Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Comparison of active treatment and placebo in older Chinese patients with isolated systolic hypertension

Background Isolated systolic hyprtension occurs in around 8% of Chinese people aged 60 years or older. In 1988, the Systolic Hypertension in China (Syst-China) Collaborative Group started to investigate whether active treatment could reduce the incidence of stroke and other cardiovascular complications in older patients with isolated systolic hypertension. Methods All patients were initially started on masked placebo. After stratification for centre, sex and previous cardiovascular complications, alternate patients (n = 1253) were assigned nitrendipine at 10–40 mg daily, with the addition of captopril at 12.5–50.0 mg daily or hydrochlorothiazide at 12.5–50.0 mg daily, or both, if a sufficient blood pressure fall was not obtained. In the remaining 1141 control patients, matching placebos were administered similarly. Results At entry, sitting blood pressure averaged 170.5 mmHg systolic and 86.0 mmHg diastolic, age averaged 66.5 years and total serum cholesterol was 5.1 mmol/l. After 2 years of follow-up, sitting systolic and diastolic blood pressures had fallen by 10.9 mmHg and 1.9 mmHg in the placebo group and by 20.0 mmHg and 5.0 mmHg in the active treatment group. The intergroup differences were 9.1 mmHg systolic (95% confidence interval 7.6–10.7 mmHg) and 3.2 mmHg diastolic (95% confidence interval 2.4–4.0). Active treatment reduced total strokes by 38% (from 20.8 to 13.0 endpoints per 1000 patient-years, P = 0.01), all-cause mortality by 39% (from 28.4 to 17.4 endpoints per 1000 patient-years, P = 0.003), cardiovascular mortality by 39% (from 15.2 to 9.4 endpoints per 1000 patient-years, P = 0.03), stroke mortality by 58% (from 6.9 to 2.9 endpoints per 1000 patient-years, P = 0.02), and all fatal and nonfatal cardiovascular endpoints by 37% (from 33.3 to 21.4 endpoints per 1000 patient-years, P = 0.004). Conclusions Antihypertensive treatment prevents stroke and other cardiovascular complications in older Chinese patients with isolated systolic hypertension. Treatment of 1000 Chinese patients for 5 years could prevent 55 deaths, 39 strokes or 59 major cardiovascular endpoints.
Inferring Document Structure

PDF documents form a rich resource repository of knowledge on the Internet both for academia and for business. The lack of logical structure information of PDF documents, however, limits the possibility of automatic information retrieval in many ways. In order to enhance its usability, the logical components of a PDF document, such as title, heading, paragraph, or reference for academic articles, need to be detected. This project builds on previous work that extracts the physical layout information of conference papers from PDF files, and aims to detect the logical structure from their physical layouts. We designed and implemented two algorithms for homogeneous block aggregation and for logical structure detection in software using objectedoriented technology. They will be evaluated on an unseen test set of conference articles from the Association for Computational Linguistics (ACL) Anthology.
The Major Synovial Targets of the Rheumatoid Arthritis-Specific Antifilaggrin Autoantibodies Are Deiminated Forms of the α- and β-Chains of Fibrin1

IgG antifilaggrin autoantibodies (AFA) are the most specific serological markers of rheumatoid arthritis. In epithelial tissues, they recognize citrulline-bearing epitopes present on various molecular forms of (pro)filaggrin. Histological analysis of rheumatoid synovial membranes with an Ab to citrulline showed labeling of interstitial amorphous deposits and mononuclear cells of various types. Immunochemical analysis of exhaustive sequential extracts of the same tissues showed that they contain several deiminated (citrulline containing) proteins. Among them, two proteins, p64–78 and p55–61, present in urea-DTT and guanidine extracts, were shown by immunoblotting to be specifically targeted by AFA. By amino-terminal sequencing the proteins were identified as deiminated forms of the α- and β-chains of fibrin, respectively. Their identity was confirmed using several Abs specific for the Aα- and/or to the Bβ-chain of fibrin(ogen). Moreover, AFA-positive rheumatoid arthritis (RA) sera and purified AFA were highly reactive to the Aα- and Bβ-chains of human fibrinogen only after deimination of the molecules by a peptidylarginine deiminase. Autoantibodies affinity purified from a pool of RA sera onto deiminated fibrinogen were reactive toward all of the epithelial and synovial targets of AFA. This confirmed that the autoantibodies to the deiminated Aα-and Bβ-chains of fibrinogen, the autoantibodies to the synovial proteins p64–78 and p55–61, and, lastly, AFA, constitute largely overlapping autoantibody populations. These results show that deiminated forms of fibrin deposited in the rheumatoid synovial membranes are the major target of AFA. They suggest that autoimmunization against deiminated fibrin is a critical step in RA pathogenesis.
Prostaglandin E2 Effect from the Luminal Side on Renal Tubular 22Na Efflux: Tracer Microinjection Studies 1

