Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Progress in research into the mechanism of Radix salviae miltiorrhizae in treatment of acute pancreatitis.

BACKGROUND Acute pancreatitis (AP) is a common acute abdomen with high mortality, multiple complications and complicated causes. There is no effective therapy for AP. Radix salviae miltiorrhizae (Danshen), a traditional herbal medicine, has a low price and a wide range of clinical applications. It is effective to promote blood flow, eliminate stagnancy, and relieve pain. It is also found to be effective in treating AP. We reviewed the progress in research into the mechanism of Radix salviae miltiorrhizae in treatment of AP. DATA SOURCES An English-language literature search was conducted using MEDLINE (1988-2005) on Radix salviae miltiorrhizae (Danshen) and acute pancreatitis. RESULTS The mechanisms of Danshen in the treatment of AP include improvement of microcirculatory disturbances; elimination of oxygen free radicals; modulation of the metabolism of lipid inflammatory mediator; and blocking of calcium inflow and prevention of calcium overload. CONCLUSION Danshen can effectively reduce the mortality and complications of AP.
In vivo mallard experiments indicate that zanamivir has less potential for environmental influenza A virus resistance development than oseltamivir.

Neuraminidase inhibitors are a cornerstone of influenza pandemic preparedness before vaccines can be mass-produced and thus a neuraminidase inhibitor-resistant pandemic is a serious threat to public health. Earlier work has demonstrated the potential for development and persistence of oseltamivir resistance in influenza A viruses exposed to environmentally relevant water concentrations of the drug when infecting mallards, the natural influenza reservoir that serves as the genetic base for human pandemics. As zanamivir is the major second-line neuraminidase inhibitor treatment, this study aimed to assess the potential for development and persistence of zanamivir resistance in an in vivo mallard model; especially important as zanamivir will probably be increasingly used. Our results indicate less potential for development and persistence of resistance due to zanamivir than oseltamivir in an environmental setting. This conclusion is based on: (1) the lower increase in zanamivir IC50 conferred by the mutations caused by zanamivir exposure (2-17-fold); (2) the higher zanamivir water concentration needed to induce resistance (at least 10 µg l-1); (3) the lack of zanamivir resistance persistence without drug pressure; and (4) the multiple resistance-related substitutions seen during zanamivir exposure (V116A, A138V, R152K, T157I and D199G) suggesting lack of one straight-forward evolutionary path to resistance. Our study also adds further evidence regarding the stability of the oseltamivir-induced substitution H275Y without drug pressure, and demonstrates the ability of a H275Y-carrying virus to acquire secondary mutations, further boosting oseltamivir resistance when exposed to zanamivir. Similar studies using influenza A viruses of the N2-phylogenetic group of neuraminidases are recommended.
Virtual Reality Training Improves Operating Room Performance: Results of a Randomized, Double-Blinded Study

ObjectiveTo demonstrate that virtual reality (VR) training transfers technical skills to the operating room (OR) environment. Summary Background DataThe use of VR surgical simulation to train skills and reduce error risk in the OR has never been demonstrated in a prospective, randomized, blinded study. MethodsSixteen surgical residents (PGY 1–4) had baseline psychomotor abilities assessed, then were randomized to either VR training (MIST VR simulator diathermy task) until expert criterion levels established by experienced laparoscopists were achieved (n = 8), or control non-VR-trained (n = 8). All subjects performed laparoscopic cholecystectomy with an attending surgeon blinded to training status. Videotapes of gallbladder dissection were reviewed independently by two investigators blinded to subject identity and training, and scored for eight predefined errors for each procedure minute (interrater reliability of error assessment r > 0.80). ResultsNo differences in baseline assessments were found between groups. Gallbladder dissection was 29% faster for VR-trained residents. Non-VR-trained residents were nine times more likely to transiently fail to make progress (P < .007, Mann-Whitney test) and five times more likely to injure the gallbladder or burn nontarget tissue (chi-square = 4.27, P < .04). Mean errors were six times less likely to occur in the VR-trained group (1.19 vs. 7.38 errors per case;P < .008, Mann-Whitney test). ConclusionsThe use of VR surgical simulation to reach specific target criteria significantly improved the OR performance of residents during laparoscopic cholecystectomy. This validation of transfer of training skills from VR to OR sets the stage for more sophisticated uses of VR in assessment, training, error reduction, and certification of surgeons.
Metrics and Data Analysis in Transplantation: Quality Improvement via Transparency

Transparency in clinical data has been identiﬁed as a dri-ver of improved clinical outcomes in transplantation by many including Porter (1). Transparency in this context includes the broad availability of outcomes data including clinical outcomes adjusted for risk, the costs of care, and the experience of the center in providing those services, as a basis for comparing the “value” of healthcare services at various clinical centers. At the same time, and perhaps of greater importance, dramatic advances in transplant immunology and immunosuppression, microbi-ologic diagnosis and therapy, surgical techniques, organ procurement and allocation, and in clinical management of complex patients have been major forces in improved transplant outcomes.
THE USE OF mARGINAL DONORS FOR LIVER TRANSPLANTATION A RETROSPECTIVE STUDY OF 365 LIVER DONORS 1,2

