Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Risk reduction for type 2 diabetes in Aboriginal children in Canada.

Type 2 diabetes mellitus is increasingly being recognized as a disease affecting the paediatric population as well as the adult population [1]. In Canada, one group that has been clearly identified as being at high risk for developing type 2 diabetes is the children of First Nations descent in northwestern Ontario and northern Manitoba [2][3]. This trend has also been observed in several areas around the world, most notably among the Pima Nation in Arizona [4], Hispanic, African-American and Asian/Pacific Islander children. The rates of type 2 diabetes in Aboriginal children in Canada are rising. This rise is mirrored by an increasing trend toward childhood obesity and physical inactivity [5]-[7]. Type 2 diabetes is a preventable disease characterized by insulin resistance and insulin deficiency. Type 1 diabetes mellitus is a different disease that involves the failure of insulin production and is not discussed in this statement. The present statement provides a brief summary of the current state of the problem, summarizes some of the initiatives currently underway in Aboriginal communities and offers some feasible recommendations.
Wirelessly controlled LED fixture with heat sink — Design and implementation

This paper presents the design, implementation and deployment of thermally stable LED fixtures that can be controlled wirelessly using ZigBee. To improve the longevity of LEDs, parameters like LED disconnection, driver feedback voltage and temperature of the designed LED fixtures have been monitored and controlled remotely. Energy saving results shows that the LED fixtures designed can be used as a replacement for T8 fluorescent lamps.
Health risks of overseas travel

Editor—Dobson comments on an article that is to appear in Travel Medicine and Infectious Disease, in which the researchers call for more education about the prevention of malaria and other infectious diseases.1,2 ​ Figure 1 Credit: CDC We recently returned from the Rio Negro area, 40 km from Manaus city in the Amazon, Brazil. During the first trimester of 2003 Manaus experienced an 815% increase in cases of malaria compared with the same period in 2002.3 This means 223 new cases daily, and close to 17 000 notifications for the trimester.3 Despite this increase, most Americans and Europeans whom we met did not take malaria prophylaxis. Also, most were not vaccinated against yellow fever or hepatitis A. Many found it ridiculous that we were taking Malarone (atovaquone plus proguanil) and had received vaccines before we travelled. The local guides argued that malaria prophylaxis was unnecessary on the Rio Negro since mosquitoes do not thrive in the acidic waters of this part of the river. They were clearly well educated in biology and infectious diseases but apparently forgot that all tourists need to travel through high risk areas to reach the Rio Negro delta. Many young Europeans and Americans seem not to be used to taking responsibility for their own health. Decades of well functioning public health systems, vaccination programmes, easy access to “high tech” health services, etc, seem to leave young people naive and ignorant about infectious diseases.
The first report on flavonoid isolation from Annona crassiflora Mart

Annona crassiflora, a native tree from Brazilian Cerrado, is reported to possess several ethnomedical uses. Here, we report the isolation and unambiguous characterisation of the flavonoids quercetin-3-O-β-D-glucopyranosil(1 → 6)-O-α-L-arabinoside (1), known as peltatoside, kaempferol-3-O-β-D-galactopyranoside (2), quercetin-3-O-β-D-galactopyranoside (3), quercetin-3-O-β-L-arabinopiranoside (4) and the ( − )-epicatechin (5) from the hydroalcoholic portion of the leaf ethanolic extract. Their structures were elucidated by using 1D and 2D NMR, ESI-MS, UV/Vis spectroscopy, optical rotation analysis and literature data comparison. The leaf ethanolic extract and its isolated compounds were evaluated by using antimicrobial, antioxidant and larvicidal assays, expressing antimicrobial and antioxidant activities. This is the first report on flavonoid isolation from A. crassiflora.
Ultrasonic Lamb Wave Detection Based on a Tunable, Narrow-Linewidth, and Frequency-Locked Fiber Laser

