Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Age, alcohol metabolism and liver disease

Purpose of reviewAlcohol consumption among the elderly has increased. Alcohol metabolism changes with age and the elderly are more sensitive to the toxic effects; this increased consumption is therefore of great clinical relevance. Recent findingsMetabolism of ethanol changes with advancing age because activity of the enzymes involved, such as alcohol and acetaldehyde dehydrogenase and cytochrome P-4502E1, diminish with age. The water distribution volume also decreases with age. Both lead to increased blood concentrations of ethanol. Also, elderly people take more drugs, and ethanol and these drugs may interact; therefore, alcohol consumption can modify serum drug concentrations and their toxicity. Finally, elderly people may suffer more frequently from other types of liver disease, and alcohol may exacerbate these. SummaryOver recent decades alcohol consumption has increased among those who are older than 65 years. Alcohol is more toxic in the ageing organism because of changes in its metabolism, distribution and elimination, which lead to central nervous system effects at lower levels of intake; also, ageing organs such as brain and liver are more sensitive to the toxicity of alcohol. For these reasons, alcohol should be used in moderation, especially among those of older age.
The method of paired comparisons, (2nd edition), by H. A. David. Pp.188 £21·50. 1988. ISBN 0-85264-290-3 (Griffin)

The market for this book is difficult to define. What we have here is a huge range of statistical techniques gathered together in a single slim volume. The book goes far beyond A level syllabuses, and covers briefly almost all the statistical methods likely to be encountered in an undergraduate programme. As its title suggests it is not suitable as a theoretical text, but as a companion text to courses on basic statistical theory, sampling, experimental design or analysis of variance it would be ideal. Because its breadth results in its being useful for many courses I would recommend this as being a compulsory purchase for all students who aim to become practising statisticians. I congratulate the author on so successfully pouring a quart of statistics into a half-pint pot.
Matrix metalloproteinase and tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinase secretion by haematopoietic and stromal precursors and their production in normal and leukaemic long‐term marrow cultures

Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMPs) regulate the turnover of the extracellular matrix and may modulate the biology of haematopoietic cells. We investigated whether MMPs and TIMPs are produced in long‐term marrow cultures (LTMCs) established from normal donors and acute myelogenous leukaemia (AML) patients, and by fibroblast‐ (F), granulocyte macrophage‐ (GM) and megakaryocyte‐ (Meg) colony‐forming unit (CFU) and erythroid burst‐forming unit (BFU‐E)‐derived precursor cells. ProMMP‐9 levels were highest (> 400 ng/ml) at week 1 of normal LTMC, whereas proMMP‐2, TIMP‐1, TIMP‐2 and TIMP‐3 levels peaked (up to 1000 ng/ml) after the establishment of the adherent layer. In LTMC from AML patients, these patterns of secretion were reversed. Moreover, we found that after a 24 h incubation in serum‐free media, normal CFU‐GM‐, BFU‐E‐ and CFU‐Meg‐derived cells secreted proMMP‐9 and CFU‐F‐derived cells proMMP‐2, in contrast to cells from LTMC adherent layer which secreted both active and latent forms of MMP‐2 and MMP‐9 under serum‐free conditions. However, when these adherent cells were incubated in 12·5% fetal calf or horse serum or complete LTMC growth media, active forms of MMP‐2 and MMP‐9 were no longer detectable, and TIMP levels increased. Hence, we concluded that (i) MMPs/TIMPs are secreted by normal human bone marrow haematopoietic and stromal cells and may play an important role in intercellular cross‐talk in haematopoiesis; and (ii) only latent forms of MMPs are present under LTMC conditions, indicating that the specific media used for weekly re‐feeding of LTMC can block activation of MMP‐2 and MMP‐9, maintaining the integrity of the stromal layer and supporting haematopoiesis in vitro.
Characteristics of sensitization among children with allergic rhinitis

