Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of TCN2 776C>G on vitamin B12 cellular availability in end-stage renal disease patients.

BACKGROUND Transcobalamin II is a serum protein that transports vitamin B12 from the intestine to the tissues. This complex, holo-transcobalamin II, may reflect vitamin B12 availability in the body. Conflicting data exist with regard to the effect of a polymorphism in the gene coding for transcobalamin II, TCN2 776C>G, on transcobalamin II levels in the general population, which in turn may affect holo-transcobalamin II, vitamin B12, as well as total homocysteine (tHcy) plasma levels. The effect of TCN2 776C>G on vitamin B12 cellular availability in dialysis patients is unknown. METHODS We examined the effect of TCN2 776C>G on holo-transcobalamin II, vitamin B12, and tHcy plasma concentrations in 120 dialysis patients. RESULTS Holo-transcobalamin II levels were normal or supranormal in all patients and showed a linear association with albumin (r = 0.205, P = 0.025) and with vitamin B12 (r = 0.778, P = 0.001), but not with age, creatinine, body mass index, tHcy, ln-tHcy, vitamin B6, plasma folate, and red blood cell folate concentration. TCN2 776C>G showed no effect on holo-transcobalamin II, vitamin B12, and tHcy concentration [one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), post-hoc Scheffe test]. Multiple linear regression analyses showed that albumin and B12 are independently associated with holo-transcobalamin II, whereas TCN2 776C>G and MTHFR 677C>T had no effect. Independent predictors of ln-tHcy included creatinine, red blood cell folate, and the MTHFR 677TT genotype. There was also an effect of the TCN2 776CC genotype on ln-tHcy levels in this multivariate analysis, however, that deserves cautious interpretation because there was no effect of TCN2 genotypes by ANOVA and Scheffe test [median ln-tHcy concentrations according to TCN2 genotypes (micromol/L): CC, 3.22; CG, 3.30; GG, 3.23]. CONCLUSION TCN2 776C>G does not influence holo-transcobalamin II or vitamin B12 levels, and has no major effect on tHcy concentrations of end-stage renal disease patients.
Prospective study of methodological issues in intracranial pressure monitoring in patients with hydrocephalus.

OBJECT Continuous intracranial pressure (ICP) monitoring is performed in selected patients with hydrocephalus to determine whether shunt placement is required. The mean ICP is usually calculated from end-hour readings manually recorded by nurses. The aim of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of manual recordings by comparing nurses' end-hour ICP readings with those of an online computerized ICP monitoring system that records one ICP value per second. METHODS Continuous ICP monitoring was performed using a fiberoptic extradural sensor in 115 patients with hydrocephalus of different origins. A notebook computer was connected to an ICP monitor and was programmed to register one ICP value per second. In all patients, mean ICP values were calculated from data recorded manually by nurses at the end of every hour and from data recorded by the computer within the preselected time period. The two methods were compared using correlation analysis and the Bland and Altman method. The median number of ICP values noted manually by the nurses in each patient was 17 (interquartile range 15-18 readings), and that recorded by the software was 61,200 (interquartile range 54,000-64,800 readings). The correlation coefficient of the mean ICP values recorded by both methods was r = 0.99 (p < 0.001). The Bland and Altman analysis revealed a mean difference of 0.3 +/- 1.26 mm Hg between the two methods and that they were equally valid with all mean ICP values. CONCLUSIONS The recording of end-hour ICP values by nurses is an accurate method of calculating the mean ICP after prolonged ICP monitoring in patients with hydrocephalus.
Noise robustness of different front-end features for detection of vowels in speech signals

In this paper, we study the effectiveness of different front-end acoustic features for the task of detecting the vowel regions in a given speech data under clean and degraded conditions. Further, we have also analyzed their effectiveness for the detection of corresponding vowel onset points (VOP) and vowel end points (VEP). To achieve the same, a four-class classifier is developed using some of the existing front-end features employing the dominant acoustic modeling approaches. In order to detect the vowel regions, the given test data is forced-aligned against the trained acoustic models to generate frame-level alignments. The generated frame-level alignments are then compared with the true hand-labeled transcription to determine the accuracy of the detected vowel regions. We also analyzed how the semivowel and nasal sound units affect on the detection of vowel regions as well as the determination of vowel onset points and vowel end set points. The correctly detected and spurious vowel regions are analyzed in detail. A similar study is repeated for the additive noise condition as well.
Crystal structure of flumioxazin

