Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Non-traditional markers of metabolic risk in prepubertal children with different levels of cardiorespiratory fitness

Abstract Objective To assess classical and non-classical metabolic risk biomarkers in prepubertal children with different levels of cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF). Design CRF was assessed by the 20 m shuttle run test. To estimate physical activity, participants were observed while engaged in an after-school programme. Additionally, a short test based on a validated questionnaire was used to obtain information about physical activity practice and sedentary habits. Anthropometric parameters, blood pressure, and classical and non-traditional metabolic risk biomarkers – plasma lipid profile, glucose and insulin, homeostasis model assessment–insulin resistance index (HOMA-IR), plasma uric acid, transaminases and C-reactive protein (CRP) – were measured. Setting The study was conducted in local elementary schools in Córdoba, Spain. Subjects One hundred and forty-one healthy children (eighty-eight boys, fifty-three girls) aged 7–12 years, in Tanner stage I, were recruited. They were divided into two groups after they performed the 20 m shuttle run test: equal or higher cardiovascular fitness (EHCF) group and low cardiovascular fitness (LCF) group. Results The LCF group displayed significantly higher TAG (P = 0·004) and lower HDL cholesterol levels (P = 0·001), as well as significantly lower values for the non-traditional lipid marker apo-A1 (P = 0·001) compared with the EHCF group. The LCF children displayed higher plasma glucose (P = 0·003) and insulin levels, higher HOMA-IR scores (P < 0·001) and higher plasma uric acid and CRP levels (P < 0·05). After adjustment for BMI, age and sex, no statistically significant differences were found between groups for the biomarkers analysed. Conclusions The study provides new information to understand the role not only of weight status but also of the level of CRF on the metabolic health profile of prepubertal children.
Improving the sensitivity of the sequence profile method

The sequence profile method (Gribskov M, McLachlan AD, Eisenberg D, 1987, Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 84:4355‐4358) is a powerful tool to detect distant relationships between amino acid sequences. A profile is a table of posi‐tion‐specific scores and gap penalties, providing a generalized description of a protein motif, which can be used for sequence alignments and database searches instead of an individual sequence. A sequence profile is derived from a multiple sequence alignment. We have found 2 ways to improve the sensitivity of sequence profiles: (1) Sequence weights: Usage of individual weights for each sequence avoids bias toward closely related sequences. These weights are automatically assigned based on the distance of the sequences using a published procedure (Sib‐bald PR, Argos P, 1990, J Mol Biol 216:813‐818). (2) Amino acid substitution table: In addition to the alignment, the construction of a profile also needs an amino acid substitution table. We have found that in some cases a new table, the BLOSUM45 table (Henikoff S, Henikoff JG, 1992, Proc Natl Acud Sci USA 89:10915‐10919), is more sensitive than the original Dayhoff table or the modified Dayhoff table used in the current implementation. Profiles derived by the improved method are more sensitive and selective in a number of cases where previous methods have failed to completely separate true members from false positives.
Thoracic duct cannulation and differential diagnosis of obstructive jaundice.

Thoracic duct cannulation was performed prior to exploratory laparotomy in 23 patients with obstructive jaundice caused by diverse factors. High flow of hemorrhagic lymph, usually under increased pressure, distinguished patients with hepatic cirrhosis from those with extrahepatic biliary obstruction and cholangiolitic hepatitis. Very low flows were observed only in patients with widespread malignancy involving the extrahepatic biliary tract. Information concerning the flow, pressure, and composition of thoracic duct lymph is helpful in understanding and distinguishing whether obstructive jaundice arises from a stone in the common bile duct, metastatic cancer, the use of a cholestatic drug, or excessive intake of alcohol.
DEPENDENCE OF THE CONTENT OF CELL ENVELOPES ON THE GROWTH RATE OF BACILLUS MEGATERIUM