Summary Using renal micropuncture techniques, the effect of luminal PGE2 on the net efflux of simultaneously administered 22Na was examined in rats in hyper-tonic saline diuresis. [3H]Inulin and 22NaCl were microinjected into the lumen of late-proximal convoluted tubules with and without PGE2, and the urinary recovery of 3H and 22Na were followed. Sodium recovery was significantly higher in the presence of PGE2 while renal function and the method and site of injection were similar. I wish to thank Dr. E. E. Elko and Dr. F. D. Sticht for the critical reading of this manuscript.
THE INFLUENCE OF STUDENT LEARNING EXPERIENCE LEVEL AND LEARNING STYLE ON ACHIEVEMENT

An emerging trend on university campuses has been to offer courses totally online, or with a blend of online and face-to-face components. In 2002, over 80% of public universities offered both blended and online courses to their on-campus students. It is reasonable to assume that students enrolled in an online class have a different learning experience and experience the course content differently than students enrolled in a face-to-face class, recognizing that different does not necessarily imply better or worse. The purpose of this quasi-experimental study was to determine if that difference in experience with the course content affects the amount of learning for students of differing learning styles. The sample used in this study consisted of undergraduate students enrolled in an introductory food science course. The control group consisted of students enrolled in a section of the course taught with a traditional lecture (N = 253). The experimental group consisted of students enrolled in a section of the course taught asynchronously using WebCT® and web pages (N = 247). Results indicated no differences for Concrete Sequential, Concrete Random, and Abstract Sequential learners. A significant, but impractical difference was found for Abstract Random learners, who achieved higher in the control group.
Infants' sensitivity to vowel and tonal contrasts.

McGill UniversityInfants 4 to 17 weeks of age were presented with sound which was con-tingent upon nonnutritive sucking. When the infants gave evidence ofsatiation to the initial stimulus, a contrasting sound was substituted. Sig-nificant response recovery was found when the stimuli were vowel con-trasts but was absent when the stimuli were tones differing in frequency.
Wideband and Low-Cross-Polarization Planar Annual Ring Slot Antenna

This letter presents the design of a wideband and low cross-polarization single-layer annual ring slot antenna. By adopting differential feeding, the cross-polarization level could effectively be lowered while ensuring a low antenna profile. The structure of the substrate integrated waveguide back cavity improved the antenna gain, and the extra two short-circuit stubs added a new resonance point, extending the bandwidth. Furthermore, a modified circular ring slot was adopted to further improve cross-polarization performance. The measured −10 dB impedance bandwidth of the antenna was 51% (9–15.17 GHz), the gain in passband was about 9 dBi, and the cross-polarization level was below −35 dB. Compared to other similar antennas, the proposed antenna features an apparent improvement in terms of gain, cross-polarization level, and bandwidth.
Antifibrotic actions of mycophenolic acid

