Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Ultrasound Diagnosis of Fatty Liver in Patients With Chronic Liver Disease: A Retrospective Observational Study

Objectives Hepatic ultrasound (US) is readily available and physicians usually trust the results of an US report suggesting fatty liver, but there are conflicting reports on its accuracy, especially in patients with chronic liver disease (CLD). Therefore, we retrospectively examined liver biopsies in patients with CLD and compared the histologic results to the hepatic US findings. Methods Liver biopsies were graded for fat (grades 0 to 3), inflammation (grades 0 to 4), and fibrosis (stages 0 to 4) in 131 patients with CLD (89% had chronic hepatitis C). Hepatic US interpretations were grouped into 3 categories—“normal,” “fatty liver,” and “nonspecific. ” A secondary analysis was performed using 3 sonographic categories based on the echogenicity: normal, “increased echogenicity,” and “heterogenous. ” The US results were then compared with the liver biopsy results. Results A normal US report was associated with many false negatives, as 25% of these patients had fat (grades 1 to 3) on biopsy; furthermore, 46% had “significant fibrosis” (stages 2 to 4) or “significant inflammation” (grades 2 to 4). A “fatty liver” interpretation correctly identified fat on biopsy in 36.4% and “significant fat” (grades 2 to 3) in 11.4%, but 66% had significant fibrosis or significant inflammation. An US with increased echogenicity correctly identified fat in 43.5% and significant fat in 19.4%, but 69.4% had significant fibrosis or significant inflammation. The sensitivity of an US ranged from 11.4% to 88.2% and the specificity ranged from 40.4% to 86.2%, depending on the degree of steatosis on biopsy and the sonographic interpretation being considered. Conclusions US is inaccurate for diagnosing hepatic steatosis in patients with CLD. Echogenic abnormalities are more likely to be the result of fibrosis or inflammation in this setting.
Tracking data from nine free-roaming Cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus) collared in the Thabazimbi area, Limpopo Province, South Africa

Abstract Background In partnership with the University of Pretoria, the Endangered Wildlife Trust’s Carnivore Conservation Programme collared six male and three female free-roaming Cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus) in the Thabazimbi area in Limpopo Province, South Africa. This study was undertaken to determine the spatial ecology of free-roaming Cheetahs that occur outside of formal protected areas on private ranchland, where they frequently come into conflict with, and are sometimes killed by, private landowners. The data were collected between September 2003 and November 2008, resulting in a total of 3165 location points (65 points from VHF collars and 3100 from GPS collars) for nine individual Cheetahs. New information This dataset provides distribution information about this Vulnerable species occurring outside of protected areas within South Africa. The dataset has been published to the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (www.GBIF.org) and provides the largest dataset on Cheetahs thus far, and, although it is spatially limited to a relatively small region on the African continent, it is the first study of its kind within South Africa. Also of significance is that the fate of 6 of the 9 collared Cheetahs is known, all except one of which died of anthropogenic causes.
Exploring the Advantages of Single-Ended-Input CMOS Self-Biased Amplifiers

This brief presents the analysis of self-biased topologies to implement single-ended-input CMOS amplifiers. We depart from basic amplifying stages to construct the self-biased circuits. We propose an amplifier based on the common-source and cascode configurations with active load, in which all three transistors are self-biased. This translates into important advantages for the amplifier: less power consumption since biasing circuits are no needed, and a robust design because all transistors are guaranteed to be in the saturation region even with process, temperature, or supply variations. The only drawback of this topology is the low power-supply rejection. A prototype was designed in a 130-nm CMOS technology to have a gain of 40 dB in the frequency band between 100 kHz and 5 MHz. The measurements of the circuit demonstrated that the amplifier fulfilled the specifications at the nominal voltage (1.2 V) while consuming 13 $\mu \text{A}$ . Furthermore, the circuit functions as amplifier for supply voltages as low as 400 mV and such high as 1.5 V, probing the flexibility of self-biased circuits. That flexibility can be explored in the future to design adaptive systems and to facilitate analog design automation.
FINEST Twins: platform for cross-border smart city solutions

