Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
New insights on flow-independent mechanisms of 99mTc-HMPAO retention in nervous tissue: in vitro study.

UNLABELLED SPECT using 99mTc-hexamethyl propyleneamine oxime (HMPAO) mainly reflects regional cerebral blood flow, however metabolic abnormalities also affect the retention of 99mTc-HMPAO. METHODS To rule out any flow factor, a test-tube model was used to evaluate the effects of metabolic alterations both on intracellular trapping of 99mTc-HMPAO and on extracellular glutamate and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) outflow from rat brain slices. RESULTS Under control conditions, slices took up 7.0%+/-1.4% of 99mTc-HMPAO contained in the medium, whereas prelabeled slices released 10.8%+/-2.6% of their radioactive content; glutamate and LDH outflow were 49.1+/-21.6 pmol/mg protein/ min and 4.8+/-0.9 U/L/mg protein/min, respectively. The control medium was altered by adding a metabolic poison (5 mmol/L azide), removing glucose and replacing O2 with N2 to mimic ischemia (in vitro ischemia) and replacing Krebs solution with hypotonic medium to evoke cell lysis. Both azide and in vitro ischemia induced a significant increase in 99mTc-HMPAO release (15.8%+/-3.3% and 18.3%+/-6.2%, respectively), without any modification in LDH efflux. However, only azide reduced the uptake of the tracer. Conversely, glutamate outflow was massive during in vitro ischemia and was far lower during azide treatment. Under hypotonic medium conditions, the release of 99mTc-HMPAO, glutamate and LDH were dramatically increased. Surprisingly, a two-fold increase of 99mTc-HMPAO uptake was also found. When 1 mmol/L glutathione was added to the medium, to convert native lipophilic 99mTc-HMPAO into hydrophilic derivatives, tracer uptake was inhibited both under control and hypotonic medium conditions. CONCLUSION This study provides evidence that not only poisoning of the tissue but also in vitro ischemia induced a reduction of 99mTc-HMPAO retention. Moreover, we demonstrated that injuries causing cell membrane disruption led to hyperfixation of 99mTc-HMPAO.
Exponentially Small Soundness for the Direct Product Z-test

Given a function 5 : [#]: → ["]: , the Z-test is a three-query test for checking if the function 5 is a direct product, i. e. , if there are functions ,1 , . , ,: : [#] → ["] such that 5 (G1 , . . . , G:) = (,1(G1), . , ,:(G:)) for every input G ∈ [#]: . This test was introduced by Impagliazzo et. al. (SICOMP 2012), who showed that if the test passes with probability & > exp(− √ :) then 5 is Ω(&)-correlated to a direct product function in some precise sense. It remained an open question whether the soundness of this test can be pushed all the way down to exp(−:) (which would be optimal). This is our main result: we show that whenever 5 passes the Z-test with probability & > exp(−:) , there must be a global reason for this, namely, 5 is Ω(&)-correlated to a direct product function, in the same sense of closeness. Towards proving our result we analyze the related (two-query) V-test, and prove a “restricted global structure” theorem for it. Such theorems were also proven in previous work on direct product testing in the small soundness regime. The most recent paper, by Dinur and Steurer (CCC 2014), analyzed the V-test in the exponentially small soundness regime. We strengthen their conclusion by moving A preliminary version of this paper appeared in the Proceedings of the 32nd Computational Complexity Conference, 2017 [7]. ∗Research supported in part by an ISF-UGC grant number 1399/14, and by BSF grant number 2014371. †Research supported in part by an ISF-UGC grant number 1399/14, and by BSF grant number 2014371. ACM Classification: F.2. 2 AMS Classification: 68Q25
Mean Diffusional Kurtosis in Patients with Glioma: Initial Results with a Fast Imaging Method in a Clinical Setting

