Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Renal tubular transporters and antiviral drugs: an update

Systemic disposition of antiviral drugs partly depends on renal handling of these compounds. There are some known, functionally characterized anionic and cationic transporters with varying substrate specificities for those drugs: human organic anion transporter (OAT) family (hOAT1-3) and human organic cation transporter (OCT) family (hOCT1-3), which mediate the intracellular flux, and adenosine 5′-triphosphate (ATP) binding cassette transporter family (P-glycoprotein, MRP2-5), which mediate the cellular efflux of antiviral drugs. The peptide transporter (PEPT1-2) mediate bi-directional facilitated diffusion of valacyclovir. All these transporters are expressed in the kidney. Organic anion and cation transporters primarily localize to the basolateral membrane of renal epithelial cells while ATP-binding cassette transporters primarily localize to the apical membrane. These transporters work in concert to mediate renal intracellular concentration of occurring antiviral drugs. Along with drug-metabolizing enzymes, these transporters are important determinants of drug effectiveness and toxicity. This review examines the role that these transporters play in renal disposition of antiviral drugs.
Alternating direction method for sparse subspace clustering

Subspace clustering has important and wide applications in computer vision and pattern recognition. Sparse subspace clustering constructs a sparse similarity graph for spectral clustering by using ℓ1-minimization based coefficients, and provide an efficient method for clustering data belonging to a few low-dimensional linear subspaces. An alternating direction method is proposed to deal with noise by modifying the sparse optimization program to incorporate the corruption model. The method does not require initialization and it is computationally efficient. Motion segmentation experimental results show that the proposed method performs better than the competitive state-of-the-art subspace clustering methods.
Determination of perceptual dissimilarity induced by Bangla vowel

This study is concentrated on the investigation of neuronal responses induced by Bangla vowels. Neuronal responses are estimated by the Auditory Model, which is the computational representative of human auditory nerve fiber that determines the neural spike rates elicited by any sound wave. Neuronal spike rate profiles induced by two Bangla Vowels are used to determine neuronal response dissimilarity which is proposed here as a vowel discriminating scale. The neuronal response dissimilarity is formulated using the cross-correlation of the two spike rate profiles. As the spike rate profiles are unequal in length, Fourier transform coefficients of the profiles are used to calculate the cross-correlation. The neuronal response dissimilarity has been compared with the perceptual dissimilarity calculated from Formant trajectories numerically and neuronal response dissimilarity has been found better vowel discriminating scale. The Sound Pressure Level of the captured vowel sounds are different and the Sound Pressure Level are adjusted at same level as the Sound Pressure Level affects the neuronal spike rate profiles.
Impact of an exercise program on physical, emotional, and social aspects of quality of life of individuals with Parkinson's disease

We evaluated changes in different domains of quality of life (QL) for persons with Parkinson's disease after a program of physical activity. Twenty subjects with a diagnosis of Parkinson's disease classified as Stages 1 to 3 on the Hoehn and Yahr scale and with a mean age of 61.5 ± 9.8 years participated in 36 group sessions of a combined group program of aerobic conditioning and muscular strengthening. QL was investigated by the Nottingham Health Profile, a generic questionnaire composed of six domains. Student's paired t tests indicated significant gains associated with the program (P < 0.05) on the total score and those related to emotional reactions (ER), social interactions (SI), and physical ability (PA). SI was the domain that showed the greatest program gains (41.4%). The program of physical activity performed with persons with Parkinson's disease at light to moderate stages resulted in improvements in their perception of QL, mainly in the domains of ER, SI, and PA. © 2006 Movement Disorder Society
Cryptanalysis of a New Stream Cipher Structure

This paper studies the security of a newly proposed stream cipher structure based on linear feedback shift register, nonlinear feedback shift register and filter Boolean functions. A distinguishing attack on this structure is presented. An example is illustrated to show the effectiveness of this attack. This new attack suggests that this new stream cipher structure has potential security weakness.
Segmentation of hippocampus based on ROI atlas registration

