Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Energy requirements of CNS cells as related to their function and to their vulnerability to ischemia: a commentary based on studies on retina.

CNS tissue is well known to have large energy requirements. However, because of the difficulty of measuring rates of energy usage, relatively little is known about which cell types and which neurophysiological functions are the principal energy users. In experiments performed on rabbit retina in vitro, it was possible to measure O2 consumption and lactate production with the retinas under resting conditions and in different states of physiological activity. Resting energy consumption was large, as has been previously reported, and there were increases of up to 2.3 times with activity. Under some circumstances, the demands appeared to exceed the energy available. It was calculated that less than 5% of the energy generated by the retina was used for "vegetative metabolism" (i.e., for the anabolic reactions essential for viability), so that even in the resting state, the great majority of the energy usage appeared to be for function-related processes. This conclusion received further support from the finding that 50% of the energy generated was used for Na+ transport. The data obtained on retina are compared with published data on brain, which also suggest that a large fraction of the energy generated is used for function-related processes. It seems reasonable to conclude that by reversibly blocking the energy-demanding processes responsible for neurophysiological functioning, it would be possible to eliminate most of the energy requirements of CNS tissue and to reduce markedly its vulnerability to hypoperfusion.
Long-term complications associated with prosthetic repair of incisional hernias.

OBJECTIVE To determine whether the type of prosthetic material and technique of placement influenced long-term complications after repair of incisional hernias. DESIGN Retrospective cohort analytic study. SETTING University-affiliated hospital. PATIENTS Two hundred patients undergoing open repair of abdominal incisional hernias with prosthetic material between 1985 and 1994. INTERVENTIONS Four types of prosthetic material were used and placed either as an onlay, underlay, sandwich, or finger interdigitation technique. The materials were monofilamented polypropylene mesh (Marlex, Davol Inc, Cranston, RI), double-filamented mesh (Prolene, Ethicon Inc, Somerville, NJ), expanded polytetrafluroethylene patch (Gore-Tex, WL Gore & Associates, Phoenix, Ariz) or multifilamented polyester mesh (Mersilene, Ethicon Inc). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES The incidence of recurrence and complications such as enterocutaneous fistula, bowel obstruction, and infection with each type of material and technique of repair were compared with univariate and multivariate analysis. RESULTS On univariate analysis, multifilamented polyester mesh had a significantly higher mean number of complications per patient (4.7 vs 1.4-2.3; P<.002), a higher incidence of fistula formation (16% vs 0%-2%; P<.001), a greater number of infections (16% vs 0%-6%; P<.05), and more recurrent hernias (34% vs 10%-14%; P<.05) than the other materials used. The additional mean length of stay to treat complications was also significantly longer (30 vs 3-7 days; P<.001) when polyester mesh was used. The deleterious effect of polyester mesh on long-term complications was confirmed on multiple logistic regression (P=.002). The technique of placement had no influence on outcome. CONCLUSION Polyester mesh should no longer be used for incisional hernia repair.
Homologous recombination between a lactococcal bacteriophage and the chromosome of its host strain.

Genetic exchanges constitute a significant means by which bacteriophages acquire novel characteristics. Phages of Lactococcus lactis occupy a particular niche, the dairy factory environment, where their populations are subjected to constant changes. Little is known about the mechanisms of evolution that lead to the genetic diversity of lactococcal phages. In this study, we described two DNA exchanges involving the lytic phage ul36, a member of the P335 species, and its L. lactis host. They occurred by homologous recombination with phage-related sequences present in the host chromosome. Both mutants generated by these recombination events are insensitive to the phage resistance mechanism AbiK and one has a reduced burst size as well as a new origin of replication. We propose that this type of DNA exchange with prophages or remnants of prophages occurs frequently within the P335 species as supported by DNA-DNA comparisons between P335-like phages.
Migration de processus pour un multi-noyau large échelle

