Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
CD4+ T lymphocytes in lung fibrosis: diverse subsets, diverse functions

The discovery of several subsets of CD4+ Th lymphocytes has contributed to refine and to challenge our understanding of the roles of CD4+ T cells in the pathogenesis of fibrotic lung diseases. Here, we review recent findings, indicating that CD4+ T subpopulations possess contrasting pro‐ and antifibrotic activities in human and experimental lung fibrosis. Special attention is given to delineate the activity of the newly discovered CD4+ T lymphocyte subsets (Tregs, Th22, and Th9) on fibroblast function and matrix deposition through the release of growth factors, cytokines, and eicosanoids. It appears that the function of a CD4+ T lymphocyte subset or of a cytokine can differ with the disease stage (acute vs. chronic), pulmonary localization (bronchial vs. alveolar), cellular level (epithelial cell vs. fibroblast), or immune environment (inflammatory or immunosuppressive). Integrating our recent understanding of the contrasting functions of T lymphocyte subsets in fibrosis provides new insights and opportunities for improved treatment strategies.
Novel piezoelectric ohmic switches featuring fast switching and high contact forces

In this paper fabrication and first measurement results of ohmic MEMS switches combining piezoelectric and electrostatic actuation are presented. The switches are based on novel design concepts offering very high contact forces at small device size of less than 0.05 mm2. First fabricated devices with different contact gaps have been characterized with respect to switching speed. Depending on the contact gap the switches enable ultra-fast on- and off-switching within 850 ns and 240 ns, respectively. Good agreement between the experimental and theoretical values obtained by FEM has been observed. Beyond that the switches feature very low contact resistances of only 260 mΩ during on-state. By applying bidirectional actuation utilizing an additional electrostatic electrode the switches are able to overcome sticking caused by contact welding and offer stable switching behavior at very large contact gaps of up to 9 μm.
FcγRIIIa‐V/F 158 polymorphism in Turkish children with asthma bronchiale and allergic rhinitis

Fc receptors (FcR) play an important role in immune regulation. This might be linked to the variability in immune response, therefore relating to the pathogenesis of atopic diseases. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the FcγRIIIa gene polymorphism in Turkish children with asthma and allergic rhinitis. The study included 364 atopic children (184 bronchial asthma, 180 allergic rhinitis) and 234 healthy subjects as the control group, aged between 5 to 16 years. Patients were recruited from outpatient clinics of allergy and general pediatric care. Plasma IgE concentrations were measured by immunoassays and skin prick test was done in children with atopic diseases. The FcγRIIIa gene polymorphism was determined using the polymerase chain reaction method. Distribution of V158V genotype was significantly different among patient groups compared to controls (for asthmatic children OR: 5.33, 95% CI: 2.80–10.23, p < 0.001; for allergic rhinitis OR: 3.25, 95% CI: 1.75–6.07, p = 0.001). Distribution of 158 V allele was significantly different among asthmatic children (OR: 2.20, 95% CI: 1.65–2.92, p < 0.001) and allergic rhinitis patients (OR: 1.77, 95% CI: 1.32–2.35, p < 0.001) compared to healthy controls. Our study shows that the V158V genotype in FcγRIIIa gene polymorphism may be a genetic risk factor for the development of atopic diseases.
Load-Independent Duality of Current and Voltage Outputs of a Series- or Parallel-Compensated Inductive Power Transfer Converter With Optimized Efficiency

Inductive power transfer (IPT) systems are resonant converters whose output characteristics are mostly load dependent. Conditions for load-independent voltage-transfer ratios of IPT systems have been studied. However, load-independent current output can be more desirable for applications such as battery charging and LED driving. Theoretical operating frequencies for maximal efficiency of operation and load-independent voltage output of the IPT system have been explored in our previous paper. Using the duality concept, the system should exhibit similar characteristics as an IPT current output converter. Thus, in this paper, operating frequencies for maximal efficiency of operation and load-independent current output of the IPT system are explored, the aim being to identify some practical power-conversion efficient and load-independent operating frequencies. Analysis for the series- and parallel-compensation techniques is performed in order to facilitate the design of output current converter with an efficient power conversion and a load-independent frequency of operation. The analysis is supported with experimental results.
Condom use among female commercial sex workers in Nevada's legal brothels.

