Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Initial experience with a new epidermal harvesting system: overview of epidermal grafting and case series.

INTRODUCTION Skin grafts have long been an important tool in reconstructive surgery. However, traditional autografts have several disadvantages, including the need for a surgical procedure with anesthesia, creation of a second wound at the donor site, difficulty in obtaining uniform graft thickness, scarring, and pain. Epidermal skin grafts offer an alternative to split- and full-thickness skin grafts in that only the epidermal skin layer is removed at the donor site, resulting in minimal to no bleeding, minimal scarring and donor site pain, improved cosmetic outcome, and no need for anesthesia. Although epidermal grafts have been successfully used for many decades in treating pigmentation disorders, its expanded use for wounds has been limited largely due to lack of a reliable method of harvesting patient epidermal skin. We present our experience using a new automated, epidermal harvesting system to harvest epidermal grafts in patients with multiple comorbidities; an overview of the history and mechanisms of epidermal grafting is included to help inform clinical practice. The epidermal harvesting system applies heat and suction concurrently to normal skin to induce epidermal microdome formation within 30 to 45 minutes, and harvested epidermal grafts are transferred to recipient sites via a film dressing. In this patient series, donor sites healed completely without scarring within one to two weeks. Complete re-epithelialization occurred in three of four wounds, and 50% re-epithelialization occurred in one wound. New technology in epidermal grafting offers a simple, relatively quick, low-risk option that can be performed by a non-surgically trained clinician in an outpatient setting. New technology in epidermal grafting offers a simple, relatively quick, low-risk option that can be performed by a non-surgically trained clinician in an outpatient setting.
Characterization of a Family of Nucleolar SUMO-specific Proteases with Preference for SUMO-2 or SUMO-3*

SUMOylation is a reversible process regulated by a family of sentrin/SUMO-specific proteases (SENPs). Of the six SENP family members, except for SENP1 and SENP2, the substrate specificities of the rest of SENPs are not well defined. Here, we have described SENP5, which has restricted substrate specificity. SENP5 showed SUMO-3 C-terminal hydrolase activity but could not process pro-SUMO-1 in vitro. Furthermore, SENP5 showed more limited isopeptidase activity in vitro. In vivo, SENP5 showed isopeptidase activity against SUMO-2 and SUMO-3 conjugates but not against SUMO-1 conjugates. Native SENP5 localized mainly to the nucleolus but was also found in the nucleus. The N terminus of SENP5 contains a stretch of amino acids responsible for the nucleolar localization of SENP5. N-terminal-truncated SENP5 co-localized with PML, a known SUMO substrate. Using PML SUMOylation mutants as model substrates, we showed that SENP5 can remove poly-SUMO-2 or poly-SUMO-3 from the Lys160 or Lys490 positions of PML. However, SENP5 could not remove SUMO-1 from the Lys160 or Lys490 positions of PML. Nonetheless, SENP5 could remove SUMO-1, -2, and -3 from the Lys65 position of PML. Thus, SENP5 also possesses limited SUMO-1 isopeptidase activity. We were also able to show that SENP3 has substrate specificity similar to that of SENP5. Thus, SENP3 and SENP5 constitute a subfamily of SENPs that regulate the formation of SUMO-2 or SUMO-3 conjugates and, to a less extent, SUMO-1 modification.
Eine Softdrinksteuer zur fiskalischen Konsumsteuerung

Weltgesundheitsorganisation (WHO) einen Bericht vorgestellt, in dem sie eine 20%-ige Steuer auf zuckergesuste Getranke empfiehlt (WHO 2016). Zuletzt hat Grosbritannien die Einfuhrung einer solchen Abgabe im Haushalt 2016 beschlossen und erwartet, nebst Einnahmen von 520 Millionen Pfund im ersten Jahr, einen deutlichen Ruckgang des Ubergewichts (HM Treasury 2016). Ob eine solche fiskalische Konsumsteuerung tatsachlich zu einer gesunderen Ernahrung fuhrt, hangt von mehreren Faktoren ab: Wie stark reagiert die Nachfrage nach Softdrinks auf eine Preisanderung? Wie wirkt sich die Steuer auf die Nachfrage nach anderen gesunden oder ungesunden Gutern aus? Wird die Steuerlast starker von Produzenten oder Konsumenten getragen? Dieser Text fasst den aktuellen Forschungsstand im Hinblick auf diese und weitere Fragen zusammen.
AVANCES Finite Element Modelling in Premolar Teeth

