Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect in a Rat Model of Heparinized Peritoneal Dialysis Catheters on Bacterial Colonization and the Healing of the Exit Site

We performed a prospective, double-blind, randomized study to evaluate whether stable surface heparinization of silicone peritoneal dialysis (PD) catheters prevents bacterial colonization or biofilm formation and improves healing of the exit site. Heparinized catheters were implanted in 20 Sprague–Dawley rats (group H) and non heparinized catheters in another 20 (group C). The PD catheters, constructed of silicon tubing with two polyester cuffs, were patterned after the standard Tenckhoff catheter. A covalent multipoint method of attachment onto polymeric surfaces was used for stable, permanent chemical immobilization of heparin on the PD catheter. Dialysis exchanges (25-mL instillation volume) were performed twice daily for 4 weeks through the permanent catheter. Prophylactic antibiotics were not used. The exit sites were evaluated at 2-week intervals. The extent of biofilm coverage on the intraperitoneal portion of the catheter (obtained at the end of the experiment) was assessed, and sonicated fluid from the catheter tip was cultured for evaluating bacterial colonization of the catheter. Exit-site scores in group H were lower than in group C (p = 0.052) at the end of week 4. Bacterial colonization tended to be less common in group H [2 of 12 catheters (17%)] than in group C [8 of 15 catheters (53%); p = 0.058], but the extent of biofilm, the peritonitis rate, and the inflammation score of tissue adjacent to the cuff were not different between the groups. Those data suggest that heparinized PD catheters can be a practical approach to the prevention of bacterial colonization and can improve healing of the exit site.
Ten-year patterns of alcohol consumption and drinking problems among older women and men.

AIMS This study focused on changes in 10-year patterns of alcohol consumption among older women and men, late-life and life history predictors of drinking problems, and gender differences in these predictors. DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS A sample of late-middle-aged community residents (N = 1291) who had consumed alcohol in the past year or shortly before was surveyed at baseline and 1 year, 4 years and 10 years later. MEASUREMENTS At each contact point, participants completed an inventory that assessed their alcohol consumption, drinking problems and health-related and life context factors. Participants also provided information about their life history of drinking. RESULTS Over the 10 years, the proportion of individuals who consumed alcohol declined. Among individuals who continued to drink, women and men showed comparable declines in alcohol consumption, minor concomitants of alcohol consumption and drinking problems. In addition to the amount of alcohol consumption, smoking, friends' approval of drinking and avoidance coping consistently predicted late-life drinking problems. With respect to life history factors, heavy drinking, drinking problems and increased drinking in response to life events were related to a higher likelihood of late-life drinking problems; obtaining help from family members and friends and, among men, participation in Alcoholics Anonymous, were related to a lower likelihood of problems. CONCLUSION Older women and men show comparable declines in alcohol consumption and drinking problems. Specific late-life social context and coping variables, and life history indices, are risk factors for late-life drinking problems among both women and men.
Ambient air pollution and hypertensive disorder of pregnancy

Background Ambient air pollution has been implicated in the development of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP). However, evidence of the association between air pollution and HDP is still limited, and the effects of gaseous air pollutants on HDP and their time windows of exposure have not been well studied. Methods We used the Florida birth registry data to investigate the associations between air pollutants (NO2, SO2, PM2.5, O3 and CO) and the risks of HDP in 22 041 pregnant women in Jacksonville, Florida, USA from 2004 to 2005. Further, we examined whether air pollution exposure during different time windows defined by trimesters and the entire pregnancy had different effects on HDP. Results The single-pollutant logistic regression model showed that exposure to four pollutants during the full pregnancy period was significantly associated with prevalence of HDP after adjusting for covariates: NO2 (OR=1.21, 95% CI 1.09 to 1.35), PM2.5 (OR=1.24, 95% CI 1.08 to 1.43), SO2 (OR=1.13, 95% CI 1.01 to 1.25) and CO (OR=1.12, 95% CI 1.03 to 1.22) per IQR increase. Similar effects were observed when first trimester exposure to NO2, SO2 and CO, and second trimester exposures to PM2.5 were examined. Consistent results were confirmed in multiple-pollutant models. Conclusions This study suggests that exposure to high levels of air pollution during early pregnancy and the full gestational period was associated with increased prevalence of HDP in Florida, USA.
SOME DISTASTEFUL ASIAN PAPILIONINAE (PAPILIONIDAE)

