Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Study of microvessel density and the expression of the angiogenic factors VEGF, bFGF and the receptors Flt-1 and FLK-1 in benign, premalignant and malignant prostate tissues.

PURPOSE Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is an angiogenic factor that stimulates endothelial cell growth and enhances vascular permeability. VEGF exerts its action by binding to the specific cell surface receptors, fms-like tyrosine kinase 1 (Flt-1) and fetal liver kinase 1 (FLK/KDR). In tumor angiogenesis, Vascular endothelial growth factor stimulates endothelial cells to produce Basic fibroblastic growth factor (bFGF), which further enhances angiogenic activity. Very little information on the expression of VEGF, bFGF, and the receptors Flt-1 and FLK/KDR is available. Herein, we evaluate the expression of these angiogenic factors and receptors in normal prostate, high grade prostate intraepithelial neoplasia (HGPIN) and prostatic cancer (CaP). MATERIALS AND METHODS 58 selected surgical specimens exhibiting areas of normal prostate, HGPIN, and CaP were evaluated for microvessel density, and for VEGF, bFGF, Flt-1 and FLK/KDR protein expression by immunohistochemistry. Results were correlated with pathological data. RESULTS There was a statistically significant increase in the microvessel density and in the expression of the angiogenic factors VEGF, bFGF and the receptors FLK/KDR and Flt-1, in the premalignant and malignant tissues in comparison with normal prostatic glands. Microvessel density also correlated with higher Gleason grade, pathological stage and the expression of the receptors FLK/KDR and Flt-1. CONCLUSIONS The "initiation switch" of angiogenesis was observed to be an early event consistent with the recruitment of new vasculature into high grade PIN lesions and it increased in the progression of prostatic cancer.
The phase I of Haemophilus pertussis.

SUMMARY: An examination of freshly isolated Haemophilus pertussis strains for agglutinability, growth requirements, haemagglutination, virulence for mice, alum precipitability and protective properties shows that each of these characters varies quantitatively, and furthermore that they vary independently. The presence of one strongly marked character is no indication that another character will be strongly marked or even present. Not all strains necessarily have the character to be expected in freshly isolated strains; one or possibly more may be missing. On subculture of the strains on Bordet-Gengou media the order in which these characters degenerate or are lost and the rate at which they are lost differs with the strain. Agglutinability and agglutinogen content vary considerably in freshly isolated strains, and therefore the expression ‘agglutinates to titre’ cannot be considered as a criterion of a Phase I organism. The obvious complexity of the serology of organism within ‘Phase I’ suggests that this term has served its useful purpose and should now be dropped as a description of a certain type of strain. The term ‘Smooth’, which indicates the possession of the antigenic components commonly associated with the pathogenic state of the organism, is preferable.
Lifetime Analysis of Reliable Wireless Sensor Networks

A wireless sensor network is comprised of a large number of battery-limited sensor nodes communicating with unreliable radio links. The nodes are deployed in an ad hoc fashion and a reverse multicast tree is formed in the target domain. The sink node disseminates a query and collects responses from the sensors over pre-established links. Survivability in wireless sensor networks reflects the ability of the network to continue to detect events in the case of individual node failures. We present a sender initiated path switching algorithm that enables the immediate sender to change the packet's route dynamically when its parent on the reverse path is down. The overall effect of path switching on the survivability is analyzed as a measure of reliable event delivery. Using independent battery capacities, an analytical model of a multihop network is derived. The model is used to predict the maximum network lifetime in terms of total transmitted messages; which is in turn used to verify the correctness of our simulations. The results have revealed that dynamic path switching has a better performance than static multipath routing and salvaging schemes. It has also been shown that the proposed approach enhances reliability up to 30% in some topologies.
Racial Differences in Perceptions Concerning Hypertension and Its Consequences

