Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
CAROTENOID PIGMENTS IN MALE HOUSE FINCH PLUMAGE IN RELATION TO AGE, SUBSPECIES, AND ORNAMENTAL COLORATION

Abstract Like males of many bird species, male House Finches (Carpodacus mexicanus) have patches of feathers with ornamental coloration that are due to carotenoid pigments. Within populations, male House Finches vary in expression of ornamental coloration from pale yellow to bright red, which previous research suggested was the result of variation in types and amounts of carotenoid pigments deposited in feathers. Here we used improved analytical techniques to describe types and amounts of carotenoid pigments present in that plumage. We then used those data to make comparisons of carotenoid composition of feathers of male House Finches at three levels: among individual males with different plumage hue and saturation, between age groups of males from the same population, and between males from two subspecies that differ in extent of ventral carotenoid pigmentation (patch size): large-patched C. m. frontalis from coastal California and small-patched C. m. griscomi from Guerrero, Mexico. In all age groups and populations, the ornamental plumage coloration of male House Finches resulted from the same 13 carotenoid pigments, with 3-hydroxy echinenone and lutein being the most abundant carotenoid pigments. The composition of carotenoids in feathers suggested that House Finches are capable of metabolic transformation of dietary forms of carotenoids. The hue of male plumage depended on component carotenoids, their relative concentrations, and total concentration of all carotenoids. Most 4-keto (red) carotenoids were positively correlated with plumage redness, and most yellow carotenoid pigments were negatively associated with plumage redness, although the strength of the relationship for specific carotenoid pigments varied among age groups and subspecies. Using age and subspecies as factors and concentration of each component carotenoid as dependent variables in a MANOVA, we found a distinctive pigment profile for each age group within each subspecies. Among frontalis males, hatch-year birds did not differ from adults in mean plumage hue, but they had a significantly lower proportion of red pigments in their plumage, and significantly lower levels of the red piments adonirubin and astaxanthin, but significantly higher levels of the yellow pigment zeaxanthin, than adult males. Among griscomi males, hatch-year birds differed from adults in plumage hue but not significantly in pigment composition, though in general their feathers had lower concentrations of red pigments and higher concentrations of yellow pigments than adult males. Both adult and hatch-year frontalis males differed from griscomi males in having significantly higher levels of most yellow carotenoid pigments and significantly lower levels of most red carotenoid pigments. Variation in pigment profiles of subspecies and age classes may reflect differences among the groups in carotenoid metabolism, in dietary access to carotenoids, or in exposure to environmental factors, such as parasites, that may affect pigmentation.
Social position and referral to rehabilitation among cancer patients

Abstract Objectives. In Denmark, most healthcare services, including cancer treatment and rehabilitation, are offered free of charge by referral from a treating physician; thus, social equality should be expected. In a population-based cohort study of registry-based data, we examined the association between socioeconomic position, measured as educational level, and referral to rehabilitation services among cancer patients. Material and methods. Through the Danish Cancer Registry, we identified all people resident in the Municipality of Copenhagen with cancer diagnosed in 2007–2012. Information on all rehabilitation referrals was retrieved from the Municipal Centre for Cancer Rehabilitation for 2009–2012. Information on demographic and socioeconomic characteristics was obtained from national Danish registers. The Cox proportional hazards model was used to investigate associations between educational level and referral to rehabilitation with adjustment for sex, age, diagnosis, disposable income, cohabitation status and number of children living at home at the time of diagnosis. Results. A primary cancer was diagnosed in 13 840 people, of whom 2148 (16%) were referred to rehabilitation services during follow-up. In the fully adjusted model, we found education to be a predictor of referral, with a hazard ratio of 1.33 (95% CI 1.19–1.49) for patients with long education and a hazard ratio of 1.15 (95% CI 1.03–1.29) for patients with medium education as compared with patients with short education. Conclusions. Our findings suggest that, even after differences in demographics and cancer characteristics are accounted for, referral to rehabilitation services is not equally distributed by social group. Higher educational level is associated with a higher probability of referral to rehabilitation services.
DNS Encoding of Geographical Location

This document defines the format of a new Resource Record (RR) for the Domain Naming System (DNS), and reserves a corresponding DNS type mnemonic and numerical code. This definition deals with associating geographical host location mappings to host names within a domain. The data shown in this document is fictitious and does not necessarily reflect the real Internet.
Knowledge of malaria and preventive measures among pregnant women attending antenatal clinics in a rural local government area in Southwestern Nigeria.

