Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Transcriptomic Analysis in Strawberry Fruits Reveals Active Auxin Biosynthesis and Signaling in the Ripe Receptacle

The role of auxin in ripening strawberry (Fragaria ×ananassa) fruits has been restricted to the early stages of development where the growth of the receptacle is dependent on the delivery of auxin from the achenes. At later stages, during enlargement of the receptacle, other hormones have been demonstrated to participate to different degrees, from the general involvement of gibberellins and abscisic acid to the more specific of ethylene. Here we report the involvement of auxin at the late stages of receptacle ripening. The auxin content of the receptacle remains constant during ripening. Analysis of the transcriptome of ripening strawberry fruit revealed the changing expression pattern of the genes of auxin synthesis, perception, signaling and transport along with achene and receptacle development from the green to red stage. Specific members of the corresponding gene families show active transcription in the ripe receptacle. For the synthesis of auxin, two genes encoding tryptophan aminotransferases, FaTAA1 and FaTAR2, were expressed in the red receptacle, with FaTAR2 expression peaking at this stage. Transient silencing of this gene in ripening receptacle was accompanied by a diminished responsiveness to auxin. The auxin activity in the ripening receptacle is supported by the DR5-directed expression of a GUS reporter gene in the ripening receptacle of DR5-GUS transgenic strawberry plants. Clustering by co-expression of members of the FaAux/IAA and FaARF families identified five members whose transcriptional activity was increased with the onset of receptacle ripening. Among these, FaAux/IAA11 and FaARF6a appeared, by their expression level and fold-change, as the most likely candidates for their involvement in the auxin activity in the ripening receptacle. The association of the corresponding ARF6 gene in Arabidopsis to cell elongation constitutes a suggestive hypothesis for FaARF6a involvement in the same cellular process in the growing and ripening receptacle.
Hb A2-Tianhe (HBD: c.323G>A): First Report in a Chinese Family with Normal Hb A2-β-Thalassemia Trait

Abstract Coinheritance of δ-globin variants along with β-globin gene defects can interfere with correct diagnosis of β-thalassemia (β-thal) trait. In this report, we present the coinheritance of a δ-globin variant, Hb A2-Tianhe [δ107(G9)Gly→Asp; HBD: c.323G>A] and a heterozygous β-thal in a Chinese individual with microcytosis, hypochromia and a normal Hb A2 level.
Performance Evaluation of Blas on the Trident Processor

Different subtasks of an application usually have different computational, memory, and I/O requirements that result in different needs for computer capabilities. Thus, the more appropriate approach for both high performance and simple programming model is designing a processor having multi-level instruction set architecture (ISA). This leads to high performance and minimum executable code size. Since the fundamental data structures for a wide variety of existing applications are scalar, vector, and matrix, our research Trident processor has three-level ISA executed on zero-, one-, and two-dimensional arrays of data. These levels are used to express a great amount of fine-grain data parallelism to a processor instead of the dynamical extraction by a complicated logic or statically with compilers. This reduces the design complexity and provides high-level programming interface to hardware. In this paper, the performance of Trident processor is evaluated on BLAS, which represent the kernel operations of many data parallel applications. We show that Trident processor proportionally reduces the number of clock cycles per floating-point operation by increasing the number of execution datapaths.
Factors associated with functional impairment of elderly patients in the emergency departments

ABSTRACT Objective: To assess the functional capacity of elderly patients in the emergency department as to Basic and Instrumental Activities of Daily Living. Methods: A cross-sectional study of 200 elderly patients admitted to the emergency department of a teaching hospital in São Paulo (SP), Brazil. The functional capacity of the elderly was assessed by the Katz index and Lawton & Brody scale. Statistical analyses were performed using analysis of variance, Bonferroni correction, χ2 test, or the likelihood ratio test. Results: Most seniors were independent (65%), and the degree of dependence was related to age, female gender, being single and widowed, and presence of cerebrovascular disease and dementia. The more dependent elderly for Instrumental Activities of Daily Living had increased dependence for Basic Activities. Conclusion: We emphasize the importance of assessing the functional capacity of the elderly in the emergency department as it provides data for the nursing care in order to minimize or to avoid their functional impairment.
Occurrence and progression of dementia in a community population aged 75 years and older: relationship of antihypertensive medication use.

