Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effects of Sodium Diclofenac on the Distribution of Fos Protein in Central Amygdala and Lateral Hypothalamus during Experimental Tooth Movement in Rats

This study evaluated whether the administration of a NSAID, sodium diclofenac, can promote al- terations in the expression of Fos protein in central amygdala (CEA) and the lateral hypothalamus (LH) after 6 h of experimental tooth movement with a controlled force of 70 g, applied to the supe- rior central incisors of rats. Adult male rats were anesthetized and divided into four groups: Con- trol, no orthodontic appliance (OA); OA activated with 70 g; OA activated with 70 g and pretreated with diclofenac sodium (5 mg/kg, intramuscular); and diclofenac sodium alone. Six hours after the onset of the experiment the rats were reanesthetized and perfused with 4% paraformaldehyde. The brains were removed and fixed, and sections containing the CEA and LH were processed for Fos protein immunohistochemistry. The results show that in the control group, intramuscular in- jection of a ketamine/xylazine mixture did not induce IR-Fos cells in the CEA or LH. However, in the 70 g group, IR-Fos was the strongest observed (P < 0.05, Newman-Keuls) in the CEA and LH compared with the other groups. Furthermore, pretreatment with sodium diclofenac reduced IR-Fos in these regions. Pretreatment with diclofenac sodium reduced Fos protein immunoreac- tivity in the CEA and LH induced by orthodontic force application. The expression of Fos protein in the CEA and LH is dependent, at least in part, on the inflammatory reaction induced by teeth movement. Diclofenac can be an alternative medication of choice for relief of orthodontic pain. * Corresponding author.
Privacy Framework for Older Adults

The challenges of an aging population require the adoption of in-home and medical technologies to complement the traditional caregiver model. Adoption of such technology is, however, mediated by privacy concerns. This study investigates a four dimensional framework that explains the tradeoffs between functionality and privacy as constructed by older adults. The four dimensions constitute perceived utility, data granularity, data recipient, and activity sensitivity. We conducted a large scale survey to empirically examine the applicability and robustness of this framework, n=101. Our results have implications for the adoption of a wide range of privacy enhancing technologies. By focusing on the intersection of an under-studied group (non-technical older adults) and sensitive data (medical and at home), this work has the potential to enable PETS that might be widely adopted.
A clinical and molecular study of a Bedouin family with dysmegakaryopoiesis, mild anemia, and neutropenia cured by bone marrow transplantation

Objectives: Familial thrombocytopenia is a relatively rare and heterogeneous group of clinical and genetic syndromes of unknown etiology. Recently, mutations in a few hematopoietic transcription factors were implicated in dysmegakaryopoiesis with and without dyserythropoietic anemia. The aim of the present study was to describe the clinical and hematologic picture of members of a Bedouin family with severe congenital thrombocytopenia associated with neutropenia and anemia and to determine the possible involvement of hematopoietic transcription factor genes in their disease.
Differential Effect of Global Ischemia on the Ryanodine-Sensitive and Ryanodine-Insensitive Calcium Uptake of Cardiac Sarcoplasmic Reticulum

The effect of ischemia on the function of cardiac sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) was assessed by the calcium uptake rate of rat whole-heart homogenates In the presence of 10 mM oxalate. Previous studies have shown that this uptake is restricted to the SR. The contribution of the ryanodine-sensitive fractions of the SR to the total homogenate uptake was assessed by using 20 μM ruthenium red and 625 μM ryanodine to close the SR calcium release channel under previously established optimal conditions. Global ischemia of 10, 15, 30, and 60 minutes depressed homogenate calcium uptake rate 19 ± 2%, 50 ± 6%, 65 ± 3%, and 81 ± 5%, respectively. This decrease was not observed when the uptake rates were measured after closure of the calcium channel with ryanodine or ruthenium red. Similar results were obtained with a Langendorff in vitro perfusion preparation, in which calcium uptake was decreased 35 ± 5%, 37 ± 8%, 58 ± 7%, and 64 ± 4% after 10, 15, 30, and 60 minutes of ischemia, but no significant decrease was observed when homogenate uptake rates were measured in the presence of ryanodine. Thus, ischemia caused a depression in the calcium uptake rate of cardiac SR only when this activity was measured in the absence of SR calcium channel blockers. Reperfuslon of ischemic hearts in a Langendorff preparation resulted in recovery of homogenate calcium uptake activity that correlated well with the return to sinus rhythm of the reperfused hearts. These reperfused hearts showed no change in the calcium uptake rate measured in the presence of ryanodine. These results suggest that the decrease in homogenate calcium uptake caused by ischemia is not due to a defect in calcium pumping capabilities but is due to an increased efflux through the ryanodine-sensitive calcium release channel of cardiac SR. {Circulation Research 1989;65:1400-1408)
The Constant Inapproximability of the Parameterized Dominating Set Problem

