Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Effects of Total Thyroidectomy on Cardiac Function in Old Rats using Echocardiographic Measures

Objectives: Doppler Echocardiography has been shown to reflect thyroid hormone action in primary thyroid dysfunction. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the cardiac function after total thyroidectomy in old rats using echocardiographic measures. Methods: Female Wistar rats aged 24 months old (referred to as adult) were divided into 2 groups with 15 animals each: Euthyroid (Eut) and Hypothyroid (Hypo) rats. Hypothyroidism was induced by total thyroidectomy. The plasmatic levels of T3, T4, TSH and free ionic calcium were measured. Echocardiographic analysis was performed using the following parameters: left ventricular end-diastolic (LVED) left ventricular end-systolic (LVES), ejection fraction (EF) and Tei index. Results: In both groups, the LVES ranged from 0.2 to 0.5 p <0.048 and the EF from 50.3 to 45.2 p<0.030. There was not statistically significant difference in HR, LVED and Tei-index values. It was observed decrease in T3 levels (72.0 to 30.4 μg/dl, p<0.001) and T4 levels (3.1 to 0.4 μg/dl, p<0.001) and increase in TSH levels (1.6 to 40.7 mU/mol, p<0.001) in Hypo group. The free ionic calcium levels increased from 0.1 to 0.9 mmol/L (p<0.001) in Hypo group. Conclusion: It was identified a reduction of cardiac function in old animals with hypothyroidism using Doppler- Echocardiography measures. These results indicated that hypothyroidism is associated with impairment in cardiac function in old patients and that Doppler echocardiography, is a useful and noninvasive tool for the diagnosis of cardiac dysfunction induced by this thyroid disorder.
Development And Implementation Of A Sensor Network To Monitor Fermentation Process Parameter In Tea Processing

abstract Fermentation is extremely a crucial process which is primarily responsible for tea quality. It is an oxidation process where tea leaves change colour and smell. Relative humidity (RH) and temperature are two important physical parameters which play a crucial role in producing good quality tea. This work is an attempt to develop and implement a monitoring system for fermentation room of tea factory. Due to the larger dimension of the fermentation room, it requires several numbers of monitoring point for estimating average condition. Sensor node at each monitoring point is connected via RS 485 network which works with a protocol developed for this purpose. Each sensor node consists of sensors, signal conditioning, controller and RS485 transceiver. All these nodes are calibrated and the voltage level of RS 485 system is converted to RS 232 voltage level to make compatible with the COM port of the PC. Data acquisition software is developed with the help of NI Lab VIEW.
Initial plastic deformation and residual stress influencing the welding joint behavior in the presence of cracks

The full-scale model of penstock was produced using weldable high strength low alloyed steel (HSLA) Sumiten 80P (SM 80P). Steel SM 80P belongs to HT80 steel with tensile strength above 800 MPa and yield strength above 700MPa. Tensile properties were achieved by quenching and tempered technology which requires strong obeying of welding procedures. Finite element analysis has been carried out by using ABAQUS software to simulate the hydrostatic test of the full-scale model of penstock. A finite element model of penstock is a little bit different than the experimental test model in welding the shape and geometry (the third segment of the cylindrical mental of the experimental model has been neglected for the finite element model). In the first portion of the analysis the von Misses stress distribution will be investigated in two steps, the first load-unload and the second load-unload, and to focus on where the yielding initiates and spreads. For the second portion of the numerical study, the behavior of the model with initial residual stresses in weld joints have been analyzed for von Misses stresses distribution. The von Misses stress-strain relationship has been calculated in three ways: using linear elastic formulas, when the experimental model was treated as an ideal cylindrical vessel (without a 5o angle). The second relationship is obtained from strain guage measurements, and the third behavior is the stress-strain curve obtained from a numerical calculation (ABAQUS software). For the residual strength prediction and structural integrity assessment of penstock, a study of fracture mechanics behavior of an under-matched weld joints with small and large surface cracks for high strength low alloy steel of penstock structures has been performed by the J-R curve approach. Suminet 80P ( SM 80P ) grade steel plate was butt welded by submerged arc welding. Three tensile panels with surface cracks positioned in the base metal (BM), weld metal (WM) and the heat affected zone (HAZ) were tested at room temperature. And continuous measurement of force versus crack mouth opening displacement and crack extension was monitored during the test by the compliance method. In addition, J-R curves were built for three parts of the weld joint. Crack driving force is obtained for various values of applied stresses ratio and it plotted as a function of crack depth ratio.
Numerical Simulations of Air Breakdown by Microwave With Two Orthogonal Electric Fields

