Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Serum procollagen peptides and collagen type VI for the assessment of activity and degree of hepatic fibrosis in schistosomiasis and alcoholic liver disease

Schistosomiasis, in contrast to alcoholic liver disease, leads to presinusoidal hepatic fibrosis, which determines the prognosis of the disease. Because conventional liver function tests and liver biopsy specimens provide little information about the dynamics of the fibrotic process, we measured the serum concentrations of procollagen type III N‐propeptide and procollagen type I C‐propeptide, believed to mainly reflect collagen synthesis, and procollagen type IV C‐propeptide and collagen type VI, two presumptive markers of collagen degradation. Determinations were performed in 15 healthy control subjects, 69 patients with various stages of infection with Schistosoma mansoni/Schistosoma haematobium (28) with an early active infection and no organ involvement, 27 with hepatosplenic involvement and 14 with complications of portal hypertension) and 16 patients with alcoholic cirrhosis. In addition, liver biopsy specimens were obtained from 30 schistosomal patients (18 with hepatosplenic involvement and 12 with complications of portal hypertension for histopathological grading and collagen histochemistry. Procollagen type III N‐propeptide was significantly elevated in the three patient groups with schistosomiasis when compared with controls (p < 0.01). Also, patients with higher histological grading showed significantly higher procollagen type III N‐propeptide values (p < 0.05). In alcoholic patients, procollagen type III N‐propeptide was even higher and increased parallel to the severity of the disease, determined by using a combined clinical and laboratory index. Procollagen type I C‐propeptide was only elevated in early infection (p < 0.05) and steadily decreased with disease progression. In contrast, procollagen type IV C‐propeptide and collagen type VI were not significantly elevated in those patients with no organ involvement but increased significantly in those patients with hepatosplenic involvement (p < 0.01) and those patients with complications of portal hypertension (p < 0.01 and p < 0.02, respectively). Immunohistological findings for the above mentioned collagen types did not correlate with their corresponding serum levels. The data show that a serum elevation of procollagen type III N‐propeptide may indicate early fibrogenic activity in patients with schistosomal infection; in addition, the combined measurement of procollagen type III N‐propeptide with procollagen type IV C‐propeptide and collagen type VI seems to provide additional information to predict progressive hepatic fibrosis. (Hepatology 1992;15:637–644).
Effect of Four Herbal Seeds on Blood Parameters in Turkey Poults

: A biological study using Nandanam Turkey poults (Meleagris gallapavo) for eight weeks duration was carried out to evaluate the effect of four herbal seeds as phytobiotics on haematological and serum biochemical parameters in turkey poults. One hundread and fifty poults were randomly subjected to five dietary treatments in a completely randomized design with basal diet (T1), 0.5% (5g/kg) level of each seeds thyme (T2), fenugreek (T3), fennel (T4) and cumin (T5) in cages. Haemoglobin (Hb) content and serum biochemical parameters such as serum total proteins, calcium, cholesterol and triglyceride were estimated using a Biosystem autoanalizer. Haemoglobin content in overall at eighth week of age revealed significant (P<0.05) difference between treatments while highly significant (P<0.01) difference was found in total proteins with increased level recorded in fenugreek and lower level in cumin supplemented groups at eighth week of age. No significant difference in serum calcium was noticed at eighth week of age. But the overall serum cholesterol values were highly significant (P<0.01) with highest values recorded in fennel and lowest in cumin supplemented groups. Whereas highly significant (P<0.01) difference was observed in overall at eighth week of age with high levels noticed in control group then followed by cumin supplemented group compared to all other treatments.
Seawater-Based Crop Production: A Feasibility Study

Selections of barley, Hordeum vulgare, obtained from a composite cross by means of salinized solution culture, a salt-tolerant research line from Arizona, and three cultivars were grown in dune sand and irrigated with water from the Pacific Ocean. All lines grew and produced grain of good feed quality. There is evidence of considerable phenotypic plasticity and of marked genotypic diversity with respect to conditions of seawater culture. Rough estimates of yield approached half the national average for barley.
Optimal Expansion Co-Planning of Reconfigurable Electricity and Natural Gas Distribution Systems Incorporating Energy Hubs

In a carbon-constrained world, natural gas with low emission intensity plays an important role in the energy consumption area. Energy consumers and distribution networks are linked via energy hubs. Meanwhile, reconfiguration that optimizes operational performance while maintaining a radial network topology is a worldwide technique in the electricity distribution system. To improve the overall efficiency of energy infrastructure, the expansion of electricity distribution lines and elements within energy hubs should be co-planned. In this paper, the co-planning process is modeled as a mixed integer quadratic programming problem to handle conflicting objectives simultaneously. We propose a novel model to identify the optimal co-expansion plan in terms of total cost. Operational factors including energy storages and reconfiguration are considered within the systems to serve electricity, cooling and heating loads. Reconfiguration and elements in energy hubs can avoid or defer new elements’ installation to minimize the investment cost, maintenance cost, operation cost, and interruption cost in the planning horizon. The proposed co-planning approach is verified on 3 and 12-node electricity and natural gas distribution systems coupled via energy hubs. Numerical results show the ability of our proposed expansion co-planning approach based on energy hub in meeting energy demand.
Symptoms of DSM-III-R major depression in adolescence: evidence from an epidemiological survey.