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Diffusional kurtosis imaging is an MR imaging technique that provides microstructural information in biologic systems. Its application in clinical studies, however, is hampered by long acquisition and postprocessing times. We evaluated a new and fast (2 minutes 46 seconds) diffusional kurtosis imaging method with regard to glioma grading, compared it with conventional diffusional kurtosis imaging, and compared the diagnostic accuracy of fast mean kurtosis (MK′) to that of the widely used mean diffusivity. MATERIALS AND METHODS: MK′ and mean diffusivity were measured in the contrast-enhancing tumor core, the perifocal hyperintensity (indicated on T2 FLAIR images), and the contralateral normal-appearing white and gray matter of 34 patients (22 with high-grade and 12 with low-grade gliomas). MK′ and mean diffusivity in the different tumor grades were compared by using a Wilcoxon rank sum test. Receiver operating characteristic curves and the areas under the curve were calculated to determine the diagnostic accuracy of MK′ and mean diffusivity. RESULTS: MK′ in the tumor core, but not mean diffusivity, differentiated high-grade from low-grade gliomas, and MK′ differentiated glioblastomas from the remaining gliomas with high accuracy (area under the curveMK′ = 0.842; PMK′ < .001). MK′ and mean diffusivity identified glioblastomas in the group of high-grade gliomas with similar significance and accuracy (area under the curveMK′ = 0.886; area under the curvemean diffusivity = 0.876; PMK′ = .003; Pmean diffusivity = .004). The mean MK′ in all tissue types was comparable to that obtained by conventional diffusional kurtosis imaging. CONCLUSIONS: The diffusional kurtosis imaging approach used here is considerably faster than conventional diffusional kurtosis imaging methods but yields comparable results. It can be accommodated in clinical protocols and enables exploration of the role of MK′ as a biomarker in determining glioma subtypes or response evaluation.
Could Activity Modifications Indicate Physical Decline Among Adults With Symptomatic Knee Osteoarthritis?

Objectives Mobility activity modifications indicate early functional losses that act as precursors to future declines among community-dwelling older adults. However, there is scarce evidence on whether activity modifications indicate poorer physical health among adults with symptomatic osteoarthritis, a major cause of disability. Our purpose was to investigate whether patient-reported mobility activity modifications indicated poorer physical health among adults with symptomatic knee osteoarthritis. Design Secondary cross-sectional analysis of randomized trial data was performed. Preclinical Disability Questionnaire was used to group participants into the following three categories: difficulty, modified, and no difficulty walking/stair climbing. Kruskal Wallis and &khgr;2 tests were used to compare clinical factors across groups. Results Among 121 participants (median age = 60 yrs; 73% female; 60% white), less than 10% had modified walking/stair climbing. Compared with those with no walking difficulty, participants with modified walking had significantly less balance (P = 0.01) and global health (P = 0.01) as well as greater knee pain (P = 0.05) and physical disability (P = 0.04). Those with modified stair climbing had significantly smaller walking distances (P = 0.03) compared with those with no difficulty stair climbing. Conclusions Activity modifications may signal early impairments in physical health among people with symptomatic knee osteoarthritis. If confirmed, patient-reported activity modifications may enhance symptom evaluation in osteoarthritis and enable a better understanding of the disablement process.
Labor and Monopoly Capital: The Degradation of Work in the Twentieth Century

One of the paradoxes of North American Marxism is that its generally impoverished history has yielded a body of literature — perhaps even a ‘school’ — which is equal to any, and is read and studied throughout the world: the writings associated with Monthly Review. In part this is no mystery. Paul Baran was European-born and educated, and the conduit for Paul Sweezy's Marxism was Schumpeter. In any case, Sweezy's The Theory of Capitalist Development, Baran's The Political Economy of Growth, and their Monopoly Capital, to name only the major works, have constituted a series of texts which have introduced a generation to a serious and nondogmatic Marxism. Harry Braverman's Labor and Monopoly Capital is an able and articulate addition to this ‘school. ’
Time-Pressure as a Function of Sleep Satisfaction Category in Undergraduates

