Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Protective effects of beta glucan in brain tissues of post-menopausal rats: a histochemical and ultra-structural study

Abstract Decline of estrogen during menopause has been associated with numerous significant changes that have been linked to many pathophysiological complications. In addition, ovarian hormone deficiency increases the production of reactive oxygen radicals which could result in oxidative stress and cell damage. While estrogen therapy is often considered to overcome the behavioral and physiological shortcomings, antioxidants are gaining popularity for their beneficial property. For this purpose, in the present study, utilizing the antioxidant properties of beta glucan has been examined in treatment of menopause induced oxidative stress in cerebral neurons. Four groups of female Wistar rats were used: control, ovariectomy, ovariectomy + estrogen treated and ovariectomy + beta glucan treated. We observed a significant increase in neural degeneration in ovariectomized rats as compared to controls. Moreover, increased oxidative stress in the brains of the ovariectomized rats has been detected by performing immunohistochemical analysis. A large number of immuno-positive cerebral neurons have been observed in ovariectomy group rat brains. Interestingly, providing beta glucan treatment to ovariectomized rats reduced the number of degenerated neurons. Our study is the first to examine light and electron microscopic examination and immunohistochemical and stereological analysis of estrogen depletion in rats and to test protective role of beta glucan in the experimental study.
Gerontologic public health problem of obesity in early old age

T present study investigated the effects of M. charantia on haematological changes of streptozotocin-induced diabetic Wistar rats. Forty healthy adult Wistar rats of both sexes were randomly assigned into five groups A, B, C, D and E of eight rats each. Group A were the control (normal rats); B were the experimentally-induced diabetic rats; C were diabetic rats treated with methanolic extracts of M. charantia for two weeks (withdrawal group); D were diabetic rats treated with methanolic extracts of M. charantia for four weeks. E was diabetic rats treated glimepiride for four weeks. Blood samples obtained by cardiac puncture were used for haematological studies. Results showed significant (p<0.05) increase in most RBC indices in groups D and E. Reduced WBC and NEUT count in diabetic group was significantly (p<0.05) increased in groups D and E. Lymphocyte count was not significantly affected. Platelet count, PDW and MPV were significantly (p<0.05) reduced in groups D and E following an increase in diabetic group. Thus M. charantia could restore some haematological changes in diabetic animals, and in a manner similar to glimepiride.
Reliability and validity of a healthy diet determinants questionnaire for adolescents

Abstract Objective To describe the development of a short questionnaire including a wide range of personal, social and environmental constructs in relation to a healthy diet in an adolescent population. Design The questionnaire was developed based on the literature, past experiences and feedback from a small pilot study (n 10). Test and retest (2 weeks later) of the questionnaire was done to investigate test–retest reliability. Data of four non-consecutive 24 h recalls were collected to investigate the predictive validity with food (fruit, vegetables, milk, snacks, soft drinks), nutrient (fibre, ascorbic acid, Ca, percentage energy from fat) and energy intakes. Setting At home, in the presence of a student. Subjects Convenience sample of fifty-five Belgian-Flemish adolescents approached by university students for course credits. Results Test–retest correlations of the constructs ranged between 0·51 and 0·78. Eleven of the eighteen final constructs were significantly associated with one or more of the five selected food items, all in the expected direction. Most significant associations with the food items were found for taste, perceived peers’ behaviour and availability of soft drinks at home. Fresh fruit and soft drinks were correlated with most constructs (seven) followed by snacks (five). Concerning energy and the selected nutrient variables, the findings were less clear. Conclusions The results are promising: the test–retest stability was moderate to good; most of the psychosocial constructs were significantly associated with one or more of the selected dietary variables. Future work in a larger sample of European adolescents is warranted.
Singularity and decay estimates in superlinear problems via Liouville-type theorems, I: Elliptic equations and systems

In this paper, we study some new connections between Liouville-type theorems and local properties of nonnegative solutions to superlinear elliptic problems. Namely, we develop a general method for derivation of universal, pointwise a priori estimates of local solutions from Liouville-type theorems, which provides a simpler and unified treatment for such questions. The method is based on rescaling arguments combined with a key “doubling” property, and it is different from the classical rescaling method of Gidas and Spruck. As an important heuristic consequence of our approach, it turns out that universal boundedness theorems for local solutions and Liouville-type theorems are essentially equivalent. ∗Supported in part by NSF Grant DMS-0400702 †Supported in part by VEGA Grant 1/3021/06
Diffusible and Volatile Antifungal Compounds Produced by an Antagonistic Bacillus velezensis G341 against Various Phytopathogenic Fungi

