Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Changes in calcitonin release during sympathetic nerve degeneration after superior cervical ganglionectomy of rats.

To assess the role of peripheral sympathetic nerves in the regulation of calcitonin release, rats subjected to superior cervical ganglionectomy (SCGx) 16-28 h earlier were used. The time periods selected allowed us to examine C cell response during the supraliminal release of sympathetic transmitter that accompanies anterograde degeneration of nerve varicosities as well as during the neural paralysis that ensues thereafter. At the time intervals examined, SCGx did not result in significant changes of basal serum calcitonin or Ca levels. The intraperitoneal administration of CaCl2 brought about an impending increase of serum Ca to the same extent in SCGx and sham-operated rats. A significant depression of calcitonin release was observed in rats killed around the time of nerve terminal degeneration (16-21 h post SCGx) but not about 10 h later. Additionally a delay to achieve a maximal calcitonin response was apparent during nerve degeneration. Injection of the alpha-adrenoceptor blocker phenoxybenzamine significantly increased basal calcitonin levels and restored the depressed calcitonin response to hypercalcemia seen in SCGx rats. Treatment with the beta-adrenoceptor-blocker propranolol counteracted phenoxybenzamine activity but was unable to modify per se calcitonin release in SCGx or sham-operated rats. Basal Ca levels and their increase after intraperitoneal CaCl2 were similar in all examined groups regardless of the drug injected. In an additional experiment phenoxybenzamine injected into SCGx rats in doses one-fifth those employed earlier still reversed both the depression in maximal calcitonin response as well as the delay to attain maximal release after CaCl2, but was unable to affect basal calcitonin levels. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Poor congruence with guidelines in the use of antibiotics for acute bronchitis: a descriptive study based on electronic health records.

BACKGROUND Although acute bronchitis is frequently viral in nature, antibiotics are usually inappropriately prescribed in Primary Care to treat this condition, with serious public health consequences. OBJECTIVE To determine the prevalence and predictors of appropriate management of antibiotic use in acute bronchitis processes diagnosed in outpatients in the Spanish region of Aragón. METHODS Four different electronic health databases provided demographic and clinical information pertaining to patients diagnosed with acute bronchitis in Primary Care in Aragón during 2011, as well as data for corresponding antibiotic prescriptions dispensed at pharmacies. We evaluated adherence to recommendations for antibiotic use in acute bronchitis episodes in adults collected in both international and national guidelines. Finally, regression analyses were used to identify factors associated with appropriate antibiotic management. RESULTS A total of 54701 episodes of acute bronchitis were registered, 9.5% of which corresponded to patients with an underlying chronic respiratory disease. In adults, antibiotics were prescribed in 64.9% of episodes, 17.9% of which involved prescription of a first-choice agent. Overall, 48.5% of episodes were appropriately managed according to guidelines. The likelihood of appropriate treatment was higher for female patients, and lower for patients who were older, presented chronic co-morbidities or were using corticoids. CONCLUSIONS We observed poor levels of adherence to recommendations for antibiotic prescribing in adults with acute bronchitis, in terms of both the decision to prescribe and the choice of antibiotic agent. Older acute bronchitis patients and those with co-morbidities were at greater risk of being inappropriately treated.
Physiological Changes in Skin Barrier Function in Relation to Occlusion Level, Exposure Time and Climatic Conditions

