Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Transfusion of Plasma Collected at Late Phase after Preconditioning Reduces Myocardial Infarct Size Induced by Ischemia-reperfusion in Rats In vivo

Background: Plasma transfusion is a common clinical practice. Remote ischemic preconditioning (RIPC) protects organs against ischemia-reperfusion (IR) injury. Whether preconditioned plasma (PP), collected at late phase after RIPC, could protect organs against IR injury in vivo is unknown. This study explored whether transfusion of PP could reduce myocardial infarct size (IS) after IR in rat in vivo. Methods: Eighty Lewis rats were randomized to eight groups (n = 10 for each group). Two groups of plasma donor rats donated plasma at 48 h after transient limb ischemia (PP) or control protocol (nonpreconditioned plasma [NPP]). Six groups of recipient rats received normal saline (NS; NS-IR 1, and NS-IR 24 groups), NPP (NPP-IR 1 and NPP-IR 24 groups), or PP (PP-IR 1 and PP-IR 24 groups) at one or 24 h before myocardial IR. Myocardial IR consisted of 30-min left anterior descending (LAD) coronary artery occlusion and 180-min reperfusion. The area at risk (AAR) and infarct area were determined by double-staining with Evans blue and triphenyltetrazolium chloride. IS was calculated by infarct area divided by AAR. This was a 3 × 2 factorial design study, and factorial analysis was used to evaluate the data. If an interaction between the fluid and transfusion time existed, one-way analysis of variance with Bonferroni correction for multiple comparisons was used to analyze the single effects of fluid type when the transfusion time was fixed. Results: IS in the NPP-IR 1 and PP-IR 1 groups was smaller than in the NS-IR 1 group (F = 6.838, P = 0.005; NPP-IR 1: 57 ± 8% vs. NS-IR1: 68 ± 6%, t = 2.843, P = 0.020; PP-IR 1: 56 ± 8% vs. NS-IR 1: 68 ± 6%, t = 3.102, P = 0.009), but no significant difference was detected between the NPP-IR 1 and PP-IR 1 groups (57 ± 8% vs. 56 ± 8%, t = 0.069, P = 1.000). IS in the NPP-IR 24 and PP-IR 24 groups was smaller than in the NS-IR 24 group (F = 24.796, P < 0.001; NPP-IR 24: 56% ± 7% vs. NS-IR 24: 68 ± 7%, t = 3.102, P = 0.026; PP-IR 24: 40 ± 9% vs. NS-IR 24: 68 ± 7%, t = 7.237, P < 0.001); IS in the PP-IR 24 group was smaller than in the NPP-IR 24 group (40 ± 9% vs. 56 ± 7%, t = 4.135, P = 0.002). Conclusion: Transfusion of PP collected at late phase after remote ischemic preconditioning could reduce IS, suggesting that late-phase cardioprotection was transferable in vivo.
Stress, well-being and hardiness in the New Zealand military : a transactional model : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment for the degree of Master of Arts in Psychology at Massey University

The present research sought to investigate stress in the New Zealand Army from a transactional perspective (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984). Traditional models of stress have focused on linear or cause and effect relationships, often referred to as stressor-strain models, when attempting to explain the complex nature of stress. However, stressor-strain models often emphasise the negative consequences of stress and tend to incorporate a "one size fits all" approach where stress is assumed to be negative and unavoidable. It is argued that people differ in their response to stress, the types of stress they experience as well as the intensity and duration of stressful encounters. The current research investigated appraisal, coping, cognitive hardiness and work related stress in 439 military personnel. Positive and negative outcomes were measured as well as the role of moderating and mediating variables in the stress process. Results provide empirical support for a transactional model of occupational stress consisting of both negative and positive pathways. Associations were found between challenge appraisals, adaptive coping and positive psychological and physical outcomes. Associations were also found between threat appraisals, maladaptive coping and negative psychological and physical outcomes. Cognitive hardiness was not found to be associated with building adaptive coping strategies and did not mediate or moderate the positive pathway to stress. However, cognitive hardiness did mediate the negative pathway suggesting a potential protective element to this construct.
Drug Repurposing Screening Identifies Tioconazole as an ATG4 Inhibitor that Suppresses Autophagy and Sensitizes Cancer Cells to Chemotherapy

