Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Diagnostic Impact of Early Transcranial Doppler Ultrasonography on the TOAST Classification Subtype in Acute Cerebral Ischemia

Objective: The impact of early transcranial Doppler ultrasonography (TCD) upon stroke subtype diagnosis is unknown and may affect therapeutic strategies. In this study, the diagnostic usefulness of TCD in stroke subtype diagnosis according to the criteria of the Trial of ORG 10172 in Acute Stroke Treatment (TOAST) study was investigated in patients with acute cerebral ischemia. Methods: TCD examination within 24 h of symptom onset was performed in 50 consecutive patients with acute cerebral ischemia. Of these 54% were female. Sixty percent of patients were black, 36% white, and 4% Asian. Initial TOAST stroke subtype diagnosis (ITSSD) was based upon clinical presentation and initial brain imaging studies. Modified TOAST stroke subtype diagnosis was determined subsequently after additional review of the TCD examination. Final TOAST stroke subtype diagnosis was determined at hospital discharge, incorporating all diagnostic studies. Using final TOAST stroke subtype diagnosis as the ‘gold standard’ ITSSD and modified TOAST stroke subtype diagnosis were compared in order to determine additional benefit from the information obtained by TCD. Data were collected retrospectively by a single investigator. Results: ITSSD classified 23 of 50 (46%) patients correctly. After TCD, 30 of 50 (60%) patients were classified correctly, for an absolute benefit of 14% and a relative benefit of 30% (p = 0.018). Most benefit from TCD was observed in the TOAST stroke subtype category large-artery atherosclerosis, in particular in patients with intracranial vascular disease. In this category, ITSSD had a sensitivity of 27% which increased to 64% after TCD (p = 0.002). Conclusion: TCD within 24 h of symptom onset improves the accuracy of early stroke subtype diagnosis in patients with acute cerebral ischemia due to large-artery atherosclerosis. This may have clinical implications for early therapeutic interventions.
Electrochemical Detection of Hydrogen Peroxide by Inhibiting the p-Benzenediboronic Acid-Triggered Assembly of Citrate-Capped Au/Ag Nanoparticles on Electrode Surface

Metal nanoparticles (NPs) possess unique physicochemical attributes for creating effective recognition and transduction processes in chem/bio-sensing. In this work, we suggested that citrate-capped Au/Ag NPs could be used as the reporters for the design of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) sensors with a simple manipulation principle and an easy detection procedure. Specifically, p-benzenediboronic acid (BDBA) induced the aggregation of citrate-capped Au NPs through the cross-linking reaction between citrate and boronic acid of BDBA in solution. By modifying the electrode with a boronic acid derivative, the BDBA-induced assembly of Au NPs was achieved on the electrode surface. This led to a significant decrease in the electron transfer resistance due to the unique conductive ability of Au NPs. However, when the boronate group on the electrode surface was oxidized into its phenol format, the assembly of Au NPs on the electrode surface was not achieved. As a result, a higher electron transfer resistance was observed. The process could be monitored by electrochemical impedance technique. Furthermore, when Ag NPs were used instead of Au NPs in this design, the H2O2 concentration could be determined by measuring the linear-sweep voltammetry (LSV) current through the solid-state Ag/AgCl reaction of Ag NPs. The results indicated that NP-based colorimetric assays could be developed into more sensitive electrochemical analysis.
An Internet Portal Management and Support Evaluation Framework for SMEs

Since 2000, the Small and Medium Enterprise Administration (SMEA), Ministry of Economic Affairs in Taiwan has started to aggressively promote “the project of establishing and maintaining Internet database and e-Business in industries” to assist Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) for their application of e-Business. By 2004, it successfully encouraged 58 industry associations/labor unions/societies under its governance to develop Internet portal sites in order to allow plenty of SMEs to use Internet for enhancing their quality of service and benefits. Encouraging 10000 SMEs to participate in this project through at least 100 industry associations by 2006.This research compling with the industry Internet database and e-Business project expects to develop an internet portal management to support evaluation model for the small and medium enterprises (SMEs). This research uses content analysis as an approach and establishes the evaluation prototype of portal sites through the qualitative and quantitative aspects of the theoretical review of related literatures. We expect that the research result to be a theoretical reference which allows the SMEs to assess their industry associations’ Internet portal sits objectively, fairly and efficiently.
URINARY FLUORIDE OUTPUT IN CHILDREN FOLLOWING THE USE OF A DUAL-FLUORIDE VARNISH FORMULATION

