Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Inhibition of cellular RNA synthesis by nonreplicating vesicular stomatitis virus.

system: The large plaque variant of the Indiana these Titrations were made by plating virus on monolayers of chick embryo cells and the results expressed as plaque-forming units (PFU). Chick embryo cell cultures were infected with VSV suspensions diluted to 10-3 to prepare stocks of high titer (-2 X l09 PFU/ml) or with undiluted VSV suspensions to produce stocks of low titer (-2 X 107 PFU/ml). As described in a previous report,10 RNA synthesis was studied in VSV-infected or uninfected Krebs-2 mouse ascites cells suspended in a chemically de- fined maintenance medium for suspended cells, designated MM-S. '5 Ultraviolet (UV) irradiation of virus: In 100-mm plastic Petri plates 4-ml suspensions of high-titered VSV stocks were irradiated at room temperature and with gentle rotation under a 15-w General Electric germicidal lamp. The UV dose was 85 ergs mm-2 sec-I as measured by a Latarjet dosimeter. Residual infectivity after varying periods of irradiation was measured by plating on chick embryo monolayers. Multiplicities of infection with irradiated virus (VSVuV) refer to original infectivity before irradiation. The cells were then suspended in acetate containing 6 X 10-4 M unlabeled uridine, divided into two equal parts, and disrupted by ultrasonic vibration. The cellular contents were precipitated with 0.5 M cold PCA, twice with PCA, and once with ethanol-ether (1: 1). The precipitates were dis-solved in hyamine, and radioactivity was measured in a Nuclear-Chicago liquid scintillation spec-trometer with an average counting efficiency of 28%. Nonspecific adsorption of tritium label on Krebs-2 cells was less than 1% of incorporated counts. Protein concentration was measured by the method of Lowry using bovine serum albumin as a standard. The results of uridine-H3 incorporation into the cold PCA-precipitable fraction were expressed as cpm/,ug protein of VSV-infected cells divided by cpm/Iug protein of uninfected cells at each corresponding time point.
Percutaneous needle biopsy in the diagnosis and classification of lymphoma

Results of percutaneous needle biopsies were evaluated retrospectively in 58 patients in whom a diagnosis of lymphoma was suspected. The biopsy specimen was diagnostic in 94% of the 36 patients with lymphoma, 20 of whom had recurrent disease and 16 of whom had newly diagnosed lymphoma. Sufficient tissue was obtained in 94% of these positive biopsy specimens to allow histologic subtyping of the lymphoma. Immunohistochemical studies performed on seven of the biopsy specimens allowed immunologic subclassi‐fication into B‐cell and T‐cell types of lymphoma. Our results suggest that the percutaneous needle biopsy is a useful and reliable tool in the diagnosis and classification of lymphoma.
Synthesis, Characterization, and Self-Assembly of Gold Nanorods and Nanoprisms

vi Chapter 1: Introduction, Motivation, and Background . 1 1.1. Isotropic Gold Nanoparticles . 2 1.2. Anisotropic Gold Nanoparticles . 4 1.2.1. Gold Nanorods . 5 1.2.2. Gold Nanoprisms . 7 1.3. Self-Assembly of Nanoparticles through Surface Modification . 9 1.4. Resorcinarenes . 11 1.5. Thesis Organization . 12 Chapter 2: Controlled Synthesis of Gold Nanorods Using a Binary Surfactant System . 17 2.1. Enhancements in the Aspect Ratio of Gold Nanorods . 17 2.1.1. Experimental . 18 2.1.1.1. Materials . 18 2.1.1.2. Synthesis of Gold Nanorods Stabilized with Two Surfactants: Gradual Addition of Ascorbic Acid . 18 2.1.1.3. Synthesis of Gold Nanorods Stabilized with Two Surfactants: Variation of Silver Nitrate Concentration . 19 2.1.2. Results and Discussion . 20 2.2. Shape Separation of Gold Nanorods . 22 2.2.1. Experimental . 23 2.2.2. Results and Discussion . 23 Chapter 3: Self-Assembly of Gold Nanorods Using Resorcinarenes . 35 3.1. Resorcinarene Monolayers on Gold. 35 3.1.1. Experimental . 36 3.1.1.1. Materials . 36 ii 3.1.1.2. Preparation of Resorcinarene Stock Solutions . 36 3.1.1.3. Formation of Resorcinarene Monolayers on Gold . 36 3.1.1.4. Characterization of Resorcinarene Monolayers on Gold . 37 3.1.2. Results and Discussion . 37 3.2. Characterization of Self-Assembly of CTAB-Stabilized Gold Nanorods with Resorcinarenes . 38 3.2.1. Experimental . 39 3.2.2. Results and Discussion . 40 3.3. Characterization of Self-Assembly of CTAB/BDAC-Stabilized Gold Nanorods with Resorcinarenes . 41 3.3.1 Experimental . 41 3.3.1.1. Materials . 41 3.3.1.2. Time Studies of Self-Assembly of CTAB/BDAC-Stabilized Gold Nanorods . 41 3.3.2. Results and Discussion . 42 Chapter 4: Synthesis and Self-Assembly of Gold Nanoprisms . 52 4.1. Synthesis of Gold Nanoprisms . 52 4.1.1. Experimental . 53 4.1.1.1. Materials . 53 4.1.1.2. Kinetically-Controlled Reduction Synthesis of Nanoprisms . 53 4.1.1.3. Purification of Nanoprisms . 54 4.1.2. Results and Discussion . 54 4.2. Self-Assembly of Gold Nanoprisms with R1S and R2S . 54 4.2.1. Experimental . 55 4.1.2. Results and Discussion . 55 Chapter 5: Summary of Research . 60 References Cited . 62
Awake fibrecapnic intubation: a novel technique for intubation in head and neck cancer patients with a difficult airway *

