Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Role of Intestinal Microflora in Anti-Inflammatory Effect of Baicalin in Mice

Baicalin, a main constituent of the rhizome of Scutellaria baicalensis, is metabolized to baicalein and oroxylin A in the intestine before its absorption. To understand the role of intestinal microflora in the pharmacological activities of baicalin, we investigated its anti-inflammatory effect in mice treated with and without antibiotics. Orally administered baicalin showed the anti-inflammatory effect in mice than intraperitoneally treated one, apart from intraperitoneally administered its metabolites, baicalein and oroxylin A, which potently inhibited LPS-induced inflammation. Of these metabolites, oroxylin A showed more potent anti-inflammatory effect. However, treatment with the mixture of cefadroxil, oxytetracycline and erythromycin (COE) significantly attenuated the anti-inflammatory effect of orally administered baicalin in mice. Treatment with COE also reduced intestinal bacterial fecal β-glucuronidase activity. The metabolic activity of human stools is significantly different between individuals, but neither between ages nor between male and female. Baicalin was metabolized to baicalein and oroxylin A, with metabolic activities of 1.427 ± 0.818 and 1.025 ± 0.603 pmol/min/mg wet weight, respectively. Baicalin and its metabolites also inhibited the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines, TNF-α and IL-1β, and the activation of NF-κB in LPS-stimulated peritoneal macrophages. Of them, oroxylin A showed the most potent inhibition. Based on these findings, baicalin may be metabolized to baicalein and oroxylin A by intestinal microflora, which enhance its anti-inflammatory effect by inhibiting NF-κB activation.
A 10Gbps Burst-Mode CDR Circuit in 0.18μm CMOS

A 10Gbps burst-mode clock and data recovery (CDR) circuit has been fabricated in 0.18mum CMOS technology. It recovers the input data and clock within 32 bits by using a gated voltage-controlled oscillator, a quadrature generator and a phase-aligning loop incorporating a half-rate bang-bang phase detector and a digital phase interpolator. The measured peak-to-peak jitter of the recovered clock is 10.44ps. The die area is 1.73 times 2.01 mm2 and draw 200mW from a 1.8V supply.
Productive Container Types for Aedes aegypti Immatures in Mérida, México

ABSTRACT During 2007–2010, we examined which container types in Mérida, México, are most productive for Aedes aegypti (L.) immatures. Surveys for mosquito immatures followed routine surveillance methodology and container type classifications used by Servicios de Salud de Yucatán. Our main findings were that 1) small and larger discarded containers that serve no particular purpose and therefore can be removed from the environment contribute strongly to larval and pupal production in Mérida, and 2) the importance of different container types can vary among sets of residential premises as well as between dry and wet periods. These results may help to guide future implementation in Mérida of control efforts that target the most productive container types for Ae. aegypti immatures. Furthermore, if the Patio Limpio cleanup campaign that currently is ongoing in Mérida proves successful in removing discarded containers as important immature development sites, then we should see dramatic changes in the most productive container types in the future as the mosquito is forced to switch to other container types, which perhaps also will be easier to include in highly targeted mosquito control interventions.
Long-Term Outcomes of Sacrococcygeal Germ Cell Tumors in Infancy and Childhood