Objective: This study evaluated the bioavailability of fluoride after topical application of a dual-fluoride varnish commercially available in Brazil, when compared to Duraphat™. Material and methods: The urinary fluoride output was evaluated in seven 5-year-old children after application of the fluoride varnishes, in two different phases. In the first phase (I), children received topical application of the fluoride varnish Duofluorid XII (2.92% fluorine, calcium fluoride + 2.71% fluorine, sodium fluoride, FGM™). After 1-month interval (phase II), the same amount (0.2 mL) of the fluoride varnish Duraphat (2.26% fluorine, sodium fluoride, Colgate™) was applied. Before each application all the volunteers brushed their teeth with placebo dentifrice for 7 days. Urinary collections were carried out 24 h prior up to 48 h after the applications. Fluoride intake from the diet was also estimated. Fluoride concentration in diet samples and urine was analyzed with the fluoride ion-specific electrode and a miniature calomel reference electrode coupled to a potentiometer. Data were tested by ANOVA and Tukey's post hoc test (p<0.05). Results: There were significant differences in the urinary fluoride output between phases I and II. The use of Duofluorid XII did not significantly increase the urinary fluoride output, when compared to baseline levels. The application of Duraphat caused a transitory increase in the urinary fluoride output, returning to baseline levels 48 h after its use. Conclusions: The tested varnish formulation, which has been shown to be effective in in vitro studies, also can be considered safe.
Endothelial responses to oxidized lipoproteins determine genetic susceptibility to atherosclerosis in mice.

BACKGROUND Oxidized LDL has been found within the subendothelial space, and it exhibits numerous atherogenic properties, including induction of inflammatory genes. We examined the possibility that variations in endothelial response to minimally modified LDL (MM-LDL) constitute one of the genetic components in atherosclerosis. METHODS AND RESULTS By a novel explant technique, endothelial cells (ECs) were isolated from the aorta of inbred mouse strains with different susceptibilities to diet-induced atherosclerosis. Responses to MM-LDL were evaluated by examining the expression of inflammatory genes involved in atherosclerosis, including monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1) and macrophage-colony-stimulating factor (M-CSF), an oxidative stress gene, heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), and other, noninflammatory, genes. ECs from the susceptible mouse strain C57BL/6J exhibited dramatic induction of MCP-1, M-CSF, and HO-1, whereas ECs from the resistant strain C3H/HeJ showed little or no induction. In contrast, ECs from the 2 strains responded similarly to lipopolysaccharide. CONCLUSIONS These data provide strong evidence that genetic factors in atherosclerosis act at the level of the vessel wall.
Microcystic Lymphatic Malformation (Lymphangioma Circumscriptum) Treated Using a Minimally Invasive Technique of Radiofrequency Ablation and Sclerotherapy

BACKGROUND Therapeutic interventions for microcystic lymphatic malformation (MLM), including surgical resection, have historically been difficult and frustrating because of a high recurrence rate due to multifocal lesions and failure to address the deeper component and excessive morbidity associated with excision of extensive lesions. MATERIALS AND METHODS This study represents a retrospective analysis of response to treatment of 14 consecutive patients with MLM. The first four patients were treated with sclerotherapy alone using 3% polidocanol. The next 10 patients were treated with the combination technique of radiofrequency ablation (RFA) and sclerotherapy. The sessions were repeated at monthly intervals until complete clearance. RESULTS Nine of 10 patients who were treated with the combination technique achieved near‐complete clearance. There were minimal intra‐ and postoperative sequelae. The patients treated with the combination technique also achieved faster results. CONCLUSION RFA ablates the lesions and achieves hemostasis while the sclerosant injected in and around the lesion reaches the deeper vascular lesions, preventing recurrence. The minimally invasive combination technique of RFA with sclerotherapy is a modality that can be used in the treatment of extensive microcystic malformations where surgical excision would lead to extensive scarring. The authors have indicated no significant interest with commercial supporters.
Review on iron and its importance for human health

It is well-known that deficiency or over exposure to various elements has noticeable effects on human health. The effect of an element is determined by several characteristics, including absorption, metabolism, and degree of interaction with physiological processes. Iron is an essential element for almost all living organisms as it participates in a wide variety of metabolic processes, including oxygen transport, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) synthesis, and electron transport. However, as iron can form free radicals, its concentration in body tissues must be tightly regulated because in excessive amounts, it can lead to tissue damage. Disorders of iron metabolism are among the most common diseases of humans and encompass a broad spectrum of diseases with diverse clinical manifestations, ranging from anemia to iron overload, and possibly to neurodegenerative diseases. In this review, we discuss the latest progress in studies of iron metabolism and bioavailability, and our current understanding of human iron requirement and consequences and causes of iron deficiency. Finally, we discuss strategies for prevention of iron deficiency.
Novel Mid-Level Audio Features for Music Similarity