The categorical answer to the question "Are you satisfied with your sleep: Yes, No, or Mixed? " is a group variable which affects measures obtained from sleep-logs (1). Here, we report our first (partially successful) effort in developing a time-use measure for categories of sleep satisfaction. Sleep-log entries were made on 14 mornings by 121 university students of both sexes. Each day they marked several response columns. Two of these were: "Time I got up" and "Time I left home to go somewhere. " A onefactor analysis of variance, based on the span (in minutes) between these two times, was used to compare the sleep-satisfaction groups. The means were: Yes (94.4 + 49.9, n = 60), Mixed (83.3 f 44.3, n = 37), and No (126.0 66.9, n = 24) with F ,,,,, = 5.07, p < . 01. Based on the pooled error term, t tests showed the No group to be significantly different-from either the Yes or Mixed groups at p < . 02 and p < . 004, respectively. Compared with home-sleep, college students may show disruptive changes in their sleep routines due to situational changes in life-style (2). Our outcomes may have basis in acquired sleep patterns. Despite the major effect shown, however, we have reservations about this measure. In talking with the subjects, we discovered that for many of them, whether or not they leave for an outside activity may not be reflective of time-pressure. Frequently, they have urgent needs (writing, studying, etc.) which are best met while staying in their quarters. This can be confounded with days when they are unproductive but go out for dinner or social contact in the evening. The "Time I left home to go somewhere" response is objective but difficult to interpret. We are now testing a new query which is taken at bedtime: "Time of your first planned daytime activity for tomorrow? " This is projective rather than empirical. We hope that it will better reflect the considerations of time-pressure of the sleep-satisfaction subgroups. The posirive outcomes of this first work indicate that such a measure should be possible.
Inhibition of DNA Glycosylases via Small Molecule Purine Analogs

Following the formation of oxidatively-induced DNA damage, several DNA glycosylases are required to initiate repair of the base lesions that are formed. Recently, NEIL1 and other DNA glycosylases, including OGG1 and NTH1 were identified as potential targets in combination chemotherapeutic strategies. The potential therapeutic benefit for the inhibition of DNA glycosylases was validated by demonstrating synthetic lethality with drugs that are commonly used to limit DNA replication through dNTP pool depletion via inhibition of thymidylate synthetase and dihydrofolate reductase. Additionally, NEIL1-associated synthetic lethality has been achieved in combination with Fanconi anemia, group G. As a prelude to the development of strategies to exploit the potential benefits of DNA glycosylase inhibition, it was necessary to develop a reliable high-throughput screening protocol for this class of enzymes. Using NEIL1 as the proof-of-principle glycosylase, a fluorescence-based assay was developed that utilizes incision of site-specifically modified oligodeoxynucleotides to detect enzymatic activity. This assay was miniaturized to a 1536-well format and used to screen small molecule libraries for inhibitors of the combined glycosylase/AP lyase activities. Among the top hits of these screens were several purine analogs, whose postulated presence in the active site of NEIL1 was consistent with the paradigm of NEIL1 recognition and excision of damaged purines. Although a subset of these small molecules could inhibit other DNA glycosylases that excise oxidatively-induced DNA adducts, they could not inhibit a pyrimidine dimer-specific glycosylase.
Expression of Immunogenic Glycoprotein S Polypeptides from Transmissible Gastroenteritis Coronavirus in Transgenic Plants☆

Abstract The use of transgenic plants as vaccine production systems was described recently. We report on the immunological response elicited by two recombinant versions of the glycoprotein S from the swine-transmissible gastroenteritis coronavirus (TGEV) expressed in transgenic plants. Arabidoposis plants were genetically transformed with cDNAs constructs encoding either the N-terminal domain (amino acid residues 1–750) or the full-length glycoprotein S of TGEV, responsible for the neutralizing antibody induction against the virus, under the control of the cauliflower mosaic virus 35S (CaMV 35S) promoter. Genomic DNA and mRNA analyses of leaf extracts from transformed plants demonstrated the incorporation of the foreign cDNA into the arabidopsis genome, as well as their transcription. Expression of recombinant polypeptides were observed in most transgenic plants by ELISA using specific antibodies. Mice immunized with leaf extracts from transgenic plants developed antibodies that reacted specifically with TGEV in ELISA, immunoprecipitated the virus-induced protein, and neutralized the virus infectivity. From these results, we conclude that transgenic plants expressing glycoprotein S polypeptides may possibly be used as a source of recombinant antigen for vaccine production.
Community reintegration following a total joint replacement: a pilot study.