In the near-field zone of an antenna or a microwave device, high-power microwave that may contain two orthogonal electric field components frequently causes air breakdown. The electric field power of microwave for heating electrons is deduced from the equation of electron momentum, and is introduced into a model coupling the equations of electron number density and electron energy to investigate air breakdown. Breakdown prediction obtained from the model considerably matches with that of the particle-in-cell Monte Carlo collision model. The amplitude of the mean electron energy changes periodically with the phase difference between the two electric field components with the same amplitude. At a high air pressure, breakdown formation time depends strongly on phase difference, but this dependence decreases as air pressure decreases. The dependence of air breakdown on the amplitude difference between the two electric field components is also unveiled under a fixed electric filed power. The approximate analytical solution of the mean electron energy is presented to analyze our numerical results.
Neuroimaging Identifies Patients Most Likely to Respond to a Restorative Stroke Therapy

Background and Purpose— Patient heterogeneity reduces statistical power in clinical trials of restorative therapies. Valid predictors of treatment responsiveness are needed, and several have been studied with a focus on corticospinal tract (CST) injury. We studied performance of 4 such measures for predicting behavioral gains in response to motor training therapy. Methods— Patients with subacute-chronic hemiparetic stroke (n=47) received standardized arm motor therapy, and change in arm Fugl-Meyer score was calculated from baseline to 1 month post-therapy. Injury measures calculated from baseline magnetic resonance imaging included (1) percent CST overlap with stroke, (2) CST-related atrophy (cerebral peduncle area), (3) CST integrity (fractional anisotropy) in the cerebral peduncle, and (4) CST integrity in the posterior limb of internal capsule. Results— Percent CST overlap with stroke, CST-related atrophy, and CST integrity did not correlate with one another, indicating that these 3 measures captured independent features of CST injury. Percent injury to CST significantly predicted treatment-related behavioral gains (r=−0.41; P=0.004). The other CST injury measures did not, neither did total infarct volume nor baseline behavioral deficits. When directly comparing patients with mild versus severe injury using the percent CST injury measure, the odds ratio was 15.0 (95% confidence interval, 1.54–147; P<0.005) for deriving clinically important treatment-related gains. Conclusions— Percent CST injury is useful for predicting motor gains in response to therapy in the setting of subacute-chronic stroke. This measure can be used as an entry criterion or a stratifying variable in restorative stroke trials to increase statistical power, reduce sample size, and reduce the cost of such trials.
Vitamin D status by sociodemographic factors and body mass index in Mexican women at reproductive age.

OBJECTIVE To describe the prevalence of Vitamin D deficiency (VDD) and insufficiency (VDI), and the main dietary sources of vitamin D (VD) in a probabilistic sample of Mexican women at reproductive age participating in Ensanut 2012, stratified by sociodemographic factors and body mass index (BMI) categories. MATERIALS AND METHODS Serum concentrations of 25-hydroxyvitamin-D(25-OH-D) were determined using an ELISA technique in 4162 women participants of Ensanut 2012 and classified as VDD, VDI or optimal VD status. Sociodemographic, anthropometric and dietary data were also collected. The association between VDD/VDI and sociodemographic and anthropometry factors was assessed adjusting for potential confounders through an estimation of a multinomial logistic regression model. RESULTS The prevalence of VDD was 36.8%, and that of VDI was 49.8%. The mean dietary intake of VD was 2.56 μg/d. The relative risk ratio (RRR) of VDD or VDI was calculated by a multinomial logistic regression model in 4162 women. The RRR of VDD or VDI were significantly higher in women with overweight (RRR: 1.85 and 1.44, p<0.05), obesity (RRR: 2.94 and 1.93, p<0.001), urban dwelling (RRR:1.68 and 1.31, p<0.06), belonging to the 3rd tertile of income (RRR: 5.32 and 2.22, p<0.001), or of indigenous ethnicity (RRR: 2.86 and 1.70, p<0.05), respectively. CONCLUSION The high prevalence of VDD/VDI in Mexican women calls for stronger actions from the health authorities, strengthtening the actual policy of food supplementation and recommending a reasonable amount of sun exposure.
Cisplatin-induced renal inflammation is ameliorated by cilastatin nephroprotection

