Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Inward calcium currents in cultured and freshly isolated detrusor muscle cells: evidence of a T-type calcium current.

PURPOSE We carefully examined the possible routes of Ca2+ influx, and determined whether cultured cells retain Ca2+ channels and whether the culturing process changes their properties. MATERIALS AND METHODS Inward currents were measured under voltage clamp in freshly isolated cells and myocytes from confluent cell cultures of detrusor smooth muscle. RESULTS In guinea pig and human cells mean peak inward current density plus or minus standard deviation decreased significantly in cell culture (2.0 +/- 0.9 versus 4.5 +/- 2.2 pA.pF.(-1)) but there was no species variation. In primary cultured and passaged guinea pig cells an inward current was identified as L-type Ca2+ current. In freshly isolated cells another component to the inward current was identified that was insensitive to 20 micromol. l(-1) verapamil and 20 to 50 micromol. l(-1) cadmium chloride but abolished by 100 micromol. l(-1) nickel chloride and identified as T-type Ca2+ current. In addition, total inward current was greater at a holding potential of -100 than -40 mV. , also indicating a component of current activated at negative voltage. Steady state activation and inactivation curves of the net inward current were also compatible with a single component in cultured cells but a dual component in freshly isolated cells. The action potential was completely abolished in cultured cells by L-type Ca2+ channel blockers but incompletely so in freshly isolated cells. Outward current depended strongly on previous inward current, suggesting a predominant Ca2+ dependent outward current. CONCLUSIONS In freshly isolated guinea pig cells T and L-type Ca2+ current is present but T-type current is absent in confluent cultures.
Angiogenesis and prediction of sarcoma formation by plastic.

The capacity to induce new formation of capillaries was tested in cells attached to plastics. It is known that large plastic coverslips implanted s.c. in CBA mice produce sarcomas more rapidly and in a greater number than do small coverslips. We observed that within a few weeks after implantation the cells attached to the large coverslips showed an angiogenic capacity about 5-fold greater than that of the cells attached to the small coverslips. Months before a sarcoma was evident, angiogenesis induced by the cells attached to the large coverslips predicted the high risk of neoplastic transformation by large coverslips.
Affordance Judgments and Nonlocomotor Body Movement

In 2 experiments, participants made judgments of their own maximum sitting height. During judgments, participants stood normally or on 10 cm blocks attached to their feet. The blocks increased participants' actual maximum sitting height. For many participants, judgments changed over trials, becoming more accurate, despite the absence of practice at sitting, or feedback about judgment accuracy. Learning was observed not only when participants wore the blocks but also when they stood normally. In Experiment 2, we measured motion of the head and torso. We identified changes in body motion that corresponded to engagement in the judgment task: Across trials, sway variability was stable during judgments but increased during the intervals between judgments. Other changes in sway were limited to participants whose judgments improved over trials; that is, sway was specifically associated with learning about maximum sitting height. We discuss the results in the context of perception–action and the learning of affordances.
ANDaNA: Anonymous Named Data Networking Application

Content-centric networking -- also known as information-centric networking (ICN) -- shifts emphasis from hosts and interfaces (as in today's Internet) to data. Named data becomes addressable and routable, while locations that currently store that data become irrelevant to applications. Named Data Networking (NDN) is a large collaborative research effort that exemplifies the content-centric approach to networking. NDN has some innate privacy-friendly features, such as lack of source and destination addresses on packets. However, as discussed in this paper, NDN architecture prompts some privacy concerns mainly stemming from the semantic richness of names. We examine privacy-relevant characteristics of NDN and present an initial attempt to achieve communication privacy. Specifically, we design an NDN add-on tool, called ANDaNA, that borrows a number of features from Tor. As we demonstrate via experiments, it provides comparable anonymity with lower relative overhead.
The Queueing Network Analyzer