Background: Tumor cells require proficient autophagy to meet high metabolic demands and resist chemotherapy, which suggests that reducing autophagic flux might be an attractive route for cancer therapy. However, this theory in clinical cancer research remains controversial due to the limited number of drugs that specifically inhibit autophagy-related (ATG) proteins. Methods: We screened FDA-approved drugs using a novel platform that integrates computational docking and simulations as well as biochemical and cellular reporter assays to identify potential drugs that inhibit autophagy-required cysteine proteases of the ATG4 family. The effects of ATG4 inhibitors on autophagy and tumor suppression were examined using cell culture and a tumor xenograft mouse model. Results: Tioconazole was found to inhibit activities of ATG4A and ATG4B with an IC50 of 1.3 µM and 1.8 µM, respectively. Further studies based on docking and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations supported that tioconazole can stably occupy the active site of ATG4 in its open form and transiently interact with the allosteric regulation site in LC3, which explained the experimentally observed obstruction of substrate binding and reduced autophagic flux in cells in the presence of tioconazole. Moreover, tioconazole diminished tumor cell viability and sensitized cancer cells to autophagy-inducing conditions, including starvation and treatment with chemotherapeutic agents. Conclusion: Tioconazole inhibited ATG4 and autophagy to enhance chemotherapeutic drug-induced cytotoxicity in cancer cell culture and tumor xenografts. These results suggest that the antifungal drug tioconazole might be repositioned as an anticancer drug or chemosensitizer.
Relationship between Sigma‐like site and progesterone‐binding site of adult male rat liver microsomes

An increasing amount of evidence suggests that the sigma (σ) sites, putative targets for a variety of psychotomimetic and antipsychotic drugs, exist not only in the brain but also in various peripheral organs. However, there are many ambiguities as to their biological roles, subcellular distributions, endogenous ligands and so on. We therefore performed our study for clarification of some of these ambiguities. As a result, we demonstrated that adult male rat liver microsomes, especially smooth endoplasmic reticulum, possessed a saturable haloperidol‐binding site closely resembling the σ site, with a high affinity (Kd 1.0 ± 0.3 nmol/L) and high capacity (Bmax 9.3 ± 1.5 pmol/mg protein) and with the rank order of affinity of the ligands: haloperidol > reduced haloperidol > clorgyline > ifenprodil > 1,3‐di(2‐tolyl)guanidine, (—)‐butaclamol > GBR‐12909 > SKF‐525A > progesterone > 5α‐dihydrotestosterone > R(+)‐3‐ (hydroxyphenyl)‐N‐propylpiperidine > testosterone ± corticosteroids, estradiol‐17β, cholesterol and neuroactive compounds displaying high affinities for other neurotransmitter receptors such as dopamine D2, serotonin (5‐HT1A and 5‐HT2) and α1‐adrenergic and GABAA receptors. This rank order showed a high correlation (r = 0.908) with that of a large portion (˜85%) of specific progesterone‐binding site (Kd 31.0 ± 3.5 nmol/L, Bmax 5.7 ± 0.2 pmol/mg protein) of the same source. Therefore, these two sites were suggested to be the same or closely related. Furthermore, we provide a strong suggestion that these sites neither are identical with some subforms of the microsomal cytochromes P‐450 or other steroid/drug‐metabolizing enzymes nor participate universally and directly in the progesterone‐metabolizing processes. (Hepatology 1994;20:1271–1280).
High-fidelity visuo-haptic interaction with virtual objects in multi-modal AR systems

The driving force of our research is the precise combination of real and - possibly indistinguishable - virtual objects in an interactive augmented reality environment. This requires real-time, multimodal simulation, as well as stable and accurate overlay of the computer-generated objects. This paper describes several methods to improve accuracy and stability of our hybrid augmented reality system. In a comparison of two approaches to hybrid head pose refinement, we show that Quasi-Newton method enables high performance optimization for image space error minimization. Moreover, a 3D landmark refinement step is proposed, which significantly improves quality and robustness of the overlay process. The enhanced system is demonstrated in an interactive AR environment, which provides accurate haptic feedback from real and virtual deformable objects. Finally, the effect of landmark occlusion on tracking stability during user interaction is also analyzed.
"Hey Everyone, I'm Drunk." An Evaluation of Drinking-Related Twitter Chatter.

