Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of betamethasone on Na-K-ATPase activity and basal and lateral cell membranes in proximal tubular cells during early development.

The mechanism by which betamethasone induces Na-K-ATPase activity in developing tissue was studied in homogenates of proximal tubular cells from 10-day-old rats. A significant increase in Na-K-ATPase activity occurred after 5 micrograms . 100 g-1 . 12 h-1 X 2 beta-methasone and a maximal increase after 15-60 micrograms . 100 g-1 . 12 h-1 X 2. Following a single dose of 60 micrograms . 100 g-1 betamethasone Na-K-ATPase activity increased significantly after 16 h and maximally after 24-30 h. The 16-h time lag suggests that betamethasone does not act only directly on Na-K-ATPase synthesis. Betamethasone 60 micrograms . 100 g-1 increases Na-K-ATPase activity significantly in kidneys in which glomerular filtration rate is reduced by ureteral ligation, but the increase is significantly less pronounced than in kidneys with intact ureters, suggesting that the induction is not mediated only by alterations in sodium supply. Twenty-four hours after 10-60 micrograms . 100 g-1 betamethasone there was no significant increase in glucose-6-phosphatase and Mg-ATPase activity in 10-day-old rats or in Na-K-ATPase activity in 40-day-old rats. The basal and lateral cell membranes of the proximal tubular cells were not significantly increased 24 h after 60 micrograms . 100 g-1 betamethasone. Accordingly, structural development is not a prerequisite for enzymatic differentiation.
Extended phage-typing scheme for Escherichia coli 0157:H7

SUMMARY In Canada, the number of human isolates of verotoxigenic (VT +ve) Escherichia coli 0157:H7 from diarrhoeal cases and haemolytic uraemic syndrome and haemorrhagic colitis has increased from 25 in 1982 to 2384 in 1989. A total of 3273 VT + ve E. coli 0157:H7 strains (3255 strains isolated in Canada and 18 isolates from other countries) were phage typed. The phage typing scheme has been extended from 14 to 62 phage types. Of these, five types occurred exclusively in other countries (type 47 in Japan; and types 49, 50, 51 and 52 in the U.K.). Thirty-five different phage types were identified in Canada; only nine of these (1, 2, 4, 8, 14, 21, 23, 31 and 32), each accounted for more than 1 % of the cases from human sources. The same nine types were the only ones observed among the isolates from non-human sources (meat and slaughter houses) suggesting a food-borne transmission in most of the human cases. Phage types 1 (30·5%); 4 (21%); 8 (13·5%); 31 (8·9%) and 14 (8%) were encountered in varying frequencies in most of the provinces; infrequently occurring phage types also showed regional variation. Thirteen different phage types were identified among 151 outbreaks representing 556 isolates of E. coli 0157:H7. More than one phage type were encountered in 12 outbreaks whereas in 141 outbreaks, all strains in each, had the same phage type.
Efficient disk allocation schemes for parallel retrieval of multidimensional grid data

Declustering schemes enable parallel data retrieval by placing data blocks across multiple disk devices. Various declustering schemes have been proposed for multidimensional data to reduce the response time of range queries. However, efficient schemes, which must be easy to compute and provide good performance, are only known for a restricted number of disks and dimensions. In this paper, we propose a novel technique to construct efficient multidimensional declustering schemes, for any number of disks and dimensions. Simulation results show that the new schemes outperform the best previously-known non-exhaustive search-based multidimensional declustering schemes.
SMiRK: an Automated Pipeline for miRNA Analysis

Background Micro RNAs (miRNAs), important regulators of cell function, can be interrogated by high-throughput sequencing in a rapid and cost-effective manner. However, the tremendous amount of data generated by such methods is not easily analyzed. In order to extract meaningful information and draw biological conclusions from miRNA data, many challenges in quality control, alignment, normalization, and analysis must be overcome. Typically, these would only be possible with the dedicated efforts of a specialized computational biologist for a sustained period of time. Results Here, we present SMiRK, an automated pipeline that allows such tasks to be completed with minimal time and without dedicated bioinformatics personnel. SMiRK’s flexibility also allows experienced users to exert more control, if they wish. We describe how SMiRK automatically normalizes the data, removes low-information miRNAs, and produces heatmaps of the processed data. We give details on SMiRK’s implementation and use cases for novice and advanced users. As a demonstration of its capabilities, SMiRK was used to rapidly and automatically analyze a dataset taken from the literature. Conclusion SMiRK is a useful and efficient tool that can be used by investigators at multiple skill levels. Those who lack bioinformatics training can use it to easily and automatically analyze their data, while those with experience will find it beneficial to not need to write tools from scratch.
Commented content classification with deep neural network based on attention mechanism

