Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Gentiana manshurica Kitagawa prevents acetaminophen-induced acute hepatic injury in mice via inhibiting JNK/ERK MAPK pathway.

AIM To investigate the in vivo hepatoprotective effects and mechanisms of Gentiana manshurica Kitagawa (GM) in acetaminophen (APAP)-induced liver injury in mice. METHODS GM (200, 150 or 50 mg/kg body weight) or N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC; 300 mg/kg body weight) was administrated orally with a single dose 2 h prior to APAP (300 mg/kg body weight) injection in mice. RESULTS APAP treatment significantly depleted hepatic glutathione (GSH), increased serum aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and malonyldialdehyde (MDA) and 4-hydroxynonenal levels, and decreased hepatic activity of glutathione peroxidase (GSH-px) and superoxide dismutase (SOD). However, the pretreatment of GM significantly alleviated APAP-induced oxidative stress by increasing GSH content, decreasing serum ALT, AST and MDA, and retaining the activity of GSH-px and SOD in the liver. Furthermore, GM pretreatment can inhibit caspase-3 activation and phosphorylation of c-Jun-NH2-terminal protein kinase 2 (JNK1/2) and extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK). GM also remarkably attenuated hepatocyte apoptosis confirmed by the terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase mediated dUTP nick end-labeling method. CONCLUSION Hepatoprotective effects of GM against APAP-induced acute toxicity are mediated either by preventing the decline of hepatic antioxidant status or its direct anti-apoptosis capacity. These results support that GM is a potent hepatoprotective agent.
Visualizing membrane microdomains by Laurdan 2-photon microscopy (Review)

Lateral segregation of cell membrane components gives rise to microdomains with a different structure within the membrane. Most prominently, lipid rafts are defined as domains in liquid ordered phase whereas surrounding membranes are more fluid. Here we review a 2-photon fluorescence microscopy approach, which allows the visualization of membrane fluidity. The fluorescent probe Laurdan exhibits a blue shift in emission with increasing membrane condensation caused by an alteration in the dipole moment of the probe as a consequence of exclusion of water molecules from the lipid bilayer. The quantification of membrane order is achieved by the Generalized Polarization (GP) values, which are defined as normalized intensity ratios of two emission channels. GP images are therefore not biased by probe concentrations and membrane ruffles. Furthermore, Laurdan reports membrane structure independently from the lipid and protein cargo of the membrane domains. We give examples where Laurdan microscopy was instrumental in quantifying the formation of condensed membrane domains and their cellular requirements. Moreover we discuss how microdomains identified by Laurdan microscopy are consistent with domains identified by other methodologies and put GP images in the context of current raft hypotheses.
The environmental influence on childhood asthma

The pathogenesis of allergy depends on the interaction between the time and amount of allergen exposure and the presence of nonspecific “adjuvant” factors in genetically susceptible individuals. There seems to be a period in early life during which the individual is particularly susceptible to sensitization, and there are variations in susceptibility over time. Allergens are almost ubiquitous, but the relative importance of the individual allergens varies between regions. In many temperate regions, house‐dust mites used to be absent but are now more common. This may be due to modern methods of building houses. Differences in the prevalence of a particular allergy cannot explain variations in the prevalence of allergy in general. Various environmental factors that may enhance sensitization include tobacco smoke, NO1, SO2, ozone, and diesel particles. Passive smoking is by far the best established risk factor, particularly in early childhood. The indoor environment probably plays a larger role than outdoor air pollution in the development of allergic disease. The mother is not only a source of genetic information, but also an “environmental factor”, as there is a close immunologic interaction between the mother and her offspring, mediated through the placenta and the breast milk, which may affect the likelihood of allergic disease. The concepts of “lifestyle” and “environment” should be expanded to include, for example, dietary changes, the microbial environment, and extensive traveling, as all the currently suspected risk factors taken together can only explain a small proportion of the geographic differences in and increasing prevalence of allergy. The future search for significant environmental factors should be interdisciplinary and be directed toward areas that have not yet been explored, thus giving “lifestyle” a broader interpretation.
Frequency, Size, and Bilateralism of Carabelli's Tubercle

