Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Yoga Practice Improves Physiological and Biochemical Status at High Altitudes: A Prospective Case-control Study.

UNLABELLED Context • High altitude (HA) is a psychophysiological stressor for natives of lower altitudes. Reducing the morbidity and optimizing the performance of individuals deployed in an HA region has been attempted and reported with varied results. Objective • The present study intended to explore the effects of comprehensive yogic practices on the health and performance of Indian soldiers deployed at HAs. Design • The research team designed a prospective, randomized, case-control study. SETTING The study was done at Karu, Leh, India, at an altitude of 3445 m. Participants • Fully acclimatized soldiers in the Indian army were randomly selected from those posted to HA regions (ie, altitudes >3000 m). Intervention • The soldiers were divided into 2 groups of equal size. The first group, the control group, carried out the routine activities for physical training in the Indian army. The second group, the intervention group practiced a comprehensive yoga package, including physical asanas, pranayama, and meditation, and did not perform the physical training that the first group did. Both groups were monitored during their activities. Outcome Measures • A wide and comprehensive range of anthropometrical, physiological, biochemical, and psychological parameters were measured: (1) height and weight; (2) body fat percentage (BFP); (3) heart rate (HR); (4) respiratory rate (RR); (5) systolic and diastolic blood pressure (DPB); (6) peripheral saturation of oxygen; (7) end tidal CO2 (EtCO2); (8) chest expansion; (9) pulmonary function; (10) physical work capacity (VO2Max); (11) hematological variables; (12) lipid profile; (13) serum urea; (14) creatinine; (15) liver enzymes; (16) blood glucose; and (17) anxiety scores. Measurements were made at baseline and postintervention. Results • Two-hundred soldiers took part in the study. The yoga group showed a significant improvement in health indices and performance as compared with the control group. They had lower weights, BFPs, RRs, DBPs, and anxiety scores. They also had a significantly higher EtCO2, forced vital capacity, forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV1), and VO2Max. Also, the yoga group showed a significant reduction in serum cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein, triglycerides, and blood urea as compared with their preyoga levels and with the exercise group. Conclusions • Practice of yoga facilitates improvements in health and performance at HAs and is superior to routine training with physical exercises. Comprehensive yogic practices are an effective modality for improving health and performance at HAs.
In vitro resorptive activity of isolated chick osteoclasts: Effects of carbonic anhydrase inhibition

A potent inhibitor of carbonic anhydrase, 5‐[3‐hydroxybenzoyl]thiophene‐2‐sulfonamide (HTS), was shown to cause a 37% reduction in the area of resorption pits formed by isolated chick osteoclasts when used at a dose of 10−7 M. HTS at doses of 10−9 and 10−7 M was also effective in reducing acid formation by the osteoclasts (14 and 36%, respectively). Additionally, the effect of HTS was found to be readily reversed by removing the agent, showing that it does not exert a toxic effect on the cells. This study indicates that the inhibitory effect of HTS on bone resorption is at the level of the acid‐forming mechanism in osteoclasts and supports the view that carbonic anhydrase has a central role in the process.
Multiple Functions of Phosphoinositide-3 Kinase Enhancer (PIKE)

GTP-binding proteins are the molecular switches of numerous cellular functions, including migration, proliferation, and differentiation. In the past 10 years, we have characterized a novel class of GTPases called phosphoinositide-3 kinase enhancer (PIKE) that interacts with PI3K/Akt. In neurons, PIKE is involved in the protective mechanisms against neuroexcitotoxic insults by linking various receptors, such as mGluR1 and Unc5H2, to the PI3K cascade. Interestingly, the PIKE gene (CENTG1) is also amplified in a variety of human cancers and enhances Akt activity, leading to their resistance against apoptosis and invasion. It has also been demonstrated that PIKE is involved in endosome formation and nuclear protein accumulation. Thus, PIKE possesses multitudinous biological functions rather than solely acting as an apoptosis inhibitor. In this review, we will update our current knowledge of the role of PIKE in various cellular activities. Moreover, the functions of PIKE in peripheral tissues as revealed by the unique phenotypes in PIKE knock-out mice will be discussed as well.
The 60-kDa Phosphotyrosine Protein in Insulin-treated Adipocytes Is a New Member of the Insulin Receptor Substrate Family*