It is difficult to fully represent text information with shallow network, and it is time-consuming for using deep neural network. This paper proposes a CNN-Attention network based on Convolutional Neural Network with Attention (CNNA) mechanism. First of all, information between words for context can be expressed by using different sizes of convolution kernels. Secondly, an attention layer is added to convolution network to obtain semantic codes which include the attention probability distribution of input text sequences. Furthermore, weights of text representing information are calculated. Finally, the softmax is used to classify emotional sentences. Experimental results show that features of different context information can be extracted by the method proposed, the depth of the network is reduced and the accuracy effectively is improved at the same time. It also shows improved accuracy in COAE2014 task 4 micro-blog data set for emotional classification up to 95.15%.
UHF enclosed Hilbert antenna for partial discharge on-site testing

An ultra-high frequency (UHF) enclosed Hilbert antenna was proposed in this paper to satisfy the requirements of partial discharge (PD) on-site testing. Moreover, we improved the traditional Hilbert fractal curve by adding one parallel curve that connected with the original, and designed the enclosed Hilbert antenna with stacked structure. Testing results show that the UHF closed Hilbert antenna have a maximum gain of −8 dBi, and obtains a wide bandwidth. PD experiments were conducted in laboratory and typical artificial insulation defect models were detected by the new antenna and an existing Hilbert antenna. Experimental results showed that the new antenna was found to be more sensitive and effective for PD UHF on-site testing.
Colorectal cancer screening in asymptomaic adults: comparison of colonoscopy, sigmoidoscopy and fecal occult blood tests.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Fecal occult blood tests (FOBT) and flexible sigmoidoscopy have previously been recommended for colon cancer screening. More recently, studies have recommended colonoscopy due to the high rates of advanced neoplasm not detected by FOBT and sigmoidoscopy. Previous studies of the effectiveness of colonoscopic screening in Taiwan were limited to families of patients with colorectal cancer. This study compared colonoscopy, sigmoidoscopy and FOBT for colorectal cancer screening in asymptomatic adults. METHODS Screening colonoscopies and FOBT were performed in asymptomatic adults enrolled in our health-screening program between January 1997 and December 2000. Advanced neoplasm was defined as the presence of a polyp larger than 1 cm, polyps with villous or severe dysplastic features, or cancer. The junction of the splenic flexure and descending colon was defined as the boundary of the proximal and distal colon, and it was presumed that the distal colon would be examined using sigmoidoscopy in all patients. Data on the prevalence of polyps, advanced neoplasm, and cancer among different age groups were obtained. The results of chemical and immunologic FOBT were compared. The anatomic distributions of advanced neoplasm and cancer were analyzed. RESULTS A total of 7,411 colonoscopic examinations were included in the analysis. Advanced neoplasms were present in 93 examinations (1.3%), including 16 cancers (0.2%). Chemical FOBT detected 20.2% of advanced neoplasms and 37.5% of cancers. Immunologic FOBT detected 48.3% of advanced neoplasms and 87.5% of cancers. If sigmoidoscopy had been performed in place of colonoscopy, 26.9% of advanced neoplasms and 12.5% of cancers would not have been detected. CONCLUSIONS Colonoscopy can detect neoplastic lesions undetectable by FOBT and sigmoidoscopy in asymptomatic subjects. These results suggest that colonoscopy should be the method of choice in colon cancer screening.
Pauses as Indicators of Cognitive Effort in Post-editing Machine Translation Output

In translation process and language production research, pauses are seen as indicators of cognitive processing. Investigating the correlations between source text machine translatability and post-editing effort involves an assessment of cognitive effort. Therefore, an analysis of pauses is essential. This paper presents data from a research project which includes an analysis of pauses in post-editing, triangulated with the Choice Network Analysis method and Translog. Results suggest that the pause-to-keyboarding ratio does not differ significantly for sentences deemed to be more suitable for machine translation than for those deemed to be less suitable. Also, results confirm the finding in research elsewhere that pause duration and frequency is subject to individual differences. Finally, we suggest that while pauses provide some indication of cognitive processing, supplementary methods are required to give a fuller picture.
Quantification of protein sulfenic acid modifications using isotope-coded dimedone and iododimedone.

