Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Physiological effects of diaphragm muscle denervation and disuse.

From our studies, it is clear that diaphragm muscle neuromotor control is responsive to alterations in innervation and activation. These adaptations to altered use appear to be most pronounced among fast-twitch motor units composed of type II muscle fibers. Because the plasticity involves diminished contractile strength and a slowing of shortening velocity, it might be considered maladaptive with respect to diaphragm functional demands; however, because ventilatory behaviors of the diaphragm most likely require the recruitment of only type S motor units (type I muscle fibers) that appear to be less adaptive, the functional decrements following disuse may involve only nonventilatory behaviors that require the recruitment of fast-twitch (type II muscle fibers) motor units. In other words, in many circumstances, diaphragm muscle adaptations may reduce the functional reserve capacity of the muscle without affecting normal ventilatory performance. The extent to which these observations can be applied to humans remains speculative. Certainly, the animal models approximate the human condition in that ventilatory requirements of the diaphragm are comparable across mammalian species. It is known that type II fibers comprise approximately 60% of the human diaphragm. Therefore, type II muscle fibers in humans may also be particularly vulnerable to adaptive changes associated with diaphragm disuse. With regard to the functional decrements that might ensue in humans, we have estimated that the forces generated by the human diaphragm during tidal breathing are approximately 10% of maximum. Therefore, as in other species, ventilatory forces generated by the diaphragm in humans most likely do not require the recruitment of fast-twitch (type II) motor units. Normal ventilatory behaviors may therefore be spared from maladaptive changes in diaphragm performance. With the imposition of mechanical loads to breathing associated with certain chronic pulmonary diseases, however, it might be expected that the recruitment of fast-twitch motor units would be required on a more continuous basis. Such diseases are normally progressive and incremental, therefore allowing sufficient time for adaptation. One adaptation that might be expected would be an overall improvement in the fatigue resistance of fast-twitch motor units. This adaptation could be accomplished by altering the metabolic enzyme activities of type II muscle fibers, by affecting the expression of contractile proteins, or both. Improvement of muscle fiber fatigue resistance is usually at the expense of fibre size, contractile strength, or both. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Health reform and infant mortality in West Bengal, India: an untold story

ABSTRACT Though studies have focused on the expansion of coverage of health care utilization after India’s health care reform in 2004–2005 under the National Rural Health Mission, the effect of limited risk protection of the programme, measured by non-availability of services at institutions, has remained under-studied. Using bivariate probit models on birth history data of 6568 children in two districts in West Bengal, an eastern state of India, this paper finds that in post-reform era, health care utilization in the form of institutional delivery has a tendency to enhance the risk of infant mortality, primarily owing to lack of timely services received at the institutions.
Away from Trolley Problems and Toward Risk Management

ABSTRACT As automated vehicles receive more attention from the media, there has been an equivalent increase in the coverage of the ethical choices a vehicle may be forced to make in certain crash situations with no clear safe outcome. Much of this coverage has focused on a philosophical thought experiment known as the “trolley problem,” and substituting an automated vehicle for the trolley and the car’s software for the bystander. While this is a stark and straightforward example of ethical decision making for an automated vehicle, it risks marginalizing the entire field if it is to become the only ethical problem in the public’s mind. In this chapter, I discuss the shortcomings of the trolley problem, and introduce more nuanced examples that involve crash risk and uncertainty. Risk management is introduced as an alternative approach, and its ethical dimensions are discussed.
Effects of synchronisation during SiPAP-generated nasal intermittent positive pressure ventilation (NIPPV) in preterm infants

