Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Etude chronométrique et électrophysiologique du contrôle des erreurs de programmation du mouvement chez l'homme

Ce travail de these, qui repose sur l'utilisation de la methode d'amorcage (Rosenbaum & Kornblum, 1982), a pour objectif de verifier la validite du modele parametrique de Rosenbaum (1980, 1983) et de determiner les processus impliques dans le cas ou on se trouve face a une situation imprevue. La question qui se pose concernant ces processus est, d'une part, de savoir si notre systeme sensori-moteur deprogramme la totalite de ce qu'il avait traite et reprogramme le nouveau mouvement independamment des programmes anterieurs, ou au contraire s'il ne reprogramme que les parametres errones en gardant une trace des anciens programmes et, d'autre part, de savoir si dans ce dernier cas, la reprogrammation partielle se fait de facon serielle ou parallele. Dans une serie de trois experiences, differentes methodes d'analyse ont ete utilisees : analyse des distributions de temps de reaction, delta plots et fonction de precision conditionnelle (etude 1), analyse des essais errones (etudes 1 et 2) et enfin l'electromyographie (EMG, etude 3). L'ensemble de ces methodes permettait une analyse fine des processus de deprogrammation-reprogrammation du mouvement. Les resultats de l'etude 1 revelent que la deprogrammation n'est ni partielle ni totale et que la reprogrammation n'est faite de facon ni serielle ni parallele ; ceux de l'etude 2 revelent que les resultats obtenus dans la premiere etude ne sont pas dus aux contraintes biomecaniques liees au mouvement utilise. Dans l'etude 3, l'enregistrement EMG a permis de distinguer deux categories d'essais : purs-corrects et incorrects-corrects. Dans ces derniers, on observe des activites EMG partielles precedant l'activation EMG de la reponse correcte (ebauche d'erreur). Les resultats revelent que la deprogrammation dans les essais purs-corrects est totale. De plus, l'analyse des erreurs (etudes 1, 2) et celle des ebauches d'erreurs (etude 3) revelent des traces de la reponse preparee dans ces reponses erronees.
Physiological basis of food intolerance in VLBW

To provide an overview on the role of gut immunity, nervous system and motility patterns in the development of feeding intolerance in newborns. Maturation of the GI is important not only for digestion and absorption, but for endocrine and exocrine function as well. There is little data available about the development of the motility function and of the mucosal barrier of the human gut, and in particular about the motility patterns and mucosal changes in newborns during early days of life. It is known that functional maturation of the gastrointestinal tract is quite different over time with respect to its anatomical development. Besides, the gastrointestinal tract through innate and specific immunologic factors, acts as a defense against ingested antigens. In addition to the mucous membrane integrity and digestion, numerous specific immunologic cells and mediators orchestrate such defensive mechanisms. In case of food antigens, the outcome is usually in favor of tolerance. Defects in that barrier, however, can lead to the development of aberrant immunologic responses, including hypersensitivity reactions. It is obvious that an appropriate feeding regimen during early infancy is in favor of food tolerance. However, in addition to genetic predisposition, development of tolerance is facilitated by an adequate gut barrier (immune or nonimmune), well-coordinated GI motility and nervous network, and appropriate food regimen.
DIO: Efficient interactive outlier analysis over dynamic datasets

Outlier detection is an important data mining topic, and distance-based outlier detection is one of the representative methods. However, it is known that selecting parameter values suited for detecting outliers matching the user intent is not easy. To address this problem, an interactive outlier analysis framework named ONION was proposed. ONION analyzes datasets in advance and constructs index structures, which support several types of interactive outlier analysis and help users choose appropriate parameter values. However, ONION assumes static datasets, and updates to the datasets are not considered. In this work, we propose a novel scheme named DIO (Dynamic and Interactive Outlier analysis) to make ONION-like interactive outlier analysis applicable to dynamic datasets. DIO provides a grid structure for data objects and neighboring object counters to avoid expensive distance recomputations and enables efficient updates of the index structures. Intensive experiments prove that DIO achieves remarkable performance improvements.
Acute renal failure in intensive care units--causes, outcome, and prognostic factors of hospital mortality; a prospective, multicenter study. French Study Group on Acute Renal Failure.

