Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Inhibition of hypertension by peripheral administration of antisense oligodeoxynucleotides.

We administered liposome-encapsulated antisense oligodeoxynucleotide targeted to angiotensinogen mRNA peripherally to spontaneously hypertensive rats to test whether peripheral angiotensinogen reduction would lower their hypertensive blood pressures and to determine the role of peripheral angiotensinogen in the modulation of hypertension. Using in vitro translation techniques, we tested the sequence specificity of the antisense sequence. The selected antisense sequence decreased angiotensinogen production in vitro, enabling us to distinguish between specific and nonspecific effects. To increase the efficiency of peripheral and hepatic antisense delivery, oligonucleotides were liposome encapsulated and intra-arterial administration. Confocal microscopy was used for determination of the hepatic distribution of fluorescently labeled antisense. Encapsulated antisense molecules were seen to be distributed within liver tissue 1 hour after injection; however, little or no uptake was observed with the unencapsulated oligonucleotides. We also determined the physiological effects of antisense oligodeoxynucleotide targeted to liver angiotensinogen mRNA. Administration of liposome-encapsulated antisense significantly decreased hypertensive blood pressures to normotensive levels compared with scrambled control oligonucleotides, unencapsulated antisense, and empty liposomes (P = .013). These data were supported by biochemical changes elicited by the antisense treatment. Rats receiving liposome-encapsulated antisense had significantly lowered peripheral angiotensinogen and angiotensin II levels compared with control groups (P < .05). No significant heart rate changes were observed in the antisense or control groups. These results suggest that peripheral angiotensinogen plays a role in the maintenance of hypertensive blood pressure in this model of hypertension and that peripheral administration of antisense molecules is possible with organ-targeted delivery mechanisms.
Effect of relative humidity and air temperature on survival of hepatitis A virus on environmental surfaces

Stainless steel disks (diameter, 1 cm) were contaminated with fecally suspended hepatitis A virus (HAV; strain HM-175) and held at low (25% +/- 5%), medium (55% +/- 5%), high (80% +/- 5%), or ultrahigh (95% +/- 5%) relative humidity (RH) at an air temperature of 5,20, or 35 degrees C. HAV survival was inversely proportional to the level of RH and temperature, and the half-lives of the virus ranged from greater than 7 days at the low RH and 5 degrees C to about 2 h at the ultrahigh RH and 35 degrees C. In parallel tests with fecally suspended Sabin poliovirus (PV) type 1 at the low and ultrahigh RH, all PV activity was lost within 4 h at the low RH whereas at the ultrahigh RH it remained detectable up to 12 h. HAV could therefore survive much better than PV on nonporous environmental surfaces. Moreover, the ability of HAV to survive better at low levels of RH is in direct contrast to the behavior of other enteroviruses. These findings should help in understanding the genesis of HAV outbreaks more clearly and in designing better measures for their control and prevention.
Analogues of discrete torsion for the M theory three form

In this article we shall outline a derivation of the analogue of discrete torsion for the M-theory three-form potential. We find that some of the differences between orbifold group actions on the C field are classified by H^3(G, U(1)). We also compute the phases that the low-energy effective action of a membrane on T^3 would see in the analogue of a twisted sector, and note that they are invariant under the obvious SL(3,Z) action.
Cataract-causing αAG98R-crystallin mutant dissociates into monomers having chaperone activity

