Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Evaluating Evaluations of Medical Diagnostic Systems

System evaluation in biomedical informatics should take place as an ongoing, strategically planned process, not as a single event or a small number of episodes. Complex software systems and accepted medical practices both evolve rapidly, so evaluators and readers of evaluations face moving targets. Thus, it is crucial for readers to be able to place any individual evaluation study into proper perspective. This advice applies to the nascent technology of medical diagnostic decision support systems (MDDSS). That the editor of a prestigious medical journal judged this entire technology’ based on a single, well-done, but intermediate-level and partial evaluation of several systems2 coupled with his own anecdotal experience emphasizes our professional obligation to characterize such systems and their evaluations responsibly
Production of cytokines, vascular endothelial growth factor, matrix metalloproteinases, and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases 1 by tenosynovium demonstrates its potential for tendon destruction in rheumatoid arthritis.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the role of proinflammatory cytokines, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases 1 (TIMP-1) in the destruction of tendons by tenosynovium in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). METHODS Synovial specimens were obtained from encapsulating tenosynovium (n = 17), invasive tenosynovium (n = 13), and wrist joints (n = 17) in 18 RA patients undergoing wrist extensor tenosynovectomy. Synovial membrane cells were dissociated from connective tissue by enzyme digestion and cultured in vitro for 48 hours, and harvested supernatants were assayed for the cytokines tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFalpha) and interleukin-6 (IL-6), VEGF, MMPs 1, 2, 3, and 13, and TIMP-1 by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Gelatin zymography was performed to demonstrate enzyme activity. Statistical analysis was performed using Student's paired 2-tailed t-tests for parametric data and the Wilcoxon signed rank test for nonparametric data. RESULTS MMP-1 and MMP-13 levels were approximately 2.5-fold higher in invasive tenosynovium compared with encapsulating tenosynovium. Levels of MMP-2 were approximately 1.5-fold higher in invasive tenosynovium compared with both encapsulating tenosynovium and wrist joint synovium. MMP-13 (P = 0.009) and IL-6 (P = 0.03) levels were significantly lower in encapsulating tenosynovium compared with wrist joint synovium. Levels of VEGF, TIMP-1, TNFalpha, and MMP-3 were similar in all synovial sample groups. Zymography demonstrated enzyme activity in all synovium samples from all 9 patients assessed. CONCLUSION Tenosynovium produces proinflammatory cytokines and proteolytic enzymes that are important in the tissue degradation seen in RA. Increased production of the enzymes MMP-1, MMP-2, and MMP-13 by invasive tenosynovium suggests a possible explanation for the worse prognosis and increased rupture rate associated with invasive tenosynovitis in RA. Production of VEGF by tenosynovium suggests that angiogenesis may have a role in tenosynovial proliferation and invasion of tendons.
Absolute configuration of (+)-alpha-methyl-4-carboxyphenylglycine (MCPG), a metabotropic glutamate receptor antagonist.

The title compound, (+)-MCPG [(+)-alpha-(4-carboxyphenyl)-alpha-methylglycine, C10H11NO4], is an antagonist at certain subtypes of metabotropic glutamate (mGlu) receptors. (+)-MCPG has gained widespread acceptance as a tool for probing the physiological role of mGlu receptors in the central nervous system. As a result, mGlu receptors are now known to be involved in processes connected with learning and memory, modulation of synaptic transmission and the transmission of pain responses. (+)-MCPG crystallized in its zwitterionic form. Its absolute configuration was assigned as S from X-ray diffraction data collected at 150 K. The refined Flack parameter is consistent with this assignment, although the large e.s. d. associated with it introduces some ambiguity.
Differential pattern of Xist RNA accumulation in single blastomeres isolated from 8‐cell stage mouse embryos following laser zona drilling

