Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Volunteer Research Subjects’ Experience of Participation in Research on a Novel Diagnostic Technology for Breast Cancer

Although volunteer research subjects play a crucial role in the development of new health technologies, there have been relatively few in-depth studies of what participation in research means to them, and how they manage and make sense of the research encounter. Using constructivist perspectives we analyze data from 15 United States-based women taking part in tests of prototype instrumentation with potential for cancer diagnosis, comparing their responses with findings from a larger study (using the same interview methodology) on United Kingdom-based women participating in a similar program. For both groups the prime concerns emerging at interview related to the social rather than the physical challenges of participation. Both deployed similar discursive strategies to manage these tensions.We suggest that, at least within the limits of the kind of low-risk, nontherapeutic research studied, lessons can be drawn for research management, particularly the key role of the researcher—researched working relationship in assuring mutually satisfactory outcomes.
Evaluation of an Extended Autocorrelation Phase Estimator for Ultrasonic Velocity Profiles Using Nondestructive Testing Systems

In this paper the extended autocorrelation velocity estimator is evaluated and compared using a nondestructive ultrasonic device. For this purpose, three velocity estimators are evaluated and compared. The autocorrelation method (ACM) is the most used and well established in current ultrasonic velocity profiler technology, however, the technique suffers with phase aliasing (also known as the Nyquist limit) at higher velocities. The cross-correlation method (CCM) is also well known and does not suffer with phase aliasing as it relies on time shift measurements between emissions. The problem of this method is the large computational burden due to several required mathematical operations. Recently, an extended autocorrelation method (EAM) which combines both ACM and CCM was developed. The technique is not well known within the fluid engineering community, but it can measure velocities beyond the Nyquist limit without the ACM phase aliasing issues and with a lower computational cost than CCM. In this work, all three velocity estimation methods are used to measure a uniform flow of the liquid inside a controlled rotating cylinder. The root-mean-square deviation variation coefficient (CVRMSD) of the velocity estimate and the reference cylinder velocity was used to evaluate the three different methods. Results show that EAM correctly measures velocities below the Nyquist limit with less than 2% CVRMSD. Velocities beyond the Nyquist limit are only measured well by EAM and CCM, with the advantage of the former of being computationally 15 times faster. Furthermore, the maximum value of measurable velocity is also investigated considering the number of times the velocity surpasses the Nyquist limit. The combination of number of pulses and number of samples, which highly affects the results, are also studied in this work. Velocities up to six times the Nyquist limit could be measurable with CCM and EAM using a set of parameters as suggested in this work. The results validate the use of the NDT tool to measure velocities even beyond Nyquist limit by using EAM.
Population analysis of xenobiotic metabolizing genes in South Brazilian Euro and Afro-descendants

Individual variability in xenobiotic metabolism has been associated with susceptibility to developing complex diseases. Genes involved in xenobiotic metabolism have been evaluated in association studies; the difficulty of obtaining accurate gene frequencies in mixed populations makes interpretation of the results difficult. We sought to estimate population parameters for the cytochrome P450 and glutathione S-transferase gene families, thus contributing to studies using these genes as markers. We describe the frequencies of six genes (CYP1A1, CYP2D6, CYP2E1, GSTM1, GSTT1, and GSTP1) and estimate population parameters in 115 Euro-descendants and 196 Afro-descendants from Curitiba, South of Brazil. PCR-based methods were used for genotyping, and statistical analysis were performed by AMOVA with ARLEQUIN software. The mutant allele frequencies in the Afro-descendants and Euro-descendants, respectively, were: CYP1A1*2A = 30.1% and 15.2%; CYP2D6*4 = 14.5% and 21.5%; CYP2E1*5B = 7.9% and 5%; GSTP1*B = 37.8% and 28.3%. The null genotype frequencies were: GSTM1*0 = 36.8% and 46.1%; GSTT1*0 = 24.2% and 17.4%.
Pico-strain resolution multiplexed fiber grating sensor array using one mode-locked laser

A mode-locked laser works as the source to interrogate Er3+-doped fiber grating sensor array with wavelength-division-multiplexing technology. Combined with the Pound-Drever-Hall and injection-locking technologies, pico-strain resolution down to sub-herz is demonstrated in experiments.
Ethanol-mediated long-lasting adaptations of the NR2B-containing NMDA receptors in the dorsomedial striatum