1 Allergy Unit, Inner Consulting Department, University Hospital “Sv. Georgi” – Plovdiv, Bulgaria 2 Inner Consulting Department. University Hospital “Sv. Georgi” – Plovdiv, Bulgaria 3 Department of Social medicine and Public Health; Faculty of Public Health; Medical University of Plovdiv; Bulgaria 4 Department of Nursing Care; Faculty of Public Health; Medical University of Plovdiv; Bulgaria *Corresponding Author’s E-mail: novakova66@yahoo.com It is critical for successful management of allergic rhinitis to identify clinically relevant sensitizations. Polysensitization is a frequent phenomenon among young patients and its understanding is of significant practical importance. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to characterize the sensitization of children with newly diagnosed allergic rhinitis by skin prick – test. The study included 221 children with newly diagnosed allergic rhinitis (AR) [mean age 9, range 3–17 yeаrs, 142 boys (64.25%)]. Both type and number of sensitizations were assessed. The mean age and the duration of symptoms were considered at the time of diagnosis. Sensitization to house dust mite (HDM), grass pollen and Alternaria were the most prevalent in children with allergic rhinitis. Polysensitization was demonstrated in 46.61% of children at the time of diagnosis of AR. The mean age of monosensitized children was significantly lower (8.86) than in polysensitized children (11.13) (p < 0,001). The duration of symptoms was 2.39 years in mono – and 2.63 in polysensitized children with no significant difference between both groups (p >0.05). Our study demonstrated the high prevalence of sensitization to HDM and grass allergens in children with AR. Alternaria was also found to be a relevant allergen. Polysensitization occurring frequently in children with allergic rhinitis depended upon the age of the children rather than the duration of symptoms. The results suggested that children with allergic rhinitis are polysensitized from the beginning of the disease and that polysensitization is its own phenotype.
Proximity-Coupled Multiband Microstrip Antenna for Wireless Applications

This letter presents a new design of a multiband microstrip antenna with a proximity-coupled feed for operating in the LTE2300 (2300-2400 MHz), Bluetooth (2400-2485 MHz), WiMAX (3.3-3.7 GHz), and WLAN (5.15-5.35 GHz, 5.725-5.825 GHz) bands. In addition, it also covers 6-dB impedance bandwidth across the UMTS (1920-2170 MHz) band. The proposed antenna consists of a corner-truncated rectangular patch with a rectangular slot, meandered microstrip feed, and defected ground plane. The antenna is fabricated using 0.8-mm-thick FR4 substrate with a dielectric constant of 4.4 and has a small size of only 27×24 mm2. The antenna shows a stable gain over the operating bands and good radiation characteristics. The simulated and measured results are shown to have good agreements.
Smart microgrid sensorless load monitoring and management in TN-S and TN-C-S electrical networks

The possibility to measure the instant current consumption of electrical devices or in branches of the electrical network, without specialized sensors, was evaluated. As it will be shown below, in some types of electrical networks the neutral conductor could be used as a current sensing device. Reading of the voltage difference between the neutral conductor and the protective conductor can supply helpful information about the load.
Dietary carbohydrate and postexercise synthesis of proglycogen and macroglycogen in human skeletal muscle.

This study examined the role of carbohydrate (CHO) ingestion on the resynthesis of two pools of glycogen, proglycogen (PG) and macroglycogen (MG), in human skeletal muscle. Nine males completed an exhaustive glycogen depletion exercise bout at 70% maximal O2 consumption on two occasions. Subsequent 48-h dietary interventions consisted of either high (HC, 75% of energy intake) or low (LC, 32% of energy intake) CHO diets. Muscle biopsies were taken at exhaustion (EXH) and 4, 24, and 48 h later. The total muscle glycogen (Gt) at EXH for the HC and LC conditions was not significantly different, and the MG represented approximately 12% of the Gt. From EXH to 4 h, there was an increase in the PG only for HC and no change in MG in either diet (P < 0.05). From 4 to 24 h, the concentration of PG increased in both conditions (P < 0.05). Between 24 and 48 h, in HC the majority of the increase in Gt was due to the MG pool (P < 0.05). The MG and PG concentrations for HC were significantly greater than for LC at 24 and 48 h (P < 0.05). At 48 h the MG represented 40% of the Gt for the HC diet and only 21% for the LC diet. There was no change in the net rates of synthesis of PG or MG over 48 h for LC (P < 0.05). The net rate of PG synthesis from 0 to 4 h for HC was 16 +/- 1.68 mmol glucosyl units . kg dry wt-1 . h-1, which was threefold greater than for LC (P < 0. 05). The net rate of PG synthesis decreased significantly from 4 to 24 h for HC, whereas the net rate of MG synthesis was not different over 48 h but was significantly greater than in LC (P < 0.05). The two pools are synthesized at very different rates; both are sensitive to CHO, and the supercompensation associated with HC is due to a greater synthesis in the MG pool.
Androgen Receptor Antagonists in Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer

AbstractPersistent androgen receptor (AR) signaling despite low levels of serum androgens has been identified as a critical target for drug discovery in castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). As proof of principle that the AR remains relevant in CRPC, 2 AR-targeted agents recently approved by the Food and Drug Administration—abiraterone and enzalutamide—have increased overall survival for patients with CRPC in the setting of prior chemotherapy. This review focuses on the AR and 2 direct antagonists, enzalutamide and ARN-509. These next-generation AR antagonists offer great promise for patients with advanced disease. Relative to conventional antiandrogens such as bicalutamide, they bind to the receptor with higher affinity, prevent nuclear translocation and DNA binding, and induce apoptosis without agonist activity in preclinical models. The success of these AR-targeted agents in the clinic has changed the landscape of therapy for patients with CRPC, and further therapeutic options building on this platform are currently in development.
Video coding using embedded wavelet packet transform and motion compensation

In this paper, we propose a hybrid video coder using the wavelet packet transform and motion compensation. To reduce the computational complexity of the wavelet packet decomposition, a novel criterion based on the rate- distortion function is proposed. After the wavelet packet transform, the successive quantization scheme and the adaptive arithmetic coder are applied for lossy wavelet coefficient compression. Extensive experiments have been carried to compare the embedded wavelet packet coder with the MPEG standard and the embedded pyramid wavelet coder. The proposed wavelet packet transform method has the best performance in terms of both visual quality and PSNR measurement.
Rotor structure for reducing demagnetization of magnet in a PMASynRM with ferrite permanent magnet and its characteristics

Recently, application of permanent magnet (PM) motors has expanded remarkably because of improvements in the performance of the rare-earth PM motor. However, the use of rare-earth materials, which is an important aspect of the high-performance PM motor, should be reduced because of the high cost and the unpredictability involved in procuring such materials. The performance of motors that use rare-earth materials has reached a very high level, which will not be easy to match without such materials. In this paper, we propose a structure of high power density PM assisted synchronous reluctance motor employing the ferrite PM, that doesn't causes irreversible demagnetization of PM even in condition of the heavy flux-weakening excitation or inverter's fault. As a result, it is clarified that the proposed structure achieves high power and high efficiency performances.
WHAT IS THE PROPER WORK-UP OF THE PATIENT WITH CLINICAL EARLY STAGE UTERINE ADENOCARCINOMA?

Cancer of the uterine corpus is the most common invasive pelvic gynecological malignancy in the United States and other industrialized nations, and as a “female” malignancy is exceeded in incidence only by breast cancer. Compared to other pelvic cancers, a greater percentage of patients initially present with disease apparently confined to the uterine corpus (clinical Stage I under the older International Federation of Obstetrics and Gynecology [FIGO] system), in large part because the vast majority of patients with uterine adenocarcinoma first present with abnormal or postmenopausal bleeding and are promptly evaluated and treated. Surgery remains the cornerstone of the initial management for almost all uterine cancer patients. Despite the relatively high incidence of uterine cancer in industrialized nations and the nearuniversal agreement that the initial therapy of such patients will be hysterectomy with some degree of surgical staging (reflecting the fact that the current FIGO staging of uterine adenocarcinoma is now a surgical, not clinical, staging), there is no definitive literature or consensus about what the “proper” preoperative workup should be for the most common WHAT IS THE PROPER WORK-UP OF THE PATIENT WITH CLINICAL EARLY STAGE UTERINE ADENOCARCINOMA? Bruce Patsner, MD, JD, Matthew L. Anderson, MD, PhD Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Severance Hospital, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea; Division of Gynecologic Oncology, Department Obstetrics and Gynecology, Clinical and Translational Research, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
Self-Driving Cars