Abstract: Mycophenolic acid (MPA) is a highly selective, non‐competitive and reversible inhibitor of the inosine monophosphate dehydrogenase (IMPDH), the rate‐limiting enzyme in the de novo biosynthesis of guanosine nucleotides. Mycophenolate mofetil (MMF, the ester prodrug of MPA) strongly inhibits both T‐ and B‐lymphocyte proliferation and has now been widely used in the prevention of acute and chronic allograft rejection. Recent evidence, however, suggests that MMF is also capable of inhibiting the proliferation of non‐immune cells. In various cell lines, e.g. smooth muscle cells, renal tubular cells, mesangial cells, and fibroblasts, MPA reduced or even abrogated proliferation in response to proliferative stimuli. In animal studies, MMF ameliorated renal lesions in immune‐mediated disease, e.g. in the Anti‐Thy 1.1 model and experimental lupus nephritis, but was also effective in non‐immune‐mediated renal damage, e.g. in the rat remnant kidney model or in a model of chronic cyclosporine nephrotoxicity in the rat. In humans, MMF reduced proteinuria in steroid‐resistant nephrotic syndrome and had beneficial effects in the prevention and treatment of chronic allograft nephropathy and calcineurin inhibitor toxicity through the reduction of immune‐ and non‐immune‐mediated renal damage. MMF is well tolerated and has proven to be a relatively safe drug. Taken together, there is a growing body of evidence pointing to therapeutic applications of MMF other than immunosuppression, in particular the prevention of fibrosis.
AUTOMATIC PROCESSING OF MOBILE LASER SCANNER POINT CLOUDS FOR BUILDING FAÇADE DETECTION

Currently, data captured by Mobile Laser Scanners (MLS) is becoming a leading source for the modelling of building facade geometry. Automatic processing of MLS point clouds for feature extraction on building facades is a demanding work. Point cloud segmentation and recognition are the most important steps in this context. In this paper, a new approach for automatic and fast processing of MLS data for the detection of building patches while restricting to segment other features is introduced. After filtering of the point clouds, the building facade extraction takes place. An initial building point cluster detection and roughness based point separation within the cluster itself are the preliminary stages of this process. Thereafter points are segmented into planar patches based on the Random Sample Consensus (RANSAC) technique, as most facades are dominated by planar faces. An intelligent seed point selection method is introduced, and growing rules are applied in order to extract the most significant planar features which represent the building facades. Each segmented plane is afterwards processed to recognize the facade features. A rule based partitioning tree, constructed from the 2D geometric knowledge of building features is used for facade feature recognition. The approach has been tested with several urban data sets, and results demonstrate that the method can be applied in an efficient modelling process.
Hypothermic Reperfusion after Cardiac Arrest Augments Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor Activation

Induction of mild hypothermia improves neurologic outcome after global cerebral ischemia. This study measured levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and nerve growth factor (NGF) in hippocampal tissue of rats after resuscitation from 8 minutes of normothermic, asphyxial cardiac arrest. After resuscitation, rats were maintained either at normal temperature (37°C) or cooled to mild hypothermia (33°C, beginning 60 minutes after resuscitation). After 12 or 24 hours, neurotrophin levels in hippocampus were measured by immunoblotting. Ischemia and reperfusion increased hippocampal levels of BDNF. Induction of hypothermia during reperfusion potentiated the increase in BDNF after 24 hours, but not after 12 hours. Levels of NGF were not increased by postresuscitation hypothermia. Hypothermia also increased tissue levels and tyrosine phosphorylation of TrkB, the receptor for BDNF. Increased BDNF levels were correlated with activation of the extracellularly regulated kinase (ERK), a downstream element in the signal transduction cascade induced by BDNF. In contrast to the many deleterious processes during ischemia and reperfusion that are inhibited by induced hypothermia, increasing BDNF levels is a potentially restorative process that is augmented. Increased activation of BDNF signaling is a possible mechanism by which mild hypothermia is able to reduce the neuronal damage typically occurring after cardiac arrest.
Effect of the Oral Contraceptive Pill on Ligamentous Laxity