We recently found that ethanol-induced long-term facilitation (LTF) of NMDAR activity is mediated by NR2B-NMDARs and is observed in the dorsomedial striatum (DMS) but not in the dorsolateral striatum (DLS). 9 We also showed that repeated administration of ethanol causes a long-lasting increase in NMDAR activity in the DMS, resulting from ethanol-mediated Fyn phosphorylation of NR2B subunits.9 In this addendum, we report that the different sensitivity of NMDARs to ethanol between the DMS and DLS is not attributed to the abundance of synaptic NR2B-NMDARs or differences in Fyn levels. We further show that LTF is specific for NR2B-, but not NR2A-NMDARs, and that the duration of the in vivo ethanol-mediated increase in NMDAR activity is associated with the period of ethanol exposure, but not with alteration in NR1 or NR2A protein levels. Together, these results suggest that upregulation of NR2B-NMDAR activity by ethanol is selective and that ethanol's effect on NMDAR activity is gradual and cumulative.
Shape Features for Candidate Photo Selection in Sketch Recognition

Sketch recognition for forensic applications is a very challenging task and several solutions have been recently proposed. Considering that real mug shot databases can be very large, one important aspect to consider in this scenario is also the efficiency of the search procedure. This work proposes the use of shape features for a preliminary selection of the candidate photos to be successively analyzed by more complex state-of-the-art techniques. The proposed features can be computed and matched in a very short time, and at the same time they are able to significantly reduce the search space, thus allowing to speed up the recognition process.
A New Method for Recording Complex Positional Behaviours and Habitat Interactions in Primates

In an arboreal habitat, primates have to cope with a complex meshwork of flexible supports in order to obtain food, find mates and avoid predators. To understand how animals interact with such complex environments we can study their positional behaviour. However, due to the intricate variation in locomotion and posture it can be difficult to capture details such as limb use (i.e. weight and balance), limb flexion and substrate use. This paper presents a suitable method replicable for any primate species, based on the movement notation technique, Sutton Movement Writing (SMW), aiming to record the spatial arrangement of limbs during positional behaviours on multiple, compliant supports. This method was piloted during a year-long field study of wild orangutans (Pongo abelii) and validated and tested for inter- and intraobserver reliability using videos from the field. Overall, SMW shows considerable promise for increasing the resolution with which positional behaviours can be recorded under field conditions and provides a way to extract numerical data for use in statistical analyses. This will facilitate our understanding of how behaviours vary in response to the environment, and the capabilities of primates to perform key tasks in their distinct niches.
Fracture of Bony Lamellae within the Frontal Recess after Balloon Catheter Dilatation

Background The precise manner in which balloon catheter dilatation (BCD) alters the dimensions of the frontal recess and frontal sinus outflow tract is not well characterized. The purpose of this investigation was to determine whether BCD within the frontal recess is associated with reproducible patterns of fracture in bony lamellae, to characterize changes between pre- and postintervention measurements of the frontal sinus outflow tract, and to compare the degree of change seen with endoscopic Draf I dissection. Methods Eight cadaver heads underwent pre- and postintervention endoscopic visualization and computed tomography (CT) of the frontal recess and frontal sinus outflow tract. Frontal recesses were assigned for either BCD or Draf I dissection. CT scans were evaluated by two reviewers (principal investigator and neuroradiologist). Results Inter-rater reliability was strong for all measures (r > 0.77; p < 0.001). The sagittal and coronal dimensions of the frontal sinus outflow tract increased significantly after BCD and Draf I dissection (p < 0.028). Significantly less change was noted in average coronal dimensions of the frontal sinus outflow tract after BCD compared with Draf I dissection (0.9 ± 0.5 mm versus 2.6 ± 0.6 mm; p < 0.018). Mean change in the sagittal dimension was significantly less after BCD compared with Draf I dissection (1.0 ± 0.8 mm versus 4.0 ± 1.2 mm; p < 0.018). The anterior face of the ethmoid bulla was the most frequently fractured lamella after BCD (56%). Conclusions The sagittal and coronal dimensions of the frontal sinus outflow tract increased significantly after BCD and Draf I dissection. A significantly greater change in dimensions of the frontal sinus outflow tract is observed after Draf I dissection compared with BCD. No orbital or skull base injury was noted with either technique.
Endoscopic deployment of the wireless capsule using a capsule delivery device in pediatric patients: a case series

The aim of this study was to review the use of the AdvanCE capsule endoscopy delivery device (US Endoscopy, Mentor, Ohio, USA) in pediatric patients who are too young to safely follow the wireless capsule swallowing instructions. Nine patients (mean age 6.6 years; SD +/- 1.8 years) underwent capsule deployment. Indications for the procedure were the evaluation of suspected inflammatory bowel disease in eight patients and evaluation of protein-losing enteropathy in one patient. The capsule was successfully deployed in the first part of the duodenum in seven patients and in the pyloric canal in one patient. In another patient the capsule was deployed in the gastric antrum and required endoscopic retrieval due to abdominal pain and failure of the capsule to traverse the pylorus. The wireless capsule successfully passed in the remaining eight patients without any complications. The AdvanCE capsule endoscopy delivery device appears to be a safe and technically easy method of wireless capsule delivery in pediatric patients. Capsule deployment should be in the duodenum whenever possible. Further studies of the use of this device in pediatric patients are warranted.
Monitoring natural and rural ecosystems using the NDVI anomaly: an application to the Umbria Region

