Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Concentrations of Intra-erythrocyte Folate, Serum Vitamin B12, and Hemoglobin in Women of Childbearing Age and Associated Factors

Abstract Objective: The aim was to verify the relations among intra-erythrocyte folate, serum vitamin B12, and hemoglobin concentrations in women of childbearing age and their association with several socioeconomic and demographic variables, nutritional status, and food consumption in the city of Recife, Northeastern Brazil. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study with a random sample of 1,210 women of childbearing age from the city of Recife. Concentrations of serum vitamin B12 and intra-erythrocyte folate were analyzed by immunoassay and hemoglobin concentrations by automated determination. A questionnaire was used to collect socioeconomic and demographic data of nutritional status and a food frequency questionnaire was used to evaluate food consumption. Results: Reductions in hemoglobin concentrations were found in 141 women (12.0%; 95% confidence interval (CI), 10.3–13.9), serum vitamin B12 in 81 women (7.0%; 95% CI, 5.7–8.6), and only 1 woman had a reduction in intra-erythrocyte folate concentrations. No women had a concomitant reduction of intra-erythrocyte folate, serum vitamin B12, and hemoglobin concentrations. However, 13 women (1.1%; 95% CI, 0.6–1.9) had a concomitant deficiency of hemoglobin and vitamin B12. Intra-erythrocyte folate concentrations were higher in women of a higher age and income. Hemoglobin concentrations were lower in smokers, and serum vitamin B12 concentrations did not show a significant variation in relation to socioeconomic, demographic, and anthropometric parameters. There was no strong correlation between food consumption and biochemical concentrations evaluated. Conclusion: Despite the strategies to eradicate anemia, this nutritional deficiency was dominant. Serum vitamin B12 deficiency outpacing intra-erythrocyte folate is worrying due to the lack of programs to fight against vitamin B12 insufficiency. Age and income were directly related to intra-erythrocyte folate concentrations. Food consumption suggests that there is a homeostatic control to maintain equilibrium at biochemical concentrations.
THE WHISKER WEAVING ALGORITHM: A CONNECTIVITY‐BASED METHOD FOR CONSTRUCTING ALL‐HEXAHEDRAL FINITE ELEMENT MESHES

This paper introduces a new algorithm called whisker weaving for constructing unstructured, all-hexahedral finite element meshes. Whisker weaving is based on the Spatial Twist Continuum (STC), a global interpretation of the geometric dual of an all-hexahedral mesh. Whisker weaving begins with a closed, all-quadrilateral surface mesh bounding a solid geometry, then constructs hexahedral element connectivity advancing into the solid. The result of the whisker weaving algorithm is a complete representation of hex mesh connectivity only: Actual mesh node locations are determined afterwards. The basic step of whisker weaving is to form a hexahedral element by crossing or intersecting dual entities. This operation, combined with seaming or joining operations in dual space, is sufficient to mesh simple block problems. When meshing more complex geometries, certain other dual entities appear such as blind chords, merged sheets, and self-intersecting chords. Occasionally specific types of invalid connectivity arise. These are detected by a general method based on repeated STC edges. This leads into a strategy for resolving some cases of invalidities immediately. The whisker weaving implementation has so far been successful at generating meshes for simple block-type geometries and for some non-block geometries. Mesh sizes are currently limited to a few hundred elements. While the size and complexity of meshes generated by whisker weaving are currently limited, the algorithm shows promise for extension to much more general problems.
Hepatectomy for hepatocellular carcinoma after perioperative management of portal hypertension

Indications for hepatectomy in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) who have portal hypertension (PH) have been controversial. Some studies have concluded that PH is a contraindication to hepatectomy, whereas others have suggested that perioperative prophylactic management (PPM) can help overcome complications after hepatectomy associated with PH. The objective of this retrospective study was to assess the short‐ and long‐term outcomes after hepatectomy for HCC in patients with PH, with or without PPM.
The Speed of Communication *

