Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A new era for efficient food manufacturing in the Lebanon: the experience of Conserves Modernes Chtaura

Addresses the way in which Conserves Modernes Chtaura (CMC) of Lebanon is tackling the challenges of increased competition in the Lebanese food industry. Describes the company’s attempts to re‐structure its supply chain to improve links with farmers and raise quality standards, as the Lebanon enters a new era of food processing. Concludes that the continuous globalisation of food markets will necessitate the elimination of all subsidies and import control policies currently operated by the Lebanese government. Food processing will be transformed by a much higher degree of complementarity with the farming industry, through vertical alliances, and with the retail industry, through improved supply chain management. Gives the most important strategies that CMC are currently pursuing.
Opportunistic infections in immunodeficient populations.

Special Issue Opportunistic infections occur with greater frequency or severity in patients with impaired host defenses. Growing numbers of HIV-infected persons, transplant recipients, and elderly persons are at increased risk. Alison Grant, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, discussed opportunistic infections due to HIV. In 1997, more than 30 million HIV-infected persons lived in the world, with more than two thirds of them in sub-Saharan Africa and an additional 20% in Asia and Latin America. Assessments of the prevalence and incidence of opportunistic infections in these areas and comparability of the available data are hampered by limited access to care, diagnostic capabilities, and surveillance data. Despite these limitations, we know that tuberculosis (TB) is the most frequent serious opportunistic infection in the developing world. Other such infections common in sub-Saharan Africa include septice-mia (of which nontyphoid salmonella is the most common cause), toxoplasmosis, and bacterial pneumonia. Pneumocystis carinii infection, for unknown reasons, is uncommon among adults in East and West Africa but appears to be more common in South Africa. Penicillium marneffei infection, common in Thailand, is an example of an opportunistic infection of importance in a specific region; risk factors in these regions are largely unknown. Additional challenges are posed by the different HIV subtypes in the developing world and the possibility that some may be associated with a differential risk for opportunistic infections. Prevention efforts in developing countries have been limited. More work is needed to evaluate prophylactic regimens appropriate to different regions. Prevention of TB with isoniazid; of pneumocystosis, toxoplasmosis, and some bacterial infections with cotrimoxazole; and of pneumococcal infections with 23-valent pneumococcal vaccine have potential.bia, discussed the remarkable changes in the natural history of HIV in North America, specifically in British Columbia, as a result of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). Of more than 5,000 HIV-infected persons receiving care in British Columbia, more than 2,000 are receiving HAART. HIV viral loads have been reduced to undetectable levels in approximately half of these patients, with corresponding decreases in the incidence of opportunistic infections, hospitalizations, and deaths. However, even for persons who have access to the therapy, these successes may be short-lived as resistance to HAART becomes more widespread. HAART use has resulted in new syndromes that may occur soon after therapy, probably representing preexisting, subclinical infections that are unmasked by the immunologic improvement that accompanies HAART; these syndromes include lymphadeni-tis associated with Mycobacterium avium complex, cytomegalovirus …
Obesity and Polycystic Ovary Syndrome.

Since its original description in 1935 by Stein and Leventhal, obesity has been recognized as a common feature of the polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). In the United States, some studies report that the prevalence of overweight and obesity in women with PCOS is as high as 80%. Outside the U.S., the prevalence of obesity in affected women is lower, although it has increased over time, with studies reporting rates as low as 20%. Differences in the diagnostic criteria for PCOS account for some of this difference in prevalence rates. However, even when comparable diagnostic criteria are applied, both the prevalence and severity of obesity are lower in women with PCOS outside the U.S. This observation suggests that environmental factors, such as lifestyle, contribute to development of obesity in PCOS. The consistent association between PCOS and obesity suggests a biologic basis for this observation. Moreover, obesity exacerbates many of the reproductive and metabolic abnormalities associated with PCOS. This review explores the available data on the mechanisms of this association.
Analysis of universal portfolios with and without side information