There is disclosed an adsorbent, comprising a carrier on which is immobilized a peptide possessing an ability to bind to the human antibody to the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor and represented by the formula: H-X-A-Y-Z wherein A stands for a peptide residue, one of X and Y stands for a single bond, an amino acid residue selected from the class consisting of Asp, Glu, Lys and a divalent group represented by the formula, (wherein n stands for an integer in the range of 1 to 17), or a peptide residue formed by peptide linkage of two to ten amino acid residues of at least one species selected from the class mentioned above and the other of X and Y stands for an amino acid residue selected from the class consisting of Asp, Glu, Lys and a divalent group represented by the formula, (wherein n stands for an integer in the range of 1 to 17), or a peptide residue formed by peptide linkage of two to ten amino acid residues of at least one species selected from the class mentioned above and Z stands for a hydroxyl group or an amino group. A method for the production of the adsorbent and a method for the use of the adsorbent are also disclosed.
SODDA - A Service-Oriented Distributed Database Architecture

The dissemination of information systems over computer networks has reinforced the interest on distributed database management systems (DDBMS). A review on the architecture of such systems is motivated by the wide availability of networking resources, which allows the cost of communication among the nodes to be reduced. Besides, the coming of age of syntactic interoperability standards, such as XML, and of service-based networking allow for new alternatives for the implementation and deployment of distributed databases. This paper proposes the adoption of elements from service-oriented architectures for the implementation of the connections among distributed database components, thus configuring a service-oriented distributed database architecture.
A novel approach for determining environment-specific protein costs: the case of Arabidopsis thaliana

Motivation: Comprehensive understanding of cellular processes requires development of approaches which consider the energetic balances in the cell. The existing approaches that address this problem are based on defining energy-equivalent costs which do not include the effects of a changing environment. By incorporating these effects, one could provide a framework for integrating ‘omics’ data from various levels of the system in order to provide interpretations with respect to the energy state and to elicit conclusions about putative global energy-related response mechanisms in the cell. Results: Here we define a cost measure for amino acid synthesis based on flux balance analysis of a genome-scale metabolic network, and develop methods for its integration with proteomics and metabolomics data. This is a first measure which accounts for the effect of different environmental conditions. We applied this approach to a genome-scale network of Arabidopsis thaliana and calculated the costs for all amino acids and proteins present in the network under light and dark conditions. Integration of function and process ontology terms in the analysis of protein abundances and their costs indicates that, during the night, the cell favors cheaper proteins compared with the light environment. However, this does not imply that there is squandering of resources during the day. The results from the association analysis between the costs, levels and well-defined expenses of amino acid synthesis, indicate that our approach not only captures the adjustment made at the switch of conditions, but also could explain the anticipation of resource usage via a global energy-related regulatory mechanism of amino acid and protein synthesis. Contact: nikoloski@mpimp-golm.mpg. de Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
A multimodal restaurant finder for semantic web

Multimodal dialogue systems provide multiple modalities in the form of speech, mouse clicking, drawing or touch that can enhance human-computer interaction. However, one of the drawbacks of the existing multimodal systems is that they are highly domain-speciﬁc and they do not allow information to be shared across different providers. In this paper, we propose a semantic multimodal system, called Semantic Restaurant Finder, for the Semantic Web in which the restaurant information in different city/country/language are constructed as ontologies to allow the information to be sharable. From the Semantic Restaurant Finder, users can make use of the semantic restaurant knowledge distributed from different locations on the Internet to ﬁnd the desired restaurants.
Emptiness of Linear Weak Alternating Automata

The automata-theoretic approach to model checking requires two basic ingredients: a translation from logic to automata, and an algorithm for checking language emptiness. LTL model checking has traditionally been based on (generalized) Buchi automata. Weak alternating automata provide an attractive alternative because there is an elegant and linear-time translation from LTL. However, due to their intricate combinatorial structure, no direct algorithm for deciding the emptiness problem for these automata has been known, and implementations have relied on an exponential translation of weak alternating to nondeterministic Buchi automata. In this paper, we fill this gap by proposing an algorithm to decide language emptiness for the subclass of weak alternating automata that result from the translation of LTL formulas. Our approach makes use of two observations: first, runs of weak alternating automata can be represented as dags and second, the transition graphs of linear weak alternating automata are of restricted combinatorial structure. Our algorithm computes strongly connected components of the graph of reachable configurations, the emptiness criterion being expressed in terms of the set of self loops that can be avoided within an SCC.
The fission yeast rDNA-binding protein Reb1 regulates G1 phase under nutritional stress