Drawing from research on disease contagion, we estimate a transmission matrix to quantify how the speed at which information (or noise) travels through the investor population varies with distances in social characteristics (such as age, income, and gender). We utilize cross-industry stock-financed mergers and acquisitions as a source of plausibly exogenous variation in investors’ information-gathering activity. In particular, we conjecture that, once “infected” with shares of an acquiring firm, target investors are more likely to study and trade in an acquirer industry; target investors also spread any newly acquired industry views to their neighbors. Tracing the path of contagion via investors’ trading behavior, we estimate that, regarding any relevant investor pair, a ten-year difference in age, a one-step difference in income, and being of different genders lowers the effective communication rate between the investor pair by 12%, 2%, and 17%, respectively. In addition, the effective communication rate from older, wealthier, female investors to their younger, poorer, male counterparts is noticeably higher than the effective communication rate that runs in the reverse direction.
Screening of CRISPR/Cas base editors to target the AMD high-risk Y402H complement factor H variant

Purpose To evaluate the efficacy of using a CRISPR/Cas-mediated strategy to correct a common high-risk allele that is associated with age-related macular degeneration (AMD; rs1061170; NM_000186.3:c.1204T>C; NP_000177.2:p.His402Tyr) in the complement factor H (CFH) gene. Methods A human embryonic kidney cell line (HEK293A) was engineered to contain the pathogenic risk variant for AMD (HEK293A-CFH). Several different base editor constructs (BE3, SaBE3, SaKKH-BE3, VQR-BE3, and Target-AID) and their respective single-guide RNA (sgRNA) expression cassettes targeting either the pathogenic risk variant allele in the CFH locus or the LacZ gene, as a negative control, were evaluated head-to-head for the incidence of a cytosine-to-thymine nucleotide correction. The base editor construct that showed appreciable editing activity was selected for further assessment in which the base-edited region was subjected to next-generation deep sequencing to quantify on-target and off-target editing efficacy. Results The tandem use of the Target-AID base editor and its respective sgRNA demonstrated a base editing efficiency of facilitating a cytosine-to-thymine nucleotide correction in 21.5% of the total sequencing reads. Additionally, the incidence of insertions and deletions (indels) was detected in only 0.15% of the sequencing reads with virtually no off-target effects evident across the top 11 predicted off-target sites containing at least one cytosine in the activity window (n = 3, pooled amplicons). Conclusions CRISPR-mediated base editing can be used to facilitate a permanent and stably inherited cytosine-to-thymine nucleotide correction of the rs1061170 SNP in the CFH gene with minimal off-target effects.
Osteogenic and angiogenic tissue formation in high fidelity nanocomposite Laponite-gelatin bioinks

Bioprinting of living cells is rapidly developing as an advanced biofabrication approach to engineer tissues. Bioinks can be extruded in three-dimensions (3D) to fabricate complex and hierarchical constructs for implantation. However, a lack of functionality can often be attributed to poor bioink properties. Indeed, advanced bioinks encapsulating living cells should: (i) present optimal rheological properties and retain 3D structure post fabrication, (ii) promote cell viability and support cell differentiation, and (iii) localise proteins of interest (e.g. vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)) to stimulate encapsulated cell activity and tissue ingrowth upon implantation. In this study, we present the results of the inclusion of a synthetic nanoclay, Laponite® (LPN) together with a gelatin methacryloyl (GelMA) bioink and the development of a functional cell-instructive bioink. A nanocomposite bioink displaying enhanced shape fidelity retention and interconnected porosity within extrusion-bioprinted fibres was observed. Human bone marrow stromal cell (HBMSC) viability within the nanocomposite showed no significant changes over 21 days of culture in LPN-GelMA (85.60 ± 10.27%), compared to a significant decrease in GelMA from 7 (95.88 ± 2.90%) to 21 days (55.54 ± 14.72%) (p < 0.01). HBMSCs were observed to proliferate in LPN-GelMA with a significant increase in cell number over 21 days (p < 0.0001) compared to GelMA alone. HBMSC-laden LPN-GelMA scaffolds supported osteogenic differentiation evidenced by mineralised nodule formation, including in the absence of the osteogenic drug dexamethasone. Ex vivo implantation in a chick chorioallantoic membrane model, demonstrated excellent integration of the bioink constructs in the vascular chick embryo after 7 days of incubation. VEGF-loaded LPN-GelMA constructs demonstrated significantly higher vessel penetration than GelMA-VEGF (p < 0.0001) scaffolds. Integration and vascularisation was directly related to increased drug absorption and retention by LPN-GelMA compared to LPN-free GelMA. In summary, a novel light-curable nanocomposite bioink for 3D skeletal regeneration supportive of cell growth and growth factor retention and delivery, evidenced by ex vivo vasculogenesis, was developed with potential application in hard and soft tissue reparation.
Final Astro-1 Calibration of the Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope: A Test of White Dwarf Model Atmospheres as Far-Ultraviolet Calibration Standards

