Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Maxillary arch dimensions in normal and unilateral cleft palate subjects.

If the upper jaws of normal children are compared with those with cleft lip and palate defects, certain fundamental differences of size and shape between them are apparent; these differences have been studied in some detail by Coupe and Subtelny (2), Peyton (4, 5), and Subtelny (6). Although these four studies have been cross-sectional in nature, they have usually included all the different types of cleft in the same investigation. In addition, the age range of the subjects studied was wide and so the number of cases of any one type in a particular age group was therefore rather small. In some cases there had also been surgical closure of the clefts before any measurements were made. Peyton (4, 5) concluded there was probably little deficiency of tissue. Subtelny (6) showed that the nasopharynx and posterior part of the maxilla were significantly wider in subjects with cleft palate, and that the width was normal in children with only lip and alveolar clefts. Coupe and Subtelny (2) concluded that there was deficiency of tissue in all groups except those with lip and alveolar clefts, although there was considerable variation between individual cases. There was evidence of lateral displacement of the maxillary segments in all the groups they studied, although in the unilateral cases this was only present during the first year after birth. The aim of the present investigation was to compare the maxillary arches of thirty normal children with thirty children with complete unilateral clefts of the lip, alveolus, and palate before the commencement of any treatment.
On the calculation of energy produced by a PV grid‐connected system

This study develops a proposal of method of calculation useful to estimate the energy produced by a PV grid‐connected system making use of irradiance‐domain integrals and definition of statistical moment. Validation against database of real PV plants performance data shows that acceptable energy estimation can be obtained with first to fourth statistical moments and some basic system parameters. This way, only simple calculations at the reach of pocket calculators, are enough to estimate AC energy. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Applied to Workflow in a Medical Records

Transcribing medical documents accurately into pre-defined formats and within certain time frames is vital for administrative and medical purposes in any hospital. This paper describes quantitative models incorporating available data to represent transcription activities of a medical records department. We forecasted the workload of the department, determined the optimal worker schedule and designed a simulation model to represent the workflow of the transcription function of a medical record department. The findings provided insight into the workflow, staffing and performance of the department.
Diagnosis of Symptomatic Postmenopausal Women by Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioners

Objective To learn more about the way that practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) diagnose women who have menopausal symptoms. Design We assembled a cohort of 23 postmenopausal women who had hot flushes and were otherwise healthy. Each woman was examined independently by nine practitioners of TCM on the same day. Examination consisted of medical history and physical examination. Diagnoses were recorded and counted. Results The most frequent diagnosis made by the practitioners of TCM was kidney yin deficiency, which was the diagnosis made after 168 of 207 visits (81%); 23 women seen by nine TCM practitioners. Practitioners showed good agreement regarding presence of kidney yin deficiency: in 12 women (52%), this diagnosis was made by eight of nine practitioners; in 16 women (70%), seven of nine practitioners made this diagnosis; and in all 23 women (100%), at least five of nine practitioners made this diagnosis. Conclusions Practitioners of TCM who diagnose postmenopausal women with vasomotor symptoms are likely to make a diagnosis that includes kidney yin deficiency. (Menopause 2000;7:129‐134. © 2000, The North American Menopause Society.)
Industrial Enzymes and Metabolites from Actinobacteria in Food and Medicine Industry

Microbial enzymes are known to play a crucial role as metabolic catalysts, leading to their use in various industries and several applications. These en‐ zymes are very useful for industrial applications as they increase the reaction rates by several times than normal chemical reactions. The biochemical heterogeneity, ecological diversity and capacity of the actinobacteria to produce secondary metabolites make them an ideal objective for the production of enzymes. Members of the actinobacteria Micromonospora contains 32 species, are distributed in nature and have been isolated from different environments of different geographical zones, and also form associations with plants on its leaves, roots, rhizospheres and from nitrogen-fixing root nodules of actinorhizal and leguminous plants. The present review mainly contemplates on enzymes and metabolites of actinobac‐ terial genus Micromonospora . Micromonospora L5, isolated from C. equisetifolia nitrogen-fixing nodules, produces hydrolytic enzymes, cellulose, xylanase, pectinase, and also secretes chitinase. The production of these enzymes allows Micromonospora L5 to play a potential role to succeed for second generation biofuel production and on the composting process to meet the need in the energy crisis and solve the problem of the increasing amount of organic domestic wastes. thermoviolaceus
Detection of lipoarabinomannan as a diagnostic test for tuberculosis

