Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Paralytic shellfish poisoning in Kodiak, Alaska.

PARALYTIC SHELLFISH POISONING (PSP) occurs worldwide and its incidence may be increasing. ' In North America PSP has been reported mainly in Canada, the Pacific Northwest, California, and New England. Paralytic shellfish poisoning is caused by ingestion of shellfish containing one or more of several saxitoxin analogs.2 Saxitoxins act by blocking sodium ion movement through voltage-gated sodium channels on excitable cell membranes.2 Generally, PSP results in mild symptoms such as paresthesias, including perioral and extremity numbness and tingling, and gastrointestinal symptoms, including nausea and vomiting.3'4 More severe cases may result in neurologic symptoms such as dysarthria, dysphagia, ataxia, diplopia, weakness, and a dissociative feeling. Death is unusual and generally results from respiratory paralysis. In severe cases, progression from onset of symptoms to respiratory arrest may be rapid. The case reported here occurred as part of a larger outbreak that has recently been described in full.5
Identification of “Cronobacter” spp. (Enterobacter sakazakii)

ABSTRACT A taxonomic reclassification of the neonatal pathogen Enterobacter sakazakii to consist of five species within a new genus, “Cronobacter,” has recently been proposed. The correct identification of these organisms is important to clinicians. Therefore, using 312 Enterobacteriaceae, including 210 “Cronobacter” strains, the reliabilities of biochemical and genetic confirmation tests were investigated. All “Cronobacter” isolates were positive using dnaG and gluA PCR protocols, and all expressed α-glucosidase activity. ID32E v3.0 identified 99.5% of “Cronobacter” isolates (as the nearest match to E. sakazakii).
Genetic analysis of mutants of Aspergillus nidulans blocked at an early stage of sporulation

Three mutants of Aspergillus nidulans, selected to have a block at an early stage of conidiation (asexual sporulation), exhibit similar pleiotropic phenotypes. Each of these mutants, termed preinduction mutants, also are blocked in sexual sporulation and secrete a set of phenolic metabolites at level much higher than wild type or mutants blocked at later stages of conidiation. Backcrosses of these mutants to wild type showed that the three phenotypes always cosegregated. Diploids containing the mutant alleles in all pairwise combinations were normal for all phenotypes, showing that the three mutations are nonallelic. This conclusion was confirmed by the finding that the mutations map at three unlinked or distantly linked loci. Ten revertants of the two least leaky preinduction mutants, selected for ability to conidiate, were found in each case to arise by a second-site suppressor mutation. All of the revertants still showed accumulation of some of the phenolic metabolites but differed from each other in certain components. Three of the revertants retained the block in sexual sporulation. In these cases the suppressor has thus uncoupled the block in asexual sporulation from the block in sexual sporulation. These results are understandable in terms of a model in which preinduction mutations and their suppressors affect steps in a single metabolic pathway whose intermediates include an effector specific for asexual sporulation and a second effector specific for sexual sporulation.
SIMULATION OF IMPULSE PROPAGATION IN CARDIAC TISSUE *

Impulse transmission in a homogenous oneor two-dimensional system can be represented by simple graphic models. In the heart, the problems are complicated by the irregular three-dimensional geometry of the tissue, and by its inhomogeneity with respect to amplitude and duration of action potentials, conduction velocity, and duration of refractory period. In fully recovered (i.e. non-refractory) tissue, variations in conduction velocity (particularly in the A-V transmission system) deform an advancing propagated wave front in a manner which is quite well understood as a result of careful direct studies of the order of excitation (Scher & Young, 1956). In tissue which is partially refractory, impulse wave fronts are further distorted or even fractionated because variation in the duration of refractory periods now becomes an important determinant of conduction velocity. In tachysystolic dysrhythmias such as fibrillation and flutter, the patterns of impulse propagation are complicated by the non-uniform excitability of the conducting medium; time is not available for full restoration of excitability of all elements between responses. For more than 50 years it has been conjectured that fibrillation of the atria or ventricles is due either to the rapid repetitive discharge of an abnormal or ectopic impulse generator, or to rapid revolution of an impulse about a more or less fixed anatomic obstacle (the “circus movement” theory). In either case the basic disturbance is assumed to be periodic, the apparent “noise” of the arrhythmia being added by irregular refraction of the resulting wave fronts by surrounding tissue in varying states of excitability. On the other hand, it has been suggested that the basic mechanism is itself aperiodic, sustaining itself by the turbulent propagation of numerous small wavefronts (Brooks et al., 1955; Moe & Abildskov, 1959; Burn, 1961; Moe, 1962). Definitive proof of one or another of these possible mechanisms is lacking, and it is perhaps impossible to achieve more than circumstantial supporting evidence by any available direct approach. Accordingly, a mathematical model was designed in an attempt to determine whether self-sustained turbulent impulse propagation could be induced, and whether it would exhibit behavior similar to that of living tissue.
Cyclosporin-Induced Inhibition of Insulin Secretion in Isolated Rat Islets and HIT Cells

