Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Up-regulation of urinary markers predict outcome in IgA nephropathy but their predictive value is influenced by treatment with steroids and azathioprine.

OBJECTIVE Steroids and immunosuppressants can delay progression of renal function in IgAN, but their possible effect in local cytokines has not been studied. MATERIAL AND METHODS Histology in 53 IgAN patients (M/F 35/18 age 40.5 years (17 - 65)) was evaluated using the Oxford classification system. IL-1β, -2, -4, -5, -6, -10, -12 and -17, INF-γ and MCP-1 were measured subsequently by multiplex cytokine assay in first morning urine samples taken at the day of renal biopsy. After a 6-month course with RAASinhibitors + fish oils (FO), 35/53 patients, Group A, responded and continued on the same treatment, while in 18/53 who did not respond, Group B, steroids + azathiopine were added. RESULTS The presence of endocapillary proliferation had significant correlation with the urinary excretion of pro-inflammatory and pro-fibrotic cytokines (IL-1β, MCP-1, IL-17, INF-γ, IL-6 and IL-10). Serum creatinine at time of diagnosis had significant correlation with proteinuria (p = 0.02), urinary levels of IL-1β (p = 0.03), IL-2 (p = 0.01) and MCP-1 (p = 0.03). GFR was reduced from 65 ± 29 to 57 ± 34 ml/min, p = 0.005 in Group A and remained stable in Group B patients (GFR from 63 ± 24 to 61 ± 30 ml/min, p = NS). Most of the measured cytokines in the urine predicted deterioration of renal function in Group A, but the urinary excretion of IL-6 seemed to predict renal function outcome in both groups of patients. CONCLUSION Several cytokines are excreted in the urine of patients with IgAN, and their levels predict the outcome of the disease. Steroids + aza may exert their beneficial effect through suppression of the production or activation of most cytokines.
Food System Sustainability across Scales: A Proposed Local-To-Global Approach to Community Planning and Assessment

Interest in food systems sustainability is growing, but progress toward them is slow. This research focuses on three interrelated challenges that hinder progress. First, prevailing visions lack a concrete definition of sustainability. Second, global level conceptions fail to guide responses at the local level. Third, these deficiencies may lead to conflicting initiatives for addressing sustainable food systems at the community level that slow collective progress. The purpose of this article is to (1) describe the development of a framework for assessing food system sustainability which accommodates local-level measurement in the context of broader national and global scale measures; and (2) to propose a process that supports community determinacy over localized progress toward sustainable food systems. Using a modified Delphi Inquiry process, we engaged a diverse, global panel of experts in describing “success” with respect to sustainable food systems, today’s reality, and identifying key indicators for tracking progress towards success. They were asked to consider scale during the process in order to explore locally relevant themes. Data were analyzed using the Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development (FSSD) to facilitate a comprehensive and systematic exploration of key themes and indicators. Key results include a framework of indicator themes that are anchored in a concrete definition of sustainability, stable at national and global scales while remaining flexible at the local scale to accommodate contextual needs. We also propose a process for facilitating community-level planning for food system sustainability that utilizes this indicator framework. The proposed process is based on insights from the research results, as well as from previous research and experience applying the FSSD at a community level; it bears promise for future work to support communities to determine their own pathways, while contributing to a more coordinated whole.
Second SNPP Cal/Val campaign: environmental data retrieval analysis

Satellite ultraspectral infrared sensors provide key data records essential for weather forecasting and climate change science. The Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (Soumi NPP) satellite Environmental Data Records (EDRs) are retrieved from calibrated ultraspectral radiance or Sensor Data Records (SDRs). Understanding the accuracy of retrieved EDRs is critical. The second Suomi NPP Calibration/Validation field campaign was conducted during March 2015 with flights over Greenland. The NASA high-altitude ER-2 aircraft carrying ultraspectral interferometer sounders such as the National Airborne Sounder Testbed-Interferometer (NAST-I) flew under the Suomi NPP satellite that carries the Crosstrack Infrared Sounder (CrIS) and the Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder (ATMS). Herein we inter-compare the EDRs produced from different retrieval algorithms employed on these satellite and aircraft campaign data. The available radiosonde measurements together with the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) analyses are used to assess atmospheric temperature and moisture retrievals from the aircraft and satellite platforms. Preliminary results of this experiment under a winter, Arctic environment are presented.
Single Streptomyces lividans K+ Channels

