Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Microalbuminuria in Nondiabetic Patients with Acute Ischemic Stroke: Prevalence, Clinical Correlates, and Prognostic Significance

Microalbuminuria is a frequent finding in several acute clinical conditions and predicts poor outcome; its role in acute ischemic stroke, however, is unknown. This study was designed to investigate the prevalence and predictive power of microalbuminuria in acute stroke patients and to establish the relationship between microalbuminuria and the patients’ clinical status. We studied 60 patients admitted within 24 h of their first ischemic stroke, 50 patients with a history of ischemic stroke, and 30 control subjects without known cerebrovascular diseases. Neurological deficit was assessed by the Scandinavian Stroke Scale (SSS) on admission and on days 1, 7, 14, and 30. Urinary albumin excretion was measured using immunonephelometric method, with 24-hour collections performed on day 2. Outcome was assessed by 30-day, 90-day and 1-year mortality. Microalbuminuria was found in 46.7% of patients with acute stroke, 16% of subjects with a history of stroke, and 16.7% of controls. On admission, acute stroke patients with microalbuminuria had more severe neurological deficit (median of SSS score on admission was 28 vs. 40, and on day 1, 22 vs. 39, both p < 0.05; Mann-Whitney U test) and more often had a decreased level of consciousness (32 vs. 10%, p < 0.05; Fisher exact test). Mortality was higher in the group of patients with microalbuminuria in acute stroke (21 vs. 3% after 30 days, 39 vs. 6% after 90 days and 50 vs. 9% after 1 year, p < 0.05 for all differences; Fisher exact test). In logistic regression analysis, microalbuminuria was found to be an independent predictor of 1-year mortality after ischemic stroke (OR = 6.0; p = 0.022; 95% CI = 1.3–27.7).
Involvement of the right piriform cortex in the familiarity judgment task of odors

Previous studies have shown activation of right orbitofrontal cortex during judgments of odor familiarity. In the present study, we sought to extend our knowledge about neural circuits involved in such a task. Fourteen right-handed male subjects were tested in fMRI in a single functional run of two olfactory conditions (detection and familiarity judgment). Within each condition, three epochs were performed. During the familiarity condition, subjects rated whether odors were familiar or unfamiliar, whereas during the detection condition, participants decided whether the odor was present or not. Contrasting familiarity with detection conditions, odor-activated areas were found mainly including the piriform cortex (PC), and hippocampus in the right hemisphere, and the inferior frontal gyrus and amygdala in the left hemisphere. Right PC activation was functionally connected with right hippocampus and left PC during that same task. By showing that PC was activated during a familiarity judgment task, the present study gives supports to the notion that PC participates in the processing of odor memory. It further showed preferential involvement of the right hemisphere in familiarity judgments.
Stable output error identification scheme using periodic excitation signals

Stable parameter identification of linear open loop discrete data systems represented by an all pole model, via an output error procedure which uses a special category of periodic exciting signals is described in this paper. The linear system is assumed to be open loop stable rather than strictly positive real. The stability of the algorithm for the special class of periodic exciting signals is derived. It is shown that the ultimate gain for the stability depends on the values of the plant parameters.
Proteomics as a Rapidly Developing Field

Figure 9.1 Growth of proteomics. Using the search parameter “proteom*” the NCBI database was queried for citations. The number of citations in each year plotted against the year shows the tremendous increase in research and interest in the proteomics field. Figure 9.2 2-D protein gels of tumor vs. normal cells stained for glycoproteins and total proteins. Lysates from rat liver tumor cells (top panels) or rat normal liver cells (bottom panels) were run on identical 2-D gels. Following electrophoresis, the gels were stained with the Pro-Q Emerald 300 glycoprotein detection reagent (left panels) (available in the Pro-Q Emerald 300 Kits P-21855 and P-21857). After documentation of the fluorescence signal, the gel was stained with the SYPRO Ruby protein gel stain (right panels) (S-12000, S-12001, S-21900). Proteomics — A Rapidly Developing Field
First aid for wild birds

THE Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 permits the taking of any wild bird which has 'been disabled . and was taken solely for the purpose of tending it and releasing it when no longer disabled'. Special provisions apply to certain species, such as diurnal birds of prey which are listed on Schedule 4 of the Act, but a General Licence has been issued to permit their retention in captivity without registration for veterinary treatment for a period of up to six weeks. It is clear, therefore, that there are legal as well as ethical reasons why veterinary surgeons should concern themselves with wild bird casualties. Large numbers of wild birds are presented to veterinary practices each year. Such patients present many problems, not least of all because of the variety of species involved and the different approaches that may be needed to their management and treatment. The provision of first aid for wild birds is of particular importance because prompt action is often needed and the prognosis may hinge upon the quality of the initial treatment. There are six main types of wild bird casualty which may be presented. (1) Nestlings or fledglings (sometimes, but not always, orphaned) (2) Birds with physical injuries (3) Birds with an infectious, parasitic, nutritional or metabolic disease (4) Poisoning cases (5) Oil pollution victims (6) Birds which are suffering from hypothermia, hyperthermia, electrocution or immersion (drowning)
Hybrid Location Update Scheme for Future PCS Networks