Sud, I. J. (Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, Mass.), and M. Schaechter. Dependence of the content of cell envelopes on the growth rate of Bacillus megaterium. J. Bacteriol. 88:1612–1617. 1964. —The amount of cell-wall and cell-membrane material was measured in Bacillus megaterium growing at different steady-state rates. On a dry weight basis, the content of wall hexosamine and diaminopimelic acid, and of membrane lipid phosphorus was found to be inversely proportional to the rate of growth. During the transition from slow to fast growth, the synthesis of envelope materials showed a lag of 20 to 30 min. Possible implications of these findings are discussed in terms of regulatory mechanism.
Quality of life in head and neck cancer patients after treatment with high-dose radiotherapy alone or in combination with cetuximab.

PURPOSE In this randomized, phase III study, quality of life (QoL) was assessed in patients with locoregionally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN) after high-dose radiotherapy alone or in combination with cetuximab. PATIENTS AND METHODS Patients with stage III or IV nonmetastatic and measurable squamous cell carcinoma of the oropharynx, hypopharynx, or larynx were eligible. QoL was assessed using the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire C30 (EORTC QLQ-C30) and EORTC QLQ Head and Neck Cancer-Specific Module at baseline, week 4, and at months 4, 8, and 12 postbaseline. RESULTS In this study, one of the largest conducted in a population of patients with locoregionally advanced SCCHN, 424 patients received radiotherapy alone (213 patients) or radiotherapy plus cetuximab (211 patients). Radiotherapy/cetuximab significantly improved locoregional control (P = .005) and overall survival (P = .03) compared with radiotherapy alone, without significantly increasing radiotherapy-associated adverse events. The current analysis focused on the impact of cetuximab on the QoL. Compliance with completion of QoL questionnaires was high in both arms. QoL worsened during treatment and improved after cessation of treatment, reaching baseline levels at 12 months. There were no significant differences in QoL scores between the treatment arms. This was particularly notable for global health status/QoL, social functioning, social eating, and social contact. Pretreatment global health status/QoL was identified as a significant prognostic variable in these patients. CONCLUSION The addition of cetuximab to radiotherapy significantly improved locoregional control and increased overall survival without adversely affecting QoL.
Fungal Leaching of Heavy Metals from Sediments Dredged from the Deûle Canal, France

Filamentous fungi were used to leach heavy metals from dredged sediments in semi-pilot scale air-lift bioreactors. Prior to the bioleaching experiments, a physico-chemical characterization of the sediments comprising a sequential extraction study was conducted. The sediments turned out to highly contaminated with heavy metals. Most of the studied metals were found to be strongly linked to the matrix because of their association with the sulphides and with the organic matter. The conditions that favored the solubilization of heavy metals by the filamentous fungi turned out to be favorable for the activity of the sediments organotrophic bacterial microflora as well. The latter played a key role in the biosolubilization process by producing organic acids under temporary anoxic conditions. Better solubilization results (Mn: 77%, Zn: 44%, Cu: 12%, Cd and Pb: <2%) were thus obtained in the uninoculated sugar treatment in comparison to the fungal treatment. In general, organotrophic leaching was found to be limited by the poor nature of the organic acids and by their microbial consumption under sugar limited conditions. It was therefore restrained to the relatively mobile metals, namely those linked to the acid-soluble and reducible fractions of the sediments.
Metabolism of Hydroxy Fatty Acids in Developing Seeds in the Genera Lesquerella (Brassicaceae) and Linum (Linaceae)