This paper describes the Queueing Network Analyzer (QNA), a software package developed at Bell Laboratories to calculate approximate congestion measures for a network of queues. The first version of QNA analyzes open networks of multiserver nodes with the first-come, first-served discipline and no capacity constraints. An important feature is that the external arrival processes need not be Poisson and the service-time distributions need not be exponential. Treating other kinds of variability is important. For example, with packet-switched communication networks we need to describe the congestion resulting from bursty traffic and the nearly constant service times of packets. The general approach in QNA is to approximately characterize the arrival processes by two or three parameters and then analyze the individual nodes separately. The first version of QNA uses two parameters to characterize the arrival processes and service times, one to describe the rate and the other to describe the variability. The nodes are then analyzed as standard GI/G/m queues partially characterized by the first two moments of the interarrival-time and service-time distributions. Congestion measures for the network as a whole are obtained by assuming as an approximation that the nodes are stochastically independent given the approximate flow parameters.
Studying optimal generator temperature of single effect NH3-H2O absorption refrigeration machine for ice-making

This paper present the coefficient of performance analysis of a NH3-H2O absorption refrigeration machine with the heat supply 3.76kW, cooling the 23% NaCl solution from the ambient temperature 30°C to -18°C. The working machine is controlled according to the different flow rates of the weak solution supplying the absorber. The fluctuation of the cooling capacity according to the NH3 refrigerant throttling to the evaporator which is observed. The absorption refrigeration machine simulation program is established for testing and evaluating the experimental data again to ensure the absorption refrigeration machine working correctly to the initial design. The operating temperature simulations of the machine are compared with other studies, the deviation are from 2 to 7% at the optimal coefficient of performance. Base on this basis, the correlation of optimal generation temperature with condensation, absorption and evaporation temperatures of the machine components are set into an equation presented in this paper.
Taming Aboriginal Sexuality: Gender, Power, and Race in British Columbia, 1850-1900

I n July 1996 I listened in a Vancouver court room as Catholic Bishop Hubert O'Conner defended himself against charges of having raped or indecently assaulted four young Aboriginal women three decades earlier. His assertion of ignorance when asked what one of the complainants had been wearing on the grounds that, "as you know, I'm a celibate man" encapsulated his certainty that he had done nothing wrong. He admitted to sexual relations with two of the women, but the inference was clear: they had made him do it. They had dragged him down and led him astray. The temptation exercised by their sexuality was too great for any mere man, even a priest and residential school principal, to resist. I returned home from that day, and subsequent days in the court room, deeply troubled. I might have been reading any of hundreds of similar accounts written over the past century and more about Aboriginal women in British Columbia. This essay represents my first attempt to come to terms with Bishop O'Conner and his predecessors, made more necessary on reading the National Parole Board's decision of March 1997. The Board denied Bishop O'Conner parole, subsequent to his conviction on two of the charges, because "your recent psychological assessment indicates that you hold your victims in contempt," and "at your hearing today . you maintain that. you
Democracy-Appealing Partisanship: A Situated Ideal of Citizenship

This study develops a context-grounded ideal about how citizens ought to communicate in legislative hearings about contentious issues. We begin with an overview of the dominant model of good citizen discourse, democratic deliberation, and argue why it is an inappropriate norm for public hearings in state legislative bodies. After overviewing grounded practical theory (GPT), the meta-theoretical approach used, and providing background on the demands of public meetings, we describe the public hearing that is the focal data. That hearing was the 18-hour, 2009 Hawaii hearing on a bill that proposed to recognize committed relationships of same-sex couples through civil unions. The analysis of citizen testimony evidences a discourse strategy, democracy-appealing partisanship, which speakers on both sides of the issue used to manage the challenges they confronted in speaking out. This strategy involved advocating strongly for one viewpoint as an appeal to either majority rule or minority rights and/or either freedom of religion or separation of church and state were made. In concluding, we describe the problem to which this strategy is responsive, justify the norm of democracy-appealing partisanship, and offer implications for future studies using GPT.
Anticoagulation management in primary care: a trial‐based economic evaluation