Purpose The G98R mutation in αA-crystallin is associated with autosomal dominant cataract in humans. We have reported that mutant G98R protein has substrate-dependent chaperone activity. Further studies on this G98R mutant protein revealed that mutant protein shows reduced oligomeric stability and accelerated subunit dissociation at a low protein concentration. The purpose of present study was to investigate the chaperone function of dissociated subunits of αAG98R-crystallin. Methods Substitution of glycine with arginine at position 98 in human αA-crystallin was accomplished by site-directed mutagenesis. The recombinant protein was expressed in E . coli cells and purified by chromatographic techniques. Purified αAG98R-crystallin was diluted to a concentration of 0.1 mg/ml in 50 mM phosphate buffer containing 150 mM NaCl (pH 7.2) and incubated at 37 °C for 24 h. The monomeric subunits were isolated from the oligomers through 50 kDa cutoff filters. The monomers were analyzed by SDS–PAGE, mass spectrometry, and circular dichroism spectroscopy and characterized by multi-angle light-scattering methods. Chaperone activity was tested against four client proteins: citrate synthesis, alcohol dehydrogenate, bovine βB2-crystallin and ovotransferrin. Results Gel filtration studies showed that αAG98R-crystallin oligomers dissociate readily into monomers. Subunits of αAG98R-crystallin, isolated either by size exclusion chromatography or filtration showed chaperone activity against heat-denatured alcohol dehydrogenase, citrate synthase, bovine βB2-crystallin, and chemically denatured ovatransferrin. SDS–PAGE analysis of the mutant protein incubated at 37 °C for 12 days showed autolysis, which was confirmed by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI TOF MS/MS) analysis of αAG98R-crystallin fragments recovered after SDS–PAGE. Conclusions The present study shows that the G98R mutation in αA-crystallin produces unstable oligomers that dissociate into active chaperone subunits. The chaperone activity of the dissociated subunits against four client proteins suggests that the αA-crystallin subunits are the minimal units of chaperone activity.
Cyclooxygenase-independent down-regulation of multidrug resistance–associated protein-1 expression by celecoxib in human lung cancer cells

The recent finding of a link between cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and p-glycoprotein expression suggests that COX-2 is involved in the development of the multidrug resistance (MDR) phenotype. MDR-associated protein 1 (MRP1) is another major MDR-related protein that is frequently overexpressed in cancer patients, including those with lung cancer. Based on our observation that among four human epithelial lung cell lines both MRP1 and COX-2 protein were highly expressed only in A549 cells, we have investigated whether COX-2 regulates the expression of MRP1. The COX-2 inhibitor celecoxib down-regulated the expression of MRP1 protein in A549 cells, which was accompanied by increased accumulation and enhanced cytotoxicity of doxorubicin, an MRP1 substrate. However, enforced expression of COX-2 in human H460 lung carcinoma cell lines, which express minimal level of COX-2, did not cause enhancement in MRP1 expression. Celecoxib down-regulation of MRP1 was observed independent of COX-2 expression. Moreover, in COX-2-overexpressing cell lines, celecoxib down-regulation of MRP1 was observed only at a concentration far exceeding that required for inhibiting COX activity, and exogenous addition of prostaglandin E2 did not restore MRP1 expression. These results suggest that celecoxib down-regulates MRP1 expression in human lung cancer cells in a COX-independent manner. The use of celecoxib for adjuvant therapy in lung cancer patients may contribute to their decreased resistance to chemotherapeutic drugs transported by MRP1.
Syringomyelia in the Cavalier King Charles spaniel (CKCS) dog.

Syringomyelia (SM) is defined as a condition that results in the development of fluid-containing cavities within the parenchyma of the spinal cord as a consequence of abnormal cerebrospinal fluid movement through the foramen magnum (1). Although the exact etiology and pathogenesis are unknown, SM is thought to develop secondary to an obstruction of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) flow at the level of the foramen magnum (2). A cause of SM in veterinary medicine is a reduced volume of the caudal fossa secondary to an inappropriately small occipital bone (2,3). This malformation of the caudal fossa is known as a Chiari-like malformation (CM), a condition that appears similar to Chiari type I malformation in humans. Other documented etiologies causing SM in the dog include spinal trauma (4) and neoplasia in the region of the brainstem or foramen magnum (5,6). Recent data suggest that CM in the Cavalier King Charles spaniel (CKCS) is inherited (3,7). The incidence of CM in the CKCS breed is an estimated 95% and current studies suggest that SM is present in more than 50% of dogs with CM (7) with approximately 35% of affected dogs exhibiting clinical signs (2). Along with the CKCS breed, this condition has been reported in Pekingese dogs, Maltese terriers, miniature dachshunds, fox terriers, lhasa apsos, pomeranians, Yorkshire terriers, and a Samoyed dog (4,8–10). Occasionally, the presence of CM/SM is found as incidental findings while investigating another neurologic condition (11). The 2 following cases, recently presented to the Ontario Veterinary College Teaching Hospital, illustrate the variability in clinical signs that can be observed in dogs afflicted with CM/SM.
Time Related Changes of Mineral and Collagen and Their Roles in Cortical Bone Mechanics of Ovariectomized Rabbits

