Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Synthesis of Protein in Intestinal Cells Exposed to Cholera Toxin

Abstract The mechanism by which cyclic adenosine monophosphate (AMP), formed by intestinal epithelial cells in response to cholera toxin, ultimately results in alterations in water and electrolyte transport is poorly understood. Several studies have indicated that inhibitors of transcription or translation block much of the transport of ions and water in the intestine and edema formation in tissue elicited by cholera toxin. Data presented in this study confirmed the inhibitory effects of cycloheximide on cholera toxin-induced fluid accumulation in the rabbit intestinal loop model. Neither cycloheximide nor actinomycin D altered the amount of cyclic AMP that accumulated in intestinal cells and Chinese hamster ovary cells exposed to cholera toxin. An increase in [3H]leucine incorporation was readily demonstrable in intestinal epithelial cells from rabbits challenged with Vibrio cholerae. Similarly, intestinal epithelial cells incubated with cholera toxin for 4 hr synthesized substantially more protein than controls as determined by relative incorporation of [35S]methionine. Most of the new protein synthesized in response to cholera toxin was membrane associated and of high molecular weight. The possible significance of the toxin-induced protein relative to cholera pathogenesis was discussed.
Prediction of the Spatial Resolution of Magnetic Particle Imaging Using the Modulation Transfer Function of the Imaging Process

The magnetic particle imaging method allows for the quantitative determination of spatial distributions of superparamagnetic nanoparticles in vivo. Recently, it was shown that the 1-D magnetic particle imaging process can be formulated as a convolution. Analyzing the width of the convolution kernel allows for predicting the spatial resolution of the method. However, this measure does not take into account the noise of the measured data. Furthermore, it does not consider a reconstruction step, which can increase the resolution beyond the width of the convolution kernel. In this paper, the spatial resolution of magnetic particle imaging is investigated by analyzing the modulation transfer function of the imaging process. An expression for the spatial resolution is derived, which includes the noise level and which is validated in simulations and experiments.
Multicast over wireless mobile ad hoc networks: present and future directions

Advances in portable computing and wireless technologies are opening up exciting possibilities for the future of wireless mobile networking. A mobile ad hoc network consists of mobile platforms which are free to move arbitrarily. Since the nodes are mobile, internode connectivity may change frequently. There is an increasing demand for applications like multiplayer online gaming, where players residing at different locations participate in the same gaming session through their handheld portable devices. Such applications are characterized by a close degree of collaboration, typical of ad hoc network scenarios. Multicasting could prove to be an efficient way of providing necessary services for these kinds of applications; hence, it is imperative to determine what is the best way to provide these services in an ad hoc environment. Due to the very diverse requirements of the applications and the unpredictable nature of ad hoc networks, it is necessary to investigate and discern the applicability of existing ad hoc multicast protocols and quantify which is more suitable for which type of application. We provide a detailed description and comparison of ad hoc multicast protocols. We hope that this discussion is helpful to application developers in selecting an appropriate multicast protocol and paves the way for further research.
Occurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma and decompensation in western european patients with cirrhosis type B

To examine the morbidity of compensated cirrhosis type B, a cohort of 349 Western European, white patients (86% men; mean age, 44 years) with biopsy‐proven cirrhosis was followed up for a mean period of 73 months and was studied for occurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and decompensation. At entry into the study all patients were tested for hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg; 34% of patients were HBeAg‐positive) and antibody to hepatitis delta virus (anti‐HDV; 20% of patients were anti‐HDV‐positive); 48% of 252 patients tested were hepatitis B virus (HBV)‐DNA‐positive. During follow‐up HCC developed in 32 (9%) of the 349 patients and decompensation was observed in 88 (28%) of 317 tumor‐free patients. Five years after diagnosis, the probability of decompensation was 23%. After the first episode of decompensation the probability of survival was 35% at 5 years. Cox's regression analysis identified three variables that idependently correlated with HCC: age, serum levels of platelets, and liver firmness on physical examination. HBV (HBeAg or HBV‐DNA) and HDV (anti‐HDV) markers at presentation had no prognostic value for the development of HCC. In conclusion, a high proportion of patients with HBsAg‐positive compensated cirrhosis do not experience worsening of their condition for several years, but once decompensation occurs life expectancy is poor. European, white patients with compensated cirrhosis type B are at consistent risk for HCC. Prognostic factors for HCC reflect an advanced stage of cirrhosis and support the hypothesis that development of a tumor could be the likely consequence of long‐standing hepatic disease. (Hepatology 1995;21:77–82).
Salutary effect of gastric pentadecapeptide BPC 157 in two different stress urinary incontinence models in female rats