OBJECTIVE This study determined the level of knowledge of malaria and preventive measures among pregnant women and its influence on the uptake of preventive measures. METHODS A cross-sectional survey was carried out among 209 participants selected from pregnant women attending antenatal clinics in primary healthcare centres in Irepodun/Ifelodun, a local government area in Ekiti state, Nigeria. RESULTS Knowledge of malaria was found to be very good, average and poor among two (1.0%), 165 (78.9%) and 42 (20.1%) respondents, respectively. Of the 109 (52.2%) respondents who had heard about intermittent preventive treatment, eight (7.3%) scored "very good" on knowledge, while 53 (48.6%) and 48 (44.1%) scored "average" and "poor," respectively. Of the 144 (68.9%) respondents who had heard about insecticide-treated nets, 95 (66.0%) scored "good" on knowledge, while 49 (34.0%) scored "poor. " Factors that significantly influenced knowledge about malaria were occupation, level of education, months at first appearance at antenatal clinic and transportation cost. Knowledge significantly influenced uptake of insecticide-treated nets and intermittent preventive treatment in pregnancy ( p < .05). CONCLUSION There is a need to intensify efforts to provide health education on malaria and preventive measures as well as to encourage preventive practices among pregnant women.
Targets and strategies for T-cell based vaccines in patients with B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia

T-cell based immunotherapies might be a novel option for the treatment of B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL), a disease characterized by a prolonged natural course. Different strategies of active immunotherapy have been tested in vitro to enhance a specific T-cell response against tumor cells and an anti-leukemic effect has been observed in B-CLL patients after allogenic stem cell transplantation. Several antigens have been characterized as tumor/leukemia associated antigens (T/LAAs) in B-CLL with the potential to elicit specific anti-tumor response encompassing idiotype immunoglobulin, oncofetal antigen-immature laminin receptor protein (OFAiLRP), survivin, as well as fibromodulin, the receptor for hyaluronic acid mediated motility (RHAMM/CD168) and the murine double-minute 2 oncoprotein (MDM2). This study presents an overview of possible targets and genetherapeutical maneuvers for future immunotherapies of B-CLL patients and summarizes recent clinical vaccination trials with dendritic cells (DCs) for B-CLL.
Confocal imaging of organotypic brain slices for real time analysis of cell death

Programmed cell death (PCD) is a widespread phenomenon during normal brain development and also occurs in numerous neuropathological conditions. Among the several forms of PCD occurring in neurons, apoptosis is a gene-regulated process whereby affected cells undergo a stereotyped sequence of morphological and biochemical changes eventually leading to death. One of the most relevant features of this type of PCD is the very rapid clearance of apoptotic cells from tissue, this rendering their direct microscopic visualization a very demanding task. We describe here a procedure to realtime monitoring apoptosis in organotypic cerebellar cultures. By the use of a custom-designed microincubator that is mounted over the stage of an upright confocal microscope, we have been able to follow the activation of the apoptotic machinery in individual neurons that were labeled with a fluorescent tag. The incubation chamber allows for changing the culture medium without interfering with the observation, thus enabling the experimenter to follow the fate of individual neurons over long periods of time (days-weeks) and after challenge with different pharmacological agents.
Proteolytic Cleavage Driven by Glycosylation*

