Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Protection from hypertension in mice by the Mediterranean diet is mediated by nitro fatty acid inhibition of soluble epoxide hydrolase

Significance The Mediterranean diet is characterized by consumption of unsaturated fats with vegetables rich in nitrite and nitrate, resulting in endogenous formation of nitro fatty acids. These reactive lipids adduct to soluble epoxide hydrolase, inhibiting it to lower blood pressure. Mice genetically engineered to be resistant to this adductive inhibition had high blood pressure basally and their hydrolase activity was fully resistant to inhibition by nitro fatty acid supplied directly or generated via the Mediterranean diet. Similarly nitro fatty acid lowered blood pressure and abrogated cardiac hypertrophy in a hypertension model in wild-type mice, but was ineffective in mutant mice. Thus, protection from hypertension afforded by the Mediterranean diet is mediated by nitro-fatty acid-dependent inhibition of soluble epoxide hydrolase. Soluble epoxide hydrolase (sEH) is inhibited by electrophilic lipids by their adduction to Cys521 proximal to its catalytic center. This inhibition prevents hydrolysis of the enzymes’ epoxyeicosatrienoic acid (EET) substrates, so they accumulate inducing vasodilation to lower blood pressure (BP). We generated a Cys521Ser sEH redox-dead knockin (KI) mouse model that was resistant to this mode of inhibition. The electrophilic lipid 10-nitro-oleic acid (NO2-OA) inhibited hydrolase activity and also lowered BP in an angiotensin II-induced hypertension model in wild-type (WT) but not KI mice. Furthermore, EET/dihydroxy-epoxyeicosatrienoic acid isomer ratios were elevated in plasma from WT but not KI mice following NO2-OA treatment, consistent with the redox-dead mutant being resistant to inhibition by lipid electrophiles. sEH was inhibited in WT mice fed linoleic acid and nitrite, key constituents of the Mediterranean diet that elevates electrophilic nitro fatty acid levels, whereas KIs were unaffected. These observations reveal that lipid electrophiles such as NO2-OA mediate antihypertensive signaling actions by inhibiting sEH and suggest a mechanism accounting for protection from hypertension afforded by the Mediterranean diet.
Chinese Adaptation of the Bad Sobernheim Stress Questionnaire for Patients With Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis Under Brace Treatment

Abstract Bad Sobernheim Stress Questionnaire (BSSQ)-Deformity and BSSQ-Brace are the most widely used instruments for evaluating stress levels in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) patients under brace treatment, and good reliability and validity have been demonstrated across different cultures. Great stress has been found among many adolescents, becoming a major concern for professionals. However, no previous research has addressed the cultural adaptations and psychometric testing of BSSQ-Deformity and BSSQ-Brace in China or the stress levels in AIS patients. The purposes of our study were to evaluate the cross-cultural adaptation and validation of the BSSQ-Deformity and BSSQ-Brace and to investigate stress levels in Chinese (AIS) patients under brace treatment. The original (German) versions of BSSQ-Deformity and BSSQ-Brace were cross-culturally translated according to international guidelines. Psychometric properties such as reliability and construct validity were tested. Eighty-six AIS patients were included in our study, and 50 patients paid a second visit 3 to 7 days later to test reproducibility. Cronbach &agr; and the intraclass coefficient were determined to assess internal consistency and reproducibility. Scoliosis Research Society patient questionnaire-22 (SRS-22) was applied to evaluate construct validity. The mean BSSQ-Deformity and BSSQ-Brace scores were 15.3 and 13.4 points, respectively. Severe stress was observed in 12% of patients due to brace treatment. Item analysis demonstrated that each item was scored under a normal distribution with no redundancy. Psychometric analysis revealed excellent internal consistency (Cronbach &agr; = 0.85 and 0.80, respectively) and reproducibility (intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.85 and 0.90, respectively) for BSSQ-Deformity and BSSQ-Brace. The correlation coefficients of BSSQ-Deformity, BSSQ-Brace and SRS-22 were 0.48 and 0.63, respectively. In conclusion, BSSQ-Deformity and BSSQ-Brace have been successfully adapted to a Chinese background and psychometrically validated with excellent reliability and construct validity. Brace wearing is considered the main cause of stress in AIS patients under brace treatment.
Networked Data Fusion With Packet Losses and Variable Delays

