Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Tryptase in nasal fluid is a useful marker of allergic rhinitis

Tryptase is a mast cell‐specific marker of degranulation. To investigate the possible diagnostic value of tryptase in allergic rhinitis, we measured the levels in both serum and native nasal fluid with a sandwich RIA‐assay (Pharmacia). Twenty‐three allergic patients and five patients with chronic ethmoidal sinusitis were included. Eighteen of the 23 allergic patients were tested within the pollen season or had perennial rhinitis; the remainder were tested at least 1 month out of the pollen season. None of the patients had detectable serum tryptase (>0.1 ng/ml). Also patients with chronic ethmoidal sinusitis showed no tryptase in nasal fluid. One of seven allergic patients tested out of season had slightly increased nasal tryptase of 1.8 ng/ml. In patients with active nasal allergy, the tryptase in nasal fluid ranged from 6.4 ng/ml to 640 ng/ml with a mean of 101 ng/ml and SD 173. These results show a clear distinction between active and non‐active nasal allergy and other non‐mast‐cell‐related nasal disease. Further, nasal tryptase release by natural allergen exposure is even higher than that observed in allergen challenge tests.
Association Between Pregnancy Outcomes and Death From Cardiovascular Causes in Parous Women With Systemic Lupus Erythematosus: A Study Using Swedish Population Registries

Objective. To determine if maternal placental syndromes (MPS) are associated with an increased risk of death from cardiovascular causes in women with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Methods. Between 1973 and 2011, women with SLE and a history of pregnancy were identified using linked Swedish population registries. The outcome was death from primarily cardiovascular causes, defined as death from acute coronary syndrome or coronary artery disease, stroke, or peripheral vascular disease. The exposure was MPS, defined as any hypertensive disorders in pregnancy, stillbirth, placental abruption, or delivery of a small-for-gestational-age infant. The association of preterm delivery (delivery at <34 weeks of gestation) with death from cardiovascular causes was also explored. Risk of death from cardiovascular causes was determined using logistic regression, adjusting for the year of first delivery, duration of SLE, number of inpatient admissions, and cardiovascular risk factors. Results. A total of 3,977 women with SLE had 7,410 pregnancies during the study interval. Death from primarily cardiovascular causes occurred in 44 of the 325 women who died (13.5%). The median age at death from cardiovascular causes was 54 years (interquartile range 48–58 years), and these women were more likely to have had hypertension and renal disease. MPS was associated with an increased risk of death from primarily cardiovascular causes (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 2.19 [95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.14–4.22]), specifically, a history of placental abruption (adjusted OR 5.78 [95% CI 1.61–20.72]). Delivery at <34 weeks of gestation, particularly when combined with MPS, was also associated with an increased risk of death from primarily cardiovascular causes (adjusted OR 2.49 [95% CI 1.06–5.85]). Conclusion. MPS in pregnancy is associated with a higher risk of death from primarily cardiovascular causes in women with SLE.
Cutting and Decellularization of Multiple Corneal Stromal Lamellae for the Bioengineering of Endothelial Grafts.

Purpose Engineered corneal endothelial grafts able to provide numerous functional endothelial cells for the restoration of corneal transparency would be a worthwhile way of replacing donor tissue, which is extremely scarce. The grafts are simply constructed: a biocompatible thin and transparent carrier colonized by a monolayer of cultured endothelial cells (ECs). Here we describe a process able to obtain appropriate carriers by recycling human corneas unsuitable for graft in their original state, but liable to provide multiple thin lamellae when cut with a femtosecond laser as used in refractive surgery. Methods We selected a robust method of stromal decellularization. To demonstrate that neither this process nor long-term storage hindered cell adherence, lamellae were endothelialized with an EC line. Results The constructs achieved up to very high EC density (the main quality criterion for regular donor corneas) while remaining transparent and thin. We verified that they could be inserted in the anterior chamber of a human eye, like a conventional endothelial graft. Human decellularized cornea will likely be directly compatible with the recipient cornea and comply with the requirements of health regulatory authorities. Conclusions This study demonstrates that thin human corneal lamellae could have high potential as carriers in next-generation therapy for endothelial dysfunctions.
A Multicenter Cohort Study of Dose-Dense Temozolomide (21 of 28 Days) for the Treatment of Recurrent Anaplastic Astrocytoma or Oligoastrocytoma