OBJECTIVES The purpose of this study was to evaluate condom use and the incidence of breakage and slippage during vaginal intercourse among female prostitutes in legal Nevada brothels, where use of condoms is required by law. METHODS Forty-one licensed prostitutes in three brothels were enrolled in a prospective trial in August 1993. Used condoms were collected to verify reported breaks visually. Retrospective breakage and slippage rates were obtained in a standardized interview. RESULTS Condoms were used for every act of vaginal intercourse with a brothel client during the study period, as well as in the previous year. In the prospective study phase, condoms were used in 353 acts of vaginal intercourse with clients. No condoms broke, and none fell off the penis during intercourse. Only twice (0.6%) did condoms completely fall off during withdrawal. Twelve times (3.4%) during intercourse and 15 times (4.3%) during withdrawal, condoms slipped down the penis but did not fall off. CONCLUSIONS These findings, among the lowest breakage and slippage rates published, suggest that regular condom use may lead to condom mastery and the development of techniques to reduce the likelihood of breakage and slippage.
Etonogestrel contraceptive implant (Implanon): analysis of patient compliance and adverse effects in the breastfeeding period.

OBJECTIVE To analyse the compliance of patients and side effects of Implanon® during breast feeding. MATERIAL AND METHODS Prospective study of 61 postpartum women who chose Implanon® for long term contraception between April 2007 and December 2009. Compliance, side effects and removals were recorded. RESULTS Amenorrhoea, prolonged bleeding, frequent bleeding and infrequent bleeding were reported in 20 (32%), 13 (21%), 4 (6.5%) and 2 (3.2%) patients, respectively. Non-menstrual side effects experienced by participants included; weight gain reported by 10 patients (16%), anxiety by 6 (9.8%), breast tenderness by 4 (6.5%), headache by 4 (6.5%), pain at the insertion site by two (3.2%), hirstutism by two (3.2%), acne by 1 (1.6%), loss of libido by 1 (1.6%), weight gain and headache by two (3.2%), weight gain and anxiety by two (1.6%). The mean breastfeeding period was 16±7.4/months. During the follow up, Implanon® was removed from 24 patients (39%). CONCLUSION If patients are well informed about its expected side effects before placement, Implanon® is well tolerated and i an acceptable choice for women who have recently experienced labor and are looking for long term reversible contraception.
On the Use of Energy Storage Systems and Linear Feedback Optimal Control for Transient Stability

In this paper, we study a distributed control strategy that harnesses the highly granular data available in future power systems in order to improve system resilience to disturbances. Specifically, we investigate the role of external energy storage systems (ESSs) in stabilizing the dynamics of power systems during periods of disruption. We consider an information-rich multiagent framework and focus on ESS output control via linear feedback optimal (LFO) control to achieve transient stability. The LFO control scheme relies on receiving timely state information to actuate distributed ESSs in order to drive the synchronous generators to stability. We evaluate the performance of the LFO control on the 39-bus 10-generator New England test power system in the presence of ideal and nonideal conditions including communication latency, finite sampling rate, and sensor noise. The LFO controller is found to have a simple structure, be tunable, and to have fast response to achieving transient stability while being sensitive to information latency and data rate.
Southwestern Bell Telephone's ISDN experience