A 60-kDa protein that undergoes rapid tyrosine phosphorylation in response to insulin and then binds phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase has been previously described in adipocytes and hepatoma cells. We have isolated this protein, referred to as pp60, from rat adipocytes, obtained the sequences of tryptic peptides, and cloned its cDNA. The predicted amino acid sequence of pp60 reveals that it contains an N-terminal pleckstrin homology domain, followed by a phosphotyrosine binding domain, followed by a group of likely tyrosine phosphorylation sites, four of which are in the YXXM motif that binds to the SH2 domains of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase. The overall architecture of pp60 is thus the same as that of insulin receptor substrates 1 and 2 (IRS-1 and IRS-2), and furthermore both the pleckstrin homology and phosphotyrosine binding domains are highly homologous (about 50% identical amino acids) to these domains in both IRS-1 and IRS-2. Thus, pp60 is a new member of the IRS family, which we have designated IRS-3.
VLSI Design for High-Speed Sparse Parity-Check Matrix Decoders

In this paper, the design of high-speed iterative decoders for sparse parity-check matrix (SPCM) codes such as LDPC, repeat-accumulate and turbo-like codes is addressed. The random nature of the underlying Tanner graph associated with these codes is problematic for a high-speed decoder implementation. This issue is addressed by designing structured SPCM codes tailored for low-complexity scalable decoders using the turbo-decoding message-passing (TDMP) algorithm. Analysis using EXIT charts shows that a better performance/complexity tradeoff is achieved when the number of decoding iterations is small which is attractive for high-speed applications. A scalable decoder architecture for structures SPCM codes employing the TDMP algorithm is presented
A systematic evaluation of abscopal responses following radiotherapy in patients with metastatic melanoma treated with ipilimumab

Case reports and preclinical data suggest radiotherapy and immunotherapy may synergize to generate “abscopal” responses outside the radiation field. This phenomenon remains relatively unexplored, prompting our systematic evaluation of metastatic melanoma patients treated with the CTLA-4 inhibitor ipilimumab and palliative radiation therapy. We evaluated 47 consecutive metastatic melanoma patients treated with ipilimumab and 65 courses of radiation. Responses of index lesions outside the radiation field were compared before and after radiotherapy, and parameters associated with favorable response were assessed. Median survival was 28 months, with an estimated 20% 5-y survival. Index lesions shrank in 7 instances prior to radiation therapy (11%), compared with 16 instances (25%) after radiation therapy; in 11 of the latter instances (69%), the index lesion had been increasing in size prior to radiotherapy (P = 0.03). In 68% of cases, radiotherapy was associated with an improved rate of index lesion response (P = 0.006). Radiation fraction size ≤ 3 Gy was the only parameter identified associated with favorable index lesion response (P = 0.014). Our systematic review of melanoma patients treated with radiotherapy and ipilimumab suggests that a subset of patients may have more favorable out-of-field responses following treatment with radiation. Interestingly, we found that multiple fraction radiation regimens were associated with a more favorable response. These results are encouraging regarding potential synergies between radiation and immunotherapy, but suggest that attention and even prospective testing of radiation parameters critical to producing abscopal effects in human patients would be of value.
Novel noise reduction algorithm for LS channel estimation in OFDM system with frequency selective channels

Based on the analysis of the effect of the channel estimation error on the performance of Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) systems, a novel noise reduction algorithm for the LS channel estimation is presented for OFDM systems with virtual carriers in frequency-selective fading channels. In the method, the estimated channel vector by the LS algorithm is further processed by the Q matrix from QR decomposition of the part DFT matrix and the zero-forcing processing, and the accuracy of the processed channel estimation vector is highly improved. Simulation results show that the performance of the proposed method is much better than those of the available noise reduction methods for the LS channel estimation, and the MSE of the proposed method is about one fifth of that of the LS method.
Coagulopathy in Traumatic Brain Injury and Its Correlation with Progressive Hemorrhagic Injury: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