Dose-dense temozolomide schedules deplete O6-methylguanine methyltransferase and may overcome chemoresistance. This multicenter cohort study enrolled 19 patients (15 anaplastic astrocytoma, 4 anaplastic oligoastrocytoma) who received temozolomide (100 mg/m2/day for 21 consecutive days every 28-day cycle) at first recurrence, either until disease progression or 12 cycles. Six-month progression-free survival was 56%, comparing favorably with historic controls treated with the standard 5-day temozolomide schedule. Median survival was 12.9 months (95% CI: 3.7, 22 months). Among 15 evaluable patients, 2 had a complete or partial response, and 10 had stable disease. Grade 3 and 4 lymphopenia occurred in 53% and 47% of patients, respectively.
Distinct classes of pyramidal cells exhibit mutually exclusive firing patterns in hippocampal area CA3b

It is thought that CA3 pyramidal neurons communicate mainly through bursts of spikes rather than so‐called trains of regular firing action potentials. Reports of both burst firing and nonburst firing CA3 cells suggest that they may fire with more than one output pattern. With the use of whole‐cell recording methods we studied the firing properties of rat hippocampal pyramidal neurons in vitro within the CA3b subregion and found three distinct types of firing patterns. Approximately 37% of cells were regular firing where spikes generated by minimal current injection (rheobase) were elicited with a short latency and with stronger current intensities trains of spikes exhibited spike frequency adaptation (SFA). Another 46% of neurons exhibited a delayed onset at rheobase with a weakly‐adapting firing pattern upon stronger stimulation. The remaining 17% of cells showed a burst‐firing pattern, though only elicited in response to strong current injection and spontaneous bursts were never observed. Control experiments indicated that the distinct firing patterns were not due to our particular slicing methods or recording techniques. Finally, computer modeling was used to identify how relative differences in K+ conductances, specifically KC, KM, and KD, between cells contribute to the different characteristics of the three types of firing patterns observed experimentally. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Improved Multiscale Permutation Entropy Measure for Analysis of Brain Waves

This paper presents a novel multiscale entropy measure for analyzing brain rhythms, called electroencephalograms (EEGs), with an aim of unveiling the underlying dynamics of EEG over multiple time scales. This work is inspired by the known fact that neurological signals such as EEG has distinct dynamics over different temporal scales. To reﬂect the nonlinear and nonstationary nature of EEGs, the recently developed empirical mode decomposition is incorporated, allowing an EEG to be decomposed into its inherent multiple temporal scale elements, referred to as intrinsic mode functions (IMFs). By computing the permutation entropy of each IMF in a time-dependent manner and averaging them over multiple scales, it yields a data-adaptive multiscale permutation entropy (DAMPE) measure for analyzing the brain waves. Simulation and experimental results show that the proposed DAMPE is efﬁcient to reveal the dynamical changes over multiple scales.
Selection and Amplification of Hosts From Dynamic Combinatorial Libraries of Macrocyclic Disulfides

We have discovered two receptors for two different guests from a single dynamic combinatorial library. Each of the two guests amplifies the formation of a tightly binding host at the expense of unfit library members. Small differences in host-guest binding translate into useful differences in amplification. The selected hosts could be readily synthesized using biased dynamic libraries that contain only the right ratio of those building blocks that were selected by the guests. These results establish dynamic combinatorial chemistry as a practical method not only for the discovery but also for the synthesis of new receptors.
Electromagnetic Field Analyses of REBCO Roebel Cables Wound Into Coil Configurations

We have been developing a model for numerical electromagnetic field analyses of REBCO Roebel cables wound into coil configurations, considering their three-dimensional structure. Electromagnetic field analyses were carried out for one-turn circular closed loop of a Roebel cable, one turn circular closed loop of a Roebel cable at the end of a stack of Roebel-cable loops which simulated a solenoid coil of a finite length, and an infinite solenoid coil wound with a Roebel cable. From the temporal evolution of the current distribution in the Roebel cables, ac losses were calculated. We studied the ac loss characteristics of Roebel cables in different locations in coils. The influence of the gap between turns on ac losses was discussed.
Expression, purification, and characterization of a novel G protein, SGP, from Streptococcus mutans