The title compound {systematic name: 2-[7-fluoro-3,4-dihydro-3-oxo-4-(prop-2-yn-1-yl)-2H-1,4-benzoxazin-6-yl]-4,5,6,7-tetrahydro-1H-isoindole-1,3(2H)-dione}, C19H15FN2O4, is a dicarboximide herbicide. The dihedral angle between the maleimide and benzene ring planes is 66.13 (5)°. In the crystal, C—H⋯O and C—H⋯F hydrogen bonds and weak C—H⋯π interactions [3.5601 (19) Å] link adjacent molecules, forming two-dimensional networks extending parallel to the (110) plane.
Possible association of CUX 1 gene polymorphisms with antidepressant response in major depressive disorder

a Department of Mental Disorder Research, National Institute of Neuroscience, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, 4-1-1, Ogawahigashi, Kodaira, Tokyo, 187-8502, Japan b Department of Psychiatry, Shinshu University School of Medicine, Matsumoto, 390-8621, Japan c Yokohama Shinryo Clinic, Yokohama, 221-0835, Japan d International University of Health and Welfare, Otawara, Tochigi, 324-8501, Japan e Department of Psychiatry, Fujita Health University School of Medicine, Toyoake, Aichi 470-1192, Japan f Department of Psychiatry, University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Iseigaoka, Yahatanishi-ku, Kitakyushu, Fukuoka, 807-8555, Japan g Core Research of Evolutional Science & Technology (CREST), Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), Tokyo, 102-0075, Japan
Estimation of Inferential Uncertainty in Assessing Expert Segmentation Performance From STAPLE

The evaluation of the quality of segmentations of an image, and the assessment of intra- and inter-expert variability in segmentation performance, has long been recognized as a difficult task. For a segmentation validation task, it may be effective to compare the results of an automatic segmentation algorithm to multiple expert segmentations. Recently an expectation-maximization (EM) algorithm for simultaneous truth and performance level estimation (STAPLE) was developed to this end to compute both an estimate of the reference standard segmentation and performance parameters from a set of segmentations of an image. The performance is characterized by the rate of detection of each segmentation label by each expert in comparison to the estimated reference standard. This previous work provides estimates of performance parameters, but does not provide any information regarding the uncertainty of the estimated values. An estimate of this inferential uncertainty, if available, would allow the estimation of confidence intervals for the values of the parameters. This would facilitate the interpretation of the performance of segmentation generators and help determine if sufficient data size and number of segmentations have been obtained to precisely characterize the performance parameters. We present a new algorithm to estimate the inferential uncertainty of the performance parameters for binary and multicategory segmentations. It is derived for the special case of the STAPLE algorithm based on established theory for general purpose covariance matrix estimation for EM algorithms. The bounds on the performance parameters are estimated by the computation of the observed information matrix. We use this algorithm to study the bounds on performance parameters estimates from simulated images with specified performance parameters, and from interactive segmentations of neonatal brain MRIs. We demonstrate that confidence intervals for expert segmentation performance parameters can be estimated with our algorithm. We investigate the influence of the number of experts and of the segmented data size on these bounds, showing that it is possible to determine the number of image segmentations and the size of images necessary to achieve a chosen level of accuracy in segmentation performance assessment.
An Interpretable Stroke Prediction Model using Rules and Bayesian Analysis

We aim to produce predictive models that are not only accurate, but are also interpretable to human experts. We introduce a generative model called the Bayesian List Machine for fitting decision lists, a type of interpretable classifier, to data. We use the model to predict stroke in atrial fibrillation patients, and produce predictive models that are simple enough to be understood by patients yet significantly outperform the medical scoring systems currently in use.
Genetic variation for resistance to clinical and subclinical diseases exists in growing pigs