Future personal communication service (PCS) networks consider smaller cells to accommodate continuously growing population of subscribers. That results in frequent location update and consequently higher signaling cost. Among various schemes proposed for improving the efficiency of location management, the distance-based and the direction-based location update methods work well for just certain mobility patterns. In this paper, we propose a hybrid location update (HLU) scheme, which takes into account both the moving distance and the moving direction when deciding on updating the location. We analyze the performance of the HLU under different mobility patterns and call-to-mobility ratios based on a 2D Markov walk model. The numerical results demonstrate that the HLU scheme can achieve better performance than the distance-based or the direction-based methods applied individually.
Biologic strategies for the therapy of intervertebral disc degeneration

Recent advances in tissue engineering have led to promising new approaches for the biologic treatment of disc degeneration. At present, there is no effective therapy for disc degeneration, a condition which results in large healthcare and socio-economic costs. This article will examine the current approaches used in biologic therapies for disc degeneration, including cell-based tissue engineering, gene therapy and the application of mesenchymal stem cells, and discuss their therapeutic potential, as demonstrated in animal models and experimental studies to date.
Criteria and markers for protein quality assessment – a review

Dietary proteins are found in animal products, plant products and single-cell organisms. Proteins are present in variable proportions in these different food sources and the different proteins also differ in their amino acid composition, dietary indispensable amino acid content and physico-chemical properties. Different criteria can be used to define dietary protein requirements and different markers can be used to assess nutritional protein quality according to the criteria used for protein requirement estimation. The current approach to determining protein requirements is related to nitrogen balance and the dietary indispensable amino acid score approach relates protein quality to the capacity of protein to allow reaching nitrogen balance by providing nitrogen and indispensable amino acids. A second approach considers more directly protein nitrogen utilization by the body and includes measurement of protein digestibility and of the efficiency of dietary nitrogen retention at maintenance or for protein deposition at the whole body level or in more specific body areas. Another approach is related to protein turnover and protein synthesis in relation to maintenance and/or efficiency for deposition or development (growth) at the whole body level or for different and more specific target tissues such as muscle or bone. Lastly, protein quality can also be evaluated from different markers used as risk factors for metabolic dysfunction and disorders related for instance to insulin resistance, diabetes and obesity or cardio-vascular disease. The accuracy and relevance of these different approaches is discussed regarding the capacity of the different protein sources (i.e. animal as meat, milk or eggs, legume as soya or pea, or cereal as wheat or rice) to satisfy protein requirements according to these different criteria and markers.
On Harley On Rapp

Harley has presented a very valuable service in noting cognitive neuropsychology’s loss of status as viewed through its own eyes. At the end of the 1980s, its practitioners saw the approach as providing the royal road to discovery of the structure of mind. Now at least one of its journals, although not Cognitive Neuropsychology, appears less strong, its methods seem less glamorous by comparison with functional imaging, its whole standing in science somehow less. Harley is intellectually puzzled by the phenomenon. He argues that functional imaging studies are not capable of doing what he sees cognitive neuropsychology as doing. Thus he sees cognitive neuropsychology as losing out to functional imaging essentially because of fashion. These social problems, he argues, neuropsychologists intensify by essentially ignoring connectionist modelling even though it could potentially provide them with a much richer set of theories. I sympathise with much of what Harley is saying, particularly about connectionism. However I think his analysis is too limited. In my view we require a variety of types of theorising concerning the mind:
Unique role of CD 4 CD 62 L regulatory T cells in the control of autoimmune diabetes in T cell receptor transgenic mice

Converging experimental evidence indicates that CD4 regulatory T cells control progression of autoimmune insulitis in nonobese diabetic (NOD) mice. Here, we studied the nature of these regulatory T cells and their mode of action in diabetes-prone NOD Rag / or severe combined immunodeficient (SCID) mice harboring a transgenic T cell receptor derived from the diabetogenic T cell clone BDC2.5. We first show that diabetes onset is prevented in such mice by infusion of polyclonal CD4 T cells expressing Lselectin (CD62L) but not prevented or only marginally prevented by CD4 CD25 T cells. Similarly, we found with a cotransfer model that CD4 CD62L T cells but not CD4 CD25 T cells inhibited diabetes transfer into NOD SCID recipients by transgenic NOD BDC2.5 SCID cells. Unexpectedly, cotransfer of transgenic NOD BDC2.5 SCID cells and spleen cells from WT diabetic NOD mice did not induce diabetes, whereas each individual population did so. Data are presented arguing for the role of CD4 CD62L T cells present within the polyclonal diabetogenic population in mediating this apparently paradoxical effect. Collectively, these data confirm the central role of CD4 CD62L regulatory T cells in controlling disease onset in a well defined transgenic model of autoimmune diabetes and suggest the intervention of homeostatic mechanisms as part of their mode of action.
Propagation effects on lightning magnetic fields over hilly and mountainous terrain

