Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Elimination of Porcine Hemopoietic Cells by Macrophages in Mice1

The difficulty in achieving donor hemopoietic engraftment across highly disparate xenogeneic species barriers poses a major obstacle to exploring xenograft tolerance induction by mixed chimerism. In this study, we observed that macrophages mediate strong rejection of porcine hemopoietic cells in mice. Depletion of macrophages with medronate-encapsulated liposomes (M-liposomes) markedly improved porcine chimerism, and early chimerism in particular, in sublethally irradiated immunodeficient and lethally irradiated immunocompetent mice. Although porcine chimerism in the peripheral blood and spleen of M-liposome-treated mice rapidly declined after macrophages had recovered and became indistinguishable from controls by wk 5 post-transplant, the levels of chimerism in the marrow of these mice remained higher than those in control recipients at 8 wks after transplant. These results suggest that macrophages that developed in the presence of porcine chimerism were not adapted to the porcine donor and that marrow-resident macrophages did not phagocytose porcine cells. Moreover, M-liposome treatment had no effect on the survival of porcine PBMC injected into the recipient peritoneal cavity, but was essential for the migration and relocation of these cells into other tissues/organs, such as spleen, bone marrow, and peripheral blood. Together, our results suggest that murine reticuloendothelial macrophages, but not those in the bone marrow and peritoneal cavity, play a significant role in the clearance of porcine hemopoietic cells in vivo. Because injection of M-liposomes i.v. mainly depletes splenic macrophages and liver Kupffer cells, the spleen and/or liver are likely the primary sites of porcine cell clearance in vivo.
Costs after hip fracture in independently living patients: a randomised comparison of three rehabilitation modalities

Objective: To evaluate costs and cost-effectiveness of physical and geriatric rehabilitation after hip fracture. Design: Prospective randomised study (mean age 78 years, 105 male, 433 female) in different rehabilitation settings: physically oriented (187 patients), geriatrically oriented (171 patients), and healthcare centre hospital (control, 180 patients). Main measures: At 12 months post-fracture, we collected data regarding days in rehabilitation, post-rehabilitation hospital treatment, other healthcare service use, number of re-operations, taxi use by patient or relative, and help from relatives. Results: Control rehabilitation (4945,2€) was significantly less expensive than physical (6609.0€, p=0.002) and geriatric rehabilitation (7034.7€ p<0.001). Total institutional care costs (primary treatment, rehabilitation, and post-rehabilitation hospital care) were lower for control (13,438.4€) than geriatric rehabilitation (17,201.7€, p<0.001), but did not differ between control and physical rehabilitation (15659.1€, p=0.055) or between physical and geriatric rehabilitation (p=0.252). Costs of help from relatives (estimated as 30%, 50% and 100% of a home aid’s salary) with physical rehabilitation were lower than control (p=0.016) but higher than geriatric rehabilitation (p=0.041). Total hip fracture treatment costs were lower with physical (36,356€, 51,018€) than control rehabilitation (38,018€, 57,031€) at 50% and 100% of salary (p=0.032, p=0.014, respectively). At one year post-fracture, 15D-score was significantly higher in physical rehabilitation group (0.697) than geriatric rehabilitation group (0.586, p=0.008) and control group (0.594, p=0.009). Conclusions: Considering total costs one year after hip fracture the treatment including physical rehabilitation is significantly more cost-effective than routine treatment. This effect could not be seen between routine treatment and treatment including geriatric rehabilitation.
Learning CNN to Pair UAV Video Image Patches