Skin occlusion is a condition encountered with various articles as part of everyday life and resulting changes in skin barrier physiology often remain unnoticed. In the present study we aimed to understand the impact of absorbent feminine hygiene articles, one vapor-permeable and one vapor-impermeable, on skin hydration in response to exposure time and different environmental climatic conditions. Using a forearm model, volunteers were patched with moistened vapor-permeable and -impermeable articles in parallel for 1, 3, and 6 h and under different climatic conditions (i.e. 20°C/30% relative humidity, 25°C/50% relative humidity, 30°C/ 75% relative humidity). The physiological changes in the skin barrier function were measured via skin hydration, evaporation of superficial water (skin surface water loss, SSWL) and relative humidity in the microclimate between skin and occlusive article (RHmc). The results show that skin hydration, SSWL, and RHmc under a vapor-permeable article are reduced versus the vapor-impermeable article for all exposure times at 25°C and 50% relative humidity. SSWL and RHmc decrease from their 1-hour peak values with increasing exposure time, while skin hydration decreases only after 3 h of exposure. Lower environmental temperature (20°C) and lower relative humidity (30%) have little impact on the reduction of SSWL and RHmc, but more so on the reduction of skin hydration. Higher temperature (30°C) and higher relative humidity (75%) increase RHmc and skin hydration under both vapor-permeable and -impermeable articles while SSWL is reduced under the vapor-impermeable article under these conditions. In conclusion, vapor-permeability is the key factor for physiological changes in the barrier function of the skin under occlusion, exposure time and climatic conditions being modulating factors. These findings have been integrated into a model of skin hydration under occlusion in the context of absorbent hygiene articles. While current vapor-impermeable articles are effective in reducing the excessive moisture on the skin due to bodily discharge, vapor permeability adds a further measurable benefit in reducing skin overhydration.
Linking dendroecology and association genetics in natural populations: Stress responses archived in tree rings associate with SNP genotypes in silver fir (Abies alba Mill.)

Genetic association studies in forest trees would greatly benefit from information on the response of trees to environmental stressors over time, which can be provided by dendroecological analysis. Here, we jointly analysed dendroecological and genetic data of surviving silver fir trees to explore the genetic basis of their response to the iconic stress episode of the 1970s and 1980s that led to large‐scale forest dieback in Central Europe and has been attributed to air pollution. Specifically, we derived dendrophenotypic measures from 190 trees in the Bavarian Forest that characterize the resistance, resilience and recovery during this growth depression, and in the drought year in 1976. By focusing on relative growth changes of trees and by standardizing the dendrophenotypes within stands, we accounted for variation introduced by micro‐ and macroscale environmental differences. We associated the dendrophenotypes with single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in candidate genes using general linear models (GLMs) and the machine learning algorithm random forest with subsequent feature selection. Most trees at our study sites experienced a severe growth decline from 1974 until the mid‐1980s with minimum values during the drought year. Fifteen genes were associated with the dendrophenotypes, including genes linked to photosynthesis and drought stress. With our study, we show that dendrophenotypes can be a powerful resource for genetic association studies that permit to account for micro‐ and macroenvironmental variation when data are derived from natural populations. We call for a wider collaboration of dendroecologists and forest geneticists to integrate individual tree‐level dendrophenotypes in genetic association studies.
New contributions to audio source separation and diarisation of Multichannel Convolutive Mixtures. (Quelques contributions pour la séparation et la diarisation de sources audio dans des mélanges multicanaux convolutifs)

Dans cette these, nous abordons le probleme de la separation de sources audio dans des melanges convolutifs multicanaux et sous-determines,en utilisant une modelisation probabiliste.Nous nous concentrons sur trois aspects,et nous apportons trois contributions.D’abord, nous nous inspirons du modele Gaussien local par factorisation en matrices non-negatives (LGM-with-NMF), qui est un modele empiriquement valide pour representer un signal audio.Nous proposons une extension Bayesienne de ce modele, qui permet de surpasser certaines limitations du modele NMF. Nous incorporons cette representation dans un cadre de separation audio multicanaux, et le comparons avec l’etat de l’art sur des tâches de separation. Nous obtenons des resultats prometteurs. Deuxiemement, nous etudions comment separer des melanges audio de sources et/ou des capteurs en mouvement. Ces deplacements rendent le chemin acoustique entre les sources et les microphones variant en cours du temps.L’adressage des melanges convolutifs et variant au cours du temps semble rare dans la litterature. Ainsi, nous partons d’une methode etat de l’art utilisant LGM-with-NMF, developpee pour la separation de melanges invariants (sources et microphones statiques). Nous proposons a ceci une extension qui utilise un filtre de Kalman pour suivre le chemin acoustique au cours du temps.La methode proposee est comparee a une adaptation bloc par bloc d’une methode de l’etat de l’art appliquee sur des intervalles de temps,et adonne des resultats exceptionnels sur les melanges simules et les melanges du monde reel. Enfin, nous investiguons les similitudes entre la separation et la diarisation audio. La diarisation audio est le probleme de l’annotation des intervalles d’un melange audio, auxquels chaque locuteur/source est emettant. La plupart des methodes de separation supposent toutes les sources a emettant continuellement. Une hypothese qui peut donner lieu a de fausses estimations,durant les intervalles au cours desquels cette source n’emettait pas. Notre objectif est que diarisation puisse aider a resoudre la separation, en indiquant les sources qui emettent chaque intervalle de temps.Dans cette mesure, nous concevons une cadre commun pour traiter simultanement la diarisation et la separation du melange audio. Ce cadre incorpore,un modele de Markov cache pour suivre les activites des sources,au sein d’une methode de separation LGM-with-NMF.Nous comparons l’algorithme propose, a l’etat de l’art sur des tâches de separation et de diarisation. Nous obtenons des performances comparables avec l’etat de l’art pour la separation, et superieures pour la diarisation.
Childhood body mass index in relation to subsequent risk of type 1 diabetes—A Danish cohort study

