Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Comparison of effects of remifentanil and alfentanil on cardiovascular response to tracheal intubation in hypertensive patients.

In a randomized double-blind study, we compared the effect of remifentanil and alfentanil on the cardiovascular response to laryngoscopy and tracheal intubation in patients on long-term treatment for hypertension. Forty ASA II-III patients were allocated to receive (i) remifentanil 0.5 microg kg(-1) followed by an infusion of 0.1 microg kg min(-1) or (ii) alfentanil 10 microg kg(-1) followed by an infusion of saline; all patients received glycopyrrolate 200 microg before the study drug. Anaesthesia was induced with propofol and rocuronium and maintained with 1% isoflurane and 66% nitrous oxide in oxygen. Laryngoscopy and tracheal intubation were performed after establishment of neuromuscular block. Arterial pressure and heart rate (HR) were measured non-invasively at 1 min intervals from 3 min before induction until 5 min after intubation. Systolic (SAP), diastolic and mean arterial pressure decreased significantly after induction in both groups (P<0.05). Maximum increases in mean SAP after laryngoscopy and intubation were 35 and 41 mm Hg in the remifentanil and alfentanil groups, respectively. After intubation, arterial pressure did not increase above baseline values in either group. HR remained stable after induction of anaesthesia, but increased above baseline values after intubation. Mean maximum HR was 87 beats min(-1) for the remifentanil group (12 beats min(-1) above baseline; P=0.065) and 89 beats min(-1) for the alfentanil group (15 beats min(-1) above baseline; P<0.05). There were no significant differences between groups in HR or arterial pressure at any time. There were no incidences of bradycardia. Seven patients in the remifentanil group and four in the alfentanil group received ephedrine for hypotension (i.e. SAP<100 mm Hg).
Efficient Grouping and Resource Allocation for Multicast Transmission in LTE

With multimedia becoming the most dominant part of data traffic, many situations arise where the same content is required to be transmitted to many or all users in a cell. We propose the use of multicast transmission for dealing with such situations. With multicast transmission, we can accommodate more users in the available resources simultaneously. We propose grouping and resource allocation schemes for multicast transmissions in LTE. We also compare the performance of unicast and multicast transmission in terms of resource utilization at the evolved NodeB (eNB). We have considered two different methods for multicast group formation with fixed and variable group sizes. Allocation of resources is performed using a greedy scheme and a Linear Programming (LP) relaxation based approach. A number of scenarios become feasible by the use of multicast which are otherwise infeasible if usual unicast transmissions are used.
Investigación y docencia en salud mental (II): ¿Queda algún futuro para la "Asistencia Centrada en el Consultante" y el pensamiento clínico?

El trabajo parte de una reflexion epistemologica sobre la investigacion en psicoterapia y una descripcion de las areas, metodos y condicionantes para el futuro de la misma. Se describen asimismo algunas consecuencias ilustrativas de los sesgos que han venido mostrandose anteriormente, tanto de la "perspectiva Bambi" como de la "perspectiva Godzilla". Se plantean como ejemplos ilustrativos los siguientes: la santificacion del "managed care"; el efecto Utah en el lanzamiento de nuevos neurolepticos y antidepresivos; los resultados negativos de los metaanalisis de una tecnica que sigue practicandose y defendiendose, como es la TEC; los resultados positivos pero poco conocidos de algunas tecnicas psicologicas elementales en el cuidado de los pacientes graves y sus familiares asi como de la depresion puerperal; los resultados negativos o inciertos de determinadas tecnicas "contraculturales", etc. Para terminar, se realizan una serie de propuestas integradoras, tanto para la investigacion como para la docencia en salud mental, orientadas por un intento de soslayar los dogmatismos y sectarismos habituales.
A Comparison of DCT-Based OFDM and DFT-Based OFDM in Frequency Offset and Fading Channels

