Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Flavonoid profiling and nodulation of some legumes in response to the allelopathic stress of Sonchus oleraceus L.

Annual sowthistle (Sonchus oleraceus) has been reported to produce allelopathic effects. Two greenhouse experiments were conducted to estimate the allelopathic potential of both plant residue and root exudates of S. oleraceus on flavonoid composition and nodulation in a leguminous crop, Trifolium alexandrinum, and in two leguminous weeds, Melilotus indicus and T. resupinatum. The results of high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS) showed that all three legumes contained six flavonoid aglycones: apigenin, daidzein, kaempferol, luteolin, myricetin and quercetin; and seven flavonoid glycosides: daidzin, genistin, hesperidin, hyperoside, kaempferol-7-O-glucoside, naringin and rutin. In general, both plant residue and root exudates had inhibitory effects on the flavonoid composition and nodulation of the target species. However, residue of S. oleraceus caused a significant increase in both individual and total detected flavonoids in T. alexandrinum. The results suggest that the phytotoxins released from S. oleraceus may restrain the biosynthesis of flavonoids in the target species, whereas the accumulated flavonoids in T. alexandrinum are allelopathic-induced metabolites and suggest a resistance mode in this crop.
Spiral Ganglion Outgrowth and Hearing Development in p75NTR-Deficient Mice

To explore the role of nerve growth factor receptor p75NTR during the terminal neuronal development of the mammalian cochlea the onset of hearing and the in vitro response of spiral ganglion neurites to neurotrophin 3 (NT-3), which is known to play a critical role during neonatal inner ear development, were investigated in p75NTR-deficient mice (p75NTR–/–). Auditory-evoked brain stem response recordings from p75NTR–/– and wild-type (WT) littermates were measured from postnatal days (PD) 8 to 23. Additionally, spiral ganglion explants from p75NTR–/– and WT animals were dissected and cultured in an organotypic tissue culture system. In both groups, spiral ganglion neurite outgrowth was analyzed with and without NT-3 supplementation. No significant differences in the onset of hearing of mutant mice compared to the WT mice were detected, and both groups showed a similar development of hearing until PD 23. After stimulation with NT-3, neurite outgrowth was enhanced in both p75NTR–/– and WT mice. However, neurites from p75NTR–/– spiral ganglion explants were longer in both culture conditions. Moreover, NT-3 did not significantly enhance neurite number in p75NTR–/–, as it did in WT mice. P75NTR has a remarkable influence on spiral ganglion neurite growth behavior. However, p75NTR does not seem to be essential for the development of basic hearing function in the first 3 postnatal weeks.
A long, long haul against a severe disease

Although achievements in modern medicine have enabled mankind to cure or control many diseases, numerous challenges remain. Acute kidney injury (AKI), a serious illness causing significant mortality and morbidity, is one such challenge [1]. AKI occurs in the perioperative period and is diagnosed by laboratory abnormalities, such as elevated blood urea nitrogen and creatinine, or by a drop in urine output. AKI may lead to a number of complications, including metabolic acidosis, high potassium levels, uremia, changes in body fluid balance, and effects on other organ systems. The current treatment for AKI consists of supportive care such as renal replacement therapy as well as treatment of the underlying disorder. Over the past few years, international guideline groups have attempted to establish consistent definitions and staging systems for AKI. The staging system known as Risk, Injury, Failure, Loss, End (RIFLE) was established in 2004 [2]. This was modified to create the Acute Kidney Injury Network (AKIN) [3], and then further modified to create the Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) system in 2012 [4]. These systems are based on serial creatinine measurements. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines published in 2013 suggest that these systems need further development and simplification to be useful for clinicians. Recent studies have found several biomarkers for AKI that reflect glomerular filtration rate decrease and renal tubular injury early after cardiac surgery, including urinary neutrophil gelatinase associated lipocalin (NGAL) [5], liver-type fatty acid-binding protein (L-FABP) [6], kidney injury molecule-1 (KIM-1) [7], interleukin-18 (IL-18) [8], and serum cystatin C [9]. However, controversies regarding the accuracies of these biomarkers in the clinical setting still exist. No therapeutic modalities to date have shown efficacy for treating AKI. In severe cases, hemodialysis can be used. However, hemodialysis is difficult and time-consuming, and can cause complications including low blood pressure, fatigue, chest pains, leg-cramps, nausea, headache, and sepsis. Patients undergoing hemodialysis have trouble remaining employed, and face severe economic difficulties. Although kidney transplantation is an effective treatment method, patients are rarely able to find a suitable kidney donor. Even after a kidney transplant, patients may suffer from transplant rejection, infection, sepsis and side effects of medications. Therefore, prevention of AKI is more important than treatment. Anesthesiologists must strive to avoid hypotension and drugs with renal toxicity during surgical procedures. Recently, it was reported that human liver tissue was built using a three-dimensional printer. Perhaps in 20 or 30 years, it will be possible to replace non-functional human organs with artificially created organs at relatively low cost. However, until that day arrives, medical doctors, including anesthesiologists, must strive to cure or control AKI and other severe diseases.
BOOM v 2 an open-source out-of-order RISC-V core

