Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Respiratory resistance and impedance magnitude in healthy children aged 2–18 years

Two hundred eighteen healthy children aged 2 to 18 years were studied using a modification of the forced oscillation technique. Reference values with height as predictor were determined for total respiratory resistance and impedance during inspiration, expiration, and throughout the whole respiratory cycle at an oscillation frequency of 4 Hz and, in a subpopulation of 61 children, at frequencies of 2 and 12 Hz. Mean total inspiratory resistance, determined at 4 Hz, decreased with growth from 1.3 kPa.1−1.s at 2 years of age to 0.3 kPa.1−1.s at 18 years. Variability in the results between individuals, expressed in terms of coefficient of variation, was found to be +27% and −21%, respectively, and within individuals, 9%. Resistance during expiration was on average 16% higher than during inspiration and the variability within individuals was 11%. A marked decrease in resistance was found in small children when the frequency was increased from 2 to 12 Hz. The frequency dependence of respiratory resistance observed in small children changes gradually with growth, in parallel with the reduction of total respiratory resistance, to an adult pattern in which no significant change in resistance can be noted between frequencies of 2 and 12 Hz.
Validation of the Swedish version of the chronic liver disease questionnaire

Health-related quality of life (HRQL) is frequently impaired in chronic liver disease and thus its assessment is considered to be an important outcome measure in hepatology research [1–3]. Although generic HRQL instruments are commonly used, disease-specific HRQL instruments address specific aspects of a certain disease [1-3]. The chronic liver disease questionnaire (CLDQ) has been developed as a self-administered disease-specific HRQL instrument for patients with chronic liver disease of different etiology and severity [1]. It comprises 29 items graded on a seven-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (all of the time) to 7 (none of the time) and its results are presented as six domain scores (abdominal symptoms, fatigue, systemic symptoms, activity, emotional functioning, worry) and as a total CLDQ score [1]. There is an English (1), German (2), and Spanish (3) version of the CLDQ. However, there is no liverspecific HRQL instrument in Swedish. Thus, we aimed to test a Swedish version of the CLDQ for validity and reliability. A total of 80 clinically stable adult patients with chronic liver disease were enrolled (mean age 55 years, standard deviation (SD) 12 years; 55% female; 44% with cholestatic liver disease, 16% with alcoholic liver disease, 10% with hepatitis C; 72% with no cirrhosis, 13% with Child–Pugh class A, 15% Child–Pugh class B or C). Non-Swedish speakers, transplant recipients, and patients with encephalopathy grade >2 or other cognitive difficulties were excluded. A forward–backward translation of the original American English version of the CLDQ [1] was performed. During an outpatient clinic visit, patients were asked to complete theCLDQaswell as the short-form36 (SF-36) [4], the hospital anxiety and depression (HAD) scale [5], the gastrointestinal symptom rating scale (GSRS) [6], and the fatigue impact scale (FIS) [7]. Internal consistencywas assessedbymeans of theCronbach’sa coefficient and convergent validity by means of the Spearman’s coefficient between CLDQ scores and relevantSF-36,HAD,GSRS,andFISdomains scores. Discriminant validity was assessed by comparing the scores of patients with versus without cirrhosis. A subgroup of 60 patients were asked to complete the CLDQ again two weeks later for retest reliability assessment bymeans of the intraclass correlation coefficient [8]. All tests were two-tailed and conducted at a 5% significance level. In case ofmultiple comparisons, the significance level was set at 1‰. The Swedish version of CLDQ showed good convergent validity, as demonstrated by the correlations between its domains and the validation instruments used, and moderate-to-high internal consistency and reproducibility (Table I). As far as discriminant validity
Development and use of a biotinylated 3 ABC recombinant protein in a solid-phase competitive ELISA for the detection of antibodies against foot-and-mouth disease virus

