Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Reduced ATG‐F dosage for induction in pediatric renal transplantation: A single‐center experience

Rabbit antithymocyte globulin (ATG‐F) is an extensively used induction agent. To our knowledge, no study to date has assessed reduced ATG‐F dosage in children undergoing renal transplantation. This was a retrospective analysis of pediatric renal recipients in the Department of Kidney Transplantation, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, from May 2007 to February 2013. Thirty‐nine children underwent renal transplantation including 25 living related and 14 cardiac deceased donor transplantation. Each recipient received ATG‐F 1.5 mg/kg/d once daily for 4 days. Of the 39 recipients, five (12.8%) showed delayed graft function, including one of 25 recipients (4%) of living donor and four of 14 recipients (28.6%) of deceased donor transplantation (p < 0.05). Six of the 39 recipients (15.4%) showed acute rejection on renal biopsy. Follow‐up in these children ranged from 6 to 87 months. The one‐, three‐, and five‐yr recipients and grafts survival rates postoperation were each 94.9% and 97.3%, 97.3%, and 94.6%, respectively. The incidence of postoperative infection was 35.9% (14/39), and did not differ significantly in the living related and deceased donor groups (p > 0.05). Low‐dose ATG‐F can be safely used as an immune induction agent in pediatric renal transplantation.
Influence of visual and auditory biofeedback on partial body weight support treadmill training of individuals with chronic hemiparesis: a randomized controlled clinical trial.

BACKGROUND Stroke is an important causal factor of deficiency and functional dependence worldwide. OBJECTIVE To determine the immediate effects of visual and auditory biofeedback, combined with partial body weight supported (PBWS) treadmill training on the gait of individuals with chronic hemiparesis. DESIGN Randomized controlled trial. SETTING Outpatient rehabilitation hospital. POPULATIONS Thirty subjects with chronic hemiparesis and ability to walk with some help. METHODS Participants were randomized to a control group that underwent only PBWS treadmill training; or experimental I group with visual biofeedback from the display monitor, in the form of symbolic feet as the subject took a step; or experimental group II with auditory biofeedback associated display, using a metronome at 115% of the individual's preferred cadence. They trained for 20 minutes and were evaluated before and after training. Spatio-temporal and angular gait variables were obtained by kinematics from the Qualisys Motion Analysis system. RESULTS Increases in speed and stride length were observed for all groups over time (speed: F=25.63; P<0.001; stride length: F=27.18; P<0.001), as well as changes in hip and ankle range of motion - ROM (hip ROM: F=14.43; P=0.001; ankle ROM: F=4.76; P=0.038), with no time*groups interaction. Other spatio-temporal and angular parameters remain unchanged. CONCLUSIONS Visual biofeedback and auditory biofeedback had no influence on PBWS treadmill training of individuals with chronic hemiparesis, in short term. Additional studies are needed to determine whether, in long term, the biofeedback will promote additional benefit to the PBWS treadmill training. CLINICAL REHABILITATION IMPACT The findings of this study indicate that visual and auditory biofeedback does not bring immediate benefits on PBWS treadmill training of individuals with chronic hemiparesis. This suggest that, for additional benefits are achieved with biofeedback, effects should be investigated after long-term training, which may determine if some kind of biofeedback is superior to another to improve the hemiparetic gait.
Coordinating Adaptations in Self-managing Systems

Self-managing systems are able to dynamically adapt to changes in the environment and user needs without human intervention, thus reduce the administrative overhead of system management. Many self-management modules are being developed to provide different self-management capabilities, and being able to reuse these existing modules will greatly reduce the necessary efforts for developers of self-managing systems. However, this requires infrastructure support for plugging different self-management modules into the same system and coordination mechanisms for resolving potential conflicts among adaptations proposed by these modules. In this paper, we propose a self-managing system architecture that addresses these two requirements. Using a case study, we show how multiple self-managing modules can work together on top of a shared infrastructure that provides low-level system access functionalities. We then focus on the issue of coordinating conflicting adaptations and propose coordination mechanisms based on observations from the case study.
A Symmetric Rank-one Quasi Newton Method for Non-negative Matrix Factorization

