Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Dynamic changes in human diaphragm length: maximal inspiratory and expulsive efforts studied with sequential radiography.

1. The maximal voluntary pressure generated by the diaphragm (transdiaphragmatic pressure, Pdi) is about 50% greater during maximal expulsive efforts than during maximal inspiratory efforts against a closed airway. However, these pressures cannot be increased by interpolated phrenic stimuli in trained subjects. This suggests that variable neural drive is not responsible for the difference in voluntary pressure. To investigate whether dynamic changes in diaphragm length during inspiratory and expulsive efforts could account for this difference, we used digital sequential radiography at 6 frames per second. 2. During the development of peak Pdi in inspiratory efforts, total diaphragm length decreased by about 20% in the antero‐posterior and lateral projections. During maximal expulsive efforts (with glottis open), the diaphragm shortened slightly in the early stage of pressure development but then lengthened due to contraction of abdominal muscles before peak pressure was achieved. 3. Given that force increases when a contracting muscle is lengthened (expulsive effort) and decreases during shortening (inspiratory effort), this study provides a definitive explanation for the difference in maximal voluntary pressure between pure inspiratory and expulsive efforts.
Psychosocial and Environmental Correlates of Adolescent Sedentary Behaviors

Objective. To determine correlates of sedentary behaviors in adolescents through the examination of psychosocial and environmental variables. Method. The study used a cross-sectional design to evaluate an ethnically diverse clinic-based sample of 878 adolescents who were 11 to 15 years old. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were stratified by gender to assess correlates of sedentary behaviors occurring on the most recent nonschool day (television viewing, computer video games, sitting listening to music, and talking on the phone). Results. For girls, age, family support, television/video rules, and hills in the neighborhood were associated with sedentary behaviors. Furthermore, psychological constructs such as self-efficacy, enjoyment, change strategies, and pros and cons of change emerged as correlates of sedentary behaviors. A moderator effect revealed that the proportion of girls in the low-BMI group decreased with increased self-efficacy, whereas the proportion of girls in the high-BMI group did not vary significantly by self-efficacy. For boys, age, ethnicity, BMI, cons of change, and self-efficacy were associated with sedentary behaviors. Conclusions. This study provides evidence of factors associated and not associated with adolescent sedentary behaviors. Similar to physical activity, measures of specific psychosocial constructs of sedentary behavior demonstrated important associations. The results highlight the need for additional examination of the correlates of sedentary behavior to determine which correlates are mechanisms of behavior change.
Chromosome 22q Deletions in Atypical Teratoid/Rhabdoid Tumors in Adults

Atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumors (AT/RTs) are rare, malignant brain tumors that usually occur in the posterior fossa. Both AT/RT and the analogous tumor outside the brain, malignant rhabdoid tumor, share a polyphenotypic immunoprofile and frequent 22q deletions with inactivation of the INI1/hSNF5 gene. Reports, so far, indicate that AT/RTs occur almost exclusively in children, most of whom are 5‐years‐old or less. The rarity of the tumor and the polyphenotypic immunoprofile, characterized by antigen expression that is often patchy, make diagnosis in adults difficult and controversial. We describe three AT/RTs in adults in which the diagnoses were supported by detection of 22q11.2 deletions, INI1 mutation and/or loss of INI1 protein expression. Two patients were female, ages 20 and 31 and one was male, age 45. Two tumors occurred in the sella or sellar region and one in the cerebellum. In all cases, fluorescence in situ hybridization with probes to the BCR (22q11.2) and NF2 (22q12) regions of chromosome 22 revealed single copy deletions of BCR with normal dosages of NF2 and, in all cases, immunohistochemistry demonstrated loss of INI1 protein expression. In one case, a single base pair deletion was detected in the INI1/hSNF5 gene. These molecular findings confirm the occurrence of AT/RTs in adults. Although rare, AT/RT should be considered in the differential diagnosis of poorly differentiated intracranial tumors in adults.
Improved insect‐proofing: expressing double‐stranded RNA in chloroplasts

