Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The problem of drug-resistant malaria.

Summary At present, the problem of drug resistant malaria is basically that of treatment and control in South America and southeast Asia of strains of P. falciparum resistant to chloroquine. Some of these strains are resistant to quinine and many of them to the folic reductase inhibitors pyrimethamine and chlorguanide (proguanil). Treatment, both prophylactic and curative, involves to an increasing extent the use of sulfones and sulfonamides, occasional failure of which may be attributable to host factors rather than extension of parasite resistance to these drugs. Pending the arrival of effective new antimalarial compounds still in various stages of testing, several prophylactic and curative regimens are available for use in the field or clinic, and these are described. Fundamental to control are the observations, by no means conclusive, that the strains are no more virulent in man than are chloroquine sensitive ones, and that they are not preferentially carried by certain anophelines inaccessible or resistant to insecticidal attack.
The sensitivity of low flip angle RARE imaging

It is demonstrated that the stability of the Carr‐Purcell‐Mei‐boom‐Gill (CPMG) sequence reflects the existence of a steady state solution to the Bloch equations in the absence of T2 and T1 decay. The steady state theory is then used to evaluate the performance of low flip angle RARE imaging sequences with both constant and optimally varied refocusing flip angles. The theory is experimentally verified in phantoms and then optimized, single shot, low flip angle RARE is used to obtain artifact‐free images from the brain of a normal volunteer.
Sofosbuvir and ledipasvir for HIV/HCV co-infected patients

ABSTRACT Introduction: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a chronic infection that disproportionately impacts people living with HIV. In the past, HCV therapy was less effective in individuals with HIV co-infection. However, the advent of direct-acting antivirals has revolutionized HCV treatment with high rates of success in patients both with and without HIV. Areas covered: In this paper, we review the evidence supporting the use of ledipasvir and sofosbuvir (LDV/SOF) for the treatment of HCV in patients with HIV co-infection. Articles searchable on MEDLINE/PubMed were reviewed to provide context for use of LDV/SOF in individuals with HCV and HIV co-infection. Expert opinion: This treatment is highly effective in achieving HCV cure or sustained virologic response, however further studies need to done to address efficacy of treatment in people with uncontrolled HIV, concerns regarding drug-interactions with antiretroviral therapy, and potential for shorter duration treatment.
A comparative evaluation of gutta percha removal and extrusion of apical debris by rotary and hand files.

AIM The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of Protaper retreatment files in comparison with RaCe, K3 and H-files for removal of gutta-percha and apically extruded debris using volumetric analysis. MATERIALS AND METHODS Forty extracted single rooted maxillary incisor teeth with straight canals and mature apices were selected for the study. After access cavity preparation, apical patency was confirmed with a size 10 K-file extending 1mm beyond the point at which it was first visible at the apical end. Working lengths were determined with the use of size 15 K-file. The canals were prepared in a step-back technique and the master apical file was size 30 for all teeth. 3% sodium hypochlorite was used as an irrigant after each instrumentation. Before final rinse, size 20 K-file was passed 1mm beyond the apex to remove any dentinal shaving plugs and maintain the apical patency. Then the canals were dried with paper points. The root canal was filled using standard gutta-percha points and zinc oxide eugenol sealer under lateral condensation technique. The teeth were then randomly divided into four groups of ten teeth each based on the instrument used for gutta percha removal. All the rotary instruments used in this study were rotated at 300rpm. The instruments used were: Group 1 - RaCe Files, Group 2 - ProTaper retreatment Files, Group 3 - K3 Files and Group 4 - H Files. The volume of the obturating material was calculated before and after removal using volumetric analysis with spiral CT. The removal efficacy with each instrument was calculated and statistically analysed. RESULTS The results of the study show that the ProTaper retreatment files (Group 2) (97.4%) showed the highest efficiency in the removal of obturating material, which was followed by RaCe (95.74%), K3 (92.86%) and H files (90.14%) with the efficiency in the decreasing order. Similarly the mean apical extrusion in H files (0.000 ± 0.002) was significantly lower than all the rotary instruments. However, the difference among the rotary files were not statistically significant (p>0.05). CONCLUSION ProTaper retreatment files show significant difference over other groups in removal of obturating material and can be the system of choice in endodontic retreatment procedures.
Examining Citizens' Health Information Privacy Concerns: An Extension of the IPC Instrument