As is well known, the nonnegative matrix factorization (NMF) is a dimension reduction method that has been widely used in image processing, text compressing, signal processing, and so forth. In this paper, an algorithm on nonnegative matrix approximation is proposed. This method is mainly based on a relaxed active set and the quasi-Newton type algorithm, by using the symmetric rank-one and negative curvature direction technologies to approximate the Hessian matrix. The method improves some recent results. In addition, some numerical experiments are presented in the synthetic data, imaging processing, and text clustering. By comparing with the other six nonnegative matrix approximation methods, this method is more robust in almost all cases.
Differentiation factors and cytokines in the atherosclerotic plaque micro-environment as a trigger for macrophage polarisation

Summary The phenotype of macrophages in atherosclerotic lesions can vary dramatically, from a large lipid laden foam cell to a small inflammatory cell. Classically, the concept of macrophage heterogeneity discriminates between two extremes called either pro-inflammatory M1 macrophages or anti-inflammatory M2 macrophages. Polarisation of plaque macrophages is predominantly determined by the local micro-environment present in the atherosclerotic lesion and is rather more complex than typically described by the M1/M2 paradigm. In this review we will discuss the role of various polarising factors in regulating the phenotypical state of plaque macrophages. We will focus on two main levels of phenotype regulation, one determined by differentiation factors produced in the lesion and the other determined by T-cell-derived polarising cytokines. With foam cell formation being a key characteristic of macrophages during atherosclerosis initiation and progression, these polarisation factors will also be linked to lipid handling of macrophages.
Locating sensors in the wild: pursuit of ranging quality

Localization is a fundamental issue of wireless sensor networks that has been extensively studied in the literature. The real-world experience from GreenOrbs, a sensor network system in the forest, shows that localization in the wild remains very challenging due to various interfering factors. In this paper we propose CDL, a Combined and Differentiated Localization approach. The central idea is that ranging quality is the key that determines the overall localization accuracy. In its unremitting pursuit of better ranging quality, CDL incorporates virtual-hop localization, local filtration, and ranging-quality aware calibration. We have implemented CDL and evaluated it by extensive experiments and simulations. The results demonstrate that CDL outperforms current state-of-art approaches with better accuracy, efficiency and consistent performance.
Exploring the vertical accretion of ornithogenic sediments from the Xisha Islands, South China Sea, by seabird subfossils

Reef islands of the Xisha Islands, South China Sea, were formed during the mid–late Holocene. However, the vertical accretion of ornithogenic sediments of the islands is not well understood owing to a lack of precise dating. Here we present an analysis of seven of the Xisha Islands, and reconstruct their accumulation history based on radiocarbon analysis of seabird subfossils. From Clam‐based age–depth models, a universal development mode of the Xisha Islands is hypothesized. The mean accumulation rate of guano sediments on the Xisha Islands in the late Holocene was 1.02 ± 0.42 mm a−1. The sum of the deposition rate of coral sands and the rate of ornithogenic accumulation is lower than or close to the current rate of sea level rise in the Xisha Islands, implying a potential threat to the islands’ safety. This study also provides robust evidence for a sequence of island development associated with seabirds.
THE EFFECT OF HEARING LOSS ON THE INTELLIGIBILITY OF SYNTHETIC SPEECH

Many factors affect the intelligibility of synthetic speech. One aspect that has been severely neglected in past work is hearing loss. In this study, we investigate whether pure-tone audiometry thresholds across a wide range of frequencies (0.25‐20kHz) are correlated with participants’ performance on a simple task that involves accurately recalling and processing reminders. Participants’ scores correlate not only with thresholds in the frequency ranges commonly associated with speech, but also with extended high-frequency thresholds.
Computation of capacity

This article introduces a method for computing upper and lower bounds for the logarithmic capacity of a compact plane set. If the set has the Holder continuity property, then these bounds converge to the value of the capacity. A number of examples are discussed in detail, including the Cantor middle-third set, for which we estimate c(E) ≈ 0.220949102189507.
Expansion of Endothelial Progenitor Cells in High Density Dot Culture of Rat Bone Marrow Cells