A precise method for calculating the bit-error probability (BEP) of a discrete cosine transform (DCT)-based orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) system on additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) channels in the presence of frequency offset is derived. These accurate results are used to examine and compare the BEP performance of a DCT-OFDM system and the conventional discrete Fourier transform (DFT)-based OFDM system in an AWGN environment. Several signaling formats, such as binary phase-shift keying, quaternary phase-shift keying, and 16-ary quadrature amplitude modulation are considered. The performance of a DCT-OFDM with a zero-padding guard-interval scheme is then compared with a zero-padded DFT-OFDM with the employment of minimum mean-square error (MMSE) detection and MMSE decision-feedback detection with ordering scheme over frequency-selective fast Rayleigh fading channels. Analysis and simulation results show that the DCT-OFDM system outperforms the DFT-OFDM system in the presence of frequency offset, and in frequency-selective fast-fading environments
Ectopic expression of the calcium‐binding protein parvalbumin in mouse liver endothelial cells

To elucidate the physiological role of the Ca2+ binding protein parvalbumin, we have generated transgenic mice carrying the full‐length complementary DNA (cDNA) of rat parvalbumin under the control of the heavy‐metal inducible metallothionein IIA promoter. Immunohistochemical and biochemical methods have been used to detect the presence of ectopic parvalbumin expression in different tissues. Here we show the expression of parvalbumin in endothelial cells lining the liver sinusoids in situ and after isolation in vitro. The hemodynamic effects of endothelin 1, a peptide hormone mediating potent vasoconstriction via calcium signalling, were investigated in the mouse liver perfused in situ. Vasoconstriction, thought to be mediated by the Ito cell, was not affected in the transgenic animals, whereas microvascular exchange, probed with the multiple indicator dilution technique, was markedly decreased in normal mice but virtually not affected in the transgenic animals. This suggests that ectopically expressed parvalbumin is involved in the regulation of Ca2+ signals in the sinusoidal endothelial cells. This animal model could be of interest to those working on the physiology of liver circulation.
Identification of Putative Genes Involved in Limonoids Biosynthesis in Citrus by Comparative Transcriptomic Analysis

Limonoids produced by citrus are a group of highly bioactive secondary metabolites which provide health benefits for humans. Currently there is a lack of information derived from research on the genetic mechanisms controlling the biosynthesis of limonoids, which has limited the improvement of citrus for high production of limonoids. In this study, the transcriptome sequences of leaves, phloems and seeds of pummelo (Citrus grandis (L.) Osbeck) at different development stages with variances in limonoids contents were used for digital gene expression profiling analysis in order to identify the genes corresponding to the biosynthesis of limonoids. Pair-wise comparison of transcriptional profiles between different tissues identified 924 differentially expressed genes commonly shared between them. Expression pattern analysis suggested that 382 genes from three conjunctive groups of K-means clustering could be possibly related to the biosynthesis of limonoids. Correlation analysis with the samples from different genotypes, and different developing tissues of the citrus revealed that the expression of 15 candidate genes were highly correlated with the contents of limonoids. Among them, the cytochrome P450s (CYP450s) and transcriptional factor MYB demonstrated significantly high correlation coefficients, which indicated the importance of those genes on the biosynthesis of limonoids. CiOSC gene encoding the critical enzyme oxidosqualene cyclase (OSC) for biosynthesis of the precursor of triterpene scaffolds was found positively corresponding to the accumulation of limonoids during the development of seeds. Suppressing the expression of CiOSC with VIGS (Virus-induced gene silencing) demonstrated that the level of gene silencing was significantly correlated to the reduction of limonoids contents. The results indicated that the CiOSC gene plays a pivotal role in biosynthesis of limonoids.
Sea Wind Power Energy Evaluation by HF Radar System

This paper presents a remote sensing method for wind energy measurement and evaluation on sea surface, which can be used for the investigation of wind farm. It provides a valid proof for building wind plants or monitoring wind farms on the sea surface. The wind speed and direction can be derived from radar echo spectrum as well as wind profile, and it can cover a large area (thousands of square-kilometers) and measure wind simultaneously. It provides a real-time, all-weather remote sensing measurement and it is a new method for wind evaluation comparing to conventional methods.
Delayed Emergence of HIV-1 Variants Resistant to 4′-Ethy Nyl-2-Fluoro-2′-Deoxyadenosine: Comparative Sequential Passage Study with Lamivudine, Tenofovir, Emtricitabine and BMS-986001