A total of 365 donor hepatectomies performed between May 1985 and March 1990 were reviewed and analyzed retrospectively to identify risk factors associated with poor graft function and to study the outcome of grafts retrieved from "marginal" donors. The donor mean age was 27.1 years (8-69 years). Mean ICU donor stay was 2.7 days (range 0 to 18 days), and the mean ischemic time was 8.6 hr (range 3 to 22 hr). The pancreas was retrieved in 39 donors. Donor's weight above 100 kg was the only variable found to be associated with both significantly increased 3-month graft loss (P less than 0.01) and early hepatocellular damage--AST or ALT greater than 2000 U/ml, 1st day posttransplant (P less than 0.02). Prolonged stay in the ICU (greater than 3 days), although associated with a significantly increased rate of hepatocellular damage (P less than 0.05), did not affect early graft survival. A systolic blood pressure less than 90 mmHg despite the use of high-dose dopamine (greater than 15 micrograms/mg/min), but not each of these variables itself, was also associated with a significantly increase rate of hepatocellular damage (P less than 0.001). All other variables, including age greater than 50, ischemic time greater than 12 hr, combined liver-pancreas procurement, and liver function test abnormalities, did not affect the outcome. We conclude that extending our limits to accept donors of the higher age group and those who have moderately abnormal liver function tests or a prolonged ischemic time will not jeopardize our results. It is suggested to perform liver biopsy in overweight donors during the retrieval to prevent using grafts with severe fatty infiltration. It is hypothesized that hormonal changes, starvation, and increased risk to develop infection might jeopardize the outcome of grafts from donors with a prolonged ICU stay. Although 70% of the early hepatocellular injuries are reversible, the remaining 30% result in graft failure.
Autopsy Studies in Atherosclerosis: I. Distribution and Severity of Atherosclerosis in Patients Dying without Morphologic Evidence of Atherosclerotic Catastrophe

Gross lesions of atheroselerosis in many arterial sites were graded in 500 consecutive autopsies in a general hospital. The grading system used took into account both the total area of intimal involvement and the severity of individual lesions. The first report analyzes the distribution and severity of atherosclerosis in the 347 men and women of the study group who died without morphologic evidence of atherosclerotic catastrophe in the heart, aorta, or brain. The second report describes the atherosclerotic lesions in patients who died with evidence of atherosclerotic catastrophe. The third report carries out a similar investigation in those subjects who presented evidence of obesity, hypertension, nephrosclerosis, and rheumatic heart disease.
Nutritional value and antioxidant capacity of "cocoa honey" (Theobroma cacao L.)

Cocoa honey is considered as the liquid portion of cocoa pulp that is released from the fruit soon after it is cut open and can be used before fermentation by simple extraction due to its nutritional characteristics. The objective of the present study is to determine the biochemical characteristics of a cocoa by-product, “cocoa honey” (CH), produced in the State of Bahia-Brazil. The biochemical characterization was conducted to determine reducing sugars, total sugars, vitamin C, total dietary fiber, flavonoids, and total antioxidant activity using an EC 50 . It was observed that cocoa honey can be considered a source of bioactive compounds, can be consumed in natura or processed, and used as an ingredient in the chocolate industry and in other food products. However, it is necessary to use complementary methods, such as HPLC, to quantify the phenolic compounds of this by-product.
A Method for Developing AEB Systems Based on Integration of Virtual and Experimental Tools

This paper proposes an enhanced methodology for autonomous emergency braking (AEB) system development combining road testing, in-door laboratory testing, hardware-in-loop testing and simulations. The application of the modeling part of methodology is demonstrated using an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) vehicle system. The physical AEB system is subjected to the AEB City and AEB Inter Urban test series as proposed by Euro NCAP. The test series are executed in a laboratory environment. Simulation models are generated and validated against the experimental data from these test series. System sensitivity is evaluated using a parameter variation study and validated simulation models.
Activation of YAP1 is associated with poor prognosis and response to taxanes in ovarian cancer.

