Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Super-directive beam from metamaterials

In a quasi- zero-average-refractive-index (QZAI) metamaterial, the light scattered out is extremely directive (Δθout = 0.06°), in despite of a divergent source at near infrared wavelength (λ=1.55 mm). In this paper we discuss and experimentally demonstrate that this is possible when the light is coupled with diffraction order of a grating with alternating complementary media. The experimental data prove with a high degree of accuracy also the strong vertical confinement of the beam even in the air region of the metamaterial, where any simple vertical confinement mechanism is absent. This extremely sensitive device works on a large contact area and open news perspective to integrated spectroscopy.
Capacity Evaluation of a Quantum-Based Channel in a Biological Context

Nanotechnology, as enabler of the miniaturization of devices in a scale ranging from 1 to few hundreds of <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$nm$ </tex-math></inline-formula>, represents a viable solution for “ alternative” communication paradigms that could be effective in complex networked systems, as body area networks. Traditional communication paradigms are not effective in the context of joint body and nano-networked systems, for several reasons, and then novel approaches have been investigated such as nanomechanical, electromagnetic, acoustic, molecular, etc. On the other hand, quantum phenomena represent a natural direction for developing nanotechnology, since it has to be considered as a new scale where new phenomena can occur and can be exploited for information purpose. Specific quantum particles are phonons, the quanta of mechanical vibrations (<italic>i.e.</italic>, acoustic excitations), that can be analyzed as potential information carriers in a body networked context. In this paper we will focus on the generation of phonons from photon-phonon interaction, by irradiating a sample of human tissue with an electro-magnetic field, and then we will theoretically derive the information capacity and the bit rate in the frequency range <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$[10^{3} - 10^{12}]$ </tex-math></inline-formula> Hz.
Molecular mechanisms of eukaryotic pre-mRNA 3′ end processing regulation

Messenger RNA (mRNA) 3′ end formation is a nuclear process through which all eukaryotic primary transcripts are endonucleolytically cleaved and most of them acquire a poly(A) tail. This process, which consists in the recognition of defined poly(A) signals of the pre-mRNAs by a large cleavage/polyadenylation machinery, plays a critical role in gene expression. Indeed, the poly(A) tail of a mature mRNA is essential for its functions, including stability, translocation to the cytoplasm and translation. In addition, this process serves as a bridge in the network connecting the different transcription, capping, splicing and export machineries. It also participates in the quantitative and qualitative regulation of gene expression in a variety of biological processes through the selection of single or alternative poly(A) signals in transcription units. A large number of protein factors associates with this machinery to regulate the efficiency and specificity of this process and to mediate its interaction with other nuclear events. Here, we review the eukaryotic 3′ end processing machineries as well as the comprehensive set of regulatory factors and discuss the different molecular mechanisms of 3′ end processing regulation by proposing several overlapping models of regulation.
Role of mitochondria ROS generation in ethanol-induced NLRP3 inflammasome activation and cell death in astroglial cells

Toll-like receptors (TLRs) and NOD-like receptors (NLRs) are innate immunity sensors that provide an early/effective response to pathogenic or injury conditions. We have reported that ethanol-induced TLR4 activation triggers signaling inflammatory responses in glial cells, causing neuroinflammation and brain damage. However, it is uncertain if ethanol is able to activate NLRs/inflammasome in astroglial cells, which is the mechanism of activation, and whether there is crosstalk between both immune sensors in glial cells. Here we show that chronic ethanol treatment increases the co-localization of caspase-1 with GFAP+ cells, and up-regulates IL-1β and IL-18 in the frontal medial cortex in WT, but not in TLR4 knockout mice. We further show that cultured cortical astrocytes expressed several inflammasomes (NLRP3, AIM2, NLRP1, and IPAF), although NLRP3 mRNA is the predominant form. Ethanol, as ATP and LPS treatments, up-regulates NLRP3 expression, and causes caspase-1 cleavage and the release of IL-1β and IL-18 in astrocytes supernatant. Ethanol-induced NLRP3/caspase-1 activation is mediated by mitochondrial (m) reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation because when using a specific mitochondria ROS scavenger, the mito-TEMPO (500 μM) or NLRP3 blocking peptide (4 μg/ml) or a specific caspase-1 inhibitor, Z-YVAD-FMK (10 μM), abrogates mROS release and reduces the up-regulation of IL-1β and IL-18 induced by ethanol or LPS or ATP. Confocal microscopy studies further confirm that ethanol, ATP or LPS promotes NLRP3/caspase-1 complex recruitment within the mitochondria to promote cell death by caspase-1-mediated pyroptosis, which accounts for ≈73% of total cell death (≈22%) and the remaining (≈25%) die by caspase-3-dependent apoptosis. Suppression of the TLR4 function abrogates most ethanol effects on NLRP3 activation and reduces cell death. These findings suggest that NLRP3 participates, in ethanol-induced neuroinflammation and highlight the NLRP3/TLR4 crosstalk in ethanol-induced brain injury.
The Influence of the Number of Retrieved Lymph Nodes on Staging and Survival in Patients With Stage II and III Rectal Cancer Undergoing Tumor-Specific Mesorectal Excision