In vitro expansion of endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) remains a challenge in stem cell research and its application. We hypothesize that high density culture is able to expand EPCs from bone marrow by mimicking cell-cell interactions of the bone marrow niche. To test the hypothesis, rat bone marrow cells were either cultured in high density (2×105 cells/cm2) by seeding total 9×105 cells into six high density dots or cultured in regular density (1.6×104 cells/cm2) with the same total number of cells. Flow cytometric analyses of the cells cultured for 15 days showed that high density cells exhibited smaller cell size and higher levels of marker expression related to EPCs when compared to regular density cultured cells. Functionally, these cells exhibited strong angiogenic potentials with better tubal formation in vitro and potent rescue of mouse ischemic limbs in vivo with their integration into neo-capillary structure. Global gene chip and ELISA analyses revealed up-regulated gene expression of adhesion molecules and enhanced protein release of pro-angiogenic growth factors in high density cultured cells. In summary, high density cell culture promotes expansion of bone marrow contained EPCs that are able to enhance tissue angiogenesis via paracrine growth factors and direct differentiation into endothelial cells.
High rate of drinking water contamination due to poor storage in squatter settlements in Mwanza, Tanzania

Background: Drinking water of acceptable quality is supposed to be free from faecal coliform and chemical substances that may be hazardous to human health. Water treatment and safe storage at the household level has been advocated as effective means of ensuring safe drinking water. This study was undertaken to determine the microbiological quality of the drinking water at household level in the squatter settlements in the city of Mwanza, Tanzania.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted between June 2014 and September 2014. A total of 15 randomly selected water sources (tap) and 207 households’ drinking water samples from these sources were studied to ascertain level of water contamination using Membrane Filtration Method. Pre-tested questionnaire was used to collect demographic and other data regarding water treatment and storage. Data were entered, cleaned and analysed using STATA Version 11.Results: All 15 samples from tap used as water sources were found to be free of indicator organism (Escherichia coli) while 109 (52.66%) of drinking water samples from 207 households were found to be contaminated with E. coli. All contaminated drinking water samples were from containers with no cover and spigot. Conclusions: There is a significant level of deterioration of water quality from the source to the drinking cup. Efforts to ensure quality storage methods for drinking water should be addressed at household level.
Changes to metabolite concentration in fetal sheep subjected to prolonged hypobaric hypoxia.

The effect of hypobaric hypoxaemia on the concentration of metabolic substrates in the ovine fetus and pregnant ewe with implanted vascular catheters, was investigated. At 120 to 141 days of gestation sheep were subjected to hypobaria (mean fetal carotid PO2 12.7 +/- 0.7 torr; n = 9) or normobaria (mean fetal carotid PO2 22.7 +/- 0.7 torr; n = 11; P less than 0.001). At 141 days gestation mean fetal weight was 3.46 +/- 0.72 kg in the hypobaric group compared to 4.15 +/- 0.51 in the normobaric group (P less than 0.05). Concentrations of glucose in maternal and fetal plasma and fructose in fetal plasma were similar in hypobaric and normobaric fetuses. The concentration of lactate in fetal plasma rose from 1.68 +/- 1.34 to 8.79 +/- 5.8 mmol/l (P less than 0.001) within 24 h of onset of hypoxia, but fell to 3.36 +/- 1.13 mmol/l by day 3 of treatment, though still significantly above the concentration of lactate in the control fetuses (1.47 +/- 0.47; P less than 0.001). There was no significant effect of hypoxia on the concentration of lactate or alanine in maternal plasma. Alanine concentration in the plasma of fetuses subjected to hypoxia significantly increased within 24 h of exposure (0.28 +/- 0.10 vs 0.58 +/- 0.39 mmol/l; P less than 0.01) and remained elevated for the duration of the study. There was no significant effect of gestational age on the concentration of metabolic substrates in either the control or experimental groups. Hypoxia is associated with a sustained rise in the concentration of plasma lactate and alanine in the fetus. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Seals in motion. How movements drive population development of harbour seals and grey seals in the North Sea