Members of the genus Lesquerella produce seed oil that contains a high proportion of hydroxy fatty acids (HFAs). There are three groups of Lesquerella species that are distinguished by their most abundant seed oil fatty acid: lesquerolic acid (20:1OH; e.g. Lesquerella fendleri), densipolic acid (18:2OH; e.g. Lesquerella kathryn), and auricolic acid (20:2OH; e.g. Lesquerella auriculata). To investigate the biochemistry of HFA production in Lesquerella species, the conversion of putative radiolabeled intermediates of HFA biosynthesis, including 18:1, 20:1,18:1OH, 18:2OH, and 20:1OH, was examined in developing embryos of L. fendleri, L.kathryn, and L. auriculata. The results are consistent with (a) 18:1OH formation by hydroxylation of 18:1, (b) elongation and desaturation of 18:1OH to produce 20:1OH and 18:2OH, respectively, and (c) desaturation of 20:1OH to produce 20:2OH. The desaturation of 20:1OH was also found to occur in developing embryos of high, but not low, linolenic acid flax. This suggests that the desaturation is catalyzed by the extraplastidial linoleate desaturase. Confirming this suggestion, it was notable that 18:1OH and 18:2OH were found in low and high linolenic flax (Linum usitatissimum) seeds, respectively, at levels of 0.2 to 1%.
Predictive control of crystal size distribution in protein crystallization

This work focuses on the modelling, simulation and control of a batch protein crystallization process that is used to produce the crystals of tetragonal hen egg-white (HEW) lysozyme. First, a model is presented that describes the formation of protein crystals via nucleation and growth. Existing experimental data are used to develop empirical models of the nucleation and growth mechanisms of the tetragonal HEW lysozyme crystal. The developed growth and nucleation rate expressions are used within a population balance model to simulate the batch crystallization process. Then, model reduction techniques are used to derive a reduced-order moments model for the purpose of controller design. Online measurements of the solute concentration and reactor temperature are assumed to be available, and a Luenberger-type observer is used to estimate the moments of the crystal size distribution based on the available measurements. A predictive controller, which uses the available state estimates, is designed to achieve the objective of maximizing the volume-averaged crystal size while respecting constraints on the manipulated input variables (which reflect physical limitations of control actuators) and on the process state variables (which reflect performance considerations). Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed predictive controller is able to increase the volume-averaged crystal size by 30% and 8.5% compared to constant temperature control (CTC) and constant supersaturation control (CSC) strategies, respectively, while reducing the number of fine crystals produced. Furthermore, a comparison of the crystal size distributions (CSDs) indicates that the product achieved by the proposed predictive control strategy has larger total volume and lower polydispersity compared to the CTC and CSC strategies. Finally, the robustness of the proposed method (achieved due to the presence of feedback) with respect to plant-model mismatch is demonstrated. The proposed method is demonstrated to successfully achieve the task of maximizing the volume-averaged crystal size in the presence of plant-model mismatch, and is found to be robust in comparison to open-loop optimal control strategies.
Survey on Leach Protocol in WSN

In wireless sensor networks (wsn) power is the most essential resource because each sensor node has limited batteries. So Many kinds of existing clustering protocols have been developed to balance and maximize lifetime of the sensor nodes in wireless sensor networks. In this dissertation we present T-LEACH which is a threshold-based cluster head replacement scheme for clustering protocols of wireless sensor networks. T-LEACH reduces the number of cluster head selection by using threshold of residual energy. Reducing the amount of head replacement and selection cost. The lifetime of the entire networks can be extended compared with the existing clustering protocols. Our simulation result shows T-LEACH provide better results as compare to LEACH in terms of balancing energy consumption and network lifetime.
Lung protective strategy and prone ventilation resulting in successful outcome in a patient with ARDS due to H1N1

Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is an acute respiratory condition caused by various pulmonary and extrapulmonary conditions including H1N1 virus infection. ARDS has a high mortality worldwide and in India various studies suggest that mortality in children is as high as 73–75%. Different lung protective ventilation strategies have recently been adopted to reduce mortality. The authors report a successful outcome in a 3.5-year-old child with ARDS secondary to H1N1 infection following use of a very low tidal volume (4–6 ml/kg) along with high positive end-expiratory pressure breathing and prone ventilation. As far as we are aware, this is the first case report of a successful outcome in a child with ARDS secondary to H1N1 in India.
Edward Maxwell (Max) Nicholls (1927–2011), a Key Player in the Development of the Two-Hit Model of Tumor Formation