Proteolytic processing of human host cell factor 1 (HCF-1) to its mature form was recently shown, unexpectedly, to occur in a UDP-GlcNAc-dependent fashion within the transferase active site of O-GlcNAc-transferase (OGT) (Lazarus, M. B., Jiang, J., Kapuria, V., Bhuiyan, T., Janetzko, J., Zandberg, W. F., Vocadlo, D. J., Herr, W., and Walker, S. (2013) Science 342, 1235–1239). An interesting mechanism involving formation and then intramolecular rearrangement of a covalent glycosyl ester adduct of the HCF-1 polypeptide was proposed to account for this unprecedented proteolytic activity. However, the key intermediate remained hypothetical. Here, using a model enzyme system for which the formation of a glycosyl ester within the enzyme active site has been shown unequivocally, we show that ester formation can indeed lead to proteolysis of the adjacent peptide bond, thereby providing substantive support for the mechanism of HCF-1 processing proposed.
Rapid identification of Saccharomyces eubayanus and its hybrids.

The Saccharomyces species Saccharomyces eubayanus was recently discovered in Patagonia. Genomic, genetic and phylogenetic data all suggest that it is one of the two parents of the hybrid yeast S. pastorianus (S. cerevisiae being the other). Saccharomyces eubayanus genomes can also be found in strains of the hybrid species S. bayanus. Here, we describe a novel pair of PCR primers targeted against the S. eubayanus FSY1 gene that will specifically detect S. eubayanus and hybrids containing this allele of the gene. The primer pair can be used to identify the species using a rapid, inexpensive colony PCR method suitable for a preliminary identification of wild isolates.
New osmoregulated beta(1-3),beta(1-6) glucosyltransferase(s) in Azospirillum brasilense

A linear beta(1-3),beta(1-6) glucan was detected in the periplasm of Azospirillum brasilense cells growing in a medium of low osmotic strength. This glucan was produced in vitro by purified bacterial inner membranes with UDP-glucose as the sugar donor in the presence of Mg2+. Growth in a high-osmotic-strength medium strongly reduced the amount of this glucan accumulated in the periplasmic space, and the inhibition was associated with a reduction in the enzymatic activity of the beta(1-3),beta(1-6) glucosyltransferase(s).
AUV for diver assistance and safety — Design and implementation

Diving as a profession and sport is and will be one of the most dangerous disciplines known by man. Water is not a natural habitat for humans and people need equipment to breathe underwater. Failure in the breathing apparatus, burst eardrum, decompression sickness and nitrogen narcosis are just a couple of problems which can occur during an ordinary dive and result in injuries, long-term illnesses or even death. The most common way to reduce the risk of diving is to dive in pairs. Use of the buddy system by scuba divers is a set of safety procedures that are intended to improve divers' chances of avoiding or surviving accidents underwater. When diving in pairs, divers can cooperate with each other and respond when uncommon situations occur. Having the ability to react before an unwanted situation happens would improve diver safety. This paper proposes a mechanical system which will be used with a scuba diver in a symbiotic link. The concept consists of a diver, an autonomous underwater robot (Buddy) and an autonomous surface robot (PlaDyPos) (Fig. 1) [1].
Modeling and Parametric Design of Permanent-Magnet AC Machines Using Computationally Efficient Finite-Element Analysis

Computationally efficient finite-element analysis (FEA) (CE-FEA) fully exploits the symmetries of electric and magnetic circuits of sine-wave current-regulated synchronous machines and yields substantial savings of computational efforts. Motor performance is evaluated through Fourier analysis and a minimum number of magnetostatic solutions. The major steady-state performance indices (average torque, ripple and cogging torque, back-electromotive-force waveforms, and core losses) are satisfactorily estimated as compared with the results of detailed time-stepping (transient) FEA. In this paper, the CE-FEA method is presented and applied to a parametric design study for an interior-permanent-magnet machine. Significant reduction of simulation times is achieved (approximately two orders of magnitude), permitting a comprehensive search of large design spaces for optimization purposes. In this case study, the influence of three design variables, namely, stator tooth width, pole arc, and slot opening, on three performance indices, namely, average torque, efficiency, and full-load torque ripple, is examined, and design trends are derived. One hundred candidate designs are simulated in less than 20 minutes on a state-of-the-art workstation.
Contribution of Combined Detection Assays of p24 Antigen and Anti-Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Antibodies in Diagnosis of Primary HIV Infection by Routine Testing

