Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Ethnic and Gender Differences in Strategies Used by Adolescents When Attempting to Quit or Reduce Smoking

ABSTRACT Few adolescent smoking cessation programs have been able to match the success rate found in adult programs. The current study identified smoking cessation strategies used by adolescents and whether strategies differed as a function of ethnic, gender, or individual smoking level. Participants were 136 high school students who made an attempt to quit or reduce their smoking. Logistic regressions revealed that individuals making an actual quit attempt and African-American adolescents used cessation strategies presumed to be more effective. Adolescents are more likely to use informal cessation methods and may need to be provided with more information on effective quit strategies.
The Arabidopsis MYB96 Transcription Factor Is a Positive Regulator of ABSCISIC ACID-INSENSITIVE4 in the Control of Seed Germination1

An ABA-associated transcription factor regulates lipid mobilization specifically in the embryo to determine proper timing for seed germination. Seed germination is a key developmental transition that initiates the plant life cycle. The timing of germination is determined by the coordinated action of two phytohormones, gibberellin and abscisic acid (ABA). In particular, ABA plays a key role in integrating environmental information and inhibiting the germination process. The utilization of embryonic lipid reserves contributes to seed germination by acting as an energy source, and ABA suppresses lipid degradation to modulate the germination process. Here, we report that the ABA-responsive R2R3-type MYB transcription factor MYB96, which is highly expressed in embryo, regulates seed germination by controlling the expression of ABSCISIC ACID-INSENSITIVE4 (ABI4) in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana). In the presence of ABA, germination was accelerated in MYB96-deficient myb96-1 seeds, whereas the process was significantly delayed in MYB96-overexpressing activation-tagging myb96-ox seeds. Consistently, myb96-1 seeds degraded a larger extent of lipid reserves even in the presence of ABA, while reduced lipid mobilization was observed in myb96-ox seeds. MYB96 directly regulates ABI4, which acts as a repressor of lipid breakdown, to define its spatial and temporal expression. Genetic analysis further demonstrated that ABI4 is epistatic to MYB96 in the control of seed germination. Taken together, the MYB96-ABI4 module regulates lipid mobilization specifically in the embryo to ensure proper seed germination under suboptimal conditions.
Left Atrial Enlargement as a Predictor of Silent Paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common cardiac arrhythmia and it may be symptomatic (manifest), or asymptomatic (silent). Silent AF is much more common than manifest AF. Both paroxysmal (PAF) and persistent AF confer a risk of embolic stroke. Increased left atrial (LA) size is associated with an increased prevalence of non-valvular AF and could be a predictor of stroke. Relationship between LA size and asymptomatic attacks of PAF in hypertensive patients. Sixty hypertensive patients following at the cardiac outpatient clinic having controlled hypertension (HTN) underwent ambulatory Holter monitoring (HM) for detection of silent PAF and measurement of left atrium antero-posterior diameter (LAAPd) using M-mode echocardiogram. Patients were classified into two groups according the LAAPd: group I; twenty-six patients and having increased LAAPd and group II; thiry-four having normal LAAPd. Patients in both groups have comparable demographic variables, cardiovascular (CV) risk factors, controlled BP; antihypertensive drugs used to control BP, and left ventricular size and function. Upon HM, 11 (18%) patients found to silent PAF, 8 (30.7%) in group I and 3 in group II (8.8%). Thus hypertensive patients having increased LAAPd have significantly more attacks of silent PAF than hypertensive patients with normal LAAPd (P = 0.043). Increased LAAPd can be used in selecting hypertensive patients for HM to identify patients having silent PAF and thus at risk for embolic stroke.
New concepts of cytokines in asthma: Is the Th2/Th1 paradigm out the window?

Abstract: Although asthma is clearly associated with a systemic propensity for allergic T helper type 2 (Th2) cell cytokine responses, independent local immune events appear to be responsible for the development of allergic airways inflammation. There is growing interest in how local immune networks interact with resident airway cell populations such as epithelial cells, which are now also recognized as key producers of cytokines, chemokines and growth factors. As well as their recognized role in airway remodelling, epithelial cells are now thought to have a role in initiating events. This review examines the role of cytokines produced by these and other cells in the development of asthma. It also highlights emerging concepts that the excessive and inappropriate immune responses seen in allergic disease may be related to dysfunction of various interleukin‐10 producing regulatory cell populations.
Randomized, controlled clinical trials in sepsis: Has methodological quality improved over time?