Pour continuer d’augmenter les performances, les architectes integrent de plus en plus de cœurs dans les processeurs. Les architectures dites manycore avec des milliers de cœurs sont a prevoir prochainement. Pour repondre au defi energetique, il existe des architectures manycore basees sur des cœurs 32 bits. La gestion d’une memoire dont la taille est superieure a 4Go est alors un probleme. Une solution consiste a distribuer la gestion de la memoire par plage de 4Go en remplacant le noyau monolithique par un multi-noyau. Cet article propose la mise en place et l’evaluation d’un service de migration de processus dans ce contexte multi-noyau. Ce travail est base sur le multi-noyau ALMOS-MK et sur l’architecture manycore TSAR. Nos resultats montrent qu’il est possible de deplacer des processus sur une telle plateforme sans affecter les performances, permettant d’exploiter pleinement les ressources offertes et de conserver le budget energetique des architectures 32 bits.
Sparse recovery in myocardial blood flow quantification via PET

In this paper we are considering the problem of myocardial blood flow quantification via dynamic positron emission tomography (PET). In dynamic PET the measured data is divided into small temporal bins leading to a low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) in each temporal bin. Thus, the physiological parameters have to be estimated using bad quality reconstructions. We want to overcome this problem by incorporating apriori information in the form of a linear physiological model, represented by basis functions. To identify the parameters in question we combine the reconstruction process with sparsity regularization.
The Rac2 Guanosine Triphosphatase Regulates B Lymphocyte Antigen Receptor Responses and Chemotaxis and Is Required for Establishment of B-1a and Marginal Zone B Lymphocytes1

We have defined roles for the hemopoietic-specific Rho guanosine triphosphatase, Rac2, in B lymphocyte development and function through examination of rac2−/− mice. Rac2-deficient mice displayed peripheral blood B lymphocytosis and marked reductions in peritoneal cavity B-1a lymphocytes, marginal zone B lymphocytes, and IgM-secreting plasma cells as well as reduced concentrations of serum IgM and IgA. The rac2−/− B lymphocytes exhibited reduced calcium flux following coligation of B cell AgR and CD19 and reduced chemotaxis in chemokine gradients. T cell-independent responses to DNP-dextran were of reduced magnitude, but normal kinetics, in rac2−/− mice, while T-dependent responses to nitrophenyl-keyhole limpet hemocyanin were subtly abnormal. Rac2 is therefore an essential element in regulating B lymphocyte functions and maintaining B lymphocyte populations in vivo.
Effects of training status and exercise intensity on phase II VO2 kinetics.

PURPOSE To test the hypotheses that: 1) the time constant for the fast component of . VO2 kinetics (tau1) at exercise onset would be faster in trained than in untrained subjects for both moderate and heavy exercise, and that 2) tau1 would become progressively slower in untrained subjects at higher power outputs but be invariant in trained subjects. METHODS Eight untrained subjects (.VO2peak: 42.9 +/- 5.1 mL.kg-1.min-1) and seven trained cyclists (.VO2peak: 66.6 +/- 2.5 mL.kg-1.min-1) completed square-wave transitions to power outputs requiring 60% and 80% of gas exchange threshold (GET), and 50% of the difference between GET and . VO2 peak (50%Delta) from a baseline of "unloaded" cycling. VO2 was measured breath-by-breath and individual responses were modeled using nonlinear regression techniques. RESULTS A repeated measures ANOVA revealed that the tau1 was significantly smaller (i.e., the kinetics were faster) in the trained compared with the untrained subjects and that tau1 became significantly greater (i.e., the kinetics were slowed) at higher power outputs both in the untrained (60%GET: 17.8 +/- 3.8 s, 80%GET: 21.5 +/- 6.6 s, and 50%Delta: 23.5 +/- 2.8 s) and the trained (60%GET: 8.9 +/- 1.3 s, 80%GET: 11.7 +/- 2.5 s, and 50%Delta: 15.2 +/- 2.0 s) subjects (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION Phase II . VO2 kinetics became progressively slower at higher power outputs in both trained and untrained subjects. That a greater tau1 was evident at a higher power output within the moderate exercise intensity domain (<GET), where O2 availability is presumed not to be limiting, indicates that the slowing of the phase II . VO2 kinetics may be attributed to other factors besides O2 availability such as the recruitment of higher threshold motor units.
FVEC-SVM for opinion mining on Indonesian comments of youtube video

