Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Chewing‐induced hypertension in afferent baroreflex failure: a sympathetic response?

What is the central question of this study? Our goal was to understand the autonomic responses to eating in patients with congenital afferent baroreflex failure, by documenting changes in blood pressure and heart rate with chewing, swallowing and stomach distension. What is the main finding and its importance? Patients born with lesions in the afferent baroreceptor pathways have an exaggerated pressor response to food intake. This appears to be a sympathetically mediated response, triggered by chewing, that occurs independently of swallowing or distension of the stomach. The chewing‐induced pressor response may be useful as a counter‐manoeuvre to prevent orthostatic hypotension in these patients.
Complete sequence and structure of the mitochondrial genome of the human tapeworm, Taenia asiatica (Platyhelminthes; Cestoda)

The complete Taenia asiatica mitochondrial genome was amplified by long extension polymerase chain reaction (long PCR) to yield overlapping fragments that were then completely sequenced. The whole mitochondrial genome was 13703 bp long and contained 12 protein-encoding, 2 ribosomal RNA (small and large subunits), 22 transfer RNA genes and a short non-coding region. Thus, its gene contents are like those typically found in metazoan animal mitochondrial genomes (apart from the absence of atp8). All the genes were transcribed from the same strand. The 3′ end 34 bp region of nad4L overlapped with the 5′ end portion of nad4. The tRNA genes were 61–69 bp long, and the secondary structures of 18 tRNAs had typical clover-leaf shapes with paired DHU arms. However, trnC, trnS1, trnS2 and trnR had unpaired DHU arms that were 7–12 bp in length. The tRNAs that transferred serine lacked a DHU arm, as is also observed in a number of parasitic platyhelminths and metazoans. However, the trematode trnRs have paired DHU arms. The T. asiatica mtDNA non-coding region was like that in other cestodes since it was composed of a short non-coding region of 72 nucleotides and a long non-coding region of 176 nucleotides separated by a trnL1/, trnS2/, trnL2/, trnR/, nad5 gene cluster. The sequences of the cox1 genes between T. asiatica and T. saginata differ by 4·6%, while the T. asiatica cob gene differs by 4·1% and 12·9% from the cob genes of T. saginata and T. solium, respectively. In conclusion, the T. asiatica mitocondrial genome should provide a resource for comparative mitochondrial genomics and systematic studies of parasitic cestodes.
Improving performance of intrusion detection system using OpenCL based general-purpose computing on Graphic Processing Unit (GPGPU)

With the increased connectivity of computer devices including mobile devices to the Internet, the volume as well as the type of information that moved through organization network perimeter are also growing significantly. Consequently, this has heightened information security threats to organizations that rely on the Internet to do their businesses. On the other hand, Intrusion Detection System (IDS) being used today to detect these threats is limited by a single threaded application, limiting its capability to cope with the growing network traffic. This research introduced a parallel intrusion detection system based on GPGPU and Open Computing Language (OpenCL), that processes incoming packets concurrently, thus increasing system capacity in a high throughput environment. The experiment result shows that performance of GPU-based design is improved on the average of 58.73x against a single-thread central processing unit (CPU) implementation, and on the average of 13.53x against a multi-thread implementation. At the same time, GPGPU-based system has a performance gain of 29.92 compared with CPU-based system implementation.
The dynamics and persistence of urban poverty: Panel data evidence from

Using five rounds of panel data spanning for 15 years, this paper investigates the dynamics and persistence of poverty in urban Ethiopia. Dynamic probit models that take care of unobserved individual heterogeneity provide strong evidence of state dependence in poverty, implying that a household experiencing a poverty spell in any period is much more likely to experience it again in the next period. It is also shown that education, labor market participation by both household heads and other members of the household, and remittances from foreign sources are important determinants of poverty status of households. Results from discrete-time proportional hazard models of poverty spells that account for unobserved household heterogeneity also show that; among other things, education and international remittances are important to pull households out of poverty, but education also protects households from falling back into poverty. Moreover, households having a higher proportion of children, unemployed and members depending on unstable jobs are more likely to fall into poverty. In addition to investigating the trends, dynamics and persistence of poverty in urban Ethiopia, the paper sheds light on important policy implications that can be useful for designing effective poverty reduction and targeting strategies.
NORWEGIAN FAMILIES: TRANSITION TO PARENTHOOD