Developments of advanced ultrasonic sensors have made significant impact in structural health monitoring as well as in other various fields including electronics, biomedicine, and geophysics. We describe a cost-effective, highly stabilized, and sensitive ultrasonic sensing system based on a tunable, narrow-linewidth fiber laser locked to resonance of a phase-shifted fiber Bragg grating (PS-FBG). Stable single-longitudinal-mode (SLM) operation of the fiber laser is achieved with a narrow-band self-written FBG that dynamically tracks the lasing wavelength. The SLM fiber laser with 1.48-kHz linewidth and 40-nm tuning range is frequency locked to the PS-FBG resonance in Pound–Drever–Hall configuration for robust and sensitive ultrasonic detection. The sensing system exhibits a high signal-to-noise ratio for ultrasonic detection and further application of the system for lamb wave detection makes it especially attractive for structural health monitoring.
Is Hyperthermia Teratogenic in the Human?

Maternal hyperthermia during embryogenesis has been postulated to cause a variety of major congenital anomalies in exposed offspring. Although the literature regarding human exposures is not conclusive, studies using animal models support the contention that major structural anomalies may be produced. In the present study, pregnancy outcome of a cohort of women who reported having a temperature of 101 degrees F or higher for 24 hours or more during the first trimester was compared to a control group of women (matched on last menstrual period, parity, and age) who denied having a fever. A statistically significant increased frequency of a specific type of congenital anomaly, abdominal wall defects, was found in offspring whose mothers had sustained high temperatures during embryogenesis. Although an increased risk of this type of congenital anomaly is not consistent with previous epidemiologic studies, similar defects of this organ system have been reported in offspring of pregnant nonhuman primates (monkeys) and rodents (guinea pigs) who experienced hyperthermia during pregnancy.
Femtosecond resonance enhanced CARS for background-free detection of organic molecules

We study the coherent excitation profile (CEP) of resonance enhanced femtosecond CARS in a model system zinc phthalocyanine in a polymer film host as a prospective technique for detection and identification of molecular species in ambient environments. A new method of suppressing the non-resonant FWM background is demonstrated. Transform theory is applied to calculate CEP based on the absorption spectrum, and good agreement between theory and experiment is obtained.
Mycotoxins in infant cereal foods from the Canadian retail market

Three hundred and sixty-three samples of cereal-based infant foods were collected from the Canadian retail marketplace over 3 years. The samples included oat-, barley-, soy-, and rice-based infant cereals, mixed-grain infant cereals, teething biscuits, creamed corn, and soy-based formulas. Samples were analysed for targeted mycotoxins (deoxynivalenol, nivalenol, HT-2 toxin, zearalenone, ochratoxin A, fumonisins B1 and B2, and five ergot alkaloids). Soy-based cereals (which usually contain corn) exhibited the highest incidences of deoxynivalenol (100%), zearalenone (46%) and fumonisins (75%). Overall, deoxynivalenol was the most frequently detected mycotoxin — it was detected in 63% of samples analysed. Survey results demonstrated the regular occurrence of multiple mycotoxins in cereal-based infant foods.
THE QUALITY OF WOMEN'S LIFE AFTER MASTECTOMY IN POLAND

From the increasing number of women who recovered from breast cancer arises more academic interest in their subjective opinions about the quality of their life (QL), particularly the physical, psychological, and social aspects of it. Our aim in this study was to evaluate the QL of Polish women after mastectomy. The research was performed on 480 randomly chosen patients who had been subjected to surgical treatment. The functional assessment of cancer therapy (FACT) scale version 4 and hospital anxiety and depression scale (HADS) were used during the research procedure. The lowest results within the global opinion of QL were obtained within the emotional sphere. The most frequent mental states experienced by the examined patients were worry, sadness, nervousness, fear, and depression.
Heterogeneous Image Stylization Using Neural Networks

