Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Spontaneous Sarcoplasmic Reticulum Calcium Release in Rat and Rabbit Cardiac Muscle: Relation to Transient and Rested‐State Twitch Tension

Scattered light intensity fluctuations (SLEF) (which monitor spontaneous Ca2+ release from the sarcoplasmic reticulum [SR]) and resting and twitch tension were measured during intervals after stimulation in rat and rabbit papillary muscles. For 1 to 5 seconds after stimulation of rat muscle bathed in 1.5 mM [Ca2+] (Cao), twitch and resting tension are depressed and SLIF are transiently abolished. SLIF and resting tension then recover simultaneously and monotonically but lag behind the restitution of twitch tension. In the absence of further stimulation, SLIF persist and the rested state twitch amplitude remains potentiated. When Cao is increased above 2.5 mM, the restitution of all parameters following stimulation is accelerated and becomes oscillatory; the lag of SLIF and resting tension restitution behind that of the twitch increases such that twitch amplitude increases, overshoots, and decreases to a nadir as SLIF and resting tension reach their initial maximum. In a given muscle, the maximum twitch amplitude occurs at approximately the same level of SLIF; when this level is exceeded, either transiently during monotonic or oscillatory recovery after stimulation in a given Cao or in the steady rested state by an increase in Cao, twitch tension decreases. Ryanodine (1 μM), caffeine (10 mM), or replacement of Cao with strontium abolishes SLIF and causes twitch amplitude to decay with rest. In contrast to rat, twitch amplitude in rabbit muscle bathed in physiological Cao decays with rest and SLIF are nonmeasurable at any interval following stimulation. When Cao is increased to 20 mM during rest, SLIF occur and the rest decay of the twitch is abolished. We interpret the parallel behavior of SLIF and rest potentiation to indicate that in the presence of SLIF, the average SR Ca2+ load within the tissue is high. Depolarization of a tissue exhibiting SLIF causes a large twitch but also a transient depletion of the average SR Ca2+ load. That the restitution of SLIF lags behind recovery of twitch amplitude suggests that the onset of spontaneous SR Ca2+ release requires a delay following SR Ca2+ replenishment. The simultaneous occurrence of spontaneous Ca2+ release in a sufficient number of cells places an upper limit on twitch amplitude either during recovery following stimulation or at rest.
A $\Delta{-}\Sigma$ PLL-Based Spread-Spectrum Clock Generator With a Ditherless Fractional Topology

A triangular-modulated spread-spectrum clock generator using a Delta-Sigma-modulated fractional-N phase-locked loop (PLL) is presented. The PLL employs a multiphase divider to implement the modulated fractional counter with increased Delta-Sigma operation speed. In addition, the phase mismatching error in the phase-interpolated PLL with multiphase clocks can be randomized, and finer frequency resolution is achievable. With a frequency modulation of 33 kHz, the measured peak power reduction is more than 11.4 dB under a deviation of plusmn0.37%. Without spread-spectrum clocking, the PLL generates 2.4-GHz output with 18.82-ps peak-to-peak jitter. After spread-spectrum operation, the measured up-spread and down-spread jitter can achieve 52.59 and 56.79 ps, respectively. The chip occupies 950 times 850 mum2 in 0.18-mum CMOS process and consumes 36 mW.
Design and Implementation of a Journaling File System for Phase-Change Memory

Journaling file systems are widely used in modern computer systems as they provide high reliability at reasonable cost. However, existing journaling file systems are not efficient for emerging PCM (phase-change memory) storage because they are optimized for hard disks. Specifically, the large amount of data that they write during journaling degrades the performance of PCM storage seriously as it has a long write latency. In this paper, we present a new journaling file system for PCM, called Shortcut-JFS, that reduces write traffic to PCM by more than half of existing journaling file systems running on block I/O interfaces. To do this, we devise two novel schemes that can be used under byte-addressable I/O interfaces: 1) differential logging that journals only the modified part of a block and 2) in-place checkpointing that eliminates the overhead of block copying. We implement Shortcut-JFS on Linux 2.6. 32 and measure the performance of Shortcut-JFS compared to those of existing journaling and log-structured file systems. The results show that the performance improvement of Shortcut-JFS against Ext4 and LFS is 54 and 96 percent, respectively, on average.
Motor Skill Improvement in Preschoolers: How Effective Are Activity Cards?