Many recent technological advances have helped to pave the way forward for fully autonomous vehicles. This special issue explores three aspects of the self-driving car revolution: a historical perspective with a focus on perception for autonomous vehicles, how government policy will impact self-driving cars technically and commercially, and how cloud-based infrastructure plays a role in the future.
Building a better mouse model: experimental models of chronic asthma

Allergic asthma is characterized by chronic mucosal inflammation mediated by CD4 Th2 cells [1, 2]. Animal models of acute allergic airway disease have been used in order to elucidate the mechanisms leading to the development of inflammation. The acute airway inflammation induced in mice is characterized by accumulation of antigen-specific CD4 effector cells and eosinophils surrounding the airways and blood vessels. However, the majority of these models involve systemic sensitization with relatively short-term administrations of high doses of aerosolized antigen, classically ovalbumin (OVA), and many do not show the typical chronic inflammatory and lung structural changes seen in most patients with asthma. For example, human asthma is not characterized by the degree of perivascular inflammation seen in the standard OVA-induced murine model; also, the degree of airway eosinophilia in human asthma is typically only 1–3% of bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) cells, whereas the OVA murine model has 40–80% eosinophilia depending on the experimental model [3–5]. In addition, the induction of lung remodelling, including subepithelial fibrosis and goblet cell hyperplasia, is only mildly induced in the standard murine model of acute asthma. In recent years, several experimental protocols have been developed in an attempt to construct a model associated with airway inflammation and lung remodelling resembling human asthma. Pulmonary over-expression of Th2-associated cytokines, including IL-4, -5, -9, -11, and -13, in transgenic mice has been used as an approach to model chronic asthma [6–10]. While these models provide valuable information regarding contributions of potential mediators to specific aspects of disease pathology, these models do not involve allergen challenge. Prolonged allergen exposure likely triggers a distinct array of immunological responses that result in chronic inflammation and impact airway integrity and function. Alternatively, experimental protocols involving repeated delivery or inhalation exposure of antigens to sensitized animals over the course of weeks and months have been developed.
Ku-band microstrip diplexer based on dual behavior resonator filter

This report describes the design of original planar filters and of a diplexer based on dual behavior resonator (DBR) filter, and introduces measurement data. The specifications dealt with a limited frequency band in Ku-band where a high isolation is needed between Rx and Tx frequency bands. This study evidences the benefits of oversized DBR in particular for getting a high rejection level. Moreover, folding the oversized resonators allows one to keep constant the filter overall size. The first DBR filter for the Ku-band receiver is of 3rd-order with a central, folded, oversized and low-frequency stub; the second DBR filter for the Ku-band transmitter is also of 3rd-order with three folded, oversized and high-frequency stubs. Then, a diplexer as presented in Rhodes and Ievy (1979) and Matthanei et al. (1980) was realized from both filters as stated in Goron et al. (2003) and Tudosie and Vahlieck (2004).
Poor Comprehenders in the Classroom

Differing etiological explanations have been proposed to account for poor comprehenders’ difficulties with reading comprehension, with some researchers emphasizing working memory deficits and others arguing for oral language weaknesses playing a key causal role. The authors contrasted these two theoretical accounts using data obtained from direct measures of working memory and from teacher ratings of poor comprehenders’ behavior in the classroom. At the group level, poor comprehenders showed weaknesses on verbal but not nonverbal working memory tasks, in keeping with the “language account. ” However, they also showed evidence of elevated levels of problem behaviors specifically associated with working memory deficits. Further analysis revealed that these group differences in working-memory-related problem behaviors were carried by a small subgroup of poor comprehenders who also displayed domain-general (verbal and nonverbal) working memory problems, argued to be reflective of “genuine” underlying working memory deficits.
Rapid Down‐Regulation of GABAA Receptors in the Gerbil Hippocampus Following Transient Cerebral Ischemia