The increasing social emphasis on wellness empowers individuals to track and manage their personal health using mobile health applications and wearable tracking devices. However, these devices require the disclosure and generation of copious amounts of sensitive health data and thus often foster concerns regarding the privacy of individuals’ health data. Notwithstanding that fact, the few studies that have examined citizens’ information privacy concerns in the health context focus either on a specific technology or utilize a one-dimensional measure of concern. In order to develop a deeper understanding of citizens’ health privacy concerns, this replication study adapts the six-dimensional Internet Privacy Concerns instrument to empirically test citizens’ health privacy concerns in the United States and Ireland. The paper advances understanding by illustrating the applicability of this measure in the complex health context, and elucidating how citizens’ health privacy concerns reduce trust and heighten risk perceptions associated with health technology vendors.
Familial Malignant Blood Diseases: Lessons Learned from a 20-year Period

Here we report the conclusions of our 20-year experience with familial occurrence of malignant hematological disorders. Between 1 January 1983 and 1 January 2003, 35 families of multigenerational hematological malignancies were identified in first or second degree relatives. We established the following conclusions in subsequent generations: (i) a significantly earlier onset (P < 0.0001); (ii) an equal or enhanced severity of the disease; and (iii) higher relative risk in offsprings for different hematological disorders. We propose to use the term double acceleration when both phenomena (earlier onset and identical or enhanced severity) are experienced simultaneously. The data emphasize the need to use detailed cytogenetic and molecular biological studies to identify the underlying defects in cases where double acceleration can be verified.
In Vivo IL-10 Gene Delivery Suppresses Airway Eosinophilia and Hyperreactivity by Down-Regulating APC Functions and Migration without Impairing the Antigen-Specific Systemic Immune Response in a Mouse Model of Allergic Airway Inflammation1

IL-10 is an immunosuppressive cytokine. Although previous studies have reported that exogenous delivery of IL-10 reduced airway inflammation in experimental allergic airway inflammation, the mechanism of action has not been fully clarified. In this report, we elucidated a mechanism of action of IL-10 in vivo. BALB/c mice were immunized and aerosol challenged with OVA-Ag. We delivered the IL-10 gene to the mice before systemic sensitization or during aerosol Ag challenge by administering an IL-10-producing plasmid vector. Not only presensitization delivery of IL-10, as reported, but also delivery during inflammation strongly suppressed the development of airway eosinophilia and hyperreactivity. Presensitization delivery suppressed the Ag-specific Th2-type immune response in both the lung and spleen. In contrast, delivery in the effector phase suppressed the Th2 response only in the lung, whereas that in the spleen was not affected. IL-10 gene delivery did not induce the development of a regulatory phenotype of T cells or dendritic cells; rather, it suppressed the overall functions of CD11c+ APCs of the lung such as Ag-presenting capacity, cytokine production, and transportation of OVA-Ag to lymph nodes, thus attenuating Th2-mediated allergic airway inflammation. Further, IL-10 revealed a distinct immunosuppressive effect in the presence of Ag and APCs. These results suggest that suppression of APC function in the lung, the site of immune response, played a critical role in the IL-10-mediated suppression of Ag-induced airway inflammation and hyperreactivity. Therefore, if delivered selectively, IL-10 could site specifically suppress the Ag-specific immune response without affecting systemic immune responses.
TESTING FOR ZERO AUTOCORRELATION IN THE PRESENCE OF STATISTICAL DEPENDENCE

The problem addressed in this paper is to test the null hypothesis that a time series process is uncorrelated up to lag K in the presence of statistical dependence. We propose an extension of the Box–Pierce Q-test that is asymptotically distributed as chi-square when the null is true for a very general class of dependent processes that includes non-martingale difference sequences. The test is based on a consistent estimator of the asymptotic covariance matrix of the sample autocorrelations under the null. The finite sample performance of this extension is investigated in a Monte Carlo study.
Tutored videotape instruction: a new use of electronics media in education.

