Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Possible release of eosinophil granule proteins in response to signaling from intercellular adhesion molecule-1 and its ligands.

The presence of a large variety of membrane receptors and the identification of cytotoxic molecules (mainly granule basic proteins) have indicated that eosinophils should br considered as effector cells. It has recently been suggested that adhesion molecules, particularly intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1), play an important role in allergic inflammation, for example in bronchial asthma. This study therefore investigated the possible release of granule protein in response to signaling from ICAM-1 and its ligands. The concentrations of eosinophil cationic protein and eosinophil-derived neurotoxin in supernatants of eosinophils were significantly greater (p < 0.05) in the presence of recombinant soluble ICAM-1 than without it. These results suggest that signaling from ICAM-1 and its ligands might induce eosinophil activation and might be involved in degranulation of eosinophil granule proteins, e.g. eosinophil cationic protein and eosinophil-derived neurotoxin.
Role of Intracellular Calcium for Noradrenaline-Induced Depolarization in Rat Mesenteric Small Arteries

We have investigated the effect of intracellular calcium levels for membrane potential during noradrenaline application in isolated small arteries. Rat mesenteric small arteries were mounted for isometric tension measurement. Smooth muscle membrane potentials were measured by conventional intracellular electrodes, and intracellular calcium concentration was measured using Fura-2 fluorescence. Under control conditions, noradrenaline caused contraction and depolarization from –55.5 to –29.3 mV. In intact arteries, depleting intracellular calcium stores with thapsigargin caused smooth muscle hyperpolarization and inhibited contraction to noradrenaline. In de-endothelialized vessels, thapsigargin still depleted calcium stores, but did not affect either the depolarization or contraction caused by noradrenaline. In noradrenaline-activated vessels, inhibition of calcium influx by amlodipine caused tension and calcium levels to fall to near-baseline levels, but membrane potential returned by only 55%. Treatment with a combination of thapsigargin, D-600 and BAPTA-AM inhibited the tension and calcium responses to noradrenaline, but the membrane potential response was reduced by only 34%. Acute reduction of extracellular chloride concentration caused similar, small depolarization at rest and during noradrenaline exposure. It is concluded that an elevation of intracellular calcium concentration is not essential for noradrenaline depolarization, although part of the depolarization is associated with the raised intracellular calcium level.
Treatment of Respiratory Failure with Inhaled Nitric Oxide and High- Frequency Ventilation in an Infant with Respiratory Syncytial Virus Pneumonia and Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia

In a 7-month-old infant with bronchopulmonary dysplasia and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) pneumonia, we have shown an additive effect of high-frequency ventilation (HFV) and inhaled nitric oxide (iNO) in terms of improved oxygenation and the avoidance of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. Apparently, the combined therapy of HFV and iNO is superior to either therapeutic modality alone in the treatment of hypoxemic respiratory failure due to RSV pneumonia. The mechanism of increased lung expansion and alveolar recruitment appears to be responsible for a favorable clinical outcome. We conclude that the combined therapy of HFV and iNO should be considered in hypoxemic respiratory failure in pediatric patients.
Neue Qualität der Arbeit? Zur Entwicklung von Arbeitskulturen und Fehlzeiten

Dieser Beitrag zeigt auf, wie sich die Arbeitswelt in Deutschland in Bezug auf Beschaftigungs-formen, die inhaltliche und organisatorische Arbeitnehmerautonomie sowie krankheitsbedingte Fehltage und psychische Belastungen am Arbeitsplatz in den letzten Jahren verandert hat. Der Arbeitsmarkt hierzulande wird in einem groseren Umfang als fruher von flexiblen Erwerbsformen gekennzeichnet, und insbesondere spielt das Element der inhaltlichen Arbeitnehmerautonomie in der Gegenwart eine starkere Rolle. So wird die Arbeit vielfaltiger und anspruchsvoller, erfordert aber auch ein hoheres Mas an Eigeninitiative. Damit geht eine wachsende Autonomie und Verantwortung der Beschaftigten einher, was tendenziell zu hoherer Arbeitszufriedenheit und weniger Fehlzeiten fuhren kann. Psychische Belastungen auf der Grundlage eines ungunstigen Verhaltnisses von Anforderungen und Ressourcen treten in der neuen Arbeitswelt gegenuber hohen physischen Belastungen in den Vordergrund. Dabei kommt der Arbeitskultur gerade in den generell wachsenden wissensintensiven Bereichen des Arbeitsmarktes eine besondere Bedeutung fur die Produktivitat und Motivation der Beschaftigten, aber auch fur deren Arbeitszufriedenheit und ihre psychische Gesundheit der Arbeitnehmer zu.
Can Labor with Breech Presentation Be Induced?