Western Himalayan populations of three Asiatic Papilio L. species appear to be distasteful in varying degrees to birds. These include the polymorphic Papilio polytes L. which was considered a classic Batesian mimic of distasteful Pachliopta Reakirt. The Indian population of polytes, with three female forms, is a case of sympatric polymorphism in a distasteful species with warning coloration. Additional key words: Müllerian mimicry; Papilio; polymorphic model
UC-HCC Submission to Thumos 2014

We basically use a Bag-of-Words framework. We compute the improved dense trajectories to compute Fisher vectors that serve as features. Using the training videos, we compute a mapping function which we conjecture to contain the principal information about each ac- tion. Given a temporally untrimmed video, we project it's feature along this mapping. The transformed features are passed to 1-vs all SVM clas- siers framework to get the prediction score of each actions in the given video clip.
mmWave MIMO channel sounding for 5G

Since 5G expects using mmWave frequency band, the mmWave channel sounding system, which are used to characterise the various mmWave wireless channel models, these days, become a very hot topic for 5G. In this paper, we mainly focus on how to setup mmWave MIMO channel sounding system with commercial instruments to fulfill the 6 major technical challenges foresee in 5G as well as focusing on the main channel measurement requirements: · The use of mmWave frequency band · The use of ultra-broad bandwidth · The use of massive MIMO. Then we provide our considerations on how to best address these technical challenges based on the last generation of mmWave/microwave instrumentation, measurement techniques and capabilities. At last, we propose a reference prototype system design for 5G mmWave MIMO channel sounding system, the functionalities and where performance of the prototype system are discussed.
On witnessed models in fuzzy logic

Witnessed models of fuzzy predicate logic are models in which each quantified formula is witnessed, i.e. the truth value of a universally quantified formula is the minimum of the values of its instances and similarly for existential quantification (maximum). Systematic theory of known fuzzy logics endowed with this semantics is developed with special attention paid to problems of arithmetical complexity of sets of tautologies and of satisfiable formulas. (© 2007 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
On residual stresses in arteries.

In the study of vascular elasticity the unloaded state (one with zero transmural pressure and zero axial load) is commonly used as the reference state in which stresses and strains are considered as zero everywhere. Strains at loaded states are defined with respect to this state. Stress-strain relationships are identified under the assumption that the vessel wall is stress-free at this unloaded state. Evidence of the existence of residual stresses in the arterial wall at the unloaded state is given in Fung [4]. With a longitudinal cut along the vessel wall the unloaded specimen springs open and its cross section becomes a sector. The opening angle of the vessel wall is time-dependent after the sudden relief of the initial residual stress. It shows that the artery is not stress-free at the unloaded state. It is important to identify the stress-free state. When we use pseudoelasticity [3] to characterize the arterial wall, we need a stress-free state as the reference state for strain measurements. Correspondingly, we also want to define stress with respect to this same reference state so that we can relate stresses to strains easily. Presence of the residual stress at the unloaded tube state will certainly affect the evaluation of stress distribution in the arterial wall due to actual loadings in the physiological range. In this note we present a method to describe the geometry of the opened-up stress-free state of the artery, which is taken to be the reference state. An algorithm is outlined for the identification of the stress-strain relationship of the arterial wall. Residual stresses, and strains in the unloaded tube are evaluated. With the consideration of residual stresses the stress distributions due to loadings in the physiological range are also evaluated.
Effects of aqueous leaf extracts of Azadirachta indica A. Juss. (neem) and Melia azedarach L. (Santa Barbara or cinnamon) on the intracellular development of Toxoplasma gondii

