Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Adequacy of Dialysis in Automated Peritoneal Dialysis: A Clinical Experience

Objectives To compare the peritoneal clearances of urea and creatinine in continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) with three types of automated peritoneal dialysis (APD): continuous cycling peritoneal dialysis (CCPD), 50% tidal peritoneal dialysis (TPD), and 25% TPD and to assess the usefulness of the peritoneal equilibration test (PET) in predicting peritoneal clearances in overnight APD. Patients Eleven uremic patients (mean age 44.5 ± 15.45 years with a mean time on dialysis of 42.63 ± 25.62 months) were included in the study. Measurements PET for urea and creatinine following Twardowski's method. Peritoneal clearances for urea and creatinine CAPD: samples of blood and dialysate within 24 hours. APD: blood mean levels of urea and creatinine before and after nighttime dialysis. Dialysate: urea and creatinine in nocturnal and daytime dialysate. Results Peritoneal clearance of creatinine was 38.14 ± 9.99 L/week/1.73 m2 in CAPD, 44.28 ± 12.4 L/week/1.73 m2 in CCPD, 50.07 ± 17.86 L/week/1.73 m2 in 50% TPD (p < 0.05) and 40.18 ± 6.65 L/week/1.73 m2 in 25% TPD. Peritoneal clearance of urea improved significantly in the three modalities of APD: 51.91 ± 12.58 L/week/1.73 m2 in CAPD; 66.7 ± 9.9 L/week/1. 73 m2 in CCPD (p < 0.05); 76.3 ± 14.5 L/week/1. 73 m2 in 50% TPD (p < 0.001) and 64.3 ± 11.4 L/week/1.73 m2 in 25% TPD (p < 0.05). The dialysatel plasma (DIP) ratio of creatinine at 30,60, 120,180, and 240 minutes showed significant correlation with nighttime APD clearance. Nevertheless, only the DIP ratio of urea at 30, 60, and 120 minutes correlated with overnight APD clearance. Conclusions A remarkable improvement was observed with APD regarding the clearance of urea mainly when 50% tidal peritoneal dialysis was used, whereas it was less noticeable in the clearance of creatinine. The PET is a helpful tool in predicting overnight peritoneal clearances of creatinine but it is less useful in predicting urea clearance.
Retrieval-induced forgetting, delay, and sleep

Retrieval-induced forgetting (RIF) refers to the finding that retrieval of a subset of previously studied material can cause forgetting of related unpractised material. Prior work on the role of delay between practice and test for RIF reported mixed results. Whereas some studies found RIF to be a relatively transient phenomenon, others found RIF to persist over time. We examined whether the persistence of RIF can depend on whether wakefulness or sleep follows retrieval practice. We employed a variant of the retrieval-practice paradigm with short (20 minutes) and long (12 hours) delay conditions. In all conditions participants studied a perceptually categorised list followed by retrieval practice on some of the items from some of the categories. Participants studied and practised the material in the morning or the evening. RIF was present in the short-delay conditions, and it was present in the long-delay condition if the delay included nocturnal sleep; if the long delay was filled with diurnal wakefulness, RIF was absent. Results show that whether delay eliminates RIF or not can depend on whether sleep or wake follows retrieval practice. Connections of the results to recent findings about the role of delay and sleep for RIF are discussed.
An ultrastructural and radioautographic study of the evolution of the interphase nucleus in plant meristematic cells (Allium porrum).

