Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of extractions from Ephedra sinica Stapf on hyperlipidemia in mice

The aim of the present study was to investigate the hypolipidemic and antioxidant potential of ephedra extractions in diet-induced hyperlipidemic mice. Mice were fed a diet high in fat to establish the hyperlipidemic model. A total of 48 mice were randomly divided into six groups, which included the normal control, model control, positive control, ephedra alkaloid, ephedra polysaccharide and ephedra non-alkaloid groups. Intragastric administration of the respective treatments was provided continuously for four weeks and the body weight was recorded weekly. The total levels of cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and malondialdehyde (MDA), and the activity levels of superoxide dismutase (SOD), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) in the serum were recorded. In addition, changes in liver morphology and organ coefficients (ratio of organ to body weight) were evaluated, while the acute toxicity reactions of ephedra extractions were investigated using the modified Spearman-Karber method. Compared with the mice in the model control group, the weight, liver coefficient, serum levels of TC, TG and MDA, and activities of ALT and AST were significantly lower (P<0.05) in the mice in the ephedra non-alkaloid group. However, the level of HDL-C and the activity of SOD were markedly higher (P<0.05). Fatty degeneration of the liver in the ephedra alkaloid and non-alkaloid groups was notably improved compared with the model control group. The mean lethal dose (LD50) of ephedra alkaloids was 610 mg/kg, and the maximum tolerated dose of oral ephedra non-alkaloids in the mice was 367.5-fold larger than the clinical dosage in humans. In conclusion, ephedra non-alkaloids have therapeutic potential for the treatment of hyperlipidemia, since they are able to improve lipid metabolism and are relatively safe for use under the maximum tolerated dose.
Preliminary investigation of dengue vectors in Ranchi, India.

Dengue has become a serious public health problem in India. More than 50 outbreaks of dengue have been reported in different parts of the country1,2. In India Aedes aegypti Linn (Diptera: Culicidae) is a principal vector of dengue and dengue haemorrhagic fever (DHF)3. Dengue virus has also been recently detected in Ae. albopictus Skuse4. Ae. aegypti has a widespread distribution in many towns and cities of India5,6. Now this vector is spreading to rural areas also7,8.
The Effects of Team Diversity on Team Outcomes: A Meta-Analytic Review of Team Demography

Over the past few decades, a great deal of research has been conducted to examine the complex relationship between team diversity and team outcomes. However, the impact of team diversity on team outcomes and moderating variables potentially affecting this relationship are still not fully answered with mixed findings in the literature. These research issues were, therefore, addressed by quantitatively reviewing extant work and provided estimates of the relationship between team diversity and team outcomes. In particular, the effects of task-related and bio-demographic diversity at the group-level were meta-analyzed to test the hypothesis of synergistic performance resulting from diverse employee teams. Support was found for the positive impact of task-related diversity on team performance although bio-demographic diversity was not significantly related to team performance. Similarly, no discernible effect of team diversity was found on social integration. The implications of the review for future research and practices are also discussed.
High-Throughput Multifilter Interpolation Architecture for AV1 Motion Compensation

This brief presents a high-throughput hardware design for the motion compensation (MC) sub-sample interpolator of the novel AOMedia video 1 (AV1). A multifilter interpolation architecture (MFIA) is presented targeting AV1 decoders and supporting all 90 filters defined by the AV1 MC. The MFIA uses shift-adds instead of multipliers and common subexpression sharing to reduce the hardware costs, to increase the throughput, and to reduce the power dissipation. Two different versions of MC interpolators using MFIA are also presented in this brief. The MFIA and the two versions of MC interpolators were synthesized for 40-nm TSMC standard-cells. The results showed that the MC interpolators are able to process up to 4320 p videos at 30 frames/s, with a maximum power dissipation of 81.31 mW. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first work presenting a hardware design for the MC of AV1.
Folate-targeted, Anionic Liposome-entrapped Polylysine-condensed DNA for Tumor Cell-specific Gene Transfer (*)

