Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Accumulation of Mitochondrial P450MT2, NH2-terminal Truncated Cytochrome P4501A1 in Rat Brain during Chronic Treatment with β-Naphthoflavone

The biochemical and molecular characteristics of cytochrome P4501A1 targeted to rat brain mitochondria was studied to determine the generality of the targeting mechanism previously described for mitochondrial cytochrome P450MT2 (P450MT2) from rat liver. In rat brain and C6 glioma cells chronically exposed to β-naphoflavone (BNF), P450MT2 content reached 50 and 95% of the total cellular pool, respectively. P450MT2 from 10 days of BNF-treated rat brain was purified to over 85% purity using hydrophobic chromatography followed by adrenodoxin affinity binding. Purified brain P450MT2 consisted of two distinct molecular species with NH2 termini identical to liver mitochondrial forms. These results confirm the specificity of endoprotease-processing sites. The purified P450MT2 showed a preference for adrenodoxin + adrenodoxin reductase electron donor system and exhibited high erythromycinN-demethylation activity. Brain mitoplasts from 10-day BNF-treated rats and also purified P450MT2 exhibited highN-demethylation activities for a number of neuroactive drugs, including trycyclic anti-depressants, anti-convulsants, and opiates. At 10 days of BNF treatment, the mitochondrial metabolism of these neuroactive drugs represented about 85% of the total tissue activity. These results provide new insights on the role of P450MT2 in modulating the pharmacological potencies of different neuroactive drugs in chronically exposed individuals.
Epidemiology of syphilis in pregnancy in rural South Africa: opportunities for control

The paper describes the epidemiology, risk factors and impact on pregnancy outcome of syphilis in pregnant women in rural South Africa. Prevalence was determined from laboratory records. A case‐control study of 200 women (50 cases with syphilis) was done to investigate possible risk factors. To determine the impact on pregnancy outcome, and to evaluate the effect of treatment, a retrospective cohort was constructed. Overall prevalence of syphilis was 6.5%; it was highest in the urban antenatal clinic (9%). The odds ratios for syphilis in women gravidity 3–5 compared to gravidity 6 was 3.2 and 2.3 compared to women with gravidity 2 or less. For women with a previous birth, those with a previous perinatal death were 3.2 times more likely to have syphilis after adjusting for other risk factors. Pregnancy outcome was available for 187 women. The adjusted odds ratio of an adverse pregnancy outcome in women with syphilis was 11.8. All still births occurred in women with syphilis. The prevalence of syphilis is high in this rural area and screening should be applied to all women. Although screening was comprehensive, less than half of the detected cases were fully treated and a poor perinatal outcome ensued. On‐site testing for syphilis at the time of booking would allow treatment to start immediately.
Relaxing Mixed-Criticality Scheduling Strictness for Task Sets Scheduled with FP

Current trends in the embedded systems field tend to collocate multiple functionalities upon a single computing platform, the aim being to reduce both the size and cost of embedded systems. Nevertheless, it is unlikely that all functionalities share the same level of criticality, and certification of the system has to be achieved using varying degrees of rigorousness. Typically, a task τi is guaranteed to meet its temporal constraints up to a criticality level that is equal to its own criticality. When those conditions are no longer met, i.e. when another higher priority task τj has its execution time that exceeds its Worst Case Execution Time (WCET) w.r. t. the criticality level of τi, a common approach is to suspend τi. However, in some cases, it may not be necessary to suspend tasks with a lower criticality immediately as they could still be executed without compromising the deadlines of high criticality tasks. As a step towards this aim, we propose a method, denoted Latest Completion Time (LCT), that allows lower criticality tasks to proceed with their execution as long as they do not prevent higher criticality tasks from meeting their deadlines. Furthermore, we show that tasks suspension can only be temporary, and prove that a particular definition of idle times can be used to reset the system's criticality level. Finally, we study the performances of our LCT mechanism w.r. t. the classical mechanism that suspends a task as soon as the system criticality level becomes higher than its own criticality.
Racial disparities in access to health care and preventive services between Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders and Non-Hispanic Whites.