Purpose. The aim of this study was to evaluate long-term outcomes of sacrococcygeal germ cell tumors (SC-GCTs) over a 15-year period. Materials and Methods. A retrospective review was conducted of all pediatric patients treated for SC-GCTs at our hospital from 1998 to 2012. Results. Fifty-seven patients were treated for SC-GCTs with the most common in Altman's classification type I. Age at surgery ranged from one day to 5.6 years. Tumor resection and coccygectomy were primarily performed in about 84% of the cases. Pathology revealed mature, immature, malignant sacrococcygeal teratomas (SCTs), and endodermal sinus tumors (ESTs) in 41 (72%), 4 (77%), 6 (10.5%), and 6 (10.5%), respectively. Recurrence of discase occurred in 3 of 41 patients with mature teratomas (7.3%); 2 recurrences with mature teratomas and one recurrence with EST. Five of 6 malignant SCTs and 3 of 6 ESTs responded well to the treatment. Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) level was elevated in both malignant teratomas and ESTs. No immediate patient death was noted in any of the 57 cases, but 4 patients with malignant tumors and distant metastasis succumbed at home within 2 years of the initial treatment. Conclusion. Benign SCTs have a significant recurrence rate of approximately 7%. Close follow-up with serial AFP level monitoring should be done for 5 years after initial tumor resection and coccygectomy. The survival rate for malignant SC-GCTs with distant metastasis was unfavorable in the present study.
‘I Am Talking About It Because I Want to Stop It’: Child Sexual Abuse and Sexual Violence Against Women in British South Asian Communities

This article explores the role of socio-cultural factors in violence against women and girls, focusing on child sexual abuse (CSA) and sexual violence (SV) in British South Asian communities. Using examples from 13 in-depth interviews with survivors, the researchers examine (1) how abusers gain access to their victims, (2) family and community responses and (3) the role of cultural factors in concealing CSA/SV. The interviews demonstrate that British South Asian survivors are extremely reluctant to disclose SV/CSA due to factors that other groups of victims usually do not face, including a general taboo about discussing sex and strong cultural norms around notions of shame. These findings are contextualized in relation to a larger study that also involved community focus groups and interviews with professionals in relevant fields. Moving forward, new culturally specific support pathways for British South Asian victims must be developed that take account of the role that victims and their communities must play if CSA and SV are to be effectively combatted.
Gastric Carcinogenesis and Underlying Molecular Mechanisms: Helicobacter pylori and Novel Targeted Therapy

The oxygen-derived free radicals that are released from activated neutrophils are one of the cytotoxic factors of Helicobacter pylori-induced gastric mucosal injury. Increased cytidine deaminase activity in H. pylori-infected gastric tissues promotes the accumulation of various mutations and might promote gastric carcinogenesis. Cytotoxin-associated gene A (CagA) is delivered into gastric epithelial cells via bacterial type IV secretion system, and it causes inflammation and activation of oncogenic pathways. H. pylori infection induces epigenetic transformations, such as aberrant promoter methylation in tumor-suppressor genes. Aberrant expression of microRNAs is also reportedly linked to gastric tumorogenesis. Moreover, recent advances in molecular targeting therapies provided a new interesting weapon to treat advanced gastric cancer through anti-human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER-2) therapies. This updated review article highlights possible mechanisms of gastric carcinogenesis including H. pylori-associated factors.
Characteristic classes of mixed Hodge modules

This paper gives an introduction and overview about recent developments on the interaction of the theories of characteristic classes and mixed Hodge theory for singular spaces in the complex algebraic context. It uses M. Saito's deep theory of mixed Hodge modules as a "black box", thinking about them as "constructible or perverse sheaves of Hodge structures", having the same functorial calculus of Grothendieck functors. For the "constant Hodge sheaf", one gets the "motivic characteristic classes" of Brasselet-Schuermann-Yokura, whereas the classes of the "intersection homology Hodge sheaf" were studied by Cappell-Maxim-Shaneson. There are two versions of these characteristic classes. The K-theoretical classes capture information about the graded pieces of the filtered de Rham complex of the filtered D-module underlying a mixed Hodge module. Application of a suitable Todd class transformation then gives classes in homology. These classes are functorial for proper pushdown and exterior products, together with some other properties one would expect for a "good" theory of characteristic classes for singular spaces. For "admissible variation of mixed Hodge structures" they have an explicit classical description in terms of "logarithmic de Rham complexes". On a point space they correspond to a specialization of the Hodge polynomial of a mixed Hodge structure, which one gets by forgetting the weight filtration.
Evaluation of MicroRNAs Regulating Anoikis Pathways and Its Therapeutic Potential