Objective:This study was designed to determine whether the number of lymph nodes retrieved influence staging and survival in patients with stage II and III rectal cancer that undergo tumor-specific mesorectal excision. Summary Background Data:The prognostic impact of the retrieved nodes has been emphasized in patients with colorectal cancer, but few studies have focused on patients with rectal cancer. Methods:A total of 900 patients who underwent tumor-specific mesorectal excision with curative intent and adjuvant chemoradiation therapy for stage II and III rectal cancer from January 1989 to December 2006 were analyzed. Results:Cancer-specific survival (CSS) of stage II patients with less than 15 nodes (25th percentile) was not different from stage III patients, but CSS was better in stage II patients with more than 15 nodes. When using cutoff values of the 25th and 50th percentiles (22 and 31 nodes), recurrence-free survival (RFS) was statistically different among subgroups of stage II and III patients. In multivariate analysis, stage II disease with less than 15 nodes retrieved was an adverse factor for CSS and RFS. In Kaplan-Meier survival analysis, using cutoff values, the difference for CSS was not significant with 22 and more nodes and the difference for RFS was not observed with 23 and more nodes. Conclusions:The number of lymph nodes retrieved is closely associated with survival and recurrence in patients with stage II rectal cancer and, for more accurate prognostic stratification, at least 22 and 23 nodes seem to be necessary, respectively, for CSS and for RFS.
Purification and Characterization of Extracellular Amylolytic Enzymes from the Yeast Filobasidium capsuligenum

The extracellular amylolytic system of Filobasidium capsuligenum consisted of an α-amylase (1,4-α-d-glucan glucanhydrolase, EC 3.2.1.1) and two forms of glucoamylase (1,4-α-d-glucan glucohydrolase, EC 3.2.1.3). The enzymes were purified by ammonium sulfate fractionation, repeated ion-exchange chromatography (DEAE-Sephadex A-50), and gel filtration (Sephadex G-25, Sephadex G-100 sf). α-Amylase had an optimum pH of 5.6 and an optimum temperature of 50�C but was rapidly inactivated at higher temperature. The molecular weight was estimated by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis to be 64,000. An acarbose concentration of 20 μg/ml was required for 50% inhibition of the α-amylase. Both glucoamylases are glycoproteins of identical molecular weight (60,000) and produce only glucose by exohydrolysis. The debranching activity of the glucoamylases was evidenced with substrates containing α-1,6 linkages. The pH optima were 5.0 to 5.6 for glucoamylase I and 4.8 to 5.3 for glucoamylase II. Glucoamylase I had a higher optimum temperature (55�C) than glucoamylase II (50�C) and was also more resistant to thermal inactivation. Only low acarbose concentrations (<0.1 μg/ml) were required to reduce the activity of the glucoamylases by 50%.
Length of the antibody heavy chain complementarity determining region 3 as a specificity‐determining factor