OBJECTIVE Large-scale comparison and comprehensive estimate on the access to health care and preventive services between Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) and Non-Hispanic Whites (NHWs) has not been available. This study examines the racial disparities in access to health care and preventive services between AAPIs and NHWs in the USA. METHODS Cross-sectional study of access to health care and preventive services among AAPIs compared to NHWs, using data from Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System 2005 to 2007 among 908,154 respondents aged > or = 18 years. RESULTS The percentages of AAPIs (aged > or = 18 years) who reported having a personal healthcare provider, a Pap test (women aged > or =18), a fecal occult blood test (aged > or = 50) a sigmoidoscopy/colonoscopy (aged > or = 50), a PSA test (men aged > or = 40), blood cholesterol checked (aged > or =18 yrs), and pneumococcal vaccination (aged > or = 65 yrs) were 76.7%, 83.1%, 27.5%, 47.5%, 35.5%, 74.2%, and 51.2%, respectively. Compared to NHWs, AAPIs were significantly less likely to have a personal health care provider (adjusted odds ratio: 0.69 [95% confidence interval: 0.63-0.75]), a Pap test (0.18 [0.13-0.28]), a fecal occult blood test (0.50 [0.39-0.631), a sigmoidoscopy/colonoscopy (0.64 [0.50-0.81]), a PSA test (0.35 [0.26-0.47]), blood cholesterol checked (0.71 [0.64-0.80]), and pneumococcal vaccination (0.52 [0.42-0.65]). CONCLUSION This study suggests that disparities exist between AAPIs and NHWs in 1 of 4 selected health care access indicators and 6 of 8 selected preventive services.
Thalamocortical control of propofol phase-amplitude coupling

The anesthetic propofol elicits many different spectral properties on the EEG, including alpha oscillations (8–12 Hz), Slow Wave Oscillations (SWO, 0.1–1.5 Hz), and dose-dependent phase-amplitude coupling (PAC) between alpha and SWO. Propofol is known to increase GABAA inhibition and decrease H-current strength, but how it generates these rhythms and their interactions is still unknown. To investigate both generation of the alpha rhythm and its PAC to SWO, we simulate a Hodgkin-Huxley network model of a hyperpolarized thalamus and corticothalamic inputs. We find, for the first time, that the model thalamic network is capable of independently generating the sustained alpha seen in propofol, which may then be relayed to cortex and expressed on the EEG. This dose-dependent sustained alpha critically relies on propofol GABAA potentiation to alter the intrinsic spindling mechanisms of the thalamus. Furthermore, the H-current conductance and background excitation of these thalamic cells must be within specific ranges to exhibit any intrinsic oscillations, including sustained alpha. We also find that, under corticothalamic SWO UP and DOWN states, thalamocortical output can exhibit maximum alpha power at either the peak or trough of this SWO; this implies the thalamus may be the source of propofol-induced PAC. Hyperpolarization level is the main determinant of whether the thalamus exhibits trough-max PAC, which is associated with lower propofol dose, or peak-max PAC, associated with higher dose. These findings suggest: the thalamus generates a novel rhythm under GABAA potentiation such as under propofol, its hyperpolarization may determine whether a patient experiences trough-max or peak-max PAC, and the thalamus is a critical component of propofol-induced cortical spectral phenomena. Changes to the thalamus may be a critical part of how propofol accomplishes its effects, including unconsciousness.
Histologic classification of ductal carcinoma in situ