The association between coagulopathy and either isolated traumatic brain injury (TBI) or progressive hemorrhagic injury (PHI) remains controversial. The aims of this study were to evaluate whether isolated TBI induces pronounced coagulopathy, in comparison with non-TBI or TBI in conjunction with other injuries (TBI + other injuries), and to examine whether there is any evidence of a relationship between coagulopathy and PHI in patients who have experienced TBI. The MEDLINE(®) and Embase databases, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (Central), were trawled for relevant studies. Searches covered the period from the inception of each of the databases to June 2015, and were conducted using appropriate combinations of terms and key words based on medical subject headings (MeSH). Studies were included if they compared isolated TBI with a similar severity of injury to other body regions, or compared PHI with non-PHI, with regard to coagulation tests and the prevalence of coagulopathy. We extracted the means and standard deviations (SD) of coagulation test levels, as well as their ranges or the percentage of abnormal coagulation tests, in both cases and controls. A total of 19 studies were included in our systematic review and meta-analysis. Only the mean fibrinogen (FIB) in isolated TBI was found to be significantly higher than in TBI + other injuries (pooled mean difference [MD] 32.09; 95% confidence interval [CI] 4.92-59.25; p = 0.02); in contrast, it was also significantly higher than in non-TBI (pooled MD 15.44; 95% CI 0.28-30.59; p = 0.05). We identified 15 studies that compared coagulopathy between a PHI group and a non-PHI group. The PHI group had a lower platelet count (PLT) value (pooled MD -19.21; 95% CI: -26.99 to -11.44, p < 0.001) and a higher international normalized ratio (INR) value (pooled MD 0.07; 95% CI: 0.02-0.13, p = 0.006) than the non-PHI group, but no differences were observed in the mean activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) and prothrombin time (PT) between the PHI and non-PHI patients. In addition, PHI was significantly associated with a higher percentage of INR >1.2 (pooled OR 3.49 [95% CI 1.97-6.20], p < 0.001), PLT <100 × 109/L (pooled OR 4.74 [95% CI 2.44-9.20], p < 0.001), and coagulopathy (pooled OR 2.52; 95% CI 1.88- 3.38; p < 0.001), compared with non-PHI. The current clinical evidence does not indicate that the prevalence of coagulopathy in TBI is significantly higher than in injuries of similar severity to other areas of the body, or in multiple injuries with TBI. With respect to the association between coagulopathy and PHI, the occurrence of coagulopathy, INR, and PLT was significantly associated with PHI, but APTT and PT were not found to be associated with PHI. In the future, high quality research will be required to further characterize the effects of coagulopathy on TBI and subsequent PHI.
Photoperiodic response may facilitate adaptation to climatic change in long-distance migratory birds

Recent climatic change is causing spring events in northern temperate regions to occur earlier in the year. As a result, migratory birds returning from tropical wintering sites may arrive too late to take full advantage of the food resources on their breeding grounds. Under these conditions, selection will favour earlier spring arrival that could be achieved by overwintering closer to the breeding grounds. However, it is unknown how daylength conditions at higher latitudes will affect the timing of life cycle stages. Here, we show in three species of Palaearctic-African migratory songbirds that a shortening of migration distance induces an advancement of springtime activities. Birds exposed to daylengths simulating migration to and wintering in southern Europe considerably advanced their spring migratory activity and testicular development. This response to the novel photoperiodic environment will enable birds wintering further north to advance spring arrival and to start breeding earlier. Thus, phenotypic flexibility in response to the photoperiod may reinforce selection for shorter migration distance if spring temperatures continue to rise.
[Photosynthesis and free radical yield of Litchi chinensis leaves under increased CO2 partial pressure in atmosphere].

