Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Effect of Iron Fortification on Iron (Fe) Status and Inflammation: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Background Iron deficiency (ID) is common in toddlers in developing countries. Iron fortified or meat-based complementary foods may be effective to prevent ID. Objective Our objective was to compare iron status at 18 months and growth from 6 to 18 months in rural poor toddlers fed 3 different complementary foods. Methods The study was nested within a larger trial in which 6-month-old infants were randomized to receive 50g/d meat (MG), an equi-caloric fortified cereal supplement (FG) or local cereal supplement (LG) for 1 year. Hb, sTfR, HsCRP, ferritin and AGP were measured in 410 blood samples collected by a random sampling (MG, 137; FG, 140; LG, 133); calprotectin was measured in feces. Body iron = -[log (sTfR ×1000/ferritin)-2.8229] /0.1207. ID = ferritin<12ug/L. Results The toddlers in FG had the significantly highest levels in serum ferritin and body iron (P = 0.043, 0.004), and the rates of both ID and iron deficiency anemia (IDA) were the lowest in FG (P = 0.010, 0.021). The rate of systemic inflammation in FG was 30.71%, which was the highest among three groups (P = 0.042). No intervention effects on either the rates of ID and IDA or iron stores (serum ferritin and body iron) were shown in MG. The change in length-for-age z scores (LAZ) from 6 to 18 months among three groups was significantly different (P = 0.021) and a smaller decrease of LAZ in MG and a larger decrease of LAZ in FG were observed. Conclusion Iron fortified cereal improved iron status of poor rural toddlers but was also associated with systemic inflammation which was likely to impair their growth.
Minimum classification error/eigenvoices training for speaker identification

This paper describes a new training approach based on two different techniques (minimum classification error and eigenvoices), in order to achieve a better robustness when only poor training data is provided. In the first two sections of this paper we describe the MCE training and the eigenvoice approach. Then a unified MCE/eigenvoice training algorithm is proposed describing theoretical advantages. We compare the proposed method with classical ML/eigenvoice methods for a speaker identification task. The identification rate improvement is huge for sparse training data (up to 50% in the best case).
Ca2(+)‐activated K+ channels in human B lymphocytes and rat thymocytes.

1. Previous evidence for the existence of Ca2(+)‐activated K+ channels in lymphocytes comes from measurements using voltage‐sensitive dyes and from tracer flux studies. We have now directly measured these channels in human tonsillar B lymphocytes and rat thymocytes in single‐channel recordings from cell‐attached and excised patches. 2. In cell‐attached recordings, intracellular Ca2+ was raised by either ionomycin or replacement of external Ca2+ following incubation in Ca2(+)‐free medium. Indo‐1 measurements during the Ca2(+)‐replacement technique showed that [Ca2+]i rose from approximately 90 to 260 nM. Both techniques activated two channels of approximately 25 and 8 pS (slope conductance at 0 mV applied, with 140 mM‐K+ in the pipette). Over 90% of patches displayed this activity, indicating a high density of these channels in the membrane. 3. Both channels reversed near the K+ equilibrium potential with either KCl or potassium aspartate in the pipette, when the cells were bathed in normal or high‐K+ saline. Therefore, these channels are selective for K+. 4. The larger channel was studied in more detail. It displayed inward rectification in symmetrical K+ solutions. The open‐channel probability was weakly dependent on membrane potential. 5. Ca2(+)‐dependent K+ channels were also recorded from excised, inside‐out membrane patches. The threshold for activation was 200‐300 nM [Ca2+i]. 6. Patch excision altered some characteristics of IK(Ca). Channels were activated in fewer than 50% of patches and the main conductance level was approximately 34 pS (at ‐80 mV). The duration of single‐channel events was shorter than in cell‐attached patches; kinetic analysis suggested that this was due to the loss of an open state in excised patches. 7. We conclude that B and T lymphocytes have K(+)‐selective channels which are activated by internal [Ca2+] in the physiological range and which will influence the membrane potential during cell activation.
A novel application of intuitionistic fuzzy sets theory in medical science: Bacillus colonies recognition