A novel networked multisensor data-fusion method is developed in this paper. A federated filter is employed to fuse the data transmitted over the network, which plays an important role in the data-processing center. The stability of filters under the network is considered; an algorithm to deal with the delayed data is introduced, and the principle for data fusion is presented. Finally, two numerical examples show the effectiveness of the proposed scheme.
Effect of (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate in preventing bone loss in ovariectomized rats and possible mechanisms.

UNLABELLED Despite recent developments reported in studies of (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), its early preventive effect of mitigating bone loss is not well understood. We investigated the effect of EGCG in preventing bone loss in ovariectomized (OVX) female rats, and explored the possible underlying mechanisms. Twelve-week-old female Sprague-Dawley rats, were divided into 3 groups: group A received intraperitoneal EGCG for 12 consecutive weeks, begun 3 days after ovariectomy; group B received ovariectomy alone; group C, received a sham operation. At the end of the experiment, tibias and femurs were harvested for: (1) micro-CT scanning and measurement of bone mineral density (BMD) and bone morphological parameters; (2) a 3-point bending test; (3) HE staining and an immunohistological study investigating Sema4D expression. RESULTS The BMD and BV/TV of group A were significantly higher than for the OVX group. The trabecular separation (Tb.Sp) of group A was significantly lower than for group B. RESULTS from the 3-point bending test showed no statistical significance among all the groups. Bone histological studies indicated that trabecular bone was denser in group C, while group B had less dense trabecular bone, and the bone morphological status of group A was intermediate between groups A and C. The immunohistological study demonstrated that Sema4D was more highly expressed as a percentage of the brown-stained area in group B than in the other 2 groups. CONCLUSION EGCG had a positive effect on mitigating bone loss in ovariectomized rats, and it inhibited Sema4D expression in bone tissue. Early stage supplementation of EGCG at a dose of 10 mg/kg/day after the onset of ovariectomy did not entirely eliminate bone loss.
Visualization of cell microtubules in their native state

Background information. Over the past decades, cryo‐electron microscopy of vitrified specimens has yielded a detailed understanding of the tubulin and microtubule structures of samples reassembled in vitro from purified components. However, our knowledge of microtubule structure in vivo remains limited by the chemical treatments commonly used to observe cellular architecture using electron microscopy.
PERSONALITY AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY BULLETIN Gagné, Lydon / MINDSET AND RELATIONSHIP ILLUSIONS Mindset and Relationship Illusions: The Moderating Effects of Domain Specificity and Relationship Commitment

Two studies integrated and advanced mindset and relationship illusions research. In Study 1, mindset influenced perceived partner superiority and goal domain moderated this effect. When focusing on a nonrelationship goal, an implemental mindset increased idealistic partner perceptions. When focusing on a relationship goal, a deliberative mindset increased idealistic partner perceptions. In Study 2, effects for mindset about relationship goals were moderated by relationship commitment. High-commitment participants defended against the threat of a deliberative mindset by increasing their positive views of their partner. Low-commitment participants did not defend against deliberation about a relationship goal. No such differences were found for relationship implementals; both highand low-commitment individuals increased their glowing partner views when in an implemental mindset.
Adverse interaction between acetazolamide and anticholinesterase drugs at the normal and myasthenic neuromuscular junction level.

