Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Morphine Exacerbates HIV-1 Tat-Induced Cytokine Production in Astrocytes through Convergent Effects on [Ca2+]i, NF-κB Trafficking and Transcription

Astroglia are key cellular sites where opiate drug signals converge with the proinflammatory effects of HIV-1 Tat signals to exacerbate HIV encephalitis. Despite this understanding, the molecular sites of convergence driving opiate-accelerated neuropathogenesis have not been deciphered. We therefore explored potential points of interaction between the signaling pathways initiated by HIV-1 Tat and opioids in striatal astrocytes. Profiling studies screening 152 transcription factors indicated that the nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) subunit, c-Rel, was a likely candidate for Tat or Tat plus opiate-induced increases in cytokine and chemokine production by astrocytes. Pretreatment with the NF-κB inhibitor parthenolide provided evidence that Tat±morphine-induced release of MCP-1, IL-6 and TNF-α by astrocytes is NF-κB dependent. The nuclear export inhibitor, leptomycin B, blocked the nucleocytoplasmic shuttling of NF-κB; causing p65 (RelA) accumulation in the nucleus, and significantly attenuated cytokine production in Tat±morphine exposed astrocytes. Similarly, chelating intracellular calcium ([Ca2+]i) blocked Tat±morphine-evoked MCP-1 and IL-6 release, while artificially increasing the concentration of extracellular Ca2+ reversed this effect. Taken together, these results demonstrate that: 1) exposure to Tat±morphine is sufficient to activate NF-κB and cytokine production, 2) the release of MCP-1 and IL-6 by Tat±morphine are highly Ca2+-dependent, while TNF-α appears to be less affected by the changes in [Ca2+]i, and 3) in the presence of Tat, exposure to opiates augments Tat-induced NF-κB activation and cytokine release through a Ca2+-dependent pathway.
Comparison of Archaeal Communities in Mineral Soils at a Boreal Forest in Finland and a Cold-Temperate Forest in Japan

Archaeal communities in mineral soils were compared between a boreal forest in Finland and cold-temperate forest in Japan using 16S rRNA gene-targeted high-throughput sequencing. In boreal soils, Thaumarchaeota Group 1.1c archaea predominated and Thaumarchaeota Group 1.1a-associated and Group 1.1b archaea were also detected. In temperate soils, Thaumarchaeota Group 1.1a-associated and Group 1.1b archaea were dominant members at the subsurface, whereas their dominancy was replaced by Thermoplasmata archaea at the subsoil. An analysis of the ammonia monooxygenase subunit A gene of Archaea also indicated the distribution of Thaumarchaeota Group 1.1a-associated and Group 1.1b archaea in these soils.
Orbitofrontal cortex biases attention to emotional events

We examined the role of orbitofrontal (OF) cortex in regulating emotion–attention interaction and the balance between involuntary and voluntary attention allocation. We studied patients with OF lesion applying reaction time (RT) and event-related potential (ERP) measures in a lateralized visual discrimination task with novel task-irrelevant affective pictures (unpleasant, pleasant, or neutral) preceding a neutral target. This allowed for comparing the effects of automatic attention allocation to emotional versus neutral stimuli on subsequent voluntary attention allocation to target stimuli. N2–P3a and N2–P3b ERP components served as measures of involuntary and voluntary attention allocation correspondingly. Enhanced N2–P3a amplitudes to emotional distractors and reduced N2–P3b amplitudes to targets preceded by emotional distractors were observed in healthy subjects, suggesting automatic emotional orienting interfered with subsequent voluntary orienting. OF patients showed an opposite pattern with tendency towards reduced N2–P3a responses to emotional distractors, suggesting impaired automatic orienting to emotional stimuli due to orbitofrontal damage. Enhanced N2–P3b responses to targets preceded by any affective distractor were observed in OF patients, suggesting bias towards voluntary target-related attention allocation due to orbitofrontal lesion. Behavioral evidence indicated that left visual field (LVF) attention performance was modulated by emotional stimuli. Specifically, OF patients responded faster to LVF targets subsequent to pleasant emotional distractors. We suggest that damage to the orbitofrontal circuitry leads to dysbalance between voluntary and involuntary attention allocation in the context of affective distractors with predisposition to posterior target-related processing over frontal novelty and affect-related processing. Furthermore, we suggest that orbitofrontal influence on emotion–attention interaction is valence and hemisphere dependent.
Parental investment and the optimization of human family size