The FINEST Twins aims to build a smart-city Center of Excellence (CoE) based in Estonia capable of mobilising all leading actors and stakeholders in Estonia and establish a solid long term partnership with their Helsinki region counterparts, capitalising on the macro region's scientific knowledge, innovativeness and entrepreneurship. The smart city CoE will focus on mobility, energy and built environment glued together by governance and urban analytics & data and aims to match leading smart city research centers globally. The FINEST Twins develops the cross-border knowledge transfer infrastructure (Urban Operating System) through real-life pilots capable of attracting international expertise and investment, as well as acting as a springboard for the exportation of Finnish-Estonian knowledge and combined service solutions on a global scale.
Comparison of chemoradiotherapy (CRT) and chemotherapy (CT) in patients with a locally advanced pancreatic cancer (LAPC) controlled after 4 months of gemcitabine with or without erlotinib: Final results of the international phase III LAP 07 study.

LBA4003 Background: CRT in patients with LAPC controlled after induction CT could be superior to continuing CT (Huguet, JCO 2007). The role of erlotinib is unknown. We aimed to define the role of 1) CRT after disease control with gemcitabine, 2) erlotinib in LAPC. METHODS LAPC PS 0-2 patients were first randomized to gemcitabine alone or plus erlotinib 100 mg/d for 4 months (R1, stratification: center, PS). Patients with controlled disease were then randomized to 2 additional months of CT (Arm 1) or CRT (Arm 2) 54 Gy and capecitabine 1600 mg/m2/d (R2, stratification: center, initial arm). Patients receiving erlotinib at R1 had maintenance with this drug after protocol completion. Quality control for radiotherapy included dummy runs and assessment of treated patients. PRIMARY OBJECTIVE overall survival (OS) in R2 patients. Secondary objectives: role of erlotinib on OS (R1), tolerance, predictive markers, and circulating tumor cells. Taking into account a 30% progression rate between R1 and R2, and 5% lost to follow-up, 722 patients were required to observe 392 deaths to show a median OS increase from 9 to 12 m (HR=0.75) in the CRT arm (2 sided α=5% and β=20%) with planned interim analyses using alpha spending function and O'Brien Fleming boundaries (to reject H0 or H1). Kaplan-Meier, log rank and univariate Cox tests were used. RESULTS From 442 pts included for R1, 269 pts reached R2 (arm1:136; arm 2:133). Main baseline characteristics in arms 1/2: female 44%/56%, mean age 63/62, head tumor 65%/62%, PS 0 56%/48%. After a median follow-up of 36 m, 221 deaths had occurred allowing the planned interim analysis (information fraction 56.4%). OS in R2 pts was 16.5 m [15.5-18.5] and 15.3 m [13.9-17.3] in arms 1 and 2, respectively (HR=1.03 [0.79-1.34], p=0.83). IDMC has confirmed that the futility boundary for the hypothesis of CRT superiority was crossed and considered this as the final analysis of the study. CONCLUSIONS Administering CRT is not superior to continuing CT in patients with controlled LAPC after 4 months of CT. CLINICAL TRIAL INFORMATION NCT00634725.
How well does stool form reflect colonic transit?

BACKGROUND: Watery stools are equated with rapid and hard stools with slow intestinal transit; however, the relation between stool form and transit through specific regions of the gut is not clear cut. In addition, more information is needed on interindividual variability of these measurements. AIM: To examine the relations between stool form and gastric emptying, small bowel and colonic transit. METHODS: Regional gut transit was assessed scintigraphically and segmental colonic transit was also quantified by radio-opaque markers. On two occasions, 32 healthy volunteers (12 men, 20 women) were studied, women during the follicular and luteal phases of menstruation, men twice within a similar four week period. Diets were standardised and stool form was recorded on a seven point scale. RESULTS: Women had significant harder stools; hard stools were correlated significantly with slow transit and loose stools with fast transit through the colon. CONCLUSIONS: Stool form could not be related to gastric emptying or small bowel transit.
Incorporation of the Whole Chromosomal DNA in Protoplast Lysates into Competent Cells of Bacillus subtilis