Since the change of hippocampal volume is an early symptom for Alzheimer's disease, hippocampus segmentation of brain image can be used to assist the diagnosis of the Alzheimer's disease. This paper presents a multi-atlas based segmentation method which produces higher segmentation accuracy than single atlas-based segmentation. After the extraction of the ROI, a two-step registration from atlas images to target image is applied to obtain initial segmentations which are combined to generate the final segmentation by several atlas fusion strategies. In the experiments, four different strategies including single maximum, majority voting (MV) and simultaneous truth performance level estimation (STAPLE) and consensus level, labeler accuracy and truth estimation (COLLATE) are tested. Dice overlap between automatic and manual segmentation is employed to compare the results of these atlas selection strategies. The experimental results show that the COLLATE can achieve the better segmentation result in our study.
Analysis and simulation of quasi-resonant inverter for induction heating applications

In the last years, induction heating systems have gained a big growing in the home appliances market. The following work proposes to design an induction cooking heating system. The power transfer process will be optimized by limiting or even eliminating switching losses using techniques such as zero current/voltage switching and by designing a parallel LC resonant circuit, which operates near at the resonant frequency. The paper will present a simulation and a design method for such type of converters, with an and without implementation of zero current switching algorithm.
Frequency and management outcome of pneumothorax patients.

BACKGROUND Primary spontaneous pneumothorax is a common clinical problem and its incidence is thought to be increasing. This study was conducted to see the frequency, aetiology, presentation and management outcomes of pneumothorax in patients presenting at Pulmonology unit, Ayub Teaching Hospital, Abbottabad, Pakistan. METHODS Pneumothorax patients reporting at the Pulmonology unit of Ayub Teaching Hospital, Abbottabad from 2002 to December 2008 were included in the study. Patients of all ages were included. They were admitted and followed up to the full recovery. RESULTS A total of 195 pneumothorax patients reported during this period. Majority of the patients were diagnosed to have pneumothorax due to pulmonary tuberculosis making about 36.92% of the total cases. Second most common cause was primary spontaneous pneumothorax (21.53%). COPD were also sizeable at 8.71%. Other causes included Bacterial infections, Asthma, iatrogenic, interstitial lung disease, bronchiectasis and Trauma. CONCLUSION It was concluded from this study that pulmonary tuberculosis is the commonest cause of pneumothorax in our setup.
Robust ground plane estimation based on particle filters

This paper describes a Particle Filter based approach for estimating the ground plane from an image sequence. Based on a Bayesian framework, the Particle Filter provides a robust estimation of the plane parameters, since it can handle non-linearities, while allowing a high flexibility for integrating new cues into the system. Furthermore, the different modes of the resulting probability density function are segmented by means of a mean-shift algorithm, resulting in better localization of the estimate with the highest posterior probability. Our method has been tested on both synthetic and real world scenarios and has shown to be robust to missing and unstable measurements. On synthetic data of representative runs the angular error is well within 0.5° with a standard deviation of less than 0.3°.
A Survey on the Gastrointestinal Parasites of Rabbit and Guinea Pig in a Laboratory Animal House

There is documented evidence that infection in laboratory animals can often influence the outcome of experiments. All infections, apparent or inapparent, are likely to increase biological variability. As a research project concerning the diversity and distribution of parasites of rabbit and guinea pig in a conventional laboratory animal house, about 87 rabbits (from 700 ) and 105 guinea pigs (from 1500 ) were selected randomly from a Research, Production & Breeding of Laboratory Animals Department. Samples were collected between 19.02. 2010 and 20.05. 2011. The samples and animals were examined by dissection and flotation methods. In this study only one species of nematodes (Passalorus ambiguus: 6.9%); one species of protozoa (Eimeria spp.: 21.8%) in rabbits and one species of nematodes (Paraspidodera Uncinata: 24.7%); one species of protozoa (Balantidium coli: 11.4%) in guinea pigs were identified. However, there was not any cestodes or trematodes identified from this group of laboratory animals.
Self-Efficacy, Imagery Use, and Adherence to Rehabilitation by Injured Athletes

Objective: To evaluate the factorial validity of the Athletic Injury Self-Efficacy Questionnaire (AISEQ) and the predictive relationships among self-efficacy, imagery use, and rehabilitation adherence. Design and Setting: Survey administered in an outpatient physiotherapy clinic. Participants: 270 injured athletes. Main Outcome Measures: AISEQ, Athletic Injury Imagery Questionnaire, and an adherence measure. Results: A confirmatory factor analysis of the AISEQ revealed a 2-factor model. Athletes were higher in task efficacy than coping efficacy and used more cognitive and motivational imagery than healing imagery. In addition, athletes rated their frequency and duration of exercise performance higher than their quality of exercise performance. Cognitive imagery significantly predicted task efficacy, task efficacy predicted quality of exercise, and coping efficacy predicted frequency of exercise. Both task and coping efficacy were predictors of duration of exercise. Conclusions: Results support a 2-factor .
Scheduling for heterogeneous industrial networks based on NB-IoT technology

