Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Self-reported Physical Activity Among South Carolina Adults Trying to Maintain or Lose Weight

Objectives: The obesity epidemic is related to widespread physical inactivity in the United States. This study determined the proportion of South Carolinians trying to maintain or lose weight and within that subpopulation, the number who practiced a restricted diet and engaged in physical activity. Methods: Data from the 2002 South Carolina Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System survey were used to classify adults who were trying to maintain weight or lose weight. Self-reported prevalence of restricted diet and participation in physical activity were investigated. Of those who reported weight control practices, levels of physical activity were analyzed to determine if those trying to maintain weight or lose weight were meeting the national guidelines for moderate or vigorous physical activity. Results: More than 70% of South Carolina adults reported trying to control their weight and the majority reported using physical activity for weight control. Though the majority reported use of restricted diet and physical activity, more than one-half of those individuals did not meet the minimum standards for physical activity designed for heart health. Conclusions: Although most adults who are trying to maintain or lose weight are participating in physical activity, public health efforts need to focus on encouraging these adults to increase their levels of physical activity to meet the minimum standards for health benefits. Health care providers have an opportunity to educate and encourage patients about the recommended levels of physical activity to obtain maximum health benefits.
Force Measurement Tools to Explore Cadherin Mechanotransduction

Abstract Cell–cell adhesions serve to mechanically couple cells, allowing for long-range transmission of forces across cells in development, disease, and homeostasis. Recent work has shown that such contacts also play a role in transducing mechanical cues into a wide variety of cellular behaviors important to tissue function. As such, understanding the mechanical regulation of cells through their adhesion molecules has become a point of intense focus. This review will highlight the existing and emerging technologies and models that allow for exploration of cadherin-based adhesions as sites of mechanotransduction.
Cloning of TH0- and TH2-type helper lymphocytes from liver granulomas of Schistosoma mansoni-infected mice

The pathological manifestations of schistosomiasis mansoni are primarily induced by circumovum hepatic granuloma formation and fibrosis. The growth and modulation of the granulomas are regulated by T lymphocytes and their products. In the present study, we isolated T-lymphocyte clones from lesions at the acute and chronic stages of murine infection. All of the T-cell clones were characterized by immunofluorescence as CD4+CD8- helper cells. Three T-cell clones derived from vigorous granulomas produced interleukin 2 (IL-2), IL-4, and gamma interferon (IFN-gamma) and were therefore classified as TH0-type T lymphocytes. Of the three clones derived from immunomodulated lesions, two produced IL-2 or IL-4 and/or IFN-gamma (TH0 type) and the other one did not produce IFN-gamma but did produce IL-4 and was therefore characterized as a TH2-type helper clone. The clones were further characterized by their responsiveness to soluble egg antigen fractions. The acute infection-derived clones responded to the lower-molecular-mass (60- to 66-kDa and 25- to 30-kDa) fractions, whereas the immunomodulated-granuloma-derived clones responded to the 60- to 66-kDa and higher-molecular-mass (70- to 90-, 93- to 125-, and > 200-kDa) fractions. Upon adoptive transfer into naive mice, both the TH0- and TH2-type clones were capable of inducing granuloma formation of similar magnitude around antigen-coated beads and/or freshly isolated parasite eggs. The present study revealed the presence of TH0-type precursor helper cells within the liver granulomas. The findings underscore the complexity of the granulomatous response at the T-cell level and demonstrate that both TH0- and TH2-type granuloma lymphocytes play a role in parasite egg-induced granuloma formation.
LAND TENURE TRANSFORMATION IN A REMOTE ISLANDS: A case of a historical sociology prespective in Karimunjawa islands