The demand for anticoagulation management is increasing because of a widening of the indications of treatment. A primary care clinic using near‐patient testing and computer decision support software is one model of care to meet this increased demand. The study aimed to determine the cost and cost‐effectiveness of primary care‐based anticoagulation management in comparison with ‘traditional’ hospital care‐based provision by means of a cost‐effectiveness analysis using data from a Birmingham‐based multicentre randomized controlled trial. The costs per patient per year in primary care were £170 [95% confidence interval (CI) £149–190] vs. £69 (95% CI £57–81). Sensitivity analysis demonstrated that the cost in primary care could be reduced to under £100 per patient per year under plausible changes in the variables. Primary care provides similar levels of control to secondary care for patients on anticoagulation therapy. There is an increased cost of managing patients in primary care and at no point did primary care become a lower cost option than secondary care. Local decision‐makers need to assess the increased cost of primary care anticoagulation management in terms of the potential reductions in high‐cost serious adverse events.
Urethral sphincter mechanism incompetence in male dogs – review

23 Summary: Urethral sphincter mechanism incompetence (USMI) is an uncommon urological disorder in male dogs. Affected animals maintain voluntary control of urination but leakage occurs at times when there is raised intra-abdominal pressure. USMI pathophysiology in male dogs is poorly understood. A diagnosis of USMI is made on the basis of the history and the elimination of other possible diagnoses. Phenylpropanolamine is the most effective medical treatment for USMI in male dogs. However androgens, estrogens and surgery may be required if the animal does not respond to standard medical treatment or if side effects develop.
Performance, rumen fermentation and blood metabolites of dairy calves fed starter mixtures supplemented with herbal plants, essential oils or monensin

This study evaluated the supplementation effects of three herbal plants (thyme [THY], eucalyptus [EUC] and celery [CEL]), a commercial phytogenic additive ‎containing essential oils (PFA-EO, Digestarom® P.E.P.) and monensin (MON) in calf starter on performance, rumen fermentation and blood metabolites during pre- (days 3-55) and post-weaning (days 56-70). Sixty-six Holstein dairy calves (3 days of age, 41.2 ± 3 kg of BW) were allocated to one of six starters supplemented with: (i) no additives (CON), (ii) MON (30 mg/kg), (iii) THY (23 g/kg), (iv) CEL (23 g/kg), (v) EUC (23 g/kg) and (vi) PFA-EO (3 g/kg). All the calves were offered starters ad libitum plus 6 L of whole milk daily. Starter intake tended to be the highest in calves fed PFA-EO and THY; intermediate in calves fed CON, MON and EUC; and the lowest in those fed CEL. Average daily gain (ADG) and feed efficiency (FE) remained unaffected by dietary treatments during the pre-weaning. During the post-weaning period, ADG and FE ‎were greatest in calves fed EUC followed by those fed CON, MON, PFA-EO and THY, and then in those fed CEL. No differences were observed among the treatments in skeletal growth, faecal score, rumen pH or ammonia-N concentration. Compared to calves fed CON and MON, those fed the herbal plants or PFA-EO tended to recorded higher molar proportions of acetate and butyrate, and the acetate: propionate ratio. Blood malondialdehyde level did not differ among treatments, but calves on CON had the highest glucose concentration, and those fed PFA-EO recorded the highest value for β-hydroxyl butyrate on day 70. In conclusion, the results indicate that the three herbs and PFA-EO are capable of modulating some of the rumen fermentation parameters and blood metabolites as well as eucalyptus could potentially be a better alternative to monensin for improving post-weaning performance.
SEN virus infection and the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma: a case-control study