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) have been widely used in industrial systems that demand a high degree of reliability and real-time performance in communications. However, because of limited network resources and delays caused by transmission conflicts and channel contention, many industrial applications cannot meet these demands. To resolve these issues, we introduce Narrow Band Internet of Things (NB-IoT) technology into industrial networks to reduce transmission delays. Two challenges are addressed in this work: (1) the primary goal is to guarantee the schedulability of the system, so the controller must determine when NB-IoT nodes transmit to base stations; and (2) because communication through the base station is a paid service, the controller must minimize the use of NB-IoT slots. We resolve these issues via a scheduling analysis and transmission mode selection. In addition, we propose a Path Selection Algorithm (PSA) to improve the schedulability of the industrial system. Experiments indicate the effectiveness and efficacy of our approach.
Bystander fatigue and CPR quality by older bystanders: a randomized crossover trial comparing continuous chest compressions and 30:2 compressions to ventilations.

OBJECTIVES This study sought to measure bystander fatigue and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) quality after five minutes of CPR using the continuous chest compression (CCC) versus the 30:2 chest compression to ventilation method in older lay persons, a population most likely to perform CPR on cardiac arrest victims. METHODS This randomized crossover trial took place at three tertiary care hospitals and a seniors' center. Participants were aged ≥55 years without significant physical limitations (frailty score ≤3/7). They completed two 5-minute CPR sessions (using 30:2 and CCC) on manikins; sessions were separated by a rest period. We used concealed block randomization to determine CPR method order. Metronome feedback maintained a compression rate of 100/minute. We measured heart rate (HR), mean arterial pressure (MAP), and Borg Exertion Scale. CPR quality measures included total number of compressions and number of adequate compressions (depth ≥5 cm). RESULTS Sixty-three participants were enrolled: mean age 70.8 years, female 66.7%, past CPR training 60.3%. Bystander fatigue was similar between CPR methods: mean difference in HR -0.59 (95% CI -3.51-2.33), MAP 1.64 (95% CI -0.23-3.50), and Borg 0.46 (95% CI 0.07-0.84). Compared to 30:2, participants using CCC performed more chest compressions (480.0 v. 376.3, mean difference 107.7; p<0.0001) and more adequate chest compressions (381.5 v. 324.9, mean difference. 62.0; p=0.0001), although good compressions/minute declined significantly faster with the CCC method (p=0.0002). CONCLUSIONS CPR quality decreased significantly faster when performing CCC compared to 30:2. However, performing CCC produced more adequate compressions overall with a similar level of fatigue compared to the 30:2 method.
The Timing of Early Antibiotics and Hospital Mortality in Sepsis

Rationale: Prior sepsis studies evaluating antibiotic timing have shown mixed results. Objectives: To evaluate the association between antibiotic timing and mortality among patients with sepsis receiving antibiotics within 6 hours of emergency department registration. Methods: Retrospective study of 35,000 randomly selected inpatients with sepsis treated at 21 emergency departments between 2010 and 2013 in Northern California. The primary exposure was antibiotics given within 6 hours of emergency department registration. The primary outcome was adjusted in‐hospital mortality. We used detailed physiologic data to quantify severity of illness within 1 hour of registration and logistic regression to estimate the odds of hospital mortality based on antibiotic timing and patient factors. Measurements and Main Results: The median time to antibiotic administration was 2.1 hours (interquartile range, 1.4‐3.1 h). The adjusted odds ratio for hospital mortality based on each hour of delay in antibiotics after registration was 1.09 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.05‐1.13) for each elapsed hour between registration and antibiotic administration. The increase in absolute mortality associated with an hour's delay in antibiotic administration was 0.3% (95% CI, 0.01‐0.6%; P = 0.04) for sepsis, 0.4% (95% CI, 0.1‐0.8%; P = 0.02) for severe sepsis, and 1.8% (95% CI, 0.8‐3.0%; P = 0.001) for shock. Conclusions: In a large, contemporary, and multicenter sample of patients with sepsis in the emergency department, hourly delays in antibiotic administration were associated with increased odds of hospital mortality even among patients who received antibiotics within 6 hours. The odds increased within each sepsis severity strata, and the increased odds of mortality were greatest in septic shock.
STRUCTURE OF THE ACCRETION FLOW IN BROAD-LINE RADIO GALAXIES: THE CASE OF 3C 390.3