Objective The SiPAP flow driver (Care Fusion, Dublin, Ohio, USA) offers synchronised nasal intermittent positive pressure ventilation (sNIPPV) using an abdominal capsule. This study aims to describe the accuracy and effects of synchronised NIPPV using SiPAP in preterm infants. Design Ten infants, born <28 weeks’ gestation, receiving synchronised SiPAP-generated NIPPV, in ‘biphasic trigger’ mode, were observed. Abdominal capsule signals, delivered pressures, respiratory pattern and oxygen saturations were recorded. Tidal volume (VT), apnoeas, proportion of breaths supported by SiPAP and time between inspiration onset and SiPAP pressure rise were analysed. Results Infants were of median 26+0 weeks’ gestational age and birth weight 776 g. Mean (SD) respiratory rate (RR) was 53 (14)/min. 82% (17) of spontaneous breaths triggered a SiPAP pressure peak. Mean time between inspiration and SiPAP pressure rise was 28 (20) ms. There was no difference in VT when breaths triggered a SiPAP pressure peak compared with breaths without a pressure peak. No VT was generated by pressure peaks delivered during apnoea. Capsule signals were not recognised following >10% of breaths, resulting in asynchronous NIPPV delivery. Movements resulted in irregular SiPAP pressures and desaturation. When the RR was faster, >55/min, breaths irregularly triggered a SiPAP pressure peak (p=0.003). Compared with times when every breath resulted in a pressure peak, lower mean pressures were achieved, 7.9 vs 8.4 cm H2O (p=0.02). Conclusions The SiPAP synchronisation system triggered rapidly with most spontaneous breaths, but did not result in larger tidal volumes. When the RR was >55/min, the SiPAP delivered fewer pressure peaks at lower pressures.
Neutrophil extracellular traps are increased in patients with acute ischemic stroke: prognostic significance

Summary Neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) are networks of DNA, histones, and proteolytic enzymes produced by activated neutrophils through different mechanisms. NET formation is promoted by activated platelets and can in turn activate platelets, thus favoring thrombotic processes. NETs have been detected in venous and arterial thrombosis, but data in stroke are scarce. The aim of this study was to evaluate NETs in the plasma of patients with acute ischemic stroke and their potential association with baseline clinical characteristics, stroke severity, and one-year clinical outcomes. The study included 243 patients with acute ischemic stroke. Clinical and demographic data and scores of stroke severity (NIHSS and mRs) at onset and discharge were recorded. Markers of NETs (cell-free DNA, nucleosomes, and citrullinated histone 3 (citH3)), were determined in plasma. Patients were followed-up for 12 months after the ischemic event. NETs were significantly elevated in the plasma of patients with acute ischemic stroke when compared to healthy subjects. NETs were increased in patients who were over 65 years of age and in those with a history of atrial fibrillation (AF), cardioembolic stroke, high glucose levels, and severe stroke scores at admission and discharge. In multivariate analysis, elevated levels of citH3, the most specific marker of NETs, at onset were independently associated with AF and all-cause mortality at oneyear follow-up. NETs play a role in the pathophysiology of stroke and are associated with severity and mortality. In conclusion, citH3 may constitute a useful prognostic marker and therapeutic target in patients with acute stroke.
Theoretical and experimental analysis of Dickson charge pump output resistance

This paper presents an analytical and experimental evaluation of the output resistance of Dickson charge pumps. This work is conceived to obtain an accurate estimation of the parameters affecting the charge pump output resistance, with particular attention to the capacitance connected to the output node of the circuit. The aim is to evaluate the impact of this element over charge pump performance in terms of output resistance and, hence, of power efficiency, output voltage and driving capability. The presented analysis gives a suitable criterion for properly sizing the charge pump capacitors, which allows the charge pump performance to be optimized. Simulated and experimental results are provided so as to validate the proposed model
Role of Glucose in Enhancing the Temperature-Dependent Growth Inhibition of Escherichia coli O157:H7 ATCC 43895 by a Pseudomonas sp

