Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Interleukin-1β Decreases Expression of the Epithelial Sodium Channel α-Subunit in Alveolar Epithelial Cells via a p38 MAPK-dependent Signaling Pathway*

Acute lung injury (ALI) is a devastating syndrome characterized by diffuse alveolar damage, elevated airspace levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines, and flooding of the alveolar spaces with protein-rich edema fluid. Interleukin-1β (IL-1β) is one of the most biologically active cytokines in the distal airspaces of patients with ALI. IL-1β has been shown to increase lung epithelial and endothelial permeability. In this study, we hypothesized that IL-1β would decrease vectorial ion and water transport across the distal lung epithelium. Therefore, we measured the effects of IL-1β on transepithelial current, resistance, and sodium transport in primary cultures of alveolar epithelial type II (ATII) cells. IL-1β significantly reduced the amiloride-sensitive fraction of the transepithelial current and sodium transport across rat ATII cell monolayers. Moreover, IL-1β decreased basal and dexamethasone-induced epithelial sodium channel α-subunit (αENaC) mRNA levels and total and cell-surface protein expression. The inhibitory effect of IL-1β on αENaC expression was mediated by the activation of p38 MAPK in both rat and human ATII cells and was independent of the activation of αvβ6 integrin and transforming growth factor-β. These results indicate that IL-1β may contribute to alveolar edema in ALI by reducing distal lung epithelial sodium absorption. This reduction in ion and water transport across the lung epithelium is in large part due to a decrease in αENaC expression through p38 MAPK-dependent inhibition of αENaC promoter activity and to an alteration in ENaC trafficking to the apical membrane of ATII cells.
Psychometric evaluation of the post-discharge surgical recovery scale.

UNLABELLED RATIONALE, AIM AND OBJECTIVES: Day surgery patients are discharged after a short period of postoperative surveillance, and reliable and valid instruments for assessment at home are needed. The aim of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of a Swedish version of the post-discharge surgical recovery (PSR) scale, an instrument to monitor the patient's recovery after day surgery, in terms of data quality, internal consistency, dimensionality and responsiveness. METHODS Data were collected on postoperative days 1 and 14 and included 525 patients. Data quality and internal consistency were evaluated using descriptive statistics, correlation analyses and Cronbach's alpha. The dimensionality of the scale was determined through an exploratory factor analysis. Responsiveness was evaluated using the standardized response mean and the area under the receiver operating characteristics curve (AUC). The correlation between change score in PSR and change score in self-rated health was assessed using Pearson's correlation coefficient. Patients' ability to work and their self-rated health on postoperative day 14 were used as external indicators of change. RESULTS Six items showed floor or ceiling effects. Cronbach's coefficient alpha was 0.90 and the average inter-item correlation coefficient was 0.44 after the deletion of two items. The items were closely related to each other, and a one-factor solution was decided on. A robust ability to detect changes in recovery (standardized response mean = 1.14) was shown. The AUC for the entire scale was 0.60. When initial PSR scores were categorized into three intervals, the ability to detect improved and non-improved patients varied (AUC 0.58-0.81). There was a strong correlation between change scores in PSR and health (0.63). CONCLUSIONS The Swedish version of the PSR scale demonstrates acceptable psychometric properties of data quality, internal consistency, dimensionality and responsiveness. In addition to previous findings, these results strengthen the PSR scale as a potential instrument of recovery at home.
Living donor paired-kidney exchange transplantation: A single institution experience

Introduction: Paired-kidney exchange (PKE) is used in western countries to increase donor pool. In India, there are not many centers involved in PKE program. We present 10 years of this experience and outcome of the recipients. Materials and Methods: Between year 2000 and 2009, 34 transplants with PKE were performed. All donors were live related, and permission from Authorization committee(s) from one or more states was obtained prior to transplantation. Both donor and recipient surgeries were carried out simultaneously in all cases at a single institution. Last 10 donors were offered laparoscopic donor nephrectomy and all other previous donors were operated by open surgery. Results: Five donor–recipient pairs were from the state of Rajasthan, one from Madhya Pradesh, and all others from Gujarat. ABO incompatibility between donor and recipient was present in 12 pairs and positive lymphocyte cross-match in 5 pairs. Conclusion: Paired-kidney-exchange transplantation expands donor pool and total number of transplantation.
SUBJECTIVE COMPARISON OF THE USE OF CONTACT LENSES AND SPECTACLES FOR DRIVING*

ABSTRACT Consideration is given to the ways in which contact lens wear may affect driving ability. The results of a questionnaire show the subjective differences between contact lenses and spectacles used for driving. Suggestions are given of the ways in which practitioners may advise their patients to overcome some of the limitations of contact lenses for driving.
Collaborative filtering recommendation for MOOC application