Pairing image patches is to decide whether two image patches belong to the same scene but taken from different imaging conditions. It is a key procedure in the applications of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) video images. The challenges in pairing UAV image patches derive from the complex imaging conditions on UAV platforms such as jitter, frequent undefined motion, viewpoint changes, and illumination changes. Available popular methods usually follow the flowchart: preprocess images at first, then extract hand-crafted features, and finally match the extracted features through evaluating an independently predefined similarity metric. These methods could only handle part of negative factors from the complex imaging conditions and thus cannot effectively handle the challenges in pairing UAV image patches. This study aims to handle the challenges through automatically and simultaneously learning more representative features and accurate metric. Especially, this study proposes a deep learning method to jointly learn the feature representations and similarity metric over the training samples obtained from various imaging conditions. The model structure of the proposed pairing system consists of three parts: two stream convolutional neural networks (CNNs), one similarity metric layer and one softmax layer. They are jointly trained through the usual back propagation algorithm. Moreover, to further improve the performance, this study develops a transfer learning strategy for the proposed deep model. Two new training datasets from satellite scenes and UAV scenes, respectively, are built to evaluate the proposed pairing system, and the experimental results show that our method outperforms the most recent approaches in pairing UAV video image patches.
Optimized MRI contrast for on‐resonance proton exchange processes of PARACEST agents in biological systems

Image contrast associated with paramagnetic chemical exchange saturation transfer agents can be generated by off‐resonance irradiation of agent‐bound water or amide protons or on‐resonance irradiation of bulk water. Previously, a four‐pool model was developed to describe an in vivo system. The model incorporated the magnetization transfer effect from macromolecules when using off‐resonance irradiation. In the current study, this four‐pool model is modified to describe the in vivo system when using on‐resonance irradiation. The influences of pulse power, pulse duration, the chemical shift of bound water, the proton exchange rate between bulk water and bound water, and agent concentration on the on‐resonance paramagnetic agent chemical exchange effects were simulated using a WALTZ‐16 pulse train in the absence and presence of the macromolecule pool. The results demonstrated that while contrast increases with pulse duration in aqueous solution, there is an optimal pulse duration that maximizes on‐resonance paramagnetic agent chemical exchange effects contrast in vivo. This predication was verified by experimental spectroscopic and imaging results from aqueous solution, bovine serum albumin phantoms, and a tissue phantom containing thulium‐DOTAM (1,4,7,10‐tetraazacyclododecane‐1,4,7,10‐tetraacetamide)‐glycine‐lysine. This model can be used to optimize sequence parameters to maximize in vivo on‐resonance paramagnetic agent chemical exchange effects contrast. Magn Reson Med, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Development and assessment of the content validity of a scale to measure how well a digital environment facilitates serendipity

Introduction. Digital information environments such as Websites and search engines have the potential to support serendipity: to spark and nurture positive, unexpected interactions with information and ideas with valuable outcomes. But we have few tools to measure how well they support serendipity and thus no data-driven way to guide their development. Method. Grounded in prior research, facets of a serendipitous digital environment were identified together with a pool of items that could be used in the creation of a self-report scale. To assess the content validity of the preliminary scale or the extent to which a measurement reflects the content domain it is intended to capture, we conducted two successive studies: an expert review by eight experts; and an analysis of variance approach involving a Web-based study of 107 university students. Analysis. Qualitative and quantitative approaches were used to analyse the data. Results. The items of the serendipitous digital environment scale were revised and the scale’s content validity confirmed. Conclusion. Five facets of a serendipitous digital environment were identified and defined and a 37-item scale was developed in preparation for future studies that will reduce and refine the scale and test its construct validity.
Osteology and skeletal development of Discoglossus sardus (Anura: Discoglossidae)

Although frogs in the archaeobatrachian family Discoglossidae are reasonably well known, descriptions of their larval skeletons and osteogenesis are almost nonexistent. Skeletogenesis, chondrocranial development, and the adult skeleton of Discoglossus sardus are described on the basis of cleared and stained, dry, and radiographed specimens. In D. sardus, the first elements to ossify are the parasphenoid, frontoparietals, exoccipitals, neural arches, ischium, long bones, and dermal elements of the pectoral girdle (Gosner Stage 36). Major reconstruction of the chondrocranium begins at the onset of metamorphosis (Stage 41), contemporaneous with the ossification of the premaxillae, maxillae, vomers, and septomaxillae. Several cranial (e.g., pterygoid, mentomeckelian, sphenethmoid) and postcranial (e.g., carpals, hyoid) elements do not commence ossification until after metamorphosis (Stage 46). Discoglossids are characterized by the presence of a facial foramen in the lateral wall of the chondrocranium, a rod‐like epipubis developing from two primordia, and the lack of a neopalatine bone. Adult male Discoglossus possess an enlarged, crested metacarpal II and a broad prepollical element. This detailed description serves as a model to compare the development of other discoglossid frogs and provides detailed descriptions of several enigmatic structures. J. Morphol. 233:267–286, 1997. © 1997 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
The impact of a telemetric chronic obstructive pulmonary disease monitoring service: randomised controlled trial with economic evaluation and nested qualitative study.