Competent cells of Bacillus subtilis AC870 (purB, leuB, trpC, ald-1) were transformed to Ade+, Trp+, or Ade+ Trp+ with DNA in protoplast lysates of B. subtilis AC819 (hisH, tet-1, rpsL, smo-1). The contransfer ratio of purB to trpC was constant at 7-9% (Ade+ Trp+/Trp+) or 3% (Ade+ Trp+/Ade+) at protoplast concentrations of 2.7×103∼2.7×106 per ml. The whole chromosomal DNA must be certainly incorporated into competent cells from the following reasons; (1) purB is opposite to trpC on the chromosome, (2) 2.7×103 protoplasts per ml is about 100 times lower than 3.2×105 competent cells per ml, and (3) the cotransfer ratio is constant at all the concentrations. Similar results were obtained with the cotransfer ratio of purA to trpC. The transformation requires several Com proteins including ComK.
Neuropsychiatric symptoms and quality of life in Alzheimer disease.

OBJECTIVE Authors examined the impact of neuropsychiatric symptoms in Alzheimer disease (AD) patients' and caregivers' quality of life (QOL) and assessed the relationship of caregiver distress to neuropsychiatric symptoms and caregiver QOL. METHODS Sixty-two patients with probable or possible AD and their caregivers participated. Neuropsychiatric symptoms of patients were assessed with the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI). QOL of both patients and caregivers was assessed using the QOL-Alzheimer's Disease (QOL-AD) scale. Each patient and caregiver completed patient QOL ratings; caregivers also completed caregiver QOL assessments. RESULTS Caregiver QOL-AD was negatively correlated with agitation/aggression, anxiety, disinhibition, irritability/lability, and total NPI score. Patient QOL on both patient and caregiver ratings was negatively correlated with depression. Patient-reported QOL-AD ratings at different levels of cognitive functioning were not correlated with caregiver-reported ratings. The lack of relationship between patient and caregiver assessments of patient QOL was evident in both mildly and moderately affected patients. Caregiver QOL was negatively correlated with distress related to agitation/aggression, disinhibition, irritability/lability, and total NPI distress. CONCLUSION Neuropsychiatric symptoms of AD patients adversely affect both patient and caregiver QOL. These results suggest that identifying and treating neuropsychiatric symptoms in AD may improve both patient and caregiver QOL.
Alternatives to increase the red color of the peel in ‘Daiane’ and ‘Venice’ apples

Abstract This study aimed evaluate the effect of biostimulants, foliar fertilizers and ethephon on the red color in the peel of ‘Daiane’ and ‘Venice’ apples. The experiments were conducted in Caçador/SC, during 2015/2016 and 2016/2017 seasons. In 2015/2016, the treatments were: Control; Biostimulant I; Foliar fertilizer I + Foliar fertilizer II; Biostimulant II and KCl. In 2016/2017, was included the Ethephon treatment. In 2016/2017, Biostimulant I, Foliar fertilizer I + Foliar fertilizer II and Biostimulant II increased the percentage of ‘Daiane’ and ‘Venice’ apples with greater red peel cover, without affecting the quality and maturity of the fruits. In both cultivars, ethephon was treatment that promoted a higher percentage of apples in the category above 80% of red color. Ethephon increased red color intensity of ‘Daiane’ and ‘Venice’ apples, anthocyanin content, starch index, ethylene production and yellowing of background color of the fruits. The red coloration of ‘Venice’ apple peels is enhanced with ethephon, Biostimulant I and Foliar fertilizer I + Foliar fertilizer II and Daiane apples with ethephon, Foliar fertilizer I + Foliar fertilizer II and Biostimulant II.
Entrepreneurship in SME Segment: Case Study from the Czech Republic and Slovakia