Radioautography under both light and electron microscopy was exploited to investigate the structural changes of the chromatin reticulum which characterizes the interphase nucleus of a number of plants. Allium porrum meristematic plant cells were used for this purpose. In this species, the telophase chromosomes uncoil into dense strands which, during the G1 period, gradually give rise to a coarse reticulum. There then follows an extensive unravelling of portions of these strands, and high-resolution radioautography reveals that labelling with tritiated thymidine predominantly occurs over zones of the nucleus consisting of diffuse fine fibrillar material. As the S-period progresses, a chromatin reticulum reappears throughout the nuclear cavity, the tortuous strands being approximately 0.25 µm in diameter. Most of the radioautographic grains still remain over the light nucleoplasmic areas but a number of these are now located on the outermost portion of the dense chromatin profiles. By the end of the S-period, the chromatin strands are slightly thicker (ca. 0.3 µm) and form a looser reticulum. Labelling has decreased noticeably in nuclei of that period, the radioautographic grains being grouped into clusters resting over more or less spherical regions of the chromatin reticulum. Judging from their localization at the surface of the nucleolus or close to the nuclear envelope, these structures correspond to chromocentres. The additional interesting finding that such nuclear structures appear much less compactly organized strongly suggests that chromocentres undergo important conformational modifications during duplication of their DNA.
Pseudo-MDPs and factored linear action models

In this paper we introduce the concept of pseudo-MDPs to develop abstractions. Pseudo-MDPs relax the requirement that the transition kernel has to be a probability kernel. We show that the new framework captures many existing abstractions. We also introduce the concept of factored linear action models; a special case. Again, the relation of factored linear action models and existing works are discussed. We use the general framework to develop a theory for bounding the suboptimality of policies derived from pseudo-MDPs. Specializing the framework, we recover existing results. We give a leastsquares approach and a constrained optimization approach of learning the factored linear model as well as efficient computation methods. We demonstrate that the constrained optimization approach gives better performance than the least-squares approach with normalization.
Passatempo Virus, a Vaccinia Virus Strain, Brazil

Passatempo virus was isolated during a zoonotic outbreak. Biologic features and molecular characterization of hemagglutinin, thymidine kinase, and vaccinia growth factor genes suggested a vaccinia virus infection, which strengthens the idea of the reemergence and circulation of vaccinia virus in Brazil. Molecular polymorphisms indicated that Passatempo virus is a different isolate.
Spectral Graph Clustering

Spectral clustering is a powerful technique in data analysis that has found increasing support and application in many areas. This report is geared to give an introduction to its methods, presenting the most common algorithms, discussing advantages and disadvantages of each, rather than endorsing one of them as the best, because, arguably, there is no black-box algorithm, which performs equally well for any data. We present results from previous studies and conclude that methods based on Ncut and multiway are most promising for general application.
The Incompleteness of Planning with Volatile External Information

In many real-world planning environments, some of the information about the world is both external (the planner must request it from external information sources) and volatile (it changes before the planning process completes). In such environments, a planner faces two challenges: how to generate plans despite changes in the external information during planning, and how to guarantee that a plan returned by the planner will remain valid for some period of time after the planning ends. Previous works on planning with volatile information have addressed the first challenge, but not the second one. This paper provides a general model for planning with volatile external information in which the planner offers a guarantee of how long the solution will remain valid after it is returned, and an incompleteness theorem showing that there is no planner that can succeed in solving all solvable planning problems in which there is volatile external information.
Calibration for augmented reality experimental testbeds

The Virtual Hand Lab (VHL) is an an augmented reality envimnment for conducting experiments in human perception and motor performance that involve grasping, manipulation, and other 3D tasks that people perform with their hands. The hardware and software testbed supports both physical and virtual objects, and object behaviors that cm be specified in advance by experimenters. A testbed for conducting experiments must provide visual stimuli that depend on the configuration of the experimental apparatus, on the specific tasks that are being studied, and on the individual characteristics of each subject. Calibration is an important concern and is the subject of this paper. A proper design leads to independent calibration steps that modularize the subsystems that require calibration and explicitly recognize and order the dependencies among them. We describe how the architecture for the VHL was designed to support independent apparatus-specific, experiment-specific, and subject-specific calibrations. The architecture offers benefits for any augmented reality environment by reducing m-calibration times and identifying appropriate modularization in the software that can result in a more robust and efficient implementation.
Is the Photosuturing Agent, Rose Bengal, a Mutagen?

