Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Oxycodone‐induced tolerance to respiratory depression: reversal by ethanol, pregabalin and protein kinase C inhibition

Oxycodone, a prescription opioid, is a major drug of abuse, especially in the USA, and contributes significantly to opioid overdose deaths each year. Overdose deaths result primarily from respiratory depression. We have studied respiratory depression by oxycodone and have characterized how tolerance develops on prolonged exposure to the drug. We have investigated the role of PKC in maintaining tolerance and have examined whether ethanol or pregabalin reverses oxycodone‐induced tolerance.
Calibrated Prediction Intervals for Neural Network Regressors

Ongoing developments in neural network models are continually advancing the state-of-the-art in terms of system accuracy. However, the predicted labels should not be regarded as the only core output; also important is a well-calibrated estimate of the prediction uncertainty. Such estimates and their calibration are critical in many practical applications. Despite their obvious aforementioned advantage in relation to accuracy, contemporary neural networks can, generally, be regarded as poorly calibrated and as such do not produce reliable output probability estimates. Furthermore, while post-processing calibration solutions can be found in the relevant literature, these tend to be for systems performing classification. In this regard, we herein present two novel methods for acquiring calibrated predictions intervals for neural network regressors: empirical calibration and temperature scaling. In experiments using different regression tasks from the audio and computer vision domains, we find that both our proposed methods are indeed capable of producing calibrated prediction intervals for neural network regressors with any desired confidence level, a finding that is consistent across all datasets and neural network architectures we experimented with. In addition, we derive an additional practical recommendation for producing more accurate calibrated prediction intervals. We release the source code implementing our proposed methods for computing calibrated predicted intervals.
Analysis of the cold gas spraying process and determination of selected properties of metallic coatings on polymers

The aim of this Phd thesis was to analyze the possibility of metallization of polymers surface using a Low-Pressure Cold Gas spraying method. Two polymers substrate: polyamide 6 (Pa 6) and polycarbonate (PC) were investigated. The coatings were deposited using: tin, aluminium and copper powders. Within the framework of this work powders particles velocity and temperature was calculated during spraying process. The obtained particle velocity was compared to the critical velocity to select initial spraying conditions. Direct spraying on polymers substrate brought acceptable properties only for tin powder. Aluminium coatings delaminated spontaneously after spraying process. In case of copper powder deposition of continuous layer was impossible. Next, the influence of powder morphology, heat treatment of the feedstock material and the use of interlayers on the deposition process was investigated. Consequently, aluminium and copper coatings were obtained on both polymers. For a set of received coatings (Sn, Al, Cu) microstructure was observed and the results of adhesion, resistivity, micro-hardness, Young's modulus, and oxygen content in powders and coatings measurements were given. The bonding mechanism of the powder particles with substrate material was investigated using simulation of impact of copper and tin particle on polyamide substrate in Abaqus program. The simulation results were compared to experimental results. The dissertation was summed up with conclusion and possibilities of further research.
Standardization of extracellular vesicle measurements by flow cytometry through vesicle diameter approximation

Essentials Platelet extracellular vesicles (EVs) concentrations measured by flow cytometers are incomparable. A model is applied to convert ambiguous scatter units to EV diameter in nanometer. Most included flow cytometers lack the sensitivity to detect EVs of 600 nm and smaller. The model outperforms polystyrene beads for comparability of platelet EV concentrations.
Isotopic exchange on solid‐phase micro extraction fiber in sediment under stagnant conditions: Implications for field application of performance reference compound calibration