OBJECTIVE The promotion of drinking behaviors correlates with increased drinking behaviors and intent to drink, especially when peers are the promotion source. Similarly, online displays of peer drinking behaviors have been described as a potential type of peer pressure that might lead to alcohol misuse when the peers to whom individuals feel attached value such behaviors. Social media messages about drinking behaviors on Twitter (a popular social media platform among young people) are common but understudied. In response, and given that drinking alcohol is a widespread activity among young people, we examined Twitter chatter about drinking. METHOD Tweets containing alcohol- or drinking-related keywords were collected from March 13 to April 11, 2014. We assessed a random sample (n = 5,000) of the most influential Tweets for sentiment, theme, and source. RESULTS Most alcohol-related Tweets reflected a positive sentiment toward alcohol use, with pro-alcohol Tweets outnumbering anti-alcohol Tweets by a factor of more than 10. The most common themes of pro-drinking Tweets included references to frequent or heavy drinking behaviors and wanting/needing/planning to drink alcohol. The most common sources of pro-alcohol Tweets were organic (i.e., noncommercial). CONCLUSIONS Our findings highlight the need for online prevention messages about drinking to counter the strong pro-alcohol presence on Twitter. However, to enhance the impact of anti-drinking messages on Twitter, it may be prudent for such Tweets to be sent by individuals who are widely followed on Twitter and during times when heavy drinking is more likely to occur (i.e., weekends, holidays).
Role of beta-blockade in anaesthesia and postoperative pain management after hysterectomy.

BACKGROUND Perioperative use of beta-blockers has been advocated as a strategy to prevent cardiac sequelae. This study evaluated the influence of perioperative esmolol administration upon anaesthesia and postoperative pain management amongst patients undergoing hysterectomy. METHODS Ninety-seven ASA I-II patients, undergoing abdominal total hysterectomy, were randomly divided into one of two groups. Patients in the Esmolol group received an i.v. loading dose of esmolol 0.5 mg kg(-1) followed by infusion of 0.05 mg kg(-1) min(-1) before anaesthesia induction. The infusion was documented at the completion of surgery. The Control group received a volume of normal saline. After surgery, all patients were treated with patient-controlled i.v. analgesia (PCA), which was programmed to deliver 1 mg of morphine on demand for 3 consecutive days. Pain intensity on movement and at rest, sedation score, and side effects were recorded. RESULTS The two groups were comparable with respect to their characteristics. Patients in the esmolol group received significantly lower end-tidal isoflurane concentrations (1.0 (0.3) vs 1.4 (0.5)%, respectively; P<0.001) and fentanyl (0.9 (0.2) vs 1.2 (0.5) microg kg(-1), respectively; P=0.006) during anaesthesia. They also showed a reduced heart rate and arterial pressure response to tracheal intubation, skin incision, and tracheal extubation. The Esmolol group consumed less PCA morphine in 3 days (37.3 (8.4) vs 54.7 (11.2) mg, respectively; P=0.005). Pain intensity and medication side effects were similar in the two groups. CONCLUSION The results suggest that perioperative esmolol administration during anaesthesia reduces the intraoperative use of inhalation anaesthetic and fentanyl, decreases haemodynamic responses, and reduced morphine consumption for the first 3 postoperative days.
Evaluating T-wave amplitude as a guide for detecting intravascular injection of a test dose in anesthetized children.

