest National Primate Research Center in San Antonio in October 2003 and April 2004, immediately before, and 6 mo after, treatment with ivermectin. Trichuris sp. was the predominant species present, infecting 79 and 69% of individual animals in the 2 surveys, with fecal egg counts (FEC) of up to 60,200 eggs per g (epg) (mean = 1,235 in October 2003 and 1,256 in April 2004). Prevalence remained fairly stable across age groups, and intensity was highest in animals <1 or >15 yr old, in contrast to patterns observed in humans, where school-age children show the heaviest infections. Strongyloides sp. was also identified, but the species identity remains uncertain. Small subunit ribosomal DNA sequences differed from published sequences of Strongyloides fuelleborni at multiple sites, but resided in a monophyletic group with other Strongyloides species with 92% bootstrap support. This may reflect a recent acquisition from a local host, or that the published sequence of S. fuelleborni is incorrect. Widespread infections with 2 nematode genera in a free-ranging baboon colony that are an important source of morbidity in human populations provide a useful model system for work on the epidemiology, control, pathology, and genetics of these parasites in a host species that is physiologically, immunologically, and genetically similar to humans.
Psychiatric view of the intensive care unit.

city and even from hospital to hospital in the frequency with which certain routine operations are performed, in the mortality from standard surgical procedures, and in the duration of stay in hospital of patients with similar diseases ? Do long-stay patients with hernias or varicose veins really fare better or worse than short-stay or outpatient cases respectively, or do the more economical methods of treatment demand differently trained surgeons ? Does the patient with cardiac infarction do better under the continuous monitoring of the specialist hospital unit or in bed at home with simple nursing care ? At what point does population screening cease to pay dividends and become counter-productive ? These questions and many like them require answers. The answers are needed to support our demand for the facilities we need to give our patients the best that modern medicine can offer. They cannot be furnished by a Government department. Justified or not, it would almost certainly face the charge of encroaching on the doctors' clinical freedom and of special pleading in the cause of economy. The answers can come only from the profession.
Calcium-sensing receptor regulation of PTH-inhibitable proximal tubule phosphate transport.

Inorganic phosphate (Pi) is absorbed by proximal tubules through a cellular pathway that is inhibited by parathyroid hormone (PTH). The calcium-sensing receptor (CaSR) is expressed on apical membranes of proximal tubules. In the present studies, we determined the effect of luminal and/or basolateral PTH on phosphate absorption and tested the hypothesis that CaSR activation blocks PTH-inhibitable phosphate absorption. Single proximal S3 tubules were dissected from the kidneys of mice and studied by the Burg technique. Tubules were bathed with DMEM culture media supplemented with 6% BSA and perfused with an ultrafiltrate prepared from the bathing solution. 33P and FITC-inulin were added to the luminal perfusate to measure phosphate absorption (JPi) and fluid absorption (Jv), respectively. JPi averaged 2.9 pmol.min-1.mm-1 under control conditions and decreased by 20% upon addition of serosal PTH. PTH had no effect on Jv. Inclusion of PTH in the luminal perfusate reduced JPi to 2.1 pmol. min-1. mm-1. Combined addition of PTH to perfusate and bathing solutions reduced JPi to 1.5 pmol. min-1. mm-1 without affecting Jv. Indirect immunofluorescence studies revealed abundant PTH receptor (PTH1R) expression on brush-border membranes, with lower amounts on basolateral membranes. CaSRs were localized primarily, but not exclusively, to brush-border membranes. CaSR activation with luminal Gd3+ abolished the inhibitory action of PTH on JPi. Addition of Gd3+ to the serosal bathing solution had no effect on PTH-sensitive JPi. Gd3+ i.e., PTH-independent JPi. Gd3+ did not affect basal, had no effect on Jv when added to lumen or bath. Dopamine-inhibitable JPi was not affected by Gd3+. Experiments with proximal-like opossum kidney cells showed that elevated extracellular Ca2+ or NPS R467, a type II calcimimetic, inhibited PTH action on Pi uptake. In conclusion, PTH1Rs are expressed on apical and basolateral membranes of mouse proximal tubules. Stimulating apical or basolateral PTH1R inhibits phosphate absorption. CaSR activation specifically regulates PTH-suppressible phosphate absorption.
Investigation of luminance effect on the emotional assessment using principle components analysis method

The purpose of the study is to observe the effect of the level of luminance on the emotional evaluation (positive, negative, neutral) in electroencephalography (EEG) records. EEG records of 31 healthy volunteers were used in the study. Features were obtained from these records by using Principle Component Analysis (PCA) method. As a result of the analysis of the features, it was observed that the increase in luminance level during emotional evaluation reflected to the EEG activity and there was a difference that could be observed between the responses given by the brain to bright images with increased luminance levels and the responses given by the brain to original images using the angle difference between the principle components. In addition, the emotional evaluation states and the electrode regions in which this difference is apparent clearly are also examined. It is thought that the results of the research can include in the methods an important parameter such as luminance in the related electrophysiology studies.
Academic performance of psychiatrists compared to other specialists before, during, and after medical school.

OBJECTIVE This study was designed to compare psychiatrists with other physicians on measures of academic performance before, during, and after medical school. METHOD More than three decades of data for graduates of Jefferson Medical College (N=5,701) were analyzed. Those who pursued psychiatry were compared to physicians in seven other specialties on 18 performance measures. Analysis of covariance was used to control for gender effect. RESULTS Compared to other physicians, psychiatrists scored higher on measures of verbal ability and general information before medical school and on evaluations of knowledge and skills in behavioral sciences during medical school, but they scored lower on United States Medical Licensing Examinations step 3. CONCLUSIONS The results generally confirmed the authors' expectations about psychiatrists' academic performance. More attention should be paid to the general medical education of psychiatrists.
A Copper Chaperone for Superoxide Dismutase That Confers Three Types of Copper/Zinc Superoxide Dismutase Activity in Arabidopsis1

The copper chaperone for superoxide dismutase (CCS) has been identified as a key factor integrating copper into copper/zinc superoxide dismutase (CuZnSOD) in yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) and mammals. In Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana), only one putative CCS gene (AtCCS, At1g12520) has been identified. The predicted AtCCS polypeptide contains three distinct domains: a central domain, flanked by an ATX1-like domain, and a C-terminal domain. The ATX1-like and C-terminal domains contain putative copper-binding motifs. We have investigated the function of this putative AtCCS gene and shown that a cDNA encoding the open reading frame predicted by The Arabidopsis Information Resource complemented only the cytosolic and peroxisomal CuZnSOD activities in the Atccs knockout mutant, which has lost all CuZnSOD activities. However, a longer AtCCS cDNA, as predicted by the Munich Information Centre for Protein Sequences and encoding an extra 66 amino acids at the N terminus, could restore all three, including the chloroplastic CuZnSOD activities in the Atccs mutant. The extra 66 amino acids were shown to direct the import of AtCCS into chloroplasts. Our results indicated that one AtCCS gene was responsible for the activation of all three types of CuZnSOD activity. In addition, a truncated AtCCS, containing only the central and C-terminal domains without the ATX1-like domain failed to restore any CuZnSOD activity in the Atccs mutant. This result indicates that the ATX1-like domain is essential for the copper chaperone function of AtCCS in planta.