Objective To systematically evaluate the methodological quality of randomized clinical trials and to determine whether randomized clinical trials of sepsis improved in methodological quality over time. Data Sources Computerized MEDLINE search of articles published in any language from 1966 to 1998 combined with a manual search of bibliographies of published articles and communication with known experts in the field. Study Selection All randomized clinical trials of sepsis, severe sepsis, and septic shock performed in adults and published as full articles. Data Extraction Abstracts of all retrieved records were reviewed and the inclusion criteria were applied. All selected articles were classified into (a) trials designed to detect differences in mortality as the primary end point, or (b) trials focusing on surrogate outcome measures (i.e., physiological or biochemical parameters). All retrieved trials were then graded for methodological quality using an objective grading scheme developed specifically for this study. The data selection and extraction process was carried out independently by two of the authors; any disagreement was resolved by discussion. Data Synthesis Seventy-four randomized clinical trials involving septic patients qualified for inclusion in this study (40 reporting mortality outcomes, 34 reporting other surrogate outcomes). Trials reporting mortality as the primary outcome had significantly higher quality scores compared with trials reporting surrogate outcome measures (29.6 ± 1.0 vs. 24.3 ± 0.8, p = .0006). From 1976 to 1998, trial methodology improved significantly over time (an average of 0.36 points per year, p = .021). Mortality outcome trials improved an average of 0.58 points per year (p = .0011) whereas surrogate outcome trials did not demonstrate an improvement in methodological quality over time (p = .249). Conclusion The methodological limitations identified in this article can help to target further improvement in trial design to enhance the validity of findings from future randomized clinical trials of sepsis.
Modelling of system components for Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) and Vehicle-to-Home (V2H) applications with Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs)

In the coming years, Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs) will strongly penetrate in the car fleet. Currently, this theme represents an important area of research. In this paper, we proposed and make available all tools to conduct research on the impact of PHEVs on electric grids or to realize the energy management for Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) and Vehicle-to-Home (V2H) applications with PHEVs.
Terrain Roughness Assessment for High Speed UGV Navigation in Unknown Heterogeneous Terrains

This paper addresses the problem of determining the maximum allowable speed (V) of a vehicle traversing unknown off-road terrains. The calculated maximum speed achieves the fastest navigation without exceeding an allowable range of transmitted force (Fall) to the vehicle's frame. The proposed system enables the vehicle to transit between different terrains safely. The system's input are: (i) a 3D range image of the terrain and (ii) the vehicle's dimensions and characteristics (e.g., suspension parameters). First the terrain roughness is assessed; then the corresponding maximum allowable speed is calculated. In this paper a novel Roughness Index (RI) is used to represent the terrain roughness. This index is calculated based on the standard deviation of the terrain points' elevations (3D range image). A closed form expression of the maximum allowable vehicle speed is developed (as function of the vehicle's properties, Fall, RI, and probability of not exceeding Fall). The proposed system can be used as a driver assistant system to enhance the vehicle performance, increase its life time, and reduce the maintenance cost. In addition, it is a key module in Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGVs) navigation systems; as it provides the navigation system with necessary information for path and speed planning.
A discussion on the origin and solutions of hysteresis in perovskite hybrid solar cells

Although the record efficiencies of perovskite hybrid solar cells are gradually reaching the efficiency of crystalline Si solar cells, perovskite hybrid solar cells often exhibit significant current density–voltage (J–V) hysteresis with respect to the forward and reverse scan direction and scan rate. The origin of the J–V hysteresis of perovskite hybrid solar cells has not, to date, been clearly elucidated. Dielectric polarization by the ferroelectric properties of perovskite (i), the ionic motion/migration of perovskite materials (ii), and charge trapping and detrapping at trap sites by the unbalanced electron and hole flux (iii) are considered the possible origins of J–V hysteresis. Here, we reviewed the origin of the J–V hysteresis of perovskite solar cells from the above three points of view and we then suggest how one may reduce the J–V hysteresis with respect to the scan direction and scan rate.
Immunocytochemical Localization of Cytoplasmic and Nuclear Intermediate Filaments in the Bovine Ovary during Folliculogenesis