Strategies to early develop and implement motor skill promotion in preschoolers are lacking. Thus, we examined the effects of a card-based exercise promotion program in a kindergarten setting. 214 preschool children (5.5 ± 0.6 y, range 4.2–6.7 y) were examined in the present intervention study. Body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference were measured. Children were randomly assigned to the KIDZ-Box® physical activity intervention program (INT: n = 107) or the control group (CON: n = 107). Children were trained daily for 15 min over 7 month at the preschool for agility, balance, endurance and jump performance, employing the card-based KIDZ-Box® media package. At pre- and post-testing, dynamic balance, jump and agility performance were tested. Cross-sectionally, agility testing differed between sexes (p = 0.01) and BMI (p = 0.02). Trends towards a significant association were found between BMI and side-to-side jumping (p = 0.1) and beam balancing (p = 0.05). Relevant interventional effects favoring the intervention group were slightly found for agility (p = 0.04, ηp2 = 0.02) and moderately for side-to-side jumping (p < 0.001, ηp2 = 0.08). Balance performance did not relevantly improve. As jumping cards have been used frequently by the teachers, jumping improvements are plausible. The activity cards are feasibly applicable but should be employed with more structure during longer training sessions.
Effects of aging on cardiorespiratory responses to brief and intense intermittent exercise in endurance-trained athletes.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of aging on athletes' cardiorespiratory responses to a brief intense intermittent effort, using the force-velocity test as an exercise model. Twelve young athletes (24.8 +/- 1.3 years) and twelve master athletes (65.1 +/- 1.2 years) with similar heights, body masses, and endurance training schedules participated in this study. They performed both a maximal graded exercise and the force-velocity tests. The force-velocity test consisted of the repetition of 6-second sprints against increasing braking forces with 5-minute recovery periods. None of the subjects presented abnormal electrocardiogram responses to the tests. During the force-velocity test, the heart rate magnitudes of response in all subjects were correlated to the corresponding sprint power output (p < .001), with higher values for the young athletes (p < .001). Both groups had similar systolic blood pressure peaks of response during the force-velocity test. Both groups had similar preexercise and end-of-recovery oxygen consumption (VO2), but the young athletes had higher peaks of response (p < .001). The VO2 magnitudes of response increased during the test (p < .01) in all subjects, with higher values for the young athletes (p < .001). There was a positive correlation between the VO2 magnitude of response and (1) the corresponding sprint power output (R = .58,p < .001) and (2) the corresponding number of sprint repetitions (R = .29, p < .02). The young athletes had higher end-of-recovery and peak carbon dioxide production (VCO2) responses than the master athletes (p < .001). Pulmonary ventilation (V(E)) peaks of response to the sprints were higher in the young athletes (p < .001). There was a positive relation between the V(E) and VCO2 peaks of response (R = 84,p < .001). In both groups the peak heart rate, VO2, VCO2, and V(E) values attained during the force-velocity test represented similar percentages of the maximal values reached at exhaustion of maximal graded exercise. These results showed that aging does not alter the percentage of the cardiorespiratory response to a brief intense intermittent exercise such as the force-velocity test. Moreover, the arterial blood pressure response is not significantly altered, whereas the vasodilatatory response is.
Human SHMT inhibitors reveal defective glycine import as a targetable metabolic vulnerability of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma

Significance Enzymes of the folate cycle are among the most consistently overexpressed proteins in cancer. Whereas multiple clinical agents inhibit thymidylate synthase, no current drugs target the incorporation of one-carbon into folates via serine hydroxymethyltransferase (SHMT). Using genetics, we show that cancer cells require SHMT to generate tumors. We then describe small-molecule SHMT inhibitors, and show that they block the growth of many human cancer cells, with B-cell lymphomas particularly sensitive to SHMT inhibition. We find that this sensitivity arises from the lymphomas’ inability to import the amino acid glycine, which is made as a byproduct of the SHMT reaction. Thus, B-cell lymphomas have an intrinsic defect in amino acid import, which causes a therapeutically targetable metabolic vulnerability. The enzyme serine hydroxymethyltransferse (SHMT) converts serine into glycine and a tetrahydrofolate-bound one-carbon unit. Folate one-carbon units support purine and thymidine synthesis, and thus cell growth. Mammals have both cytosolic SHMT1 and mitochondrial SHMT2, with the mitochondrial isozyme strongly up-regulated in cancer. Here we show genetically that dual SHMT1/2 knockout blocks HCT-116 colon cancer tumor xenograft formation. Building from a pyrazolopyran scaffold that inhibits plant SHMT, we identify small-molecule dual inhibitors of human SHMT1/2 (biochemical IC50 ∼ 10 nM). Metabolomics and isotope tracer studies demonstrate effective cellular target engagement. A cancer cell-line screen revealed that B-cell lines are particularly sensitive to SHMT inhibition. The one-carbon donor formate generally rescues cells from SHMT inhibition, but paradoxically increases the inhibitor’s cytotoxicity in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). We show that this effect is rooted in defective glycine uptake in DLBCL cell lines, rendering them uniquely dependent upon SHMT enzymatic activity to meet glycine demand. Thus, defective glycine import is a targetable metabolic deficiency of DLBCL.
Stable and reactive centering in conduits for karstic exploration

