Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Signal recognition particles in chloroplasts, bacteria, yeast and mammals (Review)

The Signal Recognition Particle (SRP) plays a critical role in the sorting of nascent secretory and membrane proteins. Remarkably, this function has been conserved from bacteria, where SRP delivers proteins to the inner membrane, through to eukaryotes, where SRP is required for targeting of proteins to the endoplasmic reticulum. This review focuses on present understanding of SRP structure and function and the relationship between the two. Furthermore, the similarities and differences in the structure, function and cellular role of SRP in bacteria, chloroplasts, fungi and mammals will be stressed.
General Cardiovascular Risk Profile for Use in Primary Care: The Framingham Heart Study

Background— Separate multivariable risk algorithms are commonly used to assess risk of specific atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (CVD) events, ie, coronary heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, peripheral vascular disease, and heart failure. The present report presents a single multivariable risk function that predicts risk of developing all CVD and of its constituents. Methods and Results— We used Cox proportional-hazards regression to evaluate the risk of developing a first CVD event in 8491 Framingham study participants (mean age, 49 years; 4522 women) who attended a routine examination between 30 and 74 years of age and were free of CVD. Sex-specific multivariable risk functions (“general CVD” algorithms) were derived that incorporated age, total and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, systolic blood pressure, treatment for hypertension, smoking, and diabetes status. We assessed the performance of the general CVD algorithms for predicting individual CVD events (coronary heart disease, stroke, peripheral artery disease, or heart failure). Over 12 years of follow-up, 1174 participants (456 women) developed a first CVD event. All traditional risk factors evaluated predicted CVD risk (multivariable-adjusted P<0.0001). The general CVD algorithm demonstrated good discrimination (C statistic, 0.763 [men] and 0.793 [women]) and calibration. Simple adjustments to the general CVD risk algorithms allowed estimation of the risks of each CVD component. Two simple risk scores are presented, 1 based on all traditional risk factors and the other based on non-laboratory-based predictors. Conclusions— A sex-specific multivariable risk factor algorithm can be conveniently used to assess general CVD risk and risk of individual CVD events (coronary, cerebrovascular, and peripheral arterial disease and heart failure). The estimated absolute CVD event rates can be used to quantify risk and to guide preventive care.
Angiotensin‐Converting Enzyme Inhibitor Use in the Year 2005

The angiotensin‐converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor drug class is one with considerable staying power. ACE inhibitors are not only well established antihypertensive agents but also are compounds that fairly regularly provide end‐organ protection. Several of the ACE inhibitors are entangled in an active debate regarding class effect. Class effect for ACE inhibitors is a hopelessly confused term because its definition is not standardized and is subject to interpretation that in many cases is self‐serving. For the most part, ACE inhibitor side effects are readily identifiable, and management strategies put in place can be logical and sequential. The future of this drug class remains bright. Other drug classes, such as angiotensin receptor blockers, have narrowed—but not entirely closed—the outcomes gap that exists between these two drug classes.
Calcium Sensing Receptor as a Novel Mediator of Adipose Tissue Dysfunction: Mechanisms and Potential Clinical Implications

Obesity is currently a serious worldwide public health problem, reaching pandemic levels. For decades, dietary and behavioral approaches have failed to prevent this disease from expanding, and health authorities are challenged by the elevated prevalence of co-morbid conditions. Understanding how obesity-associated diseases develop from a basic science approach is recognized as an urgent task to face this growing problem. White adipose tissue (WAT) is an active endocrine organ, with a crucial influence on whole-body homeostasis. WAT dysfunction plays a key role linking obesity with its associated diseases such as type 2 diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease, and some cancers. Among the regulators of WAT physiology, the calcium-sensing receptor (CaSR) has arisen as a potential mediator of WAT dysfunction. Expression of the receptor has been described in human preadipocytes, adipocytes, and the human adipose cell lines LS14 and SW872. The evidence suggests that CaSR activation in the visceral (i.e., unhealthy) WAT is associated with an increased proliferation of adipose progenitor cells and elevated adipocyte differentiation. In addition, exposure of adipose cells to CaSR activators in vitro elevates proinflammatory cytokine expression and secretion. An increased proinflammatory environment in WAT plays a key role in the development of WAT dysfunction that leads to peripheral organ fat deposition and insulin resistance, among other consequences. We propose that CaSR may be one relevant therapeutic target in the struggle to confront the health consequences of the current worldwide obesity pandemic.
Management of the Acute Head Injury

