Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Role of Cross‐Sectional Geometry, Curvature, and Limb Posture in Maintaining Equal Safety Factors: A Computed Tomography Study

The limb bones of an elephant are considered to experience similar peak locomotory stresses as a shrew. “Safety factors” are maintained across the entire range of body masses through a combination of robusticity of long bones, postural variation, and modification of gait. The relative contributions of these variables remain uncertain. To test the role of shape change, we undertook X‐ray tomographic scans of the leg bones of 60 species of mammals and birds, and extracted geometric properties. The maximum resistible forces the bones could withstand before yield under compressive, bending, and torsional loads were calculated using standard engineering equations incorporating curvature. Positive allometric scaling of cross‐sectional properties with body mass was insufficient to prevent negative allometry of bending (Fb) and torsional maximum force (Ft) (and hence decreasing safety factors) in mammalian (femur Fb∞Mb0.76, Ft∞Mb0.80; tibia Fb∞Mb0.80, Ft∞Mb0.76) and avian hindlimbs (tibiotarsus Fb∞Mb0.88, Ft∞Mb0.89) with the exception of avian femoral Fb and Ft. The minimum angle from horizontal a bone must be held while maintaining a given safety factor under combined compressive and bending loads increases with Mb, with the exception of the avian femur. Postural erectness is shown as an effective means of achieving stress similarity in mammals. The scaling behavior of the avian femur is discussed in light of unusual posture and kinematics. Anat Rec, 296:395–413, 2013. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Fluorescence and Multiphoton Imaging Resolve Unique Structural Forms of Sterol in Membranes of Living Cells*

Although cholesterol is an essential component of mammalian membranes, resolution of cholesterol organization in membranes and organelles (i.e. lysosomes) of living cells is hampered by the paucity of nondestructive, nonperturbing methods providing real time structural information. Advantage was taken of the fact that the emission maxima of a naturally occurring fluorescent sterol (dehydroergosterol) were resolvable into two structural forms, monomeric (356 and 375 nm) and crystalline (403 and 426 nm). Model membranes (sterol:phospholipid ratios in the physiological range,e.g. 0.5–1.0), subcellular membrane fractions (plasma membranes, lysosomal membranes, microsomes, and mitochondrial membranes), and lipid rafts/caveolae (plasma membrane cholesterol-rich microdomain purified by a nondetergent method) contained primarily monomeric sterol and only small quantities (i.e. 1–5%) of the crystalline form. In contrast, the majority of sterol in isolated lysosomes was crystalline. However, addition of sterol carrier protein-2 in vitro significantly reduced the proportion of crystalline dehydroergosterol in the isolated lysosomes. Multiphoton laser scanning microscopy (MPLSM) of living L-cell fibroblasts cultured with dehydroergosterol for the first time provided real time images showing the presence of monomeric sterol in plasma membranes, as well as other intracellular membrane structures of living cells. Furthermore, MPLSM confirmed that crystalline sterol colocalized in highest amounts with LysoTracker Green, a lysosomal marker dye. Although crystalline sterol was also detected in the cytoplasm, the extralysosomal crystalline sterol did not colocalize with BODIPY FL C5-ceramide, a Golgi marker, and crystals were not associated with the cell surface membrane. These noninvasive, nonperturbing methods demonstrated for the first time that multiple structural forms of sterol normally occurred within membranes, membrane microdomains (lipid rafts/caveolae), and intracellular organelles of living cells, both in vitro and visualized in real time by MPLSM.
Edge spreading design of high rate array-based SC-LDPC codes

Absorbing sets (ASs) are combinatorially defined objects existing in the Tanner graph of a low-density parity-check (LDPC) code that have been shown to cause failures in the iterative message-passing decoder when transmission occurs over the additive white Gaussian noise channel. In this paper, we propose an edge spreading approach to construct high rate array-based spatially-coupled LDPC codes by jointly optimizing the AS spectrum and the minimum distance. By considering general edge spreadings and by considering a larger memory, we show that strictly better codes can be constructed, both in terms of achievable minimum distance for small-to-moderate block lengths and in terms of the number of small ASs.
Releasable conjunctival suture for adjustable suture surgery.