In this paper, we want to analyze the concept of Universal Portfolio and to try it on some realistic data. In order to do so, we need first to write a complete version of one of the main results of T. Cover, Universal Portfolio's creator. Then, we study the constant rebalanced portfolio in a general case of N assets. This portfolio is usually the target the Universal Portfolio is aiming at. Once this is done, we look at how to construct the Universal Portfolio for the same N assets, and think about the optimal Dirichlet distribution the proportions of wealth invested should follow, in order to reach the optimal wealth. Finally, we proceed to an extensive numerical analysis and show the limits of the model.
Bioscavenger therapy for organophosphate poisoning – an open-labeled pilot randomized trial comparing fresh frozen plasma or albumin with saline in acute organophosphate poisoning in humans

Introduction. Traditional treatment of organophosphate poisoning (OP) with oximes has had limited success. Fresh frozen plasma (FFP) or albumin, acting as bioscavengers to mop up free organophosphate, has been recently proposed as a treatment modality. In this pilot open-label, three-arm, randomized controlled study exploring proof of concept, we evaluated if bioscavenger therapy had a role in OP. Patients and methods. Sixty patients with significant poisoning presenting within 12 hours, with suppression of pseudocholinesterase activity to < 1,000 U/L, were randomized to receive FFP (8 bags, 250 mL each over 3 days), 20% human albumin (4 × 100 mL over 3 days), or saline (2,000 mL over 3 days) in addition to atropine and supportive care. Pseudocholinesterase and organophosphate levels were measured pretreatment, post-infusion (Day 2, Day 3), and predischarge and expressed as mean ± standard error. The incidence of intermediate syndrome, need for mechanical ventilation, atropine requirement, and mortality were assessed. Results. Twenty patients received albumin and 19 patients each FFP or saline. FFP increased pseudocholinesterase levels (250 ± 44–1,241 ± 364 U/L) significantly (p = 0.007). Small, nonsignificant increases were observed with saline (160 ± 30–259 ± 78) and albumin (146 ± 18–220 ± 61). Organophosphate levels reduced in all 3 arms; no clear-cut trends were observed. We observed more cases of intermediate syndrome with FFP [10/19 (53%) vs. 5/20 (25%) vs. 5/19 (26%), FFP, albumin, and saline arms (p = 0.15)]. The interventions did not affect ventilatory requirements (14/19 vs. 15/20 vs. 14/19) or prevent delayed intubation. There were no differences in mean (±standard error) atropine requirement (in milligrams) in the first 3 days (536 ± 132 vs. 361 ± 125 vs. 789 ± 334) and duration (in days) of ventilation (10.0 ± 2.1 vs. 7.1 ± 1.5 vs. 7.5 ± 1.5) or hospital stay (12.4 ± 2.2 vs. 9.8 ± 1.4 vs. 9.8 ± 1.6). Two patients developed adverse effects with FFP. Mortality was similar (4/19 vs. 5/20 vs. 2/19, p = 0.6). Conclusions. Despite significant increase in pseudocholinesterase levels with FFP, this pilot study did not demonstrate favorable trends in clinical outcomes with FFP or albumin.
Sympathetic nerve traffic correlates with the release of nitric oxide in humans: implications for blood pressure control

1 Resting human sympathetic vasoconstrictor traffic displays large reproducible inter‐individual differences which are similar in nerves to muscle, heart and kidney. In spite of this there is no correlation between levels of blood pressure and sympathetic traffic. To test the hypothesis that the pressor effect of the vasoconstrictor activity is counteracted by a circulating dilating factor we measured muscle nerve sympathetic activity (MSA) and an indicator of nitric oxide release (plasma nitrate) in healthy young males. 2 Sympathetic activity was recorded with the microneurographic technique in the peroneal nerve and a forearm venous plasma sample was obtained in twenty‐one normotensive males aged 21–28 years. Plasma nitrate was analysed by gas chromatography and mass spectrometry. 3 There was a positive linear correlation between the plasma nitrate concentration and the strength of MSA both when the nerve activity was expressed as bursts per minute and bursts per 100 heart beats (r= 0.51, P= 0.02 and r= 0.46, P= 0.04, respectively). 4 The data suggest that the stronger the sympathetic activity the higher the release of the dilating substance, nitric oxide. This would be expected to counteract vasoconstrictor effects of the nerve traffic and thereby contribute to the lack of relationship between resting levels of MSA and blood pressure. We speculate that altered coupling between sympathetic traffic and nitric oxide release may cause abnormal peripheral resistance, e.g. in hypertension.
Genomewide linkage analysis of weight change in the Framingham Heart Study.