Awake fibreoptic intubation is the gold standard for difficult airway management but failures are reported in the literature in up to 13% of cases. In case of failure, a tracheotomy is often indicated. We describe a novel technique for intubation in head and neck cancer patients with a difficult airway that we call awake fibrecapnic intubation. The aim of this study was to investigate the feasibility of this technique. We studied prospectively 15 consecutive intubations in head and neck cancer patients before diagnostic or therapeutic surgical procedures. After topical anaesthesia, a fibrescope was introduced into the pharynx. Spontaneous respiration was maintained in all patients. Through the suction channel of the fibrescope a special suction catheter was advanced into the airway for carbon dioxide measurements. When four capnograms were obtained, the fibrescope was railroaded over the catheter and after identification of tracheal rings, a tracheal tube was placed. Tracheal intubation was successful in all patients without bleeding or complications, with a median (range) time to intubation of 3 (2–15) min. Identification of the vocal cords and glottis was difficult in four patients due to extensive anatomical abnormalities or poor visibility; even in these patients, a capnogram was obtained within 4 s.
Performance analysis for teraflop computers: a distributed automatic approach

Performance analysis for applications on teraflop computers requires a new combination of concepts: online processing, automation, and distribution. The article presents the design of a new analysis system that performs an automatic search for performance problems. This search is guided by a specification of performance properties based on the APART Specification Language. The system is being implemented as a network of analysis agents that are arranged in a hierarchy. Higher level agents search for global performance problems while lower level agents search local performance problems. Leaf agents request and receive performance data from the monitoring library linked to the application. Our online analysis also takes into account design patterns for parallel applications. These patterns make the analysis more effective and the output more application-related. The analysis is currently being implemented for the Hitachi SR8000 teraflop computer at the Leibniz-Rechenzentrum in Munich within the Peridot project.
AEGIS - Augmented Eye Laser Treatment with Region Guidance for Intelligent Surgery

: This paper presents an augmented reality platform for eye laser treatment with region guidance for intelligent surgery. The proposed method aims to assist doctors to plan the surgery, semi-automatically detect and protect sensitive regions within the retina and guide the laser during photocoagulation treatment for Diabetic Retinopathy. In the pre-surgical phase, we mosaic multiple retina fundus images to form a reference image. We then perform automatic optic disc and macula detection to mark out these sensitive regions. During the laser operation, we detect the aiming spot of the laser and track it on the reference image. Alerts are given out when the laser moves near the sensitive areas, and the laser function is disabled when the laser is within the sensitive regions. The proposed method can help doctors to perform laser surgery confidently without harming the patient.
Optimizing energy-efficiency of PHY-Layer authentication in machine-to-machine networks

Security issues are gaining in importance for machine-to-machine (M2M) networks, mainly because thousands of devices are left unattended for years of operation without the possibility of human intervention. One of the most critical security issues is the prevention of denial of service (DoS) attacks, given the limited capabilities of the M2M devices and the wireless communication settings. To this end, we had earlier introduced a novel recursive PHY-Layer security scheme which was shown to yield enormous benefits with regards to DoS attacks [1]. Recognizing the importance of the thus required synchronization window and the possibility of desynchronization because of poor channel conditions, we introduce a novel synchronization process. For said process, we calculate the optimum synchronization window length taking error rates into account. The analysis allows minimizing energy expenditure and also quantifies the impact onto memory and CPU. The analysis is corroborated by simulations which confirm significant performance improvements.
Increased COPD among HIV-positive compared to HIV-negative veterans.