Objective:Women are 4 to 8 times more likely to sustain a serious knee injury than their male counterparts. Previous studies have found that female sex steroids affect ligamentous tissue properties. The hypothesis is that there exists a difference in ligamentous laxity between oral contraceptive pill (OCP) users and nonusers. Design:Blinded, single-factor, posttest-only control group design. Setting:McGill University Sport Medicine Clinic, Montreal, Que-bec, Canada. Participants:One hundred twenty-seven female McGill University varsity athletes. Interventions:Participants filled out a screening questionnaire and underwent KT-1000 measurements by 1 blinded examiner. Exclusion criteria related to underlying knee pathology, and hormonal factors were identified with the questionnaire. Main Outcome Measurements:Independent sample, 2-tailed t tests were performed on the nondominant knee data of the OCP users and nonusers. Results:Mean anterior translations at 67 N were 3.00 ± 1.04 mm for the OCP users and 3.86 ± 1.72 mm for the nonusers (P = 0.011); at 89 N, 3.98 ± 1.13 mm vs. 4.83 ± 1.82 mm, respectively (P = 0.018). Mean anterior translations at 67 N were 2.95 ± 0.93 mm for the non-menstruating OCP users and 3.86 ± 1.72 mm for the nonusers (P = 0.008); at 89 N, 3.88 ± 1.06 mm vs. 4.83 ± 1.82 mm, respectively (P = 0.011). Conclusions:Oral contraceptive pill use yielded statistically significant decreases in anterior translation of the tibia as compared with nonusers. The OCP may have a role to play in the prevention of ACL injuries by prophylactically targeting 1 of the variables responsible for the increased ACL injury rates in women.
Metamodeling to Control and Audit E-Commerce Web Applications

With the increasing popularity of e-commerce, the growth potential of business is extraordinary; however, the path toward success can also be dangerous because of problems of quality control, security breaches, and e-service failures. One of the problems is that business managers generally lack sufficient assurance that the controls over e-processes are effective and efficient and that information announced to customers is correct and reliable. Powerful metamodeling is therefore required. The objective of this research is to develop an e-process audit mechanism by applying automatic model checking to check consistency between e-process flows implemented and those originally designed; to detect errors in the structure and contents of Web applications; and to assist the internal control and assurance managers with their frequent monitoring of the internal controls of Web applications. A prototype has been developed to evaluate the feasibility of the mechanism and has been applied in a real e-commerce case. The results show that it proved useful for the internal control and assurance purposes in the case company.
Cisplatin Induce Apotosis Via Upregulating Wrap 53 in Osteosarcoma Cells U-2 OS

Osteosarcoma is the second most common primary malignant bone tumor after multiple myeloma. The disease occurs predominantly in children, adolescents and young adults with a peak incidence during the second decade of life (Young and Miller, 1975). Currently, neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by definitive resection with subsequent adjuvant chemotherapy is the accepted approach to the treatment of localized osteosarcomas. Chemotherapy can eradicate the micrometastatic disease that is believed to be present in the majority of patients with clinically resectable cancer and contributes to an improved outcome of osteosarcoma patients. Cisplatin and oxaliplatin are widely used DNA cross-linking agents in the treatment of human cancer and has been used as part of the therapeutic regimen for osteosarcoma(Meyers et al., 2005). Cisplatin, a coordination complex that consists of Pt (II) bound to two ammine groups and two chloride ions, forms bivalent adducts with nucleophilic sites on purines in DNA, yielding predominantly DNA intrastrand crosslinks between adjacent purines. Lesions produced by cisplatin and other platinum-based compounds are widely known to activate the G1 and G2 cell cycle checkpoints. It has also been demonstrate that cisplatin can cause apoptosis in a p53-dependent manner (Caelles et al., 1994; Wagner et al.,
Approaches to dynamic multiple attribute decision making with 2-tuple linguistic information

In this paper, we investigate the dynamic linguistic multiple attribute decision making problems with 2-tuple linguistic information. In order to aggregate dynamic 2-tuple linguistic information, some new dynamic aggregation operators are proposed: the dynamic 2-tuple weighted averaging (DTWA) operator, dynamic 2-tuple weighted geometric (DTWG) operator and dynamic 2-tuple weighted harmonic averaging (DTWHA) operator. Furthermore, some procedures based on the DTWA/DTWG/ DTWHA operators and TWA/TWG/ TWHA operators are developed to solve the dynamic 2-tuple linguistic multiple attribute decision making problems where all the decision information about attribute values takes the form of 2-tuple linguistic information collected at different periods. Finally, an illustrative example for evaluating enterprise financial performance is given to verify the developed approach and to demonstrate its practicality and effectiveness.
Negative Wigner function at telecommunication wavelength from homodyne detection

