Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effects of Pravastatin on Murine Chronic Graft-Versus-Host Disease

Background. Chronic graft-versus-host disease (CGVHD) is a serious and increasingly common complication after allogeneic (allo) hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation, but currently available therapies have demonstrated limited efficacy. Furthermore, the statins have been reported to be effective in various immune-mediated disease models, but their therapeutic potentials versus CGVHD have not been determined. Methods. We used a B10.D2→BALB/c model of CGVHD, which differs at minor histocompatibility loci, to address the therapeutic effect of statins on the development of CGVHD. Pravastatin (PST, 30 mg/kg/day) was intraperitoneally injected for 5 days per week from the day of transplantation until 4 weeks after allo hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation. Results. The onset of clinical cutaneous GVHD was significantly slower in PST-treated recipients than in allo-controls (36 days vs. 25 days, respectively, P<0.05), and pathologic changes in skin disease confirmed this clinical result. Animals injected with PST showed less submucosal fibrosis in lungs than allo-controls. In addition, collagen deposition in skin and lungs was markedly attenuated by PST treatment. PST also significantly reduced protein concentrations and numbers of inflammatory and epithelial cells in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid. Significantly lower numbers of donor CD11b+ and CD4+, but not CD8+ cells, were observed in skin and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid after PST treatment. The protein concentrations of monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) and regulated on activation normal T cell expressed and secreted (RANTES) in skin and lungs were substantially reduced in PST-treated animals when compared with allo-controls. Conclusions. This study suggests that the CGVHD-protecting effect of PST involves the down-regulation of chemokines and the reduction of collagen synthesis.
The lived experience of women diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome.

OBJECTIVE To uncover the meaning of living with polycystic ovary syndrome. DESIGN Phenomenology. SETTING A women's health care practice in northeast United States. PARTICIPANTS A purposive sample consisting of 12 women, ages 21 to 48 years, who had been previously diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome. DATA COLLECTION Semistructured interviews. RESULTS Analysis of the participants' responses revealed the following themes: (a) identifying differences, (b) wanting to be normal, (c) searching for answers, (d) gaining control, (e) attempting to achieve femininity, (f) letting go of guilt, and (g) dealing with it. CONCLUSIONS Polycystic ovary syndrome is a syndrome that impacts women both physically and psychosocially. Nurses can play a key role in assisting women afflicted with this hormonal disturbance through education and support.
Detection and localization algorithm of the S1 and S2 heart sounds

The heart diseases causes the death from approximately 17.7 million people in the world, and to cope with this cause of murder, it comes to predict and detect the heart anomalies as soon as possible. In order to ensure the early diagnosis, the treatment of the cardiac signals becomes as a very active research orientation. This article contributes in the field of detection of the cardiac anomalies, by proposing an algorithm allowing the detection of the S1 and S2 heart sounds from the phonocardiogram signal. The present work describes the steps followed and presents the final results of the algorithm applying on the PASCAL (Pattern Analysis, Statistical Modelling and Computational Learning) Classifying Heart Sounds Challenge. Presented results are obtained by using the homomorphic envelope with Hilbert to identify the first and second components of the heart sound. Our results are better compared to those of the three finalists of the PASCAL Classifying Heart Sounds Challenge, and exceed the results published in [3].
The action of eserine‐like and curare‐like substances on the responses of frog's nerve‐muscle preparations to repetitive stimulation

THE experiments to be described in this paper were the first step in some work which was begun in April 1935, after Dale & Feldberg [1934] had suggested that acetylcholine might be the chemical transmitter at motor nerve endings, and which has been partly summarized in previous notes [Cowan, 1936 a, b, c]. The work is based on the following considerations. Several studies of electrical responses showed that, normally, a single impulse in a motor nerve fibre sets up a single propagated (all-or-none) impulse in each of the muscle fibres which it supplies, no matter whether the nerve impulse is an isolated one or one out of a short series having a frequency of 100 per sec. Therefore, if ACh. is the transmitter its action must be limited to a region small in comparison with the size of a muscle fibre. By analogy with electrical excitation it seemed probable that, at the part of a muscle fibre juxtaposed to its motor nerve ending, the concentration of the ACh. liberated by each nerve impulse would have to attain a threshold value to initiate a propagated impulse from there; also, that in the intervals between the successive nerve impulses during a tetanus the concentration of ACh. would have to fall below that threshold. The last-mentioned requirement might be achieved through the hydrolysis of ACh. , probably accelerated by choline-esterase, which,
Partial resialylation of human asialotransferrin type 3 in the rat.