To investigate racial differences in hypertensive patients' understanding of their disorder, we administered a questionnaire to 83 black and 260 white outpatients with the diagnosis of hypertension designated in their medical chart. No racial differences in systolic or diastolic blood pressure, age, or male/female ratio were observed. However, blacks were more likely than whites to identify renal failure as a consequence of hypertension, whereas whites were more likely to identify atherosclerosis. Blacks also were more likely than whites to accept higher diastolic blood pressures as normal (90 to 100 mm Hg versus 80 to 90 mm Hg). There was no correlation between knowledge and blood pressure. Our observations show that both racial groups are well educated about antihypertensive therapy as well as the consequences and complications of hypertension. Comprehensive treatment of hypertension should include educational strategies that are population-specific and that address ways to change disease-relevant behaviors, rather than merely identifying which behaviors to change.
Dynamic Orthogonal Switching of a Thermoresponsive Self‐Organized Helical Superstructure

Controllable manipulation of self‐organized dynamic superstructures of functional molecular materials by external stimuli is an enabling enterprise. Herein, we have developed a thermally driven, self‐organized helical superstructure, i.e., thermoresponsive cholesteric liquid crystal (CLC), by integrating a judiciously chosen thermoresponsive chiral molecular switch into an achiral liquid crystalline medium. The CLC in lying state, in both planar and twisted nematic cells, exhibits reversible in‐plane orthogonal switching of its helical axis in response to the combined effect of temperature and electric field. Consequently, the direction of the cholesteric grating has been observed to undergo 90° switching in a single cell, enabling non‐mechanical beam steering along two orthogonal directions. The ability to reversibly switch the cholesteric gartings along perpendicular directions by appropriately adjusting temperature and electric field strength could facilitate their applications in 2D beam steering, spectrum scanning, optoelectronics and beyond.
Jasmonates negatively interfere with fruit development and ripening in peach (Prunus persica L. Batsch).

Jasmonates (JAs) are signal molecules which elicit stress responses through JAs-responsive genes; they are also involved in developmental processes, including fruit growth and ripening. In the present study, methyl jasmonate (MJ) and n-propyl dyhydrojasmonate (PDJ) were applied to peach trees at the S1, S3 and S4 phases. In all cases, both chemicals inhibited climacteric ethylene production and delayed flesh softening leading to a ripening delay. A trascriptome profiling of JA-treated versus control fruit indicated that MJ down-regulates genes positively involved in fruit ripening (for instance 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid oxidase and polygalacturonase) while up-regulates several defence-related genes, including allene oxide synthase (AOS) which is involved in JA biosynthesis, and cell wall-related genes.
A 600 Degrees C Wireless Multimorph-Based Capacitive MEMS Temperature Sensor for Component Health Monitoring

This paper presents the design and fabrication of a new packaged MEMS capacitive temperature sensor for engine component health-monitoring applications and measurement results above 500-600°C. The multimorphs employed are thermal-SiO2/LPCVD-Si3N4/sputtered-Au beams designed for deflection at these temperatures. The mean initial capacitance of the sensors is 6.441 pF; with a standard deviation of 0.197 pF. The robust fabrication process and packaging yield consistent capacitancetemperature profiles from device-to-device. Similarly, the devices exhibit a consistently-high measured average quality factor of 1,727 with a standard deviation of 54 for 5 packaged devices. Also presented are laser confocal microscope profiles from the thermal-annealing process, detailing the break-in period, after which no additional creep is observed, even after over 24 hours at 650°C. This is a first-of-its-kind MEMS sensor with unparalleled performance for harsh-environment wireless temperature sensing.
Estudo de fibras de folhas de abacaxis (gênero Ananas) e sua utilização em compósitos biodegradáveis com matriz de poli(ácido lático) (PLA)

