Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The workings of the amyloid diseases

The amyloidoses constitute a large group of diseases caused by an alteration in the conformation and metabolism of several globular proteins which, under particular conditions, deposit in tissues as insoluble fibrillar aggregates. To date, at least 24 different proteins have been recognized as causative agents of amyloid diseases. Despite a high heterogeneity in amino acid sequence, three‐dimensional structure, and biological function, all amyloidogenic proteins share a reduced folding stability, a strong propensity to acquire more than one conformation, and the capacity to form almost indistinguishable amyloid fibrils. In some cases, the generation of an aggregation‐prone state can be triggered or enhanced by the occurrence of mutations, a proteolytic cleavage, or a seeding process. The interaction between the amyloidogenic precursor, some common components of amyloid deposits, and the extra‐cellular environment also plays a role in fibrillogenesis and in particular in the organ tropism of amyloid deposition. The process of amyloid fibril formation exerts a cytotoxic effect, resulting in tissue damage and organ dysfunction. Prefibrillar aggregates are thought to have an active part in this process. Due to the pathogenic complexity of amyloid diseases, the integration of several therapeutic interventions involving different critical levels of the amyloidogenic cascade is envisaged.
Survival of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease due to biomass smoke and tobacco.

RATIONALE Women exposed chronically to biomass develop airflow limitation, as tobacco smokers do, but their clinical profile and survival have not been described in detail. OBJECTIVE To determine the clinical profile, survival, and prognostic factors of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease associated with biomass exposure and tobacco smoking. METHODS During a 7-yr period (1996-2003), a consecutive series of 520 patients were recruited and followed up at the COPD Clinic of the National Institute of Respiratory Diseases. Prognostic factors of survival were evaluated taking into account the interaction between sex and exposure. MEASUREMENTS Spirometry, arterial blood gases and oxygen saturation, body mass index, exercise capacity, and health-related quality of life were performed at baseline. The main outcome was survival. MAIN RESULTS A total of 481 patients were followed up. The patients in the biomass group, mainly women (84%), were older and shorter and had a greater body mass index than those in the tobacco group (p < 0.0001). Airflow obstruction was more severe in smokers (p < 0.001). Quality of life and distance walked showed similar abnormalities in both groups. In the multivariable Cox regression analysis including an interaction term exposure-sex, we found that age (relative risk [RR], 1.02; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.02-1.07), FEV(1) as percentage of predicted (RR, 0.96; 95% CI, 0.96-0.99), body mass index (RR, 0.95; 95% CI, 0.90-1.01), and oxygen saturation (RR, 0.96; 95% CI, 0.92-0.99) were predictors of mortality but not exposure or sex. CONCLUSIONS Women exposed domestically to biomass develop chronic obstructive pulmonary disease with clinical characteristics, quality of life, and increased mortality similar in degree to that of tobacco smokers.
Matrix Metalloproteinase-9 Coding Sequence Single-nucleotide Polymorphisms in Caucasians with Intracranial Aneurysms

OBJECTIVE:There are several lines of evidence suggesting that matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), particularly MMP-9, are involved in the pathogenesis of intracranial aneurysms. Some studies have demonstrated that genetic variants in the promoter region of the MMP-9 gene are associated with aneurysms. We performed a case-control study to investigate whether single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within the coding region of the MMP-9 gene might affect the development of intracranial aneurysms. METHODS:All 13 exons and the 3′ untranslated region of the MMP-9 gene were analyzed by direct sequencing in a study group that comprised 40 Caucasian patients with at least one intracranial aneurysm and 44 Caucasian controls. Genotypes were determined, and those that were in Hardy-Weinberg disequilibrium were analyzed in another sample of 40 cases and 40 controls. Differences among the genotype frequencies of the identified polymorphisms were investigated. RESULTS:Seven SNPs were identified in the coding region, two were identified in the adjacent intronic sequences, and two were identified in the 3′ untranslated region. Genotype frequencies of four SNPs were demonstrated to be in Hardy-Weinberg disequilibrium in both analyzed study samples. Therefore, an accurate estimation of haplotype frequencies was not possible. No difference in genotype frequencies between cases and controls was detected at any of the 11 SNPs. CONCLUSION:SNPs of the coding region and the 3′ untranslated region of the MMP-9 gene are not associated with intracranial aneurysms in Caucasians.
Cutaneous microvascular blood flow and reactivity in patients with homozygous sickle cell anaemia