fHE permanent maxillary first molar sometimes has "an elevation of enamel" (Schwartz1) on "the lingual side of the mesiolingual cusp, about midway between its summit and the neck of the tooth" (Broomell2). This protuberance is referred to variously as a "fifth lobe" (Black3), a "supplemental cusp" (Wheeler4), an "accessory cusp" (Sicher%), a "mesiolingual elevation or prominence" (Diamond6), a "fifth cusp" (Broomell and Fischelis7), " Carabelli's tubercle " (Zeisz and Nuckolls%), and " Carabelli 's cusp " (Stillson9).
A Stein Type Lemma for the Multivariate Generalized Hyperbolic Distribution

When two variables are bivariate normally distributed, Stein’s (1973, 1981) seminal lemma provides a convenient expression for the covariance of the first variable with a function of the second. The lemma has proven to be useful in various disciplines, including statistics, probability, decision theory and finance. In finance, however, asset returns do not always display symmetry but may exhibit skewness. This observation led Adcock (2007, 2010, 2014) to develop Stein’s type lemmas for certain multivariate distributions that are consistent with Simaan’s (1987, 1993) setting for asset returns. In this paper, we depart from Simaan’s setting and develop a new Stein’s type lemma in the setting of a mean–variance mixture model for returns. As a particular application, we show that expected utility maximizers select portfolios that are mean–variance–skewness efficient.
CALIBRATING EXTINCTION-FREE STAR FORMATION RATE DIAGNOSTICS WITH 33 GHz FREE–FREE EMISSION IN NGC 6946

Using free–free emission measured in the Ka band (26–40 GHz) for 10 star-forming regions in the nearby galaxy NGC 6946, including its starbursting nucleus, we compare a number of star formation rate (SFR) diagnostics that are typically considered to be unaffected by interstellar extinction. These diagnostics include non-thermal radio (i.e., 1.4 GHz), total infrared (IR; 8–1000 μm), and warm dust (i.e., 24 μm) emission, along with hybrid indicators that attempt to account for obscured and unobscured emission from star-forming regions including Hα + 24 μm and UV + IR measurements. The assumption is made that the 33 GHz free–free emission provides the most accurate measure of the current SFR. Among the extranuclear star-forming regions, the 24 μm, Hα + 24 μm, and UV + IR SFR calibrations are in good agreement with the 33 GHz free–free SFRs. However, each of the SFR calibrations relying on some form of dust emission overestimates the nuclear SFR by a factor of ∼2 relative to the 33 GHz free–free SFR. This is more likely the result of excess dust heating through an accumulation of non-ionizing stars associated with an extended episode of star formation in the nucleus rather than increased competition for ionizing photons by dust. SFR calibrations using the non-thermal radio continuum yield values which only agree with the 33 GHz free–free SFRs for the nucleus and underestimate the SFRs from the extranuclear star-forming regions by an average factor of ∼2 and ∼4–5 before and after subtracting local background emission, respectively. This result likely arises from the cosmic-ray (CR) electrons decaying within the starburst region with negligible escape, whereas the transient nature of star formation in the young extranuclear star-forming complexes allows for CR electrons to diffuse significantly further than dust-heating photons, resulting in an underestimate of the true SFR. Finally, we find that the SFRs estimated using the total 33 GHz flux density appear to agree well with those estimated using free–free emission due to the large thermal fractions present at these frequencies even when local diffuse backgrounds are not removed. Thus, rest-frame 33 GHz observations may act as a reliable method to measure the SFRs of galaxies at increasingly high redshift without the need of ancillary radio data to account for the non-thermal emission.
Enhancement of solubility and antidiabetic effects of Repaglinide using spray drying technique in STZ-induced diabetic rats