AIM We aimed to investigate the clinical significance of the activation of Yes-Associated Protein 1 (YAP1), a key downstream effector of Hippo tumor-suppressor pathway, in ovarian cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS A gene expression signature reflecting activation of YAP1 was developed from gene expression data of 267 samples from patients with ovarian cancer. A refined ovarian cancer YAP1 signature was validated in an independent ovarian cancer cohort (n=185). Associations between the YAP1 signature and prognosis were assessed using Kaplan-Meier plots, the log-rank test, and a Cox proportional hazards model. RESULTS We identified a 612-gene expression signature reflecting YAP1 activation in ovarian cancer. In multivariate analysis, the signature was an independent predictor of overall survival (hazard ratio=1.66; 95% confidence interval=1.1 to 2.53; p=0.01). In subset analysis, the signature identified patients likely to benefit from taxane-based adjuvant chemotherapy. CONCLUSION Activation of YAP1 is significantly associated with prognosis and the YAP1 signature can predict response to taxane-based adjuvant chemotherapy in patients with ovarian cancer.
Semantic social analytics and linked open data cloud

In this paper, we propose an ontology schema towards linking semantified Twitter social analytics with the Linked Open Data cloud. The ontology is deployed over a publicly available service that measures how influential a Twitter account is by combining its social activity in Twitter. According to our knowledge this is the first work that combines social analytics with the Linked Open Data (LOD) cloud.
Undersampled-PAM with subcarrier modulation for camera communications

In this paper, a novel undersampled pulse amplitude modulation with subcarrier modulation (UPAMSM) is proposed to supporting high efficiency non-flickering visible light camera communication (CamCom). A post-compensation technique is employed to reduce nonlinear effects caused by camera gamma correction. In order to eliminate phase uncertainty between transmitter and camera, and obtain the built-in gamma correction function of a camera, a dedicated framing structure is designed and applied. A test-bed with a light emitting diode (LED) and a commercial digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) camera is built to evaluate the performance of the proposed UPAMSM CamCom system. Experiment results show that this system can achieve a data rate of 250 bps (5 (bit/s)/Hz/LED) with a 50 fps camera at a distance of 1.5 m.
Emerging Infectious Diseases: Epidemiological Perspective

Over the past 30 years, at least 30 new infectious diseases have emerged to threaten the health of millions of people across the globe. The major challenge to combat these infections is that for many of them, there is no specific treatment or cure or vaccine. There is limited scope of preventing or controlling them. The contributory factors include urbanization and destruction of natural habitats, climate change and changing ecosystems, changes in population of reservoir hosts or intermediate insect vectors and microbial genetic mutation, international trade and commerce, change in human demographics and behavior, lack of public health services and infrastructure, and antibiotic resistance. It is clear by now that the problem of emerging infectious disease (EID) is not restricted to any single country, and a strong and sustainable international collaboration will be needed in their prevention and control. India along with other countries in the South-East Asian region will continue to bear the brunt of the burden of EIDs in years to come.
Speed of price adjustment with price conjectures

We derive a measure of firm speed of price adjustment that is directly inversely related to market power and compare this to the measure derived by Martin (1993). However, both measures are incorrect when firms have non-zero price conjectural variations and treat competing price levels as exogenous. This is because Taylor series expansions of the demand function implicitly assume that firms influence the level of competing prices in a way that is consistent with their conjectures. JEL: D43, L11, L13, L16
JET BREAKS AND ENERGETICS OF Swift GAMMA-RAY BURST X-RAY AFTERGLOWS

We present a systematic temporal and spectral study of all Swift-X-ray Telescope observations of gamma-ray burst (GRB) afterglows discovered between 2005 January and 2007 December. After constructing and fitting all light curves and spectra to power-law models, we classify the components of each afterglow in terms of the canonical X-ray afterglow and test them against the closure relations of the forward shock models for a variety of parameter combinations. The closure relations are used to identify potential jet breaks with characteristics including the uniform jet model with and without lateral spreading and energy injection, and a power-law structured jet model, all with a range of parameters. With this technique, we survey the X-ray afterglows with strong evidence for jet breaks (∼12% of our sample), and reveal cases of potential jet breaks that do not appear plainly from the light curve alone (another ∼30%), leading to insight into the missing jet break problem. Those X-ray light curves that do not show breaks or have breaks that are not consistent with one of the jet models are explored to place limits on the times of unseen jet breaks. The distribution of jet break times ranges from a few hours to a few weeks with a median of ∼1 day, similar to what was found pre-Swift. On average, Swift GRBs have lower isotropic equivalent γ-ray energies, which in turn result in lower collimation corrected γ-ray energies than those of pre-Swift GRBs. Finally, we explore the implications for GRB jet geometry and energetics.
Deriving fuzzy discretization from interval discretization

We examine two methods for deriving fuzzy discretization from interval discretization for classification problems. One method uses linear membership functions with trapezoidal shape. The other extends them to piecewise linear functions. In both methods, we use a control parameter that specifies the overlap grade between adjacent membership functions. The overlap grade can be viewed as the fuzzification grade of interval discretization. Through computer simulations, we examine three interval discretization methods from which fuzzy discretization is derived: equal width intervals, equal frequency intervals, and minimum entropy intervals. We extract fuzzy rules for wine data and sonar data with many continuous attributes. Simulation results show that the classification ability of fuzzy rules is improved in some cases and degraded in other cases by the increase in the fuzzification grade.
Grasping and manipulation by arm/multifingered-hand mechanisms

