Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effects of High Glucose on Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Synthesis and Secretion in Aortic Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells from Obese and Lean Zucker Rats

Type 1 diabetes is characterized by insulin deficiency, type 2 by both insulin deficiency and insulin resistance: in both conditions, hyperglycaemia is accompanied by an increased cardiovascular risk, due to increased atherosclerotic plaque formation/instabilization and impaired collateral vessel formation. An important factor in these phenomena is the Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF), a molecule produced also by Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells (VSMC). We aimed at evaluating the role of high glucose on VEGF-A164 synthesis and secretion in VSMC from lean insulin-sensitive and obese insulin-resistant Zucker rats (LZR and OZR). In cultured aortic VSMC from LZR and OZR incubated for 24 h with d-glucose (5.5, 15 and 25 mM) or with the osmotic controls l-glucose and mannitol, we measured VEGF-A164 synthesis (western, blotting) and secretion (western blotting and ELISA). We observed that: (i) d-glucose dose-dependently increases VEGF-A164 synthesis and secretion in VSMC from LZR and OZR (n = 6, ANOVA p = 0.002–0.0001); (ii) all the effects of 15 and 25 mM d-glucose are attenuated in VSMC from OZR vs. LZR (p = 0.0001); (iii) l-glucose and mannitol reproduce the VEGF-A164 modulation induced by d-glucose in VSMC from both LZR and OZR. Thus, glucose increases via an osmotic mechanism VEGF synthesis and secretion in VSMC, an effect attenuated in the presence of insulin resistance.
Intestinal cell damage and systemic immune activation in individuals reporting sensitivity to wheat in the absence of coeliac disease

Objective Wheat gluten and related proteins can trigger an autoimmune enteropathy, known as coeliac disease, in people with genetic susceptibility. However, some individuals experience a range of symptoms in response to wheat ingestion, without the characteristic serological or histological evidence of coeliac disease. The aetiology and mechanism of these symptoms are unknown, and no biomarkers have been identified. We aimed to determine if sensitivity to wheat in the absence of coeliac disease is associated with systemic immune activation that may be linked to an enteropathy. Design Study participants included individuals who reported symptoms in response to wheat intake and in whom coeliac disease and wheat allergy were ruled out, patients with coeliac disease and healthy controls. Sera were analysed for markers of intestinal cell damage and systemic immune response to microbial components. Results Individuals with wheat sensitivity had significantly increased serum levels of soluble CD14 and lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-binding protein, as well as antibody reactivity to bacterial LPS and flagellin. Circulating levels of fatty acid-binding protein 2 (FABP2), a marker of intestinal epithelial cell damage, were significantly elevated in the affected individuals and correlated with the immune responses to microbial products. There was a significant change towards normalisation of the levels of FABP2 and immune activation markers in a subgroup of individuals with wheat sensitivity who observed a diet excluding wheat and related cereals. Conclusions These findings reveal a state of systemic immune activation in conjunction with a compromised intestinal epithelium affecting a subset of individuals who experience sensitivity to wheat in the absence of coeliac disease.
Multi-rate Equivalents of Cyclo-Static Synchronous Dataflow Graphs

In this paper, we present a transformation that takes a cyclo-static dataflow (CSDF) graph and produces an equivalent multi-rate synchronous dataflow (MRSDF) graph. This fills a gap in existing analysis techniques for synchronous dataflow graphs, transformations into equivalent homogeneous synchronous dataflow (HSDF) graphs exist, but these suffer from an exponential increase in the graph's size. The presented transformation allows the rich set of existing analysis techniques for MRSDF graphs to be applied to CSDF graphs. We show the applicability of this transformation by demonstrating its effectiveness on the problem of optimising buffer sizes under a throughput constraint.
Notch signaling mediates hypoxia-induced tumor cell migration and invasion