This paper addresses four new distance measures as tools in pattern recognition for intuitionistic fuzzy sets (IFSs). Following the discussion on literature of distance measures, proposed measurement scales and the proof of their properties would be presented. In order to show the reliability of addressed formulations, this paper employs them in a part of medical diagnosis progress in bacillus colonies identification. The performed experiments test validity and reliability of the proposed models by running pattern recognition process on sixty cases of four different bacilli. Resulted outcomes by IFSs approach are compared with similar measures in regular fuzzy. Numerical comparisons reveal effectiveness of the proposed distance measurement scales and related pattern recognition progress.
Two distinct antigen-specific suppressor factors induced by the oral administration of antigen

The feeding of sheep erythrocytes (SRBC) to mice leads to the production of two distinct T cell-derived suppressor factors by spleen cells. Each has been characterized for specificity, genetic restrictions, and cellular interactions. Fraction I has a 60,000-75,000 mol wt, is specific for antigen, and is suppressive of primary in vitro anti-SRBC responses at all times. It is not restricted by major histocompabitility complex (MHC)- or Igh-linked genes, but it fails to suppress spleen cells derived from any strain of mouse with a B10 background. It acts on an Lyt-2+ T cell to increase suppressive activity. An antiserum has been prepared against this factor that reacts with other, unrelated T cell suppressor factors. Fraction II has an approximately 30,000-40,000 mol wt, is specific for antigen, and has a dual effect on in vitro anti-SRBC responses. On day 3 of culture, it leads to augmentation of the response, whereas at day 5 it suppresses the response. It is not restricted by MHC genes, but it is restricted by Igh-linked genets. It acts by activating an Ly-1 t cell to both help and induce feedback suppression. These factors, and the antisera prepared against them, should allow more precise dissection of the molecular pathways by which immunoregulatory cells communicate with one another.
INTEGRATED TESTING, MODELING AND FAILURE ANALYSIS OF CSP Nl FOR ENHANCED BOARD LEVEL RELIABILITY

The Wafer Level Chip Scale Package (WLCSP) is gaining popularity for its performance and for its ability to meet miniaturization requirements of certain electronic products, especially handheld devices like cell phones. Due to differential bending between the silicon die and the PCB and the large stiffness difference, board level drop/bend tests are widely accepted methods to evaluate damage in the parts when a handheld device is dropped by the consumer. In addition, the CTE mismatch between the die and PCB require thermal cycling (TC) tests to simulate temperature variations which the package may experience, like being left in a hot car. Through an aggressive product development program which includes experiment and simulation, Amkor has developed the next level of WLCSP (CSPTM), a product which exhibits superior board level reliability when subjected to drop impact, a strong requirement for portable electronics. Common industrial passing criteria are at least 40 drops before first failure (FF) and at least 500 cycles for thermal cycling FF. With optimal CSP and PCB designs, recent experimental results show that a typical Amkor CSP with a die size of 5.4mm x 5.4mm has a minimum failurefree life of over 1000 drops and survives 500 cycles in TC testing. These results imply that much larger die are possible for future CSP products, opening the door for wider applications of WLCSP devices, e.g. in next-generation portable electronics with greater function integration. This paper will focus on the reliability characterization of CSP drop test performance, with board design recommendations to eliminate board trace failures which could reduce the component’s actual drop test life by 5 to 9 times. The paper demonstrates that CSP can exhibit two distinct failure modes under two different test board designs, resulting in a vast difference in drop test lifetimes. Integrated testing, modeling and failure analysis is performed to understand the failure mechanism of both cases.
Morphology and Function of Gill Mitochondria‐Rich Cells in Fish Acclimated to Different Environments

The objective of this study is to test the hypothesis that morphologically different mitochondria‐rich (MR) cells may be responsible for the uptake of different ions in freshwater‐adapted fish. Tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus) were acclimated to high‐Ca, mid‐Ca, low‐Ca, and low‐NaCl artificial freshwater, respectively, for 2 wk. Cell densities of wavy‐convex, shallow‐basin, and deep‐hole types of gill MR cells as well as whole‐body Ca2+, Na+, and Cl− influxes were measured. Low‐Ca fish developed more shallow‐basin MR cells in the gills and a higher Ca2+ influx than those acclimated to other media. However, fish acclimated to low‐NaCl artificial freshwater predominantly developed wavy‐convex cells, and this was accompanied by the highest Na+ and Cl− influxes. Relative abundance of shallow‐basin and wavy‐convex MR cells appear to be associated with changes in Ca2+ and Na+/Cl− influxes, suggesting that shallow‐basin and wavy‐convex MR cells are mainly responsible for the uptake of Ca2+ and Na+/Cl−, respectively.
Ordered translocation of 987P fimbrial subunits through the outer membrane of Escherichia coli

