Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Prevalence of metabolic syndrome, discrete or comorbid diabetes and hypertension in sub-Saharan Africa among people living with HIV versus HIV-negative populations: a systematic review and meta-analysis protocol

Introduction Metabolic disorder and high blood pressure are common complications globally, and specifically among people living with HIV (PLHIV). Diabetes, metabolic syndrome and hypertension are major risk factors for cardiovascular diseases and their related complications. However, the burden of metabolic syndrome, discrete or comorbid diabetes and hypertension in PLHIV compared with HIV-negative population has not been quantified. This review and meta-analysis aims to compare and analyse the prevalence of these trio conditions between HIV-negative and HIV-positive populations in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Methods and analysis The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis statement guides the methods for this study. Eligibility criteria will be published original articles (English and French language) from SSA that present the prevalence of metabolic syndrome, discrete and/or comorbid diabetes, and hypertension comparisons between PLHIV and HIV-negative populations. The following databases will be searched from January 1990 to February 2017: PubMed/Medline, EBSCOhost, Web of Science, Google Scholar, Scopus, African Index Medicus and Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. Eligibility screening and data extraction will be conducted independently by two reviewers, and disagreements resolved by an independent reviewer. Methodological quality and risk of bias will be assessed for individual included studies, while meta-analysis will be used to estimate study outcomes prevalence according to subgroups. Sensitivity analysis will also be performed to further test the robustness of the findings. Ethics and dissemination This proposed study does not require ethical approval. The results will be published as a scientific article in a peer-reviewed journal, and presented at conferences and to relevant health agencies. Trial registration number PROSPERO registration number (CRD42016045727).
Patterns of Protein Oxidation in Arabidopsis Seeds and during Germination1[w]

Increased cellular levels of reactive oxygen species are known to occur during seed development and germination, but the consequences in terms of protein degradation are poorly characterized. In this work, protein carbonylation, which is an irreversible oxidation process leading to a loss of function of the modified proteins, has been analyzed by a proteomic approach during the first stages of Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) seed germination. In the dry mature seeds, the legumin-type globulins (12S cruciferins) were the major targets. However, the acidic α-cruciferin subunits were carbonylated to a much higher extent than the basic (β) ones, consistent with a model in which the β-subunits are buried within the cruciferin molecules and the α-subunits are more exposed to the outside. During imbibition, various carbonylated proteins accumulated. This oxidation damage was not evenly distributed among seed proteins and targeted specific proteins as glycolytic enzymes, mitochondrial ATP synthase, chloroplastic ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase large chain, aldose reductase, methionine synthase, translation factors, and several molecular chaperones. Although accumulation of carbonylated proteins is usually considered in the context of aging in a variety of model systems, this was clearly not the case for the Arabidopsis seeds since they germinated at a high rate and yielded vigorous plantlets. The results indicate that the observed specific changes in protein carbonylation patterns are probably required for counteracting and/or utilizing the production of reactive oxygen species caused by recovery of metabolic activity in the germinating seeds.
Implementation of Activity-Based Costing in e-Businesses

In the early 1980s, management accounting practices were being questioned since it was realized that traditional cost accounting practices were not appropriate for allocating indirect costs that were not associated with a specific product or customer. Activity-based costing (ABC) was developed to overcome problems that were leading to poor management decisions such as investing in unprofitable customers or products etc. Although manufacturing companies have firstly used activity-based costing, in fact ABC is a very appropriate cost control method for e-businesses whose almost all activities are associated with the indirect cost category. The fact that one of the reasons why many dot.com companies had gone through bankruptcy in the 2000s was not using an effective cost control system has rendered ABC more important for e- businesses. The aim of this paper is to implement ABC in an e-auction company, to determine unprofitable and promising customers accordingly. In the first part, theoretical information about ABC is presented and than implementation is explained step by step. In the last part results are evaluated and some recommendations are proposed.
Pharyngeal Dysesthesia as an Aura in Temporal Lobe Epilepsy

