Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Phototherapy reduces serum resistin levels in psoriasis patients

This study investigated phototherapy‐induced changes in certain adipokine levels in patients with psoriasis. Patients with psoriasis (n=36) were recruited and body mass index (BMI) and disease severity (Psoriasis Area and Severity Index) were recorded. Serum resistin and leptin levels before and after bath‐psoralen and ultraviolet (UV) A or narrow‐band UVB therapy were examined by enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay. Serum leptin levels correlated positively with BMI. Phototherapy induced no remarkable change in the leptin levels, but significantly decreased serum resistin levels from 9.02±8.83 to 4.86±3.30 ng/ml. Serum resistin levels might be involved in insulin resistance and inflammation, and correlate with disease severity in patients with psoriasis. The reduction in serum resistin induced by phototherapy might be related to the clinical efficacy of this treatment for psoriasis.
Viruses disrupt functions of human lymphocytes. Effects of measles virus and influenza virus on lymphocyte-mediated killing and antibody production

We present experimental data that offer, in part, a better understanding of the immunosuppression that accompanies measles virus infection. We note that measles virus "silently" infects human lymphocytes and that the infection does not alter lymphocyte survival in vitro. Yet such infected lymphocytes fail to generate natural killer (NK) cell activity or synthesize immunoglobulins (Ig). Thus, the presence of virus within lymphocytes impairs their specific immune functions in the absence of cytolysis. Influenza virus also infects human lymphocytes. In contrast to measles virus infection of resting lymphocytes in which viral antigen is rarely expressed, influenza virus infection of these cells yields viral antigens expressed in the cytoplasm and on the cell surface. Influenza virus-infected lymphocytes have normal NK cell activity but fail to synthesize IgG or IgM.
Shame, guilt and empathy in sex offenders.

In this paper I will review literature concerning shame and distinguish it from other similar emotions such as embarrassment and guilt. Shame and guilt are emotional reactions that often occur in response to transgressions, and concern perceived evaluations by others and/or the self. It has been proposed that shame and guilt have very different effects, and that guilt acts as a mediator, whereas shame acts as a barrier to the experience of empathy. Shame and guilt and their relationship to empathy will be explored, and key studies demonstrating their inter-relationships will be critically evaluated. The latter part of this review will focus on sex offenders, and will discuss the relevance of considering and incorporating an understanding of self-conscious emotions in the treatment of sex offenders. The emerging findings concerning shame, guilt and empathy will be explored in light of the fact that empathy training is a significant feature of most sex offender treatment programmes. There is a dearth of research about shame in sex offenders, and its relationship to guilt and empathy in this population, although there is much speculation and some evidence that shame is prevalent within this population. If high levels of shame hinder the experience of empathy, then for those sex offenders who may be unable to, or have great difficulty experiencing empathy due to excessive shame, empathy training as part of their treatment might render them a greater risk. Such training might have the effect of teaching individuals who lack empathy to some degree skills in acting empathically, but may not necessarily enhance the genuine experience of it. Thus, teaching empathy to some sex offenders may have the effect of improving their grooming skills as being able to feign empathy might be useful when it comes to securing victims. Attribution theory is outlined and considered in terms of the treatment of sex offenders, and the view that guilt but not shame should be encouraged when working clinically with sex offenders will be explicated against the backdrop of what is currently known about shame and guilt, and their effects on empathy.
The heterocyclic amine, 3-amino-1,4-dimethyl-5H-pyrido[4,3-b]indole induces apoptosis in cocultures of rat parenchymal and nonparenchymal liver cells.

