Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Computed tomography of the skeletal musculature in Becker‐type muscular dystrophy and benign infantile spinal muscular atrophy

Results of computed tomographic (CT) examination of the skeletal musculature in 26 patients with Becker‐type muscular dystrophy (BMD) and 12 patients with benign infantile spinal muscular atrophy (BISMA) are presented. Both disorders reveled strikingly different changes that may have important clinical significance. First, in BMD, CT abnormalities consisted of areas of decreased densities, at first appearing in part of the muscle, and then gradually spreading until the whole muscle was replaced by low‐density tissue. In BISMA, however, low‐density lesions were scattered throughout the muscle. Second, in BMD, some muscles were preferentially affected in an early stage of the disease and others were relatively spared, whereas in BISMA, the muscles were involved more or less simultaneously. Third, an enlargement in size (hypertrophy) was frequently observed in BMD in various muscles of the legs, whereas in BISMA, this phenomenon can sometimes be noted only in the gastrocnemius muscles.
Intracellular cell-autonomous association of Notch and its ligands: a novel mechanism of Notch signal modification.

Notch (N) and its ligands, Delta (Dl) and Serrate (Ser), are membrane-spanning proteins with EGF repeats. They play an essential role in mediating proliferation and segregated differentiation of stem cells. One of the prominent features of N signal system is that its ligands are anchored to the plasma membrane, which allows the ligand/receptor association only between the neighboring cells. Various lines of evidences have verified this intercellular signal transmission, but there also have been implications that expression of Dl or Ser interferes cell-autonomously with the ability of the cell to receive N signal, implying that N and its ligands may interact in the same cell. Here, we demonstrate that N, Dl, and Ser cell-autonomously form homomeric or heteromeric complexes. The cell-autonomous heteromeric complexes are not present on the cell surface, implying that the association occurs in the endoreticulum or Golgi apparatus. Expression of Dl or Ser cell-autonomously reduces the N-mediated HES-5 promoter activity, indicating that the cell-autonomous association alters the N signal receptivity. Intracellular deletion of Dl shows elevated activity of this dominant-negative effect. In vivo overexpression study suggests that the cell-autonomous function of Dl and Ser is independent of the ligand specificity and may be modulated by Fringe (Fg), which inhibits the formation of the cell-autonomous Dl/N or Ser/N complex.
Iterative Receiver Design With Joint Doubly Selective Channel and CFO Estimation for Coded MIMO-OFDM Transmissions

This paper is concerned with the problem of turbo (iterative) processing for joint channel and carrier frequency offset (CFO) estimation and soft decoding in coded multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) orthogonal frequency-division-multiplexing (OFDM) systems over time- and frequency-selective (doubly selective) channels. In doubly selective channel modeling, a basis expansion model (BEM) is deployed as a fitting parametric model to reduce the number of channel parameters to be estimated. Under pilot-aided Bayesian estimation, CFO and BEM coefficients are treated as random variables to be estimated by the maximum a posteriori technique. To attain better estimation performance without sacrificing spectral efficiency, soft bit information from a soft-input-soft-output (SISO) decoder is exploited in computing soft estimates of data symbols to function as pilots. These additional pilot signals, together with the original signals, can help to enhance the accuracy of channel and CFO estimates for the next iteration of SISO decoding. The resulting turbo estimation and decoding performance is enhanced in a progressive manner by benefiting from the iterative extrinsic information exchange in the receiver. Both extrinsic information transfer chart analysis and numerical results show that the iterative receiver performance is able to converge fast and close to the ideal performance using perfect CFO and channel estimates.
Variedades de tomate para recolección mecánica : Ensayos de campo y de laboratorio.