A control scheme for grasping and manipulation by arm-hand mechanisms is proposed. The arm-hand mechanisms, consisting of arm and multifingered hand have the same feature as that of redundant macro-micro manipulators concerning manipulation. That is: (1) manipulations are possible by both the arms and hands, (2) the hands are suitable for the compliant motions compared to the arms because of their small inertia, and the motion ranges of the arms are bigger than those of the hands. The control scheme can utilize both merits of the arms and hands. Simultaneously, it can realize the secure grasping during manipulations. Several simulation and experimental results illustrate the validity of the proposed control scheme.
Striatal Vulnerability in Huntington’s Disease: Neuroprotection Versus Neurotoxicity

Huntington’s disease (HD) is an autosomal dominant neurodegenerative disease caused by the expansion of a CAG trinucleotide repeat encoding an abnormally long polyglutamine tract (PolyQ) in the huntingtin (Htt) protein. In HD, striking neuropathological changes occur in the striatum, including loss of medium spiny neurons and parvalbumin-expressing interneurons accompanied by neurodegeneration of the striosome and matrix compartments, leading to progressive impairment of reasoning, walking and speaking abilities. The precise cause of striatal pathology in HD is still unknown; however, accumulating clinical and experimental evidence suggests multiple plausible pathophysiological mechanisms underlying striatal neurodegeneration in HD. Here, we review and discuss the characteristic neurodegenerative patterns observed in the striatum of HD patients and consider the role of various huntingtin-related and striatum-enriched proteins in neurotoxicity and neuroprotection.
Antigen-Specific T Cell Repertoire Modification of CD4+CD25+ Regulatory T Cells1

T cell immune responses are regulated by the interplay between effector and suppressor T cells. Immunization with Ag leads to the selective expansion and survival of effector CD4+ T cells with high affinity TCR against the Ag and MHC. However, it is not known if CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells (Treg) recognize the same Ag as effector T cells or whether Ag-specific TCR repertoire modification occurs in Treg. In this study, we demonstrate that after a primary Ag challenge, Treg proliferate and TCR repertoire modification is observed although both of these responses were lower than those in conventional T cells. The repertoire modification of Ag-specific Treg after primary Ag challenge augmented the total suppressive function of Treg against TCR repertoire modification but not against the proliferation of memory CD4+ T cells. These results reveal that T cell repertoire modification against a non-self Ag occurs in Treg, which would be crucial for limiting excess primary and memory CD4+ T cell responses. In addition, these studies provide evidence that manipulation of Ag-specific Treg is an ideal strategy for the clinical use of Treg.
Series WP-12-18 Non-Cognitive Ability , Test Scores , and Teacher Quality : Evidence from 9 th Grade Teachers in North Carolina

In this working paper, Jackson presents a model where students have cognitive and noncognitive ability and a teacher’s effect on long-run outcomes is a combination of his or her effect on both ability types. Conditional on cognitive scores, an underlying noncognitive factor associated with student absences, suspensions, grades, and grade progression is strongly correlated with long-run educational attainment, arrests, and earnings in survey data. In administrative data, teachers have meaningful causal effects on both test scores and the non-cognitive factor. Calculations indicate that teacher effects based on test scores alone fail to identify many excellent teachers, and may greatly understate the importance of teachers on adult outcomes.
The inside world: Tristan da Cunha in 1875

Abstract Tristan da Cunha is an island in the South Atlantic, home to one of the remotest communities in the world. This paper investigates the population and economy of the island in 1875 as revealed by a hitherto little-used set of Colonial Office papers. It discovers that although the population total was small and the island was unattractive to migrants, such was the weakness of its economy that during the nineteenth century Tristan was periodically troubled by population pressures. Sadly, these were to be more than relieved in 1885 when 15 of the island's 18 able-bodied men drowned.
Algebraic conditions for synchronization stability of memristive neural networks

Memristive neural network is a special structure of the power system, Its stability plays a very important role in practical applications. In this paper, by analyzing the stability of the system and the synchronization of two memristive neural networks, we get a new stability and synchronization criterion with using lyapunov functional method and inequality method. In addition, the new proposed algebraic criteria are very easy to verify, and they also enrich and improve the earlier publications.
Quality Evaluation of an Anonymized Dataset

In this study we argue that the traditional approach of evaluating the information quality of an anonymized (or otherwise modified) dataset is questionable. We propose a novel and simple approach to evaluate the information quality of a modified dataset, and thereby the quality of techniques that modify data. We carry out experiments on eleven datasets and the empirical results strongly support our arguments. We also present some supplementary measures to our approach that provide additional insight into the information quality of modified data.