The Pervasiveness of Electronics Computers in Banking and Marketing: F. E. Balderston, J. M. Carman, A. C. Hoggatt . The Impact of Integrated Electronics in Medicine: R. L. White and J. D. Meindl Satellite Communications: B. I. Edelson and L. Pollack. Computers and Research: W. 0. Baker et al. . Tutored Videotape Instruction: A New Use of Electronics Media in Education: J. F. Gibbons, W. R. Kincheloe, K. S. Down. Impact of the Electronics Revolution on Industrial Process Control: L. B. Evans Electronics and National Defense: A Case Study: G. P. Dinneen and F. C. Frick Some Recent and Future Automative Electronic Developments: T. 0. Jones . 1085
On method of training dictionaries for handwritten character recognition using relaxation matching

A training method of dictionary characters is presented for handwritten character recognition by the model based on relaxation approach. The dictionary characters are constructed by analyzing the structure of several training characters using curved line approximation and relaxation matching. The performance of the constructed dictionary characters was verified by the experiment. 956 (chars.) /spl times/ 20 (sets) in the standard database ETL-8 (Japanese KANJI and HIRAGANA) are used as sample characters for training and 10 (sets) are used as test characters (5 known sets and 5 unknown sets). The mean of the number of constructed dictionary characters is 3.81 for each category, and recognition rate is 99.96% on the known sets and 99.73% on the unknown sets. <<ETX>>
Ubiquitin chain diversity at a glance

ABSTRACT Ubiquitin plays an essential role in modulating protein functions, and deregulation of the ubiquitin system leads to the development of multiple human diseases. Owing to its molecular features, ubiquitin can form various homo- and heterotypic polymers on substrate proteins, thereby provoking distinct cellular responses. The concept of multifaceted ubiquitin chains encoding different functions has been substantiated in recent years. It has been established that all possible ubiquitin linkage types are utilized for chain assembly and propagation of specific signals in vivo. In addition, branched ubiquitin chains and phosphorylated ubiquitin molecules have been put under the spotlight recently. The development of novel technologies has provided detailed insights into the structure and function of previously poorly understood ubiquitin signals. In this Cell Science at a Glance article and accompanying poster, we provide an update on the complexity of ubiquitin chains and their physiological relevance. Summary: In this Cell Science at a Glance article and accompanying poster, an update is provided on the complexity of ubiquitin chains and their physiological relevance.
SolocoRank : Using Social Signals for Local Place Quality

User-contributed Web data contains rich information about the physical establishments in the real-world, such as restaurants and hotels. Our goal is to leverage this growing source of data on the Web in order to improve the quality of restaurant recommendations from local search engines. We do so by generating a query-independent score of quality for all establishments in the US. Search engines that rely purely on raw user-generated reviews suffer from three major limitations. First, the same top places are reinforced at the head of results, causing bias towards places that were introduced first. Second, user-generated review scores offer very little insight into the establishment’s quality. Scores are limited to fairly coarse resolution, such as discrete values from 0 to 5, and research has shown that scores tend to be biased towards high scores. Lastly, user-generated reviews are notoriously noisy, as each person may hold very different standards in what the value of each star means. User-generated reviews alone act as a weak signal for indicating the quality of an establishment, and search engines that use them naively can lead to poor results. Instead, we demonstrate that many of these problems can be mitigated by leveraging editorial review services, such as Zagat. We built a new learn-to-rank system, named SolocoRank, trained on scores from editorial review services to more accurately rank all establishments. SolocoRank leverages a variety of signals on the Web, including new social media data sources such as check-ins and microblogs. Our approach has shown to accurately predict editorial review scores. When trained on Zagat scores, we show that SolocoRank exhibits significant performance gains in ranking establishments, even for the long-tail of lower quality establishments.
A Dose-Response Study on the Effects of Purified Lycopene Supplementation on Biomarkers of Oxidative Stress

