Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Lipolytic efficacy of alginate double-layer nanoemulsion containing oleoresin capsicum in differentiated 3T3-L1 adipocytes

ABSTRACT Background: Oleoresin capsicum (OC) is an organic extract from fruits of the genus Capsicum, and has been reported to have an anti-obesity effect. Objective: This study comparatively investigated lipolytic effects of single-layer nanoemulsion (SN) and alginate double-layer nanoemulsion (AN) containing OC in 3T3-L1 adipocytes. Methods: SN and AN were compared by analyzing the intracellular lipid accumulation, triglyceride (TG) content, release of free fatty acids (FFAs) and glycerol, and mRNA expression of genes related to adipogenesis and lipolysis were analyzed in fully differentiated 3T3-L1 adipocytes. Results: Compared with SN, AN exhibited higher efficiency in inhibiting the intracellular lipid accumulation and TG content, and enhanced the release of FFAs and glycerol into the medium. In AN-treated cells, mRNA levels of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ and the fatty acid-binding protein adipocyte protein-2, which are involved in adipogenesis, were down-regulated, whereas those of genes related to lipolysis, including hormone-sensitive lipase and carnitine palmitoyl transferase-1α, were up-regulated compared with SN-treated cells. Conclusion: The lipolytic effect of AN was greater than that of SN; this was partly associated with the increased TG hydrolysis via induction of lipolytic gene expression and suppression of adipogenic gene expression in 3T3-L1 adipocytes.
Substance abuse and dependence in prisoners: a systematic review.

AIMS To review studies of the prevalence of substance abuse and dependence in prisoners on reception into custody. DESIGN AND METHOD A systematic review of studies measuring the prevalence of drug and alcohol abuse and dependence in male and female prisoners on reception into prison was conducted. Only studies using standardized diagnostic criteria were included. Relevant information, such as mean age, gender and type of prisoner, was recorded for eligible studies. The prevalence estimates were compared with those from large cross-sectional studies of prevalence in prison populations. FINDINGS Thirteen studies with a total of 7563 prisoners met the review criteria. There was substantial heterogeneity among the studies. The estimates of prevalence for alcohol abuse and dependence in male prisoners ranged from 18 to 30% and 10 to 24% in female prisoners. The prevalence estimates of drug abuse and dependence varied from 10 to 48% in male prisoners and 30 to 60% in female prisoners. CONCLUSIONS The prevalence of substance abuse and dependence, although highly variable, is typically many orders of magnitude higher in prisoners than the general population, particularly for women with drug problems. This highlights the need for screening for substance abuse and dependence at reception into prison, effective treatment while in custody, and follow-up on release. Specialist addiction services for prisoners have the potential to make a considerable impact.
Pleiotropic Cellular Functions of PARP1 in Longevity and Aging: Genome Maintenance Meets Inflammation

Aging is a multifactorial process that depends on diverse molecular and cellular mechanisms, such as genome maintenance and inflammation. The nuclear enzyme poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase 1 (PARP1), which catalyzes the synthesis of the biopolymer poly(ADP-ribose), exhibits an essential role in both processes. On the one hand, PARP1 serves as a genomic caretaker as it participates in chromatin remodelling, DNA repair, telomere maintenance, resolution of replicative stress, and cell cycle control. On the other hand, PARP1 acts as a mediator of inflammation due to its function as a regulator of NF-κB and other transcription factors and its potential to induce cell death. Consequently, PARP1 represents an interesting player in several aging mechanisms and is discussed as a longevity assurance factor on the one hand and an aging-promoting factor on the other hand. Here, we review the molecular mechanisms underlying the various roles of PARP1 in longevity and aging with special emphasis on cellular studies and we briefly discuss the results in the context of in vivo studies in mice and humans.
Improved Veteran Access to Care through the Veteran Health Information Exchange (VHIE) Retail Immunization Coordination Project