The objective of this study was to test that genetic variation for resistance to clinical and subclinical diseases exists in growing pigs. A total of 13 551 male growing pigs were assessed for resistance to five categories of clinical and subclinical disease: (i) any clinical or subclinical disease, (ii) lameness, (iii) respiratory diseases, (iv) diarrhoea, and (v) other diseases (i.e. any clinical or subclinical disease with the exception of (ii), (iii), and (iv)). Additive genetic variation for resistance to each disease category was estimated by fitting a Weibull, sire-dam frailty model to time until the pigs were first diagnosed with a disease from that category. Genetic correlations among the resistances to each disease category were approximated as product-moment correlations among predicted breeding values of the sires. Additive genetic variation was detected for resistance to (i) any clinical or subclinical disease (additive genetic variance for log-frailty (± s.e. ) = 0·18 ± 0·05, heritability on the logarithmic-time scale = 0·10), (ii) lameness (0·29 ± 0·11, 0·16), (iii) respiratory diseases (0·24 ± 0·16, 0·12), (iv) diarrhoea (0·30 ± 0·27, 0·16), and (v) the other diseases (0·34 ± 0·15, 0·19) and there were generally positive and low-to-moderate correlations among the predicted breeding values (–0·03 to + 0·65). These results demonstrate that additive genetic variation for resistance to clinical and subclinical diseases does exist in growing pigs, and suggests that selective breeding for resistance could be
A practical approach for partitioning free-form surfaces

This paper describes a simple but effective method for partitioning free-form surfaces. Here, based on the surface curvatures, a free-form surface can be successfully partitioned into convex, concave and saddle regions. The chain code technique in the image processing field is applied to determine the boundaries of each region. These regions can be separately machined by different kinds and sizes of cutting tool. Therefore, the machining time can be reduced significantly. A B-spline surface is given as an example to demonstrate the proposed method including partitioning and machining. A Matlab® program was developed to perform the surface partitioning task and to get the coordinates of all points on the boundaries. Pro/Engineer® Wildfire 2.0 was used to create the computer-aided design (CAD) model of the free-form surface and generate the tool path for each region for illustration purposes.
LYMPHOID NEOPLASIA Inhibiting CARD 11 translation during BCR activation by targeting the eIF 4 A RNA helicase

During B-lymphocyte development, antigen engagement of the B-cell receptor (BCR) propagates signals promoting cell growth, survival, andmaturation. Naı̈ve follicular B cells expressmembranebound immunoglobulins of the immunoglobulin (Ig)M and IgD isotype, which rely on the associated Iga and Igb for signal transduction. On T cell-dependent antigen-induced activation within the germinal center (GC), most B cells undergo isotype switching, mainly to IgG, and differentiate into Ig-secreting plasma cells or memory B cells. T-cell help is oftenmediated throughCD40, which serves as a costimulatory signal for B-cell growth, somatic hypermutation, and isotype switching. GC-B and memory B cells that express IgG, which has a much longer cytoplasmic tail than IgM and IgD, displaymore robust signaling onBCR activation, including higher levels of mitogen-activated protein kinase and calcium signaling, than naı̈ve IgM-expressing B cells, although the precise mechanistic differences between IgGand IgM-mediated signals are still debated. Diffuse large B-cell lymphomas (DLBCLs), representing the most common lymphoid malignancy in adults, derive from antigen-experienced B cells. DLBCLs with a more aggressive phenotype often commandeer BCR signaling in an antigen-independent fashion, and the BCR isotype is well correlated with B-cell lymphoma subtypes and disease progression. Although several oncogenes are often dysregulated in DLBCL, the mechanism that links BCR signaling, elevated oncoprotein expression, and lymphoma progression remains unknown. Signaling through the BCR triggers the activation of downstream pathways includingRas/Raf/MEK/Erk,AKT/MTOR, andp70s6K. MTORC1 phosphorylates and releases eIF4E-binding proteins (4EBPs), allowing eIF4E to bind eIF4G and the mRNA cap. Another substrate ofMTORC1 is p70s6K, which enhances the RNA helicase activity of eIF4A by phosphorylating EIF4B, allowing it to subsequently bind eIF4A. p70s6K also phosphorylates the eIF4A inhibitor PDCD4, which results in its bTRCP-mediated ubiquitination and degradation, freeing eIF4A for mRNA binding and cap-complex formation. Significantly, 86% of PDCD4 mice succumb toB-cell lymphomas. Furthermore, gene expression analysis of different B-cell compartments demonstrated that GC B cells have markedly repressed PDCD4 expression. A recent study demonstrated that the eIF4A cofactor,EIF4B, is overexpressed in DLBCL and results in the selective upregulation of mRNAs encoding antiapoptotic and DNA repair proteins. Conversely, the eIF4A inhibitors Hippuristanol and Silvestrol have shown a large degree of B-cell specificity and promise in treating B-cell malignancies.
Stability Analysis and Performance Comparison of Five 6 to 4 Relay Implementations