Background Cisplatin is a potent chemotherapeutic drug whose nephrotoxic effect is a major complication and a dose-limiting factor for antitumoral therapy. There is much evidence that inflammation contributes to the pathogenesis of cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity. We found that cilastatin, a renal dehydropeptidase-I inhibitor, has protective effects in vitro and in vivo against cisplatin-induced renal damage by inhibiting apoptosis and oxidation. Here, we investigated the potential use of cilastatin to protect against cisplatin-induced kidney injury and inflammation in rats. Methods Male Wistar rats were divided into four groups: control, cilastatin-control, cisplatin and cilastatin-cisplatin. Nephrotoxicity was assessed 5 days after administration of cisplatin based on blood urea nitrogen, creatinine, glomerular filtration rate (GFR), kidney injury molecule (KIM)-1 and renal morphology. Inflammation was measured using the electrophoretic mobility shift assay, immunohistochemical studies and evaluation of inflammatory mediators. Results Compared with the control rats, cisplatin-administered rats were affected by significant proximal tubule damage, decreased GFR, increased production of inflammatory mediators and elevations in urea, creatinine and tissue KIM-1 levels. Cilastatin prevented these changes in renal function and ameliorated histological damage in cisplatin-administered animals. Cilastatin also reduced pro-inflammatory cytokine levels, activation of nuclear factor-κB and CD68-positive cell concentrations. Conclusions Cilastatin reduces cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity, which is associated with decreased inflammation in vivo. Although the exact role of decreased inflammation in nephroprotection has not been fully elucidated, treatment with cilastatin could be a novel strategy for the prevention of cisplatin-induced acute kidney injury.
Full-duplex two-way MIMO relaying system: Transceiver design and review of physical layer security

In this paper, we consider the design of optimal transceiver and relay processing algorithms for a full-duplex (FD) two-way amplify-and-forward (AF) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) relaying system. We assume the channel state information of loopback self-interference (SI) channels to be imperfect. The nodes employ pre-coders and receive filters for suppressing the residual SI. The optimal precoders at transceivers are designed by equalising the signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio at the relay and transceiver. Using the transceiver precoders thus designed, we then design the optimal relay precoder and transceiver receive filters by minimizing the sum of mean square error at the transceivers. The optimal precoders and receive filters are continuously updated to account for the cumulative interference effect caused by AF operation of the FD relay. The secrecy performance of this system in the presence of a passive eavesdropper is analyzed by considering the relay signal to be artificial noise for the eavesdropper. The effectiveness of the proposed design is demonstrated in our simulation results.
The Cytokine Flt3-Ligand in Normal and Malignant Hematopoiesis

The cytokine Fms-like tyrosine kinase 3 ligand (FL) is an important regulator of hematopoiesis. Its receptor, Flt3, is expressed on myeloid, lymphoid and dendritic cell progenitors and is considered an important growth and differentiation factor for several hematopoietic lineages. Activating mutations of Flt3 are frequently found in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients and associated with a poor clinical prognosis. In the present review we provide an overview of our current knowledge on the role of FL in the generation of blood cell lineages. We examine recent studies on Flt3 expression by hematopoietic stem cells and its potential instructive action at early stages of hematopoiesis. In addition, we review current findings on the role of mutated FLT3 in leukemia and the development of FLT3 inhibitors for therapeutic use to treat AML. The importance of mouse models in elucidating the role of Flt3-ligand in normal and malignant hematopoiesis is discussed.
A longitudinal study of hair cortisol concentrations in Macaca nemestrina mothers and infants