OBJECTIVE To examine whether antihypertensive medication use can affect the occurrence and progression of dementia. SUBJECTS AND METHODS In a community cohort of 1810 persons aged 75 years and older, 225 prevalent cases of dementia were detected. Among the 1301 persons without dementia, 224 incident cases of dementia were identified during an average period of 3 years. Among the 225 prevalent cases of dementia, 79 were suitable for the analysis of cognitive decline. Information on drug use was collected for the 2 weeks preceding the baseline interview. RESULTS Subjects taking antihypertensive medication (n = 651, 83.9% of whom took diuretics) had a lower prevalence of dementia than those not taking antihypertensive medication (P<.001). Subjects without dementia who were taking antihypertensive medication at baseline (n = 584) had a reduced incidence of dementia (adjusted relative risk, 0.7; 95% confidence interval, 0.6-1.0; P = .03). Furthermore, subjects taking diuretics (n = 484) had an adjusted relative risk of 0.7 (95% confidence interval, 0.5-1.0; P = .02) for all dementia, and subjects taking diuretic monotherapy (n = 345) had an adjusted relative risk of 0.6 (95% confidence interval, 0.4-0.9; P = .006). The use of other antihypertensive medication (calcium antagonists or beta-blockers), however, was related to a reduced risk of Alzheimer disease (adjusted relative risk, 0.6; 95% confidence interval, 0.3-1.2) only in the subpopulation with a higher baseline blood pressure (n = 458). Patients with dementia at baseline who were not taking diuretics had a 2-fold faster rate of decline in the score on the Mini-Mental State Examination than those taking diuretics. CONCLUSION The use of diuretics may protect against dementia in elderly persons.
Plus d’un tiers des CDI sont rompus avant un an

Le contrat de travail a duree indeterminee (CDI) est la forme largement dominante de la relation de travail entre un employeur et un salarie. Il n’est pas forcement synonyme de stabilite de la relation d’emploi. Ainsi, dans les douze premiers mois d’un CDI, le risque de rupture est relativement eleve : 36,1 % des CDI conclus en 2011 ont ete rompus avant leur premier anniversaire, proportion en hausse de 2,5 points par rapport aux recrutements en CDI de 2007. Le premier motif de rupture d’un CDI dans sa premiere annee est la demission : 16,1 % des embauches en CDI effectuees en 2011 ont ete resiliees moins d’un an plus tard pour ce motif. Le deuxieme motif de rupture est la fin de la periode d’essai, qui explique l’interruption de 12,7 % des CDI moins d’un an apres leur signature. La probabilite qu’un CDI soit rompu avant son premier anniversaire est tres variable d’un secteur a l’autre. Elle est maximale dans le secteur de l’hebergement et de la restauration ou elle atteint 58,6 %. Elle varie aussi selon l’âge et la categorie socioprofessionnelle : chez les salaries de 15 a 24 ans, la probabilite qu’un CDI soit rompu avant un an est de 45,6 %, contre moins de 35 % pour les autres classes d’âge. Enfin, la majorite des CDI des employes peu qualifies sont resilies en moins d’un an. Le risque de rupture d’un nouveau CDI est particulierement eleve au cours des trois premiers mois : 10 % des CDI conclus en 2011 ont dure moins d’un mois et 19,6 % moins de trois mois.
The Teaching-Learning-Lab - Digital Literacy and Computational Thinking for Everyone

As advancement of the already successful Informatics Lab in 2016 a Teaching-Learning-Lab (TLL) was implemented with the main aim of supporting all teacher education departments of our university to teach and practice digital literacy and computational thinking as “fundamental skill for everyone” (Wing, 2006) in different ways. Our support is based on three pillars: equipment, know-how and research. Scientists, (future) teachers and students can use the rooms (creative, experimental and observation lab), the technical equipment and instructional technology for planning, designing, holding and/or observing and analyzing teaching units. We offer workshops for digital literacy and computational thinking in and for different subjects. Our main research focuses on the connection of computational thinking to other disciplines and its impact on problem solving and text comprehension. Furthermore, the Teaching-Learning-Lab offers research possibilities for scientists and students in different areas concerning teaching and learning. We enhance cooperation between schools and university and give support in finding research questions for master or PhD-theses in didactics, conducting teaching experiments. The paper describes challenges and opportunities of the Teaching-Learning-Lab in fostering the digital literacy competences and computational thinking of
A novel compact circularly polarized horn antenna