The effects of cyclosporin, an immunosuppressive agent used in diabetic and nondiabetic patients, on in vitro glucose-induced insulin secretion were evaluated in isolated islets and in a glucose-responsive clonal pcell line (HIT cells). Cyclosporin inhibited glucose-induced insulin secretion in a dose-response manner at concentrations commonly found in human blood. With isolated islets, four time periods (0–5, 5–15, 15–30, and 30–60 min) were examined after stimulation with 300 mg/dl glucose. Inhibition of insulin secretion by cyclosporin was evident by 5–15 min as well as during later times with progressively smaller drug concentrations. With HIT cells, longer-term effects were examined after 16 h of incubation with various drug concentrations. Inhibition of insulin secretion was again observed, and these inhibitory effects were not reversed by drug washout. A cyclosporin concentration of 0.1 μg/ml, which is a therapeutic blood level in humans, was sufficient to inhibit insulin secretion in both in vitro models. Patients using this drug should be carefully monitored for signs of deficient insulin secretion.
Mailet: Instant Social Networking under Censorship

Abstract Social media websites are blocked in many regimes where Internet censorship is applied. In this paper, we introduce Mailet, an unobservable transport proxy which enables the users to access social websites by email applications. Without assuming the Mailet servers are trustworthy, Mailet can support the services requiring privileges without having the complete credential. Particularly, the credential is split and distributed in two Mailet servers, and neither of them can recover the credential alone. To recover the credential in a TLS record message, we propose a highly efficient Galois/ Counter Mode(GCM) based secure computation, which can enable the two servers to conceal their separate credential copies in the computation. We implemented a prototype for Twitter.com to demonstrate the usability and security of Mailet.
Design and implementation of an electronic constant current DC load for battery discharge and power supply test systems

Constant current load devices are necessary for test systems whose purpose is to characterize battery discharge behaviour properly, since the voltage, and thus the current of a battery decreases as it is discharged if a constant resistance load is used. In this work, an electronic constant current DC load was designed and implemented. The main topology is based on a voltage follower controlling the gate voltage of a MOSFET that operates in linear mode. The implemented circuit can also be used in order to test the reliability of power supplies under different loading conditions. The results of different test scenarios are presented.
In silico simulations suggest that Th‐cell development is regulated by both selective and instructive mechanisms

Th‐cell differentiation is highly influenced by the local cytokine environment. Although cytokines such as IL‐12 and IL‐4 are known to polarize the Th‐cell response towards Th1 or Th2, respectively, it is not known whether these cytokines instruct the developmental fate of uncommitted Th cells or select cells that have already been committed through a stochastic process. We present an individual based model that accommodates both stochastic and deterministic processes to simulate the dynamic behaviour of selective versus instructive Th‐cell development. The predictions made by each model show distinct behaviours, which are compared with experimental observations. The simulations show that the instructive model generates an exclusive Th1 or Th2 response in the absence of an external cytokine source, whereas the selective model favours coexistence of the phenotypes. A hybrid model, including both instructive and selective development, shows behaviour similar to either the selective or the instructive model dependent on the strength of activation. The hybrid model shows the closest qualitative agreement with a number of well‐established experimental observations. The predictions by each model suggest that neither pure selective nor instructive Th development is likely to be functional as exclusive mechanisms in Th1/Th2 development.
Persistence in ratio-dependent models of consumer-resource dynamics

In a recent work Cantrell, Cosner and Ruan show that intraspecific interference is responsible for coexistence of many consumers for one resource with a logistic like growth rate. Recently, we have established a similar result for the case of a chemostat using a rather dierent technique. In the present note, we complement these two works to the case of an unknown nonlinear growth rate for the resource satisfying mild assumptions.
Ginger: An Ethnomedical, Chemical and Pharmacological Review

Powerful medicinal properties have been recorded for Zingiber officinale, commonly known as ginger. All of these medicinal activities have been compiled with 99 references to the present status of the plant in the literature. Volatile components and the presence of trace metals are included. In addition, details of individual medicinal activities are given and the molecular structures of identified organic metabolites and their synthesis are described.
Clinical effectiveness of continuous peritoneal lavage in moderately severe to severe acute pancreatitis

