Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Butyrate regulates leptin expression through different signaling pathways in adipocytes

Leptin is an adipocytokine that regulates body weight, and maintains energy homeostasis by promoting reduced food intake and increasing energy expenditure. Leptin expression and secretion is regulated by various factors including hormones and fatty acids. Butyrate is a short-chain fatty acid that acts as source of energy in humans. We determined whether this fatty acid can play a role in leptin expression in fully differentiated human adipocytes. Mature differentiated adipocytes were incubated with or without increasing concentrations of butyrate. RNA was extracted and leptin mRNA expression was examined by Northern blot analysis. Moreover, the cells were incubated with regulators that may affect signals which may alter leptin expression and analyzed with Northern blotting. Butyrate stimulated leptin expression, and stimulated mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK) and phospho-CREB signaling in a time-dependent manner. Prior treatment of the cells with signal transduction inhibitors as pertusis toxin, Gi protein antagonist, PD98059 (a MAPK inhibitor), and wortmannin (a PI3K inhibitor) abolished leptin mRNA expression. These results suggest that butyrate can regulate leptin expression in humans at the transcriptional level. This is accomplished by: 1) Gi protein-coupled receptors specific for short-chain fatty acids, and 2) MAPK and phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3K) signaling pathways.
Theory of impedance networks: the two-point impedance and LC resonances

We present a formulation of the determination of the impedance between any two nodes in an impedance network. An impedance network is described by its Laplacian matrix L which has generally complex matrix elements. We show that by solving the equation Luα = λαu*α with orthonormal vectors ua, the effective impedance between nodes p and q of the network is Zpq = ∑α(uαp − uαq)2/λα, where the summation is over all λα not identically equal to zero and uαp is the pth component of uα. For networks consisting of inductances L and capacitances C, the formulation leads to the occurrence of resonances at frequencies associated with the vanishing of λα. This curious result suggests the possibility of practical applications to resonant circuits. Our formulation is illustrated by explicit examples.
C O ] 1 A pr 2 00 9 Approaches to Understanding Cosmic Acceleration

Theoretical approaches to explaining the observed acceleration of the universe are reviewed. We briefly discuss the evidence for cosmic acceleration, and the implications for standard General Relativity coupled to conventional sources of energy-momentum. We then address three broad methods of addressing an accelerating universe: the introduction of a cosmological constant, its problems and origins; the possibility of dark energy, and the associated challenges for fundamental physics; and the option that an infrared modification of general relativity may be responsible for the large-scale behavior of the universe. Approaches to Understanding Cosmic Acceleration 2
Radiation chemists look at damage in redox proteins induced by X‐rays

The three‐dimensional structure of proteins, especially as determined by X‐ray crystallography, is critical to the understanding of their function. However, the X‐ray exposure may lead to damage that must be recognized and understood to interpret the crystallographic results. This is especially relevant for proteins with transition metal ions that can be oxidized or reduced. The detailed study of proteins in aqueous solution by the technique of pulse radiolysis has provided a wealth of information on the production and fate of radicals that are the same as those produced by X‐ray exposure. The results reviewed here illustrate how the products of the interaction of radiation with water or with solutes added to the crystallization medium, and with proteins themselves, are formed, and about their fate. Of particular focus is how electrons are produced and transferred through the polypeptide matrix to redox centers such as metal ions or to specific amino acid residues, for example, disulfides, and how the hydroxyl radicals formed may be converted to reducing equivalents or scavenged.
Comparison of tadalafil pharmacokinetics after administration of a new orodispersible film versus a film-coated tablet

