Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
C3a Is Required for the Production of CXC Chemokines by Tubular Epithelial Cells after Renal Ishemia/Reperfusion1

The complement system is one of the major ways by which the body detects injury to self cells, and the alternative pathway of complement is rapidly activated within the tubulointerstitium after renal ischemia/reperfusion (I/R). In the current study, we investigate the hypothesis that recognition of tubular injury by the complement system is a major mechanism by which the systemic inflammatory response is initiated. Gene array analysis of mouse kidney following I/R initially identified MIP-2 (CXCL2) and keratinocyte-derived chemokine (KC or CXCL1) as factors that are produced in a complement-dependent fashion. Using in situ hybridization, we next demonstrated that these factors are expressed in tubular epithelial cells of postischemic kidneys. Mouse proximal tubular epithelial cells (PTECs) in culture were then exposed to an intact alternative pathway and were found to rapidly produce both chemokines. Selective antagonism of the C3a receptor significantly attenuated production of MIP-2 and KC by PTECs, whereas C5a receptor antagonism and prevention of membrane attack complex (MAC) formation did not have a significant effect. Treatment of PTECs with an NF-κB inhibitor also prevented full expression of these factors in response to an intact alternative pathway. In summary, alternative pathway activation after renal I/R induces production of MIP-2 and KC by PTECs. This innate immune system thereby recognizes hypoxic injury and triggers a systemic inflammatory response through the generation of C3a and subsequent activation of the NF-κB system.
Data Density Assessment using Classification Techniques

There is general agreement among data quality researchers in that completeness is one of the most important data quality dimensions. In particular, data density can be a crucial factor in data processing and decision making tasks. Most techniques for data quality evaluation regarding density are limited to counting null values. However, density is not only about null values but also about not-null values when there should be null values, as the latter degrades the quality of data too. Besides, the existence of null values not necessarily implies a data quality problem. In this work we present a technique based on the application of data mining techniques for data quality assessment. Our proposal consists in creating a classification model from available data having null and not null values and then using that model to assess if a particular attribute of a record should or should not have a null value. This technique allows us to evaluate if a null value is an error, if it is correct, or if it is uncertain, and also we can evaluate if a not-null value is acceptable, is an error (it should be null) or is uncertain.
Acquisition and modification of motion knowledge using continuous HMMs for motion imitation of humanoids

A knowledge-based approach to imitation learning of motion generation for humanoid robots and an imitative motion generation system based on motion knowledge learning and reuse are described. The system has three parts: recognizing, learning, and modifying parts. The first part recognizes an instructed motion distinguishing it from the motion knowledge database by the continuous hidden markov model. When the motion is recognized as being unfamiliar, the second part learns it using locally weighted regression and acquires a knowledge of the motion. When a robot recognizes the instructed motion as familiar or judges that its acquired knowledge is applicable to the motion generation, the third part imitates the instructed motion by modifying a learned motion. This paper reports some performance results: the motion imitation of several radio gymnastics motions.
Topical vitamin C in the treatment of photoaged skin.

Connective tissues, especially the skin, undergo alterations during aging. This has led to the hypothesis that cells in the extra cellular matrix, as well as the extra cellular matrix itself, are involved in the aging process. Moreover, ultraviolet radiation is thought to induce adverse reactions in the skin, leading to photodamage. The UV-induced lesions are due to, in part, reactive oxygen species. Vitamin C (L-ascorbic acid) is essential for life [. ]
Electroencephalographic &agr;-band and &bgr;-band correlates of perspective-taking and personal distress

Perspective-taking and personal distress are argued to play contrasting roles in empathic processing, with perspective-taking promoting empathic concern and personal distress promoting egoistic motivations. Previous research has shown that emotionally negative valence imagery induced &agr; and &bgr; power changes relative to neutral imagery and that &agr; activity relates inversely to empathy. We therefore investigated the hypothesis that enhanced &bgr; is associated with personal distress and is accompanied by a correlation between &agr; and perspective-taking. Participants viewed negative and neutral valence images from the International Affective Picture System and made judgments about their levels of concern for humans in each image. As predicted, greater &bgr; enhancement was associated with higher personal distress, whereas greater &agr;-band suppression was associated with lower perspective-taking abilities. We suggest that these data support Batson’s Empathy–Altruism hypothesis in which failure to adopt another person’s perspective is related to greater personal distress.
Comments on "Dynamical Optimal Training for Interval Type-2 Fuzzy Neural Network (T2FNN)