At skeletal neuromuscular junction level in vivo and in vitro experiments have revealed an adverse reversible interaction between acetazolamide and anticholinesterase drugs. Acetazolamide (500 mg, i.v.) prevented the increase in amplitude induced by edrophonium (5 mg, i.v.) on the action potentials derived by surface electrodes from the opponens pollicis muscle of patients affected by myasthenia gravis, when the median nerve was stimulated at the wrist by low frequency repetitive pulses (5/s). Similarly, acetazolamide significantly reduced the contractile force potentiation induced by neostigmine on the rat phrenic-diaphragm preparation, indirectly stimulated by means of low frequency repetitive pulses on the motor nerve. Under such experimental conditions acetazolamide did not show any significant action of its own, but it counteracted the effects of anticholinesterase drugs only when tested before them. It is hypothesized that the effect of acetazolamide on the skeletal neuromuscular junction may occur at presynaptic and/or postsynaptic sites by a mechanism only partly ascribable to the well-known carbonic anhydrase inhibitory activity of this drug.
Two common and problematic leucochrysine species – Leucochrysa (Leucochrysa) varia (Schneider) and L. (L.) pretiosa (Banks) (Neuroptera, Chrysopidae): redescriptions and synonymies

Abstract We dedicate this article to the memory of Sergio de Freitas, FCAV-UNESP, Jaboticabal, São Paulo, Brazil (deceased, 2012). He was an active and enthusiastic Neuropterist and the cherished mentor and friend of Francisco Sosa. Leucochrysa McLachlan is the largest genus in the Chrysopidae, yet it has received relatively little taxonomic attention. We treat two problematic and common Leucochrysa species – Leucochrysa (Leucochrysa) varia (Schneider, 1851) and Leucochrysa (Leucochrysa) pretiosa (Banks, 1910). Both are highly variable in coloration and were described before the systematic importance of chrysopid genitalia was recognized. Recent studies show that these species occur within a large complex of cryptic species and that they have accumulated a number of taxonomic problems. We identify new synonymies for each of the species–for Leucochrysa (Leucochrysa) varia: Leucochrysa (Leucochrysa) ampla (Walker, 1853), Leucochrysa internata (Walker, 1853), and Leucochrysa (Leucochrysa) walkerina Navás, 1913; for Leucochrysa (Leucochrysa) pretiosa: Leucochrysa (Leucochrysa) erminea Banks, 1946. The synonymy of Leucochrysa delicata Navás, 1925 with Leucochrysa (Leucochrysa) pretiosa is stabilized by the designation of a neotype. The following species, which were previously synonymized with Leucochrysa (Leucochrysa) varia or Leucochrysa (Leucochrysa) pretiosa, are reinstated as valid: Leucochrysa (Leucochrysa) phaeocephala Navás, 1929, Leucochrysa (Leucochrysa) angrandi (Navás, 1911), and Leucochrysa (Leucochrysa) variata (Navás, 1913). To help stabilize Leucochrysa taxonomy, lectotypes are designated for Allochrysa pretiosa and Allochrysa variata. Finally, Leucochrysa vegana Navás, 1917 is considered a nomen dubium.
Race: Biological Reality or Social Construct?

Race was once thought to be a real biological kind. Today the dominant view is that objective biological races don't exist. I challenge the trend to reject the biological reality of race by arguing that cladism (a school of classification that individuates taxa by appeal to common ancestry) provides a new way to define race biologically. I also reconcile the proposed biological conception with constructivist theories about race. Most constructivists assume that biological realism and social constructivism are incompatible views about race; I argue that the two conceptions can be compatible.
Spatially embedded co-offence prediction using supervised learning

Crime reduction and prevention strategies are essential to increase public safety and reduce the crime costs to society. Law enforcement agencies have long realized the importance of analyzing co-offending networks---networks of offenders who have committed crimes together---for this purpose. Although network structure can contribute significantly to co-offence prediction, research in this area is very limited. Here we address this important problem by proposing a framework for co-offence prediction using supervised learning. Considering the available information about offenders, we introduce social, geographic, geo-social and similarity feature sets which are used for classifying potential negative and positive pairs of offenders. Similar to other social networks, co-offending networks also suffer from a highly skewed distribution of positive and negative pairs. To address the class imbalance problem, we identify three types of criminal cooperation opportunities which help to reduce the class imbalance ratio significantly, while keeping half of the co-offences. The proposed framework is evaluated on a large crime dataset for the Province of British Columbia, Canada. Our experimental evaluation of four different feature sets show that the novel geo-social features are the best predictors. Overall, we experimentally show the high effectiveness of the proposed co-offence prediction framework. We believe that our framework will not only allow law enforcement agencies to improve their crime reduction and prevention strategies, but also offers new criminological insights into criminal link formation between offenders.
Evaluation of Stability, Performance of Ultra-Low Voltage MOSFET, TFET, and Mixed TFET-MOSFET SRAM Cell With Write-Assist Circuits