Abstract: During transient cerebral ischemia, there is a temporary and robust accumulation of extracellular GABA in the hippocampus. We examined whether the acute exposure of GABAA/benzodiazepine receptors to high concentrations of GABA early after ischemia results in receptor down‐regulation as observed in vitro. Gerbils were killed 30 and 60 min following a 5‐min bilateral carotid occlusion, and their brains were prepared for receptor autoradiography. The hydrophilic GABAA receptor antagonist [3H]SR‐95531 and the hydrophobic benzodiazepine agonist [3H]flunitrazepam were used to distinguish between cell surface and internalized receptors. Ischemia significantly decreased [3H]SR‐95531 binding in hippocampal areas CA1 and CA3 and in the dentate gyrus 30 min after ischemia. Scatchard analysis in area CA1 revealed that ischemia decreased the Bmax as low as 44%. The affinity of the remaining sites was increased substantially (72% decrease in KD). As expected, there were no changes in the binding of [3H]flunitrazepam to hippocampus in the early postischemic period because the benzodiazepine could bind to both internalized receptors and those on the cell surface. We hypothesize that prolonged exposure (∼30–45 min) of GABAA receptors to high concentrations of synaptic GABA in vivo causes receptor down‐regulation, perhaps via receptor internalization.
Denoising aerial gamma‐ray surveying through non‐linear dimensionality reduction

This paper addresses the problem of denoising aerial gamma‐ray surveying in mining exploration. Conventional methods for denoising spectral data make strong assumptions about the levels and type of noise which reduces their efficiency. The proposed methodology cast the problem as manifold learning followed by non‐linear regression. The model makes no assumptions about the level and type of noise and performs significantly better than previous techniques on both synthetic and real data. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Synthetically prepared glycooligosaccharides mimicking Candida albicans cell wall glycan antigens--novel tools to study host-pathogen interactions.

The immunobiological efficacy of synthetically prepared mannooligosaccharides and a glucooligosaccharide mimicking the structure of Candida albicans cell wall glycans was assessed in vivo and in vitro to exploit immune responses. The exposure of mice splenocytes to BSA-based conjugates of synthetic oligomannosides and oligoglucoside revealed intense influence on T-cell subset polarization. The conjugates biased the immune responses towards Th1 and Th17 with respect to the prevalence of interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) and interleukin (IL)-17 (IL-17) over IL-4 and IL-10 levels. The inflammatory activity of the conjugates has been evaluated based on the induction of pro-inflammatory cytokines. Postvaccination, antimannooligosaccharide and antiglucooligosaccharide antisera were subjected to an evaluation of the structure-immunomodulation activity relationship. Clinical isolates of C. albicans CCY 29-3-32 and C. albicans CCY 29-3-164 were applied to study interactions between Candida cells and anti-oligosaccharide antibodies. In situ recognition of parietal oligomannosyl and oligoglucosyl sequences in C. albicans cell wall by the antisera raised against BSA-based conjugates of synthetic oligomannosides and oligoglucoside revealed the effective recognition of specific distribution of natural oligosaccharide sequences in the cell wall of C. albicans serotype A. With respect to these results, it can be concluded that new, synthetically prepared oligosaccharides mimicking Candida cell wall structures represent prospective immunobiologically effective components for further immunopharmacologically relevant Candida vaccine design.
Super-Orthogonal Space-Time BPSK Trellis Code Design for 4 Transmit Antennas in Fast Fading Channels

Super-orthogonal space-time trellis codes (SOSTTC) are full rate, full diversity space-time codes with high coding gains for quasi-static fading channels. In this paper, this design approach is extended to fast fading channels for the case of 4 transmit antennas and a new SOSTTC is proposed for BPSK modulation based on the design criteria valid for this type of channels. The new code has 16-state trellis for BPSK to avoid parallel transitions which restrict the error performance. The frame error performances are presented showing that the proposed code have superior performance in fast fading case compared to the reference codes.