OBJECTIVE To assess the causes, the prognostic factors, and the outcome of patients with severe acute renal failure. DESIGN Prospective, multicenter study. SETTING Twenty French multidisciplinary intensive care units (ICUs). PATIENTS All patients with severe acute renal failure were prospectively enrolled in the study for a 6-month period. Severe acute renal failure was defined by the following criteria: a) a serum creatinine concentration of > or = 3.5 mg/dL ( > or = 310 mumol/L) and/or a blood urea nitrogen concentration of > or = 100 mg/dL ( > or = 36 mmol/L); or b) an increase in blood urea nitrogen or serum creatinine concentration, such that the concentration is 100% above the baseline value in patients with previous chronic renal insufficiency (serum creatinine concentration of > 1.8 mg/dL [ > 150 mumol/L]), excluding those patients with a basal serum creatinine concentration of > 3.4 mg/dL ( > 300 mumol/L). INTERVENTIONS None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS Age, sex, previous health status and preexisting organ dysfunction, and type and origin of acute renal failure were recorded. The Simplified Acute Physiology Score, the Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE II) score, and the number of Organ System Failures were calculated on ICU day 1 and at the time of inclusion in the study. Prognostic factors were determined by univariate methods and stepwise logistic regression analysis. There were 360 patients in the study; 217 patients were admitted to the study at the time of ICU admission and 143 patients were admitted to the study after ICU admission. Only 41% of these patients were in good health 3 months before ICU entry. The reason for admission was medical in 78% of cases. The type of acute renal failure was prerenal (n = 16), renal (n = 282), or postrenal (n = 17). Renal replacement therapy was used in 174 patients. Two hundred ten (58%) patients died during the hospital stay. Using stepwide logistic regression, seven variables were predictive of death. These variables were advanced age, altered previous health status, hospitalization before ICU admission, delayed occurrence of acute renal failure, sepsis, oliguria, and severity of illness as assessed at the time of study inclusion by Simplified Acute Physiology Score, APACHE II, or Organ System Failure. CONCLUSIONS The hospital mortality rate of patients with severe acute renal failure in patients requiring intensive care remains high. In order to compare patient groups in further trials concerning acute renal failure, recorded characteristics of the population should include age, previous health status, disease characteristics (initial or delayed acute renal failure, oliguria, sepsis), and the severity of the illness as assessed by physiologic scoring systems recorded at the time of study inclusion.
Genetic signature for human risk assessment: Lessons from trichloroethylene

Trichloroethylene (TCE), an organic solvent commonly used for metal degreasing and as a chemical additive, is a significant environmental contaminant that poses health concerns in humans. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is currently revising the 2001 TCE human risk assessment draft. The next draft is expected to be ready in 2008. TCE metabolites are detectable in humans and carry varying potencies for induction of cancers in animals. Genomic mechanisms have been explored in animals and humans to link TCE to carcinogenesis. DNA analysis provides an opportunity for detection of unique genetic alterations representing a signature of TCE exposure. These alterations can arise from genotoxic and nongenotoxic pathways at multiple points throughout tumorigenesis. Although fixation of alterations may require several stages of selection and modification, the spectra can be specific to TCE. Only a fraction of these alterations eventually lead to tumor formation and some contribute to tumor progression. Genetic events in two major TCE target organs are reviewed, including the VHL gene in kidney, and the Ras gene and genome‐wide hypomethylation in liver. Attempts to identify a genetic signature of TCE exposure are challenged by inconsistent findings, lack of evidence of promutagenic lesions, biological relevance of specific genomic changes, and likelihood of coexposures. For human risk assessment, genome‐wide screening is useful and is possible with the development of new DNA‐sequencing technologies. Genetic screening for preneoplastic and tumor tissues from high‐risk population is proposed to exclude the noise of passenger mutations and genetic polymorphisms. Environ. Mol. Mutagen. , 2009. Published 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Nonsingular fast terminal sliding mode control approach to front wheel subsystem of steer-by-wire system

