Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cellular and Network Mechanisms Underlying Spontaneous Sharp Wave–Ripple Complexes in Mouse Hippocampal Slices

The mammalian hippocampus displays a peculiar pattern of fast (≈200 Hz) network oscillations superimposed on slower sharp waves. Such sharp wave–ripple complexes (SPW–R) have been implicated in memory consolidation. We have recently described a novel and unique method for studying SPW–R in naive slices of murine hippocampus. Here, we used this model to analyse network and cellular mechanisms of this type of network activity. SPW–R are usually generated within area CA3 but can also originate within the isolated CA1 region. Cellular synchronisation during SPW–R requires both excitatory and inhibitory synaptic transmission as well as electrical coupling, the latter being particularly important for the high‐frequency component. Extracellular and intracellular recordings revealed a surprisingly strong inhibition of most CA1 pyramidal cells during SPW–R. A minority of active cells, however, increases action potential frequency and fires in strict synchrony with the field ripples. This strong separation between members and non‐members of the network may serve to ensure a high signal‐to‐noise ratio in information processing during sharp wave–ripple complexes.
Andrographolide inhibits prostate cancer by targeting cell cycle regulators, CXCR3 and CXCR7 chemokine receptors

ABSTRACT Despite state of the art cancer diagnostics and therapies offered in clinic, prostate cancer (PCa) remains the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths. Hence, more robust therapeutic/preventive regimes are required to combat this lethal disease. In the current study, we have tested the efficacy of Andrographolide (AG), a bioactive diterpenoid isolated from Andrographis paniculata, against PCa. This natural agent selectively affects PCa cell viability in a dose and time-dependent manner, without affecting primary prostate epithelial cells. Furthermore, AG showed differential effect on cell cycle phases in LNCaP, C4-2b and PC3 cells compared to retinoblastoma protein (RB−/−) and CDKN2A lacking DU-145 cells. G2/M transition was blocked in LNCaP, C4-2b and PC3 after AG treatment whereas DU-145 cells failed to transit G1/S phase. This difference was primarily due to differential activation of cell cycle regulators in these cell lines. Levels of cyclin A2 after AG treatment increased in all PCa cells line. Cyclin B1 levels increased in LNCaP and PC3, decreased in C4-2b and showed no difference in DU-145 cells after AG treatment. AG decreased cyclin E2 levels only in PC3 and DU-145 cells. It also altered Rb, H3, Wee1 and CDC2 phosphorylation in PCa cells. Intriguingly, AG reduced cell viability and the ability of PCa cells to migrate via modulating CXCL11 and CXCR3 and CXCR7 expression. The significant impact of AG on cellular and molecular processes involved in PCa progression suggests its potential use as a therapeutic and/or preventive agent for PCa.
DOB Fuzzy Controller Design for Non-Gaussian Stochastic Distribution Systems Using Two-Step Fuzzy Identification

This paper presents a novel non-Gaussian stochastic control framework for the problem of disturbance estimation and rejection by combining fuzzy identification technology with disturbance observer design. First, fuzzy logic models are used to approximate the output probability density functions (PDFs) of non-Gaussian processes such that the task of PDF shape control can be reduced to a fuzzy weight dynamics modeling and control problem. Next, Takagi-Sugeno fuzzy models with multiple disturbances are employed to describe the nonlinear relations between fuzzy weight dynamics and the control input, in which a novel disturbance-observer-based PI-type fuzzy feedback controller is designed to ensure the system stability and convergence of the tracking error to zero. Meanwhile, the disturbance estimation and attenuation performance as well as the state constrained requirement can also be guaranteed. Moreover, the novel composite observer is constructed by augmenting the disturbance estimation into the full-state estimation. The satisfactory tracking performance and full-state observation effect can be achieved by the designed optimization algorithm. Finally, simulations for paper-making process are given to show the efficiency of the proposed approach.
A case study: developing a remote, rapid, and automated usability testing methodology for on-line books

Describes a case study of a usability test of an online engineering statistics handbook. The case study was conducted with two goals: to determine usability issues affecting the use of the handbook and to determine if a kiosk-based testing methodology would be feasible. The paper outlines the design of the experiment and describes the lessons learned, with respect to the design of online books and the design of kiosk-based tests for online books. The kiosk-based test was conducted twice. In the first instance, usability engineers were present to monitor the experiment. In the second condition, the design team monitored the experiment. The results from the two groups are compared.
Migration and invasion of human prostate cancer cells is related to expression of VEGF and its receptors.