Tumor hypoxia is linked to increased metastatic potential, but the molecular mechanisms coupling hypoxia to metastasis are poorly understood. Here, we show that Notch signaling is required to convert the hypoxic stimulus into epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT), increased motility, and invasiveness. Inhibition of Notch signaling abrogated hypoxia-induced EMT and invasion, and, conversely, an activated form of Notch could substitute for hypoxia to induce these processes. Notch signaling deploys two distinct mechanisms that act in synergy to control the expression of Snail-1, a critical regulator of EMT. First, Notch directly up-regulated Snail-1 expression by recruitment of the Notch intracellular domain to the Snail-1 promoter, and second, Notch potentiated hypoxia-inducible factor 1α (HIF-1α) recruitment to the lysyl oxidase (LOX) promoter and elevated the hypoxia-induced up-regulation of LOX, which stabilizes the Snail-1 protein. In sum, these data demonstrate a complex integration of the hypoxia and Notch signaling pathways in regulation of EMT and open up perspectives for pharmacological intervention with hypoxiainduced EMT and cell invasiveness in tumors.
Rpb1 Sumoylation in Response to UV Radiation or Transcriptional Impairment in Yeast

It has been well known that in response to DNA damage that blocks transcription elongation, Rpb1, the largest subunit of RNA polymerase II, is ubiquitylated and subsequently degraded in mammalian and yeast cells. Here we show that in response to UV radiation or impairment of transcription elongation, Rpb1 is also covalently modified by the Small‐Ubiquitin‐like Modifier (SUMO) in yeast cells. Ubc9, an E2 SUMO conjugase, and Siz1, an E3 SUMO ligase, play important roles in Rpb1 sumoylation. K1487, which is located in the acidic linker region between the C‐terminal domain and the globular domain of Rpb1, is the major sumoylation site. Rpb1 sumoylation is not affected by its ubiquitylation, and vice versa, indicating that the two processes do not crosstalk. Abolishment of Rpb1 sumoylation at K1487 does not affect transcription elongation or transcription coupled repair (TCR) of UV‐induced DNA damage. However, deficiency in TCR enhances UV‐induced Rpb1 sumoylation, presumably due to the persistence of transcription‐blocking DNA lesions in the transcribed strand of a gene. Remarkably, abolishment of Rpb1 sumoylation at K1487 enhances UV‐induced phosphorylation of Rad53, especially in TCR‐deficient cells, suggesting that the sumoylation may play a role in restraining the DNA damage checkpoint response caused by transcription‐blocking lesions.
Comparison of the Fractional Exhaled Nitric Oxide Levels in Adolescents at Three Schools Located Three Different Distances from a Large Steel Mill

Objectives. Exposure to ambient metals and air pollutants in urban environments has been associated with impaired lung health and inflammation in the lungs. Fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) is a reliable marker of airway inflammation. In this study, we aimed to compare the FeNO levels of three schools that have different distances from iron and steel industry zone for assessing the effects of heavy metals and air pollution on their respiratory health. Methods. Pulmonary function test and FeNO measurements were evaluated in 387 adolescents in three schools which have different distance from plant. Results. FeNO levels were significantly higher in School I (n = 142; 18.89 ± 12.3 ppb) and School II (n = 131; 17.68 ± 7.7 ppb) than School III (n = 114; 4.28 ± 3.9 ppb). Increased FeNO concentration was related to the distance of iron and steel industry zone in young adults. Conclusion. The FeNO concentrations in school children were inversely proportional to the distance from the steel mill. There are needed some studies that can evaluate the safe distance and legislation must consider these findings.
Whanau: A Sybil-proof Distributed Hash Table

