Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A microwave photonic scheme for improving the sensitivity of Mach-Zehnder optical fiber interferometer sensor

A novel scheme to improve the sensitivity of Mach-Zehnder optical fiber interferometer sensor is demonstrated using a single side band (SSB) modulation technique, which is based on the microwave photonics principle to modulate the microwave signal on the optical carrier. Since the frequency of microwave signal can be dynamically tuned, the sensitivity of sensor can be tunably improved. Both the simulation and experimental results show that a maximum sensitivity can be periodically obtained by choosing a series of optimal frequencies of microwave signal modulated on the optical carrier using SSB technique.
Interleukin‐6 and interleukin‐1 receptor antagonist in acute stroke

Elevated plasma levels of interleukin‐6 (IL‐6), a key regulator of the acute phase response that includes increased fibrinogen synthesis, have recently been detected in patients with acute stroke. Nevertheless, the role of the acute phase response in stroke has been controversial, with some studies suggesting that preexisting infection accounts for most of the acute phase response. Increased IL‐6 could signal the involvement of antiinflammatory activity, since IL‐6 stimulates the production of endogenous antiinflammatory mediators such as interleukin‐1 receptor antagonist (IL‐1RA). To better understand the interaction of pro‐ and antiinflammatory acute phase processes in brain infarction, plasma levels of IL‐1RA, IL‐6, and acute phase proteins including fibrinogen and c‐reactive protein (CRP) were measured within 4 ± 2 days of onset in 50 patients with acute ischemic stroke and in 20 age‐matched healthy controls. After excluding patients with evidence of infection, both IL‐1RA and IL‐6 were significantly elevated in stoke patients compared with controls (p<0.0001). IL‐1RA and IL‐6 were both significantly correlated with levels of CRP, p<0.05 and p<0.001, respectively, but not with each other. Levels of IL‐6 and IL‐1RA, together with fibrinogen and CRP were higher in patients with infarcts of greater than 3 cm and lowest in patients with lacunar syndromes. Detection of increased peripheral levels of IL‐1RA, IL‐6, and additional acute phase reactants, including CRP, in acute stroke uncomplicated by infection suggests that an acute phase response to brain infarction occurs and that the magnitude of this response may be related to the volume of infarcted brain.
Functional Organization of Repeat Addition Processivity and DNA Synthesis Determinants in the Human Telomerase Multimer

ABSTRACT Human telomerase is a multimer containing two human telomerase RNAs (hTRs) and most likely two human telomerase reverse transcriptases (hTERTs). Telomerase synthesizes multiple telomeric repeats using a unique repeat addition form of processivity. We investigated hTR and hTERT sequences that were essential for DNA synthesis and processivity using a direct primer extension telomerase assay. We found that hTERT consists of two physically separable functional domains, a polymerase domain containing RNA interaction domain 2 (RID2), reverse transcriptase (RT), and C-terminal sequences, and a major accessory domain, RNA interaction domain 1 (RID1). RID2 mutants defective in high-affinity hTR interactions and an RT catalytic mutant exhibited comparable DNA synthesis defects. The RID2-interacting hTR P6.1 helix was also essential for DNA synthesis. RID1 interacted with the hTR pseudoknot-template domain and hTERT's RT motifs and putative thumb and was essential for processivity, but not DNA synthesis. The hTR pseudoknot was essential for processivity, but not DNA synthesis, and processivity was reduced or abolished in dimerization-defective pseudoknot mutants. trans-acting hTERTs and hTRs complemented the processivity defects of RID1 and pseudoknot mutants, respectively. These data provide novel insight into the catalytic organization of the human telomerase complex and suggest that repeat addition processivity is one of the major catalytic properties conferred by telomerase multimerization.
Curvature point based HMM state prediction for online handwritten assamese strokes recognition