We have developed a lipidic gene transfer vector, LPDII, where DNA was first complexed to polylysine at a ratio of 1:0.75 (w/w) and then entrapped into folate-targeted pH-sensitive anionic liposomes composed of dioleoyl phosphatidylethanolamine (DOPE)/cholesteryl hemisuccinate/folate-polyethlene glycol-DOPE (6:4:0.01 mol/mol) via charge interaction. LPDII transfection of KB cells, a cell line overexpressing the tumor marker folate receptor, was affected by both the lipid to DNA ratio and the lipid composition. At low lipid to DNA ratios (e.g. 4 and 6), LPDII particles were positively charged; transfection and cellular uptake levels were independent of the folate receptor and did not require a pH-sensitive lipid composition. Meanwhile, transfection and uptake of negatively charged LPDII particles, i.e. those with high lipid to DNA ratios (e.g. 10 and 12), were folate receptor-dependent and required a pH-sensitive lipid composition. The transfection activity of LPDII was lost when the inverted cone-shaped DOPE was replaced by dioleoyl phosphatidylcholine. LPDII particles with lipid to DNA ratios of 4, 6, 10, and 12 were 20-30 times more active than DNA•3-β-[N-(N′,N′-dimethylethane)carbamoyl]cholesterol cationic liposome complexes in KB cells and were much less cytotoxic. On the sucrose gradient, LPDII particles had a migration rate in between those of the free DNA and the DNA•polylysine complex. An electron micrograph of LPDII showed a structure of spherical particles with a positively stained core enclosed in a lipidic envelope with a mean diameter of 74 ± 14 nm. This novel gene transfer vector may potentially be useful in gene therapy for tumor-specific delivery.
Near-Capacity Dirty-Paper Code Design: A Source-Channel Coding Approach

This paper examines near-capacity dirty-paper code designs based on source-channel coding. We first point out that the performance loss in signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) in our code designs can be broken into the sum of the packing loss from channel coding and a modulo loss, which is a function of the granular loss from source coding and the target dirty-paper coding rate (or SNR). We then examine practical designs by combining trellis-coded quantization (TCQ) with both systematic and nonsystematic irregular repeat-accumulate (IRA) codes. Like previous approaches, we exploit the extrinsic information transfer (EXIT) chart technique for capacity-approaching IRA code design; but unlike previous approaches, we emphasize the role of strong source coding to achieve as much granular gain as possible using TCQ. Instead of systematic doping, we employ two relatively shifted TCQ codebooks, where the shift is optimized (via tuning the EXIT charts) to facilitate the IRA code design. Our designs synergistically combine TCQ with IRA codes so that they work together as well as they do individually. By bringing together TCQ (the best quantizer from the source coding community) and EXIT chart-based IRA code designs (the best from the channel coding community), we are able to approach the theoretical limit of dirty-paper coding. For example, at 0.25 bit per symbol (b/s), our best code design (with 2048-state TCQ) performs only 0.630 dB away from the Shannon capacity.
The Effect of Planning on the Instructional Behaviors of Preservice Teachers

The purpose of this study was to compare the instructional behaviors of a group of preservice teachers across two teaching conditions, one planned and one unplanned. Twelve physical education teacher education (PETE) majors each taught two 25-minute lessons to elementary-age learners. Lesson plans were developed for the first lesson (planned condition) but not the second (unplanned condition). All lessons were videotaped and employed in the data analyses. Three data collection instruments were used for the analysis of selected teaching behaviors: (a) the Academic Learning Time-Physical Education (ALT-PE) system, (b) an event recording instrument for coding teacher verbal feedback statements, and (c) the Qualitative Dimensions of Lesson Introduction, Task Presentation, and Lesson Closure (QDITC) system. The results suggest that planning has a positive effect on some preservice teachers’ instructional behaviors. For teachers in training, it seems that planning is important to the employment of “effective” t.
The self-consistent quantum-electrostatic problem in strongly non-linear regime