BACKGROUND Adjustable sutures are widely used in adult strabismus surgery, with a second procedure performed to close the conjunctiva irrespective of whether adjustment is required. We describe a technique where the conjunctiva is closed using a buried releasable suture, eliminating the second procedure if adjustment is deemed unnecessary. METHOD The conjunctiva is closed using a 6/0 absorbable polyglactin 910 releasable suture. It is tied in a bow, like the muscle sutures, and tucked under the conjunctiva. If adjustment is not required, the eye does not need to be touched because the conjunctiva is secured by the suture. If adjustment is required, it is easy to untie the conjunctival suture, allowing good exposure to the underlying muscle sutures. RESULTS In our prospective series of 30 patients, we found our technique effective and patient friendly. Patients had at least 3 months of follow-up with no significant complications. CONCLUSIONS This technique is acceptable, accessible, and time saving for both surgeons and patients. It is especially useful for anxious patients and adolescents, for whom postoperative manipulation can be difficult, and for cases where the probability of adjustment is low.
Gene Transfer and Genome Plasticity in Thermotoga maritima, a Model Hyperthermophilic Species

ABSTRACT The genome sequence of the hyperthermophilic bacterium Thermotoga maritima MSB8 presents evidence for lateral gene transfer events between bacterial and archaeal species. To estimate the extent of genomic diversity across the order Thermotogales, a comparative genomic hybridization study was initiated to compare nine Thermotoga strains to the sequenced T. maritima MSB8. Many differences could be associated with substrate utilization patterns, which are most likely a reflection of the environmental niche that these individual species occupy. A detailed analysis of some of the predicted variable regions demonstrates many examples of the deletion/insertion of complete cassettes of genes and of gene rearrangements and insertions of DNA within genes, with the C or N terminus being retained. Although the mechanism for gene transfer in this lineage remains to be elucidated, this analysis suggests possible associations with repetitive elements and highlights the possible benefits of rampant genetic exchange to these species.
Efficacy of azole therapy for tegumentary leishmaniasis: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Background Several controlled and uncontrolled studies addressing azole antifungal drugs for cutaneous and mucosal leishmaniasis have been published with inconclusive results. We conducted a systematic literature review of studies evaluating the efficacy and toxicity associated with azole therapy for tegumentary leishmaniasis. Methodology PRISMA guidelines for systematic reviews and the Cochrane manual were followed, and the review methodology was registered (PROSPERO; CRD42016048668). Sources included the EMBASE, Web of Science, MEDLINE, LILACS, and IBECS databases along with a manual search of references from evaluated studies. Additional resources such as Google Scholar and clinicaltrials.gov were also searched. We included all studies reporting cure rate after cutaneous or mucosal leishmaniasis treatment with systemic azole drugs, regardless of their design. R software was used to estimate global rates of success and adverse events with each drug. The main outcome of interest was clinical cure, defined as complete re-epithelialization of all lesions. Results A total of 37 studies involving 1259 patients that reported outcomes after fluconazole (9), ketoconazole (14) and itraconazole (15) treatments were included. Only 14 (38%) were randomized controlled trials (RCT). The pooled azole final efficacy rate was 64% (CI95%: 57–70%) for all studies and 60% (CI95%: 50–70%) (p = 0.41) if only RCTs studies were considered. Twenty-four studies were conducted in the Old World and 13 studies in the Americas. The final efficacy rate according to New and Old World were 62% (CI95%: 43–77%) and 66% (CI95%: 58–73%), respectively. The final efficacy rate of azoles according to species were 89% (CI95%: 50–98%) for L. mexicana; 88% for L. infantum (CI95%: 27–99%); 80% for L. donovani; 53% (CI95%: 29–76%) for L. major; 49% for L. braziliensis (CI95%: 21–78%); and 15% (CI95%: 1–84%) for L. tropica. The cure rates were similar among the fluconazole, ketoconazole and itraconazole group arms (p = 0.89), specifically 61% (CI95%: 48–72%), 64% (CI95%: 44–80%) 65% (CI95%: 56–72%), respectively. Adverse events during fluconazole, itraconazole and ketoconazole therapy were reported in 7% (CI95%: 3–14%), 12% (CI95% 8–19%) and 13% (CI95%: 6–29%) of treated patients, respectively, without difference among them (p = 0.35). This systematic review included studies with small samples and both non-comparative and non-randomized studies and the main limitation was the low quality of the available studies. Conclusions Available evidence suggests that fluconazole, ketoconazole and itraconazole have similar and modest efficacy rates for tegumentary leishmaniasis treatment. There is insufficient evidence to support the exclusive use of azole therapy as a single agent for leishmaniasis treatment.
Scheduling and Provision of Secondary Frequency Reserves by Aggregations of Commercial Buildings

