Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Preparation of Highly Conductive Polypyrrole/Graphite Oxide Composites via in situ Polymerization

Graphite oxide (GO)/polypyrrole (PPy) composites with high electrical conductivity have been prepared via in situ polymerization. The bonding structures of the resulting composites were characterized by ultraviolet (UV)-visible spectra and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), which indicate no significant chemical interaction between PPy and GO. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) show that the GO surface is coated with a uniform PPy layer. In comparison with GO, the electrical conductivity of the composite increases by four orders of magnitude higher than that of pristine GO. The thermal stability of PPy/GO composite, characterized by thermogravimetry (TG), is higher than that of the pure GO.
Functional Properties of Homomeric, Human α7-Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors Heterologously Expressed in the SH-EP1 Human Epithelial Cell Line

α7-Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (α7-nAChRs) are broadly distributed in the central nervous system, where they play important roles in chemical and electrical signaling, and perhaps in neurite outgrowth, synaptic plasticity, and neuronal death/survival. To help elucidate their normal and pathophysiological roles, we have heterologously expressed human α7-nAChR in transfected SH-EP1 human epithelial cells. Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and mRNA fluorescence in situ hybridization analyses demonstrate expression of human α7 subunits as messenger RNA. Patch-clamp recordings exploiting a novel strategy to prevent functional rundown of whole-cell peak current responses to repeated acute challenges with nicotinic agonists show successful expression of functional α7-nAChR that mediate inward currents characterized by rapid phases of activation and inactivation. Concentration-response curves show that nicotine, acetylcholine, and choline are efficacious agonists at human α7-nAChRs. Current-voltage relationships show inward rectification for agonist-induced currents. Human α7-nAChRs exhibit some sensitivity to α7-nAChR antagonists α-bungarotoxin (Bgt) or methyllycaconitine (MLA) when applied coincidentally with agonist, but much higher affinity block occurs when cells and α7-nAChRs are pre-exposed to antagonists for 2 min before challenge with agonist. Both Bgt and MLA are competitive inhibitors of α7-nAChR function. Whole-cell current peak amplitudes and half-times for inactivation of α7-nAChR functional responses to nicotine are dramatically reduced in the absence of extracellular Ca2+, suggestive of high Ca2+ permeability of the α7-nAChR channel. Thus, heterologously expressed human α7-nAChR in mammalian cells have properties of native α7-nAChR or of α7-nAChR heterologously expressed in other systems and serve as excellent models for studies of molecular bases of α7-nAChR function.
Hippocampal system and declarative (relational) memory: Summarizing the data from functional neuroimaging studies

In the last several years there have been impressive strides in the ability to explore the nature of hippocampal system functioning in humans by employing functional neuroimaging methods, permitting such methods to be used in conjunction with neuropsychological methods to better understand the role of the hippocampal system in memory. In this paper, we review the literature on functional imaging studies of the hippocampal system, summarizing the data and testing these data against a number of theories or explanatory accounts of hippocampal function. We consider five alternative explanatory accounts of, or ideas about, hippocampal function— some from already existing work, for which the functional imaging data can provide a new test, and others that have emerged directly from the functional imaging work, and that have yet to be tested for their fit of data from neuropsychological methods. We conclude that the relational (declarative) memory account, in which it is proposed that the hippocampal system plays a critical role in binding together multiple inputs to permit representations of the relations among the constituent elements of scenes or events, can better accomodate the full range of imaging (and other existing) data than any other explanatory account of hippocampal function. Hippocampus 1999;9:83–98. © 1999 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Decreased Plasma Aβ in Hyperlipidemic APPSL Transgenic Mice Is Associated with BBB Dysfunction