UNLABELLED Previous reports have suggested that accidental intravascular injection of an epinephrine-containing test dose increases T-wave amplitude in anesthetized children. We designed this study to prospectively determine whether changes in T-wave amplitude could be a reliable indicator for detecting intravascular injection. We studied 32 ASA physical status I infants and children (3.4 +/- 1.7 yr) undergoing elective minor surgeries during 1.0 minimum alveolar anesthetic concentration of sevoflurane and 67% nitrous oxide in oxygen. After the i.v. administration of atropine 0.01 mg/kg, the patients were randomly assigned to receive either saline (n = 16) or a test dose consisting of 1% lidocaine (0.1 mL/kg) with 1:200,000 epinephrine (0.5 microg/kg, n = 16) via a peripheral vein to simulate the intravascular injection of the test dose. Heart rate (HR) and systolic blood pressure (SBP) were recorded every 20 and 30 s, respectively, and the T-wave amplitude of lead II was continuously recorded for subsequent analysis. Of the 16 children receiving the test dose, 16, 13, and 16 developed increases in HR, SBP, and T-wave amplitude > or = 10 bpm, > or = 15 mm Hg, and > or = 25%, occurring at 30 +/- 7, 70 +/- 31, and 20 +/- 5 s, respectively. Because no patient receiving saline met these criteria, sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values were all 100% based on the criteria using the T-wave amplitude and the peak HR. Our results suggest that changes in T-wave amplitude are as effective as HR for detecting the intravascular injection of an epinephrine-containing test dose in sevoflurane-anesthetized children. IMPLICATIONS To determine whether an epidurally administered local anesthetic is unintentionally injected into a blood vessel, a small dose of epinephrine is often added to a local anesthetic. We found that increases in T-wave amplitude by > or = 25% in lead II monitor electrocardiography are as effective as a heart rate increase > or = 10 bpm for detecting intravascular injection in sevoflurane-anesthetized children.
EFFICIENT AUTHENTICATION AND KEY AGREEMENT PROCEDURE IN IP MULTIMEDIA SUBSYSTEM FOR UMTS

In a Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), a user equipment (UE) can access IP multimedia services through IP Multimedia Subsystems (IMS). In addition to passing IMS authentication, called IMS AKA, this UE also needs to pass General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) authentication, called 3GPP AKA, since the data of the IMS service is transmitted through a GPRS network. Many steps in these two authentication processes are identical and result in inefficiency. Two papers proposed efficient authentication schemes instead of IMS authentication. However, these schemes suffer from security and compatibility problems. In this paper, we design an efficient IMS authentication scheme based on a trust relation between UE and Serving GPRS Support Node (SGSN) established in GPRS authentication. Compared with the conventional IMS authentication, our scheme can save up to 40% transmission and is analyzed as a secure scheme. Moreover, our scheme does not require any modification in the UE’s authentication procedures.
Epidemiological Studies of Cataract Risk at Low to Moderate Radiation Doses: (Not) Seeing is Believing

Abstract The prevailing belief for some decades has been that human radiation-related cataract occurs only after relatively high doses; for instance, the ICRP estimates that brief exposures of at least 0.5–2 Sv are required to cause detectable lens opacities and 5 Sv for vision-impairing cataracts. For protracted exposures, the ICRP estimates the corresponding dose thresholds as 5 Sv and 8 Sv, respectively. However, several studies, especially in the last decade, indicate that radiation-associated opacities occur at much lower doses. Several studies suggest that medical or environmental radiation exposure to the lens confers risk of opacities at doses well under 1 Sv. Among Japanese A-bomb survivors, risks for cataracts necessitating lens surgery were seen at doses under 1 Gy. The confidence interval on the A-bomb dose threshold for cataract surgery prevalence indicated that the data are compatible with a dose threshold ranging from none up to only 0.8 Gy, similar to the dose threshold for minor opacities seen among Chernobyl clean-up workers with primarily protracted exposures. Findings from various studies indicate that radiation risk estimates are probably not due to confounding by other cataract risk factors and that risk is seen after both childhood and adult exposures. The recent data are instigating reassessments of guidelines by various radiation protection bodies regarding permissible levels of radiation to the eye. Among the future epidemiological research directions, the most important research need is for adequate studies of vision-impairing cataract after protracted radiation exposure.
Successful Aortic Aneurysm Repair in a Woman with Severe von Willebrand (Type 3) Disease

von Willebrand disease type 3 (VWD3) is a rare but the most severe form of von Willebrand disease; it is due to almost complete lack of von Willebrand factor activity (VWF:RCo). It is inherited as autosomal recessive trait; whilst heterozygote carriers have mild, or no symptoms, patients with VWD3 show severe bleeding symptoms. In the laboratory, this is characterised by undetectable VWF:Ag, VWF:RCo, and reduced levels of factor VIII < 0.02 IU/dL. The bleeding is managed with von Willebrand/FVIII factor concentrate replacement therapy. In this rare but challenging case we report on the successful excision and repair of an ascending aortic aneurysm following adequate VWF/FVIII factor concentrate replacement using Haemate-P.
High-performance Web Crawling High-performance Web Crawling Publication History