ABSTRACT Growth of Escherichia coli O157:H7 strain ATCC 43895 was monitored at 5, 10, 15, and 25°C in both pure and mixed (1:1) cultures with a gluconate-producing Pseudomonas sp. found in meat to evaluate the effect of the absence and presence of 1% glucose in broth on temperature-dependent competition. The number of colonies of the Pseudomonas strain exceeded 9 log CFU/ml under all conditions tested. The pathogen grew better as the temperature increased from 10 to 15 and 25°C and grew better in pure culture than in mixed cultures. Pseudomonas sp. inhibited E. coli O157:H7 in cocultures with glucose at 10°C, while at 15°C the pathogen exhibited a biphasic pattern of growth with an intermediate inactivation period. Pathogen inhibition was much weaker in cocultures grown without glucose at 10 to 15°C and, irrespective of glucose, at 25°C. These results indicate that glucose enhances the growth inhibition of E. coli O157:H7 by some Pseudomonas spp. , potentially due to its rapid uptake and conversion to gluconate, at low (≤15°C) temperatures.
Detailed Interference Analysis in Dense mmWave Systems Employing Dual-Polarized Antennas

The use of extremely high frequency (EHF) bands, known as millimeter-wave (mmWave) frequencies, requires densification of cells to maintain system performance at required levels. This may lead to potential increase of interference in practical mmWave networks, thus making it the limiting factor. On the other hand, attractive utilization of dual-polarized antennas may improve over this situation by mitigating some of the interfering components, which can be employed as part of interference control techniques. In this paper, an accurate two-stage ray-based characterization is conducted that models interference-related metrics while taking into account a detailed dual- polarized antenna model. In particular, we confirm that narrower pencil-beam antennas (HPBW = 13◦) have significant advantages as compared to antennas with relatively narrow beams (HPBW = 20◦ and HPBW = 50◦) in the environments with high levels of interference. Additionally, we demonstrate that in the Manhattan grid deployment a transition from interference- to noise-limited regime and back occurs at the cell inter-site distances of under 90 m and over 180 m, respectively.
Classification of multitemporal SAR images using convolutional neural networks and Markov random fields

Classification of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images is a complex task because of the presence of speckle, which affects images in a way similar to a strong noise. In this study, we investigate the use of Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) which can effectively learn a bank of spatial filters to simultaneously 1) reduce speckle noise, and 2) extract spatial-contextual features to characterize texture and scattering mechanism. Moreover, we combine CNN with Markov Random Fields (MRFs) for post-classification label smoothing to further reduce the effect of speckle on the land-cover map and to improve classification accuracy. We applied the proposed classification system to the analysis of a multitemporal series of Sentinel-1 images for mapping agricultural fields in Flevoland, The Netherlands. Experimental results confirm the effectiveness of the investigated approach, which outperforms standard methods.
Illusory line motion is not caused by object-differentiating mechanisms or endogenous attention

Christie and Klein [2005. Does attention cause illusory line motion? Perception & Psychophysics, 67(6), 1032–1043] published line motion ratings consistent with illusory line motion (ILM) after peripheral endogenous cues but not central arrow cues. When attention was directed endogenously on the basis of the shape of one of two peripherally presented objects, participants reported small, but significant motion away from the attended object, and this was attributed to participant bias, or to a peripherally directed object-based attention system endogenously recruited to differentiate the peripheral shapes. By using a unique cueing method with identical peripheral markers, but still allowing them to act as cues, the findings of Christie and Klein Experiment 4 were replicated. This reduces the likelihood that object discrimination or object attention mechanisms are responsible for the reported ILM-like effects.
Fumonisin occurrence in corn from high- and low-risk areas for human esophageal cancer in China

Forty-seven corn samples were collected in 1989 from Linxian and Shangqiu Counties in Henan Province, the high- and low-risk areas, respectively, for human esophageal cancer in the People's Republic of China. The samples were analyzed for fumonisin (fumonisin B1 [FB1] and FB2) contamination. Of the fumonisin-positive samples, the mean levels in Linxian corn were found to be 872 ng/g for FB1 and 448 ng/g for FB2, while the Shangqiu corns had 890 ng of FB1 and 330 ng of FB2 per g. The incidence of fumonisin contamination of Linxian corn (48%) was about two times higher than that of Shangqiu corn (25%), and the former corn samples were frequently cocontaminated with trichothecenes. Fusarium species isolated from corn from Linxian County produced FB1 at levels ranging from 1,280 to 11,300 micrograms/g.
"Normal" thrombin generation.