In reference to the paper of Weber et al. ([1][1]), we report here the contribution of a fourth-generation human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) diagnosis assay, the VIDAS HIV DUO (bioMerieux), to diagnosis of primary HIV infection earlier than the third generation. During a recent 9-month survey,
Understanding Socially Constructed Concepts Using Blogs Data

In this paper we propose a methodology to understand complex concepts, and which captures aspects of the contextual —and collaboratively constructed — meaning of these concepts with considerably less effort than manual coding. We use the word "quality" as one such concept to exemplify our methodology. By using unsupervised topic models along with a small corpus of human labeled data we explore the different uses of the concept "quality" in a large number of blogs. Our methodology is validated, qualitatively, by comparing our results to previous research. Finally, we note limitations and future directions of this work.
of Advanced Robotic Systems Design and Characterization of a Novel High-Power Series Elastic Actuator for a Lower Limb Robotic Orthosis Regular Paper ?

A safe interaction is crucial in wearable robotics in general, while in assistive and rehabilitation applications, robots may also be required to minimally perturb physiological movements, ideally acting as perfectly transparent machines. The actuation system plays a central role because the expected performance, in terms of torque, speed and control bandwidth, must not be achieved at the expense of lightness and compactness. Actuators embedding compliant elements, such as series elastic actuators, can be designed to meet the above-mentioned requirements in terms of high energy storing capacity and stability of torque control. A number of series elastic actuators have been proposed over the past 20 years in order to accommodate the needs arising from specific applications. This paper presents a novel series elastic actuator intended for the actuation system of a lower limb wearable robot, recently developed in our lab. The actuator is able to deliver 300 W and has a novel architecture making its centre of mass not co-located with its axis of rotation, for an easier integration into the robotic structure. A custom-made torsion spring with a stiffness of 272.25 N·m·rad 1 is directly connected to the load. The delivered torque is calculated from the measurement of the spring deflection, through two absolute encoders. Testing on torque measurement accuracy and torque/stiffness control are reported.
Studies on Enterotoxins and Antimicrobial Resistance in Staphylococcus aureus Isolated from Various Sources

Staphylococcus aureus represents a public health challenge all over the world. Therefore, this study aims to analyze the prevalence of five genes (sea, seb, sec, see and seg) encoding the staphylococcal enterotoxins in S. aureus isolated from different sources and to evaluate the association of these toxins in comparison to susceptibility towards 12 antimicrobials; antimicrobial susceptibility was conducted by disc diffusion method. Detection of staphylococcal enterotoxins was performed by PCR and the ability to express these genes was assessed among isolates by RT-PCR. The most common enterotoxin gene was sea gene (66%), followed by seb, sec, see and seg (38%, 23%, 19% and 5%) respectively. Expression of sea, seb and seg genes was variable. However, sec and see genes were not expressed by any of the tested isolates. No statistically significant association exists between (seb, sec and see) and isolation sources, while the sea was significantly associated with clinical isolates. High significant correlation was found between elevated sea expression and multidrug-resistance. Our findings indicate that the pathogenic potential of S. aureus may be greater than previously thought. This emphasizes the utmost need to implement proactive measures and more emphasis will be placed on the application of hygiene practices in hospitals to control S. aureus infection and enterotoxins production.
The study of mismatch repair in endometrial cancer patients with a family history of cancer.