Our objective was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of labor induction in women with a breech presentation, and an unripe cervix. We conducted a retrospective, matched-paired study on patients with breech presentation and an unripe cervix (n = 23), who underwent induction of labor using extra-amniotic saline instillation. The women were compared to three matched control groups: 46 women with vertex presentation and an unripe cervix, whose labor was induced by the same method, 23 with breech presentation who underwent a vaginal trial of labor, and 23 women with breech presentation who underwent a cesarean section without a trial of labor. In the study group, 12 women (52.2%) delivered vaginally. Rates of Apgar score, birth trauma, and maternal morbidity were similar in all groups. Induction of labor in patients with a breech presentation and an unripe cervix may be attempted in selected cases as it seems to be efficacious (vaginal delivery rate of 52.2%) and safe for both fetus and mother.
Intracerebroventricular Infusion of Nerve Growth Factor in Three Patients with Alzheimer’s Disease

Nerve growth factor (NGF) is important for the survival and maintenance of central cholinergic neurons, a signalling system impaired in Alzheimer’s disease. We have treated 3 patients with Alzheimer’s disease with a total of 6.6 mg NGF administered continuously into the lateral cerebral ventricle for 3 months in the first 2 patients and a total of 0.55 mg for 3 shorter periods in the third patient. The patients were extensively evaluated with clinical, neuropsychological, neurophysiological and neuroradiological techniques. Three months after the NGF treatment ended, a significant increase in nicotine binding was found in several brain areas in the first 2 patients and in the hippocampus in the third patient as studied by positron emission tomography. A clear cognitive amelioration could not be demonstrated, although a few neuropsychology tests showed slight improvements. The amount of slow-wave cortical activity as studied by electroencephalography was reduced in the first 2 patients. Two negative side effects occurred with NGF treatment: first, a dull, constant back pain was observed in all 3 patients, which in 1 patient was aggravated by axial loading resulting in sharp, shooting pain of short duration. When stopping the NGF infusion, the pain disappeared within a couple of days. Reducing the dose of NGF lessened the pain. Secondly, a marked weight reduction during the infusion with a clear weight gain after ending the infusion was seen in the first 2 patients. We conclude from this limited trial that, while long-term intracerebroventricular NGF administration may cause certain potentially beneficial effects, the intraventricular route of administration is also associated with negative side effects that appear to outweigh the positive effects of the present protocol. Alternative routes of administration, and/or lower doses of NGF, perhaps combined with low doses of other neurotrophic factors, may shift this balance in favor of positive effects.
Pure sinusoidal output current-source inverter using inductor modules

A novel topology of a current-source inverter (CSI) is proposed in the paper, which can deliver a pure sinusoidal current waveform without sacrificing its efficiency and its equipment size. The proposed circuit has a hybrid structure, and combines a switching-operation based multilevel CSI and a linear current amplifier with a low-amplitude current output. The former multilevel CSI employs multiple inductor modules to generate a staircase multilevel current waveform, while the latter linear amplifier generates a compensating current to reform the staircase multilevel waveform to the pure sinusoidal waveform. Because the most part of the output current is created by the switching-operation based multilevel CSI, the system efficiency hardly deteriorates. In addition, the system does not require large LC filters because it directly delivers the pure sinusoidal current to the load. In the paper, current drooping phenomenon of the inductor modules due to their power losses is discussed, and the countermeasure is proposed.
The Response of Benthic Foraminiferal Assemblages to Copper Exposure: A Pilot Mesocosm Investigation