The steer-by-wire (SbW) system, in which the conventional mechanical linkage between the steering wheel and the front wheel is removed, is capable of acting as an actuator for the active front steering system enhancing vehicle handling performance and safety. Several control strategies have been utilized to control the front wheel subsystem, which is the main part of the SbW system, and the steering response of SbW in the presence of system uncertainties and external disturbance has been improved; however, improvement of the controller transient response is not considered in most of these control strategies. In this paper a nonsingular fast terminal sliding mode (NFTSM) control method for the front wheel subsystem is first established. The NFTSM technique aims to provide a fast transient response for the front wheel tracking controller in the existence of system uncertainties and disturbance including the tire self-aligning torque, Coulomb friction torque and variation of road condition. Simulation results confirm that the proposed nonsingular fast terminal sliding mode controller not only has strong robustness against uncertainties but also improves the transient response of the tracking controller.
Adverse postoperative outcomes in surgical patients with immune thrombocytopenia

Patients with immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) are likely to have various medical co‐morbidities, yet their global features regarding adverse postoperative outcomes and use of medical resources when undergoing major surgery are unknown. The objective of this study was to validate whether ITP is an independent risk factor for adverse postoperative outcomes, and to explore the potential clinical predictors of outcomes after major surgery among patients with ITP.
ON CHROMOSOME BALANCE AS A FACTOR IN DURATION OF LIFE

This paper presents a study of the influence of chromosome balance on duration of life in Drosophila. The balanced type of cells are shown to favor a longer life than are the unbalanced type. Under the identical conditions of the experiment, the type females live an average of 33.1±. 6 days; the type males 28.9±. 8 days; the triploid females 33.1±. 8 days and the sex-intergrade females 15.0±. 3 days. The unbalance of the chromosomes and therefore of the genes contained within them is evidently a fundamental factor in the probable life span of the individual. The magnitude of the effect is fully on a par with that found for other factors, i.e., different Mendelian genes for constitutional vigor, etc. It has been possible to show by a study of the various sex classifications within the sex-intergrade class that the presence or absence of ovarian or testicular tissue as such is not the primary cause of the difference in the life duration in the type males and females but that the cause is to be found deeper, sex determination and duration of life accompanying each other and resulting from the common cause, chromosome constitution. The survival curve of the sex-intergrade groups present a limiting curve of duration of life, a constant death rate for each day of age. The curves have different rates of degeneration. To account for this fact it is necessary to assume that for these particular organisms a different organ in the two groups has assumed major significance to life due to the gene complex which causes their differentiation. Recurrent chance environmental and hereditary agents acting on organs generate the type of probability curve observed. Triploid flies are made up of cells which are one-third larger than the cells of the type flies. It is not without significance to note that such individuals show no greater or less duration of life than do the ordinary flies when both groups have their chromosomes in balance.
Age‐dependent decline of β‐cell function in type 1 diabetes after diagnosis: a multi‐centre longitudinal study

C‐peptide secretion is currently the only available clinical biomarker to measure residual β‐cell function in type 1 diabetes. However, the natural history of C‐peptide decline after diagnosis can vary considerably dependent upon several variables. We investigated the shape of C‐peptide decline over time from type 1 diabetes onset in relation to age at diagnosis, haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) levels and insulin dose.
Inhibition of Giardia lamblia excystation by antibodies against cyst walls and by wheat germ agglutinin