In this work natural fibers from new pineapple varieties were studied aiming at their application as mechanical reinforcement for green polymer composites. Eighteen varieties of pineapple leave fibers (PALFs) were then characterized in terms of their morphology, structural arrangement (cellulose crystallinity index (Ic) and microfibril angle), chemical composition (extractives, lignin, holocellulose, cellulose and hemicellulose contents), mechanical properties (tensile strength, elastic modulus and fracture strain) and thermal stability. The studied PALFs had low microfibril angles and high Ic. Their elastic modulus, tensile strength and degradation temperature onset ranged between 15GPa-86GPa, 212MPa-1309MPa, 240°C–272oC, respectively. All these parameters enabled to nominate the eighteen PALFs as suitable reinforcements for polymers. Close relationships between cellulose, holocellulose and Ic values, and thermal and mechanical properties of PALFs were found out, what provided guidelines for direct selection and/or to support a genetic improvement program of the Ananas genus. An example of such a methodology was presented in this work. The fiber from the pineapple variety called "Potyra" was selected to produce biodegradable composites with poly(lactic acid) (PLA) through injection molding. The Potyra fibers were before hand treated with alkaline solution in order to improve their interfacial compatibility with PLA. The treated Potyra fibers-reinforced composite exhibited an increased elastic modulus from 1,9 GPa to 3,5GPa, tensile strength from 58,8 to 69,6MPa, and notched impact strength from 2,57kJ/m to 4,26kJ/m in comparison to the pure PLA matrix. The HDT of the PLA was also incremented by 10% due to the fiber incorporation. These findings confirmed the promising potential of Potyra fibers as reinforcements in green composite technologies.
Bone Remodeling Response During Mastication on Free-End Removable Prosthesis - a 3D Finite Element Analysis

An understanding of functional responses in oral bone is a crucial component of dental biomechanics. The purpose of this study was to investigate the use of an osseointegrated implant as support for a free-end removable partial denture (RPD) on the potential biological remodelling response during mastication. A three-dimensional (3D) finite element analysis (FEA) was performed to determine the biomechanical responses to masticatory loading in the posterior mandible. Stresses and strains were analysed at lingual/buccal and mesial/distal areas of the premolar to molar region to anticipate bone remodeling response. Mandibular bone incorporating an implant-supported RPD experienced substantially greater stress/ strain magnitudes than that prior to placement of implant, which is suggestive of engagements of bone remodelling. The results suggest similar outcomes to those reported clinically. Developing a simulation reflecting the outcomes of restorative treatment can provide meaningful insight into restorative treatment planning, clinical outcomes, and removable prosthodontics designs.
A study on GaN inverter based MHz frequency induction heating for tiny metals

The anxiety of merging tiny materials and resin materials in the manufacturing process has become one of the serious issues because it may become cause of overheat such as lithium-ion batteries, flat panel displays, and so on. Therefore, a study on detecting method of the tiny metals is a significant issue. A combination of high-frequency induction heating and thermal detection method is one of the useful approaches. In this paper, MHz-frequency GaN inverter based IH system is built and tested to verify heating size limitation of the tiny metals. Furthermore, the validity of the proposed method to detect the tiny metals by proposed IH thermal technique is evaluated and discussed in detail.
Closed User Group Automotive Communication Network Based on Addressing at Physical Layer

Intelligent Vehicle communication is the keyword for the emerging vehicular technologies such as group cooperative driving, real time Engine Operating parameters EOP monitoring, collision warning, geo location based mobility applications, and classical voice and data conveyance. The technologies require extensive interaction between the peers which mostly use the framework of the state of the art cellular or radio trunking networks. This may vitiate the network performance due to the surge in mobility management messages originated by the devices plugged in the vehicles. The performance may be severely impacted due to the unique characteristics of vehicular networks e.g., high mobility. Due to the high proliferation of these Machine to Machine M2M and Machine to Application M2A devices in near future, the cell sizes will shrink, resulting in more signalling messages in the network. Considering classical voice communication services for typical car fleet implementations, the radio trunking networks have capacity constrains due to inability of frequency reuse and absence of mobility management techniques. The alternative is to seek out an access technology considering the fact that a more intelligent physical layer can be employed directly for addressing and mobility management. In this paper the authors address a Closed User Group network implementation for Vehicle to Vehicle/central office communication which can actuate voice and data communication without incorporating any application layer.
Evaluation of threading specificity and accuracy