MANAGEMENT OF THE ACUTE HEAD INJURY This war has so far yielded a much higher proportion of closed head injuries than was expected, and as a consequence emphasis has been placed on the medical aspects of their management. In the field the neurosurgeon is faced with the immediate repair of soft tissue, and a series of papers by Ascroft,1 Eden,2 Shorstein,3 Cairns,4 and others have shown close agreement in -the methods they have adopted. The broad principles observed by them have been to clean up the surface wounds with the most rigorous aseptic methods available, to explore for fractures, to remove all dead tissue, foreign bodies, and loose bone down to the dura mater, but below that protective membrane to exercise a healthy regard for the reparative properties of brain tissue. Ascroft' urges that an apparently intact dura should be preserved, but that the best results are obtained in penetrating injuries by sucking out necrotic brain tissue, which comes away with ease, leaving in situ any foreign bodies the removal of which might cause unnecessary damage to the brain. He advises a light application of a sulphonamide powder, leaving the dura open to drain into the surface wound, which is in turn drained in the ordinary way. During the last war Cushing5 said that "every scalp wound, no matter how trifling, is a potential penetrating wound of the skull," and McKissock and Brownscombe6 echoed this when they showed that an apparently trivial head injury may soon cease to be trivial if great surgical care is not taken from the beginning. When all the immediate steps have been taken there is a period of anxious watching, especially if the patient is in coma, and it is then that the medical aspect of the injury becomes as much a concern of the surgeon as of the neurologist. As most of the patients with closed head injuries have wounds of the scalp, or elsewhere, they tend to find themselves, when they recover consciousness, in a surgical ward, and a surgeon has to be responsible for their medical management. Jefferson7 has shown that if a head injury is fatal death usually occurs in the first day or so, for it is most often the result of extensive laceration, involving the brain stem, the symptoms of which have been described by DennyBrown.8 There is unfortunately little that can be done for the patient dying from serious damage to basal structures, but there is certainly much that should not be done. The old idea that the effects of a head injury depended upon general oedema of the brain has not survived the experience of the past five years, but, on the contrary,
Phytostabilization of Mine Tailings in Arid and Semiarid Environments—An Emerging Remediation Technology

Objective Unreclaimed mine tailings sites are a worldwide problem, with thousands of unvegetated, exposed tailings piles presenting a source of contamination for nearby communities. Tailings disposal sites in arid and semiarid environments are especially subject to eolian dispersion and water erosion. Phytostabilization, the use of plants for in situ stabilization of tailings and metal contaminants, is a feasible alternative to costly remediation practices. In this review we emphasize considerations for phytostabilization of mine tailings in arid and semiarid environments, as well as issues impeding its long-term success. Data sources We reviewed literature addressing mine closures and revegetation of mine tailings, along with publications evaluating plant ecology, microbial ecology, and soil properties of mine tailings. Data extraction Data were extracted from peer-reviewed articles and books identified in Web of Science and Agricola databases, and publications available through the U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the United Nations Environment Programme. Data synthesis Harsh climatic conditions in arid and semiarid environments along with the innate properties of mine tailings require specific considerations. Plants suitable for phytostabilization must be native, be drought-, salt-, and metal-tolerant, and should limit shoot metal accumulation. Factors for evaluating metal accumulation and toxicity issues are presented. Also reviewed are aspects of implementing phytostabilization, including plant growth stage, amendments, irrigation, and evaluation. Conclusions Phytostabilization of mine tailings is a promising remedial technology but requires further research to identify factors affecting its long-term success by expanding knowledge of suitable plant species and mine tailings chemistry in ongoing field trials.
On Time or Not on Time: A User Study on Delays in a Synchronised Companion-Screen Experience