This paper presents BOOM version 2, an updated version of the Berkeley Out-of-Order Machine first presented in [3]. The design exploration was performed through synthesis, place and route using the foundry-provided standard-cell library and the memory compiler in the TSMC 28 nm HPM process (high performance mobile). BOOM is an open-source processor that implements the RV64G RISC-V Instruction Set Architecture (ISA). Like most contemporary high-performance cores, BOOM is superscalar (able to execute multiple instructions per cycle) and out-oforder (able to execute instructions as their dependencies are resolved and not restricted to their program order). BOOM is implemented as a parameterizable generator written using the Chisel hardware construction language [2] that can used to generate synthesizable implementations targeting both FPGAs and ASICs. BOOMv2 is an update in which the design effort has been informed by analysis of synthesized, placed and routed data provided by a contemporary industrial tool flow. We also had access to standard singleand dual-ported memory compilers provided by the foundry, allowing us to explore design trade-offs using different SRAM memories and comparing against synthesized flip-flop arrays. The main distinguishing features of BOOMv2 include an updated 3-stage front-end design with a bigger set-associative Branch Target Buffer (BTB); a pipelined register rename stage; split floating point and integer register files; a dedicated floating point pipeline; separate issue windows for floating point, integer, and memory micro-operations; and separate stages for issue-select and register read. Managing the complexity of the register file was the largest obstacle to improving BOOM’s clock frequency. We spent considerable effort on placing-and-routing a semi-custom 9port register file to explore the potential improvements over a fully synthesized design, in conjunction with microarchitectural techniques to reduce the size and port count of the register file. BOOMv2 has a 37 fanout-of-four (FO4) inverter delay after synthesis and 50 FO4 after place-and-route, a 24% reduction from BOOMv1’s 65 FO4 after place-and-route. Unfortunately, instruction per cycle (IPC) performance drops up to 20%, mostly due to the extra latency between load instructions and dependent instructions. However, the new BOOMv2 physical design paves the way for IPC recovery later. BOOMv1-2f3i int/idiv/fdiv
The risk of recurrent deep venous thrombosis among heterozygous carriers of both factor V Leiden and the G20210A prothrombin mutation.

