Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Abnormal urinary potassium metabolism in patients with interstitial cystitis.

PURPOSE If most patients with interstitial cystitis (IC) have epithelial leakage allowing urinary K to penetrate the interstitium and provoke symptoms, urinary K should be lower in untreated patients than in healthy subjects and it should increase with successful heparinoid treatment. This study tested these hypotheses. MATERIALS AND METHODS Na, K and creatinine (Cr) were determined in spot urine samples from new, symptomatic, untreated patients with IC meeting all National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases clinical diagnostic criteria, returning patients with IC reporting 50% or greater symptom improvement after 4 or greater months of oral heparinoid therapy and control subjects, and in 24-hour urine samples from new untreated patients and controls. RESULTS In spot urine specimens of 37 new patients with IC K-to-Cr ratios were significantly lower than in 18 controls (0.51 vs 0.88 mg/mg Cr, p = 0.001). A total of 50 successfully treated patients with IC had significantly higher K-to-Cr ratios than those in 37 new patients (0.66 vs 0.51 mg/mg Cr, p = 0.025). Na-to-Cr ratios in the 3 groups were not significantly different. In 24-hour urine specimens 30 new patients had lower average K (31.0 vs 46.2 mEq/l, p = 0.01) and lower K-to-Cr ratios (0.43 vs 0.52 mg K/mg Cr, p = 0.01) than in 47 controls, while Na was not significantly different. CONCLUSIONS Our finding of lower urinary K in new, untreated patients supports the concept of abnormal epithelial permeability and K absorption in IC. Higher urinary K in successfully treated vs untreated patients may reflect decreasing urinary K absorption due to mucosal repair and a resulting decrease in epithelial permeability. K/mg Cr appears accurate for normalizing urinary K.
[Effects of silicone punctal plugs for tear deficiency dry eye patients].

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the efficacy of silicone punctual plug for treating aqueous tear deficiency dry eye patients. METHODS Prospective consecutive cases study. Silicone punctal plugs (France Chirurgie Instrumentation) were inserted into lower canaliculus in 65 tear deficiency dry eye patients (65 eyes). The clinical data collected included sex and age of the patients, frequency of lubricant use, the Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI) scores, slit lamp microscope examination, Schirmer I test (SIT) (with anesthesia), tear break-up time (TBUT), and ocular surface staining with fluoresce in sodium. All examinations were recorded at baseline, 6 weeks and 6 months after punctal occlusion. RESULTS There were 41 women and 24 men in this study, and their average age was 41.77 years old. The dry eye symptoms improved in 57 (87.69%) of 65 eyes at 6 months follow-up. The frequency of lubricant use was significantly decreased in these eyes (χ(2) = 81.97, P < 0.01). More importantly, the symptoms disappeared in 25 (38.46%) eyes, which did not need lubricant any more. At baseline, 6 weeks and 6 months after punctal occlusion, OSDI mean score was 37.32 ± 2.41, 19.60 ± 8.07 and 18.17 ± 7.93, respectively (F = 344.10, P < 0.01); mean SIT result was (3.03 ± 0.75) mm, (6.66 ± 2.10) mm and (6.75 ± 2.16) mm, respectively (F = 169.59, P < 0.01); mean TBUT was (2.91 ± 0.76) s, (7.02 ± 2.39) s and (7.57 ± 2.38) s, respectively (F = 242.00, P < 0.01). Compared with the baseline data, hyperemia of conjunctiva grading and ocular surface staining scores were also improved significantly after plug insertion, and all of these differences were statistically significant. Foreign body sensation was the most common complication in our study (12 eyes, 18.46%). Epiphora (4 eyes, 6.15%), partial extrusion (3 eyes, 4.62%), and total extrusion (3 eyes, 4.62%) were the other complications encountered. CONCLUSION Silicone punctal plug insertion is a stable, effective and safety method for the treatment of tear deficiency dry eye.
Measurement algorithm for amplitude, duration and velocity of upper eyelid movements

This paper presents an image processing algorithm designed to measure eyelid movements during blinking. First, the facial features of the subject are detected and tracked; then, the eye regions of interest are extracted using information regarding face orientation and eyelids position. In the next stage, the eyelid line is detected from the image, after which the eyelid characteristics are extracted from the eyelid movement measurements.
Intravenous growth hormone: growth responses to patterned infusions in hypophysectomized rats.

