Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Pharmacological Properties and Molecular Mechanisms of Thymol: Prospects for Its Therapeutic Potential and Pharmaceutical Development

Thymol, chemically known as 2-isopropyl-5-methylphenol is a colorless crystalline monoterpene phenol. It is one of the most important dietary constituents in thyme species. For centuries, it has been used in traditional medicine and has been shown to possess various pharmacological properties including antioxidant, free radical scavenging, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antispasmodic, antibacterial, antifungal, antiseptic and antitumor activities. The present article presents a detailed review of the scientific literature which reveals the pharmacological properties of thymol and its multiple therapeutic actions against various cardiovascular, neurological, rheumatological, gastrointestinal, metabolic and malignant diseases at both biochemical and molecular levels. The noteworthy effects of thymol are largely attributed to its anti-inflammatory (via inhibiting recruitment of cytokines and chemokines), antioxidant (via scavenging of free radicals, enhancing the endogenous enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants and chelation of metal ions), antihyperlipidemic (via increasing the levels of high density lipoprotein cholesterol and decreasing the levels of low density lipoprotein cholesterol and low density lipoprotein cholesterol in the circulation and membrane stabilization) (via maintaining ionic homeostasis) effects. This review presents an overview of the current in vitro and in vivo data supporting thymol’s therapeutic activity and the challenges concerning its use for prevention and its therapeutic value as a dietary supplement or as a pharmacological agent or as an adjuvant along with current therapeutic agents for the treatment of various diseases. It is one of the potential candidates of natural origin that has shown promising therapeutic potential, pharmacological properties and molecular mechanisms as well as pharmacokinetic properties for the pharmaceutical development of thymol.
Cognitive Impairment and Rehabilitation Strategies After Traumatic Brain Injury

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is among the significant causes of morbidity and mortality in the present world. Around 1.6 million persons sustain TBI, whereas 200,000 die annually in India, thus highlighting the rising need for appropriate cognitive rehabilitation strategies. This literature review assesses the current knowledge of various cognitive rehabilitation training strategies. The entire spectrum of TBI severity; mild to severe, is associated with cognitive deficits of varying degree. Cognitive insufficiency is more prevalent and longer lasting in TBI persons than in the general population. A multidisciplinary approach with neuropsychiatric evaluation is warranted. Attention process training and tasks for attention deficits, compensatory strategies and errorless learning training for memory deficits, pragmatic language skills and social behavior guidance for cognitive-communication disorder, meta-cognitive strategy, and problem-solving training for executive disorder are the mainstay of therapy for cognitive deficits in persons with TBI. Cognitive impairments following TBI are common and vary widely. Different cognitive rehabilitation techniques and combinations in addition to pharmacotherapy are helpful in addressing various cognitive deficits.
RNA Contaminates Glycosaminoglycans Extracted from Cells and Tissues

Glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) are linear negatively charged polysaccharides and important components of extracellular matrices and cell surface glycan layers such as the endothelial glycocalyx. The GAG family includes sulfated heparin, heparan sulfate (HS), dermatan sulfate (DS), chondroitin sulfate (CS), keratan sulfate, and non-sulfated hyaluronan. Because relative expression of GAGs is dependent on cell-type and niche, isolating GAGs from cell cultures and tissues may provide insight into cell- and tissue-specific GAG structure and functions. In our objective to obtain structural information about the GAGs expressed on a specialized mouse glomerular endothelial cell culture (mGEnC-1) we adapted a recently published GAG isolation protocol, based on cell lysis, proteinase K and DNase I digestion. Analysis of the GAGs contributing to the mGEnC-1 glycocalyx indicated a large HS and a minor CS content on barium acetate gel. However, isolated GAGs appeared resistant to enzymatic digestion by heparinases. We found that these GAG extracts were heavily contaminated with RNA, which co-migrated with HS in barium acetate gel electrophoresis and interfered with 1,9-dimethylmethylene blue (DMMB) assays, resulting in an overestimation of GAG yields. We hypothesized that RNA may be contaminating GAG extracts from other cell cultures and possibly tissue, and therefore investigated potential RNA contaminations in GAG extracts from two additional cell lines, human umbilical vein endothelial cells and retinal pigmental epithelial cells, and mouse kidney, liver, spleen and heart tissue. GAG extracts from all examined cell lines and tissues contained varying amounts of contaminating RNA, which interfered with GAG quantification using DMMB assays and characterization of GAGs by barium acetate gel electrophoresis. We therefore recommend routinely evaluating the RNA content of GAG extracts and propose a robust protocol for GAG isolation that includes an RNA digestion step.
General marginal deformations in open superstring field theory