Controlled experiments, including mesocosms and laboratory cultures, are used to identify a potential speci? c cause- effect relationship that has been previously inferred in field studies. In this study, a series of mesocosm experiments are carried out to assess the impact of different concentrations of copper on benthic foraminiferal assemblages over time. This pilot investigation documents that Cu contamination has a detrimental effect on foraminifera when compared to original and control samples. In particular, increased concentrations of Cu (normally higher than 120 ug/l) lead to a lowering of foraminiferal density and diversity and an increased occurrence of abnormalities. This study thus supports that the use of an experimental approach is suitable for investigating the response of benthic foraminifera to stress including pollution. Moreover, the application of mesocosms represents an innovative tool to be placed alongside field studies and culture experiments.
Robust noise mitigation control techniques for SMIB power system

In this paper, effect and analysis of measurement noise is analyzed in the given power system. The test power system used is SMIB system. The basic Phillips — Heffron Model is utilized to represent SMIB system. Various stabilizers are used such as conventional Power System Stabilizers (PSS), Multi-Band PSS (MB-PSS) with two band and four band PSS. The two type of MB-PSS is used, first is without Ramp taking filter (RTF) and second is with RTF. The various PSS tuning methods like that P-Vr method, two washout pre-filter method, electrical power pre-filter, residues PSS tuning method and GEP method are used. Higher order generator model having AVR with type AC2A excitation system, PID controller and RFC compensation is used. The efforts have also been made to develop a strong coordinate PSS using LQG/ LTR, FLC based controller for mitigation of noise also to improve the overall system stability of given system.
Emotional journey for an emotion provoking cycling exergame

In this work we present a novel concept for affective entertainment, which we call Emotional Journey. It provides a dynamic and adaptive story path based on a player's emotional responses and yields improved accurate recognition of the player's emotions. We conducted a case study with 25 players to evaluate our concept using our cycling exercise machine. We evaluated three different journey types and two of the three types were recognized reliably by the participants. We introduce a real time multimodal analysis method for facial expressions and electrodermal activity (EDA) measurements. This method results in significantly more robust emotion recognition rates. Therefore our exergaming system is able to provoke emotions and adapt the game play to individual emotional reactions.
Cross-media retrieval based on levenberg-marquardt deep canonical correlation analysis

Cross-media retrieval has received a great deal of attention on account of massive significant breakthroughs in the field of single modality retrieval. Therefore, mismatches (so called heterogeneity) become inevitable due to the inconsistent low-level features and the well-known semantic gap of data from different modalities. In order to deal with the mismatch problem, canonical correlation analysis (CCA), a classic two view approach for mapping different multimedia data into a common latent space, is used for cross-media retrieval tasks. To improve the performance of CCA, in this paper, we adopt Deep Canonical Correlation Analysis (DCCA), a nonlinear expansion of CCA to explore cross-media relations. Like most deep learning methods, DCCA is easy to over-fitting. To overcome over-fitting, we employ the Levenberg-Marquardt (LM) algorithm as training method in our deep model. Experiment results on our collected image-audio dataset and publicly available dataset (Wikipedia Articles) are encouraging, and show that the performance of our proposed model (LM-DCCA) is effective from multiple perspectives.
Evaluation of Progression and Spread of Atherothrombosis

Symptomatic atherothrombosis in one vascular bed is usually indicative of disseminated disease. Indeed, involvement of multiple beds is common in everyday clinical practice, and these patients are at much higher risk of ischaemic events. The prevention of manifestations following atherothrombosis is therefore an important therapeutic goal in these patients. Some causative risk factors demonstrate affinities to particular arterial domains. Cigarette smoking, for example, is particularly associated with atherothrombotic involvement of the pelvic and lower limb arteries, whereas arterial hypertension is associated with the intracranial cerebral arteries. The degree, spread and progression of atherosclerosis can be assessed using various non-invasive and invasive modalities: high-resolution Doppler ultrasound, ankle-brachial index (ABI) measurement, magnetic resonance (MR), computed tomography (CT) and intra-arterial angiography. Indicators of atherothrombotic risk include increased carotid artery intima-media thickness, microembolic signals on transcranial Doppler ultrasonography and low ABI. There is a strong rationale for the inclusion of the ABI measurement as part of the routine clinical examination to assess the cardiovascular risk in patients with identified risk factors. Furthermore, detection of a low ABI should serve as a trigger for patient management with aggressive antiplatelet therapy. The generalized nature of atherothrombosis and the methods for evaluating the spread of disease are illustrated through the case history of a patient with disseminated atherothrombotic disease.
Indications and Use of Isotretinoin in Facial Plastic Surgery