Human reproductive behaviour is marked by exceptional variation at the population and individual level. Human behavioural ecologists propose adaptive hypotheses to explain this variation as shifting phenotypic optima in relation to local socioecological niches. Here we review evidence that variation in fertility (offspring number), in both traditional and modern industrialized populations, represents optimization of the life-history trade-off between reproductive rate and parental investment. While a reliance on correlational methods suggests the true costs of sibling resource competition are often poorly estimated, a range of anthropological and demographic studies confirm that parents balance family size against offspring success. Evidence of optimization is less forthcoming. Declines in fertility associated with modernization are particularly difficult to reconcile with adaptive models, because fertility limitation fails to enhance offspring reproductive success. Yet, considering alternative measures, we show that modern low fertility confers many advantages on offspring, which are probably transmitted to future generations. Evidence from populations that have undergone or initiated demographic transition indicate that these rewards to fertility limitation fall selectively on relatively wealthy individuals. The adaptive significance of modern reproductive behaviour remains difficult to evaluate, but may be best understood in response to rising investment costs of rearing socially and economically competitive offspring.
Secure fuzzy fingerprint vault against correlation attack

The fuzzy vault scheme has emerged as a promising solution to the user privacy and the fingerprint template security problems. Recently, however, this scheme is shown to be susceptible to a correlation attack that finds the real minutiae using multiple vaults enrolled for different applications. To protect the fuzzy fingerprint vault from the correlation attack, we propose an approach to add chaffs in a more structured way such that distinguishing the fingerprint minutiae and the chaff points obtained from two applications is computationally hard. Experimental results show that the proposed approach achieves much secure performance than adding chaffs randomly without a significant degradation of the verification accuracy.
The Reliability of Sensing Fatigue from Neurophysiology Dr

To date no-study has tested the reproducibility of electroencephalography (EEG) changes that occur during driver fatigue. For the EEG changes to be useful in the development of a fatigue sensing and countermeasure device the EEG response during each onset period of fatigue in individuals needs to be reproducible. The aim of the present study was to investigate the reproducibility of the EEG changes during fatigue in professional drivers in order to identify the feasibility of the EEG measure for a fatigue sensor. Twenty professional drivers were assessed during two separate sessions of a driver simulator task. EEG, eye activity and behavioural measurements of fatigue were obtained during the driving task. The results showed significant reproducibility for the EEG slow wave activity (r >0.95) and fast wave activity (r >0.60). The results have promising implications for the development of an EEG based fatigue-sensing device. The EEG changes during fatigue were reproducible and therefore, appear to be a promising neurophysiological measure, which can be incorporated into an on-line fatigue sensor.
Mechanism of the Splice

The structure of a splice made by a pneumatic splicer was investigated by studying the longitudinal view and cross sections of the splice zone. The splice has three distinct regions: twisting, wrapping, and tucking/intermingling. The strength of the splice is primarily due to the tucking/intermingling region. Wrapping preserves the splice and gives a clean appearance. Twisting provides lateral forces and reduces interfiber slippage in the tucking/intermingling zone.
Novel Oral Therapies for Opioid‐induced Bowel Dysfunction in Patients with Chronic Noncancer Pain

Opioid analgesics are frequently prescribed and play an important role in chronic pain management. Opioid‐induced bowel dysfunction, which includes constipation, hardened stool, incomplete evacuation, gas, and nausea and vomiting, is the most common adverse event associated with opioid use. Mu‐opioid receptors are specifically responsible for opioid‐induced bowel dysfunction, resulting in reduced peristaltic and secretory actions. Agents that reverse these actions in the bowel without reversing pain control in the central nervous system may be preferred over traditional laxatives. The efficacy and safety of these agents in chronic noncancer pain were assessed from publications identified through Ovid and PubMed database searches. Trials that evaluated the safety and efficacy of oral agents for opioid‐induced constipation or opioid‐induced bowel dysfunction, excluding laxatives, were reviewed. Lubiprostone and naloxegol are approved in the United States by the Food and Drug Administration for use in opioid‐induced constipation. Axelopran (TD‐1211) and sustained‐release naloxone have undergone phase 2 and phase 1 studies, respectively, for the same indication. Naloxegol and axelopran are peripherally acting μ‐opioid receptor antagonists. Naloxone essentially functions as a peripherally acting μ‐opioid receptor antagonist when administered orally in a sustained‐release formulation. Lubiprostone is a locally acting chloride channel (CIC‐2) activator that increases secretions and peristalsis. All agents increase spontaneous bowel movements and reduce other bowel symptoms compared with placebo in patients with noncancer pain who are chronic opioid users. The most common adverse events were gastrointestinal in nature, and none of the drugs were associated with severe adverse or cardiovascular events. Investigations comparing these agents to regimens using standard laxative and combination therapy and trials in special populations and patients with active cancer are needed to further define their role in therapy.
Effect of Dietary Zinc Oxide on Morphological Characteristics, Mucin Composition and Gene Expression in the Colon of Weaned Piglets