Prior to the current mammographic era, ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) usually presented as a large mass, was classified morphologically by architecture, and treated by mastectomy. The introduction of screening mammography led to an increase in the incidence of DCIS, a decrease in the average size of DCIS, and an increased emphasis on its heterogeneous nature. Thus, a reproducible and prognostically relevant classification system for DCIS is necessary. The ultimate goal of this classification is proper selection of patients for whom lumpectomy would suffice rather than mastectomy. Features to evaluate include: extent and size of disease, adequacy of resection margins, and histology. While none of the proposed histological classification systems were endorsed at the recent Consensus Conference on the Classification of DCIS, nuclear grade was the most important feature common to most of them. Architecture was given secondary importance. By definition, DCIS is a non‐invasive clonal proliferation of epithelial cells originating in the terminal duct lobular unit, which would be expected to be monomorphic; however, it is the degree of nuclear pleomorphism that is primarily used to separate DCIS into low, intermediate, and high grades. Architecturally, DCIS has been divided into the following types: comedo, solid, cribriform, micropapillary, and papillary. Different architectural patterns and grades may be present in a given particular case; however, some combinations of patterns occur more frequently than others. Interobserver studies have shown nuclear grading to be interpreted with greater consistency than architecture, and nuclear grading methods have correlated with biological and molecular marker studies. Microsc. Res. Tech. 59:92–101, 2002. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Clinical and radiographic outcomes of the use of Low-Level Laser Therapy in vital pulp of primary teeth.

AIM This study aimed to compare the clinical and radiographic effectiveness of Low Level Laser Therapy in vital pulp of human primary teeth. METHODS Sixty mandibular primary molars of children aged between 5-9 years were assigned into four groups: Diluted Formocresol (FC), Calcium Hydroxide (CH), Low Level Laser Therapy (LLLT) and Calcium Hydroxide preceded by Low Level Laser Therapy (LLLT + CH). The clinical and radiographic evaluations were performed at 6, 12 and 18 post-operative months. RESULTS All the groups studied were successful in the clinical evaluation over the follow-up period. At 6 months, the radiographic success rate for FC group was 100%, 60% for CH group, 80% for LLLT group and 85.7% for LLLT + CH group. After 12 months, the radiographic success rate was 100% for FC group, 50% for CH group, 80% for LLLT group and 78.6% for LLLT + CH group. At the 18 months follow-up, 100% of the FC group, 66.7% of CH group, 73.3% of the LLLT group and 75% of the LLLT + CH group. CONCLUSION These findings suggest that Low Level Laser Therapy may be considered as an adjuvant alternative for vital pulp therapy on human primary teeth. Low Level Laser Therapy preceding the use of calcium hydroxide showed satisfactory results.
Blunted Electrodermal and Psychological Response to Acute Stress in Family Caregivers of People with Eating Disorders

Abstract Caring for an offspring with an eating disorder (ED) is associated with high levels of distress, and health problems. Indeed, ED caregivers have to cope with a range of challenges related to their caring role, which represents a chronic stress situation. This tends to alter body homeostasis and caregivers’ health status. This study aimed to analyse the electrodermal reactivity and psychological response to acute stress in ED caregivers compared to non-caregivers. As expected, caregivers showed lower electrodermal (p < .001, η2partial = .269 for SCL and p < .01, η2partial = .214 for NSCRs) and psychological response (p < .05, η2partial = .198) to acute stress than non-caregivers. The findings suggest the existence of physiological adaptation to chronic stress in family caregivers of people with EDs.
Multi-product newsboy problem with satiation objective

Meeting the pro t target is often preferred over maximizing expected pro t in uncertain business environments. Research into the newsboy problem with satiation objective started quite early. However, the progress has been slow, particularly in the multi-product setting. We study the general multi-product newsboy problem with satiation objective. A discrete formulation is adopted. Computational methods for evaluating and maximizing the satiation probability (i.e., probability of meeting the pro t target) are developed. Diculties associated with the conventional continuous formulation are also discussed.
Incremental web page template detection