Rose Bengal (RB) is a potential photosuturing agent that may improve standard dermatologic surgical closure techniques. However, RB produces reactive oxygen species with photoactivation and its photomutagenic potential must be considered in clinical application. We investigated cytotoxicity, mutagenicity, and singlet oxygen (SO) production of RB on epithelial Chinese hamster ovary cell line. Cells were exposed to RB concentrations: 0.1%, 0.01%, 0.001%, 0.0001%, 0.00001%; irradiated for 400 s using a high-intensity visible wavelength lamp or maintained in the dark. Cell viability was assessed by XTT assay, mutagenicity by HPRT gene mutation assay, and SO production by Sensor Green reagent. RB > 0.001% was significantly cytotoxic. Viabilities were uninfluenced by ≤0.0001% RB controls, or 30-min incubation. 49% of irradiated cells died after 24-h in 0.0001% RB. At ≥0.001% RB, >90% of cells died. Irradiating 0.00001% - 0.001% RB increased SO; levels dropped significantly between 0.01% - 0.1%. Controls exhibited negligible SO production. HPRT suggested that RB was not mutagenic (0.0001%, 0.00001%); SO induction increased between 0.00001% - 0.001%, with reduced production at higher concentrations. Pilot studies suggested irradiated 0.0001% RB is mutagenic in vitro; current data suggest RB is not photomutagenic. The contribution of RB’s cytotoxicity on observed clinical improvement of scars and mutagenic potential remains unclear, necessitating further study.
Social suggestibility to central and peripheral misinformation

This study used a laboratory-based paradigm to investigate social influences on participants’ susceptibility to misleading suggestions. Participants viewed a video clip of an action sequence with one or more peers, and then were required to discuss the event with the co-witness or with the group of co-witnesses. During the discussion a confederate, posing as a peer, presented misinformation about central and peripheral features of the co-witnessed event. Results indicated that participants were more susceptible to misleading suggestions during one-on-one discussions than during group discussions. In addition, participants were susceptible to misleading suggestions about central features of the witnessed event, although to a lesser extent than they were susceptible to misleading suggestions about peripheral features.
A novel approach for the annulus needle puncture model of intervertebral disc degeneration in rabbits.

OBJECTIVE To create the rabbit animal model of intervertebral disc (IVD) degeneration by the annulus needle puncture technique through a novel transabdominal approach. METHODS Thirteen New Zealand White rabbits underwent annular puncture at the L3/4, L4/5, and L5/6 discs through a transabdominal approach. For a longitudinal study to assess changes in disc height over time, serial X-rays, T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) (T2WI), and T2 mapping MRI were performed pre-operation and at 2, 4, and 6 weeks after puncture. Three rabbits were randomly selected for histological evaluation at 4 weeks post-operation. In addition, the remaining rabbits underwent a second surgery at 6 weeks after puncture. RESULTS All rabbits underwent the initial and second surgeries successfully without nerve-related complications. The operations had no significant effects on the rabbit body weight, and partial mild intra-abdominal adhesions were found in only 1 rabbit. The punctured discs were confirmed to be those of interest post-surgery and displayed progressive degeneration in disc height index (%), T2WI, and T2 relaxation time over time. At 4 weeks after puncture, a histological analysis revealed notochordal cell loss from the nucleus pulposus, fibrocartilage filling the nucleus pulposus space, and annulus fibrosus disorganization. CONCLUSION The annular needle puncture model established through a transabdominal approach, which demonstrates better visualization, exact identification, consistent degeneration degrees and minimal complications, is radiologically and histologically consistent with human IVD degeneration. T2 mapping MRI can quantitatively discriminate between grades of mild degeneration.
Antioxidant and protective effects of Phytocee™ against carbon tetrachloride-induced oxidative stress