Since its discovery almost 40 years ago, S-hydroxylation ( SOH) of cysteine thiol side chains at active and allosteric sites within proteins has emerged as a central post-translational modification. At present, more than 200 transcription factors, signaling proteins, metabolic enzymes, proteostasis regulators, and cytoskeletal components that undergo sulfenic acid modification have been identified. Like phosphorylation, S-hydroxylation can be a dynamic and reversible posttranslational modification whereby hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and other reactive oxygen species (ROS) generated during the “oxidative burst” that accompanies many receptormediated signaling processes react with a thiolate anion to form sulfenic acid, and a family of enzymes reduces these modifications (or subsequent disulfides) in proteins (Scheme 1). Although protein sulfenic acids are often transient and labile, S-hydroxylation is significant in physiological and pathophysiological events. For example, it has been shown that this modification plays an essential role in eukaryotic H2O2 sensing, [5] T-cell activation, enzyme catalysis, as an intermediate in disulfide formation, and correlates with disease states. Given the rapidly expanding interest in this field, a number of strategies have been developed to detect protein Shydroxylation. Chemical probes based on the selective reaction between 5,5-dimethyl-1,3-cyclohexanedione (dimedone) and sulfenic acid are particularly well suited to monitor this modification in proteins under biological conditions (Scheme 2a). Using dimedone-based reagents, many Shydroxylated proteins have been observed by immunoblot and identified by mass spectrometry (MS); however, in vivo sulfenylation levels are virtually unknown. Knowledge regarding the degree or extent of S-hydroxylation within proteins is essential for understanding the function and
Eliminating Aggregation Bias When Estimating Treatment Effects on Combined Outcomes with Applications to Quality of Life Assessment

Researchers are often interested in combined measures such as overall ratings, indices of physical or mental health, or health-related quality-of-life (HRQoL) outcomes. Such measures are typically composed of two or more underlying discrete variables. I show that estimating the effect of a treatment on the combined measure is biased with non-random treatment selection. I provide a solution to this problem by adopting an alternative estimator that first estimates treatment effects on the underlying variables and then combines these effects into an overall effect on the combined outcome of interest.
A Review of Interventions Based on Dietary Diversification or Modification Strategies with the Potential to Enhance Intakes of Total and Absorbable Zinc

Dietary diversification or modification has the potential to prevent deficiencies of zinc and other coexisting limiting micronutrients simultaneously, without risk of antagonistic interactions. In this review, we have addressed the following. The first section focuses on strategies with the potential to enhance intake and/or bioavailability of zinc, and includes interventions (with and without nutrition education) based on agriculture, production or promotion of animal-source foods through animal husbandry or aquaculture, and commercial and household processing strategies to enhance zinc absorption. Outcome indicators include intakes of foods or nutrients (although rarely zinc) and, in some cases, zinc status, or zinc-related functional responses. The next two sections address whether dietary diversification or modification can achieve increases in absorbable zinc that are sufficient to enhance zinc status or zinc-related functional responses in breastfed infants and toddlers and in older children and women of reproductive age. Evidence for the impact of dietary diversification or modification on behavior change and on nutritional status in the short and long term, and the possible role of modifying factors (e.g., baseline nutritional status, socioeconomic status, infection, sex, age, and life-stage group) is the emphasis of the next section. The following section highlights the evidence for three potential adverse effects of dietary diversification or modification: aflatoxin contamination from germinated cereals, loss of water-soluble nutrients, and displacement of breastmilk. Finally, an example of a dietary diversification or modification program (Homestead Food Production) developed and implemented by Helen Keller International is given, together with the critical steps needed to scale up dietary diversification or modification for programs and future research needs.
Effect of dialysis on serum/plasma levels of free immunoglobulin light chains in end-stage renal disease patients.

BACKGROUND Free immunoglobulin light chains (FLCs) have previously been shown to be uraemic toxins. In this work we investigated the effect of haemodialysis and haemodiafiltration on the level of FLCs in serum/plasma of uraemic patients. METHODS Serum/plasma proteins were separated by non-reducing SDS-PAGE and transferred to a nitro-cellulose membrane. FLCs were detected by specific antibodies and an enhanced chemiluminescence detection system. The FLC concentrations were calculated. We studied 15 healthy subjects, 10 patients with chronic renal failure, 71 patients undergoing haemodialysis treatment and 33 patients treated with haemodiafiltration. Different membranes were compared: low- and high-flux polysulfone membranes, low- and high-flux cellulose triacetate membranes, high-flux polymethylmethacrylate and polyacrylonitrile membranes. RESULTS Chronic renal failure patients showed elevated FLC concentrations as compared with controls. In haemodialysis or haemodiafiltration patients these values were even higher. This was mainly due to an increased concentration of FLC of the lambda-type. The treatment modality per se did not influence the FLC concentrations. Only haemodialysis or haemodiafiltration with the polymethylmethacrylate membrane lead to a significant reduction in FLC concentrations; however, these did not reach control levels. We did not observe differences in FLC levels between patients with different underlying diseases, nor did we find a correlation between age or the duration of the dialysis treatment and FLC concentrations. We found a positive correlation between FLC concentrations at the beginning of dialysis treatment and the amount of IgLCs removed during treatment. However, the average FLC level after treatment did not reach control values. CONCLUSIONS Currently available haemodialysis or haemodiafiltration treatments are unable to normalize the elevated serum/plasma levels of FLCs in end-stage renal disease patients.
Unstructured Models for Lactic Acid Fermentation - A Review