With the fast development of MOOC in recent years, one MOOC platform has more than millions of learners and thousands of courses. Personality course recommendation is necessary to help people discover potentially interested courses by analyzing user behaviors. Collaborative Filtering (CF) has been shown to be effective on recommending items according to users in same interests on same items. In this paper, considering the effectiveness and efficiency of CF, we proposed a method called Multi‐Layer Bucketing Recommendation (MLBR) to recommend courses on MOOC. MLBR changes learner vectors into same length dimension and scatters them into buckets which contain similar learners with more courses in common. At the same time, MLBR reduces the time cost of online, offline and update computation in CF recommendation. Furthermore, we extend MLBR with map‐reduce technique to improve the efficiency. Extensive experiments on real‐world MOOC datasets demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed model. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Comput Appl Eng Educ 25:120–128, 2017; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/cae; DOI 10.1002/cae.21785
ISAR Imaging of Maneuvering Target Based on the Quadratic Frequency Modulated Signal Model With Time-Varying Amplitude

Inverse synthetic aperture radar (ISAR) imaging of maneuvering target plays an important role in the field of national defense and surveillance. In this case, the conventional range Doppler algorithm is unsuitable to generate a well-focused ISAR image due to the time-varying property of the Doppler frequency during the integrated imaging interval. Furthermore, the dihedral or trihedral components of the imaging target or the phenomena of migration through resolution cell for the target's complex motion will induce the time-varying performance of the amplitude for the received signal. In this paper, the received signal in a range bin is depicted as multicomponent quadratic frequency-modulated signal with time-varying amplitude, and the generalized cubic phase function is used to estimate the parameters of it. Associated with the range instantaneous Doppler technique, the images quality can be enhanced distinctly compared with the conventional constant amplitude signal model. Results of simulated and read data demonstrate the effectiveness of the novel algorithm proposed in this paper.
Long-term efficacy and immunogenicity of the human papillomavirus vaccine

Objective: Infection with various types of HPV has a causal relationship with the development of cervical cancer and other anogenital diseases. A prophylactic quadrivalent HPV vaccination has been produced. Here the pathophysiology of HPV infection and results of multiple HPV vaccine studies are discussed to determine efficacy and immunogenicity. Methods: The review includes articles found through PubMed and MEDLINE that focus on the infection with human papillomavirus, cervical cancer, and the HPV vaccine. Results: An HPV vaccine has effectively been produced that has proven to decrease the incidence of cervical cancer and other anogenital diseases. The vaccine has been approved for use in women between the ages of 9 and 26 years of age for prevention of anogenital pathology. Five year follow-up studies of the vaccine have shown long-term efficacy and the induction of an immune memory response. Conclusion: Studies to date have shown that the HPV vaccine is effective in reducing cervical cancer but it is still too early to know the full extent of vaccine efficacy. Future studies are necessary to continue monitoring the vaccine. In the meantime it is essential to maintain current cervical screening programs and promote patient education.
‘Collecting human samples was very hard owing to the fear of sorcery’

I was less than 10 years old when Dr Carleton Gajdusek came into the Purosa Valley to carry out his research on kuru disease. Michael Alpers came after him and I worked alongside them to patrol out into the villages that were affected by kuru. My job was mainly to accompany Carleton and assist in
Ambient tonicity and intestinal cytochrome CYP3A

Importance of the field: Recently-discovered tonicity-dependence of human CYP3A expression in vitro may be a novel mechanism of CYP3A regulation in the intestinal epithelia, which exists in a dynamic osmotic environment influenced by food intake. Areas covered in this review: A combination of focused and comprehensive literature searches to identify any relevant reports using Medline (from 1950 to 7 November 2009) through the OVID system. What the reader will gain: An update on current knowledge on osmotic environment in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract and its impact on intestinal CYP3A expression and function with special emphasis on the tonicity-sensitive transcription factor nuclear factor of activated T cells 5 (NFAT5). Take home message: In vitro hypertonicity of ambient osmotic environment in cultured human cells increases expression of CYP3A through transcriptional enhancement by osmosensitive NFAT5. Although post-prandial osmolality in the GI lumen in vivo is substantially increased, NFAT5 activation has not been reported. Similarly, high-salt diet increases intestinal CYP3A function in humans, but it is not known whether these changes are mediated directly by NFAT5.
Generation of Moire-Picture-Like Color Images by Bilateral Filter

SUMMARY We propose a non-photorealistic rendering method for generating moire-picture-like color images from color photographs. The proposed method is performed in two steps. First, images with a stair-casing e ﬀ ect are generated by a bilateral ﬁlter. Second, moire patterns are generated with an improved bilateral ﬁlter called an anti-bilateral ﬁlter. The characteristic of the anti-bilateral ﬁlter is to emphasize gradual boundaries.
Modeling Co-simulation: A First Experiment