BACKGROUND Weight gain adversely affects blood pressure, lipids, and glycemia. The genetic contribution to weight change is unknown. METHODS Variance components linkage analysis using microsatellites was performed on 336 families from the Framingham Heart Study offspring cohort, using a 10-cM genome-wide linkage analysis. We evaluated linkage to two traits: short-term (8-yr) weight change and long-term (up to 24-yr) weight change. Models were adjusted for age, age squared, baseline weight, smoking status, and menopausal status. RESULTS Mean short-term weight change ranged from 1.4-3.8 kg, and mean long-term weight change was 7.7 kg. The heritability of long-term weight change was 0.24; weight change was minimally heritable among younger individuals and over shorter follow-up intervals. We found significant evidence for linkage for long-term weight change, with a peak LOD score of 3.10 on chromosome 20 at 63.7 cM (nearest marker, D20S481). We also found suggestive evidence for linkage on chromosome 1 at 239.7 cM (LOD score, 2.28; nearest marker, D1S1644). CONCLUSION Long-term weight change is heritable, and evidence for linkage exists on chromosomes 1 and 20. Potential candidate genes include MC3R, ASIP, AGT, and HSD11B1. Additional research is necessary to uncover the genetic underpinnings of weight change that might contribute to associated adverse metabolic profiles.
Predictors of Long-term Exercise Maintenance among College Aged Adults: Role of Body Image Anxiety

Background and Purpose: Participation in regular exercise is low among young adults and is contributing to a rapid increase in obesity and chronic health conditions. Enhancing motivation is a key element in exercise initiation and maintenance. The current investigation considers factors relevant to the transtheoretical model (TTM), self-determination theory (SDT), self-efficacy (SE), and body image anxiety (BIA) in relation to college students’ motivation to exercise. Design and Main Outcome Measures: In this cross sectional study, lower division college students (N=614, 64% female, 36% male) completed an online survey of exercise behavior, motivation, SE and BIA. Results: BIA was related to both controlled extrinsic (external and introjected regulations) and autonomous extrinsic (integrated regulation) SDT motivational variables, as well as intrinsic motivation. Exercise maintenance was most strongly associated with integrated regulation, a “selfdetermined” motivational state, and SE. Conclusion: The current study provides support for the central tenet of SDT indicating that intrinsic and extrinsic motivation are not mutually exclusive constructs. Helping individuals with BIA develop a more intrinsic approach to exercise is integral for fostering long-term exercise maintenance. Thus, future research should focus on developing interventions that enhance integrated regulation and SE in order to promote exercise maintenance and reduce associated BIA. © 2014 Californian Journal of Health Promotion. All rights reserved.
DAGGER: A sequential algorithm for FDR control on DAGs

We propose a linear-time, single-pass, top-down algorithm for multiple testing on directed acyclic graphs (DAGs), where nodes represent hypotheses and edges specify a partial ordering in which hypotheses must be tested. The procedure is guaranteed to reject a sub-DAG with bounded false discovery rate (FDR) while satisfying the logical constraint that a rejected node's parents must also be rejected. It is designed for sequential testing settings, when the DAG structure is known a priori, but the $p$-values are obtained selectively (such as in a sequence of experiments), but the algorithm is also applicable in non-sequential settings when all $p$-values can be calculated in advance (such as variable/model selection). Our DAGGER algorithm, shorthand for Greedily Evolving Rejections on DAGs, provably controls the false discovery rate under independence, positive dependence or arbitrary dependence of the $p$-values. The DAGGER procedure specializes to known algorithms in the special cases of trees and line graphs, and simplifies to the classical Benjamini-Hochberg procedure when the DAG has no edges. We explore the empirical performance of DAGGER using simulations, as well as a real dataset corresponding to a gene ontology, showing favorable performance in terms of time and power.
CTP synthase polymerization in germline cells of the developing Drosophila egg supports egg production