a Senior Clinical Research Fellow, Allergy & Respiratory Research Group, Centre for Population Health Sciences: GP Section, University of Edinburgh, Scotland, UK b Research Fellow, Centre for Integrated HealthCare Research, Napier University c Senior Research Fellow, Edinburgh Clinical Trials Unit, University of Edinburgh d Professor of Respiratory and Environmental Medicine, Edinburgh Lung and the Environment Group Initiative, University of Edinburgh e Senior Lecturer, E-Health Research Group, Centre for Population Health Sciences: GP Section, University of Edinburgh f Senior Research Fellow, Health Economics Research Unit, University of Aberdeen g Professor of Primary Care Research & Development, Allergy & Respiratory Research Group, Centre for Population Health Sciences: GP Section, University of Edinburgh h Reader in Primary Care Research, Centre for Population Health Sciences: GP Section, University of Edinburgh.
Multi-Dimension Support Vector Machine Based Crowd Detection and Localisation Framework for Varying Video Sequences

In this paper, we propose a novel method for anomalous crowd behaviour detection and localization with divergent centers in intelligent video sequence through multiple SVM (support vector machines) based appearance model. In multi-dimension SVM crowd detection, many features are available to track the object robustly with three main features which include 1) identification of an object by gray scale value, 2) histogram of oriented gradients (HOG) and 3) local binary pattern (LBP). We propose two more powerful features namely gray level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM) and Gaber feature for more accurate and authenticate tracking result. To combine and process the corresponding SVMs obtained from each features, a new collaborative strategy is developed on the basis of the confidence distribution of the video samples which are weighted by entropy method. We have adopted subspace evolution strategy for reconstructing the image of the object by constructing an update model. Also, we determine reconstruction error from the samples and again automatically build an update model for the target which is tracked in the video sequences. Considering the movement of the targeted object, occlusion problem is considered and overcome by constructing a collaborative model from that of appearance model and update model. Also if update model is of discriminative model type, binary classification problem is taken into account and overcome by collaborative model. We run the multi-view SVM tracking method in real time with subspace evolution strategy to track and detect the moving objects in the crowded scene accurately. As shown in the result part, our method also overcomes the occlusion problem that occurs frequently while objects under rotation and illumination change due to different environmental conditions.
Compact, quasi-elliptic dual-band bandpass filter with improved isolation

The design of compact and very selective dual band dual-mode filter with improved isolation is introduced in this paper. The two passbands are achieved by connecting two stepped-impedance dual-mode resonators in parallel. Two transmission zeros are obtained on both sides of each passband with the use of the source-load coupling. Theoretical analysis together with experimental prototype is presented.
The Sydney System: Microbial gastritis