Karst groundwaters provide fresh water resources to supply cities. In the case of deep groundwater resources around the Mediterranean basin there is a need to explore karst aquifers and gather data about their structure. Robots are well adapted for this task especially when exploring karst conduits at depths greater than 200m. However, as karst aquifers environment is very complex, robots need to exhibit a collection of abilities to ensure a safe exploration. Among them, being able to “center” safely within the karst conduits and avoid collisions is a key point to ensure the robot safety during its mission. We propose a new reactive way to do so, based on the Deformable Virtual Zone. This allows us to model the interaction of the robot with its environment as a physics inspired equation. We also prove the stability of this controller.
Dietary approaches to stop hypertension influence on insulin receptor substrate-1gene expression: A randomized controlled clinical trial

Background: Insulin receptor substrate (IRS) Type 1 is a main substrate for the insulin receptor, controls insulin signaling in skeletal muscle, adipose tissue, and the vascular, so it is an important candidate gene for insulin resistance (IR). We aimed to compare the effects of the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) and Usual Dietary Advices (UDA) on IRS1 gene expression in women at risk for cardiovascular disease. Materials and Methods: A randomized controlled clinical trial was performed in 44 women at risk for cardiovascular disease. Participants were randomly assigned to a UDA diet or the DASH diet. The DASH diet was rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and low-fat dairy products and low in saturated fat, total fat, cholesterol, refined grains, and sweets, with a total of 2400 mg/day sodium. The UDA diet was a regular diet with healthy dietary advice. Gene expression was assessed by the real-time polymerase chain reaction at the first of study and after 12 weeks. Independent sample t-test and paired-samples t-test were used to compare means of all variables within and between two groups respectively. Results: IRS1 gene expression was increased in DASH group compared with UDA diet (P = 0.00). Weight and waist circumference decreased in DASH group significantly compared to the UDA group (P < 0.05) but the results between the two groups showed no significant difference. Conclusion: DASH diet increased IRS1 gene expression and probably has beneficial effects on IR risks.
Upper and Lower Respiratory Tract Viral Infections and Acute Graft Rejection in Lung Transplant Recipients

Abstract Background. Lung transplant recipients are frequently exposed to respiratory viruses and are particularly at risk for severe complications. The aim of this study was to assess the association among the presence of a respiratory virus detected by molecular assays in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid, respiratory symptoms, and acute rejection in adult lung transplant recipients. Methods. Upper (nasopharyngeal swab) and lower (BAL) respiratory tract specimens from 77 lung transplant recipients enrolled in a cohort study and undergoing bronchoscopy with BAL and transbronchial biopsies were screened using 17 different polymerase chain reaction—based assays. Results. BAL fluid and biopsy specimens from 343 bronchoscopic procedures performed in 77 patients were analyzed. We also compared paired nasopharyngeal and BAL fluid specimens collected in a subgroup of 283 cases. The overall viral positivity rate was 29.3% in the upper respiratory tract specimens and 17.2% in the BAL samples (P < .001). We observed a significant association between the presence of respiratory symptoms and positive viral detection in the lower respiratory tract (P = .012). Conversely, acute rejection was not associated with the presence of viral infection (odds ratio, 0.41; 95% confidence interval, 0.20–0.88). The recovery of lung function was significantly slower when acute rejection and viral infection were both present. Conclusions. A temporal relationship exists between acute respiratory symptoms and positive viral nucleic acid detection in BAL fluid from lung transplant recipients. We provide evidence suggesting that respiratory viruses are not associated with acute graft rejection during the acute phase of infection.
Comparison of survival between patients with hereditary non polyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC) and sporadic colorectal cancer.

BACKGROUND Hereditary non polyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC) appears to have a better prognosis than sporadic cancer. In the present study we evaluated the clinical outcome of HNPCC patients with respect to that of patients with colorectal cancer recorded in a population-based cancer registry. Aim of our study was to examine survival rates in Iranian HNPCC patients with colorectal cancer and compare them with survival rates of sporadic cases arising from the general population. PATIENTS AND METHODS The population studied consists of 121 individuals including 61 patients with sporadic colorectal cancer and 60 patients with HNPCC who were followed-up between 2003 and 2008 in Taleghani hospital Tehran. The subjects with HNPCC were screened according to Amsterdam criteria II and Bethesda Guidelines. All those with sporadic cancer had no familial history of colorectal cancer. Observed survival was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method and compared with log rank test. Multivariate analysis was performed using the Cox regression analysis. RESULTS In the HNPCC group, 85.0% showed tumors in colon, vs. 68.9% in the sporadic cancer group. The 5-year survival was 82.5% in the HNPCC study group compared with only 56.4% in the general population group (P= 0.044). The age distribution at diagnosis of sporadic patients was significantly higher than HNPCC patients (mean 50.1 years vs 44.3 years P= 0.008). The hazard ratio for sporadic for tumor location was 3.233 (95% CI 1.123-9.307) compared with the HNPCC group (P= 0.030). CONCLUSION Our findings corroborate the results of previous study which showed overall survival of colorectal cancer in patients with HNPCC is better than sporadic CRC patients.
What Does Cultural Globalisation Mean for Parenting in Immigrant Families in the 21st Century?