We present XMM-Newton and Suzaku observations of the broad-line radio galaxy 3C 390.3 acquired in 2004 October and 2006 December, respectively. An archival Swift BAT spectrum from the 9 month survey is also analyzed, as well as an optical spectrum simultaneous to XMM-Newton. At soft X-rays, no absorption features are detected in the Reflection Grating Spectrometer spectrum of 3C 390.3; a narrow emission line is found at 0.564 keV, most likely originating in the narrow-line region. Both the EPIC and XIS data sets confirm the presence of an Fe Kα emission line at 6.4 keV with equivalent width (EW) = 40 eV. The Fe Kα line has a width FWHM ∼ 8800 km s−1, consistent within a factor of 2 with the width of the double-peaked Hα line, suggesting an origin from the broad-line region. The data show for the first time a weak, broad bump extending from 5 to 7 keV. When fitted with a Gaussian, its centroid energy is 6.6 keV in the source's rest frame with FWHM of 43,000 km s−1 and EW of 50 eV; its most likely interpretation is emission from He-like Fe (Fe xxv), suggesting the presence of an ionized medium in the inner regions of 3C 390.3. The broadband 0.5–100 keV continuum is well described by a single power law with photon index Γ = 1.6 and cutoff energy 157 keV, plus cold reflection with strength R = 0.5. In addition, ionized reflection is required to account for the 6.6 keV bump in the broadband continuum, yielding an ionization parameter ξ ∼ 2700 erg cm s−1; the inner radius of the ionized reflector is constrained to be larger than 20rG, although this result depends on the assumed emissivity profile of the disk. If true, we argue that the lack of broad Fe K emission from within 20rG indicates that the innermost regions of the disk in 3C 390.3 are obscured and/or poorly illuminated. While the spectral energy distribution (SED) of 3C 390.3 is generally dominated by accretion-related continuum, during accretion low states the jet can significantly contribute in the optical to X-ray bands via synchrotron self-Compton emission. The Compton component is expected to extend to and peak at GeV gamma rays where it will be detected with the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope during its first few years of operation.
Activation of Ca(2+)‐dependent Cl‐ currents in cultured rat sensory neurones by flash photolysis of DM‐nitrophen.

1. Voltage‐gated Ca2+ currents (ICa) and Ca(2+)‐activated Cl‐ currents (ICl(Ca)) were recorded from cultured rat dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurones using the whole‐cell configuration of the patch clamp technique. Intracellular photorelease of Ca2+ by flash photolysis of DM‐nitrophen elicited transient inward currents only in those cells which possessed Ca(2+)‐activated Cl‐ tail currents following ICa. The reversal potential of the flash responses was hyperpolarized when extracellular Cl‐ was replaced by SCN‐. The flash responses and the Ca(2+)‐activated Cl‐ tail currents were inhibited by the Cl‐ channel blockers niflumic acid (10‐100 microM) and 5‐nitro‐2‐(3‐phenylpropylamino)benzoic acid (NPPB) (10 microM). 2. After activation by ICa, the Ca(2+)‐activated Cl‐ current could be reactivated during its decay by photorelease of caged Ca2+. Experiments carried out on neurones held at 0 mV demonstrated that ICl(Ca) could be chronically activated due to residual Ca2+ influx. These data directly demonstrated that the decay of ICl(Ca) is not due to inactivation but rather to deactivation as a result of removal of the Ca2+ load from the cell cytoplasm. 3. Photorelease of caged inositol 1,4,5‐trisphosphate (IP3) failed to activate any Ca(2+)‐dependent current responses in cultured DRG neurones, although application of caffeine elicited transient inward currents, and responses to photoreleased IP3 could be obtained from freshly dissociated smooth muscle cells. 4. Photorelease of Ca2+ provides a useful method for investigating the properties of ICl(Ca) independently from other physiological parameters. In addition, we have directly demonstrated that ICl(Ca) in DRG neurones does not inactivate, and so may continue to modulate membrane excitability as long as the intracellular Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i) close to the cell membrane is elevated. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
G-1,6-P2, glycolysis, and energy metabolism during circulatory occlusion in human skeletal muscle.