The incidence of type 1 diabetes (T1D) is increasing, and obesity may be a contributing factor by increasing the risk and accelerating the onset. We investigated the relation between childhood body mass index z‐scores (BMIz) and the later risk of T1D, including association with age at onset of T1D. The study included 238 cases and 10 147 controls selected from the Copenhagen School Health Record Register (CSHRR). Cases of T1D were identified in the Danish Registry of Childhood and Adolescent Diabetes and 2 regional studies and linked to CSHRR. Using conditional logistic regression models, the association of childhood prediagnostic BMIz at 7 and 13 years of age and changes between these ages with subsequent risk (odds ratio, OR) of T1D was estimated. A greater BMIz at 7 and 13 years of age was associated with increased risk of T1D with OR of 1.23 (confidence interval, CI 1.09‐1.37; P = .0001) and 1.20 (CI 1.04‐1.40; P = .016), respectively. The risk was increased by upward changes in z‐scores from birth to 7 years (OR=1.21, P = .003) and from 7 to 13 years of age (OR=1.95, P = .023), but in the latter age interval also by a decline in BMIz (OR = 1.91, P = .034). There were no associations between BMIz at 7 and 13 years of age and the age of onset (P = .34 and P = .42, respectively). Increased BMIz is associated with a moderate increase in risk of T1D, but with no relation to age at onset within the analyzed age range. Increased BMIz over time is unlikely to explain the rising incidence of T1D.
Machine learning based class level prediction of restaurant reviews

Nowadays with the proliferation of location aware technologies and smart phones people tend to give reviews for all types of products services and place them online. It is very important to extract knowledge or information occupies in the vast amount of available text reviews. For these, user's sentiment is also monumental. If any business owners want to take decision on future planning, they must consider their clients sentiment. In this research, we proposed a noble strategy to predict user sentiment from their online reviews given for a particular business by using supervised machine learning techniques. Our proposed machine learning model will give a hand to restaurant owners to identify their customer's feedback and market positions.
Type II transmembrane serine proteases as potential targets for cancer therapy

Abstract Carcinogenesis is accompanied by increased protein and activity levels of extracellular cell-surface proteases that are capable of modifying the tumor microenvironment by directly cleaving the extracellular matrix, as well as activating growth factors and proinflammatory mediators involved in proliferation and invasion of cancer cells, and recruitment of inflammatory cells. These complex processes ultimately potentiate neoplastic progression leading to local tumor cell invasion, entry into the vasculature, and metastasis to distal sites. Several members of the type II transmembrane serine protease (TTSP) family have been shown to play critical roles in cancer progression. In this review the knowledge collected over the past two decades about the molecular mechanisms underlying the pro-cancerous properties of selected TTSPs will be summarized. Furthermore, we will discuss how these insights may facilitate the translation into clinical settings in the future by specifically targeting TTSPs as part of novel cancer treatment regimens.
Phylogeny through brain traits: more characters for the analysis of mammalian evolution.