The 987P fimbria of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli is a heteropolymeric structure which consists essentially of a major FasA subunit and a minor subunit, the FasG adhesin. The latter harbors the binding moiety for receptor molecules on piglet intestinal epithelial cells. In this study, anti-FasF antibody probes were developed and used to demonstrate that the FasF protein represents a new minor fimbrial component. FasF was identified in highly purified fimbriae, and its sequence demonstrated significant levels of similarity with that of FasA. Immune electron microscopy localized both the FasG and FasF proteins at the fimbrial tip as well as at broken ends and at various intervals along the fimbrial length. The presence of these minor proteins in purified 987P fimbriae was corroborated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay inhibitions. Finally, the use of nonfimbriated fasG, fasF, and fasA mutants indicated that subunit translocation through the outer membrane follows a specific order, FasG being the first, FasF being the second, and FasA being the third type of exported subunit. Since fimbriae are thought to grow from the base, FasG is proposed to be a tip adhesin and FasF is proposed to be a linker molecule between the adhesin and the fimbrial shaft. Moreover, export of FasG (or FasF) in the absence of FasF (or FasA) indicates that during the process of fimbrial biogenesis in the outer membrane, translocating events precede the initiation of subunit heteropolymerization.
NCAM is ubiquitylated, endocytosed and recycled in neurons

The neural cell adhesion molecule NCAM plays an important role during neural development and in the adult brain. To study the intracellular trafficking of NCAM in neurons, two major isoforms, NCAM140 or NCAM180, were expressed in primary cortical neurons and in the rat B35 neuroblastoma cell line. NCAM was endocytosed and subsequently recycled to the plasma membrane, whereas only a minor fraction was degraded in lysosomes. In cortical neurons, endocytosis of NCAM was detected in the soma, neurites and growth cones in a developmentally regulated fashion. Furthermore, we found that NCAM is mono-ubiquitylated at the plasma membrane and endocytosis was significantly increased in cells overexpressing ubiquitin. Therefore, we propose that ubiquitylation represents an endocytosis signal for NCAM.
The Efficacy of Electron Beam Irradiated Bacterial Cellulose Membranes as Compared with Collagen Membranes on Guided Bone Regeneration in Peri-Implant Bone Defects

Bacterial cellulose (BC) is a natural polysaccharide produced by some bacteria, and consists of a linear polymer linked by β-(1,4) glycosidic bonds. BC has been developed as a material for tissue regeneration purposes. This study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of resorbable electron beam irradiated BC membranes (EI-BCMs) for guided bone regeneration (GBR). The electron beam irradiation (EI) was introduced to control the biodegradability of BC for dental applications. EI-BCMs had higher porosity than collagen membranes (CMs), and had similar wet tensile strengths to CMs. NIH3T3 cell adhesion and proliferation on EI-BCMs were not significantly different from those on CMs (p > 0.05). Micro-computed tomography (μCT) and histometric analysis in peri-implant dehiscence defects of beagle dogs showed that EI-BCMs were non-significantly different from CMs in terms of new bone area (NBA; %), remaining bone substitute volume (RBA; %) and bone-to-implant contact (BIC; %) (p > 0.05). These results suggest resorbable EI-BCMs can be used as an alternative biomaterial for bone tissue regeneration.
Metabolite mapping by consecutive nanostructure and silver-assisted mass spectrometry imaging on tissue sections.