We prove that there is no fpt-algorithm that can approximate the dominating set problem with any constant ratio, unless FPT = W[1]. Our hardness reduction is built on the second author's recent W[1]-hardness proof of the biclique problem [25]. This yields, among other things, a proof without the PCP machinery that the classical dominating set problem has no polynomial time constant approximation under the exponential time hypothesis.
Sialylation Is Dispensable for Early Murine Embryonic Development in Vitro

The negatively charged nonulose sialic acid (Sia) is essential for murine development in vivo. In order to elucidate the impact of sialylation on differentiation processes in the absence of maternal influences, we generated mouse embryonic stem cell (mESC) lines that lack CMP‐Sia synthetase (CMAS) and thereby the ability to activate Sia to CMP‐Sia. Loss of CMAS activity resulted in an asialo cell surface accompanied by an increase in glycoconjugates with terminal galactosyl and oligo‐LacNAc residues, as well as intracellular accumulation of free Sia. Remarkably, these changes did not impact intracellular metabolites or the morphology and transcriptome of pluripotent mESC lines. Moreover, the capacity of Cmas−/− mESCs for undirected differentiation into embryoid bodies, germ layer formation and even the generation of beating cardiomyocytes provides first and conclusive evidence that pluripotency and differentiation of mESC in vitro can proceed in the absence of (poly)sialoglycans.
Análisis metalogenético preliminar del depósito vetiforme en la mina La Ye, Antoquia, Colombia: características geológicas, isotópicas y estructurales

La mina La Ye es un deposito vetiforme encajado en una zona de cizalla con deformacion fragil-ductil que genero milonitizacion de la roca encajonante, estructuras sigmoidales, boudinage y contactos veta-caja reactivados con presencia de salbanda (gauge). Al menos cuatro eventos de deformacion fueron identificados, de los cuales dos estan relacionados al proceso de mineralizacion: Qz + Py ± Au para sectores con dominio D2 (cizallas destrales) y Qz + Py + Cp + Gn + telururos de Au-Ag + telururos de Pb + Au para sectores con dominio D3 (cizallas sinestrales). Las alteraciones hidrotermales y la asociacion paragenetica observada permite sugerir que especies como H2S o HS- fueron dominantes en los fluidos mineralizantes y, en consecuencia, el complejo Au(HS)2- fue probablemente el ligante y el medio de transporte del Au. La presencia de texturas de recristalizacion tipo Bulging permiten inferir condiciones de temperatura bajas (<350 °C) y condiciones de deformacion fragil-ductil. Los valores isotopicos de δ18O en moscovitas hidrotermales para el primer evento de mineralizacion, asociadas a D2 estan entre +7.4 y +8.9‰¸ y los valores de δD varian entre -49 y -50‰. Los valores isotopicos de δ18O en moscovitas hidrotermales para el segundo evento mineralizante, asociadas a D3, varian entre +7.3 y +8.6‰ y los valores de δ D varian entre -46 y -57‰. Los valores de azufre δ34S en pirita asociada a D2 varian entre +3.7 y +4.9‰ y entre +3.95 y +5‰ para pirita asociada a D3. Estos valores isotopicos de δ18O, δD y δ34S muestran una afinidad magmatica y/o metamorfica para el fluido mineralizante. Las caracteristicas geologicas del deposito, incluyendo control estructural, mineralogia, roca encajonante, alteracion hidrotermal, estilo de mineralizacion y composicion isotopica de δ18O, δD y δ34S, indican que el deposito en la mina La Ye es compatible con el modelo de depositos de oro orogenico (Orogenic Gold Depo
Performance Evaluation of Distance Metrics: Application to Fingerprint Recognition