The cellular cytoskeleton is composed of three fibrillar systems, namely actin microfilaments, microtubules and intermediate filaments (IFs). It not only is a structural system, which mediates functional compartmentalization, but also contributes to many cellular processes such as transport, mitosis, secretion, formation of cell extensions, intercellular communication and apoptosis. In this study, we have examined the distribution of four groups of IFs [cytokeratins (CKs), vimentin, desmin and lamins] in the somatic and germinal cells of the bovine ovary using RT‐PCR and immunohistochemical techniques. Using RT‐PCR, specific transcripts for all intermediate proteins studied (CK8, CK18, desmin, vimentin, lamin A/C and lamin B1) were detected. A characteristic immunohistochemical staining pattern was observed for the different IFs within the ovary. In this study, we used antibodies against type I CK (acidic CKs: CK14, CK18 and CK19) and type II CK (basic CKs: CK5 and CK8). Among these, only antibodies against CK18 gave a characteristic pattern of immunostaining in the ovary, which included the surface epithelium, the follicle cells, the endothelium of blood vessels and rete ovarii. Antibodies against all other CKs resulted in a weak staining of a limited number of cellular structures (CK5 and CK19) or were completely negative (CK8 and CK14, apart from the surface epithelium). Vimentin antibodies resulted occasionally in a weak staining of the granulosa cells of primary and secondary follicles. In late secondary follicles, the basal and the most apical follicle cells contacting the zona pellucida usually showed a marked immunostaining for vimentin. In antral follicles, three different immunostaining patterns for vimentin were observed. Desmin immunostaining was confined to the smooth muscle cells of blood vessels. Although mRNA for lamin A/C and lamin B1 could be demonstrated using RT‐PCR, no immunostaining was found for lamins, neither in the follicle cells nor in the oocytes.
Legal Implications of Discrimination in Medical Practice

Recent medical studies have indicated that medical professionals discriminate in their treatment practices on the basis of race and gender. Among the many concerns stemming from this realization are questions about the possibility of legal actions and the availability of individual compensation for the denial of equal care. By meeting legal evidentiary standards, the recent statistical data pointing to discriminatory trends have created the potential for legal recourse through Title VI of the Civil Rights Act which prohibits recipients of federal funding from treating people differently on the basis of race or national origin.
Real-time wavefront reconstruction from intensity measurements

We propose an efficient approximation to the nonlinear phase diversity method for wavefront reconstruction from intensity measurements. The new method, iterative linear phase diversity (ILPD), assumes that the residual phase aberration is small and makes use of a first order Taylor expansion of the point spread function (PSF) performed for an arbitrary (large) diversity in order to optimize the phase retrieval. For static aberrations, ILPD makes use of two images collected at each iteration of the algorithm. In each step, the residual phase aberrations are estimated by solving a linear least squares problem, followed by the use of a deformable mirror to correct for the aberrations. A further contribution of the paper is the extension of the static ILPD to the case of dynamic wavefront reconstruction for which a computationally efficient H2 controller is presented.
Hepatitis B virus infection in schistosomiasis mansoni