Abstract RNA interference (RNAi) was discovered almost 20 years ago and has been exploited worldwide to silence genes in plants and animals. A decade later, it was found that transforming plants with an RNAi construct targeting an insect gene could protect the plant against feeding by that insect. Production of double‐stranded RNA (dsRNA) in a plant to affect the viability of a herbivorous animal is termed trans‐kingdom RNAi (TK‐RNAi). Since this pioneering work, there have been many further examples of successful TK‐RNAi, but also reports of failed attempts and unrepeatable experiments. Recently, three laboratories have shown that producing dsRNA in a plant's chloroplast, rather than in its cellular cytoplasm, is a very effective way of delivering TK‐RNAi. Our review examines this potentially game‐changing approach and compares it with other transgenic insect‐proofing schemes. © 2018 The Authors. Pest Management Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.
High-Voltage SOI SJ-LDMOS With a Nondepletion Compensation Layer

A new superjunction LDMOS on silicon-on-insulator (SOI) with a nondepletion compensation layer (NDCL) is proposed. The NDCL can be self-adaptive to provide additional charges for compensating the charge imbalance while eliminating the substrate-assisted depletion effect. In addition, the high-density oxide interface charges at the top surface of the buried oxide layer (BOX) enhance the electric field in the BOX and improve the vertical breakdown voltage (BV). Numerical simulation results indicate that a uniform surface electric field profile is obtained and that the vertical electric field in BOX is increased to 6 times106 V/cm, which results in a high BV of 300 V for the proposed device with the BOX thickness of 0.5 mum and drift length of 15 mum on a thin SOI substrate.
Safety and Application of Transumbilical Single-Incision Laparoscopic Gastrectomy for GIST

Background. The authors report a new technique of umbilical single-incision laparoscopic surgery (SILS) in the treatment of gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) of the stomach using conventional laparoscopic instruments. Methods. Preliminary experience with umbilical SILS operation in 13 patients with GIST was introduced. Results. Umbilical SILS operation for GISTs was feasible with conventional laparoscopic instruments. No intraoperative or postoperative complications, such as secondary hemorrhage, anastomotic leakage, or obstruction, were recorded. The patients fully recovered and the single umbilical scar healed well. Conclusion. SILS for GISTs is a feasible and safe technique when performed by experienced laparoscopic surgeons. With advanced surgical technology and technique, truly minimally invasive surgical procedures, such as SILS, are feasible.
Valoración nutricional del expeller de sésamo mediante estudios de digestibilidad in vivo e in vitro en ovinos

The sesame cake (SC) is a by-product of the extraction of oil from the seed, that rich in protein and energy by the residual oil. This work involves digestive assessment in vivo in vitro to evaluate the digestibility coefficients (DC) of the nutrients using different levels of SC mixed with Brachiaria decumbens hay (BDH) in rations to sheep. First, eight sheep were used according to latin square design 4×4 (4 periods and 4 groups of sheep) and with 4 SC levels (Treatments: T1 = 15%, T2 = 30%, T3 = 45% and T4 = 60%). For in vitro, the method of Tilley and Terry (1963) was applied. DM intake (DMI) and DC in vivo DMD, OMD, CPD, EED increased significantly (p<0.05) with the increase in SC, except for the NDFD, the linear evolution being significant for these DCs and the quadratic for CPD and EED. From the equations of regression between DC and percentage of inclusion of SC, the digestibility of SC (100% inclusion) was determined by extrapolation, that were: 70.6% DMD, 77.8% OMD, 73.6% CPD, 91% EED. The in vitro coefficients of IVDMD and IVOMD were significantly increased (p<0.05) with the increase of SC, evolving the linear and quadratic form. It was concluded that the values of DMD, OMD, CPD and EED increased when the SC increase in the ration, the OMD and CPD present small differences from those reported in specialized tables, and that the CDs in vitro underestimated in vivo.
A longitudinal study of plasma levels of soluble fms‐like tyrosine kinase 1 (sFlt1), placental growth factor (PlGF), sFlt1: PlGF ratio and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF‐A) in normal pregnancy