PURPOSE To examine community reintegration following a hip or knee total joint replacement (TJR) from the perspective of rehabilitation clients. METHODS A phenomenological frame of reference guided the present study. Ten participants who received inpatient rehabilitation completed semi-structured qualitative interviews to explore their experiences with reintegrating back into their chosen communities and the meanings that they ascribed to their reintegration. Interview data were analysed using thematic analysis. Demographic data, and information regarding participants' living situation and supports were extracted from existing databases and used to characterize the sample. RESULTS Participants revealed that reintegration after a TJR encompassed two key elements of meaning: i) engagement in meaningful activities; and ii) satisfaction levels. Additionally, the following five factors were identified as facilitators or barriers to community reintegration following a TJR: i) ongoing preparation and education; ii) confounding health issues; iii) driving and transportation; iv) personal facilitators; v) access to supports from professionals, family and friends, and community programmes. CONCLUSIONS The present study highlights the significance of engaging in meaningful activities and being satisfied in one's level of engagement to achieving a sense of community reintegration following a TJR. This suggests that reintegration post-TJR has broader meanings than just improvements in functional abilities. Practitioners are encouraged to inquire about patients' meaningful activities, support their preparedness throughout the rehabilitation process, to identify confounding health issues that may limit reintegration, consider patients' fears and anxieties and establish supports to enhance their feelings of self-efficacy and abilities to cope following a TJR.
Cloud computing simulators: A detailed survey and future direction

Cloud computing is one of the emerging technologies with its ease of access and diverse applicability, letting customers attracted to it and thus posing many challenging issues that need to overcome in this field. Since the evolution of cloud computing: Load balancing, power constrains, program offloading, cost modelling and security issues are the popular research topic in this field. Deploying real cloud for testing or for commercial use is very costly. Cloud simulator helps to model various kinds of cloud application by creating Data Centre, Virtual Machine and many Utilities which can be added to configure it, thus making it very easy to analyse. Till now, many cloud simulators have been proposed and also available to use. These simulators are built for specific purpose, and have varying features in each of them. In this paper we presented a comprehensive study of major cloud simulators by highlighting their important features and analysing their pros and cons. we made a comparison among the simulators by considering their important attributes and finally concluded with our future direction.
Synthesis of Timed Circuits Based on Decomposition

This paper presents a decomposition-based method for timed circuit design that is capable of significantly reducing the cost of synthesis. In particular, this method synthesizes each output individually. It begins by contracting the timed signal transition graph (STG) to include only transitions on the output of interest and its possible trigger signals. Next, the reachable state space for this contracted STG is analyzed to determine a minimal number of additional signals, which must be reintroduced into the STG to obtain complete state coding. The circuit for this output is then synthesized from this STG. Results show that the quality of the circuit implementation is nearly as good as the one found from the full reachable state space, but it can be applied to find circuits for which full-state-space methods cannot be successfully applied. The proposed method has been implemented as a part of our tool Nii-Utah Timed Asynchronous circuit Synthesis system (nutas), and its first version is available at http://research.nii. ac.jp/~yoneda.
Melt mixing and crystallization under Theistareykir, northeast Iceland

Analysis of the compositions of crystals and melt inclusions from a suite of 40 gabbroic and wehrlitic nodules in a single eruptive body provides a record of concurrent mixing and crystallization of melts under NE Iceland. The crystals in the nodules have a similar range of compositions to those found as phenocrysts in the flow, and many of the nodules may have been generated by crystallization of a magma with a similar composition to that of the host flow. While plagioclase is only present in nodules where the average forsterite content of olivines is 0.8 GPa and is in agreement with estimates of crystallization pressures for the host basalt. The relationship between the compositional variability of melt inclusions and the forsterite content of the host olivine is revealed by REE analyses of over 120 melt inclusions. The degree of variability in REE concentrations and REE/Yb ratios decreases with falling forsterite content of the host olivine, as expected if melt mixing and fractional crystallization are operating together. The standard deviation of the REEs falls by a factor of ∼4 between Fo90 and Fo87. This change in olivine composition can be produced by crystallization of 20% which occurs on cooling of ∼50°C. The relative rates of mixing, cooling and crystallization may provide constraints upon the dynamics of magma bodies. The oxygen isotopic composition of olivines from the nodules and phenocrysts is highly variable (δ18O from 3.3–5.2 per mil) and shows little correlation with the forsterite content of the olivine. The full range of oxygen isotope variation is present in olivines with Fo89–90, and the low δ18O signal is associated with melts of high Mg# and La/Yb. Such geochemical relationships cannot be produced by assimilation of low Mg# crustal materials alone, and may reflect oxygen isotopic variation within the mantle source. The geochemistry of the melt inclusions and their host crystals can be accounted for by fractional melting of a mantle source with variable composition, followed by concurrent mixing and crystallization beneath the Moho.
Fatal hypothermia: an analysis from a sub-arctic region