Due to thermal inertia, commercial buildings can provide power system frequency reserves with the heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems. In this paper, we follow up on a recently proposed framework for scheduling and provision of secondary frequency control (SFC) reserves within a building aggregation. We extend this framework with a new reserve scheduling formulation, which is based on a combination of robust and stochastic optimization, to allocate reserve capacities among buildings. The HVAC system setpoints are determined by a model predictive controller, the frequency signal is tracked by heat pump (HP) control with virtually no occupant discomfort, and the tracking quality is evaluated using a dynamic HP model. In simulations, we consider an aggregation of typical Swiss office buildings and compare the robust and stochastic reserve scheduling approaches in terms of performance and complexity. Using the framework, we demonstrate the importance of energy constrained SFC signals and asymmetric reserves with hourly resolution, and we investigate the sensitivity of reserves on the comfort zone's width, capacity payments, and HP constraints. Finally, we show that commercial buildings can track SFC signals well and substitute generators in SFC.
Improving playback quality of peer-to-peer live streaming systems by joint scheduling and distributed Hash table based compensation

In Peer-to-Peer (P2P) streaming systems, video data may be lost since peers can join and leave the overlay network randomly, thereby deteriorating the video playback quality. In this paper we propose a new hybrid mesh and Distributed Hash Table (DHT) based P2P streaming system, called HQMedia, to provide high playback quality to users by maintaining high data dissemination resilience with a low overhead. In HQMedia, peers are classified into Super Peers (SP) and Common Peers (CP) according to their online time. SPs and CPs form a mesh structure, while SPs alone form a new Streaming DHT (SDHT) structure. In this hybrid architecture, we propose a joint scheduling and compensation mechanism. If any frames cannot be obtained during the scheduling phase, an SDHT-based compensation mechanism is invoked for retrieving the missing frames near the playback point. We evaluate the performance of HQMedia by both theoretical analysis and intensive simulation experiments on large-scale networks to demonstrate the effectiveness and scalability of the proposed system. Numerical results show that HQMedia significantly outperforms existing mesh-based and treebased P2P live streaming systems by improving playback quality with only less than 1% extra maintenance overhead.
Coupling of multicellular morphogenesis and cellular differentiation by an unusual hybrid histidine protein kinase in Myxococcus xanthus

We describe an unusual hybrid histidine protein kinase, which is important for spatially coupling cell aggregation and sporulation during fruiting body formation in Myxococcus xanthus. A rodK mutant makes abnormal fruiting bodies and spores develop outside the fruiting bodies. RodK is a soluble, cytoplasmic protein, which contains an N‐terminal sensor domain, a histidine protein kinase domain and three receiver domains. In vitro phosphorylation assays showed that RodK possesses kinase activity. Kinase activity is essential for RodK function in vivo. RodK is present in vegetative cells and remains present until the late aggregation stage, after which the level decreases in a manner that depends on the intercellular A‐signal. Genetic evidence suggests that RodK may regulate multiple temporally separated events during fruiting body formation including stimulation of early developmental gene expression, inhibition of A‐signal production and inhibition of the intercellular C‐signal transduction pathway. We speculate that RodK undergoes a change in activity during development, which is reflected in changes in phosphotransfer to the receiver domains.
Venographic assessment of deep vein thrombosis and risk of developing post‐thrombotic syndrome: a prospective study