Definition and comparison of the current business environment of the Czech and Slovakian SMEs in the selected regions are the main objectives of the article. In accordance with this objective motivational factors, status in the society, relationship to the state, level of the corruption, approach to loan financing, and business optimism in the business environment have been examined. In details, there have been quantified the differences between the trading companies and the others, between the companies over 10 years old and the others, and between the micro-enterprises and the others. There were compared the opinions of entrepreneurs who stated that their main motivation to start a business was money to the opinions of other entrepreneurs. Our research has produced interesting findings. It was found out that money is an important motive for starting a business, although there are some regional differences in this area. Entrepreneurs negatively perceive the relationship between surroundings and their activities, the relationship of the state to the business and corruption that they encounter while performing their business activities. The businessmen rather criticized the banks’ approach of banks to fund their needs and at the same time they expressed a great deal of business optimism.
Flexibility of the DNA‐binding domains of trp repressor

An orthorhombic crystal form of trp repressor (aporepressor plus L‐tryptophan ligand) was solved by molecular replacement, refined to 1.65 Å resolution, and compared to the structure of the repressor in trigonal crystals. Even though these two crystal forms of repressor were grown under identical conditions, the refined structures have distinctly different conformations of the DNA‐binding domains. Unlike the repressor/aporepressor structural transition, the conformational shift is not caused by the binding or loss of the L‐tryptophan ligand. We conclude that while L‐tryptophan binding is essential for forming a specific complex with trp operator DNA, the corepressor ligand does not lock the repressor into a single conformation that is complementary to the operator. This flexibility may be required by the various binding modes proposed for trp repressor in its search for and adherence to its three different operator sites.
Improved assay for determining the total radical-scavenging capacity of antioxidants and foods

Free radicals play a crucial role in the pathophysiology of human diseases such as cancer, atherosclerosis, and neurodegenerative diseases, and considerable attention has been focused on functional foods (or nutraceuticals) that are able to decrease the concentrations of free radicals and consequently protect against these diseases. The present study investigated an improved quantitative assay to measure antioxidant activity using the stable and fast-reacting chromogenic indicator [2,2′-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid)] (ABTS). The ABTS-radical-scavenging activities of various antioxidants and apple extracts were measured in 96-well plates, and plots thereof were linearly interpolated, with the total radical-scavenging capacity quantified as the area under the curve. The first order of linear regression was obtained in a relationship between the absorbance reduction and various concentrations of the tested sample, and the total radical-scavenging capacity was expressed as the vitamin-C-equivalent antioxidant capacity. The advantages of this quantitative assay are that, first, it is fast, sensitive and confers little variation from experimental errors for single or mixed antioxidants; second, a large number of samples in a low quantity at a time can be run using 96-well plates.
Parallel model predictive control for input constrained linear systems

This paper proposes a parallel model predictive control (MPC) method for input constrained discrete-time linear systems. An optimization problem arising from MPC is decomposed into several sub-problems, whose sizes are smaller than that of the original optimization problem, and the sub-problems can be solved in parallel. We introduce a reordering of optimization variables that exploits the specific structure of the MPC problem. This reordering reduces the number of iterations required in the proposed parallel MPC method, and its effectiveness is demonstrated through numerical simulations.
Morphological and physiological effects of beta-hydroxybutyrate on rat embryos grown in vitro at different stages.

