Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Antimicrobial agents in the prevention of travelers' diarrhea.

Each of 433 adults traveling to Guadalajara, Mexico, from the United States during summer months was enrolled in one of four clinical trials of the protective effect of antimicrobial agents against travelers' diarrhea. Only one (2%) of 57 subjects taking trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (160 mg/800 mg daily) experienced diarrhea during a two-week study, whereas eight (14%) of 58 subjects taking trimethoprim alone (200 mg daily) and 10 (33%) of 30 taking placebo developed illness (P less than .05 and P less than .0001, respectively). Diarrhea occurred significantly less frequently among subjects receiving trimethoprim than among placebo recipients (P less than .05). None of 11 students given bicozamycin (500 mg four times daily) developed diarrhea during a three-week study, whereas 10 (53%) of 19 placebo recipients became ill (P = .003). Four (7%) of 54 subjects receiving norfloxacin (400 mg daily) experienced diarrhea during a two-week study; in contrast, 34 (60%) of 57 placebo recipients developed diarrhea (P less than .0001). The various antimicrobial agents prevented illness due to enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli and Shigella as well as that unassociated with a pathogen. The drugs were well tolerated. Current evidence suggests that trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole is the optimal antimicrobial agent available for prophylaxis of travelers' diarrhea.
Concepção e implementação de um sistema para analise cinematica de movimentos humanos

Esta pesquisa consiste da concepcao e implementacao de um sistema para analise cinematica de movimentos humanos, baseado em registros de video. O conceito orientador do sistema e apresentado. Problemas inerentes a analise cinematica tridimensional de movimentos sao equacionados e solucoes propostas. As solucoes implementadas sao testadas e exemplos de aplicacao do sistema sao mostrados. As caracteristicas principais do sistema proposto sao a independencia em relacao a equipamentos dedicados, a possibilidade de utilizar marcadores passivos e ativos sob condicoes experimentais diversas, a confiabilidade dos resultados, a simplicidade de operacao e o baixo custo. Duas câmeras ou mais registram o movimento de interesse. As sequencias de imagens sao digitalizadas e armazenadas no disco rigido do computador. Essas imagens sao medidas e analisadas no software dedicado ao sistema, onde algoritmos de medicao manual e automatica estao disponiveis. No software estao implementadas ferramentas para busca automatica de marcas, reconhecimento de padroes e processamento de imagens. A fim de permitir a analise tridimensional de movimentos, procedimentos foram implementados para calibracao de câmeras, reconstrucao de coordenadas, sincronizacao de registros para câmeras nao sincronizaveis por hardware e avaliacao da qualidade das aquisicoes Abstract
Spatial Prediction of Soil Organic Matter Using a Hybrid Geostatistical Model of an Extreme Learning Machine and Ordinary Kriging

An accurate estimation of soil organic matter (SOM) content for spatial non-point prediction is an important driving force for the agricultural carbon cycle and sustainable productivity. This study proposed a hybrid geostatistical method of extreme learning machine-ordinary kriging (ELMOK), to predict the spatial variability of the SOM content. To assess the feasibility of ELMOK, a case study was conducted in a regional scale study area in Shaanxi Province, China. A total of 472 topsoil (0–20 cm) samples were collected. A total of 14 auxiliary variables (predictors) were obtained from remote sensing data and environmental factors. The proposed method was compared with the ability of traditional geostatistical methods such as simple kriging (SK) and ordinary kriging (OK), in addition to hybrid geostatistical methods such as regression-ordinary kriging (ROK) and artificial neural network-ordinary kriging (ANNOK). The results showed that the extreme learning machines (ELM) model used principal components (PCs) as input variables, and performed better than both multiple linear regression (MLR) and artificial neural network (ANN) models. Compared with geostatistical and hybrid geostatistical prediction methods of SOM spatial distribution, the ELMOK model had the highest coefficient of determination (R2 = 0.671) and ratio of performance to deviation (RPD = 2.05), as well as the lowest root mean square error (RMSE = 1.402 g kg−1). In conclusion, the application of remote sensing imagery and environmental factors has a deeper driven significance of a non-linear and multi-dimensional hierarchy relationship for explaining the spatial variability of SOM, tracing local carbon sink and high quality SOM maps. More importantly, it is possibly concluded that the sustainable monitoring of SOM is a significant process through the pixel-based revisit sampling, an analysis of the mapping results of SOM, and methodological integration, which is the primary step in spatial variations and time series. The proposed ELMOK methodology is a promising and effective approach which can play a vital role in predicting the spatial variability of SOM at a regional scale.
Cytokines in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid of patients with nocturnal asthma.