Schistosomiasis and hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection are very common in Brazil but the interrelationships between the two infections are poorly understood. We have undertaken a detailed serological study of the prevalence of HBV markers in 189 Brazilian patients with chronic schistosomiasis mansoni, 46 with hepatointestinal (HIS) and 143 with hepatosplenic (HSS) schistosomiasis, 12 of the latter having decompensated liver disease (HSSD), and in 50 control patients. Sera were tested for HBsAg, anti-e, anti-HBc, anti-HBs and HBV-DNA. Eighty-three (44%) of the 189 schistosoma patients had at least one marker of HBV infection, 18 of whom (10%) were seropositive for HBsAg. All the controls were HBsAg negative, but ten (20%) had anti-HBc and anti-HBs. There was no significant difference in the frequency of these markers between HIS (14/46, 30.4%), HSSC (43/131, 34.5%), and the controls. Among the HBsAg-positive patients, one had HIS (HBV-DNA negative), seven had HSSC (one HBV-DNA positive) and ten had HSSD (six HBV-DNA positive), a significant association of HBV carriage with HSSD (P << 0.001). Mean (+/- SD) ALT values were significantly (P < 0.001) higher in HBsAg-positive HSSD patients (70.7 +/- 18 IU/liter) than in those with HSSC (29.5 +/- 15 IU/liter). Liver biopsies were performed in 12 HBsAg-positive patients (one with HIS, three with HSSC, and eight with HSSD) and in 50 HBsAg-negative HSSC patients. Seven of the eight HSSD patients had chronic active hepatitis with cirrhosis, and one had inactive cirrhosis. All three patients with HSSC and the one with HIS had chronic persistent hepatitis, with periportal fibrosis in three. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Features of the Circadian Clock in the Avian Pineal Gland

Abstract: The effects of different environmental factors on the circadian rhythm of melatonin release by chicken pineal glands were analyzed in 5‐day experiments in vitro. Periodic, brief 4‐h illumination at around midnight resulted in phase inversion in 2 days. Exposure to repeated 41°C temperature elevation at around midnight caused no phase shift in the basic melatonin rhythm. Repeated inversion of the polarity of the magnetic field also affected rhythmic melatonin release. Additionally, expressions of Per1, Per2, Per3, Bmal1, Bmal2, Clock, Cry1, and Cry2 clock genes were simultaneously detected in single chicken pineal glands.
Aplicação de algoritmos de Data Mining para a descoberta de conhecimento em bases de dados da Prova Brasil

A Prova Brasil e uma avaliacao que analisa alunos do 5o e 9o anos do ensino fundamental presentes nas escolas publicas. Esta avaliacao e composta da aplicacao de testes de Lingua Portuguesa e Matematica, bem como questionarios a alunos, professores e diretores [3]. Assim, as bases de dados que armazenam essas informacoes podem ser utilizadas para entender aspectos que possam influenciar no desempenho dos discentes. O presente trabalho objetiva aplicar o processo de descoberta de conhecimento em bancos de dados (KDD - Knowledge Discovery in Databases) relacionados Prova Brasil. Mais especificamente, procura-se descobrir relacoes entre as respostas dadas ao questionario pelos alunos e o desempenho obtido no teste de Matematica. A pesquisa focou nos dados do ano de 2013 referentes aos alunos do 9o ano residentes no Rio de Janeiro.
Risk of bacteremia for febrile young children in the post-Haemophilus influenzae type b era.

OBJECTIVES To determine the risk for bacteremia, in the post-Haemophilus influenzae type b era, in a prospective cohort of well-appearing febrile children 3 to 36 months of age with no obvious source of infection; and to compare the predictive abilities of objective criteria in identification of children with occult pneumococcal bacteremia from those at risk. DESIGN All children seen from 1993 through 1996, 3 to 36 months of age with a temperature of 39.0 degrees C or higher, no identified source of infection (except otitis media), and discharged to home were considered to be at risk for occult bacteremia and included in the study. SETTING Urban pediatric emergency department. RESULTS Of 199868 patient visits to the emergency department, 1911 children were considered to be at risk for occult bacteremia. Blood cultures were obtained from 9465 (79%). A total of 149 blood cultures contained pathogenic organisms, indicating a rate of occult bacteremia of 1.57% (95% confidence intervals: 1.32%-1.83%). White blood cell count and absolute neutrophil count were the best predictors for occult pneumococcal bacteremia. Using a white blood cell count cutoff value of 15 cells x 10(9)/L (sensitivity, 86%; specificity, 77%; and positive predictive value, 5.1%) would result in the treatment of approximately 19 nonbacteremic children for each bacteremic child treated. CONCLUSIONS The prevalence of occult bacteremia in children 3 to 36 months old with temperatures of 39.0 degrees C or higher and no obvious source of infection is 1.6%. The white blood cell and absolute neutrophil counts are the most accurate predictors of occult pneumococcal bacteremia and when available should be used if presumptive antibiotic therapy is being considered.
Effect of the tyrosine kinase inhibitor STI571 in a patient with a metastatic gastrointestinal stromal tumor.

