Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Gait evaluation of race trotters using an accelerometric device

Summary Some basic stride characteristics of race trotters were measured by means of an accelerometric device during a locomotor test in order to find stride parameters, predictive for race performance. Twenty-four horses of various racing abilities were tested on the same flat racetrack. They were allocated to 3 groups according to their performance indices. The locomotor test consisted of 3 stages at increasing speeds and the third stage was performed at maximum individual speed. Basic stride variables were extracted from the acceleration data using specific procedures including built-in functions of a data analysis programme. Some significant relationships were found between stride characteristics measured at maximum individual speed and race performances obtained during the year. The maximum speed and stride length were positively correlated (r=0.60 and 0.45, P<0.05) with the performance index. The maximum stride frequency was negatively correlated with the best time (r/-0.46, P<0.05). The maximum speed, stride frequency, contribution of stride frequency to the speed and stride length were greater in the high performance group than in the other groups (P<0.05). The symmetry and regularity of the trot were not significantly related to the performance. A good performer should have a high maximum speed which is mainly produced by a high stride frequency greater than 2.40 strides/s. The accelerometric device was efficient for testing trotters and could be used to predict potential performance.
Development of Neurological Disease Is Associated with Increased Immune Activation in Simian Immunodeficiency Virus-Infected Macaques

ABSTRACT Simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) infection of macaques can result in central nervous system disorders, such as meningitis and encephalitis. We studied 10 animals inoculated with brain-derived virus from animals with SIV encephalitis. Over half of the macaques developed SIV-induced neurologic disease. Elevated levels of systemic immune activation were observed to correlate with viral RNA in the cerebral spinal fluid but not with plasma viral load, consistent with a role for SIV in the pathogenesis of neurologic disease.
Bilateral conjunctival mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma misdiagnosed as allergic conjunctivitis.

PURPOSE This report aimed to discuss two nearly identical cases of primary conjunctival mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma mimicking allergic conjunctivitis. METHODS Two patients were referred for intractability to conventional treatment of initial diagnoses of allergic conjunctivitis. On ocular examination, normally pigmented, giant papilla-like lesions were found bilaterally in the upper conjunctiva. Excisional biopsies were performed. RESULTS Histopathologic and immunohistochemical examination of the conjunctival biopsies indicated MALT lymphoma in both patients. The patients subsequently received radiation therapy and achieved complete remission with no evidence of recurrence during follow-up periods of 13 and 11 months. CONCLUSION Conjunctival low-grade lymphoma may share similar clinical features with allergic conjunctivitis. Ophthalmologists should be concerned that primary conjunctival low-grade malignant lymphoma can be misdiagnosed as allergic conjunctivitis
The Mouse Cytomegalovirus Glycoprotein m155 Inhibits CD40 Expression and Restricts CD4 T Cell Responses

ABSTRACT Cytomegaloviruses (CMV) utilize a variety of immunomodulatory strategies to facilitate the establishment of lifelong persistence in their infected hosts. We show that the mouse CMV (MCMV) m155 open reading frame (ORF) is required for the posttranscriptional inhibition of CD40 expression in infected antigen-presenting cells. Consistent with the known importance of CD40-mediated costimulation of T cells, a m155-deficient virus induces enhanced MCMV epitope-specific CD4 T cell responses.
Naturally Occurring Human Monoclonal Antibodies Neutralize both 1918 and 2009 Pandemic Influenza A (H1N1) Viruses

ABSTRACT The 2009 pandemic influenza A (H1N1) virus exhibits hemagglutinin protein sequence homology with the 1918 pandemic influenza virus. We found that human monoclonal antibodies recognized the Sa antigenic site on the head domains of both 1918 and 2009 hemagglutinins, a site that is hypervariable due to immune selection. These antibodies exhibited high potency against the 2009 virus in vitro, and one exerted a marked therapeutic effect in vivo.
Annual Review of Immunology