Purpose: This study aims to evaluate the clinical effectiveness of continuous peritoneal lavage in moderately severe to severe acute pancreatitis (AP). Materials and Methods: We studied 58 patients with moderately severe to severe AP who were admitted from January 2015 to April 2017. Among these patients, 31 patients were treated only conventional therapy (control group). Twenty-seven patients were received continuous peritoneal lavage with conventional therapy (study group). Laboratory parameters and severity scores were compared before and 7 days after therapy between two groups. Mortality rate, the incidence of local complications and length of hospital stay were also compared between two groups. Results: There were no adverse events (bowel perforation and bleeding) associated with abdominal paracentesis for peritoneal lavage. The level of all parameters (white blood cell [WBC], C reactive protein [CRP], serum amylase, lactate dehydrogenase [LDH], blood glucose, serum creatinine, base excess, and serum calcium) and all the severity scores (systemic inflammatory response syndrome [SIRS], Marshall) were significantly improved 7 days after treatment compared before therapy in two groups (P < 0.05). We also compared the level of all laboratory parameters and severity scores between two groups 7 days after therapy. The level of serum amylase, blood glucose, and serum calcium was similar between two groups 7 days after treatment. In the study group, the level of WBC, CRP, LDH, serum creatinine, base excess, and severity scores (SIRS, Marshall) was significantly improved compared with control group 7 days after therapy (P < 0.05). Mortality rate was significantly decreased in the study group compared with control group (7.4% vs. 16.1%, P < 0.01). The incidence of local complication had also a significant difference between two groups (22.2% vs. 35.5%, P < 0.05). The length of hospital stay was significantly reduced in the study group compared with control group (33.1 ± 28.0 vs. 48.9 ± 36.2 days, P < 0.01). Conclusion: Continuous peritoneal lavage can significantly reduce mortality, complications, and length of hospital stay in moderately severe to severe AP.
The gut microbiota and its relationship to diet and obesity

Obesity develops from a prolonged imbalance of energy intake and energy expenditure. However, the relatively recent discovery that the composition and function of the gut microbiota impacts on obesity has lead to an explosion of interest in what is now a distinct research field. Here, research relating to the links between the gut microbiota, diet and obesity will be reviewed under five major headings: (1) the gut microbiota of lean and obese animals, (2) the composition of the gut microbiota of lean and obese humans, (3) the impact of diet on the gut microbiota, (4) manipulating the gut microbiota and (5) the mechanisms by which the gut microbiota can impact on weight gain.
Inactivation of Integrin-linked Kinase Induces Aberrant Tau Phosphorylation via Sustained Activation of Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3β in N1E-115 Neuroblastoma Cells*

Integrin-linked kinase (ILK) is a focal adhesion serine/threonine protein kinase with an important role in integrin and growth factor signaling pathways. Recently, we demonstrated that ILK is expressed in N1E-115 neuroblastoma cells and controls integrin-dependent neurite outgrowth in serum-starved cells grown on laminin (Ishii, T., Satoh, E., and Nishimura, M. (2001) J. Biol. Chem. 276, 42994–43003). Here we report that ILK controls tau phosphorylation via regulation of glycogen synthase kinase-3β (GSK-3β) activity in N1E-115 cells. Stable transfection of a kinase-deficient ILK mutant (DN-ILK) resulted in aberrant tau phosphorylation in N1E-115 cells at sites recognized by the Tau-1 antibody that are identical to some of the phosphorylation sites in paired helical filaments, PHF-tau, in brains of patients with Alzheimer's disease. The tau phosphorylation levels in the DN-ILK-expressing cells are constant under normal and differentiating conditions. On the other hand, aberrant tau phosphorylation was not observed in the parental control cells. ILK inactivation resulted in an increase in the active form but a decrease in the inactive form of GSK-3β, which is a candidate kinase involved in PHF-tau formation. Moreover, inhibition of GSK-3β with lithium prevented aberrant tau phosphorylation in the DN-ILK-expressing cells. These results suggest that ILK inactivation results in aberrant tau phosphorylation via sustained activation of GSK-3β in N1E-115 Cells. ILK directly phosphorylates GSK-3β and inhibits its activity. Therefore, endogenous ILK protects against GSK-3β-induced aberrant tau phosphorylation via inhibition of GSK-3β activity in N1E-115 cells.
Design and evaluation of an actuated exoskeleton for examining motor control in stroke thumb

Chronic hand impairment is common following stroke. This paper presents an actuated thumb exoskeleton (ATX) to facilitate research in examining motor control and hand rehabilitation. The ATX presented in this work aims to provide independent bi-directional actuation in each of the 5 degrees of freedom (DOF) of the thumb using a novel flexible shaft-based mechanism that has 5 active DOF and 3 passive DOF. A prototype has been built and experiments have been conducted to measure the allowable workspace at the thumb and evaluate the kinematic and kinetic performance of the ATX. The experimental results show that the ATX is able to provide individual actuation at all five thumb joints with high joint velocity and torque capacities. Further improvement and future work are discussed.
Classical Conditioning of Profoundly Retarded, Multiply Handicapped Children

