Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Withania Somnifera L Root Extract Ameliorates Toxin Induced Cytotoxicity

In this study the use of plants for medicinal purpose used locally in the treatment of various diseases and we examined for their antioxidant activity. Therefore, the present investigation is part of continuing programme related to the biochemical screening of local plants used in Ancient Indian Medicine, Ayurveda, Siddha and Yunani. An Aqueous root extract of Withania Somnifera (L.) Dunal (Ashwagandha) was evaluated for its protective effect (antioxidant effect) against Cypermethrin (CM) toxin induced oxidation in male albino rats. Cypermethrin, (CM) toxin [(RS)-3-phenoxybenzyl (IRS)-cis-trans-3-(2,2-dichlorovinyl)-2,2-dimethyl cyclopropane carboxylate] a Type II pyrethroid pesticide is commonly used in agriculture and many other domestic applications for pest control. Studies have shown that cypermethrin (toxin) induces lipid peroxidation and alters the antioxidant status in non-target organisms. Aqueous root extract of Withania Somnifera (L.) Dunal (Ashwagandha), a source of several flavonoids and steroids is a potent antioxidant. In our present study, an attempt has been made to study the effect of Cypermethrin (CM) toxin on biochemical parameters and ameliorating effect of Withania Somnifera (L.) Dunal (Ashwagandha) in male wistar rats. Adult male wistar rats were divided into four different groups. Group I Served as vehicle treated normal saline (Control), Group II Rats received intragastric tubing (Ig) injection of cypermethrin (CM) toxin1/10 LD50 (LD50 of CM is 250mg) (25mg/kgbw/day in corn oil), Group III received Withania Somnifera (10%) aqueous root extract (5ml of 10% extract per day, for 60 days) Group IV Rats received Withania Somnifera aqueous root extract alone (5ml of 10% per day for 60 days) treated. Cypermethirn (CM) toxin induction leads to reduction in the levels of Enzymic and Non-Enzymic antioxidants levels. However, on treatment with Withania Somnifera aqueous root extract normalized the levels of all the biochemical and hematological parameters. These findings highlight the efficacy of Withania Somnifera aqueous root extract as protective effects Cypermethirn (CM) toxin induced oxidative stress.
A reference system for urinary albumin: current status

Abstract Background: Increased urinary excretion of albumin reflects kidney damage and is a recognized risk factor for progression of renal and cardiovascular disease. Considerable inter-method differences have been reported for both albumin and creatinine measurement results, and therefore the albumin-to-creatinine ratio. Measurement accuracy is unknown and there are no independent reference measurement procedures for albumin and no reference materials for either measurand in urine. Methods: The National Kidney Disease Education Program (NKDEP) Laboratory Working Group and the International Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (IFCC) have initiated joint projects to facilitate standardization of urinary albumin and creatinine measurement. Results: A candidate LC-MS/MS reference measurement procedure for urinary albumin and candidate reference materials for urinary albumin and creatinine has been developed. The status of validations of these reference system components is reported. Conclusions: The development of certified reference materials and reference measurement procedures for urinary albumin will enable standardization of this important measurand.
Specific neuromuscular fatigue induced by repetitive isoload concentric knee extension

Muscle fatigue is a physiological phenomenon widely discussed in the scientific community. A lot of mechanisms leading to ‘a reduction in the ability of the muscle to produce force or power’ (Barry and Enoka 2006) have been investigated during the last 20 years. These studies revealed that fatigue processes could affect the central command as well as the muscular effector. However, their contribution depends on task features (Pasquet et al. 2000; Taylor and Gandevia 2008) (e.g. the intensity and duration of exercise or the type of contraction) or on muscle characteristics (particularly fibre-type composition) (Kawakami et al. 2000). If both dynamic and isometric fatiguing contractions have been considered (Babault et al. 2006), concentric exercise effects were mainly tested through isokinetic contractions. Curiously enough, only one study (Klass et al. 2004) used fatiguing weight loading protocol, on the triceps suræ, to induce neuromuscular fatigue. These authors found that peripheral impairments, particularly excitation–contraction coupling processes, play a major role in the loss of force. Nevertheless, no study had investigated the knee extension movement, an exercise frequently included in rehabilitation protocols of knee injury and strengthening programmes. In this context, our study aimed to characterise the specific neuromuscular fatigue induced by repetitive isoload concentric leg extensions on quadriceps femoris (QF).
Performance evaluation of MATLAB/Simulink models for fitting embedded multicore systems

