Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
International recommendations on the diagnosis and treatment of acquired hemophilia A

Acquired hemophilia A (AHA), a rare bleeding disorder caused by neutralizing autoantibodies against coagulation factor VIII (FVIII), occurs in both men and women without a previous history of bleeding. Patients typically present with an isolated prolonged activated partial thromboplastin time due to FVIII deficiency. Neutralizing antibodies (inhibitors) are detected using the Nijmegen-modified Bethesda assay. Approximately 10% of patients do not present with bleeding and, therefore, a prolonged activated partial thromboplastin time should never be ignored prior to invasive procedures. Control of acute bleeding and prevention of injuries that may provoke bleeding are top priorities in patients with AHA. We recommend treatment with bypassing agents, including recombinant activated factor VII, activated prothrombin complex concentrate, or recombinant porcine FVIII in bleeding patients. Autoantibody eradication can be achieved with immunosuppressive therapy, including corticosteroids, cyclophosphamide and rituximab, or combinations thereof. The median time to remission is 5 weeks, with considerable interindividual variation. FVIII activity at presentation, inhibitor titer and autoantibody isotype are prognostic markers for remission and survival. Comparative clinical studies to support treatment recommendations for AHA do not exist; therefore, we provide practical consensus guidance based on recent registry findings and the authors’ clinical experience in treating patients with AHA.
Gonadal cycle of the dwarf oyster Ostreola stentina from the south of the Gulf of Hammamet on the eastern coast of Tunisia

The reproductive cycle of the dwarf oyster Ostreola stentina (Payraudeau 1826) at Monastir in the south of the Gulf of Hammamet on the east coast of Tunisia was studied using condition indices and histological techniques. The species was shown to be a protandric hermaphrodite. Whereas males dominated the small shell length categories (12.45–34.99 mm), females (21.00–47.16 mm) and hermaphroditic individuals (30.00–57.95 mm) become more predominant with increasing size, suggesting that individuals may undergo protandric development. The overall male to female ratio was 1.0:1.7. Gametogenic development begins in February–March for females and in September for males, and spawning occurs during April and July for females and December and July for males. There was a clear relationship between the gonadal condition index and gametogenic stage for both sexes. Values increased from zero in their early stage of development and peaked during ripe and spawning stages, before decreasing in the spent stage. However, the meat condition index did not show any statistical differences between gametogenic stages.
Purification and Characterization of a Thermostable alpha‐Amylase from Bacillus licheniformis

The heat stability of a bacterial α-amylase is important for industrial starch utilization. Although extensive studies have been done on heat stable α-amylase from various bacterial species little is known about the α-amylases of Bacillus licheniformis. In order to get better understanding of thermostable amylases produced by different strains of B. licheniformis and provide information how to utilize the enzyme in starch processing, studies on purification and characterization of a commercial heat stable bacterial α-amylase from B. licheniformis BLM 1777 are reported. Reinigung und Charakterisierung einer thermostabilen α-Amylase aus Bacillus licheniformis. Die Hitzestabilitat einer bakteriellen α-Amylase ist von besonderer Bedeutung fur ihre industrielle Anwendung auf Starke. Trotz umfangreicher Studien uber hitzestabile α-Amylasen der verschiedensten Bakterienarten ist wenig bekannt uber die α-Amylasen von Bacillus licheniformis. Zur besseren Kenntnis der von verschiedenen B. licheniformis-Stammen produzierten α-Amylasen und zur Information uber die Einsetzbarkeit des Enzyms bei der Starkeverarbeitung wird uber Untersuchungen zur Reinigung und Charakterisierung einer handelsublichen bakteriellen α-Amylase aus B. licheniformis BLM 1777 berichtet.
Falls and long-term survival among older adults residing in care homes

