Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Ventilatory Threshold During a Graded Exercise Test in Male Youths with Cerebral Palsy and Spastic Paresis of Lower Limbs

A group of 16 male youth with spastic diplegy of lower extremities were examined. Their mean age was 18.5 years, body height 166.5 ± 6,6 cm, and body mass 57.4 ± 7,7 kg. They were subjected to a graded cycle ergometer arm exercise until exhaustion. The following indices of the circulatory and respiratory systems at maximum intensity and at the ventilatory threshold (VT) were recorded: percentage difference in the inhaled-exhaled oxygen (t%O2) and carbon dioxide (t%CO2), lung ventilation (VE), oxygen uptake (VO2), carbon dioxide output (VCO2), respiratory quotient (RQ) as well as the respiratory equivalent of oxygen and carbon dioxide (VE VO2 -1 and VE VO2 ), indices of acid-base balance. Aerobic capacity of the subjects studied, expressed as the maximum oxygen uptake (VO2max), amounted to 2.42 l . min or 42.6 ml . kg . min. At maximum work intensity the load was 158.4 W (2.78 W . kg) and the maximum heart rate 184 beats . min. The load at the VT threshold was 96.6 W (1.71 W . kg), which required 1,71 l . min (30.1 ml . kg . min ) of oxygen uptake. The threshold heart rate was 157 beats . min. The percentage value of oxygen uptake at VT was to 69.5% of VO2max and 89.6% of maximum heart rate.
Propionibacterium acnes DNA detected in bronchoalveolar lavage cells from patients with sarcoidosis.

BACKGROUND AND AIM OF THE WORK The causes of sarcoidosis are unknown. Propionibacterium acnes is so far the only bacterium to be found in sarcoid lymph nodes. We attempted to detect P. acnes DNA in cells recovered by bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) from patients with sarcoidosis. METHODS BAL cells from 30 patients with histologically proven sarcoidosis and 30 controls with other lung diseases were examined by a nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for 16S rRNA of P. acnes. BAL cells from three recent sarcoid patients and two control patients were also examined by in situ PCR to locate P. acnes DNA. Clinical findings in sarcoid patients with and without positive results by PCR were compared. RESULTS P. acnes DNA was detected in BAL cells from 21 (70%) sarcoid patients and 7 (23%) control patients. In situ signals of P. acnes DNA were detected in the cytoplasm of 0.2% to 2.8% of alveolar macrophages from sarcoid patients, but from no cells of the control patients. Gallium-67 uptake by lung parenchyma was found in about half of the sarcoid patients with P. acnes DNA, but in none of the other sarcoid patients. More of these patients with such DNA had lung parenchymal shadows in chest X-ray films and were in more advanced stages of the disease than the other sarcoid patients. CONCLUSIONS Detection of P. acnes DNA in BAL cells was significantly more common in the patients with confirmed sarcoidosis. Detection was associated with some indices of disease activity in the lung.
Experimental investigation of internal short circuit faults leading to advanced incipient behavior and failure of a distribution transformer

Transformer fault detection and diagnosis is becoming more important due to the restructuring of the electric power industry. In this era of deregulation, loading transformers to their optimum capacity is becoming normal practice, which in turn applies high stresses on the insulation of the transformers and increases the probability of occurrence of internal short circuit winding faults. Such faults can lead to catastrophic failure and hence cause outages. Utilities and other entities in the electric power business are therefore exploring ways of detecting these faults in transformers in the incipient stage. Terminal values, primary and secondary currents and voltages of the transformer convey information that can be used to detect internal transformer failures before developing a detection method. The behavior of these terminal values should be understood. In an effort to characterize the behavior of the terminal values of a transformer during internal short circuit and incipient faults, short circuit faults were staged on a 25 kVA, 7200 V/240 V/120 V two winding custom-built transformer. This paper discusses the results of the field experiments performed over a 19-month period. It presents time domain results of selected short circuit experiments. It also presents recordings of advance incipient-like behavior during the last set of experiments.
Texture Segmentation Based on Permutation Entropy

A new method based on permutation entropy and grey level feature is provided in this paper. Permutation entropy is a new complexity measure for time series based on comparison of neighbouring values. The definition applies to describe the texture feature of image. The new complexity measure feature combines with the grey-scale mean and grey-scale deviation, construct multi-dimension feature vector. Then, apply the fuzzy c-means algorithm as the classifier to cluster the feature vectors, get the texture segmentation results. Experiments show that the method is particularly useful in the presence of dynamical or observational noise and the advantages of the method are its simplicity, extremely fast calculation, its robustness.
Effects of electrical stimulation of vastus medialis obliquus muscle in patients with patellofemoral pain syndrome: an electromyographic analysis.