Helicobacter pylori is the new name for Campylobacter ,pylori.l These spiral bacteria are now known to be the primary cause of antral There are pathognomonic ultrastructural appearances associated with the presence of ff. p y l ~ r i : ~ * ~ (1) loss of intercellular junctions between the mucosal cells; (2) the mucosal cells bulge and show loss of uniform surface shape; (3) the microvilli are lost and there is loss of the cytoskeleton at the bases of the microvilli; (4) the mucus content of the mucosal cells is usually reduced; (5) close adherence of H. pylori to mucosal cells with occasional formation of ‘adherence pedestals’; and (6) intracellular oedema and phagolysosomes are seen. After anti-Hi. pylori treatment, including oral bismuth, these ultrastructural appearances can revert rapidly, albeit temporarily, to normal, with disappearance of H. p ~ l o r i . ~ However, after partially successful treatment, within 4 weeks the bacteria will reappear and gastritis will be found.6 Thus, to ascertain the true cause of gastritis from an endoscopic biopsy specimen, the patient must not have ingested any antibacterial treatment during the previous 4 weeks because, if H . pylori has only been suppressed and not eradicated, a false appearance of normality will be observed. ‘Suppression’ of H. pylori is defined as the absence of the organism during 4 weeks after the end of treatment. ‘Eradication’ is the absence of H . pylori more than 4 weeks after the end of antibacterial treatment, as determined by a sensitive detection method of multiple biopsy with culture and/or histology or the urea breath test.6 The causal role of H. pylon’ in gastritis has also been confirmed by the following: (1) Healthy volunteers have ingested H. pylori and developed antral gastriti~;’. ~ (2) Experimental animals, such as piglets, have been infected with H. pylori and have developed antral gastritis;’ (3) When multiple biopsy specimens are taken from the antrum, H . pylori is always associated with inflammation in at least one area of the antrumjl0 (4) When the stomach is Gected by other forms of gastritis, such as auto-immune gastritis, the incidence of H . pylori in these patients is no greater than in the general population, indicating that H. pylori does not merely colonize damaged mucosa;ll and ( 5 ) Specific antibody to H. pylori is found in the serum and in the stomach of patients.12*13
Quantum Chemistry Meets Spectroscopy for Astrochemistry: Increasing Complexity toward Prebiotic Molecules.

For many years, scientists suspected that the interstellar medium was too hostile for organic species and that only a few simple molecules could be formed under such extreme conditions. However, the detection of approximately 180 molecules in interstellar or circumstellar environments in recent decades has changed this view dramatically. A rich chemistry has emerged, and relatively complex molecules such as C60 and C70 are formed. Recently, researchers have also detected complex organic and potentially prebiotic molecules, such as amino acids, in meteorites and in other space environments. Those discoveries have further stimulated the debate on the origin of the building blocks of life in the universe. Many efforts continue to focus on the physical, chemical, and astrophysical processes by which prebiotic molecules can be formed in the interstellar dust and dispersed to Earth or to other planets.Spectroscopic techniques, which are widely used to infer information about molecular structure and dynamics, play a crucial role in the investigation of planetary atmosphere and the interstellar medium. Increasingly these astrochemical investigations are assisted by quantum-mechanical calculations of structures as well as spectroscopic and thermodynamic properties, such as transition frequencies and reaction enthalpies, to guide and support observations, line assignments, and data analysis in these new and chemically complicated situations. However, it has proved challenging to extend accurate quantum-chemical computational approaches to larger systems because of the unfavorable scaling with the number of degrees of freedom (both electronic and nuclear). In this Account, we show that it is now possible to compute physicochemical properties of building blocks of biomolecules with an accuracy rivaling that of the most sophisticated experimental techniques, and we summarize specific contributions from our groups. As a test case, we present the underlying computational machinery through the investigation of oxirane. We describe how we determine the molecular structure and then how we characterize the rotational and IR spectra, the most important issues for a correct theoretical description and a proper comparison with experiment. Next, we analyze the spectroscopic properties of representative building blocks of DNA bases (uracil and pyrimidine) and of proteins (glycine and glycine dipeptide analogue). Solvation, surface chemistry (dust fraction, adsorption, desorption), and inter- and intramolecular interactions, such as self-organization and self-interaction, are important molecular processes for understanding astrochemistry. Using the specific cases of uracil dimers and glycine adsorbed on silicon grains, we also illustrate approaches in which we treat different regions, interactions, or effects at different levels of sophistication.
Effects of low concentrations of zinc on the growth and dimorphism of Candida albicans: evidence for zinc-resistant and -sensitive pathways for mycelium formation

