Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Nutrition and Chronic Liver Disease

Nutritional abnormalities almost uniformly accompany the metabolic disturbances of severe chronic liver disease and may adversely affect patient well-being and survival, especially surrounding liver transplantation surgery. The exact metabolic alterations responsible for malnutrition and its consequences in these patients have been debated and are a focus of this review. Disturbances in energy production and utilization, as well as macro- and micronutrient metabolism have been appreciated but are not always easily identified or quantifiable. Interestingly, the manifestations of poor nutritional status can vary substantially between patients, even in those having the same etiology and severity of illness. Proper assessment of patients with liver disease for malnutrition carries its own challenges, but some of the more easily applied techniques, such as anthropometry, can be comparable in accuracy to more sophisticated measuring tools. Gaining an appreciation and understanding of how nutritional disturbances develop and can contribute to morbidity and mortality will help combat inappropriate nutritional losses in this specialized group of patients. In many instances, simple adjustments in diet can offset losses and stabilize or improve the patient's nutritional status.
Role of NKG2D in cytokine-induced killer cells against multiple myeloma cells

The cytokine-induced killer cells (CIK) have been reported to have potent cytotoxicity against a variety of tumor cells including multiple myleoma (MM) cells. The mechanisms that CIK cell recognizing MM cells remain unknown. Recent studies indicated that the interaction between NKG2D receptor and NKG2D ligands plays an important role in inducing cytotoxicity against various target cells by natural killer cells (NK). We suspect whether NKG2D receptor and NKG2D ligands interaction is also responsible for the killing of MM cells by CIK as the same way did NK cells. We expanded CIK cells from healthy controls with interferon (IFN)-γ, CD3 monoclonal antibodies (mAb) and interleukin-2 (IL-2), and checked expression of NK cell receptors on CIK cells by flow cytometry. About 86% bulk CIK cells expressed NKG2D receptor but not other NK receptors, such as CD158a, CD158b and NCRs. We analyzed NKG2D ligands expression in MM patients by flow cytometry, primary plasma cells from 8 out of 13 (62%) MM patients expressed different levels of ULBPs or MICA/B on the cell surface. Interestingly, when stimulated with MM cell line U266 that expressed some levels of MICA/B, only NKG2D expressing CIK cells released IFN-γ. CIK cells showed cytotoxicity against NKG2D ligands expressing U266 and primary MM cells, and the cytotoxicity was partially blocked by treating CIK with anti-NKG2D antibody. We conclude that NKG2D-NKG2D ligand interaction may be one of the mechanisms by which CIK cells kill MM cells.
Accuracy of Pulse Oximeters Intended for Hypoxemic Pediatric Patients

Objectives: Prior studies have shown inaccuracies in pulse oximetry readings at saturations less than 85%; however, no large studies have evaluated new sensors marketed for these low saturations. This study’s purpose was to evaluate two sensors with claims of improved accuracy in children with saturations less than 85%. Design: Prospective observational study. Setting: Single institution; cardiac catheterization laboratory, and operating room. Patients: Fifty patients weighing 3–20 kg with baseline saturations less than 90% undergoing surgical or catheterization procedure. Measurements and Main Results: Data collected included demographics, diagnosis, continuous saturations from three different pulse oximeters (Masimo LNCS [Masimo, Irvine, CA], Masimo Blue [Masimo], and Nellcor Max-I [Medtronic, Dublin, Ireland]) and up to four blood samples for co-oximetry as the gold-standard arterial oxygen saturation. Analysis included scatter plots, smoothed regression estimates of mean continuous saturation levels plotted against corresponding arterial oxygen saturation values, and Bland-Altman plots. Bland-Altman analysis indicated increasing levels of bias and variability for decreasing arterial oxygen saturation levels for all three sensors, with a statistically significant increase in mean difference observed for decreasing arterial oxygen saturation level. The Masimo Blue sensor had the lowest mean difference, SD and Bland-Altman limits in patients with saturations less than or equal to 85%. At saturation range of less than or equal to 85% and greater than 75%, 14% of the samples obtained from Masimo Blue, 24% of the readings from the Nellcor, and 31% from the Masimo Standard sensors were greater than or equal to 5% points difference. All three sensors had a further increase in these differences for arterial oxygen saturation values less than 75%. Conclusions: The Masimo Blue sensor has improved accuracy at saturations 75–85% versus the Nellcor and Masimo Standard sensors. The accuracy of peripheral capillary oxygen saturation of the Masimo Blue sensor was within 5% points of the arterial oxygen saturation the majority of the time. Currently, at saturations less than or equal to 85%, pulse oximetry alone should not be relied on in making clinical decisions.
South African pre-service teachers' under-preparedness to teach with Information Communication Technologies

