Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Comparative Study of Sodium Houttuyfonate and 2-Undecanone for Their in Vitro and in Vivo Anti-Inflammatory Activities and Stabilities

Houttuynia cordata Thunb. (H. cordata) is an anti-inflammatory herbal drug that is clinically used in Asia. The essential oil obtained from H. cordata is known to contain 2-undecanone (2-methyl nonyl ketone). In addition, sodium houttuyfonate is a compound that can be derived from H. cordata and has important clinical uses as an anti-inflammatory agent. Sodium houttuyfonate can be converted to decanoyl acetaldehyde (houttuynin) and then to 2-undecanone. Therefore, the experiments described here explore the comparative anti-inflammatory activities of these compounds. Sodium houttuyfonate showed more potent anti-inflammatory activities than that of 2-undecanone at the same dosage, both in vitro and in vivo, although both compounds significantly inhibited the production of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and the expression of toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4), but increased the secretion of interleukin-10 (IL-10) in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated RAW264.7 cells. In addition, both compounds showed dose-dependent inhibitory effects on xylene-induced mouse ear edema. In a previous study, we found sodium houttuyfonate to be transformed to 2-undecanone during steam distillation (SD). Optimum therapeutic effects are related to the stability and pharmacological activity of the drugs. Consequently, we studied the stability of sodium houttuyfonate under a simulated gastrointestinal environment with the main influencing factors being solvent, temperature and pH effects. For the first time, sodium houttuyfonate and 2-undecanone were detected simultaneously in the mouse serum and the gastrointestinal tissue after oral administration. Sodium houttuyfonate is detected within a short period of time in the systemic circulation and tissues without conversion to 2-undecanone.
Establishment of a new conditionally immortalized human brain microvascular endothelial cell line retaining an in vivo blood–brain barrier function

The breakdown of the blood–brain barrier (BBB) has been considered to be a key step in the disease process of a number of neurological disorders such as cerebral ischemia and Alzheimer's disease. Many in vitro BBB models derived from animal tissues have been established to elucidate the mechanism of BBB insufficiency. However, only a few human immortalized in vitro BBB models have been reported. In the present study, a temperature‐sensitive SV40‐T antigen was introduced to immortalize cells using a retrovirus to obtain a better human in vitro BBB model which sustains physiological properties. This endothelial cell (EC) line, termed TY08, showed a spindle‐shaped morphology. The cells expressed all key tight junctional proteins, such as occludin, claudin‐5, zonula occludens (ZO)‐1 and ZO‐2 at their cell‐to‐cell boundaries, and had low permeability to inulin across its monolayer. The cells also expressed various influx and efflux transporters and exhibited the functional expression of p‐glycoprotein. Furthermore, the TY08 cells grew and proliferated well under the permissive temperature and stopped growing under the non‐permissive temperature to serve as physiological ECs forming the BBB. Thus, conditionally immortalized TY08 cells retaining the in vivo BBB functions should facilitate analyses for determining the pathophysiology of various neurological diseases. J. Cell. Physiol. 225: 519–528, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Predictors of dual arrest for offenders involved in heterosexual domestic violence arrests

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of extra-legal and legal predictors on dual arrest outcome for men and women arrested for domestic violence. Design/methodology/approach – This study analyzed 4,163 heterosexual domestic violence incidents over a five-year period (2002-2006). Using bivariate analyses and gender-stratified logistic regression this study: identified the variables associated with dual arrest; identified the extra-legal and legal predictors’ of dual arrest; and determined whether there were significant differences between police dispositions of women and men. Findings – Bivariate analyses indicated that women were more likely to be dually arrested than men. For women, logistic regression analyses indicated who contacted the police increased their likelihood of dual arrest. For men, logistic regression analysis indicated being a victim in a prior domestic violence, who used alcohol and/or drugs, who contacted the police, and seriousness of incident impacted their.
LSM-trie: An LSM-tree-based Ultra-Large Key-Value Store for Small Data Items