A coagglutination technique was established for the detection of lipoarabinomannan of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in human serum samples and evaluated for its utility in the diagnosis of tuberculosis at the Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Respiratorias in Mexico City. The test had a sensitivity of 88% in patients with sputum-smear-positive active pulmonary tuberculosis. The sensitivity in patients with active pulmonary tuberculosis negative for acid-fast bacilli in sputum was 67%. Less favorable results were obtained for patients with AIDS and tuberculosis, with a sensitivity of 57%. The specificity in control patients with lung diseases different from tuberculosis and in healthy subjects was 100%. The positive predictive value was 100%, and the negative predictive value for patients with sputum-positive active pulmonary tuberculosis was 97%. The results of this study suggest that the detection of lipoarabinomannan is an accurate test for the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis.
Stereo-input speech recognition using sparseness-based time-frequency masking in a reverberant environment

We present noise robust automatic speech recognition (ASR) using sparseness-based underdetermined blind source separation (BSS) technique. As a representative underdetermined BSS method, we utilized time-frequency masking in this paper. Although time-frequency masking is able to separate target speech from interferences effectively, one should consider two problems. One is that masking does not work well in noisy or reverberant environment. Another is that masking itself might cause some distortion of the target speech. For the former, we apply our time-frequency masking method [7] which can separate the target signal robustly even in noisy and reverberant environment. Next, investigating the distortion caused by time-frequency masking, we reveal following facts through experiments: 1) soft mask is better than binary mask in terms of recognition performance and 2) cepstral mean normalization (CMN) reduces the distortion, especially for that caused by soft mask. At the end, we evaluate the recognition performance of our method in noisy and reverberant real environment. Index Terms: time-frequency mask, speech sparseness, blind source separation, stereo-input, robust ASR
Investigating the ICT Use and Needs of 'Digital Natives' In Learning English at a Taiwanese University

This article reports key findings of a study which investigated the use of technology by 569 'digital natives' students for English Language learning and recreational purposes. Their views on the applicability of technological tools such as facebook, blogging and skype for English Language teaching and learning were also investigated. The findings showed that although the students expressed positive views with regard to the use of technologies for language learning, they seemed to use less technological tools for academic learning than for recreational purposes. Discipline differences were not a determining factor. In addition, they appeared to use similar well-established technologies rather than new and emerging technologies for both learning and recreation. Finally, they also appeared satisfied with their English instructors' teaching approaches.
Migration of naive, effector and memory T cells: implications for the regulation of immune responses

Summary: T cells play an important role in protective immune responses and in the pathogenesis of many diseases. Understanding the mechanisms regulating their distribution in vivo may therefore be of therapeutic value. Reviewing studies that have followed the migration of labelled naive, effector and memory T cells in healthy animals reveals that all T‐cell subsets enter all organs investigated. Within the tissue, two principally different migration patterns can be identified. First, naive and memory T cells accumulate in lymphoid organs for about 48 h after injection, as the time needed for migration through lymphoid organs is longer than through non‐lymphoid organs. During this time, surface molecule expression is temporarily modified. These changes are reversed before leaving the lymphoid organs and entering the blood to start a new cycle of migration. Second, effector T cells are evenly distributed throughout the body, and most die in the tissues within 24 h. However, depending on the presence of cytokines, some are able to survive and to proliferate, and thereby accumulate in defined microenvironments of the body. Analysing the principles regulating T‐cell migration and survival within the tissue may lead to the development of new options for the treatment of disease.
Illness invalidation from spouse and family is associated with depression in diabetic patients with first superficial diabetic foot ulcers

Objectives (1) To assess the prevalence of depressive disorders in a sample of diabetic patients with their first superficial diabetic foot ulcer. (2) To evaluate the association between illness invalidation from spouse, family, and depressive disorders in those patients. Methods Depressive disorders and severity were diagnosed by the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis Ι disorders, clinical version, and the spouse and family scales of the Illness Invalidation Inventory, respectively (3*I). Physical functioning was also assessed using the Physical Component of The Short Form 36 item health-related quality of life questionnaire. Results The prevalence of depressive disorders was 27.50% (22/80). There was a significant decrease in physical health component summary mean score and a significant increase in ulcer size, Center for Epidemiologic Studies–Depression Scale, spouse discounting, spouse lack of understanding, and family discounting mean scores in the depressed group compared to the non-depressed group. Higher levels of spouse discounting, spouse understanding, and family discounting were significant predictors of diagnosis of depressive disorders and were strongly associated with increased severity of depressive symptoms in diabetic patients with first superficial diabetic foot ulcers. Poor physical functioning was associated with increased depressive symptom severity. Conclusion This study demonstrated that illness invalidation from spouse and family is associated with diagnosis of depressive disorders and increased severity of depressive symptoms in diabetic patients with first superficial diabetic foot ulcers.
Central and peripheral contributions to obesity‐associated hypertension: impact of early overnourishment