BACKGROUND Point mutations in the factor V gene (factor V Leiden) and the prothrombin gene (the substitution of A for G at position 20210) are the most common causes of inherited thrombophilia. Whether or not factor V Leiden increases the risk of recurrent deep venous thrombosis is controversial, and there is no information on the risk of recurrence among carriers of both mutations. METHODS We studied a retrospective cohort of 624 patients who were referred for a first episode of deep venous thrombosis. After excluding 212 patients with other inherited or acquired causes of thrombophilia, we compared 112 patients who were heterozygous carriers of factor V Leiden with 17 patients who were heterozygous for both factor V Leiden and the prothrombin mutation and 283 patients who had neither mutation. The relative risk of recurrent deep venous thrombosis was calculated with use of a proportional-hazards model. RESULTS Patients who were heterozygous for factor V Leiden alone had a risk of recurrent deep venous thrombosis that was similar to that among patients who had neither mutation (relative risk, 1.1; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.7 to 1.6; P=0.76). In contrast, patients who were heterozygous for both factor V Leiden and the prothrombin mutation had a higher risk of recurrent thrombosis than did carriers of factor V Leiden alone (relative risk, 2.6; 95 percent confidence interval, 1.3 to 5.1; P=0.002). When the analysis was restricted to patients with spontaneous recurrences (i.e., ones that occurred in the absence of transient risk factors for venous thrombosis), the risk among carriers of both mutations, as compared with carriers of factor V Leiden alone, remained high (relative risk, 3.7; 95 percent confidence interval, 1.7 to 7.7; P<0.001), particularly if the first event had also been spontaneous (relative risk, 5.4; 95 percent confidence interval, 2.0 to 14.1; P<0.001). In contrast, the risk of recurrence in the presence of transient risk factors was similar among carriers of both mutations and carriers of factor V Leiden alone. CONCLUSIONS The risk of recurrent deep venous thrombosis is similar among carriers of factor V Leiden and patients without this mutation. Carriers of both factor V Leiden and the G20210A prothrombin mutation have an increased risk of recurrent deep venous thrombosis after a first episode and are candidates for lifelong anticoagulation.
Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cell Activation Induced by Leptospira interrogans Glycolipoprotein

ABSTRACT Leptospira interrogans glycolipoprotein (GLP) has been implicated in pathological and functional derangement seen in leptospirosis. The goal of this study was to evaluate GLP's ability to induce cellular activation, as assessed by cytokine production and expression of surface activation markers. GLP extracted from either pathogenic L. interrogans serovar Copenhageni or nonpathogenic Leptospira biflexa serovar Patoc (GLPp) was used to stimulate peripheral blood mononuclear cell cultures from healthy donors. Supernatant cytokine levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Expression of CD69 and HLA-DR on lymphocytes and monocytes, as well as lipopolysaccharide (LPS) binding, were measured by flow cytometry. At 6 h of incubation, GLP induced a significant rise in tumor necrosis factor alpha levels, which dropped progressively until 72 h of incubation. Interleukin-10 peak levels were obtained at between 24 and 48 h, with sustained levels until 72 h of incubation. The response magnitude was proportional to the GLP dose. CD69 expression on T lymphocytes and monocytes increased significantly, as did HLA-DR expression on monocytes. GLPp induced no CD69 or HLA-DR expression. GLP did not block biotinylated LPS binding to monocytes, suggesting that different pathways are used to induce cell activation. In conclusion, GLP induces cellular activation and may play a major role in the pathogenesis of leptospirosis.
Effects of alpha lipoic acid, ascorbic acid‐6‐palmitate, and fish oil on the glutathione, malonaldehyde, and fatty acids levels in erythrocytes of streptozotocin induced diabetic male rats

In this research, it has been aimed to evaluate the improvement effects of alpha lipoic acid (ALA), ascorbic acid‐6‐palmitate (AA6P), fish oil (FO), and their combination (COM) on some biochemical properties in erythrocytes of streptozotocin (STZ)‐induced diabetic male rats. According to experimental results, glutathione (GSH) level in erythrocytes decreased in diabetes (P < 0.01), D + ALA, and D + AA6P groups (P < 0.001). Malonaldehyde (MA) level increased in diabetes (P < 0.05), D + FO, and D + COM groups (P < 0.001), but its level in D + AA6P and D + ALA groups was lower in diabetes group (P < 0.01). Total lipid level in diabetes and diabetes plus antioxidant administered groups were higher than control. Total cholesterol level was high in diabetes and D + ALA groups (P < 0.05), but its level reduced in D + FO compared to control and diabetes groups, P < 0.05, < 0.001, respectively. Total triglyceride (TTG) level was high in the D + ALA (P < 0.05) and D + COM (P < 0.001) groups. In contrast, TTG level in blood of diabetes group was higher than diabetes plus antioxidant and FO administered groups (P < 0.001). According to gas chromatography analysis results, while the palmitic acid raised in diabetes group (P < 0.05), stearic acid in D + FO, D + ALA, and diabetes groups was lower than control (P < 0.05), oleic acid reduced in D + COM and D + FO groups, but its level raised in D + AA6P and D + ALA groups (P < 0.01). As the linoleic acid (LA) elevated in ALA + D, D + AA6P, and diabetes groups, linolenic acid level in diabetes, D + AA6P, and D + FO groups was lower than control (P < 0.001). Arachidonic acid (AA) decreased in D + ALA, D+ AA6P, and diabetes groups (P < 0.01), but its level in D + COM and D + FO was higher than control (P < 0.05). Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) increased in D + AA6P and D + COM (P < 0.05). While the total saturated fatty acid level raised in diabetes group, its level reduced in D + ALA and D + FO groups (P < 0.05). In contrast, total unsaturated fatty acid level in D + ALA and D + FO groups was higher than control (P < 0.05). In conclusion, present data have confirmed that the combination of the ALA, AA6P, and FO have improvement effects on the recycling of GSSG to reduced GSH in erythrocytes of diabetic rats, and in addition to this, oxidative stress was suppressed by ALA and AA6P, and unsaturated fatty acid degree was raised by the effects of ALA and FO. J. Cell. Biochem. 86: 530–539, 2002. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Prevalence of substance abuse in schizophrenia: demographic and clinical correlates.