One major challenge in creation of compelling companion screen experiences, are the time delays between the presentation of content on the TV compared to the presentation of content on the companion screen. Through the use of a synchronised, interactive textbook application, we conducted a user study to evaluate the potential influence of different delays, between the TV and the companion screen, on how users experience watching a Shakespearean play on the TV. Our results indicate that although users do not notice delays of up to 1000 ms, for the kind of experience tested, they feel significantly more distracted by the tablet content for increasingly higher delays. We discuss the implications of our findings with regards to the time delay tolerances users might have when using a synchronised text accompaniment to these kinds of TV programmes.
Dietary Acid Load Is Associated With Lower Bone Mineral Density in Men With Low Intake of Dietary Calcium

High dietary acid load (DAL) may be detrimental to bone mineral density (BMD). The objectives of the study were to: (1) evaluate the cross‐sectional relation between DAL and BMD; and (2) determine whether calcium intake modifies this association. Men (n = 1218) and women (n = 907) aged ≥60 years were included from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2005–2008. Nutrient intake from 2, 24‐hour recalls was used to calculate net endogenous acid production (NEAP) and potential renal acid load (PRAL) (mEq/d). PRAL was calculated from dietary calcium (PRALdiet) and diet + supplemental calcium (PRALtotal). Tests for linear trend in adjusted mean BMD of the hip and lumbar spine were performed across energy‐adjusted NEAP and PRAL quartiles. Modification by calcium intake (dietary or total) above or below 800 mg/d was assessed by interaction terms. Overall, mean age was 69 ± 0.3 years. Among women, there was no association between NEAP and BMD. PRALdiet was positively associated with proximal femur BMD (p trend = 0.04). No associations were observed with PRALtotal at any BMD site (p range, 0.38–0.82). Among men, no significant associations were observed between BMD and NEAP or PRAL. However, an interaction between PRALdiet and calcium intake was observed with proximal femur BMD (p = 0.08). An inverse association between PRALdiet and proximal femur BMD was detected among men with <800 mg/d dietary calcium (p = 0.02); no associations were found among men with ≥800 mg/d (p = 0.98). A significant interaction with PRALtotal was not observed. In conclusion, when supplemental calcium is considered, there is no association between DAL and BMD among adults. Men with low dietary calcium showed an inverse relation with PRAL at the proximal femur; in women no interaction was observed. This study highlights the importance of calcium intake in counteracting the adverse effect of DAL on bone health. Further research should determine the relation between DAL and change in BMD with very low calcium intake. © 2014 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.
The PERSUADE project : developing the concept of poroelastic road surface into a powerful tool for abating traffic noise

Within the noise-abating action plans emanating from the European Noise Directive, there is much need for effective and efficient measures to abate traffic noise. In September 2009, the EC-funded project PERSUADE was started with a view to developing the concept of poroelastic road surface (PERS) into a durable, safe and environmentally friendly tool for extreme noise reduction. The main ingredients for PERS are recycled tyre granules and a polymer binder (generally polyurethane, not bitumen). The work will be carried out by a European consortium of twelve partners specialized in different fields and will be coordinated by the Belgian Road Research Centre. This contribution will discuss the state of the art for PERS and outline the working plan for the PERSUADE project.
Modified LNMF based color face recognition

Dimensionality reduction technique is very important to appearance-based face recognition algorithm. Compared with monochromatic face image, color face image which is composed of different color channels can provide more cues for recognition task. In this paper, a novel appearance-based recognition approach, modified local NMF based color face recognition, is proposed. Block diagonal matrix mode is employed to encode color information of different channels directly. Block diagonal constraint is plus into that of traditional local NMF to build modified local NMF for dimensionality reduction and feature extraction. 3D active deformable model is exploited to generate virtual face images for algorithm learning. Projective coefficients are adopted as facial features for recognition.
Methylcobalamin: A Potential Vitamin of Pain Killer

