Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Recovery of zinc from hyperaccumulator plants: Sedum plumbizincicola

Hyperaccumulator biomass harvested after heavy‐metal phytoremediation must be considered as hazardous waste that should be contained or treated appropriately before disposal or reuse. As a potential method to detoxify the biomass and to convert this material to a suitable fertilizer or mulch, leaching of heavy metals from Sedum plumbizincicola biomass was studied by using ammonia–ammonium chloride solution as a leaching agent. The research was carried out in two phases: (i) a leaching study to determine the heavy metal:zinc extraction efficiency of this leaching agent and (ii) a thermodynamic analysis to identify the likely reactions and stable Zn(II) species formed in the leaching systems. Experimentally, a Taguchi orthogonal experiment with four variable parameter elements: leaching temperature, nNH4Cl:nNH3 ratio, leaching time and solid–liquid ratio, each at three levels, was used to optimize the experimental parameters by the analysis of variances. Application of the Taguchi technique significantly reduced the time and cost required for the experimental investigation. The findings indicate that leaching temperature had the most dominant effect on metal extraction performance, followed by nNH4Cl:nNH3 ratio, solid–liquid ratio and leaching time. Accordingly, the optimum leaching conditions were determined as temperature: 60°C, nNH4Cl:nNH3 = 0.6, leaching time: 2 h and solid/liquid ratio: 5:1. The total zinc removal after leaching under the optimum conditions reached 97.95%. The thermodynamic study indicated that the dominant species produced by the leaching process should be the soluble species Zn(NH3)4 2+.
The prevalence of metabolic syndrome among Ghanaian migrants and their homeland counterparts: the Research on Obesity and type 2 Diabetes among African Migrants (RODAM) study

Abstract Background Metabolic syndrome (MetSyn) is an important risk factor for cardiovascular diseases and type 2 diabetes. It is unknown whether the MetSyn prevalence differs within a homogenous population residing in different settings in Africa and Europe. We therefore assessed the prevalence of MetSyn among Ghanaians living in rural- and urban-Ghana and Ghanaian migrants living in Europe. Methods We used data from the cross-sectional multi-centre RODAM study that was conducted among Ghanaian adults aged 25–70 years residing in rural- and urban-Ghana and in London, Amsterdam and Berlin (n = 5659). MetSyn was defined according to the 2009 harmonized definition. Geographical locations were compared using age-standardized prevalence rates, and prevalence ratios (PRs), adjusted for age, education, physical activity, and smoking and stratified for sex. Results In men, the age-standardized prevalence of MetSyn was 8.3% in rural Ghana and showed a positive gradient through urban Ghana (23.6%, adjusted PR = 1.85, 95% confidence interval 1.17–2.92) to Europe, with the highest prevalence in Amsterdam (31.4%; PR = 4.45, 2.94–6.75). In women, there was a rural-to-urban gradient in age-standardized MetSyn prevalence (rural Ghana 25%, urban Ghana 34.4%, PR = 1.38, 1.13–1.68), but small differences in MetSyn prevalence between urban-Ghanaian and European-Ghanaian women (Amsterdam 38.4%; London 38.2%). Conclusion MetSyn is highly prevalent in Ghana as well as in Ghanaian migrants in Europe. To assist prevention efforts, further research is needed to understand the mechanisms driving the geographical differences in MetSyn prevalence between migrant and non-migrant Ghanaians.
Cannabimimetic Activity, Binding, and Degradation of Stearoylethanolamide within the Mouse Central Nervous System

