Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A randomized controlled trial of a 3-year home exercise program in cystic fibrosis.

OBJECTIVES To evaluate the effects of a 3-year home exercise program on pulmonary function and exercise tolerance in mildly to moderately impaired patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) and to assess whether regular aerobic exercise is a realistic treatment option. STUDY DESIGN Seventy-two patients with CF (7-19 years) were randomly assigned to an exercise group (a minimum of 20 minutes of aerobic exercise, at a heart rate of approximately 150 beats/min, 3 times weekly) or a control group (usual physical activity participation). Pulmonary function, exercise tolerance, clinical status, hospitalizations, and compliance with therapy were monitored during scheduled visits to the hospital's CF clinic. RESULTS Sixty-five patients were included in the analyses. The control group demonstrated a greater annual decline in percent of predicted forced vital capacity compared with the exercise group (mean slope +/- SD, -2.42 +/- 4.15 vs -0.25 +/- 2.81; P =.02), with a similar trend for forced expiratory volume in 1 second (-3.47 +/- 4.93 vs -1.46 +/- 3. 55; P =.07). Patients remained compliant with the exercise program over the study period. An improved sense of well-being was reported with exercise. CONCLUSIONS Pulmonary function declined more slowly in the exercise group than in the control group, suggesting a benefit for patients with CF participating in regular aerobic exercise. Consistent compliance with the home exercise program and a self-reported positive attitude toward exercise provide further evidence of the feasibility and value of including an aerobic exercise program in the conventional treatment regimen of patients with CF.
Implementación de un sistema de localización para vehículos sin conductor

El paso del tiempo y la creciente evolucion de la tecnologia ha provocado que cada vez mas proyectos y grupos de investigacion centren sus esfuerzos en transformar la conduccion autonoma de vehiculos en una idea menos utopica. Muchas de estas investigaciones conducen a la integracion de sensores de posicionamiento en los vehiculos, siendo el GPS el mas utilizado debido a que existen en la actualidad diversos sistemas de correccion que permiten mejorar la precision de este sensor hasta el orden de los 50 centimetros. Sin embargo, es posible mejorar aun mas esta precision si se cuenta con una referencia de correccion cercana a los receptores. En este articulo se describe la instalacion y validacion de una estacion de referencia dentro de las instalaciones del CAR en Madrid para la localizacion de los vehiculos autonomos del grupo AUTOPIA. Las pruebas experimentales con vehiculos reales muestra el buen comportamiento del sistema disenado.
Spinal Cord Terminations of the Medial Wall Motor Areas in Macaque Monkeys

We used anterograde transport of wheat germ agglutinin-horseradish peroxidase to examine the pattern of spinal termination of efferents from the supplementary motor area (SMA) and the two caudal cingulate motor areas (CMAd and CMAv). Our analysis was limited to cervical segments of the macaque. For comparison, we also examined the pattern of termination of efferents from the primary motor cortex (M1). The SMA, CMAd, CMAv, and M1 all terminate in the ventral horn (lamina IX). Thus, all of these motor areas appear to have direct connections with spinal motoneurons, particularly those innervating muscles of the fingers and wrist. All of the motor areas also terminate in the intermediate zone of the spinal cord (laminae V–VIII). Terminations from the SMA and M1 were densest in three regions: (1) dorsolaterally within laminae V–VII; (2) dorsomedially within lamina VI; and (3) ventromedially within lamina VII and adjacent lamina VIII. In contrast, efferents from the CMAd terminate most densely in the dorsolateral portion of the intermediate zone, whereas those from the CMAv were concentrated in the dorsomedial region. Thus, the CMAd and CMAv may innervate distinct sets of interneurons that project directly to motoneurons, and thereby influence specific aspects of segmental motor control. These results suggest that corticospinal projections from the SMA, CMAd, and CMAv are in many respects similar to those of efferents from M1. Consequently, each of the motor areas on the medial wall has the potential to generate and control movement at the level of the spinal cord and may provide an anatomical substrate for the recovery of motor function that follows damage to M1.
Broad host range and promoter selection vectors for bacteria that interact with plants.