BACKGROUND The use of surface electromyography (SEMG) has been considered a tool for quantitative assessment of patellofemoral pain syndrome (PFPS). Conservative treatments aim to improve patellar alignment, and electrical stimulation of the vastus medialis obliquus (VMO) muscle has been considered effective because it is selective and does not cause joint irritation. OBJECTIVE This study aims to investigate the efficiency of a muscle strengthening program with electrical stimulation of the VMO muscle in PFPS by SEMG. METHODS A group of ten young women (age: 23.1 ± 4.9 years; body mass: 66.8 ± 14.0 kg; height: 1.63 ± 6.9 cm; BMI: 25.1 ± 5.6 kg/m²) with unilateral PFPS participated in the study. They performed the functional test of stair stepping to capture the electromyographic (EMG) activity of the VMO and vastus lateralis (VL) muscles, before and after a program of electrical stimulation of the VMO muscle. The electrical stimulation was performed three times per week for six weeks. For analysis between the VMO and VL muscles, we considered the variables: ratio of time of onset to peak of activation, ratio of the integrals of the signals (t-test for dependent samples), and difference between onsets of activation (Wilcoxon test), with significance level of p < 0.05. RESULTS The results only showed change in behavior in the EMG signal for the ratio of the integrals of the signals, indicating that changes occurred in the force-generating capacity of the muscle after the training. CONCLUSION The use of electrical stimulation should be considered to complement the conservative therapeutic approach in patients with PFPS, and the analysis of the ratio of the integrals of the SEMG signals should be considered as an instrument of evaluation. Article registered in the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ANZCTR) under number ACTRN 12609000079246.
A synthesis environment for designing DSP systems

The authors describe a high-level synthesis tool that addresses the broad range of throughput requirements inherent in all DSP (digital signal processor) systems. The primary role of this system, called FACE (flexible architecture compilation environment), is to provide a set of algorithms that adequately support architecturally specific hardware synthesis for a class of DSP applications. They first identify the shortcomings of Parsifal, an earlier synthesis system, and discuss the requirements for FACE. They examine briefly the architectural issues. They then describe FACE's synthesis algorithms. <<ETX>>
A level shifter circuit design by using input/output voltage monitoring technique for ultra-low voltage digital CMOS LSIs

In this paper, we propose a level shifter circuit capable with a wide input voltage range. The circuit is based on a conventional two-stage comparator, and has a distinctive feature in current generation scheme by monitoring input and output logic levels. The proposed circuit can convert low voltage input digital signals into high voltage output digital signals. The circuit achieves low power operation because it dissipates operating current only when the input signals change. A SPICE demonstrated that the circuit can convert low voltage signals of 0.4-V into 3 V. The power dissipation was 6 nW at 0.4-V and 1-kHz input pulse. The circuit is useful for an ultra-low voltage digital circuit system co-existing with high voltage digital circuit systems.
A Phase II trial of Belinostat (PXD101) in patients with relapsed or refractory peripheral or cutaneous T‐cell lymphoma

Belinostat is a pan‐histone deacetylase inhibitor with antitumour and anti‐angiogenic properties. An open label, multicentre study was conducted in patients with peripheral T‐cell lymphoma (PTCL) or cutaneous T‐cell lymphoma (CTCL) who failed ≥1 prior systemic therapy and were treated with belinostat (1000 mg/m2 intravenously ×5 d of a 21‐d cycle). The primary endpoint was objective response rate (ORR). Patients with PTCL (n = 24) had received a median of three prior systemic therapies (range 1–9) and 40% had stage IV disease. Patients with CTCL (n = 29) had received a median of one prior skin‐directed therapy (range 0–4) and four prior systemic therapies (range 1–9); 55% had stage IV disease. The ORRs were 25% (PTCL) and 14% (CTCL). Treatment‐related adverse events occurred in 77% of patients; nausea (43%), vomiting (21%), infusion site pain (13%) and dizziness (11%) had the highest incidence. Treatment‐related serious adverse events were Grade 5 ventricular fibrillation; Grade 4 thrombocytopenia; Grade 3 peripheral oedema, apraxia, paralytic ileus and pneumonitis; and Grade 2 jugular vein thrombosis. Belinostat monotherapy was well tolerated and efficacious in patients with recurrent/refractory PTCL and CTCL. This trial was registered at www.clinicaltrials. gov as NCT00274651.
Qualitative and quantitative micromorphological investigations of the tertiary follicle population during the oestrous cycle in sheep.