Besides the continued focus on Aβ and Tau in Alzheimer's disease (AD), it is increasingly evident that other pathologic characteristics, such as vascular alterations or inflammation, are associated with AD. Whether these changes are an initial cause for the onset of AD or occur as a result of the disease in late stages is still under debate. In the present study, the impact of the high-fat diet (HFD) induced vascular risk factor hyperlipidemia on Aβ levels and clearance as well as cerebral vasculature and blood-brain barrier (BBB) integrity was examined in mice. For this purpose, human APP transgenic (APPSL) and wildtype (WT) mice were fed a HFD for 12 weeks. Plasma and tissues were subsequently investigated for Aβ distribution and concentrations of several vascular markers. Decreased plasma Aβ together with increased levels of insoluble Aβ and amyloid plaques in the brains of HFD fed APPSL mice point toward impaired Aβ clearance due to HFD. Additionally, HFD induced manifold alterations in the cerebral vasculature and BBB integrity exclusively in human APP overexpressing mice but not in wildtype mice. Therefore, HFD appears to enhance Aβ dependent vascular/BBB dysfunction in combination with an increased proportion of cerebral to plasma Aβ in APPSL mice.
Amoxicillin-clavulanic acid versus cefaclor in the treatment of urinary tract infections and their effects on the urogenital and rectal flora

In a double-blind randomized study, amoxicillin-clavulanic acid (AM-CL) was compared with cefaclor for the treatment of acute urinary tract infections in 107 college women. A total of 53 patients received amoxicillin (250 mg) and clavulanic acid as the potassium salt (125 mg), and 54 received cefaclor (250 mg); each drug was administered every 8 h for 10 days. The cure rates at 1 and 4 weeks after treatment were 96 and 78%, respectively, in the AM-CL group and 92 and 75%, respectively, in the cefaclor group (P greater than 0.10). After AM-CL treatment, the prevalence of amoxicillin-resistant Escherichia coli significantly increased in the rectal flora. Also, the frequency of bacterial resistance to amoxicillin, AM-CL, and cefaclor increased among the urinary pathogens causing subsequent urinary tract infections (P less than 0.05). There were no adverse reactions in the cefaclor group; however, six patients in the AM-CL group (12%) experienced diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting (P less than 0.05). Elevated transaminase enzyme levels were observed in 23% of the patients in the AM-CL group and in 6% of the patients in the cefaclor group (P less than 0.05). Symptomatic Candida vaginitis developed in 16 and 13% of the patients in the AM-CL and cefaclor groups, respectively (P greater than 0.10).
Restricted Neural Plasticity in Vestibulospinal Pathways after Unilateral Labyrinthectomy as the Origin for Scoliotic Deformations

Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis in humans is often associated with vestibulomotor deficits. Compatible with a vestibular origin, scoliotic deformations were provoked in adult Xenopus frogs by unilateral labyrinthectomy (UL) at larval stages. The aquatic ecophysiology and absence of body-weight-supporting limb proprioceptive signals in amphibian tadpoles as a potential sensory substitute after UL might be the cause for a persistent asymmetric descending vestibulospinal activity. Therefore, peripheral vestibular lesions in larval Xenopus were used to reveal the morphophysiological alterations at the cellular and network levels. As a result, spinal motor nerves that were modulated by the previously intact side before UL remained permanently silent during natural vestibular stimulation after the lesion. In addition, retrograde tracing of descending pathways revealed a loss of vestibular neurons on the ipsilesional side with crossed vestibulospinal projections. This loss facilitated a general mass imbalance in descending premotor activity and a permanent asymmetric motor drive to the axial musculature. Therefore, we propose that the persistent asymmetric contraction of trunk muscles exerts a constant, uncompensated differential mechanical pull on bilateral skeletal elements that enforces a distortion of the soft cartilaginous skeletal elements and bone shapes. This ultimately provokes severe scoliotic deformations during ontogenetic development similar to the human syndrome.
Macrophage p53 Deficiency Leads to Enhanced Atherosclerosis in APOE*3-Leiden Transgenic Mice