Hidden Markov Models (HMM) are used in handwritten strokes recognition task. The two design parameters of HMM are the number of states and number of mixtures in each state. There are two approaches for finding the number of states, namely, equal number of states and variable number of states. Since the shape of strokes will be different, variable number of states approach should be beneficial. This work proposes a curvature point detection based method to predict variable number of states for modeling a handwritten stroke. The proposed method selects appropriate points from a trace so that the portion between two consecutive points is modeled as an HMM state. Accordingly, based upon handwritten stroke shape complexity, the number of appropriate points selected will change and hence the number of states assigned to the corresponding stroke. In the proposed method, the number of states is proportional to the shape complexity of the given stroke as opposed to fixed in case of brute-force. The HMM based stroke recognizer consisting of 181 distinct strokes, was trained on a set of 52,977 examples collected from approximately 100 native Assamese writers. The evaluation was done on 43,828 examples collected from same users in different sessions. The experimental results demonstrate the benefits of the proposed technique over the brute-force method, especially in case of complex shape strokes.
Pharmacokinetics of dalbavancin in plasma and skin blister fluid.

OBJECTIVES Dalbavancin is a novel lipoglycopeptide antibiotic in development for the treatment of complicated skin and skin structure infections (cSSSIs) caused by Gram-positive bacteria. The aim of the present study was to assess the penetration of dalbavancin into skin blister fluid. METHODS Nine healthy subjects (five males; ranging in age from 26 to 57 years) were administered a single 30 min intravenous infusion of dalbavancin at a dose of 1000 mg. Skin blisters were induced by application of cantharidin ointment. Plasma and blister fluid samples were collected over 7 days post-dose, and concentrations of dalbavancin were assessed by a validated LC/MS/MS assay. Pharmacokinetics were determined by non-compartmental methods, and drug penetration was assessed based on the ratio of area under the curve (AUC) in the blister fluid versus plasma for each subject. RESULTS The mean (SD) peak concentration of dalbavancin in plasma and blister fluid was 285 (31.1) and 67.3 (18.2) mg/L, respectively; the corresponding AUC(Day 7) values were 10 806 (1926) and 6438 (1238) mg . h/L, respectively. The mean (SD) penetration of dalbavancin into blister fluid was 59.6% (6.3%). By Day 7, the mean concentration of dalbavancin in plasma and blister fluid was 46.5 and 30.3 mg/L, respectively. CONCLUSIONS Dalbavancin concentrations in blister fluid remained well above the MIC90 values for pathogens commonly implicated in cSSSIs such as Staphylococcus aureus, including methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MIC90 = 0.06 mg/L) and beta-haemolytic streptococci (MIC90 = 0.03 mg/L) through Day 7. These pharmacokinetic data support the use of dalbavancin in the treatment of cSSSIs caused by susceptible Gram-positive pathogens.
Effects of Active Immunization with Inhibin α Subunit on Reproductive Characteristics of Turkey Hens1

Abstract The hypothesis for the present study is that the active immunization of female turkeys with inhibin (INH) would neutralize endogenous INH, and increase levels of circulating follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and the number of preovulatory follicles, and subsequently enhance egg production. Two experiments were conducted with female turkeys in their first (30 wk of age) and second (62 wk of age) laying cycles. Treatment groups included control turkeys immunized with keyhole limpet hemocyanine (KLH) and experimental turkeys immunized with recombinant turkey inhibinα conjugated to KLH (rtINH), vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) conjugated to KLH or rtINH+VIP. Egg production increased (P < 0.05) in VIP and rtINH+VIP immunized birds, but not in rtINH immunized hens in comparison with a control group. A similar number of ovarian follicles, arranged in the follicular hierarchy of laying hens, was observed in all experimental groups. However, there was a larger number of nongraded yellow follicles in rtINH-immunized (62.5%) and rtINH+VIP-immunized (73.5%) groups compared with that of controls, suggesting overstimulation by FSH. Anterior pituitary FSHβ subunit, LHβ subunit, and prolactin (PRL) mRNA contents were determined by Northern blot analysis and reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) in laying hens at the end of the experimental period. Hens immunized with rtINH showed increased FSHβ subunit mRNA content, but no change in the content of LHβ subunit or PRL mRNA. Hens immunized with VIP or rtINH+VIP had significant increases in both pituitary LHβ subunit and FSHβ subunit mRNA contents, accompanied by a decline in PRL mRNA abundance. The magnitude of the increase in FSHβ subunit to INH immunoneutralization was greater in first-cycle hens than in second-cycle hens. These data suggest that active immunization of female turkeys with INH neutralizes endogenous INH and increases both circulating FSH and the number of preovulatory follicles. However, no significant increase in egg production was observed in INH-immunized hens. The data confirm previous reports that VIP immunoneutralization increases egg production in turkey hens and shows for the first time that it also increases FSHβ subunit and LHβ subunit gene expression.
Depression in Relation to Survival among Neurosurgical Patients with a Primary Brain Tumor: A 5-year Follow-up Study