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Veteran Health Information Exchange (VHIE, formerly Virtual Lifetime Electronic Record, or VLER) Retail Immunization Coordination Project established a partnership between VA and Walgreens to empower Veterans to elect to receive their immunizations at a local Walgreens, which might be located closer to their home than their nearest VA facility. Analysis of Veterans immunized at Walgreens between September 2014 and January 2015 showed that 64% of study Veterans now traveled <5 miles to receive their immunization, 12% of study Veterans traveled between 5 to 10 miles, and 24% of study Veterans traveled more than 10 miles. In addition, we note that 93% of Veterans traveled less than 54 miles, the average distance rural Veterans traveled to the nearest VA facility. We conclude that the VHIE Retail Immunization Coordination Project improved Veteran access to healthcare and discuss future directions of this effort.
The Prognostic Value of 14-3-3 Isoforms in Vulvar Squamous Cell Carcinoma Cases: 14-3-3β and ε Are Independent Prognostic Factors for These Tumors

Background The 14-3-3 family is comprised of highly conserved proteins that are functionally important in the maintenance of homeostasis. Their involvement with the cell cycle, their association with proto-oncogenes and oncogenes, and their abnormal expression in various tumors has linked this family of proteins to the etiology of human cancer. Mounting evidence now indicates that 14-3-3σ is a cancer suppressor gene but the roles of the other 14-3-3 isoforms and their interactions in tumorigenesis have not yet been elucidated. In our current study, we examined the expression of 14-3-3β, γ, ε, ζ, η and τ in a large series of vulvar squamous cell carcinomas to evaluate any clinical significance. Methods Tumor biopsies from 298 vulvar carcinomas were examined by immunohistochemistry for the expression of 14-3-3β, γ, ε, ζ, η and τ. Statistical analyses were employed to validate any associations between the expression of any 14-3-3 isoform and clinicopathologic variables for this disease. Results High cytoplasmic levels of 14-3-3β, γ, ζ, ε and η were observed in 79%, 58%, 50%, 86% and 54% of the vulvar carcinomas analyzed, respectively, whereas a low nuclear expression of 14-3-3τ was present in 80% of these cases. The elevated cytoplasmic expression of 14-3-3β, γ, ε, ζ and η was further found to be associated with advanced disease and aggressive features of these cancers. The overexpression of cytoplasmic 14-3-3β and ε significantly correlated with a poor disease-specific survival by univariate analysis (P = 0.007 and P = 0.04, respectively). The independent prognostic significance of these factors was confirmed by multivariate analysis (P = 0.007 and P = 0.009, respectively). Conclusions We reveal for the first time that the 14-3-3β, γ, ε, ζ, η and τ isoforms may be involved in the progression of vulvar carcinomas. Furthermore, our analyses show that high cytoplasmic levels of 14-3-3β and ε independently correlate with poor disease-specific survival.
Deterministic Communication vs. Partition Number

We show that deterministic communication complexity can be super logarithmic in the partition number of the associated communication matrix. We also obtain near-optimal deterministic lower bounds for the Clique vs. Independent Set problem, which in particular yields new lower bounds for the log-rank conjecture. All these results follow from a simple adaptation of a communication-to-query simulation theorem of Raz and McKenzie (Combinatorica 1999) together with lower bounds for the analogous query complexity questions.
A smaller endotracheal tube combined with intravenous lidocaine decreases post‐operative sore throat – a randomized controlled trial

Post‐operative sore throat (POST) has increasingly been a common clinical complication particularly in thyroid surgery. We conducted a trial to evaluate the effect of non‐pharmacological [smaller‐sized endotracheal tube (ETT)] combined with pharmacological intervention [lidocaine intravenous (i.v.)] on POST in women undergoing thyroid surgery.
Experimental Tests of Rolled Compacted Concrete and Nonlinear Fracture Analysis of Rolled Compacted Concrete Dams

Strain controlled uniaxial tensile and compressive tests of rolled compacted concrete (RCC) are conducted to establish the constitutive relationship of RCC. Complete stress-strain constitutive curves including strain-softening behavior of the material have been obtained. To satisfy the test requirements for obtaining the strain-softening behavior of the material, the stability conditions on specimen parameters and machine rigidity are described based on the concept of strain localization. By using test results of RCC, a 200-m high RCC gravity dam, Longtan Dam, is analyzed for earthquake resistance using the procedure of nonlinear fracture mechanics and the compression-shear failure mechanism for concrete. A safety evaluation of the dam’s ability to resist the design earthquake under different reservoir elevations is performed.
Corrections for Gravitational Lensing of Supernovae: Better than Average?