As cortical bone has a hierarchical structure, the macroscopic bone strength may be affected by the alterations of mineral crystal and collagen, which are main components of cortical bone. Limited studies focused on the time related alterations of these two components in osteoporosis, and their contributions to bone mechanics at tissue level and whole-bone level. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to elucidate the time related changes of mineral and collagen in cortical bone of ovariectomized (OVX) rabbits, and to relate these changes to cortical bone nanomechanics and macromechanics. 40 Rabbits (7-month-old) were randomly allocated into two groups (OVX and sham). OVX group received bilateral ovariectomy operation. Sham group received sham-OVX operation. Cortical bone quality of five rabbits in each group were assessed by DXA, μCT, nanoindentation, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and biomechanical tests (3-point bending of femoral midshaft) at pre-OVX, 4, 6, and 8 weeks after OVX. As time increased from pre-OVX to 8 weeks, the mineral to matrix ratio decreased with time, while both collagen crosslink ratio and crystallinity increased with time in OVX group. Elastic modulus and hardness measured by nanoindentation, whole-bone strength measured by biomechanical tests all decreased in OVX group with time. Bone material properties measured by FTIR correlated well with nano or whole-bone level mechanics. However, bone mineral density (BMD), structure, tissue-level and whole-bone mechanical properties did not change with age in sham group. Our study demonstrated that OVX could affect the tissue-level mechanics and bone strength of cortical bone. And this influence was attributed to the time related alterations of mineral and collagen properties, which may help us to design earlier interventions and more effective treatment strategies on osteoporosis.
Design and Development of Pico-hydro Generation System for Energy Storage Using Consuming Water Distributed to Houses

This paper describes the design and development of pico-hydro generation system using consuming water distributed to houses. Water flow in the domestic pipes has kinetic energy that potential to generate electricity for energy storage purposes in addition to the routine activities such as laundry, cook and bathe. The inherent water pressure and flow inside the pipe from utility's main tank that used for those usual activities is also used to rotate small scale hydro turbine to drive a generator for electrical power generation. Hence, this project is conducted to develop a small scale hydro generation system using consuming water distributed to houses as an alternative electrical energy source for residential use. Keywords—Alternative Energy, Energy storage, Permanent Magnet DC Generator, Pico-Hydro Generation System. I. INTRODUCTION HE Pico hydro is hydro power with a maximum electrical output of five kilowatts (5kW). Hydro power systems of this size benefit in terms of cost and simplicity from different approaches in the design, planning and installation than those which are applied to larger hydro power. Recent innovations in pico-hydro technology have made it an economic source of power even in some of the world's poorest and most inaccessible places. It is also a versatile power source. AC electricity can be produced enabling standard electrical appliances to be used. Common examples of devices which can be powered by pico-hydro are light bulbs, radio and televisions.
Effect of Palm Wine on Reproductive Functions in Male Albino Rats

Summary: Palm wine is the sap of a monocarpic crop, Rafia rafia, which is widely grown along the coast of West and Central Africa. Several studies have been reported on the effects of palm wine on fetal cerebral cortex, but due to scanty information on its effects on androgenical studies, reproduction. These studies were designed to investigate the effects of palm wine on testosterone levels and reproductive parameters in Wistar albino rats. Fresh 50% diluted palm wine was administered orally for 30 days for reproductive studies at the dose of 10 mL/kg BW. Distilled water (0.5 mL) served as control. Testosterone level was assayed using ELISA, semen analysis were done microscopically. Histological analysis of the testis, kidney and liver were also done. Data were analysed using Students’ t-test at p 0.05) increase in body weights of treated rats relative to control. Palm wine (10 mL/kg BW) caused significant decrease in testosterone level (0.12±0.02 ng/ml; relative to control 1.38±0.52 ng/mL). Palm wine (10 mL /kg BW) caused significant decrease in sperm counts, motility and viability, but no significant change in morphology. There were interstistial congestion and odema of the testes. These findings probably indicate that palm wine caused deleterious effects on the reproductive parameters in male albino rats.
Scalable Hardware Mechanisms for Superscalar Processors