Background An orodispersible film (ODF) of tadalafil may provide increased convenience for erectile dysfunction (ED) patients as compared to conventional tablet formulations. In this study, we aimed to compare the pharmacokinetic, safety, and tolerability profiles of a newly developed ODF formulation of tadalafil to those of a film-coated tablet (FCT) of tadalafil. Materials and methods This study was conducted in healthy male subjects using an open-label, randomized sequence, two-period, two-formulation, single-dose, crossover design. The subjects were randomly assigned to one of two sequences of the two formulations: both the test drug (ODF) and the reference drug (FCT) contained 20 mg of tadalafil. Blood samples were collected up to 72 h after administration. Plasma concentrations of tadalafil were analyzed using liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry. Geometric mean ratios (GMRs) of the ODF to FCT formulations and their 90% CIs for the pharmacokinetic parameters were estimated. Safety and tolerability were assessed throughout the study. Results Forty healthy male subjects were enrolled, and 36 of these completed the study. The GMRs (90% CIs) of the maximum plasma concentration and the area under the plasma concentration–time curve from time zero to the time of the last quantifiable concentration for tadalafil were 0.927 (0.882–0.974) and 0.972 (0.918–1.029), respectively. Both ODF and FCT formulations were well tolerated, and no clinically significant changes from the baseline were observed after dosing. Conclusion The pharmacokinetics of the tadalafil ODF formulation did not differ significantly from those of the FCT formulation. Furthermore, the safety and tolerability profiles of the ODF formulation were comparable to those of the FCT formulation. Therefore, this tadalafil ODF formulation offers a convenient treatment option for patients with erectile dysfunction.
Antioxidative defence alterations in skeletal muscle during prolonged acclimation to cold: role of l-arginine/NO-producing pathway

SUMMARY Early in cold acclimation (1–7 days), heat is produced by shivering, while late in cold acclimation (12–45 days), skeletal muscle contributes to thermogenesis by tissue metabolism other than contractions. Given that both thermogenic phases augment skeletal muscle aerobic power and reactive species production, we aimed in this study to examine possible changes in skeletal muscle antioxidative defence (AD) during early and late cold acclimation with special emphasis on the influence of the l-arginine/nitric oxide (NO)-producing pathway on the modulation of AD in this tissue. Adult Mill Hill hybrid hooded rat males were divided into two main groups: a control group, which was kept at room temperature (22±1°C), and a group maintained at 4±1°C for 45 days. The cold-acclimated group was divided into three subgroups: untreated, l-arginine treated and Nω-nitro-l-arginine methyl ester (l-NAME) treated. The AD parameters were determined in the gastrocnemius muscle on day 1, 3, 7, 12, 21 and 45 of cold acclimation. The results showed an improvement of skeletal muscle AD in both early and late cold acclimation. Clear phase-dependent changes were seen only in copper, zinc superoxide dismutase activity, which was increased in early cold acclimation but returned to the control level in late acclimation. In contrast, there were no phase-dependent changes in manganese superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione peroxidase, glutathione reductase and glutathione S-transferase, the activities of which were increased during the whole cold exposure, indicating their engagement in both thermogenic phases. l-Arginine in early cold acclimation accelerated the cold-induced AD response, while in the late phase it sustained increases achieved in the early period. l-NAME affected both early and late acclimation through attenuation and a decrease in the AD response. These data strongly suggest the involvement of the l-arginine/NO pathway in the modulation of skeletal muscle AD.
Building HMM-TTS Voices on Diverse Data

The statistical models of hidden Markov model based text-to-speech (HMM-TTS) systems are typically built using homogeneous data. It is possible to acquire data from many different sources but combining them leads to a non-homogeneous or diverse dataset. This paper describes the application of average voice models (AVMs) and a novel application of cluster adaptive training (CAT) with multiple context dependent decision trees to create HMM-TTS voices using diverse data: speech data recorded in studios mixed with speech data obtained from the internet. Training AVM and CAT models on diverse data yields better quality speech than training on high quality studio data alone. Tests show that CAT is able to create a voice for a target speaker with as little as 7 seconds; an AVM would need more data to reach the same level of similarity to target speaker. Tests also show that CAT produces higher quality voices than AVMs irrespective of the amount of adaptation data. Lastly, it is shown that it is beneficial to model the data using multiple context clustering decision trees.
Evaluation of Pearl Millet for Yield and Downy Mildew Resistance across Seven Countries in Sub