An overlooked issue for field application of in situ performance reference compound (PRC) calibration methods is the validity of the assumption that both the sorption of a target compound and desorption of its corresponding PRC follow the first‐order kinetics with the same rate constants under stagnant conditions. In the present study, disposable polydimethylsiloxane fibers of 2 sizes (7 and 35 µm) impregnated with 8 13C‐labeled or deuterated PRCs were statically deployed into different marine sediments, from which the kinetics for sorption of the target compounds and desorption of the PRCs were characterized. Nonsymmetrical profiles were observed for exchange of the target analytes and their corresponding PRCs in sediment under stagnant conditions. The hysteretic desorption of PRCs in the kinetic regime may be ascribed to the low chemical potential between the fiber and sediment porewater, which reflects the inability of water molecules to rapidly diffuse through sediment to solvate the PRCs in the aqueous layer around the fiber surface. A moderate correlation (r = 0.77 and r = 0.57, p < 0.05 for both regressions) between the PRC‐calibrated equilibrium concentrations of 1,1‐dichloro‐2,2‐bis‐(chlorophenyl) ethylene (p,p′‐DDE) and polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB)‐153 and the lipid normalized levels in worms (Neanthes arenaceodentata) was obtained in co‐exposure tests under simulating field conditions, probably resulting from slightly overestimated bioavailability because of the hysteretic desorption of PRCs and toxic effects. Environ Toxicol Chem 2016;35:1978–1985. © 2015 SETAC
Using the Multilingual Central Repository for Graph-Based Word Sense Disambiguation

This paper presents the results of a graph-based method for performing knowledge-based Word Sense Disambiguation (WSD). The technique exploits the structural properties of the graph underlying the chosen knowledge base. The method is general, in the sense that it is not tied to any particular knowledge base, but in this work we have applied it to the Multilingual Central Repository (MCR). The evaluation has been performed on the Senseval-3 all-words task. The main contributions of the paper are twofold: (1) We have evaluated the separate and combined performance of each type of relation in the MCR, and thus indirectly validated the contents of the MCR and their potential for WSD. (2) We obtain state-of-the-art results, and in fact yield the best results that can be obtained using publicly available data.
Exosomes secreted by hypoxic cardiosphere‐derived cells enhance tube formation and increase pro‐angiogenic miRNA

Exosomes are required for the regenerative effects of human cardiosphere‐derived cells (CDCs). Studies show that they mimic the cardioprotective benefits of CDCs in rodents and porcine myocardial infarction (MI) models. Hypoxic preconditioning of stem cells increases the cardioprotective effects of exosomes in MI models by enhancing angiogenesis. Several exosomal microRNAs (miRNAs) up‐regulate in response to hypoxia and play a role in cardioprotective and pro‐angiogenic effects. In this study, we have demonstrated that human CDCs secreted exosomes under hypoxic conditions (1% O2 for 2 days) enhanced tube formation by human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) at a concentration of 25 µg/mL. Pro‐angiogenic exosomal miRNAs including miR‐126, miR‐130a, and miR‐210 showed a substantial increase (>2‐, >2‐, and >4‐fold, respectively) in the hypoxic exosomes compared to normoxic CDC‐derived exosomes. Our study suggested a significant benefit of hypoxic CDC exosomes for the treatment of cardiac diseases by induction of angiogenesis via enrichment of pro‐angiogenic exosomal miRNAs.
POWER AND POLITICS

Once you have thoroughly revised this topic, answer the following exam-style question, using the notes provided for guidance. Depending on how confident you feel, you can either answer the question using your notes and textbook, or you can try to answer it under timed conditions — allow a maximum of 50 minutes — with just your own knowledge. Question ‘Over the past 30 years, there have been significant changes in both voting behaviour and other forms of political participation. ’ To what extent is this view supported by sociological arguments and evidence? Guidance There are some important things about this question that you need to consider from the start: The time period — 30 years will be an approximate time period, so you should think about the period from around 1980 to the present. Don’t waste time writing at length about other periods, although you may wish to bring in some information from before the 1980s in order to make valid comparisons. The political behaviour — note that this is not just about voting behaviour. You should also write about ‘other forms of political participation’. You should also consider the word ‘significant’. Sociological arguments — what do various sociologists say about why this is happening — or why it is not? Sociological evidence — what needs to be considered as evidence to support or refute the view expressed in the question? This is an opportunity for you to display relevant knowledge, especially about recent or current events and trends.
Magnetic charge model for 3D MMM signals

Stress concentration is a major cause of metal structure failures. Based on the metal magnetic memory (MMM) technique, detailed information of stress concentration or defects on ferromagnetic materials can be obtained from the changed magnetic signals. The magnetic charge model of MMM signal is described, and simulations based on this model are performed for a sample with stress-concentration zone or a long elliptical defect. Some basic characteristics produced by present model are coincident with existed experimental measurements. The agreements between simulations and experimental results confirm that the present magnetic charge model can be used as an MMM signal forward technique.
Role of the potassium/lysine cationic center in catalysis and functional asymmetry in membrane-bound pyrophosphatases.