Objective. To describe plasma levels of angiogenic (PlGF, VEGF‐A) and anti‐angiogenic (sFlt1) factors as well as the sFlt1:PlGF ratio throughout normal pregnancy and postpartum. Design. Longitudinal prospective study. Setting. One outpatient antenatal clinic in Uppsala, Sweden. Population. Thirty‐seven healthy women with normal pregnancies and normal neonatal outcome were included. Methods. Blood samples were collected from each woman at least six times. Plasma levels of sFlt1, PlGF and VEGF‐A were measured using commercially available ELISA kits. Main outcome measures. Median plasma levels, the 25th to the 75th percentile and the average change per gestational week of sFlt1, PlGF and the sFlt1:PlGF ratio. Results. sFlt1 levels were relatively constant until weeks 29–30, when they increased, reaching a peak at week 40. An increase of 643pg/ml per week was observed from weeks 30 to 40. Postpartum levels were low. PlGF increased by 16pg/ml per week from early pregnancy until weeks 29–30 and thereafter decreased by 14pg/ml per week until week 40. The sFlt1:PlGF ratio decreased from weeks 9–12, was constantly low from weeks 19–20 to 37–38 and then increased to weeks 39–40. VEGF‐A was detectable in only 8% of the samples during pregnancy and in 64% postpartum. Conclusion. This longitudinal study demonstrates how sFlt1, PlGF and the sFlt1:PlGF ratio fluctuate throughout normal pregnancy and postpartum and may serve as a reference against which these factors can be studied in complicated pregnancies. VEGF‐A levels were more often detectable postpartum.
Aspectos ecológicos da avifauna do médio e baixo Rio São Bartolomeu, Distrito Federal e Goiás - Brasil.

Os aspectos ecologicos a respeito da avifauna no medio e baixo Rio Sao Bartolomeu se deram atraves da coleta de dados em 16 pontos, dos quais oito correspondem a ambientes florestais (FL) e oito a ambientes abertos de Cerrado (CS). Os trabalhos de campo resultaram em 96 horas, com 196 especies distribuidas em 51 familias, sendo Tyrannidae (30) a mais representativa. Cinco especies sao endemicas do Cerrado, 11 sao tipicas da Mata Atlântica e duas tipicas da Floresta Amazonica. A guilda trofica mais representativa foi Insetivoros (37%). Os ambientes florestais apresentaram maior riqueza de especies (78) e maior diversidade (H'=4,274; EP=0,981). O Indice de Similaridade ficou abaixo dos 50%, sugerindo uma distribuicao mais equilibrada das populacoes de aves ao longo do Rio Sao Bartolomeu e uma alta diversidade regional. Os resultados evidenciaram que a grande maioria das especies (87,7%) explora, de alguma forma, os recursos oferecidos pelos ambientes florestais.
[Relationship between human platelet antigen-1 gene polymorphism and clopidogrel resistance in patients with coronary artery disease].

OBJECTIVES It has been proposed that human platelet antigen-1 (HPA-1) gene polymorphism is associated with coronary artery disease (CAD) and affects platelet function. We aimed to investigate the distribution of HPA gene polymorphism between angiographic CAD and a control group and the relation between HPA gene polymorphism and platelet aggregation. STUDY DESIGN The study population consisted of 94 patients with angiographic CAD and 115 patients without angiographic CAD. Platelet aggregation was measured with impedance aggregometry on the fifth day of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Platelet aggregation >480 AU*min was defined as the clopidogrel resistance group. Blood samples were obtained from all participants at discharge for investigating HPA-1 gene polymorphism. RESULTS There was no significant difference in the distribution of HPA-1 gene polymorphism between the control and CAD groups (78.7% vs. 78.1% for A allele and 21.3% vs. 21.9% for B allele, p=NS). The analysis between groups with and without clopidogrel resistance revealed no significant difference in the distribution of HPA-1A and HPA-1B alleles between the groups (A allele 78.7% vs. 78.9% and B allele 21.3% vs. 21.1%, p=NS). In the CAD group, there were no significant differences in platelet aggregation between HPA-1A and HPA-1B alleles (294±240 vs. 259±261 AU*min, p=NS). CONCLUSION The distribution of HPA-1 gene polymorphism was not different in CAD patients compared to the control group. HPA-1 gene polymorphism was not associated with platelet aggregation or clopidogrel resistance assessed by impedance aggregometry in the CAD group.
Neural Symbolic Activity: A Psychophysical Measure

