Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Development of haemostatic decontaminants for the treatment of wounds contaminated with chemical warfare agents. 1: Evaluation of in vitro clotting efficacy in the presence of certain contaminants

The treatment of penetrating, haemorrhaging injuries sustained within a hazardous environment may be complicated by contamination with toxic chemicals. There are currently no specific medical countermeasures for such injuries. Haemostats with an absorbent mechanism of action have the potential to simultaneously stop bleeding and decontaminate wounds. However, a primary requirement of a ‘haemostatic decontaminant’ is the retention of clotting function in the presence of chemical contaminants. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate the haemostatic efficacy of seven commercially available haemostats in the presence of toxic chemicals (soman, VX, sulphur mustard, petrol, aviation fuel and motor oil). Clot viscosity was assessed ex vivo using thrombelastography following treatment of pig blood with: (i) toxic chemical; (ii) haemostat; or (iii) haemostat in combination with toxic chemical. Several contaminants (VX, petrol and GD) were found to be pro‐haemostatic and none had an adverse effect on the rate with which the test products attained haemostasis. However, the total clot strength for blood treated with certain haemostats in the presence of sulphur mustard, soman and petrol was significantly decreased. Three test products failed to demonstrate haemostatic function in this ex vivo (thrombelastography) model; this was tentatively ascribed to the products achieving haemostasis through a tamponade mechanism of action, which can only be replicated using in vivo models. Overall, this study has identified a number of commercial products that may have potential as haemostatic decontaminants and warrant further investigation to establish their decontaminant efficacy. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Mutational analysis of the yeast multidrug resistance ABC transporter Pdr5p with altered drug specificity

Multidrug resistance ABC transporter Pdr5p of Saccharomyces cerevisiae is particularly important due to its ability to export a wide range of unrelated substrates. To clarify its function, we generated Pdr5p mutants by random mutagenesis and screened for mutants with altered drug specificity in vivo by using 5 drug compounds. Nine point mutations that caused significant changes in drug specificity distributed throughout the length of Pdr5p, namely, in the extracellular, transmembrane or cytoplasmic regions of the transporter. We then investigated their effects upon drug resistance, using 36 chemically related or distinct substrates. From this study, overall geometry of the Pdr5p was suggested to contribute in acquiring the enormous range of drug specificity. Based on their ability to inhibit the growth of the mutant strains, the 36 tested drugs were classified into: drugs to which the mutants responded differently (Group 1), drugs to which all the mutants showed sensitivity (Group 2), and drugs to which all the mutants exhibited resistance (Group 3). The ability of the compounds to be partitioned to the plasma membrane seemed an important factor for recognition by Pdr5p.
Dietary factors and in situ and invasive cervical cancer risk in the European prospective investigation into cancer and nutrition study

Some dietary factors could be involved as cofactors in cervical carcinogenesis, but evidence is inconclusive. There are no data about the effect of fruits and vegetables intake (F&V) on cervical cancer from cohort studies. We examined the association between the intake of F&V and selected nutrients and the incidence of carcinoma in situ (CIS) and invasive squamous cervical cancer (ISC) in a prospective study of 299,649 women, participating in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition study. Cox proportional hazard models were used to estimate adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI). A calibration study was used to control measurement errors in the dietary questionnaire. After a mean of 9 years of follow‐up, 253 ISC and 817 CIS cases were diagnosed. In the calibrated model, we observed a statistically significant inverse association of ISC with a daily increase in intake of 100 g of total fruits (HR 0.83; 95% CI 0.72–0.98) and a statistically nonsignificant inverse association with a daily increase in intake of 100 g of total vegetables (HR 0.85: 95% CI 0.65–1.10). Statistically nonsignificant inverse associations were also observed for leafy vegetables, root vegetables, garlic and onions, citrus fruits, vitamin C, vitamin E and retinol for ISC. No association was found regarding beta‐carotene, vitamin D and folic acid for ISC. None of the dietary factors examined was associated with CIS. Our study suggests a possible protective role of fruit intake and other dietary factors on ISC that need to be confirmed on a larger number of ISC cases.
Reagent for the Enzymatic Determination of Serum Total Triglycerides with Improved Lipolytic Efficiency

A fully enzymatic assay is described for the determination of triglycerides. The coupled activities of triacylglycerol acylhydrolase and glycerol kinase result in the formation of glycerol-3-phosphate. The system also contains L-alpha-glycerol-phosphate oxidase, which produces hydrogen peroxide from glycerol-3-phosphate, and a sensitive chromogenic indicator system, consisting of peroxidase, 4-chlorophenol and 4-aminophenazone. We evaluated this method with respect to kinetics, linearity, blank rates, precision, accuracy, reagent stability and interfering substances. The accuracy of the triglyceride assay demands that each enzymatic reaction step be complete and homogeneous. We therefore developed HPTLC-1) and HPLC-2) methods to monitor the course and completeness of each step.
Measurement and prediction of bark thickness in Picea abies: Assessment of accuracy, precision, and sample size requirements