Membrane-bound pyrophosphatases (mPPases), which couple pyrophosphate hydrolysis to transmembrane transport of H+ and/or Na+ ions, are divided into K+,Na+-independent, Na+-regulated, and K+-dependent families. The first two families include H+-transporting mPPases (H+-PPases), whereas the last family comprises one Na+-transporting, two Na+- and H+-transporting subfamilies (Na+-PPases and Na+,H+-PPases, respectively), and three H+-transporting subfamilies. Earlier studies of the few available model mPPases suggested that K+ binds to a site located adjacent to the pyrophosphate-binding site, but is substituted by the ε-amino group of an evolutionarily acquired lysine residue in the K+-independent mPPases. Here, we performed a systematic analysis of the K+/Lys cationic center across all mPPase subfamilies. An Ala → Lys replacement in K+-dependent mPPases abolished the K+ dependence of hydrolysis and transport activities and decreased these activities close to the level (4-7%) observed for wild-type enzymes in the absence of monovalent cations. In contrast, a Lys → Ala replacement in K+,Na+-independent mPPases conferred partial K+ dependence on the enzyme by unmasking an otherwise conserved K+-binding site. Na+ could partially replace K+ as an activator of K+-dependent mPPases and the Lys → Ala variants of K+,Na+-independent mPPases. Finally, we found that all mPPases were inhibited by excess substrate, suggesting strong negative co-operativity of active site functioning in these homodimeric enzymes; moreover, the K+/Lys center was identified as part of the mechanism underlying this effect. These findings suggest that the mPPase homodimer possesses an asymmetry of active site performance that may be an ancient prototype of the rotational binding-change mechanism of F-type ATPases.
On the possabilities to enhance the fatigue properties of ultrafine-grained metals

Abstract Cyclic deformation behaviour of ultrafine-grained (UFG) materials processed by severe plastic deformation is reviewed in the light of possabilities to enhance the fatigue properties of UFG materaals. Based on the well-known laws from Coffin-Manson and Basquin the fatigue behaviour of UFG materaals for both, the low-cycle fatigue as well as the high-cycle fatigue regimes, are analyzed. The beneficial effects of an annealing heat treatment or a back-pressure modified equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) technique on the fatigue behaviour of UFG materials are demonstrated and critically discussed. In particular, the positive influence of an annealing heat treatment on the fatigue behaviour is explained in terms of an improved cyclic stability of the microstructure after ECAP and of an enhanced ductility. A back-pressure modified ECAP technique was used in order to achieve a ultrafine-grained, high-strength material with increased ductility, which itself is related to a combination of crystallograph.
Adopting Semantic Information of Grayscale Radiographs for Image Classification and Retrieval

As the number of digital medical images taken daily rapidly increases, manual annotation is impractical, time-consuming and prone to errors. Hence, there is need to create systems that automatically classify and annotate medical images. The aim of this presented work is to utilize Transfer Learning to generate image keywords, which are substituted as text representation for medical image classification and retrieval tasks. Text preprocessing methods such as detection and removal of compound figure delimiters, stop-words, special characters and word stemming are applied before training the keyword generation model. All images are visually represented using Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) and the Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) based Recurrent Neural Network (RNN) Show-and-Tell model is adopted for keyword generation. To improve model performance, a second training phase is initiated, where parameters are fine-tuned using the pre-trained deep learning network Inception-ResNet-V2. For the image classification tasks, Random Forest models trained with Bag-of-Keypoints visual representations were adopted. Classification prediction accuracy was higher for all classification schemes and on two distinct radiology image datasets using the proposed approach.
Ankyrin Repeat Domain 1 Protein: A Functionally Pleiotropic Protein with Cardiac Biomarker Potential