Xist gene expression begins at the late 2‐cell stage in female mouse embryos and by the third division results in the accumulation of an average 100 copies of Xist RNA per cell, as measured by real‐time reverse transcription‐polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR). In the blastocyst, the trophectoderm maintains the paternally imprinted pattern of Xist expression present during early development, while either the maternal or the paternal X chromosome can express Xist among cells of the inner mass. Fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) has previously established that Xist transcripts are localized on the silenced X chromosome, forming aggregates of variable dimensions in blastomeres of 8‐cell embryos. This observation and the fact that Xist RNA accumulation per cell sharply decreases after morula stage raise the possibility that cells of cleaving embryos contain different levels of Xist RNA, perhaps linked to their subsequent developmental fates. We show here that Xist RNA is efficiently recovered from single blastomeres isolated from 8‐cell embryos following laser zona drilling. Sexing of the samples and simultaneous quantification of Xist RNA in individual cells is achieved with a multiplex Xist/Sry real‐time RT‐PCR assay sensitive to the single‐copy level. This analysis reveals that Xist RNA is indeed accumulated to substantially different levels in individual blastomeres of the same 8‐cell embryo and that two blastomeres contain most of the molecules per embryo. These results support the conclusion that cells of the early mammalian embryo are not all functionally equivalent. Differential Xist gene expression could arise from differences in DNA methylation, or the order in which cells divide. Mol. Reprod. Dev. 64: 41–51, 2003. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Protection Structures in Multithreaded Systems

We consider a single-address-space system which implements a form of segmentation with paging within the framework of the multithreaded model of program execution. A salient problem of a system of this type is the definition of the set of mechanisms enforcing memory protection. We present a paradigm for the protection system design that is based on the well-known concepts of protection domains and access rights. The resulting environment guarantees an effective separation of the memory resources of the different processes, whose loosely coupled interactions correspond to explicit actions of information sharing. Within the boundaries of a single multithreaded process, a less-stringent protection requirement is to confine the consequences of a programming error in the thread that originated the error. These results are obtained by taking advantage of techniques of symmetric-key cryptography to represent access privileges in memory at the level of the single pages that form a segment.
Algebraic division for multilevel logic synthesis of multi-valued logic circuits

Presents the concept of algebraic division for multilevel logic synthesis of multi-valued logic (MVL). At first, an MVL algebraic division procedure is developed based on a basic set of gates. By introducing two MVL Boolean properties: "identical" and "complementary" into the division operation, the procedure is further improved to be a mix-algebraic division procedure, which can obtain more efficient algebraic division to facilitate multilevel logic synthesis of MVL functions. Experimental results show that, in average, the multilevel implementation cost for an MVL function can have 30.1% cost saving over the two-level implementation, and the improved mix-algebraic division procedure can have 19.4% cost saving over the algebraic division procedure. <<ETX>>
Time Score: A New Feature for Link Prediction in Social Networks

Link prediction in social networks, such as friendship networks and coauthorship networks, has recently attracted a great deal of attention. There have been numerous attempts to address the problem of link prediction through diverse approaches. In the present paper, we focus on the temporal behavior of the link strength, particularly the relationship between the time stamps of interactions or links and the temporal behavior of link strength and how link strength affects future link evolution. Most previous studies have not sufficiently discussed either the impact of time stamps of the interactions or time stamps of the links on link evolution. The gap between the current time and the time stamps of the interactions or links is also important to link evolution. In the present paper, we introduce a new time-aware feature, referred to as time score, that captures the important aspects of time stamps of interactions and the temporality of the link strengths. We also analyze the effectiveness of time score with different parameter settings for different network data sets. The results of the analysis revealed that the time score was sensitive to different networks and different time measures. We applied time score to two social network data sets, namely, Facebook friendship network data set and a coauthorship network data set. The results revealed a significant improvement in predicting future links.
Transient analysis of auxiliary DC installations in power plants and substations