Objectives To assess the association between having suffered a fall in the month prior to interview and long-term overall survival in nursing-home residents. Methods Retrospective cohort study conducting an overall survival follow-up of 689 representative nursing-home residents from Madrid, Spain. Residents lived in three types of facilities: public, subsidized and private and its information was collected by interviewing the residents, caregivers and/or facility physicians. Residents contributed to follow-up time from their baseline interviews until death or being censored at the end of the 5-year follow-up period. The association between suffering a fall during the month prior to interview and long-term overall survival was analyzed using Cox proportional hazards models. To adjust for potential confounders we used progressive adjusted models. We then repeated the analyses with severity of the fall (no fall, non-severe, severe) as the main independent variable. Results After a 2408 person-year follow-up (median 4.5 years), 372 participants had died. In fully-adjusted models, residents who had suffered any kind of fall in the previous month showed virtually the same survival rates compared to non-fallers (hazard ratio (HR) = 1.03; 95% CI = 0.75–1.40). There was a weak graded relationship between increased fall severity and survival rates for the non-severe fall group (HR = 0.92; 95% CI = 0.58–1.45) and the severe fall group (HR = 1.36; 95% CI = 0.73–2.53) compared with residents who had not suffered any kind of fall. The hazard ratios for severe falls were higher in men, residents with less comorbidity, fewer medications, and those functionally independent. Conclusion We found no associations between having suffered a fall in the month prior to interview and long-term survival; neither did we find a marked association when severity of fall was accounted for in the whole population. In some subgroups, however, the results merit further scrutiny.
Perinatal Outcomes in Fetuses Prenatally Diagnosed with Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia and Concomitant Lung Lesions: A 10-Year Review

Aim: To describe perinatal outcomes of fetuses with a prenatal diagnosis of a concomitant lung lesion in the setting of congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) and to compare outcomes with an isolated CDH control group without a lung lesion, matched by ultrasound-based prognostic markers including presence of liver herniation and lung measurements. Material and Methods: This was a retrospective case-control study, wherein all pregnancies diagnosed with CDH and concomitant lung lesions were identified between July 1, 2008, and December 31, 2018. For each case, 2 controls with isolated CDH from the same study period were selected after matching for the presence of liver herniation into the thoracic cavity and ultrasound-based lung measurements either observed over expected lung-to-head ratio (LHR) or absolute LHR with their corresponding gestational age. The outcomes analyzed in the 2 groups included survival to hospital discharge, neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) length of stay (LOS), extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) requirement and need for supplemental oxygen (O2) at day 30 of life. Results: A total of 21 pregnancies were identified with CDH and a concomitant lung lesion in the study period. All the lung lesions were stratified into a “low-risk category” with a congenital cystic adenomatoid malformation volume ratio of less than 1.0 at the time of presentation. None of these fetuses developed hydrops or required in utero intervention. Overall survival in the group was 80.7% (17/21) and rate of ECMO was 38.1%. Causes of mortality included pulmonary insufficiency, sepsis, renal failure, and bowel infarction. Upon comparison between the cases and controls, the 2 groups were similar with respect to pregnancy demographics. There were no fetal demises in either group. Outcomes including survival rate, NICU LOS, ECMO requirements and need for supplemental O2 at day 30 of life, were comparable among the 2 groups. Conclusions: In our descriptive series, the presence of a concomitant, low-risk lung lesion in the setting of fetal CDH did not have a significant impact on the natural course of the disease, nor was it associated with a worse prognosis.
Influence of Sugar Cane Diets and a High Fibre Commercial Diet on Growth and Carcass Performance in Local Caribbean Pigs