La mecanizacion del cultivo del tomate para industria ha alcanzado un alto nivel de desarrollo, incluso en nuestro pais, en la zona de Vegas del Guadiana y a pesar de los enormes problemas que se arrastran desde hace unos anos. Se vienen realizando ensayos que comprenden un amplio abanico de caracteristicas y que han producido a lo largo de estos anos resultados apreciables. Comprenden ensayos de variedades (produccion, fechas de siembra, densidad-de siembra, resistencia a rotura y dureza de los frutos, calidad industrial) y de cultivo (fertilizacion, riego, preparacion del terreno, recoleccion y otras). Se exponen las tecnicas de ensayo utilizadas para la determinacion de las propiedades mecanicas de los frutos, asi como los resultados obtenidos en estas y en el resto de variables estudiadas.
The Critical Period for Repair of CNS of Neonatal Opossum (Monodelphis domestica) in Culture: Correlation with Development of Glial Cells, Myelin and Growth‐inhibitory Molecules

A comparison was made of neurite growth across spinal cord lesions in the isolated central nervous system (CMS) of newborn opossums (Monodelphis domestica) at various stages of development. The aim was to define the critical period at which growth after injury ceases to occur, with emphasis on growth‐inhibitory proteins, myelin and glial cells. In postnatal opossums 3–6 days old (P3–6), repair was observed 5 days after lesions were made in culture at the cervical level (C7) by crushing with forceps. Through‐conduction of action potentials was re‐established and axons stained by Oil grew into and beyond the crush. In a series of 66 animals 29 showed repair. In 28 animals at P11–12 with comparable lesions repair was observed in five preparations. At P13–14, the CMS was still viable in culture, but none of the 25 preparations examined showed any axonal growth into the crush or conduction through it. The rostra‐caudal gradient of development permitted lesions to be made in mature cervical and immature lumbar regions of P11–12 spinal cord. Growth across crushes occurred in lumbar but not in cervical segments of the same preparation. The development of glial cells and myelin was assessed by electron microscopy and by staining with specific antibodies (Rip‐1 and myelin‐associated glycoprotein) in cervical segments of neonatal P6–14 opossums. At P8, oligodendrocytes and thin myelin sheaths started to appear followed at P9 by astrocytes stained with antibody against glial fibrillary acidic protein. By P14, astrocytes, oligodendrocytes and well‐developed myelin sheaths were abundant. The cervical crush sites of P12 cords contained occasional astrocytes but no oligodendrocytes. Specific antibodies (IN‐1) to neurite growth‐inhibiting proteins (NI‐35/250) associated with oligodendrocytes and myelin in the rat CNS cross‐reacted with opossum proteins. Assays using the spreading of 3T3 fibroblasts and IN‐1 showed that by P7 inhibitory proteins became apparent, particularly in the hindbrain and cervical spinal cord. The concentrations of NI‐35/250 thereafter increased and became abundant in the adult opossum. Our finding of a well‐defined critical period, encompassing only 5 days, in CNS preparations that can be maintained in culture offers advantages for analysing mechanisms that promote or prevent CNS repair.
Prognostic effect of estrogen receptor status across age in primary breast cancer

Estrogen receptor (ER) status is considered as an important prognostic factor as well as a predictive factor for endocrine responsiveness in breast cancer. We analyzed the distribution of ER status across age and estimated variations in the prognostic impact of ER status related to patients' age and time since diagnosis. Overall, 26,944 patients with primary breast cancer diagnosed from 1989 to 2004 were included. The proportion of ER positive tumors increased over age from 51 to 82%. In multivariate analysis of overall survival, ER positive status was found to be a significantly positive prognostic factor over all age groups. This effect was limited to the first 5 years after diagnosis, RR: 2.08 (95% CI: 1.95–2.22, p < 0.0001). Overall survival during the following 5 years was slightly superior for women with ER negative tumors, RR of death: 0.89 (95% CI: 0.79–1.00, p = 0.049). Results were unchanged in patients who did not receive adjuvant systemic therapy (n = 6,272). Thus, positive ER status does not confer a negative impact on survival in young women as has been previously reported. The inferior prognosis for ER negative patients during the first 5 years after diagnosis changes into a slightly superior residual prognosis compared to ER positive patients independent of use of adjuvant systemic therapy. This may have an impact on future designing of guidelines for adjuvant endocrine therapy beyond 5 years. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Secure energy aware multi-path routing with key management in wireless sensor network