Forty pearl millet germplasms consisting of traditional and improved open pollinated varieties, hybrids, and inbreds were selected to represent diversity for grain yield or quality, fertility restoration for specific cytoplasms, resistance to diseases or pests, variation in height and maturity, and origin. Evaluations were conducted in field trials in Ghana, Mali, Nigeria, and Senegal in 2003 and 2004 and in Burkina Faso, Niger, and Zambia in 2004. Data were collected on yield, downy mildew incidence, maturity, plant height, and panicle length. Variation occurred for all traits across locations and genotypes. Across locations and years, Sosat-C88, ICMV IS 89305, Gwagwa, NKK, Sosank, and CIVT were the highest yielding entries. Yields of Sosat-C88, Sosank, and CIVT were more stable across environments, and yields of ICMV IS 89305, Gwagwa, and NKK increased in response to more favorable environments. Sosank, CIVT, ICMV IS 89305, Sosat-C88, and Gwagwa were also among the most downy mildew resistant entries. Across locations and years, grain yield was negatively correlated with downy mildew incidence, and positively correlated with days to flowering, plant height, and panicle length. These correlations differed among some of the individual trials, with days to flowering having the least consistent correlations with grain yield. Further selection for improved yield and broad adaptation in pearl millet is likely to be possible, however, site-specific selection is necessary to identify other important traits in addition to yield. The high-yielding and downy mildew resistant pearl millets identified in this study will be useful to introgress new traits into preferred local varieties, or to serve as parental material for breeding and hybrid development. Key words: Pennisetum glaucum, Sclerospora graminicola, multi-environment trials, yield potential, yield stability.
Prevalence, Risk Factors, and Complications of Diabetes in the Kilimanjaro Region: A Population-Based Study from Tanzania

Background In sub-Saharan Africa, diabetes is a growing burden, yet little is known about its prevalence, risk factors, and complications. To address these gaps and help inform public health efforts aimed at prevention and treatment, we conducted a community-based study assessing diabetes epidemiology. Methods and Findings We conducted a stratified, cluster-designed, serial cross-sectional household study from 2014–2015 in the Kilimanjaro Region, Tanzania. We used a three-stage cluster probability sampling method to randomly select individuals. To estimate prevalence, we screened individuals for glucose impairment, including diabetes, using hemoglobin A1C. We also screened for hypertension and obesity, and to assess for potential complications, individuals with diabetes were assessed for retinopathy, neuropathy, and nephropathy. We enrolled 481 adults from 346 urban and rural households. The prevalence of glucose impairment was 21.7% (95% CI 15.2–29.8), which included diabetes (5.7%; 95% CI 3.37–9.47) and glucose impairment with increased risk for diabetes (16.0%; 95% CI 10.2–24.0). Overweight or obesity status had an independent prevalence risk ratio for glucose impairment (2.16; 95% CI 1.39–3.36). Diabetes awareness was low (35.6%), and few individuals with diabetes were receiving biomedical treatment (33.3%). Diabetes-associated complications were common (50.2%; 95% CI 33.7–66.7), including renal (12.0%; 95% CI 4.7–27.3), ophthalmic (49.6%; 95% CI 28.6–70.7), and neurological (28.8%; 95% CI 8.0–65.1) abnormalities. Conclusions In a northern region of Tanzania, diabetes is an under-recognized health condition, despite the fact that many people either have diabetes or are at increased risk for developing diabetes. Most individuals were undiagnosed or untreated, and the prevalence of diabetes-associated complications was high. Public health efforts in this region will need to focus on reducing modifiable risk factors, which appear to include obesity, as well as early detection that includes increasing awareness. These findings highlight a growing urgency of diabetes prevention in this region as well as the need for treatment, including management of complications.
Characterization of the Corrinoid Iron-Sulfur Protein Tetrachloroethene Reductive Dehalogenase of Dehalobacter restrictus