Review volumes on immunology can be compared with other newspapers and periodicals; they cater for readers with different tastes ranging from serious scholars of current events to those who prefer a more simplistic presentation. By this analogy, the series of Annual Reviews of Immunology is perfect for readers of 'upmarket' newspapers or even Times supplements. This is not a conclusion based on a uncritical preference for prolixity. The editors of this volume, like its predecessors, have commissioned chapters by scientists who favour reasoned arguments, unvarnished data regardless of their complexity, dispassionate synthesis and a honed, elegant economy of style. They eschew facile theories and shortcuts through the available data yet the enthusiasm is evident and infectious. This volume therefore is designed for readers who prefer solid sustenance to pap. For example it can perfectly well be tackled by doctors unversed in immunology, and not just by mature immunologists. A willingness to engage in disciplined mental concentration is a prerequisite whereas prior knowledge of the subject is not. It is not recommended to those who struggle into wakefulness only when a lecturer announces that he is just about to deliver their 'take home message'. The book is not encyclopaedic so that readers may or may not find the dish of their choice on this year's menu. There are safe offerings, such as chapters on the T cell receptor complex and immunity to HIV. But there are also unfamiliar morsels, such as contributions on the function of bone marrow stromal cells and catalytic antibodies. Nevertheless, it is still possible to browse enjoyably and profitably through this book. Brigitte Askonas' miniature autobiography makes delightful reading, with a highly salutory message for aspiring immunologists that the road to fortune starts with a grounding in biochemistry. Her piece also demonstrates that immunologists can write as clearly and lyrically as anyone. Acolytes will even find sympathy in this volume; '. currently accumulation of data is proceeding more rapidly than integration of data' declare Ullman et al. (page 441). They should also draw courage from Peter Medawar's dictum, implicit in many of this book's chapters, that the accumulation of knowledge eventually leads to simplification. Furthermore, while there are publishers still prepared to offer feasts like this at soup kitchen prices, medical and scientific readers can rejoice that philanthrophy in the cause of learning is alive and flourishing.
H2ONoC: A Hybrid Optical–Electronic NoC Based on Hybrid Topology

Next-generation chip multiprocessors will require communication performance levels that cannot be achieved by traditional electronic ON-chip interconnects. Silicon photonics has recently emerged as a promising alternative to handle future communication needs thanks to the ultrahigh bandwidth and low power consumption. Optical networks-on-chip (ONoCs) are affected by insertion loss and crosstalk noise effects, which constrain the network scalability and impact the power consumption. This paper proposes a hybrid electronic/photonic, hybrid-topology ONoC (H2ONoC), based on a novel architecture aimed at mitigating the above effects. This paper provides a thorough description of the H2ONoC architectures as well as an experimental evaluation based on both synthetic benchmarks and real-world applications. Compared with hybrid mesh- and torus-based network-on-chip architectures, H2ONoC achieves, respectively, 13% and 18% less insertion loss, 32% and 8% less energy consumption under synthetic traffic, 74% and 14% less energy consumption with real applications, as well as better SNR when the system size scales up.
Hemodynamic comparison of propofol-remifentanil and sevoflurane based anesthesia for total knee arthroplasty using tourniquet

Background: Use of pneumatic tourniquet is commonly accepted in total knee arthroplasty (TKA) to reduce perioperative blood loss. However, hemodynamic changes and cardiovascular collapse, which is caused by tourniquet, might be fatal to elderly patient. It is important to maintain the hemodynamic stability. We evaluated the effect of general anesthesia using propofol-remifentanil or sevoflurane on hemodynamic changes by using tourniquet during TKA. Methods: Thirty patients underwent TKA were randomly divided into two groups; propofol-remifentanil (n = 15) and sevoflurane (n = 15). Mean arterial blood pressure (MBP), heart rate (HR), central venous pressure (CVP), stroke volume (SV), cardiac index (CI) and systemic vascular resistance (SVR) were recorded throughout the operation. Statistical analysis was done using nonparametric test and repeated measures of ANOVA. Results: There are no differences in MBP, HR, CVP and SV between both groups during the tourniquet inflation but there are differences of CI at the 6, 9, 12 minute after the tourniquet inflation. During the tourniquet deflation, there are differences of MBP, HR between the two groups at just after, 3, 30, 45 minutes after the tourniquet deflation. But the changes of both groups are within 20% of baseline. There are no differences of CVP, SVR between the two groups during the tourniquet deflation. Conclusions: Propofol-remifentanil based anesthesia provided more stable hemodynamic conditions than sevoflurane based anesthesia, although both may be useful techniques for maintaining the hemodynamic changes within 20% of the baseline values, according to the tourniquet application in TKA.
Bias Temperature Instability Mitigation via Adaptive Cache Size Management