With the ability to work under critical environments where human interception is difficult, wireless sensor networks serves as a useful communication means for data transmission and collection. But like other wireless networks WSN is also prone to adversary interventions. So the researchers are addressing this issue to make routing protocols secure for communication. But due to the severe resource constraints on sensor nodes like limited battery life and limited storage capacity prevents the traditional complex security mechanisms to be employed on the sensor nodes. In this paper we propose a new routing algorithm called Secure Energy Aware Multipath Routing with Key Management (SEAM-KM) in Wireless Sensor Network. This protocol focuses on using a base station as the central control block for all kinds of computation like shortest path selection, routing table generation, Updating the routing table and distribution of pair wise keys among the sensor nodes and the base station. Leaving the energy consuming computations to be performed by the base station, the lifetime of the sensor nodes can be prolonged. Moreover distribution of pair wise keys among sensor nodes provides security among sensor nodes and also increases the resilience of the network. This protocol is resistive to some of the specific attacks which rely on forming attractive routes to lure the sensor nodes to communicate through the already compromised nodes.
The dependence of calcium efflux from cardiac muscle on temperature and external ion composition

1. Exchangeable Ca in guinea‐pig auricles and ventricular trabeculae of sheep and calf hearts was labelled with 45Ca and the loss of radioactivity into inactive rinsing solutions of different ion composition was measured for periods up to 6 hr. At no time did the decrease of radioactivity in the muscle follow a single exponential course, while the rate coefficient k (= fraction of 45Ca lost per minute from muscle into rinsing solution) decreased slightly with time.
Regionala skillnader i halter av persistenta organiska miljögifter i bröstmjölk från förstföderskor i Uppsala, Göteborg, Lund och Lycksele

Under perioden 2000-2004 samlades brostmjolk in fran forstfoderskor i Uppsala, Goteborg, Lund och Lycksele. Syftet med studien var att undersoka om det finns nagra regionala skillnader i halter av .
A correction and generalization to the sparse learning via iterative minimization method for target off the grid in MIMO radar imaging

The sparse learning via iterative minimization (SLIM) method has been shown to be effective in high resolution imaging for MIMO radar model in [1]. However, the echo model there is derived directly from the discrete form according to the prior gridding of the imaging space and the assumption that all scatterers are located exactly on the grid. Therefore, here we generalize the echo model to its continuous form for arbitrarily-located scatterers. By comparing the two models, we firstly point out one derivation mistake in the previous model. Then, we analyze the extent to which the previous model and the SLIM method would be influenced by the range and angle deviation of scatterers off the grid. Based on our analysis, since the sampling interval and the size of the discretized range bin in the previous model is designed according to the time duration of the transmitted subpulse, the range deviation has no significant influence on the imaging performance. However, the angle deviation is likely to lead to a mismatched basis matrix and thus severely affect the reconstruction result by SLIM. Therefore, the self-update basis SLIM (SUB-SLIM) method is proposed to deal with the off-angle-grid scatterers by alternatively sparse imaging and adaptively refining the angle bins. Numerical results illustrate the effectiveness of our method and the related analysis.
Utero-placental perfusion Doppler indices in growth restricted fetuses: effect of sildenafil citrate

Abstract Objective: To assess efficacy and tolerability of sildenafil citrate on utero-placental blood flow and fetal growth in pregnancies complicated by fetal growth restriction (FGR). Methods: From March 2015, a randomized controlled trial of 54 patients at 24 weeks or more complicated by FGR and abnormal Doppler indices were randomly allocated 1:1 into an intervention arm (receive sildenafil citrate, 50 mg) or a control arm (receive placebo). The primary outcomes were changes occurred in the Doppler parameters 2 h following drug administration. Results: Baseline characteristics were similar between groups. Significant difference was observed in the Delta uterine and umbilical Doppler indices among sildenafil group as compared to placebo group (p < 0.001). Middle cerebral Doppler indices, however, decreased significantly after sildenafil, which could be the result of shifting more blood to improve the utero-placental perfusion. No difference regarding Delta cerebro-placental ratio among both groups (p = 0.979). Sildenafil was also associated with pregnancy prolongation (p = .0001), increased gestational age at delivery (p = .004), improved neonatal weight (p = .0001), and less admission to neonatal intensive care unit (p = .03). No adverse effects reported in both treatment arms. Conclusion: Sildenafil citrate, by its vasodilator effect, can improve utero-placental blood flow in pregnancies complicated by FGR and abnormal Doppler. Clinical Trial.gov Registry: NCT02362399
Genetic Structure of Natural Populations ofEscherichia coli in Wild Hosts on Different Continents