Diabetic women are more likely to give birth to infants with congenital malformations than are nondiabetic women. Rodent embryos have been used as a model for the study of abnormal fetal development associated with maternal diabetes, and some of the metabolic factors which are altered in diabetes, such as raised glucose and ketones, have been shown to cause abnormal development of rodent embryos in vitro. The present work explores further the teratogenicity of beta-hydroxybutyrate to rat embryos. To determine the sensitivities of rat embryos at different stages of their development, rat embryos at 9.5 days of gestation have been cultured in vitro for 24 or 48 h, with or without 4 x 10(-2) M beta-hydroxybutyrate for all or part of the culture period. The embryos have been examined by scanning electron microscopy, and a detailed morphometric analysis of one tissue, the neuroepithelium, has been undertaken. The results confirm that beta-hydroxybutyrate causes abnormal development of rat embryos. The results of experiments in which embryos were exposed to beta-hydroxybutyrate for only part of a 48 h culture show that embryos exposed to beta-hydroxybutyrate for a complete 48 h culture are more severely affected than embryos exposed to beta-hydroxybutyrate for only part of the culture and that embryos are more vulnerable to beta-hydroxybutyrate during the first half of a 48 h culture (equivalent to 9.5 to 10.5 days of gestation) than during the second half of a 48 h culture (10.5 to 11.5 days of gestation). The results of experiments in which embryos were cultured with beta-hydroxybutyrate from 9.5 days of gestation for 24 h (equivalent to 9.5 to 10.5 days of gestation) showed that some effects of beta-hydroxybutyrate are already apparent after 24 hours in culture. Many of the abnormalities produced by beta-hydroxybutyrate can be classified as embryonic retardations rather than malformations--that is, embryos show features characteristic of normal, but younger, embryos. Embryos exposed to beta-hydroxybutyrate for the complete 48 h culture period consume less glucose and produce less lactate than control embryos on a per embryo basis, but not on a per microgram protein basis, suggesting that the reduced metabolism is an effect of beta-hydroxybutyrate-induced developmental delay rather than a cause of it. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Proteome analysis of salt stress response in the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. strain PCC 6803

In the present study, changes in protein synthesis patterns after salt shock visualized by 35S‐methionine labeling and the changed protein composition in salt‐acclimated cells of the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. strain PCC 6803 were analyzed by a combination of 2‐DE for protein separation and PMF for protein identification. As a basis for the differential analysis, a proteome map with 500 identified protein spots comprising 337 different protein species was established. Fifty‐five proteins were found, which are induced by salt shock or accumulated after long‐term salt acclimation. Some of the proteins are salt stress‐specific, such as enzymes involved in the synthesis of the compatible solute glucosylglycerol, while most of them are involved in general stress acclimation. Particularly, heat‐shock proteins and proteins acting against lesions by reactive oxygen species were found. Moreover, changes in enzymes involved in basic carbohydrate metabolism were detected. The dynamic of the proteome of salt‐stressed Synechocystis cells was compared to previous data concerning transcriptome analysis revealing that 89% of the proteins induced shortly after salt shock were also found to be induced at the RNA level. However, 42% of the stably up‐regulated proteins in salt‐acclimated cells were not detected previously using DNA microarrays. The comparison of transcriptomic and proteomic analyses shows the significance of post‐transcriptional regulatory mechanisms in acclimation of Synechocystis to high salt concentrations.
Natural isotope correction of MS/MS measurements for metabolomics and 13C fluxomics

Fluxomics and metabolomics are crucial tools for metabolic engineering and biomedical analysis to determine the in vivo cellular state. Especially, the application of 13C isotopes allows comprehensive insights into the functional operation of cellular metabolism. Compared to single MS, tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) provides more detailed and accurate measurements of the metabolite enrichment patterns (tandem mass isotopomers), increasing the accuracy of metabolite concentration measurements and metabolic flux estimation. MS‐type data from isotope labeling experiments is biased by naturally occurring stable isotopes (C, H, N, O, etc.). In particular, GC–MS(/MS) requires derivatization for the usually non‐volatile intracellular metabolites introducing additional natural isotopes leading to measurements that do not directly represent the carbon labeling distribution. To make full useof LC‐ and GC–MS/MS mass isotopomer measurements, the influence of natural isotopes has to be eliminated (corrected). Our correction approach is analyzed for the two most common applications; 13C fluxomics and isotope dilution mass spectrometry (IDMS) based metabolomics. Natural isotopes can have an impact on the calculated flux distribution which strongly depends on the substrate labeling and the actual flux distribution. Second, we show that in IDMS based metabolomics natural isotopes lead to underestimated concentrations that can and should be corrected with a nonlinear calibration. Our simulations indicate that the correction for natural abundance in isotope based fluxomics and quantitative metabolomics is essential for correct data interpretation. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2016;113: 1137–1147. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.