In this analysis we have examined in detail the effects of low concentrations of zinc on the growth and dimorphism of Candida albicans. Evidence is presented that micromolar concentrations of zinc added to growth cultures grown at 25 degrees C (i) cause a twofold increase in the final concentration of spheres at sationary phase, (ii) result in an asynchronous block in the budding cycle at stationary phase, (iii) completely suppress mycelium formation in two independently isolated human strains which produce low but significant levels of mycelia at stationary phase, and (iv) completely suppress mycelium formation in cultures of mutant M10, in which over 60% of the cells form mycelia at stationary phase. In contrast, micromolar concentrations of zinc do not inhibit mycelium formation induced by releasing cells from stationary-phase cultures into fresh medium at 37 degrees C. In addition, if zinc is present in the growth medium of the initial culture at 25 degrees C, the average time of subsequent mycelium formation after release into fresh medium at 37 degrees C is halved. It is demonstrated that the above effects are specific to zinc. The possibility of alterante pathways for mycelium formation is suggested, and the medical implications of this possibility are discussed.
Nitrofurantoin resistance mechanism and fitness cost in Escherichia coli.

OBJECTIVES The biological fitness cost of antibiotic resistance is a key parameter in determining the rate of appearance and spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. We identified mutations conferring nitrofurantoin resistance and examined their effect on the fitness of clinical Escherichia coli isolates. METHODS By plating bacterial cells on agar plates containing nitrofurantoin, spontaneous nitrofurantoin-resistant E. coli mutants were isolated. The fitness of susceptible and resistant strains was measured as growth rate in the presence and absence of nitrofurantoin in rich culture medium. Time-kill kinetics of the resistant mutants was compared with the susceptible strains. Resistance mutations were identified by DNA sequencing. RESULTS Spontaneous resistant mutants of initially susceptible clinical E. coli appeared with a rate of 10(-7)/cell/generation, and these mutants showed a reduction in the growth rate compared with the susceptible parent strain. Similarly, comparison of a set of susceptible and resistant clinical isolates of E. coli showed that the average growth rate of the resistant mutants was approximately 6% lower than the susceptible strains. Furthermore, the bacterial growth rate in the presence of nitrofurantoin at therapeutic levels was greatly reduced even for nitrofurantoin-resistant mutants. The resistance-conferring mutations were identified in the nsfA and nfsB genes that encode oxygen-insensitive nitroreductases. CONCLUSIONS Nitrofurantoin resistance confers a reduction in fitness in E. coli in the absence of antibiotic. In the presence of therapeutic levels of nitrofurantoin, even resistant mutants are so disturbed in growth that they are probably unable to become enriched and establish an infection.
DNA Based Disease Prediction Using Pathway Analysis

Most diseases are not triggered by a single genome but by a combination of genomes together. Sequences occurring more frequently in the diseased samples than in the healthy samples indicate the generic factors of the disease. DNA has become an extremely useful tool for predicting disease. By allowing medical professionals to identify genes in DNA that are markers for diseases, a person can make appropriate lifestyle or similar modifications to help lower the risk of disease. We propose a system in which the above knowledge is provided by determining the probabilistic levels of a disease occurring if the causal gene or the associated genes are mutated.
Gabapentin for the treatment of neuropathic pain in a pregnant horse.

CASE DESCRIPTION A 24-year-old 732-kg (1,610-lb) pregnant Belgian draft horse mare developed neuropathy and signs of intractable pain following colic surgery. CLINICAL FINDINGS Following recovery from colic surgery to treat compression of the small and large intestines because of a large fetus, the mare was noticed to have signs of femoral neuropathy involving the left hind limb. Within 36 hours after recovery, the mare developed signs of severe pain that were unresponsive to conventional treatment. No gastrointestinal tract or muscular abnormalities were found, and the discomfort was attributed to neuropathic pain. TREATMENT AND OUTCOME The mare was treated with gabapentin (2.5 mg/kg [1.1 mg/lb], PO, q 12 h). Shortly after this treatment was initiated, the mare appeared comfortable and no longer had signs of pain. Treatment was continued for 6 days, during which the dosage was progressively decreased, and the mare was discharged. The mare subsequently delivered a healthy foal. CLINICAL RELEVANCE Gabapentin appeared to be a safe, effective, and economical treatment for neuropathic pain in this horse.