Background Since an originally anti-ulcer stable gastric pentadecapeptide BPC 157 (PL 14736) was shown to promote healing of injured striated muscle and smooth muscle in the gastrointestinal tract, we explored its therapeutic potentials for leak point pressure (LPP) recovery in rat stress urinary incontinence (SUI) after transabdominal urethrolysis (TU) and prolonged vaginal dilatation (VD). Material/Methods During a 7-day period, TU-rats and VD-rats (or healthy rats) received BPC 157, either (i) intraperitoneally, 10 μg/kg or 10 ng/kg, once daily (first administration 30 min after surgery, last 24 h before LPP-testing and sacrifice), or (ii) per-orally, 10 μg/kg in drinking water (0.16 μg/mL, 12 mL/rat/day). Vesicourethral segments were harvested for immunohistochemical evaluation. Results All BPC 157 regimens counteracted decrease of LPP values in TU-rats and VD-rats. Additionally, BPC 157-TU rats (μg-intraperitoneally or per-orally) and BPC 157-VD rats (μg intraperitoneally) reached LPP values originally noted in healthy rats. Conversely, in healthy rats, BPC 157 did not alter LPP. Immunohistochemical studies revealed higher desmin (delineates striated organization of skeletal muscle), smooth muscle actin, and CD34 (angiogenic marker) positivity within the urethral wall in BPC 157-treated rats vs. controls, as well as overall preserved muscle/connective tissue ratio assessed with Mallory’s trichrome staining. Conclusions Pentadecapeptide BPC 157, applied parenterally or per-orally, appears to ameliorate the SUI in rat models, improving the otherwise detrimental course of healing after VD and TU, which may be analogous to human injury. These beneficial effects may possibly be selectively used in future strategies for treatment of SUI.
Michael Gabriel review systematicon muscle soreness and risk of injury : Effects of stretching before and after exercising

Objective To determine the effects of stretching before and after exercising on muscle soreness after exercise, risk of injury, and athletic performance. Method Systematic review. Data sources Randomised or quasi-randomised studies identified by searching Medline, Embase, CINAHL, SPORTDiscus, and PEDro, and by recursive checking of bibliographies. Main outcome measures Muscle soreness, incidence of injury, athletic performance. Results Five studies, all of moderate quality, reported sufficient data on the effects of stretching on muscle soreness to be included in the analysis. Outcomes seemed homogeneous. Stretching produced small and statistically non-significant reductions in muscle soreness. The pooled estimate of reduction in muscle soreness 24 hours after exercising was only 0.9 mm on a 100 mm scale (95% confidence interval − 2.6 mm to 4.4 mm). Data from two studies on army recruits in military training show that muscle stretching before exercising does not produce useful reductions in injury risk (pooled hazard ratio 0.95, 0.78 to 1.16). Conclusions Stretching before or after exercising does not confer protection from muscle soreness. Stretching before exercising does not seem to confer a practically useful reduction in the risk of injury, but the generality of this finding needs testing. Insufficient research has been done with which to determine the effects of stretching on sporting performance.
Let's Get 'Real' About Using Economic Data

