Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Reperfusion injury to endothelial cells following cold ischemic storage of rat livers

Storage of donor livers in Euro‐Collins solution for human transplantation surgery is limited to about 8 hr. Here, tissue damage to isolated rat livers stored under the same conditions as human livers was characterized following reperfusion. The purpose of this work was to determine the importance of nutritional status on injury due to cold storage and reperfusion, to establish whether lethal injury occurs during cold storage or only after reperfusion, and to identify the cell types most vulnerable to damage. Rat livers were perfused with Krebs‐Henseleit‐bicarbonate buffer, stored 8 to 48 hr in Euro‐Collins solution and reperfused with warm, oxygenated Krebs‐Henseleit buffer for 15 min. Nuclear trypan blue uptake and lactate dehydrogenase release were used as indices of cell death. After 8 hr of cold storage and reperfusion, little loss of parenchymal or nonparenchymal viability occurred. After 24 or 48 hr, virtually all parenchymal cells remained viable. However, severe damage to nonparenchymal cells was observed, and about 40% of nonparenchymal cells were trypan blue positive. Nutritional status (fed vs. fasted) did not affect the extent of cell damage. Nonparenchyma cell killing was accompanied by cellular rounding, nuclear pyknosis and protrusion of cells into sinusoidal lumens. Scanning electron micrographs demonstrated denudation of the sinusoidal lining. Rounding and pyknosis were not observed in 24‐hr‐stored livers which were not reperfused, and trypan blue uptake did not occur in stored livers infused with cold, anoxic Euro‐Collins solution. Based on cytochemistry and electron microscopy, lethal cell injury occurred predominantly to endothelial cells. Storage of livers in University of Wisconsin cold storage solution, which has been shown to extend preservation of livers for transplantation surgery, protected endothelial cells from reperfusion injury after cold ischemic storage. The data suggest that damage to stored livers leading to graft failure after transplantation involves a reperfusion injury to hepatic endothelial cells. Identification of this injury in isolated livers by trypan blue labeling provides a rapid and inexpensive means to evaluate and improve liver preservation solutions.
Metal ion release from titanium with active oxygen species generated by rat macrophages in vitro.

The release of metal ions due to active oxygen species generated by macrophages (Mphi) phagocytosing high-density polyethylene (HDPE) particles was studied in vitro to investigate the mechanism behind the release of metal ions from titanium implants into nearby tissues in the absence of wear and fretting in vivo. To determine the effects of Mphis on metal ion release, titanium disks were immersed in different solutions and the titanium ions released from the titanium disks into each solution were quantified. The results revealed that active oxygen species generated by Mphis induced the metal ion release. In particular, the ion release was accelerated with HDPE because the Mphis that phagocytosed HDPE generated more active oxygen species than Mphis that did not phagocytose any HDPE. Metal ions were also released by organic species in the absence of Mphis. These are some of the causes for metal ion release from titanium implants in the absence of wear and fretting in vivo.
An Analysis of Oncotype DX Recurrence Scores and Clinicopathologic Characteristics in Invasive Lobular Breast Cancer

The Oncotype DX breast cancer assay (Genomic Health, Redwood City, CA) is increasingly being used to guide treatment decisions for patients with early stage, hormone‐positive, Her‐2‐negative breast cancer. The utility of the Oncotype DX in decision making for treatment of invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC) has not been investigated as the results reported by Genomic Health are largely in a population with invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC). The authors hypothesized that the Oncotype DX recurrence score (RS) distribution for ILC is different than that for IDC. We performed a retrospective analysis of early stage breast cancer patients treated at Penn State Cancer Institute from 2001 to 2011 and identified 102 patients with ILC. We also pulled RS data from our institution's prospective registry of consecutive patients with early stage IDC treated during the same time period. Median follow‐up was 55 months. We found that the RS distribution for ILC differed significantly from that of IDC (p = 0.024). We also found a statistically significant difference in the RS distribution between the pure ILC and pleomorphic ILC subtypes (p = 0.027). The Oncotype DX RS distribution in ILC is unique, differing significantly from that in ductal carcinoma. Consequently, the clinical usefulness and cost‐effectiveness of the Oncotype DX in guiding treatment for ILC should be further investigated.
Treatment of acute relapses in neuromyelitis optica: Steroids alone versus steroids plus plasma exchange