Tree and log diameters are usually measured outside bark, but inside-bark diameters are of greater economic interest and are often derived with local or regional bark thickness equations. To date, the influence of measurement method, sampling design, and sample size on bark thickness equation accuracy and precision has received limited attention. The objectives of this study were to use an extensive regional bark thickness dataset for Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst) in southwestern Germany to (1) quantify the accuracy and precision of bark thickness measurements with a Swedish bark gauge, (2) determine the required number of measurements to assess the within-tree variation, and (3) estimate the required sample sizes per plot and per region to develop an accurate bark thickness prediction equation. Bark gauge readings were validated with measurements derived from X-ray computed tomography (CT) and indicate that Swedish bark gauges generally overestimated bark thickness by 13.6% ± 28.4% (mean ± stand.
Phage abortive infection mechanism from Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis, expression of which is mediated by an Iso-ISS1 element

A 5-kb DNA fragment conferring a phage abortive infection phenotype (Abi+) has been cloned from Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis IL416. The Abi+ determinant was subcloned on a 2-kb fragment which carried an Iso-ISS1 element and an open reading frame of 753 bp designated ORFX. Deletion within ORFX entailed the loss of the Abi+ phenotype, establishing that ORFX is the structural abi-416 gene. The expression of abi-416 was shown to be mediated by the Iso-ISS1 element, which contains a sequence fitting the consensus sequence for gram-positive promoters.
Segmentation, structure detection and summarization of multimedia sequences

This thesis investigates the problem of efficiently summarizing audio-visual sequences. The problem is important since consumers now have access to vast amounts of multimedia content, that can be viewed over a range of devices. The goal of this thesis is to be able to provide an adaptive framework for automatically generating a short multimedia clip as a summary, when given longer multimedia segment as input to the system. In our framework, the solution to the summarization problem is predicated on the solution to three important sub-problems—segmentation, structure detection and audio-visual condensation of the data. In the segmentation problem, we focus on the determination of computable scenes. These are segments of audio-visual data that are consistent with respect to certain low-level properties and which preserve the syntax of the original video. This work does not address the problem of semantics of the segments, since this is not a well posed problem. There are three novel ideas in our approach: (a) analysis of the effects of rules of production on the data; (b) a finite, causal memory model for segmenting audio and video and (c) the use of top-down structural grouping rules that enable us to be consistent with human perception. These scenes form the input to our condensation algorithm. In the problem of detecting structure, we propose a novel framework that analyzes the topology of the sequence. In our work, we will limit our scope to discrete, temporal structures that have a priori known deterministic generative mechanisms. We show two general approaches to solving the problem, and we shall present robust algorithms for detecting two specific visual structures—the dialog and the regular anchor. We propose a novel entity-utility framework for the problem of condensing audio-visual segments. The idea is that the multimedia sequence can be thought of as comprising entities, a subset of which will satisfy the users information needs. We associate a utility to these entities, and formulate the problem of preserving the entities required by the user as a convex utility maximization problem with constraints. The framework allows for adaptability to changing device and other resource conditions. Other original contributions include—(a) the idea that comprehension of a shot is related to its visual complexity; (b) the idea that the preservation of visual syntax is necessary for the generation of coherent multimedia summaries; (c) auditory analysis that uses discourse structure and (d) novel multimedia synchronization requirements. We conducted user studies using the multimedia summary clips generated by the system. These user studies indicate that the summaries are perceived as coherent at condensation rates as high as 90%. The study also revealed that the measurable improvements over competing algorithms were statistically significant.
The Structure of Chloroplast DNA Molecules and the Effects of Light on the Amount of Chloroplast DNA during Development in Medicago truncatula1[C][OA]

We used pulsed-field gel electrophoresis and restriction fragment mapping to analyze the structure of Medicago truncatula chloroplast DNA (cpDNA). We find most cpDNA in genome-sized linear molecules, head-to-tail genomic concatemers, and complex branched forms with ends at defined sites rather than at random sites as expected from broken circles. Our data suggest that cpDNA replication is initiated predominantly on linear DNA molecules with one of five possible ends serving as putative origins of replication. We also used 4′,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole staining of isolated plastids to determine the DNA content per plastid for seedlings grown in the dark for 3 d and then transferred to light before being returned to the dark. The cpDNA content in cotyledons increased after 3 h of light, decreased with 9 h of light, and decreased sharply with 24 h of light. In addition, we used real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction to determine cpDNA levels of cotyledons in dark- and light-grown (low white, high white, blue, and red light) seedlings, as well as in cotyledons and leaves from plants grown in a greenhouse. In white, blue, and red light, cpDNA increased initially and then declined, but cpDNA declined further in white and blue light while remaining constant in red light. The initial decline in cpDNA occurred more rapidly with increased white light intensity, but the final DNA level was similar to that in less intense light. The patterns of increase and then decrease in cpDNA level during development were similar for cotyledons and leaves. We conclude that the absence in M. truncatula of the prominent inverted repeat cpDNA sequence found in most plant species does not lead to unusual properties with respect to the structure of plastid DNA molecules, cpDNA replication, or the loss of cpDNA during light-stimulated chloroplast development.
Forecasting Changes in Mortality: A Search for a Law of Causes and Effects