The antigen binding site of an antibody is made up of residues residing in six hypervariable loops of the heavy and light chains. In most cases several or all of these loops are required for the establishment of the antigen‐binding surface. Five of these loops display a limited diversity in length and sequence while the third complementarity determining region (CDR) of the heavy chain is highly different between antibodies not only with respect to sequence but also with respect to length. Its extensive diversity is a key component in the establishment of binding sites allowing for the recognition of essentially any antigen by humoral immunity. The relative importance of its sequence vs its length diversity in this context is however, not very well established. To investigate this matter further we have used an approach employing combinatorial antibody libraries and antigen‐specific selection in the search for CDRH3 length and sequence diversity compatible with a given antigen specificity, the major antigenic determinant on the tumour‐associated antigen mucin‐1. In this way we have now defined heavy chain CDR3 length as a critical parameter in the creation of an antigen‐specific binding site. We also propose that this may reflect a dependence of a particular structure of this hypervariable loop, the major carrier of diversity in the binding site, for establishment of a given specificity. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Hepatocyte CYP2B6 Can Be Expressed in Cell Culture Systems by Exerting Physiological Levels of Shear: Implications for ADME Testing

Cytochrome 2B6 (CYP2B6) has substantial clinical effects on morbidity and mortality and its effects on drug metabolism should be part of hepatotoxicity screening. Examples of CYP2B6's impacts include its linkage to mortality during cyclophosphamide therapy and its role in determining hepatotoxicity and CNS toxicity during efavirenz therapy for HIV infection. CYP2B6 is key to metabolism of many common drugs from opioids to antidepressants, anesthetics, and anticonvulsants. But CYP2B6 has been extremely difficult to express in cell culture, and as a result, it has been largely deemphasized in preclinical toxicity studies. It has now been shown that CYP2B6 expression can be supported for extended periods of time using suspension culture techniques that exert physiological levels of shear. New understanding of CYP2B6 has identified five clinically significant genetic polymorphisms that have a high incidence in many populations and that convey a substantial dynamic range of activity. We propose that, with the use of culture devices exerting physiological shear levels, CYP2B6 dependent drug testing, including definition of polymorphisms and application of specific inhibitors, should be a standard part of preclinical absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME) testing.
Job stress and burnout among urban and rural hospital physicians in Japan.

OBJECTIVE To elucidate the differences in job stress and burnout status of Japanese hospital physicians between large cities, small cities, and towns and villages. DESIGN Cross-sectional study. SETTING Postal self-administered questionnaires were distributed to 2937 alumni of Asahikawa Medical University. PARTICIPANTS Four hundred and twenty-two hospital physicians. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES The Brief Job Stress Questionnaire was used to evaluate job demand, job control and social support. The Japanese version of the Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey (MBI-GS) was used to evaluate burnout. An analysis of covariance was conducted on the mean scores on the Brief Job Stress Questionnaire and the MBI-GS scales after adjusting for sex, age and specialties. RESULTS In adjusted analyses, the job demand score was significantly different among physicians in the three areas. In Bonferroni post-hoc tests, scores in large cities was significantly higher than those in small cities and towns and villages. The job control score showed a significant difference and a marginally significant trend, with large cities associated with lower job control. There were significant differences in support from supervisors and that from family/friends, and scores in large cities was significantly higher than those in small cities in the post-hoc test. There was a significant effect on the exhaustion scale of the MBI-GS, with large cities associated with higher exhaustion, and scores in large cities was significantly higher than those in small cities. CONCLUSIONS Urban hospital physicians had more job demand, less job control and exhaustion caused by burnout, and rural hospital physicians had less social support.
Physiological properties of wind-sensitive and tactile trichoid sensilla on the ovipositor and their role during oviposition in the locust