A three-dimensional finite element model was developed using the ABAQUS code to characterize dental systems in their different functional conditions, geometry and loading modes.The outputs of the model were used to evaluate quantitatively the magnitude and distribution of the stress-strain-displacement relations in sound (drilled and enamel crown) and restored with prefabricated intrarradicular posts (conical and cylindrical) premolar teeth specimens.Under the same loading and boundary conditions, differences in stresses, displacements and elastic strains were observed for drilled, enamel crown, conical and cylindrical post teeth specimens. It was found that the cylindrical glass fiber post geometry minimizes much better the stress, displacement and elastic strain magnitude in premolar teeth.The results indicate that the finite element methodology is adequate and convenient for stress, displacement and strain assessment in orthodontics.
Fonction d'influence pour la reconstruction de phylogénies robustes

Les arbres phylogenetiques sont une bonne facon de representer les liens de parente entre especes et sont couramment utilises dans de nombreux domaines de la biologie: genomique comparative, epidemiologie, biologie de la conservation, etc. Pour toutes ces applications, l'arbre reconstruit doit etre le plus proche possible du vrai arbre. A erreur de reconstruction donnee, l'arbre doit en particulier etre le plus robuste possible. Une source majeure de non robustesse est la contamination du jeu de donnees par des donnees aberrantes. En consequence, detecter et isoler les donnees aberrantes constitue une strategie qui permet de robustifier l'arbre. Nous montrons ici comment les fonctions d'influence empirique permettent de detecter les donnees influentes, susceptibles d'etre aberrantes, et comment supprimer les donnees les plus exceptionnelles permet de reconstruire un arbre robuste. L'application a deux jeux de donnees (mammiferes a placentas et zygomycetes) montre que la reconstruction par maximum de vraisemblance n'est pas robuste aux donnees aberrantes et que la suppression des quelques donnees les plus influentes ameliore sensiblement la robustesse de l'arbre reconstruit.
Tracking control for a non-holonomic car-like robot using dynamic feedback linearization based on piecewise bilinear models

We propose a dynamic feedback linearization of a car-like robot as a non-holonomic system with a piecewise bilinear (PB) model. The approximated model is fully parametric. Input-output (I/O) dynamic feedback linearization is applied to stabilize PB control system. We also apply a method for a tracking control based on PB models to the car-like robot. Although the controller is simpler than the conventional I/O feedback linearization controller, the control performance based on PB model is the same as the conventional one. Examples are shown to confirm the feasibility of our proposals by computer simulations.
Paraperlucidibaca wandonensis sp. nov., isolated from seawater, and emended description of the genus Paraperlucidibaca Oh et al. 2011.

A Gram-stain-negative, aerobic, motile and rod-shaped bacterial strain, designated WT-RY4(T), was isolated from wood falls in the South Sea, South Korea, and its taxonomic position was investigated using a polyphasic approach. Strain WT-RY4(T) grew optimally at 25 °C, at pH 7.0-7.5 and in the absence of NaCl. A neighbour-joining phylogenetic tree based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain WT-RY4(T) clustered with the type strain of Paraperlucidibaca baekdonensis with a bootstrap resampling value of 100 %. Strain WT-RY4(T) exhibited 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity values of 98.8 % and 96.3 % to Paraperlucidibaca baekdonensis RL-2(T) and Perlucidibaca piscinae IMCC 1704(T), respectively and less than 91.5 % to the type strains of other species used in the phylogenetic analysis. The DNA G+C content of strain WT-RY4(T) was 52.4 mol% and the mean DNA-DNA relatedness value with Paraperlucidibaca baekdonensis RL-2(T) was 25 %. Strain WT-RY4(T) contained Q-11 as the predominant ubiquinone and summed feature 3 (C16 : 1ω7c and/or C16 : 1ω6c), C16 : 0 and C12 : 0 3-OH as the major fatty acids. Differential phenotypic properties, together with the phylogenetic and genetic distinctiveness, demonstrated that strain WT-RY4(T) was distinguishable from Paraperlucidibaca baekdonensis RL-2(T). On the basis of the data presented, strain WT-RY4(T) is considered to represent a novel species of the genus Paraperlucidibaca, for which the name Paraperlucidibaca wandonensis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is WT-RY4(T) ( = KCTC 32216(T) = CCUG 63419(T)). An emended description of the genus Paraperlucidibaca is also provided.
Abnormal mitochondrial respiration in failed human myocardium.