A biotinylated 3ABC recombinant protein was developed and used in a competitive ELISA (cELISA) to detect foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) antibodies in cattle, sheep and pigs. In this report, we describe the cloning and expression of 3ABC protein in Escherichia coli cells as fusion protein with 6xHis and biotin. This cELISA uses streptavidin to capture bacterially expressed and in vivo biotinylated 3ABC antigen. The antigen capture strategy provides a simple and reliable method, which does not require purification of recombinant antigen before the serological assay. An hyperimmune guinea pig antiserum produced against purified 6xHis-3ABC was used as competitor in the test. The potential use of this cELISA for the identification of antibodies induced by FMD virus infection from those induced by vaccination is
Long‐acting β2‐adrenergic formoterol and salmeterol induce the apoptosis of B‐chronic lymphocytic Leukaemia cells

B‐cell chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (B‐CLL) is a neoplastic disorder characterized by defective apoptosis, cell accumulation in G0/G1, and high expression of BCL2 oncogene. Intracellular cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) accumulation increases the chemosensitivity of B‐CLL cells in vitro and in vivo. In the present study, we investigated the effects of β2‐adrenergic compounds, well known cAMP‐inducing drugs, on the in vitro survival of leukaemia cells. In contrast to the short‐acting β2‐mimetic (β2Mim) salbutamol, a consistent pro‐apoptotic effect was observed with the long‐acting β2Mim salmeterol and formoterol. Normal B cells isolated from control donors were totally resistant to the above molecules. These compounds also increased chlorambucil‐ and fludarabine‐induced death of B‐CLL cells. Blockade of β‐adrenergic receptor signalling or cAMP did not alter B‐CLL apoptosis with β2 Mimagents. Leukaemia cell apoptosis by β2Mim correlated with an increase in calcium influx, decreased bcl‐2 protein and mRNA levels, increase in BAX gene expression and a marked rise in BCL2/BAX mRNA ratios. Interleukin‐4, a cytokine that increases bcl‐2 expression in B‐CLL cells, rescued leukaemia cell from apoptosis with β2Mim. These data show that long‐acting β2‐adrenergic agents promote apoptotic leukaemia cell death through an adrenoreceptor‐ and cAMP‐independent, Ca2+‐dependent mechanism.
The correlation structure of longitudinal measurements of vision in patients with macular degeneration

Background: In age‐related macular degeneration (ARMD) trials, the FDA‐approved endpoint is the loss (or gain) of at least three lines of vision as compared to baseline. The use of such a response endpoint entails a potentially severe loss of information. A more efficient strategy could be obtained by using longitudinal measures of the change in visual acuity. In this paper we investigate, by using data from two randomized clinical trials, the mean and variance–covariance structures of the longitudinal measurements of the change in visual acuity.
Welfare to work? Impact of maternal health on employment.

OBJECTIVES This study investigated whether health problems among poor mothers of chronically ill children affect their ability to obtain and maintain employment. METHODS Mothers of children with chronic illnesses were surveyed at clinical and welfare agency sites in San Antonio, Tex. RESULTS There were distinct health differences according to mothers' TANF and employment status. Mothers without TANF experience reported better physical and mental health and less domestic violence and substance use than did those who had TANF experience. Those not currently working had higher rates of physical and mental health problems. CONCLUSIONS Poor maternal health is associated with need for cash assistance and health insurance. Policymakers must recognize that social policies promoting employment will fail if they do not address the health needs of poor women and children.
Restructuring parallel programs by transformation of point-to-point interactions into collective communication

We present an approach for supporting the reengineering of legacy message passing parallel programs based on point-to-point communication primitives. The objective is to obtain structured portable, and possibly more efficient versions of the same programs through the use of collective communication constructs. The restructuring process relies on a technique capable of detecting typical interaction patterns within programs based on point-to-point communications. Successively, the code excerpts corresponding to the detected patterns are automatically replaced with suitable collective primitives.
Trading Computation for Communication: A Taxonomy