Abstract— Cell proliferation and cell death (either necrosis or apoptosis) are key processes in the progression of atherosclerosis. The tumor suppressor gene p53 is an essential gene in cell proliferation and cell death and is upregulated in human atherosclerotic plaques, both in smooth muscle cells and in macrophages. In the present study, we investigated the importance of macrophage p53 in the progression of atherosclerosis using bone marrow transplantation in APOE*3-Leiden transgenic mice, an animal model for human-like atherosclerosis. APOE*3-Leiden mice were lethally irradiated and reconstituted with bone marrow derived from either p53-deficient (p53−/−) or control (p53+/+) donor mice. Reconstitution of mice with p53−/− bone marrow did not result in any hemopoietic abnormalities as compared with p53+/+ transplanted mice. After 12 weeks on an atherogenic diet, APOE*3-Leiden mice reconstituted with p53−/− bone marrow showed a significant (P =0.006) 2.3-fold increase in total atherosclerotic lesion area as compared with mice reconstituted with p53+/+ bone marrow. Although likely a secondary effect of the increased lesion area, p53−/− transplanted mice also showed significantly more lesion necrosis (necrotic index, 1.1±1.3 versus 0.2±0.7;P =0.04) and lesion macrophages (macrophage area, 79.9±40.0 versus 39.7±27.3×103 &mgr;m2 per section;P =0.02). These observations coincided with a tendency toward decreased apoptosis (terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase end-labeling [TUNEL]–positive nuclei going from 0.42±0.39 to 0.14±0.15%, P =0.071), whereas the number of proliferating cells (5′-bromo-2′-deoxyuridine–positive nuclei) was not affected (3.75±0.98 versus 4.77±2.30%;P =0.59). These studies indicate that macrophage p53 is important in suppressing the progression of atherosclerosis and identify a novel therapeutic target for regulating plaque stability.
On Deterministic Traffic Regulation and Service Guarantees : A Systematic Approach by Filtering

We develop a filtering theory for deterministic traffic regulation and service guarantees under the (min, +)-algebra. We show that traffic regulators that generate f-upper constrained outputs can be implemented optimally by a linear time-invariant filter with the impulse response f/sub */ under the (min, +)-algebra, where f/sub */ is the subadditive closure defined in the paper. Analogous to the classical filtering theory, there is an associate calculus, including feedback, concatenation, "filter bank summation", and performance bounds. The calculus is also applicable to the concept of service curves that can be used for deriving deterministic service guarantees. Our filtering approach not only yields easier proofs for more general results than those in the literature, but also allows us to design traffic regulators via systematic methods such as concatenation, filter bank summation, linear system realization, and FIR-IIR realization. We illustrate the use of the theory by considering a window flow control problem and a service curve allocation problem.
Radiofrequency Ablation of Renal Tumors: Four-Year Follow-Up Results in 47 Patients

Objective To retrospectively evaluate the intermediate results of radiofrequency ablation (RFA) of small renal masses (SRMs). Materials and Methods Percutaneous or laparoscopic RFA was performed on 48 renal tumors in 47 patients. The follow-up studies included a physical examination, chest radiography, creatinine level, and contrast-enhanced CT or MRI. To confirm the pathologic criteria of complete ablation, 35 patients underwent a follow-up biopsy. Recurrence was defined as contrast enhancement on imaging studies after 3 months, lesion growth at subsequent imaging, or viable cancer cells on follow-up biopsy. Results Technical success was achieved in 43 (89.6%) of 48 renal tumors. The mean tumor size was 2.3 cm and the mean follow-up period was 49.6 months. Repeated RFA was necessary in 5 tumors due to incomplete ablation. The overall complication rate was 35.8%, of which 96.2% were mild complications. Serum creatinine levels at 12 months after RFA did not differ from those before RFA (1.28 vs. 1.36 mg/dL). Four patients were found to have recurrence at various follow-up intervals, and distant metastasis was not found in any cases. Conclusion RFA appears to be a useful treatment for selected patients with SRMs. Our 4-year follow-up results disclose an excellent therapeutic outcome with RFA, while achieving effective local tumor control.
Fuzzy-Based Hybrid Control Algorithm for the Stabilization of a Tri-Rotor UAV