Summary: Purpose: Because oral, buccal, an d sometimes oral‐pharngeal manifestations in epilepsy are linked to the central‐temporal region, we studied 3 patients with childhood‐onset partial seizures that consistently began with pharynteal dysesthesias, described as either throat tingling or burning, to loicalize seizure onset.
Storyline visualizations of eye tracking of movie viewing

Storyline visualization is a technique that captures the spatiotemporal characteristics of individual entities and simultaneously illustrates emerging group behaviors. We developed a storyline visualization leveraging dynamic time warping to parse and cluster eye tracking sequences. Visualization of the results captures the similarities and differences across a group of observers performing acommontask. Weappliedourstorylineapproachtogazepatterns of people watching dynamic movie clips. We use these to illustrate variations in the spatio-temporal patterns of observers as captured by different data encoding techniques. We illustrate that storylines further aid in the identiﬁcation of modal patterns and noteworthy individual differences within a corpus of eye tracking data.
Lack of response to pulse cyclophosphamide in neuromyelitis optica: evaluation of 7 patients.

T he effect of immunosuppression with corticosteroids, azathioprine, mycophenolate, or rituximab for preventing relapses in patients with neuromyelitis optica (NMO) has been demonstrated in case series and retrospective studies. These drugs are currently considered the mainstay treatment for preventing neurologic worsening in NMO. Herein, we describe our experience with pulse cyclophosphamide for treating patients with NMO, which was used prior to azathioprine and had its use interrupted owing to lack of efficacy.
Occurrence of Cyclopiazonic Acid in Peanuts

Samples of segregation 3 farmer stock peanuts from the 1980 southeastern United States growing season were analyzed for the presence of cyclopiazonic acid and aflatoxins. Cyclopiazonic acid appeared in 21 of 27 loose-shell kernel fractions at a range of 32 to 6,525 μg/kg and in 4 of 21 sound mature kernel fractions at a range of 32 to 130 μg/kg. Aflatoxins were detected in 26 of 27 loose-shell kernel fractions and in 20 of 21 sound mature kernel fractions. Cyclopiazonic acid used at 105 and 210 μg/kg to spike peanut samples was recovered at an average rate of 93.3%, with ranges of 89 to 119 and 166 to 221 μg/kg, respectively. The minimum detection limit on oxalic acid-impregnated silica gel plates was 26 ng.
Advanced maternal age as a sole indication for genetic amniocentesis; risk-benefit analysis based on a large database reflecting the current common practice

Abstract Aims: Recent advances in prenatal screening, including first and second trimester genetic screening as well as targeted sonography, have significantly improved the detection of trisomy 21. Therefore, several investigators have questioned the validity of recommending genetic amniocentesis to all women who are 35 years or older at delivery. Thus, we sought to investigate the risks and benefits associated with performing genetic amniocentesis in women whose sole indication for testing was advanced maternal age (AMA). Methods: A retrospective review of a Genzyme Genetics amniocentesis database (January 2006–December 2006) was performed. All specimens obtained from women of AMA as the sole indication were eligible for analysis. The amniocentesis-related potential fetal loss was calculated based on the traditional fetal loss rate of 1/200 as well as the recently published loss rate of 1/1600 procedures. Risk-benefit analysis was performed by comparing the number of trisomy 21 fetuses identified within the AMA group to the potential number of amniocentesis-related fetal losses within this group. Results: A total of 87,241 amniocentesis specimens were processed during the study period. AMA was the sole indication for genetic amniocentesis in 43,303 cases which formed the study group. In 399 (0.92%) of these cases, a trisomy 21 was identified. Assuming an amniocentesis related fetal loss rates of 1/200 or 1/1600; 217 or 27 fetal losses would have been expected, respectively. Conclusions: Our analysis suggests that the benefit of genetic amniocentesis for the sole indication of AMA far outweighs the potential amniocentesis-related fetal loss rate, regardless of the actual rate one considers.
Matrix metalloproteinases and metalloproteinase inhibitors in choroidal neovascular membranes.