With the growing acceptance of the role of Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) in teaching and learning, it is expected that recent graduates from teacher education would be adequately prepared to integrate the ICTs into their teaching. Nonetheless, research and anecdotal evidence show that many newly qualified teachers feel under-prepared to teach with the technologies. This paper explores the underlying causes of this feeling of under-preparedness. The study employed a qualitative research approach: data was gathered using semi-structured interviews with randomly selected pre-service teachers from a teacher education institution from South Africa. Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge theory was used as a theoretical underpinning of the study. Analysis of study shows that the main culprit of the under-preparedness is the type of instructions the pre-service teachers receive during teacher training. There is therefore a need in the teacher education to ensure quality and digital age appropriate instructions are offered to the pre-service teachers during their teacher training.
Functional interactions between the fusion protein and hemagglutinin-neuraminidase of human parainfluenza viruses

The fusion glycoprotein (F) and hemagglutinin-neuraminidase (HN) genes of human parainfluenza virus type 2 (PI2) were molecularly cloned and expressed in HeLa-T4 cells by using the vaccinia virus-T7 transient expression system. Expression of the F and HN proteins was detected by using immunoprecipitation and surface immunofluorescence staining. Although the F protein was found to be cleaved into F1 and F2 and expressed on cell surfaces, no cell fusion was observed. However, cotransfection of the F-protein gene together with the P12 HN gene resulted in significant levels of cell fusion. Cell fusion was also observed when separate cell cultures were transfected with the HN and F genes and the F-expressing cells were mixed with the HN-expressing cells. Surprisingly, when the PI2 F protein was expressed together with the parainfluenza virus type 3 (PI3) HN protein, no fusion was detectable in the transfected cells. Similarly, no fusion was found upon coexpression of the PI2 HN and PI3 F proteins. However, coexpression of the PI3 F and HN proteins resulted in extensive cell fusion, which resembled the PI2 coexpression result. These results indicate that under the conditions used, the F protein is unable to cause fusion by itself and the HN protein provides a specific function in cell fusion which cannot be provided by another paramyxovirus attachment protein. Further, the results suggest that a type-specific functional interaction between the F and HN proteins is involved in mediating cell fusion.
Pitch strength and pitch dominance of iterated rippled noises in hearing-impaired listeners.

Reports using a variety of psychophysical tasks indicate that pitch perception by hearing-impaired listeners may be abnormal, contributing to difficulties in understanding speech and enjoying music. Pitches of complex sounds may be weaker and more indistinct in the presence of cochlear damage, especially when frequency regions are affected that form the strongest basis for pitch perception in normal-hearing listeners. In this study, the strength of the complex pitch generated by iterated rippled noise was assessed in normal-hearing and hearing-impaired listeners. Pitch strength was measured for broadband noises with spectral ripples generated by iteratively delaying a copy of a given noise and adding it back into the original. Octave-band-pass versions of these noises also were evaluated to assess frequency dominance regions for rippled-noise pitch. Hearing-impaired listeners demonstrated consistently weaker pitches in response to the rippled noises relative to pitch strength in normal-hearing listeners. However, in most cases, the frequency regions of pitch dominance, i.e., strongest pitch, were similar to those observed in normal-hearing listeners. Except where there exists a substantial sensitivity loss, contributions from normal pitch dominance regions associated with the strongest pitches may not be directly related to impaired spectral processing. It is suggested that the reduced strength of rippled-noise pitch in listeners with hearing loss results from impaired frequency resolution and possibly an associated deficit in temporal processing.
Estimating Bycatch Mortality for Marine Mammals: Concepts and Best Practices

