Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
COPD management costs according to the frequency of COPD exacerbations in UK primary care

Background The economic burden of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exacerbations is significant, but the impact of other sources on the overall cost of COPD management is largely unknown. We aimed to estimate overall costs for patients experiencing none, one, or two or more exacerbations per year in the UK. Methods A retrospective cohort of prevalent COPD patients was identified in the Clinical Practice Research Datalink UK database. Patients with information recorded for at least 12 months before and after cohort entry date were included (first prevalent COPD diagnosis confirmed by spirometry on/after April 1, 2009). Patients were categorized as having none, one, or two or more moderate-to-severe COPD exacerbations in the 12 months after cohort entry and further classified by the Global initiative for chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) category of airflow obstruction and the Medical Research Council dyspnea scale. Study outcomes included counts of general practitioner interactions, moderate-severe COPD exacerbations, and non-COPD hospitalizations. Estimated resource use costs were calculated using National Health Service reference costs for 2010–2011. Results The cohort comprised 58,589 patients (mean age 69.5 years, mean dyspnea grade 2.5, females 46.6%, current smokers 33.1%). The average total annual per patient cost of COPD management, excluding medications, was £2,108 for all patients and £1,523, £2,405, and £3,396 for patients experiencing no, one, or two or more moderate-to-severe exacerbations, respectively. General practitioner interactions contributed most to these annual costs, accounting for £1,062 (69.7%), £1,313 (54.6%), and £1,592 (46.9%) in patients with no, one, or two or more moderate-to-severe exacerbations, respectively. Conclusion Disease management strategies focused on reducing costs in primary care may help reduce total COPD costs significantly.
Cocaine-Induced Intracellular Signaling and Gene Expression Are Oppositely Regulated by the Dopamine D1 and D3 Receptors

Repeated exposure to cocaine can induce neuroadaptations in the brain. One mechanism by which persistent changes occur involves alterations in gene expression mediated by the dopamine receptors. Both the dopamine D1 and D3 receptors have been shown to mediate gene expression changes. Moreover, the D1 and D3 receptors are also coexpressed in the same neurons, particularly in the nucleus accumbens and also caudoputamen (CPu). Little is known however, whether these two receptors coordinately regulate gene expression after cocaine administration and the underlying mechanisms. We have used various gene mutant mice to address this issue. We show that extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) activation and c-fos induction in the CPu in response to acute cocaine administration is mediated by the D1 receptor and inhibited by the D3 receptor. Moreover, ERK activation mediates acute cocaine-induced expression of Fos family genes, including c-fos, fosB and fra2. Interestingly, dynorphin, neogenin, and synaptotagmin VII, genes that possess cAMP-response element binding protein and AP-1 transcription complex-binding consensus sequences in their promoters, are also oppositely regulated by the D1 and D3 receptors after repeated exposure to cocaine. Furthermore, such regulation depends on proper ERK activation and c-fos function. These results suggest that the D1 and D3 receptors elicit opposite regulation of target gene expression by regulating ERK activation and c-fos induction after acute and chronic cocaine treatment.
Fertility testing of preserved epididymal sperm by microinjection: A model for the rescue and utilization of genetically superior animals

Background: Epididymal sperm preservation is a simple conservation approach that can help prevent the loss of high genetic quality of farm animals. The chance of loss increases, especially during disease outbreaks or other interruptions to normal reproduction function. Aim: This study looked into the ability of preserved ram epididymal sperm to fertilize oocytes. Due to motility becoming an issue following sperm storage for fertilization, the sperm microinjection known as intracytoplasmic sperm injection approach was employed. Methods: The study was divided into two parts. First, involved the preservation of epididymal sperm at 5°C for 12 days. During preservation, sperm quality parameters namely motility, viability, intact membrane, acrosome, and Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) are evaluated every three days. For the fertility test in the second experiment, matured oocytes were injected with immotile sperm discovered in the last days of preservation. The presence of pronucleus development following in vitro culture is used as an indicator of sperm’s ability to activate and fertilize oocytes. Results: All sperm quality parameters significantly (p < 0.05) declined during preservation time. On day 12, motility was discovered to be 0%, but viable sperm, sperm with intact membrane, acrosome, and DNA remained at 41.86% ± 9.30%, 31.18% ± 5.15%, 21.88% ± 1.93%, and 33.35% ± 8.74%, respectively. On the fertility test, we inject immotile sperm from day 12 of preservation, which has the lowest motility found, into matured oocytes. Those sperms are able to activate (52.05% ± 7.15%) and fertilize (31.37% ± 1.75%) the injected oocytes, but their fertilizing ability is significantly lower (p < 0.05) when compared to the sperm derived from the ejaculate. Conclusion: In this study, simple preservation of epididymal sperm reduces all sperm quality criteria, particularly motility. Using the microinjection approach preserved sperm which had no motility, still demonstrated its ability to activate and fertilize the oocytes. According to that, this study provides potential approaches and tools for using genetically superior animals that have lost their ability to execute regular fertilization, and also prolong reproduction function.
Construção de um Questionário de Atribuição de Causalidade no Ensino Superior — QAC-ES aplicado ao ensino de Matemática: estudo preliminar