This study describes a quantitative micromorphological investigation of the tertiary follicle population in the ovaries of thirty\x=req-\ three normal cycling Texel ewes. The ovaries were serially sectioned at 10 \g=m\mand every section was examined. A pair of ovaries contained an average \m=+-\S.E. of 84\m=. \2\m=+-\38\m=. \1(32\m=.\2%) normal and 177\m=. \1\m=+-\103\m=. \4(67\m=.\8%)atretic tertiary follicles. Each ewe had 3\m=. \6\m=+-\2\m=. \8normal and 8\m=. \7\m=+-\4\m=. \9atretic follicles with a diameter greater than 2 mm. Of the normal tertiary follicles, 82\m=. \7%had a diameter of less than 1 mm. During the cycle, two growth waves of follicles \m=ge\1mm3 (\m=infty\--2 mm in diameter) occur. The first was seen from Days 1 to 10, the second from Day 6 of one cycle to Day 1 of the next. At the end of the first growth wave, there was only one large follicle per ewe whereas at the end of the second wave, usually two were found. The last follicle of the first wave disappeared by atresia and the last one(s) of the second wave by ovulation. It is suggested that the cyclical changes in progesterone level play
High Selectivity Ultra-Wideband (UWB) Mutimode Stepped-Impedance Resonators (SIRs) Bandpass Filter with Two-Layer Broadside-Coupled Structure

Ultra-wideband (UWB) bandpass filter with high selectivity response is contrived on the multimode characteristic of stepped-impedance resonators (SIRs). To achieve strong coupling requirement, two-layer broadside-coupled structure is employed. Using three triple-mode SIRs, quasi-Chebyshev filter with nine transmission poles is synthesized with a fractional bandwidth (BW) Delta = 110%. Measured results of experimental circuits show good agreement with simulated responses.
System issues for time synchronization in Real Time Localization Systems with multi path mitigation

Accurate localization systems, based on the measurement of the time of flight of a signal between radio devices, also known as Real Time Location Systems (RTLS) are becoming increasingly important especially in indoor applications. Due to severe multi path conditions, the largest problem for those RTLS systems is to detect the time of arrival of signals traveling over the direct line of sight (DLOS) path. High Resolution (HR) techniques may support detection of the LOS signal. We present ideas for efficient implementation of such a technique and demonstrate HR-performance by presenting results of practical measurements experiments.
Cross‐linked gelatin microspheres with continuously tunable degradation profiles for renal tissue regeneration

Collagen and gelatin‐based biomaterials are widely used in tissue engineering applications. Various methods have been reported for the cross‐linking of these macromolecules for the purpose of delaying their biodegradation to prolong their in vivo residence (in tissue engineering applications) or tailoring their drug releasing capacity (when used as drug carriers). In this study, a carbodiimide‐based cross‐linking method, also used in the production of United States Food and Drug Administration‐approved products, was employed to obtain differentially cross‐linked gelatin beads. The colorimetric determination of the in vitro enzymatic susceptibility of the beads indicated that the resistance to degradation linearly correlated with the concentration of carbodiimide used for the cross‐linking reaction. This result was also confirmed in vivo by the histological evaluation of the residence time of orthotopically injected cell‐seeded beads. These data would indicate that the production of gelatin‐based microbeads with tunable degradation profiles might be applicable toward the development of products that catalyze regeneration of kidney and other solid organs.
OSNR Penalty Imposed by Linear In-Band Crosstalk Caused by Interburst Residual Power in Multipoint-To-Point Networks