Dysregulation of microRNAs (miRNAs) has been implicated in almost every known survival mechanisms utilized by cancer cells. One of such mechanisms, anoikis resistance, plays a pivotal role in enabling metastasis by allowing cancer cells to circumvent cell death induced by lack of attachment. Understanding how miRNAs regulate the various anoikis pathways has become the research question of increasing number of studies published in the past years. Through these studies, a growing list of miRNAs has been identified to be important players in promoting either anoikis or resistance to anoikis. In this review, we will be focusing on these miRNAs and how the findings from those studies can contribute to novel therapeutic strategies against cancer progression. We will be examining miRNAs that have been found to promote anoikis sensitivity in numerous cancer types followed by miRNAs that inhibit anoikis. In addition, we will also be taking a look at major signaling pathways involved in the action of the each of these miRNAs to gain a better understanding on how miRNAs regulate anoikis.
Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Normal Stifle Joint in Buffaloes (Bos bubalis): An Anatomic Study

This research has been conducted in order to describe the normal anatomical structures of the stifle joint in buffaloes (Bos bubalis) by using the magnetic resonance imaging and the corresponding anatomical sections. The anatomical slices were used to facilitate the interpretation of the MRI images, and therefore the diagnosis for stifle related diseases would be much easier. The hind limbs of ten healthy adult buffaloes (Twenty stifle joints) were used. After slaughtering, MR images were made in sagittal, transverse, and dorsal planes. After that, the limbs were sectioned by using an electric band saw according to the corresponding MRI images after freezing at -20° for 48 hours. Clinically relevant anatomic structures were identified and labeled at each level of the matching images (MR and anatomic slices). MRI images were used to recognize the bony and soft tissue structures of the stifle joint. The articular cartilage appeared as line of hyperintensity which was separated from the subcondral bone by gray line (moderate signal intensity). It was difficult to differentiate between the synovia, infrapatellar fat body and the articular cartilage because of the similar hyperintensity. The meniscial, femoropatellar and cruciate ligaments were recognized as moderate signal intensity. The collateral ligaments and intermediate patellar ligaments, and the common tendon of the Mm. extensor digitorum longus and peroneus tertius, as well as, the menisci and the medial patellar fibrocartilage appeared as hypointense signal. The knowledge of normal anatomy of the stifle joint would serve as initial reference and guide for the stifle diagnosis of the suspected buffaloes by using MRI technique.
Imaging of detached shells around the carbon stars R Scl and U Ant through scattered stellar light

We present the first optical images of scattered light from large, detached gas/dust shells around two carbon stars, R Scl and U Ant, obtained in narrow band filters centred on the resonance lines of neutral K and Na, and in a Stromgren b filter (only U Ant). They confirm results obtained in CO radio line observations, but also reveal new and interesting structures. Towards R Scl the scattering appears optically thick in both the K and Na filters, and both images outline almost perfectly circular disks with essentially uniform intensity out to a sharp outer radius of ≈ 21″. These disks are larger -by about a factor of two -than the radius of the detached shell which has been marginally resolved in CO radio line data. In U Ant the scattering in the K filter appears to be, at least partially, optically thin, and the image is consistent with scattering in a geometrically thin ( ≈ 3″) shell (radius ≈ 43″) with an overall spherical symmetry. The size of this shell agrees very well with that of the detached shell seen in CO radio line emission. The scattering in the Na filter appears more optically thick, and the image suggests the presence of at least one, possibly two, shells inside the 43″ shell. There is no evidence for such a multiple-shell structure in the CO data, but this can be due to considerably lower masses for these inner shells. Weak scattering appears also in a shell which is located outside the 43″ shell. The present data do not allow us to conclusively identify the scattering agent, but we argue that most of the emission in the K and Na filter images is to due to resonance line scattering, and that there is also a weaker contribution from dust scattering in the U Ant data. Awaiting new observational data, our interpretation must be regarded as tentative.
The Impact of Psychological Capital on Job Burnout of Chinese Nurses: The Mediator Role of Organizational Commitment