We investigate the possibility of correcting for magnification due to gravitational lensing of standard candle sources, such as Type Ia supernovae. Our method uses the observed properties of the foreground galaxies along the lines of sight to each source, and the accuracy of the lensing correction depends on the quality and depth of these observations as well as the uncertainties in translating the observed luminosities to the matter distribution in the lensing galaxies. The current work is limited to cases in which the matter density is dominated by the individual galaxy halos. However, it is straightforward to generalize the method to also include gravitational lensing from cluster scale halos. We show that the dispersion due to lensing for a standard candle source at z = 1.5 can be reduced from about 7% to ≲3%; i.e., the magnification correction is useful in reducing the scatter in the Type Ia Hubble diagram, especially at high redshifts where the required long exposure times make it hard to reach large statistics and the dispersion due to lensing becomes comparable to the intrinsic Type Ia scatter.
Does Poor Performance Damage the Reputation of Financial Intermediaries? Evidence from the Loan Syndication Market

We investigate the effect of poor performance on financial intermediary reputation by estimating the effect of large-scale bankruptcies among a lead arranger's borrowers on its subsequent syndication activity. Consistent with reputation damage, such lead arrangers retain larger fractions of the loans they syndicate, are less likely to syndicate loans, and are less likely to attract participant lenders. The consequences are more severe when borrower bankruptcies suggest inadequate screening or monitoring by the lead arranger. However, borrower bankruptcies have little effect on syndication activity of the most dominant lead arrangers, and in years in which many lead arrangers experience borrower bankruptcies.
Complementary solutions to the binding problem in vision: Implications for shape perception and object recognition

Behavioural, neural, and computational considerations suggest that the visual system may use (at least) two approaches to binding an object's features and/or parts into a coherent representation of shape: Dynamically bound (e.g., by synchrony of firing) representations of part attributes and spatial relations form a structural description of an object's shape, while units representing shape attributes at specific locations (i.e., a static binding of attributes to locations) form an analogue (image-like) representation of that shape. I will present a computational model of object recognition based on this proposal and empirical tests of the model. The model accounts for a large body of findings in human object recognition, and makes several novel and counter intuitive predictions. In brief, it predicts that visual priming for attended objects will be invariant with translation, scale, and left-right reflection, whereas priming for unattended objects will be invariant with translation and scale, but sensitive to left-right reflection. Five experiments demonstrated the predicted relationships between visual attention and patterns of visual priming as a function of variations in viewpoint. The implications of these findings for theories of visual binding and shape perception will be discussed.
STUDIES ON THE CHEMOTHERAPY OF THE HUMAN MALARIAS. II. METHOD FOR THE QUANTITATIVE ASSAY OF SUPPRESSIVE ANTIMALARIAL ACTION IN FALCIPARUM MALARIA.

It has been demonstrated in vivax malaria that the therapeutic response to quinine is closely related to the mean plasma quinine concentration achieved during a standard testing procedure (1). In addition, the susceptibility of the erythrocytic phase to quinine has been shown to be a stable characteristic of the McCoy strain of P. zuvax and to differ quantitatively from that of the Chesson strain. The human malarias due to the two other common species of plasmodium differ from vivax malaria in their biological and clinical characteristics and in their responses to chemotherapeutic agents. Therefore, it seemed advisable to determine their susceptibilities to quinine as a basis for the comparative assay of other antimalarials. However, infections due to P. malariae proved to be impractical for therapeutic testing because of their long incubation periods, the low density of peripheral
Quantitative modeling of sensitivity in bacterial chemotaxis: The role of coupling among different chemoreceptor species