Vegetation is one of the main components of the terrestrial ecosystems and plays a key role in energy exchanges and in water and biogeochemical cycles of Earth (Peng et al. 2012). Due to the link between soil, atmosphere and humidity, vegetation plays a crucial role in maintaining climate stability, adjusting carbon balance and reducing the greenhouse gases. However, for the same reasons, vegetation is also particularly sensitive to climate change. Therefore, the dynamics connected to vegetation have been recognized as one of the crucial elements for measuring climate change in terrestrial ecosystems (Bachelet et al., 2001). In particular, they can be a robust and consistent picture of climate change over the Mediterranean area, consisting of a pronounced decrease in precipitation, especially in the warm season. This drying is due to increased anticyclonic circulation that yields increasingly stable conditions and is associated with a northward shift of the Atlantic storm track. A pronounced warming is also projected, maximum in the summer season. Inter-annual variability is projected to mostly increase especially in summer, which, along with the mean warming, would lead to a greater occurrence of extremely high temperature events. ( Giorgi et al. 2008). Vegetation can be an important climate indicator with very high rapidity of response, but itself can be a monitoring object for the protection needs of ecosystems . Remote sensing via satellite can provide valuable support for monitoring large-scale vegetation dynamics, thanks to the temporal and spatial resolution offered, as well as for the accuracy of the data. The index known as "Normalized Difference Vegetation Index" (NDVI), proposed by Rouse et al. (1973), is based on processing the reflectance data in the red and near-infrared bands. Several environmental and territorial studies applied NDVI because of its high level of correlation with photosynthetic capacity, leaf area index, biomass and primary productivity (Gamon et al., 1995). The domain of the NDVI is between -1 and 1: values near to 1 mean a high vegetative coverage, with intense photosynthetic activity; negative values indicate the presence of clouds, snow, water or areas without vegetation (Rouse et al., 1973). In the last twenty years, the NDVI has been widely used in several applications; for instance in relation to the net primary productivity (NPP) of the vegetation (Rasmus et al., 204), the coverage of the soil, the photosynthetic activity of plants, the surface of water bodies, the Leaf Area Index (LAI) , as well as an indicator of the effects of climate change at local scale (Piao et al., 2006). The present study uses not the NDVI itself but its anomaly (DEVNDVI). The DEVNDVI represents the percentage variation of the current NDVI compared to the average one, according to values present in the FAO-Earth observation Database, as reported in 1.
Embedding Context of Use in CVE Design

A consideration of eventual context of use is crucially important for the success of virtual environments destined for real-world organizations, yet it is frequently absent from accounts of the design of such applications. We describe how contextual requirements have influenced the design of a collaborative virtual environment (CVE) to support the delivery of safety-critical training, and suggest how context and purpose of use may be a significant factor in the sense of presence and engagement in both virtual and physical simulated environments.
Short-chain fatty acids activate GPR41 and GPR43 on intestinal epithelial cells to promote inflammatory responses in mice.

BACKGROUND & AIMS Short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), the most abundant microbial metabolites in the intestine, activate cells via G-protein-coupled receptors (GPRs), such as GPR41 and GPR43. We studied regulation of the immune response by SCFAs and their receptors in the intestines of mice. METHODS Inflammatory responses were induced in GPR41(-/-), GPR43(-/-), and C57BL6 (control) mice by administration of ethanol; 2, 4, 6-trinitrobenzene sulfonic-acid (TNBS); or infection with Citrobacter rodentium. We examined the effects of C rodentium infection on control mice fed SCFAs and/or given injections of antibodies that delay the immune response. We also studied the kinetics of cytokine and chemokine production, leukocyte recruitment, intestinal permeability, and T-cell responses. Primary colon epithelial cells were isolated from GPR41(-/-), GPR43(-/-), and control mice; signaling pathways regulated by SCFAs were identified using immunohistochemical, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and flow cytometry analyses. RESULTS GPR41(-/-) and GPR43(-/-) mice had reduced inflammatory responses after administration of ethanol or TNBS compared with control mice, and had a slower immune response against C rodentium infection, clearing the bacteria more slowly. SCFAs activated intestinal epithelial cells to produce chemokines and cytokines in culture and mice after administration of ethanol, TNBS, or C rodentium. These processes required GPR41 and GPR43 and were required to recruit leukocytes and activate effector T cells in the intestine. GPR41 and GPR43 activated extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling pathways in epithelial cells to induce production of chemokines and cytokines during immune responses. CONCLUSIONS SCFAs activate GPR41 and GPR43 on intestinal epithelial cells, leading to mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling and rapid production of chemokines and cytokines. These pathways mediate protective immunity and tissue inflammation in mice.
Impact and Extinction