Este artigo visou produzir um Questionário de Atribuição de Causalidade para o Ensino Superior, fundamentado na teoria atribucional de Weiner, e apresentou resultados parciais de uma dissertação de Mestrado Profissional. O questionário foi construído originalmente a partir de pesquisa bibliográfica, com 25 itens fechados na forma de uma Escala Likert de três pontos. Foi aplicado na etapa de teste para 38 alunos universitários, os quais opinaram sobre tais itens. Utilizou-se como método de análise de dados qualitativa, a Análise de Conteúdo de Bardin (1977), com o propósito de identificar e classificar os tópicos do questionário segundo o referencial teórico. Os resultados dessa análise foram apresentados por meio da categorização de 26 possíveis causas de sucesso ou fracasso acadêmico, que constituíram a versão final do questionário. A partir da replicação desse instrumento, é possível refletir sobre as preocupações dos alunos e seus processos atributivos, a fim de compreender os aspectos motivacionais relacionados à aprendizagem no Ensino de Matemática.
Role of lysosomes in protein turnover: Catch‐up proteolysis after release from NH4Cl inhibition

Cultured rat embryo fibroblasts, when placed in media with 10% serum containing 20 mM NH4Cl, show an inhibition of protein degradation and, concurrently, an accumulation of numerous, large vacuoles, partially filled with cellular debris. Cells placed in a serum‐free media exhibit an enhanced degradation of cell protein, which is also inhibited by NH4Cl. When these cells are removed from media containing NH4Cl and placed in fresh media, the material accumulated in these vacuoles is rapidly and quantitatively released to the media in both an acid‐soluble and acid‐insoluble form. NH4Cl inhibits rapidly and specifically the lysosomal proteolytic mechanism, and is without effect on the basal turnover mechanism. The lysosomal proteolytic mechanism accounts for approximately 25% of protein turnover, and, at least in low density cultures, can be stimulated to levels which account for more than half of the protein turnover in the cell. The major pathway for the degradation of fast turnover proteins appears to be separate from lysosomal mechanism.
Compréhension des dynamiques morpho-sédimentaires cohésives et non- cohésives des littoraux de Bretagne Sud (France) à différentes échelles spatio- temporelles.

A l'echelle du monde, les littoraux peuvent se diviser en differentes categories : les cotes rocheuses, sableuses, vaseuses et mixtes. Cependant, les littoraux meubles sableux et vaseux sont retrouves regulierement melanges sur differentes facades cotieres mondiales. Des apports de vases temporaires ou permanents sont en effet observes sur des plages sableuses. Ces environnements mixtes atypiques, qui couplent alors les processus d’erosions, de transports et de depots associes a la fois aux sediments cohesifs et non cohesifs, ont ete peu etudies. Afin d’identifier les forcages des variations morpho-dynamiques sur des environnements sableux et mixtes, quatre plages sablo-vaseuses ou entierement sableuses de type Low-Tide-Terrace ont ete suivies mensuellement sur deux annees en baie et estuaire de la Vilaine (Bretagne Sud). Des suivis hydro-morpho-sedimentaires specifiques a haute resolution et des suivis par photogrammetrie ont ete menes ponctuellement sur ces sites. A l'echelle regionale, ce travail met en evidence le role de la morphologie initiale et l’heritage geologique regional dans la reponse morphologique du littoral de la baie de Vilaine aux conditions d’energie extremes. La capacite de resilience a moyen-terme du littoral des plages de Bretagne Sud a ete demontree. Dans une approche plus specifique, un comportement morphodynamique d'une plage sablo-vaseuse proche de celle d'une plage uniquement sableuse a ete observe lors des phases de haute energie. Les variations d’altitudes du platier vaseux et des modeles sedimentaires en ridges and runnels sont principalement controlees par l’energie des vagues mais egalement par les proprietes physiques des sediments et particulierement celles liees a l'interaction entre le sable provenant de la section reflective et la vase de la section dissipative. La capacite d’erosion du platier vaseux par les vagues est potentiellement diminuee au niveau des interfaces des sediments cohesifs et non-cohesifs.
Nontuberculous mycobacterial infections.

