Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Reduction of hypotensive side effects during online-haemodiafiltration and low temperature haemodialysis.

BACKGROUND This study compares the effect of online-haemodiafiltration (o-HDF, post-dilution mode) with conventional haemodialysis (HD) and 'temperature-controlled' HD (Temp-HD) on the haemodynamic stability of hypotension-prone patients. METHODS Seventeen patients with a history of frequent hypotensive episodes during dialysis sessions were studied, each patient serving as his or her own control. The first 25 HD treatments in comparison with 25 o-HDF sessions were evaluated using identical dialysate temperature. In the second part of the study, o-HDF (n = 25) was compared with Temp-HD (n = 25). In the latter method, the temperature of the dialysate was adjusted to result in identical energy transfer rates to those in the corresponding o-HDF. The number of hypotensive episodes, blood temperature and blood volume regulation were assessed. RESULTS Symptomatic hypotension was much more frequent during HD (40%) than during o-HDF (4%) (P < 0.001). During o-HDF, an enhanced energy loss within the extracorporeal system occurred (o-HDF, 16.6 +/- 4.0 W; HD, 5.4 +/- 5.1 W; P < 0.0001), despite identical temperature settings for dialysate and substitution fluid. As a result, the blood returning to the patient was cooler during o-HDF than during HD (o-HDF 35 +/- 0.2 degrees C vs HD 36.5 +/- 0.3 degrees C; P < 0.0001). In o-HDF, even in the patients' circulation, the mean blood temperature was lower (o-HDF 36.7 +/- 0.2 degrees C vs HD 36.9 +/- 0.3 degrees C; P < 0.0001) and blood volume was significantly more reduced (o-HDF, 91.8 +/- 3.1%; HD, 94.0 +/- 3.2%; P < 0.05). Energy transfer rates and blood temperature did not differ significantly between o-HDF and Temp-HD. The rate of hypotensive episodes was low and not different between o-HDF (4%) and Temp-HD (4%). Neither was there any significant difference in blood volume reduction. CONCLUSIONS O-HDF showed a significant reduction of hypotensive episodes compared with HD. Surprisingly, o-HDF resulted in cooling of the blood via enhanced thermal energy losses within the extracorporeal system, despite use of replacement fluid prepared from pre-warmed dialysate. The incidence of symptomatic hypotension was reduced to that of o-HDF by using cooler Temp-HD. Thus, unexpected blood cooling appears to be the main blood pressure-stabilizing factor in o-HDF.
Insights from natural history collections: analysing the New Zealand macroalgal flora using herbarium data

Abstract Herbaria and natural history collections (NHC) are critical to the practice of taxonomy and have potential to serve as sources of data for biodiversity and conservation. They are the repositories of vital reference specimens, enabling species to be studied and their distribution in space and time to be documented and analysed, as well as enabling the development of hypotheses about species relationships. The herbarium of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa (WELT) contains scientifically and historically significant marine macroalgal collections, including type specimens, primarily of New Zealand species, as well as valuable exsiccatae from New Zealand and Australia. The herbarium was initiated in 1865 with the establishment of the Colonial Museum and is the only herbarium in New Zealand where there has been consistent expert taxonomic attention to the macroalgae over the past 50 years. We examined 19,422 records of marine macroalgae from around New Zealand collected over the past 164 years housed in WELT, assessing the records in terms of their spatial and temporal coverage as well as their uniqueness and abundance. The data provided an opportunity to review the state of knowledge of the New Zealand macroalgal flora reflected in the collections at WELT, to examine how knowledge of the macroalgal flora has been built over time in terms of the number of collections and the number of species recognised, and identify where there are gaps in the current collections as far as numbers of specimens per taxon, as well as with respect to geographical and seasonal coverage.
Ear recognition using pyramid histogram of orientation gradients