Precise dating shows that the Chicxulub impact coincided with the mass extinction at the K-Pg boundary 66 million years ago. [Also see Report by Renne et al.] During the past 540 million years, five major mass extinctions have occurred on Earth. Several of them have been linked to volcanic eruptions during the formation of large flood basalts (1, 2). However, the situation is not clearcut for the most recent mass extinction at the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) boundary (∼66 million years ago), when nonavian dinosaurs became extinct. Around the time of the K-Pg boundary, a series of large eruptions formed the Deccan flood basalts. However, in 1980, Alvarez et al. (3) argued that the K-Pg boundary coincided with the impact of a large asteroid or comet. On page 684 of this issue, Renne et al. (4) provide new evidence that the age of Chicxulub asteroid impact and the K-Pg boundary coincide precisely.
Graphite-high density polyethylene laminated composites with high thermal conductivity made by filament winding

The low thermal conductivity of polymers limits their use in numerous applications, where heat transfer is important. The two primary approaches to overcome this limitation, are to mix in other materials with high thermal conductivity, or mechanically stretch the polymers to increase their intrinsic thermal conductivity. Progress along both of these pathways has been stifled by issues associated with thermal interface resistance and manufacturing scalability respectively. Here, we report a novel polymer composite architecture that is enabled by employing typical composites manufacturing method such as filament winding with the twist that the polymer is in fiber form and the filler in form of sheets. The resulting novel architecture enables accession of the idealized effective medium composite behavior as it minimizes the interfacial resistance. The process results in neat polymer and 50 vol% graphite/polymer plates with thermal conductivity of 42 W·m·K (similar to steel) and 130 W·m·K respectively.
Enzymatic defenses of the mouse heart against reactive oxygen metabolites: alterations produced by doxorubicin.

The endogenous defenses of the mouse heart against reactive oxygen metabolites were investigated. The activities of three enzymes capable of detoxifying activated oxygen were determined in both the heart and liver; cardiac muscle contains 150 times less catalase and nearly four times less superoxide dismutase than liver. Glutathione peroxidase activities were, however, similar to the two tissues. Assay of glutathione peroxidase in the heart after 6 wk of selenium depletion with both hydrogen peroxide and cumene hydroperoxide as substrates revealed a >80% drop in enzyme activity and gave no indication that murine cardiac tissue contains nonselenium-dependent glutathione peroxidase. The selenium-deficient state, which was characterized by markedly decreased cardiac glutathione peroxidase levels, led to significantly enhanced doxorubicin toxicity at a dose of 15 mg/kg i.p. Doxorubicin administration in selenium-sufficient animals resulted in a dose-dependent decrease in cardiac glutathione peroxidase activity; the decrease in enzyme activity lasted 72 h after 15 mg/kg i.p. In contrast, cardiac superoxide dismutase and hepatic superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase were unaffected by this dose of doxorubicin. These results suggest that the major pathway in cardiac tissue for detoxification of reactive oxygen metabolites is via the concerted action of superoxide dismutase and selenium-dependent glutathione peroxidase. The latter enzyme may be depleted by a selenium-deficient diet or doxorubicin treatment, leaving the heart with limited mechanisms for disposing of hydrogen peroxide or lipid peroxides.
Identification of efflux proteins using efficient radial basis function networks with position‐specific scoring matrices and biochemical properties

Efflux proteins are membrane proteins, which are involved in the transportation of multidrugs. The annotation of efflux proteins in genomic sequences would aid to understand the function. Although the percentage of membrane proteins in genomes is estimated to be 25–30%, there is no information about the content of efflux proteins. For annotating such class of proteins it is necessary to develop a reliable method to identify efflux proteins from amino acid sequence information. In this work, we have developed a method based on radial basis function networks using position specific scoring matrices (PSSM) and amino acid properties. We noticed that the C‐terminal domain of efflux proteins contain vital information for discrimination. Our method showed an accuracy of 78 and 92% in discriminating efflux proteins from transporters and membrane proteins, respectively using fivefold cross‐validation. We utilized our method for annotating the genomes E. coli and P. aeruginosa and it predicted 8.7 and 9.2% of proteins as efflux proteins in these genomes, respectively. The predicted efflux proteins have been compared with available experimental data and we observed a very good agreement between them. Further, we developed a web server for classifying efflux proteins and it is freely available at http://rbf.bioinfo. tw/∼sachen/EFFLUXpredict/Efflux‐RBF.php. We suggest that our method could be an effective tool for annotating efflux proteins in genomic sequences.Proteins 2013. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.