Key-value (KV) stores have become a backbone of large-scale applications in today's data centers. The data set of the store on a single server can grow to billions of KV items or many terabytes, while individual data items are often small (with their values as small as a couple of bytes). It is a daunting task to efficiently organize such an ultra-large KV store to support fast access. Current KV storage systems have one or more of the following inadequacies: (1) very high data write amplifications, (2) large index set, and (3) dramatic degradation of read performance with overspill index out of memory. To address the issue, we propose LSM-trie, a KV storage system that substantially reduces metadata for locating KV items, reduces write amplification by an order of magnitude, and needs only two disk accesses with each KV read even when only less than 10% of metadata (Bloom filters) can be held in memory. To this end, LSM-trie constructs a trie, or a prefix tree, that stores data in a hierarchical structure and keeps reorganizing them using a compaction method much more efficient than that adopted for LSM-tree. Our experiments show that LSM-trie can improve write and read throughput of LevelDB, a state-of-the-art KV system, by up to 20 times and up to 10 times, respectively.
Hypermethylation-Associated Silencing of miR-125a and miR-125b: A Potential Marker in Colorectal Cancer

Background. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have been found to be downregulated in human colorectal cancer (CRC), and some of them may function as tumor suppressor genes (TSGs). Aberrant methylation triggers the inactivation of TSGs during tumorigenesis. Patients and Methods. We investigated the methylation status of miR-125 family in CRC tissues and adjacent nontumor tissues by using bisulfite sequencing PCR (BSP). The expression levels of the two miRNAs were determined by quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Results. The methylation frequency of miR-125a and miR-125b was higher in CRC tissues. QRT-PCR analysis showed that miR-125a and miR-125b were significantly downregulated in CRC tissues. Moreover, the expression levels of miR-125a and miR-125b were inversely correlated to CpG island methylation in CRC. Conclusions. Our results suggest that DNA hypermethylation may be involved in the inactivation of miR-125a and miR-125b in CRC, and hypermethylation of miR-125 is a potential biomarker for clinical outcome.
Gender Differences in Current Received during Transcranial Electrical Stimulation

Low current transcranial electrical stimulation (tCS) is an effective but somewhat inconsistent tool for augmenting neuromodulation. In this study, we used 3D MRI guided electrical transcranial stimulation modeling to estimate the range of current intensities received at cortical brain tissues. Combined T1, T2, and proton density MRIs from 24 adult subjects (12 male and 12 female) were modeled with virtual electrodes placed at F3, F4, C3, and C4. Two sizes of electrodes 20 mm round and 50 mm × 45 mm were examined at 0.5, 1, and 2 mA input currents. The intensity of current received was sampled in a 1-cm sphere placed at the cortex directly under each scalp electrode. There was a 10-fold difference in the amount of current received by individuals. A large gender difference was observed with female subjects receiving significantly less current at targeted parietal cortex than male subjects when stimulated at identical current levels (P < 0.05). Larger electrodes delivered somewhat larger amounts of current than the smaller ones (P < 0.01). Electrodes in the frontal regions delivered less current than those in the parietal region (P < 0.05). There were large individual differences in current levels that the subjects received. Analysis of the cranial bone showed that the gender difference and the frontal parietal differences are due to differences in cranial bone. Males have more cancelous parietal bone and females more dense parietal bone (P < 0.01). These differences should be considered when planning tCS studies and call into question earlier reports of gender differences due to hormonal influences.
Schwann cell behavior after nerve repair by means of tissue‐engineered muscle‐vein combined guides