In this comment, it will be shown that the backpropagation (BP) equations by Wang et al. are not correct. These BP equations were used to tune the parameters of the antecedent type-2 membership functions as well as the consequent part of the interval type-2 fuzzy neural networks (T2FNNs). These incorrect equations would have led to erroneous results, and hence this might affect the comparisons and findings presented by Wang et al. This comment will highlight the correct BP tuning equations for the T2FNN.
Diagnosis of Catheter-Related Bloodstream Infections Among Pediatric Oncology Patients Lacking a Peripheral Culture, Using Differential Time to Detection

Background: Current methods for in situ diagnosis of catheter-related bloodstream infections require concurrent collection of central venous catheter (CVC) and peripheral vein (PV) blood cultures. Both the pain and inconvenience of PV cultures are undesirable. Methods: A prospective study was conducted (August 2002 to March 2004) to assess the accuracy of diagnosing catheter-related bloodstream infections based on the difference in time to detection of blood cultures drawn concurrently from 2 lumens of a multilumen CVC. This difference in time to detection between 2 lumens was compared with results of the standard criterion with paired CVC and PV blood cultures. Results: Twenty-one infectious episodes were categorized as catheter-related bloodstream infections and 38 as non-catheter-related bloodstream infections. With a cutoff in difference in time to detection between 2 lumens of ≥180 minutes, the sensitivity of this test to diagnose a catheter-related bloodstream infection was 61% (95% confidence interval, 39–80%) and the specificity was 94% (95% confidence interval, 82–99%). In 4 of 7 episodes with false-negative results, the colony counts in cultures from both lumens were >400 colony-forming units/mL (maximal value reported), indicating the limitation of this method when both lumens of the catheter are colonized. With the pretest probability of catheter-related bloodstream infections ranging from 28% to 54%, the positive predictive value of a difference in time to detection between 2 lumens of ≥180 minutes for diagnosis of catheter-related bloodstream infections ranged from 81% to 93% and the negative predictive value ranged from 67% to 86%. Conclusion: Within the context of its limitations, this novel method provides an alternative for diagnosing catheter-related bloodstream infections among patients with a CVC, without PV cultures.
Mineração da Opinião sobre Aspectos de Candidatos a Eleições em Comentários de Notícias

The automatic classification of opinions about aspects of political candidates, from public web data, is a complex Opinion Mining problem. This paper describes a case study of aspect-based opinion mining in the context of comments that newspaper readers express about political news. Our challenge is to identify and summarize opinions on aspects of election candidates, using an ill-structured source of opinion. Our case study propose techniques that can be used to identify, classify and summarize opinions on Health and Education issued by readers about political candidates.
REFLO: Reactive firewall system with OpenFlow and flow monitoring system

To maintain the high level of security, many organizations use Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) firewalls to filter anomaly traffic coming into their networks. However, a DPI firewall with a large volume of traffic can lead to a high packet drop rate, high delay, and the poor network throughput. One possible way to relieve the firewall workload is to deploy multiple firewalls and select only suspicious traffic to check with the firewall. To perform this task, we apply the Software Defined Network (SDN) concept by using the OpenFlow standard. We develop a system called Reactive Firewall System with OpenFlow and Flow Monitoring System (REFLO) to distribute traffic to multiple firewalls and bypass non-suspicious traffic. REFLO system is able to select the most appropriate firewall for each data flow based on the contents of the flow and rules set by administrators on the OpenFlow controller. In addition, REFLO allows administrators to easily monitor the network by visualizing the flow summarization and flow statistics on our web application. To verify the effectiveness of our system, we deploy OpenFlow switches by using the low-cost Raspberry Pi boards and deploy OpenFlow controller and the web application on an Ubuntu PC. Experimental results also confirm that REFLO can achieve the lower average packet delay and higher throughput than that of the existing firewall system.
Application of Multiplex PCR for Detection of Non-O157 Verocytotoxin-Producing Escherichia coli in Bloody Stools: Identification of Serogroups O26 and O111

ABSTRACT Primers were designed to amplify sequences of verocytotoxin genes and eaeA genes of Escherichia coli O26:H11, O111:H8, and O157:H7 in a multiplex PCR assay. This assay successfully detected E. coli O26:H11 in bloody stool specimens in which other enteric pathogens were not detected by culture-based methods. Rapid assays to detect non-O157:H7 verocytotoxin-producingE. coli is important to improve methods for the etiologic diagnosis of hemorrhagic colitis.
Multiple flaws location by means of NDE ultrasonic arrays placed at perpendicular planes