Distance metric is widely used in similarity estimation which plays a key role in fingerprint recognition. In this work we propose the detailed comparison of 29 distinct distance metrics. Features of fingerprint images are extracted using Fast Fourier Transform (FFT). Recognition rate, receiver operating curve (ROC), time and space complexity parameters are used for evaluation of each distance metric. To consolidate our conclusion we used the standard fingerprint database available at Bologna University and FVC2000 databases. After evaluation of 29 distinct distance metrics we found Sorgel distance metric performs best. Genuine acceptance rate (GAR) of Sorgel distance metric is observed to be ~5% higher than traditional Euclidean distance metric at low false acceptance rate (FAR). Sorgel distance gives good GAR at low FAR with moderate computational complexity.
Clinicopathologic Parameters Related to Recurrence and Locoregional Metastasis in 180 Oral Squamous Cell Carcinomas

Lymph node metastasis (LNm), local recurrence (LR), and second primary tumor (SPT) after primary surgery for oral squalmous cell carcinoma (OSCC) have been considered poor prognostic entities in terms of survival rate. The purpose of this study was to identify the clinicopathologic parameters significantly related to LNm, LR, and SPT. Records from 180 patients who underwent radical surgery for OSCC were retrospectively reviewed. Perineural invasion was significantly related to LNm (18% vs 8%) and LR (15% vs 5%), while the status of the surgical margin (10% in case of clear margins, 18% close margins, and 24% involved margins), namely epithelial precursor lesions (43%) was an independent factor influencing SPT. Perineural invasion proved a good prognostic factor for early events, either LNm or LR, while a surgical margin width less than 5 mm or with epithelial precursor lesions may be considered a risk factor for late events such as SPT.
A High Sensitivity Preamplifier for Quartz Tuning Forks in QEPAS (Quartz Enhanced PhotoAcoustic Spectroscopy) Applications

All the preamplifiers dedicated for Quartz Enhanced PhotoAcoustic Spectroscopy (QEPAS) applications that have so far been reported in the literature have been based on operational amplifiers working in transimpedance configurations. Taking into consideration that QEPAS sensors are based on quartz tuning forks, and that quartz has a relatively high voltage constant and relatively low charge constant, it seems that a transimpedance amplifier is not an optimal solution. This paper describes the design of a quartz QEPAS sensor preamplifier, implemented with voltage amplifier configuration. Discussion of an electrical model of the circuit and preliminary measurements are presented. Both theoretical analysis and experiments show that use of the voltage configuration allows for a substantial increase of the output signal in comparison to the transimpedance circuit with the same tuning fork working in identical conditions. Assuming that the sensitivity of the QEPAS technique depends directly on the properties of the preamplifier, use of the voltage amplifier configuration should result in an increase of QEPAS sensitivity by one to two orders of magnitude.
Antiquorum sensing, antibiofilm formation and cytotoxicity activity of commonly used medicinal plants by inhabitants of Borabu sub-county, Nyamira County, Kenya

Productions of various bacterial traits like production of virulence factors (e.g. toxins, enzymes), biofilm formation, luminescence among others, have been known to be controlled by quorum sensing (QS), a process that is dependent on chemical signals or autoinducers (AIs). Bacteria known to rely on such AIs are known to be virulent and tend to be resistant against various antimicrobial agents. Therefore, strategies aimed at the inhibition of QS pathways, are regarded as potential novel therapies in managing bacterial virulence hence reducing their ability to induce infections in humans. In the present study, a portfolio of 25 medicinal plant extracts (ethanol 50% v/v) used in southwestern Kenya were assayed against a transformed E. coli Top 10 reporter QS strain. This biosensor responds to the exogenous addition of 3-oxo-N-hexanoyl homoserine lactone (3OC6HSL) expressing green fluorescent protein (GFP). The large majority of the screened medicinal plants seemed to exhibit toxic effects and almost none of them induced antiquorum sensing (AQS) activity. This could be the consequence of the presence of mixed compounds in the extracts. Elaeodendron buchananii Loes and Acacia gerrardii Benth extracts that seemed to show AQS activity were further proved found to possess mild AQS but with defined antimicrobial activities, and no antibiofilm formation inhibition. As a control, an E. coli pBCA9145_jtk2828::sfGFP strain that produces constitutively GFP was used and confirmed that none of the two extracts quenched the fluorescence of sfGFP. Cytotoxicity assays with mammalian MDCK cells also did indicate that the selected extracts with putative AQS activity, also reduced the cell viability. Therefore, further studies will be needed to separate and re-test the individual compounds especially from the selected two promising plants.
Gender differences in the transition to early parenthood