Schwann cells play a critical role in peripheral nerve regeneration. When a non‐nervous conduit is used to bridge a nerve defect, the conduit is soon colonized by a number of Schwann cells that make a pathway for regrowing axons. By using electron microscopy, immunohistochemistry, and reverse transcriptase‐polymerase chain reaction analysis, we have investigated the behavior of migratory glial cells along a particular type of autologous tissue‐engineered conduit made of a vein filled with fresh skeletal muscle, using the rat sciatic nerve model. With this particular type of autograft, our data show that many Schwann cells soon take up a close relationship with grafted muscle fibers, and especially with their basal lamina, which appears to serve as a migration pathway for them. The early and massive colonization of the conduit is sustained by both Schwann cell migration and proliferation, as demonstrated by PCNA immunostaining. Later, as they meet regenerating axons, Schwann cells become closely associated with them and eventually lose their connections with grafted muscle fibers because of the formation of perineurial envelopes. Because previous studies showed that α2a‐2b NRG1 is overexpressed at early stages along the muscle‐vein combined tubes, we have also investigated mRNA expression of its two receptors, erbB2 and erbB3. Both messengers are overexpressed, although with different time courses. Overall, our results provide some morphological and biochemical bases for explaining the effectiveness of fresh muscle‐vein combined nerve guides and throw an interesting light on the possible role of α2a‐2b NRG1 through the erbB2/erbB3 heterodimer receptor for nerve regeneration inside non‐nervous conduits. J. Comp. Neurol. 489:249–259, 2005. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
The Prevention of Mode Errors Through Sensory Feedback

The use of different kinds of feedback in preventing mode errors was investigated. Two experiments examined the frequency of mode errors in a text-editing task where a mode error was defined as an attempt to issue navigation commands while in insert mode, or an attempt to insert text while in command mode. In Experiment 1, the effectiveness of kinesthetic versus visual feedback was compared in four different conditions: the use of keyboard versus foot pedal for changing mode (kinesthetic feedback), crossed with the presence or absence of visual feedback to indicate mode. The results showed both kinesthetic and visual feedback to be effective in reducing mode errors. However, kinesthetic was more effective than visual feedback both in terms of reducing errors and in terms of reducing the cognitive load associated with mode changes. Experiment 2 tested the hypothesis that the superiority of this kinesthetic feedback was due to the fact that the foot pedal required subjects actively to maintain insert mode. The results confirmed that the use of a nonlatching foot pedal for switching modes provided a more salient source of information on mode state than the use of a latching pedal. On the basis of these results, we argue that user-maintained mode states prevent mode errors more effectively than system-maintained mode states.
Hepatocellular carcinomas supplied by inferior phrenic arteries

Purpose: To assess the arterial supply to hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs) by inferior phrenic arteries (IPA). Material and Methods: A total of 126 consecutive cases of HCC were studied by contrast-enhanced CT and conventional arteriography. Blood supply from an IPA was suspected when the size of the HCC mass as seen on contrast-enhanced CT did not match the size of the tumor mass as seen on hepatic arteriography. Inferior phrenic arteriography was employed to confirm these findings. HCCs fed by the IPA were analyzed in terms of size, location, and history of prior treatment. Results: In 14 (11%) of the 126 cases, the tumor was found to have a blood supply from an IPA. Eleven of these tumors were located in segments 2 and 7. Three tumors, which had not been treated previously, had a blood supply from an IPA. Six tumors were almost exclusively fed by an IPA and were located in segments 7, 1, and 4. Conclusion: HCCs located in segments which form the bare area of the liver (S1, S2, S7) can be supplied by an IPA. This should be suspected when a lesion or part of a lesion is identified on contrast-enhanced CT but not on hepatic arteriography.
Left ventricular contractility predicts how the end-diastolic pressure-volume relation shifts during pacing-induced ischemia in dogs.