A novel procedure for the location of multiple flaws from two perpendicular ultrasonic apertures is proposed in this paper. It is based on the extension of a simpler technique previously developed by the authors specifically for the detection of isolated flaws. The new procedure can be applied to ultrasonic imaging of proximate multiple flaws by adding, to the basic isolated- flaws detection technique, an ulterior processing step. This step is applied when more than one flaw are detected in a same elemental area into the inspected piece. In this way, possible false indications of "phantom" type, in the correspondent flaws ultrasonic displays, are efficiently removed whereas the indications of real flaws remain. Some simulation results related to a multi-flaws disposition illustrate the performance of the new procedure.
Simulations of Proteins in Water a

Molecular dynamics simulations of hydrated protein crystals have been carried out in only three cases: two simulations of pancreatic trypsin inhibitor (PTI) and one of avian pancreatic polypeptide (aPP). The purpose of such simulations is to evaluate the accuracy and reliability of molecular dynamics simulations of hydrated proteins. A 40-psec simulation on crystalline PTI, involving 4 protein molecules (of 58 amino acids each), 552 water molecules, and 24 Cl- ions is described. Considerations are energetic and structural stability, division of interaction energy among water and protein, and precision of average structure and structural fluctuations compared to X-ray data from a new 0.94-A resolution study of Wlodawer et al. Water and ion dynamics are considered by analysis of diffusional motions and of residence times of water molecules in specific sites.
Reliability Constrained Unit Commitment Using Simulated Annealing

This paper proposes a new method for the incorporation of the unit unavailability and the uncertainty of the load forecast in the solution of the short-term unit commitment problem. The above parameters are taken into account in order to assess the required spinning reserve capacity at each hour of the dispatch period, so as to maintain an acceptable reliability level. The unit commitment problem is solved by a simulated annealing algorithm resulting in near-optimal unit commitment solutions. The evaluation of the required spinning reserve capacity is performed by implementing reliability constraints, based on the expected unserved energy and loss of load probability indexes. In this way, the required spinning reserve capacity is effectively scheduled according to the desired reliability level. Numerical simulations have proven the efficiency of the proposed method
Studies of the Interaction of Substituted Mutants of BAX with Yeast Mitochondria Reveal That the C-terminal Hydrophobic α-Helix Is a Second ART Sequence and Plays a Role in the Interaction with Anti-apoptotic BCL-xL*

The role of the two ends of the pro-apoptotic protein BAX in its interaction with mitochondria was challenged by assaying substituted mutants in yeast cells for the ability to bind and insert into the mitochondrial membrane and to promote the release of cytochrome c. Mutations at the N-terminal end confirmed the inhibitory function of this zone, known as apoptotic regulation of targeting (ART). On the other hand, mutations at the C-terminal end of the protein support the hypothesis that the hydrophobic helix α9 is not required for the insertion of BAX. In addition, three mutations (a T174D single substitution in the helix α9, a K189E/K190E double substitution at the end of the protein, and a P168A mutation in the loop before α9) exhibited a strong binding capacity, a strong insertion, as well as high ability to induce cytochrome c release. Considering the positions of these mutations and their potential effect on the movement of helix α9, we propose that the C-terminal end of the protein behaves like a second ART. Also, opposite to a mutation that changes the conformation of the N-terminal ART, the mutations in the C-terminal part of the protein impaired the inhibitory effect of anti-apoptotic BCL-xL over BAX insertion, suggesting that the conformation of the α9-helix plays a significant role in BAX/BCL-xL interaction.
A Collaborative Filtering Recommender System Integrated with Interest Drift based on Forgetting Function

Collaborative filtering (CF) is one of the most prevailing and promising approaches in recommender systems. The algorithms precision of collaborative filtering has attracted ever-increasing study of researchers. Traditional user-based approaches for collaborative filtering identify user similarity by analyzing the co-rating items between users and utilize user similarity as predicted weight in order to evaluate the importance of rating from a user on an item. However, other factors are not taken into account, including users’ rating trend and changes of user interest, which will degrade the accuracy of the recommendation result obviously. Therefore, in this paper, user similarity index is introduced to improve user similarity calculation. To assign decreasing weights to dated data, exponential function is implemented to redefine the weight of each item rated at different times. Combining user similarity index with exponential function as the improved algorithm, this paper re-computes the predicted ratings based on traditional user-based CF using Pearson Correlation Coefficient. Experiments on Movielens dataset have shown that the improved algorithm is superior to the traditional one.
Demographics and microbiological profile of pneumonia in United Arab Emirates.