In this paper, a new and novel mathematical fuzzy hybrid scheme is proposed for the stabilization of a tri-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The fuzzy hybrid scheme consists of a fuzzy logic controller, regulation pole-placement tracking (RST) controller with model reference adaptive control (MRAC), in which adaptive gains of the RST controller are being fine-tuned by a fuzzy logic controller. Brushless direct current (BLDC) motors are installed in the triangular frame of the tri-rotor UAV, which helps maintain control on its motion and different altitude and attitude changes, similar to rotorcrafts. MRAC-based MIT rule is proposed for system stability. Moreover, the proposed hybrid controller with nonlinear flight dynamics is shown in the presence of translational and rotational velocity components. The performance of the proposed algorithm is demonstrated via MATLAB simulations, in which the proposed fuzzy hybrid controller is compared with the existing adaptive RST controller. It shows that our proposed algorithm has better transient performance with zero steady-state error, and fast convergence towards stability.
Temperature control can abolish anesthesia‐induced tau hyperphosphorylation and partly reverse anesthesia‐induced cognitive impairment in old mice

Anesthesia is related to cognitive impairment and the risk for Alzheimer's disease. Hypothermia during anesthesia can lead to abnormal hyperphosphorylation of tau, which has been speculated to be involved in anesthesia‐induced cognitive impairment. The aim of this study was to investigate whether maintenance of the tau phosphorylation level by body temperature control during anesthesia could reverse the cognitive dysfunction in C57BL/6 mice.
Shoulder Rotator Cuff Balance, Strength, and Endurance in Young Swimmers During a Competitive Season

Abstract Batalha, NM, Raimundo, AM, Tomas-Carus, P, Barbosa, TM, and Silva, AJ. Shoulder rotator cuff balance, strength, and endurance in young swimmers during a competitive season. J Strength Cond Res 27(9): 2562–2568, 2013—The purpose of this study was to analyze the effects of a competitive swim season on the strength, balance, and endurance of shoulder rotator cuff muscles in young swimmers. A repeated measures design was used with 3 measurements performed during the swim season. A swimmers group (n = 20) of young men with no dry land training and a sedentary group (n = 16) of male students with the same characteristics (age, body mass, height, and maturational state) were evaluated. In both groups, the peak torque of shoulder internal rotator (IRt) and external rotator (ERt) was assessed during preseason, midseason (16 weeks), and postseason (32 weeks). Concentric action at 60 and 180°·s−1 was measured using an isokinetic dynamometer. The ER/IR strength ratios and endurance ratios were also obtained. At 60°·s−1, there were significant training effects in the IRt strength and ER/IR ratio on both shoulders. This trend was the same throughout the competitive season. The same trend was present at 180°·s−1 because the training effects are seen primarily in IRt and ER/IR ratios. With respect to endurance ratios, within-group data were similar in ERt and IRt for both shoulders, with no significant differences between moments. However, between-group differences occurred mostly in the IRt. Results suggest that a competitive swim season favors the increase of muscular imbalances in the shoulder rotators of young competitive swimmers, mainly because of increased levels of IRt strength and endurance that are proportionally larger than those of their antagonists. A compensatory strength training program should be considered.
Support for cross-domain composition of embedded systems using MARTE models