Southwestern Bell Telephone's (SWBTs) integrated services digital network (ISDN) experience has been heavily influenced by the realization that from a customer perspective, the most important aspects of ISDN are its applications. The authors describe the following ISDN applications that SWBT has been exploring: desktop conferencing; asynchronous protocol conversion to SNA/SDLC; VTAM INN link replacement; asynchronous protocol conversion to SNA/SDLC with multiplexing; remote 3174 multiplexing via B channel packet; remote 3174 multiplexing via B channel packet and NPSI; 327X emulation via SIMPC, SIM-VTAM, and NPSI; 327X emulation with QLLC and NPSI; asynchronous access to private packet-switched networks; asynchronous access to UNIX host; asynchronous access to UNIX host via PAD and X.25 multiplexing; 327X coaxial cable elimination; extended local area network with passive bus; asynchronous access to Ethernet terminal server; dedicated line replacement (64 kb/s); asynchronous modem pooling (out-dial); asynchronous modem pooling (in-dial); ISDN wide-area networking; ISDN data gateway; gateway to AppleTalk network; application processor features; circuit-switched compressed video; and Ethernet LAN bridging. <<ETX>>
Experimental validation of a quaternion-based attitude estimation with direct input to a quadcopter control system

This paper presents a method to calculate the attitude quaternion of a quadcopter with few calculations. The quaternion calculation is based on accelerometers and gyroscopes from an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU). The quaternion from the accelerometer is calculated as the shortest rotation arc from the gravity vector in the navigation frame. The quaternion from the gyroscope is calculated based on equations of the quaternion derivative. A complementary filter is combining the two quaternions with a componentwise comparison. The attitude estimation is calculated without any trigonometric functions. The quaternion is directly used as an input to the attitude controller. The attitude controller is a PD controller running at 400Hz. A model of the quadcopter in Matlab verified that the control system worked as intended. The estimator was verified with a Stewart platform, by mounting the quadcopter on top of it and comparing the angles from the Stewart platform with the angles from the filter. Finally the algorithms were implemented on a quadcopter controller board, and the attitude estimator were compared with the attitude estimation from a high-end IMU from MicroStrain. The complete control system was also tested on a 8-bit microcontroller running at 16 MHz. The relatively slow processor on the microcontroller was also able to do every calculations within 2.5ms.
The Profit Potential of Certified Organic Field Crop Production

Organic crop acres in the United States more than doubled between 2002 and 2011 as acreage increased from 1.3 to over 3 million acres. While acreage for some major field crops increased substantially during this period, growth was more modest or had stalled for others. This study examines the profitability of corn, wheat, and soybean production using national survey data and finds that significant economic returns are possible from organic production of these crops. The main reason for higher per-bushel returns to organic production is the price premiums paid for organic crops. Despite potentially higher returns, the adoption of organic field crop production has been slow and is challenging due to such factors as achieving effective weed control and the processes involved with organic certification.
Genetic control of retinal projections in inbred strains of albino mice

Mutations in the tyrosinase gene are often associated with a misrouting of retinal ganglion cell axons at the optic chiasm. In albinos, tyrosinase activity is lost and some ganglion cell axons that would normally project into the ipsilateral optic tract instead cross midline and project into the contralateral tract. The developmental mechanisms that cause this modification in neuronal connectivity are unknown. In this study, we screened six diverse strains of albino mice (strains 129, A, AKR, BALB/c, C57BL/6‐c/c, and CD‐1) to discover genetically determined variations and possible gene loci that might affect the severity of the albino decussation abnormality. Ganglion cells were retrogradely labeled with horseradish peroxidase, and the ipsilaterally and contralaterally projecting cells were counted. The average number of ipsilaterally projecting ganglion cells in the six albino strains varies from 1,000 to 1,300. Despite this variation, 1.8–1.9% of the total population projects ipsilaterally in each strain. In comparison, 2.8% project ipsilaterally in the pigmented strain, C57BL/6‐+/+. However, the percentage of displaced, ipsilaterally projecting cells varies substantially among albino strains‐from a low of 4% in strain CD‐1 to a high of nearly 10% in C57BL/6‐c/c. We conclude that even with large differences in genetic background and in absolute numbers of ganglion cells, there is no appreciable variation in the magnitude of decussation error among albino mice. The consistent effect of null alleles at tyrosinase suggests a comparably tight linkage between the biochemical activity of this enzyme and the mechanisms that control decussation phenotype. © 1995 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Is obesity a risk factor for progressive radiographic knee osteoarthritis?