ABSTRACT Polymerization of metabolic enzymes into micron-scale assemblies is an emerging mechanism for regulating their activity. CTP synthase (CTPS) is an essential enzyme in the biosynthesis of the nucleotide CTP and undergoes regulated and reversible assembly into large filamentous structures in organisms from bacteria to humans. The purpose of these assemblies is unclear. A major challenge to addressing this question has been the inability to abolish assembly without eliminating CTPS protein. Here we demonstrate that a recently reported point mutant in CTPS, Histidine 355A (H355A), prevents CTPS filament assembly in vivo and dominantly inhibits the assembly of endogenous wild-type CTPS in the Drosophila ovary. Expressing this mutant in ovarian germline cells, we show that disruption of CTPS assembly in early stage egg chambers reduces egg production. This effect is exacerbated in flies fed the glutamine antagonist 6-diazo-5-oxo-L-norleucine, which inhibits de novo CTP synthesis. These findings introduce a general approach to blocking the assembly of polymerizing enzymes without eliminating their catalytic activity and demonstrate a role for CTPS assembly in supporting egg production, particularly under conditions of limited glutamine metabolism. This article has an associated First Person interview with the first author of the paper. Summary: A point mutation in the nucleotide biosynthetic enzyme CTP synthase dominantly inhibits its polymerization and can be used to suppress CTPS assembly in a tissue-specific manner in vivo. Disrupting assembly in ovarian germline cells reduces egg production, demonstrating a functional role for CTPS assembly.
Staphylococcus aureus Infections: Epidemiology, Pathophysiology, Clinical Manifestations, and Management

SUMMARY Staphylococcus aureus is a major human pathogen that causes a wide range of clinical infections. It is a leading cause of bacteremia and infective endocarditis as well as osteoarticular, skin and soft tissue, pleuropulmonary, and device-related infections. This review comprehensively covers the epidemiology, pathophysiology, clinical manifestations, and management of each of these clinical entities. The past 2 decades have witnessed two clear shifts in the epidemiology of S. aureus infections: first, a growing number of health care-associated infections, particularly seen in infective endocarditis and prosthetic device infections, and second, an epidemic of community-associated skin and soft tissue infections driven by strains with certain virulence factors and resistance to β-lactam antibiotics. In reviewing the literature to support management strategies for these clinical manifestations, we also highlight the paucity of high-quality evidence for many key clinical questions.
Impact of the genetic background of transgenic mice upon the formation and timing of choroid plexus papillomas

Transgenic mice harboring the SV40 large T antigen gene in a C57Bl/6J genetic background (SV11) first express this gene at 1–2 weeks of age, develop papillomas of the choroid plexus by 80–90 days, and die within 125 days after birth. Transgenic mice harboring the same transgene in a (SV11‐C57Bl/6J × NZW/lacJ) F1 genetic background express considerably lower levels of the transgene mRNA at comparable times after birth. As a consequence, tumor development and death are delayed. The NZW mice appear to contribute a dominant negative regulator for the expression of the SV40 large T antigen transgene, which in turn has a dramatic effect upon the time of appearance of tumors and the death of these transgenic animals.
Regulation of GDF-11 and myostatin activity by GASP-1 and GASP-2

Significance The TGF-β family encompasses a large number of secreted proteins that regulate embryonic development and adult tissue homeostasis. Growth and differentiation factor (GDF) -associated serum protein-1 (GASP-1) and GASP-2 are related proteins capable of binding and inhibiting two family members, myostatin and GDF-11. Here, we show that mice genetically engineered to lack GASP-1 and/or GASP-2 exhibit muscle and skeletal phenotypes consistent with overactivity of myostatin and/or GDF-11. These studies also reveal the enormous complexity of this regulatory system in vivo and the delicate balance that must be maintained between signaling molecules and their inhibitory proteins for proper levels of signaling to be achieved. Myostatin (MSTN) and growth and differentiation factor-11 (GDF-11) are highly related TGF-β family members that have distinct biological functions. MSTN is expressed primarily in skeletal muscle and acts to limit muscle growth. GDF-11 is expressed more widely and plays multiple roles, including regulating axial skeletal patterning during development. Several MSTN and GDF-11 binding proteins have been identified, including GDF-associated serum protein-1 (GASP-1) and GASP-2, which are capable of inhibiting the activities of these ligands. Here, we show that GASP-1 and GASP-2 act by blocking the initial signaling event (namely, the binding of the ligand to the type II receptor). Moreover, we show that mice lacking Gasp1 and Gasp2 have phenotypes consistent with overactivity of MSTN and GDF-11. Specifically, we show that Gasp2−/− mice have posteriorly directed transformations of the axial skeleton, which contrast with the anteriorly directed transformations seen in Gdf11−/− mice. We also show that both Gasp1−/− and Gasp2−/− mice have reductions in muscle weights, a shift in fiber type from fast glycolytic type IIb fibers to fast oxidative type IIa fibers, and impaired muscle regeneration ability, which are the reverse of what are seen in Mstn−/− mice. All of these findings suggest that both GASP-1 and GASP-2 are important modulators of GDF-11 and MSTN activity in vivo.
Multi-modal Function Optimization Based on Artificial Immune Network and Chaos