BACKGROUND Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and its receptors are becoming of increasing interest as major regulators of cancer cell growth and metastases. VEGF is expressed by many cancer cells including most prostatic carcinomas. Recently it has also been shown that the VEGF receptors are also expressed by prostate cancer cells and it has been suggested that there may be autocrine regulatory loops that are important in the development and progression of the disease. To date, however, there have only been descriptive studies of expression without correlation of the findings with possible pathophysiologic effects. The present studies were done to determine if there is a correlation between expression of VEGF receptors and the ability of human prostate cancer cells to invade and migrate in vitro. MATERIALS AND METHODS Using RT-PCR we examined the expression of VEGF and its receptors, KDR, Flt-1, NP-1 and NP-2, in 8 human prostate cancer cell lines and then correlated the expression patterns with the ability of these cell lines to invade and migrate through membranes in a modified Boyden Chamber assay in the presence and absence of VEGF. RESULTS Six of the 8 cell lines expressed VEGF. None expressed the Flt-1 receptor and only 2 expressed KDR. The most commonly expressed VEGF receptor was NP-1 (5 of 8 cell lines) and its expression was strongly, and negatively, correlated with the ability of these cell lines to invade and migrate in the assay system used. Cell lines expressing NP-1 had low levels of migration both with and without VEGF compared to those not expressing NP-1. CONCLUSION These studies suggest that variable expression of VEGF receptors in prostate cancer, particularly NP-1, may have important consequences for cell growth, invasion and metastases in this disease.
Memory retrieval in schizophrenia: Evidence from part-list cuing

Schizophrenia patients are known to exhibit episodic verbal memory deficits. Although their neural origin is debated, they have often been compared to the memory problems found in temporal lobe amnesia or frontal lobe dysfunction. Furthermore, it is unclear to what extent such deficits arise at either memory encoding or retrieval. We addressed the issue of retrieval deficits in schizophrenia in a part-list cuing experiment, testing the effect of the presentation of a subset of previously learned material on the retrieval of the remaining items. The part-list cuing procedure generally impairs retrieval but previous work showed that the detrimental effects are more pronounced in amnesic participants than in healthy people, indicating a retrieval deficit under part-list cuing conditions in amnesia. In the present study, schizophrenia patients did not exhibit increased susceptibility to part-list cuing effects and thus showed no increased retrieval inhibition from part-list cuing. Moreover, in part-list cuing, schizophrenia patients did not mirror the pattern found in amnesia, demonstrating a dissociation between amnesia and schizophrenia patients with respect to this particular memory effect. Implications for the neural basis of the part-list cuing effect and of memory disturbances in schizophrenia are discussed. (JINS, 2005, 11, 273–280.)
An Anomaly Detection Approach to Face Spoofing Detection: A New Formulation and Evaluation Protocol

Face spoofing detection is commonly formulated as a two-class recognition problem where relevant features of both positive (real access) and negative samples (spoofing attempts) are utilized to train the system. However, the diversity of spoofing attacks, any new means of spoofing attackers, may invent (previously unseen by the system) the problem of imaging sensor interoperability, and other environmental factors in addition to the small sample size make the problem quite challenging. Considering these observations, in this paper, a number of propositions in the evaluation scenario, problem formulation, and solving are presented. First of all, a new evaluation protocol to study the effect of occurrence of unseen attack types, where the train and test data are produced by different means, is proposed. The new evaluation protocol better reflects the realistic conditions in spoofing attempts where an attacker may come up with new means for spoofing. Inter-database and intra-database experiments are incorporated into the evaluation scheme to account for the sensor interoperability problem. Second, a new and more realistic formulation of the spoofing detection problem based on the anomaly detection concept is proposed where the training data come from the positive class only. The test data, of course, may come from the positive or negative class. Such a one-class formulation circumvents the need for the availability of negative training samples, which, in an in deal case, should be the representative of all possible spoofing types. Finally, a thorough evaluation and comparison of 20 different one-class and two-class systems on the video sequences of three widely employed databases is performed to investigate the merits of the one-class anomaly detection approaches compared with the common two-class formulations. It is demonstrated that the anomaly-based formulation is not inferior as compared with the conventional two-class approach.
Use of MIB‐1 (Ki‐67) Immunoreactivity in Differentiating Grade II and Grade III Gliomas