The harbour seal Phoca vitulina and the grey seal Halichoerus grypus have been inhabitants of the Wadden Sea since millennia. Prehistoric findings indicate the presence of both species around 5000 BC. This changed dramatically in the mid Middle-Ages as around 1500 AC, the grey seal disappeared from the Wadden Sea as a consequence of persecution. With growing hunting pressure, especially in the 20th century and concurrent habitat destruction and pollution, the harbour seals reached all time low numbers in the 1970’s. Banning the hunt in countries around the southern North Sea, limiting pollution and protection from disturbance allowed the harbour seals to slowly recover and the grey seals to return to the Wadden Sea. In this thesis the population trends and inherent dynamics of the recovery for both species is described. Also the movements of individual animals are studied to explain possible mechanisms.
Quantitative EEG analysis and rehabilitation issues in mild traumatic brain injury.

There is an acute need to use an objective, non-invasive, and reliable technique to quantify the neurological consequences of mild head injury so that better patient management can be offered, and long-term treatment and rehabilitation can be properly established and evaluated, as well as in family counseling. For example, of the approximately 8 million individuals that suffer head injuries of all types each year in the U.S.,1 approximately 80% involve mild head injuries, with more than 200,000 patients with mild head injury admitted to U.S. hospitals each year.2~ * The public health consequence of these injuries is emphasized by the fact that many of these individuals are unable to return to work, complain of headache and memory problems, and exhibit a variety of neuropsychological dysfunctions.4"5’6
Modeling atmospheric effects of the September 1859 solar flare

We have modeled atmospheric effects, especially ozone depletion, due to a solar proton event which probably accompanied the extreme magnetic storm of 1–2 September 1859. We use an inferred proton fluence for this event as estimated from nitrate levels in Greenland ice cores. We present results showing production of odd nitrogen compounds and their impact on ozone. We also compute rainout of nitrate in our model and compare to values from ice core data.
Estudio in vitro de la microfiltración apical en conductos obturados con cemento resinoso ah-plus en segundos premolares superiores extraídos

The present research work entitled: "In vitro study of apical microfiltration in canals filled with resinous cement Ah-Plus in extracted second upper premolars" in which the objective was to determine the degree of apical microfiltration of root canals filled with resinous cement Ah-Plus, through an in vitro study. 50 dental pieces were obtained as a sample of a universe of 100 dental pieces, which were acquired in the city of Riobamba, Ambato and Guaranda, the teeth were subjected to biomechanical preparation, and then they were sealed with two types of endodontic cements (Ah -Plus and Sealapex) subsequently the pieces were immersed in methylene blue for 48 hours. The dental pieces were subjected to dental diafanization using the Robertson technique, it was observed in the stereomicroscope where the degree of apical microfiltration was obtained. Resulting in the degree of apical microfiltration with the resinous cement Ah-Plus exceeding 1/3 represented by 83% in a sample of 25 teeth, while 17% did not exceed 2/3 of the dental pieces of a sample of 5 teeth. The results that were obtained with Sealapex cement that exceeded 1/3 are represented by 70% of a sample of 7 teeth and 30% that does not exceed 2/3 is represented by a sample of 3 teeth. The results of the apical seal with the Ah-Plus cement 20% represent the acceptable scale, 57% efficient and 23% deficient. While Sealapex cement represented 20% acceptable, 50% efficient and 30% deficient.
Erectile Dysfunction in the Elderly: An Old Widespread Issue with Novel Treatment Perspectives