Objective: While tomato product supplementation, containing antioxidant carotenoids, including lycopene, decreases oxidative stress, the role of purified lycopene as an antioxidant remains unclear. Thus, we tested the effects of different doses of purified lycopene supplementation on biomarkers of oxidative stress in healthy volunteers. Methods: This was a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial, examining the effects of 8-week supplementation of purified lycopene, on plasma lycopene levels, biomarkers of lipid peroxidation {LDL oxidizability, malondialdehyde & hydroxynonenals (MDA & HNE), urinary F2-isoprostanes}, and markers of DNA damage in urine and lymphocytes. Healthy adults (n = 77, age ≥ 40 years), consumed a lycopene-restricted diet for 2 weeks, and were then randomized to receive 0, 6.5, 15, or 30 mg lycopene/ day for 8 weeks, while on the lycopene-restricted diet. Blood and urine samples were collected at the beginning and end of Week 2 of lycopene-restricted diet, and at end of Week 10 of the study. Results: Independent of the dose, plasma lycopene levels significantly increased in all lycopene supplemented groups versus placebo (p < 0.05). ANOVA revealed a significant decrease in DNA damage by the comet assay (p = 0.007), and a significant decrease in urinary 8-hydroxy deoxoguanosine (8-OHdG) at 8 weeks versus baseline (p = 0.0002), with 30 mg lycopene/day. No significant inter- or intra-group differences were noted for glucose, lipid profile, or other biomarkers of lipid peroxidation at any dose/time point. Conclusions: Thus, purified lycopene was bioavailable and was shown to decrease DNA oxidative damage and urinary 8-OHdG at the high dose.
Prion protein gene M232R variation is probably an uncommon polymorphism rather than a pathogenic mutation.

Sir, Nozaki et al. (2010) present a 10-year surveillance study in Japan with important implications for inherited prion disease diagnosis and counselling of families. The most frequent mutations reported were V180I and M232R , however, we are concerned about the conclusion that M232R is pathogenic. It is important to correctly understand the pathogenicity of variants to inform counselling of those at risk in families and to take precautionary public health measures to prevent transmission of iatrogenic prion disease from gene carriers. Additionally, the pathogenicity of M232R would be surprising from the perspective of the pathobiology of prion disease because this amino acid is cleaved from the mature cell surface prion protein in the …
Uterine Receptivity in the Baboon: Modulation by Chorionic Gonadotropin

Embryonic signals not only rescue the corpus luteum but also modulate the uterine environment in preparation for implantation. Chorionic gonadotropin (CG), an early embryonic signal, is one such molecule. In vivo studies in the baboon show that CG alters the morphology and biochemical activity of the uterus, especially with respect to the three major cell types: luminal epithelium, glandular epithelium, and stromal fibroblasts. Further, CG and progesterone have a synergistic effect on the receptive endometrium. CG action on the endometrial cells is transduced via a seven transmembrane G protein-coupled receptor. Possible signaling pathways involved are discussed.
A probabilistic measure for model purposiveness in identification for control

The question of whether the identified process model will lead to a stable closed loop is of practical relevance during iterative identification and controller design. It is known that, in the case of overly demanding closed-loop requirements, the model resulting from the iterative procedure might conflict with prior knowledge about the process. Nevertheless, in many cases the violation of the plausibility of the identified models does not necessarily violate its purposiveness. Therefore, it is a matter of practical importance to have a confident indication as to whether the given model will result in a stable closed-loop design or not. If not, the iterative identification and controller design should be stopped, that is more appropriate model structures should be chosen. In this paper, a probabilistic measure is proposed which relies on the estimated model error obtainable by the stochastic embedding technique. The idea behind it is to estimate the probability that the critical point ( -1,0) will not be .
Growth and differentiation of a long bone in limb development, repair and regeneration