BACKGROUND Two types of ischemia, pacing-induced and coronary occlusion-induced, have different effects on left ventricular diastolic properties. During pacing-induced ischemia, the diastolic pressure-volume relation is said to shift upward, whereas during coronary occlusion, it is said to shift rightward or downward. However, recent studies have shown that the relation can shift in any direction during both types of ischemia. The purpose of this study was to identify determinants of the shift of the end-diastolic pressure-volume relation (EDPVR) during pacing-induced ischemia. METHODS AND RESULTS We retrospectively analyzed 46 pacing-induced ischemia experiments performed in 15 open-pericardium anesthetized dogs. Pacing ischemia was induced by constricting left anterior descending and left circumflex coronary arteries and pacing the left atrium at 150 to 180 beats per minute for 3 minutes. Left ventricular volume was measured with a conductance catheter. Hemodynamics were recorded during baseline, coronary stenosis, rapid pacing, and pacing-induced ischemia (immediately after rapid pacing). For each condition, hemodynamics were recorded in steady state and then during a brief inferior vena caval occlusion (except for during rapid pacing) to obtain left ventricular end-diastolic and end-systolic pressure-volume relations. The shift of the EDPVR from coronary stenosis to pacing-induced ischemia was assessed by an upward shift index (end-diastolic pressure during pacing-induced ischemia minus the pressure during coronary stenosis at the largest end-diastolic volume common to both conditions, SI-S) and a rightward shift index (the largest end-diastolic volume during pacing-induced ischemia minus the largest volume during coronary stenosis, delta EDVI-S). The index of left ventricular contractility, the end-systolic elastance (Ees), or the slope of the dP/dtmax-end-diastolic volume relation (dE/dtmax) during pacing-induced ischemia was the strongest determinant of the magnitude of SI-S and delta EDVI-S and thus of the shift of the EDPVR. As Ees or dE/dtmax decreased, SI-S decreased and delta EDVI-S increased. CONCLUSIONS Our results suggest that left ventricular contractility is the best determinant of the shift of the EDPVR during pacing-induced ischemia. The more left ventricular contractility decreases, the more the EDPVR shifts downward and rightward.
PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF TRANSMITTED REFERENCE, FREQUENCY-SHIFTED REFERENCE AND CODE-SHIFTED REFERENCE MULTI-USER UWB SYSTEMS

Ultra wideband (UWB) is based on transmission with very short pulses of low energy. The use of UWB technology will increase in the fields of wireless communication in the near future. The wider bandwidth of UWB technology has several advantages such as excellent penetration ability, multi-user support and high channel capacity. UWB has many applications due to its low power consumption, low cost and low interference. UWB poses design challenges for low power and low complex systems at wider bandwidth. For digital systems, it also requires high sampling rate and intensive computation to estimate gain and delay of multipath channel. In this thesis, the performance of non-coherent transmitted- reference (TR), frequency-shifted reference (FSR) and code-shifted reference (CR) systems are compared with the orthogonal Gold code (OG) code reference (CR) systems for single and multi-user for low data rates. First, the performance of non-coherent receivers for single-user system working in residential line of sight (LOS) is evaluated. The results and performance comparisons are presented for TR, FSR, CR and OG-CR systems. Secondly, the performance comparison of TR, FSR, CR and OG-CR are presented in multi-user environment. The simulation results validate that CR and OG-CR have better performance than TR and FSR in multi-user environment. Finally, results show that CR shows better performance than OG-CR for few users and almost same performance as OG-CR at high SNR with more number of users.
Metallo-β-Lactamases in ClinicalPseudomonas Isolates in Taiwan and Identification of VIM-3, a Novel Variant of the VIM-2 Enzyme

ABSTRACT A total of 209 clinical isolates of Pseudomonas (193Pseudomonas aeruginosa, 10 P. putida, 4P. stutzeri, and 2 P. fluorescensisolates) with reduced susceptibilities to imipenem and/or ceftazidime were subjected to PCR assays with primers specific forblaIMP-1, blaIMP-2,blaVIM-1, and blaVIM-2and sequence analysis to identify the metallo-β-lactamases (MBLs) prevalent among these organisms in Taiwan; and 21 isolates gave positive results. Five isolates including two P. putida and three P. stutzeri isolates were found to carryblaIMP-1, and six isolates including fiveP. putida and one P. stutzeri isolates harboredblaVIM-2. The remaining 10 isolates wereP. aeruginosa, and all were found to carry a novel variant of blaVIM-2, designatedblaVIM-3. There are only two nucleotide differences between blaVIM-2 andblaVIM-3, leading to two amino acid alterations. Our findings indicate that VIM-2 and its variant have become the most prevalent metalloenzymes in Pseudomonas in Taiwan. Southern hybridization with theblaVIM-2-, blaVIM-3-, and blaIMP-1 -specific probes revealed that only two VIM-2-producing P. putida isolates appeared to carry the MBL gene on plasmids. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis showed that six VIM-3-producing P. aeruginosa isolates and two IMP-1-producing P. stutzeri isolates were genetically related, suggesting that the spread of these MBL genes in Taiwan could be due to clonal dissemination as well as genetic exchange between different clones.
Moderately Skilled Learners Benefit by Practicing with Systematic Increases in Contextual Interference