We present the final calibration of the Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope (HUT) for its flight during the Astro-1 space shuttle mission in 1990 December. The calibration is defined by a comparison between an observation obtained in flight of the hot DA white dwarf G191-B2B and the model atmosphere for this star calculated by P. Bergeron. We also present the postflight laboratory calibration of the HUT sensitivity, which we find to be in excellent agreement with the white dwarf calibration. The ratio of the white dwarf to the laboratory effective area calibration has a mean value of 1.0044 over the wavelength range 912-1840 Å, a slope of 7.61 × 10-6 Å-1 (which corresponds to a relative difference of only 0.35% at either end of the spectrum), and fluctuations about the mean value with an rms amplitude of 3%. The uncertainties in the laboratory calibration are 4% for the overall normalization, 5% relative to the mean on wavelength scales of 50 to several hundred Å, and an uncertainty in the overall slope that corresponds to 1% at 1840 Å and that increases smoothly to 3% at 912 Å. These results validate the use of white dwarf models as absolute flux standards in the far-ultraviolet, especially for wavelengths shortward of Lyα, where previous experiments often disagreed by large factors. In particular, the normalization and wavelength dependence of the sensitivity calibration adopted by the Hubble Space Telescope Faint Object Spectrograph is confirmed to within the uncertainties of our laboratory calibration, while the normalization of the IUE final calibration is found to be low by an amount just exceeding our 1 σ uncertainty. Fits to the spectra of both G191-B2B and the hot DA white dwarf HZ 43 yield effective temperatures and surface gravities in good agreement with values derived from Balmer line profiles. We also present a comparison with Voyager spectra for the stars G191-B2B, HZ 43, BD +28°4211, π Aqr, and HD 25443. When averaged over broad bands (912-1050 Å, 1050-1180 Å), fluxes from the two instruments typically agree to within 10%.
A Parsec-scale Bipolar H2 Outflow in the Massive Star-forming Infrared Dark Cloud Core MSXDC G053.11+00.05 MM1

We present a parsec-scale molecular hydrogen (H2 1–0 S(1) at 2.12 μm) outflow discovered from the UKIRT Widefield Infrared Survey for H2. The outflow is located in the infrared dark cloud core MSXDC G053.11+00.05 MM1 at 1.7 kpc and is likely associated with two young stellar objects (YSOs) at the center. Although the overall morphology of the outflow is bipolar along the NE–SW direction with a brighter lobe to the southwest, the detailed structure consists of several flows and knots. With a total length of ∼1 pc, the outflow luminosity is fairly high with , implying a massive outflow-driving YSO if the entire outflow is driven by a single source. The two putative driving sources that are located at the outflow center show photometric variability of ≳1 mag in H- and K-bands. Together with their early evolutionary stage from spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting, this indicates that both are capable of ejecting outflows and may be eruptive variable YSOs. The YSO masses inferred from SED fitting are ∼10 M⊙ and ∼5 M⊙, which suggests the association of the outflow with massive YSOs. The geometrical morphology of the outflow is well-explained by the lower-mass YSO by assuming a single-source origin; however, without kinematic information, the contribution from the higher mass YSO cannot be ruled out. Considering star formation process by fragmentation of a high-mass core into several lower-mass stars, we also suggest the possible presence of another, yet-undetected driving source that is deeply embedded in the core.
Mesenchymal stem cells pretreated with platelet-rich plasma modulate doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity

The cardiotoxic adverse effect of doxorubicin (DOX) is the major factor limiting its use. Recently, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have been implicated in the preclinical studies of treatment of DOX-induced cardiotoxicity. The question is MSCs pretreated with platelet-rich plasma (PRP) have a better influence on DOX-induced cardiotoxicity compared to the influence of MSCs alone. Twenty-four Wistar rats were categorized into control, DOX-treated, MSC-treated, and PRP/MSC-treated groups. DOX was injected for two consecutive weeks. Light microscopic, biochemical markers (interleukin 10 (IL-10), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), and creatine kinase-MB (CK-MB)), immunohistochemical (Bax, Bcl2, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and cardiac troponin-I (CT-I)), and oxidative/antioxidative markers (malondialdehyde (MDA)/superoxide dismutase (SOD)) were measured. Degenerative cardiac changes were detected in the DOX-treated group with complete loss of the architecture and coagulative necrosis. These changes were accompanied with the elevation of the serum level of CK-MB and loss of CT-I immunoreactivity. The major factors in the DOX-induced cardiotoxicity were the oxidative stress (elevated MDA/decreased SOD), inflammation (elevated TNF-α/decreased IL-10), and cardiac apoptosis (lower Bcl2, higher Bax, and lower Bcl2/Bax ratio). MSCs and PRP/MSCs attenuate DOX-induced cardiotoxicity. Better attenuation was observed in the PRP/MSC-treated group. PRP/MSC combination reduced greatly the MDA and TNF-α and increased IL-10, Bcl2/Bax ratio, and VEGF. PRP had no significant influence over the Bcl2, Bax, and SOD. In conclusion, DOX in its toxic dose induced myocardial injury. This destructive effect is related to oxidative stress, inflammation, and cardiac apoptosis. PRP/MSC possesses a better attenuation over the DOX-induced toxicity compared to MSC alone.
Virasoro representations and fusion for general augmented minimal models

In this paper we present explicit results for the fusion of irreducible and higher rank representations in two logarithmically conformal models, the augmented c2,3 = 0 model as well as the augmented Yang–Lee model at c2,5 = −22/5. We analyse their spectrum of representations which is consistent with the symmetry and associativity of the fusion algebra. We also describe the first few higher rank representations in detail. In particular, we present the first examples of consistent rank 3 indecomposable representations and describe their embedding structure. Knowing these two generic models we also conjecture the general representation content and fusion rules for general augmented cp,q models.
Uniform post selection inference for LAD regression and other z-estimation problems

We develop uniformly valid con? dence regions for regression coefficients in a high-dimensional sparse least absolute deviation/median regression model. The setting is one where the number of regressors p could be large in comparison to the sample size n, but only s « n of them are needed to accurately describe the regression function. Our new methods are based on the instrumental median regression estimator that assembles the optimal estimating equation from the output of the post l1-penalized median regression and post l1-penalized least squares in an auxiliary equation. The estimating equation is immunized against non-regular estimation of nuisance part of the median regression function, in the sense of Neyman. We establish that in a homoscedastic regression model, the instrumental median regression estimator of a single regression coefficient is asymptotically root-n normal uniformly with respect to the underlying sparse model. The resulting con? dence regions are valid uniformly with respect to the underlying model. We illustrate the value of uniformity with Monte-Carlo experiments which demonstrate that standard/naive post-selection inference breaks down over large parts of the parameter space, and the proposed method does not. We then generalize our method to the case where p1 » n regression coefficients are of interest in a non-smooth Z-estimation framework with approximately sparse nuisance functions, containing median regression with a single target regression coefficient as a very special case. We construct simultaneous con? dence bands on all p1 coefficients, and establish their uniform validity over the underlying approximately sparse model.
Direct evidence of positron trapping at polar groups in a polymer-blend system