Data gathered over the course of a 25-year longitudinal study of 1,055 young people was used to examine gender differences in the onset of early parenthood and the developmental processes that place males and females at risk of becoming a young parent. Results revealed clear gender differences in the timing of early parenthood, with females being twice as likely as males to become a parent between the ages of 16 and 25 years. In contrast, the risk factors and life course processes that placed males and females at risk of an early transition to parenthood were very similar. Two exceptions were a gender-specific effect for maternal age and exposure to parental change, suggesting that having been raised by a younger mother and having experienced parental changes in your family of origin increased risks of early parenthood for females but not males. These findings contribute to our understanding of the effects of gender on life course development.This research was funded by grants from the Health Research Council of New Zealand, the National Child Health Research Foundation, the Canterbury Medical Research Foundation and the New Zealand Lottery Grants Board.
Identification of the principal T lymphocyte-stimulating antigens of Pseudomonas aeruginosa

To aid in understanding the role of cellular immunity in limiting Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections, we have identified some of the principal antigens of the organism that are recognized by human T cells. Clones of T cells were selected in such a manner that they would provide information not only about the identity of Pseudomonas antigens, but also the T cell repertoires of immune donors. Most clones were found to be specific for Pseudomonas alkaline protease (AP). Such clones could be physically isolated by selecting with crude Pseudomonas antigens or purified AP. In either case, their fine specificities were the same when tested against a panel of Pseudomonas antigens. The conclusion that AP is the principal immunogen for many donors was confirmed by measuring the absolute frequencies of proliferating T cells committed to AP and all other Pseudomonas antigens. Frequencies of AP-specific clones (1.5-2.7 X 10(-5] were comparable to those from the same donors that were specific for all secreted Pseudomonas antigens (1.3-6.0 X 10(-5]. These results provide a model system for studying human T cell-mediated immunity to bacteria by identifying discrete antigens and measuring the repertoire diversities of cells responding to them.
Adoptive transfer of immature dendritic cells with autologous or allogeneic tumor cells generates systemic antitumor immunity.

Dendritic cells (DCs) are potent antigen-presenting cells that are capable of priming systemic antitumor immune responses in animal tumor models. However, many of the model tumor systems tested need definition of the specific tumor antigens involved. To use DCs in situations that are more relevant to the majority of human cancers, where the antigens are unknown, we have tested the adoptive transfer of immature DCs in mouse colorectal and melanoma models of varying immunogenicity but with undefined antigens. When DCs admixed with a syngeneic primary tumor inoculum were seeded s.c. , the growth of the primary tumor was unchanged; however, if the primary tumor was then surgically excised and the animal was rechallenged with the same tumor, significant protection (75%) was generated when DCs were present in the original primary inoculum of a moderately immunogenic colorectal model (CMT93tk). This effect was not observed when a nonimmunogenic melanoma (B16) was tested in an identical protocol. Next, DCs were injected directly into 6-9-mm established tumors; again, protection (55%) was achieved against a secondary tumor challenge following excision of the primary, but only in the CMT93tk model of moderate immunogenicity. To increase the clinical relevance of this approach still further, we tested irradiated allogeneic K1735 melanoma cells mixed with syngeneic DCs as a vaccine against subsequent challenge with the poorly immunogenic syngeneic melanoma B16. The allogeneic vaccine alone was ineffective, but when admixed with DCs, a significant number of animals rejected a subsequent B16 challenge, suggesting that DCs are able to prime an immune response against melanoma antigens shared between K1735 and B16. The generation of systemic antitumor immunity by adoptive transfer of DCs has significant clinical potential because it is technically straightforward and does not require the definition of specific tumor antigens.
Large-scale horizontal flows in the solar photosphere III. Effects on filament destabilization