After the injection of a small dose (1 micrograms/100 g of body weight) of 125I-labeled human asialotransferrin type 3 in rats, the radioactivity became rapidly associated with the liver. However, during the ensuing 12 hr a significant fraction of the dose returned to the circulation as protein-bound 125I. The protein released by the liver was indistinguishable by gel filtration from the original preparation and was precipitable by an antiserum to human transferrin. Nevertheless, it no longer bound to the immobilized Gal/GalN-specific lectin from rabbit liver. However, binding could be restored to a large extent by treatment with neuraminidase, indicating that the loss of binding was due to resialylation. Changes in the electrophoretic mobility of asialotransferrin released by the liver showed that resialylation was partial--i.e., it involved the attachment of two or three sialyl residues. From analysis by deconvolution of the plasma curve of partially resialylated asialotransferrin it was calculated that the liver "repaired" this way approximately one asialotransferrin molecule out of four. Plasma clearance of partially resialylated asialotransferrin was similar to that of nondesialylated transferrin.
Use of butyl-methylimidazolium based ionic liquids with different anions in electrolyte-gated organic field-effect transistors

Butyl-methylimidazolium based ionic liquids with two different anions are suggested as gating electrolytes in field-effect transistors. Thanks to the selection of two anions with different polarity it was possible to evaluate the effect of the ions properties such as the chemical structure and the grade of hydrophobicity on the off-current and on the field-effect mobility. Moreover the occurrence of any electrochemical doping in the organic semiconductor was evaluated in three different drain-source voltage ranges. The bio-compatibility of this class of ionic liquids is well-known and a better understanding of their behaviour could lead towards new application for electrolyte-gated biosensors.
A perceptive method for handwritten text segmentation

This paper presents a new method to address the problem of handwritten text segmentation into text lines and words. Thus, we propose a method based on the cooperation among points of view that enables the localization of the text lines in a low resolution image, and then to associate the pixels at a higher level of resolution. Thanks to the combination of levels of vision, we can detect overlapping characters and re-segment the connected components during the analysis. Then, we propose a segmentation of lines into words based on the cooperation among digital data and symbolic knowledge. The digital data are obtained from distances inside a Delaunay graph, which gives a precise distance between connected components, at the pixel level. We introduce structural rules in order to take into account some generic knowledge about the organization of a text page. This cooperation among information gives a bigger power of expression and ensures the global coherence of the recognition. We validate this work using the metrics and the database proposed for the segmentation contest of ICDAR 2009. Thus, we show that our method obtains very interesting results, compared to the other methods of the literature. More precisely, we are able to deal with slope and curvature, overlapping text lines and varied kinds of writings, which are the main difficulties met by the other methods.
Statistical Assessment for Real-time Background Class Identification in Hyperspectral Images

A target material may be considered as an anomaly in an image, having different spectral signatures from the spectral signatures of the background objects. In order to detect such anomalies in an image, the classes associated with the background have to be known. A computationally efficient methodology to determine the background pure classes present in a low resolution hyperspectral image has been previously proposed by the authors. The method is based on robust clustering using a small percentage of the image pixels as input. The clusters are obtained using a self organising map (SOM) clustered using the local minima of the U-matrix (distance matrix). In this paper, we provide a statistical study and evaluation of the proposed approach using simulated and real hyperspectral images. In particular, we answer the question:"what sampling rate should I use in order to be x% confident that I picked up y% of the background classes? ".
Validation of a demand forecasting method based on a stochastic process using real-world data

Abstract Demand-forecasting problems frequently arise in logistics and supply chain management. The Newsboy problem is one such problem. In this paper, we present an improved solution method by application of the Black–Scholes model incorporating a stochastic process used in financial engineering for option pricing. The proposed model is shown to be effective through numerical experiments using real-world data.
Comparing Risks in Individual Software Development and Standard Software Implementation Projects: A Delphi Study

This paper aims at exploring differences in risk profiles across various types of IS projects. IS project managers face a variety of risks. Before taking appropriate countermeasures, the first step in successfully managing risks is to identify and prioritize them. While many researchers have investigated risks in IS projects in general, few take into account the specific nature of different types of IS projects. However, discrepancies in extant risk rankings suggest that a project's risk profile changes depending on which type of project is being investigated. In order to explore these differences across IS project types we conducted a Delphi study at a German-based financial services company in order to identify and compare the risk profiles of individual software development and standard software implementation projects. Our results comprise (a) a list of 100 distinct IS project risks, which not only includes new risks but also emphasizes the importance of technical risks, and (b) ranked risk profiles for different types of IS projects. The heterogeneity of the risk profiles suggests that while there are indeed project-generic risks which are likely to occur across different types of IS projects, project-type-specific risks do considerably influence a project's risk profile.
Doppler sonography findings associated with transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt malfunction.