The self-consistent quantum-electrostatic (also known as Poisson-Schrödinger) problem is notoriously difficult in situations where the density of states varies rapidly with energy. At low temperatures, these fluctuations make the problem highly non-linear which renders iterative schemes deeply unstable. We present a stable algorithm that provides a solution to this problem with controlled accuracy. The technique is intrinsically convergent even in highly non-linear regimes. We illustrate our approach with both a calculation of the compressible and incompressible stripes in the integer quantum Hall regime as well as a calculation of the differential conductance of a quantum point contact geometry. Our technique provides a viable route for the predictive modeling of the transport properties of quantum nanoelectronics devices.
Estimating User Location in Social Media with Stacked Denoising Auto-encoders

Only very few users disclose their physical locations, which may be valuable and useful in applications such as marketing and security monitoring; in order to automatically detect their locations, many approaches have been proposed using various types of information, including the tweets posted by the users. It is not easy to infer the original locations from textual data, because text tends to be noisy, particularly in social media. Recently, deep learning techniques have been shown to reduce the error rate of many machine learning tasks, due to their ability to learn meaningful representations of input data. We investigate the potential of building a deep-learning architecture to infer the location of Twitter users based merely on their tweets. We find that stacked denoising auto-encoders are well suited for this task, with results comparable to state-of-the-art models.
The role of representation in Bayesian reasoning: Correcting common misconceptions

The terms nested sets, partitive frequencies, inside-outside view , and dual processes add little but confusion to our original analysis (Gigerenzer & Hoffrage 1995; 1999). The idea of nested set was introduced because of an oversight; it simply rephrases two of our equations. Representation in terms of chances , in contrast, is a novel contribution yet consistent with our computational analysis – it uses exactly the same numbers as natural frequencies. We show that non-Bayesian reasoning in children, laypeople, and physicians follows multiple rules rather than a general-purpose associative process in a vaguely specified “System 1. ” It is unclear what the theory in “dual process theory” is: Unless the two processes are defined, this distinction can account post hoc for almost everything. In contrast, an ecological view of cognition helps to explain how insight is elicited from the outside (the external representation of information) and, more generally, how cognitive strategies match with environmental structures.
Performance Analysis of DCF under two access mechanisms in IEEE802.11a WLAN

IEEE 802.11a is a popular high-speed WLAN standard with a data rate up to 54 Mbps. The fundamental medium access control (MAC) mechanism of IEEE 802.11a is the contention-based distributed coordination function (DCF) which includes two packet transmission schemes, namely, the basic access and RTS/CTS mechanism. In this paper, by introducing a two-dimensional Markov model, we conduct an extensive analysis of saturation throughput and access delay of these two access mechanisms in IEEE 802.11a WLAN. The study reveals that, in contradiction to the situation in IEEE 802.11 WLAN, basic access mechanism is always more efficient than RTS/CTS mechanism in high-speed IEEE 802.11a WLAN
Discourse and Resistance

This article highlights the contributions that discourse analysis can make to the study of organizational resistance. Specifically, it demonstrates how using a discursive lens can provide insights into the targets, practices, and consequences of resistance. First, discourse analytic approaches can reveal how acts of resistance target multiple organizational audiences simultaneously, often developed through diverse texts directed to internal and external stakeholders. Second, discourse analysis enables researchers to examine the complex, dynamic, and interconnected nature of resistance practices and to avoid constructing simple dichotomies between such features as covert and overt forms of resistance or individual and collective resistance. Third, discourse analysis highlights the intended and unintended consequences of resistance by examining how organizational members engage with, adapt to, and transform organizational practices. Future directions are proposed for research on discourse analysis and organizational resistance.
Comparison of the in vivo and in vitro genotoxicity of glyphosate isopropylamine salt in three different organisms