ABSTRACT Current knowledge of genotypic and phenotypic diversity in the species Escherichia coli is based almost entirely on strains recovered from humans or zoo animals. In this study, we analyzed a collection of 202 strains obtained from 81 mammalian species representing 39 families and 14 orders in Australia and the Americas, as well as several reference strains; we also included a strain from a reptile and 10 from different families of birds collected in Mexico. The strains were characterized genotypically by multilocus enzyme electrophoresis (MLEE) and phenotypically by patterns of sugar utilization, antibiotic resistance, and plasmid profile. MLEE analysis yielded an estimated genetic diversity (H) of 0.682 for 11 loci. The observed genetic diversity in this sample is the greatest yet reported for E. coli. However, this genetic diversity is not randomly distributed; geographic effects and host taxonomic group accounted for most of the genetic differentiation. The genetic relationship among the strains showed that they are more associated by origin and host order than is expected by chance. In a dendrogram, the ancestral cluster includes primarily strains from Australia and ECOR strains from groups B and C. The most differentiated E. coli in our analysis are strains from Mexican carnivores and strains from humans, including those in the ECOR group A. The kinds and numbers of sugars utilized by the strains varied by host taxonomic group and country of origin. Strains isolated from bats were found to exploit the greatest range of sugars, while those from primates utilized the fewest. Toxins are more frequent in strains from rodents from both continents than in any other taxonomic group. Strains from Mexican wild mammals were, on average, as resistant to antibiotics as strains from humans in cities. On average, the Australian strains presented a lower antibiotic resistance than the Mexican strains. However, strains recovered from hosts in cities carried significantly more plasmids than did strains isolated from wild mammals. Previous studies have shown that natural populations of E. coliharbor an extensive genetic diversity that is organized in a limited number of clones. However, knowledge of this worldwide bacterium has been limited. Here, we suggest that the strains from a wide range of wild hosts from different regions of the world are organized in an ecotypic structure where adaptation to the host plays an important role in the population structure.
AFL-TOHIP: Adaptive fractional lion optimization to topology-hiding multi-path routing in mobile ad hoc network

Mobile Ad-hoc Network (MANET) becomes the facilitating and emerging trends for data transmission. Due to the nodes are freely connected with each other, the challenging is to provide the secure transmission. To attain this objective, the Adaptive Fractional Lion TOpology-HIding multipath routing protocol (AFL-TOHIP) is proposed. The TOHIP protocol constitutes route request phase, route reply phase and route probe phase, to acquire the multiple numbers of disjoint paths in MANET. Consequently, the proposed algorithm is developed to select the optimal routing path. Here, the fractional calculus is utilized to integrate with the lion optimization algorithm. Then, the fractional lion algorithm is incorporated into the TOHIP protocol, named AFL-TOHIP. In addition to improve the solution searching, the fractional lion algorithm is mathematically integrated with the TOHIP protocol. In the proposed algorithm, the fractional derivative is adapted according to the generation of the solution. Finally, the optimal routing path is obtained, used to transmit the packets from source to destination node. The extensive experimental results are evaluated using MATLAB implementation. Then, the performance is analysed compared to existing algorithms. Thus, the novel AFL-TOHIP optimization algorithm achieves 0.603 throughputs and 0.572 less delay, which enhances the transmission efficiency and robustness.
Breast lesions: evaluation with dynamic contrast-enhanced T1-weighted MR imaging and with T2*-weighted first-pass perfusion MR imaging.