The maximum photosynthetic rate of litchi saplings leaves grown under a CO2 partial pressure of 77 +/- 5 Pa was 23% lower than that of 39.3 Pa, and slight decreases in respiration rate in light and CO2 compensation point excluding of respiration in light were observed. The maximum rates of carboxylation (Vcmax) and photosynthetic electron transport (Jmax) were decreased in saplings grown under 77 +/- 5 Pa CO2 partial pressure. It may suggest that there was a lower energy level of photosystem I(PSI) in the saplings leaves under 77 +/- 5 Pa CO2 partial pressure, and free radical yield decreased by 39% in the saplings under 77 +/- 5 Pa CO2, as comparied with that under atmospheric CO2. The percentage of infection by Peronophythora litchi increased from 1.8% under atmospheric CO2 to 9.5% under enriched CO2. It may mean that the decreasing photosynthetic and respiration metabolism would make it lower the production of O2-. , and leaves were infected by P. litchi more easily. The controlling of the popularization of P. litchi for litchi plantation must be paid wide attention, as air CO2 partial pressure will increase continuously.
Coronavirus Infection in Acute Lower Respiratory Tract Disease of Infants

Abstract A serologic surveillance of lower respiratory tract disease in 417 hospitalized children under 18 months of age revealed infection with coronaviruses (strains OC43 and/or 229E) in 34 (8.2%). During the same interval, one of 13 control infants was infected. There were two distinct periods lasting six and 14 weeks, respectively, during which the incidence rose to as high as 18.9% of patients with lower respiratory tract disease. The incidence of coronavirus infection in patients with pneumonia and bronchiolitis was higher than the incidences of adenoviruses, influenza, parainfluenza viruses types 1 and 2, and rhinoviruses, and lower only than the incidences of parainfluenza virus type 3 and respiratory syncytial virus. Coronaviruses serologically similar or identical to strain 229E were recovered from frozen nasal washes obtained during the acute phase of pneumonia in two children.
Mean Field Games: Convergence of a Finite Difference Method

Mean field type models describing the limiting behavior of stochastic differential games as the number of players tends to $+\infty$ have been recently introduced by Lasry and Lions. Numerical methods for the approximation of the stationary and evolutive versions of such models have been proposed by the authors in previous works. Here, convergence theorems for these methods are proved under various assumptions on the coupling operator.
Effect of Tranilast on Proliferation, Collagen Gel Contraction, and Transforming Growth Factor Beta Secretion of Retinal Pigment Epithelial Cells and Fibroblasts

The efficiency of tranilast for the treatment of proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR) was investigated in vitro. A tetrazolium-based colorimetric assay showed that the 300-µM concentration of tranilast inhibited proliferation of bovine retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells and rabbit dermal fibroblasts with no toxicity. The contraction of collagen gels embedded with these cells was evaluated in the cultures. Compared with the gel incubated with minimal essential medium and 0.35% bovine serum albumin and/or fetal calf serum, tranilast inhibited gel contraction. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay revealed that a 300-µM concentration of tranilast inhibited transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) secretion significantly (p < 0.01). These results suggest that tranilast may inhibit the proliferation of RPE cells and fibroblasts and contraction of intraocular fibrous membranes by suppressing TGF-β1 secretion from these cells with a potential to treat PVR.
Multi-layer windings effect on interior PM machines for EV applications

This paper mainly studies the effect of the winding layer number on the performance of IPM synchronous machines equipped with fractional-slot concentrated windings (FSCW) for electric vehicle (EV) applications. In order to quantitatively evaluate FSCW-IPM machines with different numbers of winding layers, three models with single-, double- and four-layer winding configurations will be built, comparing back EMF, average torque, torque ripple, core losses, flux-weakening capability, overload capability, etc. It is proved that multilayer windings yield lower d-axes inductance, which leads to weaker flux-weakening capability but better overload capability. It is also shown that torque ripple and core losses are significantly reduced in machines with multilayer windings. Theoretical and finite element analysis have been carried out to verify those conclusions.
Incidence of anti-heparin/platelet factor 4 antibodies and heparin-induced thrombocytopenia in medical patients.