OBJECTIVE:Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) are major risk factors for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The role of a novel DNA virus, designated SEN virus (SENV), in the etiology of liver cancer remains to be established. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between SENV infection and the risk of HCC by conducting a hospital-based, case–control study among Thai patients.METHODS:Eighty-six patients with HCC were enrolled and matched individually to a control according to sex, age (± 5 yr), and geographic background. The presences of HBV DNA, HCV RNA, and SENV DNA in stored serum samples were detected with the use of semi-nested polymerase chain reaction amplification.RESULTS:Individuals who were infected with SENV did not have increased risk of developing HCC (OR = 1.49, 95% CI = 0.50–4.42). In contrast, those who were positive for HBV markers (hepatitis B surface antigen and/or HBV DNA) or HCV markers (anti-HCV and/or HCV RNA) had significant risk for HCC (OR = 19.91, 95% CI = 8.26–47.98 and OR = 7.97, 95% CI = 2.15–29.54, respectively). Moreover, coinfection with SENV did not further increase the risk of HCC among patients infected with HBV and/or HCV.CONCLUSION:Our data suggest that, unlike chronic HBV or HCV infection, SENV infection is not a risk factor for developing HCC in Thai populations.
Effectiveness of Rituximab in Severe Wegener’s Granulomatosis: Report of Two Cases and Review of the Literature

We hereby describe the satisfactory evolution of rituximab treatment in two patients with Wegener’s granulomatosis (WG). Rituximab was indicated for refractoriness to standard treatment in one case and life-threatening myelotoxicity due to alkylating agents in the other. A brief review of previous experience with the use of rituximab in the treatment of WG is presented.
Steroid therapy is associated with decreased numbers of dendritic cells and fibroblasts, and increased numbers of satellite cells, in the dystrophic skeletal muscle

Background The possible therapeutic benefits of using steroids to enhance muscle strength and slow disease progression in Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) and Becker muscular dystrophy (BMD) has been examined previously. In this investigation, it was hypothesised that steroid therapy is associated with morphological changes in the dystrophic muscle. Objectives and methods To test this hypothesis, two muscle biopsies were obtained (one biopsy before treatment, and the second 6 months following prednisone therapy) from 24 patients with dystrophies (18 DMD, 6 BMD). The participants were categorised into: control (6 specimens, normal muscle), untreated and treated groups. The muscle was evaluated for ultrastructural changes using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Results In the untreated group, the muscle fibres were degenerated and of variable sizes. The myofibrils were thin with either complete loss of bands and/or abnormal banding patterns. The Z-lines were irregularly spaced and loosely registered. The mitochondria of the myofibrils were small, few, spherical and irregularly distributed. Numerous dendritic cells (DCs) with euchromatic nuclei, and multiple and long dendrites, were seen among the myofibrils. The collagen fibres among the muscle fibres (endomysium) were numerous and large. The satellite cells had euchromatic nuclei with clumps of heterochromatin. In the treated group, the muscle fibres had a relatively uniform size with occasional fibres showing partial degeneration. The myofibrils had a relatively similar diameter comparable to that of normal muscle . The degenerated areas were small in size with occasional foci showing loss of banding pattern, and abnormal short bands with thick and hazy Z-lines. The mitochondria of the myofibrils were numerous, spherical, small in size and regularly arranged between the myofibrils. Few DCs, with heterochromatic nuclei, and few and short dendrites appeared between the myofibrils. The collagen fibres between the muscle fibres (endomysium) were numerous and large. As compared with the treated group, there was a statistically significant increase (p<0.05) in the numbers of DCs (0.7±0.2 vs 1.6±0.3) and fibroblasts (1.9±0.2 vs 2.9 ±0.3) in the untreated group. Alternatively, there was a statistically significant decrease (p<0.05) in the numbers of satellite cells (1.2±0.2 vs 0.6±0.1). Conclusion The ability of steroids to induce ultrastructural features of improvement supports the notion that they have beneficial therapeutic role. The clinical ramifications of these observations mandate further studies.
Fermentation of undewatered cassava pulp by linamarase producing microorganisms : effect on nutritional composition and residual cyanide