Methylcobalamin (MeCbl), the activated form of vitamin B12, has been used to treat some nutritional diseases and other diseases in clinic, such as Alzheimer's disease and rheumatoid arthritis. As an auxiliary agent, it exerts neuronal protection by promoting regeneration of injured nerves and antagonizing glutamate-induced neurotoxicity. Recently several lines of evidence demonstrated that MeCbl may have potential analgesic effects in experimental and clinical studies. For example, MeCbl alleviated pain behaviors in diabetic neuropathy, low back pain and neuralgia. MeCbl improved nerve conduction, promoted the regeneration of injured nerves, and inhibited ectopic spontaneous discharges of injured primary sensory neurons. This review aims to summarize the analgesic effect and mechanisms of MeCbl at the present.
Layering As Optimization Decomposition

Network protocols in layered architectures have historically been obtained on an ad hoc basis, and many of the recent cross-layer designs are conducted through piecemeal approaches. They may instead be holistically analyzed and systematically designed as distributed solutions to some global optimization problems. This paper presents a survey of the recent efforts towards a systematic understanding of “layering” as “optimization decomposition”, where the overall communication network is modeled by a generalized Network Utility Maximization (NUM) problem, each layer corresponds to a decomposed subproblem, and the interfaces among layers are quantified as functions of the optimization variables coordinating the subproblems. There can be many alternative decompositions, each leading to a different layering architecture. This paper summarizes the current status of horizontal decomposition into distributed computation and vertical decomposition into functional modules such as congestion control, routing, scheduling, random access, power control, and channel coding. Key messages and methods arising from many recent work are listed, and open issues discussed. Through case studies, it is illustrated how “Layering as Optimization Decomposition” provides a common language to think about layered network architecture and a unifying approach to holistically design protocol stacks.
Seroepidemiological and seroepizootiological investigation of leptospirosis in Croatia in 2007

Tijekom 2007. godine u Laboratoriju za leptospire Veterinarskog fakulteta Sveucilista u Zagrebu i Laboratoriju za bakterijske zoonoze i molekularnu dijagnostiku bakterijskih bolesti, Hrvatskog veterinarskog instituta primjenom mikroskopske aglutinacije seroloski je na leptospirozu pretraženo 113 seruma ljudi, te 44710 seruma domacih i divljih životinja. Od 113 seruma ljudi pozitivno je bilo 24 (21.24%) uz najvecu ucestalost serovara Australis. Od 44710 seruma domacih i divljih životinja pozitivno je bilo 1996 (4.46%) također uz prevalenciju serovara Australis. Na osnovi dobivenih rezultata razmatrane su moguce promjene u epidemiologiji i epizootiologiji leptospiroze. Iako nije ustanovljena promjena u ucestalosti leptospiroze u ljudi i domacih i divljih životinja u odnosu na prijasnje godine, ustanovljena je promjena u ucestalosti vjerojatno infektivnih serovara. Uocen je lagani porast pojavnosti serovara Australis, uz kontinuirano prisutan serovar Grippotyphosa i Icterohaemorrhagiae te nesto smanjena pojavnost serovara Sejroe-Saxkoebing koji je bio najucestaliji u prijasnjim istraživanjima. Veca pojavnost vjerojatnog infektivnog serovara Australis u ljudi, ali i u životinja upucuje na cinjenicu da glavni izvor infekcije za ljude i životinje u Hrvatskoj predstavljaju misoliki glodavci. Potrebno je provesti daljnja istraživanja kako bi se utvrdilo da li i u kojoj mjeri ove promjene koje se uocavaju u epizootiologiji i epidemiologijji leptospiroze utjecu i na klinicku pojavnost leptospiroze u Hrvatskoj
Evaluation of affective state estimations using an on-line reporting device during human-robot interactions

In order to develop a friendly and safe interaction between humans and robots, it is essential for the robot to evaluate user's affective states and respond accordingly. However, affective states are typically assessed using offline questionnaires and user reports. In this paper we investigate the use of an online-device for collecting real-time user reports of affective state during interaction with a robot. These reports are compared to both previous survey reports taken after the interaction, and the affective states estimated by an inference system. The aim is to evaluate and characterize the physiological signal-based inference system and determine which factors significantly influence its performance. This analysis will be used in future work, to fine tune the affective estimations by identifying what kind of variations in physiological signals precede or accompany the variations in reported affective states.
Interventions for emergency contraception.