The goal of this work is to present a developed adequate model that will allow analyzing, dimensioning and control of auxiliary DC installations in power plants, first of all from the protection device point of view. This paper deals with risk of power system blackout caused by auxiliary DC installation failure. In the past, failure of auxiliary DC installation has been caused by wrong selectivity of protection devices. However correct selectivity calculation is based on short-circuit current calculation. For this reasons it has to be made a general mathematical model of auxiliary DC installations in power plants and substations that correspond with laboratory results of short-circuit current test. It was concluded that the transient state during short circuit has to be taken into account and mathematical model of auxiliary DC installations in power plants and substations should include not only resistances, but inductances and capacities of auxiliary DC elements as well as the active network in front of the rectifier. The essence of this work is to suggest changing of present IEC standard 61660 - "short circuit currents in DC auxiliary installations in power plants and substations" that does not correspond with present technology used in auxiliary DC installations. Based on that hypothesis an original program package was developed and used for analyzing and dimensioning auxiliary DC installations in power system. The results obtained by means of the program package are relevant for dimensioning all elements of auxiliary DC installations, particularly when protection devices are considered.
Engineering plants for the phytoremediation of RDX in the presence of the co-contaminating explosive TNT.

The explosive compounds hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine (RDX) and 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) are widespread environmental contaminants commonly found as co-pollutants on military training ranges. TNT is a toxic carcinogen which remains tightly bound to the soil, whereas RDX is highly mobile leaching into groundwater and threatening drinking water supplies. We have engineered Arabidopsis plants that are able to degrade RDX, whilst withstanding the phytotoxicity of TNT. Arabidopsis thaliana (Arabidopsis) was transformed with the bacterial RDX-degrading xplA, and associated reductase xplB, from Rhodococcus rhodochrous strain 11Y, in combination with the TNT-detoxifying nitroreductase (NR), nfsI, from Enterobacter cloacae. Plants expressing XplA, XplB and NR remove RDX from soil leachate and grow on soil contaminated with RDX and TNT at concentrations inhibitory to XplA-only expressing plants. This is the first study to demonstrate the use of transgenic plants to tackle two chemically diverse organic compounds at levels comparable with those found on contaminated training ranges, indicating that this technology is capable of remediating concentrations of RDX found in situ. In addition, plants expressing XplA and XplB have substantially less RDX available in aerial tissues for herbivory and potential bioaccumulation.
Gold-Catalyzed Synthesis of Aromatic Azo Compounds from Anilines and Nitroaromatics

The selective formation of aromatic azo compounds at preparative or industrial levels requires stoichiometric amounts of environmentally unfriendly transition metals or nitrites. Here, we show that gold nanoparticles supported on titanium dioxide (TiO2) and nanoparticulated cerium dioxide (CeO2) catalyze the aerobic oxidation of aromatic anilines to aromatic azo compounds with yields above 98% under mild reaction conditions. Gold on TiO2 can also act as a reductive catalyst to access the compound directly from nitroaromatics through a two-step, one-pot reaction. The catalytic process shows promise for efficient synthesis of symmetric aromatic azo compounds, and even a range of asymmetric aromatic azo compounds.
University of Groningen Collaborative Software Architecting Through Knowledge Sharing

In the field of software architecture, there has been a paradigm shift from describing the outcome of the architecting process to documenting architectural knowledge, such as design decisions and rationale. Moreover, in a global, distributed setting, software architecting is essentially a collaborative process in which sharing and reusing architectural knowledge is a crucial and indispensible part. Although the importance of architectural knowledge has been recognized for a considerable period of time, there is still no systematic process emphasizing the use of architectural knowledge in a collaborative context. In this chapter, we present a two-part solution to this problem: a collaborative architecting process based on architectural knowledge and an accompanying tool suite that demonstrates one way to support the process.
Simultaneous Comparison of Nicotinic Receptor Antagonists on Three Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors

The relative potencies of several nicotinic cholinoceptor antagonists in producing tetanic fade and reduction of striated muscle contraction were investigated in the isolated guinea‐pig oesophagus as well as the guinea‐pig and rat phrenic nerve‐diaphragm preparations. Contractile smooth muscle responses to vagal stimulation, which involves ganglionic activation, were also measured simultaneously with striated muscle responses in the oesophagus.
Effect of Fresh Garlic Homogenate ( FGH ) on Rat Heart after Exposure to Hot Water Immersion Stress