Energy spectra of positron annihilation radiation were measured in polymer blends of polyethylene and ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer (E/VA) by means of the coincidence Doppler broadening technique. Positron annihilation with the core electrons of oxygen was appreciably increased by the addition of small amounts of E/VA to polyethylene and was detected with a sensitivity one order of magnitude higher than would be expected from the number density of the oxygen atoms in the polymer blends. This clearly shows that the positron is sensitively trapped by the polar acetate group of E/VA and demonstrates the usefulness of positrons as a sensitive chemical probe for polar structures in a nonpolar polymer matrix with high positron mobility. [S0163-1829(99)00941-8].
APPROX – mutual approximations between the Galilean moons: the 2016–2018 observational campaign

The technique of mutual approximations accurately gives the central instant at the maximum apparent approximation of two moving natural satellites in the sky plane. This can be used in ephemeris fitting to infer the relative positions between satellites with high precision. Only the mutual phenomena -- occultations and eclipses -- may achieve better results. However, mutual phenomena only occur every six years in the case of Jupiter. Mutual approximations do not have this restriction and can be observed at any time along the year as long as the satellites are visible. In this work, we present 104 central instants determined from the observations of 66 mutual approximations between the Galilean moons carried out at different sites in Brazil and France during the period 2016--2018. For 28 events we have at least two independent observations. All telescopes were equipped with a narrow-band filter centred at 889 nm with a width of 15 nm to eliminate the scattered light from Jupiter. The telescope apertures ranged between 25--120 cm. For comparison, the precision of the positions obtained with classical CCD astrometry is about 100 mas, for mutual phenomena it can achieve 10 mas or less and the average internal precision obtained with mutual approximations was 11.3 mas. This new kind of simple, yet accurate observations can significantly improve the orbits and ephemeris of Galilean satellites and thus be very useful for the planning of future space missions aiming at the Jovian system.
Non-Invasive Functional-Brain-Imaging with a Novel Magnetoencephalography System

A non-invasive functional-brain-imaging system based on optically-pumped-magnetometers (OPM) is presented. The OPM-based magnetoencephalography (MEG) system features 20 OPM channels conforming to the subject's scalp. Due to proximity (12 mm) of the OPM channels to the brain, it is anticipated that this MEG system offers an enhanced spatial resolution as it can capture finer spatial features compared to traditional MEG systems employing superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID). We have conducted two MEG experiments on three subjects: somatosensory evoked magnetic field (SEF) and auditory evoked magnetic field (AEF) using our OPM-based MEG system and a commercial SQUID-based MEG system. We have cross validated the robustness of our system by calculating the distance between the location of the equivalent current dipole (ECD) yielded by our OPM-based MEG system and the ECD location calculated by the commercial SQUID-based MEG system. We achieved sub-centimeter accuracy for both SEF and AEF responses in all three subjects.
Consistency of Boosting under Normality

Boosting is one of the important ensemble classifiers emerging in the past decade. [10] provides a statistical insight: AdaBoost can be viewed as a Newton-like updates minimizing exponential criterion. This powerful insight, however, does not address (1) whether the Newton update converges (2) whether the update procedure converge to the Bayes procedure if it does converge. Under a normal-normal setting, we cast the learning problem as a Bayesian minimization problem. It is shown that the Bayes procedure can be obtained via an iterative Newton update minimizing exponential criterion. In addition, the step sizes of AdaBoost are shown to be highly effective and lead to a one-step convergence. While our results based on strong distributional assumption, they require little conditions on the complexity of base learners nor regularization on step sizes or number of boosting iterations.
Efficient test for AR 1,Dependence against SETAR 2,1,1 Models

This paper is concerned with the construction of ecient tests for rst-order autoregressive [AR(1)] dependence against rst-order self-exiting threshold autore-gression [SETAR(2,1,1)] models. Using the local asymptotic normality in semiparametricsetting, it establishes a semiparametrically ecient test when the innovation density istotally unspecied. Then, it proposes an adaptive test when the innovation density issymmetric. These results are validated by numerical simulations using a Monte Carlostudy.Keywords: Adaptivity, local asymptotic normality, locally asymptotically most strin-gent test, semiparametric eciency, SETAR models.Received for JNM on November 11, 2007.