The embedded software systems are first designed and validated by high level models such as MATLAB/Simulink functional models. However, implementing a Simulink functional model on multicore architecture is not trivial. Designers might need first to select an adequate multicore architecture that provides a higher performance for a given Simulink model. Hence, it is important to have a set of performance metrics at hand that assist the designers to select the adequate architecture. This paper presents an approach to evaluate the performance of a given Simulink model running on multicore architecture. For this purpose, a given Simulink model is mapped to synchronous dataflow graph, the graph is then scheduled with objective to minimize it iteration period, resulting in performance metrics such as speedup and efficiency. Based on these metrics, an industrial Simulink models is analyzed and a fitting multicore architecture is proposed.
Functional Characterization of Interferon Regulatory Factor 3a (IRF-3a), an Alternative Splice Isoform of IRF-3

ABSTRACT Virus infection of numerous cell types results in the transcriptional induction of a subset of virus- and interferon (IFN)-stimulated genes. The beta IFN (IFN-β) gene is one of these rapidly induced genes; it serves as a fundamental component of the cellular defense response in eliciting potent antiviral, immunomodulatory, and antiproliferative effects. One of the transcription factors involved in the stringent regulation of IFN-β production following virus infection is interferon regulatory factor (IRF) 3 (IRF-3). We have characterized an alternatively spliced isoform of IRF-3 that we have called IRF-3a. IRF-3a can selectively and potently inhibit virus-induced activation of the IFN-β promoter. IRF-3a lacks half of the DNA binding domain found in IRF-3 and is unable to bind to the classical IRF binding elements, IFN-stimulated response elements. These studies suggest that IRF-3a may act as a modulator of IRF-3.
Cost-effectiveness of a multicondition collaborative care intervention: a randomized controlled trial.

CONTEXT Patients with depression and poorly controlled diabetes mellitus, coronary heart disease (CHD), or both have higher medical complication rates and higher health care costs, suggesting that more effective care management of psychiatric and medical disease control might also reduce medical service use and enhance quality of life. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the cost-effectiveness of a multicondition collaborative treatment program (TEAMcare) compared with usual primary care (UC) in outpatients with depression and poorly controlled diabetes or CHD. DESIGN Randomized controlled trial of a systematic care management program aimed at improving depression scores and hemoglobin A(1c) (HbA(1c)), systolic blood pressure (SBP), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels. SETTING Fourteen primary care clinics of an integrated health care system. PATIENTS Population-based screening identified 214 adults with depressive disorder and poorly controlled diabetes or CHD. INTERVENTION Physician-supervised nurses collaborated with primary care physicians to provide treatment of multiple disease risk factors. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Blinded assessments evaluated depressive symptoms, SBP, and HbA(1c) at baseline and at 6, 12, 18, and 24 months. Fasting LDL-C concentration was assessed at baseline and at 12 and 24 months. Health plan accounting records were used to assess medical service costs. Quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) were assessed using a previously developed regression model based on intervention vs UC differences in HbA(1c), LDL-C, and SBP levels over 24 months. RESULTS Over 24 months, compared with UC controls, intervention patients had a mean of 114 (95% CI, 79 to 149) additional depression-free days and an estimated 0.335 (95% CI, -0.18 to 0.85) additional QALYs. Intervention patients also had lower mean outpatient health costs of $594 per patient (95% CI, -$3241 to $2053) relative to UC patients. CONCLUSIONS For adults with depression and poorly controlled diabetes, CHD, or both, a systematic intervention program aimed at improving depression scores and HbA(1c), SBP, and LDL-C levels seemed to be a high-value program that for no or modest additional cost markedly improved QALYs. TRIAL REGISTRATION clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT00468676
A new control method for boost converter in discontinuous conduction mode with synchronous rectification and zero voltage switching

Boost converter has been widely applied in electric equipment. Optimizing its operating characteristic can improve the ability of whole device. This paper presents a new control method for Boost converter in discontinuous conduction mode (DCM) to realize synchronous rectification (SR) of the rectifier and zero voltage switching (ZVS) of the power switch. Current and voltage information of the converter are detected to generate the control signals by logical calculation. No power device is added to conventional Boost converter. Experiment results are presented to demonstrate the theoretical analysis.
Outpatient hysteroscopy.