Cortisol is a well‐known glucocorticoid that can be used as a biomarker of hypothalamic‐pituitary‐adrenocortical activity. To explore basal cortisol physiology during pregnancy and infancy in Macaca nemestrina monkeys, hair was collected from a convenience sample of 22 healthy mother–infant dyads. Adult females were housed in pairs as part of a small breeding colony at the Washington National Primate Research Center and infants were reared in a specialized nursery. Maternal samples were collected from females during a pregnancy‐detection ultrasound and immediately following labor and delivery. Infant samples were collected at birth, 20 days, 4, 6, 8, and 10 months of age. Hair cortisol concentrations (HCCs) were determined using an enzyme immunoassay in washed and ground hair samples. Like human mothers, macaque HCCs rose during pregnancy (paired t = 5.8, df = 16, P < 0.001). Maternal HCCs at pregnancy‐detection (114.2 ± 12.07 picogram/milligram [pg/mg]) were highly predictive of maternal HCCs at delivery (144.8 ± 13.60 pg/mg), suggesting a trait‐like quality (r = 0.90, P < 0.001). When maternal HCCs were viewed on a continuum, the absolute rise in cortisol over the course of pregnancy was significantly related to newborn HCCs (r = 0.55, P = 0.02). Infant birth HCCs (1,027.43 ± 97.95 pg/mg) were seven times higher than maternal HCCs at delivery (paired t = 19.1, df = 16, P < 0.001). Higher birth HCCs were strongly associated with larger decreases in infant hair cortisol until 6 months of postnatal age when infant HCCs converged on values indistinguishable from adults. Overall, study results demonstrate a marked degree of fetal cortisol exposure during the latter part of gestation and suggest that the rise in maternal cortisol over pregnancy may play an influential role on HCCs in the newborn.
Topographic principles of cortical fluid‐attenuated inversion recovery signal in temporal lobe epilepsy

In drug‐resistant temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE), relative to the large number of whole‐brain morphological studies, neocortical T2 changes have not been systematically investigated. The aim of this study was to assess the anatomical principles that govern the distribution of neocortical T2‐weighted fluid‐attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) signal intensity and uncover its topographic principles.
Joint Frame Design, Resource Allocation and User Association for Massive MIMO Heterogeneous Networks With Wireless Backhaul

In this paper, we investigate the problem of frame design, resource allocation, and user association in a massive multiple input multiple output (MIMO) heterogeneous network (HetNet) with wireless backhaul (WB) and linear processing. The objective is to maximize the sum downlink rate of all users, subject to constraints on data rates of WBs and fairness-aware constraints. Such a problem is formulated as an integer programming problem with both coupled variables and coupled constraints. We first develop a centralized scheme in which we decompose the original problem into two subproblems and iteratively solve them until convergence to achieve a near-optimal solution. We then propose a distributed scheme by formulating a repeated game among all users and prove that the game converges to a Nash Equilibrium. Simulation studies show that the proposed schemes are adaptive to different network scenarios and traffic patterns, and achieve considerable gains over several benchmark schemes.
Evaluating Example-based Pose Estimation: Experiments on the HumanEva Sets

We present an example-based approach to pose recovery, using histograms of oriented gradients as image descriptors. Tests on the HumanEva-I and HumanEva-II data sets provide us insight into the strengths and limitations of an example-based approach. We report mean relative 3D errors of approximately 65 mm per joint on HumanEva-I, and 175 mm on HumanEva-II. We discuss our results using single and multiple views. Also, we perform experiments to assess the algorithm’s generalization to unseen subjects, actions and viewpoints. We plan to incorporate the temporal aspect of human motion analysis to reduce orientation ambiguities, and increase the pose recovery accuracy.
MapReduce for accurate error correction of next-generation sequencing data

Motivation Next-generation sequencing platforms have produced huge amounts of sequence data. This is revolutionizing every aspect of genetic and genomic research. However, these sequence datasets contain quite a number of machine-induced errors-e.g. errors due to substitution can be as high as 2.5%. Existing error-correction methods are still far from perfect. In fact, more errors are sometimes introduced than correct corrections, especially by the prevalent k-mer based methods. The existing methods have also made limited exploitation of on-demand cloud computing. Results We introduce an error-correction method named MEC, which uses a two-layered MapReduce technique to achieve high correction performance. In the first layer, all the input sequences are mapped to groups to identify candidate erroneous bases in parallel. In the second layer, the erroneous bases at the same position are linked together from all the groups for making statistically reliable corrections. Experiments on real and simulated datasets show that our method outperforms existing methods remarkably. Its per-position error rate is consistently the lowest, and the correction gain is always the highest. Availability and Implementation The source code is available at bioinformatics.gxu. edu.cn/ngs/mec. Contacts wongls@comp.nus. edu.sg or jinyan.li@uts.edu. au. Supplementary information Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
The Technological Fix as Social Cure-All: Origins and Implications