Our purpose in conducting this study was to explore relationships among family dynamics, parent–fetal attachment, and infant temperament in 230 mother–father pairs from the third trimester of pregnancy to when their infant was 7 to 9 months old. Mothers reported increased role conflict during this time, as well as more role conflict than their partners. First-time parents (n = 133) perceived more positive family dynamics than second-time parents (n = 97), as well as greater parent–fetal attachment. Maternal–fetal attachment was greater than paternal–fetal attachment. Health care providers can provide support for new parents as they negotiate new role relationships.
Effect of Crocin on the Insulin Resistance and Lipid Profile of Streptozotocin‐Induced Diabetic Rats

Crocin is the only water soluble carotenoid in nature, and it has a known powerful antioxidant activity. The aim of this work was to investigate the hypoglycemic and hypolipidemic effects of crocin in streptozotocin (STZ)‐induced type 2 diabetic rats. Neonatal male Wistar rats (2–5 days old) were randomly divided into five groups. Three groups were intraperitoneally injected with STZ (90 mg/kg body weight). Among them, two groups were treated with intraperitoneal injection of crocin (50 or 100 mg/kg), and the third group was treated with vehicle only. Two control groups were also considered, and one of them was treated with crocin. After 5 months, their blood and urine samples were collected, and the animals were sacrified. The results indicate a significant lower body weight (P < 0.001) and abnormal parameters in the diabetic rats compared with the normal group. An administration of both doses of crocin significantly decreased the levels of serum glucose, advanced glycation end products, triglyceride, total cholesterol, and low‐density lipoprotein and increased the high‐density lipoprotein in the diabetic rats. The treatments were also effective in decreasing HbA1c and microalbuminuria, as well as homeostatic model assessment for insulin resistance as a measure of insulin resistance in the diabetic rats. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
GATA4 Loss‐of‐Function Mutations Underlie Familial Tetralogy of Fallot

Tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) represents the most common form of cyanotic congenital heart disease and accounts for significant morbidity and mortality in humans. Emerging evidence has implicated genetic defects in the pathogenesis of TOF. However, TOF is genetically heterogeneous and the genetic basis for TOF in most patients remains unclear. In this study, the GATA4 gene were sequenced in 52 probands with familial TOF, and three novel heterozygous mutations, including A9P and L51V both located in the putative first transactivational domain and N285S in the C‐terminal zinc finger, were identified in three probands, respectively. Genetic analysis of the pedigrees demonstrated that in each family the mutation cosegregated with TOF with complete penetrance. The missense mutations were absent in 800 control chromosomes and the altered amino acids were highly conserved evolutionarily. Functional analysis showed that the GATA4 mutants were consistently associated with diminished DNA‐binding affinity and decreased transcriptional activity. Furthermore, the N285S mutation completely disrupted the physical interaction between GATA4 and TBX5. To our knowledge, this report associates GATA4 loss‐of‐function mutations with familial TOF for the first time, providing novel insight into the molecular mechanism involved in TOF and suggesting potential implications for the early prophylaxis and allele‐specific therapy of TOF.
The Impact of Social Support of Guild Members and Psychological Factors on Flow and Game Loyalty in MMORPG