The physiological properties of the ovipositor hair sensilla of the desert locust and their responses to wind and to direct mechanical displacement are described. The hairs on the external surfaces of the ventral and dorsal ovipositor valves respond to wind stimulation, whereas the hairs on the inner surfaces of the dorsal valves are not wind-sensitive. All ovipositor hairs, however, respond to tactile displacement. Imposed tactile stimulation reveals two physiologically distinct types of ovipositor tactile hairs: the hairs on the inner surface of the dorsal valves are high-threshold hairs (threshold angular deflection of 26­67 ° at 1 Hz) that respond phasically, whereas the hairs on the lateral and ventral areas of the ventral valves and the lateral areas of the dorsal valves are low-threshold hairs (threshold angular deflection of 6­20 ° at 1 Hz) that respond phasotonically. There is no apparent difference in the length of the two physiologically distinct types of hairs. Both high- and low-threshold hairs are directionally sensitive, with maximal responses to proximal deflection, towards the abdomen, and are also velocity-sensitive. High-threshold hairs have velocity thresholds of 40­50 ° s-1 for some hairs and 110­140 ° s-1 for others for a deflection angle of 35 °, whereas low-threshold hairs have lower velocity thresholds of less than 5 ° s-1 for the same deflection. High-threshold hairs adapt rapidly to repetitive stimulation after as few as four cycles of stimulation at 0.5 Hz. Low-threshold hairs continue to respond after 40 cycles of stimulation at 0.5 Hz and show little adaptation to repetitive stimulation at frequencies ranging from 0.1 to 5 Hz. Low-threshold hairs respond with bursts of spikes at frequencies that reflect both the velocity and the duration of the stimulus. Furthermore, low-threshold hairs show little adaptation after 30 min of stimulation that simulates oviposition digging. It is suggested (a) that low- and high-threshold ovipositor hairs detect phasic wind and/or tactile stimuli in non-ovipositing locusts and (b) that low-threshold hairs can also signal rhythmic tactile inputs during oviposition digging.
The role of karyopherins in the regulated sumoylation of septins

In the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, several components of the septin ring are sumoylated during anaphase and then abruptly desumoylated at cytokinesis. We show that septin sumoylation is controlled by the interactions of two enzymes of the sumoylation pathway, Siz1p and Ulp1p, with the nuclear transport machinery. The E3 ligase Siz1p is imported into the nucleus by the karyopherin Kap95p during interphase. In M phase, Siz1p is exported from the nucleus by the karyopherin Kap142p/Msn5p and subsequently targeted to the septin ring, where it participates in septin sumoylation. We also show that the accumulation of sumoylated septins during mitosis is dependent on the interactions of the SUMO isopeptidase Ulp1p with Kap121p and Kap95p–Kap60p and the nuclear pore complex (NPC). In addition to sequestering Ulp1 at the NPC, Kap121p is required for targeting Ulp1p to the septin ring during mitosis. We present a model in which Ulp1p is maintained at the NPC during interphase and transiently interacts with the septin ring during mitosis.
Polymer-Dispersed Liquid Crystals: Progress in Preparation, Investigation, and Application

Polymer-dispersed liquid crystals (PDLCs), composed of micro-sized liquid crystal domains embedded in a continuous polymer matrix, are an important class of materials that hold promise for many opto-electronic applications. In this review, based on an analysis of research publications appearing between 2006 and 2012, preparation of conventional PDLCs and nanoparticles-doped PDLCs, their properties, and their application for opto-electronic devices are described.
Hypoxia increases muscle hypertrophy induced by resistance training.

PURPOSE Recent studies have shown that low-intensity resistance training with vascular occlusion (kaatsu training) induces muscle hypertrophy. A local hypoxic environment facilitates muscle hypertrophy during kaatsu training. We postulated that muscle hypertrophy can be more efficiently induced by placing the entire body in a hypoxic environment to induce muscle hypoxia followed by resistance training. METHODS Fourteen male university students were randomly assigned to hypoxia (Hyp) and normoxia (Norm) groups (n = 7 per group). Each training session proceeded at an exercise intensity of 70% of 1 repetition maximum (RM), and comprised four sets of 10 repetitions of elbow extension and flexion. Students exercised twice weekly for 6 wk and then muscle hypertrophy was assessed by magnetic resonance imaging and muscle strength was evaluated based on 1RM. RESULTS Muscle hypertrophy was significantly greater for the Hyp-Ex (exercised flexor of the hypoxia group) than for the Hyp-N (nonexercised flexor of the hypoxia group) or Norm-Ex flexor (P < .05, Bonferroni correction). Muscle hypertrophy was significantly greater for the Hyp-Ex than the Hyp-N extensor. Muscle strength was significantly increased early (by week 3) in the Hyp-Ex, but not in the Norm-Ex group. CONCLUSION This study suggests that resistance training under hypoxic conditions improves muscle strength and induces muscle hypertrophy faster than under normoxic conditions, thus representing a promising new training technique.
Efficient Multiclass Implementations of L1-Regularized Maximum Entropy