PURPOSE Matrix metalloproteinases (MMP) are a family of extracellular matrix degrading enzymes associated with the development of neovascularization. To investigate the possible role of these enzymes in choroidal neovascularization, the mRNA expression of MMPs and tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMPs) were analyzed in subfoveal fibrovascular membranes from patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD). METHODS Surgically removed subfoveal fibrovascular membranes from five eyes were analyzed for the expression of MMP and TIMP mRNA. In situ hybridization anti-sense and sense riboprobes were generated using DNA complementary to human collagenase (MMP-1), 72 kDa gelatinase (MMP-2), stromelysin (MMP-3), 92-kDa gelatinase (MMP-9), TIMP-1, TIMP-2, and TIMP-3. Vascular endothelial cells were detected using immunostaining for von Willebrand factor. RESULTS MMP-2 and MMP-9 mRNA were detected in all specimens. Most of the membranes also expressed TIMP-1 and TIMP-3 mRNA, and two of the membranes expressed TIMP-2 mRNA. MMP-2, TIMP-1, and TIMP-2 mRNA had a similar overall distribution that was relatively uniform within the vascularized membrane stroma. MMP-2 expression appeared to be localized mainly to the vascular endothelial cells, whereas TIMP-1 and TIMP-3 were detected in other cell types such as fibroblastlike cells. MMP-9 expression was distinctly expressed by cells at the margins of the membranes and often in proximity to a thickened Bruch's membrane-like layer under the retinal pigment epithelial cells. TIMP-3 mRNA was strongly expressed within the retinal pigment epithelial cell layer and also in the stroma of one membrane. None of the membranes showed detectable MMP-1 or MMP-3 expression. CONCLUSIONS The results support a role for MMPs in the development of choroidal neovascularization in AMD. The localization of MMP-2 and MMP-9 to the areas of new vessel formation and to the enveloping Bruch's-like membrane, respectively, suggests that MMP-2 and MMP-9 may be cooperatively involved in the progressive growth of choroidal neovascular membranes in AMD.
P transposons controlled by the heat shock promoter

We have transformed Drosophila melanogaster with modified P-element transposons, which express the transposase function from the heat-inducible hsp70 heat shock promoter. The Icarus transposon, which contains a direct hsp70-P fusion gene, behaved like a very active autonomous P element even before heat shock induction. Although heat shock led to abundant somatic transcription, transposition of the Icarus element was confined to germ line cells. To reduce the constitutive transposase activity observed for the Icarus element, we attenuated the translational efficiency of the transposase RNA by inserting the transposon 5 neomycin resistance gene between the hsp70 promoter and the P-element sequences. The resulting construct, called Icarus-neo, conferred resistance to G418, and its transposition was significantly stimulated by heat shock. Heat shocks applied during the embryonic or third instar larval stage had similar effects, indicating that transposition of P elements is not restricted to a certain developmental stage. Both Icarus and Icarus-neo destabilized snw in a P-cytotype background and thus at least partially overcome the repression of transposition. Our results suggest that the regulation of P-element transposition occurs at both the transcriptional and posttranscriptional levels.
Effect of prebiotic fibre supplementation on hepatic gene expression and serum lipids: a dose–response study in JCR:LA-cp rats

Prebiotic fibres have been proposed to promote weight loss and lower serum cholesterol; however, the mechanisms are not fully understood. The aim of the present research was to identify possible mechanisms through which prebiotic fibres improve serum lipids. Lean and obese JCR:La-cp rats aged 8 weeks consumed one of three diets supplemented with 0, 10 or 20 % prebiotic fibre for 10 weeks. Rats were anaesthetised and a fasting blood sample was taken for lipid analysis. Real-time PCR was used to determine gene expression for cholesterol and fatty acid regulatory genes in liver tissue. Liver and caecal digesta cholesterol and TAG content were quantified. Both doses of prebiotic fibre lowered serum cholesterol levels by 24 % in the obese hyperlipidaemic rats (P < 0·05). This change was associated with an increase in caecal digesta as well as an up-regulation of genes involved in cholesterol synthesis and bile production. Additionally, there was a 42 % reduction in TAG accumulation in the liver of the obese rats with 10 % prebiotic diet (P < 0·05); however, no change in liver fatty acid synthase (FAS). Prebiotic fibres appear to lower cholesterol levels through increased cholesterol excretion in the form of bile and inhibit the accumulation of TAG in the liver through a mechanism unrelated to FAS. These effects appear to be limited to the obese model and particularly the 10 % dose. The present work is significant as it provides insight into the mechanisms of action for prebiotic fibres on lipid metabolism and furthers the development of dietary treatments for hypercholesterolaemia.
Sleep‐disordered breathing and glucose metabolism in hypertensive men: a population‐based study