Abstract. It is well known that patients with deep vein thrombosis (DVT) constitute a risk group for development of pulmonary embolism. However, the relation of DVT and the extent thereof with the subsequent sequelae (post‐thrombotic syndrome) are insufficiently investigated. We have prospectively studied a series of consecutive patients admitted because of DVT on lower limbs, trying to correlate venographic findings during acute DVT with post‐thrombotic (PTS) symptoms that develop later.
Shades of blue: what do competing interpretations of the Blue Economy mean for oceans governance?

ABSTRACT The ‘Blue Economy’ is an increasingly popular term in modern marine and ocean governance. The concept seeks to marry ocean-based development opportunities with environmental stewardship and protection. Yet different actors are co-opting this term in competing, and often conflicting ways. Four conceptual interpretations of the Blue Economy are identified, through examination of dominant discourses within international Blue Economy policy documents and key ‘grey’ literature. The way the Blue Economy is enacted is also examined, through an analysis of the Blue Economy ‘in practice’, and the actors involved. Finally, the scope of the Blue Economy is explored, with a particular focus on which particular marine industries are included or excluded from different conceptualizations. This analysis reveals areas of both consensus and conflict. Areas of consensus reflect the growing trend towards commodification and valuation of nature, the designation and delimitation of spatial boundaries in the oceans and increasing securitization of the world's oceans. Areas of conflict exist most notably around a divergence in opinions over the legitimacy of individual sectors as components of the ‘Blue Economy’, in particular, carbon-intensive industries like oil and gas, and the emerging industry of deep seabed mining.
Infusion of the Branched Chain Amino Acids in Postoperative Patients Anticatabolic Properties

Postinjury metabolism is characterized by breakdown of muscle protein as substrate for energy production and gluconeogenesis and by the resultant loss of lean body mass and weight loss. The branched chain amino acids (BCAAs) which are principally oxidized by the skeletal muscle have been implicated in recent in vitro and in vivo studies as having special anticatabolic and regulating effects in skeletal muscle. We studied the anticatabolic effects of the BCAAs in 35 patients undergoing operative injury of moderate severity. In a prospective randomized and blinded manner patients were infused for five days starting immediately after surgery with either 5% dextrose or 5% dextrose with an amino acid solution containing 22, 35 or 100% BCAAs. All patients survived and there were no major postoperative complications. Mean hospital stay was 17 days for patients receiving amino acids and 19 days for patients receiving 5% dextrose only (p = ns). All three groups receiving amino acid solutions were in nitrogen equilibrium or in a slight positive nitrogen balance, while the group receiving 5% dextrose only was in a mean negative nitrogen balance of 6.6 ± 0.6 gN/day. The differences between the three groups receiving amino acids were slight and not significant. Weight loss was 2 ± 0.7 kg in the 5% dextrose group, 1 ± 0.7 kg in the 22% BCAAs group, 0.5 ± 0.5 kg in the 35% BCAAs group and the 100% BCAAs group gained 0.4 ± 1.8 kg. Blood chemistries in the different groups and during the study period remained within normal limits except for ammonia levels rising significantly in the 5% dextrose group and SGOT levels rising in the 22% and 35% BCAA groups. With mild variations the plasma amino acid patterns in all groups were similar to the normal pattern, even in the 100% BCAAs group receiving an unbalanced amino acid solution, suggesting the complete cessation of amino acid efflux from muscle, the muscle depending solely on the exogenous supply of BCAAs to satisfy its metabolic requirements. The results suggest that early nutritional suppport in the postoperative period will result in nitrogen equilibrium and that the infusion of the three BCAAs only in the postoperative state is as effective in preventing muscle catabolism as other more balanced amino acid solutions. In the postinjury state balanced amino acid solutions rich in BCAA may prove beneficial.
Assessment of flow in the right human coronary artery by magnetic resonance phase contrast velocity measurement: Effects of cardiac and respiratory motion