We show that using data which are properly available in real time when assessing the sensitivity of asset prices to economic news leads to different empirical findings that when data availability and timing issues are ignored. We do this by focusing on a particular example, namely Chen, Roll and Ross (1986), and examine whether innovations to economic variables can be viewed as risks that are rewarded in asset markets. Our findings support the view that data uncertainty is sufficiently prevalent to warrant careful use of real-time data when forming real-time news measures, and in general when undertaking empirical financial investigations involving macroeconomic data. Nous demontrons que l'utilisation de donnees qui sont disponibles en temps reel pour etablir la sensibilite des prix d'actifs aux nouvelles economiques mene a des resultats empiriques differents de ceux obtenus lorsque la disponibilite des donnees et les considerations temporelles ne sont pas prises en compte. Pour ce faire, nous nous concentrons sur un exemple en particulier, c'est-a-dire Chen, Roll et Ross (1986), et nous regardons si les innovations aux variables economiques peuvent etre percues comme etant des risques qui sont recompenses dans les marches des actifs. Nos resultats enterinent la presomption que l'incertitude des donnees est suffisamment prevalente pour assurer une utilisation prudente des donnees en temps reel lors de l'etablissement de mesures de nouvelles en temps reel, et en general lorsqu'on entreprend des enquetes financieres empiriques impliquant des donnees macroeconomiques.
Effects of Two-Temperature Electrons and Trapped Ions on Multidimensional Instability of Dust-Acoustic Solitary Waves

The basic features of obliquely propagating dust-acoustic solitary waves (DASWs), and their multidimensional instability in a magnetized dusty plasma containing negatively charged dust, two-temperature electrons, and trapped ions, have been theoretically investigated by the reductive-perturbation method and small-k perturbation-expansion technique. The combined effects of external magnetic field (obliqueness), two-electron temperature, and trapped-ion distribution, which are found to significantly modify the basic properties (amplitude and width) of small but finite-amplitude DASWs, are explicitly examined. It is also found that the instability criterion and the growth rate are significantly modified by the external magnetic field and the propagation directions of both the nonlinear waves and their perturbation modes. The implications of our results in space plasmas are briefly discussed.
Creating Human-like Synthetic Characters with Multiple Skill Levels: A Case Study using the Soar Quakebot

This paper reports on a preliminary attempt to develop and evaluate synthetic characters with multiple skill levels and with human-like behavior. Our goal was to determine which aspects of behavior have impact on skill level and humanness. We developed a bot that plays the computer game Quake against a human opponent. That bot can be parameterized along four dimensions: decision time, aggressiveness, number of tactics, and aiming skill. We then played variations of the bot against a human expert. Through empirical and human judgments we then evaluated the skill level and humanness of the variations. Our results suggest that both decision time and aiming skill are critical parameters when attempting to create human-like behavior. These two parameters could also be varied to modify the skill of the bots, and for some ranges, maintain the same level of humanness. The two primary goals of this research are to create synthetic characters with human-like behavior and varying levels of skill within the context of highly interactive tasks. The secondary goal is to develop and test a methodology for evaluating the humanness of synthetic characters in those types of tasks. Both primary goals require that we explore computational mechanisms for modeling human behavior and that we understand which behavioral parameters affect the humanness of the behavior and the skill of the behavior. Towards these ends, we have developed a parameterized AI system (called a bot) that plays the computer game Quake against humans. In developing the bot, we have tried to build an opponent that has the same strengths and weaknesses as human players. As part of its development, we parameterized the bot along four dimensions: decision time, aggressiveness, aiming skill, and tactical knowledge. This paper describes an evaluation of variations in those parameters in terms of different levels of skill and humanness. Our approach was to build versions of the bot with different parameter values and then play them against a "gold-standard" expert human player. Our results suggest that this methodology is useful, and that we could produce a range of skill levels using a subset of these parameters.
Multiple model recognition for near-realistic exergaming