In this study, we investigated the mechanism of apoptosis by 3-amino-1,4-dimethyl-5H-pyrido[4,3-b]indole (Trp-P-1) in cocultures of parenchymal and nonparenchymal liver cells, since the liver consists of various cell types and they cooperatively respond to chemicals. It was found that cocultures were more susceptible to cell death by Trp-P-1 than culture of each cell type alone. In cocultures, Trp-P-1 induced DNA fragmentation accompanied by the activation of 18-kDa endonuclease. Trp-P-1 (30 microM) caused a rapid increase in Bid protein level in mitochondria and the leakage of cytochrome c from mitochondria into the cytosol 15 min after treatment. On the other hand, an increase in Bax protein and a decrease in Bcl-2 protein were detected in the mitochondrial fraction 2 h after treatment following the increases in p53 protein level and DNA binding activity of NF-kappa B. Caspase-8 was activated within 30 min followed by the activation of downstream caspases as measured using the corresponding peptide substrates. The activation of caspases was also confirmed by cleavage of caspase-3, poly(ADP-ribose)polymerase, and protein kinase C-delta as analyzed by Western blotting. A peptide inhibitor of caspase-8 diminished DNA ladder formation and the activation of downstream caspases, but a caspase-9 inhibitor and pyrrolidinedithiocarbamate as an inhibitor of NF-kappa B showed only partial inhibition, suggesting that caspase-8 is the apical caspase in the cascade. These results led to the conclusion that Trp-P-1 mainly drives the caspase-8-mediated pathway that involves Bid, accompanied by a delay in the p53/NF-kappa B-mediated side pathway that involves Bax, Bcl-2, and caspase-9.
NaOH-Debittering Induces Changes in Bacterial Ecology during Table Olives Fermentation

Limited information is available on the impact of the NaOH treatment on table olive fermentations, and for this reason a polyphasic approach has been adopted here to investigate its effect on the fermentation dynamics and bacterial biodiversity. The microbial counts of the main groups involved in the transformation have not shown any differences, apart from a more prompt start of the fermentation when the olives were subjected to the NaOH treatment. The data produced by culture-independent analyses highlighted that the fermentation of table olives not treated with NaOH is the result of the coexistence of two different ecosystems: the surface of the olives and the brines. A sodium hydroxide treatment not only eliminates this difference, but also affects the bacterial ecology of the olives to a great extent. As proved by high-throughput sequencing, the fermentation of the olives not treated with NaOH was characterized by the presence of halophilic bacteria, which were substituted by Lactobacillus at the later stages of the fermentation, while enterobacteria were dominant when the olives were treated with sodium hydroxide. Higher biodiversity was found for Lactobacillus plantarum isolated during untreated fermentation. Different biotypes were found on the olive surface and in the brines. When the debittering process was carried out, a decrease in the number of L. plantarum biotypes were observed and those originating from the surface of the olive did not differentiate from the ones present in the brines.
The serum pentraxin-3 is elevated in patients with cardiac syndrome X.

OBJECTIVES Cardiac syndrome X (CSX) is a clinical entity that is defined as normal coronary arteries with angina pectoris and objective sins of ischemia. The correlation between CSX and inflammatory markers such as high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) is well established, however an association with pentraxin-3 (PTX-3) has not been examined. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between PTX-3 and CSX. STUDY DESIGN A total of 122 patients (58 female, 64 male, mean age 49.6±5.8 years) with suspected of coronary artery disease (CAD) were included in the study. Those with evidence of ischemia (50 patients with positive treadmill tests, 32 patients with positive myocardial perfusion scintography) underwent coronary angiography (82 patients). Patients with a normal angiogram were considered the CSX group (n=41) and patients with coronary lesions were referred to as the CAD group (n=41). Patients without signs of ischemia served as the control group. Serum PTX-3 and hs-CRP levels were measured in all patients. RESULTS The CSX group had significantly increased PTX-3 levels relative to the control group (0.46±0.16 vs. 0.23±0.09 ng/ml, p<0.001). However there were no differences in levels of PTX-3 and hs-CRP between the CSX and the CAD groups (PTX-3: 0.46±0.16 vs. 0.51±0.13 ng/ml, p=0.21; hs-CRP: 1.04±0.45 vs. 1.16±0.64 mg/dl, p=0.62). The control group had significantly lower hs-CRP levels (0.73±0.51 mg/dl) when compared to the both CSX and CAD groups (p=0.03 and p=0.002, respectively). Serum PTX-3 levels were weakly correlated with hs-CRP levels (r=0.30, p=0.001). CONCLUSION PTX-3, a novel inflammatory marker, is elevated in patients with CSX, similar to the well known inflammatory marker hs-CRP, and may be a promising biomarker reflecting inflammatory status in these patients.
Vector evaluated particle swarm optimization exploration behavior part I: Explorative analysis

