Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Impact of Mitochondrial Ca2+-Sensitive Potassium (mBKCa) Channels in Sildenafil-Induced Cardioprotection in Rats

Background Mitochondrial large-conductance Ca2+-sensitive potassium (mBKCa) channels are involved in myocardial ischemic preconditioning. Their role in sildenafil-induced cardioprotection is unknown. We investigated whether sildenafil-induced acute cardioprotection is mediated by activation of mBKCa channels in the rat heart in vitro. Methods Male Wistar rats (n = 8 per group) were randomized and anesthetized with pentobarbital (90 mg/kg). Hearts were isolated, mounted on a Langendorff system and perfused with Krebs-Henseleit buffer at a constant pressure of 80 mmHg. Hearts underwent 30 min of global ischemia followed by 60 min of reperfusion. At the end of the experiments infarct size was determined by TTC staining. In the control group rats were not further treated. Sildenafil (3 μM) was administered over 10 min before the beginning of ischemia. The mBKCa channel inhibitor paxilline (1 μM) was administered with and without sildenafil before the onset of ischemia. The pathway underlying sildenafil-induced cardioprotection was further investigated with the protein kinase G blocker KT5823 (1 μM). Myocardial cGMP concentration was measured by ELISA. Data (mean±SD) were analysed with a one and two-way analysis of variance as appropriate. Results In control animals infarct size was 52±8%. Sildenafil increased cGMP concentration and reduced infarct size to 35±6% (P<0.05 vs. control). Paxilline and KT5823 completely blocked sildenafil-induced cardioprotection (paxilline+sildenafil: 50±8%, KT5823+sildenafil: 45±8%; both P<0.05 vs. sildenafil). Functional heart parameters and coronary flow were not different between the study groups. Conclusion This study shows that in male rats protein kinase G-dependent opening of mBKCa channels plays a pivotal role in sildenafil-induced cardioprotection.
Distress Reduction for Palliative Care Patients and Families With 5-Minute Mindful Breathing

A pilot study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of 5-minute mindful breathing in distress reduction. Twenty palliative care patients and family caregivers with a distress score ≥4 measured by the Distress Thermometer were recruited and randomly assigned to mindful breathing or “listening” (being listened to). Median distress reductions after 5 minutes were 2.5 for the mindful breathing group and 1.0 for the listening group. A significantly larger reduction in the distress score was observed in the mindful breathing group (Mann-Whitney U test: U = 8.0, n1 = n2 = 10, mean rank1 = 6.30, mean rank2 = 14.70, z = −3.208, P = .001). The 5-minute mindful breathing could be useful in distress reduction in palliative care.
HIV-1 Trans-Activator of Transcription Substitutes for Oxidative Signaling in Activation-Induced T Cell Death 1

Termination of an immune response requires elimination of activated T lymphocytes by activation-induced cell death (AICD). In AICD, CD95 (Apo-1/Fas) ligand (L) triggers apoptosis of CD95-positive activated T lymphocytes. In AIDS patients, AICD is strongly enhanced and accelerated. We and others have previously shown that HIV-1 trans-activator of transcription (HIV-1 Tat) sensitizes T cells toward CD95-mediated apoptosis and up-regulates CD95L expression by affecting the cellular redox balance. In this study, we show that it is hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) that functions as an essential second messenger in TCR signaling. The H2O2 signal combined with simultaneous calcium (Ca2+) influx into the cytosol constitutes the minimal requirement for induction of CD95L expression. Either signal alone is insufficient. We further show that HIV-1 Tat interferes with TCR signaling and induces a H2O2 signal. H2O2 generated by HIV-1 Tat combines with CD4-dependent calcium influx and causes massive T cell apoptosis. Thus, our data provide an explanation for CD4+ T lymphocyte depletion during progression of AIDS.
MytiLec, a Mussel R-Type Lectin, Interacts with Surface Glycan Gb3 on Burkitt’s Lymphoma Cells to Trigger Apoptosis through Multiple Pathways