OBJECTIVE To examine the phenomenology of DSM-III-R major depression among adolescents diagnosed as "cases" in a community-based epidemiology study. METHOD A representative sample (N = 1,710) of older adolescents from several Oregon communities were interviewed using structured diagnostic schedules and DSM-III-R criteria in two annual assessments. Although the focus was depression, diagnoses were made for most child and adolescent psychiatric disorders. RESULTS Nearly 30% of the sample at baseline had at least one current symptom of DSM-III-R major depression, but only 2.6% received a diagnosis. The most prevalent symptoms at baseline were depressed mood, sleep, and thinking problems. For new, or incident cases, the most frequent symptoms involved depressed mood, anhedonia, and thinking problems. Among those adolescents who had experienced two episodes of major depression, there was low concordance across episodes for both diagnostic criteria and specific symptoms. Comparisons with six studies of adolescent patients indicate our community "cases" are phenomenologically very similar to clinical cases of major depression in treatment settings. CONCLUSIONS The results presented, along with those from other studies of adults and children, provide strong evidence that DSM criteria for major depression are appropriate for adolescents. That is, DSM-III-R symptom criteria are manifested by both youths and adults, although the relative frequency of these criterion symptoms appear to be age-related.
FLUORIDE EXPOSURE AND SELECTED CHARACTERISTICS OF EGGS AND BONES OF THE HERRING GULL (LARUS ARGENTATUS) AND THE COMMON GULL (LARUS CANUS)

Fluorine concentrations were determined in the shell of 285 herring gull eggs (Larus argentatus) and 120 common gull eggs (Larus canus), collected May 1991 to 1993, from breeding colonies exposed to emissions from two Norwegian primary aluminum smelters located at Karmøy and Sunndal, and from unexposed reference localities in Eigersund, Sola, and Stavanger. Volume-index, shell thickness, thickness-index, and fertilization of the eggs also were monitored. In both species, the shell fluorine concentration was significantly increased in eggs collected at sites exposed to fluoride emissions. No effects on other egg characteristics were observed. In both exposed and unexposed sites, the last-laid egg in a clutch, normally containing three eggs, had the highest shell fluorine residue. Fluorine levels also were analyzed in femurs from 42 herring gulls, collected from Karmøy and Sola in May 1993. The relationship between sex and fluoride accumulation, and the relations between fluorine concentration in femurs of laying herring gulls and in the shell of their eggs, were evaluated. Bone morphology also was studied. Bone fluorine concentrations were raised significantly in emission-exposed female birds. Moreover, females from the exposed site had significantly higher fluorine residues than males. There was a positive correlation between fluorine levels in femurs of individual laying birds and those in the shells of their eggs. No changes in bone morphology due to fluoride exposure was found.
A neuromorphic system for detecting an approaching object inspired by insect vision

A neuromorphic vision sensor was designed to detect an approaching object in real time. To respond selectively to looming stimuli, the sensor employed an algorithm inspired by a visual nervous system in the locust, which can avoid a collision robustly by use of visual information. An electronic circuit model was designed to mimick the architecture of the locust nervous system. Computer simulations showed that the model provided similar responses to those of the locust visual system. We implemented the model with a compact hardware system consisting of a silicon retina and FPGA circuits and the system was confirmed to emulate the responses of the locust to looming stimuli in real time
Characterization of Volatile Compounds in the Essential Oil of Sweet Lime (Citrus limetta Risso)

El aceite esencial de frutos citricos contiene componentes de caracteristicas sensoriales agradables que son apreciadas en las industrias alimentaria, farmaceutica y de cosmeticos. En el caso de la lima dulce (Citrus limetta Risso), es necesaria la caracterizacion de los componentes de su aceite esencial para identificar usos potenciales de este fruto. El aceite esencial de lima dulce se obtuvo a partir del flavedo de lima en cuatro etapas de maduracion diferentes. Se utilizo destilacion por arrastre de vapor y se comparo con la extraccion con hexano. La identificacion de los componentes en el aceite esencial se realizo por cromatografia de gases y espectrometria de masas. Se encontro un total de 46 componentes en el aceite esencial de lima, entre los cuales la mayor concentracion de compuestos presentes son aldehidos como el limoneno. Linalol, sabineno y bergamol fueron mas abundantes que en otras variedades. El mejor metodo de extraccion fue la destilacion al vapor, y las concentraciones en la etapa III de la parte terpenica principal fueron d-limoneno 74.4%, bergamol 8.23%, y β-pineno 7.62%.
Paleoecology of the oldest known animal communities: Ediacaran assemblages at Mistaken Point, Newfoundland