Abstract The purpose of the study was to enhance the solubility of the poorly water-soluble drug, Repaglinide using spray drying based solid dispersion technique by different carriers including Eudragit E100, hydroxyl propyl cellulose Mw 80 000 and poly vinyl pyrollidone K30. Optimization of the best formulation was carried out according to drug solubility, release profile, particle size and angle of repose of the solid dispersions. The optimized sample was characterized using X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). The morphology of the dispersions was studied by SEM. The blood glucose lowering effect of spray dried solid dispersions was studied in normal and streptozocin-induced diabetic rats. The results showed that Eudragit E100 in 1:3 ratio could enhance drug solubility by 100-fold. DSC studies indicated a marked change in melting point of the drug possibly due to strong hydrogen bonds between the drug and Eudragit, while FT-IR study did not show obvious interactions between them. According to XRPD results Repaglinide converted to an amorphous state in the spray dried dispersions. Spray dried Repaglinide reduced the blood glucose level significantly during the 8 h of obtaining blood samples in comparison with untreated drug (p < 0.05).
Role of CD28/CD80-86 and CD40/CD154 Costimulatory Interactions in Host Defense to Primary Herpes Simplex Virus Infection

ABSTRACT Dependence of the primary antiviral immune response on costimulatory interactions between CD28/CD80-86 and between CD40/CD154 (CD40 ligand) has been correlated with the extent of viral replication in two models of systemic infection, lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus and vesicular stomatitis virus. To determine the role of these costimulatory interactions in the context of an acute cytolytic, but locally replicating viral infection, herpes simplex virus (HSV) infection was assessed in mice that had the CD28/CD80-86 or CD40/CD154 interactions disrupted either genetically or with blocking reagents (CTLA4Ig and MR1, respectively). CTLA4Ig treatment greatly reduced paralysis-free survival during primary acute HSV infection. This reflected an almost total ablation of the anti-HSV CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell responses due to anergy and reduced cell numbers, respectively. Disruption of CD40/CD154 interactions impaired survival, but the effect was less severe than that observed in CTLA4Ig-treated mice, with reductions observed in the CD4+T-cell but not CD8+ T-cell responses. These two costimulatory pathways functioned in part independently, since disruption of both further impaired survival. The dependence on these costimulatory interactions for the control of primary HSV infection may represent a more widespread paradigm for nonsystemic viruses, which have restricted sites of replication and which employ immunoevasive measures.
Phenotype Specification of Cortical Neurons During a Period of Molecular Plasticity

The transient expression of neuropeptide transmitters is a common feature of the developing cortex. We have now analysed the role of cortical afferents in shaping the neurochemical architecture of rat visual cortex using organotypic cultures. Deafferented cortex monocultures prepared from newborn rats reveal a constant NPY mRNA expression in 6–8% of all cortical neurons up to 90 days in vitro (DIV). In contrast, afferent thalamocortical and corticocortical axonal innervation elicits a progressive reduction in the percentage of NPY mRNA expressing neurons from initially 6–8% in 30DIV cocultures to 2–3% and 3–4% respectively in 60DIV cocultures, which is maintained for up to 90DIV. This phenotype restriction is not observed in only efferently connected corticocollicular cocultures. Further, axonal innervation does not change the percentage of GAD mRNA‐expressing neurons, which remains at 13% in mono‐ and cocultures. When feeding thalamocortical cocultures with monoculture‐conditioned medium between 3–20DIV followed by normal medium up to 60DIV, the phenotype restriction fails to occur in the cocultured cortex. We conclude that cortex‐derived factors secreted into the medium by a monoculture suppress the phenotype‐restricting capacity of the afferents, but only when present within the first 14DIV during the period of formation of axonal connections. To elucidate the nature of the cortex‐derived factors, brain‐derived neurotrophic factor was applied to the medium. When applied for the first 14DIV, it does not prevent the phenotype restriction from occurring. This suggests that epigenetic factors such as axonal innervation and cortex‐derived factors other than brain‐derived neurotrophic factor govern a phenotype decision in neocortical neurons during a period of molecular plasticity.
A comparison on efficiency of domestic and foreign banks in Malaysia: a DEA approach