An explorative analysis in low dimensional objective space of the vector evaluated particle swarm optimization (VEPSO) algorithm is presented. Results indicate that the VEPSO algorithm continues to explore, and does not focus enough on exploitation. The resulting Pareto optimal fronts (POFs) have a poor spread and in some cases provide a poor estimate of the real POFs. It is hypothesized that the poor results can be attributed to the fact that the VEPSO algorithm is not exploiting enough. The multi guided VEPSO with random archive selection (MGVEPSOa) is introduced to address the lack of exploitation of the VEPSO algorithm. Results indicate that the MGVEPSOa algorithm outperforms the VEPSO algorithm leading to better POFs. Analysis of the candidate solutions of the MGVEPSOa algorithm confirm that the algorithm exploits existing solutions more than the VEPSO algorithm. The improved performance is attributed to the increased exploitation confirming the hypothesis that VEPSO does not exploit enough.
A Dynamically Biased Multiband 2G/3G/4G Cellular Transmitter in 28 nm CMOS

We present a highly configurable, low-power, low-area, low-EVM, SAW-less transmitter (TX) architecture that is based on a dynamically biased power mixer. All FDD/TDD bands from 0.7 to 2.7 GHz for 4G LTE Rel-11 and 3G HSPA+ are supported in addition to 2G quad bands. The power-mixer bias current is dynamically adjusted based on the instantaneous baseband signal swing using a fully-differential hybrid full-wave rectifier/envelope-detector circuit. Dynamic biasing leads to greater than 50% current savings when compared to fixed-biasing while providing a higher output power with better linearity. Implemented in 28 nm CMOS technology, the TX shows better than -157 dBc/Hz RX-band noise emission and -41 dBc ACLR for output powers up-to +4 dBm across all 3G/4G bands, while demonstrating above 80 dB of gain control range. In addition, the TX can be configured to provide better than -65 dBc CIM3, allowing it to meet stringent spurious emission specifications when transmitting 1 RB 4G LTE signals in B13/B26/B1.
Assessment of adiponectin level in obese and lean Nepalese population and its possible correlation with lipid profile: A cross-sectional study

Objective: Adiponectin- one of the most important adipokines plays a pivotal role in carbohydrate and lipid metabolism and vascular biology. Changing food trend and lifestyle has tremendously affected the health status of Nepalese population. Studies have shown that between 1996 and 2006 obesity in Nepal has increased from 1.6% to 10%. Studies have been conducted in Nepal on the prevalence of obesity and its correlation with lipid profile. But based on our knowledge, this is the first study correlating adiponectin with obesity and lipid profile in Nepal. This piece of work will certainly help to assess the impact of obesity in Nepalese population. Materials and Methods: Fifty four obese and Thirty six normal/lean participants were included from different locations of Kathmandu Valley. Anthropometric measurements like age, BMI, Waist circumference, hip circumference, waist to hip ratio, mid thigh circumference and chest circumferences were taken from each participant. Blood glucose, lipid profile and serum adiponectin levels were measured from overnight fasting samples. Results: Significant differences were observed in BMI, Waist Circumference, Hip Circumference, Waist to Hip Ratio (WHR) and Chest circumference between obese and normal groups. Fasting Blood Glucose, Serum Triglyceride, HDL Cholesterol, LDL Cholesterol, Total Cholesterol/HDL ratio, Non-HDL Cholesterol and Adiponectin Levels were significant between the groups. Inverse correlations were observed between adiponectin level and BMI, Waist Circumference, Hip Circumference, Waist to Hip ratio, Chest Circumference, Fasting Blood Glucose, Triglyceride, Total Cholesterol/HDL ratio, LDL/HDL Cholesterol ratio and Non-HDL Cholesterol levels. Positive correlation was found between adiponectin and HDL Cholesterol levels. Conclusion: Our study showed significant inverse association of serum adiponectin with obesity and lipid profile parameters except for Serum HDL Cholesterol level in Nepalese population.
Benign breast disease and oral contraceptive use.