We have investigated the influence of alterations in plasma coagulation factor levels between 50% and 150% of their mean values for prothrombin, factor X, factor XI, factor IX, factor VII, factor VIII, factor V, protein C, protein S, antithrombin III (AT-III), and tissue factor pathway inhibitor (TFPI) as well as combinations of extremes, eg, 50% anticoagulants and 150% procoagulants or 50% procoagulants and 150% anticoagulants in a synthetic "plasma" system. The reaction systems were constructed in vitro using purified, natural, and recombinant proteins and synthetic phospholipid vesicles or platelets with the reactions initiated by recombinant tissue factor (TF)-factor VIIa complex (5 pmol/L). To investigate the influence of the protein C system, soluble thrombomodulin (Tm) was also added to the reaction mixture. For the most extreme situations in which the essential plasma procoagulants (prothrombin, and factors X, IX, V, and VIII) and the stoichiometric anticoagulants (AT-III and TFPI) were collectively and inversely altered by 50%, a 28-fold difference in the total available thrombin generated was observed. Variations of most of these proteins 50% above and below the "normal" range, with the remainder at 100%, had only modest influences on the peak and total levels of thrombin generated. The dominant factors influencing thrombin generation were prothrombin and AT-III. When these 2 components were held at 100% and all other plasma procoagulants were reduced to 50%, there was a 60% reduction in the available thrombin generated. No increase in the thrombin generated was observed when the 150% level of all plasma procoagulants other than prothrombin was evaluated. When only prothrombin was raised to 150%, and all other factors were maintained at 100%, the thrombin generated increased by 71% to 121%. When AT-III was at 50% and all other constituents were at 100%, thrombin production was increased by 104% to 196%. The additions of protein C and protein S over the 50% to 150% ranges with Tm at 0.1 nmol/L concentration had limited influence on thrombin generation. Individual variations in factors VII, XI, and X concentrations had little effect on the duration of the initiation phase, the peak thrombin level achieved, or the available thrombin generated. Paradoxically, increases in factor IX concentration to 150% led to lowered thrombin generation, while decreases to 50% led to enhanced thrombin generation, most likely a consequence of factor IX as a competitive substrate with factor X for factor VIIa-TF. Reductions in factor V or factor VIII concentration led to prolongations of the initiation phase, while the reduction of TFPI to 50% led to shortening of this phase. However, none of these alterations led to significant changes in the available thrombin generated. Based on these data, one might surmise that increases in prothrombin and reductions in AT-III, within the normal range, would be potential risk factors for thrombosis and that algorithms that combine normal factor levels may be required to develop predictive tests for thrombosis.
Separation of primary structural components conferring autoregulation, transactivation, and DNA-binding properties to the herpes simplex virus transcriptional regulatory protein ICP4

A truncated ICP4 peptide which contains the amino-terminal 774 amino acids of the 1,298-amino-acid polypeptide is proficient for DNA binding, autoregulation, and transactivation of some viral genes (N. A. DeLuca and P. A. Schaffer, J. Virol. 62:732-743, 1988) and hence exhibits many of the properties characteristic of intact ICP4. To define the primary sequence important for the activities inherent in the amino-terminal half of the ICP4 molecule, insertional and deletion mutagenesis of the sequences encoding these residues were conducted. The DNA-binding activity of the molecule as assayed by the association with a consensus binding site was sensitive to insertional mutagenesis in two closely linked regions of the molecule. One region between amino acids 445 and 487 is critical for DNA binding and may contain a helix-turn-helix motif. The second region between amino acids 263 and 338 reduces the binding activity to a consensus binding site. When analyzed in the viral background, the DNA-binding activity of a peptide containing an insertion at amino acid 338 to a consensus binding site was reduced while the association with an alternative sequence was eliminated, suggesting a possible mechanism by which ICP4 may recognize a broader range of sequence elements. Mutations which eliminated DNA binding also eliminated or reduced both transactivation and autoregulation, supporting the requirement for DNA binding for these activities. Peptides that retained the deduced DNA-binding domain but lacked amino acids 143 through 210 retained the ability to associate with the consensus site and autoregulatory activity but were deficient for transactivation, demonstrating that the structural requirements for transactivation are greater than those required for autoregulation.
Increased susceptibility of ethanol-treated gastric mucosa to naproxen and its inhibition by DA-9601, an Artemisia asiatica extract.