Although excystation is crucial to the initiation of infection by Giardia lamblia, little is known about the regulation of this important process. We have been able to reliably induce excystation in vitro by mimicking cyst passage through the stomach and upper small intestine by the exposure of in vitro-derived cysts to an acidic, reducing environment (stage I) followed by protease treatment at a slightly alkaline pH (stage II). Preexposure of cysts to polyclonal rabbit antiserum against purified cyst walls (PCWs) or to wheat germ agglutinin (WGA) inhibited excystation by > 90%. Adsorption of either ligand with PCWs eliminated inhibition, demonstrating specificity for cyst wall epitopes. Inhibition by WGA was reversed by either chitotriose or sialic acid, while inhibition by polyclonal antibodies against PCWs (anti-PCW) was reversed only by sialic acid, which also inhibited binding of both ligands to intact cysts and to cyst wall antigens in immunoblots. Binding of anti-PCW did not affect acidification of cyst cytoplasm during stage I. Exposure of cysts to anti-PCW and WGA prior to, but not after, stage II was sufficient to inhibit excystation, and inhibition could be partially reversed by increasing the protease concentration during stage II. A 7- to 10-fold higher proportion of WGA- and anti-PCW-treated cysts than control cysts remained intact after stage II. Our results suggest that these ligands, which bind cyst wall epitopes, inhibit excystation, most likely by interfering with proteolysis of cyst wall glycoproteins during stage II.
Seroprevalence of Asymptomatic Dengue Virus Infection and Its Antibodies Among Healthy/Eligible Saudi Blood Donors: Findings From Holy Makkah City

Background: Threat to blood transfusion–transmitted dengue virus (DENV) and its antibodies has recently emerged worldwide. Dengue fever is an endemic disease in Saudi Arabia, particularly in its Western region. The aim of this study was to estimate the seroprevalence of asymptomatic DENV infection and its antibodies among eligible Saudi blood donors. Methods: Serum samples from 910 healthy/eligible adult male Saudi blood donors, who reside in Holy Makkah City of Saudi Arabia, were collected between March 2015 and August 2016 and screened for the detection of DENV nonstructural protein 1 (NS1) antigen and anti-DENV IgM and IgG antibodies using commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kits (Panbio, Brisbane, QLD, Australia). Results: Among the tested donors, 48 (5.3%) were seropositive for DENV-NS1 antigen, whereas 50 (5.5%) and 354 (38.9%) were seropositive for anti-DENV IgM and IgG antibodies, respectively. Seropositivity for DENV-NS1 antigen and/or anti-DENV IgM antibody among the tested donors reflects their ongoing asymptomatic viremic infectious stage with DENV during their donation time, whereas high prevalence of anti-DENV IgG seropositivity reflects the high endemicity of dengue disease in this region of Saudi Arabia. Conclusions: These results show high prevalence of asymptomatic DENV infection and its antibodies among Saudi blood donors, raising the importance of establishing blood screening for dengue disease at different blood donation services and units in Saudi Arabia to improve the guarantee of blood transfusions and to control DENV dissemination.
Familiarity, Cued and Free Odor Identification and Their Association with Cognitive Functioning in Middle Aged and Older Adults

ABSTRACT The aim of the present study was to examine the association between familiarity of odors, cued and free odor identification performance and cognitive function in elderly adults. It was further investigated how age affects performance on the various odor tasks. A third aim was to investigate the role of familiarity in explaining performance on the free identification task. One hundred and thirty-six participants (aged 45–79 years) with normal olfactory sensitivity were assessed with the Scandinavian Odor Identification Test (SOIT) and standardized tests of cognitive function. Familiarity did not correlate with any measure of cognitive function, while verbal identification performance was associated with several cognitive measures, although correlations were modest. In this sample, free odor identification was affected by increasing age to a marginally larger extent than cued identification performance and familiarity ratings. The results suggest that the different olfactory tasks involve different levels of cognitive processing.
Addressing healthcare inequities in Israel by eliminating prescription drug copayments.