The aim of this study was to identify volatile and agar-diffusible antifungal metabolites produced by Bacillus sp. G341 with strong antifungal activity against various phytopathogenic fungi. Strain G341 isolated from four-year-old roots of Korean ginseng with rot symptoms was identified as Bacillus velezensis based on 16S rDNA and gyrA sequences. Strain G341 inhibited mycelial growth of all phytopathogenic fungi tested. In vivo experiment results revealed that n-butanol extract of fermentation broth effectively controlled the development of rice sheath blight, tomato gray mold, tomato late blight, wheat leaf rust, barley powdery mildew, and red pepper anthracnose. Two antifungal compounds were isolated from strain G341 and identified as bacillomycin L and fengycin A by MS/MS analysis. Moreover, volatile compounds emitted from strain G341 were found to be able to inhibit mycelial growth of various phytopathogenic fungi. Based on volatile compound profiles of strain G341 obtained through headspace collection and analysis on GC-MS, dimethylsulfoxide, 1-butanol, and 3-hydroxy-2-butanone (acetoin) were identified. Taken together, these results suggest that B. valezensis G341 can be used as a biocontrol agent for various plant diseases caused by phytopathogenic fungi.
Non-indigenous freshwaters plants: patterns, processes and risk evaluation.

Larson, D. 2007. Non-indigenous Freshwater Plants – Patterns, Processes and Risk Evaluation. Doctoral dissertation. ISSN 1652-6880, ISBN 91-576-7314-5. Non-indigenous species (NIS) are species that are moved by man outside their native range. NIS that successfully pass through a number of invasion phases (i.e. introduction, establishment and invasion) are referred to as invasive species. Invasive species potentially cause severe environmental and economic impacts. This thesis highlights the invasion process of non-indigenous aquatic plant species. Patterns and processes in the establishment phase were assessed with a general focus. The importance of recipient area biodiversity for habitat invasibility was assessed by comparing native species richness in lakes where non-indigenous plant species had become established with non-invaded lakes. It was shown that habitats with established NIS on average had higher native species richness. Ecological niche modelling was used to test how the continental-scale distributions of non-indigenous freshwater plants in Europe might change during global warming. These models showed that species presently invasive in southern Europe can potentially establish also in northern Europe if the climate gets warmer. At the invasion phase, focus was more specific to a single species – the floating-leaved freshwater plant Nymphoides peltata. Microsatellite analyses of introduced N. peltata populations showed that six of seven sampled water systems contained a single genotype. Thus, where the species is introduced, vegetative reproduction constitutes the most important spreading mechanism. Impact of N. peltata on submerged species was assessed by using both a modelling approach and using traditional competition experiments. Both approaches showed that submerged plants were negatively affected by low to moderate N. peltata densities. This thesis contributes to a wider understanding of the invasion processes of nonindigenous freshwater plants in general, but of N. peltata in particular. Knowledge retrieved from more NIS case studies are needed before general patterns can be assessed.
PrlA and PrlG suppressors reduce the requirement for signal sequence recognition

Selection for suppressors of defects in the signal sequence of secretory proteins has led most commonly to identification of prlA alleles and less often to identification of prlG alleles. These genes, secY/prlA and secE/prlG, encode integral membrane components of the protein translocation system of Escherichia coli. We demonstrate that an outer membrane protein, LamB, that lacks a signal sequence can be exported with reasonable efficiency in both prlA and prlG suppressor strains. Although the signal sequence is not absolutely required for export of LamB, the level of export in the absence of prl suppressor alleles is exceedingly low. Such strains are phenotypically LamB-, and functional LamB can be detected only by using sensitive infectious-center assays. Suppression of the LamB signal sequence deletion is dependent on normal components of the export pathway, indicating that suppression is not occurring through a bypass mechanism. Our results indicate that the majority of the known prlA suppressors function by an identical mechanism and, further, that the prlG suppressors work in a similar fashion. We propose that both PrlA and PrlG suppressors lack a proofreading activity that normally rejects defective precursors from the export pathway.
Situational Influences on Leisure Satisfaction and Morale in Old Age †

The relationship between leisure satisfaction and morale was examined within the context of leisure behavior, health, age, and socioeconomic status. Interviews were conducted with 104 noninstitutional adults aged 65 or older living in an urbanized area. Leisure satisfaction and morale were substantially related, and remained so when statistically tested with various third factors. Multivariate analysis indicated that the most important predictors of morale were leisure satisfaction and socioeconomic status. Self‐rated health, the illness index, and age were much less significant as predictors.
Continuum model of tendon pathology – where are we now?