The sgp gene of Streptococcus mutans was recently detected immediately downstream from the dgk gene within the same operon. In this study, the sgp gene was subcloned into the pMAL-c2 vector and SGP (S. mutans G protein) was overexpressed in Escherichia coli as a fusion protein with the maltose-binding protein at a level of 40% of total cellular protein. One-step amylose affinity chromatography purification of this fusion protein yielded a product of approximately 95% purity. SGP was purified from this fusion protein following cleavage with protease factor Xa and DEAE-Sephacel chromatography. In nucleotide binding assays, recombinant SGP showed specific binding for GTP and GDP, but not ATP, CTP, and UTP, and also catalyzed efficient hydrolysis of GTP to GDP. Kinetic studies revealed that the SGP Km value for GTP in this reaction was approximately 5.9 microM. Mg2+ also served as a cofactor of SGP in this reaction. In vivo subcellular localization by immunogold labelling demonstrated that SGP was associated with both membrane and cytoplasmic fractions. SGP not only had structural similarities with other G proteins but also proved to have high-level intrinsic GTPase activity. Therefore, SGP appears to be a new member of the G protein superfamily and may participate in transmembrane signaling in the responses of S. mutans cells to environmental stimuli.
Metastatic Medullary Thyroid Cancers: Challenges in Diagnosis with Nuclear Medicine Techniques and the Role of Radionuclide Therapy

Medullary thyroid cancer is a rare tumor driven from neuroendocrine cells. In the last decade there has been important discoveries regarding its genetics and relationship between genotype and phenotype on familial cases. However remains unknown the best approach for patient with maintained high levels of tumor markers such as calcitonin. Most available imaging techniques are able to accurately find metastatic lesions only in advanced disease. Traditionaly, nuclear medicine images are able to find metastatic suspicious lesions before they reach the size to be considered suspicious in conventional studies such as computed tomography scans or magnetic resonance imaging. However in patients with medullary thyroid cancer the ideal radiopharmaceutical for this purpose is yet to be found. Based on the biology of the tumor, some radiopharmaceuticals have been studied for diagnosis and also for therapy in those patients. The aim of this review is to describe the radiopharmaceuticals used for diagnosis and treatment until today and the role of each of them in medical care. In conclusion, the medullary thyroid cancer is a rare tumor and the review shows that despite all studies there is still no consensus on the importance of nuclear medicine in the diagnosis and treatment of these patients. Further studies are still needed.
Gradient-based artificial bee colony for damping controllers design

A novel optimization algorithm by combining the artificial bee colony (ABC) algorithm and the sequential quadratic programming (SQP), that is the gradient based ABC algorithm, is presented to resolve the problems of global optimization and inter-area oscillations damping in power system. The proposed algorithm merges the global exploration ability of the artificial bee colony to converge quickly to a near optimum resolution, and the correct local exploitation capacity of the sequential quadratic programming to accelerate the search process and discover a correct solution. To show the feasibility and efficiency of the new method, numerical result is investigated on the New England system by tuning a power system stabilizer and a controller for the static VAR compensator. The proposed gradient based ABC algorithm is compared with ABC. The simulations studies demonstrate that the proposed algorithm based designed damping controllers perform better than controller designed by ABC.
Posterior cranial fossa crowdedness is related to age and sex: an magnetic resonance volumetric study