A novel circularly polarized horn antenna with wide bandwidth and compact size is presented. The antenna is composed of an ellipse-aperture horn antenna, circular-to-square transition and novel circularly polarizer. The polarizer consists of five-step septum in a square waveguide, coaxial-waveguide converter and reflecting back-cavity. The antenna achieves an impedance bandwidth (S11<;-10dB) of 22.1% and a 3-dB AR (Axial Ratio) bandwidth of 18.3%, with the 3dB-AR beam width of about 138°, and the antenna gain is over 10.5dBi in the operation band.
Suppression of a pro-apoptotic K+ channel as a mechanism for hepatitis C virus persistence

An estimated 3% of the global population are infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV), and the majority of these individuals will develop chronic liver disease. As with other chronic viruses, establishment of persistent infection requires that HCV-infected cells must be refractory to a range of pro-apoptotic stimuli. In response to oxidative stress, amplification of an outward K+ current mediated by the Kv2.1 channel, precedes the onset of apoptosis. We show here that in human hepatoma cells either infected with HCV or harboring an HCV subgenomic replicon, oxidative stress failed to initiate apoptosis via Kv2.1. The HCV NS5A protein mediated this effect by inhibiting oxidative stress-induced p38 MAPK phosphorylation of Kv2.1. The inhibition of a host cell K+ channel by a viral protein is a hitherto undescribed viral anti-apoptotic mechanism and represents a potential target for antiviral therapy.
Surgical factors influence bladder cancer outcomes: a cooperative group report.

PURPOSE A randomized, cooperative group trial (Southwest Oncology Group 8710, Intergroup 0080) reported that neoadjuvant chemotherapy improved the survival of patients with locally advanced bladder cancer who were treated with radical cystectomy. We evaluated whether surgical factors from patients enrolled onto the study predicted bladder cancer outcomes. PATIENTS AND METHODS Surgical and tumor factors were recorded from surgical and pathologic reports from 268 patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer who received radical cystectomy. Cystectomies were performed by 106 surgeons in 109 institutions. Half of the patients received neoadjuvant methotrexate, vinblastine, doxorubicin, and cisplatin (MVAC) chemotherapy. Variables were tested in univariate and multivariate analyses for associations with postcystectomy survival (PCS) and local recurrence (LR) in all patients receiving cystectomy. RESULTS Five-year PCS and LR rates were 54% and 15%, respectively. A multivariate model adjusted for MVAC (P =.97), age (P =.03), pathologic stage (P =.0002), and node status (P =.04) showed that surgical variables associated with longer PCS were negative margins (v positive; hazard ratio [HR], 0.37; P =.0007), and > or = 10 nodes removed (v < 10; HR, 0.51; P =.0001). These associations did not differ by treatment arms (P >.21 for all tests of interactions between treatment and surgical variables). Predictors of LR in a multivariate model adjusted for MVAC (P =.16), pathologic stage (P =.02), and node status (P =.37) were positive margins (v negative; odds ratio [OR], 11.2; P =.0001) and fewer than 10 nodes removed (v > or = 10; OR, 5.1; P =.002). CONCLUSION Surgical factors influence bladder cancer outcomes after cystectomy, after adjustment for pathologic factors and neoadjuvant chemotherapy usage.
Kostholdsfaktorer relatert til vellykket vekttap 4 år etter gastric bypass operasjon