MytiLec; a novel lectin isolated from the Mediterranean mussel (Mytilus galloprovincialis); shows strong binding affinity to globotriose (Gb3: Galα1-4Galβ1-4Glc). MytiLec revealed β-trefoil folding as also found in the ricin B-subunit type (R-type) lectin family, although the amino acid sequences were quite different. Classification of R-type lectin family members therefore needs to be based on conformation as well as on primary structure. MytiLec specifically killed Burkitt's lymphoma Ramos cells, which express Gb3. Fluorescein-labeling assay revealed that MytiLec was incorporated inside the cells. MytiLec treatment of Ramos cells resulted in activation of both classical MAPK/ extracellular signal-regulated kinase and extracellular signal-regulated kinase (MEK-ERK) and stress-activated (p38 kinase and JNK) Mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPK) pathways. In the cells, MytiLec treatment triggered expression of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α (a ligand of death receptor-dependent apoptosis) and activation of mitochondria-controlling caspase-9 (initiator caspase) and caspase-3 (activator caspase). Experiments using the specific MEK inhibitor U0126 showed that MytiLec-induced phosphorylation of the MEK-ERK pathway up-regulated expression of the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p21, leading to cell cycle arrest and TNF-α production. Activation of caspase-3 by MytiLec appeared to be regulated by multiple different pathways. Our findings, taken together, indicate that the novel R-type lectin MytiLec initiates programmed cell death of Burkitt’s lymphoma cells through multiple pathways (MAPK cascade, death receptor signaling; caspase activation) based on interaction of the lectin with Gb3-containing glycosphingolipid-enriched microdomains on the cell surface.
Empirical challenges and solutions in construction of a high-performance metasearch engine

Purpose – This paper seeks to disclose the important role of missing documents, broken links and duplicate items in the results merging process of a metasearch engine in detail. It aims to investigate some related practical challenges and proposes some solutions. The study also aims to employ these solutions to improve an existing model for results aggregation.Design/methodology/approach – This research measures the amount of an increase in retrieval effectiveness of an existing results merging model that is obtained as a result of the proposed improvements. The 50 queries of the 2002 TREC web track were employed as a standard test collection based on a snapshot of the worldwide web to explore and evaluate the retrieval effectiveness of the suggested method. Three popular web search engines (Ask, Bing and Google) as the underlying resources of metasearch engines were selected. Each of the 50 queries was passed to all three search engines. For each query the top ten non‐sponsored results of each search eng.
Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo of the anterior semicircular canal: Atypical clinical findings and possible underlying mechanisms

Anterior semicircular canal (ASC) lithiasis is uncommon and usually self-treated. In the rare cases when such patients seek medical advice, diagnosis requires careful consideration of the patient's symptoms and the clinical characteristics of the nystagmus triggered by the Dix-Hallpike (D-H) examination. In this study, two atypical cases of ASC benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) are presented and the relevant literature is reviewed. Regardless of their unique symptoms, both participants in this study were diagnosed with lithiasis of the left ASC. The clinical manifestations of ASC BPPV may differ significantly from typical symptoms seen in the more common posterior semicircular canal BPPV. The possible mechanisms responsible for this intriguing variance, as well as guidelines for diagnosing the affected side, are discussed.
Habitat dynamics, marine reserve status, and the decline and recovery of coral reef fish communities

Severe climatic disturbance events often have major impacts on coral reef communities, generating cycles of decline and recovery, and in some extreme cases, community-level phase shifts from coral-to algal-dominated states. Benthic habitat changes directly affect reef fish communities, with low coral cover usually associated with low fish diversity and abundance. No-take marine reserves (NTRs) are widely advocated for conserving biodiversity and enhancing the sustainability of exploited fish populations. Numerous studies have documented positive ecological and socio-economic benefits of NTRs; however, the ability of NTRs to ameliorate the effects of acute disturbances on coral reefs has seldom been investigated. Here, we test these factors by tracking the dynamics of benthic and fish communities, including the important fishery species, coral trout (Plectropomus spp.), over 8 years in both NTRs and fished areas in the Keppel Island group, Great Barrier Reef, Australia. Two major disturbances impacted the reefs during the monitoring period, a coral bleaching event in 2006 and a freshwater flood plume in 2011. Both disturbances generated significant declines in coral cover and habitat complexity, with subsequent declines in fish abundance and diversity, and pronounced shifts in fish assemblage structure. Coral trout density also declined in response to the loss of live coral, however, the approximately 2:1 density ratio between NTRs and fished zones was maintained over time. The only post-disturbance refuges for coral trout spawning stocks were within the NTRs that escaped the worst effects of the disturbances. Although NTRs had little discernible effect on the temporal dynamics of benthic or fish communities, it was evident that the post-disturbance refuges for coral trout spawning stocks within some NTRs may be critically important to regional-scale population persistence and recovery.
Real Time 3D-Handwritten Character and Gesture Recognition for Smartphone

