Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Riboflavin and UV-Light Based Pathogen Reduction: Extent and Consequence of DNA Damage at the Molecular Level

Abstract We are developing a technology based on the combined application of riboflavin (RB) and light for inactivating pathogens in blood products while retaining the biological functions of the treated cells and proteins. Virus and bacteria reduction measured by tissue culture infectivity or colony formation with UV light alone and in combination with RB yield equivalent results. The effects of RB as a sensitizing agent on DNA in white cells, bacteria and viruses in combination with UV light exposure have been evaluated. UV-mediated DNA degradation in Jurkat T cells and leukocytes in plasma as measured by the FlowTACS assay was significantly increased in the presence of RB. Agarose gel electrophoretic analysis of DNA in Escherichia coli and leukocytes in plasma demonstrated enhanced DNA degradation in the presence of RB. UV light in combination with RB prevented the reactivation of lambda phage compared with samples irradiated in the absence of RB. UV-mediated oxidative damage in calf thymus DNA was also enhanced in the presence of RB. These observations clearly demonstrate that the presence of RB and UV light selectively enhances damage to the guanine bases in DNA. These data also suggest that the type and extent of damage to DNA for virus in the presence of RB and light make it less likely to be repaired by normal repair pathways available in host cells.
Shiftwork, stress, and psychosomatic complaints: a comparison between workers in different shiftwork schedules, non-shiftworkers, and former shiftworkers.

In a questionnaire study of 3446 blue-collar male workers in the chemical industry of the Federal Republic of Germany, shift- and non-shiftworkers were compared for reported health and stress at work. There were three groups of non-shiftworkers: former shiftworkers who left shiftwork because of a physician's advice, former shiftworkers who were not so advised, and never-shiftworkers. Both shiftworkers and former shiftworkers who left for health reasons showed a higher degree of reported ill health than never-shiftworkers and former shiftworkers who had left for other reasons than health. The results are consistent when stress at work and other potentially confounding factors are controlled. However, stress at work is an important predictor of ill health independent of shiftwork. Furthermore, a rapidly rotating 12-hour shift system (rotating every 2 to 3 days) as compared with a slower rotating 8-hour shift system (rotating every 5 to 7 days) showed no significant differences in workers' ill health when st.
Fetal Lateral Ventricular Width: What Should Be Its Upper Limit?

Objective. The upper limit of the fetal atrial width in normal fetuses is debated. This was a prospective cohort evaluation of the lateral ventricular width with special regard to the upper limit of its size. Methods. Measurements of fetal atrial ventricular size were obtained by abdominal ultrasonography in 427 male and female fetuses between 20 and 40 weeks' gestation of normal singleton pregnancies. In addition, reanalysis of previous data (8 studies) and the current data was performed to produce a pooled mean and SD. Results. The mean ventricular width ± SD was 6.2 ± 1.2 mm. The ventricular width did not show significant modification throughout gestation. Reanalysis of the current and previous studies (8216 cases) yielded a pooled mean of 6.4 ± 1.2. Conclusions. According to the current and previous studies, the upper cutoff of fetal ventricular atrium width should be 10 mm. This cutoff represents a range of approximately 3 SDs above the pooled mean, corresponding to a 99.74% confidence interval.
Characterizations of the basic feasible functionals of finite type

The authors define a simple typed while-programming language that generalizes the sort of simple language used in computability texts to define the familiar numerical computable functions and corresponds roughly to the mu -recursion of R.O. Gandy (1967). This language does not fully capture the notion of higher type computability. The authors define run times for their programs and prove that the feasible functionals of S. Cook and A. Urquhart (1988) are precisely those functionals computable by typed while-programs with run times feasibly length-bounded. The authors introduce the notion of a bounded typed loop program and prove that a finite type functional is feasible if it is computable by a bounded typed loop program. <<ETX>>
Estudio de la variación de diferentes parámetros en antenas de microcinta AAPC