BACKGROUND Limited data prior to highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) suggested the possibility of an increased risk of COPD among those persons with HIV infection. We sought to determine whether HIV infection is associated with increased prevalence of COPD in the era of HAART. METHODS Prospective observational study of 1,014 HIV-positive and 713 HIV-negative men who were enrolled in the Veterans Aging Cohort 5 Site Study. COPD was determined by patient self-report and International Classification of Diseases, ninth revision (ICD-9), diagnostic codes. Cigarette smoking and injection drug use (IDU) were determined by self-report, and alcohol abuse was determined by ICD-9 diagnostic codes. Laboratory and pharmacy data were obtained from electronic medical records. RESULTS The prevalence of COPD as determined by ICD-9 codes was 10% in HIV-positive subjects and 9% in HIV-negative subjects (p = 0.4), and as determined by patient self-report was 15% and 12%, respectively (p = 0.04). After adjusting for age, race/ethnicity, pack-years of smoking, IDU, and alcohol abuse, HIV infection was an independent risk factor for COPD. HIV-infected subjects were approximately 50 to 60% more likely to have COPD than HIV-negative subjects (by ICD-9 codes: odds ratio [OR], 1.47; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.01 to 2.13; p = 0.04 ; by patient self-report: OR, 1.58; 95% CI, 1.14 to 2.18; p = 0.005). CONCLUSIONS HIV infection was an independent risk factor for COPD, when determined either by ICD-9 codes or patient self-report. Health-care providers should be aware of the increased likelihood of COPD among their HIV-positive patients. The possibility that HIV infection increases susceptibility to and/or accelerates COPD deserves further investigation and has implications regarding the pathogenesis of COPD.
Oxcarbazepine-induced syndrome of inappropriate secretion of antidiuretic hormone.

Sir: The syndrome of inappropriate secretion of antidiuretic hormone (SIADH) is a relatively rare syndrome that occurs in various circumstances such as central nervous system diseases, cancers, and infections. SIADH is also reported to be associated with use of some psychotropic drugs, e.g., carbamazepine, neuroleptics, tricyclic antidepressants, and, more recently, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. 1‐4 Common symptoms of SIADH include weakness, lethargy, headache, anorexia, and weight gain. These symptoms may be followed by confusion, convulsions, coma, and death. The early symptoms are vague and nonspecific and may mimic the symptoms of the psychiatric disorder itself. Case report. Mr. A, a 70-year-old man, was hospitalized for bipolar disorder, manic state (DSM-IV criteria). He had a previous history of prostate hypertrophy and cataract. At admission, there were no pathologic findings on physical examination, serum hematologic and biochemical values, and computerized brain tomography. He was given oxcarbazepine, 150 mg/day (gradually raised to 600 mg/day at the third week). At the sixth week, the patient developed weakness, lethargy, dizziness, nausea, and hiccups. There was no hypotension, dehydration, or edema. Measurements of serum electrolytes revealed significant hyponatremia (sodium, 106 mEq/L; potassium, 4.4 mEq/L), but renal and thyroid functions were normal. Despite the hyponatremia and the patient’s adherence to a low-sodium diet, urine sodium was 40 mEq/L. Oxcarbazepine was stopped, and he was given furosemide, 20 mg t.i. d. intravenously, and isotonic saline infusion. He was begun on a normal-sodium diet and fluid restriction.
Presence of an unusually high concentration of an ubiquitinated histone‐like protein in Trypanosoma cruzi

The conjugation of ubiquitin to histones H2A and H2B has been established in higher eukaryotes and has been related to changes in chromatin organization. In Trypanosoma cruzi, no condensation of chromatin occurs during mitosis. In order to determine the presence of histone ubiquitination in T. cruzi epimastigotes, histones were extracted from chromatin and analyzed by three electrophoretic systems: acid‐urea, triton‐acid‐urea and sodium‐dodecyl‐sulphate polyacrylamide gel. The immunochemical detection of ubiquitin‐histone conjugates by Western blotting showed a strong reaction with a slow migrating band of Mr 19 kDa. The high percentage of ubiquitin‐histone conjugates present in T. cruzi chromatin may be related to the inability of this parasite to condense chromatin into a 30 nm fiber. J. Cell. Biochem. 66:433–440, 1997. © 1997 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Radiographic measurement of femorotibial rotation in weight-bearing. The influence of flexion and extension in the knee on the extensor mechanism and angles of the lower extremity in a healthy population.