Objectives. To determine the incidence as well as contributing factors to fatal hypothermia. Study design. Retrospective, registry-based analysis. Methods. Cases of fatal hypothermia were identified in the database of the National Board of Forensic Medicine for the 4 northernmost counties of Sweden and for the study period 1992–2008. Police reports, medical records and autopsy protocols were studied. Results. A total of 207 cases of fatal hypothermia were noted during the study period, giving an annual incidence of 1.35 per 100,000 inhabitants. Seventy-two percent occurred in rural areas, and 93% outdoors. Many (40%) were found within approximately 100 meters of a building. The majority (75%) occurred during the colder season (October to March). Some degree of paradoxical undressing was documented in 30%. Ethanol was detected in femoral vein blood in 43% of the victims. Contributing co-morbidity was common and included heart disease, earlier stroke, dementia, psychiatric disease, alcoholism, and recent trauma. Conclusions. With the identification of groups at high risk for fatal hypothermia, it should be possible to reduce risk through thoughtful interventions, particularly related to the highest risk subjects (rural, living alone, alcohol-imbibing, and psychiatric diagnosis-carrying) citizens.
Conformational stability of OXA-51 β-lactamase explains its role in carbapenem resistance of Acinetobacter baumannii

Acinetobacter baumannii, an important nosocomial pathogen, is increasingly becoming resistant to antibiotics including recent β-lactam like imipenem. Production of different types of β-lactamases is one of the major resistance mechanisms which bacteria adapt. We recently reported the presence of a β-lactamase, OXA-51, in clinical strains of A. baumannii in ICUs of our hospital. This study is an attempt to understand the structure–function relationship of purified OXA-51 in carbapenem resistance in A. baumannii. The OXA-51 was cloned, expressed in E. coli Bl-21(DE3) and further purified. The in vitro enzyme activity of purified OXA-51 was confirmed by two independent techniques; in-gel assay and spectrophotometric method using nitrocefin. Further in vivo effect of OXA-51 was followed by transmission electron microscopy of bacterium. Biophysical and biochemical investigations of OXA-51 were done using LC-MS/MS, UV–Vis absorption, fluorescence, circular dichroic spectroscopy and isothermal calorimetry. Native OXA-51 was characterized as 30.6 kDa, pI 8.43 with no disulphide bonds and comprising of 30% α-helix, 27% β-sheet. Secondary structure of OXA-51 was significantly unchanged in broad pH (4–10) and temperature (30–60 °C) range with only local alterations at tertiary structural level. Interestingly, enzymatic activity up to 75% was retained under above conditions. Hydrolysis of imipenem by OXA-51 (km,1 μM) was found to be thermodynamically favourable. In the presence of imipenem, morphology of sensitive strain of A. baumannii was drastically changed, while OXA-51-transformed sensitive strain retained the stable coccobacillus shape, which demonstrates that imipenem is able to kill sensitive strain but is unable to do so in OXA-51-transformed strain. Hence the production of pH- and temperature-stable OXA-51 appears to be a major determinant in the resistance mechanisms adopted by A. baumannii in order to evade even the latest β-lactams, imipenem. It can be concluded from the study that OXA-51 plays a vital role in the survival of the pathogen under stress conditions and thus poses a major threat.