We construct analytic solutions of open superstring field theory for any exactly marginal deformation in any boundary superconformal field theory when properly renormalized operator products of the marginal operator are given. Our construction is an extension of the general framework for marginal deformations developed in arXiv:0707.4472 for open bosonic string field theory, and the solutions are based on integrated vertex operators which are closely related to finite deformations in boundary superconformal field theory.
A Coupled Indian Buffet Process Model for Collaborative Filtering

The dramatic rates new digital content becomes available has brought collaborative filtering systems in the epicenter of computer science research in the last decade. In this paper, we propose a novel methodology for rating prediction utilizing concepts from the field of Bayesian nonparametrics. The basic concept that underlies our approach is that each user rates a presented item based on the latent genres of the item and the latent interests of the user. Each item may belong to more than one genre, and each user may belong to more than one latent interest class. The number of existing latent genres and interests are not known beforehand, but should be inferred in a data-driven fashion. We devise a novel hierarchical factor analysis model to formulate our approach under these assumptions. We impose suitable priors over the allocation of items into genres, and users into interests; specifically, we utilize a novel scheme which comprises two coupled Indian buffet process priors that allow the number of latent classes (genres/interests) to be automatically inferred. We experiment on a large set of real ratings data, and show that our approach outperforms four common baselines, including two very competitive state-of-the-art approaches.
Plasma Ejections from a Light Bridge in a Sunspot Umbra

We present conspicuous activities of plasma ejections along a light bridge of a stable and mature sunspot in NOAA Active Region 8971 on 2000 May 2. We found the ejections both in the Hα (104 K) images obtained with the Domeless Solar Telescope at Hida Observatory and in the 171 Å (Fe IX/Fe X; ~106 K) images obtained with the Transition Region and Coronal Explorer. Main characteristics of the ejections are as follows: (1) Ejections occur intermittently and recurrently. (2) The velocities and the timings of the 171 Å ejections are the same as those of Hα ejections. (3) The appearance of the ejections are different from one another; i.e., the Hα ejections have a jetlike appearance, while the 171 Å ejections are like loops.
Nature of Leadership Practices of Nigerian Female Entrepreneurs

The study empirically explores the diverse types of leadership styles adopted by female entrepreneurs in Nigeria to see if there are any commonalities or differences in leadership styles adopted. The study seeks to ascertain whether the leadership style adopted has an influence on firm performance, using three leadership dimensions. Data was obtained from face-to-face questionnaire survey and semi-structured interviews. A total of 138 female entrepreneurs engaged in diverse sectors participated in the study. The results reveal differences in leadership practices, female entrepreneurs with formal educational qualifications were seen to adopt more transformational leadership. The findings indicate that leadership practices adopted has a significant influence on firm growth. The study has several implications as it helps fill gaps in knowledge in relation to female leadership practices in Nigeria. It is hoped that the findings derived from this study will instigate the development of a theoretical framework on leadership in Nigeria.
Sensitivity and tolerance to ethanol in mice bred to be genetically prone or resistant to ethanol withdrawal seizures.