When a subject views a grating which is partially blocked from view by a cube, adaptation (decrease in contrast of the grating) occurs not only to the visible portions of the grating, but also to those portions blocked from view. This may indicate the existence of a neural mechanism which conveys the information "in back of. "
Use of single-dose ofloxacin to eradicate tonsillopharyngeal carriage of Neisseria meningitidis

After an outbreak of three cases of serogroup B meningococcal disease at a Norwegian college, 84 of 392 (21%) subjects were tonsillopharyngeal carriers of Neisseria meningitidis. To eradicate meningococcal carriage, 80 volunteers received a single dose of 400 mg of ofloxacin. Three days after treatment, all 75 evaluable volunteers were culture negative for N. meningitidis, and after 7 days none carried the strain that they carried initially, as judged by DNA fingerprinting. A single dose of ofloxacin was found to be 97.2% effective in eradicating carriage of N. meningitidis for a period of 33 days. The carriage acquisition rate among treated students was four times higher than that among nontreated noncarriers (P = 0.02). After ofloxacin treatment, no case of meningococcal disease occurred for 6 months. Ofloxacin may thus prevent the outbreak and spread of meningococcal disease.
The regulation of the heart beat

THE employment of the heart lung preparation has enablet us to study and analyse much more completely than was formerly the case the mechanical performance of the mammalian heart anal to obtain clearer ideas of its capacity for work and its power of a(apting its work to the mechanical conditions imposed upon it. We have learned that while the inflow is maintained constant, the output frotm the left ventricle is unaltered by rate of heart beat or by the resistance presented by arterial pressure, and on the otber hand, that within wide limits the heart is able to increase its output in direct proportion to the inflow. The study of the respiratory exchanges of the heart lung preparation has shown that the metabolism of the heart increases or dimniishes in proportion to the mechanical demands made upon this orgatn, so thait the clhemical sources of energy are drawn upon in proportion to its reqtuirements. It is difficult to imagine a more perfectly regulated machine than the heart. In the experiments here described we have endeavoured to determine some underlying principle on which the heart's power of selfregulation may depend, or some elementary property of the tissues making up the heart from which the varied behaviouir of the heart under different circumstances can be directly deduced. In our preparation the heart is free from all nervous control. The question arises whether we can refer to one or a few elementary quialities of the muscular tissue the whole behaviour of the heart, under stress or light work, when efficient or failing, when stimulated or depressed by drug or nerve. The solution of this question can only be arrived at by accurate analysis of the mechanical phenomena of the heart beat under rigorous control of all its conditions. The results of such an analysis, which has occupied us for the last two years,. are presented in the following pages. In order to lend interest to the dry facts, curves, and measurements of time and pressure, which we have to record, we propose
Single Sample Face Recognition Using Multicross Pattern and Learning Discriminative Binary Features

Abstract Binary feature descriptors, require considerable amount of information to be applicable in wide appearance variations, which contradicts the single sample per person (SSPP) problem. To address this challenge, a novel binary feature learning method called discriminative binary feature mapping is presented. Then, based on a number of precisely selected objectives, a feature mapping is learned by projecting all of the extracted vectors to a lower-dimensional feature space. The resulting feature vectors are then used to obtain a holistic face representation based on dictionary learning. Extensive experimental results show that the proposed method is able to obtain superior performance.
Performance study of node placement for geographic routing in WSNs