We have assembled data on nine brain traits, in addition to the fifteen we have previously described, which provide new evidence for assessing mammalian relationships. States of these characters are tabulated as they occur in each of 152 mammalian species, providing data in numerically ordered form, useful for multiple analyses of phylogenetic relationships in programs which take into account variations in several different characters simultaneously. Derived states of each of the nine traits are characteristic of certain restricted groups of mammals; (1) mirroring of the complete SI body representation in isocortex (anthropoid primates); (2) loss of the accessory olfactory bulbs (sirenians, cetaceans, most bats, catarrhine primates); (3) Rindenkerne, clumps of cell bodies in layer 6 of cerebral cortex (sirenians); (4) posteriorly-pointing digits in the SI body representation (bats, both mega- and micro-); (5) equivalent tectopetal connections to the anterior colliculus of one side from both retinas, rather than predominantly from the contralateral retina (primates and megabats); (6) loss of lamination in dorsal cochlear nuclei (anthropoid primates, bats, seals, sirenians, cetaceans); (7) separation of claustrum from cerebral cortex (diprotodont marsupials, carnivores, artiodactyls, perissodactyls, hyracoids, cetaceans and primates), (8) presence of a complete secondary (SII) somatic sensory region of cerebral cortex (therians-all extant mammals other than monotremes), and (9) presence of a distinct external cuneate nucleus among the nuclei of the dorsal columns (all mammalian groups except monotremes and sirenians). Two examples of phylogenetic trees derived from these data are presented. These sample trees maintain the segregation of the monotremes and the marsupials, and the basic dichotomy of placentals seen in our earlier trees based entirely on brain data. They also show: an orderly sequence of bifurcations (rather than the commonly seen multifurcation near the base of the radiation) in the reconstruction of placental relationships; extremes of derivation for the Cetacea, the Chiroptera, and the Sirenia (in concordance with trees based on other data); a ferungulate association of Carnivora, Perissodactyla, Artiodactyla, Hyracoidea and Sirenia; and an assemblage of related Dermoptera, Primates, Scandentia, and Chiroptera which in this model also includes Insectivora and Macroscelidea. Analyses based on brain characters can reinforce conclusions based on other data, while at the same time introducing new ideas about relationships. Neural traits provide a source of data independent of those commonly used in phylogenetic analysis, and are extremely valuable for testing old hypotheses and for introducing new ones. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Multiple Intracranial Hemorrhages at the Time of a Transiently Prolonged Activated Partial Thromboplastin Time in an Infant with Congenital Factor VII Deficiency

Factor VII (FVII) deficiency is a rare autosomal recessive hereditary disorder characterized by a normal partial thromboplastin time and a prolonged prothrombin time. For definitive diagnosis, the specific FVII level should be investigated. We report on a 7-month-old boy with congenital FVII deficiency suffering from convulsions and intracerebral hemorrhage. Hematologic tests revealed prolonged prothrombin time associated with a decreased FVII level of 1.7%. Computerized tomography of the brain revealed multifocal hemorrhagic lesions. To our knowledge, multifocal intracranial hemorrhages at the time of a transiently prolonged partial thromboplastin time of unknown origin in a child with congenital FVII deficiency of about 2% has not been reported so far.
A double-blind, placebo-controlled parallel trial of vitamin C treatment in elderly patients with hypertension.