Young hypophysectomized rats were maintained with chronic indwelling i.v. cannulae attached via swivels to a multichannel pumping system programmed to deliver GH in a continuous or pulsatile pattern for several days. Continuous i.v. infusions of human GH for 5 days produced dose-dependent increases in body weight and tail length, without increasing food intake. A comparison of GH infusions by the s.c. or i.v. route showed that the direct i.v. route was threefold more effective. Pulsatile i.v. infusions of human or bovine GH at two doses (12 or 36 mu./day, eight pulses/day, 5-min duration, every 3 h) produced greater increases in body weight than continuous i.v. infusions of GH at the same daily dose. Continuous infusions of bovine GH produced a lower growth rate in the second of two consecutive 5-day treatment periods, whereas the responses to pulsatile GH did not diminish with time. Both body weight gain and long-bone growth were affected by the frequency of GH pulses; nine pulses per day were more effective than three pulses per day which in turn produced larger growth responses than one pulse per day. Keeping GH pulse frequency constant and varying pulse duration (4, 16 or 64 min) did not affect growth rates. In conclusion, long-term pulsatile i.v. infusions of GH mimic the endogenous secretory pattern, and are most effective when given at the physiologically appropriate pulse frequency.
A Review of Sunscreen Safety and Efficacy

The use of sunscreen products has been advocated by many health care practitioners as a means to reduce skin damage produced by ultraviolet radiation (UVR) from sunlight. There is a need to better understand the efficacy and safety of sunscreen products given this ongoing campaign encouraging their use. The approach used to establish sunscreen efficacy, sun protection factor (SPF), is a useful assessment of primarily UVB (290–320 nm) filters. The SPF test, however, does not adequately assess the complete photoprotective profile of sunscreens specifically against long wavelength UVAI (340–400 nm). Moreover, to date, there is no singular, agreed upon method for evaluating UVA efficacy despite the immediate and seemingly urgent consumer need to develop sunscreen products that provide broad‐spectrum UVB and UVA photoprotection. With regard to the safety of UVB and UVA filters, the current list of commonly used organic and inorganic sunscreens has favorable toxico‐logical profiles based on acute, subchronic and chronic animal or human studies. Further, in most studies, sunscreens have been shown to prevent the damaging effects of UVR exposure. Thus, based on this review of currently available data, it is concluded that sunscreen ingredients or products do not pose a human health concern. Further, the regular use of appropriate broad‐spectrum sunscreen products could have a significant and favorable impact on public health as part of an overall strategy to reduce UVR exposure.
Focusing approach using LD block and association study with haplotype combination on DNA data

In statistical genetics, SNPs, haplotype and diplotype are the major polymorphic markers in DNA data. Therefore, over approximately the last 10 years, the relative frequencies of different haplotypes have been estimated, their structures have been examined, and haplotypes have been used for association studies. We focus haplotype analyses, e.g., identification of haplotype blocks and haplotype association studies.
Effect of Add‐on Aliskiren to Type 1 Angiotensin Receptor Blocker Therapy on Endothelial Function and Autonomic Nervous System in Hypertensive Patients With Ischemic Heart Disease

The aim of this study was to evaluate the add‐on effect of aliskiren to valsartan on endothelial‐dependent vasodilation in hypertensive patients with ischemic heart disease (IHD). After 4 weeks of treatment with 80 mg of valsartan, 28 patients were allocated to either continued treatment with valsartan or an add‐on treatment with valsartan plus 150 mg of aliskiren. Aliskiren significantly decreased plasma renin activity, whereas endothelium‐dependent vasodilation measured by flow‐mediated dilation (FMD) did not change. In contrast, heart rate significantly decreased (73.1 ± 9.8 to 66.3 ± 7.0 beats per minute at baseline and 24 weeks, respectively [P = .009]) and the standard deviation of the R‐R intervals (SDNN) significantly increased in the aliskiren group. The add‐on aliskiren to valsartan therapy may not improve endothelial functions, although it significantly reduced resting heart rate via regulation of the autonomic nervous system in hypertensive patients with IHD.
Spatio‐temporal prediction and inference by V1 neurons