WSN routing performance can be affected by how nodes are placed in the given network surface. This paper presents a performance study of geographic routing in WSNs when different network topologies are employed for a forest fire prevention application scenario. A MATLAB simulation script has been developed for this research. Packet forwarding employs geographic routing based on progress towards destination. The simulator considers a realistic channel with a log normal shadowing model. Neighbor detection is performed by calculating the received signal power and the SNR. The studied topologies are Uniform Deterministic (Grid), Uniform Random (Constant Placement), Simple Diffusion (Gaussian), Pareto, Stensor and StensorX. The network performance is analyzed with respect to packet delivery ratio, average number of hops per packet, delay and energy consumption caused by MAC retrials. Routing failures are analyzed as well as their possible causes. Simulations are run for various network densities in a reasonable forest sized area and show which topology performs better with geographic routing in the particular scenario presented here.
Distribution of object types of “light” and “heavy” early-learned English verbs

In the developmental psycholinguistic literature, it is common to distinguish verbs that are semantically light from those that are not. One important reason is that the light verbs (take, get, make, do, go, etc.) — excellent substitutes for specific verbs and very frequent in adult speech to children — are thought to help children learn the verb system. Although quantitative and qualitative criteria (e.g., frequency, grammaticalization, semantic generality, high transitivity) have been proposed for distinguishing light and heavy verbs, some puzzling questions remain: how good are criteria that define heavy verbs as nonlight ones? Are verbs bimodally distributed? Do children's light and heavy verbs align with adult ones? This paper proposes a new candidate — using the number of objects (free associations and co-occurrences) a verb has as an indicator of its semantic generality — and applies it to 80 early-learned English verbs. The results suggest that early-learned light and heavy verbs differ in the breadth of the objects they are associated with: light verbs have weak associations with specific objects, whereas heavy verbs are strongly associated with specific objects. There is also a hint that some verbs have narrower associations with objects in speech from and to children.
Adaptive turn rate estimation using range rate measurements

The coordinated turn (CT) model is often used to track maneuvering target which performs CT motion. The key point to the successful use of this model is to determine the turn rate parameter. A new method to estimate the turn rate by using radar range-rate measurements is presented. First, four possible turn rates can be achieved with the range-rate measurements. Second, the minimum turn rate and its opposite value are chosen to be the possible turn rates. Finally, an interacting multiple model (IMM) algorithm with one constant velocity (CV) model and two CT models is designed to track the maneuvering target which performs uniform and ct motions. Monte-Carlo simulation results show that this algorithm is not only better than equivalent noise approach in tracking performance, but also better than the conventional IMM algorithm with the adaptive turn rate model. Further simulations show that the algorithm is robust with the accuracy of the range-rate measurements
Effect of Fetal Thyroidectomy on Newborn Thermogenesis in Lambs

ABSTRACT. : We investigated the effect of the transient neonatal hyperthyroid state on thermogenesis at birth by measuring rectal temperature, plasma free fatty acids, plasma catecholamines, and in vitro brown adipose tissue respiration in thyroidectomized (n = 6) and sham operated (n = 5) fetal sheep. Surgery was performed at an average of 133 days of gestation followed by cesarean delivery at 146 days. Fetuses were delivered into a constant room temperature of 25° C. Serial measurements were made in utero before delivery and at timed intervals after birth. Serum 3,3′,5 triiodothyronine and thyroxine concentrations in the neonatal period were normal in sham operated and nondetectable in thyroidectomized fetuses. Rectal temperatures and serum free fatty acid levels were reduced in thyroidectomized newborns. Plasma epinephrine concentrations were increased and the hypothyroid neonates were acidotic when compared to control animals. In vitro basal and norepinephrine stimulated brown adipose tissue respiration were reduced in thyroidectomized compared to control animals. These results indicate that thyroid hormone deficiency impairs non shivering thermogenesis in brown adipose tissue and leads to hypothermia despite augmented plasma epinephrine values.