RATIONALE Nanostructure-based mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) is a promising technology for molecular imaging of small molecules, without the complex chemical background typically encountered in matrix-assisted molecular imaging approaches. Here, we have enhanced these surfaces with silver (Ag) to provide a second tier of MSI data from a single sample. METHODS MSI data was acquired through the application of laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry to biological samples imprinted onto desorption/ionization on silicon (DIOS) substrates. Following initial analysis, ultra-thin Ag layers were overlaid onto the followed by MSI analysis (Ag-DIOS MSI). This approach was first demonstrated for fingermark small molecules including environmental contaminants and sebum components. Subsequently, this bimodal method was translated to lipids and metabolites in fore-stomach sections from a 6-bromoisatin chemopreventative murine mouse model. RESULTS DIOS MSI allowed mapping of common ions in fingermarks as well as 6-bromoisatin metabolites and lipids in murine fore-stomach. Furthermore, DIOS MSI was complemented by the Ag-DIOS MSI of Ag-adductable lipids such as wax esters in fingermarks and cholesterol in murine fore-stomach. Gastrointestinal acid condensation products of 6-bromoisatin, such as the 6,6'-dibromoindirubin mapped herein, are very challenging to isolate and characterize. By re-analyzing the same tissue imprints, this metabolite was readily detected by DIOS, placed in a tissue-specific spatial context, and subsequently overlaid with additional lipid distributions acquired using Ag-DIOS MSI. CONCLUSIONS The ability to place metabolite and lipid classes in a tissue-specific context makes this novel method suited to MSI analyses where the collection of additional information from the same sample maximises resource use, and also maximises the number of annotated small molecules, in particular for metabolites that are typically undetectable with traditional platforms. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The archaellum: how Archaea swim

Recent studies on archaeal motility have shown that the archaeal motility structure is unique in several aspects. Although it fulfills the same swimming function as the bacterial flagellum, it is evolutionarily and structurally related to the type IV pilus. This was the basis for the recent proposal to term the archaeal motility structure the “archaellum. ” This review illustrates the key findings that led to the realization that the archaellum was a novel motility structure and presents the current knowledge about the structural composition, mechanism of assembly and regulation, and the posttranslational modifications of archaella.
Loss of Polyoma Virus Infectivity as a Result of a Single Amino Acid Change in a Region of Polyoma Virus Large T-Antigen Which Has Extensive Amino Acid Homology with Simian Virus 40 Large T-Antigen

The polyoma virus (Py) transformed cell line 7axB, selected by in vivo passage of an in vitro transformed cell, contains an integrated tandem array of 2.4 genomes and produces the large, middle, and small Py T-antigen species, with molecular weights of 100,000, 55,000, and 22,000, respectively (Hayday et al., J. Virol. 44:67-77, 1982; Lania et al., Cold Spring Harbor Symp. Quant. Biol. 44:597-603, 1980). The integrated viral and adjacent host DNA sequences have been molecularly cloned as three EcoRI fragments (Hayday et al.). One of these fragments (7B-M), derived from within the tandem viral sequences, is equivalent to an EcoRI viral linear molecule. Fragment 7B-M has been found to be transformation competent but incapable of producing infectious virus after DNA transfection (Hayday et al.). By constructing chimerae between 7B-M and Py DNA and by direct DNA sequencing, the mutation responsible for the loss of infectivity has been located to a single base change (adenine to guanine) at nucleotide 2503. This results in a conversion of an aspartic acid to a glycine in the C-terminal region of the Py large T-antigen but does not appear to affect the binding of the Py large T-antigen to Py DNA at the putative DNA replication and autoregulation binding sites. The mutation is located within a 21-amino acid homology region shared by the simian virus 40 large T-antigen (Friedmann et al., Cell 17:715-724, 1979). These results suggest that the mutation in the 7axB large T-antigen may be involved in the active site of the protein for DNA replication.
c-Jun N-Terminal Kinase Activation Mediates Downregulation of Connexin43 in Cardiomyocytes