Automated image stylization to create artistically pleasing images from ordinary photographs is an interesting and useful task in computer vision. Therefore, several automated styling methods have been developed using powerful Deep Neural Network (DNN) features. They typically use a carefully constructed joint loss function to separately consider the similarities between a proposed output and the input content & style images. However, most previous methods apply a single homogeneous stylization optimization to the entire image or require manual creation of segmentation masks for good performance. These systems may perform poorly when the input style and content image differ greatly, or if the content requires a difference in the rendering of certain regions (e.g. facial details). In this paper, we propose a heterogeneous stylization system making full use of a Segmentation Deep Convolution Neural Network, which produces hierarchical semantic information and performs feature extraction simultaneously. This allows a semantically guided heterogeneous stylization. We also consider which factors influence the quality of stylization, and visualize the networks' capacity to render desired details effectively.
Digital thermal monitoring of the Amazon forest: an intercomparison of satellite and reanalysis products

Remote sensing and climate digital products have become increasingly available in recent years. Access to these products has favored a variety of Digital Earth studies, such as the analysis of the impact of global warming over different biomes. The study of the Amazon forest response to drought has recently received particular attention from the scientific community due to the occurrence of extreme droughts and anomalous warming over the last decade. This paper focuses on the differences observed between surface thermal anomalies obtained from remote sensing moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) and climatic (ERA-Interim) monthly products over the Amazon forest. With a few exceptions, results show that the spatial pattern of standardized anomalies is similar for both products. In terms of absolute anomalies, the differences between the two products show a bias near to zero with a standard deviation of around 0.2 K, although the differences can be up to 1 K over particular regions and months. Despite this general agreement, the proper filtering of MODIS daily values in order to construct a new monthly product showed a dramatic reduction in the number of reliable pixels during the rainy season, while for the dry season this reduction is only seen in Northern Amazonia.
The RcsAB Box

The interaction of the two transcriptional regulators RcsA and RcsB with a specific operator is a common mechanism in the activation of capsule biosynthesis in enteric bacteria. We describe RcsAB binding sites in the wza promoter of the operon for colanic acid biosynthesis in Escherichia coliK-12, in the galF promoter of the operon for K2 antigen biosynthesis in Klebsiella pneumoniae, and in thetviA (vipR) promoter of the operon for Vi antigen biosynthesis in Salmonella typhi. We further show the interaction of RcsAB with the rcsA promoters of various species, indicating that rcsA autoregulation also depends on the presence of both proteins. The compilation of all identified RcsAB binding sites revealed the conserved core sequence TaAGaatatTCctA, which we propose to be termed RcsAB box. The RcsAB box is also part ofBordetella pertussis BvgA binding sites and may represent a more distributed recognition motif within the LuxR superfamily of transcriptional regulators. The RcsAB box is essential for the induction of Rcs-regulated promoters. Site-specific mutations of conserved nucleotides in the RcsAB boxes of the E. coli wzaand rcsA promoters resulted in an exopolysaccharide-negative phenotype and in the reduction of reporter gene expression.
Lifestyle factors related to iodine intakes in French adults

Abstract Objective To assess dietary iodine intakes among adults and to investigate the relationships of dietary, lifestyle, demographic and geographical characteristics with dietary iodine status. Adequacy of iodine intakes was also assessed. Design Cross-sectional study. Linear regression analyses and logistic regression modelling were used to determine correlates of iodine intakes. Usual iodine mean intake was calculated by averaging six 24 h dietary records completed over a 2-year period. Subjects Females aged 35–60 years (n 2962) and males aged 45–60 years (n 2117) living in France and who participated in the SU.VI. MAX study. Results Iodine intakes ranged from 30·0 to 446·3 μg/d. The median iodine intake was 150·7 μg/d for males and 131·4 μg/d for females. High-level (97·5th percentile) intakes were 273·4 μg/d for males and 245·0 μg/d for females. Overall, 8·5 % of males and 20·3 % of females had intakes <100 μg/d (P < 0·001). Alcohol drinkers and smokers tended to have lower iodine intakes than abstainers or non-smokers. Regular physical activity and both intermediate and high education levels were associated with a lower risk of iodine intake of <150 μg/d. For both males and females there were significant overall regional differences (P < 0·001) in multivariate-adjusted iodine intakes, with higher adjusted iodine intakes in Brittany and Normandy than in the north-eastern region. Conclusions Our data show a borderline low iodine intake in this middle-aged French population. However, differences in iodine intakes may contribute to explaining only a small part of the effects of sex and age on thyroid disease incidence.
MiR-1505 p Suppresses Colorectal Cancer Cell Migration and Invasion through Targeting MUC 4