Exergaming as a tool to combat obesity yields an interesting take on the problem of design and implementation of activity recognition systems for truly mobile games that achieve moderate levels of intensity. This work presents SoccAR, a mobile, sensor-based wearable exergaming system with fine-grain activity recognition. The system in this paper presents a recognition algorithm for the appropriate classification of 26 movements by extracting a large number of features and selecting the most important, as well as developing a multiple model strategy to better classify movements. This movement strategy allows for a trade off of detailed classification versus classification speed. A metric to define the accuracy in terms of the importance of particular movements is defined. The scheme presented develops a framework for more accurately classifying movements with a smaller number of features for a large, multiclass real-time environment. This results in a more accurate classification of movements, with an F-score in cross-validation of . 937 using a PUK-kernel based SVM and multiple models, to . 755 using only a single RBF-based model and 20 features.
Separating linear forms for bivariate systems

We present an algorithm for computing a separating linear form of a system of bivariate polynomials with integer coefficients, that is a linear combination of the variables that takes different values when evaluated at distinct (complex) solutions of the system. In other words, a separating linear form defines a shear of the coordinate system that sends the algebraic system in generic position, in the sense that no two distinct solutions are vertically aligned. The computation of such linear forms is at the core of most algorithms that solve algebraic systems by computing rational parameterizations of the solutions and, moreover, the computation of a separating linear form is the bottleneck of these algorithms, in terms of worst-case bit complexity. Given two bivariate polynomials of total degree at most <i>d</i> with integer coefficients of bitsize at most τ, our algorithm computes a separatin linear form in Õ<sub>B</sub>(d<sup>8</sup>+d<sup>7</sup>τ+d<sup>5</sup>τ<sup>2</sup>) bit operations in the worst case, where the previously known best bit complexity for this problem was Õ<sub>B</sub>(d<sup>10</sup>+d<sup>9</sup>τ) (whereÕ refers to the complexity where polylogarithmic factors are omitted and Õ<sub>B</sub> refers to the bit complexity)
Improving speech audibility with wide dynamic range compression in listeners with severe sensorineural loss.

OBJECTIVE In contrast to fitting strategies for linear amplification, which have been refined frequently for listeners with different degrees of hearing loss, we know relatively little about the effects of wide dynamic range compression (WDRC) amplification for listeners with severe auditory thresholds. The primary objective of this study was to determine if increases in audibility with WDRC amplification improved speech recognition to a comparable degree for listeners with different degrees of hearing loss. DESIGN Listeners with mild to moderate or severe sensorineural loss were tested on recognition of vowel-consonant-vowel (VCV) syllables and sentences digitally processed with linear and WDRC amplification. The speech materials were presented under conditions of controlled audibility, in which WDRC amplification improved speech audibility over linear amplification. Presentation levels were chosen to provide equivalent increases in audibility with WDRC amplification for both listener groups. A control condition in which audibility was equated for the two amplification conditions was also included. RESULTS Recognition results for VCV stimuli indicated that both listener groups received the same benefit from the improved audibility provided by WDRC amplification. Results for sentence recognition showed a greater benefit of WDRC amplification for listeners with mild to moderate than for listeners with severe loss. CONCLUSIONS Increasing the amount of audible speech information with WDRC has similar effects on consonant recognition for listeners with different degrees of hearing loss. Differences in sentence recognition for listeners with different degrees of loss may be due to processing effects or to differences in available acoustic information for longer segments of WDRC-amplified speech.
Hyperinsulinemia and Insulin Resistance, Early Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Children with Chronic Kidney Disease

Background/Aims: Pediatric chronic kidney disease (CKD) is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease. Still, hyperinsulinemia and insulin resistance, common cardiovascular risk factors, are not extensively investigated in children with CKD. We hypothesize that insulin abnormalities are present also in pediatric mild to moderate CKD, and associated with inflammation and malnutrition. Methods: We enrolled 26 children with CKD, and 34 healthy controls for analyses of blood samples and body composition. Insulin resistance was assessed using the homeostasis model assessment for insulin resistance (HOMA-IR). Results: The patients had higher insulin levels and HOMA-IR compared to the controls (p < 0.01 and p < 0.005), and they correlated inversely with estimated glomerular filtration rate (rho = –0.52, p < 0.01; rho = –0.37, p = 0.08). No association was found with inflammation or malnutrition. Conclusion: High insulin levels and HOMA-IR appear to be common in pediatric CKD patients, already in mild to moderate renal failure. We hypothesize that hyperinsulinemia and insulin resistance alone might be important risk factors for cardiovascular disease in children with CKD.
Anesthetic and Obstetric Outcome in Morbidly Obese Parturients