The interesting problem is the phenomenon of the transformation of land tenure of local residents to the outside residence massively. The research method used is a qualitative method by using data collection techniques of depth interviews, group interviews, participant observation, archival studies and documents and literature study. The results showed, that there has been a transformation of land tenure with the indicator of controlling the small islands in Karimunjawa Islands by outside residents. Of the 22 small islands with a total area of 358.9 ha of which are not inhabited by the population, remained 24 ha (6.69%) is controlled by local residents. The condition is caused by several factors, among others: (1) enactment Karimunjawa as a National Marine Park, and then as one of the leading tourism region of Central Java province, (2) the low level of education of local residents and the limited productive business opportunity in agricultural sector, (3) low levels of welfare and the weak bond of local residence to their land property. In this context the land then becomes a commodity more than the means of production, and a decline in social status of the local population, which is only switched on as a tenant or other livelihood as laborers or open a small business.
Identification of Discrete Event Systems Using the Compound Recurrent Neural Network: Extracting DEVS from Trained Network

The authors consider identifying an unknown discrete event system (DES) as recognition of characteristic functions of a discrete event systems specification (DEVS) model that validly represents the system. Such identification consists of two major steps: behavior learning using a specially designed neural network and extraction of a DEVS model from the learned neural network. This paper presents a method for extracting a DEVS model from one such neural network called CRNN (compound recurrent neural network), which is trained using observed input/output events of an unknown DES. The DES to be identified is restricted to a subclass of DES in which any unknown state can be determined by a finite number of input/output sequences. Identification experiments were performed with three types of unknown DESs, the result of which verified the validity of the proposed model extraction method.
Female reproductive tract immunoglobulin responses to a purified sperm specific antigen (LDH-C4).

Female rabbits were immunized systemically with purified sperm specific lactate dehydrogenase (LDH-C4). Some of these were treated additionally by depositing sperm (as a source of LDH-C4) directly into various regions of their reproductive tract. During these treatments, reproductive tract fluids were collected and the amount of immunoglobulin present that was specific for LDH-C4 was determined. In immunized females without sperm, the concentration of anti-LDH-C4 in follicular fluid was the same as in serum, whereas in oviducal fluid, the amount ranged from 3-27% of serum levels. Sperm deposition in the tract provoked a local increase in fluid levels of anti-LDH-C4. Thus rises in uterine or oviducal fluid titers occurred following the direct introduction of sperm into the uterine horns or oviducts, respectively. Although IgA was present in reproductive tract fluids, the anti-LDH-C4 was always of the IgG class. These reproductive tract immune responses have direct bearing on the reduction in fertility previously demonstrated for rabbits immunized against LDH-C4.
Journal Review

BACKGROUND Androgens are involved in the development of prostate cancer. Finasteride, an inhibitor of 5alpha-reductase, inhibits the conversion of testosterone to dihydrotestosterone, the primary androgen in the prostate, and may reduce the risk of prostate cancer. METHODS In the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial, we randomly assigned 18,882 men 55 years of age or older with a normal digital rectal examination and a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level of 3.0 ng per milliliter or lower to treatment with finasteride (5 mg per day) or placebo for seven years. Prostate biopsy was recommended if the annual PSA level, adjusted for the effect of finasteride, exceeded 4.0 ng per milliliter or if the digital rectal examination was abnormal. It was anticipated that 60 percent of participants would have prostate cancer diagnosed during the study or would undergo biopsy at the end of the study. The primary end point was the prevalence of prostate cancer during the seven years of the study. RESULTS Prostate cancer was detected in 803 of the 4368 men in the finasteride group who had data for the final analysis (18.4 percent) and 1147 of the 4692 men in the placebo group who had such data (24.4 percent), for a 24.8 percent reduction in prevalence over the seven-year period (95 percent confidence interval, 18.6 to 30.6 percent; P<0.001). Tumors of Gleason grade 7, 8, 9, or 10 were more common in the finasteride group (280 of 757 tumors [37.0 percent], or 6.4 percent of the 4368 men included in the final analysis) than in the placebo group (237 of 1068 tumors [22.2 percent], P<0.001 for the comparison between groups; or 5.1 percent of the 4692 men included in the final analysis, P=0.005 for the comparison between groups). Sexual side effects were more common in finasteride-treated men, whereas urinary symptoms were more common in men receiving placebo. CONCLUSIONS Finasteride prevents or delays the appearance of prostate cancer, but this possible benefit and a reduced risk of urinary problems must be weighed against sexual side effects and the increased risk of high-grade prostate cancer.
[Ectopic expression and clinical significance of tissue factor/coagulation factor VII complex in colorectal cancer].