A plasmid vector, pGV910, and a derived cosmid, pRG930, have been constructed. Both contain the ColE1 and pVS1 origins of replication and are stably maintained in Escherichia coli, Agrobacterium tumefaciens, and Azorhizobium caulinodans ORS571. They are compatible with commonly used IncP cloning vectors, although pVS1 was classified as an IncP plasmid, unable to replicate in E. coli (Y. Itoh, J.M. Watson, D. Haas, and T. Leisinger, Plasmid 11:206-220, 1984). Promoter selection vectors were derived from both of these plasmids by using a promoterless beta-glucuronidase and/or beta-galactosidase gene. These vectors facilitate the study of gene expression in bacteria under particular environmental conditions. This is illustrated by the expression of the gusA gene under the control of a nod promoter in A. caulinodans nodulating stem-located infection sites on Sesbania rostrata.
Perceptions of sexual risk behaviours and substance abuse among adolescents in South Africa: A qualitative investigation

Abstract The study examined South African adolescents’ beliefs and attitudes regarding drug use, sexual risk behaviour and relationships between the two behaviours. Eleven single-gender focus groups were held among male and female Grade 8 and 11 students from three schools in Cape Town. The adolescents’ opined that drugs’ reinforcing effects were the main factor underlying their use, and that sexual risk behaviours resulted from girls’ limited power in sexual relationships and boys’ perceived invulnerability to HIV infection and the positive status associated with having multiple partners. Drug use was considered to exacerbate underlying vulnerabilities to risky sexual behaviour mainly due to drugs’ effects on adolescents’ inhibitions, rational thinking, and safer sex negotiation skills. The findings suggest that adolescent HIV intervention programmes should address the risks posed by drug use on sexual behaviour.
Activation of Serum- and Glucocorticoid-induced Protein Kinase (Sgk) by Cyclic AMP and Insulin*

Sgk (serum- and glucocorticoid-induced protein kinase) is a serine/threonine-specific protein kinase that is transcriptionally regulated by serum, glucorticoids, and mineralocorticoids. Sgk regulates the amiloride-sensitive sodium channel in kidney principal cells. Insulin and insulin-like growth factor-1 stimulate activity of Sgk by a mechanism mediated by phosphoinositide-dependent kinases (PDK)-1 and -2. In this study, we demonstrate that incubation of transfected cells with 8-(4-chlorophenylthio)-cAMP (8CPT-cAMP; 0.2 mm) led to a 2-fold activation of recombinant Sgk expressed in COS7 cells. Furthermore, the combination of insulin plus 8CPT-cAMP elicited a larger response than either agent alone. The effect of insulin was inhibited by wortmannin (100 nm), but not by the cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA) inhibitor, H89 (10 μm). As expected, the effect of 8CPT-cAMP was completely blocked by H89. Surprisingly, the effect of 8CPT-cAMP was also inhibited by wortmannin, suggesting that phosphorylation of Sgk by PDK-1 and/or -2 is required for activation by 8CPT-cAMP. Mutational analysis led to similar conclusions. The Thr369 → Ala mutant, lacking the PKA phosphorylation site, was activated by insulin but not 8CPT-cAMP. In contrast, the Ser422 → Ala mutant, lacking a PDK-2 phosphorylation site, was inactive and resistant to activation by either insulin or 8CPT-cAMP. In summary, Sgk is subject to complex regulatory mechanisms. In addition to regulation at the level of gene expression, the enzymatic activity of Sgk is regulated by multiple protein kinases, including PKA, PDK-1, and PDK-2. Cross-talk among these signaling pathways may play an important role in the pathogenesis of the hypertension associated with hyperinsulinemia, obesity, and insulin resistance.
NOV (CCN3) Functions as a Regulator of Human Hematopoietic Stem or Progenitor Cells

Clinically successful hematopoietic cell transplantation is dependent on hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells. Here we identify the matricellular protein Nephroblastoma Overexpressed (Nov, CCN3) as being essential for their functional integrity. Nov expression is restricted to the primitive (CD34) compartments of umbilical vein cord blood, and its knockdown in these cells by lentivirus-mediated RNA interference abrogates their function in vitro and in vivo. Conversely, forced expression of Nov and addition of recombinant Nov protein both enhance primitive stem and/or progenitor activity. Taken together, our results identify Nov (CCN3) as a regulator of human hematopoietic stem or progenitor cells.
Creencias y concepciones: una mirada a la evaluación matemática en la educación superior