Background Nursing has a high risk of job burnout, but only a few studies have explored its influencing factors from an organizational perspective. Objective The present study explores the impact of psychological capital on job burnout by investigating the mediating effect of organizational commitment on this relationship. Methods A total of 473 female nurses from four large general hospitals in Xi’an City of China were selected as participants. Data were collected via the Psychological Capital Questionnaire, the Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey, and the Organizational Commitment Scale. Results Both psychological capital and organizational commitment were significantly correlated to job burnout. Structural equation modelling indicated that organizational commitment partially mediated the relationship between psychological capital and job burnout. Conclusion The final model revealed a significant path from psychological capital to job burnout through organizational commitment. These findings extended prior reports and shed some light on the influence of psychological capital on job burnout.
Heterogeneity in the Value of Life

We develop a numerical life-cycle model with choice over consumption and leisure, stochastic mortality and labor income processes, and calibrated to U.S. data to characterize willingness to pay (WTP) for mortality risk reduction. Our theoretical framework can explain many empirical findings in this literature, including an inverted-U life-cycle WTP and an order of magnitude difference in prime-aged adults WTP. By endogenizing leisure and employing multiple income measures, we reconcile the literature's large variation in estimated income elasticities. By accounting for gender- and race-specific stochastic mortality and income processes, we explain the literature's black-white and female-male differences.
High-pressure-induced water penetration into 3-isopropylmalate dehydrogenase

Structures of 3-isopropylmalate dehydrogenase were determined at pressures ranging from 0.1 to 650 MPa. Comparison of these structures gives a detailed picture of the swelling of a cavity at the dimer interface and the generation of a new cleft on the molecular surface, which are accompanied by water penetration.
An Empirical Analysis of Affine Term Structure Models Using the Generalized Method of Moments

In this paper we formulate two tractable two-factor affine term structure models, imposing weak assumptions on the distributions of the measurement errors involved in the different yields. Exploiting the implied moment conditions, the models are estimated by the generalized method of moments using weekly term structure data for Germany, Japan, the UK and the USA. Despite our relatively weak assumptions, for each of these countries the overidentifying restrictions tests indicate that the estimated two-facotr models should be rejected. Apparently, the fact that many affine term structure models are rejected empirically, is unlikely to be due to the assumptions about the joint distribution of the measurement errors, but more likely to the lack of flexibility to explain certain aspects of the term structure.
Dynamic units of visual speech

We present a new method for generating a dynamic, concatenative, unit of visual speech that can generate realistic visual speech animation. We redefine visemes as temporal units that describe distinctive speech movements of the visual speech articulators. Traditionally visemes have been surmized as the set of static mouth shapes representing clusters of contrastive phonemes (e.g. /p, b, m/, and /f, v/). In this work, the motion of the visual speech articulators are used to generate discrete, dynamic visual speech gestures. These gestures are clustered, providing a finite set of movements that describe visual speech, the visemes. Dynamic visemes are applied to speech animation by simply concatenating viseme units. We compare to static visemes using subjective evaluation. We find that dynamic visemes are able to produce more accurate and visually pleasing speech animation given phonetically annotated audio, reducing the amount of time that an animator needs to spend manually refining the animation.
A fuzzy-logic classifier for estimating the reliability of the self calibration of an embedded stereovision system

Estimation of epipolar geometry can be done automatically in on-board stereovision systems, using interest points that are detected and matched. However, image disturbance that can happen in real-life situations can considerably lower the performance. A reliability score computing method is proposed, based on a fuzzy logic classifier. Its input is the data extracted from the estimation process. The classifier is trained with artificial image disturbance, using a set of typical image pairs. Results show that the computed score is indeed related to the performance of estimation.
The development of the sympathetic system of the heart