OBJECTIVE Our purpose was to determine the overall accuracy of Doppler sonography and the accuracy of specific Doppler parameters associated with a compromised transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS). MATERIALS AND METHODS For 43 patients who had undergone TIPS, 64 correlated sonogram-venogram paired examinations were analyzed. Sonographic parameters assessed included absolute velocities plus absolute and percentage changes in velocities measured in the main portal vein (MPV) and in several intrashunt locations (including peak and minimum velocity). Direction of flow and change in direction of flow in the left and right portal veins were also examined. TIPS malfunction was defined as any shunt with greater than or equal to 50% stenosis or any stenosis with a portosystemic gradient greater than 15 mm Hg. RESULTS The prospective interpretation of the sonograms using all available parameters resulted in a sensitivity of 92% and a specificity of 72% for detecting TIPS malfunction. Peak shunt velocity (absolute velocity and velocity change), distal shunt velocity, MPV velocity (absolute velocity and percentage change in velocity), change in minimum shunt velocity, and direction of flow in branch portal veins were found to have statistically significant differences between normal and abnormal shunts. Sensitivities for these individual parameters ranged from 64% to 84%, and specificities ranged from 70% to 100%. When either the MPV velocity or the distal shunt velocity was abnormal, the sensitivity was 94%. When both parameters were abnormal, the specificity for detecting TIPS malfunction was 100%. CONCLUSION Doppler sonography is a sensitive and relatively specific means of revealing TIPS malfunction. Accuracy depends on analysis of multiple sonographic parameters.
Suprasegmental Lexical Stress Cues in Visual Speech can Guide Spoken-Word Recognition

Visual cues to the individual segments of speech and to sentence prosody guide speech recognition. The present study tested whether visual suprasegmental cues to the stress patterns of words can also constrain recognition. Dutch listeners use acoustic suprasegmental cues to lexical stress (changes in duration, amplitude, and pitch) in spoken-word recognition. We asked here whether they can also use visual suprasegmental cues. In two categorization experiments, Dutch participants saw a speaker say fragments of word pairs that were segmentally identical but differed in their stress realization (e.g., ˈca-vi from cavia “guinea pig” vs. ˌka-vi from kaviaar “caviar”). Participants were able to distinguish between these pairs from seeing a speaker alone. Only the presence of primary stress in the fragment, not its absence, was informative. Participants were able to distinguish visually primary from secondary stress on first syllables, but only when the fragment-bearing target word carried phrase-level emphasis. Furthermore, participants distinguished fragments with primary stress on their second syllable from those with secondary stress on their first syllable (e.g., pro-ˈjec from projector “projector” vs. ˌpro-jec from projectiel “projectile”), independently of phrase-level emphasis. Seeing a speaker thus contributes to spoken-word recognition by providing suprasegmental information about the presence of primary lexical stress.
Second-order peak detection for multicomponent high-resolution LC/MS data.

The first step when analyzing multicomponent LC/MS data from complex samples such as biofluid metabolic profiles is to separate the data into information and noise via, for example, peak detection. Due to the complex nature of this type of data, with problems such as alternating backgrounds and differing peak shapes, this can be a very complex task. This paper presents and evaluates a two-dimensional peak detection algorithm based on raw vector-represented LC/MS data. The algorithm exploits the fact that in high-resolution centroid data chromatographic peaks emerge flanked with data voids in the corresponding mass axis. According to the proposed method, only 4 per thousand of the total amount of data from a urine sample is defined as chromatographic peaks; however, 94% of the raw data variance is captured within these peaks. Compared to bucketed data, results show that essentially the same features that an experienced analyst would define as peaks can automatically be extracted with a minimum of noise and background. The method is simple and requires a priori knowledge of only the minimum chromatographic peak width-a system-dependent parameter that is easily assessed. Additional meta parameters are estimated from the data themselves. The result is well-defined chromatographic peaks that are consistently arranged in a matrix at their corresponding m/z values. In the context of automated analysis, the method thus provides an alternative to the traditional approach of bucketing the data followed by denoising and/or one-dimensional peak detection. The software implementation of the proposed algorithm is available at http://www.anchem. su.se/peakd as compiled code for Matlab.
AMERICA LATINA: CONVERGENCIA/DIVERGENCIA UNA REVISION PRELIMINAR DE LOS ENFOQUES DE DATOS DE PANEL Y EL ANALISIS ESPACIAL DE DATOS