Purpose: To measure 3-dimensional (3D) posterior cranial fossa (PCF) crowdedness and to evaluate the effect of age, sex, and body height on PCF. Material and Methods: Fifty-two healthy volunteers (24 M and 28 F; mean age 55.4±17.2 years; range 24–82 years) were recruited. Using a semi-automated magnetic resonance technique, we calculated a PCF crowdedness index (CI) as the ratio of hindbrain (HB) volume to PCF volume ×100% and correlated this index with age, sex, body height, and other crowdedness parameters. Results: The mean PCF CI was 93.7±2.7%. Women had a more crowded PCF than men (95.0±1.7% versus 92.1±2.7%; P<0.001). PCF CI declined with age for both men (r = −0.61; P = 0.002) and women (r = −0.68; P<0.001). The association with age – but not HB volume – was maintained after we controlled for sex and body height. On multiple regression, both age and sex accounted for 57.5% of the PCF CI variance. Conclusion: Our study shows that PCF CI is associated with age and sex, and can therefore be used as a surrogate to assess hindbrain atrophy in a cross-sectional sample. Moreover, sex- and age-specific normal ranges may be needed to evaluate the PCF CI in clinical practice.
Stressful Life Events and Depressive Symptoms: Influences of Gender, Event Severity, and Depression History

Informed by Post’s (1992) kindling hypothesis, the study examined the association between depressive symptoms and varying levels of perceived life events as determined by respondents, as well as the moderating role of depression history and gender. Severe life events were significantly associated with current depressive symptoms among never depressed women but not among women with depression history. Such a moderating role of depression history was not observed among men where severe life events were associated with current depressive symptoms in men regardless of depression history. No moderating effects of gender and depression history were obtained for mild and moderate life events, but these events were significantly associated with current depressive symptoms. These results support Post’s kindling hypothesis for severe life events but not for mild or moderate life events, and further only in women.
A Histidine Scan to Probe the Flexibility of the Rat P2X2 Receptor Zinc-binding Site*

The response of P2X2 receptors to submaximal concentrations of ATP is potentiated by low levels of extracellular zinc. Histidines 120 and 213 have previously been shown to be essential in binding zinc across an intersubunit binding site. We tested the flexibility of the zinc-binding site by making mutations that had the effect of shifting the two essential histidines up to 13 residues upstream or downstream from their original positions and then testing the ability of the mutated receptors to respond to zinc. Using this method, we were able to explore potential orientations of the two regions relative to one another. Our data are consistent with a moderately flexible zinc-binding site and inconsistent with parallel and anti-parallel orientations of the regions surrounding histidines 120 and 213.
Anti‐Sperm Antibodies from Infertile Patients and their Cognate Sperm Antigens: A Review. Identity Between SAGA‐1, the H6‐3C4 Antigen, and CD52

PROBLEM: The correlation of anti‐sperm antibodies (ASA) with some instances of unexplained infertility implicates a role for these antibodies in blocking fertilization. Improved diagnosis and treatment of immunologic infertility, as well as a more complete understanding of the mechanism behind this phenomenon, are dependent on the identification and characterization of relevant sperm antigens. METHOD OF STUDY: In this article, we review literature on methods employed to identify sperm antigens using anti‐sperm polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies from infertile patients and vasectomized men. Particular focus is given to approaches using human and mouse monoclonal antibodies to define the SAGA‐1 human sperm antigen. RESULTS: ASA present in sera and genital tract secretions from infertile patients and vasectomized men have been employed in a variety of methods to identify sperm antigens. In an alternate approach, a monoclonal antibody (mAb), H6‐3C4, was immortalized from the lymphocytes of an infertile woman who exhibited sperm‐immobilizing titers. Subsequently, the sperm‐agglutinating, murine S19 mAb was shown to react with the H6‐3C4 cognate antigen. The H6‐3C4/S19 cognate antigen, designated Sperm Agglutination Antigen‐1 (SAGA‐1), was characterized as a polymorphic, highly acidic, GPI‐anchored glycoprotein on the surface of human spermatozoa. Purification with the S19 mAb followed by microsequencing demonstrated that the SAGA‐1 core peptide is identical to CD52, a glycoprotein on the surface of human lymphocytes. Immunoblot analysis demonstrated that these two glycoproteins differed in carbohydrate composition. Thus, sperm SAGA‐1 and lymphocyte CD52 represent glycoforms, glycoproteins with the same core peptide but with different carbohydrate structures. CONCLUSIONS: Autoimmunity to the SAGA‐1 and/or CD52 glycoforms may lead to infertility. Structural and immunologic differences between these glycoproteins may be important factors in the etiology of immunologic infertility and other autoimmune disorders.
A Thermo-Electrochemical Model of 18.5 V/50 Ah Battery Module for Railway Vehicles