Background: This study evaluated the antioxidant potential of a polyherbal formulation (Phytocee™) in the rodent model. Materials and Methods: Four groups of rats (n = 6) were pretreated with Vitamin C (20 mg/kg) or Phytocee™ (20, 100, and 200 mg/kg), respectively for 10 days. Oxidative stress in rat liver was induced by administration of carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) at 2 ml/kg as a single dose orally to all groups except the vehicle control group. After 24 h of administration of CCl4, hepatic levels of malondialdehyde (MDA), serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), hepatic superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase, and reduced glutathione (GSH) levels were evaluated. Results: Phytocee™ administered groups at all the dose levels significantly reduced the hepatic MDA, serum ALT and AST levels with a marked increase in hepatic SOD and catalase as compared with CCl4 treated group. Conclusion: The findings suggest that Phytocee™ markedly reversed the effects of CCl4 induced oxidative stress and can be used as an antioxidant feed supplement.
Carbohydrate recognition in the peripheral nervous system: a calcium- dependent membrane binding site for HNK-1 reactive glycolipids potentially involved in Schwann cell adhesion

The carbohydrate determinants recognized by the HNK-1 antibody are potential cell-cell recognition ligands in the peripheral nervous system (PNS). The HNK-1 reactive sulfoglucuronylneolacto (SGNL) glycolipids specifically support Schwann cell adhesion, suggesting the presence of a cell surface receptor specific for SGNL-oligosaccharides. We directly probed PNS membranes for receptors complementary to SGNL determinants using a synthetic radioligand consisting of radioiodinated serum albumin derivatized with multiple SGNL-oligosaccharides. A high- affinity, saturable, calcium-dependent binding site for this ligand was found in PNS myelin membranes. Binding activity was carbohydrate- specific (most potently inhibited by SGNL-lipids compared to other glycolipids) and PNS-specific (absent from comparable central nervous system membranes). The SGNL-specific binding activity on PNS membranes reported here may be involved in peripheral myelination or myelin stabilization.
Simulation on Positive Temperature Coefficient Heat Ex-changer in Electric Vehicle

Different from the conventional vehicle, there is no low quality heat to be used in the electric vehicle (EV); therefore, additional high efficient heating system is essential for EV. Positive temperature coefficient (PTC) water heater has been widely used as one of the steadiest heating methods. This paper analyzed the performance of series of designed structures by numerical simulation, capacity at different temperature, the heat resistance, flow field and temperature field of flow were obtained and an optimization direction was proposed.
Comparing cortisol, stress, and sensory sensitivity in children with autism

Previously we reported that children with autism show significant variability in cortisol. The current investigation was designed to extend these findings by exploring plausible relationships between cortisol and psychological measures of stress and sensory functioning. Salivary cortisol values for diurnal rhythms and response to stress in children with and without autism were compared to parent‐report measures of child stress, the Stress Survey Schedule (SSS), sensory functioning, Short Sensory Profile (SSP), and Parenting Stress Index. In autism, a negative relationship between morning cortisol and the SSS revealed that higher observed symptoms of stress were related to lower cortisol. Lower cortisol is seen in conditions of chronic stress and in social situations characterized by unstable social relationships. Sensory sensitivity painted a more complicated picture, in that some aspects of SSP were associated with higher while others were associated with lower cortisol. We propose that increased sensory sensitivity may enhance the autistic child's susceptibility to the influence of zeitgeibers reflected in variable cortisol secretion. Evening cortisol was positively associated with SSS such that the higher the level of evening cortisol, the higher the child's parent‐reported daily stress, especially to changes, such as in daily routine. Regarding the response to stress, the psychological and parent variables did not differentiate the groups; rather, discrete subgroups of cortisol responders and nonresponders were revealed in both the autism and neurotypical children. The results support a complex interplay between physiological and behavioral stress and sensory sensitivity in autism and plausible developmental factors influencing stress reactivity across the groups.
Process optimization for the electrospinning of polycaprolactone nanofibers using non-halogenated solvents