In this article, we express a concern that certain commonly accepted methods of predicting mortality will likely prove to be inadequate in the future. Specifically, the Lee-Carter method, which overall has been empirically successful, uses auto-regressive moving average (ARMA) technology and contains no structural mortality equation. This structure means that no information other than previous history can be introduced. We argue that rapid advances in medical science are taking place and that failure to reflect this information in our projection methodology will make resulting projections unsuitable.
Towards Communication-Aware Robust Topologies

We currently witness the emergence of interesting new network topologies optimized towards the traffic matrices they serve, such as demand-aware datacenter interconnects (e.g., ProjecToR) and demand-aware overlay networks (e.g., SplayNets). This paper introduces a formal framework and approach to reason about and design such topologies. We leverage a connection between the communication frequency of two nodes and the path length between them in the network, which depends on the entropy of the communication matrix. Our main contribution is a novel robust, yet sparse, family of network topologies which guarantee an expected path length that is proportional to the entropy of the communication patterns.
Force Control for Active Chassis Balancing

This paper presents the realization of the worldwide first automated walking excavator chassis. To this end, the authors build a new generation of high-performance hydraulic valves with integrated pressure feedback to achieve fast and accurate cylinder force tracking. This allows automatically adapting the legs to uneven terrains and optimally shaping the ground reaction forces in order to change the orientation and height of the cabin. Due to the contact redundancy, automated balancing is implemented as a contact force optimization problem, including constraints on contact forces and joint torques. The corresponding prioritized optimization problem can be simplified by using a quasi-static approximation of the system dynamics and a complexity reduction due to the kinematic structure of the legs. Our approach considers the unknown configuration and load of the cabin, arm, and bucket as system disturbances, whereby gravitational effects are approximated as well as possible. It is tested in a Gazebo simulation and validated in different experiments by using a prototype walking excavator machine. The proposed method revolutionizes operator control of these versatile but complex multipurpose vehicles: Instead of manual and coordinatively very demanding cylinder position adjustment, the operator can command simple high-level commands like a cabin pose. Furthermore, it significantly reduces peak forces in the cylinders and at the contact points, which causes less damage to the mechanics and the ground.
Human Platelet Dense Granules Contain Polyphosphate and Are Similar to Acidocalcisomes of Bacteria and Unicellular Eukaryotes*

Inorganic polyphosphate (polyP) has been identified and measured in human platelets. Millimolar levels (in terms of Pi residues) of short chain polyP were found. The presence of polyP of ∼70–75 phosphate units was identified by 31P NMR and by urea-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of platelet extracts. An analysis of human platelet dense granules, purified using metrizamide gradient centrifugation, indicated that polyP was preferentially located in these organelles. This was confirmed by visualization of polyP in the dense granules using 4′,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole and by its release together with pyrophosphate and serotonin upon thrombin stimulation of intact platelets. Dense granules were also shown to contain large amounts of calcium and potassium and both bafilomycin A1-sensitive ATPase and pyrophosphatase activities. In agreement with these results, when human platelets were loaded with the fluorescent calcium indicator Fura-2 acetoxymethyl ester to measure their intracellular Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i), they were shown to possess a significant amount of Ca2+ stored in an acidic compartment. This was indicated by the following: 1) the increase in [Ca2+]i induced by nigericin, monensin, or the weak base, NH4Cl, in the nominal absence of extracellular Ca2 and 2) the effect of ionomycin, which could not take Ca2+ out of acidic organelles and was more effective after alkalinization of this compartment by the previous addition of nigericin, monensin, or NH4Cl. All of these characteristics of the platelet dense granules, together with their known acidity and high density (both by weight and by electron microscopy), are similar to those of acidocalcisomes (volutin granules, polyP bodies) of bacteria and unicellular eukaryotes. The results suggest that acidocalcisomes have been conserved during evolution from bacteria to humans.
Process-Oriented Evaluation of Climate and Weather Forecasting Models