Whanau is a novel routing protocol for distributed hash tables (DHTs) that is efficient and strongly resistant to the Sybil attack. Whanau uses the social connections between users to build routing tables that enable Sybil-resistant lookups. The number of Sybils in the social network does not affect the protocol's performance, but links between honest users and Sybils do.When there are n well-connected honest nodes, Whanau can tolerate up to O(n/ log n) such "attack edges". This means that an adversary must convince a large fraction of the honest users to make a social connection with the adversary's Sybils before any lookups will fail. Whanau uses ideas from structured DHTs to build routing tables that contain O(√n log n) entries per node. It introduces the idea of layered identifiers to counter clustering attacks, a class of Sybil attacks challenging for previous DHTs to handle. Using the constructed tables, lookups provably take constant time. Simulation results, using social network graphs from LiveJournal, Flickr, YouTube, and DBLP, confirm the analytic results. Experimental results on PlanetLab confirmthat the protocol can handle modest churn.
Comparative investigations on the protective effects of rhodioside, ciwujianoside‐B and astragaloside IV on radiation injuries of the hematopoietic system in mice

The aim of this study was to investigate the protective effects of three glycosides (rhodioside, ciwujianoside‐B and astragaloside IV) on the hematopoietic system in the mice exposed to γ‐rays, and to examine the possible mechanisms involved. Mice were pretreated with the glycosides (40 mg/kg, i.g.) daily for 7 days prior to radiation. The survival of mice pretreated with three glycosides after total body irradiation (6.0 Gy) was examined. Peripheral blood leucocytes and endogenous spleen colony counts, colony‐forming unit‐granulocyte macrophage assay, analysis of DNA content and apoptosis rate determination were performed to evaluate the effects of the three glycosides on hematogenesis. The fragmentation of double‐stranded DNA in lymphocytes was detected by the comet assay. The changes in cell cycle were analysed by flow cytometry. Furthermore, the expression levels of Bcl‐2, Bax and nuclear factor‐kappa B (NF‐κB) were measured by western blot and the electrophoretic mobility shift assay. The results showed that pretreatment with all of the glycosides improved survival time and increased the number of leucocytes, spleen colonies and granulocyte‐macrophage colonies in mice exposed to 6.0 Gy γ‐radiation. Rhodioside showed more protective efficacy than both ciwujianoside‐B and astragaloside IV. All three glycosides significantly increased the proliferation abilities of bone marrow cells, and decreased the ratio of cells in G0/G1 phase. Further analysis showed that these three glycosides were able to decrease DNA damage and the increment in the Bax/Bcl‐2 ratio induced by radiation. In summary, the three glycosides showed radioprotective effects on the hematopoietic system in mice, which was associated with changes in the cell cycle, a reduction in DNA damage, and down‐regulation of the ratio of Bax/Bcl‐2 in bone marrow cells exposed to radiation. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Random access to grammar-compressed strings

Let <i>S</i> be a string of length <i>N</i> compressed into a context-free grammar <i>S</i> of size <i>n</i>. We present two representations of <i>S</i> achieving <i>O</i>(log <i>N</i>) random access time, and either <i>O</i>(<i>n</i> · α<sub><i>k</i></sub>(<i>n</i>)) construction time and space on the pointer machine model, or <i>O</i>(<i>n</i>) construction time and space on the RAM. Here, α<sub><i>k</i></sub>(<i>n</i>) is the inverse of the <i>k</i><sup><i>th</i></sup> row of Ackermann's function. Our representations also efficiently support decompression of any substring in <i>S</i>: we can decompress any substring of length <i>m</i> in the same complexity as a single random access query and additional <i>O</i>(<i>m</i>) time. Combining these results with fast algorithms for uncompressed approximate string matching leads to several efficient algorithms for approximate string matching on grammar-compressed strings without decompression. For instance, we can find all approximate occurrences of a pattern <i>P</i> with at most <i>k</i> errors in time <i>O</i>(<i>n</i>(min{|<i>P</i>|<i>k, k</i><sup>4</sup> +|<i>P</i>|} +log <i>N</i>) + occ), where occ is the number of occurrences of <i>P</i> in <i>S</i>. Finally, we are able to generalize our results to navigation and other operations on grammar-compressed <i>trees</i>. All of the above bounds significantly improve the currently best known results. To achieve these bounds, we introduce several new techniques and data structures of independent interest, including a predecessor data structure, two "biased" weighted ancestor data structures, and a compact representation of heavy-paths in grammars.
Erlotinib in combination with pemetrexed for patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC): a phase I dose-finding study.