In this paper, we analyze the propagation effects of hilly and mountainous terrain on lightning magnetic fields by using a three-dimensional (3-D) finite-difference time domain (FDTD) method. We show that the waveshape, peak value and time delay of the magnetic fields can be significantly affected when propagating along a hilly terrain. It is found in particular that the time delay of the magnetic field increases with increasing height of the mountains. The observed time delays resulting from the propagation along a hilly terrain might impact the accuracy of lightning location systems based on the time-of-arrival technique.
Deep sclerectomy and low dose mitomycin C: a randomised prospective trial in west Africa

Aim: To study the efficacy and safety of deep sclerectomy (DS) augmented with intraoperative low dose mitomycin C (MMC) in a west African population. Methods: Prospective, randomised, controlled trial. Trial participants were Nigerian patients with medically uncontrolled primary open angle glaucoma undergoing primary surgery at Maja Hospital, Lagos, Nigeria. 39 eyes of 39 patients undergoing DS were randomised into receiving intraoperative MMC 0.25 mg/ml for 2 minutes at the end of procedure (DS-MMC) and a control group (DS-noMMC). Results: There were 21 patients in the DS-noMMC and 18 in the DS-MMC group with no difference in the preoperative characteristics of the groups. Mean follow up was 16.4 (SD 11.3) months. The probability of maintaining an intraocular pressure less than 18 mm Hg with or without additional medications (95% confidence intervals) at 1 year was 70% (47–92%, 95%) and 79% (57–100%), and at 18 months was 35% (8–62%) and 38% (7–69%) for the DS-noMMC and DS-MMC groups, respectively, with no difference in success rates (p = 0.6). An IOP of less than 18 mm Hg without additional medication was maintained in 65% (41–89%) and 73% (49–96%) at 1 year and 24% (8–48%) and 13% (13–46%) at 18 months for the DS-noMMC and DS-MMC groups, respectively (p = 0.5). There were no serious complications related to the procedure. Conclusions: The success rates of DS in black west African glaucoma patients, as performed in this study, were low. The study did not achieve sufficient power to detect whether low dose intraoperative MMC application can increase success rates of DS.
Risk factors for breast cancer development

It sometimes seems as if the popular press reports the discovery of a new factor associated with an increased risk of breast cancer development on a weekly basis. Although the scientific basis for many of these is weak, some risk factors are well established and have been shown repeatedly to be important in many epidemiologic studies. These are the items numbered one through five in Table 1. Unfortunately, these are factors over which most women have little control. Although there is considerable circumstantial evidence that environmental factors and, to a lesser extent, the use of exogenous hormones may be associated with increased risk, it has been more difficult to establish a tight link between these factors (which are under a patient’s control) and breast cancer development.
Distributed optimization-based control of dynamically coupled networks

This paper investigates distributed optimization of dynamically coupled networks. We propose distributed algorithms to address two complementary cases: (i) each subsystem is linear and controllable; and (ii) each subsystem is nonlinear and in the strict-feedback form. The convergence of the proposed algorithms is guaranteed using Lyapunov analysis. Their performance is verified by two case studies on an optimal power flow problem and a multizone building temperature regulation problem, respectively.
Knowledge Creation and Retrieval in Program Design: A Comparison of Novice and intermediate Student Programmers

Program design, from initial idea to executable code, was studied in a group of novice (first programming course) and a group of intermediate (second course) student programmers. The approach of the intermediate students could usually be described as forward and top-down design, but the behavior of the novices could not be so easily captured. Top-down design depends on both the expertise of the programmer and the difficulty of the problem. When faced with a difficult problem, even the expert has to build up a solution from simple pieces. In the approach adopted here, top-down design is based on the refinement of a known solution or schema that is retrieved and expanded at progressively greater levels of detail. If the expert knows all the required abstract and detailed schemas, then the design shows a pattern of top-down and forward expansion at all levels. When a schema cannot be retrieved and has to be created, top-down design breaks down and is replaced by bottom-up design. At the extreme, a rank novice has to create all the required plans, and design then shows consistent bottom-up and backward solution development. Separating plan retrieval from plan creation has three important consequences. First, a model of plan creation shows how knowledge, in the form of plan schemas, is created during the process of program design. Second, plan creation reveals the internal structure of a schema that is hidden in the final program code. Third, the behavior of designers, described as top-down or bottom-up design, may be explained as a result of specific knowledge that is used to design a program.
More than a lucrative liquid: the risks for adult consumers of human breast milk bought from the online market