Ear recognition Is still a standing problem In biometrics and has become an open research area in recent years. In this paper, we explore a new local feature extraction technique pyramid histogram of oriented gradients (PHOG) to represent ear images. However, the PHOG descriptor of the ear image is significantly large. To reduce the dimension of the PHOG descriptor, linear discriminant analysis (LDA) has been used to remove noise and avoid over fitting. Finally, the discriminant features are classified using nearest neighbor classifier. The PHOG has inherent properties to efficiently handle the problems of change in pose and partial occlusion of the ear images. The results of the proposed method are evaluated using two public ear databases, namely IIT Delhi ear database and University of Notre Dame ear database (Collections E). Our method with reduced features using LDA offers promising results and largely improves the recognition accuracy over existing methods.
SEMEN PRODUCTION AND PRODUCTIVE LIFE OF SAHIWAL BULLS: RELATIONSHIP WITH GENETIC WORTH

Objective of the present study was to document the semen producing ability, productive life and genetic ability for lactation milk yield of Sahiwal bulls used for artificial insemination (AI) in Punjab and to find the impact of AI bulls on the improvement of Sahiwal cattle. Data from Semen Production Unit (SPU), Qadirabad, Sahiwal, Pakistan were used for this purpose. A repeatability animal model was used for estimation of breeding values for lactation milk yield. Productive life of a bull was calculated as a difference between culling age and the age at first ejaculation. Number of bulls brought to SPU varied from 9 to 102 for any year. Average number of doses of semen produced by any bull for a year varied from 724 to 5745. On the average, 238 bulls produced 17143 ± 1164 semen doses during their average stay of 5.4 ± 0.2 years. About 50% of the bulls stayed for less than four years at the SPU; with a maximum range of 14 years. Progeny tested bulls (n=90) produced 5000 and 10000 semen doses (Y) in three and four years of stay (X), respectively (Y = 24.8 + 2.3635 X - 0.0112 X 2 ). To produce 20,000 doses, it is predicted that bulls need to stay for six and a half years at the SPU. There was no association between breeding values for lactation milk yield estimated under a repeatability animal model (EBVs) and number of semen doses produced (r = 0.17) and EBVs and number of daughters. Lack of genetic superiority of bulls used indicated that AI did not bring desired genetic improvement in Sahiwal cattle in the present situation. Modifications for judicious utilization of bulls are suggested along with improvements in data recording.
Monitoring Electoral Violence through Social Media: A Machine Learning Approach

In recent years, there has been a growing research interest in social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, which have been shown to be influential in reporting news and events around the world [1]. Twitter is a communication platform allowing users to report and comment on a wide range of topics, including political events. Indeed, both citizens and politicians are increasingly embracing social media to disseminate information and comment on various topics particularly during significant political events and campaigns [2]. The conduct of regular, peaceful, and democratic elections is a central aim to a just and fair society. Unfortunately, electoral malpractice and violence continue to persist across a number of countries, preventing the consolidation of the democratic process. In this paper, we develop upon existing information retrieval and text classification approaches to develop effective classifiers that can detect electoral violence incidents from the users’ posts and discussion in Twitter. In particular, we create a large test collection by collecting and monitoring tweets pertaining to the Venezuela parliamentary election in 2015. Using state-of-the-art machine learning approaches, we develop a new text classifier tailored to the detection of electoral malpractice and violence, and demonstrate its effectiveness on the aforementioned 2015 Venezuela election test collection.
Dynamics of a Resistive Sheet Pinch

The dynamic evolution and the saturated state of a long sheet pinch subject to growth of resistive tearing modes was investigated by numerical solution of the 2D MHD equations. Both the compressible and the incompressible equations were used, and the difference is found to be negligible. The necessity of considering a resistive equilibrium is stressed. The paper concentrates on a static equilibrium maintained by an external electric field and requiring a special distribution of the resistivity η. In addition the dynamics of the resistivity plays an important part. Assuming η to be time independent, the sheet pinch develops a number of soliton-like magnetic islands, which coalesce. The final state consists of a single soliton, while the generation of further sol-itons is inhibited by a strong shear flow allong the current sheet. When allowance is made for parallel diffusion of the resistivity such that η is essentially a flux function, the final state is quite different. Here the longest wavelength dominates, leading to a single, large island and completely destroying the original sheet pinch
The Benefits of Large-Scale Attenuation over the Antenna Array in Massive MIMO Systems

Massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) is a potential candidate key technology for the fifth generation of wireless communication systems. In previous research, different power loss and shadowing effects on different individual antenna elements have been neglected. When characterizing the channel of a massive MIMO system and investigating the system performance, the large scale attenuation (LSA) over the antenna array has not been previously considered. In this paper, based on our proposed accurate geometrical propagation model, the spectral efficiency (in terms of bits/s/Hz sum-rate) result of maximal ratio combining (MRC) detection is investigated. From the simulation results, we find that the sum-rate performance for the MRC detection of our proposed more realistic channel model exceeds the results using the conventional model (where the LSA effect is not included). This proposed model LSA model is beneficial and informative for the research, design, and evaluation of the next generation of wireless communication systems employing massive MIMO configurations.
Predictive current control implementation in the sensorless induction motor drive

A speed sensorless control system for an induction motor with predictive current controller is presented. The whole control does not require measurements of the motor speed and motor flux. A closed loop observer system with robustness against parameters variation is used for the control approach. The proposed observer computes the required state variables correctly in wide frequency range. In the system predictive current controller based on the computation of back electromagnetic force by the observer is implemented. In case of motor choke use, the choke parameters are added to predictive current controller algorithm. It is shown that the choke inductance has to be taken into account in predictive controller. The whole proposed control idea makes the system practically insensitive to the changes of motor parameters, even at very low frequency. It is proved that the drive system is applicable to the high dynamic performance and wide range of rotor speed. The description of test bench is included. The obtained simulation and experimental results confirm the good properties of the proposed speed sensorless induction motor drive.
Axonal calcium entry during fast ‘sodium’ action potentials in rat cerebellar Purkinje neurones.

1. Using laser‐scanning confocal microscopy, fast Ca2+ transients were recorded in individual not yet myelinated axons of Purkinje neurones in cerebellar slices from young rats. Axonal Ca2+ transients could be detected during a single action potential and had progressively larger amplitudes when the number of action potentials was increased. 2. Under voltage‐clamp conditions, axonal Ca2+ transients were as large as those observed in dendrites and in the cell body. Axonal Ca2+ transients were completely blocked by 100 nM of the neurotoxin omega‐agatoxin IVA, indicating that they were caused by Ca2+ entry through P‐type voltage‐gated Ca2+ channels. 3. In conclusion, our results demonstrate action potential‐mediated Ca2+ entry through voltage‐gated Ca2+ channels in axons of cerebellar Purkinje neurones. Experimental evidence indicates that the resulting transient Ca2+ accumulations regulate the frequency of action potentials travelling along the axon.
Mutation screening of the 3q29 microdeletion syndrome candidate genes DLG1 and PAK2 in schizophrenia

Deletion of chromosome 3q29, which is associated with mental retardation and autism, was recently identified as being present in excess or occurring de novo in schizophrenia cases, being present in approximately 1/1,000 cases and 1/40,000 unscreened controls. Of the ∼20 genes in the commonly deleted region two are prominent candidates for involvement in the behavioral features of the microdeletion syndrome: DLG1 and PAK2. We report the result of mutation screening of the entire protein coding sequence of both genes in a sample of 234 unrelated cases and 272 unrelated controls from the UK. We find no evidence for any amino acid changing genetic variants in PAK2. We observe several rare and singleton non‐synonymous genetic variations at DLG1, however there is no excess of these variants in cases when compared to controls. Our sample was underpowered to detect very rare or low‐penetrance disease relevant alleles in the studied genes. Therefore very rare, low‐to‐moderate penetrance protein coding mutations or non‐coding mutations at DLG1 and/or PAK2, or a nearby gene, may reproduce the behavioral characteristics of the 3q29 microdeletion. © 2011 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Research on System Virtualization using Xen Hypervisor for ARM based secure mobile phones