PURPOSE A system for examination and measurement of the weight-bearing knee was developed earlier on examination equipment used for QUESTOR Precision Radiography (QPR), adapted to computed radiography and to a picture archiving and communication system. In this study the same system was used to develop a method to define "patellar variables" including measurements of the rotation of the femur and the tibia and the patellar translation, between semiflexion and extension, as well as the Q-angle. The aim of this study was to evaluate the reproducibility of these patellar variables and also to establish "normal" reference values for both the patellar variables and the variables in the original QPR system. MATERIAL AND METHODS For evaluation of the reproducibility 10 volunteers with healthy knees were examined twice. To obtain the reference values, 80 volunteers with healthy knees, 10 females and 10 males within each decade between 20 and 59 years of age, were examined. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION The reproducibility of the rotation of the femur and the tibia and of the Q-angle was 2--3 degrees (SD) and of the patellar translation about 3 mm (SD). The result from the healthy volunteers will be a useful tool for evaluation of disorders in the knee joint.
Alteration of GABAergic synapses and gephyrin clusters in the thalamic reticular nucleus of GABAA receptor α3 subunit‐null mice

Multiple GABAA‐receptor subtypes are assembled from α, β and γ subunit variants. GABAA receptors containing the α3 subunit represent a minor population with a restricted distribution in the CNS. In addition, they predominate in monoaminergic neurons and in the nucleus reticularis thalami (nRT), suggesting a role in the regulation of cortical function and sleep. Mice with a targeted deletion of the α3 subunit gene (α30/0) are viable and exhibit a subtle behavioural phenotype possibly related to dopaminergic hyperfunction. Here, we investigated immunohistochemically the consequences of the loss of α3 subunit for maturation of GABAA receptors and formation of GABAergic synapses in the nRT. Throughout postnatal development, the regional distribution of the α1, α2, or α5 subunit was unaltered in α30/0 mice and the prominent α3 subunit staining of nRT neurons in wildtype mice was not replaced. Subcellularly, as seen by double immunofluorescence, the α3 and γ2 subunit were clustered at postsynaptic sites in the nRT of adult wildtype mice along with the scaffolding protein gephyrin. In α30/0 mice, γ2 subunit clustering was disrupted and gephyrin formed large aggregates localized at the cell surface, but unrelated to postsynaptic sites, indicating that nRT neurons lack postsynaptic GABAA receptors in mutant mice. Furthermore, GABAergic terminals were enlarged and reduced in number, suggesting a partial deficit of GABAergic synapses. Therefore, GABAA receptors are required for gephyrin clustering and long‐term synapse maintenance. The absence of GABAA‐mediated transmission in the nRT may have a significant impact on the function of the thalamo‐cortical loop of α30/0 mice.
Protein misfolding – can it be a guide to understanding the protein folding?

Proteins need to fold into a “correct” 3D structure for its intended task within the cell. A protein having 101 amino acid residues has 2 (> 10) degrees of internal freedom (considering only the two rotational angles – u and ψ – present at all Cα atoms; we ignore here the side chain degrees of freedom at Cβ). Levinthal (1968, 1969) rightly pointed out that a random search for the native conformation is out of the question, and the protein folding problem (PFP) has remained an enigma even today. Although we perhaps understand the underlying processes much better today, and judging by the number of publications that has appeared during the last decade (Figure 1), the problem has no clear final solution as of now. There has been a renewed interest in the PFP because a reliable computational tool to predict the 3D structure of a protein can be a very useful alternative to the expensive and laborious X-ray method widely used for the protein structure determination. In a recent publication, Ben-Naim (2012) has claimed, correctly in our opinion, that the PFP has several components, and the most interesting and challenging is the question: “How does the protein fold into the correct native structure? ” In our opinion, some of the points raised are valid, whereas many are not.
Transient Axial Length Change during the Accommodation Response in Young Adults.