Chronic heart failure (HF) is associated with morphologic abnormalities of cardiac mitochondria including hyperplasia, reduced organelle size and compromised structural integrity. In this study, we examined whether functional abnormalities of mitochondrial respiration are also present in myocardium of patients with advanced HF. Mitochondrial respiration was examined using a Clark electrode in an oxygraph cell containing saponin-skinned muscle bundles obtained from myocardium of failed explanted human hearts due to ischemic (ICM, n=9) or idiopathic dilated (IDC, n=9) cardiomyopathy. Myocardial specimens from five normal donor hearts served as controls (CON). Basal respiratory rate, respiratory rate after addition of the substrates glutamate and malate (V(SUB)), state 3 respiration (after addition of ADP, V(ADP)) and respiration after the addition of atractyloside (V(AT)) were measured in scar-free muscle bundles obtained from the subendocardial (ENDO) and subepicardial (EPI) thirds of the left ventricular (LV) free wall, interventricular septum and right ventricular (RV) free wall. There were no differences in basal and substrate-supported respiration between CON and HF regardless of etiology. V(ADP)was significantly depressed both in ICM and IDC compared to CON in all the regions studied. The respiratory control ratio, V(ADP)/V(AT), was also significantly decreased in HF compared to CON. In both ICM and IDC, V(ADP)was significantly lower in ENDO compared to EPI. The results indicate that mitochondrial respiration is abnormal in the failing human heart. The findings support the concept of low myocardial energy production in HF via oxidative phosphorylation, an abnormality with a potentially impact on global cardiac performance.
Cerebral perfusion during anesthesia with fentanyl, isoflurane, or pentobarbital in normal rats studied by arterial spin‐labeled MRI

The influence of anesthetic agents on cerebral blood flow (CBF) was tested in normal rats. CBF is quantified with arterial spin‐labeled MRI in rats anesthetized with either an opiate (fentanyl), a potent inhalation anesthetic agent (isoflurane), or a barbiturate (pentobarbital) using doses commonly employed in experimental paradigms. CBF values were found to be about 2.5–3 times lower in most regions analyzed during anesthesia with either fentanyl (with N2O/O2) or pentobarbital vs. isoflurane (with N2O/O2), in agreement with findings utilizing invasive measurement techniques. CBF was heterogeneous in rats anesthetized with isoflurane (with N2O/O2), but relatively homogeneous in rats anesthetized with either fentanyl (with N2O/O2) or pentobarbital, also in agreement with studies using other techniques. Magn Reson Med 46:202–206, 2001. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Transformation of hematopoietic cell lines to growth‐factor independence and induction of a fatal myelo‐ and lymphoproliferative disease in mice by retrovirally transduced TEL/JAK2 fusion genes

Recent reports have demonstrated fusion of the TEL gene on 12p13 to the JAK2 gene on 9p24 in human leukemias. Three variants have been identified that fuse the TEL pointed (PNT) domain to (i) the JAK2 JH1‐kinase domain, (ii) part of and (iii) all of the JH2 pseudokinase domain. We report that all of the human TEL/JAK2 variants, and a human/mouse chimeric hTEL/mJAK2. (JH1) fusion gene, transform the interleukin‐3 (IL‐3)‐dependent murine hematopoietic cell line Ba/F3 to IL‐3‐independent growth. Transformation requires both the TEL PNT domain and JAK2 kinase activity. Furthermore, all TEL/JAK2 variants strongly activated STAT 5 by phosphotyrosine Western blots and by electrophoretic mobility shift assays (EMSA). Mice (n = 40) transplanted with bone marrow infected with the MSCV retrovirus containing either the hTEL/mJAK2. (JH1) fusion or its human counterpart developed a fatal mixed myeloproliferative and T‐cell lymphoproliferative disorder with a latency of 2‐10 weeks. In contrast, mice transplanted with a TEL/JAK2 mutant lacking the TEL PNT domain (n = 10) or a kinase‐inactive TEL/JAK2. (JH1) mutant (n = 10) did not develop the disease. We conclude that all human TEL/JAK2 fusion variants are oncoproteins in vitro that strongly activate STAT 5, and cause lethal myelo‐ and lymphoproliferative syndromes in murine bone marrow transplant models of leukemia.
Praiseworthiness: Predictors of Positive Interpersonal Judgments