Mobile phones became the prevailing application in embedded devices. As its market is getting bigger, its security is becoming an important issues. Xen as a virtualization technology could be one of its solutions with domain protection mechanism. Recently, Xen community released the interesting patch that supports mobile devices based on ARM architecture. This seminar paper deals with this patch known as Xen-On-ARM, as well as its background, related work, and future work.
Freeze dried plasma and fresh red blood cells for civilian prehospital hemorrhagic shock resuscitation

BACKGROUND The last decade of military trauma care has emphasized the role of blood products in the resuscitation of hemorrhaging patients. Damage-control resuscitation advocates decreased crystalloid use and reintroduces blood components as primary resuscitative fluids. The systematic use of blood products have been described in military settings, but reports describing the use of freeze dried plasma (FDP) or red blood cells (RBCs) in civilian prehospital care are few. We describe our preliminary results after implementing RBCs and FDP into our Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS). METHODS We collected data on the use of FDP (LyoPlas N–w (AB)) during a 12-month period from May 31, 2013, to May 30, 2014, before RBC (0Rh (D) negative) introduction in June 2014. FDP and RBCs were indicated in trauma and medical patients presenting with clinical significant hemorrhage on scene. Data were obtained from HEMS registry and patient records. RESULTS Our preliminary results show that FDP was used in 16 patients (88% males) during the first year. Main patient categories were blunt trauma (n = 5), penetrating trauma (n = 4), and nontrauma (n = 7). Ten patients (62%) were hypotensive with systolic blood pressures less than 90 mm Hg on scene. The majority (75%) received tranexamic acid. Of 14 patients admitted to the hospital, 11 received emergency surgery and 8 needed additional transfusions within the first 24 hours. No transfusion-related complications were recorded. Two of the FDP patients died on scene, and the remaining 14 patients were alive after 30 days. Early results from the recent introduction of RBC show that RBCs were given to four patients. Two patients (one penetrating trauma and one blunt trauma patient) died on scene because of exsanguination, while additional two patients (one blunt trauma patient and one with ruptured aortic aneurism) survived to hospital discharge. CONCLUSION Our small study indicates that introduction of FDP into civilian HEMS seems feasible and may be safe and that logistical and safety issues for the implementation of RBCs are solvable. FDP ensures both coagulation factors and volume replacement, has a potentially favorable safety profile, and may be superior to other types of plasma for prehospital use. Further prospective studies are needed to clarify the role of FDP (and RBCs) in civilian prehospital hemorrhagic shock resuscitation and to aid the development of standardized protocols for prehospital use of blood products. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE Therapeutic study, level V.
A static RAM says goodbye to data errors [radiation induced soft errors]

The sensitivity of memory cells to soft errors is directly related to the cell's capacitance: the smaller the capacitance, the greater the sensitivity. In concept, the approach taken by STMicroelectronics is a simple one. It is to add two extra capacitors to each memory cell. With capacitors, one on each side of the cell, which have a value of about 35 fF, much larger than that of the cell, it is made practically immune to soft errors. To save space, these capacitors were stacked on top of transistors. Under test, they found that the produced SRAM was completely immune to soft errors caused by alpha particles, and, when biased at 1.2 V, 250 times less sensitive than conventional SRAMs to soft errors from neutrons - a rate acceptable to the semiconductor industry.
Oral Cancer: An Evaluation of Knowledge and Awareness in Undergraduate Dental Students and the General Public.