The effect of circulatory occlusion on the content of glucose 1,6-bisphosphate (G-1,6-P2), glycogenolytic intermediates, and high-energy phosphates in the quadriceps femoris muscles of eight men was investigated. Needle biopsies were obtained at rest, after 30 min of circulatory occlusion, and 15 min after the occlusion was released. G-1,6-P2 averaged 75 +/- 8 (SE) mumol/kg dry wt at rest and did not change significantly after occlusion (82 +/- 10; P greater than 0.05) but was slightly elevated after 15 min recovery (88 +/- 12; P less than 0.05 vs. rest). Phosphocreatine (PCr) decreased in all subjects after occlusion (from 80.4 +/- 2.6 to 66.2 +/- 4.7 mmol/kg dry wt; P less than 0.001) and was completely resynthesized after recovery (80.9 +/- 2.4). Fructose 1,6-bisphosphate (F-1,6-P2) was doubled after occlusion (P less than 0.05). During occlusion, the average glycolytic and anaerobic ATP turnover rates were 0.08 +/- 0.02 mmol.kg dry wt-1.min-1 (approximately 4 times the calculated rate at rest) and 0.7 +/- 0.2 mmol.kg dry wt-1.min-1 (less than 20% of the calculated rate at rest), respectively. Total glycolysis was strongly related to the calculated increase in inorganic phosphate (Pi, r = 0.93; P less than 0.01), the decrease in PCr/Cr (reflects an increase in free ADP and AMP) (r = 0.92; P less than 0.01), and the increase in hexosemonophosphates (r = 0.77; P less than 0.05). It is concluded that short-term ischemia in human skeletal muscle results in no change in the content of G-1,6-P2. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Effects of Dexterity Level and Hand Anthropometric Dimensions on Smartphone Users' Satisfaction

The usage of smartphones instead of simple mobile phones increases sharply in our era, especially among young people, because they do multiple tasks with single equipment. This study mainly focuses on smartphone satisfaction by combining hand measurements, smartphone users’ survey results, and hand dexterity levels of corresponding users acquired from Minnesota Manual Dexterity Test (MMDT). Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) is used as a statistical tool to discover the potential direct and indirect relations among user satisfaction, hand dimensions, and dexterity scores. Results indicates that thumb length, hand length, and dexterity level of the users have notable effects on users’ satisfaction with smartphones. Based on the results, a new approach that includes both gross motor skills and physical measurements is suggested to see hidden indirect relations with satisfaction.
Changes in body composition after a 12‐wk aerobic exercise program in obese boys

Previous studies have shown that vigorous aerobic training programs for obese children result in minimal weight changes, and concluded that they may not be beneficial. Weight change alone may not detect important beneficial changes in body composition associated with vigorous training in these children. Fifteen obese boys (aged 9–12 yr, body mass index (BMI) 31.8±6.5, average percent body fat (%BF) 41±4.2) underwent a supervised aerobic and resistance training program (12 wk, 2 days/wk for 30 min/session), to investigate the effects on weight and body composition. After the 3‐month training period, weight loss averaged only 1.5±1.0 kg (not significant), but total body fat decreased by 4.1±1.8 kg (p<0.05) and fat‐free mass (FFM) increased by 2.6±1.1 kg (p<0.05) based on hydrostatic weighing. As a result, %BF fell by 10% (p<0.01). There was a 5.8±2.8 mL/kg/min (p<0.05) increase in peak volume of oxygen uptake (VO2), along with a 248±120 kcal/d (p<0.05) increase in resting energy expenditure (REE). Activity questionnaires showed a significant increase in high intensity recreational activities (6.5±1.5 vs 3.5±0.5 h physical activity/wk; p<0.01) in the home and a significant decrease in low intensity activities (7±2.0 vs 12±3.5 h TV viewing/wk; p<0.01). Conclusions: Vigorous supervised aerobic training in obese boys has beneficial effects on body composition, fitness and leisure time activities that are not apparent by measurement of changes in body weight alone.