Modern hysteroscopy represents a copernical revolution for the diagnosis and treatment of uterine pathology. Traditionally hysteroscopy was performed in a conventional operation room under general anaesthesia (in-patient hysteroscopy). Recent advances in technology and techniques made hysteroscopy less painful and invasive allowing it to be performed in an ambulatory setting (outpatient hysteroscopy). The so called “see & treat hysteroscopy”, has reduced the distinction between diagnostic and operative procedure, thus, introducing the concept of a single procedure in which the operative part is perfectly integrated within the
Ompss: a Proposal for Programming Heterogeneous Multi-Core Architectures

In this paper, we present OmpSs, a programming model based on OpenMP and StarSs, that can also incorporate the use of OpenCL or CUDA kernels. We evaluate the proposal on different architectures, SMP, GPUs, and hybrid SMP/GPU environments, showing the wide usefulness of the approach. The evaluation is done with six different benchmarks, Matrix Multiply, BlackScholes, Perlin Noise, Julia Set, PBPI and FixedGrid. We compare the results obtained with the execution of the same benchmarks written in OpenCL or OpenMP, on the same architectures. The results show that OmpSs greatly outperforms both environments. With the use of OmpSs the programming environment is more flexible than traditional approaches to exploit multiple accelerators, and due to the simplicity of the annotations, it increases programmer's productivity.
Ectopic expression of embryonic stem cell and other developmental genes in cutaneous T-cell lymphoma

Cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL) is a potentially devastating malignancy. The pathogenesis of this cancer remains poorly elucidated. Previous studies focused on analysis of expression and function of known oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes. However, emerging reports highlight that it is also important to analyze the expression of genes that are ectopically expressed in CTCL (e.g., embryonic stem cell genes (ESC), cancer testis (CT) genes, etc.). Currently, it is not known whether ESC genes are expressed in CTCL. In the current work, we analyze by RT-PCR the expression of 26 ESC genes, many of which are known to regulate pluripotency and promote cancer stem cell-like phenotype, in a historic cohort of 60 patients from Boston and in a panel of 11 patient-derived CTCL cell lines and compare such expression to benign inflammatory dermatoses that often clinically mimic CTCL. Our findings document that many critical ESC genes including NANOG, SOX2, OCT4 (POU5F1) and their upstream and downstream signaling members are expressed in CTCL. Similarly, polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2) genes (i.e., EZH2, EED, and SUZ12) are also expressed in CTCL lesional skin. Furthermore, select ESC genes (OCT4, EED, TCF3, THAP11, CHD7, TIP60, TRIM28) are preferentially expressed in CTCL samples when compared to benign skin biopsies. Our work suggests that ESC genes are ectopically expressed together with CT genes, thymocyte development genes and B cell-specific genes and may be working in concert to promote tumorigenesis. Specifically, while ESC genes may be promoting cancer stem cell-like phenotype, CT genes may be contributing to aneuploidy and genomic instability by producing aberrant chromosomal translocations. Further analysis of ESC expression and function in this cancer will greatly enhance our fundamental understanding of CTCL and will help us identify novel therapeutic targets.
Bloodstream Infections Due to Candida Species: SENTRY Antimicrobial Surveillance Program in North America and Latin America, 1997-1998