Abstract Ediacaran fossils at Mistaken Point, southeastern Newfoundland (terminal Neoproterozoic; 565–575 Ma) represent the oldest known animal communities. In contrast to most Phanerozoic fossil assemblages, in which postmortem transportation, bioturbation, and the accumulation of hardparts obscure community relationships, all fossils in the Mistaken Point assemblages were sessile, soft-bodied organisms that show no evidence of mobility in life or transportation after death. Mistaken Point assemblages are spectacularly preserved on large bedding planes as in situ census populations of hundreds to thousands of fossils, recording the living soft-bodied benthic community at the moment it was smothered by volcanic ash. This unique preservation style allows ecological tests routinely conducted in modern communities (e.g., species richness, abundance, “biomass,” diversity, and evenness, as well as statistical tests of nearest-neighbor interactions) to be applied to the fossil communities. Observed patterns of community variability are consistent with the theory that Mistaken Point fossil surfaces are “snapshots” recording different stages of ecological succession, progressing from communities of low-level feeders (e.g., pectinates and spindles) to frond-dominated communities with complex tiering and spatial structure. The presence of diverse slope communities at Mistaken Point suggests that the deep sea was colonized rapidly during the evolution of complex organisms. Species richness, abundance, and diversity values, as well as levels of intraspecific interaction, all fall within the typical range observed in modern slope communities. These structural similarities imply that ecological processes present in Ediacaran communities at Mistaken Point were strikingly similar to the processes that operate in modern deep-sea animal communities.
Density-dependent processes in the transmission of human onchocerciasis: intensity of microfilariae in the skin and their uptake by the simuliid host

SUMMARY The transmission success of Onchocerca volvulus is thought to be influenced by a variety of regulatory or density-dependent processes that act at various points in the two-host life-cycle. This paper examines one component of the life-cycle, namely, the ingestion of microfilariae by the simuliid vector, to assess the relationship between intake of larvae and the density of parasites in the skin of the human host. Analysis is based on data from three areas in which onchocerciasis is endemic and includes published information as well as new data collected in field studies. The three areas are: Guatemala (Simulium ochraceum sl.), West and Central Africa (savanna members of the S. damnosum complex), and South Venezuela (S. guianense). The data record experimental studies of parasite uptake by flies captured in the field and fed to repletion on locally infected subjects who harboured varying intensities of dermal microfilarial infection. Regression analyses of log transformed counts of parasite burdens ingested by the flies plotted against log transformed counts of microfilariae per mg of skin revealed little evidence for saturation in parasite uptake by the flies as the intensity in the human host increased. There was a positive and highly significant rank correlation between both variables for the three blackfly species. In an alternative analysis a model was fitted to data on prevalence of flies with ingested microfilariae (mff) versus dermal mean intensities. The model assumed an overdispersed distribution of the number of mff/fly and a given functional relationship between intake and skin load. The results of both approaches were consistent. It is concluded that parasite ingestiossssn by the vector host is not strongly density dependent in the three geographical areas and ranges of dermal loads examined. It therefore appears that this transmission process is of reduced importance as a regulatory mechanism in the dynamics of parasite population growth.
The IIANtr (PtsN) Protein of Pseudomonas putida Mediates the C Source Inhibition of the ς54-dependent Pu Promoter of the TOL Plasmid*

The gene cluster adjacent to the sequence of rpoN (encoding sigma factor ς54) ofPseudomonas putida has been studied with respect to the C source regulation of the Pu promoter of theupper TOL (toluene catabolism) operon. The region includes four open reading frames (ORFs), two of which (named ptsNand ptsO genes) encode proteins similar to components of the phosphoenolpyruvate:sugar phosphotransferase system. Each of the four genes was disrupted with a nonpolar insertion, and the effects in the inhibition caused by glucose on Pu activity were inspected with a lacZ reporter system. Although cells lacking ORF102, ORF284, and ptsO did not display any evident phenotype under the conditions tested, the loss ofptsN, which encodes the IIANtr protein, madePu unresponsive to repression by glucose. TheptsN mutant had rates of glucose/gluconate consumption identical to those of the wild type, thus ruling out indirect effects mediated by the transport of the carbohydrate. A site-directedptsN mutant in which the conserved phospho-acceptor site His68 of IIANtr was replaced by an aspartic acid residue made Pu blind to the presence or absence of glucose, thus supporting the notion that phosphorylation of IIANtr mediates the C source inhibition of the promoter. These data substantiate the existence of a molecular pathway for co-regulation of some ς54 promoters in which IIANtr is a key protein intermediate.
Novel biased flux machine with double salient structure