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of a milling by-product diet and two sugar cane diets on the local Creole pig breed (CR). A total of 48 CR pigs (24 females and 24 castrated males) were randomly assigned to four different groups of 12 animals. Pigs were allotted to one of 4 dietary treatments: fed with a control soya-bean meal-corn diet containing 19.1% crude protein (CP) and 15.4 MJ DE/kg (diet 1), with an experimental milling by-product diet (soya-bean meal and wheat by-products) containing 19.4% CP and 13.0 MJ DE/kg (diet 2), with ground cane stalks (GCS) or with fresh sugar cane juice (SCJ). Both GCS and SCJ were supplemented with soya-bean meal complement (400 g/d of a 48.7% CP and 16.1 MJ DE/kg diet) in order to obtain diets 3 and 4, respectively. Pigs were fed close to ad libitum level and had free access to water. All the pigs were slaughtered at 65 kg BW. Between 30 and 65 kg BW, growth performance was significantly (p<0.001) affected by dietary treatments: average daily BW gain was 657, 530, 546 and 200 g/d for diets 1, 2, 4, and 3, respectively. Average daily DM intake was 1.8, 1.9, 2.5 and 1.4 kg/d for diets 1, 2, 4, and 3, respectively. Fat cuts (backfat+leaf fat) and backfat thickness were significantly lower on diet 3 than for other treatments (127 vs. 192, 166 g/kg of left half-carcass weight and 24.6 vs. 39.0, 35.3 mm for diet 3 vs. diets 1 and 4, and diet 2, respectively; p<0.001). The dressing weight was significantly lower on diets 2 (82.7 vs. 84.0%; p<0.001). The entire empty digestive tract (DT) weight was higher on diet 2 (73.1 vs. 66.7 g/kg empty BW). However, stomach and large intestine were more developed on diet 3: 12.8 vs. 9.3 g/100 g empty DT (p<0.001) and 26.4 vs. 23.8 g/100 g empty DT (p<0.05), respectively. In conclusion, this study suggests the CR pig has the ability to reach rather good growth and carcass performance with a well-formulated sugar cane meal and/or with a milling by-product diet refined according to its low requirements.
Cytofluorometric Measurement of Cell Surface Fibronectin in Cultured Fibroblasts

Cell surface fibronectin, an adhesive glycoprotein which is important in maintaining the normal phenotype of cells, was checked with cytofluorometry using an indirect immunofluorescent technique. This method enabled us to measure the amount of fibronectin not only in single whole cells, but in uniformly distributed cells as a whole. The fibronectin content in a sparse culture of human fibroblasts increased linearly until the 4th day after inoculation. In more prolonged cell cultures, fibronection increased at a higher rate than that in the earier culture period. In a confluent culture re-fed with fresh medium containing 10% fetal calf serum, the amount of fibronectin increased and appeared as a matrix substance in the extracellular space. In contrast, in a confluent cell culture re-fed with serum-free medium, the amount of fibronectin decreased for several days.
A Black Phosphorus Based Multi-Color Light-Modulated Transparent Memristor with Enhanced Resistive Switching Performance.

Light-modulated transparent memristors combining photo response and data storage are promising as multifunctional devices. Herein, a multi-color light-modulated transparent memristor based on black phosphorous (BP) is designed, fabricated, and investigated. BP is a class of emerging two-dimensional (2D) materials with a natural direct bandgap and broad light absorption. Herein, BP nanosheets (BP@PS NSs) coated with polystyrene (PS) are prepared and serve as the resistive switching (RS) layer in the ITO/BP@PS/ITO memristor which shows >75% transmittance between 350 and 1100 nm. With the aid of PS, the BP@PS-based memristor has excellent RS characteristics such as no initial pre-forming, low operating voltage, and long retention time. According to the energy band model, the RS mechanism of the high and low resistance states contributes to the transformation from Ohmic contact to Schottky contact. During light illumination ranging from ultraviolet (380 nm) to near infrared (785 nm), the Schottky barrier height is elevated further so that the resetting voltages and power consumption decrease. Moreover, the ON/OFF ratios are improved and the maximum enhancement is demonstrated to be more than 10 times. BP is promising RS materials in light-modulated memristors and the novel device configuration provides insights into the development of multifunctional microelectronic devices based on 2D materials.
Use of micropulse trans-scleral cyclophotocoagulation for acute rise in intraocular pressure due to anterior segment inflammation