We present an analysis of linear in-band crosstalk in high split long reach wavelength/time-division-multiplexing passive optical networks (WDM-TDM PONs). In this letter, a mathematical model is deducted for the first time to calculate optical signal-to-noise ratio penalties due to in-band crosstalk in multipoint-to-point networks. The network performance can be perturbed by in-band crosstalk caused by power leakages from burst-mode optical network units (ONUs) in off-state. Our study results show that the leaked powers in upstream ONU transmitters can have an impact on the achievable split factor of WDM-TDM PONs. Furthermore, the performance limitations caused by aggregated interburst residual power are discussed.
HOUSING AND ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS AND THEIR EFFECTS ON THE HEALTH OF CHILDREN IN THE SLUMS OF KARACHI, PAKISTAN

To examine the association of environmental factors (including housing) with respiratory infections and diarrhoea in children under 5 years of age, a cross-sectional study of 403 families was conducted in a squatter settlement of Karachi. In the 2-week period before the survey prevalence of diarrhoea and respiratory infections was 14·4% and 15·0% respectively. The factors significantly associated (p>0·05) with diarrhoea in households in the multivariate analysis were: number of children under 5, regular cleaning of sewers, storage of water in small utensils and cooking inside a one room house. Five households risk factors were identified for respiratory infections: the number of children under 5, poor housing structure, increased household density, humidity inside the house less than the humidity outside house, and frequent cooking inside the house. These results suggest that children under 5 years of age in lower income areas are at additional risk to health because of poor environmental conditions.
High voltage tolerant output buffer design for mixed voltage interfaces

This paper presents the design of a mixed voltage 3.3V/5.5V CMOS output buffer. The proposed design technique eliminates gate-oxide overstress and output to supply current flow when common bus voltage is higher than the supply voltage. While this paper discusses the 3.3V/5.5V supply combination as an example, the same circuit topology can be used for other mixed supply combination like 2.5V/5V, 1.8V/3.3V.
A case of buprenorphine abuse

Buprenorphine is a powerful new analgesic agent with agonist and antagonist opiate receptor activity. Its withdrawal symptoms have been reported as being mild; however, its potential for abuse is not known. A case of buprenorphine abuse is reported, in which the patient's history and his response to naloxone suggest that important underlying factors were physical tolerance and dependence.
Proteinase activities of Saccharomyces cerevisiae during sporulation

Sporulation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae occurs in the absence of a exogenous nitrogen source. Thus, the internal amino acid pool and the supply of nitrogen compounds from protein and nucleic acid turnover must be sufficient for new protein synthesis. Since sporulation involves an increased rate of protein turnover, an investigation was conducted of the changes in the specific activity of various proteinases. A minimum of 30% of the vegetative proteins was turned over during the course of sporulation. There was a 10- to 25-fold increase in specific activity of various proteinases, with a maximum activity around 20 h after transfer into the sporulation medium. The increase in activities was due to de novo synthesis since inhibition of protein synthesis by cycloheximide blocks both an increase in proteinase activities and sporulation. There was no increase observed in proteinase activities of nonsporogenic cultures (a and alpha/alpha strains) inoculated into the sporulation medium, suggesting that the increase in proteinase activities is "sporulation specific" and not a consequence of step-down conditions. The elution patterns through diethylaminoethyl-Sephadex chromatography of various proteinases extracted from T0 and T18 cells were similar, and no new species was observed.
A MATLAB Simulation of “ Shoebox ” Room Acoustics for use in Research and Teaching

A simulation of the acoustics of a simple rectangular prism room has been constructed using the MATLAB m-code programming language. The aim of this program (Roomsim) is to provide a signal generation tool for the speech and hearing research community, and an educational tool for illustrating the image method of simulating room acoustics and some acoustical effects. The program is menu driven for ease of use, and will be made freely available under a GNU General Public Licence by publishing it on the MATLAB Central user contributed programs website. This paper describes aspects of the program and presents new research data resulting from its use in a project evaluating a binaural processor for missing data speech recognition.
Spontaneously Induced Prophages in Lactobacillus gasseri Contribute to Horizontal Gene Transfer