Background: Although adding plasma exchange (PLEX) to steroids in severe neuromyelitis optica (NMO) attacks is common practice in steroid-resistant cases, the benefit of this strategy has not been previously quantified. Objective: The objective of this paper is to compare the efficacy of high-dose intravenous methylprednisolone (IVMP) versus IVMP+PLEX in treatment of acute NMO relapses. Methods: We conducted a retrospective review of the last 83 NMO admissions to the Johns Hopkins Hospital treated with IVMP alone versus IVMP+PLEX (for steroid-resistant cases). Extended Disability Status Scale (EDSS) score was calculated at baseline, at presentation, at discharge, and on follow-up. Results: Eighteen NMO relapses (16 patients, 87% female, mean age at relapse: 33.9±23.8, median baseline EDSS 2.5) were treated with IVMP alone and 65 relapses (43 patients, 95% female, mean age at relapse: 43.8±15.7, median baseline EDSS 5.75) were treated with IVMP + PLEX. Sixty-five percent of IVMP + PLEX patients achieved an EDSS equal or below their baseline at follow-up while only 35% of the IVMP-only patients achieved their baseline EDSS on follow-up (odds ratio=3.36, 95% CI 1.0657 to 10.6004, p = 0.0386). PLEX was more effective in improving EDSS in patients on preventive immunosuppressive medications at time of relapse. Conclusions: PLEX+IVMP are more likely to improve EDSS after NMO relapses compared to IVMP alone, especially in patients taking preventive medications.
The use of tracking technologies in tourism research: the first decade

ABSTRACT The past decade has witnessed dramatic growth in the implementation of various tracking technologies in tourism studies. A thorough review of literature reveals that 45 papers were published in peer-reviewed scientific journals, comprising 40 percent of the papers published in the three leading journals on tourism scholarship. The rate of papers published annually has grown in recent years and it is clear that this novel field is further expanding. The majority of studies analyzed employed GPS, mobile positioning, Bluetooth tracking, geocoded social media, and photo databases. The studies ranged in geographical scope from individual attractions to global capacity. Based on our review, tourism research that uses tracking data can be divided into three categories: the first generation of studies focused on methodological dimensions and the potential of tracking data. The second generation made use of spatially and temporally rich data and uncovered new aspects of tourism. The third generation made use of the new data sources to challenge fundamental questions on tourism and consumer behavior. Digital tracking data have clear advantages – data are spatially and temporally precise, geographic and temporal coverage of datasets is broad, and tracking data can be supplemented using questionnaires, sensors, and other sources.
The action potential and underlying ionic currents in proximal rat middle cerebral arterioles.

The active and passive electrical properties of isolated segments (length 120‐220 microns, diameter 60‐150 micron) of proximal rat middle cerebral arterioles (less than 1 mm from parent artery) were analysed using a single‐electrode current or voltage clamp. The voltage response to a current step exhibited an exponential time course. The mean resistance and time constant was 102 M omega and 265 ms corresponding to approximate specific resistance and capacitance of 60 k omega/cm and 4 micro F/cm2. Membrane resistance was constant in the range ‐55 to ‐80 mV. At potentials more negative than ‐80 mV there was a decrease in membrane resistance resulting in activation of an inward rectifier. At membrane potentials less negative than ‐50 mV the membrane resistance decreased; larger depolarizations (greater than ‐40 mV) initiated small regenerative responses. External application of tetraethylammonium chloride caused membrane depolarization (10‐15 mV), spontaneous discharge of action potentials and rhythmic arteriolar constriction. Action potentials studied with the membrane held at ‐60 mV had a large rapid depolarizing component, an after‐depolarization and a small slower after‐hyperpolarization. Tetrodotoxin (TTX) had no effect on the action potential. However, both the fast and slow components of the action potential were suppressed by extracellular removal of calcium ions and/or addition of cobalt ions, nifedipine or verapamil. Voltage‐clamp studies demonstrated an inward rectifying current at membrane potentials more negative than ‐80 mV. At depolarized potentials at least four separate currents were activated; two separate calcium currents and two outward currents.
Testing techniques for business surveys at the Federal Statistical Office, Germany. Methodology and results of two pretests.