Quantum states of light having a Wigner function with negative values represent a key resource in quantum communication and quantum information processing. Here, we present the generation of such a state at the telecommunication wavelength of 1550nm. The state is generated by means of photon subtraction from a weakly squeezed vacuum state and is heralded by the `click' of a single photon counter. Balanced homodyne detection is applied to reconstruct the Wigner function, also yielding the state's photon number distribution. The heralding photons are frequency up-converted to 532nm to allow for the use of a room-temperature (silicon) avalanche photo diode. The Wigner function reads W(0,0)=-0.063 +/- 0.004 at the origin of phase space, which certifies negativity with more than 15 standard deviations.
Choosing benefits or partners: a review of the evidence for the evolution of myrmecochory

Myrmecochory, or seed dispersal by ants, is a dispersal syndrome found among several thousand plant species occupying different ecosystems and geographical regions. Typically, ants benefit from consuming a lipid-rich appendage on the seed and in return provide seed dispersal service to the plant. Several hypotheses have been proposed to explain the selective advantage for plants resulting from myrmecochory, including directed dispersal, dispersal for distance and escape from seed predators. I contrast the evidence available in the literature for these hypotheses and distinguish the studies on the basis of ecosystem and plant growth forms. The predator-avoidance and the distance dispersal hypotheses were supported in most studies that addressed them, and the directed dispersal hypothesis was supported in about half of the studies that tested it. Multiple hypotheses were supported in most studies that tested more than one hypothesis, suggesting that the various selective advantages conferred from myrmecochory are seldom exclusive. I also review evidence for the hypothesis that plants have evolved adaptations both for selecting seed dispersers and for manipulating the behavior of those dispersers. Based on this evidence, I argue that focusing future research on the evolution of partner choice by myrmecochores and its effects on the overall plant fitness will be more fruitful than putting an emphasis on classifying the selective advantage to plants into distinct categories and test for their existence separately.
AN ENZYMATIC SYNTHESIS OF 5 ’-END SUBSTITUTED OLIGONUCLEOTIDES USING T 4 POLYNUCLEOTIDE KINASE AND γ-AMIDES OF ATP , BEARING PHOTOREACTIVE GROUPS

Photoreactive derivatives of oligonucleotides containing arylazido groups at 5’-phosphate introduced by chemical synthesis extensively are used for the investigation of the components of DNA replication/repair systems by the methods of photoaffinity modification. We proposed that ATP derivatives bearing photoreactive substitutions at γ-phosphate might turn out substrates for T4 polynucleotide kinase (T4 PNK) and this allows introducing different groups into the 5’-OH end of oligonucleotides. A set of γphosphoamides of ATP was synthesized and shown to be substrates of this enzyme. Photoreactive oligonucleotide conjugate obtained by using of the γ-N[-(4-azido-2,3,5,6-tetrafluorobenzoyl)-aminoethyl] amide ATP and 17-mer deoxyribooligonucleotide as substrates has been used for the photoaffinity labelling of human replication protein A (RPA) and flap endonuclease 1 (FEN 1). It can be proved that tested set of the γ-amides of ATP can be applied for the realization of the new enzymatic approach synthesis of 5'-end-phosphate substituted derivatives of riboand deoxyribooligonucleotides.
A new vascular Endostaple: a technical description.

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this report is to describe a new vascular Endostapling system. METHODS The vascular Endostapling system can be passed through a 13F insertion sheath that is inserted through the femoral artery. An optical fiber and overlying Endostaple will penetrate a previously inserted endoprosthesis and the aortic wall at whatever points are desired. Once the optical fiber is withdrawn, the Endostaple assumes its preformed shape and acts like a through-and-through wire suture. As tissue ingrowth proceeds, the long-term security and stabilization of the coiled coil mechanism are likely to increase. CONCLUSIONS We think Endostaples can be useful in preventing endograft migration and in treating endoleak at the site of the aortic neck-proximal endograft interface.