Basic electrophysiological properties of the KcsA K+ channel were examined in planar lipid bilayer membranes. The channel displays open-state rectification and weakly voltage-dependent gating. Tetraethylammonium blocking affinity depends on the side of the bilayer to which the blocker is added. Addition of Na+ to the trans chamber causes block of open-channel current, while addition to the cis side has no effect. Most striking is the activation of KcsA by protons; channel activity is observed only when the trans bilayer chamber is at low pH. To ascertain which side of the channel faces which chamber, residues with structurally known locations were mapped to defined sides of the bilayer. Mutation of Y82, an external residue, results in changes in tetraethylammonium affinity exclusively from the cis side. Channels with cysteine residues substituted at externally exposed Y82 or internally exposed Q119 are functionally modified by methanethiosulfonate reagents from the cis or trans chambers, respectively. Block by charybdotoxin, known to bind to the channel's external mouth, is observed only when the toxin is added to the cis side of channels mutated to be toxin sensitive. These results demonstrate unambiguously that the protonation sites linked to gating are on the intracellular portion of the KcsA protein.
Allopurinol-induced effects in premature baboons with respiratory distress syndrome.

To test the hypothesis that administration of allopurinol could modify the response to prolonged hyperoxia in premature baboons (140 days gestation) with respiratory distress syndrome, we evaluated physiological, pathological, and lung biochemical parameters in groups of premature baboons treated with mechanical ventilation and exposed to various amounts of oxygen for 6 days. Three groups of experimental animals were studied, including animals that received oxygen as needed to maintain arterial oxygen between 60 and 80 Torr [inspiratory O2 concentration- (FIO2) PRN], animals that received 100% oxygen continuously but also received allopurinol intravenously at a dose of 10 mg.kg-1.day-1 (FIO2-1.0 + allopurinol), and animals that received 100% oxygen continuously and the vehicle for allopurinol administration (FIO2-1.0). Pathological examinations of the experimental animals showed evidence of lung injury in both 100% oxygen-exposed groups, but the allopurinol-treated animals had findings more compatible with the FIO2-PRN group, with relatively few macrophages or polymorphonuclear lymphocytes being present in lung tissue. Lungs of animals treated with allopurinol were also more distensible and had a trend toward decreased lung water compared with the FIO2-1.0 group. Allopurinol-treated animals were able to induce lung glutathione concentrations and glutathione-related and antioxidant enzyme activities compared with the normoxic control (FIO2-PRN) group. Ventilator pressure requirements were also decreased in the allopurinol-treated animals compared with the FIO2-1.0 controls after 42 h. These data suggest that treatment of hyperoxia-exposed premature baboons with allopurinol for the first 6 days of life results in significant changes in lung responses and antioxidant defenses compared with vehicle-treated baboons exposed to 100% oxygen for the same time period.
Gender differences in musculoskeletal injury rates: a function of symptom reporting?

PURPOSE This study determined gender differences in voluntary reporting of lower extremity musculoskeletal injuries among U.S, Marine Corps (USMC) recruits, and it examined the association between these differences and the higher injury rates typically found among women trainees. METHODS Subjects were 176 male and 241 female enlisted USMC recruits who were followed prospectively through 11 wk (men) and 12 wk (women) of boot camp training. Reported injuries were measured by medical record reviews. Unreported injuries were determined by a questionnaire and a medical examination administered at the completion of training. RESULTS Among female recruits the most commonly reported injuries were patellofemoral syndrome (10.0% of subjects), ankle sprain (9.1%), and iliotibial band syndrome (5.8%); the most common unreported injuries were patellofemoral syndrome (2.1%), metatarsalgia (1.7%), and unspecified knee pain (1.7%). Among male recruits iliotibial band syndrome (4.0% of subjects), ankle sprain (2.8%), and Achilles tendinitis/bursitis (2.8%) were the most frequently reported injuries; shin splints (4.6%), iliotibial band syndrome (4.0%), and ankle sprain (2.8%) were the most common unreported diagnoses. Female recruits were more likely to have a reported injury than male recruits (44.0% vs 25.6%, relative risk (RR) = 1.72, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.29-2.30), but they were less likely to have an unreported injury (11.6% vs 23.9%, RR = 0.49, 95% CI 0.31-0.75). When both reported and unreported injuries were measured, total injury rates were high for both sexes (53.5% women, 45.5% men, RR = 1.18, 95% CI 0.96-1.44), but the difference between the rates was not statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS Our results indicate that the higher injury rates often found in female military trainees may be explained by gender differences in symptom reporting.
Preoperative chemotherapy followed by concurrent chemoradiation therapy based on hyperfractionated accelerated radiotherapy and definitive surgery in locally advanced non-small-cell lung cancer: mature results of a phase II trial.