CONTEXT Nontuberculous mycobacteria include numerous acid-fast bacilli species, many of which have only recently been recognized as pathogenic. The diagnosis of mycobacterial disease is based on a combination of clinical features, microbiologic data, radiographic findings, and histopathologic studies. OBJECTIVE To provide an overview of the clinical and pathologic aspects of nontuberculous mycobacteria infection, including diagnostic laboratory methods, classification, epidemiology, clinical presentation, and treatment. DATA SOURCES Review of the pertinent literature and published methodologies. CONCLUSIONS Nontuberculous mycobacteria include numerous acid-fast bacilli species, many of which are potentially pathogenic, and are classified according to the Runyon system based on growth rates and pigment production. Their slow growth hinders cultures, which require special medium and prolonged incubation. Although such methods are still used, newer nucleic acid-based technologies (polymerase chain reaction and hybridization assays) can rapidly detect and speciate some mycobacteria--most notably, distinguishing Mycobacterium tuberculosis from other species. Infections caused by these organisms can present as a variety of clinical syndromes, not only in immunocompromised patients but also in immunocompetent hosts. Most common among these are chronic pulmonary infections, superficial lymphadenitis, soft tissue and osteoarticular infections, and disseminated disease. Treatment of nontuberculous mycobacterial infections is difficult, requiring extended courses of multidrug therapy with or without adjunctive surgical intervention.
Accurate Geometric Calibration of Sentinel-1 Data

Sentinel-1 A and B are twin spaceborne C-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) sensors developed and operated by the European Space Agency under the Copernicus Earth Observation programme. An accurate geometric cal-ibration has been performed since the Commissioning Phases on operationally generated Level-1 SAR products. In this paper we address the new improvements to the geometric calibration of Sentinel-1A and -1B products, describing corrections applied to the data to remove artefacts such as swath-dependent biases that had previously been observed in corner reflector measurements.
Design and Research of Water Quality Monitoring System Based on nRF24L01 Wireless Communication

To ensure health and safety, and understand the heavy metal content, residual chlorine content and PH value in water real-time, we designed a new intelligent water quality monitoring system based on STM32F103 micro control embedded system and nRF24L01 wireless communication module. The system uses a mode of master and slave station system program. As the master chip of the slave station, STM32F103 realizes the collection and data processing of heavy metal, chlorine, organic matter and microorganisms in the water through various sensors. At the same time, the nRF24L01 wireless communication module not only sends the data to the master station for displaying real-time, can also send the master station as a gateway to the mobile client.
Pilot Study to Assess Isoflavone Intake in Middle-Aged Italian Subjects

Knowledge of isoflavone (IF) intake in Western populations is scarce, primarily because data about the content of these compounds in non-soy derived foods are incomplete or unavailable. The aims of this study were 1) to enrich the data available in literature about the IF content in traditional Italian foods, 2) to estimate daidzein (D) and genistein (G) intake in an Italian population sample. Eighteen Italian foods have been selected and analysed for IF content by GC-MS; the assessment of IF intake was performed in sixty healthy middle-aged Italian subjects after investigation of their dietary habits by food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). The mean IF intake was 171 ± 261 μg/die (26-1415 μg/die). The mean G intake was greater than D (98 ± 131 μg/die vs 76 ± 131 μg/die). As expected, soy products, even though poorly consumed (27%), resulted the main contributor to IF intake (IF intake was 473.4 ± 440 μg/die vs 75 ± 38 μg/die in soy consumers and non soy consumers respectively p<0.001). Among Mediterranean foods, the main contributor resulted fresh bread that is widely consumed (97%). The percentage contribution of the cereal group to mean IF intake was 91%; the legume, fruit and vegetables groups brought a low contribution (3%, 2% and 4% respectively). The total daily IF intake found was low and probably not sufficient to produce biological effects. However more studies are necessary to investigate whether low exposure to IF for a long time could have positive effects on human health.
A New Proposal for QKD Relay Networks