Mice genetically susceptible (withdrawal seizure prone; WSP) and resistant (withdrawal seizure resistant; WSR) to ethanol (EtOH) withdrawal convulsions have been developed by selective breeding. WSP mice show much more severe EtOH withdrawal than WSR mice after equal intensities of exposure to EtOH. The present experiments report a systematic comparison between WSP and WSR mice with respect to their neurosensitivity to two effects of EtOH, EtOH-induced hypothermia (HT) and loss of righting reflex (RR). The degree of tolerance developed to these effects was also compared between the lines. WSP and WSR mice did not differ in sensitivity to EtOH-induced HT. When EtOH was administered daily for 3 days, both lines developed tolerance as evidenced by attenuated HT, but there was no line difference. Because blood EtOH concentrations did not change, the tolerance was functional rather than pharmacokinetic. When twice-daily injections were given for 4 days before testing on the 5th day in an effort to increase the degree of tolerance achieved, functional tolerance was slightly greater in the WSR line than in the WSP line 90 to 120 min, but not 30 to 60 min, after EtOH. In similar experiments, WSP and WSR mice were found to have the same ED50 to EtOH-induced loss of RR. The brain EtOH concentrations of WSP and WSR mice were the same at the time RR was lost and at the time RR was regained. Thus, neither line developed acute functional tolerance to this effect of EtOH. WSR mice lost RR more quickly than WSP mice. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Value of Children in Germany : Dimensions, Comparison of Generations, and Relevance for Parenting

1 Aims of the Value of Children Project 44 2 Research Questions of the Present Study 45 3 Method 47 3.1 Participants, design, procedure 47 3.2 Description of the German sample 48 3.3 Instruments and reliabilities 49 4 Results 51 4.1 Dimensions of VOC 51 4.2 Cross-generational comparisons of VOC-dimensions 56 4.3 Relations between mothers' VOC and the parent-child relationship 58 4.3.1 Importance ofVOC for mothers' parenting goals 58 4.3.2 Importance ofVOC for mothers' expectations of grown-up children 59 5 Discussion 60 6 Conclusions 62 References 63
Effects of Thyroxine Exposure on Osteogenesis in Mouse Calvarial Pre-Osteoblasts

The incidence of craniosynostosis is one in every 1,800–2500 births. The gene-environment model proposes that if a genetic predisposition is coupled with environmental exposures, the effects can be multiplicative resulting in severely abnormal phenotypes. At present, very little is known about the role of gene-environment interactions in modulating craniosynostosis phenotypes, but prior evidence suggests a role for endocrine factors. Here we provide a report of the effects of thyroid hormone exposure on murine calvaria cells. Murine derived calvaria cells were exposed to critical doses of pharmaceutical thyroxine and analyzed after 3 and 7 days of treatment. Endpoint assays were designed to determine the effects of the hormone exposure on markers of osteogenesis and included, proliferation assay, quantitative ALP activity assay, targeted qPCR for mRNA expression of Runx2, Alp, Ocn, and Twist1, genechip array for 28,853 targets, and targeted osteogenic microarray with qPCR confirmations. Exposure to thyroxine stimulated the cells to express ALP in a dose dependent manner. There were no patterns of difference observed for proliferation. Targeted RNA expression data confirmed expression increases for Alp and Ocn at 7 days in culture. The genechip array suggests substantive expression differences for 46 gene targets and the targeted osteogenesis microarray indicated 23 targets with substantive differences. 11 gene targets were chosen for qPCR confirmation because of their known association with bone or craniosynostosis (Col2a1, Dmp1, Fgf1, 2, Igf1, Mmp9, Phex, Tnf, Htra1, Por, and Dcn). We confirmed substantive increases in mRNA for Phex, FGF1, 2, Tnf, Dmp1, Htra1, Por, Igf1 and Mmp9, and substantive decreases for Dcn. It appears thyroid hormone may exert its effects through increasing osteogenesis. Targets isolated suggest a possible interaction for those gene products associated with calvarial suture growth and homeostasis as well as craniosynostosis.
Novel Wearable Device for Blood Leakage Detection during Hemodialysis Using an Array Sensing Patch

Hemodialysis (HD) is a clinical treatment that requires the puncturing of the body surface. However, needle dislodgement can cause a high risk of blood leakage and can be fatal to patients. In addition to, some patients with autonomic neuropathy, diabetes or cardiac disorder may have certain symptom which called "Cold Sweating" during hemodialysis treatment. It is also an abnormal condition that needs to be monitored. This study proposed a novel wearable device for blood leakage monitoring during HD using an array sensing patch, wide range of impedance measure and frequency span. It could distinguish the difference between blood leakage and sweat at the same time, it will provide better mechanisms for monitoring clinical care. Subsequently, the array sensing patch combined with a mapping circuit and a wireless module could measure and transmit risk levels. The different risk levels could improve the working process of healthcare workers, and enhance their work efficiency and reduce inconvenience due to false alarms.
18-Fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) and the staging of early lung cancer.