Melia azedarach (cinnamon) and Azadirachta indica (neem) have a variety of biologically active ingredients against virus, bacteria and protozoan parasites; however, little is known about their action on Toxoplasma gondii intracellular development. Toxoplasma gondii infects all eukaryotic cells, where it establishes and multiplies inside a modified vacuole called the parasitophorous vacuole until the cell ruptures, re-infecting other cells and establishing the infection. There are no efficient chemotherapies for the elimination of T. gondii, minimizing side effects. In this study, we performed in vitro assays with neem and cinnamon aqueous extracts against the intracellular development of T. gondii tachyzoites. After treatment with neem and cinnamon for 24 h, the percentage of infected cells and the number of intracellular parasites drastically decreased. This effect was concentration-dependent. During the incubation of the extracts, progressive morphological and ultrastructure alterations led to intense vesiculation and complete elimination of the parasite from the intracellular medium. However, during the treatment with extracts, no morphological effects were observed in the structure of the host cell. These results suggest that the aqueous extracts of neem and cinnamon were capable of interfering with and eliminating the intracellular development of Toxoplasma gondii.
Is the HemK Family of Putative S‐Adenosylmethionine‐Dependent Methyltransferases a “Missing” zeta Subfamily of Adenine Methyltransferases? A Hypothesis

Previous comparative studies revealed close similarity among various groups of S‐adenosyl‐L‐methionine (AdoMet)‐dependent methyltransferases (MTases), indicating their common evolutionary origin. We present evidence for a remarkable similarity between the sequence and predicted structure of HemK (a widespread family of putative proteins encoded in genomes from bacteria to humans) and the catalytic domain of the gamma‐subfamily of adenine‐specific DNA MTases (N6mA MTases). We predict the structure and function of the putative catalytic domain of HemK proteins and speculate that the target‐recognizing function may be conferred by the N‐terminal variable region.
Application of Physiologic Models to Predict the Influence of Changes in Body Composition and Blood Flows on the Pharmacokinetics of Fentanyl and Alfentanil in Patients

Background The influence of changes in the physiologic state of a patient on the disposition of fentanyl and alfentanil is poorly understood. The aims of this study were to determine whether physiologic pharmacokinetic models for fentanyl and alfentanil, based on data from rats, could predict plasma concentrations of these opioids in humans and to determine how changes in physiology would influence the predictions of their disposition. Methods The predictions of the models were tested against plasma concentration data from published pharmacokinetic studies. The influences of changes in body composition, cardiac output, and regional blood flows on the disposition of the opioids were simulated. Results The models could predict independently measured plasma concentrations of the opioids after short infusions in humans. Simulations then predicted that differences in body composition between men and women would have little influence on the pharmacokinetics of the opioids. Changes in cardiac output would affect drug redistribution, and consequently the early decay of the plasma concentrations, but not markedly influence rates of elimination. Further, the clearance of the opioids would decrease and their volumes of distribution increase with the age of the patient, but this would only marginally affect the early disposition of the drugs. Even large fluctuations in peripheral or hepatic blood flows would have modest effects on arterial plasma concentrations of the opioids, and sudden “postoperative” increases in peripheral blood flows would cause minor secondary plasma concentration peaks. Conclusions The ability of the physiologic models to predict plasma concentrations of fentanyl and alfentanil in humans was confirmed. When changes in physiologic condition were simulated, effects on the pharmacokinetics of the opioids with possible implications for dosing were obtained only if cardiac output was varied over a wide range.
The validity and reliability of hand-held dynamometry in assessing isometric external rotator performance.