El estudio realizado acerca de las Creencias y concepciones de los profesores Universitarios sobre la evaluacion del aprendizaje en matematicas establece como principal objetivo la caracterizacion de las tendencias de pensamiento en torno al aprendizaje de la Evaluacion en Matematicas, implementando una metodologia que involucra analisis de tipo descriptivo, factorial y cluster, los cuales permitieron establecer como factor general aspectos relacionados a la reflexion, materializacion evaluativa enenunciados, juicios eminentemente de caracter cognitivo, empleados en la relacion al proceso y el resultado, hallandose que la utilizacion de test estandarizados y la negacion a involucrar evaluadores externos entranan algunas connotaciones dentro del comun denominador agrupado en la denominacion de creencia
Improvement of Pest Detection Using Histogram Adjustment Method and Gabor Wavelet

Plant diseases reduce production and cause huge economic losses in the agricultural section. At present, plant diseases are diagnosed by specialists and with the naked eyes. Presenting a simple, fast, cheap and accurate way for the diagnosis of plant diseases is necessary. In this paper, by using image processing and machine vision techniques, four methods for the diagnosis and classification of the diseases of corn leaf are presented. In the first method, the affected parts were separated from the healthy parts using the histogram adjustment; subsequently, a two-layer Perceptron Neural Network was used to categorize the final results and diagnose the disease type. The results indicate that Neural Network with an average of 65.15% is able to correctly diagnose the disease of the corn leaf. In the second method, different types of Laplacian filters, Canny and Sobel were applied on the leaves; after the separation of the affected parts, the classification and diagnosis phase were implemented. The results revealed that the algorithm with the accuracy of 67.94%, can correctly diagnose the disease. In the third method, using the analysis method of principal components, data dimension was reduced, and then was sent to the Support Vector Machine classifier for the diagnosis of the disease. This algorithm is able to correctly diagnose the disease with an accuracy of 75.28%. Furthermore, the algorithm is able to diagnose Class 5 and 4 diseases in a more accurate way. Finally, in the fourth method, a combination of Gabor filter and visual features was used in order to diagnose the type of disease. In this method, the proposed algorithm can correctly diagnose the disease with the accuracy of 90.04%.
Studies on the Specific Fibrinolytic Effect of Human Extrinsic (Tissue-Type) Plasminogen Activator in Human Blood and in Various Animal Species in Vitro

Summary Human extrinsic (tissue-type) plasminogen activator (EPA) was highly purified from the culture fluid of a human melanoma cell line, both as a one-chain or as a two-chain molecule. Its specific fibrinolytic effect on human whole blood clots or plasma clots with different degrees of fibrin crosslinking was evaluated in an in vitro system, composed of a 125I-fibrin labeled clot, hanging in circulating human plasma. After infusion of EPA (30 IU per ml over 3 hrs), non-crosslinked clots lysed more extensively (75-100 percent in 5 hrs) than totally-crosslinked clots (50-65 percent), and no difference was found between one-chain or two-chain EPA. The extent of lysis of totally-crosslinked human or animal plasma clots hanging in autologous plasma induced by EPA varied markedly from one species to the other. When 90 IU of EPA were infused over 3 hrs, crosslinked human plasma clots dissolved for over 95 percent within 5 hrs. Under comparable conditions, the degree of lysis was 80 percent in primate plasma (cynomolgus fascicularis), 60 percent in cat and rabbit plasma, 30 percent in dog plasma and only 10 percent in rat plasma. Systemic activation of the fibrinolytic system in the circulating plasmas was minor and dose-dependent in all species, but complete fibrinogen breakdown was not observed in any species following infusion of up to 90 IU EPA per ml plasma. It is concluded that the human system is more susceptible to EPA induced fibrinolysis than the other animal systems which were investigated, and that even totally-crosslinked clots can be lysed after infusion of EPA.
Algorithmes de recherche sur bases de données chiffrées