Most template detection methods process web pages in batches that a newly crawled page can not be processed until enough pages have been collected. This results in large storage consumption and a huge delay of data refreshing. In this paper, we present an incremental framework to detect templates in which a page is processed as soon as it has been crawled. In this framework, we don't need to cache any web page. Experiments show that our framework consumes less than 7% storage than traditional methods. And also the speed of data refreshing is accelerated because of the incremental manner.
Association of TLR4 mutations and the risk for acute GVHD after HLA-matched-sibling hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) has been implicated in the pathogenesis of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). The toll-like receptor (TLR)-4 has been recently identified as a major receptor for LPS. Mutations of TLR4 have been associated with LPS hyporesponsiveness. We hypothesized that TLR4 mutations reduce the risk of acute GVHD in allogeneic marrow transplant recipients. In a preliminary study to determine the frequency of TLR4 mutations and their possible association with GVHD, we tested 237 patients and their HLA-identical sibling donors for 2 TLR4 polymorphisms. All patients received methotrexate and cyclosporine for GVHD prophylaxis. One or more mutants were detected in 10.8% of patients and 10.6% of donors. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to analyze the association between TLR4 mutations and probability (1-sided) of GVHD. The odds ratio (adjusted for advanced disease, total body irradiation dose, and patient age) for development of grades II to IV GVHD when a mutation was present in the recipient was 0.63 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.25-1.60; P = .16). When a mutation was present in the donor, the adjusted odds ratio was 0.88 (95% CI, 0.36-2.17; P = .40). When a mutation was present in both recipient and donor, the odds ratio was 0.72 (95% CI, 0.22-2.32; P = .29). Among 24 patients with TLR4 mutations in either donor or recipient, 4 (16.7%) developed gram-negative bacteremia. Among 213 patients without mutations, 14 (6.6%) developed gram-negative bacteremia (P = .09). The data indicate that a reduced risk of acute GVHD is associated with TLR4 mutations and that TLR4 mutations may increase the risk for gram-negative bacteremia. However, these associations are not statistically significant in recipients of HLA-matched sibling marrow transplants who are prophylactically treated for infections and GVHD. A much larger study population would be needed to confirm the role of LPS in the pathogenesis of GVHD in humans.
High sheep performance on hill country: critical winter management decisions.

The winter has long been recognised as an important period for sheep management on hill country. Despite this, little is known about how farmers manage over this period. A single-case study design was used to undertake a qualitative analysis of the management practices of a high performing hill country farmer. The importance of non-negotiable targets at the start and end of winter for average pasture cover and sheep live weight and condition score was central to the farmer’s consistent high performance. Feed planning was important for ensuring the development of a feasible winter plan and specifying key targets that had to be met at the start of the winter. A critical feature of plan implementation is area allocation and the use of post-grazing residuals to achieve planned animal performance levels. Because hill country farmers face considerable uncertainty in the environment, monitoring, micro-budgeting, and the selection of appropriate contingency plans were critical for ensuring key targets were consistently achieved. Another critical element of the farmer’s management was the minimisation about the mean of the distribution of live weight or condition score of different sheep classes through preferential feeding of younger and/or lighter stock and also the minimisation of the distribution of pasture cover on grazing blocks at set stocking for lambing. The results from this study provide guidelines about the critical decisions hill country farmers need to make over winter in order to achieve high levels of sheep performance. Additional keywords: tactical, feed management, farmer knowledge, decision making, grazing management.
An Action Research to Facilitate Science Teacher Educator in Infusing Environment Education Themes

This paper reports the findings of a study that has attempted to find out the perceptions and classroom teaching practices of Science teacher educator about environmental education (EE) infusion. The study also looked at the process of environmental infusion in Science and associated challenges emerging from it.The research was designed in a qualitative paradigm, within this paradigm, action research model proposed by Retallick (2003) was used. The purposive sampling strategy was used to select research participant. The research participant of this study was a Science teacher educator. Semi-structured interviews, classroom observation were major data collection tools. Thematic approach was used to analyze the data. The findings of the study have been based on pre-intervention, intervention and post-intervention stage. The major findings revealed that at pre-intervention stage, Science teacher educator’s understanding about environmental education was limited. This takes into account only knowledge dimension of environmental issues. Other aspects for discussing environmental issues such as skill development, attitude formation and taking informed action for the solution of environmental problems were missing from his teaching. The research study enabled research participant to develop his capacity in delivering EE concepts confidently. However, environmental infusion was challenging for Science teacher educator because of the nature and complexity of environmental issues. For discussing environmental issues, sound knowledge base is very essential. In the light of the findings, some recommendations for Science teacher educators, curriculum developers and textbook writers have been made.
Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases in Carcinoembryonic Antigen-related Cellular Adhesion Molecule-mediated Internalization ofNeisseria gonorrhoeae *