We propose a general theoretical framework for modeling receptor sensitivity in bacterial chemotaxis, taking into account receptor interactions, including those among different receptor species. We show that our model can quantitatively explain the recent in vivo measurements of receptor sensitivity at different ligand concentrations for both mutant and wild-type strains. For mutant strains, our model can fit the experimental data exactly. For the wild-type cell, our model is capable of achieving high gain while having modest values of Hill coefficient for the response curves. Furthermore, the high sensitivity of the wild-type cell in our model is maintained for a wide range of ambient ligand concentrations, facilitated by near-perfect adaptation and dependence of ligand binding on receptor activity. Our study reveals the importance of coupling among different chemoreceptor species, in particular strong interactions between the aspartate (Tar) and serine (Tsr) receptors, which is crucial in explaining both the mutant and wild-type data. Predictions for the sensitivity of other mutant strains and possible improvements of our model for the wild-type cell are also discussed.
An Iterative and Joint Estimation of SNR and Frequency Selective Channel for OFDM Systems

This paper proposes an iterative method for a joint estimation of the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and the frequency selective transmission channel in OFDM systems. The noise variance is estimated using a pilot preamble scheme, with the minimum mean square error (MMSE) criterion which requires the channel estimation. The channel estimation uses the Linear MMSE (LMMSE) method which requires the noise variance estimation. As each estimatior feeds the other one, an iterative algorithm is proposed.We prove that this algorithm converges for any non-null initialization value. Simulations show the validity of the method with a very low number of iteration for both SNR and channel estimation. We show that the number of pilot symbols in the preamble with respect to the performance of SNR estimation is improved compared to existing SNR estimation methods. Our approach also requires only one pilot symbol. Furthermore, for a given BER value, the SNR gap between perfect estimation and our proposed method is less than 0.5 dB.
Kidney Paired Donation With Compatible Pairs

We read with great interest the article Gentry et al. (1) which explores the impact of expanding kidney paired donation (KPD) through participation by compatible pairs. In their abstract they argue that this is a new paradigm of KPD and in their conclusion they indicate that the inclusion of recipients with compatible donors will greatly increase the number of incompatible pairs matched through KPD. While we strongly support this conclusion, they neglected to mention that the impact of expanding KPD through participation by compatible pairs had been examined earlier (2,3). Roth et al. (3) uses a similar technique of optimization due to Edmonds (4) as used in Gentry et al. (1), although the two papers differ in the construction of the simulated donor-recipient pairs in the KPD pool. For simplicity of the simulations, all pairs were assumed to be nonblood-related in Roth et al. (3), while Gentry et al. (1) include blood-related pairs. Roth et al. (3) also concluded that the largest gains to incompatible pairs in KPD will come from the inclusion of compatible pairs to KPD. Based on results from (2,3), the three authors of this letter collaborated with the first two authors of Gentry et al. (1) to produce a consensus kidney paired donation matching statement which includes participation of compatible pairs in KPD as a parameter to be considered in designing a national KPD matching program (5). A. E. Rotha, T. Sönmezb and M. U. Ünverc aHarvard Business School and Department of Economics, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA bBoston College, Department of Economics, Chestnut Hill, MA cUniversity of Pittsburgh, Department of Economics, Pittsburgh, PA
Resisting the Power of Temptations

Abstract: Imagine you are overweight and you spot your favorite pastry in the storefront of a bakery. How do you manage to resist this temptation? Or to give other examples, how do you manage to restrain yourself from overspending or succumbing to sexual temptations? The present article summarizes two recent studies stressing the fundamental importance of inhibition in the process of decision making. Based on the results of these studies, we dare to claim that the capacity to resist temptation depends on the activity level of the right prefrontal cortex (PFC).
Ferricrocin, a Siderophore Involved in Intra- and Transcellular Iron Distribution in Aspergillus fumigatus

ABSTRACT Iron is an essential metal for virtually all organisms. Iron acquisition is well characterized for various organisms, whereas intracellular iron distribution is poorly understood. In contrast to bacteria, plants, and animals, most fungi lack ferritin-mediated iron storage but possess an intracellular siderophore shown to be involved in iron storage. Here we demonstrate that deficiency in the intracellular siderophore ferricrocin causes iron starvation in conidia of Aspergillus fumigatus, demonstrating that ferricrocin is also involved in intra- and transcellular iron distribution. Thus, ferricrocin represents the first intracellular iron transporter identified in any organism.
Association of the Female Athlete Triad Risk Assessment Stratification to the Development of Bone Stress Injuries in Collegiate Athletes