AIM To examine the effect of DA-9601, a new gastroprotective agent, on the vulnerability of ethanol-treated rat's stomach to naproxen (NAP). METHODS Male Sprague-Dawley rats were pretreated with 1 mL of 50% ethanol twice a day for 5 d and then NAP (50 mg/kg) was administered. DA-9601 was administered 1 h before NAP. Four hours after NAP, the rats were killed to examine gross injury index (mm2), histologic change and to determine mucosal levels of malondialdehyde (MDA), prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), glutathione (GSH) and myeloperoxidase (MPO). RESULTS Pretreatment of ethanol significantly increased NAP-induced gastric lesions, as well as an increase in MDA and MPO. On the contrary, mucosal PGE2 and GSH contents were decreased dramatically by ethanol pretreatment, which were aggravated by NAP. DA-9601 significantly reduced NAP-induced gastric injury grossly and microscopically, regardless of pretreatment with ethanol. DA-9601 preserved, or rather, increased mucosal PGE2 and GSH in NAP-treated rats (P<0.05), with reduction in mucosal MDA and MPO levels. CONCLUSION These results suggest that repeated alcohol consumption renders gastric mucosa more susceptible to NSAIDs though, at least in part, reduction of endogenous cytoprotectants including PGE2 and GSH, and increase in MPO activation, and that DA-9601, a new gastroprotectant, can reduce the increased vulnerability of ethanol consumers to NSAIDs-induced gastric damage via the mechanism in which PGE2 and GSH are involved.
Talent management: For what, how and how well? An empirical exploration of talent management in practice

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify and explain what happens in practice in TM, in order to contribute to the building of a broader and more balanced theoretical framework for TM in which the impact of the organizational context and its interrelated actors are taken into account. Design/methodology/approach – The empirical data were collected in an explorative, longitudinal study on TM policies and practices in five Dutch university departments. Findings – The two crucial actors in TM – the organization and the talented employee – have a different perception of the intended and actual value of TM. The organization is capable of shaping and implementing a TM system that meets its needs, so from an organizational perspective TM is effective. Since the needs of the talented employees are insufficiently addressed in the intended and actual TM practices, TM has less value for them. Various influence factors at the institutional, organizational and individual level are identified. Research limitations/implications – The study was a first step in opening the “black box” in TM, but several questions on the TM process still remain unanswered. The author therefore encourages more research on the multiple levels in the TM process, and the factors that cause variability. Practical implications – Knowledge of the factors which influence the TM process from strategy to outcomes can help practitioners to build a more effective TM approach. Originality/value – Theoretical approaches from companion academic disciplines are linked to the dominant viewpoints in the TM literature. Moreover, to give counterbalance to the tendency to use universal models to explain TM, this study contextualizes TM. Finally, this study goes beyond a focus on management interests, and investigates to what extent other stakeholders (employees) benefit from TM.
The end of the crystalloid era?

The metabolic response to surgery causes sodium and water retention. It does not seem logical to pour crystalloid solutions into patients in the peri‐operative period, particularly when these solutions can cause deterioration in lung function. Plasma volume must be maintained to prevent a decreased blood flow to vital organs such as the kidneys. Blood or colloid solutions, not crystalloid solutions, should be used for this purpose, since the latter are distributed throughout the whole extracellular space and are less effective in maintaining plasma volume. Water given as 5% dextrose should be given in minimal quantities to maintain intracellular hydration. Patients undergoing minor to moderate surgery when they are likely to be drinking within 24 hours do not usually require any intravenous infusion. Moreover, to administer intravenous fluids to these patients may cause harm. No fluid regimens should be inflexible and the patient's size, age and fluid losses should be taken into account.