Stearoylethanolamide (SEA) is present in human, rat, and mouse brain in amounts comparable to those of the endocannabinoid anandamide (arachidonoylethanolamide, AEA). Yet, the biological activity of SEA has never been investigated. We report that SEA has the same effects as AEA on catalepsy, motility, analgesia, and body temperature of mice and that specific binding sites for SEA are present in mouse brain and are most abundant in cortex. Pharmacological experiments and the use of knockout mice demonstrated that these sites are different from cannabinoid receptors, are not coupled to G proteins, and regulate different signaling pathways. Mouse brain has also a specific SEA membrane transporter and a fatty acid amide hydrolase able to cleave SEA, with the same regional distribution as the binding sites of this lipid. Moreover, SEA potentiates the decrease of cAMP induced by AEA in mouse cortical slices, suggesting that SEA might also be an "entourage" compound.
Epistasis Between Type 2 Diabetes Susceptibility Loci on Chromosomes 1q21‐25 and 10q23‐26 in Northern Europeans

Characterisation of the interactions between susceptibility loci (epistasis) is central to a full understanding of the genetic aetiology and the molecular pathology of complex diseases. We have examined, in British and French pedigrees, evidence for epistasis between the type 2 diabetes susceptibility loci on chromosomes 1q21‐25 and 10q23‐26 using two complementary linkage‐based approaches. Joint two‐locus linkage analysis of 1q and 10q in British pedigrees provided significant evidence for interaction (P ≤ 0.003) when comparing a general epistasis model with multiplicative or additive‐effects‐only models. Conditional linkage analysis (which models epistasis as a deviation from multiplicativity only) confirmed these findings, with significant LOD score increases at the 1q (P = 0.0002) and 10q (P = 0.0023) loci. These analyses provided sizeable reductions in the 1‐LOD support intervals for both loci. Analyses of the British and French pedigrees together yielded comparable, but not enhanced, findings, with significant (P ≤ 0.003) evidence for epistasis in joint two‐locus linkage analysis, and during conditional linkage analysis significant increases in linkage evidence at the 1q (P = 0.0002) and 10q (P = 0.0036) loci. Our findings of epistasis nevertheless substantiate the evidence for genuine genetic effects at both loci, facilitate endeavours to fine‐map these loci in population samples, and support further examination of this interaction at the nucleotide level by providing a robust prior hypothesis.
Multirezisztens kórokozók előfordulása hematológiai betegeinkben – a rezisztenciatrendek változása

Absztrakt: A multirezisztens korokozok jelenlete vilagszerte egyre nagyobb gondot jelent a korhazakban. A tulzott es indokolatlan, vagy helytelenul megvalasztott antibiotikum-kezelesek hatasara a rezisztens torzsek kiszelektalodnak, es sulyos infekciokat okoznak, ami az immunszuprimalt betegekben sokkal kifejezettebb. E problema megoldasara indult 2013-ban a Debreceni Egyetem Klinikai Kozpont Belgyogyaszati Intezet B epulet Hematologiai Osztalyan az antibiotikumok diverzifikalasa. A monoton gyogyszervalasztas tudatos elkerulesenek eredmenyekent egyes multirezisztens torzsek, igy a kiterjedt spektrumu beta-laktamaz termelő Escherichia coli (2012-ben 16, 2016-ban 4 eset) es Klebsiella pneumoniae (2012-ben 27, 2016-ban 3 eset) előfordulasa csokkent. Ugyanakkor uj gond a vancomycinrezisztens Enterococcus spp. megjelenese (2012-ben 1, 2016-ban 6 pozitiv tenyesztes), aminek hattereben valoszinűleg a Clostridium difficile-infekcio miatt kezelt esetek szamanak novekedese all (2011-ben 2, 2015-ben 11 eset). A hely.
PHA*: Finding the Shortest Path with A* in An Unknown Physical Environment

We address the problem of finding the shortest path between two points in an unknown real physical environment, where a traveling agent must move around in the environment to explore unknown territory. We introduce the Physical-A* algorithm (PHA*) for solving this problem. PHA* expands all the mandatory nodes that A* would expand and returns the shortest path between the two points. However. due to the physical nature of the problem, the complexity of the algorithm is measured by the traveling effort of the moving agent and not by the number of generated nodes, as in standard A*. PHA* is presented a a two-level algorithm, such that its high level, A*, chooses the next node to be expanded and its low level directs the agent to that node in order to explore it. We present a number of variations for both the high-level and low-level procedures and evaluate their performance theoretically and experimentally. We show that the travel cost of our best variation is fairly dose to the optimal travel cost, assuming that the mandatory nodes of A* are known in advance. We then generalize our algorithm to the multi-agent case, where a number of cooperative agents are designed to solve the problem. Specifically, we provide an experimental implementation for such a system. It should be noted that the problem addressed here is not a navigation problem, but rather a problem of finding the shortest path between two points for future usage.
Resilience through dynamic reconfiguration in agent systems