Purpose The aim of this study was to report the use of micropulse trans-scleral cyclophotocoagulation as an adjunct therapy for two cases of medically uncontrolled intraocular pressure spikes due to anterior segment inflammation. Case description: Case 1 had previous cataract surgery and exhibited an intraocular pressure spike due to phacoantigenic uveitis (right eye intraocular pressure = 52 mmHg). Despite medical treatment, the right eye intraocular pressure remained high (43 mmHg), thus micropulse trans-scleral cyclophotocoagulation was carried out as a rescue therapy. After micropulse trans-scleral cyclophotocoagulation, the intraocular pressure at 1 day and 3 weeks was 9 and 16 mmHg, respectively. Case 2 had a history of previous blunt ocular trauma and 180° of angle recession. Both eyes were pseudophakia and underwent right eye Nd:YAG laser capsulotomy for posterior capsular opacification. Immediately after the procedure, the right eye intraocular pressure increased to 64 mmHg. Due to poor response to medical therapy, rescue micropulse trans-scleral cyclophotocoagulation was performed. After micropulse trans-scleral cyclophotocoagulation, the intraocular pressure at 1 day and 2 months was 12 and 21 mmHg, respectively. Conclusion Micropulse trans-scleral cyclophotocoagulation successfully decreased intraocular pressure in both cases of acute rise in intraocular pressure. Micropulse trans-scleral cyclophotocoagulation can potentially be useful as a rescue procedure to safely reduce medically uncontrollable intraocular pressure spike due to anterior segment inflammation.
The Species-Concept in Palaeontology

During recent years the nature of species has been frequently discussed by biologists, or, at least, by students of recent animals and plants, but much less attention has been paid to the subject by palaeontologists. Nevertheless, in palaeontology, as in neontology, as animals and plants are subjected to a more intensive study it is becoming increasingly difficult to make the concept of species fit the facts of nature.
Avaliação genética de características de crescimento de ovinos Santa Inês utilizando modelos de regressão aleatória

Records on weights from birth to 196 days of age of 927 lambs of Santa Ines hairless sheep, from 1983 to 2000, were used to estimate genetic parameters and to predict breeding values by random regression models and to compare these estimates with those obtained by two-traits model. The random regression models were fitted by quadratic and cubic orthogonal Legendre polynomials. The heritability estimates of direct effect increased from birth to 196 days of age. The heritabilities for the maternal effect increased from birth to 56 days, and decreased after that age. The heritabilities for direct effect obtained by two-trait and random regression analyses showed opposite tendency. While the estimates obtained by two-trait analyses decreased from birth to 196 days of age, those obtained by random regression models increased. The heritabilities for maternal effect, obtained by both models, showed the same behavior, however with different magnitude. The Spearman correlation between estimated breeding values by both models was low. The heritability and genetic correlations estimated by random regression model were more consistent than those estimated by two-trait model.
Book review

Perhaps the central question of cognition is to understand how we organize the world into consistent and coherent meaningful units. Conceptual development was certainly at the heart of fervent research spanning well into the beginning of the last century. Indeed, it was central to the interests of developmental psychologists such as Piaget, Vygotsky and Bruner. It would not be unfair to describe the dominant view of conceptual development throughout the 1980s and 1990s as leaning more toward the nativist position in which causal theories were used to organize concepts (e.g. Macnamara 1984, Carey 1985, Keil 1989). In Semantic Cognition, Rogers and McClelland argue that much of the evidence used to support the ‘theory–theory’ view of conceptual development can in fact be explained though the operation of simple connectionist learning systems. Moreover, the distributed concept learning system they advocate can also explain a broad range of category and concept learning behaviours in adults, as well as explaining the unique patterns of semantic dementia and conceptual decay that are described in a number of disorders. Thus, Rogers and McClelland are proposing a simple truly unified theory—implemented in a connectionist model—that can explain conceptual and semantic behaviour across the full spectrum of ages. The first two chapters of the book are introductory. The former surveys a range of empirical findings from three decades of categorization research and the latter describes the mechanics of a parallel distributed processor (PDP) model designed to capture these behaviours. The starting point for both is Quillian’s taxonomic hierarchy of concepts (e.g. a robin IS red, ISA a bird; a bird HAS feathers, CAN fly, ISA animal; an animal CAN move, etc.). The main results from the categorization literature are framed in Quillian’s terms and the model is shown to match human performance. The model is a feed-forward PDP with two hidden layers originally proposed by David Rumelhart, which when given inputs and relations learns to associate the appropriate properties (e.g. sunfish + IS → yellow, etc.). Of crucial importance is that inputs pass through a hidden layer before being combined with relations, so internal representations are distributed. The authors show how new objects can be assigned representations similar to known objects with similar properties with a technique known as backpropagation-to-representation and thus leverage off prior knowledge. Chapter 3 outlines the fundamental properties of the model that allow it to succeed at capturing and efficiently representing the implicit hierarchical structure in its learning
L p Polyharmonic Dirichlet problems in regular domains I: the unit disc