OBJECTIVE: The adverse impact of depression in relation to survival among cancer patients is currently a subject of great interest in research. In a 5-year follow-up study, we investigated the association of depression with survival of patients with a primary brain tumor. METHODS: The study population consisted of 75 patients with a solitary primary brain tumor treated surgically at the Oulu Clinic for Neurosurgery, Oulu University Hospital, in Northern Finland. The patients were interviewed during admission to the hospital for the tumor surgery. Assessment of depression was made using the Beck Depression Inventory and the Crown-Crisp Experiential Index. Information on all deaths within 60 months after tumor operation was collected from the Cause of Death Register, provided by Statistics Finland. RESULTS: The patients with a high-grade glioma had a survival time of 22.5 months (standard deviation, 21.4 mo), whereas the corresponding time was 50.2 months (standard deviation, 19.9 mo) for patients with a low-grade glioma and 58.2 months (standard deviation, 9.4 mo) for the patients with a histologically benign tumor (P < 0.001, difference between groups, Kruskal-Wallis test). In the subgroup of patients with low-grade gliomas, depressive patients had a significantly shorter survival time compared with nondepressive subjects (P = 0.031, Kaplan-Meier survival analysis). A corresponding difference was not found in patients with high-grade gliomas or benign tumors. Tumor location in one hemisphere compared with bilateral location and wider extent of tumor surgery was associated with better survival in patients with low-grade gliomas and benign tumors but not in patients with high-grade gliomas. CONCLUSION: Preoperative depression seemed to be a significant prognostic factor for worse survival in low-grade glioma patients. In clinical practice, an evaluation of depression among brain tumor patients by structured and standardized diagnostic methods is needed to distinguish the patients whose depression actually needs treatment. The effective treatment of clinical depression among brain tumor patients and the impact of treatment on the patients’ chances of survival should be a focus of future research.
Fitness effects of new mutations in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii across two stress gradients

Most spontaneous mutations affecting fitness are likely to be deleterious, but the strength of selection acting on them might be impacted by environmental stress. Such stress-dependent selection could expose hidden genetic variation, which in turn might increase the adaptive potential of stressed populations. On the other hand, this variation might represent a genetic load and thus lead to population extinction under stress. Previous studies to determine the link between stress and mutational effects on fitness, however, have produced inconsistent results. Here, we determined the net change in fitness in 29 genotypes of the green algae Chlamydomonas reinhardtii that accumulated mutations in the near absence of selection for approximately 1,000 generations across two stress gradients, increasing NaCl and decreasing phosphate. We found mutational effects to be magnified under extremely stressful conditions, but such effects were specific both to the type of stress as well as to the genetic background. The detection of stress-dependent fitness effects of mutations depended on accurately scaling relative fitness measures by generation times, thus offering an explanation for the inconsistencies among previous studies.
Intra‐articular dexamethasone to inhibit the development of post‐traumatic osteoarthritis