A random selection of 1,230 upstate New York childbearing women was used to examine the history of oral contraceptive use in women with a clinical diagnosis of benign breast disease. We found that 73 women who had benign breast disease had a reduced duration of pill use. When determining the reason for this reduction, we found that in a significant portion (P less than .05) of our benign breast disease cases, the women had been advised by their physicians to discontinue pill use for breast-related reasons. We then surveyed a large group of upstate New York physicians. One third of them considered benign breast disease a potential contraindication for starting oral contraceptive use. Nearly one half throught the development of benign breast disease to be a potential contraindication for continuing oral contraceptive use. It is premature to conclude that oral contraceptive usage protects against benign breast disease.
Phenylethanolamine N-methyltransferase downregulation is associated with malignant pheochromocytoma/paraganglioma

Malignant pheochromocytoma/paraganglioma (PCC/PGL) is defined by the presence of metastases at non-chromaffin sites, which makes it difficult to prospectively diagnose malignancy. Here, we performed array CGH (aCGH) and paired gene expression profiling of fresh, frozen PCC/PGL samples (n = 12), including three malignant tumors, to identify genes that distinguish benign from malignant tumors. Most PCC/PGL cases showed few copy number aberrations, regardless of malignancy status, but mRNA analysis revealed that 390 genes were differentially expressed in benign and malignant tumors. Expression of the enzyme, phenylethanolamine N-methyltransferase (PNMT), which catalyzes the methylation of norepinephrine to epinephrine, was significantly lower in malignant PCC/PGL as compared to benign samples. In 62 additional samples, we confirmed that PNMT mRNA and protein levels were decreased in malignant PCC/PGL using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemistry. The present study demonstrates that PNMT downregulation correlates with malignancy in PCC/PGL and identifies PNMT as one of the most differentially expressed genes between malignant and benign tumors.
The importance of temperature information in virtual training environments

Temperature is an important source of information in our interactions with the environment but it is rarely built into virtual reality and simulation. In this paper, the findings from several of our experiments are brought together to discuss the efficacy of adding temperature information in simulation applications. In the first, Peltier tiles were added to an exoskeleton device designed to provide kinaesthetic feedback when interacting in a virtual environment. The effects were explored in terms of the potential to increase presence when interacting with virtual objects. We also describe an experiment in which movement was either active or passive-guided. In the active condition the degree of “coldness” felt at the fingertip was reported as less intense than when movement was passive. It appears that intentionality of movement plays a role in the attenuation of the stimulus. Other work suggests that the perception of temperature is not influenced by a simultaneously presented colour. For example, the perception of coldness is not enhanced when it is processed in conjunction with a blue colour. It is proposed that thermal feedback may be a useful adjunct for virtual reality interface devices.
Relaxed Graceful Labellings of Trees

A graph $G$ on $m$ edges is considered graceful if there is a labelling $f$ of the vertices of $G$ with distinct integers in the set $\{0,1,\dots,m\}$ such that the induced edge labelling $g$ defined by $g(uv)=|f(u)-f(v)|$ is a bijection to $\{1,\dots,m\}$. We here consider some relaxations of these conditions as applied to tree labellings: 1. Edge-relaxed graceful labellings, in which repeated edge labels are allowed, 2. Range-relaxed graceful labellings, in which the upper bound $m'$ is allowed to go higher than the number of edges, and 3. Vertex-relaxed graceful labellings, in which repeated vertex labels are allowed. The first of these had been looked at by Rosa and Siraň (1995). Here some linear bounds in the relevant metrics are given for range-relaxed and vertex-relaxed graceful labellings.
Toward robust integrated circuits: The embryonics approach