This Paper presents two different models for smartphone based 3D-handwritten character and gesture recognition. Smartphones available today are equipped with inbuilt sensors like accelerometer, gyroscope, and gravity sensor, which are able to provide data on motion of the device in 3D space. The sensor readings are easily accessible through native operating system provided by the smartphone. The accelerometer and gyroscope sensors data have been used in the models to make the systems more expressive and to disambiguate recognition. The acceleration generated by the hand motions are generated by the 3-axes accelerometer present in smartphone. Data from gyroscope is used to obtain the quaternion rotation matrix, which is used to remove the tilting and inclination offset. An automatic segmentation algorithm is implemented to identify individual gesture or character in a sequence. First model is based on training and evaluation mode, while second one is based on training-less algorithm. The recognition models as presented in this paper can be used for both user dependent and user independent 3d-character and gesture recognition. Results shows that, Model I gives an efficient recognition rate ranging from 90% to 94% obtained with minimal training sequence, while the Model II gives a recognition rate of 88%.
Meanings of People’s Lived Experiences of Surviving an Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest, 1 Month After the Event

Background:The out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) survival rate has been poor and stable for a long time, but more recent studies describe its increase. However, there are few studies in which people narrate their experiences from surviving. Objective:The aim of this study was to elucidate meanings of people’s lived experiences of surviving an OHCA with validated myocardial infarction (MI) etiology, 1 month after the event. Methods:A purposive sample of 2 women and 9 men was interviewed between February 2011 and May 2012. A phenomenological hermeneutical method was used for analysis, which involved 3 steps: naive reading and understanding, structural analysis, and comprehensive understanding. Results:There were 2 themes, (1) returning to life and (2) revaluing life, and five subthemes, (1a) waking up and missing the whole picture, (1b) realizing it was not time to die, (2a) wondering why and seeking explanations, (2b) feeling ambiguous in relations, and (2c) wondering whether life will be the same. All were constructed from the analysis. Conclusions:Surviving an OHCA with validated MI etiology meant waking up and realizing that one had experienced a cardiac arrest and had been resuscitated. These survivors had memory loss and a need to know what had happened during the time they were dead/unconscious. They searched for a reason why they experienced an MI and cardiac arrest and had gone from being “heart-healthy” to having a lifelong illness. They all had the experience of passing from life to death and back to life again. For the participants, these differences led to a revaluation of what is important in life.
Investigating the role of native propionyl‐CoA and methylmalonyl‐CoA metabolism on heterologous polyketide production in Escherichia coli

6‐Deoxyerythronolide B (6dEB) is the macrocyclic aglycone precursor of the antibiotic natural product erythromycin. Heterologous production of 6dEB in Escherichia coli was accomplished, in part, by designed over‐expression of a native prpE gene (encoding a propionyl‐CoA synthetase) and heterologous pcc genes (encoding a propionyl‐CoA carboxylase) to supply the needed propionyl‐CoA and (2S)‐methylmalonyl‐CoA biosynthetic substrates. Separate E. coli metabolism includes three enzymes, Sbm (a methylmalonyl‐CoA mutase), YgfG (a methylmalonyl‐CoA decarboxylase), and YgfH (a propionyl‐CoA:succinate CoA transferase), also involved in propionyl‐CoA and methylmalonyl‐CoA metabolism. In this study, the sbm, ygfG, and ygfH genes were individually deleted and over‐expressed to investigate their effect on heterologous 6dEB production. Our results indicate that the deletion and over‐expression of sbm did not influence 6dEB production; ygfG over‐expression reduced 6dEB production by fourfold while ygfH deletion increased 6dEB titers from 65 to 129 mg/L in shake flask experiments. It was also found that native E. coli metabolism could support 6dEB biosynthesis in the absence of exogenous propionate and the substrate provision pcc genes. Lastly, the effect of the ygfH deletion was tested in batch bioreactor cultures in which 6dEB titers improved from 206 to 527 mg/L. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2010; 105: 567–573. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Iccrts Coalition Command and Control in the Networked Era Agility in Networked Military Systems: a Simulation Experiment Topics: C2 Analysis, C2 Modeling and Simulation, Network-centric Metrics Agility in Networked Military Systems: a Simulation Experiment