Preoperative staging of non-small-cell lung cancer with 18-fluorodeoxyglucose positron-emission tomography R M Pieterman, J W G van Putten, J J Meuzelaar, E L Mooyaart, W Vaalburg, G H Koeter, V Fidler, J Pruim, H J M Groen Background: Determining the stage of non-small-cell lung cancer often requires multiple preoperative tests and invasive procedures. Whole body positron-emission tomography (PET) may simplify and improve the evaluation of patients with this tumor. Methods: We prospectively compared the ability of a standard approach to staging (computed tomography (CT), ultrasonography, bone scanning, and, when indicated, needle biopsies) and one involving PET to detect metastases in mediastinal lymph nodes and at distant sites in 102 patients with resectable non-small-cell lung cancer. The presence of mediastinal metastatic disease was confirmed histopathologically. Distant metastases that were detected by PET were further evaluated by standard imaging tests and biopsies. Patients were followed postoperatively for six months by standard methods to detect occult metastases. Logistic-regression analysis was used to evaluate the ability of PET and CT to identify malignant mediastinal lymph nodes. Results: The sensitivity and specificity of PET for the detection of mediastinal metastases were 91% (95% confidence interval 81 to 100%) and 86% (95% confidence interval 78 to 94%), respectively. The corresponding values for CT were 75% (95% confidence interval 60 to 90%) and 66% (95% confidence interval 55 to 77%). When the results of PET and CT were adjusted for each other, only PET results were positively correlated with the histopathological findings in mediastinal lymph nodes (P<0.001). PET identified distant metastases that had not been found by standard methods in 11 of 102 patients. The sensitivity and specificity of PET for the detection of both mediastinal and distant metastatic disease were 95% (95% confidence interval 88 to 100%) and 83% (95% confidence interval 74 to 92%), respectively. …
Improving Load Balance for Data-Intensive Computing on Cloud Platforms

Nowadays, big data problems are ubiquitous, which in turn creates huge demand for data-intensive computing. The advent of Cloud Computing has made data-intensive computing much more accessible and affordable than ever before. One of the crucial issues that can significantly affect the performance of data-intensive applications is the load balance among cluster nodes. In this paper, we address the load balance problem in the context of Hadoop Distributed File System (HDFS), a widely used file system for data-intensive computing on Cloud platforms, and present an innovative replica placement policy for HDFS, which can perfectly balance the computing load among all cluster nodes in both homogeneous and heterogeneous cluster environments.
Platination of telomeric sequences and nuclease hypersensitive elements of human c‐myc and PDGF‐A promoters and their ability to form G‐quadruplexes

Naturally occurring G‐rich DNA sequences that are able to form G‐quadruplex structures appear as potential targets for anti‐cancer chemotherapy, and therefore play an important role in cellular processes, such as cell aging, death and carcinogenesis. The telomeric regions of DNA and nuclease hypersensitive elements of human c‐myc and PDGF‐A promoters represent a very appealing target for cisplatin and may interfere with normal DNA function. Platinum complexes bind covalently to nucleobases, and especially to the N7 atom of guanines, and the four guanines of a G‐quartet have their N7 atoms involved in hydrogen bonding. Therefore, within a G‐quadruplex structure, only the guanines out of the stack of G‐quartets should react with electrophilic species such as platinum (II) complexes. Platinum complexes have significant influence on the formation of G‐quadruplexes. Results obtained by CD spectroscopy and temperature gradient‐gel electrophoresis clearly demonstrate that DNA platination significantly affects G‐quadruplex folding for telomeric sequences; the abundance of un/misfolded DNAs compared to the G‐quadruplex is proportional to the platinum concentration.
Comparative study on production, reproduction and functional traits between Fleckvieh and Braunvieh cattle