BACKGROUND Emergency contraception is using a drug or copper intrauterine device (Cu-IUD) to prevent pregnancy shortly after unprotected intercourse. Several interventions are available for emergency contraception. Information on the comparative efficacy, safety and convenience of these methods is crucial for reproductive health care providers and the women they serve. OBJECTIVES To determine which emergency contraceptive method following unprotected intercourse is the most effective, safe and convenient to prevent pregnancy. SEARCH STRATEGY The search included the Cochrane Controlled Trials Register, Popline, MEDLINE, PubMed, Biosis/Embase, Chinese biomedical databases and UNDP/UNFPA/WHO/World Bank Special Programme on Human Reproduction (HRP) emergency contraception database (December 2006). Content experts and pharmaceutical companies were contacted. SELECTION CRITERIA Randomised controlled trials and controlled clinical trials including women attending services for emergency contraception following a single act of unprotected intercourse were eligible. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS Data on outcomes and trial characteristics were extracted in duplicate and independently by two reviewers. Quality assessment was also done by two reviewers independently. Meta-analysis results are expressed as relative risk (RR) using a fixed-effects model with 95% confidence interval (CI). In the presence of statistically significant heterogeneity a random-effect model was applied. MAIN RESULTS Eighty-one trials with 45,842 women were included. Most trials were conducted in China (70/81). There were more pregnancies with levonorgestrel compared to mid-dose (25-50 mg) (15 trials, RR: 2.01; 95% CI: 1.27 to 3.17) or low-dose mifepristone (<25 mg) (9 trials, RR: 1.43; 95% CI: 1.02 to 2.01). Low-dose mifepristone was less effective than mid-dose (20 trials, RR:0.67; 95% CI: 0.49 to 0.92), but this effect was no longer statistically significant when only high quality trials were considered (6 trials, RR: 0.75; 95% CI: 0.50 to 1.10). Single dose levonorgestrel (1.5 mg) administration seemed to have similar effectiveness as the standard 12 hours apart split-dose (0.75 mg twice) (2 trials, 3830 women; RR: 0.77, 95% CI: 0.45 to 1.30). Levonorgestrel was more effective than the Yuzpe regimen in preventing pregnancy (2 trials, RR: 0.51; 95% CI: 0.31 to 0.83). CDB-2914 (a second-generation progesterone receptor modulator) may be as effective as levonorgestrel (1 trial, 1549 women; RR:1.89; 95% CI: 0.75 to 4.64) but the confidence interval is wide and the result compatible with higher or lower effectiveness. Delay in the onset of subsequent menses was the main unwanted effect of mifepristone and seemed to be dose-related. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS Mifepristone middle dose (25-50 mg) was superior to other hormonal regimens. Mifepristone low dose (<25 mg) could be more effective than levonorgestrel 0.75 mg (two doses) but this was not conclusive. Levonorgestrel proved more effective than the Yuzpe regimen. The copper IUD was another effective emergency contraceptive that can provide ongoing contraception.
Descriptive vs prescriptive models in industry

To understand the importance, characteristics, and limitations of modeling we need to consider the context where models are used. Different organizations within the same company can use models for different purposes and modelling can involve different stakeholders and tools. Recently, several papers discussing how industries use MDE have been published and they have contradictory findings. In this paper we report lessons learned from our collaborations with three large companies. We found that it is important to distinguish between descriptive models (used for documentation) and prescriptive models (used for development) to better understand the adoption of modelling in industry. Our findings are valuable for both academia and industry. A better understanding of modeling in large companies can help academia conceiving innovative MDE solutions that can have a real impact in industry. On the other hand, industry can better understand how to properly exploit MDE and what to expect from it.