Deterministic attitudes, information about a person's background, one's perceived similarity to a target person, and attributions of effort and ability may affect praiseworthiness. Two vignette studies with college student participants were conducted to consider this issue. Based on regression analyses, attributing achievement to effort was the strongest predictor of praiseworthiness across both studies. In addition, evidence for an augmenting effect of an impoverished background on praiseworthiness was found. In the first study, perceived similarity to the target individual and religious-philosophical determinism were also predictors of praiseworthiness, while belief in free will predicted praiseworthiness in the second study. Judgments of praiseworthiness may be tied to a number of factors; among the most important of these are overcoming an impoverished childhood background and the attributed effort required for success.
Unobtrusive Recognition of Personality Traits with Health Impact: A Literature Review with a Focus on Conscientiousness and Neuroticism

Non communicable diseases (NCDs) impose the greatest burden on global health. Any technology that helps making treatment more effective or efficient can potentially benefit humanity at a grand scale. Health information technology (HIT) has been identified as offering such potential, and indeed, existing HIT-based interventions are targeting NCD-related specific diseases such as diabetes, asthma, or mental illness. Rather generic determinants impacting health outcomes are the personality traits conscientiousness and neuroticism. We argue in this article that HIT-based interventions can benefit from an unobtrusive recognition of conscientiousness and neuroticism, both for tailoring interventions and for the adaptation of these traits. We conducted a systematic literature review to identify relevant behavioral features representing conscientiousness and neuroticism. Overall, 17 out of 262 articles have been found to be relevant for this purpose. We found that for conscientiousness, features relating to media consumption (video) and creation (photo) were highly relevant, as well as features related to communication style (use of negations), and features relating to the behavior of social contacts and variety of balancedness of relationships. For neuroticism, we found that features relating to the use of words of certain classes (religion, hearing) were particularly relevant, as well as variation in message length across contacts, and communication style (use of exclamation marks). This work concludes with an outlook on future research.
OpenSG: a scene graph system for flexible and efficient realtime rendering for virtual and augmented reality applications

This work covers the problems of scene graph systems. Currently used systems like Open Inventor or OpenGL Performer cover current and coming developments only partially. The work is concerned with three main parts: Extensibility, Parallelisation and Graphics Hardware Abstraction. Extensibility is a central problem given the quickly changing requirements posed by new applications. To support it new mechanisms are developed that allow dynamically extending the system. This concerns object creation as well as manipulation of objects, which is done via a reflectivity concept. The active components of the system, the traversals, have also been embedded into a new, extensible concept. Parallel processing is gaining importance due to the latest developments in processor and system architectures. In a VR application there are a number of independent tasks which can be executed in parallel and which access and anipulate the scene graph's data. To protect these from each other each task needs a private copy of the data. Using an appropriate synchronisation of accesses this division could be achieved using minimal memory overhead while allowing fast access and easy distribution of data between threads. Graphics hardware abstraction is forced by the growing diversification in the graphics board market. At the same time algorithms to create real time displays are moving further and further away from the classic, simple approaches and switch to using multiple stages and/or passes to create the final image. To give an application a usable access to these features without burdening it with too many details an extensible method to encapsulate the OpenGL state has mbeen developed, which together with a new structure called DrawTree is used optimize and abstract the display tasks. The central algorithms and methods developed in this work have been implemented in the free OpenSG system (www.opensg.org). It is used and enhanced by a number of universities and research institutes.
Measured performance of GSM, HSCSD and GPRS

In this paper we present results of measurements on the performance of GSM HSCSD and GPRS data transmission. We used a measurement tool that we have developed to study the performance of various wireless links as perceived by nomadic applications using TCP. The results show that in stationary connections the throughput and response time are stable and, in general, close to the theoretical values. However, the throughput and response time vary a lot when connections are used in motion. One of the reasons is that TCP is not capable to adapt itself properly to the variability of QoS of HSCSD and GPRS, and therefore, it does a lot of unnecessary retransmissions causing performance slowdown. The performance of HSCSD is better than the performance of GPRS. Reliability is adequate in stationary connections, but in moving connections there are unwanted disconnections or long pauses in data transfer.
Complications of endoscopic biliary sphincterotomy.