Erectile dysfunction (ED) is one of the most common chronic diseases affecting men and its prevalence increases with aging. It is also the most frequently diagnosed sexual dysfunction in the older male population. A number of different diseases potentially worsening sexual function may occur in elderly people, together with polypharmacy. Related causes of ED are variable and can include arterial, neurogenic, hormonal, cavernosal, iatrogenic, and psychogenic causes. The aim of the present review was to examine the main aspects of erectile dysfunction going through epidemiology and pathophysiology and revise most of ED in elderly disabled men and in those affected with psychiatric disorders. Lastly we tried to focus on the main aspects of nonpharmacological and pharmacological treatments of ED and the recreational use in the elderly. Phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitors (PDE5-I) are commonly used for on-demand or chronic treatment of ED. It is widely known that PDE5-I have lower response rates in older men than in younger patients, but they have the advantages of ease of use and excellent safety profile, also in the elderly. The old and new PDE5-I as well as the alternative treatments for ED are extensively discussed.
Soil moisture dynamics under Caragana korshinskii shrubs of different ages in Wuzhai County on the Loess Plateau, China

ABSTRACT Soil moisture is a key factor affecting vegetation growth and survival in arid and semi-arid regions. Knowledge of deep soil moisture dynamics is very important for guiding vegetation restoration and for improving land management practices on the water-limited Loess Plateau. Temporal changes and vertical variations in deep soil moisture (at soil depths of 0–600cm) combined with soil moisture availability were monitored in situ under Caragana korshinskii shrubs of different ages (named CK-10a, CK-20a and CK-35a) in the Loess hilly region during the growing season of 2013. The soil moisture content (SMC) under C. korshinskii shrubs of different ages was highly consistent with the seasonal precipitation variations and generally decreased as follows: CK-10a>CK-20a>abandoned land>CK-35a. The SMC varied greatly over time during the growing season (P<0.01), decreasing from April to May and then slowly increasing with some fluctuation from June to October. The SMC drastically decreased with depth from 0–300cm and then gradually increased with some fluctuation from 300–600cm. A critical turning point and transition zone connecting the shallow and deep soil moisture occurred at 200–300cm. Therefore, the soil profile was divided into active, secondary active and relatively steady soil layers in terms of soil moisture. The SMC fluctuated at depths of 0–100cm and 300–400cm and was relatively stable in the deeper soil layers. The amount of available soil moisture gradually decreased as the forest stand age increased, especially at CK-35a, where most of the soil moisture was unavailable for plant use. In addition, our study indicates that a large-scale restoration strategy with pure shrubland or woodland may not be suitable for soil moisture recovery in arid environments.
Extended Abstract : Towards Automated Contextualization of News Articles

1 TRUSTWORTHINESS OF NEWS PROVIDERS The World Wide Web is a dominant medium for news and information exchange. Together with TV it enjoys far larger regular audiences in the U.S. than print and radio, and recent studies suggest that also the gap to TV consumption is closing fast1. The reasons are diverse, ranging from ease of (commonly: free) access to the democratization of publishing, as the cost for production and publication essentially disappears. Democratization, however, raises new challenges. Where consumers needed to learn and judge on the order of a few to a dozen news papers, TV stations, or other media outlets in the past, media literacy has become much more challenging in the face of hundreds of news sites, blogs, and even seemingly legitimate satire publishers. Social media has further amplified the potential reach of an individual’s post. Confronted with the amount of posts fed into social media, the users are overwhelmed and unable to judge the trustworthiness and credibility of posts [2, 4]. Publishing fictitious but upsetting posts has even become it’s own business model2, which is alarming considering that recent studies suggest that over 60% of U.S. adults use social media as their primary news source1. This development has caused a surge in misinformation. Parties trying to further their agendas have gained equal access to powerful tools of mass publication. Manipulation using the main information channels is nothing new in itself. The combination of cheap and fast production lines and global accessibility lift this threat to an entirely new level. To encounter this situation, the users may need support in judging the news in their feeds. In a study of Schwarz and Morris [3] users were supported by augmenting posts with specific, corresponding features. While their results suggest that contextualization of articles allowed users to make more accurate judgments, the selection of features used for the augmentation is critical. For one, subjective features weaken the trustworthiness of such an approach, similar to manual rating. Especially fringe audiences may feel a manual choice to be an attempt of elitist censorship. Secondly, crowd-based features provide unreliable information [2]. Thus, a suitable solution requires: (i) features to be identified by