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the leading causes of cancer related deaths worldwide (Jemal et al., 2009). Although improved treatment strategies involving surgery, chemoand radio-therapy have increased the overall survival rates in early stages, metastasis and relapse are still the main cause of CRC death. Over the past few years, a large number of miRNAs have been discovered to be correlated with tumor pathogenesis and progression, and miR-150 is one of the most widely researched miRNAs in various kinds of cancer (Lin et al., 2008; Wu et al., 2010; Watanabe et al., 2011). However, there are few researches about miR150-5p in CRC was reported. Previous studies shown that miR-150-5p was low expressed in CRC tissues (Ma et al., 2012; Pizzini et al., 2013), and patients whose tumors had low miR-150-5p expression had shorter survival and a worse response to adjuvant chemotherapy than patients whose tumors had high miRNA expression (Ma et al., 2012), which indicated that miR-150-5p might act as a tumor suppressor gene in CRC. However, the role of miR-150-5p in CRC and its possible mechanism of the action remain to be further explored. MUC4 is a high-molecular weight glycoprotein that belongs to the family of membrane bound mucins (Chaturvedi et al., 2008), which is expressed by epithelial cells in normal respiratory, gastrointestinal and genital tracts (Audie et al., 1993). In cancers originating from these epithelial cells MUC4 is frequently over-expressed
A modified energy management strategy based on SDP policy iteration for commuter hybrid electric vehicles

This paper focus on the investigation of solving the energy management optimization problem by the stochastic dynamic programming (SDP) policy iteration approach for commuter hybrid electric vehicles. In view of transition probabilities property of Markov chain while considering system physical constraints, the calculation method is given to several key parameter matrixes in the procedure of policy improvement when the SDP policy iteration algorithm is applied to stochastic system with states and inputs constraints. And then a modified energy management strategy for commuter hybrid electric vehicles is derived from the proposed calculation method. Moreover, several contrastive simulation results are presented to demonstrate the comparative advantage of the modified energy management strategy on the engine operating more efficiently with satisfactions of drivability demand and battery charge-sustaining.
Genetic control of cell communication in C. elegans development

Cell communication is crucial for many aspects of growth and differentiation during the development of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. Two genes, glp‐1 and lin‐12, mediate a number of known cell–cell interactions. Genetic and molecular analyses of these two genes lead to the conclusion that they are structurally and functionally related. We summarize these studies as well as those involving the identification of other genes that interact with glp‐1 and / or lin‐12.
The flipped classroom allows for more class time devoted to critical thinking.

The flipped classroom was utilized in a two-semester, high-content science course that enrolled between 50 and 80 students at a small liberal arts college. With the flipped model, students watched ~20-min lectures 2 days/wk outside of class. These videos were recorded via screen capture and included a detailed note outline, PowerPoint slides, and review questions. The traditional format included the same materials, except that lectures were delivered in class each week and spanned the entire period. During the flipped course, the instructor reviewed common misconceptions and asked questions requiring higher-order thinking, and five graded case studies were performed each semester. To determine whether assessments included additional higher-order thinking skills in the flipped vs. traditional model, questions across course formats were compared via Blooms Taxonomy. Application-level questions that required prediction of an outcome in a new scenario comprised 38 ± 3 vs. 12 ± 1% of summative assessment questions (<0.01): flipped vs. traditional. Final letter grades in both formats of the course were compared with major GPA. Students in the flipped model performed better than their GPA predicted, as 85.5% earned a higher grade (vs. 42.2% in the traditional classroom) compared with their major GPA. These data demonstrate that assessments transitioned to more application-level compared with factual knowledge-based questions with this particular flipped model, and students performed better in their final letter grade compared with the traditional lecture format. Although the benefits to a flipped classroom are highlighted, student evaluations did suffer. More detailed studies comparing the traditional and flipped formats are warranted.
Quantitative Real-Time PCR for Determination of Microcystin Synthetase E Copy Numbers for Microcystis and Anabaena in Lakes