A critical challenge for modern system design is meeting the overwhelming performance, storage, and communication bandwidth demand of emerging applications within a tightly bound power budget. As both the time and power, hence the energy, spent in data communication by far exceeds the energy spent in actual data generation (i.e., computation), (re)computing data can easily become cheaper than storing and retrieving (pre)computed data. Therefore, trading computation for communication can improve energy efficiency by minimizing the energy overhead incurred by data storage, retrieval, and communication. This paper hence provides a taxonomy for the computation vs. communication trade-off along with quantitative characterization.
Single-Event Effects in a Millimeter-Wave Receiver Front-End Implemented in 90 nm, 300 GHz SiGe HBT Technology

The single-event transient (SET) response of a W-band (75–110 GHz) radar receiver front-end is investigated in this paper. A new technique to facilitate the SET testing of the high frequency transceivers is proposed and demonstrated experimentally. The entire radar receiver front-end, including the high frequency signal sources and modulators, were designed and fully integrated in 90 nm 300 GHz SiGe process technology (Global Foundries SiGe 9HP). Two-photon absorption (TPA) laser pulses were utilized to induce transient currents in different devices in various circuit blocks. The study shows how short transient pulses from the high frequency tuned circuits are propagated throughout the receiver and are broadened while passing through low-pass filters present at supply nodes and the low-pass filter following the down-conversion mixer, thus affecting the digital data at the output of the receiver. The proposed methodology allows the study of the effect of SETs on the recovered digital data at the output of the high frequency receivers, thus allowing bit error rate calculations. Comprehensive device and circuit level simulations were also performed, and a close agreement between the measurement results and simulation data was demonstrated. To the authors’ best knowledge, this is the first study of SET on full receiver at millimeter-wave (mmW) frequencies.
Osteopontin is linked with AKT, FoxO1, and myostatin in skeletal muscle cells

Introduction: Osteopontin (OPN) polymorphisms are associated with muscle size and modify disease progression in Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). We hypothesized that OPN may share a molecular network with myostatin (MSTN). Methods: Studies were conducted in the golden retriever (GRMD) and mdx mouse models of DMD. Follow‐up in‐vitro studies were employed in myogenic cells and the mdx mouse treated with recombinant mouse (rm) or human (Hu) OPN protein. Results: OPN was increased and MSTN was decreased and levels correlated inversely in GRMD hypertrophied muscle. RM‐OPN treatment led to induced AKT1 and FoxO1 phosphorylation, microRNA‐486 modulation, and decreased MSTN. An AKT1 inhibitor blocked these effects, whereas an RGD‐mutant OPN protein and an RGDS blocking peptide showed similar effects to the AKT inhibitor. RMOPN induced myotube hypertrophy and minimal Feret diameter in mdx muscle. Discussion: OPN may interact with AKT1/MSTN/FoxO1 to modify normal and dystrophic muscle. Muscle Nerve 56: 1119–1127, 2017
Uncovering of a Short Internal Peptide Activates a tRNA Synthetase Procytokine*

Background: Many tRNA synthetases have acquired expanded functions unrelated to their canonical aminoacylation function. Results: Structural analysis in solution showed that a subtle conformational change causes pinpointed exposure of an evolutionarily acquired ELR tripeptide of human tyrosyl-tRNA synthetase, which activates its cytokine function. Conclusion: The exposure of ELR of TyrRS confers cytokine activity. Significance: The TyrRS design facilitates functional expansion while retaining its essential role in translation. In higher organisms, aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases developed receptor-mediated ex-translational functions that are activated by various natural mechanisms. Hydrogen-deuterium exchange combined with mass spectrometry and small-angle x-ray scattering showed that activation of the cytokine function of the 528-amino acid human tyrosyl-tRNA synthetase was associated with pinpointed uncovering of a miniature internal ELR tripeptide that triggers receptor signaling. The results reveal the structural simplicity of how the ex-translational function is implemented.
Cognition based self-organizing maps (CSOM) for Intrusion detection in wireless networks