LERMA, Observatoire de Paris, Section de Meudon, 92195 Meudon, FranceReceived February 2, 2008/ SubmittedABSTRACTAims. We study the inﬂuence of large-scale photospheric motions on the destabilization of an eruptive ﬁlament, observed on Oc tober6, 7, and 8, 2004, as part of an international observing campaign (JOP 178). Methods.Large-scale horizontal ﬂows were invetigated from a series of MDI full-disc Dopplergrams and magnetograms. From theDopplergrams, we tracked supergranular ﬂow patterns using the local correlation tracking (LCT) technique. We used both LCT andmanual tracking of isolated magnetic elements to obtain horizontal velocities from magnetograms.Results. We ﬁnd that the measured ﬂow ﬁelds obtained by the di ﬀerent methods are well-correlated on large scales. The topology ofthe ﬂow ﬁeld changed signiﬁcantly during the ﬁlament erupti ve phase, suggesting a possible coupling between the surface ﬂow ﬁeldand the coronal magnetic ﬁeld. We measured an increase in the shear below the point where the eruption starts and a decrease in shearafter the eruption. We ﬁnd a pattern in the large-scale horizontal ﬂows at the solar surface that interact with di ﬀerential rotation.Conclusions. We conclude that there is probably a link between changes in surface ﬂow and the disappearance of the eruptiveﬁlament. Key words. The Sun: Atmosphere – The Sun: Filaments – The Sun: Magnetic ﬁ elds
All-optical multicasting on wavelength-routed WDM networks with partial replication

An all-optical multicast heuristic (AOMH) method is proposed to perform all-optical multicasting on WDM networks. AOMH first divides the members of a multicast group into MCG (multicast-capable group) and MIG (multicast-incapable group). If the MCG is empty or the fanout constraints are not satisfied, AOMH will add some proxy MC (PMC) nodes in the MCG to satisfy the constraints. Then the multicast tree is determined in three steps. First, AOMH constructs a multicast tree for the MCG. Second, AOMH partitions MIC into several sub-MIGs according to the distances to the members of the MCG. Finally, AOMH generates the multicast sub-trees rooted at the members of the MCG with the destinations of their own sub-MIGs. AOMH has a good performance if the number of MC nodes is larger than 20% of the number of nodes in a network. Furthermore, if a node has a higher degree, multicast capable devices will be required to improve the network performance.
Development and analysis of a PC-based object-oriented real-time robotics controller

Real-time controllers have traditionally used computer hardware systems that require expertise in hardware knowledge before the controller can be effectively implemented. This paper introduces a single-processor PC-based real-time motion controller developed using QNX 6.0 Neutrino operating system. Using the advantages of a distributed software system and an object-oriented architecture, the developed controller can be easily modified to suit any application. Common real-time software development issues such as timing, data logging and hardware management are discussed in detail, along with straight-forward solutions to address these problems in QNX. The entire system is implemented on a 2D cable-based high-speed pick-and-place robot, and the controller performance is compared to Delta Tau PMAC, a commercial controller. Developing a PC-based modular real-time controller allows researchers to easily implement their control algorithms at a reasonable cost
Human Cytomegalovirus Disrupts the Major Histocompatibility Complex Class I Peptide-Loading Complex and Inhibits Tapasin Gene Transcription

ABSTRACT Major histocompatibility complex class I (MHC I) molecules present antigenic peptides for CD8+ T-cell recognition. Prior to cell surface expression, proper MHC I loading is conducted by the peptide-loading complex (PLC), composed of the MHC I heavy chain (HC) and β2-microglobulin (β2m), the peptide transporter TAP, and several chaperones, including tapasin. Tapasin connects peptide-receptive MHC I molecules to the PLC, thereby facilitating loading of high-affinity peptides onto MHC I. To cope with CD8+ T-cell responses, human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) encodes several posttranslational strategies inhibiting peptide transport and MHC I biogenesis which have been studied extensively in transfected cells. Here we analyzed assembly of the PLC in naturally HCMV-infected fibroblasts throughout the protracted replication cycle. MHC I incorporation into the PLC was absent early in HCMV infection. Subsequently, tapasin neosynthesis became strongly reduced, while tapasin steady-state levels diminished only slowly in infected cells, revealing a blocked synthesis rather than degradation. Tapasin mRNA levels were continuously downregulated during infection, while tapasin transcripts remained stable and long-lived. Taking advantage of a novel method by which de novo transcribed RNA is selectively labeled and analyzed, an immediate decline of tapasin transcription was seen, followed by downregulation of TAP2 and TAP1 gene expression. However, upon forced expression of tapasin in HCMV-infected cells, repair of MHC I incorporation into the PLC was relatively inefficient, suggesting an additional level of HCMV interference. The data presented here document a two-pronged coordinated attack on tapasin function by HCMV.