PURPOSE To evaluate the knowledge of signs, symptoms and risk factors associated with oral cancer amongst undergraduate dental students and members of the general public. MATERIALS AND METHODS This study was open for a period of six months (Jan-June, 2013) to all undergraduate dental students in the 4th and 5th year of the dental science programme and dental patients attending the School of Dentistry, Griffith University, Australia. The survey evaluated the knowledge and awareness of clinical signs and symptoms and risk factors of oral cancers. RESULTS A total of 100 undergraduate students and 150 patients provided informed consent and participated in this survey study. Both patients and dental students were aware of the importance of early detection of oral cancer. With the exception of smoking and persistent ulceration, this study indicated that the knowledge about oral cancer, its signs, symptoms and risk factors was limited amongst participants. CONCLUSION This study highlights the need to raise awareness and knowledge pertaining to oral cancer, not only in the general community but also amongst those in the dental field. Specific points of concern were the common intraoral sites for oral cancer, erythroplakia as a risk factor, the synergistic action of smoking and alcohol, and HPV (human papilloma virus) as risk factors for oral cancer.
L'engagement politique des jeunes allemands

Le desinteret pour la politique ou l’engagement politique et l’individualisation sont les etiquettes que l’on utilise frequemment pour caracteriser la participation politique des jeunes en Allemagne. Cependant, les analyses empiriques laissent apparaitre une image plus complexe : le desir fondamental de s’engager et d’exprimer ses opinions politiques reste eleve. De plus, les jeunes utilisent de nombreuses occasions pour faire passer leurs messages politiques, bien que le plus souvent il s’agisse d’activites ponctuelles. La participation a des organisations traditionnelles comptant des adherents est nettement plus rare et tend a decroitre. D’autre part, les groupes des nouveaux mouvements sociaux beneficient d’une sympathie et d’un engagement a peu pres stables. Les modes de participation different selon les sexes, le niveau d’education, ainsi qu’entre les anciens et les nouveaux Lander de la Republique federale d’Allemagne. En placant la comparaison entre l’Ouest et l’Est dans une perspective europeenne, on voit apparaitre des relations complexes entre les cultures politiques institutionnalisees des nations et les modeles de participation des jeunes Allemands.
Muscle-Specific Signaling Mechanism That Links Actin Dynamics to Serum Response Factor

ABSTRACT Myocardin and the myocardin-related transcription factors (MRTFs) MRTF-A and MRTF-B are coactivators for serum response factor (SRF), which regulates genes involved in cell proliferation, migration, cytoskeletal dynamics, and myogenesis. MRTF-A has been shown to translocate to the nucleus and activate SRF in response to Rho signaling and actin polymerization. Previously, we described a muscle-specific actin-binding protein named striated muscle activator of Rho signaling (STARS) that also activates SRF through a Rho-dependent mechanism. Here we show that STARS activates SRF by inducing the nuclear translocation of MRTFs. The STARS-dependent nuclear import of MRTFs requires RhoA and actin polymerization, and the actin-binding domain of STARS is necessary and sufficient for this activity. A knockdown of endogenous STARS expression by using small interfering RNA significantly reduced SRF activity in differentiated C2C12 skeletal muscle cells and cardiac myocytes. The ability of STARS to promote the nuclear localization of MRTFs and SRF-mediated transcription provides a potential muscle-specific mechanism for linking changes in actin dynamics and sarcomere structure with striated muscle gene expression.
Cutting Edge: Altered Pulmonary Eosinophilic Inflammation in Mice Deficient for Clara Cell Secretory 10-kDa Protein1

Clara cell secretory protein (CC10) is a steroid-inducible protein, and its in vivo function is currently unclear. The role of CC10 in modulation of pulmonary allergic inflammation was examined in mice deficient for the CC10 gene. Wild-type and homozygous CC10-deficient mice were sensitized with an Ag, OVA, and challenged with either OVA or saline. When compared with that seen in wild-type mice, a significantly higher level of pulmonary eosinophilia was found in Ag-sensitized and challenged CC10-deficient mice. Significantly increased levels of Th2 cytokines IL-4, IL-5, IL-9, and IL-13 were also found in CC10-deficient mice. In addition, an increased level of eotaxin, but not RANTES, was also seen in CC10-deficient mice. No significant difference was observed in the level of a Th1 cytokine, IFN-γ, between different groups of mice. These results provided the first in vivo evidence that CC10 plays a role in the modulation of pulmonary allergic inflammation.