Fisheries bycatch is the greatest current source of human-caused deaths of marine mammals worldwide, with severe impacts on the health and viability of many populations. Recent regulations enacted in the United States under the Fish and Fish Product Import Provisions of its Marine Mammal Protection Act require nations with fisheries exporting fish and fish products to the United States (hereafter, “export fisheries”) to have or establish marine mammal protection standards that are comparable in effectiveness to the standards for United States commercial fisheries. In many cases, this will require estimating marine mammal bycatch in those fisheries. Bycatch estimation is conceptually straightforward but can be difficult in practice, especially if resources (funding) are limiting or for fisheries consisting of many, small vessels with geographically-dispersed landing sites. This paper describes best practices for estimating bycatch mortality, which is an important ingredient of bycatch assessment and mitigation. We discuss a general bycatch estimator and how to obtain its requisite bycatch-rate and fisheries-effort data. Scientific observer programs provide the most robust bycatch estimates and consequently are discussed at length, including characteristics such as study design, data collection, statistical analysis, and common sources of estimation bias. We also discuss alternative approaches and data types, such as those based on self-reporting and electronic vessel-monitoring systems. This guide is intended to be useful to managers and scientists in countries having or establishing programs aimed at managing marine mammal bycatch, especially those conducting first-time assessments of fisheries impacts on marine mammal populations.
The Porous Titanium Steroid Eluting Electrode: A Double Blind Study Assessing the Stimulation Threshold Effects of Steroid

A transvenous pacing lead with a porous electrode which slowly elutes the steroid, dexamethasone sodium phosphate, has been developed. Previous investigations show low and constant stimulation thresholds persisting over at least the first two years post‐implantation. As it is not known whether this low threshold results from the steroid or electrode configuration, a double blind study was designed to compare the same electrode configuration with and without steroid over a 2‐year follow‐up period. There were ten patients in each group with similar age, sex, indications for pacing and implantation data. Regular measurements of postoperative pulse duration thresholds were performed using a customized VVIM pulse generator programmed to 1.5 V output. For the first two days post‐implantation, there were no statistical differences in the pulse duration thresholds between the two pacing leads. From 2 weeks to 2 years the pulse duration thresholds for the steroid leads remained almost constant, whereas the leads without steroid showed a typical rise. The difference in pulse duration thresholds between the two groups of leads from two weeks onwards confirmed that it was the steroid rather than the electrode configuration which prevented the rise in chronic stimulation threshold.
Risk of Precancer and Follow-up Management Strategies for Women With Human Papillomavirus–Negative Atypical Squamous Cells of Undetermined Significance

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relative performances of follow-up cytology and carcinogenic human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA testing among carcinogenic HPV-negative women with atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance (ASCUS), for detection of cervical precancer. METHODS: Twelve-month follow-up management strategies to detect cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 3 (CIN3) or worse using cytology or HPV testing or both were compared among women with HPV-negative ASCUS in the Atypical Squamous Cells of Undetermined Significance–Low-Grade Squamous Intraepithelial Lesion (ASCUS–LSIL) Triage Study. RESULTS: Overall only 22 of 1,559 (1.4%) HPV-negative ASCUS women developed CIN grade 3 or worse during follow-up compared with 269 of 1,767 (15.2%) HPV-positive ASCUS women (P<.001). Because of the low risk of disease among HPV-negative ASCUS women, only 7 cases of CIN3 were diagnosed between 12 and 24 months of follow-up, limiting power to distinguish meaningful differences in sensitivity among 12-month testing strategies. The specificity of HPV testing (84%) was significantly higher than cytology using an ASCUS threshold (71%) (P<.001). Cotesting with cytology and HPV testing at 12 months resulted in even lower specificity (61%). Because cases were uncommon, the positive predictive value for subsequent CIN3 or worse was low for cytology (2.6%), Hybrid Capture 2 (3.8%), and cotesting with cytology and HPV testing (2.2%). The negative predictive value for all three management strategies was very high (99.70%, 99.82%, and 100.0% for HPV testing, cytology, or cotesting, respectively.) CONCLUSION: Women with HPV-negative ASCUS have very low absolute risk of subsequently detected CIN3 or worse in the subsequent 2 years, similar to women with a negative cytology in the absence of HPV testing. The results suggest that women with HPV-negative ASCUS should return to routine screening intervals which may be longer than 1 year depending on age and screening history. However, if increased surveillance is chosen, a single HPV test for carcinogenic types at 12 months has significantly higher specificity and lower referrals than cytology. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: II
Autonomous Active Power Control for Islanded AC Microgrids With Photovoltaic Generation and Energy Storage System