Background 4′-Ethynyl-2-fluoro-2′-deoxyadenosine (EFdA) contains an ethynyl moiety and the 3′-hydroxyl and exerts highly potent activity against various HIV type-1 (HIV-1) strains including multi-drug-resistant variants. Methods Comparative selection passages against EFdA, lamivudine (3TC), tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF), emtricitabine (FTC) or BMS-986001 (Ed4T) were conducted using a mixture of 11 highly multi-drug-resistant clinical HIV-1 isolates (HIV11MIX) as a starting virus population. Results Before selection, HIV11MIX was sensitive to EFdA with a 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50) of 0.032 μM, less susceptible to TDF and Ed4T with IC50s of 0.57 and 2.6 μM, respectively, and highly resistant to 3TC and FTC with IC50s>10 μM. IC50s of TDF against HIV11MIX exposed to EFdA and TDF for 17 (HIV11MIXEFdA-P17) and 14 (HIV11MIXTDF-P14) passages were 8 and >10 μM, respectively, while EFdA remained active against HIV11MIXEFdA-P17 and HIV11MIXTDF-P14 with IC50s of 0.15 and 0.1 μM, respectively. Both selected variants were highly resistant against zidovudine, 3TC, Ed4T and FTC (IC50 values >10 μM). Conclusions The present data demonstrate that HIV11MIX developed resistance more rapidly against 3TC, FTC, TDF and Ed4T than against EFdA and that EFdA remained substantially active against TDF- and EFdA-selected variants. Thus, EFdA has a favourable resistance profile and represents a potentially promising new-generation nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor.
Dimensionalidad de la calidad en los servicios públicos municipales en EMULSA - Gijón

La calidad de servicio, tanto su medicion como la determinacion de los factores o dimensiones en que podemos encuadrar las variables relevantes para medirla, se han convertido en un tema de candente actualidad. Si bien para algunos servicios se ha intentado la valoracion de la calidad percibida por los usuarios, no es tan comun este hecho para el caso de los servicios publicos. Con el fin de arrojar luz sobre este asunto, hemos acometido un estudio en profundidad sobre la calidad de servicio en la recogida de residuos solidos en una ciudad de tamano medio.
A computational analysis on methylation inhibition during intestinal cancer initiation

Epigenetics has emerged only recently as a fundamentally important area of biological and medical research that has implications for our understanding of human diseases including cancer, autoimmune and neuropsychiatric disorders. Here, we use a computational model developed for colon and small intestine crypt dynamics in order to investigate the effect of a set of potential methylation inhibitors with respect to methylation modifications in intestinal tissues during cancer initiation. Inhibitor effect was marked for abnormal crypt groups, with largest average methylation differences observed ≈0.75% in the colon and ≈0.79% in the small intestine lower when inhibitor was present (during relatively short time-periods of 90 days).
Coupling to Polymeric Scaffolds Stabilizes Biofunctional Peptides for Intracellular Applications

Here, we demonstrate that coupling to N-hydroxypropyl methacrylamide (HPMA) copolymer greatly enhances the activity of apoptosis-inducing peptides inside cells. Peptides corresponding to the BH3 domain of Bid were coupled to a thioester-activated HPMA (28.5 kDa) via native chemical ligation in a simple one-pot synthesis. Peptides and polymer conjugates were introduced into cells either by electroporation or by conjugation to the cell-penetrating peptide nona-arginine. The molecular basis of the increased activity is elucidated in detail. Loading efficiency and intracellular residence time were assessed by confocal microscopy. Fluorescence correlation spectroscopy was used as a separation-free analytical technique to determine proteolytic degradation in crude cell lysates. HPMA conjugation strongly increased the half-life of the peptides in crude cell lysates and inside cells, revealing proteolytic protection as the basis for higher activity.
Time-Motion Characteristics and Physiological Responses of Small-Sided Games in Elite Youth Players: The Influence of Player Number and Rule Changes