After the immune network algorithms of multi-modal function optimization have developed, their performance can be improved by stochastic chaos map. In chaos attractor equations the variables are steadily approached stable points. A novel algorithm of immune network combined chaos is presented. The solutions searched and optimized can be accelerated using this method. According to opt-aiNet improved, parameters sensitivity can be bated. At last, some functions are tested. Through multi-peak illustrated and results optimized, the approach is verified with high generalized, efficiency and precision.
Circulating factor associated with increased glomerular permeability to albumin in recurrent focal segmental glomerulosclerosis.

BACKGROUND Heavy proteinuria and progressive renal injury recur after transplantation in up to 40 percent of patients with renal failure caused by idiopathic focal segmental glomerulosclerosis. A circulating factor may be responsible for this recurrence. METHODS To determine whether patients with focal segmental glomerulosclerosis have a circulating factor capable of causing glomerular injury, we tested serum samples from 100 patients with the disorder in an in vitro assay of glomerular permeability to albumin. Of the 56 patients who had undergone renal transplantation, 33 had recurrences. Sixty-four patients, many of whom had undergone transplantation, were being treated with dialysis. Thirty-one patients with other renal diseases and nine normal subjects were also studied. RESULTS The 33 patients with recurrent focal segmental glomerulosclerosis after transplantation had a higher mean (+/-SE) value for permeability to albumin (0.47+/-0.06) than the normal subjects (0.06+/-0.07) or the patients who did not have recurrences (0.14+/-0.06). After plasmapheresis in six patients with recurrences, the permeability was reduced (from 0.79+/-0.06 to 0.10+/-0.05, P = 0.008), and proteinuria was significantly decreased. Patients with corticosteroid-sensitive nephrotic syndrome or with membranous nephropathy after transplantation had low levels of serum activity. The circulating factor bound to protein A and hydrophobic-interaction columns and had an apparent molecular mass of about 50 kd. CONCLUSIONS A circulating factor found in some patients with focal segmental glomerulosclerosis is associated with recurrent disease after renal transplantation and may be responsible for initiating the renal injury.
A k-nearest neighborhood based fuzzy reasoning schema

In this paper a k-nearest neighborhood based fuzzy reasoning is introduced. The proposed approach is necessary in order to estimate the firing degree of each rule for a fuzzy if-then rule base where the antecedent is an n-dimensional vector. The proposed methodology is applied to well known Box and Jenkins gas-furnace data and compared with two other algorithms. The first algorithm is the slightly modified version of the well-known Sugeno-Yasukawa (1993) methodology proposed by Turksen, Bazoon et al. (1997), and the second algorithm is the adaptive network-based fuzzy inference schema proposed by Jang (1996). The test data prediction RMSE's obtained from the gas-furnace data is 1.03 for Turksen-Bazoon approach, 0.52 for ANFIS and 0.43 for the proposed algorithm.
Amygdala-Kindled Convulsions in Suspended Rats

Amygdala-kindled Long-Evans rats were suspended in a harness--with all four feet off the ground--and their convulsions were triggered, videotaped, and scored. In the suspended subjects, it was found that kindled convulsions involve the hindlimbs as well as the forelimbs and that they involve tonus as well as clonus. These data contradict the commonly held view that kindled convulsions consist only of face and forelimb clonus. They suggest that kindled convulsions resemble the generalized, whole-body convulsions observed in the maximal electroshock model and other "maximal" seizure models.