Chronic tendon pathology is a common and often disabling condition, the causes of which remain poorly understood. The continuum model of tendon pathology was proposed to provide a model for the staging of tendon pathology and to assist clinicians in managing this often complex condition (Br. J. Sports Med., 43, 2009, 409). The model presents clinical, histological and imaging evidence for the progression of tendon pathology as a three‐stage continuum: reactive tendinopathy, tendon disrepair and degenerative tendinopathy. It also provides clinical information to assist in identifying the stage of pathology, in addition to proposed treatment approaches for each stage. The usefulness of such a model is determined by its ability to incorporate and inform new and emerging research. This review examines the degree to which recent research supports or refutes the continuum model and proposes future directions for clinical and research application of the model.
FitNets: Hints for Thin Deep Nets

While depth tends to improve network performances, it also makes gradient-based training more difficult since deeper networks tend to be more non-linear. The recently proposed knowledge distillation approach is aimed at obtaining small and fast-to-execute models, and it has shown that a student network could imitate the soft output of a larger teacher network or ensemble of networks. In this paper, we extend this idea to allow the training of a student that is deeper and thinner than the teacher, using not only the outputs but also the intermediate representations learned by the teacher as hints to improve the training process and final performance of the student. Because the student intermediate hidden layer will generally be smaller than the teacher's intermediate hidden layer, additional parameters are introduced to map the student hidden layer to the prediction of the teacher hidden layer. This allows one to train deeper students that can generalize better or run faster, a trade-off that is controlled by the chosen student capacity. For example, on CIFAR-10, a deep student network with almost 10.4 times less parameters outperforms a larger, state-of-the-art teacher network.
ExStroke Pilot Trial of the effect of repeated instructions to improve physical activity after ischaemic stroke: a multinational randomised controlled clinical trial

Objectives To investigate if repeated verbal instructions about physical activity to patients with ischaemic stroke could increase long term physical activity. Design Multicentre, multinational, randomised clinical trial with masked outcome assessment. Setting Stroke units in Denmark, China, Poland, and Estonia. Participants 314 patients with ischaemic stroke aged ≥40 years who were able to walk—157 (mean age 69.7 years) randomised to the intervention, 157 (mean age 69.4 years) in the control group. Interventions Patients randomised to the intervention were instructed in a detailed training programme before discharge and at five follow-up visits during 24 months. Control patients had follow-up visits with the same frequency but without instructions in physical activity. Main outcome measures Physical activity assessed with the Physical Activity Scale for the Elderly (PASE) at each visit. Secondary outcomes were clinical events. Results The estimated mean PASE scores were 69.1 in the intervention group and 64.0 in the control group (difference 5.0 (95% confidence interval −5.8 to 15.9), P=0.36. The intervention had no significant effect on mortality, recurrent stroke, myocardial infarction, or falls and fractures. Conclusion Repeated encouragement and verbal instruction in being physically active did not lead to a significant increase in physical activity measured by the PASE score. More intensive strategies seem to be needed to promote physical activity after ischaemic stroke. Trial registration Clinical Trials NCT00132483
Effect of Cyclodextrins on the Complexation and Nasal Permeation of Melatonin

The inclusion complexation of melatonin (MT) with modified cyclodextrins (CDs) was studied with an objective of improving the solubility and nasal absorption of MT. The formation of inclusion complex of MT with Hydroxypropyl β CD (HPβ CD) and randomly methylated β CD (RMβ CD) was characterized in solution and solid states by phase solubility and differential scanning calorimetry analyses. The phase solubility data indicate a linear increase in the solubility of MT with CDs demonstrating Higuchi's AL-type phase solubility profiles. The effect of CDs on the permeation of MT across EpiAirwayTM-100 cultures was studied using a modified nonstatic diffusion setup. CDs were employed at different concentrations with 1% w/v micronized MT suspension in hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose (HPMC) vehicle. At low CD concentrations (1% w/v), the permeation of MT from HPMC formulation was significantly increased (125%,p < .001). However, the permeation was significantly reduced when CDs were used at relatively high concentrations (5 to 10% w/v concentration for HPβCD and 10% w/v concentration for RMβCD,p < .001). All the tissues were viable with good tissue integrity at the end of permeation experiments, as measured by methylthiazoletetrazolium assay and transepithelial electrical resistance measurements. In conclusion, formation of inclusion complex of MT with HPβCD and RMβCD was demonstrated in solution and solid state. Both HPβCD and RM βCD at 1% w/v concentration were found to improve the nasal permeability of MT from HPMC gel formulations.
URINARY PROTEIN PARAMETERS IN KARATE ATHLETES

The purpose of this research is to evaluate the effect of selective fighting competitions (kumite) on urinary albumin, total protein, β2microglobulin, creatinine, sodium and potassium levels in male members of the professional national karate team. A questionnaire was presented to 40 champions, with necessary explanations. They were invited to a national team selection camp, and 18 subjects, who had frequently won championships, who were in good-health, and free from using drugs or ergogenic aids, and with similar participation were selected to be tested. They were aged 19 yrs old, with an average body weight of 67 kg, and average height of 170 cm. Their urine samples were examined 24 hours before and following competition to obtain aforementioned parameter levels. Statistics were performed using the SPSS software. Urinary total protein, albumin, creatinine, β2microglobulin contents were meaningfully affected following karate competitions, whereas sodium and potassium levels were not altered to such an extent.
Killer cells: a functional comparison between natural, immune T-cell and antibody-dependent in vitro systems