Mobile agent systems typically consist of many elements that dynamically change behaviour and have to face various faults and errors due to system openness and agent autonomy. Individual agents have to cope with those threats in order to ensure the resilience of the systems. This paper introduces a new component search approach to be applied in agent systems and proposes a design and implementation of a searching mechanism developed as an extension of the existing CAMA middleware. The approach allows dynamic system reconfiguration aiming at dealing with unpredictable changes in system behaviour and is in particular useful for tolerating various system faults. The approach is demonstrated through a sample application.
Multifocal Οsteomyelitis Localization after Pyomyositis in Children: Importance of Timely Response

Pyomyositis is a rare bacterial infection that used to prevail in tropical areas for the past century. Nowadays though, more and more cases are reported in high-temperature climate areas. Diagnosis is often delayed due to the variance in clinical presentation, the challenging nature of physical examination of a child, and lack of specific laboratory investigating tools. When the diagnosis is delayed, the outcome may be unpredictable. Multifocal localization through hematogenous or direct spread that may affect the skeletal bone tissue is common. Timely diagnosis and response is a race against septic shock. We present a case series of seven children diagnosed with pyomyositis due to Staphylococcus aureus. High or less clinical suspicion has obviously affected the final outcome since two patients who were not treated in time were subjected to a life-threatening hazard. Five patients who were diagnosed and treated within the first three days after initiation of their symptoms had a predictable and good outcome without complications.
Cardiac MRI: accuracy of simultaneous measurement of left and right ventricular parameters using three different sequences

Background and aim: We evaluated a value of Qp/Qs (left‐to‐right shunt measurement) using volumetric cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) cardiac output (CO) measurements. We defined intraobserver, interobserver variability and reproducibility of left and right ventricular parameters by CMR. Furthermore, we studied whether shortened acquisition time has an effect on the accuracy of left and right ventricular parameters both in healthy volunteers and in patients with cardiovascular disease.
Gender differences in sexual and injection risk behavior among active young injection drug users in San Francisco (the UFO study)

Female injection drug users (IDUs) represent a large proportion of persons infected with HIV in the United States, and women who inject drugs have a high incidence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) injection. Therefore, it is important to understand the role of gender in injection risk behavior and the transmission of blood-borne virus. In 2000–2002, 844 young (<30 years old) IDUs were surveyed in San Francisco. We compared self-reported risk behavior between 584 males and 260 female participants from cross-sectional baseline data. We used logistic regression to determine whether demographic, structural, and relationship variables explained increased needle borrowing, drug preparation equipment sharing, and being injected by another IDU among females compared to males. Females were significantly younger than males and were more likely to engage in needle borrowing, ancillary equipment sharing, and being injected by someone else. Females were more likely than males to report recent sexual intercourse and to have IDU sex partners. Females and males were not different with respect to education, race/ethnicity, or housing status. In logistic regression models for borrowing a used needle and sharing drug preparation equipment, increased risk in females was explained by having an injection partner who was also a sexual partner. Injecting risk was greater in the young female compared to male IDUs despite equivalent frequency of injecting. Overlapping sexual and injection partnerships were a key factor in explaining increased injection risk in females. Females were more likely to be injected by another IDU even after adjusting for years injecting, being in a relationship with another IDU, and other potential confounders. Interventions to reduce sexual and injection practices that put women at risk of contracting hepatitis and HIV are needed.
The Value of Embedded Measures in Detecting Suboptimal Effort in Children: An Investigation Into the WISC-IV Digit Span and CMS Verbal Memory Subtests