Gastrointestinal stromal tumors are a group of mesenchymal neoplasms that arise from precursors of the connective-tissue cells of the gastrointestinal tract.1 They occur predominantly in middle-aged and older persons, and approximately 70 percent of the tumors are found in the stomach, 20 to 30 percent are found in the small intestine, and less than 10 percent are found elsewhere in the gastrointestinal tract.1 Recent studies have shown that cells in gastrointestinal stromal tumors express a growth factor receptor with tyrosine kinase activity termed c-kit. This receptor, the product of the proto-oncogene c-kit, can be detected by immunohistochemical staining for .
Extraction and presentation of access and usage data from an e-learning platform (moodle): Design and development of a software application

Educational data mining extracts and analyzes data from e-learning platform databases to address a series of questions regarding the quality and aiming at the optimization of the educational process. In this paper, a custom design software tool is presented. It is designed and developed to collect, extract and present data from an electronic course in the undergraduate curriculum of an Electronics Engineering Department, delivered through the moodle e-learning platform. Platform access and usage data by students are collected and presented in a user-friendly form, either in an individual or in a statistical basis, through a flexible modular user interface. The functionalities of this application allow for its smooth incorporation in a wider (educational) data mining framework, currently running in the same Department. The software application has been used in a pilot cycle in the spring semester of 2015–16; its functionalities have been subsequently adjusted and enriched according to the results. Formal evaluation is necessary, however, before putting it to regular use in the Department.
Packet loss visibility for higher resolution video on portable devices

After adjusting for coding gain between the H.264 and HEVC codecs, a comparison is made between the two codecs' robustness to packet loss. A counter-intuitive finding arises that the less efficient codec is less affected by packet loss than the more efficient codec, even at very low levels of packet loss. The findings will be of interest to those designing portable devices that can display up to 4kUHD video.
Stretch‐stimulated glucose uptake in skeletal muscle is mediated by reactive oxygen species and p38 MAP‐kinase

Alternatives to the canonical insulin‐stimulated pathway for glucose uptake are exercise‐ and exogenous reactive oxygen species (ROS)‐stimulated glucose uptake. We proposed a model wherein mechanical loading, i.e. stretch, stimulates production of ROS to activate AMP‐activated kinase (AMPK) to increase glucose uptake. Immunoblotting was used to measure protein phosphorylation; the fluorochrome probe 2′7′‐dichlorofluorescin diacetate was used to measure cytosolic oxidant activity and 2‐deoxy‐d[1,2‐3H]glucose was used to measure glucose uptake. The current studies demonstrate that stretch increases ROS, AMPKα phosphorylation and glucose transport in murine extensor digitorum longus (EDL) muscle (+121%, +164% and +184%, respectively; P < 0.05). We also demonstrate that stretch‐induced glucose uptake persists in transgenic mice expressing an inactive form of the AMPKα2 catalytic subunit in skeletal muscle (+173%; P < 0.05). MnTBAP, a superoxide dismutase (SOD) mimetic, N‐acteyl cysteine (NAC), a non‐specific antioxidant, ebselen, a glutathione mimetic, or combined SOD plus catalase (ROS‐selective scavengers) all decrease stretch‐stimulated glucose uptake (P < 0.05) without changing basal uptake (P > 0.16). We also demonstrate that stretch‐stimulated glucose uptake persists in the presence of the phosphatidylinositol 3‐kinase (PI3‐K) inhibitors wortmannin and LY294001 (P < 0.05) but is diminished by the p38‐MAPK inhibitors SB203580 and A304000 (P > 0.99). These data indicate that stretch‐stimulated glucose uptake in skeletal muscle is mediated by a ROS‐ and p38 MAPK‐dependent mechanism that appears to be AMPKα2‐ and PI3‐K‐independent.