Yeast Reb1 and its mammalian ortholog TTF1 are conserved Myb-type DNA-binding proteins that bind to specific sites near the 3′-end of rRNA genes (rDNA). Here, they participate in the termination of transcription driven by RNA polymerase I and block DNA replication forks approaching in the opposite direction. We found that Schizosaccharomyces pombe Reb1 also upregulates transcription of the ste9+ gene that is required for nitrogen-starvation-induced growth arrest with a G1 DNA content and sexual differentiation. Ste9 activates the anaphase-promoting complex or cyclosome (‘APC/C’) in G1, targeting B-cyclin for proteasomal degradation in response to nutritional stress. Reb1 binds in vivo and in vitro to a specific DNA sequence at the promoter of ste9+, similar to the sequence recognized in the rDNA, and this binding is required for ste9+ transcriptional activation and G1 arrest. This suggests that Reb1 acts as a link between rDNA metabolism and cell cycle control in response to nutritional stress. In agreement with this new role for Reb1 in the regulation of the G1–S transition, reb1Δ and wee1ts mutations are synthetically lethal owing to the inability of these cells to lengthen G1 before entering S phase. Similarly, reb1Δ cdc10ts cells are unable to arrest in G1 and die at the semi-permissive temperature.
Comparison of the Syva MicroTrak enzyme immunoassay and Gen-Probe PACE 2 with cell culture for diagnosis of cervical Chlamydia trachomatis infection in a high-prevalence female population

Culture is currently considered the "gold standard" for detecting Chlamydia trachomatis infections. We evaluated the Syva MicroTrak enzyme immunoassay (EIA) and Gen-Probe PACE 2 tests, which detect chlamydial antigens and rRNA, respectively. These assays were compared with each other and with culture for the detection of C. trachomatis in cervical specimens obtained from 217 women attending a clinic for sexually transmitted diseases. The prevalence of infection was 22.1% by culture. The sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values were 79.2, 98.2, 92.6, and 94.3%, respectively, for EIA. For PACE 2, the respective values were 77.1, 97.6, 90.1, and 93.7%. After corrections for two false-negative cultures, the sensitivities and specificities were 80 and 99.4%, respectively, for the EIA and 78 and 98.8%, respectively, for the probe assay. Quantitative evaluation of the results showed that false-negative results with either assay were associated with cultures that had low inclusion counts or were negative without subpassage. Analysis of nonculture results revealed that 2.3% of the EIA results and 4.6% of the probe assay results were within +/- 30% of the respective assay cutoff values. These included four false-negative (one EIA and three probe) and two false-positive (one EIA and one probe) results. The Syva MicroTrak EIA and the Gen-Probe PACE 2 assay are comparable to but significantly less sensitive than culture. Use of a grey zone may help identify the need for repeat or confirmatory testing.
Sustained Complete Response after Maintenance Therapy with Topotecan and Erlotinib for Recurrent Cervical Cancer with Distant Metastases

Introduction: Recurrent cervical cancer is associated with a poor prognosis. Most treatment responses are partial and of short duration. The development of new therapies is vital to improve treatment for recurrent disease. Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibitors may have a role in this setting. Case Description: A 53-year-old woman with stage IB2 squamous cell carcinoma of the cervix was initially treated with chemoradiation. Six months after completing treatment, she developed a recurrence in the common iliac and para-aortic lymph nodes above the previous radiation field and was treated with additional radiation therapy. Two years later, she developed recurrent disease in the left supraclavicular lymph nodes and was treated with chemoradiation followed by 3 cycles of adjuvant cisplatin and topotecan. She had a complete response and was placed on maintenance therapy with topotecan and erlotinib, which was well tolerated and produced minimal side effects. After 20 months of maintenance therapy, it was discontinued given the long interval without evidence of disease. The patient is currently without evidence of disease 5 years after completing the topotecan-erlotinib treatment. Conclusion: We noted a sustained response in a patient with recurrent metastatic cervical cancer treated with radiotherapy, cisplatin, and topotecan followed by maintenance therapy with topotecan and erlotinib. Further evaluation of the role of EGFR inhibitors in this setting should be considered given their favorable toxicity profile and biological relevance.
Choline requirements of male White Pekin ducks from 21 to 42 d of age

Abstract 1. A dose–response experiment with 6 dietary choline concentrations (0, 342, 779, 1285, 1662 and 1962 mg/kg) was conducted with male White Pekin ducks to estimate the choline requirement from 21 to 42 d of age. 2. Ninety 21-d-old male White Pekin ducks were allotted to 6 dietary treatments, each containing 5 replicate pens with three birds per pen. At 42 d of age, final weight, weight gain, feed intake and feed/gain were measured. Liver was collected to determine total liver lipid, triglyceride and phospholipids. 3. Significant positive effects of dietary choline on final weight, weight gain and feed intake were observed. In addition, dietary choline supplementation significantly decreased liver lipid and triglyceride content and increased liver phospholipids of Pekin ducks. 4. According to broken-line regression analysis, the choline requirements of male White Pekin ducks from 21 to 42 d of age for weight gain, feed intake and total liver lipid were 980, 950 and 1130 mg/kg. Pekin ducks needed more choline to prevent excess liver lipid deposition than to maintain growth.