Embedded systems have evolved from tailormade systems developed by specialists to artefacts built from complex software/hardware components with many extra-functional concerns. Ubiquity of embedded devices demands other facets such as security and safety to be brought to the forefront. At the same time, cost efficiency dictates building systems from reusable building blocks. However, integration of extra-functional building blocks comes with a certain resource overhead that must be taken into consideration while designing resource-constrained embedded systems. This paper builds on the premise that functional models can be extended with platform modelling to help the application engineers to select the right extra-functional building blocks while accounting for performance implications of their integration. We define a UML profile relating it to relevant parts of the MARTE profile in order to capture the performance analysis results for a reusable building block, and a generic notion of model-based compatibility analysis for platform models. Additionally, our approach rests on creation of ontologies to store MARTE descriptions of hardware components, and is supported by a MagicDraw plugin developed for capturing the analysis results and performing the compatibility analysis.
Sirt1 Inhibits Oxidative Stress in Vascular Endothelial Cells

The vascular endothelium is a layer of cells lining the inner surface of vessels, serving as a barrier that mediates microenvironment homeostasis. Deterioration of either the structure or function of endothelial cells (ECs) results in a variety of cardiovascular diseases. Previous studies have shown that reactive oxygen species (ROS) is a key factor that contributes to the impairment of ECs and the subsequent endothelial dysfunction. The longevity regulator Sirt1 is a NAD+-dependent deacetylase that has a potential antioxidative stress activity in vascular ECs. The mechanisms underlying the protective effects involve Sirt1/FOXOs, Sirt1/NF-κB, Sirt1/NOX, Sirt1/SOD, and Sirt1/eNOs pathways. In this review, we summarize the most recent reports in this field to recapitulate the potent mechanisms involving the protective role of Sirt1 in oxidative stress and to highlight the beneficial effects of Sirt1 on cardiovascular functions.
Capacity Evaluation of DF Protocols for OFDMA Infrastructure Relay Links

We consider a downlink OFDMA transmission system in which an infrastructure-based relay node is deployed for extending the coverage of a base station. Focusing on decode-andforward (DF) operation, we study how different relay functionalities affect the system performance. The functionalities include fixed or adaptive subcarrier pairing, information redistribution, buffering, and adjustment of the time shares allocated for the two hops. In particular, it is of great interest for system design to be able to evaluate the performance gains due to each functionality, because they come at the expense of increased complexity and cost of the relay architecture. The main contribution of the paper is to analyze the performance of the proposed protocols by deriving new closed-form expressions for the average end-to-end capacity. The calculated expressions facilitate the performance comparison between the different functionalities.
Arabic Static and Dynamic Gestures Recognition Using Leap Motion

Across the world, several millions of people use sign language as their main way of communication with their society, daily they face a lot of obstacles with their families, teachers, neighbours, employers. According to the most recent statistics of World Health Organization, there are 360 million persons in the world with disabling hearing loss i.e. (5.3% of the world’s population), around 13 million in the Middle East. Hence, the development of automated systems capable of translating sign languages into words and sentences becomes a necessity. We propose a model to recognize both of static gestures like numbers, letters, . etc and dynamic gestures which includes movement and motion in performing the signs. Additionally, we propose a segmentation method in order to segment a sequence of continuous signs in real time based on tracking the palm velocity and this is useful in translating not only pre-segmented signs but also continuous sentences. We use an affordable and compact device called Leap Motion controller, which detects and tracks the hands' and fingers' motion and position in an accurate manner. The proposed model applies several machine learning algorithms as Support Vector Machine (SVM), K- Nearest Neighbour (KNN), Artificial Neural Network (ANN) and Dynamic Time Wrapping (DTW) depending on two different features sets. This research will increase the chance for the Arabic hearing-impaired and deaf persons to communicate easily using Arabic Sign language(ArSLR). The proposed model works as an interface between hearing-impaired and normal persons who are not familiar with Arabic sign language, overcomes the gap between them and it is also valuable for social respect. The proposed model is applied on Arabic signs with 38 static gestures (28 letters, numbers (1:10) and 16 static words) and 20 dynamic gestures. Features selection process is maintained and we get two different features sets. For static gestures, KNN model dominates other models for both of palm features set and bone features set with accuracy 99 and 98% respectively. For dynamic gestures, DTW model dominates other models for both palm features set and bone features set with accuracy 97.4% and 96.4% respectively.