OBJECTIVE To study the expression of coagulation factor VII(FVII)/tissue factor(TF)complex in colorectal carcinoma (CRC)and its correlation with clinicopathologic factor. METHODS The expression of coagulation factor VII protein was studied by immunohistochemistry and Western blot.The expression of tissue factor and coagulation factor VII at the mRNA levels were evaluated by quantitative realtime RT-PCR in 45 cases of CRC. RESULTS (1) FVII overexpression was ectopicly detected in CRC specimens at protein level by immunohistochemistry and Western blot, but not in adjacent non-cancerous mucosa of colorectum;(2)FVII protein mainly localized in the cytoplasm of colon cancer cells.The positive ratios of FVII protein expression in stages I, II, III and IV by immunohistochemistry assay were 33.3%, 40.0%, 64.7% and 80.0% respectively(P=0.001); (3)The expression of FVII mRNA in CRC with hepatic metastasis was significantly higher than that in CRC without hepatic metastasis.The relative expression was 5.33+/-2.88 and 1.47+/-0.51 respectively(P=0.03). Overexpression FVII gene was unrelated with tumor size, differentiation, depth of invasion, lymph node metastasis and TNM staging.There existed some relation between the gene and protein level by Spearman correlation, r=0.58, P=0.003;(4)The expression of TF mRNA in CRC significantly correlated with lymph node metastasis, hepatic metastasis and TNM staging.The expression of tissue factor was a critical factor to predict liver metastasis by logistic regression analysis(P=0.001). CONCLUSION Colorectal cancer can ectopicly synthesize coagulation factor VII.Tissue factor expression may play a role in the process of developing hepatic metastasis.The microenvironment of high dose FVII protein may promote tumor metastasis.
An international questionnaire to explore neurotoxic symptoms.

EURONEST (European Neurotoxic Solvents Toxicity) is a concerted action within the European Communities to use standardized methods available in all countries. The product of this effort is a new symptom questionnaire, EUROQUEST (European Questionnaire). The original version was developed in English. To obtain transcultural reliability, the translation of questionnaires into other languages must be validated. We adopted a procedure with translation, back translation, and agreement between translators. Ten other European countries also followed the same translation procedure for EUROQUEST.
Metabolic analysis of the synthesis of high levels of intracellular human SOD in Saccharomyces cerevisiae rhSOD 2060 411 SGA122.

The synthesis of human superoxide dismutase (SOD) in batch cultures of a Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain using a glucose-limited minimal medium was studied through metabolic flux analysis. A stoichiometric model was built, which included 78 reactions, according to metabolic pathways operative in these strains during respirofermentative and oxidative metabolism. It allowed calculation of the distribution of metabolic fluxes during diauxic growth on glucose and ethanol. Fermentation profiles and metabolic fluxes were analyzed at different phases of diauxic growth for the recombinant strain (P+) and for its wild type (P-). The synthesis of SOD by the strain P+ resulted in a decrease in specific growth rate of 34 and 54% (growth on glucose and ethanol respectively) in comparison to the wild type. Both strains exhibited similar flux of glucose consumption and ethanol synthesis but important differences in carbon distribution with biomass/substrate yields and ATP production 50% higher in P-. A higher contribution of fermentative metabolism, with 64% of the energy produced at the phosphorylation level, was observed during SOD production. The flux of precursors to amino acids and nucleotides was higher in the recombinant strain, in agreement with the higher total RNA and protein levels. Lower specific growth rates in strain P+ appear to be related to the decrease in the rate of synthesis of nonrecombinant protein, as well as a decrease in the activities of the pentose phosphate (PP) pathway and TCA cycle. A very different way of entry into the stationary phase was observed for each strain: in the wild-type strain most metabolic fluxes decreased and fluxes related to energy reserve synthesis increased, while in the P+ strain the flux of 22 reactions (including PP pathway and amino acids biosynthesis) related to SOD production increased their fluxes. Changes in SOD production rates at different physiological states appear to be related to the differences in building blocks availability between respirofermentative and oxidative metabolism. Using the present expression system, ideal conditions for SOD synthesis are represented by either active growth during respirofermentative metabolism or transition from a growing to a nongrowing state. An increase in SOD flux could be achieved using an expression system nonassociated to growth and potentially eliminating part of the metabolic burden.
Formal verification techniques using quantum process calculus