En el presente trabajo se realiza un estudio de la influencia que ejercen las variaciones del grosor del sustrato dielectrico y de la posicion de la ranura, en antenas de microcinta acopladas por apertura que radian con polarizacion circular (AAPC), sobre algunos de los parametros de interes de la estructura radiante. Los resultados obtenidos permiten constatar que un aumento del espesor del sustrato dielectrico, mediante el incremento en el grosor de la capa de aire, que en la estructura disenada, separa al plano de tierra del parche radiante, produce una disminucion de la frecuencia de resonancia, un aumento en el nivel de aislamiento entre alimentaciones, ejerce marcada influencia en la ganancia de la estructura radiante, produce un aumento de la relacion axial y de la polarizacion cruzada. El desplazamiento de las ranuras de la zona central del parche radiante produce un corrimiento en la frecuencia de resonancia y una disminucion en el nivel de aislamiento entre alimentaciones, de la ganancia, de la relacion axial y de la polarizacion cruzada. Partiendo de los criterios y las relaciones de compromiso analizadas, en este trabajo se presenta la implementacion de la estructura estudiada, pudiendo comprobarse a traves de las mediciones practicadas el correcto funcionamiento de la misma.
The Still Bay and Howiesons Poort, 77–59 ka

Variations in the material culture in Africa in the Late Pleistocene indicate that it was a period of rapid cultural change not previously observed in the Middle Stone Age. In southern Africa, two techno-traditions, the Still Bay and the Howiesons Poort, have raised interest because of their relatively early cultural complexity. What might have driven the development of the innovative practices and ideas between ca. 77,000 and 59,000 years ago? Explanations for the ascent and demise of these two entities must focus on analyses of recovered materials and in situ features such as hearths and spatial patterning. They must also consider whether these innovations are likely to have ensued from cognitive evolution in Homo sapiens and trace the changes in brain organization and cognitive functions that best explain them. This article presents an updated review of the Still Bay and Howiesons Poort industries and argues that innovations during the Late Pleistocene must be related to a previous expansion of the higher association areas of the temporal and parietal cortices underlying higher theory of mind, perspective taking, and attentional flexibility.
Early student-patient contacts in general practice: An approach based on educational principles

Background: Clinical teaching and learning is generally seen as an educationally sound approach, but the clinical environment does not always offer optimal conditions to facilitate students’ learning processes. Aims: To show how insights on constructing a good learning environment for student-patient contacts in real practice can be translated into an undergraduate clinical general practice programme in Year 3 and to study its feasibility. Method: Literature search, yielding starting points for the development of the new programme and questionnaire evaluation of the programme. Results: Six starting points for a good learning environment for early student-patient contacts: continuing exposure to patients, transformation of experience into knowledge, active role of students, supervision and feedback, time and space for teaching and teacher training were translated into a the new programme. The evaluation showed that the programme was feasible and well received by students and GPs, although some improvements are possible. Conclusion: In a curriculum with clear goals for early student-patient contacts, it is feasible to implement an early clinical programme in general practice based on educational principles.
Design of Antisense RNA Constructs for Downregulation of the Acetone Formation Pathway of Clostridium acetobutylicum