Hill-Haas, SV, Coutts, AJ, Dawson, BT, and Rowsell, GJ. Time-motion characteristics and physiological responses of small-sided games in elite youth players: The influence of player number and rule changes. J Strength Cond Res 24(8): 2149-2156, 2010-The aim of this study was to examine acute physiological responses and time-motion characteristics associated with 4 soccer-specific small-sided game (SSG) formats (3 vs. 4 players, 3 vs. 3 players + floater, 5 vs. 6 players, and 5 vs. 5 players + floater) and 4 rule changes in elite youth soccer players. Sixteen male youth soccer players (mean ± SD: age = 15.6 ± 0.8 years, stature = 170.8 ± 6.6 cm, body mass = 67.5 ± 6.2 kg, and 20-m shuttle run estimated &OV0312;o2max = 57.4 ± 3.7 ml·kg−1·min−1) participated in the study, in which heart rate (HR), rating of perceived exertion (RPE), blood lactate (La−), and time-motion characteristics were recorded. The rule change requiring extra sprint running had a greater effect on the time-motion characteristics than all other rule modifications but no effect on acute %HRmax, La−, and RPE. Rule changes had no effect on RPE. Fixed underload teams (i.e., lower number of players compared with the opponent team) recorded a significantly higher RPE compared with the fixed overload teams, although there were no differences in %HRmax and La−. The major practical findings are that subtle changes in SSGs playing rules can influence the physiological, perceptual, and time-motion responses in young elite soccer players. Rules that are related to a team's chances of scoring may improve player motivation and thereby increase training intensity during SSGs. There were no differences between fixed and variable formats in terms of physiological and perceptual responses, although both may provide useful technical-tactical training. Coaches should take care in designing different soccer SSGs as each rule or game format change may influence exercise intensity independently.
Surgery or embolisation for varicocele in subfertile men.

BACKGROUND A varicocele is a meshwork of distended blood vessels in the scrotum, usually left-sided, due to dilatation of the spermatic vein. Although the concept that varicocele causes, and varicocelectomy cures, male subfertility has been around for almost fifty years, the mechanisms by which varicocele would affect fertility have not yet been satisfactorily explained, and neither have the mechanisms by which varicocelectomy would restore fertility. Furthermore, it has been questioned whether a causal relation exists at all between the distension of the pampiniform plexus and impairment of fertility. OBJECTIVES To evaluate the effect of varicocele treatment on pregnancy rate in subfertile couples. SEARCH STRATEGY We searched the Cochrane Menstrual Disorders and Subfertility Group trials register (searched 12 Sept 2003), the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (The Cochrane Library Issue 1, 2004), MEDLINE (January 1966 to May 2004), EMBASE (January 1985 to May 2004) and reference lists of articles. In addition, we hand searched 22 specialist journals in the field from their first issue until 2004. We also checked cross references, references from review articles, and contacted researchers in the field. SELECTION CRITERIA RCTs were included if they were relevant to the clinical question posed, if they reported pregnancy rates as an outcome measure, and if they reported data in treated (surgical ligation or radiological embolization of the internal spermatic vein) and untreated groups. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS Nine studies met the inclusion criteria for this review. One was an extension of a previously published study (Nieschlag 1995/1998), which left eight studies for analysis (Nilsson 1979; Breznik 1993; Madgar 1995; Yamamoto 1996; Nieschlag 1995/1998; Grasso 2000; Unal 2001; Krause 2002). All eight only included men from couples with subfertility problems, one (Madgar 1995) excluded men with sperm counts <5 mill/mL, one (Krause 2002) men with sperm counts <2 mill/mL and/or progressive motility <10%, two trials involving clinical varicoceles included some men with normal semen analysis (Nilsson 1979; Breznik 1993). Three studies (Yamamoto 1996; Grasso 2000; Unal 2001) specifically addressed only men with subclinical varicoceles. Two authors independently screened potentially relevant trials. Any differences of opinion were resolved by consensus (none occurred for this review). Studies were excluded from meta-analysis if they made comparisons other than those specified above. MAIN RESULTS The combined Peto odds ratio (OR) of the eight studies is 1.10 (95%CI 0.73 to 1.68), indicating no benefit of varicocele treatment over expectant management in subfertility couples in whom varicocele in the man is the only abnormal finding. REVIEWERS' CONCLUSIONS There is no evidence that treatment of varicocele in men from couples with otherwise unexplained subfertility improves the couple's chance of conception.
Diagnosis of bowel obstruction: added value of multiplanar reformations from multidetector CT in comparison with axial planes alone.