E. M. Nicholls (1927–2011) was a humanist, medical practitioner, human biologist, geneticist and, above all, a teacher, as well as a husband and father. He believed that he had made a fundamental contribution to the two-hit model of cancer formation. This hypothesis is associated with retinoblastoma, in particular. Nicholls presented it through his observations on neurofibromatosis. He received little credit for what he believed was his most original contribution to medical science. This note attempts to redress the balance in his favor.
Title Bounds for sums of random variables when the marginaldistributions and the variance of the sum are given

In this paper we establish several relations between convex order, variance order, and comonotonicity. In the first part, we extend Cheung (2008b) to show that when the marginal distributions are fixed, a sum with maximal variance is in fact a comonotonic sum. Thus the convex upper bound is achieved if and only if the marginal variables are comonotonic. Next, we study the situation where besides the marginal distributions, the variance of the sum is also fixed. Intuitively one expects that adding this information may lead to a bound that is sharper than the comonotonic upper bound. However, we show that such upper bound does not even exist. Nevertheless, we can still identify a special dependence structure known as upper comonotonicity, in which case the sum behaves like a convex largest sum in the upper tail. Finally, we investigate when the convex order is equivalent to the weaker variance order. Throughout this paper, interpretations and significance of the results in terms of portfolio risks will be emphasized.
Structural damage detection and classification based on machine learning algorithms

Structural Health Monitoring is a growing area of interest given the benefits obtained from its use. This area includes different tasks in the damage identification process, among them, the most important is the damage detection at an early stage which enables to increase the security in mechanisms and systems, reducing risks and avoiding accidents. As a contribution in this topic, this work presents a data-driven methodology for the detection and classification of damages by using multivariate data driven approaches and machine learning algorithms which are validated and compared by using data from real structures in order to determine its behavior. In the methodology, PCA (Principal component analysis) and some pre-processing steps are used as the mechanisms to reduce data and build the features vector with relevant information about the different states of the structures under test. This methodology is validated by using some aluminum plates which are instrumented and inspected by means of PZT transducers attached to them and working in in several actuation phases. Results show a properly damage detection and classification of different simulated and real-damages.
Multi-view 3D video acquisition using hybrid cameras with beam splitter

We present a multi-view 3D video acquisition and its processing system for multi-view 3D television (3DTV). The proposed hybrid camera system consists of three-color cameras and one time of flight (TOF) camera. Since currently available TOF cameras do not provide color images associated with the depth image, we use a beam splitter between the color camera of the center view and the TOF camera to minimize the FOV difference between two cameras. We capture three-view color and one-view depth videos with hardware trigger synchronization. After capturing videos, we perform camera calibration, color correction, lens distortion correction, rectification, depth calibration, and multiview depth generation for three-view color videos. We showed experimental results using the proposed acquisition system. The proposed system can be used to generate multi-view 3D videos for 3DTV.
Growth without Scale Effects

An increase in the size (scale) of an economy increases the total quantity of rents that can be captured by successful innovators, which, in equilibrium, should lead to a rise in innovative activity. Conventional wisdom and the theoretical predictions of models of endogenous innovation suggest that this increased research effort should lead to more rapid growth. As noted by Charles Jones, this prediction is at odds with the postwar experience of the OECD, where the growth of the market has indeed led to an increased R & D effort that, however, has been translated into stagnat or declining growth rates. Drawing on the remarkable insights of the museum curator Seabury C. Gilfillan, this paper modifies models of endogenous innovation to allow for the possibility that a rise in the profitability of innovative activity could lead to an increased variety of differentiated solutions to similar problems. An increased variety of technologies (e.g., an increase in the number and types of contraceptives) will increase the level of utility of the average consumer. If, however, continued improvement of this increased variety of technologies requires increased research input, a rise in the scale of the market could raise the equilibrium quantity of R & D without increasing the economy's growth rate.
Electric Loss Measurement Technique for Synchronous PM Brushless Machines