The objective of this study is to identify the relationships in which social support influences flow and game loyalty through character control, character identity, guild identity and self-esteem. For the study, focus group interviews were carried out with MMORPG gamers and, as a result, important factors such as social support and self-esteem were found. Based on prior research and the focus group interviews with MMORPG gamers, the independent variables of social support and character control were identified. Character identity, guild identity and self-esteem are proposed as mediating variables with flow and loyalty as the dependent variables. The research model and hypotheses were developed and then verified empirically. The data was collected from 244 WOW gamers to verify the research model and SEM analysis was then used to test goodness-of-fit of the model. The results were as follows: First, social support had a statistically significant impact on character control, character identity, guild identity and self-esteem. Second, character control had significant effects on character identity, guild identity and self-esteem. Third, character identity had a clear effect on self-esteem. Fourth, guild identity affected self-esteem, flow and loyalty. Fifth, self-esteem had a positive influence on flow.
Specific association of human parechovirus type 3 with sepsis and fever in young infants, as identified by direct typing of cerebrospinal fluid samples.

BACKGROUND Human parechoviruses (HPeVs), along with human enteroviruses (HEVs), are associated with neonatal sepsis and meningitis. We determined the relative importance of these viruses and the specific HPeV types involved in the development of central nervous system-associated disease. METHODS A total of 1575 cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples obtained during 2006-2008 were screened for HPeV by means of nested polymerase chain reaction. All samples for which results were positive were typed by sequencing of viral protein (VP) 3/VP1. Screening for HEV was performed in parallel, as was detection of HPeV in respiratory and fecal surveillance samples, to identify virus types circulating in the general population. RESULTS HPeV was detected in 14 CSF samples obtained exclusively from young infants (age, <3 months) with sepsis or pyrexia. The frequency of detection of HPeVs varied greatly by year, with the highest frequency (7.2%) noted in 2008 exceeding that of HEVs. Direct typing of CSF samples revealed that all infections were caused by HPeV type 3, a finding that is in contrast to the predominant circulation of HPeV1 in contemporary respiratory and fecal surveillance samples. CONCLUSION HPeV was a significant cause of severe sepsis and fever with central nervous system involvement in young infants, rivaling enteroviruses. The specific targeting of young infants by HPeV type 3 may reflect a difference in tissue tropism between virus types or a lack of protection of young infants by maternal antibody consequent to the recent emergence of HPeV.
Pro‐inflammatory IL‐1beta and/or TNF‐alpha up‐regulate matrix metalloproteases‐1 and ‐3 mRNA in chondrocyte subpopulations potentially pathogenic in osteoarthritis: in situ hybridization studies on a single cell level

In osteoarthritis chondrocytes, matrix metalloproteases (MMPs) and their inhibitors are induced by interleukin (IL)‐1beta or tumor necrosis factor (TNF)‐alpha and balanced by inhibitors, but their messenger RNA (mRNA) expression has not been studied in individual cells.
Applications of Neurostimulation for Urinary Storage and Voiding Dysfunction in Neurological Patients

The application of various forms of electrical stimulation is considered a therapeutic option to manage different types of lower urinary tract dysfunction. However, even though lower urinary tract dysfunction is common in patients with neurological disease, apart from patients with spinal cord injury, electrostimulation is still not widely applied in a neurological patient population. Urologists frequently encounter patients with neurogenic lower urinary tract dysfunction in their daily practice. Often, the conservative treatment modalities do not offer adequate relief of symptoms in these patients. In most cases, surgical options including transurethral stents, augmentation cystoplasty stoma or derivation surgery are considered a last resort. With this in mind, it is essential that healthcare professionals are informed about the possibilities of nerve stimulation in neurogenic patients. We review the utilization and the results of electrical stimulation by means of pudendal nerve stimulation, stimulation of the sacral nerve roots and lower limb stimulation in patients with neurogenic detrusor overactivity.
An efficiency-enhanced asynchronous buck converter with threshold compensated freewheeling diode