OBJECTIVE To retrospectively assess the benefit of multiplanar reformations from multidetector CT for diagnosis of bowel obstruction in comparison with axial planes alone. MATERIAL AND METHOD Between October 2008 and May 2010, included the consecutive 75 patients/76 CT studies who underwent multidetector CT at Siriraj Hospital to rule out bowel obstruction. Fifty-seven patients of 58 studies confirmed the final diagnosis of bowel obstruction by surgical proof or obstructive symptoms relief from conservative treatments; divided into 25 small bowel and 33 large bowel obstructions. Two independent readers, blinded to diagnosis, interpreted for bowel obstruction firstly using axial slices alone, then immediately scoring MPR images including axial, coronal, sagittal, and oblique reformations from the same study. Confidence score was applied In case of radiological diagnosis of bowel obstruction, the findings of transition point, cause, severity, and complication were also evaluated. RESULTS CT diagnosis of bowel obstruction was made 54 on axial image alones and 55 on axial image plus MPR, leading to the sensitivity of 93.1% and specificity of 77.8% on the axial scans alone and the sensitivity of 94.8% and specificity of 72.2% on the axial plus MPR, respectively. The axial plus MPR images helped correct diagnosis and increased confidence score in one case of low grade, small bowel obstruction. Accuracy in diagnosis of between large bowel obstruction and small bowel obstruction was 90% and 88.5% on axial scans alone and 90% and 92.3% on axial plus MPR scans, respectively. CONCLUSION The axial scan CT is an appropriate modality for the patients suspected bowel obstruction. The authors encourage using MPR as the adjunct tool to the axial images, especially in the case suspected small bowel obstruction. MPR help increasing diagnostic confidence and confirming the findings found on axial image.
Viral Clustering: A Robust Method to Extract Structures in Heterogeneous Datasets

Cluster validation constitutes one of the most challenging problems in unsupervised cluster analysis. For example, identifying the true number of clusters present in a dataset has been investigated for decades, and is still puzzling researchers today. The difficulty stems from the high variety of the dataset characteristics. Some datasets exhibit a strong structure with a few well-separated and normally distributed clusters, but most often real-world datasets contain possibly many overlapping non-gaussian clusters with heterogeneous variances and shapes. This calls for the design of robust clustering algorithms that could adapt to the structure of the data and in particular accurately guess the true number of clusters. They have recently been interesting attempts to design such algorithms, e.g. based on involved non-parametric statistical inference techniques. In this paper, we develop Viral Clustering (VC), a simple algorithm that jointly estimates the number of clusters and outputs clusters. The VC algorithm relies on two antagonist and interacting components. The first component tends to regroup neighbouring samples together, while the second component tends to spread samples in various clusters. This spreading component is performed using an analogy with the way virus spread over networks. We present extensive numerical experiments illustrating the robustness of the VC algorithm, and its superiority compared to existing algorithms.
Genomicus 2018: karyotype evolutionary trees and on-the-fly synteny computing

Abstract Since 2010, the Genomicus web server is available online at http://genomicus.biologie. ens.fr/genomicus. This graphical browser provides access to comparative genomic analyses in four different phyla (Vertebrate, Plants, Fungi, and non vertebrate Metazoans). Users can analyse genomic information from extant species, as well as ancestral gene content and gene order for vertebrates and flowering plants, in an integrated evolutionary context. New analyses and visualization tools have recently been implemented in Genomicus Vertebrate. Karyotype structures from several genomes can now be compared along an evolutionary pathway (Multi-KaryotypeView), and synteny blocks can be computed and visualized between any two genomes (PhylDiagView).