ABSTRACT The membrane-bound tetrachloroethene reductive dehalogenase (PCE-RDase) (PceA; EC 1.97.1.8), the terminal component of the respiratory chain of Dehalobacter restrictus, was purified 25-fold to apparent electrophoretic homogeneity. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis revealed a single band with an apparent molecular mass of 60 ± 1 kDa, whereas the native molecular mass was 71± 8 kDa according to size exclusion chromatography in the presence of the detergent octyl-β-d-glucopyranoside. The monomeric enzyme contained (per mol of the 60-kDa subunit) 1.0± 0.1 mol of cobalamin, 0.6 ± 0.02 mol of cobalt, 7.1± 0.6 mol of iron, and 5.8 ± 0.5 mol of acid-labile sulfur. Purified PceA catalyzed the reductive dechlorination of tetrachloroethene and trichloroethene to cis-1,2-dichloroethene with a specific activity of 250 ± 12 nkat/mg of protein. In addition, several chloroethanes and tetrachloromethane caused methyl viologen oxidation in the presence of PceA. The Km values for tetrachloroethene, trichloroethene, and methyl viologen were 20.4± 3.2, 23.7 ± 5.2, and 47 ± 10 μM, respectively. The PceA exhibited the highest activity at pH 8.1 and was oxygen sensitive, with a half-life of activity of 280 min upon exposure to air. Based on the almost identical N-terminal amino acid sequences of PceA of Dehalobacter restrictus, Desulfitobacterium hafniense strain TCE1 (formerly Desulfitobacterium frappieri strain TCE1), and Desulfitobacterium hafniense strain PCE-S (formerly Desulfitobacterium frappieri strain PCE-S), the pceA genes of the first two organisms were cloned and sequenced. Together with the pceA genes of Desulfitobacterium hafniense strains PCE-S and Y51, the pceA genes of Desulfitobacterium hafniense strain TCE1 and Dehalobacter restrictus form a coherent group of reductive dehalogenases with almost 100% sequence identity. Also, the pceB genes, which may code for a membrane anchor protein of PceA, and the intergenic regions of Dehalobacter restrictus and the three desulfitobacteria had identical sequences. Whereas the cprB (chlorophenol reductive dehalogenase) genes of chlorophenol-dehalorespiring bacteria are always located upstream of cprA, all pceB genes known so far are located downstream of pceA. The possible consequences of this feature for the annotation of putative reductive dehalogenase genes are discussed, as are the sequence around the iron-sulfur cluster binding motifs and the type of iron-sulfur clusters of the reductive dehalogenases of Dehalobacter restrictus and Desulfitobacterium dehalogenans identified by electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy.
ON BOUNDARY CORRESPONDENCE UNDER QUASICONFORMAL MAPPINGS

We study boundary properties of quasiconformal self-mappings depending on complex dilatations. We give some new conditions for the corresponding quasisymmetric function to be asymptotically symmetric and obtain an explicit asymptotical representation for the distortion ratio of boundary correspondence when the complex dilatation has directional limits.
Intelligent Agents Meet the Semantic Web in Smart Spaces

A new smart meeting room system called EasyMeeting explores the use of multi-agent systems, Semantic Web ontologies, reasoning, and declarative policies for security and privacy. Building on an earlier pervasive computing system, EasyMeeting provides relevant services and information to meeting participants based on their situational needs. The system also exploits the context-aware support provided by the Context Broker Architecture (Cobra). Cobra's intelligent broker agent maintains a shared context model for all computing entities in the space and enforces user-defined privacy policies.
The spatial extent of source influences on modeled column concentrations of short‐lived species

Providing top‐down constraints on emissions is an important application of model‐based analysis of remote‐sensing observations of chemically reactive species, yet the degree to which column concentrations are governed by local vs distant sources within models themselves has yet to be fully characterized. We use a chemical transport model and its adjoint to quantify source contributions to weekly column concentrations of ammonia, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and formaldehyde. This efficient approach for quantifying the spatial extent of source influences is validated and then applied to an array of sites and seasons. Overall, we find instances for each species where emissions from at least 500 km away must be taken into account to retrieve 90% of the total column influence. This demonstrates that the common practice of assuming a local relationship between satellite observations and emissions in top‐down constraints could lead to considerable biases, an issue that will be exacerbated as the resolution of models and observations are refined in coming years.
Metabolism of proinsulin, insulin, and C-peptide in the rat.