A simple technique to secure quantum key distribution relay networks is presented here. The paper introduces the concept of logical channels that uses a random dropout scheme. The paper also presents an enhanced protocol for key distribution in the relay networks. Previous techniques relied on creating distinct physical paths to create shares. Hence the compromise of one relay must compromise the entire channel. The concept of logical channel ensures that an attacker must compromise all the relays in order to access the key.
New use for the pen: outline-based image queries

A method for image-based queries and search is proposed which is based on the generation of object outlines in images by using the pen, e.g., on color pen computers. By exploiting the actual presence of the human users with their perceptual-motor abilities and by storing textually annotated queries, an incrementally learning image retrieval system can be developed. As an initial test domain, sets of photographs of motor bicycles were used. Classification performances are given for outline and bitmap-derived feature sets, based on nearest-neighbour matching, with promising results. The next step is to use outlines for edge matching in raw, non-annotated images, for which preliminary results are presented. The benefit of the approach will be a user-based multimodal annotation of image database, yielding a gradual improvement in performance over time.
Degradation of Phytate Pentamagnesium Salt by Bacillus sp. T4 Phytase as a Potential Eco-friendly Feed Additive

A bacterial isolate derived from soil samples near a cattle farm was found to display extracellular phytase activity. Based on 16S rRNA sequence analysis, the strain was named Bacillus sp. T4. The optimum temperature for the phytase activity toward magnesium phytate (Mg-InsP6) was 40°C without 5 mM Ca2+ and 50°C with 5 mM Ca2+. T4 phytase had a characteristic bi-hump two pH optima of 6.0 to 6.5 and 7.4 for Mg-InsP6. The enzyme showed higher specificity for Mg-InsP6 than sodium phytate (Na-InsP6). Its activity was fairly inhibited by EDTA, Cu2+, Mn2+, Co2+, Ba2+ and Zn2+. T4 phytase may have great potential for use as an eco-friendly feed additive to enhance the nutritive quality of phytate and reduce phosphorus pollution.
Flips in combinatorial pointed pseudo-triangulations with face degree at most four

In this paper we consider the flip operation for combinatorial pointed pseudo-triangulations where faces have size 3 or 4, so-called combinatorial 4-PPTs. We show that every combinatorial 4-PPT is stretchable to a geometric pseudo-triangulation, which in general is not the case if faces may have size larger than 4. Moreover, we prove that the flip graph of combinatorial 4-PPTs is connected and has diameter $O(n^2)$, even in the case of labeled vertices with fixed outer face. For this case we provide an $\Omega(n\log n)$ lower bound.
Kepadatan dan Keanekaragaman Makrozoobentos di Kawasan Mangrove Setapuk Besar