Sarah Steele, Jens Foell, Jeanine Martyn and Andreas Freitag Global Health, Policy and Innovation Unit, Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, London E1 2AB, UK Richford Gate Medical Practice, Richford Street, London W67HY, UK Lifespan, 167 Point Street, Providence, Rhode Island 02903, USA National Clinical Guideline Centre, Royal College of Physicians, London NW1 4LE, UK Corresponding author: Sarah Steele. Email: s.steele@qmul.ac. uk
Blood vessels of the ciliary ganglion in man.

Many authors, including Egorov (i 886), Beauvieux and Dupas (I 926), Winckler (I 93 I) Christensen (1936), Kurus (1956), and Grimes and von Sallmann (i960), have made anatomical and histological studies of the ciliary ganglion in man and various animals. They have given detailed descriptions of its macroscopical, topographical, and cytological properties, but without mentioning the blood supply. Only Kuznetsova (I963) has studied the vascular system of the ciliary ganglion in human foetuses and neonates. The present communication treats this subject in more detail, with special reference to an earlier study of the vascularization of the ciliary ganglion in the rhesus monkey (Eliskova,
Comparison of control strategies for DFIG under symmetrical grid voltage dips

This paper presents a series of current control strategies for the DFIG under symmetrical grid voltage dips. The controllable range, the damping time constant of the stator natural flux and the torque fluctuations of six control strategies are analyzed and compared. The control strategies which have the largest controllable range, the smallest damping time constant of the stator flux and the smallest torque fluctuation are listed, respectively. The comparison is verified by simulations.
Crucial role of cytosolic tryparedoxin peroxidase in Leishmania donovani survival, drug response and virulence

Leishmania donovani, the causative agent of visceral leishmaniasis, uses a cascade of enzymes that include cytosolic tryparedoxin peroxidase (cTXNPx) for detoxification of peroxides, an event pivotal for survival of digenic parasites living in two disparate biological environments. In this study, we observed an increase in promastigote cTXNPx levels after exposure to H2O2 and this group did not show any cell death; however, exposure to a combination of H2O2 and nitric oxide resulted in significant reduction of cTXNPx levels accompanied by high cell death. The protective relationship between higher levels of cTXNPx and survival was further substantiated by the improved ability of L. donovani promastigotes overexpressing cTXNPx to withstand exposure to H2O2 and nitric oxide combination as compared with vector transfectants. In addition, cTXNPx transfectants demonstrated increased virulence, causing higher parasite burden in macrophages as compared with vector transfectants. Interestingly, the cTXNPx transfectants as promastigotes or amastigotes were resistant to clearance by the anti‐leishmanial drug antimony, suggesting a cTXNPx link to drug response. Mechanistically, cTXNPx overexpression was protective against changes in Ca2+ homeostasis but not against mitochondrial hyperpolarization brought about by exposure to H2O2 and nitric oxide. Therefore, this study provides a link between cTXNPx expression to survival, virulence and drug response in L. donovani.
Can we Overcome the Predestined Poor Survival of Diabetic Patients? Perspectives from Pre- and Post-Dialysis

Although the survival of diabetic peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients has improved, it is still much worse than the survival of nondiabetic patients. Diabetes has its own risks for cardiovascular disease (CVD), such as increased levels of advanced glycation end-products, carbonyl and oxidative stress, and low-grade inflammation. An independent, graded association has been observed between a reduced glomerular filtration rate and the risk of CVD events in chronic kidney disease (CKD). Both CKD and diabetes synergistically lead to a high risk of CVD. It seems that the poor survival of diabetic PD patients is predestined at the initiation of dialysis because of multiple pre-existing risk factors and comorbid diseases, particularly CVD. Recently, several trials were successful in improving the survival of patients with diabetic CKD. Tight control of glucose, blood pressure management using angiotensin converting-enzyme inhibitors or angiotensin II receptor blockers, and use of statins, antioxidants, or peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma agonists may improve the survival of diabetic PD patients. However, simple correction of a single CVD risk factor is not likely to be effective. New PD solutions such as those low in glucose degradation products or those with icodextrin may also be effective in reducing the risk of CVD in diabetic PD patients. Therefore, multifactorial interventions—including diet control, early referral, and choice of an optimal PD solution—may improve the survival of diabetic PD patients.