This paper presents a novel biased flux machine with an exterior rotor and a sailient stator with permanent magnets(PMs) and armature windings embedded in. The electromagnetic characteristics of this machine are analyzed under open-circuit and on-load conditions. Since the novel machine has a similar flux path with dc-excited flux-switching machine(DCE-FSM), a quantitative comparison study of these two machines, especially on the electromagnetic torque is conducted. The torque of the novel machine is relatively higher. The characteristics of the novel machine are simulated with 2-D time-stepping finite element method (TS-FEM).
Enhanced MODIS Atmospheric Total Water Vapour Content Trends in Response to Arctic Amplification

In order to assess the strength of the water vapour feedback within Arctic climate change, 15 years of the total column-integrated density of water vapour (TCWV) from the moderate resolution imaging spectrometer (MODIS) are analysed. Arctic TCWV distribution, trends, and anomalies for the 2001–2015 period, broken down into seasons and months, are analysed. Enhanced local spring TCWV trends above the terrestrial Arctic regions are discussed in relation to land snow cover and vegetation changes. Upward TCWV trends above the oceanic areas are discussed in lien with sea ice extent and sea surface temperature changes. Increased winter TCWV (up to 40%) south of the Svalbard archipelago are observed; these trends are probably driven by a local warming and sea ice extent decline. Similarly, the Barents/Kara regions underwent wet trends (up to 40%), also associated with winter/fall local sea ice loss. Positive late summer TCWV trends above the western Greenland and Beaufort seas (about 20%) result from enhanced upper ocean warming and thereby a local coastal decline in ice extent. The Mackenzie and Siberia enhanced TCWV trends (about 25%) during spring are found to be associated with coincident decreased snow cover and increased vegetation, as a result of the earlier melt onset. Results show drier summers in the Eurasia and western Alaska regions, thought to be affected by changes in albedo from changing vegetation. Other TCWV anomalies are also presented and discussed in relation to the dramatic decline in sea ice extent and the exceptional rise in sea surface temperature.
Le rôle des alliances inter-entreprises dans les stratégies d'innovation des entreprises du secteur bio-pharmaceutique

L’analyse du rôle que joue le médicament dans les systèmes de santé et les économies nationales est une thématique qui favorise les rapprochements entre plusieurs disciplines, en particulier entre le droit et l’économie. Du côté du droit, analyser le problème de l’accès au médicament nécessite de s’interroger, entre autres, sur la question juridique du droit de la protection intellectuelle et de l’évolution des règles du jeu internationales concernant le brevet. Ce questionnement juridique peut sans doute s’appuyer utilement sur une analyse préalable, de nature économique, des stratégies d’innovation des entreprises de ce secteur. Ainsi, mieux comprendre le contexte économique auquel sont confrontées les entreprises, les contraintes et les logiques stratégiques qui caractérisent les processus de R&D dans le secteur pharmaceutique peut, dans une certaine mesure, aider à la réflexion sur le système juridique propre au brevet. C’est dans cette perspective que se positionne cette recherche sur les stratégies d’innovation des entreprises du secteur.
Nordic Myeloma Study Group, the first 15 years: scientific collaboration and improvement of patient care

Abstract: The accomplishments of the Nordic Myeloma Study Group (NMSG) during its first 15 yr are briefly surveyed, together with a discussion of principles guiding the group's clinical trials and of problems that need to be addressed in coming years. The group has so far carried out 12 clinical trials, comprising more than 2500 patients, spanning from minor phase II to large randomised phase III trials. At the time of writing, two randomised trials are running (comparing two doses of i.v. pamidronate, and melphalan‐prednisone (MP) vs. MP‐thalidomide to elderly patients). The group has strived for a simple organisation with much responsibility delegated to regional coordinators (Denmark 3, Norway 5, Sweden 5). With regard to trial design, the group has considered it important that studies are based on sound scientific questions, are simple to handle for the participants, population based, investigator initiated, include quality of life and health resources assessment as end‐points, and can be used as basis for diverse scientific spin‐off projects. Like other clinical trial groups, NMSG faces a number of challenges in coming years. The financial situation for independent investigator‐initiated trials is far from satisfactory, especially with regard to the resource‐consuming implementation of more stringent good clinical practice rules and ethical committee demands. NMSG has also encountered increasing difficulties in recruiting patients to recent trials, partly because of problems related to participating physicians (lack of support, laborious paper work, insufficient credit for participation). Solutions to these problems have to be found if industry‐independent clinical trial groups are to survive.