In 1966, a well-connected engineer posed a provocative question: will technology solve all our social problems? He seemed to imply that it would, and soon. Even more contentiously, he hinted that engineers could eventually supplant social scientists - and perhaps even policy-makers, lawmakers, and religious leaders - as the best trouble-shooters and problem-solvers for society [1].
Comparison of the QIAGEN artus HBV QS-RGQ Assay With the Roche COBAS AmpliPrep/COBAS TaqMan HBV Assay for Quantifying Viral DNA in Sera of Chronic Hepatitis B Patients

Background Hepatitis B virus DNA quantification is essential for managing chronic hepatitis B (CHB). We compared the performance of artus HBV QS-RGQ (QIAGEN GmbH, Germany) and CAP/CTM v2.0 HBV assays (Roche Molecular Diagnostics, USA) in CHB patients. Methods A comparative evaluation between two assays was performed with 508 clinical serum samples. Precision, linearity, and the limit of detection (LOD) of QS-RGQ assay was evaluated by using the WHO standard 97/750 and clinical samples. Results Detection rates and viral loads as determined QS-RGQ assay were significantly lower than those from the CAP/CTM v2.0 assay (52.8% vs 60.6%; 3.55±1.77 IU/mL vs 4.18±1.89 IU/mL, P<0.0001). The kappa coefficient between qualitative results was 0.79 (95% confidence interval, 0.74 to 0.85). Bland-Altman plot found a mean difference of (QS-RGQ − CAP/CTM v2.0)=−0.63 log10 IU/mL (95% limit of agreement, −1.48 to 0.22). Repeatability and total imprecision (% CV) of the QS-RGQ assay were 1.0% and 1.1% at 2,000 IU/mL, and 0.7% and 1.4% at 20,000 IU/mL, respectively. Linearity of this assay ranged from 31.6 to 1.0±107 IU/mL, and the LOD was 2.95 IU/mL. Conclusions The artus HBV QS-RGQ assay showed good performance but significantly decreased detection rate and viral load compared with CAP/CTM v2.0 assays. This assay recommends using plasma; however, we used stored serum because of the retrospective study design. Usually HBV DNA quantification is performed in plasma or serum, but sample type and clinical relevance of quantitative values should be considered when determining the clinical application of this reagent.
Opioid Therapy for Chronic Pain: Overview of the 2017 US Department of Veterans Affairs and US Department of Defense Clinical Practice Guideline.

Description The US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and US Department of Defense (DoD) revised the 2010 clinical practice guideline (CPG) for the management of opioid therapy for chronic pain, considering the specific needs of the VA and DoD and new evidence regarding prescribing opioid medication for non-end-of-life-related chronic pain. This paper summarizes the major recommendations and compares them with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guideline for prescribing opioids. Patient Population This Opioid Therapy CPG was developed for VA-DoD service members, veterans, and their families. Methods The VA/DoD Evidence-Based Practice Work Group convened a VA/DoD guideline renewal development effort and conformed to the guidelines established by the VA/DoD Joint Executive Council (JEC) and VA/DoD Health Executive Council (HEC). The panel developed questions, searched and evaluated the literature, developed recommendations using GRADE methodology, and developed algorithms. Passage of the CARA Act by Congress compelled consideration and comparison with the CDC opioid therapy guideline mid-development. Results There were 18 recommendations made. This article focuses on guideline development and key recommendations with CDC comparisons taken from four major areas, including: initiation and continuation of opioids;type, dose, follow-up, and taper of opioids;risk mitigation;acute pain. Conclusions Guideline development and recommendations are presented. There was substantial overlap with the CDC opioid guideline. Additionally, there were items particularly relevant to the VA-DoD, including risk mitigation, suicide prevention, and preventing opioid use disorder in young patients. Our guideline highlights avoiding opioid therapy longer than 90 days as a critical juncture.