The ability of microorganisms involved in the natural fermentation of cassava to produce linamarase for the breakdown of cyanogenic glucosides and also improve protein content during fermentation of grated undewatered cassava mash for gari production was studied. Alcaligenes faecalis, Lactobacillus plantarum, Leuconostoc cremoris and Geotrichum candidum were isolated from cassava waste water while standard analytical methods were used to monitor the fermentation for linamarin breakdown and cyanide production. The linamarase activity observed for the isolates ranged from 0. 0124μmol/mL/nmol (Geotrichum candidum) to 0. 2618μmol/mL/nmol (Leuconostoc cremoris). Linamarin decreased with increase in fermentation time and completely disappeared at 72h. The lowest value was observed at 48h by the mixed culture of bacteria (36mg HCN/kg). Residual cyanide increased during fermentation, however, there was no ordered pattern in the increase. The amount observed may have been as a result of the porosity of the mash. Total titrable acidity increased with increase in time of fermentation with the mash fermented by G. candidum having the highest value of 0.94% at the end of fermentation. Protein content of mash fermented by mixed culture of bacteria had the highest value (14.60 mg/g/dry matter). The raw cassava and the naturally fermented mash had 2.37 mg/g/dry matter and 3.20 mg/g/dry matter respectively. The carbohydrate content of the naturally fermented mash (80.50 mg/g/dry matter) was lower than the values obtained from the mashes fermented by the various isolates, however, its fibre content was highest (12.63 mg/g/dry matter). The use of pure cultures of these isolates significantly increased the protein content of the mashes, thus their use as starters in the fermentation process should be explored.
Short-Term Load Forecasting Based on a Semi-Parametric Additive Model

Short-term load forecasting is an essential instrument in power system planning, operation, and control. Many operating decisions are based on load forecasts, such as dispatch scheduling of generating capacity, reliability analysis, and maintenance planning for the generators. Overestimation of electricity demand will cause a conservative operation, which leads to the start-up of too many units or excessive energy purchase, thereby supplying an unnecessary level of reserve. On the other hand, underestimation may result in a risky operation, with insufficient preparation of spinning reserve, causing the system to operate in a vulnerable region to the disturbance. In this paper, semi-parametric additive models are proposed to estimate the relationships between demand and the driver variables. Specifically, the inputs for these models are calendar variables, lagged actual demand observations, and historical and forecast temperature traces for one or more sites in the target power system. In addition to point forecasts, prediction intervals are also estimated using a modified bootstrap method suitable for the complex seasonality seen in electricity demand data. The proposed methodology has been used to forecast the half-hourly electricity demand for up to seven days ahead for power systems in the Australian National Electricity Market. The performance of the methodology is validated via out-of-sample experiments with real data from the power system, as well as through on-site implementation by the system operator.
Clinical and Functional Characterization of URAT1 Variants

Idiopathic renal hypouricaemia is an inherited form of hypouricaemia, associated with abnormal renal handling of uric acid. There is excessive urinary wasting of uric acid resulting in hypouricaemia. Patients may be asymptomatic, but the persistent urinary abnormalities may manifest as renal stone disease, and hypouricaemia may manifest as exercise induced acute kidney injury. Here we have identified Macedonian and British patients with hypouricaemia, who presented with a variety of renal symptoms and signs including renal stone disease, hematuria, pyelonephritis and nephrocalcinosis. We have identified heterozygous missense mutations in SLC22A12 encoding the urate transporter protein URAT1 and correlate these genetic findings with functional characterization. Urate handling was determined using uptake experiments in HEK293 cells. This data highlights the importance of the URAT1 renal urate transporter in determining serum urate concentrations and the clinical phenotypes, including nephrolithiasis, that should prompt the clinician to suspect an inherited form of renal hypouricaemia.