A novel technique to identify, by direct electric measurements, the total losses at full load in synchronous permanent-magnet brushless ac machines is here presented. The proposed procedure can anyway be extended to anisotropic machines. The procedure adopts a back-to-back electric and mechanic connection capable to use a single three-phase power converter to perform a full power test. The coupled motors are driven in speed as an equivalent electric machine at no load. The motor load can be regulated by the physical angular displacement in between the rotors of the two machines, and the converter will control the speed and equalize the current amplitude in the motors. In this condition, the motors exchange active power at the shaft in mechanical form and at the electric connections in electrical form. The active power supplied by the converter in steady state results in the total power dissipated by the two motors. A simple algorithm to identify the current-to-mechanical angle relationship at a given speed is proposed. The measurement technique is simulated and verified using an experimental test bench that adopts two low-power high-torque electric machines.
Age, Sex, Race, and the Lüscher Color Test

Scores on Lüscher Color Test are claimed to be independent of age, sex, and race. The test was administered to 102 consecutive admissions (71 males, 31 females; 35 Negroes, 67 Caucasians) to an acute psychiatric inpatient unit. The preference for each of the 8 Lüscher colors was correlated with age, sex, and race. Two of the 48 biserial correlations were significant (p = .05). Negroes demonstrated significantly greater preference for grey than did Caucasians. Females showed significantly greater preference for red than males. These results are essentially supportive of the Lüscher premise, i.e., age, sex, and race are independent of color preference.
Induction of T Lymphocytes Specific to Human Gastric Cancer Using HLA-A Matched Allogeneic Gastric Tumor Cells

Tumor-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) from patients with early-stage tumors are usually more efficient at attacking tumor cells than CTLs from the progressing tumor stages. The authors investigated the antitumor activity of CTLs from gastric cancer patents and healthy donors. In this study, peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBLs) from gastric cancer patients and healthy donors were stimulated with HLA-A matched allogeneic gastric cancer cells such as KATO-3, MKN45, and SGC7901.Three different populations of lymphocyte, p5-CTL-KATO, h4-CTL-MKN45, and h4-CTL-KATO, were induced and expanded. Flow cytometry analyses showed that 85.2% to 97.8% of these cells were CD3-positive and 45.5% to 51.2% were CD8−positive. The induced CTLs efficiently kill HLA-A2 or HLA-A24 gastric cancer cells through CTL-mediated cytotoxicity. However, no effects were observed for other cancer cells or HLA-A2 negative gastric cancer cells. The specific cytotoxicity of the induced CTLs was further confirmed by cold-target inhibition and monoclonal antibody blockage. These results suggest that CTL-mediated cytotoxicity specific for tumor cells can be produced by stimulating PBLs from healthy donors using HLA-A matched tumor cells, which will lead to the development of new immunotherapeutic strategies to kill cancer cells.
The differential distribution of beta tubulin mRNAs in individual mammalian brain cells

It has been shown by in vitro translation of polyadenylated messenger RNAs (poly(A)+ mRNAs) that the mRNAs encoding both alpha and beta tubulin isotypes are present at much higher relative levels in the developing rat brain than they are in the adult [1], suggesting that the requirements for tubulin subunits vary with cell type and/or with the developmental stages of a particular cell type. The postnatally developing rat cerebellum, with its readily identifiable cell populations that perform the gamut of developmental tasks, is a suitable model for analyzing specific cellular mRNA distributions during development. In this report, by in situ hybridization techniques it is shown that, by comparison to total cellular poly(A)+ mRNA levels, there is relatively more of the total beta tubulin mRNAs in mitotically active external granule layer cells than in those in the internal granule layer. These results show that migration and differentiation of these granule cells is accompanied by a decrease in their beta tubulin mRNA levels relative to the levels in granule cells of the external granule cell layer. Furthermore, the relative levels of beta tubulin mRNA both in the prenatally formed Purkinje cells and the postnatally formed stellate cells are two to fourfold less than in the granule cells of the internal granule cell layer.