The Test of Memory Malingering (TOMM) is a measure of test-taking effort that has traditionally been utilized with adults but more recently has demonstrated utility with children. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether commonly used neuropsychological measures can be used as embedded measures in detecting effort during testing. Participants (N = 75) who completed neuropsychological evaluations including the TOMM, Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Fourth Edition (WISC-IV) Digit Span, Children's Memory Scale (CMS) Verbal Memory, and other neuropsychological measures were divided into two groups: Optimal Effort and Suboptimal Effort, based on their TOMM Trial 2 scores. Digit Span findings suggest a useful standard score of ≤ 70 resulted in optimal cutoff scores, yielding specificity of 94% and sensitivity of 44%. The CMS Verbal Memory Recall > Recognition scores did not appear as valuable indicating a discrepancy of 20+ points were required for specificity to attain optimal scores of 90% and sensitivity of 11%. This study illustrates the WISC-IV may have good utility in determining optimal effort; however, the CMS may not be as functional.
Incretins: pathophysiological and therapeutic implications of glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide and glucagon-like peptide-1

Incretins such as glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) and glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) are intestinal postprandial hormones that stimulate insulin release from the pancreas as long as circulating glucose concentrations are raised. In addition to their effect on insulin secretion and consequent glucose lowering, GIP and GLP-1, especially the latter, have a number of physiological effects such as inhibition of glucagon release, gastric emptying and food intake, as well as a tropic action on pancreatic B-cell mass. There is currently a pandemic of obesity and diabetes, and existing treatments are largely inadequate both in regard to efficacy as well as their ability to tackle important factors in the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes (T2D). There is increasing evidence that current treatments do not address the issue of progressive B-cell failure in T2D. Since obesity is the engine that is driving the epidemic of diabetes, it is disappointing that most treatments that succeed in lowering plasma glucose are also associated with weight gain. It is now well established that intensively treated T2D has a better outcome than standard treatment. Consequently, achieving better control of diabetes with lower HbA1c is the goal of optimal treatment. Despite the use of usual therapeutic agents in T2D, often in high doses and as combinations, such as metformin, sulphonylurea, α-glycosidase inhibitors, thiazolidinediones and a number of animal and human insulin preparations, optimal control of glycaemia is not achieved. The use of incretins as therapeutic agents offers a new approach to the treatment of T2D.
Suppression of uPA and uPAR Attenuates Angiogenin Mediated Angiogenesis in Endothelial and Glioblastoma Cell Lines

Background In our earlier reports, we showed that downregulation of uPA and uPAR inhibited glioma tumor angiogenesis in SNB19 cells, and intraperitoneal injection of a hairpin shRNA expressing plasmid targeting uPA and uPAR inhibited angiogenesis in nude mice. The exact mechanism by which inhibition of angiogenesis takes place is not clearly understood. Methodology/Principal Findings In the present study, we have attempted to investigate the mechanism by which uPA/uPAR downregulation by shRNA inhibits angiogenesis in endothelial and glioblastoma cell lines. uPA/uPAR downregulation by shRNA in U87 MG and U87 SPARC co-cultures with endothelial cells inhibited angiogenesis as assessed by in vitro angiogenesis assay and in vivo dorsal skin-fold chamber model in nude mice. Protein antibody array analysis of co-cultures of U87 and U87 SPARC cells with endothelial cells treated with pU2 (shRNA against uPA and uPAR) showed decreased angiogenin secretion and angiopoietin-1 as well as several other pro-angiogenic molecules. Therefore, we investigated the role of angiogenin and found that nuclear translocation, ribonucleolytic and 45S rRNA synthesis, which are all critical for angiogenic function of angiogenin, were significantly inhibited in endothelial cells transfected with uPA, uPAR and uPA/uPAR when compared with controls. Moreover, uPA and uPAR downregulation significantly inhibited the phosphorylation of Tie-2 receptor and also down regulated FKHR activation in the nucleus of endothelial cells via the GRB2/AKT/BAD pathway. Treatment of endothelial cells with ruPA increased angiogenin secretion and angiogenin expression as determined by ELISA and western blotting in a dose-dependent manner. The amino terminal fragment of uPA down regulated ruPA-induced angiogenin in endothelial cells, thereby suggesting that uPA plays a critical role in positively regulating angiogenin in glioblastoma cells. Conclusions/Significance Taken together, our results suggest that uPA/uPAR downregulation suppresses angiogenesis in endothelial cells induced by glioblastoma cell lines partially by downregulation of angiogenin and by inhibition of the angiopoietin-1/AKT/FKHR pathway.
Rosai-Dorfman Disease Presenting As Recurrent Nasal Polyposis