OBJECTIVE Heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) is a life threatening complication of heparin therapy, causing thrombosis. The aim of our study was to find out the frequencies of HIT antibody seroconversion and clinical HIT in Turkish medical patients on different forms of heparins. METHODS Our study included 61 patients who were on unfractionated heparin (UFH) (n: 37) and low molecular weight heparin (LMWH) (n: 24) therapies. The frequency of HIT antibody formation was determined by means of antigenic (ELISA), and functional assays (serotonin release assay-SRA). RESULTS The seroconversion rates in UFH and LMWH groups were found to be 18.9% and 4.1% (ELISA), and 8.1% and 4.1% (SRA), respectively. One patient (2.1%) on UFH therapy developed deep vein thrombosis. No thromboembolic event was observed in patients taking LMWH. CONCLUSION Seroconversion rates by means of antigenic and functional assays and clinical HIT were more common in patients on UFH than patients on LMWH therapy.
A DIDÁTICA NA FORMAÇÃO DE PROFESSORES DA EDUCAÇÃO BÁSICA

RESUMO: Esta pesquisa objetiva investigar o papel da Didatica na formacao do professor para a educacao basica. Os dados foram coletados por meio de entrevista semi-estruturada e observacao de aulas. Os resultados parciais apontam a necessidade de reflexao em relacao as propostas didaticas observadas, tais como: transcender o sentido puramente tecnico e visar a competencias profissionais complexas, como a habilidade investigativa sobre a pratica; tomar a escola como espaco por excelencia de formacao de professores; reestruturar o conteudo da Didatica como sintese dos fundamentos da pratica pedagogica; repensar a formacao do professor de Didatica. PALAVRAS-CHAVE: Didatica. Formacao de professor. Pratica pedagogica.
Characterization of a Recombinant Herpes Simplex Virus 1 Designed To Enter Cells via the IL13Rα2 Receptor of Malignant Glioma Cells

ABSTRACT Malignant glioma tumor cells in situ exhibit on their surfaces the interleukin 13 (IL-13) receptor designated IL13Rα2. To target herpes simplex virus 1 to this receptor, we constructed a recombinant virus (R5111) in which the known heparan sulfate binding sites in glycoproteins B and C were deleted and IL-13 was inserted into both glycoproteins C and D. We also transduced a baby hamster kidney cell line lacking the known viral receptors (J1-1) and Vero cells with a plasmid encoding IL13Rα2. The J1-1 derivative (J-13R) cell line is susceptible to and replicates the R5111 recombinant virus but not the wild-type parent virus. We report the following. (i) Expression of IL13Rα2 was rapidly lost from the surface of transduced cells grown in culture. The loss appeared to be related to ligands present in fetal bovine serum in the medium. None of the malignant glioma cell lines cultivated in vitro and tested to date exhibited the IL13Rα2 receptor. (ii) Soluble IL-13 but not IL-4 or IL-2 blocked the replication of R5111 recombinant virus in J-13R cells. (iii) The endocytosis inhibitor PD98059 blocked the replication in J1-1 cells of a mutant lacking glycoprotein D (gD−/−) but not the replication of R5111 in the J-13R cells. We conclude that R5111 enters cells via its interaction with the IL13Rα2 receptor in a manner that cannot be differentiated from the interaction of wild-type virus with its receptors.
Age-Related Changes in Vestibular Evoked Myogenic Potentials

Vestibular evoked myogenic potentials (VEMP) in response to sound stimulation (500 Hz tone burst, 129 dB SPL) were studied in 1000 consecutive patients. VEMP from the ear with the larger amplitude were evaluated based on the assumption that the majority of the tested patients probably had normal vestibular function in that ear. Patients with known bilateral conductive hearing loss, with known bilateral vestibular disease and those with Tullio phenomenon were not included in the evaluation. It was found that there was an age-related decrease in VEMP amplitude and an increase in VEMP latency that appeared to be rather constant throughout the whole age span. The VEMP data were also compared to an additional group of 10 patients with Tullio phenomenon. Although these 10 patients did have rather large VEMP, equally large VEMP amplitudes were observed in a proportion of unaffected subjects of a similar age group. Thus, the finding of a large VEMP amplitude in response to a high-intensity sound stimulation is not, per se, distinctive for a significant vestibular hypersensitivity to sounds.