A classical conditioning procedure was used with five profoundly retarded children with multiple handicaps in order to investigate basic learning processes in such children. Their chronological ages ranged from 48 to 108 months and their mental ages from 0 to 5‐5 months. The procedure used a sound as the conditioned stimulus, a puff of air to the cornea as the unconditioned stimulus, and eye‐blink as the conditioned response.
Technique for accurate characterization of baluns using one-port S-parameters measurements

Accurate characterization of a three-port balanced-unbalanced (balun) device requires a four-port vector network analyzer (VNA), which might be not easily available. Thus, it is a common practice to terminate one of the three ports and to use a standard two-port VNA. However, applicability of the above approach is limited since the ports at the differential side of the balun are tightly coupled. This paper presents a technique that enables very accurate balun characterization by means of one-port measurements. The measurements are performed at the single-ended port of the balun, whilst the coupled ports are terminated using several loads. This enables very easy and highly accurate measurement and subsequent determination of all nine S-parameters of a balun. The applicability and accuracy of this approach is discussed. For verification, the derived analytical equations have been applied to test structures very accurately simulated in HFSS to characterize an on-board 24 GHz balun, based on rat-race hybrid coupler. Then, the de-embedded balun S-parameters are compared with directly simulated results.
Primary gastric lymphoma. An analysis with emphasis on prognostic factors and radiation therapy

Primary gastric lymphoma, lymphoma originating in the stomach, without involvement of peripheral or mediastinal lymph nodes, viscera, or the bloodstream, is sufficiently uncommon that the indications for radiation therapy, the dose of irradiation necessary for control of lymphoma, optimum field size, and patterns of failure have never been established. The authors identified 26 patients, and reviewed their charts and pathologic material. Their overall 5‐year survival was 57%. Factors significantly influencing 5‐year survival were serosal penetration (32% versus 91%), regional lymph node involvement (33% versus 81%), and location on the lesser curvature (20% versus 89%). Histologic characteristics, extent of surgery, and, provided the patient was irradiated, involvement of surgical margins did not influence survival. Overall, survival was not affected by irradiation, but in patients with poor prognostic factors there appeared to be a beneficial effect. Analysis of local control in this and other series suggests that patients should receive at least 40 Gy, and that whole abdominal irradiation is not necessary. The majority of failures were distant, indicating a need for effective systemic therapy. Cancer 52:2044‐2048, 1983.
Catheter tract metastasis associated with indwelling pleural catheters.

BACKGROUND Indwelling pleural catheters (IPCs) are commonly used to manage malignant effusions. Tumor spread along the catheter tract remains a clinical concern for which limited data exist. We report the largest series of IPC-related catheter tract metastases (CTMs) to date, to our knowledge. METHODS This is a single-center, retrospective review of IPCs inserted over a 44-month period. CTM was defined as a new, solid chest wall lesion over the IPC insertion site and/or the tunneled subcutaneous tract that was clinically compatible with a malignant tract metastasis. RESULTS One hundred ten IPCs were placed in 107 patients (76.6% men; 60% with mesothelioma). CTM developed in 11 cases (10%): nine with malignant pleural mesothelioma and two with metastatic adenocarcinoma. CTM often developed late (median, 280 days; range, 56-693) post-IPC insertion. Seven cases had chest wall pain, and six received palliative radiotherapy to the CTM. Radiotherapy was well tolerated, with no major complications and causing no damage to the catheters. Longer interval after IPC insertion was the sole significant risk factor for development of CTM (OR, 2.495; 95% CI, 1.247-4.993; P = .0098) in the multivariate analyses. CONCLUSIONS IPC-related CTM is uncommon but can complicate both mesothelioma and metastatic carcinomas. The duration of interval after IPC insertion is the key risk factor identified for development of CTM. Symptoms are generally mild and respond well to radiotherapy, which can be administered safely without removal of the catheter.
Fast Marching Method Applied For Emergency Evacuation in High-rise Building Fire

In this paper, we use the fast marching method to solve the emergency evacuation in high-rise building fire. This method is a numerical method which is used to solve the Eikonal equation in rectangular grids. As we know, building fires are very common in the world. They have caused a great deal of personnel casualty and property losses. How to reduce the casualty and ensure the life safety of trapped persons and rescuers have become the most important problem of the fire department. We carry out fire experiment and FDS simulation to research the structure fire firstly. Second, we divide the construction into 0.4m*0.4m grid. This size is a person who occupied when he is standing. After that, we use interpolation method to analyze the experiment and FDS simulation data so that we can get the risk value of each grid. At last, we calculate the global potential energy field of the scene based on the fast marching method and obtain a safest path for the trapped persons. The safest path represents the fastest-risk-decline path. In the cause of fire rescue we can provide the safest path to the trapped persons through evacuation signals of the building in order to guide them to evacuate and selfrescue.