We have investigated the effect on blood pressure of treatment with vitamin C (an antioxidant and free radical scavenger) in patients with both systolic and essential hypertension. Following a 2-week run-in phase, two age- and sex-matched groups of untreated hypertensive subjects were randomised in a double-blind study to receive 6 weeks' oral treatment with either vitamin C, 250 mg twice daily (n = 22; 8M/14F, mean age 73.7 +/- 4.9 years) or placebo, one capsule twice daily (n = 26; 10M/16F, mean age 73.8 +/- 5.3 years). Blood pressure was measured in the sitting position using a random zero sphygmomanometer on three occasions during the run-in phase, and again at 2, 4 and 6 weeks after commencing treatment. Venous blood samples for measurement of plasma ascorbic acid (AA) and lipid peroxides (LP) were measured in all subjects at baseline and at 4 and 6 weeks after the start of vitamin C or placebo treatment. During the study period, significant falls in both systolic (vitamin C group, mean change -10.3 (95% CI 0.7-20.0) mm Hg, p = 0.05) and diastolic (vitamin C group, mean change -5.9 (95% CI 0.2-11.5) mm Hg, p = 0.03; placebo group, mean change -4.7 (95% CI 0.3-9.1) mm Hg, p = 0.05) blood pressure occurred. However, no statistical difference between the effects of either treatment on blood pressure was observed. At baseline, AA concentrations were lower in the vitamin C-treated group compared with the placebo group (44.6 +/- 2.4 vs. 57.7 +/- 4.2 mumol/l, p < 0.05). (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
The Isolation of Actinomyces naeslundii from Sound Root Surfaces and Root Carious Lesions

The isolation of Actinomyces naeslundii from sound, exposed root surfaces (n = 56) and soft and leathery root carious lesions (n = 71) was investigated. Root carious lesions were sampled after the removal of overlying plaque. Supragingival plaque or carious dentine was sampled using a sterile excavator, the samples were disaggregated and cultured on both selective and non-selective media. A. naeslundii isolates were identified to the genospecies using specific antisera. Significantly greater numbers and proportions of A. naeslundii genospecies 2 than A. naeslundii genospecies 1 were isolated from all sites sampled. There was no significant difference between the numbers and proportions of the two genospecies isolated from leathery and soft lesions. The relationship between the presence of A. naeslundii genospecies and aciduric and acidogenic organisms was investigated. Those sound exposed root surfaces from which A. naeslundii genospecies 1 and/or 2 were isolated yielded significantly lower numbers of lactobacilli and yeasts than the surfaces from which A. naeslundii were not isolated. This difference was also found in leathery lesions but not soft root carious lesions. The microflora of soft root carious lesions was found to comprise primarily gram-positive pleomorphic rods which formed 70±7.8% of the flora, while in plaque from exposed root surfaces and in infected dentine from leathery lesions the gram-positive pleomorphic rods represented only 35% of the flora.
Polynomial-chaos-kriging-assisted efficient global optimization

In this paper, we explore the use of the recently proposed polynomial chaos-Kriging (PCK) surrogate model to assist a single-objective efficient global optimization (EGO) framework in order to solve expensive optimization problems. PCK is a form of universal Kriging (UK) that employs orthogonal polynomials and least-angle-regression (LARS) algorithm to select the proper set of polynomial basis. The use of LARS within the PCK algorithm eliminates the need for the manual selection of UK's trend function. Investigation on the capability of PCK-EGO is performed on five synthetic and one aerodynamic test problems. In light of the results, we observe that PCK-EGO performs in a similar way to standard EGO in cases with no clear polynomial-like trend. However, PCK-EGO shows a notable faster convergence in problems where the objective function exhibits a landscape trend that can be captured by polynomials. Application to the subsonic wing problem further demonstrates that PCK-EGO is more efficient than EGO in a real-world aerodynamic optimization problem.
Phosphoinositide conversion in endocytosis and the endolysosomal system

Phosphoinositides (PIs) are phospholipids that perform crucial cell functions, ranging from cell migration and signaling to membrane trafficking, by serving as signposts of compartmental membrane identity. Although phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate, 3-phosphate, and 3,5-bisphosphate are commonly considered as hallmarks of the plasma membrane, endosomes, and lysosomes, these compartments contain other functionally important PIs. Here, we review the roles of PIs in different compartments of the endolysosomal system in mammalian cells and discuss the mechanisms that spatiotemporally control PI conversion in endocytosis and endolysosomal membrane dynamics during endosome maturation and sorting. As defective PI conversion underlies human genetic diseases, including inherited myopathies, neurological disorders, and cancer, PI-converting enzymes represent potential targets for drug-based therapies.