Objective: To present a case of Rosai-Dorfman disease in an individual with a 14-year history of recurrent nasal polyposis, and discuss its clinical presentation, physical examination, radiologic findings, histopathologic characteristics, and available treatment. Methods: Design: Case Report Setting: Tertiary Private Hospital Patient: One Result: A 26-year-old Filipino diagnosed and repeatedly treated medically and surgically for recurrent nasal polyposis underwent repeat endoscopic sinus surgery. A histopathologic impression of Rosai-Dorfman disease was confirmed by positive S-100 and CD1a negative immunochemistry in conjunction with the morphologic findings. Conclusion: Rosai-Dorfman disease is a rare entity which should be considered when dealing with recurrent nasal polyposis that is intractable to initial medical and surgical therapies. Histopathologic findings of emperipolesis and immunohistochemical S-100 stains play a key role in the diagnosis, but there is yet no definite treatment for this disease. Keywords: recurrent nasal polyposis, Rosai-Dorfman disease, emperipolesis, S-100 stain
Dissemination of heterogeneous XML data in publish/subscibe systems

The publish-subscribe paradigm is an effective approach for data publishers to asynchronously disseminate relevant data to a large number of data subscribers. A lot of recent research has focused on extending this paradigm to support content-based delivery of XML data using more expressive XML-based subscription specifications that allow constraints on both data contents as well as structure. However, due to the heterogeneous data schemas used by different data publishers even for data in the same domain, an important challenge is how to efficiently and effectively disseminate relevant data to subscribers whose subscriptions might be specified based on schemas that are different from those used by the data publishers. In this paper, we examine the options to resolve this schema heterogeneity problem in XML data dissemination, and propose a novel paradigm that is based on data rewriting. Our experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the data rewriting paradigm and identifies the tradeoffs of the various approaches.
Localization for Drifting Restricted Floating Ocean Sensor Networks

Deploying wireless sensor networks in the ocean poses many challenges due to the harsh conditions of the ocean and the nonnegligible node mobility. In this paper, we propose hybrid ocean sensor networks called drifting restricted floating ocean sensor networks (DR-OSNs) for long-term maritime surveillance monitoring tasks, which combines both the advantages of wireless sensor networks and underwater wireless acoustic sensor networks. We present a localization scheme termed localization for double-head maritime sensor networks (LDSN) for DR-OSNs, which leverages the unique characteristics of DR-OSNs to establish the whole localization system after the network is deployed from a plane or a ship, and it does not need the presence of designated anchor nodes deployed underwater. The whole localization process consists of three steps with algorithms self-moored node localization (SML), underwater sensor localization (USD), and floating-node localization algorithm (FLA). The first step is for the super group nodes to localize their underwater moored nodes via an SML algorithm by leveraging the free-drifting movement of their surface nodes. Once the moored nodes in the super group nodes have localized themselves, they turn into anchor nodes underwater. Thus, in the second step, with the help of these new anchor nodes, the unlocalized underwater moored nodes use the USD algorithm to localize their positions. In the last step, when the free-drifting floating nodes without a Global Positioning System (GPS) module need to know their instant position, they apply the FLA to figure out their position. We conduct extensive simulations to evaluate the scheme, with the results indicating that LDSN achieves high localization accuracy and is an effective localization scheme for DR-OSNs.