Injury to the joint provokes a number of local pathophysiological changes, including synthesis of inflammatory cytokines, death of chondrocytes, breakdown of the extra‐cellular matrix of cartilage, and reduced synthesis of matrix macromolecules. These processes combine to engender the subsequent development of post‐traumatic osteoarthritis (PTOA). To prevent this from happening, it is necessary to inhibit these disparate responses to injury; given their heterogeneity, this is challenging. However, dexamethasone has the necessary pleiotropic properties required of a drug for this purpose. Using in vitro models, we have shown that low doses of dexamethasone sustain the synthesis of cartilage proteoglycans while inhibiting their breakdown after injurious compression in the presence or absence of inflammatory cytokines. Under these conditions, dexamethasone is non‐toxic and maintains the viability of chondrocytes exposed chronically to such cytokines as interleukin (IL) ‐1, IL‐6, and tumor necrosis factor‐α. Moreover, the anti‐inflammatory properties of dexamethasone have been appreciated for decades. In view of this information, we have initiated a pilot clinical study to determine whether a single, intra‐articular injection of dexamethasone into the wrist shows promise in preventing PTOA after intra‐articular fracture of the distal radius.
The effect of risperidone on metabolite measures in the frontal lobe, temporal lobe, and thalamus in schizophrenic patients. A proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H MRS).

OBJECTIVE The aim of the study was the evaluation of risperidone effect on metabolite measures in the frontal lobe, temporal lobe and thalamus in schizophrenic patients on the basis of proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy ( (1)H MRS). METHODS A group of 14 patients with the diagnosis of schizophrenia, according to DSM-IV, were examined in the study. The patients were examined twice, once after a period of at least 7 days without neuroleptics and for the second time at least 4 weeks after stable risperidone doses. RESULTS The significant differences in the metabolite levels before and after the treatment were observed only in thalamus: an increase in myoinositol (mI) and N-acetylaspartate (NAA) levels. Positive symptoms before the treatment correlated positively with NAA level in the frontal lobes and negatively in the temporal lobes. Negative symptoms before the treatment correlated positively with Glx (a common signal for GABA, glutamine and glutamate) level in the temporal lobes. CONCLUSION Our results seem to confirm the influence of risperidone on the brain metabolism, specifically in the region of thalamus.
ErbB family receptor inhibitors as therapeutic agents in breast cancer: Current status and future clinical perspective

Breast cancer is the most common cancer diagnosed in women and the second most common cause of female cancer‐related deaths, with more than one million new cases diagnosed per year throughout the world. With the recent advances in the knowledge of cellular processes and signaling pathways involved in the pathogenesis of breast cancer, the current focus of researchers and clinicians is to develop novel treatment strategies that can be included in the armamentarium against breast cancer. With the failure of endocrine‐targeted therapy and the development of resistance to existing chemotherapy, the most explored pathway as next generation target for breast cancer therapy has been the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) (ErbB‐1)/herceptin‐2 (HER‐2) (ErbB‐2) pathway. This review focuses on the rationale for targeting members of ErbB receptor family and numerous agents that are in use for inhibiting the pathway. The mechanism of action, preclinical and clinical trial data of the agents that are in use for targeting the EGFR/HER‐2 pathway and the current status, thereof, have been discussed in detail. In addition, the future clinical trial promises these agents hold either as monotherapy or as combination therapy with conventional agents or with other antisignaling agents have been pondered, so as to provide better and more efficacious treatment strategies for breast cancer patients. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Med Res Rev 32:166‐215, 2012
Application of Measurement Matrix Based on Linear Representation of Diagonal Matrix in Image Restoration

In recent years, compressed sensing theory has been widely used in signal processing and image restoration. As an important part of compressed sensing, the performance of measurement matrix directly affects the efficiency and accuracy of image restoration. The common measurement matrix can not take a good balance between the two. By utilizing the linear representation theory of orthogonal basis, this essay proposes a new method, which introduces diagonal matrix with non-zero elements on main diagonal and the pseudo-random number. The simulation result shows that the new matrix is superior to others. Especially when the compression ratio is less than 0.5, the number of measurements is reduced by about 40% and the Peak Signal to Noise Ratio is increased by at least 2.2dB.
Rapid response systems. Recognition and management of the deteriorating patient