In this work, we propose a mixed TFET-MOSFET 8T SRAM cell comprising MOSFET cross-coupled inverters, dedicated TFET read stack and TFET write access transistors for ultra-low voltage operation. Exploiting both the merits of TFET and MOSFET devices, the proposed SRAM cell provides significant improvement in SRAM stability, Vmin and performance. The stability and performance of the proposed cell are evaluated and compared with the conventional MOSFET 8T cell and pure TFET 8T cell using mixed-mode TCAD simulations based on published design rules for 22 nm technology node. Besides, the impacts of the device design of the proposed SRAM cell on the stability are also investigated. Various write-assist techniques to enhance the write-ability across VDD= 0.2 to 0.7 V for these SRAM cells are comparatively assessed. The results indicate that the proposed mixed TFET-MOSFET cell topology is viable for ultra-low voltage operation while MOSFET cell provides better stability and performance for high voltage operation.
Cardiac BNP gene delivery prolongs survival in aged spontaneously hypertensive rats with overt hypertensive heart disease

Background Hypertension is a highly prevalent disease associated with cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Recent studies suggest that patients with hypertension also have a deficiency of certain cardiac peptides. Previously we demonstrated that a single intravenous injection of the myocardium-tropic adeno-associated virus (AAV) 9-based vector encoding for proBNP prevented the development of hypertensive heart disease (HHD) in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs). The current study was designed to determine the duration of cardiac transduction after a single AAV9 injection and to determine whether cardiac BNP overexpression can delay the progression of previously established HHD, and improve survival in aged SHRs with overt HHD. Methods and Results To evaluate the duration of cardiac transduction induced by the AAV9 vector, we used four week old SHRs. Effective long-term selective cardiac transduction was determined by luciferase expression. A single intravenous administration of a luciferase-expressing AAV9 vector resulted in efficient cardiac gene delivery for up to 18-months. In aged SHRs (9-months of age), echocardiographic studies demonstrated progression of HHD in untreated controls, while AAV9-BNP vector treatment arrested the deterioration of cardiac function at six months post-injection (15-months of age). Aged SHRs with established overt HHD were further monitored to investigate survival. A single intravenous injection of the AAV9-vector encoding rat proBNP was associated with significantly prolonged survival in the treated SHRs (613±38 days, up to 669 days) compared to the untreated rats (480±69 days, up to 545 days)(p<0.05). Conclusions A single intravenous injection of AAV9 vector elicited prolonged cardiac transduction (up to 18 months post-injection). AAV9 induced cardiac BNP overexpression prevented development of congestive heart failure, and significantly prolonged the survival of aged SHRs with previously established overt HHD. These findings support the beneficial effects of chronic supplementation of BNP in a frequent and highly morbid condition such as HHD.
Perspectives on the police profession: an international investigation

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to clarify the diversity of professional perspectives on police culture in an international context. Design/methodology/approach – In a first step the authors developed a standardized instrument of 45 occupational features for comparative analysis of police professional views. This set was inductively created from 3,441 descriptors of the police profession from a highly diverse sample of 166 police officers across eight European countries. Using this standardized instrument, Q-methodological interviews with another 100 police officers in six European countries were conducted. Findings – The authors identified five perspectives on the police profession suggesting disparities in officers’ outlooks and understanding of their occupation. Yet, the findings also outline considerable overlaps in specific features considered important or unimportant across perspectives. Research limitations/implications – The study emphasizes that police culture needs to be described beyond .
L'acceptabilité sociale : la prise en compte des déterminants sociaux dans l'analyse de l'acceptabilité des systèmes technologiques