The ankyrin repeat domain 1 (ANKRD1) protein is a cardiac-specific stress-response protein that is part of the muscle ankyrin repeat protein family. ANKRD1 is functionally pleiotropic, playing pivotal roles in transcriptional regulation, sarcomere assembly and mechano-sensing in the heart. Importantly, cardiac ANKRD1 has been shown to be highly induced in various cardiomyopathies and in heart failure, although it is still unclear what impact this may have on the pathophysiology of heart failure. This review aims at highlighting the known properties, functions and regulation of ANKRD1, with focus on the underlying mechanisms that may be involved. The current views on the actions of ANKRD1 in cardiovascular disease and its utility as a candidate cardiac biomarker with diagnostic and/or prognostic potential are also discussed. More studies of ANKRD1 are warranted to obtain deeper functional insights into this molecule to allow assessment of its potential clinical applications as a diagnostic or prognostic marker and/or as a possible therapeutic target.
High expression of glutamate‐ammonia ligase is associated with unfavorable prognosis in patients with ovarian cancer

Glutamate‐ammonia ligase (GLUL), which is also called GS (glutamine synthetase), is the enzyme that catalyzes the synthesis of glutamine from glutamate and ammonia in an ATP‐dependent reaction. Here, we found higher expression of GLUL in the ovarian cancer patients was associated with worse disease‐free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS). In addition, GLUL was heterogeneously expressed in various ovarian cancer cells. The mRNA and protein expression levels of GLUL in NIH:OVCAR‐3 and ES‐2 cells were obviously higher than that in the other types of ovarian cancer cells. Knockdown of GLUL in NIH:OVCAR‐3 or ES‐2 cells could significantly decrease the proliferation ability. Furthermore, GLUL knockdown markedly inhibited the p38 MAPK signaling pathway in NIH:OVCAR‐3 or ES‐2 cells. Our findings suggest that decreasing expression of GLUL may be a new approach that can be used for ovarian cancer treatment.
Atmospheric greenhouse gases retrieved from SCIAMACHY: comparison to ground-based FTS measurements and model results

Abstract. SCIAMACHY onboard ENVISAT (launched in 2002) enables the retrieval of global long-term column-averaged dry air mole fractions of the two most important anthropogenic greenhouse gases carbon dioxide and methane (denoted XCO2 and XCH4). In order to assess the quality of the greenhouse gas data obtained with the recently introduced v2 of the scientific retrieval algorithm WFM-DOAS, we present validations with ground-based Fourier Transform Spectrometer (FTS) measurements and comparisons with model results at eight Total Carbon Column Observing Network (TCCON) sites providing realistic error estimates of the satellite data. Such validation is a prerequisite to assess the suitability of data sets for their use in inverse modelling. It is shown that there are generally no significant differences between the carbon dioxide annual increases of SCIAMACHY and the assimilation system CarbonTracker (2.00 p 0.16 ppm yr−1 compared to 1.94 p 0.03 ppm yr−1 on global average). The XCO2 seasonal cycle amplitudes derived from SCIAMACHY are typically larger than those from TCCON which are in turn larger than those from CarbonTracker. The absolute values of the northern hemispheric TCCON seasonal cycle amplitudes are closer to SCIAMACHY than to CarbonTracker and the corresponding differences are not significant when compared with SCIAMACHY, whereas they can be significant for a subset of the analysed TCCON sites when compared with CarbonTracker. At Darwin we find discrepancies of the seasonal cycle derived from SCIAMACHY compared to the other data sets which can probably be ascribed to occurrences of undetected thin clouds. Based on the comparison with the reference data, we conclude that the carbon dioxide data set can be characterised by a regional relative precision (mean standard deviation of the differences) of about 2.2 ppm and a relative accuracy (standard deviation of the mean differences) of 1.1–1.2 ppm for monthly average composites within a radius of 500 km. For methane, prior to November 2005, the regional relative precision amounts to 12 ppb and the relative accuracy is about 3 ppb for monthly composite averages within the same radius. The loss of some spectral detector pixels results in a degradation of performance thereafter in the spectral range currently used for the methane column retrieval. This leads to larger scatter and lower XCH4 values are retrieved in the tropics for the subsequent time period degrading the relative accuracy. As a result, the overall relative precision is estimated to be 17 ppb and the relative accuracy is in the range of about 10–20 ppb for monthly averages within a radius of 500 km. The derived estimates show that the SCIAMACHY XCH4 data set before November 2005 is suitable for regional source/sink determination and regional-scale flux uncertainty reduction via inverse modelling worldwide. In addition, the XCO2 monthly data potentially provide valuable information in continental regions, where there is sparse sampling by surface flask measurements.
The creation and selection of mutations resistant to a gene drive over multiple generations in the malaria mosquito