Support Vector Machine (SVM) has long been used in opinion mining social media website including YouTube, the most popular video sharing based media social in the world. However, the preprocessing approach and use of kernel functions in SVM requires precision in the selection of appropriate kernel functions in order to get high accuracy. Thus, this research focuses on proposing FVEC approach for preprocessing and finding the best kernel function in term of accuracy, for opinion mining on Indonesian comments of YouTube video. Four types of kernel functions have been investigated, namely linear, poly degree 2, poly degree 3, and RBF. The experiment uses 13,638 Indonesian comments of YouTube videos that review about smartphone products of various brands. The comments can contain sentiments that refer to how the video is delivered or the product itself, or even irrelevant to both, so this study classifies comments into seven classes. From the experimental result show that FVEC-SVM using linear kernel function is outperformed than others on accuracy term, i.e. 62.76%.
Epitope structure and binding affinity of single chain llama anti‐β‐amyloid antibodies revealed by proteolytic excision affinity‐mass spectrometry

ß‐Amyloid (Aß) immunotherapy has become a promising strategy for reducing the level of Aß in brain. New immunological approaches have been recently proposed for rapid, early diagnosis, and molecular treatment of neurodegenerative diseases related to Alzheimer's Disease (AD). The combination of proteolytic epitope excision and extraction and mass spectrometry using digestion with various proteases has been shown to be an efficient tool for the identification and molecular characterization of antigenic determinants. Here, we report the identification of the Aβ epitope recognized by the variable domain of single chain llama anti‐Aβ‐antibodies, termed Aβ‐nanobodies, that have been discovered in the blood of camelids and found to be promising candidates for immunotherapy of AD. The epitope recognized by two Aβ‐specific nanobodies was identified by proteolytic epitope extraction‐ and excision‐mass spectrometry using a series of proteases (trypsin, chymotrypsin, GluC‐protease, and LysC‐protease). Matrix‐assisted laser desorption ionization – mass spectrometric analysis of the affinity – elution fraction provided the epitope, Aβ(17–28), in the mid‐ to carboxy‐terminal domain of Aβ, which has been shown to exert an Aß‐fibril inhibiting effect. Affinity studies of the synthetic epitope confirmed that the Aβ(17–28) peptide is the minimal fragment that binds to the nanobodies. The interactions between the nanobodies and full length Aβ(1–40) or Aβ‐peptides containing or lacking the epitope sequence were further characterized by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay and bioaffinity analysis. Determinations of binding affinities between the Aβ‐nanobodies and Aβ(1–40) and the Aβ(17–28) epitope provided KD values of approximately 150 and 700 nmol, respectively. Thus, the knowledge of the epitope may be highly useful for future studies of Aβ‐aggregation (oligomerization and fibril formation) and for designing new aggregation inhibitors. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
[Familial and genetic study in a large Chinese kindred with von Hippel-Lindau disease and gene mutation analysis].

OBJECTIVE To report the clinical characterization of a large Chinese kindred with von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) disease and to evaluate the role of VHL genetic testing in diagnosis of VHL disease and clinical screening for members in VHL disease family. METHODS A large kindred with VHL disease was studied. DNA extracted from peripheral blood was amplified by PCR to three exons of VHL gene in 27 members. PCR products were directly sequenced. The data on involvement of multi-organs in the VHL disease kindred were obtained by medical history taking and radiography. RESULTS There were 47 members in the four generations of the Chinese VHL kindred; among them, 18 members were patients with diagnostically proven VHL disease. Their clinical manifestations included: central nervous system(CNS) hemangioblastoma (n=5), renal cell carcinomas and CNS hemangioblastoma (n=3), renal cell carcinomas and retinal angiomas (n=3), renal cell carcinomas and multiple pancreatic cysts (n=1), renal cell carcinomas and retinal angiomas and multiple pancreatic cysts (n=2), renal cell carcinomas and CNS hemangioblastomas and multiple pancreatic cysts (n=1), and multiple pancreatic cysts and multiple renal cysts (n=1), and multiple pancreatic cysts (n=2). The common lesions of 18 patients in the large kindred were: renal cell carcinomas (56%), CNS hemangioblastomas(50%),retinal angiomas(28%), and multiple pancreatic cysts(39%). Of the 27 members who volunteered for genetic analysis, all 11 affected family patients who are still alive, including 9 affected family patients and 2 asymptomatic patients, presented a codon 78 from Asn to Ser change at nucleotide 446(A to G) in exon 1. Four members were carriers with the same VHL gene mutation. Two asymptomatic cases were initially diagnosed by genetic testing and subsequently confirmed by radiological imaging and surgery. Members not having the gene mutation had no clinical evidence of VHL disease. CONCLUSION The large Chinese kindred with VHL disease was classified as type . The main characteristics of the kindred are higher incidence of renal cell carcinomas and lower incidence of retinal angiomas. The genetic testing played an important role in early detecting asymptomatic patients and the carriers in clinical screening for members in the VHL families. Also, it is important to prevent the transmission of VHL disease to the offspring in the kindred.
Conservative Surgery Without Radiotherapy in the Treatment of Patients with Early‐Stage Invasive Breast Cancer A Review