Airflow obstruction can have a circadian pattern with nocturnal worsening. Airway inflammation is a cardinal feature of asthma, and it has been shown to increase at night in association with the decline in pulmonary function. Although the mechanisms regulating enhanced airway inflammation in asthma at night have yet to be ascertained, we hypothesized that circadian variation in cytokine expression or production is an important factor in the development of nocturnal airflow limitation. To investigate this possibility, spirometry and bronchoscopy were performed; the bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid obtained at 4:00 A.M. and at 4:00 P.M. were measured for IL-1 beta in asthmatics with (n = 5) and without (n = 9) nocturnal asthma. In addition, the activity of IL-3, IL-5, and GM-CSF was measured using a biologic assay (eosinophil survival-enhancing activity). BAL fluid concentrations of IL-1 beta were significantly greater at 4:00 A.M. than at 4:00 P.M. (1.14 +/- 0.6 versus 0.7 +/- 0.6 pg/ml; p = 0.05) in asthmatics with nocturnal airflow obstruction. Moreover, IL-1 beta levels at 4:00 A.M. tended to be higher in subjects with nocturnal asthma than in those without nighttime airflow reduction (1.14 +/- 0.6 versus 0.3 +/- 0.4 pg/ml; p = 0.1). On the other hand, eosinophil survival-enhancing activity in BAL fluid, which is usually associated with IL-3, IL-5, or GM-CSF, was not detected in relationship to nocturnal asthma. Because IL-1 beta can activate air-space cells, particularly alveolar macrophages, we propose that an increased release of this cytokine is a significant contributor to nocturnal airway inflammation and obstruction in asthma.
Tacrolimus versus mycophenolate mofetil for induction therapy of lupus nephritis: a randomised controlled trial and long-term follow-up

Objective To compare the efficacy of tacrolimus (TAC) and mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) for the initial therapy of lupus nephritis (LN). Study design This is an open randomised controlled parallel group study. Methods Adult patients with biopsy-confirmed active LN (class III/IV/V) were randomised to receive prednisolone (0.6 mg/kg/day for 6 weeks and tapered) in combination with either TAC (0.06–0.1 mg/kg/day) or MMF (2–3 g/day) for 6 months. Good responders were shifted to azathioprine for maintenance. The primary outcome was the rate of complete renal response (CR) at 6 months and the secondary outcomes included partial renal response, renal flares and decline of renal function over time. Results 150 patients (92% women; aged 35.5±12.8 years; 81% class III/IV) were randomised (76 MMF, 74 TAC). At month 6, the rate of CR was 59% in the MMF and 62% in the TAC group (treatment difference: 3.0% (−12%, 18%); p=0.71). Major infective episodes occurred in 9.2% patients treated with MMF and in 5.4% patients treated with TAC (p=0.53). Maintenance therapy with azathioprine was given to 79% patients. After 60.8±26 months, proteinuric and nephritic renal flares developed in 24% and 18% of patients in the MMF group and 35% (p=0.12) and 27% (p=0.21) in the TAC group, respectively. The cumulative incidence of a composite outcome of decline of creatinine clearance by ≥30%, development of chronic kidney disease stage 4/5 or death was 21% in the MMF and 22% in the TAC group of patients (p=0.35). Conclusions TAC is non-inferior to MMF, when combined with prednisolone, for induction therapy of active LN. With azathioprine maintenance for 5 years, a non-significant trend of higher incidence of renal flares and renal function decline is observed with the TAC regimen. Trial registration number Hospital Authority Research Ethics Committee Clinical Trial Registry (HARECCTR0500018; Hong Kong) and US ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT00371319).
A Novel Proteomics Approach to Identify SUMOylated Proteins and Their Modification Sites in Human Cells*