Bias temperature instability (BTI) is one of the major CMOS reliability issues in nanoscales. The main impact of BTI on SRAM memory cells is the degradation of the static noise margin (SNM), which leads to a higher susceptibility to failures. A variety of techniques for mitigating the impact of BTI on caches have been proposed at architecture level. However, their considerable overheads limit the application of such techniques. Recent studies showed that the utilization of the cache capacity widely varies from one workload to another and even within a workload. When cache utilization is low, for the majority of the cells, the same value is stored for a very long period, which significantly degrades SNM due to BTI. In this paper, we propose a technique to dynamically adjust the cache size according to the running workload cache requirement by monitoring the cache miss rate. The unused cache capacity is power gated to increase the energy efficiency and mitigate aging of the entire cache. The experimental results show that the proposed technique reduces hold and read SNM degradation by up to 48.1% and 33.3%, respectively, at the cost of 2.0% performance penalty.
Timing of Lower Extremity Injuries in Competition and Practice in High School Sports

Background: Laboratory-based experiments demonstrate that fatigue may contribute to lower extremity injury (LEI). Few studies have examined the timing of LEIs during competition and practice, specifically in high school athletes across multiple sports, to consider the possible relationship between fatigue and LEIs during sport events. Hypothesis: The purpose of this study was to describe the timing of LEIs in high school athletes within games and practices across multiple sports, with a hypothesis that more and severe injuries occur later in games and practices. Study Design: Descriptive epidemiologic study. Level of Evidence: Level 4. Methods: Using the National High School RIO (Reporting Information Online) sport injury surveillance system, LEI severity and time of occurrence data during practice and competition were extracted for 9 high school sports. Results: During the school years 2005-2006 through 2013-2014, 16,967,702 athlete exposures and 19,676 total LEIs were examined. In all sports surveyed, there was a higher LEI rate, relative risk for LEI, and LEI requiring surgery during competition than practice. During practice, the majority of LEIs occurred over an hour into practice in all sports. In quarter-based competition, more LEIs occurred in the second (31% to 32%) and third quarters (30% to 35%) than in the first (11% to 15%) and fourth quarters (22% to 26%). In games with halves, the majority (53% to 66%) of LEIs occurred in the second half. The greater severity LEIs tended to occur earlier in games. Conclusion: Fatigue may play a role in the predominance of injuries in the second half of games, though various factors may be involved. Greater severity of injuries earlier in games may be because of higher energy injuries when athletes are not fatigued. Clinical Relevance: These findings can help prepare sports medicine personnel and guide further related research to prevent LEIs.
Activities of ICP0 Involved in the Reversal of Silencing of Quiescent Herpes Simplex Virus 1

ABSTRACT ICP0 is a transcriptional activating protein required for the efficient replication and reactivation of latent herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1). Multiple regions of ICP0 contribute its activity, the most prominent of which appears to be the RING finger, which confers E3 ubiquitin ligase activity. A region in the C terminus of ICP0 has also been implicated in several activities, including the disruption of a cellular repressor complex, REST/CoREST/HDAC1/2/LSD1. We used quiescent infection of MRC-5 cells with a virus that does not express immediate-early proteins, followed by superinfection with various viral mutants to quantify the ability of ICP0 variants to reactivate gene expression and alter chromatin structure. Superinfection with wild-type virus resulted in a 400-fold increase in expression from the previously quiescent d109 genome, the removal of heterochromatin and histones from the viral genome, and an increase in histone marks associated with activated transcription. RING finger mutants were unable to reactivate transcription or remove heterochromatin from d109, while mutants that are unable to bind CoREST activate gene expression from quiescent d109, albeit to a lesser degree than the wild-type virus. One such mutant, R8507, resulted in the partial removal of heterochromatin. Infection with R8507 did not result in the hyperacetylation of H3 and H4. The results demonstrate that (i) consistent with previous findings, the RING finger domain of ICP0 is required for the activation of quiescent genomes, (ii) the RF domain is also crucial for the ultimate removal of repressive chromatin, (iii) activities or interactions specified by the carboxy-terminal region of ICP0 significantly contribute to activation, and (iv) while the effects of the R8507 on chromatin are consistent with a role for REST/CoREST/HDAC1/2/LSD1 in the repression of quiescent genomes, the mutation may also affect other activities involved in derepression.
Inhibition of Arenavirus by A3, a Pyrimidine Biosynthesis Inhibitor