There is considerable controversy with regard to the genotoxicity of glyphosate, with some reports stating that this compound is non-toxic for fish, birds and mammals. In this work, we used the comet assay to examine the genotoxicity of glyphosate isopropylamine (0.7, 7, 70 and 700 μM) in human lymphocytes, erythrocytes of Oreochromis niloticus and staminal nuclei of Tradescantia (4430) in vitro and in vivo. Cells, nuclei and fish that had and had not been exposed to 5 mM N-nitrosodiethylamine (NDEA) were used as positive and negative controls, respectively. Significant (p < 0.01) genetic damage was observed in vivo and in vitro in all cell types and organisms tested. Human lymphocytes and Tradescantia hairs showed lower genetic damage in vivo compared to in vitro, possibly because of efficient metabolization of the herbicide. In O. niloticus erythrocytes, significant (p < 0.001) genotoxicity was observed at ≥ 7 μM, whereas in vitro, glyphosphate was genotoxic in human lymphocytes and Tradescantia hairs at ≥ 0.7 μM. These results indicate that glyphosate is genotoxic in the cells and organisms studied at concentrations of 0.7–7 μM.
Antimicrobial agents for preventing peritonitis in peritoneal dialysis patients.

BACKGROUND Peritoneal dialysis (PD) is used as substitutive treatment of renal function in a large proportion (15-50%) of the end-stage kidney disease (ESRD) population. The major limitation is peritonitis which leads to technique failure, hospitalisation and increased mortality. Oral, nasal, topical antibiotic prophylaxis, exit-site disinfectants and other antimicrobial interventions are used to prevent peritonitis. OBJECTIVES The objective of this systematic review of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) was to evaluate what evidence supports the use of different antimicrobial approaches to prevent peritonitis in PD. SEARCH STRATEGY The Cochrane CENTRAL Registry (issue 1, 2004), MEDLINE (1966-May 2003), EMBASE (1988-May 2003) and reference lists were searched for RCTs of antimicrobial agents in PD. SELECTION CRITERIA Trials of the following agents were included: antibiotics by any route (oral, nasal, topical), exit-site disinfectants (chlorhexidine, povidone iodine, soap and water), vaccines, and ultraviolet germicidal devices. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS Two reviewers extracted data on the number of patients with one or more episodes and rates of peritonitis and exit-site/tunnel infection, catheter removal, catheter replacement, technique failure, toxicity of antibiotic treatments, all-cause mortality. Statistical analyses were performed using the random effects model and the results expressed as relative risk (RR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI). MAIN RESULTS Nineteen trials, enrolling 1949 patients met our inclusion criteria. Nasal mupirocin compared with placebo significantly reduced the exit-site and tunnel infection rate (one trial, 2716 patient months, RR 0.58, 95% CI 0.40 to 0.85) but not peritonitis rate (one trial, 2716 patient months, RR 0.84, 95% CI 0.44 to 1.60). Perioperative intravenous antibiotics compared with no treatment significantly reduced the risk of early peritonitis (four trials, 335 patients, RR 0.35, 95% CI 0.15 to 0.80) but not exit site and tunnel infection (three trials, 114 patients, RR 0.32, 95% CI 0.02 to 4.81). No intervention reduced the risk of catheter removal or replacement. REVIEWERS' CONCLUSIONS This review demonstrates that nasal mupirocin reduces exit-site/tunnel infection but not peritonitis. Preoperative intravenous prophylaxis reduces early peritonitis but not exit-site/tunnel infection. No other antimicrobial interventions have proven efficacy. Given the large number of patients on PD and the importance of peritonitis, the lack of adequately powered RCTs to inform decision making about strategies to prevent peritonitis is striking.
Incidence, species, and significance of Mycoplasma species in the mouth.

plasma species in the tooth and gingiva area. In an early survey, Dienes and Madoff [5] have found mycoplasmas in tooth scrapings. Barile and Sheingorn [6] have isolated a filterable form resembling a Mycoplasma species from inflamed pulp. Razin et al. [7] have isolated Mycoplasma scdivarium from gingival sulci of nearly all persons having natural dentition, but no mycoplasmas from edentulous persons. Serene and Anderson [8] have recently found M. salivarium in the root canal. However, the literature contains little information on identification of species by serologic technique. The significance of the presence of these organisms in the oral cavity has not been fully investigated. Further studies on the ecology of human oral Mycoplasma species and the antibody response of the host to the organisms are essential to determine the significance of their presence and their possible correlation to oral disease. In the present work we were concerned with two main points. The first was to isolate Mycoplasma species from various selected materials derived from the oral cavity and to identify the species by serologic technique. The second was to investigate serologic reactivity to mycoplasmas of individuals with or without some oral disease;
Cancer risk in patients with candidiasis: a nationwide population-based cohort study