Gene drives have enormous potential for the control of insect populations of medical and agricultural relevance. By preferentially biasing their own inheritance gene drives can rapidly introduce genetic traits even if these confer a negative fitness on the population. We have recently developed gene drives based on a CRISPR nuclease construct that is designed to disrupt key genes essential for female fertility in the malaria mosquito. The construct copies itself and the associated genetic disruption from one homologous chromosome to another during gamete formation, in a process called homing that ensures the majority of offspring inherit the drive. Such drives have the potential to cause long-lasting, sustainable population suppression though they are also expected to impose a large selection pressure for resistance in the mosquito. One of these population suppression gene drives showed rapid invasion of a caged population over 4 generations, establishing proof of principle for this technology. In order to assess the potential for the emergence of resistance to the gene drive in this population we allowed it to run for 25 generations and monitored the frequency of the gene drive over time. Following the initial increase of the gene drive we noticed a gradual decrease in its frequency that was accompanied emergence of small, nuclease-induced mutations at the target gene that are resistant to further cleavage and restore its functionality. Such mutations show rates of increase consistent with positive selection in the face of the gene drive. Our findings represent the first documented example of selection for resistance to a synthetic gene drive and lead to important design recommendations and considerations in order to mitigate for resistance for future gene drive applications.
Mechanical and Morphological Properties of Meranti Wood Flour Filled Polypropylene Composites

Wood plastic composites (WPC) have been produced by compounding meranti wood flour (WF) with polypropylene (PP) copolymer using a twin-screw extruder. The meranti WF content was varied from 30 to 60 wt. %. The mechanical properties, i.e. tensile, flexural and impact of the composites were determined on injection-molded specimens. The tensile fractured surfaces were used to study the morphological properties of the composites. The result shows that the increment in WF content has given a significant improvement in modulus properties but at the expense of strength and toughness properties. A commercial maleic anhydride grafted polypropylene (MAPP) compatibilizer at 5 wt. % was incorporated into the PP40/WF60 formulation. The strength, stiffness and toughness properties were improved significantly in the presence of MAPP. The morphology of the composites was studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The improvement of the fibre-matrix adhesion between the WF and PP matrix as revealed by SEM is believed to be one of the major reasons for the improved mechanical properties.
First report of the in vitro antileishmanial properties of extremophile plants from the Algarve Coast

Abstract This work reports for the first time the in vitro anti Leishmania infantum activity of acetone and dichloromethane (DCM) extracts from 25 extremophile plants from Southern Portugal. DCM extracts from Inula chritmoides and Spergularia rubra were active against axenic promastigotes and intracellular amastigotes, had anti-inflammatory properties on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated macrophages, inhibited acetylcholinesterase and had no haemolytic activity on human erythrocytes. Eleven phenolics were identified by high-performance liquid chromatography with diode-array detection (HPLC-DAD) in I. crithmoides and one phenolic in S. rubra. Isolation and identification of the active molecules is in progress.