Obesity induced by a high‐fat diet was associated with increased tail‐cuff blood pressure in adult rats. The mechanisms underlying obesity‐related hypertension are unclear, but increased sympathetic activation most probably plays a role. Neuroendocrine alterations observed in obesity may influence both feeding patterns and blood pressure. Work from our laboratory has shown that chronic overfeeding in rats leads to changes in neuropeptide Y (NPY) and α‐melanocyte stimulating hormone (αMSH) in the hypothalamus. These peptides have central effects on blood pressure, indicating that obesity‐related changes in the CNS may impact on cardiovascular function. Population studies suggest that nutrition in early life can influence the subsequent risk of obesity and high blood pressure. To examine the impact of early postnatal overnutrition on blood pressure and adipose‐derived mediators, we adjusted rat litters to 3 or 12 pups (overnutrition and control, respectively). Pups raised in small litters were 15% heavier at weaning, and this intervention was associated with a modest elevation of blood pressure and body weight as adults (16 weeks). Animals raised in small litters had increased 11β‐hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 (11β‐HSD1) mRNA in white adipose tissue as adults, which may impact on cardiovascular function. Adjustment of diet after weaning, to 30% fat diet or standard chow, allowed comparison of the impact of different periods of overnourishment. Implementation of a high‐fat diet at weaning overcame the effect of litter size on body weight from 10 weeks of age. Blood pressure rose progressively with high‐fat feeding and was positively correlated with leptin and body weight. Chronic consumption of a high‐fat diet led to marked increases in leptin and insulin and modest increases in blood pressure, and impacts on brain transmitters implicated in the regulation of both appetite and blood pressure. Overnourishment during early postnatal development led to profound changes in body weight at weaning, which tended to abate with maturation. It also led to long‐term changes in some adipose‐derived mediators, possibly increasing cardiovascular risk.
Aconitase post-translational modification as a key in linkage between Krebs cycle, iron homeostasis, redox signaling, and metabolism of reactive oxygen species

Abstract Aconitase, an enzyme possessing an iron–sulfur cluster that is sensitive to oxidation, is involved in the regulation of cellular metabolism. There are two isoenzymes of aconitase (Aco) – mitochondrial (mAco) and cytosolic (cAco) ones. The primary role of mAdco is believed to be to control cellular ATP production via regulation of intermediate flux in the Krebs cycle. The cytosolic Aco in its reduced form operates as an enzyme, whereas in the oxidized form it is involved in the control of iron homeostasis as iron regulatory protein 1 (IRP1). Reactive oxygen species (ROS) play a central role in regulation of Aco functions. Catalytic Aco activity is regulated by reversible oxidation of [4Fe-4S]2+ cluster and cysteine residues, so redox-dependent posttranslational modifications (PTMs) have gained increasing consideration as regards possible regulatory effects. These include modifications of cysteine residues by oxidation, nitrosylation and thiolation, as well as Tyr nitration and oxidation of Lys residues to carbonyls. Redox-independent PTMs such as phosphorylation and transamination also have been described. In the presence of a sustained ROS flux, redox-dependent PTMs may lead to enzyme damage and cell stress by impaired energy and iron metabolism. Aconitase has been identified as a protein that undergoes oxidative modification and inactivation in aging and certain oxidative stress-related disorders. Here we describe possible mechanisms of involvement of the two aconitase isoforms, cAco and mAco, in the control of cell metabolism and iron homeostasis, balancing the regulatory, and damaging effects of ROS.
Filtering functions with reduced fabrication sensitivity

A new category of filtering functions is proposed. Reflection zeros are redistributed to provide higher attenuation lobes near the band edge compared to the lobes near the center frequency. The ripple in the passband is smallest near the band edges mitigating the sensitivity of return and insertion loss within the passband while providing better selectivity compared to chained function filters.
Advances in In Situ Alignment Calibration of Doppler and High/Low‐end Attitude Sensors for Underwater Vehicle Navigation: Theory and Experimental Evaluation