This study utilizes non parametric Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to analyze and compare the efficiency of foreign and domestic banks in Malaysia. The analysis is based on a panel data set of 9 domestic banks and 12 foreign banks in Malaysia over the period of 2002 - 2009. Intermediation approach is used to define the inputs and outputs in computerizing the efficiency scores. Surprisingly, the findings are inconsistent with most of the findings of previous studies where the foreign banks were outperforming their domestic peers in term of efficiency. Conversely, the finding of this study shows that domestic banks have a higher efficiency level than foreign banks, this imply that domestic banks are relatively more managerially efficient in controlling their costs. The second stage of the empirical results is based on the Tobit model, which suggests that the pure technical efficiency (PTE) of banks in Malaysia is mainly affect by capital strength, loan quality, expenses and asset size.
The Impact of Random Telegraph Signals on the Scaling of Multilevel Flash Memories

This paper describes for the first time the observation of the threshold voltage (Vth) fluctuation due to random telegraph signal (RTS) in flash memory. We acquired large-scale data of Vth fluctuation and confirm the existence of the tail bits generated by RTS. The amount of Vth broadening due to the tail bits becomes larger as the scaling advances, and reaches to more than 0.3 V in 45-nm node. Thus the RTS becomes prominent issue for the design of multilevel flash memory in 45-nm node and beyond
Virtual reality exposure therapy for social anxiety disorder: a randomized controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE This is the first randomized trial comparing virtual reality exposure therapy to in vivo exposure for social anxiety disorder. METHOD Participants with a principal diagnosis of social anxiety disorder who identified public speaking as their primary fear (N = 97) were recruited from the community, resulting in an ethnically diverse sample (M age = 39 years) of mostly women (62%). Participants were randomly assigned to and completed 8 sessions of manualized virtual reality exposure therapy, exposure group therapy, or wait list. Standardized self-report measures were collected at pretreatment, posttreatment, and 12-month follow-up, and process measures were collected during treatment. A standardized speech task was delivered at pre- and posttreatment, and diagnostic status was reassessed at 3-month follow-up. RESULTS Analysis of covariance showed that, relative to wait list, people completing either active treatment significantly improved on all but one measure (length of speech for exposure group therapy and self-reported fear of negative evaluation for virtual reality exposure therapy). At 12-month follow-up, people showed significant improvement from pretreatment on all measures. There were no differences between the active treatments on any process or outcome measure at any time, nor differences on achieving partial or full remission. CONCLUSION Virtual reality exposure therapy is effective for treating social fears, and improvement is maintained for 1 year. Virtual reality exposure therapy is equally effective as exposure group therapy; further research with a larger sample is needed, however, to better control and statistically test differences between the treatments.
Cholesterol modulates open probability and desensitization of NMDA receptors

NMDA receptors (NMDARs) are tetrameric cation channels permeable to calcium; they mediate excitatory synaptic transmission in the CNS and their excessive activation can lead to neurodegeneration. Although these receptors are in direct contact with plasma membrane, lipid–NMDAR interactions are little understood. Using cultured rat cerebellar granule cells, we show that acute and chronic pretreatments resulting in cell cholesterol depletion profoundly diminish NMDAR responses and increase NMDAR desensitization, and also that cholesterol enrichment potentiates NMDAR responses; however, cholesterol manipulation has no effect on the amplitude of AMPA/kainate receptor responses. Diminution of NMDAR responses by cholesterol depletion is the result of a reduction of the ion channel open probability, whereas the increase in receptor desensitization is the result of an increase in the rate constant of entry into the desensitized state. These results demonstrate the physiological role of membrane lipids in the modulation of NMDAR activity.
Plasma protein profiles and fibrinogen concentrations in dogs with experimentally induced Staphylococcus aureus infection