En recientes ensayos se han presentado y evaluado diversos enfoques que intentan explicar el fenomeno de la convergencia/divergencia. En este trabajo se presentan los enfoques de datos de panel y el analisis espacial de datos que ayudan a entender las dinamicas de las economias nacionales, regionales y urbanas. Se ofrecen los desarrollos globales de las autoridades academicas mas visibles en el tema de datos de panel como son, Loayza y Villanueva (1993), Islam (1995) y Yudong and Weeks (2000). En el caso del analisis espacial de datos se estudian los aportes de Lee, Sang Il (2001, 2002, 2004a, 2004b, 2004c) Una vez presentados los desarrollos se corrieron los modelos para el caso de America Latina. La relevancia de estos modelos radica principalmente en que al combinar series de tiempo con datos de corte transversal se presenta una idea de la relacion de las variables a traves del tiempo. La conclusion mas evidente es que la estimacion con datos panel ofrecen resultados que muestran que hay convergencia para todos los paises de la region, una vez se han controlado los efectos regionales individuales, es decir, la heterogeneidad en los niveles iniciales de tecnologia.
An Alzheimer's disease hypothesis based on transcriptional dysregulation

Alzheimer's diseuse (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder of the central nervous system (CNS) characterized by progressive loss of memory and other cognitive skills. Neurons in the limbic and association cortices become progressively dysfunctional affecting almost all cognitive functions and memory. The PS1-regulated ε-secretase cleavage of type I transmembrane receptors controls production of transcriptionally active intracellular fragments (ICFs) suggesting that this cleavage is a key factor in surface-to-nucleus signal transduction and gene expression. Signal-induced gene expression mediates neuronal responses to environmental changes and is a key event in neuronal survival and synaptic function. Familial Alzheimer's Disease (FAD) mutations may interfere with nuclear signaling and transcription by interfering with the PS1/ε-secretase cleavage and production of transcriptionally active ICFs. This raises the possibility that, similar to polyglutamine induced neurodegeneration like Huntington's chorea, transcriptional abnormalities are involved in the development of FAD.
epinet: An R Package to Analyze Epidemics Spread across Contact Networks

We present the R package epinet, which provides tools for analyzing the spread of epidemics through populations. We assume that the relationships among individuals in a population are modeled by a contact network described by an exponential-family random graph model and that the disease being studied spreads across the edges of this network from infectious to susceptible individuals. We use a susceptible-exposed-infectiousremoved compartmental model to describe the progress of the disease within each host. We describe the functionality of the package, which consists of routines that perform simulation, plotting, and inference. The main inference routine utilizes a Bayesian approach and a Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithm. We demonstrate the use of the package through two examples, one involving simulated data and one using data from an actual measles outbreak.
Molecular Details of Anesthetic‐Lipid Interaction a

By means of isotopic labeling with deuterium (2H) and observation by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), it has been possible to measure the conformational ordering and dynamics of lipids and anesthetics in membranes. The local anesthetic tetracaine causes disordering in the acyl chains of the lipids, very little effect near the glyceryl residue, and minor ordering effects in the charged head group. The anesthetic itself is well ordered within the lipid matrix. The magnitudes of these effects depend upon the nature of the lipid, and upon whether or not the anesthetic is charged. A model can be constructed for the location of the anesthetic within the lipid bilayers. Confirmation of the model comes from Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), which also shows directly the pressure-driven exclusion of local anesthetic from lipid, and the augmentation of this effect by the presence of cholesterol. Future studies by solid-state NMR of protein, and neutron diffraction of specifically deuterated components of anesthetic-nerve systems, should reveal even more precise details of the molecular events involved in anesthesia.
Acoustic Neuroma: A Cost-Effective Approach

A cost-effective approach to the diagnosis and treatment of acoustic neuromas continues to evolve as diagnostic methods improve. In the past 7 months, since gadolinium-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has become available in our practice, our screening and presurgical workup has changed. The purpose of this article is to outline the current philosophy of the senior authors in relation to acoustic neuroma management on the basis of 72 patients diagnosed from July 1988 to February 1989. With more sensitive diagnostic means, older less sensitive studies may be eliminated from the routine workup, thus maintaining cost-effectiveness while preserving the highest standard of patient care. The body of this article will review our current use of the many available diagnostic options and emphasize a cost-effective approach.
Recombination nodules in plants

The molecular events of recombination are thought to be catalyzed by proteins present in recombination nodules (RNs). Therefore, studying RN structure and function should give insights into the processes by which meiotic recombination is regulated in eukaryotes. Two types of RNs have been identified so far, early (ENs) and late (LNs). ENs appear at leptotene and persist into early pachytene while LNs appear in pachytene and remain into early diplotene. ENs and LNs can be distinguished not only on their time of appearance, but also by such characteristics as shape and size, relative numbers, and association with unsynapsed and/or synapsed chromosomal segments. The function(s) of ENs is not clear, but they may have a role in searching for DNA homology, synapsis, gene conversion and/or crossing over. LNs are well correlated with crossing over. Here, the patterns of ENs and LNs during prophase I in plants are reviewed.