SRC's charter is to advance the state of the art in computer systems by doing basic and applied research in support of our company's business objectives. Our interests and projects span scalable systems (including hardware, networking, distributed systems, and programming-language technology), the Internet (including the Web, e-commerce, and information retrieval), and human/computer interaction (including user-interface technology, computer-based appliances, and mobile computing). We test the value of our ideas by building hardware and software prototypes and assessing their utility in realistic settings. Interesting systems are too complex to be evaluated solely in the abstract; practical use enables us to investigate their properties in depth. This experience is useful in the short term in refining our designs and invaluable in the long term in advancing our knowledge. Most of the major advances in information systems have come through this approach, including personal computing, distributed systems, and the Internet. We also perform complementary work of a more mathematical character. Some of that lies in established fields of theoretical computer science, such as the analysis of algorithms, computer-aided geometric design, security and cryptography, and formal specification and verification. Other work explores new ground motivated by problems that arise in our systems research. We are strongly committed to communicating our results; exposing and testing our ideas in the research and development communities leads to improved understanding. Our research report series supplements publication in professional journals and conferences, while our technical note series allows timely dissemination of recent research findings. We seek users for our prototype systems among those with whom we have common interests, and we encourage collaboration with university researchers. This work may not be copied or reproduced in whole or in part for any commercial purpose. Permission to copy in whole or in part without payment of fee is granted for nonprofit educational and research purposes provided that all such whole or partial copies include the following: a notice that such copying is by permission an acknowledgment of the authors and individual contributors to the work; and all applicable portions of the copyright notice. Copying, reproducing, or republishing for any other purpose shall require a license with payment of fee to the Systems Research Center. All rights reserved. Abstract High-performance web crawlers are an important component of many web services. For example, search services use web crawlers to populate their indices, comparison shopping engines use them to collect product and pricing information from …
Role for DUSP1 (dual-specificity protein phosphatase 1) in the regulation of autophagy

ABSTRACT Accumulating evidence suggests that mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) regulate macroautophagy/autophagy. However, the involvement of dual-specificity protein phosphatases (DUSPs), endogenous inhibitors for MAPKs, in autophagy remains to be determined. Here we report that DUSP1/MKP-1, the founding member of the DUSP family, plays a critical role in regulating autophagy. Specifically, we demonstrate that DUSP1 knockdown by shRNA in human ovarian cancer CAOV3 cells and knockout in murine embryonic fibroblasts, increases both basal and rapamycin-increased autophagic flux. Overexpression of DUSP1 had the opposite effect. Importantly, knockout of Dusp1 promoted phosphorylation of ULK1 at Ser555, and BECN1/Beclin 1 at Ser15, and the association of PIK3C3/VPS34, ATG14, BECN1 and MAPK, leading to the activation of the autophagosome-initiating class III phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PtdIns3K) complex. Furthermore, knockdown and pharmacological inhibitor studies indicated that DUSP1-mediated suppression of autophagy reflected inactivation of the MAPK1-MAPK3 members of the MAPK family. Knockdown of DUSP1 sensitized CAOV3 cells to rapamycin-induced antigrowth activity. Moreover, CAOV3-CR cells, a line that had acquired cisplatin resistance, exhibited an elevated DUSP1 level and were refractory to rapamycin-induced autophagy and cytostatic effects. Knockdown of DUSP1 in CAOV3-CR cells restored sensitivity to rapamycin. Collectively, this work identifies a previously unrecognized role for DUSP1 in regulating autophagy and suggests that suppression of DUSP1 may enhance the therapeutic activity of rapamycin.
Evidence that the Rate of Wallerian Degeneration is Controlled by a Single Autosomal Dominant Gene

In a substrain of C57BL mice, C57BL/Ola, Wallerian degeneration in the distal segment of the severed sciatic nerve is extremely slow when compared to other mice. Despite this very slow degeneration in the distal segment regeneration of the motor nerves is not impaired. From suitable genetic outcrosses and backcrosses, the authors provide evidence that the rate of Wallerian degeneration in this strain is controlled by a single autosomal gene product. The authors have also shown that the rate of degeneration, in C57BL/Ola mice, is influenced by the environment in which the animals were bred and housed. Wallerian degeneration in the sciatic nerves of mice raised in isolators is slower than in those raised in a conventional animal house. This strain of mouse may prove to be of value in the understanding of nerve degeneration and regeneration.