Quantum communication is a rapidly growing area of research and development. While the successful construction of a large-scale quantum computer may be some years away, there are already commercial implementations of secure communication using quantum cryptography. The application of formal methods to classical communication and cryptographic systems has been very successful, and is now widely used in industry by organisations such as Intel, Microsoft and NASA. There is reason to believe that similar benefits can be expected for the verification of quantum systems. In this thesis, we focus on the use of process calculus, specifically Communicating Quantum Processes (CQP), for the analysis of quantum protocols. Congruence relations are an important aspect of process calculus, since they provide the foundation for equational reasoning. Previous work on congruence relations for quantum processes excluded the classical information arising from measurements, and was therefore unable to analyse many of the interesting known quantum communication protocols. Developing a congruence relation for general quantum processes is difficult because of the interaction between measurement, entanglement and parallel composition. We define a labelled transition relation for CQP in order to describe external interactions. Based on this semantics, we define a notion of observational equivalence for CQP processes, namely probabilistic branching bisimilarity. We find that this relation is not preserved by parallel composition, however we are able to gain a deeper understanding of the link between probabilistic branching and measurement. Based on this newfound understanding, we present a novel semantics for quantum processes, combining mixed quantum states with probabilistic branching. With respect to this new semantic model, we define full probabilistic branching bisimilarity and prove that it is a congruence. We use this congruence relation to discuss an axiomatic approach to the verification of quantum processes. The quantum teleportation protocol is used as a primary example throughout, and we prove that it is congruent to a quantum channel. We define a translation from CQP to the Quantum Model Checker (QMC) in order to provide automated verification techniques using CQP specifications. We prove that this translation preserves the semantics of CQP processes, thereby enabling a multifaceted approach to formal verification by enhancing the manual techniques of process calculus with the benefits of model checking.
Real-time Accurate Pedestrian Detection and Tracking in Challenging Surveillance Videos

This paper proposes a novel approach for real-time robust pedestrian tracking in surveillance images. Such images are challenging to analyse since the overall image quality is low (e.g. low resolution and high compression). Furthermore often birds-eye viewpoint wide-angle lenses are used to achieve maximum coverage with a minimal amount of cameras. These specific viewpoints make it difficult or even unfeasible to directly apply existing pedestrian detection techniques. Moreover, real-time processing speeds are required. To overcome these problems we introduce a pedestrian detection and tracking framework which exploits and integrates these scene constraints to achieve excellent accuracy results. We performed extensive experiments on challenging real-life video sequences concerning both speed and accuracy. We show that our approach achieves excellent accuracy results while still meeting the stringent real-time demands needed for these surveillance applications, using only a single-core CPU implementation.
Search and Visualization of Semantically Related Words (Recherche et visualisation de mots sémantiquement liés) [in French]

RÉSUMÉ Nous présentons PatternSim, une nouvelle mesure de similarité sémantique qui repose d’une part sur des patrons lexico-syntaxiques appliqués à de très vastes corpus et d’autre part sur une formule de réordonnancement des candidats extraits. Le système, initialement développé pour l’anglais, a été adapté au français. Nous rendons compte de cette adaptation, nous en proposons une évaluation et décrivons l’usage de ce nouveau modèle dans la plateforme de consultation en ligne Serelex.
Quantitative polymerase chain reaction as a reliable method to determine functional lentiviral titer after ex vivo gene transfer in human mesenchymal stem cells