Background Candidiasis and certain types of cancer are related to immunocompromised status. This study aimed to evaluate whether Candida infection (CI) is associated with subsequent cancer risk in Taiwan. Methods Data from the National Health Insurance system of Taiwan were used to evaluate the association between CI and cancer risk. The CI cohort comprised 34,829 patients. Each patient was randomly frequency matched with one person from the general population without CI on the basis of age, sex, year of index date of CI diagnosis, and other characteristics to generate the control group. We used Cox's proportional hazard regression analysis to estimate the effects of CI on subsequent cancer risk. Results Compared with the control group, patients with CI had a significantly higher risk of overall cancer (adjusted hazard ratio = 1.19, 95% confidence interval = 1.09–1.30). For subsite analysis, the risks of hematologic malignancy and head and neck, pancreatic, skin, and thyroid cancers were significantly higher in the CI group. Stratified analyses by sex, age, and follow-up time revealed different patterns. Conclusion Our study suggested that CI can significantly increase overall and some individual cancer risks, which is partially compatible with previous findings.
THE HETEROGENEOUSLY DISTRIBUTED SELF

Recent work in "distributed" and "situated" cognition has moved away from psychological structure as the primary explanation for human understanding. Instead, structures at various levels of explanation-at least the linguistic, social, cultural, interactional, and mental-together constitute successful cognition. Analogously, this article argues, the self is not primarily a psychological entity, but instead emerges from structures at various levels of explanation. The article focuses on the level of interactional positioning in conversation to illustrate how non-psychological structure can partly constitute the self. It focuses on the interactional positioning done by narrators as they tell stories about themselves and describes the interactional functions of autobiographical narrative discourse. Bakhtin's theory of language's interactional functions is drawn on and applied to one life story.
Human Neural Learning Depends on Reward Prediction Errors in the Blocking Paradigm

Learning occurs when an outcome deviates from expectation (prediction error). According to formal learning theory, the defining paradigm demonstrating the role of prediction errors in learning is the blocking test. Here, a novel stimulus is blocked from learning when it is associated with a fully predicted outcome, presumably because the occurrence of the outcome fails to produce a prediction error. We investigated the role of prediction errors in human reward-directed learning using a blocking paradigm and measured brain activation with functional magnetic resonance imaging. Participants showed blocking of behavioral learning with juice rewards as predicted by learning theory. The medial orbitofrontal cortex and the ventral putamen showed significantly lower responses to blocked, compared with nonblocked, reward-predicting stimuli. In reward-predicting control situations, deactivations in orbitofrontal cortex and ventral putamen occurred at the time of unpredicted reward omissions. Responses in discrete parts of orbitofrontal cortex correlated with the degree of behavioral learning during, and after, the learning phase. These data suggest that learning in primary reward structures in the human brain correlates with prediction errors in a manner that complies with principles of formal learning theory.
Characteristics of Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cell and CD4+ T Cell in HIV Elite Controllers

Despite variability, the majority of HIV-1-infected individuals progress to AIDS characterized by high viral load and massive CD4+ T-cell depletion. However, there is a subset of HIV-1-positive individuals that does not progress and spontaneously maintains an undetectable viral load. This infrequent patient population is defined as HIV-1 controllers (HIV controllers), and represents less than 1% of HIV-1-infected patients. HIV-1-specific CD4+ T cells and the pool of central memory CD4+ T cells are also preserved despite immune activation due to HIV-1 infection. The majority of HIV controllers are also defined by the absence of massive CD4+ T-cell depletion, even after 10 years of infection. However, the mechanisms involved in protection against HIV-1 disease progression have not been elucidated yet. Controllers represent a heterogeneous population; we describe in this paper some common characteristics concerning innate immune response and CD4+ T cells of HIV controllers.