Abstract— Loss of gap junctions and impaired intercellular communication are characteristic features of pathological remodeling in heart failure as a result of stress or injury, yet the underlying regulatory mechanism has not been identified. Here, we report that in cultured myocytes, rapid loss of the gap junction protein connexin43 (Cx43) occurs in conjunction with the activation of c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK), a stress-activated protein kinase, on stress stimulation. To investigate the specific role of JNK activation in the regulation of connexin in cardiomyocytes, an activated mutant of mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase 7 (mutant D), a JNK-specific upstream activator, was expressed in myocytes by adenovirus-mediated gene transfer. JNK activation in infected cardiomyocytes resulted in significant reduction of Cx43 expression at both mRNA and protein levels and impaired cell-cell communication. To evaluate the role of JNK in the regulation of Cx43 expression and gap junction structure in vivo, a Cre-LoxP–mediated gene-switch system was used to establish a transgenic animal model with targeted activation of JNK in ventricular myocardium. The transgenic hearts exhibited significant downregulation of Cx43 expression and loss of gap junctions in myocardium that may contribute to the cardiac dysfunction and premature death phenotype. Our report represents the first evidence, both in vitro and in vivo, implicating JNK as an important mediator of stress-induced Cx43 downregulation and impaired intercellular communication in the failing heart.
Risk factors for cesarean section by category of health service.

OBJECTIVE To analyze the rate of cesarean section and differences in risk factors by category of health service, either public or private. METHODS A cross-sectional study was carried out including all pregnant women in labor admitted to hospitals in the city of Rio Grande, Southern Brazil, between January 1 and December 31, 2007. A pre-coded and pre-tested questionnaire was used to collect on social, demographic, obstetric and newborn care information. Two regression models were constructed: one for public users and the other one for private ones. Poisson regression was used in each model in the multivariate analysis. Prevalence rates and 95% confidence intervals were calculated for each adjusted factor. RESULTS The rate of cesarean section was 43% and 86% among public and private users. Sociodemographic factors and twin births have a more significant impact among public users as well as number of pregnancies (25% vs. 13% reduction in public and private users, respectively) and previous cesarean section (86% vs. 24% increase in public and private users, respectively). Prenatal care visits and hospital admissions affected the outcome only in women users of public services. CONCLUSIONS Cesarean section rates were high in both groups studied, but it was twice as high among women cared in the private sector. Associated factors differ in magnitude by category of service used.
Synthesis of virtual holonomic constraints for 3-DOF mechanical systems

The paper presents a new method for determining virtual holonomic constraints for a mechanical system. We focus on systems with 3 DOF and 2 controls. The main result of the paper shows that, if the distribution generated by the vector fields representing the accelerations due to the inputs is not involutive near a reference configuration, then it is possible to find a closed virtual holonomic constraint defined in an arbitrarily small neighborhood of the reference configuration, which is controlled invariant and stabilizable. We present a constructive proof that provides a method for the numerical computation of the constraint. As an application example, we present some families of virtual holonomic constraints for an underactuated double pendulum on a cart.
Programming Models for Heterogeneous Multicore Systems

Abstract : This report results from a contract tasking BSC as follows. The objective of this grant was to study a programming model and performance analysis tools to productively exploit the parallelism in multicore systems. The work is based on the StarSs programming model proposal by BSC and the performance analysis tools also developed at BSC, The focus was on three areas: 1) Intelligent analysis techniques in performance data analysis, 2) Locality aware scheduling, and 3) Applications. The StarSs programming models is a general node level parallel programming model based on pragmas annotating otherwise standard C programs. The annotations encapsulate certain computations as tasks and specify the directionality of their arguments (input/output/inout) in such a way that dependences between different tasks can be computed at run time and the algorithm executed in a dataflow manner. Different runtime components have been developed implementing such functionalities on different platforms. CellSs is the runtime implementation of StarSs for the Cell/B.E. processor. It was the first one available and has been followed by SMPSs for general purpose homogeneous multicores and SMPs and GPUSs for NVIDIA GPUs. During the span of this project, significant progress has taken place in the development and use of the StarSs programming model and BSC performance tools. We are involved in an important effort to integrate into the OmpSs implementation of all the features that have been identified as relevant, but the evidences seem to be that the StarSs model supports an appropriate programming methodology for the heterogeneous multicore systems to come. The improvements taking place in the performance tools area, by using more intelligent data processing techniques show very promising results in terms of delivering real insight on the application behaviour and will help focus the optimization/parallelization efforts in the most productive direction.