AIM To assess the expression of mismatch repair (MMR) proteins MSH2 and MLH1 and carry out microsatellite analysis in patients with endometrial cancer (EC) with regard to the family history of cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS Morphological and immunohistochemical study was performed on tumor tissue samples of 49 EC patients. Microsatellite instability was determined using PCR with primers which flank microsatellite region BAT-26. RESULTS A tendency to a decreased expression of both MSH2 and MLH1 markers in a group of EC patients with a family history of cancer as compared with a group without aggregation of cancer in family history was observed (labeling index - LI - was 36.1 ± 8.1% and LI 20.7 ± 9.1% versus LI 48.0 ± 5.8% and 33.8 ± 5.8%, respectively). It was determined that the number of EC patients with tumors deficient by expression of MMR markers was reliably higher in a group of patients with a family history of cancer than in a group of patients without aggregation of cancer in family history (р < 0.05). It was shown that in a group of EC patients with a family history of cancer, MMR-proficient tumors were detected in 38.5% of cases. Microsatellite instability was determined in 10.7% of EC patients including one patient with aggregation of Lynch-associated tumors in family history. CONCLUSION Family history of cancer of EC patients is associated with malfunctioning of the MMR system as well as may be related to alternative molecular mechanisms.
Multiple-precision subword-parallel multiplier using correction-value merging technique

This paper presents a 64-bit subword-parallel multiplier capable of supporting multiple precisions. The proposed multiplier uses novel correction-value merging technique to perform one 64times64, two 32times32 or four 16times16 bit unsigned/signed multiplication operations in parallel. The multiplier is implemented in 0.18 mum CMOS process. Critical path delay is 2.88 ns and layout area is 1.65 mm2, which are comparable to conventional multipliers.
Introducing a 3-dimensionally Printed, Tissue-Engineered Graft for Airway Reconstruction

Objective: To use 3-dimensional (3D) printing and tissue engineering to create a graft for laryngotracheal reconstruction (LTR). Study Design: In vitro and in vivo pilot animal study. Setting: Large tertiary care academic medical center. Subjects and Methods: A 3D computer model of an anterior LTR graft was designed. That design was printed with polylactic acid on a commercially available 3D printer. The scaffolds were seeded with mature chondrocytes and collagen gel and cultured in vitro for up to 3 weeks. Scaffolds were evaluated in vitro for cell viability and proliferation. Anterior graft LTR was performed on 9 New Zealand white rabbits with the newly created scaffolds. Three animals were sacrificed at each time point (4, 8, and 12 weeks). The in vivo graft sites were assessed via bronchoscopy and histology. Results: The in vitro cell proliferation assay demonstrated initial viability of 87.5%. The cells proliferated during the study period, doubling over the first 7 days. Histology revealed that the cells retained their cartilaginous properties during the 21-day study period. In vivo testing showed that all animals survived for the duration of the study. Bronchoscopy revealed a well-mucosalized tracheal lumen with no evidence of scarring or granulation tissue. Histology indicated the presence of newly formed cartilage in the region where the graft was present. Conclusions: Our results indicate that it is possible to produce a custom-designed, 3D-printed, tissue-engineered graft for airway reconstruction.
Long Sentence Analysis by Domain-Specific Pattern Grammar

We propose a method for analyzing long complex and compound sentences that utilizes global structure analysis with domain-specific pattern grammar. Previously, long sentence analysis with global information used the following methods: two-level analysis--global structure analysis of long sentences with domain-independent function words and parsing of their constituents[Doi et al., 1991], and pattern matching--adaptation of domain-specific fixed pattern to input sentences. By utilizing domaindependent information the latter method could analyze long sentences of that domain. But since the matching is made only on the surface the sentence isn't analyzed well when patterns appear recursively.
Robust control of a brachiating robot

This paper investigates the robust control of an underactuated brachiating robot. Inspired by the pendulumlike movements in gibbons' arboreal locomotion, the controllers are designed to synchronize the brachiator with a virtual oscillator. Two schemes are proposed: a model-dependent feedback linearization scheme and a sliding-mode scheme that is independent of the system model. The simulation results illustrate that the proposed schemes are robust to the arbitrary initial configurations of the brachiator and the limitation in the motor torque at the elbow joint. Furthermore, both controllers enable the underactuated robot to brachiate along a structural member with an upward slope.