ABSTRACT Arenaviruses merit significant interest as important human pathogens, since several of them cause severe hemorrhagic fever disease that is associated with high morbidity and significant mortality. Currently, there are no FDA-licensed arenavirus vaccines available, and current antiarenaviral therapy is limited to an off-labeled use of the nucleoside analog ribavirin, which has limited prophylactic efficacy. The pyrimidine biosynthesis inhibitor A3, which was identified in a high-throughput screen for compounds that blocked influenza virus replication, exhibits a broad-spectrum antiviral activity against negative- and positive-sense RNA viruses, retroviruses, and DNA viruses. In this study, we evaluated the antiviral activity of A3 against representative Old World (lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus) and New World (Junin virus) arenaviruses in rodent, monkey, and human cell lines. We show that A3 is significantly more efficient than ribavirin in controlling arenavirus multiplication and that the A3 inhibitory effect is in part due to its ability to interfere with viral RNA replication and transcription. We document an additive antiarenavirus effect of A3 and ribavirin, supporting the potential combination therapy of ribavirin and pyrimidine biosynthesis inhibitors for the treatment of arenavirus infections.
Killing of Avian and Swine Influenza Virus by Natural Killer Cells

ABSTRACT Today, global attention is focused on two influenza virus strains: the current pandemic strain, swine origin influenza virus (H1N1-2009), and the highly pathogenic avian influenza virus, H5N1. At present, the infection caused by the H1N1-2009 is moderate, with mortality rates of less <1%. In contrast, infection with the H5N1 virus resulted in high mortality rates, and ca. 60% of the infected patients succumb to the infection. Thus, one of the world greatest concerns is that the H5N1 virus will evolve to allow an efficient human infection and human-to-human transmission. Natural killer (NK) cells are one of the innate immune components playing an important role in fighting against influenza viruses. One of the major NK activating receptors involved in NK cell cytotoxicity is NKp46. We previously demonstrated that NKp46 recognizes the hemagglutinin proteins of B and A influenza virus strains. Whether NKp46 could also interact with H1N1-2009 virus or with the avian influenza virus is still unknown. We analyzed the immunological properties of both the avian and the H1N1-2009 influenza viruses. We show that NKp46 recognizes the hemagglutinins of H1N1-2009 and H5 and that this recognition leads to virus killing both in vitro and in vivo. However, importantly, while the swine H1-NKp46 interactions lead to the direct killing of the infected cells, the H5-NKp46 interactions were unable to elicit direct killing, probably because the NKp46 binding sites for these two viruses are different.
Study of microalbuminuria in Diabetes Type 2 patients as a marker of morbidity (A study of 100 cases in Rajkot city)

Background: - Diabetes is a stage of persistent hyperglycemia due to absolute or relative deficiency of insulin. About 20-40% of patients with type 2 diabetes develop evidence of nephropathy. Diabetic nephropathy is first recognized as proteinuria. Microalbuminuria is defined as the range in between urinary excretion of albumin of 20-200 µg/min or 30-300 mg/24 hrs with a negative dipstick test. Methods: - The study was carried out on 100 patients of diabetes type 2 having more than five years duration of diabetes in Pathology Department. Patient’s age, age at detection, sex, duration of diabetes, levels of Fasting Blood Sugar(FBS), Postprandial Blood Sugar (PP2BS), Urea, Creatinine, Cholesterol, Glycosylated Hemoglobin(HbA1C). Results: - We found prevalence of microalbuminuria in present study to be 50%. A high percentage of hypertensive patients, patients having high FBS, PP2BS, cholesterol developed microalbuminuria. The group of patients having high urea and high creatinine has higher prevalence of microalbuminuria. Higher prevalence of microalbuminuria was seen in patients having high HbA1C. Conclusion: -As it is possible to halt or delay the progression of diabetic nephropathy by the use of appropriate treatment modalities such as angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors at this stage, the study is helpful thereby in reducing morbidity and increasing life expectancy of patients with diabetes mellitus type 2.
Human Parvovirus B19 Infection Causes Cell Cycle Arrest of Human Erythroid Progenitors at Late S Phase That Favors Viral DNA Replication