A BSTRACT Background Endoscopic sphincterotomy is commonly used to remove bile-duct stones and to treat other problems. We prospectively investigated risk factors for complications of this procedure and their outcomes. Methods We studied complications that occurred within 30 days of endoscopic biliary sphincterotomy in consecutive patients treated at 17 institutions in the United States and Canada from 1992 through 1994. Results Of 2347 patients, 229 (9.8 percent) had a complication, including pancreatitis in 127 (5.4 percent) and hemorrhage in 48 (2.0 percent). There were 55 deaths from all causes within 30 days; death was directly or indirectly related to the procedure in 10 cases. Of five significant risk factors for complications identified in a multivariate analysis, two were characteristics of the patients (suspected dysfunction of the sphincter of Oddi as an indication for the procedure and the presence of cirrhosis) and three were related to the endoscopic technique (difficulty in cannulating the bile duct, achievement of access to the bile duct by “precut” sphincterotomy, and use of a combined percutaneous–endoscopic procedure). The overall risk of complications was not related to the patient’s age, the number of coexisting illnesses, or the diameter of the bile duct. The rate of complications was highest when the indication for the procedure was suspected dysfunction of the sphincter of Oddi (21.7 percent) and lowest when the indication was removal of bile-duct stones within 30 days of laparoscopic cholecystectomy (4.9 percent). As compared with those who performed fewer procedures, endoscopists who performed more than one sphincterotomy per week had lower rates of complications (8.4 percent vs. 11.1 percent, P 0.03). Conclusions The rate of complications after endoscopic biliary sphincterotomy can vary widely in different circumstances and is primarily related to the indication for the procedure and to endoscopic technique, rather than to the age or general medical condition of the patient. (N Engl J Med 1996;335:909-18.)
Renal dysfunction and 30-day mortality risk in patients with acute stroke

Background: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) and stroke constitute worldwide public health problems with rising incidence, prevalence and poor outcomes. While the link between renal dysfunction and myocardial infarction is well established, the link with stroke has been less well investigated. In this study, the prevalence and prognostic implication of renal dysfunction in patients admitted with acute stroke was assessed. Methods: This was a prospective observational study of 130 patients with first-ever stroke admitted within 7 days of stroke onset and followed up for 30 days. The study outcome measure was 30-day mortality. Stroke subtype was verified by a computerized tomography (CT) scan of the brain. Estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) was calculated from serum creatinine using the 4-variable Modification of Diet in Renal Disease (MDRD) equation. Renal dysfunction was defined as eGFR 70 years, haemorrhagic stroke subtype, CNS score 7.8 mmol/L. Conclusions: Renal dysfunction is common among adult Nigerian patients with acute stroke. Both reduced eGFR and proteinuria were independent predictors of 30-day mortality in these patients.
Coelenterazine (Marine Bioluminescent Substrate): A Source of Inspiration for the Discovery of Novel Antioxidants

Coelenterazine and derivatives were initially considered in the scientific community for their (bio)luminescent properties. Now, another interest of such hetero-bicycles has been pointed out by the discovery of remarkable antioxidative properties, and an unique mode of action as a “cascade”: the mother-compound (imidazolopyrazinone) is transformed by ROS into a daughter-compound (2-amino-pyrazine) also endowed with antioxidative properties. This review illustrates the therapeutic potential of synthetic imidazolopyrazinones (coelenterazine analogues): chemical reactivity assays with singulet oxygen, radical anion superoxide, peroxynitrite, and radicals formed during lipid and LDL peroxidation, cellular tests of protection against oxidative stress using keratinocyte, hepatocyte, neuronal and erythrocyte cells, and finally in vivo evaluation in a hamster model of ischemia-reperfusion, are fully described.