OBJECTIVE To examine whether obesity increases the risk of progression of knee osteoarthritis (OA). METHODS We used data from the Multicenter Osteoarthritis Study, a longitudinal study of persons with or at high risk of knee OA. OA was characterized at baseline and 30 months using posteroanterior fixed-flexion radiographs and Kellgren/Lawrence (K/L) grading, with alignment assessed on full-extremity films. In knees with OA at baseline (K/L grade 2 or 3), progression was defined as tibiofemoral joint space narrowing on the 30-month radiograph. In knees without OA at baseline (K/L grade 0 or 1), incident OA was defined as the development of radiographic OA at 30 months. Body mass index (BMI) at baseline was classified as normal (<25 kg/m(2)), overweight (25-<30 kg/m(2)), obese (30-<35 kg/m(2)), and very obese (>or=35 kg/m(2)). The risk of progression was tested in all knees and in subgroups categorized according to alignment. Analyses were adjusted for age, sex, knee injury, and bone density. RESULTS Among the 2,623 subjects (5,159 knees), 60% were women, and the mean +/- SD age was 62.4 +/- 8.0 years. More than 80% of subjects were overweight or obese. At baseline, 36.4% of knees had tibiofemoral OA, and of those, only one-third were neutrally aligned. Compared with subjects with a normal BMI, those who were obese or very obese were at an increased risk of incident OA (relative risk 2.4 and 3.2, respectively [P for trend < 0.001]); this risk extended to knees from all alignment groups. Among knees with OA at baseline, there was no overall association between a high BMI and the risk of OA progression; however, an increased risk of progression was observed among knees with neutral but not varus alignment. The effect of obesity was intermediate in those with valgus alignment. CONCLUSION Although obesity was a risk factor for incident knee OA, we observed no overall relationship between obesity and the progression of knee OA. Obesity was not associated with OA progression in knees with varus alignment; however, it did increase the risk of progression in knees with neutral or valgus alignment. Therefore, weight loss may not be effective in preventing progression of structural damage in OA knees with varus alignment.
Guided Mode Resonance Sensor With Enhanced Surface Sensitivity Using Coupled Cross-Stacked Gratings

Cross-stacked gratings are introduced for refractive index sensing based on guided mode resonance (GMR) effect. Reflection from and transmission through cross-stacked gratings is computed after converting the diffraction problem into an equivalent transmission line formulation. This formulation, which lends itself for the analysis of a biperiodic dielectric structure, can be used to calculate diffraction characteristics of the cross-stacked gratings with a high degree of accuracy. With the help of this analysis, it is shown that the cross-stacked gratings possess two mutually coupled GMRs. The method of analysis is then applied to various cross-stacked gratings to estimate their performance when used as a biosensor. It will be shown that, in comparison with conventional single grating GMR sensor with equal available area, a roughly two-fold surface sensitivity, equal bulk sensitivity, and extremely narrow resonance linewidth can be obtained by using cross-stacked gratings. Consequently, this structure improves detection ability of the GMR biosensor particularly for small analyte detection.
Automated MRI analysis for identification of hippocampal atrophy in temporal lobe epilepsy

Background: Hippocampal sclerosis is frequently associated with hippocampal atrophy (HA), which is often observed on routine magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of patients with medial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE). Manual morphometry of the hippocampus is sensitive to detecting HA, but is time‐consuming and prone to operator error. Automated MRI morphometry has the potential to provide rapid and accurate assistance in the clinical detection of HA.
Competence and Resilience Research: Lessons for Prevention

National Resilience esource Center © What works in prevention? This is the critical question substance abuse prevention programs face. Such inquiry invites new research agendas and leads to effective prevention programs. Working together, researchers and practitioners are discovering the answers. The success of this collaboration depends on admitting forthrightly what is not known. Knowing enough to know what is unknown about prevention is essential.
Myostatin, a Negative Regulator of Muscle Growth, Functions by Inhibiting Myoblast Proliferation*