Abstract Isotretinoin is a first generation retinoid with pleiotropic effects on keratinocyte differentiation, proliferation, and activity of sebaceous glands. For years, there has been intense debate on whether the use of isotretinoin combined with cosmetic or surgical procedures is safe and potentially more efficient than either therapy alone. Due to delays in wound healing and keloid formation, conservative recommendations were not to combine isotretinoin with any plastic surgery or local treatment at 6 to 12 months after discontinuation of the drug. However, there is increasing evidence that a combination approach is not only safe, but may also provide excellent cosmetic outcomes in acne scars, sebaceous gland hyperplasia, and thick-skinned patients undergoing facial plastic surgery. In particular, low-dose regimens of isotretinoin may offer advantages over standard dosage treatments because of better tolerability and safety in long-term use adjunct with surgical interventions. In this article, the authors aim to summarize the current evidence on the use of isotretinoin in facial plastic surgery and to share their experience from selected patients.
Screening for fetal and neonatal alloimmune thrombocytopenia – lessons learned from a Norwegian screening program

An important issue on human platelet antigen (HPA)-1a screening has recently been addressed in Acta Obstetrica et Gynecologica Scandinavia. Winkelhorst et al. reported that the vast majority of women in the general pregnant population were positive about screening (1). Here we report that there was also a positive attitude towards screening among Norwegian HPA-1a-immunized pregnant women. Further, we report that insufficient information may have led to unnecessary anxiety in this high-risk population. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Configuration of a smectic A liquid crystal due to an isolated edge dislocation

We discuss the static configuration of a smectic A liquid crystal subject to an edge dislocation under the assumption that the director and layer normal fields (n and a, respectively) defining the smectic arrangement are not, in general, equivalent. After constructing the free energy for the smectic, we obtain exact solutions to the equilibrium equations which result from its minimisation at quadratic order in the variables which describe the distortion, and hence a complete description of the smectic configuration across the domain of the sample. We also examine the effect of relaxing the constraint n≡a for different values of the constants which characterise the response of the material to distortions, and compare these results with the ‘classical’ case considered by previous authors, in which equivalence of n and a is enforced.
Feline Toxoplasmosis: Tumor Necrosis Factor, Nitric Oxide, and Free Radicals in Seropositive Cats

Abstract Toxoplasma gondii is a cosmopolitan protozoan that causes disease in several species, including humans. In cats, these infections are usually asymptomatic, but in other species they can lead to high levels of inflammatory and cell damage markers, causing cellular damage. Therefore, the aim of this study was to measure levels of tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α), reactive oxygen species (ROS), and nitric oxide (nitrite/nitrate—NOx) in the serum of cats seropositive for T. gondii. Initially, we investigated the presence of antibodies against T. gondii in cats in the city of Concordia, Santa Catarina, Brazil, with the use of indirect immunofluorescence (IFA), and found 30 cats seropositive for T. gondii and 30 seronegative cats. In this study, seropositive cats showed higher levels of TNF-α, ROS, and NOx compared to seronegative cats. Although cats do not show clinical signs of disease, constant inflammatory response can cause cell damage, which over time may adversely affect the animal.
Bacillus Calmette-Guérin Confers Neuroprotection in a Murine Model of Japanese Encephalitis