Flow in the human right coronary artery was determined using magnetic resonance phase contrast velocity quantification. Two methods were applied to reduce respiratory motion: imaging during breath holding, which is fast, and retrospective respiratory gating, which has a high temporal resolution (32 ms) in the cardiac cycle. Vessel cross‐sectional area, through‐plane velocity, and volume flow were determined in six healthy subjects. In‐plane vessel displacement during the cardiac cycle, caused by cardiac contraction, was about 2–4 mm within a time frame of 32 ms in systole and early diastole. The motion resulted in blurring of images obtained during breath holding caused by the large acquisition time window (126 ms) within the cardiac cycle. Therefore, only with a high temporal resolution correct velocity images over the entire cardiac cycle could be obtained. The time‐ and cross‐sectionally averaged velocity was 7 ± 2 cm/s, and the volume flow was 30 ± 10 ml/min.
Content-Based Image Retrieval Based on Integrating Region Segmentation and Relevance Feedback

In the research of content-based image retrieval, visual signature based on region was attracted more attention. To get the signature based on region, the crucial step is image segmentation, and reliable image segmentation is also critical to get the image shape description. Unfortunately, it has been demonstrated that accurate image segmentation is still an open problem. So some strategies for dealing with this problem is to reduce dependence on accurate image segmentation for a practical image retrieval system. Due to the semantic gap, there are still many shortcomings for image retrieval system only with the low level visual features. It is desirable for the relevance feedback based on the user participation in image retrieval system. Through the user's feedback, the corresponding high-level semantic will be obtained based on machine learning theory. Based on ``things cognition'' instead of ``things partition'', the high dimension biomimetic information geometry theory have made good results in many research fields. Based on this theory, to ``cognition'' the whole image characteristic through image segmented into main region and margin region, a prototype image retrieval system was made using the extracted features of color and texture. Combined the retrieval results with relevance feedback technology, image feature dimensional reduction was made using the linear discriminant analysis. It reduces semantic gap and the storage of image signatures, as well as improves the retrieval efficiency and performance. Experimental results on a subset of the COREL database showed the effectiveness of our proposed method.
Can We Use a Catheter to Do the Q-Tip Test?

OBJECTIVE: To compare two commonly used modifications to the standard Q-tip test for urethral hypermobility: catheter alone and catheter with Q-tip. METHODS: All women referred for the evaluation of urinary incontinence or pelvic organ prolapse were included in the study. A postvoid residual urine was collected on each patient and the angle of the urethra with the horizontal plane was measured at rest and with Valsalva with the Q-tip, catheter alone, and catheter with Q-tip. The test was considered positive if the angle of excursion was 30 degrees or more. RESULTS: In this group of 100 consecutive women with urinary incontinence or pelvic organ prolapse, the mean change in the angle was significantly different from the standard Q-tip test (51 degrees) when catheter alone (35 degrees, P<.001) or catheter with Q-tip modifications were used (44 degrees, P<.001). This difference was due to a significant reduction in the resting and Valsalva maneuver angles with the catheter alone, and a significant decrease only in the Valsalva maneuver angle with the catheter with Q-tip method (P<.001). The percentage of positive tests for the standard Q-tip test (92%) was significantly different from the catheter only method (63%, P<.001), and from the catheter with Q-tip technique (83%, P=.021). The “best match” values of 10 degrees for the catheter alone, and 15 degrees for the catheter with Q-tip methods produce the best equivalent results at this time. CONCLUSION: The use of a catheter, instead of a Q-tip, in the evaluation of urethral hypermobility resulted in reduced angles of excursion from resting to Valsalva maneuver. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: III