Setapuk Besar adalah salah satu wilayah pesisir yang berada di Kabupaten Singkawang, Kalimantan Barat. Daerah ini memiliki ekowisata mangrove yang berbasis konservasi untuk menjaga kelestarian lingkungan. Luas hutan mangrove Setapuk Besar adalah 26,1 ha. Makrozoobentos adalah salah satu kelompok biota yang hidup di kawasan mangrove. Kepadatan dan keanekaragaman makrozoobentos dapat dijadikan sebagai indikator awal kualitas lingkungan. Oleh karena itu, penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui kepadatan dan keanekaragaman makrozoobentos di kawasan mangrove Setapuk Besar. Titik penentuan stasiun (Stasiun I dan II) menggunakan metode purposive sampling. Makroozoobentos diambil dari sedimen dengan menggunakan coring berdiameter 2,5 inch dengan panjang 40 cm secara vertikal dan diayak dengan ukuran mesh 0,5 mm. Spesimen diidentifikasi denga mikroskop stereo. Jumlah individu yang diperoleh kemudian dianalisis kepadatan dan keanekaragamannya. Kepadatan tertinggi makrozoobentos adalah Stasiun I dengan 4 kelas, yaitu Gastropoda (1 jenis), kelas Bivalvia (3 jenis), kelas Malascotraca (1 jenis) dan kelas Thecostraca (1 jenis). Indeks keanekaragaman (H’), indeks keseragaman (E), dan indeks dominansi (C) pada Stasiun I adalah 1,5 (keanekaragaman sedang), 0,96 (keseragaman tinggi), dan 0,23 (dominansi rendah), secara berurutan.
Job Flows and Establishment Characteristics: Variations Across U.S. Metropolitan Areas

This paper addresses the role played within metropolitan areas by heterogeneous agent models of constant churning. The evidence shows positive relationships between job turnover, young establishments, and metropolitan employment growth. Most areas, however, differ in their levels of job creation rather than job destruction. Results persist after controlling for regional differences in industry, but less so when controlling for differences in the establishment age distribution, and are consistent overall with standard models of creative destruction. Evidence from several entering cohorts, however, contradicts the vintage replacement process of creative destruction models. Namely, job destruction decreases as establishments age and there is no clear inverse relation between establishment entry rates and exit ages. These patterns are instead consistent with a turnover process seen in standard models of firm learning. Further evidence suggests that these patterns vary systematically with the overall employment growth of a region. Together, the results suggest that (i) processes of both creative destruction and firm learning may matter for local labor dynamics, but future models will have to reconcile with this new evidence, and (ii) intrinsic local factors, such as the ? business climate? , may affect the dynamics of both processes.
Dynamic active area clustering with inertial information for fingerprinting based indoor localization systems

Fingerprinting based localization is one of the most widely used indoor localization methods. This method is divided into two phases: during the off-line training phase, fingerprints within the area of interest are collected and stored in a fingerprint database; during the on-line mapping phase, the real-time location of a device is estimated by mapping itself to the most accurate fingerprint in the database. The efficiency of the mapping process is one of the key challenges of the on-line phase, and is mostly characterized by the localization accuracy and the response time. Clustering methods have been introduced to reduce computational overhead. In this paper, we propose a dynamic clustering method leveraging the inertial information of the target device. An active area is dynamically computed around the prior position. The target mapping space is significantly reduced with this active area. This method can be integrated with other clustering algorithms to overcome the edge problem and remove outliers. We evaluate this method compared with the state-of-the-art methods on a body sensor based localization system. The results show that the accuracy, precision and response time of the system are improved greatly.
Renal Vascular Reactivity to P2-Purinoceptor Activation in Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats

This study was performed to determine the possible contribution of an imbalance between P2X (vasoconstriction) and P2Y (vasodilation)-purinergic reactivity to the increased vascular resistance of spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). The vasoactive responses to α,β-methylene ATP and 2-methylthio ATP specific agonists, respectively, for P2X and P2Y purinergic receptors were characterized in isolated perfused kidneys from Wistar Kyoto (WKY) and SHR. To analyze P2X- and P2Y-purinergic reactivity we used phenylephrine and barium chloride, or acethylcholine (ACh) and sodium nitroprusside (NP) as reference compounds, respectively. The renal vasculature from SHR showed markedly enhanced reactivity to α,β-methylene ATP, phenylephrine and barium chloride. The dose-response curves were characterized by a similar threshold, with a greater maximal response. There were no significant differences in the dose-response curves or in maximal vasodilation to 2-methylthio ATP, ACh or NP when both groups were compared, except at the dose of 10–6 g/g kidney weight of NP in which the SHR group showed an increased responsiveness. The results indicate that the increased responsiveness of kidneys from SHR to α,β-methylene ATP may be due to nonspecific functional changes in the renal vasculature rather than to a specific alteration in the activity of renal P2X-purinoceptors. Our results also indicate that P2Y-purinergic reactivity, nitric oxide-induced vasodilation and the cGMP-dependent mechanisms of vasodilation are well preserved in SHR.