Threading experiments with proteins from the globin family provide an indication of the nature of the structural similarity required for successful fold recognition and accurate sequence‐structure alignment. Threading scores are found to rise above the noise of false positives whenever roughly 60% of residues from a sequence can be aligned with analogous sites in the structure of a remote homolog. Fold recognition specificity thus appears to be limited by the extent of structural similarity, regardless of the degree of sequence similarity. Threading alignment accuracy is found to depend more critically on the degree of structural similarity. Alignments are accurate, placing the majority of residues exactly as in structural alignment, only when superposition residuals are less than 2.5 Å. These criteria for successful recognition and sequence‐structure alignment appear to be consistent with the successes and failures of threading methods in blind structure prediction. They also suggest a direct assay for improved threading methods: Potentials and alignment models should be tested for their ability to detect less extensive structural similarities, and to produce accurate alignments when superposition residuals for this conserved “core” fall in the range characteristic of remote homologs. © 1996 Wiley‐Liss, Inc. This article is a US Government work and, as such, is in the public domain in the United States of America.
Broadband miniaturized butler matrix utilizing left-handed transmission lines

A novel concept of 4 × 4 Butler matrix realization has been proposed. The proposed Butler matrix is composed of four miniaturized coupled-line 3-dB/90° directional couplers. A broadband phase response has been ensured by the application of two left-handed transmission-line sections. The proposed concept has been experimentally verified by the design and measurements of a 4 × 4 Butler matrix, having center frequency equal to 1 GHz.
Influence des propriétés mécaniques du substrat sur l'adhésion et la migration cellulaire

L'adhesion et la migration des cellules jouent un role important dans de nombreux mecanismes cellulaires qui vont de la morphogenese a la proliferation tumorale en passant par la reparation des tissus. Il est maintenant bien etabli que l'environnement physique et mecanique des cellules a une grande influence sur de nombreuses fonctions cellulaires comme l'adhesion et la migration ainsi que sur leur devenir et donc leur differentiation. Pour controler les proprietes de l'environnement cellulaire, nous avons choisi de combiner des methodes de micro-fabrication issues de la microelectronique aux techniques de biologie cellulaire et moleculaire. Nous nous sommes notamment interesses a l'influence de la rigidite du support sur la migration cellulaire et les forces mecaniques exercees par les cellules, des fibroblastes, sur la matrice. Pour cela, nous avons utilise un substrat constitue de micro-piliers flexibles, qui ont servi de micro-capteurs de force. Nous avons montre que les cellules employees adaptent les forces qu'elles exercent sur leur support a la rigidite de ce dernier. Nous avons ensuite etudie l'influence de la topographie du substrat sur la migration cellulaire. Nous avons pour cela egalement utilise des micro-piliers, mais dont le diametre est 5 a 10 fois superieur aux precedents. Les cellules, en migrant, rencontrent donc alternativement des surfaces lisses et rugueuses. Nous avons montre que dans ces environnements, les cellules adoptent un comportement s'approchant de celui observe dans un gel tridimensionnel et que le noyau joue un role dans cette migration. Enfin, nous avons aborde l'etude de l'etalement cellulaire dans ces environnements textures.
Limitations of surgery in the treatment of retroperitoneal sarcoma

A retrospective analysis was undertaken of 120 patients with retroperitoneal sarcoma referred to the Royal Marsden Hospital over a period of 20 years. The actuarial 5‐year survival rate of all cases following referral was 29 per cent. On univariate and multivariate analysis the principal factors associated with an unfavourable prognosis were the presence of metastases, poor performance status at presentation, high tumour grade and incomplete excision of the primary tumour. The single most important factor affecting the ability to remove the primary tumour completely was multiple organ involvement. After apparently complete excision, however, the probability of local recurrence by 5 years was 85 per cent (95 per cent confidence interval 56–99). The prognosis of patients with retroperitoneal sarcoma is poor.
Análisis de rendimiento de la PC Odroid C2 para su uso en esquemas de ciudades inteligentes