Methodological issues involved in assessing the prevalence of substance abuse in schizophrenia are discussed, and previous research in this area is comprehensively reviewed. Many studies suffer from methodological shortcomings, including the lack of diagnostic rigor, adequate sample sizes, and simultaneous assessment of different types of substance abuse (e.g., stimulants, sedatives). In general, the evidence suggests that the prevalence of substance abuse in schizophrenia is comparable to that in the general population, with the possible exceptions of stimulant and hallucinogen abuse, which may be greater in patients with schizophrenia. Data are presented on the association of substance abuse with demographics, diagnosis, history of illness, and symptoms in 149 recently hospitalized DSM-III-R schizophrenic, schizophreniform, and schizoaffective disorder patients. Demographic characteristics were strong predictors of substance abuse, with gender, age, race, and socioeconomic status being most important. Stimulant abusers tended to have their first hospitalization at an earlier age and were more often diagnosed as having schizophrenia, but did not differ in their symptoms from nonabusers. A history of cannabis abuse was related to fewer symptoms and previous hospitalizations, suggesting that more socially competent patients were prone to cannabis use. The findings show that environmental factors may be important determinants of substance abuse among schizophrenic-spectrum patients and that clinical differences related to abuse vary with different types of drugs.
Diagonal tooth measurements in sex assessment: A study on North Indian population

Background: Sexual dimorphism has been of great interest to anthropologists and odontologists. Dental measurements are important in anthropology for the study of sexual dimorphism with most common being the traditional linear odontometric measurements. Apart from these, alternative dental measurements have been developed such as the crown and cervical diagonal diameters and mesiodistal and buccolingual cervical diameters of teeth. Aims and Objective: The primary objective of the following study is to assess the degree of sexual dimorphism in teeth of a North Indian population using the crown diagonal diameters and secondary is to evaluate the applicability of diagonal measurements in sex determination by means of discriminant functional analysis. Materials and Methods: The study sample comprised 200 individuals (100 males and 100 females) of an age group ranging from 18 to 57 years, in a North Indian population. The mesiobuccal-distolingual (MBDL) and distobuccal-mesiolingual (DBML) crown diameters of seven maxillary and seven mandibular teeth on the study models were measured using digital Vernier calipers. Results: The most dimorphic teeth amongst all for crown diagonal diameters are the maxillary central incisors and the least dimorphic are the maxillary second premolars. The mean diagonal crown dimensions in all but one tooth (DBML of maxillary lateral incisor) of males exceeded that of females. The difference was statistically significant in MBDL dimensions of maxillary and mandibular central incisor, canine, first and second molar and DBML dimensions of maxillary central incisor and maxillary and mandibular canine, first molar and second molar (P < 0.05). The accuracy of determination of sex by MBDL crown dimension ranges from 55% to 75% in males and 47-84% in females, while by DBML crown dimension ranges from 55% to 80% in males and 65-80% in females with the overall accuracy of sex determination ranging from 51% to 80% respectively. Conclusion: MBDL and DBML crown dimensions are reliable indicators and can be used along with or/and instead of linear measurements in sex determination. In situations in which it is difficult to take correct measurements of linear dimensions of teeth, these alternative odontometric measurements can be used consistently to determine sex.
A study of speech recognition for children and the elderly