The grading of glial tumors has traditionally relied on histological assessment, but the distinction between grade II and grade III gliomas is still a subject of debate. We examined the value of the monoclonal antibody MIB-1 (Ki-67) labeling index (LI) in the differentiation between grade II and grade III gliomas by either the 1993 WHO grading scheme or the St. Anne-Mayo grading scale. The MIB-1 LI in the most densely labeled areas from 80 diffuse cerebral hemispheric gliomas was determined. The tumors included 16 grade II, 31 grade III and 33 grade IV gliomas by the WHO scale. The mean Lis (%) were 0.88 ± 0.29 for grade II, 8.752±1.71 for grade III, and 9.12 ± 1.55 for grade IV gliomas. Analysis of variance indicated a significant difference in mean LIs between grades II and III and grades II and IV (p ≤ 0.0001), but not between grades III and IV. Seven tumors were classified differently by the 2 systems (grade III by WHO, but grade 2 by St. Anne-Mayo), and all had MIB-1 LI over 3%. Univariate analysis showed that MIB-1 LI with a cut-off point at 1.5% was a significant prognostic factor (p ≤ 0.0005). High tumor grade (WHO, p ≤ 0.0002; St. Anne-Mayo, p ≤ 0.0006) and patient age >50 (p ≤ 0.0001) were also significant factors for shorter survival. Using Cox Regression Multivariate Analysis, MIB-1 LI>1.5% was a significant independent predictor of shorter disease survival when paired with tumor grade (p ≤ 0.032), patient age (p ≤ 0.0065), or gender (p ≤ 0.0007). We conclude that the MIB-1 immunoreactivity is useful in distinguishing grade II from grade III gliomas, and maybe more sensitive in assigning aggressive gliomas to grade III than the St. Anne-Mayo grading system.
High level of tumour protein p53‐induced nuclear protein 1 (TP53INP1) expression in anaplastic carcinoma of the thyroid

Aims: Tumour protein p53‐induced nuclear protein 1 (TP53INP1) is a stress‐induced protein and plays a role in cell cycle arrest and p53‐mediated apoptosis. In this study, we investigated TP53INP1 expression in human thyroid neoplasms. Methods: We immunohistochemically investigated TP53INP1 in 197 cases of various thyroid neoplasms. Results: Normal follicles did not express TP53INP1. All 39 (20 minimally invasive and 19 widely invasive) follicular carcinomas and 20 adenomas were negative for or expressed only low levels of TP53INP1 except for one widely invasive follicular carcinoma. Of 100 papillary carcinomas, only four (4%) expressed high levels of TP53INP1, and the remaining 96 (96%) were classified into the low group. There were no significant relationships between TP53INP1 expression and clinicopathological features of papillary carcinoma. However, 36 of the 38 (94.7%) anaplastic carcinomas expressed high levels of TP53INP1 and the incidence was significantly higher (p<0.0001) than that in other neoplasms. Conclusions: These findings suggest that TP53INP1 plays a significant role in the progression of anaplastic carcinoma or contributes to anaplastic transformation from papillary or follicular carcinoma, which is in sharp contrast to findings in previous in vitro and in vivo studies.
Optic Nerve Heads in Pediatric African Americans Using Retinal Tomography