Objective: Japanese encephalitis (JE) is a debilitating disease caused by infection with the JE virus (JEV; family: Flaviviridae), which leaves neurological sequelae in survivors but more often leads to mortality. Neurodegeneration caused by inflammation is the primary pathology behind the clinical manifestation of encephalitis caused by JEV. Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) has been used in immunoprophylaxis for tuberculosis and in the adjuvant therapy of many malignancies, and has exhibited neuroprotective activities in experimental models of Parkinson and Alzheimer disease. This study aimed at assessing the neuroprotective role of BCG in a murine model of JE. Methods: Suckling mice were inoculated with 106 CFU of BCG and at 18 days postinoculation were challenged with 100 LD50 of JEV. PBS-inoculated mice were used as controls. Mice were sacrificed on days 2, 4, 6, and 8. Brain tissue was homogenized for RNA extraction. One-step real-time RT-PCR was performed to assess the relative gene expressions of TNF-α, IL-6, and iNOS. Results: The BCG-inoculated (BCG+JEV) group exhibited a significant delay in the presentation of neuropathological symptoms, longer survival, and a downregulation in the expression of TNF-α, IL-6, and iNOS on days 2, 4, and 6 post-JEV challenge compared to the JEV group. Conclusion: These findings indicate that the administration of BCG offers neuroprotection in the murine model of JE. BCG should therefore be further investigated as an adjuvant in the management of JE. BCG is an accepted vaccine for tuberculosis in many countries that are endemic for JEV. This approach may have a significant impact on the public health burden in these countries.
Evidence for a central role of PrP helix 2 in the nucleation of amyloid fibrils

Amyloid fibrils are filamentous protein aggregates associated with the pathogenesis of a wide variety of human diseases. The formation of such aggregates typically follows nucleation‐dependent kinetics, wherein the assembly and structural conversion of amyloidogenic proteins into oligomeric aggregates (nuclei) is the ratelimiting step of the overall reaction. In this study, we sought to gain structural insights into the oligomeric nuclei of the human prion protein (PrP) by preparing a series of deletion mutants lacking 14–44 of the C‐terminal 107 residues of PrP and examined the kinetics and thermodynamics of these mutants in amyloid formation. An analysis of the experimental data using the concepts of the Ф‐value analysis indicated that the helix 2 region (residues 168–196) acquires an amyloid‐like β‐sheet during nucleation, whereas the other regions preserves a relatively disordered structure in the nuclei. This finding suggests that the helix 2 region serves as the nucleation site for the assemblyof amyloid fibrils. —Honda, R. , Kuwata, K. Evidence for a central role of PrP helix 2 in the nucleation of amyloid fibrils. FASEB J. 32, 3641–3652 (2018). www.fasebj. org
Genetic Testing for Myeloid Neoplasms and Leukemia Effective : February 1 , 2018

PLEASE NOTE: Contracts exclude from coverage, among other things, services or procedures that are considered investigational or cosmetic. Providers may bill members for services or procedures that are considered investigational or cosmetic. Providers are encouraged to inform members before rendering such services that the members are likely to be financially responsible for the cost of these services.
Evolution of PKI ecosystem

Technologies get introduced, adapted and fade away after their time. Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) got introduced as a technology for establishing trust over an insecure electronic medium, but over a time span of 20+ years, it has evolved as a reliable and de-facto ecosystem for establishing trust-worthy systems. The components that makeup the Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) ecosystem today, their strengths and weaknesses, and the emerging technology trends are discussed.
An Evaluation of Hand-Force Prediction Using Artificial Neural-Network Regression Models of Surface EMG Signals for Handwear Devices

Hand-force prediction is an important technology for hand-oriented user interface systems. Specifically, surface electromyography (sEMG) is a promising technique for hand-force prediction, which requires a sensor with a small design space and low hardware costs. In this study, we applied several artificial neural-network (ANN) regression models with different numbers of neurons and hidden layers and evaluated handgrip forces by using a dynamometer. A handwear with dry electrodes on the dorsal interosseous muscles was used for our evaluation. Eleven healthy subjects participated in our experiments. sEMG signals with six different levels of forces from 0 N to 200 N and maximum voluntary contraction (MVC) are measured to train and test our ANN regression models. We evaluated three different methods (intrasession, intrasubject, and intersubject evaluation), and our experimental results show a high correlation (0.840, 0.770, and 0.789 each) between the predicted forces and observed forces, which are normalized by the MVC for each subject. Our results also reveal that ANNs with deeper layers of up to four hidden layers show fewer errors in intrasession and intrasubject evaluations.