Even though the present form of IPv6 has been existing since 1998, the adoption of the new protocol has been very slow until recently. To help the adoption of the IPv6 protocol, several transition technologies were introduced. The 6to4 protocol is one of them, and it can be used when an IPv6 enabled host resides in an IPv4 only environment and needs to communicate with other hosts in such circumstances or with native IPv6 hosts. Five open source 6to4 relay implementations were investigated: Debian Linux – sit, Debian Linux – v4tunnel, OpenWrt – sit, FreeBSD – stf, NetBSD – stf. The measurement method is fully described including our measurement scripts and the results of the measurements are disclosed in detail. The measurements have shown that there are major differences between the different types of implementations.
A continuous cell alkaline lysis, neutralization, and clarification combination process for production of plasmid pUDK‐HGF

Plasmid DNA for biopharmaceutical applications is produced easily in Escherichia coli bacteria. The cell lysis is the most crucial step for purification of plasmid DNA. In this paper, we describe a continuous cell alkaline lysis, neutralization, and clarification combination process for production of plasmid pUDK‐HGF using hollow fiber ultrafiltration column as a lysis chamber and compare the plasmid DNA yield and homogeneity with the T‐connector and manual processes, respectively. The results show that the plasmid pUDK‐HGF yield of the combination process is 13% higher than manual lysis, twice higher than using T‐connector. When the proportion of lysed cells and neutralization solution is 3:1, the plasmid pUDK‐HGF yield can improve by 70%. This process could be easily scaled up to meet the industrial scale for cell lysis.
Transcriptional and Biochemical Analysis of Starch Metabolism in the Hyperthermophilic Archaeon Pyrococcus furiosus

ABSTRACT Pyrococcus furiosus utilizes starch and its degradation products, such as maltose, as primary carbon sources, but the pathways by which these α-glucans are processed have yet to be defined. For example, its genome contains genes proposed to encode five amylolytic enzymes (including a cyclodextrin glucanotransferase [CGTase] and amylopullulanase), as well as two transporters for maltose and maltodextrins (Mal-I and Mal-II), and a range of intracellular enzymes have been purified that reportedly metabolize maltodextrins and maltose. However, precisely which of these enzymes are involved in starch processing is not clear. In this study, starch metabolism in P. furiosus was examined by biochemical analyses in conjunction with global transcriptional response data for cells grown on a variety of glucans. In addition, DNA sequencing led to the correction of two key errors in the genome sequence, and these change the predicted properties of amylopullulanase (now designated PF1935*) and CGTase (PF0478*). Based on all of these data, a pathway is proposed that is specific for starch utilization that involves one transporter (Mal-II [PF1933 to PF1939]) and only three enzymes, amylopullulanase (PF1935*), 4-α-glucanotransferase (PF0272), and maltodextrin phosphorylase (PF1535). Their expression is upregulated on starch, and together they generate glucose and glucose-1-phosphate, which then feed into the novel glycolytic pathway of this organism. In addition, the results indicate that several hypothetical proteins encoded by three gene clusters are also involved in the transport and processing of α-glucan substrates by P. furiosus.
Construct Validity of the Relationship Profile Test

Studies suggest that overdependence and detachment have negative effects on psychological adjustment, health, and therapy process and outcome. In contrast, healthy dependency (i.e., flexible, situation-appropriate help and support seeking) has beneficial effects in each of these areas. In this investigation, 90 college students (50 women and 40 men) completed a battery of personality scales including the Relationship Profile Test (RPT), a 30-item measure of destructive overdependence, dysfunctional detachment, and healthy dependency. RPT scores showed the expected patterns of subscale intercorrelations, gender differences, and links with measures of attachment style, identity, relatedness, and affect. Implications of these results for the construct validity of the RPT are discussed in the context of theoretical models of dependency-detachment.
Metamaterial-line based feed-networks for wideband circularly polarized antennas