ABSTRACT We investigated the effect of antisense RNA (asRNA) structural properties on the downregulation efficacy of enzymes in the acetone-formation pathway (acetoacetate decarboxylase [AADC] and coenzyme A-transferase [CoAT]) of Clostridium acetobutylicum strain ATCC 824. First, we generated three strains, C. acetobutylicum ATCC 824 (pADC38AS), 824(pADC68AS), and 824(pADC100AS), which contain plasmids that produce asRNAs of various lengths against the AADC (adc) transcript. Western analysis showed that all three strains exhibit low levels of AADC compared to the plasmid control [ATCC 824(pSOS95del)]. By using computational algorithms, the three different asRNAs directed toward AADC, along with previously reported clostridial asRNAs, were examined for structural features (free nucleotides and components). When the normalized metrics of these structural features were plotted against percent downregulation, only the component/nucleotide ratio correlated well with in vivo asRNA effectiveness. Despite the significant downregulation of AADC in these strains, there were no concomitant effects on acetone formation. These findings suggest that AADC does not limit acetone formation and, thus, we targeted next the CoAT. Using the component/nucleotide ratio as a selection parameter, we developed three strains [ATCC 824 (pCTFA2AS), 824(pCTFB1AS), and 824(pCOAT11AS)] which express asRNAs to downregulate either or both of the CoAT subunits. Compared to the plasmid control strain, these strains produced substantially low levels of acetone and butanol and Western blot analyses showed significantly low levels of both CoAT subunits. These results show that CoAT is the rate-limiting enzyme in acetone formation and strengthen the hypothesis that the component/nucleotide ratio is a predictive indicator of asRNA effectiveness.
Struggling for Dignity: The Meaning of Women’s Experiences of Living with Fibromyalgia

Fibromyalgia (FM) is a common chronic pain syndrome with an obscure etiology, which mostly afflicts middle-aged women. In this study, 14 women with FM were interviewed about the meaning of living with the illness. A phenomenological-hermeneutic method was used to analyze and interpret the interview texts. The findings show that being a woman with FM means living a life greatly influenced by the illness in various ways. The women’s experiences of living with FM were presented in three major interlaced themes: loss of freedom, threat to integrity, and a struggle to achieve relief and understanding. This study highlights the importance of meeting people suffering in illness with respect for their human dignity. The care of women with FM must empower the women to bring to bear their own resources so that they can manage to live with the illness.
Risk Factors Differ for Carotid Artery Plaque With and Without Acoustic Shadowing

To investigate the association of gender, ethnicity, and several cardiovascular risk factors with carotid artery plaque and plaque with acoustic shadowing in a population‐based sample, high‐resolution B‐mode ultrasonography was used to characterize lesions in the common and internal carotid arteries, and at the carotid bifurcation in 12,796 US men and women, aged 45 to 64 years, participating in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study (ARIC) baseline survey. In multiple logistic regression analyses, male gender (odds ratio and 95% confidence interval: 1.52 [1.39–1.67]) and increased total (1.47 [1.32–1.63]) and low‐density‐lipoprotein cholesterol (1.49 [1.34–1.65]) levels were statistically significantly associated only with the presence of plaque. In contradistinction, smoking (2.22 [1.79–2.75]) and hypertension (1.54 [1.30–1.82]) were additionally associated with acoustic shadowing. Hyperfibrinogenemia (1.33 [1.12–1.59]) was associated only with lesions accompanied by acoustic shadowing. While ethnicity associations with plaque alone varied across the artery segments, among those with plaque, being white was uniformly associated with acoustic shadowing. After multivariable adjustment, high‐density‐lipoprotein cholesterol was not associated with either manifestation of atherosclerosis. In conclusion, differences were seen in the associations of established cardiovascular risk factors with discretely characterized carotid artery plaque lesions, according to the presence or absence of acoustic shadowing suggestive of mineralization of plaque.
Occult Hepatitis B Virus Infection in Hemodialysis Patients With Isolated Hepatitis B Core Antibody: A Multicenter Study