In this paper, polycaprolactone nanofibres were processed by electrospinning using a 3:1 ratio of tetrahydrofuran to methanol as solvent. The solvent choice was motivated by the possibility of greener alternatives to the halogenated compounds most often used for electrospinning. This paper presents the morphologies and fiber diameters resulting from the electrospinning of polycaprolactone solutions at room temperature under various conditions. The material morphology was characterized using scanning electron microscopy and a measuring software. The process was optimized for smaller fibers with a narrower fiber diameter distribution by studying parameters such as polymer concentration, applied voltage, the tip to collector distance, and the solution flow rate. The experimental results were modelled using terminal jet diameter theory used in several referenced work. The theory behind this model was used to analyse the experimental observations made in the current paper. Process parameters were optimal for a 20% polycaprolactone concentration spun at a flow rate of 0.5 mL/h, with a tip to collector distance of 15 cm and an applied voltage of 8 kV. Fibers spun under these conditions displayed diameters of 546 ± 173 nm.
Quantum Monte Carlo simulations of solids

This article describes the variational and fixed-node diffusion quantum Monte Carlo methods and how they may be used to calculate the properties of many-electron systems. These stochastic wave-function-based approaches provide a very direct treatment of quantum many-body effects and serve as benchmarks against which other techniques may be compared. They complement the less demanding density-functional approach by providing more accurate results and a deeper understanding of the physics of electronic correlation in real materials. The algorithms are intrinsically parallel, and currently available high-performance computers allow applications to systems containing a thousand or more electrons. With these tools one can study complicated problems such as the properties of surfaces and defects, while including electron correlation effects with high precision. The authors provide a pedagogical overview of the techniques and describe a selection of applications to ground and excited states of solids and clusters.
Self-Rotation of Cells in an Irrotational AC E-Field in an Opto-Electrokinetics Chip

The use of optical dielectrophoresis (ODEP) to manipulate microparticles and biological cells has become increasingly popular due to its tremendous flexibility in providing reconfigurable electrode patterns and flow channels. ODEP enables the parallel and free manipulation of small particles on a photoconductive surface on which light is projected, thus eliminating the need for complex electrode design and fabrication processes. In this paper, we demonstrate that mouse cells comprising melan-a cells, RAW 267.4 macrophage cells, peripheral white blood cells and lymphocytes, can be manipulated in an opto-electrokinetics (OEK) device with appropriate DEP parameters. Our OEK device generates a non-rotating electric field and exerts a localized DEP force on optical electrodes. Hitherto, we are the first group to report that among all the cells investigated, melan-a cells, lymphocytes and white blood cells were found to undergo self-rotation in the device in the presence of a DEP force. The rotational speed of the cells depended on the voltage and frequency applied and the cells' distance from the optical center. We discuss a possible mechanism for explaining this new observation of induced self-rotation based on the physical properties of cells. We believe that this rotation phenomenon can be used to identify cell type and to elucidate the dielectric and physical properties of cells.
Power Efficiency for Variation-Tolerant Multicore Processors

Challenges in multicore processor design include meeting demands for performance, power, and reliability. The progression towards deep submicron process technologies entails increasing challenges of process variability resulting in timing instabilities and leakage power variation. This work introduces an analytical approach for ensuring timing reliability while meeting the appropriate performance and power demands in spite of process variation. We validate our analytical model using Turandot to simulate an 8-core PowerPCtrade processor. We first examine a simplified case of our model on a platform running independent multiprogrammed workloads consisting of all 26 of the SPEC 2000 benchmarks. Our simple model accurately predicts the cutoff point with a mean error less than 0.5 W. Next, we extend our analysis to parallel programming by incorporating Amdahl's law in our equations. We use this relation to establish limit properties of power-performance for scaling parallel applications, and validate our findings using 8 applications from the SPLASH-2 benchmark suite