La recherche sur les bases de donnees chiffrees vise a rendre efficace une tâche apparemment simple : deleguer le stockage de donnees a un serveur qui ne serait pas de confiance, tout en conservant des fonctionnalites de recherche. Avec le developpement des services de stockage dans le Cloud, destines aussi bien aux entreprises qu'aux individus, la mise au point de solutions efficaces a ce probleme est essentielle pour permettre leur deploiement a large echelle. Le principal probleme de la recherche sur bases de donnees chiffrees est qu'un schema avec une securite ''parfaite'' implique un surcout en termes de calcul et de communication qui serait inacceptable pour des fournisseurs de services sur le Cloud ou pour les utilisateurs - tout du moins avec les technologies actuelles. Cette these propose et etudie de nouvelles notions de securite et de nouvelles constructions de bases de donnees chiffrees permettant des recherches efficaces et sures. En particulier, nous considerons la confidentialite persistante et la confidentialite future de ces bases de donnees, ce que ces notions impliquent en termes de securite et d'efficacite, et comment les realiser. Ensuite, nous montrons comment proteger les utilisateurs de bases de donnees chiffrees contre des attaques actives de la part du serveur hebergeant la base, et que ces protections ont un cout inevitable. Enfin, nous etudions les attaques existantes contre ces bases de donnees chiffrees et comment les eviter.
Incorporation of the β3 Subunit Has a Dominant-Negative Effect on the Function of Recombinant Central-Type Neuronal Nicotinic Receptors

The β3 neuronal nicotinic subunit is localized in dopaminergic areas of the central nervous system, in which many other neuronal nicotinic subunits are expressed. So far, β3 has only been shown to form functional receptors when expressed together with the α3 and β4 subunits. We have systematically tested in Xenopus laevis oocytes the effects of coexpressing human β3 with every pairwise functional combination of neuronal nicotinic subunits likely to be relevant to the central nervous system. Expression of α7 homomers or α/β pairs (α2, α3, α4, or α6 together with β2 or β4) produced robust nicotinic currents for all combinations, save α6β2 and α6β4. Coexpression of wild-type β3 led to a nearly complete loss of function (measured as maximum current response to acetylcholine) for α7 and for all functional α/β pairs except for α3β4. This effect was also seen in hippocampal neurons in culture, which lost their robust α7-like responses when transfected with β3. The level of surface expression of nicotinic binding sites (α3β4, α4β2, and α7) in tsA201 cells was only marginally affected by β3 expression. Furthermore, the dominant-negative effect of β3 was abolished by a valine-serine mutation in the 9′ position of the second transmembrane domain of β3, a mutation believed to facilitate channel gating. Our results show that incorporation of β3 into neuronal nicotinic receptors other than α3β4 has a powerful dominant-negative effect, probably due to impairment in gating. This raises the possibility of a novel regulatory role for the β3 subunit on neuronal nicotinic signaling in the central nervous system.
Consequences of Rab GTPase dysfunction in genetic or acquired human diseases

ABSTRACT Rab GTPases are important regulators of intracellular membrane trafficking in eukaryotes. Both activating and inactivating mutations in Rab genes have been identified and implicated in human diseases ranging from neurological disorders to cancer. In addition, altered Rab expression is often associated with disease prognosis. As such, the study of diseases associated with Rabs or Rab-interacting proteins has shed light on the important role of intracellular membrane trafficking in disease etiology. In this review, we cover recent advances in the field with an emphasis on cellular mechanisms.
[Study on the expression of epidermal growth factor receptor and p53 in astrocytic gliomas: evidence for a distinct genetic pathway].