BACKGROUND Erlotinib and pemetrexed are approved single agents for second-line treatment of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and, in combination, have shown synergistic antitumor activity in NSCLC cell lines. We investigated the safety, pharmacokinetics and preliminary efficacy of combined erlotinib-pemetrexed in patients with refractory advanced NSCLC. PATIENTS AND METHODS A nonrandomized, open-label, phase IB study was performed in patients with advanced NSCLC whose disease had progressed on or following first-line chemotherapy with a platinum-containing regimen or for whom the erlotinib-pemetrexed combination was considered appropriate. Patients received i.v. pemetrexed 500-700 mg/m² every 3 weeks and oral erlotinib 100-150 mg/day. RESULTS Twenty patients were recruited. The most common adverse events (AEs) were rash, diarrhea and fatigue. Serious AEs occurred in eight patients (three treatment related) and there were eight deaths (none treatment related). Dose-limiting toxic effects were not experienced up to erlotinib 150 mg/day plus pemetrexed 600 mg/m². Concurrent administration did not affect pharmacokinetic parameters. Two patients achieved partial responses and nine had stable disease. CONCLUSIONS Erlotinib-pemetrexed combination is well tolerated at doses equal to the licensed single-agent doses (150 mg/day and 500 mg/m², respectively). The good tolerability profile and promising efficacy indicate that this combination warrants further investigation for patients with advanced NSCLC.
Woodpeckers as a potential barrier to the mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins) east of the Rocky Mountains

Insect pest outbreaks have become substantial problems for forest managers as climate change and intensive land management practices affect the landscape. Woodpeckers have been suggested as a natural regulator of insect pest populations and outbreaks in combination with other management practices. The purpose of this study was to investigate the possibility of woodpeckers acting as a barrier to the invasive mountain pine beetle in the pine forests of Alberta. I hypothesized that woodpeckers would have the greatest effect on bark beetles where other food sources were abundant, such as wood borers, where nest sites were available, and where trees were larger and older. I also predicated feeding activity would differ by forest type. Where mountain pine beetle mass attacks were found, I predicated that woodpeckers would function as efficient predators and mortality agents. In four Alberta pine stands, two jack pine and two lodgepole pine stands, bark beetle population surveys were completed, along with the collection of prism cruise data and woodpecker foraging activity on bark beetle attacked trees. A binary logistic regression was used to determine which trees were most likely to have woodpecker foraging activity present, and Fisher’s exact test was used to determine whether woodpeckers fed on mountain pine beetle mass attacked trees preferentially over other trees containing other species of bark beetles. The results of the binary logistic regression indicate that wood borer presence, bordering coniferous forest, and large diameter are the most influential factors in determining whether woodpeckers feed on a tree with bark beetle activity. Tree species and nest site availability were not part of the final model but experimental set-up may have affected these results. Fisher’s Exact test results indicate woodpeckers do feed preferentially on mass attacked trees. These data along with supporting literature indicate woodpeckers could act as a potential barrier to mountain pine beetle expansion and future epidemics east of the Rocky Mountains. In order to promote woodpecker presence in a stand, timber management practices will have to manage for woodpecker habitat characteristics such as food sources during non-outbreak periods, nest sites, and habitat
Market Reaction to Stock Repurchases in Greece

This paper examines open market stock repurchases by Greek firms, using a unique dataset covering the period 2000-2010. Positive and statistically significant cumulative average abnormal returns are observed around the date of repurchase program authorizations. Investors react more to authorizations of initial programs than to subsequent programs. After the implementation of the EU Market Abuse Directive in Greece, investors react more favorably to buyback announcements. The reason for initiating a repurchase program, as stated by the companies, is directly related to the market valuation of the program. The paper identifies the characteristics of firms that announce dividend changes, given the decision to initiate a stock buyback. The regression results appear to support the hypothesis of signaling undervaluation.
How Often Does an Individual Trial Agree with Its Corresponding Meta-Analysis? A Meta-Epidemiologic Study