Abdallah Bouguettoucha, Beatrice Balannec and Abdeltif Amrane* Laboratory of Chemical Engineering Process, Faculty of Technology, Ferhat Abbas University, DZ-19000 Setif, Algeria National School of Chemistry of Rennes, University of Rennes 1, CNRS, UMR 6226, Avenue du General Leclerc, CS 50837, FR-35708 Rennes Cedex 7, France European University of Brittany, 5 Boulevard Laennec, FR-35000 Rennes, France
Intégration de raisonnements automatiques dans le système d'annotation MemoNote

Les raisonnements automatiques dans les EIAH bases sur les ontologies reposent le plus souvent sur des algorithmes ad hoc du fait des langages de representations utilises. Cet article developpe autour de l'exemple du logiciel d'annotation MemoNote, les avantages de l'utilisation des technologies standards du web semantique pour permettre des raisonnements sur les ontologies. A partir des limites de la version MemoNote actuelle basee sur le langage des Frames, l'utilisation d'une representation OWL et de raisonneurs standards est developpee sur trois exemples de requetes. L'integration de ces technologies permet d'etendre les fonctionnalites de MemoNote tout en ameliorant l'expressivite, l'interoperabilite, la completude et la correction des raisonnements. La complexite reste a etudier sur des masses importantes de donnees et pourrait necessiter le recours a des SGBD semantiques, garantissant en meme temps les proprietes ACID.
The Value of Routine Preoperative Electrocardiography in Predicting Myocardial Infarction After Noncardiac Surgery

Objective:The added value of a preoperative electrocardiogram (ECG) in the prediction of postoperative myocardial infarction (POMI) and death was compared with clinical risk factors identified from the patient's history. Summary of Background Data:An ECG is frequently performed before surgery to screen for asymptomatic coronary artery disease. However, the value of ECG abnormalities to predict POMI has been questioned. Methods:The study included 2967 noncardiac surgery patients >50 years of age from 2 university hospitals, who were expected to stay in the hospital for >24 hours. All data were obtained from electronic record-keeping systems. Patient history and ECG abnormalities were considered as potential predictors. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to obtain the independent predictors of POMI and all-cause in-hospital mortality. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC area) was estimated to evaluate the ability of different models to discriminate between patients with and without the outcome. Results:A preoperative ECG was available in 2422 patients (80%) and 1087 (45%) of the ECGs showed at least one abnormality. The ROC area of the model that included the independent predictors of POMI obtained from patient history, ie, ischemic heart disease and high-risk surgery, was 0.80. ECG abnormalities that were associated with POMI were a right and a left bundle branch block. After adding these abnormalities in the regression model, the ROC area remained 0.80. Similar results were found for all-cause mortality. Conclusions:Bundle branch blocks identified on the preoperative ECG were related to POMI and death but did not improve prediction beyond risk factors identified on patient history.
"Open Calls" Rather than "Fixed Assignments": A Longitudinal Field Study of the Nature and Consequences of Internal Crowdsourcing

While the use of social IT-enabled “internal crowdsourcing” with employees in organizations has substantially increased in recent years (e.g., LEGO, IBM), internal crowdsourcing is not well understood from a theoretical point of view. In this research in progress, we build on the literature on new forms of organizing to improve our theoretical understanding of internal crowdsourcing, to consider whether it constitutes a theoretically distinct phenomenon, and to gain insights into its theoretical nature. The paper presents insights from an ongoing interpretivist field study of internal crowdsourcing at the multinational company BOSCH. Theorized as a form of organizing, we find that internal crowdsourcing is a very different form of organizing compared to work based on fixed assignments. Among the key dimensions of organizing, we identify internal crowdsourcing’s “open calls” model of work allocation as the key characteristic.
Recurrent interval type-2 neuro-fuzzy control of an electro hydraulic servo system

This paper presents a recurrent interval type-2 neuro-fuzzy controller which benefits from a sliding mode theory-based training algorithm. The recurrent interval type-2 neuro-fuzzy benefits from recurrent type-2 membership functions with interval variances which are trained by a novel training method. Furthermore, the adaptation laws considered for the parameters of the controller benefit from an adaptive learning rate. The stability of the proposed training method is considered using an appropriate Lyapunov function. The proposed method is simulated on an electro hydraulic servo system. The results of simulations show that the proposed method can control the system with a satisfactory performance.