In 2007 two business surveys drew special attention: the questionnaire relating to the yearly domestic trade statistics and the questionnaire of the NACE (Classification of Economic Activities in the European Community) revision for 2008. Since both surveys are compulsory the aim was to reduce the response burden for businesses. In this paper some of the main findings will be presented and methodological implications for future developments in pretesting business surveys will be given.
Sensor and feature selection for an emergency first responders activity recognition system

Human activity recognition (HAR) has a wide range of applications, such as monitoring ambulatory patients' recovery, workers for harmful movement patterns, or elderly populations for falls. These systems often operate in an environment where battery lifespan, power consumption, and hence computational complexity, are of prime concern. This work explores three methods for reducing the dimensionality of a HAR problem in the context of an emergency first responders monitoring system. We empirically estimate the accuracy of k-Nearest Neighbours, Support Vector Machines, and Gradient Boosted Trees when using different combinations of (A)ccelerometer, (G)yroscope and (P)ressure sensors. We then apply Principal Component Analysis for dimensionality reduction, and the Kruskal-Wallis test for feature selection. Our results show that the best combination is that which includes all three sensors (MAE: 3.6%), followed by the A/G (MAE: 3.7%), and the A/P combination (MAE 4.3%): the same as that when using the accelerometer alone. Moreover, our results show that the Kruskal-Wallis test can be used to discard up to 50% of the features, and yet improve the performance of classification algorithms.
Health and safety implications of exposure to electromagnetic fields in the frequency range 300 Hz to 10 MHz

An international seminar on health effects of exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMF) in the frequency range from 300 Hz to 10 MHz (referred to as the Intermediate Frequency (IF) range) was held in Maastricht, Netherlands, on 7–8 June 1999. The seminar, organized under the International EMF Project, was sponsored jointly by the World Health Organization (WHO), the International Commission on Non‐Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP), and the Government of the Netherlands. This report does not attempt to summarize all of the material presented at the conference, but focuses on sources of exposure, biophysical and dosimetric considerations pertinent to extrapolating biological data from other frequency ranges to IF and identifies potential health concerns and needs for developing exposure guidelines. This paper is based on presentations at the conference and reports of working groups consisting of the speakers and other experts. It concludes with recommendations for further research aimed at improving health risk assessments in this frequency range. Bioelectromagnetics 23:68–82, 2002. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Unmasking alternative splicing inside protein-coding exons defines exitrons and their role in proteome plasticity