In normal vision, visual scenes are predictable, as they are both spatially and temporally redundant. Evidence suggests that the visual system may use the spatio‐temporal regularities of the external world, available in the retinal signal, to extract information from the visual environment and better reconstruct current and future stimuli. We studied this by recording neuronal responses of primary visual cortex (area V1) in anaesthetized and paralysed macaques during the presentation of dynamic sequences of bars, in which spatio‐temporal regularities and local information were independently manipulated. Most V1 neurons were significantly modulated by events prior to and distant from stimulation of their classical receptive fields (CRFs); many were more strongly tuned to prior and distant events than they were to CRFs bars; and several showed tuning to prior information without any CRF stimulation. Hence, V1 neurons do not simply analyse local contours, but impute local features to the visual world, on the basis of prior knowledge of a visual world in which useful information can be distributed widely in space and time.
PLATELETS, ENDOTHELIUM AND VASOSPASM

The endothelium can secrete both relaxing and contracting substances. One of the most powerful stimuli to the release of the former are thrombin and aggregating platelets. This contributes to the protective role of the endothelium against inappropriate intraluminal platelet aggregation and coagulation in blood vessels with an intact intima. Thrombin-induced, endothelium-dependent relaxations have been obtained in isolated arteries of different species, including humans. Endothelium-dependent relaxations can be evoked by autologous platelets in isolated blood vessels of the dog, pig and rat; they can be obtained in canine coronary arteries with human platelets. The major platelet-products involved in these endothelium-dependent relaxations are 5-hydroxytryptamine (serotonin) and the adenine nucleotides. Although platelet-activating factor (PAF) can evoke endothelium-dependent relaxation it only does so at concentrations much higher than those occurring under physiological conditions; since the relaxations are not prevented by PAF-antagonists, they are non-specific in nature.The receptor mediating the endothelium-dependent relaxations to serotonin released from the aggregating platelets can be subtyped as a S1~(5HT1) serotonergic receptor;those mediating the response to the adenine nucleotides as P2y-purinergic receptors. In the absence of the endothelium aggregating platelets cause contractions of vascular smooth muscle; these are mediated by a mixture of S1-like and S2~serotoner-gic receptors in coronary arteriesof the dog, and by S2-serotonergic receptors in those of the pig. Thus, in the porcine coronary artery, the S2-serotonergic antagonist ketanserin markedly enhances the platelet-induced endothelium-dependent relaxation. After previous (four weeks) injury, the regenerated endothelium of the porcine coronary artery loses the ability to respond to serotonin,and is unable to prevent the constrictionsevoked by aggregating platelets. The endothelium-dependent relaxations of porcine coronary arteries evoked by aggregating platelets are potentiated by chronic treatmentof the donor animals with cod liver oil. These studies emphasize the protective roleof the endothelial cells against the vasoconstriction (vasospasm) induced by aggregating platelets. This role is depressed after previous injury, and can be facilitatedby dietary adj ustments.
Nef Associates with p21-Activated Kinase 2 in a p21-GTPase-Dependent Dynamic Activation Complex within Lipid Rafts

ABSTRACT We have previously reported that Nef specifically interacts with a small but highly active subpopulation of p21-activated kinase 2 (PAK2). Here we show that this is due to a transient association of Nef with a PAK2 activation complex within a detergent-insoluble membrane compartment containing the lipid raft marker GM1. The low abundance of this Nef-associated kinase (NAK) complex was found to be due to an autoregulatory mechanism. Although activation of PAK2 was required for assembly of the NAK complex, catalytic activity of PAK2 also promoted dissociation of this complex. Testing different constitutively active PAK2 mutants indicated that the conformation associated with p21-mediated activation rather than kinase activity per se was required for PAK2 to become NAK. Although association with PAK2 is one of the most conserved properties of Nef, we found that the ability to stimulate PAK2 activity differed markedly among divergent Nef alleles, suggesting that PAK2 association and activation are distinct functions of Nef. However, mutations introduced into the p21-binding domain of PAK2 revealed that p21-GTPases are involved in both of these Nef functions and, in addition to promoting PAK2 activation, also help to physically stabilize the NAK complex.
Cartilage on the move: Cartilage lineage tracing during tadpole metamorphosis