We developed a thermo-electrochemical model of a 50 Ah pouch-type lithium-ion cell and utilized a cell model to build an 18.5 V/50 Ah module to analyze the thermal behavior under various operating conditions and design cooling systems for optimal operating temperature ranges. Specifically, the heat generated by electrochemical reactions was simulated through an electrochemical cell model, and then the calculated heat was coupled with a heat transfer model reflecting the actual 3D structure of the cell. By fitting two temperature-dependent parameters, i.e., the chemical diffusion coefficient and exchange current density, the model accurately estimated the electrochemical and thermal properties with errors less than 3%, even under wide temperature (25°C, 35°C, and 45°C) and C-rate (0.5, 1, 2, and 5C) conditions. Based on this reliable cell model, we built an 18.5 V/50 Ah module model with five cells in series to simulate both the amount of heat generated and the required heat sink. Finally, both the cell and module models were used to predict the electrochemical and thermal behaviors under actual wireless tram operations in Turkey. The model results were compared with experimental results to confirm their reliability.
The photo charge of a bacterioRhodopsin electrochemical cells measured by a charge amplifier

We propose that electrochemical cells based on bacterioRhodopsin (bR), a photosensitive protein, generate electric charges under illuminated light and that a suitable signal detection apparatus for this cell type is a charge amplifier. By using charge amplifiers, we observed bR-photocell electric charges that were proportional to the intensity of incident light, which ranged from 0 to 8mW/cm2. Then, the 4 × 4 micro-patterned bR photosensor array was connected to charge amplifiers to form an image sensor system. Static and moving images were detected with the constructed image sensor system.
MPEG-7 audio features based voice pathology detection

Voice pathology detection based on MPEG-7 low-level audio feature is proposed in this paper. MPEG-7 features contain both audio and video descriptors, and originally were introduced for multimedia indexing. Indexing is related to event detection, and because the pathological voice is a separate event than the normal voice, we use MPEG-7 audio descriptors as a tool to detect voice pathology. In the proposed voice pathology detection, MPEG-7 low level audio descriptors are extracted from input voice, and support vector machine (SVM) is used as classifier. Fisher discrimination ratio (FDR) is applied on the extracted descriptors to identify the most significant features for the detection. The experimental results on the MEEI database show that the proposed method outperforms some recent related methods both in detection and classification. The highest accuracy of 99.994 ± 0.011 is achieved in case of detection, and 100% in case of pair-wise pathology classification.
Control of redundant manipulators considering order of disturbance observer

A manipulator control method using a disturbance observer with no inverse dynamics has been proposed. The order of the disturbance observer affects the performance of control system, because nominalization of plant is dependent on the control object and the order of the disturbance observer. This paper proposes a unique choice of disturbance observers of different order in joint and task space to improve system performance of hybrid position/force control of redundant manipulators. Also, it has been shown that a proper selection of a coefficient of the disturbance observer is capable to improve robust stability, while not influencing basic performance. The proposed strategy can realize acceleration control and second derivative of force control in the task space, which realizes robust and precise control of manipulators. Experimental results using a redundant manipulator show the effectiveness of the proposed strategy.
Pedagogic Metadata

As more and more on-line resources are becoming available, finding ones suitable for specific educational purposes is becoming increasingly difficult. Not only must the subject matter be appropriate and the content be accurate, but the resources must also match the educational level and background of the user. Once a suitable Web site, graphic, applet, or other resource has been located, additional problems must be faced if it is to be integrated into a learning environment. There might be software incompatibilities, legal issues, and questions concerning how it will interface with other components. This article offers a non-technical introduction and overview of metadata, an important and fascinating part of the solution to these problems. It gives the definition and examples of metadata, shows how metadata can help non-experts search for on-line resources, and explains how metadata can assist in the use and re-use of on-line pedagogic materials. It ends with a discussion of learning object metadata, the IEEE Learning Technology Standards Committee standard that has recently been accepted by the major pedagogic metadata efforts.