The small ubiquitin-related modifier (SUMO) is a small group of proteins that are reversibly attached to protein substrates to modify their functions. The large scale identification of protein SUMOylation and their modification sites in mammalian cells represents a significant challenge because of the relatively small number of in vivo substrates and the dynamic nature of this modification. We report here a novel proteomics approach to selectively enrich and identify SUMO conjugates from human cells. We stably expressed different SUMO paralogs in HEK293 cells, each containing a His6 tag and a strategically located tryptic cleavage site at the C terminus to facilitate the recovery and identification of SUMOylated peptides by affinity enrichment and mass spectrometry. Tryptic peptides with short SUMO remnants offer significant advantages in large scale SUMOylome experiments including the generation of paralog-specific fragment ions following CID and ETD activation, and the identification of modified peptides using conventional database search engines such as Mascot. We identified 205 unique protein substrates together with 17 precise SUMOylation sites present in 12 SUMO protein conjugates including three new sites (Lys-380, Lys-400, and Lys-497) on the protein promyelocytic leukemia. Label-free quantitative proteomics analyses on purified nuclear extracts from untreated and arsenic trioxide-treated cells revealed that all identified SUMOylated sites of promyelocytic leukemia were differentially SUMOylated upon stimulation.
Vitamin D: increasing supplement use among at-risk groups (NICE guideline PH56)

Vitamin D deficiency is a significant public health problem. There is a resurgence of rickets1 and osteomalacia and the association between vitamin D status and many other diseases remains under close scrutiny.2 Recent surveys have suggested that over 1 billion people worldwide are vitamin D deficient3 and 50% of white adults and >90% of South Asians in the UK have insufficient vitamin D levels.4 Young people and those with darker skin or limited sunlight exposure are particularly at risk and it is unlikely that high-risk groups can meet their vitamin D requirements through diet alone. Testing for vitamin D deficiency has escalated in recent years, with significant cost implications for the NHS.5 In November 2014, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published a guideline entitled Vitamin D: Increasing supplement use among at-risk groups (PH56 ). 6 The aim of this guideline is to increase vitamin D supplement use to prevent vitamin D deficiency. The guideline focuses on the following at-risk groups: The Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) is currently reviewing guidelines for recommended daily intakes of vitamin D and it is advised that people should follow the NICE guidelines in conjunction with future advice published by SACN. NICE guideline PH56 replaces recommendation 3 in NICE guideline PH11 , entitled Maternal and Child Nutrition . Recommendation 1.3. 2.4 in …
Circadian‐system alterations during cancer processes: A review

Murine and human data have indicated that tumors and tumor‐bearing hosts may exhibit nearly normal or markedly altered circadian rhythms. Amplitude damping, phase shifts, and/or period (τ) change, including appearance of ultradian rhythms (with τ < 20 hr) usually become more prominent at late stages of cancer development. The extent of rhythm alterations also varies according to tumor type, growth rate and level of differentiation. While “group chronotherapy,” i.e., administration of the same chronomodulated schedule to cancer patients, has increased chemotherapy efficacy and/or tolerability, cancer patients' individual circadian rhythms now need to be explored on a large scale, in order to estimate the incidence of cancer‐associated circadian‐system alterations and to understand the underlying mechanisms. Correlations between such alterations and patient outcome must be established in order to specify the need for individualized chronomodulated delivery schedules and/or specific rhythm‐oriented therapy, especially in patients with circadian‐system disturbance. Int. J. Cancer, 70:241–247, 1997. © 1997 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
The apolipoprotein E e4 polymorphism is strongly associated with poor mobility performance test results but not self-reported limitation in older people.