ObjectiveThe authors determined whether some patients with clinical stage I or II invasive breast cancer can be adequately treated by conservative surgery without radiotherapy. Summary Background DataCurrently, there are many patients who are being treated in this manner in both academic and community hospitals. This approach is not as effective as either mastectomy or conservative surgery followed by radiotherapy in preventing local recurrence. However, there may be subsets of patients who might be adequately treated by surgery atone with acceptably low recurrence rates MethodsThe authors reviewed retrospective studies of conservative surgery alone and of randomized trials comparing the results of treatment with and without postoperative radiotherapy. ResultsThe local recurrence rate is unacceptably high when random patients are treated with conservative surgery without radiotherapy. More favorable results may be possible when relatively wide excisions are performed on selected postmenopausal patients with small lesions without an extensive intraductal component, lymphatic or blood-vessel invasion, and histologically negative axillary nodes. The role of tamoxifen in reducing the risk of breast recurrence is uncertain. Despite salvage therapy, some individuals may develop disseminated disease as a result of local recurrence. ConclusionsThe authors believe that conducting carefully designed prospective studies of conservative surgery alone is reasonable for patients who are adequately informed of the potential risks of omitting radiation therapy. However, currently, patients should not be treated with conservative surgery alone (without radiotherapy) without such stringent guidelines.
Irrigation protocol among endodontic faculty and post-graduate students in dental colleges of India: A survey

Background: Irrigation protocol is the most critical step during the disinfection of an infected root canal system. Aim: The purpose of this study was to determine the root canal irrigation trends being practiced among the endodontic teaching faculty and post-graduate students in the dental colleges present in India. Materials and Methods: A postal invitation to participate in this national survey was sent to the Department of Conservative Dentistry and Endodontic of 294 Dental Colleges present in India. A total of 2389 forms were successfully delivered out of which 794 duly filled forms were received back. Survey participants were asked about their irrigant selection, irrigant concentration, smear layer removal protocol, and use of adjuncts during irrigation. Results: This survey elicited a positive response rate of 33.23%. Our data indicated that 92.8% of respondents use sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) as the primary endodontic irrigant, with 26 gauge needle being most preferred for syringe irrigation, with 49.3% of them using it at a concentration of 2.6-4.0%. 68% of our respondents aim to remove the smear layer during the endodontic treatment while 47% reported using ultrasonic activation as an adjunct during their irrigation protocol. Conclusions: The findings of this survey are that the majority of teaching institutions in India are employing NaOCl (2.6-4.0%) as the primary endodontic irrigant. The concept of smear layer removal is high (68%), and there is a general trend (78%) to modify the irrigation protocol according to the status of the pulp, status of the periapex and in retreatment cases.
FPGA architectures for evolution of communication using proximity for emergency