PURPOSE To evaluate the feasibility and efficacy of an intensive multimodality approach with combination chemotherapy, hyperfractionated accelerated chemoradiotherapy, and definitive surgery in prognostically unfavorable subgroups of locally advanced non-small-cell lung cancer stages IIIA and IIIB (LAD-NSCLC). PATIENTS AND METHODS Following staging, including mediastinoscopy, 94 patients with inoperable LAD-NSCLC were treated preoperatively with chemotherapy (three courses of split-dose cisplatin and etoposide [PE]) followed by concurrent chemoradiotherapy (one course of PE combined with 45 Gy hyperfractionated accelerated radiotherapy). After repeat mediastinoscopy, patients underwent surgery 4 weeks postradiation. RESULTS Of 94 consecutive patients (52 stage IIIA [> or = two lymph node levels involved] and 42 stage IIIB [no pleural effusion, no supraclavicular nodes]), 62 (66%) completed induction and underwent surgery. Complete resection (R0) was achieved in 50 (53% of all patients) and pathologic complete response (PCR) in 24 (26%). After a median follow-up of 43 months, the median survival time was 20 months for IIIA, 18 months for IIIB, and 42 months for R0 patients. Calculated survival rates at 4 years were 31%, 26%, and 46%. Two patients died of sepsis preoperatively and four died postoperatively of pleural empyema (n = 1), stump insufficiency (n = 2), and cardiac failure (n = 1). Other toxicities were acceptable-mainly hematologic during chemotherapy or chemoradiotherapy and esophagitis during chemoradiotherapy. CONCLUSION This intensive multimodality treatment is feasible and demonstrates high efficacy in prognostically unfavorable LAD-NSCLC subgroups with high R0 rates and improved long-term survival compared with historical controls
Capillary fluid filtration. Starling forces and lymph flow.

STARLING (1894, 1896) described the basic forces responsible for producing fluid shifts between the circulating blood and the surrounding tissue spaces. On page 324 of his classical article entitled "On the absorption of fluids from the connective tissue spaces," Starling described how capillary pressure determines transudation into the tissues and the osmotic pressure of the proteins determines absorption from the tissues. The paper also investigated how tissue pressure affects absorption, and Starling came to the correct conclusion that tissue pressure would not cause fluid to be absorbed from the tissue unless this pressure was not transmitted to the veins. Starling also recognized that a small amount of fluid was lost continually from the circulation ("frictional resistance of the capillary wall") and formed lymph, but believed that this was small and that the forces tending to move fluid out of and into the circulation were almost balanced. Finally, Starling postulated that tissue colloidal osmotic pressure decreased following elevation of capillary pressure and provided the opposing forces to limit transudation of fluid into interstitial spaces. Thus, Starling defined the basic forces responsible for maintaining fluid balance between the microcirculation and interstitium, and physiologists have termed tissue pressure (Pt), capillary pressure (Pc), plasma colloidal osmotic (TTP), and tissue colloidal osmotic (wt) pressure as Starling forces. However, a mathematical relationship between those forces was not formulated by Starling in his original papers. Staub (1978) presents a delightful discourse concerning the historical development of the mathematical description of the Starling hypothesis:
Automatically assisting human memory: A SenseCam browser

SenseCams have many potential applications as tools for lifelogging, including the possibility of use as a memory rehabilitation tool. Given that a SenseCam can log hundreds of thousands of images per year, it is critical that these be presented to the viewer in a manner that supports the aims of memory rehabilitation. In this article we report a software browser constructed with the aim of using the characteristics of memory to organise SenseCam images into a form that makes the wealth of information stored on SenseCam more accessible. To enable a large amount of visual information to be easily and quickly assimilated by a user, we apply a series of automatic content analysis techniques to structure the images into “events”, suggest their relative importance, and select representative images for each. This minimises effort when browsing and searching. We provide anecdotes on use of such a system and emphasise the need for SenseCam images to be meaningfully sorted using such a browser.
The androgen receptor and signal‐transduction pathways in hormone‐refractory prostate cancer. Part 1: modifications to the androgen receptor

Prostate cancer is the second most common male malignancy in the western world an increasing incidence in an ageing population. Treatment of advanced prostate cancer relies on androgen deprivation. Although the majority of patients initially respond favourably to androgen deprivation therapy, the mean time to relapse is 12-18 months. Currently there are few treatments available for men who have developed resistance to hormone therapy, due to the lack of understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying development of this disease. Recently, however, major advances have been made in understanding both androgen receptor (AR) dependent and independent pathways which promote development of hormone resistant prostate cancer. This review will focus on modifications to the AR and associated pathways. Molecular modifications to the androgen receptor itself, e.g. mutations and/or amplification, although involved in the development of hormone resistance cannot explain all cases. Phosphorylation of AR, via either Ras/MAP kinase or PI3K/Akt signal transduction pathways, have been shown to activate AR in both a ligand (androgen) dependent and independent fashion. During this review we will discuss the clinical evidence to support AR dependent pathways as mediators of hormone resistance.
10 GHz channel spacing ultra-dense WDM networks transparently extended by mm-wave coherent RoF links