We present in this paper the design of an integrated asynchronous buck converter with improved power conversion efficiency. A threshold compensated freewheeling diode is introduced to the converter to minimize both the diode forward voltage drop as well as the reverse leakage current. In order to enable monolithic high voltage switching, serially stacked MOS transistors are utilized. The buck converter is implemented in a 65nm CMOS technology. In simulation, with 2.5V input voltage and 10 MHz switching frequency, 85% power conversion efficiency can be achieved for a load current of 10mA at 1.2V output voltage. As compared to a standard asynchronous implementation, the overall dissipation in the power stage can be improved by more than 30%.
A Generalized Algorithm to Eliminate Spikes of Common-Mode Voltages for CMVRPWM

This paper presents a generalized algorithm to eliminate spikes of common-mode voltages (CMV) caused by dead-time effect for common-mode voltage reduction pulse width modulation (CMVRPWM). The characteristics of the CMV spikes for the popular CMVRPWM strategies (AZSPWM1, NSPWM, CRLO-CMVRPWM, and SLO-CMVRPWM) are studied and compared by analyzing the extreme switch pulse patterns. The proposed CMV spikes elimination method directly adjusts the injected zero-sequence voltages instead of the durations of the adopted voltage space vectors to avoid the overlaps of the adjacent dead time periods. The CMV spikes can be eliminated regardless of the output voltages in the dead time periods; thus, the signs of phase currents are not needed to detect and overcome the problem caused by the resolution of the current sensors when the phase currents approach to zero. In addition, an effective method by online selecting low or high active pulses for the three legs is proposed to ensure that at most one leg switches between adjacent carrier periods. The proposed method is generalized and effective for all the CMVRPWM with symmetrical switch pulse patterns and no simultaneous switching problem. The simulation and experimental results validate the effectiveness.
Molecular Determinants of Glycine-Independent Desensitization of NR1/NR2A Receptors

Glycine-independent desensitization is thought to be an important regulatory mechanism for the function of N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptors. Previous studies have suggested that the molecular determinants for glycine-independent desensitization are located at two distinct domains of NR2A, i.e., the amino-terminal domain (ATD) and the pre-M1 domain. Since the glycine-independent desensitization described in these earlier studies was a mixture of glycine-independent desensitization and zinc-dependent apparent desensitization, the exact role of these two domains in glycine-independent desensitization remains in question. In the present study, we show that deletion of the ATD of NR2A or mutating the pre-M1 region of NR2A causes no detectable changes in the degree or the time constant of glycine-independent desensitization. Therefore, the ATD and the pre-M1 domain of NR2A play no significant role in glycine-independent desensitization of NR1/NR2A receptors. On the other hand, several residues in the lurcher motif of either NR1 or NR2A are critical for the glycine-independent desensitization of NR1/NR2A receptors. In addition to NR1a(A653T) and NR2A(A651T), NR1a(T648C), NR1a(A649C), NR2A(T646C), and NR2A(A647C) show significantly reduced glycine-independent desensitization. Since all these mutations also alter the proton sensitivity or deactivation time constants of NR1/NR2A receptors, our data suggest that the channel gating and desensitization of NMDA receptors share common molecular determinants and that the lurcher motif of NR1 and NR2A is critical for both processes.
Convective Drying of Beech Lumber without Color Changes of Wood