ABSTRACT An international program of surveillance of bloodstream infections (BSI) in the United States, Canada, and Latin America detected 306 episodes of candidemia in 34 medical centers (22 in the United States, 6 in Canada, and 6 in Latin America) in 1997 and 328 episodes in 34 medical centers (22 in the United States, 5 in Canada, and 7 in Latin America) in 1998. Of the 634 BSI, 54.3% were due to Candida albicans, 16.4% were due to C. glabrata, 14.9% were due to C. parapsilosis, 8.2% were due to C. tropicalis, 1.6% were due to C. krusei, and 4.6% were due to other Candida spp. The percentage of BSI due to C. albicans decreased very slightly in the United States between 1997 and 1998 (56.2 to 54.4%;P = 0.68) and increased in both Canada (52.6 to 70.1%; P = 0.05) and Latin America (40.5 to 44.6%;P = 0.67). C. glabrata was the second most common species observed overall, and the percentage of BSI due toC. glabrata increased in all three geographic areas between 1997 and 1998. C. parapsilosis was the third most prevalent BSI isolate in both Canada and Latin America, accounting for 7.0 and 18.5% of BSI, respectively. Resistance to fluconazole (MIC, ≥64 μg/ml) and itraconazole (MIC, ≥1.0 μg/ml) was observed infrequently in both 1997 (2.3 and 8.5%, respectively) and 1998 (1.5 and 7.6%, respectively). Among the different species ofCandida, resistance to fluconazole and itraconazole was observed in C. glabrata and C. krusei, whereas isolates of C. albicans, C. parapsilosis, and C. tropicalis were all highly susceptible to both fluconazole (98.9 to 100% susceptible) and itraconazole (96.4 to 100% susceptible). Isolates from Canada and Latin America were generally more susceptible to both triazoles than U.S. isolates were. Continued surveillance appears necessary to detect these important changes.
INFINITARY TABLEAU FOR SEMANTIC TRUTH

Abstract We provide infinitary proof theories for three common semantic theories of truth: strong Kleene, van Fraassen supervaluation and Cantini supervaluation. The value of these systems is that they provide an easy method of proving simple facts about semantic theories. Moreover we shall show that they also give us a simpler understanding of the computational complexity of these definitions and provide a direct proof that the closure ordinal for Kripke’s definition is $\omega _1^{CK}$. This work can be understood as an effort to provide a proof-theoretic counterpart to Welch’s game-theoretic (Welch, 2009).
Personality characteristics of the child accident repeater

From 8874 boys and girls aged 4 to 18 in Berkeley-Oakland, California, 684 were selected to represent high-, intermediateor low-accident-liability children, based on records of medically attended injuries. Using data from intensive interviews with mothers supplemented with school records, we found a statistically significant relation between accident liability and indexes of extraversion, daring, roughhousing, and other traits tending to expose children to hazards. Similar relations held for traits such as poor discipline, aggressiveness toward peers, and, for girls, attention-seeking, which compete with the child's ability to cope with hazards. Other traits that may impair ability to cope with hazards were also found to be related to accident liability (impulsivity, carelessness, and unreliability) as were several indexes denoting maladjustment.
Review of hazards associated with children placed in adult beds.

OBJECTIVES To identify and assess dangers associated with placing children younger than 2 years to sleep in adult beds. This article focuses on overlying, wedging, and strangulation hazards and the relationship of these hazards to children's sleeping environments. DESIGN A retrospective review and analysis of data collected by the US Consumer Product Safety Commission on deaths of children younger than 2 years in standard adult beds, daybeds, and waterbeds. The review included incident data from January 1990 through December 1997. RESULTS The 8-year records showed a total of 515 deaths of children younger than 2 years who were placed to sleep on adult beds. Of these deaths, 121 were reported to be due to overlying of the child by a parent, other adult, or sibling sleeping in bed with the child and 394 were due to entrapment in the bed structure. Most of these deaths seem to have resulted from suffocation or strangulation caused by entrapment of the child's head in various structures of the bed. CONCLUSIONS Placing children younger than 2 years to sleep in adult beds exposes them to potentially fatal hazards that are generally not recognized by the parent or caregiver. These hazards include overlying by a parent, sibling, or other adult sharing the bed; entrapment or wedging of the child between the mattress and another object; head entrapment in bed railings; and suffocation on waterbeds. Parents and caregivers should be alerted to these avoidable hazards.
Gating mode conversion by proteolysis in a large‐conductance K+ channel from embryonic rat telencephalon.