In an islanded ac microgrid with distributed energy storage system (ESS), photovoltaic (PV) generation, and loads, a coordinated active power regulation is required to ensure efficient utilization of renewable energy, while keeping the ESS from overcharge and overdischarge conditions. In this study, an autonomous active power control strategy is proposed for ac-islanded microgrids in order to achieve power management in a decentralized manner. The proposed control algorithm is based on frequency bus-signaling of ESS and uses only local measurements for power distribution among microgrid elements. Moreover, this study also presents a hierarchical control structure for ac microgrids that is able to integrate the ESS, PV systems, and loads. Hereby, basic power management function is realized locally in primary level, while strict frequency regulation can be achieved by using additional secondary controller. Finally, real-time simulation results under various state of charge (SoC) and irradiance conditions are presented in order to prove the validity of the proposed approach.
1-Bit Reconfigurable Circularly Polarized Transmitarray in X-Band

A circularly polarized (CP) transmitarray with 1-bit phase resolution is proposed in X-band. It consists of two-layer metallic patterns connected by a metallized via-hole. The top layer of metallic pattern composed of a square ring patch with two triangle corners along diagonal is utilized to produce circular polarization, and two diodes are inserted in this pattern to achieve 0° /180° phase tuning of the outgoing wave. The bottom layer of metallic pattern is made of a U-slot rectangular patch to receive incident wave. The experimental results show that the proposed transmitarray produces circularly polarized wave around 10.2 GHz when illuminated by a linearly polarized wave, and its insertion loss is less than 1.4 dB. Furthermore, we present the design of a dual circularly polarized transmitarray. The numerical simulation is performed to show that it can achieve dynamic polarization manipulation of the emitted wave between left- and right-handed circular polarizations and also has the ability of tuning the phase of the outgoing wave by 180 °. The proposed transmitarray, as a promising and simple solution to produce circular polarization, has potential application in many communication systems.
AIDS in an HIV‐seronegative Ghanaian woman with intersubtype A/G recombinant HIV‐1 infection

A 29‐year‐old Ghanaian woman who developed AIDS while being HIV‐antibody seronegative was investigated during a collaborative study aimed at the identification of viral causes of a HIV‐seronegative AIDS syndrome in West Africa. Plasma was screened with a panel of EIA tests for antibodies to HIV and HIV‐1 p24 antigen. Retroviral infection was investigated by detection of reverse transcriptase (RT) activity in plasma, viral RNA amplification and quantification, and virus isolation. Positive amplification products were sequenced and phylogenetic analyses were carried out. Most EIA tests were unable to demonstrate the presence of anti‐HIV anti‐bodies, whereas confirmatory assays yielded inconclusive results. Retroviral infection was documented by detection of RT activity, HIV‐1‐specific genomic amplification and virus isolation. This virus was HIV‐1 subtype A with an unusual six amino acid insertion in the gp120 V4 loop and with the nef gene of subtype G. The patient's plasma did not react with either autologous or heterologous viral lysates or HIV‐1 peptides, whereas antibodies to other viral antigens were present. In conclusion, the Ghanaian patient exhibited a rare subtype A/G recombinant HIV‐1 infection with a near absence of a HIV‐specific humoral response. The lack of detectable antibody response might be due to either a highly pathogenic, rapidly fatal, HIV‐1 infection preventing the development of the typical humoral immune response or to a host‐related dysfunction of the immune system. Direct antigenemia or genomic detection of the virus should be undertaken when clinical or biological data suggests an HIV infection in the absence of serological evidence. J. Med. Virol. 62:1–8, 2000. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Levels of lipocalin-2 in crevicular fluid and tear fluid in chronic periodontitis and obesity subjects.