BACKGROUND The apolipoprotein E (ApoE) e4 polymorphism is linked to increased mortality rates, Alzheimer's disease, and cardiovascular disease in older people, but previous studies have largely failed to detect an effect on self-reported mobility disability. We hypothesized that poor performance on mobility-related tests may provide a better measure of effects, and we aimed to estimate the extent to which the ApoE e4 allele increases risks of poor performance on measured mobility and self-reported mobility disability compared to e3/3, in a medium-sized population cohort. METHODS Data were from 1262 people at baseline older than 65 years from the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam (LASA), followed up for 6 years. Age- and sex-adjusted logistic regression models were used to explore associations. RESULTS At baseline, those individuals with an e4 allele had an odds ratio of 2.26 (95% confidence interval, 1.31-3.90) for poor performance on gait speed testing (<0.4 m/s) and 1.94 (95% confidence interval, 1.19-3.16) for five chair stands (> or =20 s), compared to those with e3/3 status. At follow-up, associations between e4 status and incident poor performance on the chair stand test was significant. Associations with self-reported inability or need for help walking for 5 minutes or for climbing 15 steps were nonsignificant throughout. CONCLUSIONS The ApoE e4 polymorphism is associated with a substantial excess of mobility limitation. The impact is detectable by performance testing, but not by self-reports. Poor results on mobility performance tests may provide a phenotype of ageing.
An Empirical Study of Problematic Internet Use and Self-Esteem

Previous research has alluded to the existence of a relationship between self-esteem and problematic Internet use. The main aim of the study was to examine the relationship between problematic Internet use and a number of distinct demographic, behavioural, and psychosocial variables. Using an online survey, a self-selected sample comprising 1,467 Internet users participated in the study. The survey comprised 50 questions including validated scales for both self-esteem (Rosenberg's Self-Esteem Scale) and problematic Internet use (Internet Related Problem Scale; IPRS) in addition to demographic information. Based on previous literature, it was hypothesized that problematic Internet users were more likely than non-problematic Internet users to post low self-esteem scores. Results showed that self-esteem was strongly and negatively associated with IRPS. Also, for those with high IRPS scores, participation in online forums was the primary online activity followed by online gaming and chatting. Although the study comprised a self-selecting sample and utilized self-report, the results appear to provide robust evidence of an association between self-esteem and problematic Internet use mirroring prior research in the area.
A Review on Broker Based Cloud Service Model

Cloud computing emerged as a utility oriented computing that facilitates resource sharing under pay-as-you-go model. Nowadays, cloud offerings are not limited to range of services and anything can be shared as a service through the internet. In this work, a detailed literature survey with respect to cloud service discovery and composition has been accounted. A proposed architecture with the inclusion of cloud broker is presented in our work. It focuses the importance of suitable service selection and its ranking towards fulfilling the customer’s service requirements. The proposed cloud broker advocates techniques such as reasoning and decision making capabilities for the improved cloud service selection and composition.
Revealing the causative variant in Mendelian patient genomes without revealing patient genomes

Given the rapidly growing utility of critical health information revealed in the human genome, secure genomic computation is essential to moving forward, especially as genome sequencing becomes commonplace. We devise and implement proof-of-principle computational operations for precisely identifying causal variants in Mendelian patients using secure multiparty computation methods based on Yao’s protocol. We show multiple real scenarios (small patient cohorts, trio analysis, two hospital collaboration) where the causal variant is discovered jointly, while keeping up to 99.7% of all participants’ most sensitive genomic information private. All similar operations performed today to diagnose such cases are done openly, keeping 0% of participants’ genomic information private. Our work will help usher in an era where genomes can be both utilized and truly protected.
Transcription Factors and DNA Repair Enzymes Compete for Damaged Promoter Sites*

Transcriptional regulation is a tightly regulated, vital process. The transcription factor cyclic AMP-response element-binding protein 1 (CREB1) controls ∼25% of the mammalian transcriptome by binding the CREB1 binding site consensus sequence (CRE) sequence (TGACGTCA). DNA lesions within CRE modulate CREB1 binding negatively and positively. Because appropriate DNA lesions also interact with base excision repair proteins, we investigated whether CREB1 and repair glycosylases compete with each other. We incubated 39-mer CRE-containing double-stranded oligonucleotides with recombinant CREB1 alone or with UNG2 or OGG1, followed by EMSA. The CpG islet within CRE was modified to contain a G/U or 8-oxoG (°G)/C mispair. OGG1 and CREB1 reversibly competed for CRE containing an °G/C pair. Also, OGG1 blocked CREB1 from dimerizing by 69%, even when total CREB1 binding was reduced only by 20–30%. In contrast, bound CREB1 completely prevented access to G/U-containing CRE by UNG2 and, therefore, to base excision repair, whereas UNG2 exposure prevented CREB1 binding. CREB1 dimerization was unaffected by UNG2 when CREB1 bound to CRE, but was greatly reduced by prior UNG2 exposure. To explore physiological relevance, we microinjected zebrafish embryos with the same oligonucleotides, as a sink for endogenous CREB1. As predicted, microinjection with unmodified or lesion-containing CRE, but not scrambled CRE or scrambled CRE with a G/U mispair, resulted in increased embryo death. However, only the G/U mispair in native CRE resulted in substantial developmental abnormalities, thus confirming the danger of unrepaired G/U mispairs in promoters. In summary, CREB1 and DNA glycosylases compete for damaged CRE in vitro and in vivo, thus blocking DNA repair and resulting in transcriptional misregulation leading to abnormal development.
INFLACIÓN Y CRECIMIENTO ECONÓMICO EN COLOMBIA