The growth and operation of all living beings are directed by the interpretation, in each of their cells, of a chemical program, the DNA string or genome. This process is the source of inspiration for the Embryonics (embryonic electronics) project, whose final objective is the design of highly robust integrated circuits, endowed with properties usually associated with the living world: self-repair (cicatrization) and self-replication. The Embryonics architecture is based on four hierarchical levels of organization. (1) The basic primitive of our system is the molecule, a multiplexer-based element of a novel programmable circuit. (2) A finite set of molecules makes up a cell, essentially a small processor with an associated memory. (3) A finite set of cells makes up an organism, an application-specific multiprocessor system. (4) The organism can itself replicate, giving rise to a population of identical organisms. We begin by describing in detail the implementation of an artificial cell characterized by a fixed architecture, showing that multicellular arrays can realize a variety of different organisms, all capable of self-replication and self-repair. In order to allow for a wide range of applications, we then introduce a flexible architecture, realized using a new type of fine-grained field-programmable gate array whose basic element, our molecule, is essentially a programmable multiplexer. We describe the implementation of such a molecule, with built-in self-test, and illustrate its use in realizing two applications: a modulo-4 reversible counter (a unicellular organism) and a timer ( a complex multicellular organism). We describe our ongoing research efforts to meet three challenges: a scientific challenge, that of implementing the original specifications formulated by John von Neumann for the conception of a self-replicating automaton; a technical challenge, that of realizing very robust integrated circuits capable of self-repair and self-replication; and a biological challenge, that of attempting to show that the microscopic architectures of artificial and natural organisms, i.e., their genomes, share common properties.
Bose-einstein Condensates

It is shown that the density of two initially independent condensates which are allowed to expand and overlap can show interferences as a function of time due to interparticle interaction. Using many-body theory, explicit expressions for the density are given which are exact in the weak interaction limit. General working equations are discussed which reproduce exactly the density in this limit. Illustrative examples are presented.
Cardiac Alternans Do Not Rely on Diastolic Sarcoplasmic Reticulum Calcium Content Fluctuations

Cardiac alternans are thought to be a precursor to life-threatening arrhythmias. Previous studies suggested that alterations in sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) Ca2+ content are either causative or not associated with myocyte Ca2+ alternans. However, those studies used indirect measures of SR Ca2+. Here we used direct continuous measurement of intra-SR free [Ca2+] ([Ca2+]SR) (using Fluo5N) during frequency-dependent Ca2+ alternans in rabbit ventricular myocytes. We tested the hypothesis that alternating [Ca2+]SR is required for Ca2+ alternans. Amplitudes of [Ca2+]SR depletions alternated in phase with cytosolic Ca2+ transients and contractions. Some cells showed clear alternation in diastolic [Ca2+]SR during alternans, with higher [Ca2+]SR before the larger SR Ca2+ releases. However, the extent of SR Ca2+ release during the small beats was smaller than expected for the modest decrease in [Ca2+]SR. In other cells, clear Ca2+ alternans was observed without alternations in diastolic [Ca2+]SR. Additionally, alternating cells were observed, in which diastolic [Ca2+]SR fluctuations occurred interspersed by depletions in which the amplitude was unrelated to the preceding diastolic [Ca2+]SR. In all forms of alternans, the SR Ca2+ release rate was higher during large depletions than during small depletions. Although [Ca2+]SR exerts major influence on SR Ca2+ release, alternations in [Ca2+]SR are not required for Ca2+ alternans to occur. Rather, it seems likely that some other factor, such as ryanodine receptor availability after a prior beat (eg, recovery from inactivation), is of greater importance in initiating frequency-induced Ca2+ alternans. However, once such a weak SR Ca2+ release occurs, it can result in increased [Ca2+]SR and further enhance SR Ca2+ release at the next beat. In this way, diastolic [Ca2+]SR alternans can enhance frequency-induced Ca2+ alternans, even if they initiate by other means.
Detection of diabetes from gas analysis of human breath using e-Nose

Diabetes is one of the common disease that many people have suffered especially elderly. However, unfortunately only few of them that aware of this metabolic disease and most of them are undiagnosed. Therefore, in this research we propose low cost, non-invasive, and easy to use system that can distinguish healthy or diabetic patients so they can have early preventive action. A total of 40 e-Nose response signal from breath samples have been collected. There are seven main stages to build this system, the making of e-Nose hardware using microcontroller and gas sensors, ground-truth data acquisitions for the training set, signal processing for denoising using Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT) and Z-score normalization, statistical features extraction, feature selection for optimization, classification, and e-Nose performance evaluation. The experimental results show that this system can distinguish healthy and diabetes patients with promising performance (95.0% of accuracy, 91.30% precision of diabetes, 94.12% precision of healthy and 0.898 kappa statistic's value) using k-NN classifier.