IN THE CONTEXT OF LIMITED DISCUSSION on what globalisation means for families, this paper aims to foster discussion by exploring the cultural implications of globalisation for parenting in immigrant families. It argues that in a global context, the parenting practices of immigrant families are likely to be hybridised as they try to adapt to the cultural differences in parenting in their host country. The cultural perspectives of globalisation and cultural integration, and the published literature on immigrant parenting, are used in support of this discussion. The notion of hybridised parenting emerges with important consequences for children's development and early childhood practices.
Efficient In-Database Analytics with Graphical Models

Due to recent application push, there is high demand in industry to extend database systems to perform efficient and scalable in-database analytics based on probabilistic graphical models (PGMs). We discuss issues in supporting in-database PGM methods and present techniques to achieve a deep integration of the PGMmethods into the relational data model as well as the query processing and optimization engine. This is an active research area and the techniques discussed are being further developed and evaluated.
Seeking help for psychological distress: The role of acculturation, family relationships, coping, and stigma among Latin Americans in canada

The present research investigated help-seeking intentions among Latin American adults living in Canada. Path analysis was utilized to test the utility of the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA; Ajzen & Fishbein, 1980) to explain help-seeking in this population. The impact of various additional variables, including stigma, perceived barriers, and cultural variables (e.g., familism, acculturation, coping) was also examined. The sample consisted of 223 Latin American adults living in Canada. Participants had the option to complete the study questionnaire online or in a paper format and in their language of choice (i.e., English or Spanish). Qualitative data were collected using an open-ended question asking participants about any previous experience with mental health services. Consistent with the TRA, the results demonstrated that both attitudes toward help-seeking and subjective norms were correlated with help-seeking intentions. The final respecified path model provided a good fit of the data and suggested important roles for multiple variables, including familism, acculturation, and collective coping. This model also suggested that subjective norms play an important role as a mediator of the effects of attitudes and acculturation on help-seeking intentions. Qualitative results revealed several themes related to help-seeking. A large number of respondents reported positive experiences with help-seeking. However, some participants reported negative experiences. One factor that emerged as a barrier to help-seeking was the disregard of cultural issues in psychotherapy. Thus, both quantitative and qualitative results suggest an important role for cultural factors in the help-seeking process. Overall, the findings of the current study contribute to our understanding of the antecedents that impact help-seeking among Latin Americans in Canada. Future directions and clinical implications are discussed.
Physical Education and Children with CHARGE Syndrome: Research to Practice

Introduction Children with CHARGE syndrome often experience significantly delayed motor development, which affects their performance in many motor skills and physical activities. The purpose of this study was to determine the status of physical education provided to children with CHARGE syndrome. There were five main areas of focus: (1) physical education setting, (2) modes of communication, (3) modifications, (4) successful units, and (5) difficult units in physical education. Methods A validated questionnaire was completed by 26 parents of children aged 6–19 with CHARGE syndrome who were attending an international CHARGE conference for families. The questionnaire was used as the primary source to obtain parents’ perspectives on the physical education experiences of their children with CHARGE syndrome. The results of the feedback from parents were used to offer practical suggestions for physical education programming. Results The results revealed that the physical education placement affects children's success and parents’ satisfaction with regard to physical education. Also, children who had support staff, such as a teacher's aide, paraeducator, or intervenor in physical education had a more successful experience. A variety of communication methods were used with children with CHARGE syndrome. The physical education units that the parents documented as being successful were swimming, scooters, bowling, fencing, T-ball, dancing, rock climbing, floor hockey, field hockey, and gymnastics. The units that the children struggled with the most were fundamental motor skills, such as skipping, running, hopping, and any sports unit with a fast-moving ball. Discussion Physical education placements, communication, and modifications must be individualized for each child with CHARGE syndrome. In addition, support staff must be trained specifically for the unique needs of a child and the core curricular area of physical education. Implications for Practitioners Suggestions for improving the physical education program are included to increase children's involvement in class and success in the specific units that are offered.