OBJECTIVE To study further the most important and frequent genetic alterations of p53 and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) in astrocytic gliomas. METHODS (1) EGFR expression was examined in samples collected from 37 astrocytic gliomas and 6 normal brain tissue using reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemical staining. (2) p53 gene mutation and accumulation were detected simultaneously in the same specimens using PCR-SSCP, DNA sequencing and immunohistochemical staining. RESULTS The frequency of p53 mutation in diffuse astrocytomas, anaplastic astrocytomas, primary glioblastomas and secondary glioblastomas was 1/10, 4/19 (21.1%), 4/6 and 2/2, respectively and the frequency of EGFR overexpression was 5/10, 10/19 (52.6%), 5/6 and 2/2, respectively. Both p53 accumulation and EGFR overexpression increased accompanied by a successive increase of degree of the glioma malignancy. CONCLUSIONS EGFR overexpression is not infrequently seen, however, p53 mutation is rarely seen in the low grade gliomas. Both p53 gene mutation and EGFR overexpression are often associated with primary and secondary glioblastoma. Consequently, EGFR overexpression and p53 gene mutation are not mutually exclusive in astrocytic gliomagenesis but synergistically to promote the glioma progression.
Heterocyclic terpenes: linear furano- and pyrroloterpenoids.

This review of furano- and pyrroloterpenoids covers the literature, 180 articles in all, published from January 2006 to December 2013. The relevant biological activities, source organisms, country of origin, and first total syntheses that lead to the revision of structures or stereochemistries of the compounds are described.
Effect of Ankaferd blood stopper® on tendon healing: an experimental study in a rat model of Achilles tendon injury.

OBJECTIVES This in vivo study aims to investigate the effects of Ankaferd Blood Stopper® (ABS) which is a recently developed topical hemostatic agent on tendon healing using a rat Achilles tendon injury model. MATERIALS AND METHODS Twelve male Wistar-Albino rats were used in the study. Right legs of the rats were assigned as the study group, and left legs were assigned as the control group. Under anesthesia, bilateral Achilles tendon injuries were created and repaired surgically. To the surgical sites, 1 mL of ABS for the right side and 1 mL of serum physiologic solution for the left side were applied. Animals were euthanized on the 21st postoperative day, and tendon samples were collected from the extremities. Histological analyses were performed according to the semiquantitative tendon scoring system (Bonar Scale). RESULTS Total tendon healing scores were significantly poorer in the study group compared to the control group. Although there were no significant differences between the groups in terms of tenocyte morphology, degree of ground substance staining, and vascularity, the collagen morphology scores were significantly poorer in the study group. CONCLUSION In our study, application of ABS had histologically negative effect on tendon healing in rats. However, further biomechanical and immune histochemical studies are required to support these results.
Sulphation of colonic and rectal mucin in inflammatory bowel disease: reduced sulphation of rectal mucus in ulcerative colitis.

1. Normal colonic mucin is heavily sulphated and this increases its resistance to degradation by bacterial enzymes. Any defect in mucus sulphation could therefore be important in the pathogenesis of ulcerative colitis. 2. Rectal biopsies taken at colonoscopy from patients with ulcerative colitis (n = 9), patients with Crohn's disease (n = 6) and control subjects (n = 16) were cultured for 24 h in the presence of N-[3H]acetylglucosamine and [35S]sulphate. Mucin was then extracted and purified, and the ratio of [35S]sulphate to N-[3H]acetylglucosamine incorporated into pure mucin was assessed. 3. The ratio of [35S]sulphate to N-[3H]acetylglucosamine incorporated into mucin was significantly reduced in rectal biopsies taken from patients with ulcerative colitis (0.463, 0.305-0.703, geometric mean and 95% confidence intervals) compared with control subjects (0.857, 0.959-1.111, P < 0.01). In patients with Crohn's disease the reduction in this ratio (0.559, 0.378-0.829) did not quite reach statistical significance (P = 0.06). There was no difference between the ratio of [35S]sulphate to N-[3H]acetylglucosamine incorporated into mucin in Crohn's disease and that in ulcerative colitis (P = 0.26). 4. In control subjects the ratio of [35S]sulphate to N-[3H]acetylglucosamine incorporated into mucin was higher in the rectal biopsies (0.882, 0.618-1.022) than in their paired proximal colonic biopsies (0.602, 0.421-0.861; P < 0.01), but this regional variation was not observed in either ulcerative colitis (rectum: 0.450, 0.262-0.773; right colon: 0.470, 0.321-0.690, P = 0.3) or Crohn's disease (rectum: 0.459, 0.260-0.815; right colon: 0.492, 0.260-0.929, P = 0.8). (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)