The extension of ultra-dense WDM passive optical networks (PONs) by millimetre-wave coherent radio-over-fiber (RoF) links is investigated. For a seamless and transparent integration of the RoF links coherent heterodyne detection is used for the generation of the wireless RF signals out of the optical baseband data signals. Simulations of the optical SIR in the PON are carried out in dependence on the WDM channel spacing. The projected impact on the transmission quality is derived and WDM CRoF experiments are performed. In the experiments three data modulated optical channels are transmitted over 10 km SMF to simulate the PON, before arriving at the E-band radio access unit (RAU). The RAU utilizes heterodyne detection with an optical LO for converting the 1 Gb/s optical baseband signal to a 75 GHz RF signal. After 40 m wireless transmission the signal is received by an antenna and downconverted to baseband using a low-cost SBD based receiver for envelope detection. The filtering of WDM channels with an optical channel spacing of down to 10 GHz showed very little penalty versus single channel transmission, relying only on the filter characteristic of the used LNAs and antennas and using no optical filters. Still the receiver's sensitivity is only -57 dBm for a bit error rate (BER) of 2·10-3, thus it is shown that an ultra-dense WDM PON can be extended wirelessly using coherent RoF techniques without the need for optical filtering.
Non-asymptotic multicast throughput capacity in multi-hop wireless networks

Previous works on multicast capacity mainly focus on deriving asymptotic order results in large-scale wireless networks, which can explore the general scaling laws of throughput capacity but cannot predict the exact achievable throughput. In this paper, we investigate the non-asymptotic capacity of multihop wireless networks for multicast applications wherein for each source node, k nodes are randomly selected as receivers. Since multicast routing has a dynamic nature, it is challenging for the exact performance analysis. To tackle the problem, we propose an explicit analytical model which describes multicast transmissions, considers networks of arbitrary size, takes data burst into account, and also covers the notion of time scales for transient analysis. By developing a practical multicast scheme, stochastic network calculus is employed for the exact analysis. With the analytical model, we derive lower and upper bounds on multicast capacity, which are non-asymptotic functions of the above variables, and also recover the scaling laws from an asymptotic point of view. Simulations further verify the accuracy of the analytical bounds.
A Research Review of Village Chicken Production Constraints and Opportunities in Zimbabwe

Development of village chicken production can be a sustainable way of helping to meet the welfare needs of rural populations and raise their living standards. There is a dearth of information on research conducted to characterize, understand and develop the village chicken production systems in Zimbabwe. This review focuses on constraints, opportunities and research needs for the improvement of village chicken productivity in Zimbabwe. Village chicken production in Zimbabwe is extensive and dominated by indigenous chickens that exhibit remarkable adaptation to local environments. The multitude functions of village chickens, which include the provision of high quality protein meat and eggs, cash through sales and socio-cultural roles, are discussed in detail. Human gender aspects in village chicken production are highlighted. The factors that hamper village chicken productivity are reviewed together with opportunities and research needs. The major constraints include shortage of feed, poor health and housing management. Any improvements in these constraints may lead to sustainable increase in village chicken productivity.
Dual band notched antenna with S-slot for ultra wide band applications

This paper proposes a dual band notched antenna which works for ultra-wide band applications. The antenna consists a square radiating patch with a wide S-slot and a modified U shaped slot and this antenna provide wide usable fractional bandwidth of more than 123% (2.91-12.17 GHz). Single band notched function is achieved by cutting S shaped slot and dual band notched function is achieved by cutting modified U slot and by boat shaped structure extra resonance is excited and much wider bandwidth is achieved. The measured results show that antenna covers WLAN (5.15-5.85 GHz) and WiMax (3.3-3.6 GHz) with dual band notched function.
Les langues dans le monde du travail - quelle(s) recherche(s) nous faut-il?

Il n’y a pas si longtemps, la question des langues dans le monde du travail ne soulevait pas un grand interet dans la recherche, quelle que soit la discipline concernee. Du cote de la sociolinguistique classique, on avait certes identifie le travail et la vie professionnelle comme des ≪domaines≫ importants, notamment dans toute la litterature portant sur le ≪transfert linguistique≫ et, par voie de consequence, sur la politique linguistique. Toutefois, ces travaux se limitaient generalement a voir le monde du travail comme contexte d’utilisation de differentes langues, sans necessairement chercher a voir comment les dimensions propres au monde du travail (notamment les dynamiques economiques qui le caracterisent) influencaient les competences et les pratiques, et moins encore comment ces dernieres etaient susceptibles d’avoir, en retour, quelque impact economique. Du cote de l’economie des langues, on avait etabli, des les annees 1970, une methodologie d’estimation du rendement des competences linguistiques, dans un cadre analytique ou ces rendements sont le reflet de la contribution productive de ces competences. Cependant, on ne se posait guere la question de savoir comment, dans le contexte de l’activite productive reelle, ces competences et/ou leur utilisation effective faisaient apparaitre une valeur ajoutee.