The reorganization of cranial cartilages during tadpole metamorphosis is a set of complex processes. The fates of larval cartilage‐forming cells (chondrocytes) and sources of adult chondrocytes are largely unknown. Individual larval cranial cartilages may either degenerate or remodel, while many adult cartilages appear to form de novo during metamorphosis. Determining the extent to which adult chondrocytes/cartilages are derived from larval chondrocytes during metamorphosis requires new techniques in chondrocyte lineage tracing. We have developed two transgenic systems to label cartilage cells throughout the body with fluorescent proteins. One system strongly labels early tadpole cartilages only. The other system inducibly labels forming cartilages at any developmental stage. We examined cartilages of the skull (viscero‐ and neurocranium), and identified larval cartilages that either resorb or remodel into adult cartilages. Our data show that the adult otic capsules, tecti anterius and posterius, hyale, and portions of Meckel's cartilage are derived from larval chondrocytes. Our data also suggest that most adult cartilages form de novo, though we cannot rule out the potential for extreme larval chondrocyte proliferation or de‐ and re‐differentiation, which could dilute our fluorescent protein signal. The transgenic lineage tracing strategies developed here are the first examples of inducible, skeleton‐specific, lineage tracing in Xenopus.
A trust and distrust mechanism for a social network-based recommendation system

As people and their acquaintances are connected with one another to form a social network, social network-based recommendation systems (SNRS) enable people to make decisions based on previous experiences and knowledge of acquaintances. SNRS are implemented to take advantage of the acquaintance relationships, which form the essential links within social networks, to enable people in need of item purchasing recommendations to send requests for recommendations and receive recommendations from people throughout the network. Each person in the social network maintains a pair of trust and distrust ratings for each of their acquaintances and updates the ratings based on usefulness of received from the corresponding acquaintance. A pair of trust and distrust rating is used instead of just a single trust rating where the assumed distrust rating can be derived from the trust rating. In the proposed trust and distrust mechanism, trust represents the perceived risk of choosing a recommendation from the corresponding acquaintance while distrust is a protective measure indicating the level of doubt on the level of trust that is assigned to the same acquaintance. The proposed mechanism corresponds to studies indicating that the trust and distrust are determined separately, with the level of trust being based on a relatively rational evaluation while the level of distrust is based more on fear and other irrational emotions. When the level of distrust rises over a certain threshold for an acquaintance, recommendations received from the acquaintance will not be considered during the decision making process until the level of distrust falls below the threshold. The simulation used for this study utilizes software agents that are connected with one another via a social network to model the behavior of people when soliciting recommendations and providing recommendations.
Protein-tyrosine Phosphatase-mediated Decrease of Epidermal Growth Factor and Platelet-derived Growth Factor Receptor Tyrosine Phosphorylation in High Cell Density Cultures (*)

Contact-induced growth inhibition is a characteristic feature of normal cells grown in monolayer. The importance of reversible tyrosine phosphorylation in mitogenic signaling, together with earlier reports of increased levels of protein-tyrosine phosphatases (PTPs) in densely cultured cells, has led to the proposal that PTPs may be involved in mediating contact inhibition of cell growth. We have compared net levels of ligand-induced tyrosine phosphorylation of the epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor in mink lung epithelial cells cultured under sparse or dense conditions. The levels of net tyrosine phosphorylation of the stimulated EGF receptor was found to be more than 4-fold higher in sparse cultures. This difference was greatly reduced when cells were pretreated with the PTP inhibitor phenyl arsine oxide. Monitoring of dephosphorylation rates in vivo of the stimulated EGF receptors revealed increased EGF receptor-directed PTP activity in dense cultures. The platelet-derived growth factor β-receptor, expressed in stably transfected porcine aortic endothelial cells, also displayed lower levels of ligand induced net tyrosine phosphorylation in cells from dense cultures. This density-dependent difference in tyrosine phosphorylation was reduced by pretreatment of cultures with the PTP inhibitor orthovanadate. A PTP-mediated decrease of the in vivo net levels of ligand induced tyrosine phosphorylation of EGF and platelet-derived growth factor receptors in cells at high density have thus been demonstrated. Loss of this previously unnoticed regulatory pathway may be involved in cellular transformation.
Specific inhibition of antibody production. II. Paralysis induced in adult mice by small quantities of protein antigen.