Objective Aim of the current comparative study was to evaluate production outputs, reproduction efficiency and functional traits in dual-purpose Fleckvieh and Braunvieh cows, reared under temperate European conditions. Methods A data-set from 414 Fleckvieh and 42 Braunvieh cows and 799 lactations was analysed. ID tag number, milk yield per milking session, number of steps/interval and milk conductivity were recorded and collected daily using AfiMilk 3.076 A-DU software (Afimilk Ltd., Kibbutz, Israel). Production and milk quality data were taken from the results of the official performance recordings and the reproductive outputs of cows were recorded by the research stations veterinarians. Comparisons between the two genotypes were carried out using the one way analysis of variance protocol, with categorical factor being considered the breed of cows. All the statistical inferences were carried out using Statistica software (StatSoft Inc., Tulsa, OK, USA). Results Fleckvieh cows significantly outperformed (p≤0.05) the Braunvieh herd, with average milk yields of 5,252.1±35.79 kg and 4,897.6±128.94 kg, respectively. Age at first calving was significantly (p≤0.01) influenced by the breed, with Fleckvieh heifers being more precocious (32.8±0.29 mo) compared to those of Braunvieh breed (35.7±0.84 mo). Reproduction efficiency as defined by the number of inseminations per gestation, calving interval, dystocia, days dry and days open, was not influenced by genotype (p>0.05). Incidences of sub-clinical mastitis, clinical mastitis, lameness and abortions were not influenced by the breed factor (p>0.05). Stayability of cows was significantly (p≤0.001) influenced by genotype, with Braunvieh cows having an average age at culling of 117.88±11.78 months compared to 90.88±2.89 months in Fleckvieh. Conclusion Overall, results have shown that genotype significantly influenced milk yield, age at first calving and longevity.
Conditional Solvation Thermodynamics of Isoleucine in Model Peptides and the Limitations of the Group-Transfer Model

The hydration thermodynamics of the amino acid X relative to the reference G (glycine) or the hydration thermodynamics of a small-molecule analog of the side chain of X is often used to model the contribution of X to protein stability and solution thermodynamics. We consider the reasons for successes and limitations of this approach by calculating and comparing the conditional excess free energy, enthalpy, and entropy of hydration of the isoleucine side chain in zwitterionic isoleucine, in extended penta-peptides, and in helical deca-peptides. Butane in gauche conformation serves as a small-molecule analog for the isoleucine side chain. Parsing the hydrophobic and hydrophilic contributions to hydration for the side chain shows that both of these aspects of hydration are context-sensitive. Furthermore, analyzing the solute–solvent interaction contribution to the conditional excess enthalpy of the side chain shows that what is nominally considered a property of the side chain includes entirely nonobvious contributions of the background. The context-sensitivity of hydrophobic and hydrophilic hydration and the conflation of background contributions with energetics attributed to the side chain limit the ability of a single scaling factor, such as the fractional solvent exposure of the group in the protein, to map the component energetic contributions of the model-compound data to their value in the protein. But ignoring the origin of cancellations in the underlying components the group-transfer model may appear to provide a reasonable estimate of the free energy for a given error tolerance.
Molecular Basis of Inward Rectification

Polyamines cause inward rectification of (Kir) K+ channels, but the mechanism is controversial. We employed scanning mutagenesis of Kir6.2, and a structural series of blocking diamines, to combinatorially examine the role of both channel and blocker charges. We find that introduced glutamates at any pore-facing residue in the inner cavity, up to and including the entrance to the selectivity filter, can confer strong rectification. As these negative charges are moved higher (toward the selectivity filter), or lower (toward the cytoplasm), they preferentially enhance the potency of block by shorter, or longer, diamines, respectively. MTSEA+ modification of engineered cysteines in the inner cavity reduces rectification, but modification below the inner cavity slows spermine entry and exit, without changing steady-state rectification. The data provide a coherent explanation of classical strong rectification as the result of polyamine block in the inner cavity and selectivity filter.