Human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) are a promising target for ex vivo gene therapy and lentiviruses are excellent gene transfer vehicles in hMSCs since they achieve high transduction rates with long‐term gene expression. Nevertheless, senescence of hMSCs may limit therapeutic applications due to time‐consuming cell selection and viral titration. Here, we describe a fast and reliable method to determine functional lentiviral titer by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) after highly efficient ex vivo gene transfer in hMSCs.
Nanocomposites as Advanced Materials for Aerospace Industry

Polymer nanocomposites, consisting of nanoparticles dispersed in polymer matrix, have gained interest due to the attractive properties of nanostructured fillers, as carbon nanotubes and layered silicates. Low volume additions (1- 5%) of nanoparticles provide properties enhancements comparable to those achieved by conventional loadings (15- 40%) of traditional fillers. Structural nanocomposites represent reinforcement structures based on carbon or glass fibers embedded into polymeric matrix modified with nanofillers. Structural composites are the most important application of nanaocomposites, in aerospace field, as, laminates and sandwich structures. Also, they can by used as anti-lightning, anti-radar protectors and paints. The paper presents the effects of sonic dispersion of carbon nanotubes and montmorrilonite on the mechanical, electrical, rheological and trybological properties of epoxy polymers and laminated composites, with carbon or glass fiber reinforcement, with nanoadditivated epoxy matrix. One significant observation is that nanoclay contents higher than 2% wt generate an increase of the resin viscosity, from 1500 to 50000- 100000 cP, making the matrix impossible to use in high performance composites. Also, carbon nanotubes provide the resin important electrical properties, passing from dielectric to semi- conductive class. These effects have also been observed for fiber reinforced composites. Contrarily to some opinions in literature, the results of carbon nanotubes or nanoclays addition on the mechanical characteristics of glass or carbon fiber composites seem to be rather low.
3-D simulation OF 32 GHz cold cathode magnetron operating in the (+1)-st space harmonic of π-mode oscillations

An analytic estimate has been made of the optimal parameters of a pulsed cold secondary-emission cathode magnetron operating at a frequency of 32 GHz with anode voltage of 8 kV and magnetic field of 0.4 T. The magnetron interaction space geometry facilitates the interplay of electrons and the microwave-field of the (-1)-st space harmonic of π/2-mode oscillations. The numerical experiment involving the use of a 3-D model has been performed to see whether the magnetrons with analytically specified parameters are capable of operating required energy characteristics. We have provided ample evidence of the opportunity to engineer the type of a magnetron, which can be efficiently operated with relatively lower anode voltages, acceptable magnetic field, energy parameter and maximum lifetime. All these operational features will open new fields of applications in marine radar transmitters. Specifically, they will be able to address a series of specific problems at surveillance stations and to monitor the movements of small-size above-water objects, navigational aspects of high-speed hydrofoil vessels, ground-effect crafts. In addition, all the above features will beneficial in terms of piloting all kinds of vessels in the open waters close to the ports' coastal areas where navigation is intensive (the navigation traffic is heavy).
In vitro and in vivo protein synthesis in Candida albicans. 3. Protein synthesis and inhibition.

The effects of 3 antibiotics, puromycin, blasticidin S and cycloheximide, known to be preferential inhibitors of mammalian protein synthesis, on in vitro and in vivo protein-synthesizing systems from a strain of Candida albicans were investigated.Puromycin, without affecting growth or in vivo protein synthesis, markedly inhibited amino acid incorporation into peptides by a cell-free system from C. albicans; this has been reported with bacterial and mammalian systems. The antibiotic caused accelerated breakdown of polysomes and abortive release of peptides from the ribosome. Blasticidin S was a highly potent, irreversible inhibitor of fungal protein synthesis in vitro and in vivo, It blocked normal completion and release of peptides as well as puromycin-induced breakdown of polysomes and abortive release of peptides. Inhibition by cycloheximide, was attained to a less extent and was almost completely reversed after washing free of the drug. It interfered with normal and puromycin-accelerated breakdown of p.