Background: The female athlete triad (referred to as the triad) contributes to adverse health outcomes, including bone stress injuries (BSIs), in female athletes. Guidelines were published in 2014 for clinical management of athletes affected by the triad. Purpose: This study aimed to (1) classify athletes from a collegiate population of 16 sports into low-, moderate-, and high-risk categories using the Female Athlete Triad Cumulative Risk Assessment score and (2) evaluate the predictive value of the risk categories for subsequent BSIs. Study Design: Cohort study; Level of evidence, 3. Methods: A total of 323 athletes completed both electronic preparticipation physical examination and dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry scans. Of these, 239 athletes with known oligomenorrhea/amenorrhea status were assigned to a low-, moderate-, or high-risk category. Chart review was used to identify athletes who sustained a subsequent BSI during collegiate sports participation; the injury required a physician diagnosis and imaging confirmation. Results: Of 239 athletes, 61 (25.5%) were classified into moderate-risk and 9 (3.8%) into high-risk categories. Sports with the highest proportion of athletes assigned to the moderate- and high-risk categories included gymnastics (56.3%), lacrosse (50%), cross-country (48.9%), swimming/diving (42.9%), sailing (33%), and volleyball (33%). Twenty-five athletes (10.5%) assigned to risk categories sustained ≥1 BSI. Cross-country runners contributed the majority of BSIs (16; 64%). After adjusting for age and participation in cross-country, we found that moderate-risk athletes were twice as likely as low-risk athletes to sustain a BSI (risk ratio [RR], 2.6; 95% confidence interval [95% CI], 1.3-5.5) and high-risk athletes were nearly 4 times as likely (RR, 3.8; 95% CI, 1.8-8.0). When examining the 6 individual components of the triad risk assessment score, both the oligomenorrhea/amenorrhea score (P = .0069) and the prior stress fracture/reaction score (P = .0315) were identified as independent predictors for subsequent BSIs (after adjusting for cross-country participation and age). Conclusion: Using published guidelines, 29% of female collegiate athletes in this study were classified into moderate- or high-risk categories using the Female Athlete Triad Cumulative Risk Assessment Score. Moderate- and high-risk athletes were more likely to subsequently sustain a BSI; most BSIs were sustained by cross-country runners.
Placental Growth Factor Administration Abolishes Placental Ischemia-Induced Hypertension

Preeclampsia is a pregnancy-specific disorder of new-onset hypertension. Unfortunately, the most effective treatment is early delivery of the fetus and placenta. Placental ischemia appears central to the pathogenesis of preeclampsia because placental ischemia/hypoxia induced in animals by reduced uterine perfusion pressure (RUPP) or in humans stimulates release of hypertensive placental factors into the maternal circulation. The anti-angiogenic factor soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase-1 (sFlt-1), which antagonizes and reduces bioavailable vascular endothelial growth factor and placental growth factor (PlGF), is elevated in RUPP rats and preeclampsia. Although PlGF and vascular endothelial growth factor are both natural ligands for sFlt-1, vascular endothelial growth factor also has high affinity to VEGFR2 (Flk-1) causing side effects like edema. PlGF is specific for sFlt-1. We tested the hypothesis that PlGF treatment reduces placental ischemia-induced hypertension by antagonizing sFlt-1 without adverse consequences to the mother or fetus. On gestational day 14, rats were randomized to 4 groups: normal pregnant or RUPP±infusion of recombinant human PlGF (180 &mgr;g/kg per day; AG31, a purified, recombinant human form of PlGF) for 5 days via intraperitoneal osmotic minipumps. On day 19, mean arterial blood pressure and plasma sFlt-1 were higher and glomerular filtration rate lower in RUPP than normal pregnant rats. Infusion of recombinant human PlGF abolished these changes seen with RUPP along with reducing oxidative stress. These data indicate that the increased sFlt-1 and reduced PlGF resulting from placental ischemia contribute to maternal hypertension. Our novel finding that recombinant human PlGF abolishes placental ischemia-induced hypertension, without major adverse consequences, suggests a strong therapeutic potential for this growth factor in preeclampsia.