The trace element zinc is often used in the diet of weaned piglets, as high doses have resulted in positive effects on intestinal health. However, the majority of previous studies evaluated zinc supplementations for a short period only and focused on the small intestine. The hypothesis of the present study was that low, medium and high levels of dietary zinc (57, 164 and 2,425 mg Zn/kg from zinc oxide) would affect colonic morphology and innate host defense mechanisms across 4 weeks post-weaning. Histological examinations were conducted regarding the colonic morphology and neutral, acidic, sialylated and sulphated mucins. The mRNA expression levels of mucin (MUC) 1, 2, 13, 20, toll-like receptor (TLR) 2, 4, interleukin (IL)-1β, 8, 10, interferon-γ (IFN-γ) and transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) were also measured. The colonic crypt area increased in an age-depending manner, and the greatest area was found with medium concentration of dietary zinc. With the high concentration of dietary zinc, the number of goblet cells containing mixed neutral-acidic mucins and total mucins increased. Sialomucin containing goblet cells increased age-dependently. The expression of MUC2 increased with age and reached the highest level at 47 days of age. The expression levels of TLR2 and 4 decreased with age. The mRNA expression of TLR4 and the pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-8 were down-regulated with high dietary zinc treatment, while piglets fed with medium dietary zinc had the highest expression. It is concluded that dietary zinc level had a clear impact on colonic morphology, mucin profiles and immunological traits in piglets after weaning. Those changes might support local defense mechanisms and affect colonic physiology and contribute to the reported reduction of post-weaning diarrhea.
Three-Dimensional Observation of Structure and Morphology in Nylon-6/Clay Nanocomposite

We previously synthesized new nanocomposites that have clays uniformly dispersed in a nylon-6 matrix. Observation under the transmission electron microscope showed these clays to be a 1-nm-thick, 100-nm-wide layered filler. Recently, we have succeeded in making a three-dimensional observation of the cross section of the nanocomposites subjected to oxygen plasma treatment, using a scanning electron microscope. The observation revealed a novel structure, in which the clay layers stood perpendicularly to the nylon surface, resemblin a vertical cliff. We named these layers a “nano wall”.
Conceptual framework of a simplified multi-dimensional model presenting the environmental and personal determinants of cardiometabolic risk behaviors in childhood

Clinical manifestations of cardiometabolic risk (CMR) may be set early in childhood due to unfavorable behaviors or lifestyle patterns related to diet and physical activity. Several factors may determine the adoption of such lifestyle-related behaviors, which researchers have tried to cluster under certain frameworks or models. In this context, the framework developed and proposed by this review gathers all the present knowledge regarding these determining factors to date and groups them into three main categories related to personal characteristics and the social and physical environment. Based on the proposed framework, a large variety of personal, social and physical environmental factors can positively or negatively influence CMR-related behaviors (either directly or indirectly via their interrelations), thus leading to decreased or increased risk, respectively. This framework could be of great value to public health policy makers and legislators for designing and implementing interventional programs tailored to the needs of susceptible population groups who are most in need for such initiatives. Targeting the correlates as potential determinants of CMR-related behaviors, and not just on the behaviors themselves, has been shown previously to be the most effective approach for tackling health issues related to CMR starting from early life stages.
Non-Coding RNAs in Primary Liver Cancer

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a primary malignancy of the liver with poor prognosis and limited therapeutic options. Over the past few years, many studies have evaluated the role of non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) in hepatocarcinogenesis and tumor progression. ncRNAs were shown to have diagnostic, prognostic, and therapeutic potential in HCC. In this manuscript, we review the latest major discoveries concerning microRNAs and long ncRNAs in HCC pathogenesis, and discuss the potentials and the limitations for their use in clinical practice.
How Philip Morris built Marlboro into a global brand for young adults: implications for international tobacco control

Objective: To describe Philip Morris’ global market research and international promotional strategies targeting young adults. Methods: : Analysis of previously secret tobacco industry documents. Results: Philip Morris pursued standardised market research and strategic marketing plans in different regions throughout the world using research on young adults with three principle foci: lifestyle/psychographic research, brand studies, and advertising/communication effectiveness. Philip Morris identified core similarities in the lifestyles and needs of young consumers worldwide, such as independence, hedonism, freedom, and comfort. In the early 1990s Philip Morris adopted standardised global marketing efforts, creating a central advertising production bank and guidelines for brand images and promotions, but allowing regional managers to create regionally appropriate individual advertisements. Conclusions: Values and lifestyles play a central role in the global marketing of tobacco to young adults. Worldwide counter marketing initiatives, coupled with strong, coherent global marketing policies such as the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, are needed to break associations between young adult values and tobacco brands. As globalisation promotes the homogenisation of values and lifestyles, tobacco control messages that resonate with young adults in one part of the world may appeal to young adults in other countries. Successful tobacco control messages that appeal to young people, such as industry denormalisation, may be expanded globally with appropriate tailoring to appeal to regional values.
Mappability and read length