Machine to Machine forms the basis for the Internet of Things. Communication between machines using any communications protocol, including wired and wireless was referred as Machine to machine communication. In real-time applications the wireless communication offers a better solution for data traffic. In real-time application, all the wireless technologies are used within their proximate range. In real time applications, based on the proximity range the machines will communicate with each other. When the proximity is missed, the machines not able to communicate with other machine through the communication protocol. To overcome the problem, in the proposed work, data is transferred between two machines via different topologies such as Bluetooth, Zigbee, Wi-Fi and GSM. Based on the proximity range the data can be switched from one topology to other. While transferring the data Bluetooth is used as a data transferring mode. If the proximity range of the Bluetooth exceeds the data is switched to the Zigbee. Zigbee has the better proximity range than Bluetooth. If the proximity range of Zigbee exceeds the data is transferred via Wi-Fi. Wi-Fi has a better coverage than Zigbee. If the Wi-Fi proximity exceeds the data is transferred via GSM. GSM has high proximity range than all other topologies. The proposed system is implemented in the FPGA.
Increased homocysteine and S-adenosylhomocysteine concentrations and DNA hypomethylation in vascular disease.

BACKGROUND The pathogenic mechanism of homocysteine's effect on cardiovascular risk is poorly understood. Recent studies show that DNA hypomethylation induced by increases in S-adenosylhomocysteine (AdoHcy), an intermediate of Hcy metabolism and a potent inhibitor of methyltransferases, may be involved in homocysteine-related pathology. METHODS We measured fasting plasma total Hcy (tHcy), AdoHcy, and S-adenosylmethionine (AdoMet) and methylation in leukocytes in 17 patients with vascular disease and in 15 healthy, age- and sex-matched controls. RESULTS Patient with vascular disease had significantly higher plasma tHcy and AdoHcy concentrations and significantly lower plasma AdoMet/AdoHcy ratios and genomic DNA methylation. AdoMet concentrations were not significantly different between the two groups. More than 50% of the patients fell into the highest quartiles of plasma tHcy, AdoHcy, and [(3)H]dCTP incorporation/ micro g of DNA (meaning the lowest quartile of DNA methylation status) and into the lowest quartile of the AdoMet/AdoHcy ratios of the control group. Plasma tHcy was significantly correlated with plasma AdoHcy and AdoMet/AdoHcy ratios (n = 32; P < 0.001). DNA methylation status was significantly correlated with plasma tHcy and AdoHcy (n = 32; P < 0.01) but not with plasma AdoMet/AdoHcy ratios. CONCLUSION Global DNA methylation may be altered in vascular disease, with a concomitant increase in plasma tHcy and AdoHcy.
Thermoregulation in Larval Aggregations of Carrion-Feeding Blow Flies (Diptera: Calliphoridae)

Abstract The growth and development of carrion-feeding calliphorid (Diptera: Calliphoridae) larvae, or maggots, is of great interest to forensic sciences, especially for estimation of a postmortem interval (PMI). The development rate of calliphorid larvae is influenced by the temperature of their immediate environment. Heat generation in larval feeding aggregations (=maggot masses) is a well-known phenomenon, but it has not been quantitatively described. Calculated development rates that do not include internally generated temperatures will result in overestimation of PMI. Over a period of 2.5 yr, 80 pig, Sus scrofa L. , carcasses were placed out at study sites in north central Florida and northwestern Indiana. Once larval aggregations started to form, multiple internal and external temperatures, and weather observations were taken daily or every few days between 1400 and 1800 hours until pupation of the larvae. Volume of each aggregation was determined by measuring surface area and average depth. Live and preserved samples of larvae were taken for species identification. The four most common species collected were Lucilia coeruleiviridis (=Phaenicia) (Macquart) (77%), Cochliomyia macellaria (F.) (8.3%), Chrysomya rufifaces (Macquart) (7.7%), and Phormia regina (Meigen) (5.5%). Statistical analyses showed that 1) volume of a larval mass had a strong influence on its temperature, 2) internal temperatures of masses on the ground were influenced by soil temperature and mass volume, 3) internal temperatures of masses smaller than 20 cm3 were influenced by ambient air temperature and mass volume, and 4) masses larger than 20 cm3 on the carcass had strongly regulated internal temperatures determined only by the volume of the mass, with larger volumes associated with higher temperatures. Nonsignificant factors included presence of rain or clouds, shape of the aggregation, weight of the carcass, species composition of the aggregation, time since death, or season.