Background and Purpose: Clear and detectable signs of deterioration have been shown to be present in many patients multiple hours before undergoing a serious life-threatening event. To date, few studies are available describing normal practice and the possible effectiveness of structured tools regarding recognition of deteriorating patients. The aim of this study was to describe the current practice in measurement and documentation of vital signs and the possible usefulness of the Modified Early Warning Score (MEWS) to identify deteriorating patients on hospital wards. Methods: A retrospective observational study of medical and surgical patients from 2007 with a severe adverse event including cardiopulmonary arrest, unplanned intensive care unit admission, emergency surgery, or unexpected death was performed. We studied all vital parameters that were collected and documented in the 48 hours before these events, and the MEWS was retrospectively calculated. Results: Two hundred four patients were included. In the 48 hours before the event, a total of 2688 measurements of one or more vital signs were taken. Overall, 81% of the patients had an MEWS value of 3 or more at least once during the 48 hours before their event. Recordings of vital signs were mostly incomplete. Even when the MEWS was 3 or more, respiratory rate, diuresis, and oxygen saturation were documented in only 30% to 66% of assessments.
HBxAg suppresses cell apoptosis and promotes the secretion of placental hormones in human placental trophoblasts via activation of the EGFR/Akt pathway

The aim of this study is to investigate the role of Hepatitis B virus x (HBx) in the growth and secretion of human placental trophoblasts. Firstly, placenta tissues were collected from pregnant HBV carriers with various viral loads. The results of immunohistochemical technique showed that the HBx protein and pEGFR protein levels were both markedly increased with the viral load elevation. Then, a placental trophoblast cell strain (JEG‐3‐HBx), which stably expressed HBx mRNA and protein, was established with the pcDNA‐HBx transfection followed by the G418 selection. The JEG‐3‐HBx strain displayed distinct activation of the EGFR/AKT pathway, a lower level of cell apoptosis, and higher secretion levels of placental hormones, including human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), progesterone, estrogen and β‐endorphin. Subsequently, HBx siRNA was used to silence the HBx gene in the JEG‐3‐HBx strain. Our data showed that the HBx siRNA transfection markedly suppressed the activation of the EGFR/AKT pathway, promoted cell apoptosis, and reduced the secretion of the placental hormones. Finally, EGF was applied to simulate the JEG‐3‐HBx strain with or without the HBx siRNA transfection. EGF treatment counteracted the reduction of cell apoptosis and the suppression of hormone secretion caused by HBx siRNA in the cell strain. In conclusion, the pEGFR protein was robustly upregulated in HBx‐infected human placenta tissues and trophoblast cells. HBx reduces cell apoptosis and promotes the secretion of placental hormones in human placental trophoblast cells via activation of the EGFR/Akt pathway.
Complementary therapy use in patients with glioma

Objective: Despite novel multimodal therapeutic approaches, the vast majority of glial tumors are not curable. Patients may search for complementary therapies in order to contribute to the fight against their disease or to relieve symptoms induced by their brain tumor. The extent of the use of complementary or alternative therapies, the patients' rationale behind it, and the cost of complementary therapy for gliomas are not known. We used a questionnaire and the database of the German Glioma Network to evaluate these questions. Methods: A total of 621 questionnaires were available for evaluation from patients with glial tumors of WHO grades II to grade IV. The patients were recruited from 6 neuro-oncologic centers in Germany. Complementary therapy was defined as methods or compounds not used in routine clinical practice and not scientifically evaluated. Results: Forty percent of the responding patients reported the use of complementary therapies. Significant differences between the group of complementary therapy users and nonusers were seen with respect to age (younger > older), gender (female > male), and education (high education level > low education level). The motivation for complementary therapy use was not driven by unsatisfactory clinical care by the neuro-oncologists, but by the wish to add something beneficial to the standard of care. Conclusions: In clinical practice, patients' use of complementary therapies may be largely overseen and underestimated. The major motivation is not distrust in conventional therapies. Neuro-oncologists should be aware of this phenomenon and encourage an open but critical dialogue with their patients.