OBJECTIVES To determine whether subsidizing prescription drug copayments for patients with chronic illness and low socioeconomic status would increase their use of prescription drugs and improve their health. STUDY DESIGN Prospective cohort study. METHODS Enrolled were 355 patients with low socioeconomic status, as defined by the Israel National Insurance Institute, who were not regularly purchasing prescribed medications. Included were patients (mean age, 64.6 years) with diabetes mellitus, hypertension, or hypercholesterolemia, as these chronic illnesses have easily measurable surrogate end points. Patients were followed up for 24 months. Serum glycated hemoglobin level, blood pressure, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol concentration were measured. Patients paid their copayments using a "credit card" covered by a donation. RESULTS Two years after initiation of the subsidized copayment program, the mean (SD) values were significantly below those at the outset of the program for blood pressure (136.2 [16.7]/78.0 [8.7] vs 128.2 [13.3]/74.8 [8.1] mm Hg) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol concentration (116.2 [38.0] vs 105.3 [38.0] mg/dL) (P <.001 for both). The mean glycated hemoglobin level showed no improvement in the first year, but a significant increase was noted by the second year of the program. CONCLUSIONS When copayments for prescription drugs were eliminated, low-income patients demonstrated increased compliance with obtaining medications, better response to treatment, and improved blood pressure and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol concentrations. Glycemic control did not improve.
Hot spot removal in power electronics by means of direct liquid jet cooling

This study examines the potential performance of submerged single phase direct impinging jet cooling and compares this cooling concept to a state of the art pin fin cooling systems. Submerged single impinging jets and arrays of impinging jets are characterized by high heat transfer coefficients. Especially in the stagnation region, in which the jet provides fresh cooling liquid to the surface, high heat removal rates occur. Thus, impinging jet arrays are a promising approach for hot spot removal as well as for thermal uniformity in large areas. In the present cooling concept, micro jets of approximately 1 mm diameter directly impinge onto the backside of a IGBT-semiconductor. In contrast to pin fin cooling, direct jet impingement cooling dispenses with the need for any kind of thermal interface materials (TIM) or heat spreader, and thus, minimizes the thermal resistance of the heat sink. A further advantage of submerged direct impinging jet cooling is hot spot removal. Once the exact location of heat generation is determined a small impinging jet can be directed at these hot spots. For this, local heat generation of the IGBT-semiconductor is first investigated by measuring the surface temperature on the top and bottom side by IR-thermometry. To observe the local heat generation the IGBT is operated for a very short time without any heat sink. This information is used in the development and design of the cooling chamber and the jet positioning. Finally, the cooling system is analyzed and compared to other common cooling systems. Both liquid cooling concepts are experimentally investigated with respect to heat transfer, pressure drop, and pumping power. A comparison and evaluation is provided with a special focus on applications in the automotive and electro-mobility sector.
PARASITE TRANSMISSION MODES AND THE EVOLUTION OF VIRULENCE

Abstract A mathematical model is presented that explores the relationship between transmission patterns and the evolution of virulence for horizontally transmitted parasites when only a single parasite strain can infect each host. The model is constructed by decomposing parasite transmission into two processes, the rate of contact between hosts and the probability of transmission per contact. These transmission rate components, as well as the total parasite mortality rate, are allowed to vary over the course of an infection. A general evolutionarily stable condition is presented that partitions the effects of virulence on parasite fitness into three components: fecundity benefits, mortality costs, and morbidity costs. This extension of previous theory allows us to explore the evolutionary consequences of a variety of transmission patterns. I then focus attention on a special case in which the parasite density remains approximately constant during an infection, and I demonstrate two important ways in which transmission modes can affect virulence evolution: by imposing different morbidity costs on the parasite and by altering the scheduling of parasite reproduction during an infection. Both are illustrated with examples, including one that examines the hypothesis that vector-borne parasites should be more virulent than non-vector-borne parasites (Ewald 1994). The validity of this hypothesis depends upon the way in which these two effects interact, and it need not hold in general. Corresponding Editor: P. Jarne