The present study aims to investigate the possible cardioprotective role of garlic on adult male Sprague-Dawely albino rats after stress exposure. Animals were exposed to stress by immersion in hot water for one day, one week and three weeks of stress. The myocardial activity was evaluated by estimating ECG, heart to body weight ratio, serum creatine phosphokinase (CPK-MB) activity, antioxidant enzymes activities, as well as histopathological alterations in cardiac muscle. Garlic was administered to the animals at a dosage of 250 mg/kg b.w. Exposure for one day stress was of weak effect, while one week and three weeks of stress exposure were nearly of the same effect , causing significant changes in ECG, cardiac hypertrophy, elevation in serum CPK (MB) activity, significant decrease in the antioxidant enzyme activities and increase in MDA content, and significant alterations in histopathological analysis when compared with control. Supplementation of garlic (250 mg/kg b.w.) orally for one day stress exposed and one week stress exposed animals could not produce any significant change when compared to untreated stress exposed animals. However, after 28 days aqueous garlic homogenate supplementation has significantly improved ECG, decreased cardiac hypertrophy, decreased serum CPK (MB) activity, increased all the antioxidant enzyme activities and decreased MDA content as well as improved the myocardial histopathology compared the three weeks stress exposed group. The results indicated that stress exposure affects the myocardial function through direct effect: on the heart muscle , leading to arrhythmia and hypertrophy, and indirect effect: by generating free radicals and oxidative stress.
Hypertension and multiple cardiovascular risk factors increase the risk for retinal vein occlusions: results from the Gutenberg Retinal Vein Occlusion Study.

OBJECTIVE Although several risk factors for retinal vein occlusion (RVO) are known, what triggers RVO is unclear in many cases. We aimed to evaluate the relevance of multiple risk factors in patients with RVO. METHODS The Gutenberg RVO Study is an observational case-control study that assessed thrombophilic, cardiovascular, ophthalmic, and drug-related risk factors in participants with RVO and the same number of matched controls. Conditional logistic regression analysis was chosen to estimate the risk of RVO due to several risk factors. RESULTS Of 92 patients with RVO, 46 (50%) had central RVO, 31 (33.7%) had branch RVO, and 15 (16.3) had hemi-RVO. Systemic hypertension was associated with RVO [any RVO: odds ratio (OR): 1.81; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.14-2.88; branch RVO: OR: 2.56; 95% CI: 1.08-6.10]. The most frequent combinations of risk factors were hypertension with dyslipidemia (33 of 92, 35.9%) and hyperhomocysteinemia and high levels of factor VIII (10 of 92, 10.9%). An increase in the risk sum score by one additional risk factor corresponded to ORs of 1.74 (95% CI: 1.31-2.32) for cardiovascular risk factors, 1.38 (95% CI: 1.04-1.82) for thrombophilic risk factors, and 1.43 (95% CI: 1.20-1.70) for the total number of risk factors for RVO. CONCLUSION Cardiovascular risk factors are more important than other risk factors for the presence of RVO. The risk of RVO increased by approximately 40% with any additional risk factor and by 70% with any additional cardiovascular risk factor.
Public awareness of clinical trials: A qualitative pilot study in Pune

Context: Medical expertise combined with availability of patients with varied diseases have resulted in rapid increase in number of clinical trials (CTs) recruiting millions of patients in India. Yet, few researchers have tried to understand if the public in India is aware of CTs. Aims: To explore the awareness, perceptions of and attitude towards participating in CTs among general public in Pune. Materials and Methods: Focus group discussions (FGDs) and interviews were conducted by contacting people in the community of various age groups and socio economic status with 7 Trial participants (TPs) and 17 Non Trial Participants (NTPs). The survey tool consisted of open-ended questions that assessed the awareness and attitudes of the individuals regarding the CTs. Interview were recorded on paper and translated from (Marathi) local language to English for analysis. Qualitative analysis was used to report the findings. Results: Most participants could associate CTs with medicine or development of new medicine; however they did not have a good understanding of the manner and safeguards with which CTs are conducted. Participants were not aware about different types of CTs and phases of the CTs. CTs were felt to be of benefit to the community and advancement of science. However, due to fear of adverse effects, 80% of the respondents were not ready to participate in the CTs. Conclusions: The Indian Pharmaceutical company is the world's 3rd largest by volume as per Dr. Shivathanu Pillai's report 17th March 2010, in spite of that it has been noticed that the awareness about CTs is very low; therefore there is a need to create awareness about CTs which helps the participants to participate in CTs based on their own decision. These FGD findings require validation in a larger sample.
Concentrated high intensity electric field (CHIEF) pasteurization of milk