Occult hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is characterized by presence of HBV infection with undetectable hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg). Occult HBV infection harbors potential risk of HBV transmission through hemodialysis (HD). The aim of this study was to assess the occult HBV infection in hemodialysis patients with isolated hepatitis B core antibody (anti‐HBc). A total of 289 HD patients from five dialysis units in Tehran, Iran, were included in this study. Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), Hepatitis B surface antibody (anti‐HBs), anti‐HBc, Hepatitis C antibody (anti‐HCV), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) levels were tested in all subjects. The presence of HBV‐DNA was determined quantitatively in plasma samples of HD patients with isolated anti‐HBc (HBsAg negative, anti‐HBs negative and anti‐HBc positive) by real‐time PCR using the artus HBV RG PCR kit on the Rotor‐Gene 3000 real‐time thermal cycler. Of 289 patients enrolled in this study, 18 subjects (6.2%, 95% confidence interval (CI), 3.5%–8.9%) had isolated anti‐HBc. HBV‐DNA was detectable in 9 of 18 patients (50%, 95% CI, 27%–73%) who had isolated anti‐HBc. Plasma HBV‐DNA load was less than 50 IU/ml in all of these patients. Our study showed that detection of isolated anti‐HBc could reflect unrecognized occult HBV infection in HD patients. The majority of these infections are associated with low viral loads.
Aware Mispronunciation Detection for Mandarin Pronunciation Training

Mispronunciation detection is an important component in a computer-assisted language learning (CALL) system. Many CALL systems only provide pronunciation correctness as the single feedback, which is not very informative for language learners. This paper proposes a context aware multilayer framework for Mandarin mispronunciation detection. The proposed framework incorporates the context information in the detection process and providing phonetic, tonal and syllabic level feedback. In particular, the contribution of this work is twofold: 1) we propose to use a multilayer mispronunciation detection architecture to detect and provide mispronunciation feedback at the phonetic, tonal and syllabic levels. 2) we propose to incorporate the phonetic and tone context information in mispronunciation detection using vector space modelling. Our experiment results show that the proposed framework improves the mispronunciation detection performance in all three levels.
RNA Silencing Suppression by a Second Copy of the P1 Serine Protease of Cucumber Vein Yellowing Ipomovirus, a Member of the Family Potyviridae That Lacks the Cysteine Protease HCPro

ABSTRACT The P1 protein of viruses of the family Potyviridae is a serine proteinase, which is highly variable in length and sequence, and its role in the virus infection cycle is not clear. One of the proposed activities of P1 is to assist HCPro, the product that viruses of the genus Potyvirus use to counteract antiviral defense mediated by RNA silencing. Indeed, an HCPro-coding region is present in all the genomes of members of the genera Potyvirus, Rymovirus, and Tritimovirus that have been sequenced. However, it was recently reported that a sequence coding for HCPro is lacking in the genome of Cucumber vein yellowing virus (CVYV), a member of the genus Ipomovirus, the fourth monopartite genus of the family. In this study, we provide further evidence that P1 enhances the activity of HCPro in members of the genus Potyvirus and show that it is duplicated in the ipomovirus CVYV. The two CVYV P1 copies are arranged in tandem, and the second copy (P1b) has RNA silencing suppression activity. CVYV P1b suppressed RNA silencing induced either by sense green fluorescent protein (GFP) mRNA or by a GFP inverted repeat RNA, indicating that CVYV P1b acts downstream of the formation of double-stranded RNA. CVYV P1b also suppressed local silencing in agroinfiltrated patches of transgenic Nicotiana benthamiana line 16c and delayed its propagation to the neighboring cells. However, neither the short-distance nor long-distance systemic spread of silencing of the GFP transgene was completely blocked by CVYV P1b. CVYV P1b and P1-HCPro from the potyvirus Plum pox virus showed very similar behaviors in all the assays carried out, suggesting that evolution has found a way to counteract RNA silencing by similar mechanisms using very different proteins in viruses of the same family.
The role of preexisting fractures and faults during multistage hydraulic fracturing in the Bakken Formation

AbstractWe performed an integrated study of multistage hydraulic fracture stimulation of two parallel horizontal wells in the Bakken Formation in the Williston Basin, North Dakota. There are three distinct parts of this study: development of a geomechanical model for the study area, interpretation of multiarray downhole recordings of microseismic events, and interpretation of hydraulic fracturing data in a geomechanical context. We estimated the current stress state to be characterized by an NF/SS regime, with SHmax oriented approximately N45°E. The microseismic events were recorded in six vertical observation wells during hydraulic fracturing of parallel wells X and Z with three unusual aspects. First, rather than occurring in proximity to the stages being pressurized, many of the events occurred along the length of well Y, a parallel well located between wells X and Z that had been in production for approximately 2.5 years at the time X and Z were stimulated. Second, relatively few fracturing stages wer.
In situ X-ray diffraction study of phase transitions of FeTiO3 at high pressures and temperatures using a large-volume press and synchrotron radiation