Resumen Dentro de las llamadas ciudades inteligentes, las redes de sensores para el monitoreo de diversas metricas como calidad del aire, densidad vehicular, entre otros, cobran particular importancia por la informacion que proporcionan. Estas redes envian sus datos a un punto central de procesamiento para su analisis e interpretacion; sin embargo, en muchas ocasiones el envio de estos datos se realiza a traves de canales de comunicaciones poco seguros y con baja relacion de senal a ruido ( signal-to-noise-ratio, SNR ), tales como canales inalambricos. En el presente trabajo, se propone el uso de la PC Odroid C2 como herramienta para implementar un codificador de convolucion como esquema de codificacion de canal que permita que los datos transmitidos sean menos susceptibles al ruido, asi como para otro tipo de procesos relacionados con el area. Se estudia de la misma forma una tecnologia similar: la PC Raspberry Pi version 3, anexando pruebas de benchmarking de ambas PC. Palabras Clave: Arduino UNO, ciudades inteligentes, codificacion de canal, codigo de convolucion, Odroid C2, Raspberry Pi, redes de sensores. ODROID C2 PC PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS FOR ITS USE IN SMART CITIES SCHEMES Abstract Within the so-called intelligent cities, networks of sensors for the monitoring of various metrics such as air quality, vehicular density, and others, are particularly important because of the information they provide. These networks send their data to a central processing point for analysis and interpretation; However, this data is often sent through unsafe and low signal-to-noise-ratio (SNR) communications channels, such as wireless channels. In the present work, it is proposed to use the PC Odroid C2 as a tool to implement a convolution encoder as a channel coding scheme that allows the transmitted data to be less susceptible to noise, as well as to other types of processes related to the area. A similar technology is studied in the same way: PC Raspberry Pi version 3, appending benchmarking tests to both PC. Keywords : Arduino UNO, Channel encoding, Convolution codes, Odroid C2, Raspberry Pi, Sensor Networks, Smart Cities.
Role of neuropathy and plasma nitric oxide in recurrent neuropathic and neuroischemic diabetic foot ulcers

Various factors are associated with foot ulceration, including delayed reporting of ulcers, poor glycemic control, and severity of neuropathy. Several studies have looked at the role of nitric oxide in wound healing. However, no studies have examined its role in the occurrence and recurrence of diabetic foot ulceration. In a cross‐sectional study we examined the role of neuropathy, retinopathy, nephropathy, and plasma nitric oxide (estimated from plasma nitrite and nitrate) levels in diabetic patients with recurrent and non‐recurrent neuropathic and neuroischemic foot ulcers. Patients with recurrent foot ulcers had higher vibration perception threshold values compared to patients with non‐recurrent foot ulcers (47.4 ± 5.7 volts versus 39.5 ± 10.3 volts respectively, P < 0.05). In addition, subjects with recurrent foot ulcers had significantly higher plasma nitric oxide compared to subjects with non‐recurrent foot ulcers (46.9 ± 6.3 μm/L versus 30.2 ± 2.4 μm/L respectively, P < 0.01). Multivariate logistic regression analysis adjusted for age, sex, hemoglobin A1c, presence of retinopathy and nephropathy, vibration perception threshold, plasma creatinine, and total nitric oxide, indicated that only vibration perception threshold was independently associated with the presence of an ulcer [odds ratio: 1.26 (1.10‐1.46); P <0.001)] and the recurrence of foot ulcers [odds ratio: 1.13 (1.01‐1.27); P=0.04)]. This study has shown that although plasma nitric oxide is higher in patients with recurrent neuropathic and neuroischemic foot ulcers, severity of neuropathy was the most important factor associated with the development and recurrence of foot ulcers in diabetic patients.