The validity and reliability of hand-held dynamometry and Cybex dynamometry were investigated using maximal isometric contractions of the external rotators of the shoulder in 14 healthy male subjects. Three maximum voluntary contractions were recorded from each subject by a hand-held dynamometer and a Cybex isokinetic dynamometer at two testing sessions approximately 1 week apart. Analysis of variance did not reveal any significant differences between the mean peak torques obtained with either instrument or between days. The intrarater reliability was clearly established for both the hand-held dynamometer (r = 0.986) and Cybex dynamometer (r = 0.993). Within-day correlations between the two instruments accounted for 27% (day 1) and 60% (day 2) of the explainable variance. This suggests that although both techniques produced identical peak torque values and measured the same element of performance-strength, they did so in a slightly different manner. The possible nature of these differences is discussed.J Orthop Sports Phys Ther 1988;10(6):213-217.
The Field of Reals is not omega-Automatic

We investigate structural properties of omega-automatic presentations of infinite structures in order to sharpen our methods to determine whether a given structure is omega-automatic. We apply these methods to show that no field of characteristic 0 admits an injective omega-automatic presentation, and that uncountable fields with a definable linear order cannot be omega-automatic.
A Crisis of Banks as Liquidity Providers Journal of Finance forthcoming VIRAL

Can banks maintain their advantage as liquidity providers when exposed to a financial crisis? While banks honored their credit lines drawn by firms during the 2007-09 crisis, this provision of liquidity by banks was only possible because of explicit, large support from the government and government-sponsored agencies. At the onset of the crisis, aggregate deposit inflows into banks weakened and their loan-to-deposit shortfalls widened. These patterns were pronounced at banks exposed to greater undrawn commitments. Such banks sought to attract deposits by offering higher rates, but the resulting private funding was insufficient to cover loan-to-deposit shortfalls and they reduced new credit. JEL Codes: E4, G01, G11, G21, G28.
Transmitter power influence in a wireless-signal-based system used to monitor catalyst states

We have recently proposed a stochastic microwave-based measurement approach for the loading state of the catalysts used in automotive aftertreatment systems. In this approach, the interior of the catalyst housing acts as a wireless channel between two end devices of a communications system. It was shown that, depending on the transmission channel characteristics, the properties of the catalyst such as its state can be inferred from the properties of some random function such as the received time response (a random function of time) or its Fourier transform, the received spectrum (a random function of frequency). This publication presents results on the resolution of the measurement method when the normalized cross-correlation function between the received spectra with respectively unloaded and loaded catalyst is used as random function. In particular, we have investigated the influence of the transmit signal power. Measurements and signal evaluation were performed for diesel particulate filter (DPF) with different soot loads probed with an ultra wideband (UWB) system and subsequent processing of the waveform in the frequency domain.
Similitude invariant pattern recognition on technical documents

The problem of geometric invariant pattern recognition is addressed. Specifically, we investigate the use of the Fourier-Mellin Transform (FMT) for the recognition of characters and symbols on technical documents, issued from technical paper maps of the French telephone network. In these documents, characters and symbols are drawn at any orientation and scale factor. Besides this specificity, a difficulty arises when characters and symbols remain connected after the binarization step. We show here that the FMT-based recognition tool that we propose performs well, either in terms of correct classification rates, when compared with the Zernike moments on large data sets, and also in solving the problem of detection and recognition of overlapping characters.
Multiple Polychlorinated Biphenyl Transformation Systems in the Gram-Positive Bacterium Rhodococcus sp. Strain RHA1

The cloned bphA gene of the polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) degrader Rhodococcus sp. strain RHA1 was expressed in Rhodococcus erythropolis IAM1399 cells, resulting in the transformation of di-, tri-, and tetrachlorobiphenyls. Disruption of the bphA1 gene in RHA1 resulted in a lack of growth on biphenyl and a loss of PCB transformation activity. However, the bphA1 insertion mutant of RHA1, designated RDA1, retained the ability to transform PCB congeners when grown on ethylbenzene as its carbon source. It also transformed 4-chlorobiphenyl to 4-chlorobenzoate, although it was suspected to be deficient in bphB and bphC gene activities as well as bphA. This suggested that an alternative PCB degradation system distinct from the one encoded by the cloned bph genes was present.
Leveraging Executable Language Engineering for Domain-Specific Transformation Languages ( Position Paper )