The purpose of this experiment was to investigate if moderately skilled participants practicing with systematic increases in contextual interference (CI) for multiple days would perform better than equally skilled participants who practiced with traditional blocked and random scheduling. Participants (N=45) practiced three different basketball related passes (two hand chest, two hand overhead, single arm) using either a blocked, random, or increasing-CI practice schedule. All participants practiced 81 trials per day for five consecutive days, totaling 405 practice trials. Participants completed an immediate retention test, and a 48 hr delayed retention test. The results of the immediate and delayed retention test showed that practicing with gradual increases in CI resulted in superior performance compared to traditional blocked and random scheduling.
Threat appeals and persuasion: Seeking and finding the elusive curvilinear effect

ABSTRACT One of the earliest theories of threat appeals, the drive model, predicts that the fear–persuasion relationship is characterized by an inverted U-curve. Evidence of such a curve has proven elusive, probably because, in reality, there are two curvilinear hypotheses, not one. Existing primary studies and meta-analyses have tested the between-persons version of the inverted U-curve and found it wanting. In contrast, this study reports on a within-persons version and finds clear support for it. A peaked curve predicted change in intention to use dental floss, whereas a flatter curve did not. Partitioning the sample on individual differences in the behavioral inhibition system produced curves that did not differ in their ability to predict persuasion. Because no contemporary theory of threat appeals can predict these curvilinear findings, researchers should reconsider the utility of drive theory.
Circuit implementations of the differential capacitance read scheme (DCRS) for ferroelectric random-access memories (FeRAM)

This paper presents two circuit implementations for the differential capacitance read scheme (DCRS) in ferroelectric random-access memories (FeRAM). Compared to the conventional read scheme, DCRS achieves a faster read access by activating the sense amplifiers immediately after a wordline is activated. By relying on the capacitance difference instead of the charge difference, DCRS avoids raising the highly capacitive platelines until after the read is complete. We have implemented this scheme in a 0.35-/spl mu/m CMOS+Ferro test chip that includes an array of 256 /spl times/ 32 2T-2C cells. The test chip measures an access time of 45 ns at a power supply of 3 V.
Simulation Using TeamSTEPPS to Promote Interprofessional Education and Collaborative Practice

Effective interprofessional collaborative practice is critical to maximizing patient safety and providing quality patient care; incorporating these strategies into the curriculum is an important step toward implementation. This study assessed whether TeamSTEPPS training using simulation could improve student knowledge of TeamSTEPPS principles, self-efficacy toward interprofessional collaborative practice, and team performance. Students (N = 201) demonstrated significant improvement in all of the targeted measurements.
Long‐term follow‐up of de novo allergy in pediatric liver transplantation – 10 yr experience of a single center

We conducted a study to clarify the incidence, clinical course, and risk factors of de novo allergies after liver transplantation. Ninety‐three patients who had been followed longer than one yr and who had no previous allergy history were included. Forty‐two patients (45.2%) developed de novo allergy. Of them, food allergy developed in 35 (37.6%). Respiratory allergy was observed in three (3.2%), and a patient (1.1%) had drug allergy. Fifty‐two (55.9%) of the 93 patients developed eosinophilia. The median age of patients with de novo allergy was 15 months (IR 11.3–20 months). De novo allergy developed five months after liver transplantation (IR 2.3–9.5 months) and lasted for 16 months (IR 8–34.5 months). Younger age at liver transplantation displayed statistically significant differences in development of allergy between allergy and non‐allergy groups. Twenty‐nine (69.0%) patients improved from allergy during the follow‐up period. No patient with de novo gastrointestinal allergy progressed to any respiratory allergy such as asthma. Older age at transplantation, EBV non‐risk, and CMV non‐risk had statistical significance in allergy improvement. Younger age at transplant predisposes to the development of allergy, while improvement of allergy is achieved more in older age.