Repair from traumatic bone fracture is a complex process that includes mechanisms of bone development and bone homeostasis. Thus, elucidation of the cellular/molecular basis of bone formation in skeletal development would provide valuable information on fracture repair and would lead to successful skeletal regeneration after limb amputation, which never occurs in mammals. Elucidation of the basis of epimorphic limb regeneration in amphibians would also provide insights into skeletal regeneration in mammals, since the epimorphic regeneration enables an amputated limb to re‐develop the three‐dimensional structure of bones. In the processes of bone development, repair and regeneration, growth of the bone is achieved through several events including not only cell proliferation but also aggregation of mesenchymal cells, enlargement of cells, deposition and accumulation of extracellular matrix, and bone remodeling.
Virtual reality interface devices in the reorganization of neural networks in the brain of patients with neurological diseases

Two key characteristics of all virtual reality applications are interaction and immersion. Systemic interaction is achieved through a variety of multisensory channels (hearing, sight, touch, and smell), permitting the user to interact with the virtual world in real time. Immersion is the degree to which a person can feel wrapped in the virtual world through a defined interface. Virtual reality interface devices such as the Nintendo® Wii and its peripheral nunchuks-balance board, head mounted displays and joystick allow interaction and immersion in unreal environments created from computer software. Virtual environments are highly interactive, generating great activation of visual, vestibular and proprioceptive systems during the execution of a video game. In addition, they are entertaining and safe for the user. Recently, incorporating therapeutic purposes in virtual reality interface devices has allowed them to be used for the rehabilitation of neurological patients, e.g., balance training in older adults and dynamic stability in healthy participants. The improvements observed in neurological diseases (chronic stroke and cerebral palsy) have been shown by changes in the reorganization of neural networks in patients’ brain, along with better hand function and other skills, contributing to their quality of life. The data generated by such studies could substantially contribute to physical rehabilitation strategies.
Identification and Characterization of Potential Performance-Related Gut Microbiotas in Broiler Chickens across Various Feeding Trials

ABSTRACT Three broiler feeding trials were investigated in order to identify gut bacteria consistently linked with improvements in bird performance as measured by feed efficiency. Trials were done in various geographic locations and varied in diet composition, broiler breed, and bird age. Gut microbial communities were investigated using microbial profiling. Eight common performance-linked operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were identified within both the ilea (180, 492, and 564–566) and ceca (140–142, 218–220, 284–286, 312, and 482) across trials. OTU 564–566 was associated with lower performance, while OTUs 140–142, 482, and 492 were associated with improved performance. Targeted cloning and sequencing of these eight OTUs revealed that they represented 26 bacterial species or phylotypes which clustered phylogenetically into seven groups related to Lactobacillus spp. , Ruminococcaceae, Clostridiales, Gammaproteobacteria, Bacteroidales, Clostridiales/Lachnospiraceae, and unclassified bacteria/clostridia. Where bacteria were identifiable to the phylum level, they belonged predominantly to the Firmicutes, with Bacteroidetes and Proteobacteria also identified. Some of the potential performance-related phylotypes showed high sequence identity with classified bacteria (Lactobacillus salivarius, Lactobacillus aviarius, Lactobacillus crispatus, Faecalibacterium prausnitzii, Escherichia coli, Gallibacterium anatis, Clostridium lactatifermentans, Ruminococcus torques, Bacteroides vulgatus, and Alistipes finegoldii). The 16S rRNA gene sequence information generated will allow quantitative assays to be developed which will enable elucidations of which of these phylotypes are truly performance related. This information could be used to monitor strategies to improve feed efficiency and feed formulation for optimal gut health.