This paper presents a number of metamaterial-line based feed-networks for wideband circularly polarized (CP) antennas. These feed-networks were designed and fabricated using lumped-element integrated microstrip transmission-lines that were synthesized by using metamaterial transmission-line concept. Design examples for dual-fed, triple-fed and four-element CP antennas are demonstrated. Excellent performance and reduced substrate sizes were achieved.
On the Driving Mechanism of the Annual Cycle of the Florida Current Transport

The mechanisms involved in setting the annual cycle of the Florida Current transport are revisited using an adjoint model approach. Adjoint sensitivities of the Florida Current transport to wind stress reproduce a realistic seasonal cycle with an amplitude of ~1.2 Sv (1 Sv ≡ 106 m3 s−1). The annual cycle is predominantly determined by wind stress forcing and related coastal upwelling (downwelling) north of the Florida Strait along the shelf off the North American coast. Fast barotropic waves propagate these anomalies southward and reach the Florida Strait within a month, causing an amplitude of ~1 Sv. Long baroclinic planetary Rossby waves originating from the interior are responsible for an amplitude of ~0.8 Sv but have a different phase. The sensitivities corresponding to the first baroclinic mode propagate westward and are highly influenced by topography. Considerable sensitivities are only found west of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, with maximum values at the western shelf edge. The second baroclinic mode also has an impact on the Florida Current variability, but only when a mean flow is present. A second-mode wave train propagates southwestward from the ocean bottom on the western side of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between ~36° and 46°N and at Flemish Cap, where the mean flow interacts with topography, to the surface. Other processes such as baroclinic waves along the shelf and local forcing within the Florida Strait are of minor importance.
Interleukin-17 Stimulates Chemokine (Interleukin-8 and Monocyte Chemoattractant Protein-1) Secretion in Human Pancreatic Periacinar Myofibroblasts

Background: Interleukin (IL)-17 is a newly identified T-cell-derived cytokine that can regulate the functions of a variety of cell types. In this study, we investigated the effects of CD4 + T-cell-derived cytokines on chemokine secretion in human pancreatic periacinar myofibroblasts. Methods: The secretion of IL-8 and monocyte chemoattractant protein (MCP)-1 was evaluated by ELISA and Northern blot. The expression of IL-17 receptor (R) was analyzed by Northern blot and a binding assay using 125 I-labeled IL-17. The activation of nuclear factor- s B (NF- s B) was assessed by an electrophoretic gel mobility shift assay (EMSA). Results: IL-17 induced a dose-dependent increase in IL-8 and MCP-1 secretion. The effects of IL-17 on IL-8 and MCP-1 mRNA abundance reached a maximum as early as 3 h, and then gradually decreased. IL-17 and IFN- n synergistically increased IL-8 secretion and additively enhanced MCP-1 secretion. IFN- n induced a weak increase in IL-17R mRNA abundance, but incubation with IFN- n for 24 h had no effects on 125 I-labeled IL-17-binding, indicating that the co-stimulatory effects of IL-17 and IFN- n were not regulated by the modulation of IL-17R expression. Furthermore, IL-17 induced a rapid increase in NF- s B DNA-binding activity, and the combination of IL-17 and IFN- n further enhanced NF- s B DNA-binding activity. Conclusions: In conclusion, it becomes clear that IL-17 is an inducer of IL-8 and MCP-1 secretion in human pancreatic periacinar myofibroblasts. The combination of IL-17 with IFN- n further enhances chemokine secretion. These findings indicate a linkage between T-cell-mediated immunity and inflammatory responses in the pancreas.
Approximation Strategy Based on Data Merging for Static Data Management in Networks

we studied static data management problem based on data merging in general networks with object to minimize the total costs. By using greedy and LP-dual method, an initial placement is acquired. Given network \emph{G=(V, E)} and data set \emph{X}, we can achieve a constant ratio approximation algorithm.The key of our method is to construct some clusters based on hierarchical structure for requests. In order to get the initial placement, we preciously discuss an approximation strategy for a variance of facility location with service installation cost.