The renal extraction and excretion of bovine proinsulin, insulin, and C-peptide and the contribution of the kidney to their total metabolic clearance rate (MCR) were studied in the rat. Metabolic clearance rates were measured by the constant infusion technique and plasma and urine concentrations of each polypeptide were determined by radioimmunoassay. The MCR of insulin (16.4+/-0.4 ml/min) was significantly greater than that of either proinsulin (6.7+/-0.3 ml/min) or C-peptide (4.6+/-0.2 ml/min). Metabolic clearance rates were independent of plasma levels over a range of steady-state plasma concentrations varying from 1 to 15 ng/ml.In contrast to the differences in their metabolic clearance rates, the renal disposition of the three polypeptides was similar, being characterized by high extraction and very low urinary clearance. The renal arteriovenous difference of proinsulin, insulin, and C-peptide averaged 36, 40, and 44%, respectively, and was linearly related to their arterial concentration between 2 and 25 ng/ml. When glomerular filtration was markedly reduced or stopped by ureteral obstruction, the renal extraction of proinsulin, insulin, and C-peptide was invariably greater than the simultaneously measured extraction of inulin, indicating that these polypeptides are removed from the renal circulation by both glomerular filtration and direct uptake from peritubular capillary blood. The fractional urinary clearance of each polypeptide never exceeded 0.6%, indicating that more than 99% of the amount filtered was sequestered in the kidney. The renal removal of proinsulin and C-peptide from the circulation accounts for 55 and 69% of their metabolic clerance rates, while the renal contribution to the peripheral metabolism of insulin was smaller, averaging 33%. This difference is due to the fact that insulin, but not the other two polypeptides, is metabolized to a significant extent by the liver. These results define the renal handling of proinsulin, insulin, and C-peptide in the rat and indicate that in this species the kidney represents a major site for insulin metabolism and is the main organ responsible for the degradation of proinsulin and C-peptide.
Networking—a statistical physics perspective

Networking encompasses a variety of tasks related to the communication of information on networks; it has a substantial economic and societal impact on a broad range of areas including transportation systems, wired and wireless communications and a range of Internet applications. As transportation and communication networks become increasingly more complex, the ever increasing demand for congestion control, higher traffic capacity, quality of service, robustness and reduced energy consumption requires new tools and methods to meet these conflicting requirements. The new methodology should serve for gaining better understanding of the properties of networking systems at the macroscopic level, as well as for the development of new principled optimization and management algorithms at the microscopic level. Methods of statistical physics seem best placed to provide new approaches as they have been developed specifically to deal with nonlinear large-scale systems. This review aims at presenting an overview of tools and methods that have been developed within the statistical physics community and that can be readily applied to address the emerging problems in networking. These include diffusion processes, methods from disordered systems and polymer physics, probabilistic inference, which have direct relevance to network routing, file and frequency distribution, the exploration of network structures and vulnerability, and various other practical networking applications.
Annual variation of water quality for the Hengtang River in the Taihu basin

HengTanghe River, which is a channel along the west coast of Taihu Lake, connects several inflow rivers into the lake. It has a certain distance away from the lake embankment. From June 2010 to May 2011, the water samples of Hengtanghe River were collected in Zhoutie town near the village of Yangxi, Yixing. The variation of river water quality was analyzed throughout the whole year. The results showed that: (1) the annual total nitrogen (TN) concentration was inferior to Class V water quality except August, while other indexes were superior to Class V water quality. (2) Dissolved total nitrogen (DTN) accounted for the main form in TN in the river, while TP was mainly in the form of particulate phosphorus (PP). Chemistry oxygen demand (CODMn) had a higher concentration during June and August compared to other months, and the maximum chlorophyll a (Chla) concentration was monitored in August. There were significantly higher CODMn and Chla concentrations in the hot season than that in the cold season, while the TN concentration exhibited the opposite tendency with CODMn and Chla. (3) There was a significant correlation among the water quality indexes except TP.