L’etude de l’acceptabilite renvoie a de nombreux modeles (Modele d’acceptation des technologies : Davis, Bagozzi, & Warshaw, 1989 ; P3, Pouvoir, performance, perception : Dillon & Morris, 1999 ; ou encore Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology : Venkatesh, Morris, Davis, & Davis, 2003) pour predire le comportement de l’utilisateur. Dans ces modeles le poids des variables sociales pour predire l’intention d’usage ou le comportement de l’utilisateur est variable (de .02 a .51). Cet article a pour objectif d’analyser les determinants de cette variabilite en convoquant deux dimensions permettant de mieux cerner l’intervention des variables sociales : la prise en compte des normes descriptives et injonctives (Cialdini, Reno, & Kallgren, 1990) d’une part et d’autre part la pesanteur sociale du comportement realise par l’utilisateur alors qu’il recourt a la technologie qu’on lui presente.
Effect of lectin on nodulation by wild-type Bradyrhizobium japonicum and a nodulation-defective mutant

The nodulation characteristics of wild-type Bradyrhizobium japonicum USDA 110 and mutant strain HS111 were examined. Mutant strain HS111 exhibits a delayed-nodulation phenotype, a result of its inability to initiate successful nodulation promptly following inoculation of the soybean root. Previously, we showed that the defect in initiation of infection leading to subsequent nodulation which is found in HS111 can be phenotypically reversed by pretreatment with soybean root exudate or soybean seed lectin. This effect is not seen after pretreatment with root exudates and lectins obtained from other plant species. Treatment of strain HS111 with as little as 10 soybean seed lectin molecules per bacterium (3.3 X 10 (-12) M) resulted in enhancement of nodule formation. Pretreatment of wild-type B. japonicum USDA 110 with soybean root exudate or seed lectin increased nodule numbers twofold on 6-week-old plants. Wild-type strain USDA 110 cells inoculated at 10(4) cells per seedling exhibited a delay in initiation of infection leading to subsequent nodulation. Wild-type cells pretreated in soybean root exudates or seed lectin did not exhibit a delay in nodulation at this cell concentration. Mutant strain HS111 pretreated in seed lectin for 0 or 1 h, followed by washing with the hapten D-galactose to remove the lectin, exhibited a delay in initiation of nodulation. Phenotypic reversal of the delayed-nodulation phenotype exhibited by strain HS111 was seen if incubation was continued for an additional 71 h in plant nutrient solution following 1 h of lectin pretreatment. Reversal of the delayed-nodulation phenotype of HS111 through lectin pretreatment was prevented by chloramphenicol or rifampin. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
A Finite Field Framework for Modeling, Analysis and Control of Finite State Automata

In this paper, we address the modeling, analysis and control of finite state automata, which represent a standard class of discrete event systems. As opposed to graph theoretical methods, we consider an algebraic framework that resides on the finite field <formula form="inline">${\Op F}_2$</formula> which is defined on a set of two elements with the operations addition and multiplication, both carried out modulo 2. The key characteristic of the model is its functional completeness in the sense that it is capable of describing most of the finite state automata in use, including non-deterministic and partially defined automata. Starting from a graphical representation of an automaton and applying techniques from Boolean algebra, we derive the transition relation of our finite field model. For cases in which the transition relation is linear, we develop means for treating the main issues in the analysis of the cyclic behavior of automata. This involves the computation of the elementary divisor polynomials of the system dynamics, and the periods of these polynomials, which are shown to completely determine the cyclic structure of the state space of the underlying linear system. Dealing with non-autonomous linear systems with inputs, we use the notion of feedback in order to specify a desired cyclic behavior of the automaton in the closed loop. The computation of an appropriate state feedback is achieved by introducing an image domain and adopting the well-established polynomial matrix method to linear discrete systems over the finite field <formula form="inline">${\Op F}_2$</formula>. Examples illustrate the main steps of our method.
The criterion problem: 1917–1992.

Individuals differ on multiple aspects of their job-role behavior, criteria are measures that attempt to capture these differences. Measures of criteria are used by several constituencies within applied psychology. Among them, researchers used criteria for the evaluation of theories of work behavior, the effective administration of human resources and the provision of feedback to individuals. One index of the importance of criteria is the observation that most, if not all, of the pioneers of industrial-organizational psychology addressed this issue during their careers