Concentrated high intensity electric field (CHIEF) is non-thermal pasteurization technology that uses microsecond pulses of electricity to inactivate bacteria without causing undesirable changes in flavor or quality of a product. This technology was explored as an alternative to current milk pasteurization processes, and was examined for its effects on microbial stability, sensory, quality and shelf life of milk. Milk samples containing an initial inocula of approximately 10 8 CFU/mL of mixtures of Escherichia coli O157:H7, Salmonella, and Listeria monocytogenes or an initial inocula of 10 3 CFU/mL of viable Bacillus cereus spores were treated with our CHIEF system. The average (± standard deviation) of microbial inactivation after subjecting milk samples to a single pass through CHIEF was 2.74 (± 1.0), 2.95 (± 0.35), 2.75 (± 0.25), and 0.18 (± 0.15) log CFU/ml for E. coli O157: H7, Salmonella, L. monocytogenes and Bacillus cereus, respectively. When the milk samples were pumped twice through CHIEF, reductions of 4.36 (± 0.24), 5.55 (± 0.14), and 4.78 (± 0.78) log CFU/ml for E. coli O157:H7, Salmonella, and L. monocytogenes, respectively, were observed. Additional passes with our current system are expected to result in more bacterial reduction. These results suggest that the CHIEF process has the potential to deliver similar microbial inactivation effectiveness as a standard HTST pasteurization system.
ATP‐binding cassette transporter A1 (ABCA1) promotes arsenic tolerance in human cells by reducing cellular arsenic accumulation

Arsenic is a toxic element widely distributed in nature, such as water and soil. To survive this metalloid in the environment, nearly all organisms develop strategies to tolerate arsenic toxicity to some degree. Some arsenic‐resistance genes have been identified in bacteria and yeast, but for mammals, especially humans, these genes are largely unknown. The aim of the present study was to identify these genes and benefit our intervention of arsenic resistance. We first established a human arsenic‐resistant ECV‐304 (AsRE) cell line and then used suppression subtractive hybridization and microarray analysis to identify arsenic‐resistant genes in these cells. Of the significantly upregulated genes, three ATP‐binding cassette (ABC) subfamily members, namely ABCA1, ABCE1 and ABCF1, were chosen for further study with RNA interference and overexpression analyses. The 3‐(4,5‐dimethyl‐2 thiazoyl)‐2,5‐diphenyl‐2H‐tetrazolium bromide assay was used to determine the cell survival rate and the IC50, whereas atomic fluorescence spectrophotometry was used to determine intracellular arsenic levels. We found that among the three ABC genes, only when ABCA1 gene expression was silenced did cells obviously lose their arsenic tolerance. The arsenic accumulation in ABCA1 deficiency AsRE cells was greater than that in wild type AsRE cells. Overexpression of ABCA1 in HeLa cells decreased arsenic accumulation in the cells and the cells were more resistant to As(III) than control cells transfected with empty vector. These results suggest a new functional role for ABCA1 in the development of arsenic resistance in human cells.
Energen System for Power Supply of Passive House: Case Study

This paper aims to present partial results of a large study regarding the alternative energen solutions (sun, wind, hydrogen) for power supply of passive house placed on Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Five scenarios for different combinations were optimized and analyzed of hybrid energy system. The best energy and environmental performances are achieved by hydrogen technology and fuel cell, also the use of hydrogen energy is more efficient and less expensive then primary renewable energy seasonal storage by batteries.