Previous reports have shown that spleen cells from nonimmune adult mice of certain strains do regularly kill Moloney leukemia virus-induced lymphomas in short-term 51Cr release assays. This naturally occuring killer (NK) cell had low adherent properties and had the morphological appearance of a lymphocyte. Still it lacked surface characteristics of mature T or B lymphocytes. In the present report a functional study was carried out, comparing in parallel the NK system, the T-cell killing across an H-2 barrier (anti-P815), and the antibody-dependent cell- mediated chicken red blood cell (CRBC) system. In contrast to the effector cells in the CRBC system, the NK cells were insensitive to erythrocyte antibody complement (EAC) rosette depletion and would pass through nylon wool columns. NK activity was not inhibited by the presence of heat-aggregated human or mouse gamma globulin, in contrast to the strong inhibition noted in the CRBC system. Sensitivity to trypsin pretreatment was noted in the NK system as well as in the immune P815 system, whereas the CRBC system was relatively trypsin resistant. Antitheta plus complement eliminated the anti-P815 activity, but did not touch the NK activity. The present results thus further distinguish the NK cell from cytotoxic T lymphocytes or from antibody- dependent killer cells.
QR-RLS algorithm for error diffusion of color images

Printing color images on color printers, and displaying them on computer monitors requires a significant reduction of physically distinct colors, which causes degradation in image quality. An efficient method to improve the display quality of a quantized image is error diffusion which works by distributing the previous quantization errors to neighboring pixels exploiting the eye's averaging of colors in the neighborhood of the point of interest. This creates the illusion of more colors. A new error diffusion method is presented in which the adaptive recursive least squares (RLS) algorithm is used rather than the deterministic approaches in literature. To improve the performance, a diagonal scan is used in processing the image.
Online problems and two-player games: algorithms and analysis

In this thesis we study three problems that are adversarial in nature. Such problems can be viewed as a game between an algorithm and an adversary, where the adversary always tries to force the algorithm into worst-case scenarios during its execution. Many real world problems with inherent uncertainty or lack of information fit into this model. For instance, it includes the vast field of online problems where the input is only partially available and an adversary reveals the complete input gradually over time (online fashion). The algorithm has to perform efficiently under this uncertainty. In contrast to the online setting, in an offline setting, the complete input is available in the beginning. The first problem that we investigate is a classical online scheduling problem where a sequence of jobs that arrive online have to be assigned to a set of identical machines with the objective of minimizing the maximum load. We study a natural generalization of this problem where we allow migration of already scheduled jobs to other machines upon the arrival of a new job, thus bridging the gap between online and offline setting. Already for a small amount of migration, our result compares with the best results to date in both online and offline settings. From the point of view of sensitivity analysis, our results imply that, only small changes are to be made to the current schedule to accommodate a new job, if we are satisfied with near optimal solution. The other online problem that we study is the well-known metrical task systems problem. We present a probabilistic analysis of the well-known text book algorithm called the work function algorithm. Besides average-case analysis we also present smoothed analysis, which is a notion introduced recently as a hybrid between worst-case and average-case analysis. Our analysis reveals that the performance of this algorithm is much better than worst-case for a large class of inputs. This motivates us to support smoothed analysis as an alternative model for evaluating the performance of online algorithms. The third problem that we investigate is a pursuit-evasion game: an algorithm (the pursuer) has to find/catch an adversary that is ‘hiding’ in a graph where both players can travel in the graph. This problem belongs to the rich field of search games and it addresses the question of how long it takes for the pursuer to find the evader in a given graph that, for example, corresponds to a computer network or a geographic terrain. Such game models are also used to design efficient communication protocols. We present improved results against adversaries with varying power and also present tight lower bounds.
Ventral lateral and DN1 clock neurons mediate distinct properties of male sex drive rhythm in Drosophila

Male sex drive rhythm (MSDR) in Drosophila is a circadian behavior only observed in the social context of male-female pairs. In the presence of a female, males exhibit long periods of courtship activity with a pronounced rest phase at dusk, although isolated males exhibit an activity peak at dusk. The molecular mechanisms regulating the switch between these activity patterns are unknown. Here, we genetically manipulate the molecular clock in different subsets of neurons and find that proper oscillation of the molecular clock in ventral lateral neurons is essential for MSDR. These neurons express pigment-dispersing factor, the lack of which disrupts MSDR. Furthermore, we show that a cluster of dorsal neurons (DN1s) requires the molecular clock to synchronize the trough phase at dusk in MSDR and to establish the evening peak in single fly locomotor rhythm (SLR). Finally, we provide evidence that DN1s exert their roles in MSDR and SLR via distinct signaling pathways.