BACKGROUND Pneumonia is a common respiratory disease, which has a mortality rate of approximately 14% worldwide. The management of pneumonia is based on the patient and microbiological profile existing in the community. There is a paucity of data regarding patient demographics and the microbiological profile for pneumonia in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). METHODS We conducted a retrospective analysis of in-patients with pneumonia in the UAE. Epidemiological, clinical and microbiological data was collected from patients over the age of 16 years admitted to a single university hospital with a diagnosis of pneumonia between the years 1997 and 2002. Patients were categorised as having community acquired (CAP) or hospital acquired pneumonia (HAP). RESULTS Among the 361 patients, 186 were females and 175 males. The mean age (+/- SEM) of the males was 59 +/- 1.6 years and of the females, 56.9 +/- 1.5 years. The annual hospital admission rate for pneumonia increased from 410 per million population in 1997 to 760 in 2002. The pneumonia was community acquired in 289 (80%) and hospital acquired in 72 (20%). Hospitalisation for CAP showed a significant seasonal variation with peak admission rates in March and April and the nadir in August and September. The overall mortality rate was 13%, and was significantly higher for HAP (24%) than for CAP (10%, p < 0.01). The common microorganisms isolated from sputum culture in CAP were Haemophilus influenzae (18.6%) and Streptococcus pneumoniae (10%). The common pathogen in HAP was Pseudomonas aeruginosa in (50%). 4 out of 17 (23%) H. influenzae isolates were resistant to amoxicillin and 2 of 9 S. pneumoniae isolates (22%) were resistant to penicillin. CONCLUSIONS The hospitalisation rate for CAP has increased over the years and showed a clear seasonal trend in the UAE. H. influenzae was the most common organism among patients with CAP and P. aeruginosa in HAP. The mortality rate for HAP was significantly higher than for CAP. The drug resistance pattern was similar to reports from centres elsewhere in South East Asia.
Pain Management in Trauma Patients

Cohen SP, Christo PJ, Moroz L: Pain management in trauma patients. Am J Phys Med Rehabil 2004;83:142–161.Trauma is a major cause of mortality throughout the world. In recent years, major advances have been made in the management of trauma, the end result of which has been reduced mortality and enhanced function. One of these areas is pain control. Improved pain management has not only led to increased comfort in trauma patients, but has also been shown to reduce morbidity and improve long-term outcomes. This review focuses on the treatment of pain in the setting of acute injury and on pain management in trauma patients who go on to develop chronic pain. Emphasis is placed on pharmacologic interventions, invasive and noninvasive pain management techniques, analgesia in challenging patients, and pain control in commonly encountered trauma conditions.
Foundations of Data Quality Management

Data quality is one of the most important problems in data management. A database system typically aims to support the creation, maintenance, and use of large amount of data, focusing on the quantity of data. However, real-life data are often dirty: inconsistent, duplicated, inaccurate, incomplete, or stale. Dirty data in a database routinely generate misleading or biased analytical results and decisions, and lead to loss of revenues, credibility and customers. With this comes the need for data quality management. In contrast to traditional data management tasks, data quality management enables the detection and correction of errors in the data, syntactic or semantic, in order to improve the quality of the data and hence, add value to business processes. While data quality has been a longstanding problem for decades, the prevalent use of the Web has increased the risks, on an unprecedented scale, of creating and propagating dirty data. This monograph gives an overview of fundamental issues underlying central aspects of data quality, namely, data consistency, data deduplication, data accuracy, data currency, and information completeness. We promote a uniform logical framework for dealing with these issues, based on data quality rules. The text is organized into seven chapters, focusing on relational data. Chapter One introduces data quality issues. A conditional dependency theory is developed in Chapter Two, for capturing data inconsistencies. It is followed by practical techniques in Chapter 2b for discovering conditional dependencies, and for detecting inconsistencies and repairing data based on conditional dependencies. Matching dependencies are introduced in Chapter Three, as matching rules for data deduplication. A theory of relative information completeness is studied in Chapter Four, revising the classical Closed World Assumption and the Open World Assumption, to characterize incomplete information in the real world. A data currency model is presented in Chapter Five, to identify the current values of entities in a database and to answer queries with the current values, in the absence of reliable timestamps. Finally, interactions between these data quality issues are explored in Chapter Six. Important theoretical results and practical algorithms are covered, but formal proofs are omitted. The bibliographical notes contain pointers to papers in which the results were presented and proven, as well as references to materials for further reading. This text is intended for a seminar course at the graduate level. It is also to serve as a useful resource for researchers and practitioners who are interested in the study of data quality. The fundamental research on data quality draws on several areas, including mathematical logic, computational complexity and database theory. It has raised as many questions as it has answered, and is a rich source of questions and vitality. Table of Contents: Data Quality: An Overview / Conditional Dependencies / Cleaning Data with Conditional Dependencies / Data Deduplication / Information Completeness / Data Currency / Interactions between Data Quality Issues