Abstract: Homozygous sickle cell anaemia (SS disease) involves a high prevalence of skin ulcerations, and background experience concerning the cutaneous microcirculatory flux and reactivity in this disease is very limited. We investigated, by laser‐Doppler velocimetry, the microcirculatory cutaneous blood flow and vasoreactivity in 17 patients with SS disease but no cutaneous trophic changes, vs. the corresponding values in 18 normal matched controls. The laser‐Doppler probe was placed on the foot dorsum, and recordings were made in the supine and dependent positions, and after post‐ischaemic hyperaemia. The venoarteriolar reflex was calculated as the difference between the fluxes in the supine and dependent positions. In both positions, patients with SS disease exhibited clear vasodilation, with larger cutaneous fluxes than those of the controls (P=0.024 and 0.0009, respectively). The venoarteriolar reflex, expressed as a percentage of the resting supine flux, was lower in the patients (P=0.0004). These impairments of the microcirculatory fluxes, which combine a vasodilated state with abnormal vasoreactivity, resemble those observed in patients with chronic venous insufficiency and might be crucial in determining the pathogenesis of the skin ulcerations that occur in SS disease. Laser‐Doppler velocimetry seems a suitable non‐invasive technique for investigating such cutaneous microangiopathy.
Brain Basis for Dyslexia

Studies of brain/behavior relations in the last decade have converged to suggest a left-hemisphere functional deficit for dyslexia. The relationship is most convincing at the microscopic level, where anomalous neural organization has been associated with reading, and at the macroscopic level, where several studies find atypical hemispheric symmetry in the language-related temporal region in individuals with dyslexia. Physiological studies measuring brain function during cognitive challenge have now begun to accumulate in support of a left-hemisphere deficit in dyslexia. This article summarizes work in progress on the structure and physiological profiles of reading disability and relates the findings to core left-hemisphere language functions.
Research of Water Data Analysis System Based on Neural Network Ensemble

In order to arrange the generators between hydrogenerators and themeturbine, the water data need to be sent to dispatch staffs timely. The daily submitted water data are intensive. And the dispatch staffs are pressured. Because the above objective conditions might lead to human error problems during the water submit processing, an artificial intelligence method of hydrological data validation and analysis based on neural network ensemble (NNE) is proposed. And a software based on this method are finished. It can improve the efficiency of dispatch staffs, and also can ensure the correct rate of water data submitted. The application results of daily water system data show the effectiveness and practicality of the method and the software.
Multilayer slotted microstrip antenna for Wi-Fi application

A simple microstrip antenna with multilayer structure having 20% bandwidth and spreading over 4.4/5.3-GHz Wi-Fi communication band is introduced. Due to the stacking of two substrates and slotted patches, a wide bandwidth is obtained as compared to simple rectangular patch. This antenna is compact with occupying an overall area of 26×30×6 mm3. It gives a moderate gain over a whole frequency band with good radiation characteristics. The entire design with simulation results are demonstrated and discussed.
Truncation of Markov decision problems with a queueing network overflow control application

Conditions are provided to conclude an error bound for truncations and perturbations of Markov decision problems. Both the average and finite horizon case are covered. The results are illustrated by a truncation of a Jacksonian queueing network with overflow control. An explicit error bound for this example is obtained. Key-words Markov Decision Problems * Truncation * Perturbation * Error Bound * Bias-Terms * Queueing Network * Overflow.
Th2 LCR is essential for regulation of Th2 cytokine genes and for pathogenesis of allergic asthma

Previous studies have shown that Th2 cytokine genes on mouse chromosome 11 are coordinately regulated by the Th2 locus control region (LCR). To examine the in vivo function of Th2 LCR, we generated CD4-specific Th2 LCR-deficient (cLCR KO) mice using Cre-LoxP recombination. The number of CD4 T cells in the cLCR KO mouse was comparable to that in wild-type mice. The expression of Th2 cytokines was dramatically reduced in in vitro-stimulated naïve CD4 T cells. Deletion of the LCR led to a loss of general histone H3 acetylation and histone H3-K4 methylation, and demethylation of DNA in the Th2 cytokine locus. Upon ovalbumin challenge in the mouse model of allergic asthma, cLCR KO mice exhibited marked reduction in the recruitment of eosinophils and lymphocytes in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, serum IgE level, lung airway inflammation, mucus production in the airway walls, and airway hyperresponsiveness. These results directly demonstrate that the Th2 LCR is critically important in the regulation of Th2 cytokine genes, in chromatin remodeling of the Th2 cytokine locus, and in the pathogenesis of allergic asthma.
Phase-based Extremum Seeking Control

Extremsokande reglering (ESC) ar en modellfri adaptiv reglermetod som kan anvandas for att lokalisera den optimala arbetspunkten i olinjara processer. Det har nyligen visats att det ﬁnns problem me .
Preschool Hearing Screenings: A Comparison of Distortion Product Otoacoustic Emission and Pure-Tone Protocols

Distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAE) are sensitive to both sensorineural and conductive hearing losses and have the potential to be used as an effective screening measure across all populations, including children. DPOAE offer a quick and straightforward hearing screening technique for the pediatric population that is not infl uenced by subjective testing and is highly reproducible. In this study, the mean test times and pass/fail rates from 198 preschool participants were compared between two DPOAE screening protocols (1-5 kHz and 2-5 kHz) and a pure-tone screening protocol (1, 2 and 4 kHz). Signifi cantly less time was needed to conduct the DPOAE screenings compared to the pure-tone screenings. Results suggested similar pass/fail rates for both DPOAE protocols compared to pure-tone screenings. Without diagnostic audiologic test results, the sensitivity and specifi city of the screening protocols could not be determined. Until the true sensitivity and specifi city of DPOAE and pure-tone screening protocols can be determined, it is recommended that clinicians consider adding DPOAE to their current screening protocol, or at least having DPOAE available to screen children who cannot or will not participate in pure-tone screenings.
Evaluation of clinical diagnostic criteria for psychogenic movement disorders

Previous studies showed that there are certain features suggestive of a psychogenic disorder, and Fahn and Williams proposed criteria for psychogenic movement disorders. Data on the sensitivity and specificity of these criteria are lacking. We expanded on the Fahn and Williams criteria to create a new set of diagnostic criteria. We retrospectively reviewed 79 patients in a movement disorders specialty clinic. We applied the proposed diagnostic criteria to both cases and controls and analyzed sensitivity and specificity. The diagnostic criteria correctly identified “clinically probable” (or better) psychogenic movement disorders with a sensitivity of 83% and specificity of 100%. For “clinically possible” or greater, sensitivity was 97% and specificity was 96%. In addition, a significantly higher proportion of patients with psychogenic disease were female and reported either a family history of neurological disease or other exposure to neurological disease (P = 0.001 and 0.01, respectively). The diagnostic criteria are simple to apply and have high sensitivity and specificity for psychogenic movement disorders. Also, we report a correlation between previous exposure to a disease model and psychogenic disease. © 2006 Movement Disorder Society
Relationship between Alexithymia, Parenting Style, and Parental Control

Research on the relationship between parental alexithymia and parenting is relatively scarce. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between parental alexithymia and three styles of parenting (authoritarian, authoritative, and permissive) and the relationships between parental alexithymia and two domains of psychological control (dependency and achievement). The participants were 946 parents ages 29–60 years (mothers: n = 473, M age = 44.6 yr., SD = 4.7; fathers: n = 473, M age = 48.1 yr., SD = 5.1) of children ages 11–18 years. All participants completed a sociodemographic questionnaire, the Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20 (TAS-20), the Parental Authority Questionnaire–Revised (PAQ–R), and the Dependency-Oriented and Achievement-Oriented Psychological Control Scale (DAPCS). Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used to examine whether alexithymia could predict the three parenting styles (authoritarian, authoritative, and permissive) and the two domains of psychological control (dependency and achievement). The first model showed that alexithymia was a positive predictor of authoritative and permissive parenting and a negative predictor of authoritarian parenting in both paternal and maternal data. The second model showed that, in both paternal and maternal data, alexithymia was a positive predictor of both dependency-oriented psychological control (DPC) and achievement-oriented psychological control (APC).
Classification Algorithm of Neural Network Based on Axon Signal Theory

With reference to the theory that only a part of signal from brain cells can reach pallium put forward by Raju Metherate, and the theory that axon signal strength is reduced with distance increment from main body of neural cells raised by Stephen R. Williams, axon signal theory-based clustering algorithm of neural network is presented in this paper. This algorithm processes equivalent to and even higher clustering accuracy than traditional competitive neural network in space with higher dimension. The further analysis of training result of neural network can be seen as a basis of space dimension reduction and primary component analysis, and self-organization relationships of categories can thus be yielded by weights of neural neurons in competitive layers. Finally the effectiveness of this algorithm is proved in experiments.
Investigation of the motion of a viscous fluid in the vitreous cavity induced by eye rotations and implications for drug delivery

Intravitreal drug delivery is a commonly used treatment for several retinal diseases. The objective of this research is to characterize and quantify the role of the vitreous humor motion, induced by saccadic movements, on drug transport processes in the vitreous chamber. A Perspex model of the human vitreous chamber was created, and filled with a purely viscous fluid, representing eyes with a liquefied vitreous humor or those containing viscous tamponade fluids. Periodic movements were applied to the model and the resulting three-dimensional (3D) flow fields were measured. Drug delivery within the vitreous chamber was investigated by calculating particle trajectories using integration over time of the experimental velocity fields. The motion of the vitreous humor generated by saccadic eye movements is intrinsically 3D. Advective mass transport largely overcomes molecular diffusive transport and is significantly anisotropic, leading to a much faster drug dispersion than in the case of stationary vitreous humor. Disregarding the effects of vitreous humor motion due to eye movements when predicting the efficiency of drug delivery treatments leads to significant underestimation of the drug transport coefficients, and this, in turn, will lead to significantly erroneous predictions of the concentration levels on the retina.
Doping and Thrombosis in Sports