Model-Based Systems Engineering plays a key role in managing the complexity in the development of modern cyber-physical systems. Model simulation allows conducting early validation and verification activities. In the context of Extended Enterprises, systems are built out of components developed in different companies as black boxes to protect the company Intellectual Property. Simulation activities thenrely on co-simulation that combines the black box simulation of each component to assess the quality of the whole system. Such activities are difficult to harness as the simulation results depend on black box co-simulation frameworks that coordinate the simulations of each component. Our work targets the modeling of these simulations including the co-simulation framework in order to: a) make explicit all the simulationchoices and have a better understanding of the simulation results and b) benefit from model-driven engineering facilities including automatic code generation. This contribution describes an early experiment based on the classical bouncingball game example.
Ocular lens gap junctions: Protein expression, assembly, and structure‐function analysis

Recent advances in understanding lens fiber gap junction formation are reviewed. These include studies of junctional protein expression in the embryonic lens, and of age related changes affecting gap junction structure and composition in the adult lens. An in vitro assembly system based on detergent solubilized pore complexes and endogenous lipids has been developed to provide information on the molecular interactions involved in gap junction formation and to provide material for structure analysis. Important information on the electrical properties of lens gap junction channels is obtained using electrophysiological techniques including planar lipid bilayer analysis and patch clamping. © 1995 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
The validation of the Finnish Hospital Discharge Register and Causes of Death Register data on stroke diagnoses

Background and purpose Administrative registers, like hospital discharge registers and causes of death registers are used for the monitoring of disease incidences and in the follow-up studies. Obtaining reliable results requires that the diagnoses in these registers are correct and the coverage of the registers is high. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the validity of the Finnish hospital discharge registers and causes of death registers stroke diagnoses against the population-based FINSTROKE register. Methods All first stroke events from the hospital discharge registers and causes of death registers from the areas covered by the FINSTROKE register were obtained for years 1993-1998 and linked to the FINSTROKE register. The sensitivity and positive predictive values were calculated. Results A total of 3633 stroke events, 767 fatal and 2866 non-fatal strokes, were included in the registers. The sensitivity for all first stroke events was 85%, for fatal strokes 86% and for non-fatal strokes 85%. The positive predictive values for all first strokes was 86%, for fatal strokes 92% and for non-fatal strokes 85%. The sensitivity as well as the positive predictive values for subarachnoid haemorrhage and intracerebral haemorrhage was higher than for cerebral infarctions. There were no marked differences in the sensitivity or positive predictive values between men and women. Conclusions The sensitivity and the positive predictive values of the Finnish hospital discharge registers and causes of death registers are fairly good. Finnish administrative registers can be used for the monitoring of stroke incidence, but the number of cerebral infarctions should be interpreted with caution.
The Tilt-Quadrotor: Concept, Modeling and Identification

A tilt-quadrotor is a fusion of the quad rotor and tiltrotor concepts. A tilt-quadrotor is able to move itself in all six degrees of freedom while maintaining its central core leveled, result of adding two tilting motions to two opposed rotors while the other two rotors remain fixed. Condensing the main information required to build a simulator, this paper presents the tilt-quadrotor original concept, its implementation in the ALIV3 prototype, and its modeling. The procedures and results of a thorough experimental identification of the structural, actuators and sensors parameters are also provided.
Gun Laws and Crime: An Empirical Assessment

This paper deals with the effect of gun laws on crime. Several empirical analyses are carried to investigate the relationship between five different crime rates and alternative law variables. The tests are based on cross-section data from US sates. Three different law variables are used in the analysis, together with a set of control variables for income, poverty, unemployment and ethnic background of the population. Empirical analysis does not lend support to the notion that crime laws would affect the crime rates. The results seem to be the same for all five crime categories that are analyzed in the paper.
Noise-induced transitions in a generalized logistic model with delay

The stochastic phenomena in the generalized randomly forced logistic model with delay is considered. The probabilistic mechanisms of the noise-induced transitions between coexisting attractors, and between separate parts of the unique attractor are studied. For the analysis of these phenomena, a new semi-analytical approach is suggested. Our method takes into account a geometry of the mutual arrangement of attractors, their basins of attraction, and corresponding confidence domains. Constructive abilities of this approach are demonstrated for the various parametric zones of the generalized logistic model with delay.
Deferiprone Chelation Therapy for Thalassemia Major