Realistic climate and weather prediction models are necessary to produce confidence in projections of future climate over many decades and predictions for days to seasons. These models must be physically justified and validated for multiple weather and climate processes. A key opportunity to accelerate model improvement is greater incorporation of process-oriented diagnostics (PODs) into standard packages that can be applied during the model development process, allowing the application of diagnostics to be repeatable across multiple model versions and used as a benchmark for model improvement. A POD characterizes a specific physical process or emergent behavior that is related to the ability to simulate an observed phenomenon. This paper describes the outcomes of activities by the Model Diagnostics Task Force (MDTF) under the NOAA Climate Program Office (CPO) Modeling, Analysis, Predictions and Projections (MAPP) program to promote development of PODs and their application to climate and weather prediction models. MDTF and modeling center perspectives on the need for expanded process-oriented diagnosis of models are presented. Multiple PODs developed by the MDTF are summarized, and an open-source software framework developed by the MDTF to aid application of PODs to centers’ model development is presented in the context of other relevant community activities. The paper closes by discussing paths forward for the MDTF effort and for community process-oriented diagnosis.
Testis‐specific expression of the β2 tubulin promoter of Aedes aegypti and its application as a genetic sex‐separation marker

Sex‐specific expression of transgenes in pest insects enables novel genetic control strategies, based either on genetic sexing or the spread of transgenes through the germ‐line, to be developed and then tested for implementation. We describe the isolation of the β tubulin genes from the yellow fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti, and the identification of the particular β2 tubulin gene which has expression confined to the testes. We demonstrate that the β2 tubulin promoter of Ae. aegypti can direct the expression of a DsRed genetic marker in the testes and show that labelled sperm can be detected in inseminated spermathecae. The applications for this technology in the genetic control of Ae. aegypti are discussed.
The complete chloroplast genome of aquilegia rockii, an endemic herb plant in Western China

Abstract The complete chloroplast genome sequence of Aquilegia rockii was assembled and characterized as a resource for future genetic studies. With a total length of 162,123 bp, the chloroplast genome comprised of a large single-copy (LSC) region of 91,337 bp, a small single-copy (SSC) region of 17,376 bp, and 2 inverted repeat (IR) regions of 26,705 bp. A total of 117 unique genes, including 81 protein-coding genes, 4 ribosomal RNA genes, and 32 tRNA genes. The maximum likelihood phylogenetic analysis based on 18 cp genomes indicated that A. rockii is sister to the clade formed by Semiaquilegia adoxoides and Urophysa rockii.
Distributed Collaborative Beamforming Design in Scattered-Environments

In this paper, we consider a collaborative beamforming (CB) technique to achieve a dual-hop communication from a source surrounded by $M_I$ interferences to a receiver, through a wireless network comprised of $K$ independent terminals. The CB weights are designed so as to minimize the interferences plus noises' powers while maintaining the received power from the source to a constant level. We show, however, that they are intractable in closed-form due to the complexity of the polychromatic channels arising from the presence of scattering in real-world environments. By recurring to a two-ray channel approximation proved valid at relatively low angular spread (AS) values, we are able to derive the new optimum weights and prove that they could be locally computed at each terminal, thereby complying with the distributed feature of the network of interest. The so-obtained bichromatic distributed collaborative beamforming (B-DCB) is then analyzed and compared in performance to the monochromatic CB (MCB), whose design does not account for scattering, and the optimal CSI-based CB (OCB). It is shown that the proposed B-DCB outperforms its counterparts in real-world environments.
Perceptual equivalence of test lists in a monosyllabic speech test with different hearing thresholds

EN ISO 8253-3 (2012) describes the requirements and validation of speech material for speech audiometry. Although speech tests are typically applied to listeners with hearing impairment, the validation is conducted with listeners with normal hearing abilities. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of hearing thresholds on the validation results. Since hearing thresholds of listeners with hearing impairment show a large variability, groups of participants with normal hearing listened to the Freiburg monosyllabic speech test (Hahlbrock, 1953) preprocessed with two simulated homogenous hearing losses, as well as to the original speech material. Discrimination functions were fitted to the results and speech levels for speech recognition scores of 50% were determined. According to EN ISO 8253-3 (2012), the perceptual balance of the lists is given when the confidence interval of the speech levels is within 1 dB from the median across all lists. This criterion is not fulfilled for several test lists, which partly differed for the hearing-loss configurations. When taking the measurement accuracy of the experiment into account, consistent deviations are observed in four test lists. The results suggest that if perceptual balance is fulfilled for participants with normal hearing, this might not be valid for participants with hearing impairment. Predictions of speech recognition using the Speech Intelligibility Index could not replicate test list differences.
Clear Cell Carcinoma of the Larynx: Immunocytochemical Study

A case of clear cell carcinoma of the larynx with multiple metastases is reported. The histological and immunohistochemical characteristics of this tumor are discussed as well as the main differential diagnoses. An origin from seromucous glands of the larynx is proposed. A literature review showed that clear cell carcinoma of the larynx is rare and is characterized by extremely high aggressiveness.