This paper describes some extensions to our CAVALIER agent-based simulation system, a tool for studying the performance of networked military organisations. Specifically, we have improved event handling and added neural-network-based learning. The CAVALIER tool is intended for collaborative workshops in the style of Project Albert. To demonstrate this use, the paper describes in detail an experiment studying networking and agility. We also include a comparison with the MANA simulation tool from New Zealand. Our experiment illustrates several principles of networked operation, listed at the end of the paper: first, that agents require either early awareness of upcoming threats, or the ability to respond rapidly; second, that there is little benefit in networking if agents already have enough information, or if they do not have any information worth sharing; and third, that high-quality information creates a situation where motion causes risk, yet if this breeds risk averseness, overall mission success may suffer.
Methods for individualising factor VIII dosing in prophylaxis

Haemophilia A is a sex‐linked disorder characterised chiefly by recurrent, spontaneous joint and muscle bleedings resulting from deficiency of factor VIII (FVIII). Recurrent joint bleeds result in haemophilic arthropathy. Unless treated with factor replacement therapy, many patients with severe haemophilia become disabled. The first clinical evidence favouring prophylaxis originated from the studies in Sweden and the Netherlands in the 1960s. Later on, it was shown that prophylaxis could prevent arthropathy, if started early in life, or slow its progression in adults with established arthropathy. The optimal dosing of FVIII in long‐term prophylaxis has still not been determined, and there is growing evidence that the dose and frequency of FVIII should be individualised. We conducted a systematic search of PubMed to identify all relevant articles on FVIII prophylaxis in severe haemophilia A. We focused on articles with detailed information about individualisation of prophylaxis. Long‐term prophylaxis in haemophilia was introduced in Sweden in the late 1950s. However, standard prophylactic regimens may not be appropriate for all patients with severe haemophilia. Factors such as age, joint status, co‐morbidities and differences in pharmacokinetics lead to interindividual variation in factor requirement. Dose tailoring of FVIII by clinical outcome was first described in 1994. Since then, several dose‐finding studies questioned the necessity to maintain preinfusion levels of FVIII above 1%. Individualising prophylaxis by dose tailoring is now recommended. Each country should adopt policies for individualising prophylaxis in patients with severe haemophilia. This would lead to a better distribution of the available source of factor concentrates.
Preeclampsia and eclampsia incidence in the eastern anatolia region of Turkey: the effects of high altitude.

OBJECTIVE Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy remain a leading cause of maternal and perinatal mortality and morbidity. The purpose of this study was to determine the distribution map related to pregnancy toxicosis of provinces in our region and the effects of altitude on hemolysis, elevated liver enzymes, low platelets (HELLP) syndrome and eclampsia. MATERIALS AND METHODS Patients who were admitted to Atatürk University, Obstetrics and Gynecology Department with preeclampsia, eclampsia and a diagnosis of HELLP syndrome for the 5 years between1998-2002 were chosen. The birth rate was obtained from the health directorate of provinces in our area during the same period. Provinces were divided into two groups by altitude: less than and more than 1500 m above sea level. RESULTS The rates of HELLP syndrome and eclampsia diagnoses were 1.4 per 10.000 patients living above 1500 m altitude. However, this rate was 0.96 per 10.000 patients living below 1500 m altitude (p < 0.01). The highest rate of eclampsia and HELLP syndrome was seen in the Ardahan province, in 36 patients per 10,000 births, whereas the lowest rate was seen in the Iğdır province, 9.9 patients per 10,000 births. CONCLUSION Altitude contributes to occurrence of HELLP syndrome and eclampsia. Since the rate of pregnancy related hypertension is higher at high altitude, it is vital that these patients should be diagnosed during the early stages of the diseases in order to decrease complications.
Energy-Efficient Cellular Network Planning under Insufficient Cell Zooming