Historically, humans have long sought to enhance their "athletic" performance to increase body weight, aggressiveness, mental concentration and physical strength, contextually reducing fatigue, pain, and improving recovery. Although regular training is the mainstay for achieving these targets, the ancillary use of ergogenic aids has become commonplace in all sports. The demarcation between ergogenic aids and doping substances or practices is continuously challenging and mostly based on perceptions regarding the corruption of the fairness of competition and the potential side effects or adverse events arising from the use of otherwise unnecessary ergogenic substances. A kaleidoscope of side effects has been associated with the use of doping agents, including behavioral, skeletal, endocrinologic, metabolic, hemodynamic, and cardiovascular imbalances. Among the various doping substances, the most striking association with thrombotic complications has been reported for androgenic anabolic steroids (i.e., cardiomyopathy, fatal and nonfatal arrhythmias, myocardial infarction [MI], intracardiac thrombosis, stroke, venous thromboembolism [VTE], limb arterial thrombosis, branch retinal vein occlusion, cerebral venous sinus thrombosis) and blood boosting (i.e., VTE and MI, especially for epoetin and analogs). The potential thrombotic complication arising from misuse of other doping agents such as the administration of cortisol, growth hormone, prolactin, cocaine, and platelet-derived preparations is instead speculative or anecdotal at best. The present article provides an overview on the epidemiological association as well as the underlying biochemical and biological mechanisms linking the practice of doping in sports with the development of thrombosis.
Polyamidomine dendrimers: an excellent drug carrier for improving the solubility and bioavailability of puerarin

The potential of polyamidoamine (PAMAM) dendrimers as solubility enhancers and oral drug delivery system was well known. Herein, we investigated the possibility of PAMAM dendrimers for promoting the solubility and oral bioavailability of puerarin. In the present study, the effect of PAMAM dendrimers with different generations (G1.5, G2, G2.5, and G3) on the solubility of puerarin was evaluated at different concentrations and pH conditions. Further more, the puerarin–G2 dendrimer complex was conducted for the in vitro hemolytic toxicity studies and pharmacokinetics studies in rats. The solubility of puerarin was significantly higher in the presence of the full generation dendrimers (e.g. G2 and G3). No significant hemolysis was observed on erythrocytes (G2, 0–2.5 mg/mL) in the hemolytic toxicity studies. The pharmacokinetics parameters Tmax, Cmax, and AUC0–8 h of puerarin suspension solution and puerarin–G2 dendrimer complex solution were 0.76 h, 1.50 µg/mL, 7.33 µg·h/mL and 0.33 h, 6.49 µg/mL, 14.02 µg·h/mL, respectively. These studies demonstrate that PAMAM dendrimers may be a promising strategy for peroral delivery of puerarin.
Comments on "The discrete periodic radon transform"

In the above paper, the new discrete periodic Radon transform was proposed. We would like to prove that this transform was published earlier by Artyom Grigoryan in 1984 and 1986 in the USSR and was known as the tensor, or vector transform. The applications of the tensor and more advanced, paired transforms for image reconstruction of discrete images were also described by Artyom and Merughan Grigoryan in many publications from 1986 through 1990 and later. The paired transform was introduced as an orthogonal 2-D discrete transform which was completely defined by the direction binary functions. The paired transform showed a way of collecting the discrete linear integrals (or projection data) to compose the unitary 2-D transform and reconstruct the image.
A REMOTE SENSING AND GIS METHOD FOR DETECTING LAND SURFACE AREAS COVERED BY COPPER MILL TAILINGS

This paper describes an empirically derived, remote sensing-GIS method for positively identifying and distinguishing the locations of active copper mill tailings impoundments in Arizona with a high standard of accuracy. It accomplished this by the development of a remote sensing index, which identifies the mill tailings based on three characteristics— the absence of organic material, the homogenous grain size particular to copper mill tailings, and wetness. The research was successful on two points: (1) the detection method functioned on a fixed set of input parameters, and (2) it eliminated all non-tailings features. First analyzed were nine Landsat 7 ETM+ scenes acquired in 2000, which included spatial coverage of Arizona’s primary mining districts. Using a standard NDVI application with an applied intensity threshold range, the research developed a tailings index and GIS modeling application to detect mill tailings impoundments and distinguish these mine features from non-tailings features. The method detected the tailings impoundments of the nine highest producing copper mines active in Arizona in 2000 and four inactive copper mines. No large-scale active gold mines operated in Arizona during the study period. The GIS modeling application eliminated the non-tailings features also detected. The research then tested the method on nine additional Landsat 7 ETM+ scenes outside Arizona. In total, the combined remote sensing-GIS method detected seventeen mine-tailings features, including one gold mine tailings impoundment. Moreover, the method did not positively identify any non-tailings features.