Iron overload is one of the major causes of morbidity in patients with thalassemia major. Deferiprone (DFP), an orally active iron chelator, emerged from an extensive search for new drugs to treat iron overload. Comparative studies have shown that at comparable doses the efficacy of DFP in removing body iron is similar to that of desferoxamine (DFO). In retrospective and prospective studies, DFP monotherapy was significantly more effective than DFO in the treatment of myocardial siderosis in thalassemia major. DFP can be used in combination with DFO in the management of severe iron overload. This chelation regimen is tolerable and attractive for patients unable to comply with standard DFO infusions or with inadequate response to DFP monotherapy. DFP has a well-known long-term safety profile. Agranulocytosis is the most serious side effect associated with its use, occurring in about 1% of the patients. More common but less serious side effects are gastrointestinal symptoms, arthralgia, zinc deficiency, and fluctuating transaminase levels.
Empirical investigation on the benefits of using UML in software maintenance

This paper presents a research proposal on how and why we are investigating the benefits of the Unified Modelling Language (UML) in software maintenance tasks. The principal objective is to present the main research questions, along with an explanation of which research methods we propose to use to obtain the answers to these questions in an empirical manner.
Research G-CSF and IL-8 for early diagnosis of sepsis in neonates and critically ill children – safety and cost effectiveness of a new laboratory prediction model : study protocol of a randomized controlled trial [ ISRCTN 91123847 ]

Introduction Bacterial infection represents a serious risk in neonates and critically ill paediatric patients. Current clinical practice is characterized by frequent antibiotic treatment despite low incidence of true infection. However, some patients escape early diagnosis and progress to septic shock. Many new markers, including cytokines, have been suggested to improve decision making, but the clinical efficacy of these techniques remains uncertain. Therefore, we will test the clinical efficacy of a previously validated diagnostic strategy to reduce antibiotic usage and nosocomial infection related morbidity. Methods All patients admitted to the multidisciplinary neonatal and paediatric intensive care unit of a university children's hospital will be included. Patients will be allocated either to routine sepsis work up or to the intervention strategy with additional cytokine measurements. Physicians will be requested to estimate the pre-test probability of sepsis and pneumonia at initial suspicion. In the treatment arm, physicians will receive raw cytokine results, the likelihood ratio and the updated post-test probability. A high post-test probability will suggest that immediate initiation of antibiotic treatment is appropriate, whereas a low post-test probability will be supportive of watchful waiting or discontinuing prophylactic empirical therapy. Physicians may overrule the suggestions resulting from the post-test probability. Conclusion This trial will ascertain the clinical efficacy of introducing new diagnostic strategies consisting of pre-test probability estimate, novel laboratory markers, and computer-generated post-test probability in infectious disease work up in critically ill newborns and children.
Dermoscopy in Female Androgenic Alopecia: Method Standardization and Diagnostic Criteria

Objective: Establishing the trichoscopy criteria of female androgenic alopecia (FAGA). Design: Trichoscopy images were retrospectively evaluated. Setting: Dermatologic hospital-based clinic and private practice offices. Patients and methods: One hundred and thirty-one females (59 with androgenic alopecia, 33 with chronic telogen effluvium (CTE), 39 healthy controls). The diagnosis was based on clinical examination and confirmed by histopatology. Main Outcome Measure: Trichoscopy results obtained in frontal, occipital and both temporal areas of the scalp under a 20-fold and 70-fold magnification, including average hair thickness, number of 'yellow dots' and vellus hairs, number of hairs in one pilosebaceous unit and percentage of follicular ostia with perifollicullar hyperpigmentation. Results: Average hair thickness in frontal area versus occiput was, respectively, 0.061 ± 0.008 mm versus 0.058 ± 0.007 mm in healthy controls, 0.047 ± 0.007 mm versus 0.052 ± 0.008 mm in androgenic alopecia and 0.056 ± 0.007 mm versus 0.053 ± 0.009 mm in CTE. Mean percentage of thin hairs (< 0.03 mm) in androgenic alopecia was 20.9 ± 12% and was significantly higher than in healthy controls (6.15 ± 4.6%, P < 0.001) or in CTE (10.4 ± 3.9%, P < 0.001). The number of yellow dots, pilosebaceous units with only one hair and with perifollicular hyperpigmentation was significantly increased in androgenic alopecia. Classification and Regression Tree Analysis was performed to establish diagnostic criteria for FAGA. Conclusion: FAGA may be differentiated from CTE based on trichoscopy criteria. Major criteria are ratio of (1) more than four yellow dots in four images (70-fold magnification) in the frontal area, (2) lower average hair thickness in the frontal area compared to the occiput and (3) more than 10% of thin hairs (below 0.03 mm) in the frontal area. Minor criteria encompass increased frontal to occipital ratio of (1) single-hair pilosebaceous units, (2) vellus hairs and (3) perifollicular discoloration. Fulfillment of two major criteria or one major and two minor criteria allows to diagnose FAGA based on trichoscopy with a 98% specificity.