Abstract. Elmasry A, Lindberg E, Berne C, Janson C, Gislason T, Awad Tageldin M, Boman G (Uppsala University, Akademiska Sjukhuset, Uppsala, Sweden; Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt; and Vifilsstadir Hospital, Gardabaer, Iceland). Sleep‐disordered breathing and glucose metabolism in hypertensive men: a population‐based study. J Intern Med 2001; 249: 153–161.
Modeling and generating whole body motion of balance maintenance

Recently, many studies of generating dynamically consistent motion of human-like models have been made in several areas. A study of balance maintenance is one of the most important topics in these areas. In this paper, we describe how to model motion of balance maintenance by humans against sudden and large perturbation, along with a method for generating balance maintenance motion by a human-like model. A motion capturing system and force plates are used to obtain human motion, and the motion is used to confirm the proposed model and to determine parameters of the model for generating motion.
Review of Soft and Hard Horn Antennas, Including Metamaterial-Based Hybrid-Mode Horns

This paper is divided into three parts. Part one gives an overview of the early history of the design and implementation of hard horn antennas, and of the concept formulation of soft and hard electromagnetic surfaces. Part two presents a review of all known classes of soft and hard hybrid-mode horns. Part three presents a new class of hybrid-mode horns, based on the use of a low-index metamaterial liner on the wall. Moment-Method analysis of both soft and hard metamaterial horns indicates that it may be feasible to realize these horns with very large bandwidth. This is because the desired (analyzed) metamaterial dispersion is similar to the Drude dispersion curve (monotonically increasing permittivity as a function of frequency), which represents typical electromagnetic dispersion in dense media. A successful implementation of these horns depends on whether low-index metamaterials can be implemented with polarization-independent boundary impedance, favorable dispersion characteristics, and reasonable loss, mass, and production cost.
R-spondin1 Is a High Affinity Ligand for LRP6 and Induces LRP6 Phosphorylation and β-Catenin Signaling*

R-spondin proteins are newly identified secreted molecules that activate β-catenin signaling. However, the mechanism of R-spondin action and its relationship with Wnt signaling remain unclear. Here we show that human R-spondin1 (hRspo1) is a high affinity ligand for the Wnt co-receptor LRP6 (Kd = 1.2 nm). hRspo1 induces glycogen synthase kinase 3-dependent phosphorylation and activation of LRP6. DKK1, an LRP6 antagonist, inhibits hRspo1-induced LRP6 phosphorylation. We further demonstrate that hRspo1 synergizes with Frizzled5 in Xenopus axis induction assays and induces the phosphorylation of Dishevelled, a cytoplasmic component downstream of Frizzled function. Our study reveals interesting similarity and distinction between Wnt and R-spondin signaling.
Clinical Experience with Polydioxanone Monofilament Absorbable Sutures in Plastic Surgery

Various sizes of undyed monofilament polydioxanone surgical suture were assessed in 52 surgical patients who underwent plastic surgery. With a single exception, follow-up observations were carried out for at least 40 days. Clinical results were judged satisfactory in 13 patients and excellent in 39 patients. The suture was found significantly better than gut in terms of pliability, ease of passage through tissue, ease of tying, strength, fray resistance, and overall handling properties. The undyed suture material tested in this study was rated as having inferior visibility when compared with surgical gut. This new suture material, the first synthetic absorbable available as a monofilament, would appear to be particularly useful in situations requiring extended wound support, in potentially infected wounds in which a monofilament suture would have lessened tendency to harbor pathogenic bacteria, and in cases where ease of passage through tissue, smooth tie-down, and precise knot placement are important.
A model order reduction framework for parametrized nonlinear PDE constrained optimization