Alternative splicing (AS) diversifies transcriptomes and proteomes and is widely recognized as a key mechanism for regulating gene expression. Previously, in an analysis of intron retention events in Arabidopsis, we found unusual AS events inside annotated protein-coding exons. Here, we also identify such AS events in human and use these two sets to analyse their features, regulation, functional impact, and evolutionary origin. As these events involve introns with features of both introns and protein-coding exons, we name them exitrons (exonic introns). Though exitrons were detected as a subset of retained introns, they are clearly distinguishable, and their splicing results in transcripts with different fates. About half of the 1002 Arabidopsis and 923 human exitrons have sizes of multiples of 3 nucleotides (nt). Splicing of these exitrons results in internally deleted proteins and affects protein domains, disordered regions, and various post-translational modification sites, thus broadly impacting protein function. Exitron splicing is regulated across tissues, in response to stress and in carcinogenesis. Intriguingly, annotated intronless genes can be also alternatively spliced via exitron usage. We demonstrate that at least some exitrons originate from ancestral coding exons. Based on our findings, we propose a “splicing memory” hypothesis whereby upon intron loss imprints of former exon borders defined by vestigial splicing regulatory elements could drive the evolution of exitron splicing. Altogether, our studies show that exitron splicing is a conserved strategy for increasing proteome plasticity in plants and animals, complementing the repertoire of AS events.
The role of stretching in rehabilitation of hamstring injuries: 80 athletes follow-up.

UNLABELLED For years, stretching has been an integral part of fitness, practice, and rehabilitation programs to decrease muscle stiffness and relieve pain associated with it. The increased joint range of motion (ROM), indicating the degree of muscle flexibility, has a benefit of stretching proven for healthy tissues. PURPOSE The objective of our study was the assessment of the effects of stretching in the rehabilitation of hamstring injuries. METHODS We followed up 80 Greek athletes, of average age 20.5 yr, with "second-degree" strain of the hamstring muscles. The athletes were divided into two groups, A and B. For both groups, we estimated the time required for the rehabilitation of the decreased knee ROM and the total time before the athletes could return to a full training program. RESULTS Group B, which carried out a more intensive stretching program, was found to have a statistically significant shorter time of regaining normal ROM (5.57 +/- 0.71 d) and rehabilitation period (13.27 +/- 0.71 d) in comparison with group A (7.32 +/- 0.525 d and 15.05 +/- 0.81 d, respectively). CONCLUSION Our results suggest that stretching is of great importance in treating muscle strain injuries in that it improves the effectiveness of the rest rehabilitation program.
Comparison between wireless and wired EEG recordings in a virtual reality lab: Case report

Wireless EEG is a promising tool that can bring neuroscience research closer to the study of perception and cognition in realistic scenarios. Perhaps the most interesting approach is to combine wireless EEG and virtual reality, where one can create and manipulate realistic multimodal environments. However EEG recording during locomotion in a virtual reality lab is exposed to several types of electrical noise generating hardware. In the current paper we present two studies. In the first we turned on and off possible sources of electrical noise. We found that although electrical noise is present in the data, it is typically localized above the frequency ranges of brain related activity. In the second study we measured event related potential changes to a simple visual stimulus using wireless and wired setup in a virtual reality room and in a psychophysiology lab. We found that the shape of the N1, an early component of visual processing is not affected by the type of signal transmission but importantly its latency is different in the two labs.
Demographic Change and Fiscal Sustainability in Asia

Changes in the population age structure can have significant effects on fiscal sustainability since they can affect both government revenue and expenditure. In this paper, we project government revenue, expenditure, and fiscal balance in developing Asia up to 2050 using a simple stylized model and the National Transfer Accounts data set. Rapidly aging countries are likely to suffer a tangible deterioration of fiscal sustainability under their current tax and expenditure system. On the other hand, rapid economic growth can improve fiscal health in poorer, relatively young countries with still-growing working-age populations. Overall, our results indicate that Asia’s population aging will adversely affect its fiscal sustainability, pointing to a need for Asian countries to further examine the impact of demographic shifts on their fiscal health.
Silica Morphogenesis by Alternative Processing of Silaffins in the Diatom Thalassiosira pseudonana*