ABSTRACT Cyanobacterial mass occurrences in freshwater lakes are generally formed by Anabaena, Microcystis, and Planktothrix, which may produce cyclic heptapeptide hepatotoxins, microcystins. Thus far, identification of the most potent microcystin producer in a lake has not been possible due to a lack of quantitative methods. The aim of this study was to identify the microcystin-producing genera and to determine the copy numbers of microcystin synthetase gene E (mcyE) in Lake Tuusulanjärvi and Lake Hiidenvesi in Finland by quantitative real-time PCR. The microcystin concentrations and cyanobacterial cell densities of these lakes were also determined. The microcystin concentrations correlated positively with the sum of Microcystis and Anabaena mcyE copy numbers from both Lake Tuusulanjärvi and Lake Hiidenvesi, indicating that mcyE gene copy numbers can be used as surrogates for hepatotoxic Microcystis and Anabaena. The main microcystin producer in Lake Tuusulanjärvi was Microcystis spp. , since average Microcystis mcyE copy numbers were >30 times more abundant than those of Anabaena. Lake Hiidenvesi seemed to contain both nontoxic and toxic Anabaena as well as toxic Microcystis strains. Identifying the most potent microcystin producer in a lake could be valuable for designing lake restoration strategies, among other uses.
Spongiform encephalopathy with chronic progressive external ophthalmoplegia

CHRONIC PROGRESSIVE external ophthalmoplegia is a rare condition which usually begins with bilateral ptosis and progresses to involve all the extraocular musculature in a symmetrical fashion. The end result is complete immobility of the eyes with preservation of the pupillary reactions. The onset is often in childhood but may be at any age. In the nineteenth century literature, reviewed bv Wilson1 and Kiloh and Nevin,' the syndrome usually was attributed to brainstem nuclear atrophy. This concept prevailed despite the lack of good anatomical verification. The first case with well-described brainstem lesions was reported by Langdon and Cadwalader"4 in 1928. They studied an 84-year-old woman who had chronic progressive external ophthalmoplegia for forty years. There were changes in the third, fourth, and sixth cranial nerve nuclei which the authors felt were responsible for the ophthalmoplegia. The only other anatomical support for a nuclear etiology was by Jedlowski5 in 1943. He examined the brain of a 29-year-old woman with the disorder who died of pneumonia. There was considerable degeneration of the pertinent cranial nerve nuclei. The extraocular muscles were said to reveal neurogenic atrophy. However, the fascicles and nerves were normal. SandiferG in 1946 had biopsied a medial rectus muscle in a patient with chronic progressive external ophthalmoplegia and stated that the, changes were indicative of myopathy. In 1950, Scharf,' without anatomical support, argued that the clinical findings were most compatible with supranuclear lesions. One year later, Kiloh and Nevi9 reported 3 patients with this syndrome, 2 of whom had extraocular muscle biopsies which were said to be diagnostic of a myopathy. All 3 had muscle weakness elsewhere in the body. No examinations of the brainstems or nerves were included. These authors contended that their cases proved that chronic progressive external ophthalmoplegia was an ocular myopathy and further indicated that there was no significant evidence that nuclear degeneration ever produced this syndrome. Langdon and Cadwalader's reports334 were discounted because of the advanced age of the patient and the mild degree of nuclear changes. They felt that Jedlowski's case5 was unconvincing because of the normal fascicles and nerves. Also, Kiloh and Nevin2 stated that the nuclear degeneration may have been secondary to primary muscle disease. Since Kiloh and Nevin's paper there has been almost universal agreement in subsequent reports, based primarily on extraocular muscle biopsies, that chronic progressive external ophthalmoplegia is an ocular myopathy. Others have concurred that the concept of primary nuclear degeneration be abandoned.8-10 Only occasional mention of supranuclear factors are found, but without verifying data from autopsy analysis.11 The following case report is of a girl with chronic progressive external ophthalmoplegia in whose brain a widespread status spongiosus