In this article, we consider a class of Dirichlet problems with L p boundary data for polyharmonic functions in the unit disc. Using higher order Poisson kernels due to Begehr et al. [H. Begehr, J. Du, and Y. Wang, A Dirichlet problem for polyharmonic functions, Ann. Mat. Pura Appl. 187(4) (2008), pp. 435–457; Z. Du, G. Guo, and N. Wang, Decompositions of functions and Dirichlet problems in the unit disc, J. Math. Anal. Appl. 362(1) (2010), pp. 1–16], we give the integral representation solutions of the problems.
PLCε regulates metabolism and metastasis signaling via HIF‐1α/MEK/ERK pathway in prostate cancer

Phospholipase C‐ε (PLCε) is frequently overexpressed in tumors and plays an important role in the regulation of tumorigenesis. Although great progress has been made in understanding biological roles of PLCε, the relevant molecular mechanisms underlying its pro‐tumor activity remain largely unclear. Here, we demonstrated that PLCε knockdown reduced cell metastasis, glucose consumption and lactate production in a manner that depended on hypoxia inducible factor 1α (HIF‐1α) expression in prostate cancer cells. Interestingly, our findings showed that the expression levels of PLCε were positively associated with those of HIF‐1α in clinical prostate carcinoma samples. Knockdown of PLCε impaired HIF‐1α levels and transcriptional activity by regulating the extracellular‐signal‐regulated kinase pathway, and blocking HIF‐1α nuclear translocation. Furthermore, PLCε could interact with the von Hippel–Lindau E3 ligase complex to modulate the stability of HIF‐1α. Collectively, our findings demonstrate that PLCε could be a crucial positive regulator of HIF‐1α, which would promote PLCε‐enhanced tumorigenesis.
The Chemical Composition of Some Natural Waters in the Cairn Gorm-Strath Spey District of Scotland1

Some chemical properties of natural waters in the Cairn Gorm-Strath Spey area have been investigated. Differences of ionic concentrations in twenty-four waters analyzed for pH, Na, K, Ca, Mg, HCO3, Cl, SO4, NO3, PO4 and SiO2 are interpreted in terms of variation in geology, topography, local climate and vegetation.
Acute Toxicity and Sublethal Effects of Nitrite on Selected Hematological Parameters and Tissues in Dark‐banded Rockfish, Sebastes inermis

Acute toxicity and sublethal effects of nitrite in dark-banded rockfish, Sebastes inermis (83.3 ± 7.2 g), were studied under static conditions for a period of 96 h. The acute toxicity of nitrite evaluated for the 96-h lethal concentration (LC50) was 700 mg/L. The sublethal effects on selected hematological parameters of S. inermis, such as total erythrocyte count (TEC), hemoglobin, plasma glucose, and serum protein content, were measured after 0, 6, 12, 24, 48, 72, and 96 h of exposure to 0, 50, 100, 200, 400, and 700 mg/L of nitrite. Sublethal nitrite caused progressive reduction in the TEC, hemoglobin, and serum protein content in fish depending on the nitrite concentration and exposure period. The 96-h exposure resulted in a 14–42% reduction in TEC and 25–33% reduction in hemoglobin content for 100–700 mg/L of nitrite compared to the control. A dose-related reduction in plasma glucose (25.7–34.2%) was observed for concentrations of 200–700 mg/L of nitrite during 48 h of exposure, followed by an increase through 96 h. A significant reduction in serum protein (7.3–12.6%) was observed for 200–700 mg/L of nitrite after 96 h of exposure. Abnormal histological changes in skin, gill, liver, and kidney tissue were observed in fish exposed to 700 mg/L of nitrite after 96 h of exposure compared to the control. Although no mortality of S. inermis occurred at 500 mg/L of nitrite, all hematological parameters adversely responded to a nitrite dose of 200 mg/L for 96 h. These results showed that although acute toxicity concentration of nitrite in S. inermis is higher than 700 mg/L, sublethal concentrations of nitrite also negatively affect hematological parameters.