For almost 200 years scientists have been fascinated by the ornate cell walls of the diatoms. These structures are made of amorphous silica, exhibiting species-spe- cific, mostly porous patterns in the nano- to micrometer range. Recently, from the diatom Cylindrotheca fusifor- mis unusual phosphoproteins (termed silaffins) and long chain polyamines have been identified and impli- cated in biosilica formation. However, analysis of the role of silaffins in morphogenesis of species-specific sil- ica structures has so far been hampered by the difficulty of obtaining structural data from these extremely com- plex proteins. In the present study, the five major silaf- fins from the diatom Thalassiosira pseudonana (tpSil1H, -1L, -2H, -2L, and -3) have been isolated, func- tionally analyzed, and structurally characterized, mak- ing use of the recently available genome data from this organism. Surprisingly, the silaffins of T. pseudonana and C. fusiformis share no sequence homology but are similar regarding amino acid composition and post- translational modifications. Silaffins tpSil1H and -2H are higher molecular mass isoforms of tpSil1L and -2L, respectively, generated in vivo by alternative processing of the same precursor polypeptides. Interestingly, only tpSil1H and -2H but not tpSil1L and -2L induce the for- mation of porous silica patterns in vitro, suggesting that the alternative processing event is an important step in morphogenesis of T. pseudonana biosilica.
Laboratory Studies of Variations in Feeding Behaviors Among Lygus hesperus (Hemiptera: Miridae) of Different Gender and Reproductive States

ABSTRACT Lygus hesperus Knight (Hemiptera: Miridae) is a key pest of cotton (Gossypium spp.) in the western United States that injures floral buds (squares) and developing fruit (bolls). Levels of Lygus-induced damage to cotton can vary by Lygus ages or gender, and these variations complicate interpretation of studies designed to elucidate Lygus and cotton interactions. Variations in observed injury may reflect different behaviors among Lygus gender or ages. We compared times allocated to feeding and trivial movement between male and female adult L. hesperus of different reproductive states: prereproductive, reproductive and mated, and reproductive and unmated. Prereproductive adults exhibited less trivial movement and spent more time stylet-probing compared with reproductive unmated and mated adults. Mated females stylet-probed more times than other classes of adults, whereas mated and unmated reproductive females exhibited more test probes (≤10 s duration) than prereproductive females. Reproductive females probed the anther region of squares less than prereproductive females. Instead, reproductive females tended to stylet-probe squares below the bracts, which is also where they oviposited. Each oviposition event was preceded by a short duration stylet-probe at the oviposition location. Unmated reproductive males exhibited more test probes but fewer ingestion probes (>1 min) compared with prereproductive and mated males. These results indicate a pattern in which prereproductive adults are less active and feed more compared with reproductive adults, but behaviors vary among reproductive adults of different gender and mating states. We propose that differences in behaviors exhibited among adult L. hesperus are related to the different requirements imposed by mate seeking, mate attraction, and oviposition.
Dosage finding for low‐dose spinal anaesthesia using hyperbaric prilocaine in patients undergoing perianal outpatient surgery

Hyperbaric prilocaine 20 mg/ml may be preferable for perianal outpatient surgery. The aim of this prospective, single‐centre, randomised, single‐blinded, controlled clinical trial was to determine the optimal dosage of hyperbaric prilocaine 20 mg/ml for a spinal anaesthesia (SPA) in patients undergoing perianal outpatient surgery.
Design, construction and test of a permanent-magnet prototype machine for wind energy applications

A low-speed radial-flux permanent-magnet (PM) electrical generator with new topology was designed, optimized, built and tested. The equivalent magnetic circuit approach together with the permanent magnet load line method were used as pre-design tools. The finite element technique (FET) was used for detailed characteristics and final adjustments. The design was carried out with high-energy NdFeB magnets with flux concentration arrangement. The topology allows for toroidal (torus) windings placed in flat slots with short ends, which contributes to higher efficiency and higher power to weight ratio. The flux concentration of the permanent magnets is tangential on the rotor support structure, which can be made from light nonmagnetic material. The cogging torque of the machine is estimated using the flux-MMF technique together with the help of FET. Good agreement between theoretical and experimental results has been achieved. Compared with other machine types of close power ratings, the developed prototype machine exhibits relatively high efficiency.