of the Dissertation Scalable Hardware Mechanisms for Superscalar Processors by Steven Daniel Wallace Doctor of Philosophy in Electrical and Computer Engineering University of California, Irvine, 1997 Professor Nader Bagherzadeh, Chair Superscalar processors fetch and execute multiple instructions per cycle. As more instructions can be executed per cycle, an accurate and high bandwidth instruction fetching mechanism becomes increasingly important to performance. This dissertation describes and analyzes instruction fetching mechanisms using three different cache types: a simple cache, an extended cache, and a self-aligned cache. A mathematical model is developed for each cache technique, and performance is evaluated both in theory and in simulation using the SPEC95 suite of benchmarks. In all the techniques, the fetching performance is dramatically lower than ideal expectations. Prefetching can be used to increase performance. Nevertheless, single block fetching performance is fundamentally limited by control transfers. Thus, to overcome this limitation, multiple blocks must be fetched in a single cycle. Accurate branch prediction and instruction fetch prediction of a microprocessor are also critical to achieve high performance. In order to achieve a high fetching rate for wideissue superscalar processors, a scalable method to predict multiple branches per block of
A Blood Pressure Monitoring Method for Stroke Management

Blood pressure is one important risk factor for stroke prognosis. Therefore, continuous monitoring of blood pressure is crucial for preventing and predicting stroke. However, current blood pressure devices are mainly air-cuff based, which only can provide measurements intermittently. This study proposed a new blood pressure estimation method based on the pulse transit time to realize continuous monitoring. The proposed method integrated a linear model with a compensation algorithm. A calibration method was further developed to guarantee that the model was personalized for individuals. Variation and variability of pulse transit time were introduced to construct the compensation algorithm in the model. The proposed method was validated by the data collected from 30 healthy subjects, aged from 23 to 25 years old. By comparing the estimated value to the measurement from an oscillometry, the result showed that the mean error of the estimated blood pressure was −0.2 ± 2.4 mmHg and 0.5 ± 3.9 mmHg for systolic and diastolic blood pressure, respectively. In addition, the estimation performance of the proposed model is better than the linear model, especially for the diastolic blood pressure. The results indicate that the proposed method has promising potential to realize continuous blood pressure measurement.
Additive effect of dorzolamide on aqueous humor flow in patients receiving long-term treatment with timolol.

OBJECTIVE To determine the additive effect on aqueous humor flow of short-term dorzolamide treatment in patients with glaucoma receiving long-term treatment with timolol. SUBJECTS AND METHODS Thirty-nine patients with glaucoma, 19 at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn, and 20 at the University of Uppsala, Uppsala, Sweden, who had been receiving timolol treatment in both eyes for at least 1 year were studied. Aqueous flow was measured with fluorophotometry and intraocular pressure with tonometry. The effect of dorzolamide was compared with placebo when added to the long-term treatment regimen with timolol. RESULTS Dorzolamide reduced aqueous humor flow by 24% +/- 11% (mean +/- SD). The intraocular pressure as compared with placebo in the US cohort was reduced by 10% +/- 6% and in the Swedish cohort by 18% +/- 9%. CONCLUSIONS Dorzolamide, a carbonic anhydrase inhibitor, has additive effects as an ocular hypotensive agent with timolol, a beta-adrenergic antagonist, even though both drugs are suppressors of aqueous humor flow. Dorzolamide's effect on flow in these patients is the same as reported previously in normal subjects who are not taking a beta-adrenergic antagonist.
The quest for low-latency at both network edges : design, analysis, simulation and experiments. (La quête de latence faible sur les deux bords du réseau : conception, analyse, simulation et expériences)