BackgroundLarge studies reporting anesthetic outcome for morbidly obese parturients are lacking. This study compares the anesthetic and obstetric outcome in morbidly obese parturients and matched control parturients. MethodsAnesthesia records were prospectively collected for all patients delivering between September 1978 and November 1989 whose weight exceeded 136.4 kg (300 pounds) at the time of delivery. A retrospective control patient group was collected by matching the first patient weighing less than 136.4 kg, delivered in the same month by the same obstetrician, to the corresponding morbidly obese parturient. Anesthetic and obstetric outcome variables were extracted from medical records and analyzed. ResultsSixty-two percent of 117 morbidly obese women underwent cesarean section, while only 24% of control patients delivered abdominally (P < 0.05). Forty-eight percent of all laboring morbidly obese parturients required emergency cesarean section, compared with 9% of control laboring parturients (P < 0.05). Epidural anesthesia was used successfully for labor and cesarean delivery in 74 of 79 morbidly obese women and 66 of 67 control patients. When compared with control patients, initial epidural anesthesia failure was significantly more likely in morbidly obese women, requiring epidural catheter replacement. Difficult tracheal intubation occurred in 6 of 17 morbidly obese women, compared with 0 of 8 control women (P = 0.06). Morbidly obese women had increased incidences of antepartum medical disease, prolonged cesarean section operation times, serious postoperative complications, and increased hospital stays. ConclusionsThe high incidences of antepartum medical disease and emergency cesarean section complicate anesthetic care in the morbidly obese parturients. Epidural anesthesia is feasible; however, the high initial failure rate necessitates early catheter placement, critical block assessment and catheter replacement when indicated, and provision for alternative airway management.
Low-cost electrothermally tunable optical microcavities based on GaAs

In this letter, we present a new simple and, therefore, low-cost two-chip concept for the fabrication of electrothermally tunable optical microcavities. Those microcavities will be applicable to tunable components for wavelength-division multiplexing systems, such as tunable filters and tunable lasers. The performance of such a microcavity is demonstrated by fabricating a tunable filter that is based on the proposed concept.
Infant peripheral blood repetitive element hypomethylation associated with antiretroviral therapy in utero

The use of combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) to prevent HIV mother-to-child transmission during pregnancy and delivery is generally considered safe. However, vigilant assessment of potential risks of these agents remains warranted. Epigenetic changes including DNA methylation are considered potential mechanisms linking the in utero environment with long-term health outcomes. Few studies have examined the epigenetic effects of prenatal exposure to pharmaceutical agents, including antiretroviral therapies, on children. In this study, we examined the methylation status of the LINE-1 and ALU-Yb8 repetitive elements as markers of global DNA methylation alteration in peripheral blood mononuclear cells obtained from newborns participating in the Pediatric HIV/AIDS Cohort Study SMARTT cohort of HIV-exposed, cART-exposed uninfected infants compared to a historical cohort of HIV-exposed, antiretroviral-unexposed infants from the Women and Infants Transmission Study Cohort. In linear regression models controlling for potential confounders, we found the adjusted mean difference of AluYb8 methylation of the cART-exposed compared to the -unexposed was −0.568 (95% CI: −1.023, −0.149) and for LINE-1 methylation was −1.359 (95% CI: −1.860, −0.857). Among those exposed to cART, subjects treated with atazanavir (ATV), compared to those on other treatments, had less AluYb8 methylation (−0.524, 95% CI: −0.025, −1.024). Overall, these results suggest a small but statistically significant reduction in the methylation of these repetitive elements in an HIV-exposed, cART-exposed cohort compared to an HIV-exposed, cART-unexposed historic cohort. The potential long-term implications of these differences are worthy of further examination.