Bakgrunn: Mange gastric bypass opererte pasienter starter a ga opp i vekt etter maksimalt oppnadd vekttap cirka 2 ar etter operasjon. Arsakene til en slik vektoppgang er ikke fullstendig kartlagt, men flere faktorer har blitt foreslatt. Det har imidlertid blitt gjennomfort fa studier for a finne kostholdsfaktorer relatert til vektoppgang etter gastric bypass operasjon i den perioden de fleste starter a ga opp i vekt. Kostholdsfaktorer som har blitt foreslatt a vaere relatert til vektoppgangen er okt energiinntak og darlig kvalitet pa kostholdet karakterisert av for hoyt inntak av snacks, sotsaker og fettrik mat. Kostholdet bor undersokes naermere for a kunne gi bedre veiledning og pa denne maten forebygge for stor vektoppgang og tilbakekomst av komorbiditeter hos gastric bypass opererte pasienter. Hovedhensikt: Undersoke kostholdsfaktorer som kan vaere relatert til vellykket vekttap hos Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) opererte, samt undersoke kostholdsendringer fra 2 til 4 ar etter operasjon. Metode: En randomisert kontrollert intervensjonsstudie ble gjennomfort i perioden 2008-2012. Pasienter operert med RYGB (n=165) i perioden januar 2006 til juni 2009 ble cirka 2 ar postoperativt randomisert til to ars livsstilsintervensjon eller til dagens oppfolgingsregime pa Oslo universitetssykehus, Aker. Av disse fullforte 142 pasienter studien. Det ble tatt antropometriske malinger pa alle deltakerne som fullforte studien, og kostholdet ble registrert bade ved studiestart (2 ar etter operasjon) og studieslutt (4 ar etter operasjon). I tillegg ble kroppsmasseindeks (KMI) og tap av overvekt i prosent (% EWL) beregnet. Etter innhenting av data fra 2 og 4 ar etter RYGB operasjon, ble deltakerne delt inn i to grupper etter prosenttap av overvekt (% EWL) 4 ar etter RYGB operasjon. Den ene gruppen (n=100) besto av deltakere med vellykket vekttap (% EWL ≥ 50 %) og den andre gruppen (n=42) besto av deltakere med ikke vellykket vekttap (% EWL < 50 %). Deretter ble energiinntak, inntak av energigivende naeringsstoffer og relevante matvarer kartlagt for begge gruppene. Videre ble det undersokt om det var en signifikant forskjell mellom gruppene 2 og 4 ar postoperativt, og om det var signifikante endringer innad i hver gruppe fra 2 til 4 ar etter operasjon. Resultater: Mer enn halvparten av deltakerne (70 %) oppnadde vellykket vekttap 4 ar postoperativt. Preoperativ KMI var 42,6 kg/m2 og 44,9 kg/m2 hos henholdsvis gruppen med vellykket vekttap og gruppen med ikke vellykket vekttap. To ar etter operasjon var KMI redusert til 28,8 kg/m2 og 34,6 kg/m2, og etter 4 ar var KMI signifikant okt til henholdsvis 29,5 kg/m2 og 37,3 kg/m2 i de to gruppene. Det var en brattere oppgang i KMI hos gruppen med ikke vellykket vekttap enn hos gruppen med vellykket vekttap. Gruppen med ikke vellykket vekttap hadde ogsa et signifikant hoyere inntak av energi- og energiprosent fra tilsatt sukker enn gruppen med vellykket vekttap, 4 ar etter operasjon. Dette var reflektert i matvarevalget. Gruppen med ikke vellykket vekttap hadde et…
A built-in self-test and self-diagnosis scheme for heterogeneous SRAM clusters

Testing and diagnosis are important issues in system-on-chip (SoC) development, as more and more embedded cores are being integrated into the chips. In this paper we propose a built-in self-test (BIST) and self-diagnosis (BISD) scheme for embedded SRAMs, suitable for SoC applications. It supports manufacturing test as well as diagnosis for design verification and yield improvement. With low hardware cost, our memory BISD approach can handle various types of SRAM, including pipelined, multi-port, and multi-clock architectures. In addition, a test scheduling methodology and a BISD compiler are also implemented, which reduce the testing time as well as test development time.
Rapid detection of methicillin-resistant staphylococci by multiplex PCR.

A multiplex PCR was developed to detect the coagulase gene (coa; pathognomic of Staphylococcus aureus) and the mecA gene (characteristically encoding for methicillin resistance in staphylococci) in a single, rapid test. Suitable primers for the gene targets and an internal, amplification control were incorporated into a multiplex PCR assay, which was then optimized on a capillary air thermal cycler to improve the turnaround time of the test to approximately 1.5 hours. The assay was evaluated with 111 fresh clinical isolates of staphylococci. The multiplex PCR correctly distinguished between isolates of S. aureus, which were sensitive to methicillin (MSSA) and those resistant to it (MRSA). It also correctly differentiated between similar isolates of coagulase negative staphylococci (MSSE and MRSE respectively). It was concluded that this multiplex PCR was a rapid and reliable method for the detection of methicillin-resistant staphylococci.
Proteína C reactiva ultrasensible (PCR-us) como marcador de riesgo de enfermedad cardiovascular