AIM Lipocalin-2, a 25 kDa secretory glycoprotein, was first found in the neutrophilic granules of humans and in mouse kidney cells. It has been shown to have an important role in inflammation. The aim of this study was to determine the levels of lipocalin-2 in gingival crevicular fluid and tear fluid in patients with obesity and chronic periodontitis. METHODS A total of 40 subjects in the age group 25-40 years were divided into four groups based on probing depth, gingival index, clinical attachment level, body mass index, and radiographic evidence of bone loss. The groups were: nonobese healthy group; obese healthy group; nonobese chronic periodontitis group; obese chronic periodontitis group Gingival crevicular fluid and tear fluid samples were collected on the subsequent day. RESULTS There was an increase in lipocalin-2 levels from group 1 to group 4 (with the nonobese healthy group showing the least levels and obese chronic periodontitis group showing the highest levels) in both gingival crevicular fluid and tear fluid. CONCLUSION Lipocalin-2 may be an important inflammatory marker that may help link obesity and chronic periodontitis.
Subcellular Localization and Topology of the p7 Polypeptide of Hepatitis C Virus

ABSTRACT Although biological and biochemical data have been accumulated on most hepatitis C virus proteins, the structure and function of the 63-amino-acid p7 polypeptide of this virus have never been investigated. In this work, sequence analyses predicted that p7 contains two transmembrane passages connected by a short hydrophilic segment. The C-terminal transmembrane domain of p7 was predicted to function as a signal sequence, which was confirmed experimentally by analyzing the translocation of a reporter glycoprotein fused at its C terminus. The p7 polypeptide was tagged either with the ectodomain of CD4 or with a Myc epitope to study its membrane integration, its subcellular localization, and its topology. Alkaline extraction studies confirmed that p7 is an integral membrane polypeptide. The CD4-p7 chimera was detected by immunofluorescence on the surface of nonpermeabilized cells, indicating that it is exported to the plasma membrane. However, pulse-chase analyses showed that only approximately 20% of endoglycosidase H-resistant CD4-p7 was detected after long chase times, suggesting that a large proportion of p7 stays in an early compartment of the secretory pathway. Finally, by inserting a Myc epitope in several positions of p7 and analyzing the accessibility of this epitope on the plasma membrane of HepG2 cells, we showed that p7 has a double membrane-spanning topology, with both its N and C termini oriented toward the extracellular environment. Altogether, these data indicate that p7 is a polytopic membrane protein that could have a functional role in several compartments of the secretory pathway.
The Effect of Conservative Oxygen Therapy in Reducing Mortality in Critical Care Patients: A Meta-Analysis and Trial Sequential Analysis

Background: Conservative oxygen therapy can prevent both hypoxemia and hyperoxemia, but the effect on the prognosis of patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) remains controversial. Methods: All controlled studies comparing conservative oxygen therapy and conventional oxygen therapy in adult patients admitted to the ICU were searched. The primary outcome was mortality, and the secondary outcomes were length of ICU stay (ICU LOS), length of hospital stay (hospital LOS), length of mechanical ventilation (MV) hours, new organ failure during ICU stay, and new infections during ICU stay. Results: Nine trials with a total of 5,759 patients were pooled in our final studies. Compared with conventional oxygen therapy, conservative oxygen therapy did not reduce overall mortality (Z = 0.31, p = 0.75) or ICU LOS (Z = 0.17, p = 0.86), with firm evidence from trial sequential analysis, or hospital LOS (Z = 1.98, p = 0.05) or new infections during the ICU stay (Z = 1.45, p = 0.15). However, conservative oxygen therapy was associated with a shorter MV time (Z = 5.05, p < 0.00001), reduction of new organ failure during the ICU stay (Z = 2.15, p = 0.03) and lower risk of renal replacement therapy (RRT) (Z = 2.18, p = 0.03). Conclusion: Conservative oxygen therapy did not reduce mortality but did decrease MV time, new organ failure and risk of RRT in critically ill patients. Systematic Review Registration: identifier [CRD42020171055].