SUMMARY The aim of the present study was to define changes in concentrations of total proteins, albumin (as a negative acute phase protein), globulins and fibrinogen (as a positive acute phase protein) in dogs with experimentallyinduced Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) infection. For that, 9 male mongrel adult dogs were subcutaneously inoculated with S. aureus suspension (5 mL, 10 9 cfu/mL) while 6 control dogs were injected with saline solution and the plasma concentrations of total proteins, albumin, globulins and fibrinogen as well as the albumin/globulins (A/G) ratios were determined immediately before injection (0 hour), 6 hours and 1, 2, 3, 7, 14 and 21 days after. Whereas biochemical parameters remained stable in the controls, proteinemia slightly and significantly increased on day 7 in inoculated dogs. In parallel, globulin concentrations markedly increased and albuminaemia as well as the A/G ratios dramatically declined compared to the controls from day 3 to day 14 and maximal variations were also observed on day 7. On the other hand, the staphylococcal infection induced gradual and marked increases in fibrinogen concentrations since the 6 th hour until the 3 rd -7 th days (maximal values) and thereafter this marker slowly declined. Strong positive correlations were recorded between proteinemia, globulin and fibrinogen concentrations in one hand, and between albuminaemia and A/G ratios in the other hand, and negative associations were evidenced between the 2 groups of parameters in infected dogs. These results confirm that albumin may be considered as a negative acute phase protein and fibrinogen as a positive acute phase protein and show that the fibrinogen concentrations may be useful for the diagnosis and the follow up of a bacterial infection in dogs.
Gated Recurrent Convolution Neural Network for OCR

Optical Character Recognition (OCR) aims to recognize text in natural images. Inspired by a recently proposed model for general image classification, Recurrent Convolution Neural Network (RCNN), we propose a new architecture named Gated RCNN (GRCNN) for solving this problem. Its critical component, Gated Recurrent Convolution Layer (GRCL), is constructed by adding a gate to the Recurrent Convolution Layer (RCL), the critical component of RCNN. The gate controls the context modulation in RCL and balances the feed-forward information and the recurrent information. In addition, an efficient Bidirectional Long Short-Term Memory (BLSTM) is built for sequence modeling. The GRCNN is combined with BLSTM to recognize text in natural images. The entire GRCNN-BLSTM model can be trained end-to-end. Experiments show that the proposed model outperforms existing methods on several benchmark datasets including the IIIT-5K, Street View Text (SVT) and ICDAR.
Comparing Traditional Body Mass Index and Joslin Diabetes Center's Asian Body Mass Index in Predicting Self-Report Type 2 Diabetes

This study examined the predictability of traditional Body Mass Index standards and the Joslin Diabetes Centeri¯s recommended BMI standards for Asian Americans. A sample of 2973 adult Asian Americans aged 45 and older from the 2009 California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) was used. This sample consists of 12.25% of respondents with type 2 diabetes and 87.75% that had neither type 2 or any types of diabetes. Logistic regression was used to estimate the predictability of two the BMI standards and to test for the interaction effect of BMI standards and sex in predicting type 2 diabetes. The results revealed that both traditional and Joslin Diabetes Centeri¯s recommended standards had similar predictability of types 2 diabetes. Both BMI standards of overweight and obesity had a greater association with type 2 diabetes for men than for women. That is, given a similar level of BMI, men tend to report a greater prevalence of type 2 diabetes than women. These findings support caution in changing BMI cut-offs for Asian Americans, and highlight the potential limitations of using BMI as a measure of risk for diabetes in this population.
Individual, family, and community environmental correlates of obesity in Latino elementary school children.

BACKGROUND The prevalence of overweight children has reached epidemic proportions, and affects Latinos youth more than other subgroups in the United States. Given the prevalence of obesity and its economic consequences, community health initiatives have shifted toward primary prevention at younger ages. METHODS Data representing all levels of the ecological systems theory were collected using diverse methods. Participants were children enrolled in K-2nd grade and their parents. RESULTS Overweight children were less active compared to normal weight children. The parents of overweight children provided less instrumental support to engage in activity and set fewer limits on their child's activities. Similarly, parents of overweight children were less likely to control, but more likely to set limits on their child's diet compared to parents of normal weight children. Parents who rated their health more positively and were less acculturated were more likely to have children who were overweight. School and community level variables were not significantly correlated with children's weight. Adjusting for the aforementioned variables, parents' weight status was positively associated with children's weight. CONCLUSIONS Social and structural environments in which Hispanic children are reared may play an important role in determining their risk for obesity and related behaviors. Parents' weight was among the strongest correlate of child weight; however, the extent to which this influence functions primarily through biological or social/structural influences is not entirely clear. The role of school and community factors on child's health practices and body mass index needs to be further examined.