An increasing number of domain-specific transformation languages (DSTLs) are used to define model transformations in specific contexts. This shift led to many approaches to define new DSTLs and associated tools, either through frameworks or complete generative approachs. In parallel, the fields of language engineering and model execution have seen the development of many approaches to efficiently define new executable domainspecific modeling languages (xDSMLs), and to provide tools (e.g., editor, debugger) for any newly defined xDSML. In this position paper, we propose to study how the engineering of DSTLs could benefit from state-of-the-art xDSML engineering approaches. We first demonstrate why a DSTL is an xDSML with specific characteristics. We then give a selection of research directions to apply xDSML engineering approaches on DSTLs.
The High-Frequency Major Histocompatibility Complex Class I Allele Mamu-B*17 Is Associated with Control of Simian Immunodeficiency Virus SIVmac239 Replication

ABSTRACT Particular HLA alleles are associated with reduced human immunodeficiency virus replication. It has been difficult, however, to characterize the immune correlates of viral control. An analysis of the influence of major histocompatibility complex class I alleles on viral control in 181 simian immunodeficiency virus SIVmac239-infected rhesus macaques revealed that Mamu-B*17 was associated with a 26-fold reduction in plasma virus concentrations (P < 0.001). Mamu-B*17 was also enriched 1,000-fold in a group of animals that controlled viral replication. Even after accounting for this group, Mamu-B*17 was associated with an eightfold reduction in plasma virus concentrations (P < 0.001). Mamu-B*17-positive macaques could, therefore, facilitate our understanding of the correlates of viral control.
Complete Genome Sequence of the Aerobic Facultative Methanotroph Methylocella silvestris BL2

ABSTRACT Methylocella silvestris BL2 is an aerobic methanotroph originally isolated from an acidic forest soil in Germany. It is the first fully authenticated facultative methanotroph. It grows not only on methane and other one-carbon (C1) substrates, but also on some compounds containing carbon-carbon bonds, such as acetate, pyruvate, propane, and succinate. Here we report the full genome sequence of this bacterium.
Nonfucosylated Therapeutic IgG1 Antibody Can Evade the Inhibitory Effect of Serum Immunoglobulin G on Antibody-Dependent Cellular Cytotoxicity through its High Binding to FcγRIIIa

Purpose: Recent studies have revealed that fucosylated therapeutic IgG1s need high concentrations to compensate for FcγRIIIa-competitive inhibition of antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) by endogenous human plasma IgG. Here, we investigated whether ADCC of nonfucosylated therapeutic IgG1 is also influenced by plasma IgG in the same way as fucosylated IgG1s. Experimental Design:Ex vivo ADCC upon CD20+ human B cells was induced by incubation of human whole blood with nonfucosylated and/or fucosylated anti-CD20 IgG1s rituximab, and quantified by measuring the remaining CD19+ human B cells using flow cytometry. Results: Nonfucosylated anti-CD20 showed markedly higher (over 100-fold based on EC50) ex vivo B-cell depletion activity than its fucosylated counterpart in the presence of plasma IgG. The efficacy of fucosylated anti-CD20 was greatly diminished in plasma, resulting in the need for a high concentration (over 1.0 μg/mL) to achieve saturated efficacy. In contrast, nonfucosylated anti-CD20 reached saturated ADCC at lower concentrations (0.01-0.1 μg/mL) with much higher efficacy than fucosylated anti-CD20 in all nine donors through improved FcγRIIIa binding. Noteworthy, the high efficacy of nonfucosylated anti-CD20 was inhibited by addition of fucosylated anti-CD20. Thus, the efficacy of a 1:9 mixture (10 μg/mL) of nonfucosylated and fucosylated anti-CD20s was inferior to that of a 1,000-fold dilution (0.01 μg/mL) of nonfucosylated anti-CD20 alone. Conclusions: Our data showed that nonfucosylated IgG1, not including fucosylated counterparts, can evade the inhibitory effect of plasma IgG on ADCC through its high FcγRIIIa binding. Hence, nonfucosylated IgG1 exhibits strong therapeutic potential through dramatically enhanced ADCC at low doses in humans in vivo.