ABSTRACT Human parvovirus B19 (B19V) infection has a unique tropism to human erythroid progenitor cells (EPCs) in human bone marrow and the fetal liver. It has been reported that both B19V infection and expression of the large nonstructural protein NS1 arrested EPCs at a cell cycle status with a 4 N DNA content, which was previously claimed to be “G2/M arrest. ” However, a B19V mutant infectious DNA (M20mTAD2) replicated well in B19V-semipermissive UT7/Epo-S1 cells but did not induce G2/M arrest (S. Lou, Y. Luo, F. Cheng, Q. Huang, W. Shen, S. Kleiboeker, J. F. Tisdale, Z. Liu, and J. Qiu, J. Virol. 86:10748–10758, 2012). To further characterize cell cycle arrest during B19V infection of EPCs, we analyzed the cell cycle change using 5-bromo-2′-deoxyuridine (BrdU) pulse-labeling and DAPI (4′,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole) staining, which precisely establishes the cell cycle pattern based on both cellular DNA replication and nuclear DNA content. We found that although both B19V NS1 transduction and infection immediately arrested cells at a status of 4 N DNA content, B19V-infected 4 N cells still incorporated BrdU, indicating active DNA synthesis. Notably, the BrdU incorporation was caused neither by viral DNA replication nor by cellular DNA repair that could be initiated by B19V infection-induced cellular DNA damage. Moreover, several S phase regulators were abundantly expressed and colocalized within the B19V replication centers. More importantly, replication of the B19V wild-type infectious DNA, as well as the M20mTAD2 mutant, arrested cells at S phase. Taken together, our results confirmed that B19V infection triggers late S phase arrest, which presumably provides cellular S phase factors for viral DNA replication.
Complete Genome Sequence of a Velogenic Neurotropic Avian Paramyxovirus 1 Isolated from Peacocks (Pavo cristatus) in a Wildlife Park in Pakistan

ABSTRACT Avian paramyxovirus serotype 1 (APMV-1) was isolated from an acute and highly contagious outbreak in peacocks (Pavo cristatus) in a wildlife park in Pakistan. A velogenic neurotropic form of APMV-1 caused a 100% case fatality rate and killed 190 peacocks within a week. Biological and serological characterizations showed features of a velogenic strain of APMV-1, and these results were further confirmed by sequence analysis of the cleavage site in the fusion protein. The complete genome of one of the isolates was sequenced, and phylogenetic analysis was conducted. The analysis showed that this isolate belonged to genotype VII, specifically, to subgenotype VIIa, and clustered closely with isolates characterized from Indonesia in the 1990s. Interestingly, the isolate showed significant differences from previously characterized APMV-1 isolates from commercial and rural chickens in Pakistan. The work presented here is the first complete genome sequence of any APMV-1 isolate from wild birds in the region and therefore highlights the need for increased awareness and surveillance in such bird species.
Distance Measurement in Panorama

Computing world distances of scene features from the captured images is a common task in image analysis and scene understanding. Previous projective geometry based methods focus on measuring distance from one single image. Hence, the scope of measurable scene is limited by the field-of-view (FOV) of one single camera. In this paper, we propose one method of measuring distances of line segments in real world scene using panorama representation. With a full view panorama, the scope of measurable scene is increased and can fully cover the sphere of 360 times 360 FOV. With panorama representation, distance of long-range features, which can not be fully captured by a single image, can be measured from the panoramic image. A prototype system called PanoMeasure is developed for enabling user to interactively measure the distances of line segments. Experiments with simulated data and real measurement results verify that the method offers high accuracy.