Development of the sympathetic nervous system begins at about embryonic day 9 in mice with the migration of the neural crest cells to the dorsal aorta and the development of neurons and the sympathetic ganglia. This is followed by the axonal elongation towards the developing cardiac tissue. This process is directed by a series of signal ligands including ephrin-B1, semaphorin 3a (Sema3a), F-Spondin, bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs), Wnt-1 protein, neurotrophin-3 (NT-3), nerve growth factor (NGF) and artemin (ARTN). Once at the developing heart, the nerve fibres follow the coronary veins in the subepicardium using NGF and the chemorepellent Sema3a as signals. Here they interact with the cardiac conduction system. Although these cardiac neural cells are part of the autonomic system, they are developed later, mainly on the epicardial surface. Bilateral innervation of the heart comes from the middle cervical stellate (MC-S) ganglion. Although the left ventricle and atrium receive noradrenaline from the MC-S on both sides, the right ventricle receives more from the MC-S from the left rather than from the right side. The development of the great vessels also contributes towards the pattern of development of cardiac innervation. The afferent fibres leaving the heart are also described. Their development relates to the sympathetic innervation of the heart and therefore to cardiac sensations. We hypothesise about how this reflects on the patterns of ischaemic cardiac pain.
Interval Type-2 Fuzzy PI Controllers: Why They are More Robust

Many experiments have shown that interval type-2 (IT2) fuzzy PI controllers are generally more robust than their type-1 (T1) counterparts, as they are better able to cope with disturbances and uncertainties and eliminate oscillations. This paper aims at providing theoretical explanations to these experimental observations. Analysis has shown that the additional degrees of freedom provided by the footprint of uncertainty enable an IT2 fuzzy PI controller to emulate a variable gain PI controller around the origin, and these PI gains are smaller than those of the baseline type-1 fuzzy PI controller, consequently, the same amount of disturbance will cause a smaller control signal change for an IT2 fuzzy PI controller, and hence reduces the risk of oscillation. The results in this paper enable us to connect traditional PI controllers with IT2 fuzzy PI controllers. Based on the closed-form equivalent PI gains, controller design rules in one domain may be transferred to the other domain, and it is possible to develop new control laws by combining the merits of both traditional PI controllers and IT2 fuzzy PI controllers.
Phosphodiesterase 10A Inhibitor Activity in Preclinical Models of the Positive, Cognitive, and Negative Symptoms of Schizophrenia

Following several recent reports that suggest that dual cAMP and cGMP phosphodiesterase 10A (PDE10A) inhibitors may present a novel mechanism to treat positive symptoms of schizophrenia, we sought to extend the preclinical characterization of two such compounds, papaverine [1-(3,4-dimethoxybenzyl)-6,7-dimethoxyisoquinoline] and MP-10 [2-{[4-(1-methyl-4-pyridin-4-yl-1H-pyrazol-3-yl)phenoxy]methyl}quinoline], in a variety of in vivo and in vitro assays. Both of these compounds were active in a range of antipsychotic models, antagonizing apomorphine-induced climbing in mice, inhibiting conditioned avoidance responding in both rats and mice, and blocking N-methyl-d-aspartate antagonist-induced deficits in prepulse inhibition of acoustic startle response in rats, while improving baseline sensory gating in mice, all of which strengthen previously reported observations. These compounds also demonstrated activity in several assays intended to probe negative symptoms and cognitive deficits, two disease domains that are underserved by current treatments, with both compounds showing an ability to increase sociality in BALB/cJ mice in the social approach/social avoidance assay, enhance social odor recognition in mice and, in the case of papaverine, improve novel object recognition in rats. Biochemical characterization of these compounds has shown that PDE10A inhibitors modulate both the dopamine D1-direct and D2-indirect striatal pathways and regulate the phosphorylation status of a panel of glutamate receptor subunits in the striatum. It is striking that PDE10A inhibition increased the phosphorylation of the (±)-α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methylisoxazole-4-proprionic acid receptor GluR1 subunit at residue serine 845 at the cell surface. Together, our results suggest that PDE10A inhibitors alleviate both dopaminergic and glutamatergic dysfunction thought to underlie schizophrenia, which may contribute to the broad-spectrum efficacy.