Myostatin, a member of the transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) superfamily, has been shown to be a negative regulator of myogenesis. Here we show that myostatin functions by controlling the proliferation of muscle precursor cells. When C2C12 myoblasts were incubated with myostatin, proliferation of myoblasts decreased with increasing levels of myostatin. Fluorescence-activated cell sorting analysis revealed that myostatin prevented the progression of myoblasts from the G1- to S-phase of the cell cycle. Western analysis indicated that myostatin specifically up-regulated p21Waf1, Cip1, a cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor, and decreased the levels and activity of Cdk2 protein in myoblasts. Furthermore, we also observed that in myoblasts treated with myostatin protein, Rb was predominately present in the hypophosphorylated form. These results suggests that, in response to myostatin signaling, there is an increase in p21 expression and a decrease in Cdk2 protein and activity thus resulting in an accumulation of hypophosphorylated Rb protein. This, in turn, leads to the arrest of myoblasts in G1-phase of cell cycle. Thus, we propose that the generalized muscular hyperplasia phenotype observed in animals that lack functional myostatin could be as a result of deregulated myoblast proliferation.
Cooperative Edge Caching in Software-Defined Hyper-Cellular Networks

In this paper, content caching is considered in a software-defined hyper-cellular network (SD-HCN) with capacity-limited backhaul connections. To achieve efficient content caching and delivery at the network edge, an analytical framework of minimizing the average content provisioning cost of SD-HCN, e.g., latency, bandwidth, and so on, is first formulated subjected to a sum storage capacity constraint. An optimal solution to this problem requires a joint design of storage allocation and content placement at the centralized control base station (CBS) and distributed traffic base stations (TBSs), which is NP-hard in general. To provide insights, a baseline non-cooperative caching strategy is first introduced between the CBS and TBSs. Then, an efficient cooperative edge caching strategy is proposed by leveraging the vertical cooperation between the CBS and TBSs, and horizontal cooperation between the TBSs. Analytical results demonstrate that the content provisioning cost of SD-HCN is significantly reduced by using the analytically obtained optimal storage allocation between the CBS and TBSs, and the proposed cooperative edge caching strategy always outperforms the non-cooperative caching strategy. Furthermore, by switching between the vertical and horizontal cooperative caching modes, extra performance gains can be achieved by the proposed cooperative edge caching strategy.
A Comparison of Eating Practices of Independently Living Older Adults in Private Residences and in Senior Retirement Housing: A Pilot Study

This study investigated eating-related habits and their importance in older people and compared those living in private residences with those in senior retirement community housing. A convenience sample of 58 seniors answered eating-related items from the Self-maintenance Habits and Preferences in Elderly questionnaire (SHAPE). Meal location, companions, concurrent activities, portion size, and food variety differed between private and retirement housing for some meals, but the overall importance assigned to eating practices was similar. The meals themselves appeared to be more important than any specific socio-environmental element. Eating practices associated with dinner were more important than those for the other meals.
Frequency modulation (FM) system in auditory processing disorder: an evidence-based practice?

BACKGROUND use of frequency modulation (FM) system in auditory processing disorder. AIM to verify the existence of scientific evidence confirming the effectiveness of personal FM systems in the treatment of central auditory processing disorders (APD). For this purpose a systematic review of the literature was made, using data found in electronic databases (Medline, Lilacs and Cochrane library) as well as on the internet. The articles retrieved were analyzed according to the CONSORT statement and then classified by their evidence level. CONCLUSION the search resulted in 1,589 references out of which only 19 met the inclusion criteria. All of the analyzed articles were classified as having low level of evidence (expert opinion or case studies). Strong scientific evidence supporting the use of personal FM systems for APD intervention was not found. Since such device is frequently recommended for the treatment of APD, it becomes essential to carry out studies with high scientific evidence that could safely guide clinical decision making on this subject.