In this paper, we propose a model order reduction framework for parametrized quadratic optimization problems constrained by nonlinear stationary PDEs. Once the solutions of the optimization problem are characterized as the solutions of the corresponding optimality system, we build a reduced-order model following a suitable all-at-once optimize-then-reduce paradigm. Lowdimensional spaces for the state, control and adjoint variables are simultaneously constructed by means of either the Reduced Basis greedy algorithm or Proper Orthogonal Decomposition. In order to estimate the error between the high-fidelity and reduced solutions, we derive an a posteriori bound based on Brezzi-Rappaz-Raviart theory; further, a bound for the error on the cost functional is obtained. Then, for the sake of computational efficiency, we integrate into this framework the ROMES method presented in Drohmann et al. (2015) to generate tighter error indicators. Finally, this methodology is applied to the boundary optimal control of parametrized Navier-Stokes equations.
Plasma gonadotropin concentrations in the cyclic female brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula).

Changes in plasma concentrations of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH), and their relationship to antral follicle development and ovulation, were determined in female brushtail possums (Trichosurus vulpecula) in experiments in which pouch young were removed (RPY) from lactating females to promote ovarian activity. In Experiment 1 (n = 8), the development of preovulatory follicles and ovulation was monitored by laparoscopy. In Experiment 2 (n = 15) estrus and mating were monitored by cytology of urine. Ovulation occurred in 4/8 (Experiment 1) and 9/16 (Experiment 2) possums, and in these animals, plasma FSH concentrations fell progressively over the period of preovulatory follicle development and returned to pretreatment levels after ovulation. With the exception of samples taken at the time of the preovulatory gonadotropin surge, mean plasma LH levels remained basal. In those possums that failed to ovulate, plasma FSH concentrations were elevated while plasma LH concentrations were low; these patterns remained unchanged throughout the sampling period. It was not possible to distinguish between animals that would ovulate and those that would not ovulate after RPY on the basis of gonadotropin profiles at the time of RPY. A further group of possums (Experiment 3, n = 10) were blood-sampled at hourly intervals for 48 h to characterize preovulatory gonadotropin surges, using laparoscopy to monitor preovulatory follicular development and predict ovulation. A preovulatory LH surge (max. conc. 10.2-43.5 ng/ml, duration 7-9 h) was recorded in 4 animals, with a coincident preovulatory FSH surge (max. conc. 1.4-21.4 ng/ml, duration 3-11 h) observed in 3 of these possums. The patterns of gonadotropin secretion in the cycling brushtail possum conform to those reported for eutherians that ovulate spontaneously and appear to be regulated by similar mechanisms.
Syntaxin 1A promotes the endocytic sorting of EAAC1 leading to inhibition of glutamate transport

The neuronal glutamate transporter, excitatory amino-acid carrier 1 (EAAC1), plays an important role in the modulation of neurotransmission and contributes to synthesis of the inhibitory neurotransmitter γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and to epileptogenesis. However, the mechanisms that regulate EAAC1 endocytic sorting and function remain largely unknown. Here, we first demonstrate that EAAC1 undergoes internalization through the clathrin-mediated pathway and further show that syntaxin 1A, a key molecule in synaptic exocytosis, potentiates EAAC1 internalization, thus leading to the functional inhibition of EAAC1. In the presence of the transmembrane domain of syntaxin 1A, its H3 coiled-coil domain of syntaxin 1A is necessary and sufficient for the inhibition of EAAC1. Furthermore, specific suppression of endogenous syntaxin 1A significantly blocked EAAC1 endocytic sorting and lysosomal degradation promoted by kainic acid, a drug for kindling the animal model of human temporal lobe epilepsy in rat, indicating a potential role of syntaxin 1A in epileptogenesis. These findings provide new evidence that syntaxin 1A serves as an intrinsic enhancer to EAAC1 endocytic sorting and further suggest that syntaxin 1A is conversant with both `ins' and `outs' of synaptic neurotransmission.