Abstract The phase transformation from ilmenite to perovskite in FeTiO3 was directly observed using synchrotron-based X-ray diffraction and a large-volume press. The perovskite phase is temperature quenchable at 20 GPa and converts into the LiNbO3 phase at pressures below 15 GPa at room temperature. The LiNbO3 phase transforms into the ilmenite phase at 10 GPa and 673 K. However, the back-transformation from the ilmenite to the LiNbO3 phase was not observed, thus strongly suggesting that the LiNbO3 phase is not thermodynamically stable but rather a retrogressive phase formed from perovskite during decompression at room temperature. By cycling the pressure up and down at temperatures between 773 and 1023 K, the perovskiteilmenite transformation could be observed in both directions, thus confirming that perovskite is the true high-pressure phase with respect to the ilmenite phase at lower pressures. The phase boundary of the perovskite-ilmenite transformation thus determined in this study is represented by P (GPa) = 16.0 (±1.4) . 0.0012 (±0.0014) T (K), which is inconsistent with P = 25.2 . 0.01 T (K) reported previously (Syono et al. 1980). The discrepancy could be attributed to the different experimental methods (i.e., in situ vs. quench) used in the two studies. The ilmenite-perovskite phase boundary with such a small slope would potentially serve as a useful geobarometer for ilmenite-bearing rocks derived from the deep mantle or for those shocked in meteor craters.
A hybrid NFC-Bluetooth secure protocol for Credit Transfer among mobile phones

The next-generation networks improve people's quality of life with new services and applications. The evolution of Internet technologies also promoted the development of electronic commerce and the evolution of mobile payments. Near field communication NFC was proposed as a new short-range wireless technology and can play an important role in such issues. Money transactions among mobile devices could play an important role in a near future in order to simplify and perform such operations safely. Furthermore, it is important that tasks are easy to perform. Then, this paper presents a mobile solution based on a peer-to-peer communication system for money transfer, based on NFC and Bluetooth communications. A hybrid communication protocol combining the security characteristics of NFC and better Bluetooth data transfer rates is proposed. The proposal was deployed in real environments, and it was evaluated, demonstrated, and validated with different NFC tags and the Bluetooth traffic was also analyzed. It was shown that system presents good response times. The solution offers a friendly user's interface and very easy to use, guaranteeing the security of money transfer, and it is ready for use. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
A Diesel Engine Model for Dynamic Drive Cycle Simulations

The development and implementation of a diesel engine combustion system simulation model is described. The model is a crank angle based combustion model, which uses the conditions in the intake and exhaust manifolds together with the fuel injection signal from the engine control unit to estimate the in-cylinder pressure throughout a complete combustion cycle. The model is implemented in Matlab. Furthermore, a Simulink coupling has been developed and implemented such that the combustion model can be connected directly to a Simulink mean value model of an engine air system. The coupling makes the combustion model act like a continuous source and a continuous sink in a mean value model. The coupling makes it possible to continuously simulate an engine in steady-state or transient operation, while the combustion model produces estimated cylinder pressure traces for each combustion cycle. This makes it possible to estimate fuel consumption and to couple the model with emission models which use the cylinder pressure or the rate of heat release as input. The model is developed, calibrated and verified using measured data from a 2.4 liter Volvo diesel engine, equipped with a turbocharger, an exhaust gas recirculation system, and a common rail injection system. The combustion model estimates IMEPnet with a correlation factor of 0.995 for the used data. The simulation time is in the range between 1 and 25 milliseconds for one combustion cycle on a standard computer, depending on the implementation.