1. In situ patch‐clamp recordings of early embryonic large‐conductance K+ channels consistently revealed (86% of patches) a complex behaviour characterized by noisy fluctuations between open and closed states of relatively short duration. 2. This behaviour is similar to the buzz mode, a type of gating observed only very rarely in some channels. Its prevalence in proliferative neuroepithelium may thus constitute a criterion of immaturity. 3. In 89% of patches, the buzz mode was converted to a ‘normal’ mode by intracellular exposure to trypsin. 4. These observations suggest that the immature channel protein includes (or is affected by) a cytoplasmic component, the presence or absence of which determines certain sets of conformational transitions.
Solving Practical Economic Dispatch Problems Using Improved Artificial Bee Colony Method

This paper presents an improved artificial bee colony (IABC) optimization method to solving practical economic dispatch taking into account the nonlinear generator characteristics such as valve-point loading effects. In order to exploit the performance of this new variant based ABC method to solving practical economic dispatch, a new local search mechanism (LSM) associated to the original ABC algorithm; it allows exploiting effectively the promising region to locate the best solution. The proposed approach has been examined and applied to many practical electrical power systems, the 13 generating units, and to the large electrical system with 40 generating units considering valve point loading effects. From the different case studies, it is observed that the results compared with the other recent techniques demonstrate the potential of the proposed approach and show clearly its effectiveness to solve practical and large ED.
Psychiatric dizziness

Many patients with dizziness present with a symptom pattern that does not fit into a clearly defined vestibular syndrome. In such cases, the physician frequently considers a diagnosis of “psychogenic” dizziness. Alternative terms for this diagnosis include psychiatric dizziness (the term preferred by us and to be used in this view), functional dizziness, psychophysiologic dizziness, psychic dizziness, hyperventilation syndrome, phobic postural vertigo, and somatization. The table lists the frequency of this category of dizziness in various dizziness clinic settings. As can be seen, the frequency, which ranges between 20 and 50%, is quite high.1-6 The diagnosis of psychiatric dizziness has the net effect of assigning the etiology of the patient’s complaint to a cause outside of the set of disorders defined by the organic neurotologic nosologic system. However, in the presence of prominent “nervous” symptoms, a diagnosis of psychiatric dizziness at times is given even in the presence of vestibular test abnormalities that are judged to be minor or irrelevant. That is, rather than being just a necessary condition, the presence of psychiatric symptoms becomes a sufficient condition for the diagnosis of psychiatric dizziness. For example, Afzelius et a1.l concluded that dizziness is “functional” whenever a patient reports two or more nervous symptoms. The development of our view was prompted by recent findings that indicate that certain types of anxiety symptoms (e.g., certain phobic avoidance patterns; see next section), rather than ruling out a vestibular abnormality, implicate the vestibular system. Such findings appear to challenge current diagnostic practices €or psychiatric dizziness.
Intratympanic Dexamethasone/Hyaluronic Acid Mix as an Adjunct to Intravenous Steroid and Vasoactive Treatment in Patients With Severe Idiopathic Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss

Objective: To evaluate differences in effectiveness (hearing recovery rates) between idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss (ISSNHL) patients treated with intravenous therapy alone and patients treated with a combination of intravenous and intratympanic therapy. Study Design: Retrospective case review. Setting: Tertiary referral hospital center. Patients and Interventions: Ninety-four patients with moderate ISSNHL treated with an intravenous steroid and vasoactive regimen (duration of therapy, 9 ± 2.76 d) and 76 patients with severe ISSNHL treated with a combination regimen of intravenous and intratympanic therapy (duration of therapy, 10 ± 2.71 d) were reviewed. In the latter patients' group, a series of 3 intratympanic injections of a dexamethasone/hyaluronic acid mix solution were applied every 2 days. Main Outcome Measure: Pure-tone audiometric thresholds at 0.5, 1, 2, 4, and 8 kHz were compared between groups using the Wilcoxon test. Results: Combination therapy in severe ISSNHL did not show any statistically significant difference in effectiveness to intravenous therapy in moderate ISSNHL (p > 0.05). Conclusion: In patients with severe ISSNHL, starting intratympanic steroid therapy as an adjunct early in the course of intravenous steroid and vasoactive therapy improves hearing to a level which is obtained in patients with less severe (moderate) ISSNHL treated with intravenous therapy alone.