This paper presents the results of analyzing the infl uence of suggested regimes of chamber drying of beech lumber with the thickness h = 40 mm, h = 60 mm and h = 80 mm from the initial moisture content W p = 70 % to the fi nal moisture content W k = 8 %. The regimes ensure the preservation of the natural color of the wood. The study results show that the drying of beech lumber according to the suggested regimes causes no changes in the chromophoric compounds of the wood and the beech lumber preserves its original white-yellow color. Quality parameters of the dried lumber, such as: difference between the average fi nal moisture content and the required fi nal moisture content, and the range of the fi nal moisture and moisture gradient in dried beech lumber, classify this dried lumber into the fi rst quality class. The suggested regimes for drying beech lumber using hot air in the temperature range t s = 37 ÷ 65 °C has a negative impact on the duration of the drying process. In comparison with the regimes of beech lumber drying according to ON 49 0651, carried out at temperatures t = 60 ÷ 80 °C, the duration of drying beech lumber with the thickness h = 40 mm according to the suggested regime is 1.9 times longer, the duration of drying beech lumber with the thickness h = 60 mm is 2.3 times longer and the duration of drying beech lumber with the thickness h = 80 mm is 2.9 times longer. The specifi c heat energy consumption of beech lumber with the initial moisture content W p = 70 % to the fi nal moisture content W k = 8 % in a chamber type KWC 121, according to the suggested regimes, is equals to Q TZN = 514.46 kWh⋅m -3 for the thickness h = 40 mm, Q TZN = 557.62 kWh⋅m -3 for lumber with the thickness h = 60 mm, and Q TZN = 643.16 kWh⋅m -3 for lumber with the thickness h = 80 mm. The specifi c heat energy consumption needed for the drying of 1 m 3 of beech lumber with the thickness h = 60 mm according to the suggested regime is by 26.89% higher than the specifi c heat energy consumption used to dry beech lumber of the same thickness according to the regime of beech lumber drying by Vzduchotechnika a.s. which does not preserve the natural color of the wood.
Multi-Target Adaptive On-line Tracking based on WIHM

Multi-target tracking based on on-line boosting is a significant technique in computer vision. However, it is very difficult to select the optimal classifier in on-line learning process since tracking often relies on an assumption that the appearance model of target is fixed. This would directly lead to a decline in the performance of on-line boosting. In this paper, we presents a novel on-line multi-target tracking framework based on Weighted Incremental Histogram Model (called WIHM), which can be applied in some static or dynamic scenarios. First, we propose a novel method—WIHM, which is employed to obtain the optimal size of a tracked object. Second, a new update scheme is used to reach local optimum tracking appearance model with high possibility and accuracy. Third, based on the above works, a multi-target tracking framework is proposed to track multi-targets simultaneously. With the appearance model of targets changed continually, our represented approach can track these targets more powerful, especially in dealing with camera motions. Experimental results show the effectiveness and robustness of our method.
Prevalence of Subclinical Enthesopathy in Patients With Spondyloarthropathy: An Ultrasound Study

Background:Ultrasound has demonstrated to be a highly sensitive tool in the evaluation of entheses in spondyloarthropathy (SpA) patients and improves the ability of clinical examination to detect enthesopathy. Objectives:The objectives of the study were to determine the prevalence of subclinical enthesopathy in SpA patients and to evaluate the reliability of ultrasound in the detection of abnormal findings indicative of enthesopathy. Methods:Six hundred lower-limb entheses were assessed in 60 SpA patients without known history of entheseal involvement. Sixty rheumatoid arthritis patients and 30 control subjects were included as control groups. Clinical examination and ultrasound were consecutively performed at each of the entheses to detect signs indicative of enthesopathy. Images from 20 SpA patients were stored and afterward evaluated to determine the reliability of abnormal ultrasound findings. Results:Ultrasound detected a high prevalence of enthesopathy in SpA patients with respect to both rheumatoid arthritis patients and control subjects (P < 0.001 for both comparisons). In SpA patients, clinical examination detected enthesopathy in 56 (9.3%) of 600 entheses. In the remainder 544 clinically asymptomatic entheses (90.7%) (not painful and not swollen), ultrasound detected in 331 (60.8%) at least 1 ultrasound sign of enthesopathy. The intrareader and interreader agreement for all ultrasound abnormal findings was good to excellent. Conclusion:The present study demonstrates a higher sensitivity of ultrasound with respect to physical examination in the detection of signs indicative of enthesopathy in SpA patients with an adequate interreader and intrareader reliability. Further study is needed about the prognostic value of the ultrasound findings for predicting clinical onset of entheseal involvement.