ABSTRACT Lactobacillus gasseri is an endogenous species of the human gastrointestinal tract and vagina. With recent advances in microbial taxonomy, phylogenetics, and genomics, L. gasseri is recognized as an important commensal and is increasingly being used in probiotic formulations. L. gasseri strain ADH is lysogenic and harbors two inducible prophages. In this study, prophage ϕadh was found to spontaneously induce in broth cultures to populations of ∼107 PFU/ml by stationary phase. The ϕadh prophage-cured ADH derivative NCK102 was found to harbor a new, second inducible phage, vB_Lga_jlb1 (jlb1). Phage jlb1 was sequenced and found to be highly similar to the closely related phage LgaI, which resides as two tandem prophages in the neotype strain L. gasseri ATCC 33323. The common occurrence of multiple prophages in L. gasseri genomes, their propensity for spontaneous induction, and the high degree of homology among phages within multiple species of Lactobacillus suggest that temperate bacteriophages likely contribute to horizontal gene transfer (HGT) in commensal lactobacilli. In this study, the host ranges of phages ϕadh and jlb1 were determined against 16 L. gasseri strains. The transduction range and the rate of spontaneous transduction were investigated in coculture experiments to ascertain the degree to which prophages can promote HGT among a variety of commensal and probiotic lactobacilli. Both ϕadh and jlb1 particles were confirmed to mediate plasmid transfer. As many as ∼103 spontaneous transductants/ml were obtained. HGT by transducing phages of commensal lactobacilli may have a significant impact on the evolution of bacteria within the human microbiota.
Desmethyl tirilazad improves neurologic function after hypoxic ischemic brain injury in piglets

Objective: Desmethyl tirilazad is a lipid‐soluble free radical quencher. Deferoxamine reduces free radicals by chelating iron and reducing hydroxyl formation. Free radical inhibitors have shown promise in several hypoxic ischemic brain injury models, and we wished to see if this work could be extended to our newborn piglet model. Design: Randomized controlled trial. Subjects: Piglets (0 to 3 days old). Intervention: Carotid snares and arterial and venous catheters were placed under 1.5% isoflurane anesthesia. In Experiment 1, piglets were randomly assigned to receive either 3 mg/kg desmethyl tirilazad or vehicle at −15 and 90 mins. In Experiment 2, piglets were randomly assigned to receive either 20 mg/kg desmethyl tirilazad at −15 mins followed by 8 mg/kg/hr for 90 mins or 100 mg/kg deferoxamine at −15 mins or vehicle. At time 0, both carotid arteries were clamped and blood was withdrawn to reduce the blood pressure to two‐thirds normal. At 15 mins, inspired oxygen was reduced to 6%. At 30 mins, the carotid snares were released, the withdrawn blood was reinfused, and the oxygen was switched to 100%. On the third day after the hypoxic ischemic injury, the animals were killed by perfusing their brains with 10% formalin. We tested the timing of lipid peroxidation and inhibition of lipid peroxidation by these agents by freezing the brains of a subset of pigs in liquid nitrogen. Measurements: Neurologic examination and brain pathology were scored by blinded observers. Thiobarbituric acid‐reactive substance and oxidized and reduced glutathione were measured on frozen brains. Main Results: Desmethyl tirilazad (20 mg/kg) and 100 mg/kg deferoxamine inhibit lipid peroxidation. Desmethyl tirilazad (20 mg/kg) improves neurologic exam, but 3 mg/kg Desmethyl tirilazad or 100 mg/kg deferoxamine does not. Neither desmethyl tirilazad nor deferoxamine improves pathologic results. Conclusions: High‐dose desmethyl tirilazad improves neurologic function after hypoxic ischemic brain injury in the newborn piglet.
Small CRISPR RNAs Guide Antiviral Defense in Prokaryotes

Prokaryotes acquire virus resistance by integrating short fragments of viral nucleic acid into clusters of regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPRs). Here we show how virus-derived sequences contained in CRISPRs are used by CRISPR-associated (Cas) proteins from the host to mediate an antiviral response that counteracts infection. After transcription of the CRISPR, a complex of Cas proteins termed Cascade cleaves a CRISPR RNA precursor in each repeat and retains the cleavage products containing the virus-derived sequence. Assisted by the helicase Cas3, these mature CRISPR RNAs then serve as small guide RNAs that enable Cascade to interfere with virus proliferation. Our results demonstrate that the formation of mature guide RNAs by the CRISPR RNA endonuclease subunit of Cascade is a mechanistic requirement for antiviral defense.