With rapid growth of cellular systems, energy consumption has become a critical issue. The existing cellular network planning is performance-oriented, whose objective is to satisfy peak traffic requirements, without too much considerations on energy efficiency. Unfortunately, real-world traffic profiles have indicated that in most time, most of the cells are in low utilization. Switching off certain cells in low traffic period for some time is proved energy-efficient. To switch off cells, remaining operating cells need to extend their coverage by cell zooming to guarantee service. However, such zooming might be insufficient, depending greatly on cell configurations. In this paper, we consider energy efficiency in cellular network planning. We introduce a new parameter for traffic estimation, which is low traffic time ratio τ . In order to switch off more cells for insufficient cell zooming, two solutions are feasible: to deploy smaller but more cells or to implement coverage extension technologies. We focus on former solution to determine cell configurations and propose an evaluation method to determine whether certain cell deployment is energy-efficient and how much energy it could save, compared with traditional planning. It is shown that when cell zooming ratio is reaching sufficient for certain switching-off scheme, deploying more cells could be more energy-efficient. Also, after exceeding the threshold, the larger the parameter τ is, the more energy-efficient our solution is.
Accuracy of the Compressed Sensing Accelerated 3D-FLAIR Sequence for the Detection of MS Plaques at 3T

Twenty-three patients with relapsing-remitting MS underwent both conventional 3D-FLAIR and compressed sensing 3D-FLAIR on a 3T scanner (reduction in scan time 1 minute 25 seconds, 27%; compressed sensing factor of 1.3). Two blinded readers independently evaluated both conventional and compressed sensing FLAIR for image quality and the number of MS lesions visible in the periventricular, intra-juxtacortical, infratentorial, and optic nerve regions. Image quality and the number of MS lesions detected by the readers were similar between the 2 FLAIR acquisitions. Almost perfect agreement was found between the two FLAIR acquisitions for total MS lesion count. The authors conclude that at 3T, and with a compressed sensing factor of 1.3, 3D-FLAIR is 27% faster and preserves diagnostic performance for the detection of MS plaques. BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The use of 3D FLAIR improves the detection of brain lesions in MS patients, but requires long acquisition times. Compressed sensing reduces acquisition time by using the sparsity of MR images to randomly undersample the k-space. Our aim was to compare the image quality and diagnostic performance of 3D-FLAIR with and without compressed sensing for the detection of multiple sclerosis lesions at 3T. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty-three patients with relapsing-remitting MS underwent both conventional 3D-FLAIR and compressed sensing 3D-FLAIR on a 3T scanner (reduction in scan time 1 minute 25 seconds, 27%; compressed sensing factor of 1.3). Two blinded readers independently evaluated both conventional and compressed sensing FLAIR for image quality (SNR and contrast-to-noise ratio) and the number of MS lesions visible in the periventricular, intra-juxtacortical, infratentorial, and optic nerve regions. The volume of white matter lesions was measured with automatic postprocessing segmentation software for each FLAIR sequence. RESULTS: Image quality and the number of MS lesions detected by the readers were similar between the 2 FLAIR acquisitions (P = .74 and P = .094, respectively). Almost perfect agreement was found between both FLAIR acquisitions for total MS lesion count (Lin concordance correlation coefficient = 0.99). Agreement between conventional and compressed sensing FLAIR was almost perfect for periventricular and infratentorial lesions and substantial for intrajuxtacortical and optic nerve lesions. Postprocessing with the segmentation software did not reveal a significant difference between conventional and compressed sensing FLAIR in total MS lesion volume (P = .63) or the number of MS lesions (P = .15). CONCLUSIONS: With a compressed sensing factor of 1.3, 3D-FLAIR is 27% faster and preserves diagnostic performance for the detection of MS plaques at 3T.