Cual es la relacion entre la inflacion y el crecimiento economico? Estudios recientes de Kormendi y Megure (1985), Fiscner (1991-1993), Cozier y Selody (1992) y De Gregono (1993) han encontrado una relacion negativa entre estas dos variables usando modelos de corte transversal para un grupo especifico de paises. Levine y Zervos (1993) sostienen que este tipo de resultados no son econometricamente robustos y que solo inflaciones altas o la aceleracion de la inflacion en paises de inflacion moderada tienen efectos negativos sobre el crecimiento economico colombiano usando modelos de series de tiempos para el periodo 1952-1992. Los ejercicios econometricos indican * que niveles de inflacion entre el 15% y 30% han tenido efectos negativos sobre el crecimiento economico colombiano a traves de la reduccion en el crecimiento de la productividad total de los factores y que los costos de mantener niveles de inflacion de dos digitos, en terminos de crecimiento economico, estan creciendo con el tiempo. Estos resultados sugieren que aun en paises de inflacion moderada (15%-30%) y relativamente estable los beneficios economicos de reducir la inflacion pueden ser significativos. _______________ * Por supuesto, existe tambien una literatura interesante que sostiene la existencia de una relacion positiva entre inflacion y actividad economica. Keines (1936), por ejemplo, supuso que un incremento en el nivel general de precios produce un aumento en el empleo debido a la poca flexibilidad de los salarios reales. Mundell (1963) y Tobin (1965) presentaron trabajos en que un incremento en tasa de inflacion provoca un desplazamiento de la demanda de dinero y otros activos financieros, estimulando asi la demanda agregada y el producto. Phillips (1956) encontro que el crecimiento de los salarios nominales y la tasa de desempleo estaban correlacionados negativamente. Lo cual sirvio de base para que algunos economistas sostuvieran que si una sociedad soporta un poco mas de inflacion podria obtener menores tasas de desempleo, o lo que es lo mismo, mayor nivel de actividad economica. Todas estas ideas han venido cambiando desde la "hipotesis aceleracionista" de Pheips (1967) y Fnedman (1968), y en toda la literatura tecnica de los ultimos 20 anos se enfatiza los efectos negativos de la inflacion sobre el crecimiento economico.
In situ hybridization detection of homeobox genes reveals distinct expression patterns in oral squamous cell carcinomas

Libório T N, Acquafreda T, Matizonkas‐Antonio L F, Silva‐Valenzuela M G, Ferraz A R & Nunes F D (2011) Histopathology 58, 225–233 In situ hybridization detection of homeobox genes reveals distinct expression patterns in oral squamous cell carcinomas
Forming an artificial pheromone potential field using mobile robot and RFID tags

In the biological world, social insects such as ants and bees use a volatile substance called pheromone for their foraging or homing tasks. This study deals with how to utilize the concept of the chemical pheromone as an artificial potential field for robotic purposes. This paper first models a pheromone-based potential field, which is constructed through the interaction between mobile robot and RFID tags. The emphasis in the modeling of the system is on the possibility of the practical implementable ideas. The stability analysis of the pheromone potential field is carried out with the aim of implementing the model on a real robotic system. The comprehensive analysis on stability provides the criteria for how the parameters are to be set for the proper potential field, and has also led to a new filter design scheme called pheromone filter. The designed filter satisfies both the stability and accuracy of the field, and facilitates a more straightforward and practical implementation for building and shaping the potential field. The effectiveness of the proposed algorithm is validated through both computer simulation and real experiment.