Neisseria gonorrhoeae can be internalized by mammalian cells through interactions between bacterial opacity-associated (Opa) adhesins and members of the humancarcinoembryonic antigen-relatedcellular adhesion molecule (CEACAM) family. We examined the role of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinases (PI3Ks) in gonococcal invasion of epithelial cell lines expressing either CEACAM1 or CEACAM3. CEACAM3-mediated internalization, but not that mediated by CEACAM1, was accompanied by localized and transient accumulation of the class I PI3K product phosphatidylinositol 3,4,5-trisphosphate at sites of bacterial engulfment. Inhibition of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinases reduced CEACAM3-mediated uptake but, paradoxically, led to an increase in intracellular survival of bacteria internalized via either CEACAM1 or CEACAM3, suggesting additional roles for PI3K products. Consistent with this finding, the class III PI3K product phosphatidylinositol 3-phosphate accumulated and persisted in the membrane of gonococcal phagosomes after internalization. Inhibition of PI3K blocked phagosomal acquisition of the late endosomal marker lysosome-associated membrane protein 2 and reduced phagosomal acidification. Inhibiting phagosomal acidification with concanamycin A also increased survival of intracellular gonococci. These results suggest two modes of action of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinases during internalization of gonococci: synthesis of phosphatidylinositol 3,4,5-trisphosphate is important for CEACAM3-mediated uptake, while phosphatidylinositol 3-phosphate is needed for phagosomal maturation and acidification, which are required for optimal bacterial killing.
Development of a high-speed time-resolved spectroscope and its application to analysis of time-varying optical spectra

The authors have developed a spectroscopic measuring system that is controlled by a microcomputer to analyze a time-varying optical spectrum. A charge-coupled-device (CCD) linear image sensor, which has 128 pixels is used as an optical detector, so that the optical spectrum can be measured quickly in a parallel way. The spectrum to be measured ranges from about 350 to 700 nm in wavelength. All data are digitized and transferred to a microcomputer for storage on a floppy disk, and they can be processed for display in various forms. This system has been applied to the spectrum analysis of light emitted due to a contact arc discharge.
Minimization of Power Loss and Improvement of Voltage Profile in a Distribution System Using Harmony Search Algorithm

As Distribution Systems are growing large and being stretched too far, electric utilities and end users of electric power are becoming increasingly concerned about meeting the growing electric demand. Hence efforts have been made by electric utilities to reduce the losses in the distribution system. In this dissertation work, Network Reconfiguration and Optimal Distributed Generation placement are investigated for power loss reduction and to improve voltage profile of radial distribution system. Here a Meta-heuristic Harmony Search Algorithm was proposed in the literature to solve the Network Reconfiguration and to place Distributed Generation at optimal locations in network which results in minimum loss of the system. The Harmony Search Algorithm (HSA) uses a stochastic random search instead of a gradient search which eliminates the need for derivative information. This dissertation undertakes a work, first to validate the said methodologies and then extend beyond it. In undertaking this validation, it is observed that the HSA method performed well compared to the other methods in terms of the quality of solution. The experimental studies have been carried out on IEEE 33 and IEEE 69 Bus Radial Distribution Systems. From the results obtained, analysis has been done and it is found that Optimal Distribution Generation placement gives better reduction in power loss and improves voltage profile compared to Network Reconfiguration. The combined method of Network Reconfiguration and optimal Distributed Generation placement gives still better result than individual method of Network Reconfiguration and optimal Distributed Generation placement. The following case studies are performed. a) The same systems, i.e, IEEE 33 Bus and IEEE-69 Bus systems are considered for optimal no. of DG’s so that the losses are minimal. The placement of DG’s is based on the Loss Sensitivity Analysis. b) The same systems (without DG’s) are investigated with reactive compensation for reduction of losses. The same locations are considered for placing the compensation. Simulations are carried out with the help of MATLAB 9.0 version programming