La importancia de los factores de riesgo clasicos ha sido demostrada para el desarrollo de la enfermedad cardiovascular. Aun asi, se han identificado nuevos factores de riesgo, llamados factores de riesgo emergentes, que optimizan el manejo y la deteccion del riesgo cardiovascular y en consecuencia benefician la poblacion con mas programas eficientes de prevencion. Para mejorar la prediccion del riesgo cardiovascular, la comunidad cientifica ha centrado su interes en la determinacion de la proteina C reactiva ultrasensible (PCR-us), como un marcador de inflamacion, puesto que diferentes estudios epidemiologicos prospectivos han demostrado su utilidad en la prediccion de la incidencia de algunas enfermedades cardiovasculares, tales como infarto agudo de miocardio, accidente cerebrovascular y enfermedad vascular periferica. Adicionalmente, varias investigaciones de los ultimos anos han mostrado la participacion de diferentes celulas y moleculas de la respuesta inmune, como mediadores de la lesion vascular relacionada con la ateroesclerosis. La proteina C reactiva es una proteina de fase aguda que ha sido clasicamente considerada como un marcador de inflamacion. Bajo condiciones normales, su sintesis hepatica es menor a 1 mg/L, la cual se ve incrementada en una persona que desarrolla un proceso inflamatorio o infeccioso. Esta elevacion puede ser hasta de 100 veces el valor normal durante las primeras 24 a 48 horas y se mantiene asi por varios dias. Se ha demostrado que la PCR-us brinda informacion en cada uno de los niveles de riesgo cardiovascular de acuerdo a la escala de Framingham; niveles de PCR-us menores a 1 mg/L, entre 1 y 3 mg/L, y mayores a 3 mg/L, corresponden al riesgo cardiovascular bajo, medio y alto, respectivamente. El valor predictor de la PCR-us se incrementa cuando es evaluado en asociacion con el perfil lipidico y se realiza una correlacion apropiada. (AU)
Use of script concordance test to assess pharmaceutical diabetic care: a pilot study in Thailand

The script concordance (SC) test is an assessment tool designed to probe whether knowledge of examinees is efficiently organized for clinical actions. The aim of this study was to develop an SC test, and determine whether it could be used to differentiate novices from expert pharmacists in their ability to carry out clinical actions in the area of diabetes mellitus. The SC test was developed and validated according to guidelines proposed previously. Data analysis was performed using a post-hoc test and ANOVA. The test developed had 31 items. Participants included 54 students, six new graduates, and 16 clinical pharmacists. Average scores and standard deviations for students, new graduates and clinical pharmacists were 18.54 (2.90), 20.27(1.42) and 21.09(2.89), respectively. The group differences were significant (p < 0.05). It is concluded that the SC test could accurately differentiate examinees according to levels of experience. It could be a useful tool to measure students’ progress in the area of diabetes mellitus.
Capuchin Monkeys (Cebus capucinus) and the Ancient Maya

Abstract Two genera of nonhuman primates that include howler monkeys (Alouatta palliata and Alouatta pigra) and spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi) currently are located throughout the Maya region. It has been suggested that the Classic Maya associated these monkeys, especially howler monkeys, with the arts. This view is exemplified in the Popol Vuh and in depictions of monkey-man scribes on Late Classic (c. a.d. 550–900) ceramics. This paper provides evidence that a third genus, the capuchin monkey (Cebus capucinus), is also located in the southern Maya region and may have extended as far north as Belize within the last century. Supporting data are drawn from historic accounts, artifact and faunal analysis, and linguistic data. It is also proposed, based on an interspecific comparison of morphological and behavioral characteristics, that capuchin monkeys rather than howler monkeys are the animals represented in depictions of monkey scribes.
Siblings of children with a chronic illness: a meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE To review the literature pertaining to the siblings of children with a chronic illness. METHODS Fifty-one published studies and 103 effect sizes were identified and examined through meta-analysis. RESULTS We found (1) a modest, negative effect size statistic existed for siblings of children with a chronic illness relative to comparison participants or normative data; (2) heterogeneity existed for those effect sizes; (3) parent reports were more negative than child self-reports; (4) psychological functioning (i.e., depression, anxiety), peer activities, and cognitive development scores were lower for siblings of children with a chronic illness compared to controls; and (5) a cluster of chronic illnesses with daily treatment regimes was associated with negative effect statistics compared to chronic illnesses that did not affect daily functioning. CONCLUSIONS More methodologically sound studies investigating the psychological functioning of siblings of children with a chronic illness are needed. Clinicians need to know that siblings of children with a chronic illness are at risk for negative psychological effects. Intervention programs for the siblings and families of children with a chronic illness should be developed.
Low eddy current RF shielding enclosure designs for 3T MR applications

Magnetic resonance–compatible medical devices operate within the MR environment while benefitting from the superior anatomic information of MRI. Avoiding electromagnetic interference between such instrumentation and the MR system is crucial. In this work, various shielding configurations for positron emission tomography (PET) detectors were studied and analyzed regarding radiofrequency (RF) shielding effectiveness and gradient‐induced eddy current performances. However, the results of this work apply to shielding considerations for any MR‐compatible devices.