Cognitive networks is the solution for the problems existing on the current networks. Users maintain integrity of the networks and user node activity monitoring is required for provision of security. Cognitive Networks discussed in this paper not only monitor user node activity but also take preventive measures if user node transactions are malicious. The intelligence in cognitive engine is realized using self organizing maps (CSOMs). Gaussian and Mexican Hat neighbor learning functions have been evaluated to realize CSOMs. Experimental study proves the efficiency of Gaussian Learning function is better for cognition engine. The cognition engine realized is evaluated for malicious node detection in dynamic networks. The proposed concept results in better Intrusion detection rate as compared to existing approaches.
Evaluation of Contractors' Safety Performance Based on DEA

Contractor safety is the key to success for construction projects, the contractor safety goals and performance evaluation system has become the important task of safety management of current building construction. This paper based on experts linguistic assessment and multi-granularity language fusion method of qualitative indexes to evaluate and rational quantification, through the C2R DEA model and "projection" method of contractor safety performance objective and reasonable evaluation and analyzes the causes of the ineffective DMU to improve its safety performance. With a project of four contractors for case study, explain that the method is feasible and effective.
A Domain-Specific Dynamically Reconfigurable Hardware Platform for Wireless Sensor Networks

In this paper, a new generic sensor node platform for wireless sensor networks (WSN) is presented, demonstrating that high energy efficiency, flexibility and performance can be achieved by the use of dynamically reconfigurable hardware in the WSN domain. The core of the presented platform is formed by the combination of a RISC processor and a dynamically reconfigurable function unit optimized for efficient data processing in WSN applications. A novel reconfiguration mechanism is applied enabling rapid dynamic reconfiguration with very short latencies. Thereby, we can show that the overhead on performance and energy consumption caused by dynamic reconfiguration can be reduced to a moderate, non-critical value and is clearly outweighed by the significantly improved performance and energy consumption for data processing on the reconfigurable function unit. The evaluation of the platform and its comparison to a standard processor-based platform finally demonstrate high gains in energy-efficiency of one to two orders of magnitude.
The role of anthropometric and other predictors for diabetes among urban Tanzanians with tuberculosis.

BACKGROUND As diabetes impairs tuberculosis (TB) treatment outcomes, it is essential to identify diabetes among TB patients. While little is known about predictors of diabetes among healthy individuals in Africa, predictors among TB patients are almost non-existent. OBJECTIVE To assess potential predictors for diabetes among newly diagnosed pulmonary TB patients in Tanzania. METHODS TB patients were tested for diabetes using an oral glucose tolerance test, demographic information was collected and anthropometric measurements taken. The association between diabetes and possible predictors were examined using logistic regression analyses. RESULTS Of 1205 TB patients, 16.4% (n = 197) had diabetes, 9.0% (n = 108) were aged ≥55 years, 3.3% (n = 40) were overweight (body mass index [BMI] ≥ 25 kg/m(2)) and 12.7% (n = 152) severely underweight (BMI < 16 kg/m(2)). Diabetes was most prevalent in the 45-55 year age group, and increasing weight, BMI and waist circumference were associated with diabetes. Severe underweight (BMI < 16 kg/m(2)) among male TB patients (sex-BMI interaction, P = 0.02) was associated with diabetes (OR 2.52, P = 0.004). CONCLUSION Diabetes is a common comorbidity among TB patients. Although diabetes was associated with obesity and was more prevalent among the middle-aged, the majority of TB patients with diabetes comorbidity were young and lean. With diabetes as a major risk factor for TB, and with the lack of strong predictors for diabetes, universal diabetes screening should be implemented in the TB programme.
Potential Role of WAF1/Cip1/p21 as a Mediator of TGF-β Cytoinhibitory Effect (*)

Transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) inhibits cell cycle progression of many types of human cells by arresting them in the G1 phase of the cell cycle. The arrest is mediated through interactions of various cyclin-dependent protein kinases (CDKs) and their inhibitors. We demonstrate that treatment with TGF-β induces increased levels of WAF1/Cip1/p21, a potent inhibitor of various cyclin-CDK kinase activities, in two colon cancer cell lines (LS1034 and LS513), which are sensitive to TGF-β-induced growth arrest. The induction in at least one of these cells lines (LS1034, p53-) is p53-independent. No WAF1 induction was observed after TGF-β treatment in a third cell line (HT-29), which is completely insensitive to the cytoinhibitory effect of TGF-β. In both LS513 and LS1034, WAF1 induction correlated with reduced cyclin E-associated kinase activity in vitro and suppression of the retinoblastoma susceptibility gene (Rb) protein phosphorylation in vivo. In addition, WAF1 was physically associated with cyclin E in the two sensitive cell lines. These results suggest that WAF1/Cip1/p21 is a mediator of cellular sensitivity to TGF-β.
Differences in the isozymes involved in alcohol metabolism between caucasians and orientals.

Acute alcohol intoxication is far more commonly observed in Orientals than Caucasians. The human liver contains several cytosolic and microsomal ADHs. One of the major cytosolic ADH isozymes controlled by a gene at the ADH2 locus differs between Caucasians and Orientals. Most Caucasians have the usual enzyme consisting of usual beta 1 subunit, while nearly 90% of Orientals have the atypical enzyme consisting of the atypical beta 2 subunit. The specific activity of the atypical enzyme is several times higher at pH 10 and nearly 100 times higher at physiologic pH than the usual enzyme. Km values for ethanol, NAD, acetaldehyde, and NADH are several times higher for the atypical enzyme than for the usual enzyme. The usual enzyme is rapidly inactivated by iodoacetate, indicating the existence of an "active-site cysteine" in the molecule. In contrast, the atypical enzyme is resistant to iodoacetate inactivation. Peptide mapping analysis revealed that the active site Cys in the usual beta 1 subunit is replaced by His in the atypical beta 2 subunit. A remarkable structural homology exists at the active site of horse and human enzymes. In the usual beta 1 beta 1 enzyme, as in the horse enzyme, the catalytic Zn is expected to link to the sensitive Cys at position 47, His at position 67, and Cys (presumably) at position 174, thus forming the active site. In contrast, the active site of the atypical beta 2 beta 2 enzyme is expected to consist of the catalytic Zn linked to His at position 47, His at position 67, and Cys (presumably) at position 174. The resistance of the atypical beta 2 beta 2 to inactivation by iodoacetate is a direct consequence of the replacement of the sensitive Cys at position 47 by His. Liver ALDH components also differ between Caucasians and Orientals. Virtually all Caucasians have two major ALDH isozymes, ALDH1 and ALDH2, while approximately 50% of Orientals have only the ALDH1 isozyme (cytosolic) missing ALDH2 isozyme (presumably mitochondrial). ALDH1 consists of four subunits with a molecular weight of 56,500, and ALDH2 consists of four subunits with a molecular weight of 52,600. The two isozymes do not share any common subunit. Examination of liver extracts by two-dimensional crossed immunoelectrophoresis revealed that an atypical Oriental liver with no ALDH2 isozyme contained an enzymatically inactive but immunologically cross-reactive material corresponding to ALDH2, besides the active ALDH1 isozyme. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated Transformation in Colletotrichum falcatum and C .

Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation (ATMT) is becoming an effective system as an insertional mutagenesis tool in filamentous fungi. We developed and optimized ATMT for two Colletotrichum species, C. falcatum and C. acutatum, which are the causal agents of sugarcane red rot and pepper anthracnose, respectively. A. tumefaciens strain SK1044, carrying a hygromycin phosphotransferase gene (hph) and a green fluorescent protein (GFP) gene, was used to transform the conidia of these two Colletotrichum species. Transformation efficiency was correlated with cocultivation time and bacterial cell concentration and was higher in C. falcatum than in C. acutatum. Southern blot analysis indicated that about 65% of the transformants had a single copy of the T-DNA in both C. falcatum and C. acutatum and that T-DNA integrated randomly in both fungal genomes. T-DNA insertions were identified in transformants through thermal asymmetrical interlaced PCR (TAIL-PCR) followed by sequencing. Our results suggested that ATMT can be used as a molecular tool to identify and characterize pathogenicity-related genes in these two economically important Colletotrichum species.