A state of immunological paralysis has been induced in adult CBA mice by intraperitoneal injections of small quantities of bovine γ globulin (BGG). The minimum paralysing dose of BGG has been found to be between 50 and 200 μg. A dose as small as 2 μg. has been found to have a slight paralysing effect. The time necessary for the induction of paralysis by 50 μg. to 2 mg. of BGG in CBA mice is 3–4 days. Paralysis is induced by only one component of BGG; this component is incapable of inducing an antibody response unless an injection of adjuvant is made at the same time or slightly before the injection of the antigen. The BGG is centrifuged at an RCF of 20,000–30,000 g to remove particulate matter. Failure to remove the particulate matter leads to sporadic immune responses in groups of mice injected with the protein. Mice given a paralysing injection of BGG were subsequently challenged by an injection of BGG in Freund's adjuvant. The result of this challenge was tested by an injection of radioactively-labelled antigen and the elimination of this antigen from the circulation of the challenged mice was followed for several days. `Immune elimination' can easily be distinguished from `non-immune elimination'. The presence of antibody to the non-paralysing components of BGG in sera from paralysed mice was confirmed using the Ouchterlony geldiffusion technique.
Performance Isolation Anomalies in RDMA

To meet the increasing throughput and latency demands of modern applications, many operators are rapidly deploying RDMA in their datacenters. At the same time, developers are re-designing their software to take advantage of RDMA's benefits for individual applications. However, when it comes to RDMA's performance, many simple questions remain open. In this paper, we consider the performance isolation characteristics of RDMA. Specifically, we conduct three sets of experiments -- three combinations of one throughput-sensitive flow and one latency-sensitive flow -- in a controlled environment, observe large discrepancies in RDMA performance with and without the presence of a competing flow, and describe our progress in identifying plausible root-causes.
Bounded query computations

A survey is given of directions, results, and methods in the study of complexity-bounded computations with a restricted number of queries to an oracle. In particular, polynomial-time-bounded computations with an NP oracle are considered. The main topics are: the relationship between the number of adaptive and parallel queries, connections to the closure of NP under polynomial-time truth-table reducibility, the Boolean hierarchy, the power of one more query, sparse oracles versus few queries, and natural complete problems for the most important bounded query classes. <<ETX>>
Efficient Label Contamination Attacks Against Black-Box Learning Models

Label contamination attack (LCA) is an important type of data poisoning attack where an attacker manipulates the labels of training data to make the learned model beneficial to him. Existing work on LCA assumes that the attacker has full knowledge of the victim learning model, whereas the victim model is usually a black-box to the attacker. In this paper, we develop a Projected Gradient Ascent (PGA) algorithm to compute LCAs on a family of empirical risk minimizations and show that an attack on one victim model can also be effective on other victim models. This makes it possible that the attacker designs an attack against a substitute model and transfers it to a black-box victim model. Based on the observation of the transferability, we develop a defense algorithm to identify the data points that are most likely to be attacked. Empirical studies show that PGA significantly outperforms existing baselines and linear learning models are better substitute models than nonlinear ones.
The approach of error calibration for three-axis magnetic heading sensor

The accuracy of magnetic heading sensor is reduced by the impact of manufacturing technology and local m gnetic interferences. The singularity of constraint matrix in traditional calibration algorithm leads to unst able results. Therefore, an improved least-square ellipsoid fitti ng method is proposed in this paper. The error sour ce and the deviation mathematical model are introduced. On the basis of the analysis on singularity of the constr aints matrix, parameter extraction by the improved least-square e llipsoid fitting method is given. The new method su ccessfully overcomes the instability of the traditional algori thm, and reduces the computation load. Simulation a nd experimental results show that this method is effec tiv in calibrating magnetic heading sensor. The he ading precision of the sensor acquired after calibration s better than 0.42o.