Objective A meta-analysis may provide more conclusive results than a single trial. The major cost of meta-analysis is the time of waiting before the meta-analysis becomes available and resources spent on consequent trials that may not be necessary. The objective of this study is to address how often the result of a single trial, in particular the first trial, differs from that of its corresponding meta-analysis so as to reduce unnecessary waiting time and subsequent trials. Study Design and Settings A meta-epidemiologic study was conducted by collecting meta-analyses from the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews and five major medical journals. Effect size of a single trial was compared with that of its corresponding meta-analysis. The single trial includes the first trial, last trial and any trial randomly selected from the meta-analysis. Results 647 meta-analyses are included and the median number of trials in a meta-analysis is 5. 233 (36.0%) meta-analyses have the first trial with a statistically significant result. When the first trial is statistically significant, 84.1% (95% CI: 79.4%, 88.8%) of the corresponding meta-analyses is both in the same direction and statistically significant. When the first trial is statistically insignificant, 57.9% (95% CI: 53.2%, 62.8%) of the meta-analysis is also statistically insignificant regardless of direction. The median number of years is 6.5 years from the first to the 5th trial. Conclusion The conclusion of the first trial that the treatment is effective or harmful is mostly likely correct. A statistically significant trial agrees more often with its corresponding meta-analysis than a large trial. These findings imply that particularly in some urgent, life-saving or other critical circumstances for which no other effective methods are available, cautious recommendation based on the significant result of the first trial seems justifiable and could start use of an effective intervention by 5–8 years earlier.
Al-Azhar International Medical

ABSTRACT Background: Cesarean Section incidence increase globally during past three decades. It's also the most frequent major abdominal surgery. Changing surgical glove during cesarean section post placental delivery may decrease bacterial transfer to the wound and decrease wound infection post cesarean section. Aim of the work: To study ,investigate and evaluate the clinical effect of Post cesarean section wound complications after changing surgical gloves Intra-operative post placental delivery in cesarean section and related to Evidence based. Patients and methods: Retrospective study was included 200 pregnant women presenting to the outpatient clinic at El Hussein Hospital and planned to undergo elective cesarean section according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria and had divided into two groups. Results: According to wound complication, among cases, 0 (0%) were Seroma, 0 (0%) were Hematoma, 0 (0%) were Separation, 1 (1%) 0 (0%) were Wound infection, 0 (0%) Skin infection, 0 (0%) were Endometritis, 0 (0%) were Febrile morbidity. Among control group, 5 (5%) were Seroma, 0 (0%) were Hematoma, 10 (10%) were Separation 5 (5%) ، 5 (5%) were Wound infection, 03 (3%) Skin infection, 0 (0%) were Endometritis, 5 (5%) were Febrile morbidity. There was statistically important difference between studied cases as regard seroma, separation, wound infection, skin infection and febrile morbidity. Conclusion: Changing gloves during C-S was linked to a lower risk of infection at the incisional surgical site, as well as a reduction in postoperative febrile morbidity.
Variational Light Field Analysis for Disparity Estimation and Super-Resolution

We develop a continuous framework for the analysis of 4D light fields, and describe novel variational methods for disparity reconstruction as well as spatial and angular super-resolution. Disparity maps are estimated locally using epipolar plane image analysis without the need for expensive matching cost minimization. The method works fast and with inherent subpixel accuracy since no discretization of the disparity space is necessary. In a variational framework, we employ the disparity maps to generate super-resolved novel views of a scene, which corresponds to increasing the sampling rate of the 4D light field in spatial as well as angular direction. In contrast to previous work, we formulate the problem of view synthesis as a continuous inverse problem, which allows us to correctly take into account foreshortening effects caused by scene geometry transformations. All optimization problems are solved with state-of-the-art convex relaxation techniques. We test our algorithms on a number of real-world examples as well as our new benchmark data set for light fields, and compare results to a multiview stereo method. The proposed method is both faster as well as more accurate. Data sets and source code are provided online for additional evaluation.