Power-law distributions are the main functional form for the distribution of repeat size and repeat copy number in the human genome. When the genome is broken into fragments for sequencing, the limited size of fragments and reads may prevent an unique alignment of repeat sequences to the reference sequence. Repeats in the human genome can be as long as 104 bases, or 105 − 106 bases when allowing for mismatches between repeat units. Sequence reads from these regions are therefore unmappable when the read length is in the range of 103 bases. With a read length of 1000 bases, slightly more than 1% of the assembled genome, and slightly less than 1% of the 1 kb reads, are unmappable, excluding the unassembled portion of the human genome (8% in GRCh37/hg19). The slow decay (long tail) of the power-law function implies a diminishing return in converting unmappable regions/reads to become mappable with the increase of the read length, with the understanding that increasing read length will always move toward the direction of 100% mappability.
User needs for metadata management in mobile multimedia content services

Users increasingly need to manage their personal content on different platforms, including mobile devices. Metadata is a central means for users to manage large amounts of different types of personal content. Even though technical solutions and services that use metadata have been developed during the past few years, user needs for metadata management in different phases of media creation and consumption cycle have not been studied in depth. In this interview study with 26 users, we examined users' habits and expectations regarding the use of metadata in managing personal content with mobile devices. We present user needs for metadata management, i.e. what metadata should be stored, and how they should be accessed, used and shared. The results indicate that even though users consider managing metadata burdensome when it has to be created manually, browsing metadata becomes an integral part of user experience in mobile multimedia content services.
Evidence for export of a muscle lectin from cytosol to extracellular matrix and for a novel secretory mechanism

A soluble lactose-binding lectin with subunit Mr of 14,500 is believed to function by interacting with extracellular glycoconjugates, because it has been detected extracellularly by immunohistochemistry. This localization has been questioned, however, since the lectin lacks a secretion signal sequence, which challenges the contention that it is secreted. We have demonstrated externalization of this lectin from C2 mouse muscle cells by both immunoprecipitation of metabolically labeled protein and immunohistochemical localization. We further show that externalization of the lectin is a developmentally regulated process that accompanies myoblast differentiation and that the lectin codistributes with laminin in myotube extracellular matrix. Immunohistochemical localization during intermediate stages of externalization suggests that the lectin becomes concentrated in evaginations of plasma membrane, which pinch off to form labile lectin- rich extracellular vesicles. This suggests a possible mechanism for lectin export from the cytosol to the extracellular matrix.
Inhaled benzene increases the frequency and length of lacI deletion mutations in lung tissues of mice.

This study investigated the frequency and pattern of mutations that arose in lacI transgenes in lung tissues of mice exposed to 300 p.p.m. of benzene for 6 h/day x 5 days/week for 12 weeks. The nucleotide sequence changes in 86 lacI- transgenes from lung tissues of eight benzene-exposed mice (BEM) and 78 spontaneous lacI- transgenes from lung tissues of eight unexposed control mice (UCM) were identified and compared. A total of 31% (27/86) of the lacI mutations in BEM are deletions compared with 9% (7/78) deletions in UCM. In BEM, 44% (12/27) of the deletions were longer than 10 bp, whereas only 14% (1/7) of the deletions in UCM exceeded 10 bp in length. Statistical tests supported the hypothesis that benzene exposure resulted in significant increases in both the frequency and length of deletions. Based on the lacI mutant frequency and fraction of unique mutations, lung tissues of BEM were estimated to have a 1.8-fold increase in lacI mutation frequency compared with lung tissues of UCM. The results presented in this paper demonstrate that inhaled benzene is a gene mutagen in lung tissues of mice.
New Sufficient Conditions for Global Robust Stability of Delayed Neural Networks

In this paper, we continue to explore application of nonsmooth analysis to the study of global asymptotic robust stability (GARS) of delayed neural networks. In combination with Lyapunov theory, our approach gives several new types of sufficient conditions ensuring GARS. A significant common aspect of our results is their low computational complexity. It is demonstrated that the reported results can be verified either by conducting spectral decompositions of symmetric matrices associated with the uncertainty sets of network parameters, or by solving a semidefinite programming problem. Nontrivial examples are constructed to compare with some closely related existing results
Some computational properties of intersection types

This paper presents a new method for comparing computation-properties of /spl lambda/-terms typeable with intersection types with respect to terms typeable with Curry types. In particular, strong normalization and /spl lambda/-definability are investigated. A translation is introduced from intersection typing derivations to Curry typeable terms; the main feature of the proposed technique is that the translation is preserved by /spl beta/-reduction. This allows to simulate a computation starting from a term typeable in the intersection discipline by means of a computation starting from a simply typeable term. Our approach naturally leads to prove strong normalization in the intersection system by means of purely syntactical techniques. In addition, the presented method enables us to give a proof of a conjecture proposed by Leivant in 1990, namely that all functions uniformly definable using intersection types are already definable using Curry types.