This paper reports the development and comparative performance evaluation, using laboratory and at‐sea field data, of new methods for the problem of in situ calibration of the alignment rotation matrix between Doppler sonar velocity sensors and attitude sensors arising in the navigation of underwater vehicles. Most previously reported solutions to this alignment calibration problem require the use of absolute navigation fixes of the underwater vehicle, thus requiring additional navigation sensors and/or beacons to be located externally and apart from the underwater vehicle. We report four novel alignment calibration methods employing only internal vehicle navigation sensors for velocity, acceleration, attitude, and depth. We report the results of comparative analysis of the performance of these new methods and a previously reported method with a navigation laboratory and at‐sea field data. Laboratory data were obtained with the Johns Hopkins University JHU remotely operated underwater vehicle in the JHU Hydrodynamic Test Facility. At‐sea field data were obtained from deep‐water survey missions of the Sentry autonomous underwater vehicle conducted in March, 2011 in the Kermadec Arc in the Southern Pacific Ocean. In addition, we report a comparative experimental evaluation of several recently reported calibration methods when employing low‐cost microelectromechanical system attitude sensors. In all these cases, the results reveal consistent differences in performance of the various methods when analyzed on navigation data from several different vehicle dives.
Structural Basis for the Inhibition of Mammalian Membrane Adenylyl Cyclase by 2 ′(3′)-O-(N-Methylanthraniloyl)-guanosine 5 ′-Triphosphate*

Membrane-bound mammalian adenylyl cyclase (mAC) catalyzes the synthesis of intracellular cyclic AMP from ATP and is activated by stimulatory G protein α subunits (Gαs) and by forskolin (FSK). mACs are inhibited with high potency by 2 ′(3′)-O-(N-methylanthraniloyl) (MANT)-substituted nucleotides. In this study, the crystal structures of the complex between Gαs·GTPγS and the catalytic C1 and C2 domains from type V and type II mAC (VC1·IIC2), bound to FSK and either MANT-GTP·Mg2+ or MANT-GTP·Mn2+ have been determined. MANT-GTP coordinates two metal ions and occupies the same position in the catalytic site as P-site inhibitors and substrate analogs. However, the orientation of the guanine ring is reversed relative to that of the adenine ring. The MANT fluorophore resides in a hydrophobic pocket at the interface between the VC1 and IIC2 domains and prevents mAC from undergoing the “open” to “closed” domain rearrangement. The Ki of MANT-GTP for inhibition of VC1·IIC2 is lower in the presence of mAC activators and lower in the presence of Mn2+ compared with Mg2+, indicating that the inhibitor binds more tightly to the catalytically most active form of the enzyme. Fluorescence resonance energy transfer-stimulated emission from the MANT fluorophore upon excitation of Trp-1020 in the MANT-binding pocket of IIC2 is also stronger in the presence of FSK. Mutational analysis of two non-conserved amino acids in the MANT-binding pocket suggests that residues outside of the binding site influence isoform selectivity toward MANT-GTP.
DbI Review Dec 2006 Embodied Cognition and the Development of Language for Individuals who are Congenitally Deafblind

Individuals who are congenitally deafblind are presented with significant challenges when attempting to acquire language and communication skills. Since most of the information perceived is gained through direct bodily contact, cognitive processes necessary for language development remain closely connected to the body’s interaction with the environment. The embodied cognition approach, with its focus on specific body-environment interactions, may offer some insights into the way individuals who are congenitally deafblind develop language.
A dual function of NKG2D ligands in NK‐cell activation

NK‐cell killing requires both the expression of activating receptor ligands and low MHC class I expression by target cells. Here we demonstrate that the expression of any of the murine ligands for the NK‐cell activating receptor NKG2D results in a concomitant reduction in MHC class I expression. We show this both in tumor cell lines and in vivo. NK‐cell lysis is enhanced by the decrease in MHC class I expression, suggesting the change is biologically relevant. These results demonstrate that NKG2D ligand expression on target cells not only allows for activating receptor recognition, but also actively reduces expression of the inhibitory ligand, MHC class I, leading to enhanced recognition and killing by NK cells.
Multiple adenovirus serotypes use alpha v integrins for infection

The nucleotide sequence encoding the penton base integrin-binding domains of several human adenoviruses was obtained by homology PCR. Each of the penton base proteins contains a conserved Arg-Gly-Asp (RGD) sequence that is predicted to lie at the apex of two extended alpha helices. The penton base RGD domain promotes efficient infection of host cells by multiple adenovirus serotypes via interaction with alpha v integrins, thus indicating that alpha v integrins play a central role in the entry of adenoviruses into host cells.