Au cours de ces dernieres annees, les services Internet croissent considerablement ce qui cree beaucoup de nouveaux defis dans des scenarios varies. La performance globale du service depend a son tour de la performance des multiples segments de reseau. Nous etudions deux defis representatifs de conception dans differents segments : les deux les plus importants se trouvent sur les bords opposes la connectivite de bout en bout des chemins d’Internet, notamment, le reseau d’acces pour l’ utilisateur et le reseau de centre de donnees du fournisseur de services.
Using the piezoelectric backscatter signal for remote sensing of neural signals

USING THE PIEZOELECTRIC BACKSCATTER SIGNAL FOR REMOTE SENSING OF NEURAL SIGNALS by Eren Alay In recent studies, various methods to sense neural signals are used and new methods for remote sensing of neural signals are being developed. However, there are still major difficulties in building long-term implantable neural interface systems that can reliably record neural activity and serve as the basis of brain-machine interfaces (BMI). Therefore, this research is conducted to design a remote neural sensing system that is based on modulation of the backscatter signal from a piezoelectric element by the neural signals. The hypothesis is that if the neural signal is detected with a simple amplifier and the output of this amplifier is connected in parallel to a piezoelectric element, the backscattered signal from the piezoelectric element should be modulated by the neural signal amplitudes. To this end, the echo signal from the piezoelectric element is analyzed and the effect of a load resistor is demonstrated. And then, an electronic circuit to implement the modulation function is simulated on the computer and constructed. The experimental results support the main hypothesis of the project. USING THE PIEZOELECTRIC BACKSCATTER SIGNAL FOR REMOTE SENSING OF NEURAL SIGNALS
RNA-Mediated Gene Silencing Signals Are Not Graft Transmissible from the Rootstock to the Scion in Greenhouse-Grown Apple Plants Malus sp

RNA silencing describes the sequence specific degradation of RNA targets. Silencing is a non-cell autonomous event that is graft transmissible in different plant species. The present study is the first report on systemic acquired dsRNA-mediated gene silencing of transgenic and endogenous gene sequences in a woody plant like apple. Transgenic apple plants overexpressing a hairpin gene construct of the gusA reporter gene were produced. These plants were used as rootstocks and grafted with scions of the gusA overexpressing transgenic apple clone T355. After grafting, we observed a reduction of the gusA gene expression in T355 scions in vitro, but not in T355 scions grown in the greenhouse. Similar results were obtained after silencing of the endogenous Mdans gene in apple that is responsible for anthocyanin biosynthesis. Subsequently, we performed grafting experiments with Mdans silenced rootstocks and red leaf scions of TNR31-35 in order to evaluate graft transmitted silencing of the endogenous Mdans. The results obtained suggested a graft transmission of silencing signals in in vitro shoots. In contrast, no graft transmission of dsRNA-mediated gene silencing signals was detectable in greenhouse-grown plants and in plants grown in an insect protection tent.
Two‐phase trace‐driven simulation (TPTS): a fast multicore processor architecture simulation approach

Simulation is indispensable in computer architecture research. Researchers increasingly resort to detailed architecture simulators to identify performance bottlenecks, analyze interactions among different hardware and software components, and measure the impact of new design ideas on the system performance. However, the slow speed of conventional execution‐driven architecture simulators is a serious impediment to obtaining desirable research productivity. This paper describes a novel fast multicore processor architecture simulation framework called Two‐Phase Trace‐driven Simulation (TPTS), which splits detailed timing simulation into a trace generation phase and a trace simulation phase. Much of the simulation overhead caused by uninteresting architectural events is only incurred once during the cycle‐accurate simulation‐based trace generation phase and can be omitted in the repeated trace‐driven simulations. We report our experiences with tsim, an event‐driven multicore processor architecture simulator that models detailed memory hierarchy, interconnect, and coherence protocol based on the TPTS framework. By applying aggressive event filtering, tsim achieves an impressive simulation speed of 146 millions of simulated instructions per second, when running 16‐thread parallel applications. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.