This paper discusses the application of L1-regularized maximum entropy modeling or SL1-Max [9] to multiclass categorization problems. A new modification to the SL1-Max fast sequential learning algorithm is proposed to handle conditional distributions. Furthermore, unlike most previous studies, the present research goes beyond a single type of conditional distribution. It describes and compares a variety of modeling assumptions about the class distribution (independent or exclusive) and various types of joint or conditional distributions. It results in a new methodology for combining binary regularized classifiers to achieve multiclass categorization. In this context, Maximum Entropy can be considered as a generic and efficient regularized classification tool that matches or outperforms the state-of-the art represented by AdaBoost and SVMs.
Face recognition and learning via adaptive dictionaries

This paper proposes an adaptive face recognition algorithm to jointly classify and learn from unlabeled data. It presents an efficient design that specifically addresses the case when only a single sample per person is available for training. A dictionary composed of regional descriptors serves as the basis for the recognition system while providing a flexible framework to augment or update dictionary atoms. The algorithm is based on l1 minimization techniques and the decision to update the dictionary is made in an unsupervised mode via non-parametric Bayes. The dictionary learning is done via reverse-OMP to select atoms that are orthogonal or near orthogonal to the current dictionary elements. The proposed algorithm was tested with two face databases showing the capability to handle illumination, scale, and some moderate pose and expression variations. Classification results as high as 96% were obtained with the Georgia Tech database and 94% correct classification rates for the Multi-PIE database for the frontal-view scenarios.
Laser Ablation for Cancer: Past, Present and Future

Laser ablation (LA) is gaining acceptance for the treatment of tumors as an alternative to surgical resection. This paper reviews the use of lasers for ablative and surgical applications. Also reviewed are solutions aimed at improving LA outcomes: hyperthermal treatment planning tools and thermometric techniques during LA, used to guide the surgeon in the choice and adjustment of the optimal laser settings, and the potential use of nanoparticles to allow biologic selectivity of ablative treatments. Promising technical solutions and a better knowledge of laser-tissue interaction should allow LA to be used in a safe and effective manner as a cancer treatment.
Failure of Delayed Feedback Deep Brain Stimulation for Intermittent Pathological Synchronization in Parkinson’s Disease

Suppression of excessively synchronous beta-band oscillatory activity in the brain is believed to suppress hypokinetic motor symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. Recently, a lot of interest has been devoted to desynchronizing delayed feedback deep brain stimulation (DBS). This type of synchrony control was shown to destabilize the synchronized state in networks of simple model oscillators as well as in networks of coupled model neurons. However, the dynamics of the neural activity in Parkinson’s disease exhibits complex intermittent synchronous patterns, far from the idealized synchronous dynamics used to study the delayed feedback stimulation. This study explores the action of delayed feedback stimulation on partially synchronized oscillatory dynamics, similar to what one observes experimentally in parkinsonian patients. We employ a computational model of the basal ganglia networks which reproduces experimentally observed fine temporal structure of the synchronous dynamics. When the parameters of our model are such that the synchrony is unphysiologically strong, the feedback exerts a desynchronizing action. However, when the network is tuned to reproduce the highly variable temporal patterns observed experimentally, the same kind of delayed feedback may actually increase the synchrony. As network parameters are changed from the range which produces complete synchrony to those favoring less synchronous dynamics, desynchronizing delayed feedback may gradually turn into synchronizing stimulation. This suggests that delayed feedback DBS in Parkinson’s disease may boost rather than suppress synchronization and is unlikely to be clinically successful. The study also indicates that delayed feedback stimulation may not necessarily exhibit a desynchronization effect when acting on a physiologically realistic partially synchronous dynamics, and provides an example of how to estimate the stimulation effect.