Although children and the elderly have obvious needs for voice operated interfaces, hardly anything is known about the performance of the current automatic speech recognition technology with these people. In this paper we report the results of a thorough investigation into this field using a connected digit recognizer and a major telephone speech database. One would generally assume that the recognition of speech from these people would only be a matter of having enough, sufficiently representative training data. This turns out to be true only, as long as the speakers belong to the age range 15 to approximately 70. Outside this range the error rates increase dramatically, even with balanced amounts of training data. For males, the lower limit is very sharp and can be attributed to the change of pitch frequency during puberty. For females, the lower limit is gradual and caused by the slowly changing dimensions of the vocal tract length only. For both genders, the upper limit is very gradual and can possibly be attributed to changes in the glottis area and the internal control loops of the human articulatory system. The paper presents some supporting evidence for the above assertions and gives results for various attempts to improve the performance. Recognition of children and the elderly will require much more research if we are to fully understand the characteristics of these age group on current and future speech recognition systems.
License plate recognition based on pulse coupled neural networks and template matching

License plate recognition (LPR) is an important part of the vehicle detection system, which plays a significant role in traffic management and has a variety of applications. This paper presents a license plate recognition method based on pulse coupled neural network (PCNN) and template matching. One PCNN is implemented to segment the gray image containing the License plate, and another PCNN is applied to extract the characters from the located plate. The method has some advantages when the image is polluted or photographed without enough illumination. After the plate characters are extracted, they are compared with the pre-defined template using template matching. Based on the similarity between the extracted characters and template characters, the license is recognized. Simulations have been presented for illustrative purposes.
Localization of a DNA replication origin and termination zone on chromosome III of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Two-dimensional gel electrophoretic replicon mapping techniques were used to identify all functional DNA replication origins and termini in a 26.5-kbp stretch in the left arm of yeast chromosome III. Only one origin was detected; it coincided with an ARS element (ARS306), as have all previously mapped yeast origins. A replication termination region was identified in a 4.3-kbp stretch at the telomere-proximal end of the investigated region, between the origin identified in this paper and the neighboring, previously mapped, ARS305-associated origin (previously called the A6C origin). Termination does not occur at a specific site; instead, it appears to be the consequence of replication forks converging in a stretch of DNA of at least 4.3 kbp.
Distribution of cphA or related carbapenemase-encoding genes and production of carbapenemase activity in members of the genus Aeromonas

The prevalence of the cphA gene or related carbapenemase-encoding genes was investigated in 114 Aeromonas strains belonging to the six species of major clinical interest. A species-related distribution of cphA-related sequences was observed. Similar sequences were found in A. hydrophila, A. veronii bv. sobria, A. veronii bv. veronii, and A. jandaei, but not in A. caviae, A. trota, or A. schubertii. However, a single A. caviae strain (of 62 tested) was found carrying cphA-related sequences, suggesting the possibility of the horizontal transfer of this gene to species which normally do not carry it. Production of carbapenemase activity was detectable in 83% of the hybridization-positive strains but in none of the hybridization-negative ones. When it was present, carbapenemase activity was always inhibitable by EDTA. Either carbapenemase-producing or not, Aeromonas strains appeared to be susceptible to imipenem when in vitro susceptibility testing was performed with inocula of conventional size (10(5) CFU), for which MICs were always < or = 1 microgram/ml. With a larger inoculum (10(8) CFU), the MICs for carbapenemase-negative strains always remained < or = 1 microgram/ml, while those for carbapenemase-producing strains were always > or = 4 micrograms/ml, being usually higher than the breakpoint for susceptibility. The present results indicate that the production of metallocarbapenemase activity, apparently encoded by cphA homologs, is widespread among some of the Aeromonas species of clinical interest (A. hydrophila, A. veronii bv. sobria, A. veronii bv. veronii, and A. jandaei) and that imipenem MICs for carbapenemase-producing strains are subjected to a relevant inoculum size effect.