PURPOSE To evaluate the diagnostic value of an imaging protocol that combines dynamic contrast-enhanced T1-weighted magnetic resonance (MR) imaging and T2*-weighted first-pass perfusion imaging in patients with breast tumors and to determine if T2*-weighted imaging can provide additional diagnostic information to that obtained with T1-weighted imaging. MATERIALS AND METHODS One hundred thirty patients with breast tumors underwent MR imaging with dynamic contrast-enhanced T1-weighted imaging of the entire breast, which was followed immediately with single-section, T2*-weighted imaging of the tumor. RESULTS With T2*-weighted perfusion imaging, 57 of 72 carcinomas but only four of 58 benign lesions had a signal intensity loss of 20% or more during the first pass, for a sensitivity of 79% and a specificity of 93%. With dynamic contrast-enhanced T1-weighted imaging, 64 carcinomas and 19 benign lesions showed a signal intensity increase of 90% or more in the first image obtained after the administration of contrast material, for a sensitivity of 89% and a specificity of 67%. CONCLUSION T2*-weighted first-pass perfusion imaging can help differentiate between benign and malignant breast lesions with a high level of specificity. The combination of T1-weighted and T2*-weighted imaging is feasible in a single patient examination and may improve breast MR imaging.
Effects of Teriparatide and Alendronate on Vertebral Strength as Assessed by Finite Element Modeling of QCT Scans in Women With Osteoporosis

FE modeling was used to estimate the biomechanical effects of teriparatide and alendronate on lumbar vertebrae. Both treatments enhanced predicted vertebral strength by increasing average density. This effect was more pronounced for teriparatide, which further increased predicted vertebral strength by altering the distribution of density within the vertebra, preferentially increasing the strength of the trabecular compartment.
Cholesterol Dependence of Vascular ERK1/2 Activation and Growth in Response to Stretch: Role of Endothelin-1

Objective—Stretch-induced growth of the vascular wall plays a role in hypertension and neointima formation. Its signal pathways involve integrins, cytoskeleton, membrane receptors, and ion channels, some of which are organized in cholesterol-rich, membrane domains such as lipid rafts or caveolae. This study tested the role of rafts/caveolae in stretch-induced vascular growth by manipulation of membrane cholesterol contents. Methods and Results—Growth and protein synthesis were induced by mechanical stretch of rat portal veins in vitro. Sucrose gradient centrifugation showed stretch-induced tyrosine phosphorylation primarily in fractions containing caveolin-1. Disruption of membrane caveolae with use of methyl-&bgr;-cyclodextrin (m&bgr;cd) reduced weight gain, protein synthesis, and DNA synthesis to levels in unstretched, control veins. These effects were partially reversed by restoration of cellular cholesterol contents. Inhibited growth was associated with abolished activation of extracellular signal–regulated kinase (ERK) 1/2 in response to stretch and endothelin-1 (ET-1) but not to angiotensin II. Inhibition of ET-1 type A (ETA) receptors by RF139317 or endothelin-converting enzyme by phosphoramidone abolished stretch-induced ERK1/2 activation, which was, however, unaffected by removal of the endothelium. Conclusions—Stretch-induced growth signaling in vascular smooth muscle depends on cholesterol-rich, membrane microdomains by a mechanism involving ETA receptors that respond to endogenous ET-1 production.
Birth incidence and prevalence of tumor‐prone syndromes: Estimates from a UK family genetic register service

Autosomal dominantly inherited tumor‐prone syndromes are a substantial health problem and are amenable to epidemiologic studies by combining cancer surveillance registries with a genetic register (GR)‐based approach. Knowledge of the frequency of the conditions provides a basis for appropriate health‐resources allocations. GRs for five tumor‐prone syndromes were established in the Manchester region of North West England in 1989 and 1990. Mapping birth dates of affected individuals from families onto regional birth rates has allowed an estimate of birth incidence, disease prevalence, and de novo mutation rates. Disease prevalence in order of frequency were for neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1): 1 in 4,560; familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP): 1 in 18,976; nevoid basal cell carcinoma [Gorlin syndrome (GS)]: 1 in 30,827; neurofibromatosis type 2 (NF2) 1 in 56,161; and von Hippel Lindau (VHL) 1 in 91,111. Best estimates for birth incidence were: 1 in 2,699; 1 in 8,619; 1 in 14,963, 1 in 33,000; and 1 in 42,987, respectively. The proportions due to de novo mutation were: 42% (NF1); 16% (FAP); 26% (GS); 56% (NF2); and 21% (VHL). Estimates for NF1, NF2, FAP, and VHL are in line with previous estimates, and we provide the first estimates of birth incidence and de novo mutation rate for GS. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.