PURPOSE To measure the degree of transient axial elongation during the accommodation response in emmetropic and myopic young adults. To evaluate the effect of refractive error and accommodative demand on transient axial elongation of the eye. METHODS Axial length of the right eye was measured in 30 emmetropes and 30 myopes, by using the IOLMaster (Carl Zeiss Meditec, Inc., Dublin, CA), while accommodative stimuli of 0, 2, 4 and 6 D were presented with a Badal optometer. RESULTS Axial length increased in both emmetropic and myopic subjects during short periods of accommodative stimulation. Greater transient increases in axial length were observed in myopic than in emmetropic subjects. The mean axial elongation with a 6-D stimulus to accommodation was 0.037 mm in emmetropes and 0.058 mm in myopes (P = 0.02). The degree of transient axial elongation correlated well with the stimulus to accommodation in emmetropes and myopes. Anterior chamber depth decreased, on average, by 0.19 mm in emmetropes and 0.18 mm in myopes when observing a 6-D stimulus to accommodation. CONCLUSIONS During relatively short periods of accommodative stimulation, axial length increases in both emmetropic and myopic young adults. At higher levels of accommodative stimulation, a significantly greater transient increase in axial length is observed in myopic subjects than in their emmetropic counterparts.
A novel temporal trust-based recommender system

While Collaborative Filtering (CF) recommender systems, which focus on previous indicate preferences, are known for their traditional problems such as cold-start, sparsity and modest accuracy, trust-based CF has been previously proposed to solve such issues by focusing on trust values among the users. Nonetheless, most existing approaches use trust as an independent factor from time, in this paper we argue that trust value between users is dynamic; hence it change over time. For this reason we propose a novel temporal-trust based approach to calculate trust values aware of time of friendship. To validate the proposed approach in this paper, we used Delicious data set and compared our approach with traditional CF and trust-based approaches. Results showed that accuracy of proposed approach overcomes the traditional approaches.
Antibiotics for preventing recurrent urinary tract infection in non-pregnant women.

BACKGROUND Urinary tract infection (UTI) is a common health care problem. Recurrent UTI (RUTI) in healthy non-pregnant women is defined as three or more episodes of UTI during a twelve month period. Long-term antibiotics have been proposed as a prevention strategy for RUTI. OBJECTIVES To determine the efficacy (during and after) and safety of prophylactic antibiotics used to prevent uncomplicated RUTI in adult non-pregnant women. SEARCH STRATEGY We searched MEDLINE (1966-April 2004), EMBASE (1980-January 2003), Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials( in The Cochrane Library Issue 1, 2004) and reference lists of retrieved articles SELECTION CRITERIA Any published randomised controlled trial where antibiotics were used as prophylactic therapy in RUTI. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS Two reviewers independently assessed trial quality and extracted data. Statistical analyses were performed using the random effects model and the results expressed as relative risk (RR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI). MAIN RESULTS Nineteen studies involving 1120 women were eligible for inclusion. Antibiotic versus antibiotic (10 trials, 430 women): During active prophylaxis the rate range of microbiological recurrence patient-year (MRPY) was 0 to 0.9 person-year in the antibiotic group against 0.8 to 3.6 with placebo. The RR of having one microbiological recurrence (MR) was 0.21 (95% CI 0.13 to 0.34), favouring antibiotic and the NNT was 1.85. For clinical recurrences (CRPY) the RR was 0.15 (95% CI 0.08 to 0.28). The NNT was 1.85. The RR of having one MR after prophylaxis was 0.82 (95% CI 0.44 to 1.53). The RR for severe side effects was 1.58 (95% CI 0.47 to 5.28) and for other side effects the RR was 1.78 (CI 1.06 to 3.00) favouring placebo. Side effects included vaginal and oral candidiasis and gastrointestinal symptoms. Antibiotic versus antibiotic (eight trials, 513 women): These trials were not pooled. Weekly pefloxacin was more effective than monthly. The RR for MR was 0.31(95% CI 0.19 to 0.52). There was no significant difference in MR between continuous daily and postcoital ciprofloxacin. REVIEWERS' CONCLUSIONS Continuous antibiotic prophylaxis for 6-12 months reduced the rate of UTI during prophylaxis when compared to placebo. After prophylaxis two studies showed nodifference between groups. There were more adverse events in the antibiotic group. One RCT compared postcoital versus continuous daily ciprofloxacin and found no significant difference in rates of UTIs, suggesting that postcoital treatment could be offered to woman who have UTI associated with sexual intercourse.