Purpose. To characterize optic nerve head (ONH) parameters including symmetry between the eyes in healthy African American children using the Heidelberg retinal tomograph II, and to determine if there are associations between these parameters and age, refractive error, or gender. Methods. The ONHs of 146 African American children aged 6 to 17 years without ocular disease were imaged with the Heidelberg retinal tomograph II. Mean values for 11 ONH parameters were determined as was their relationship to age, gender, and refractive error. Interocular symmetry of the parameters was determined. Results. The mean (±standard deviation) disc area, rim area, and cup area were 2.18 ± 0.57 mm2, 1.63 ± 0.40 mm2, and 0.52 ± 0.37 mm2, respectively. The mean linear cup-to-disc (C/D) ratio was 0.45 ± 0.15, and mean cup depth was 0.22 ± 0.10 mm. The mean retinal nerve fiber layer thickness was 0.26 ± 0.07 mm. The ONH parameters were not related to age or refractive error. With the exception of the C/D area ratio and linear C/D ratio, which were greater in boys than in girls, ONH parameters were not related to gender. Most parameters were strongly correlated between the right and left eyes. The average interocular differences in disc area, cup area, rim area, linear C/D ratio, and mean retinal nerve fiber layer thickness were 0.09 ± 0.31 mm2, 0.04 ± 0.22 mm2, 0.06 ± 0.40 mm2, 0.02 ± 0.11, and 0.00 ± 0.06 mm, respectively. Conclusions. ONH parameters were not related to age and refractive error, and only C/D area ratio and linear C/D ratio were greater in boys than girls in a clinical sample of African American children. These measures of normative ONH parameters and range of interocular differences may be helpful in clinical pediatric eye care to facilitate identification of African American children with abnormal optic discs.
Validation of the Ottawa prognostic score for the prediction of recurrent venous thromboembolism in patients with cancer‐associated thrombosis

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Power System Load Flow Analysis using Microsoft Excel

This paper presents the design and development of a Microsoft Excel based Power System Load Flow Analysis (MSEBPSLF) tool and its application for system planning and operation. This is a simple desktop tool which provides an interactive and simplified interface for users to store different systems with different operating conditions and then to observe the response of the system. Four different load flow algorithms have been implemented to provide wider choice for the users. All intermediate numerical results are made available for verification purposes. End results are verified and benchmarked with standard applications such as PSS/E, PowerWorld, InterPSS etc. The standard IEEE 14-bus system is provided with the spreadsheet to provide a head start for users.
Australia’s Savanna Herbivores: Bioclimatic Distributions and an Assessment of the Potential Impact of Regional Climate Change

The future impacts of climate change are predicted to significantly affect the survival of many species. Recent studies indicate that even species that are relatively mobile and/or have large geographic ranges may be at risk of range contractions or extinction. An ecologically and evolutionary significant group of mammals that has been largely overlooked in this research is Australia’s large marsupial herbivores, the macropodids (kangaroos). The aims of our investigation were to define and compare the climatic conditions that influence the current distributions of four sympatric large macropodids in northern Australia (Macropus antilopinus, Macropus robustus, Macropus giganteus, and Macropus rufus) and to predict the potential future impact of climate change on these species. Our results suggest that contemporary distributions of these large macropodids are associated with well‐defined climatic gradients (tropical and temperate conditions) and that climatic seasonality is also important. Bioclimatic modeling predicted an average reduction in northern Australian macropodid distributions of 48% ± 16.4% in response to increases of 2.0°C. At this temperature, the distribution of M. antilopinus was reduced by 89% ± 0.4%. We predict that increases of 6.0°C may cause severe range reductions for all four macropodids (96% ± 2.1%) in northern Australia, and this range reduction may result in the extinction of M. antilopinus.
Regulatory responses to excess zinc ingestion in growing rats

The growth of weaning piglets is effectively improved by feeding a high-Zn diet (3000 mg Zn/kg of diet). The present study examined whether feeding a diet supplemented with Zn (1016–3000 mg/kg) for 10 d induces growth benefits in rats. In addition, tissue weight, Zn content of tissues and expression of Zn transporters were examined in these rats. Zn supplementation did not significantly increase body weight. Breaking line model analyses indicated that the weight of the pancreas, the organ most sensitive to excess Zn, significantly decreased with increasing Zn intake beyond 15·2 mg/d. Excess Zn has been suggested to accumulate in the liver, kidney and bone in order to protect the pancreas. Zn concentrations in the plasma, liver, kidney and femur increased with increasing Zn intake up to approximately 30 mg/d, whereas those in the pancreas increased up to 8·4 mg/d and decreased by Zn intake beyond 8·4 mg/d. The expression levels of the Zn transporters Zip4 and ZnT1 in the intestinal epithelium were significantly lower in rats fed a diet supplemented with 1016 mg/kg Zn compared to those fed the basal diet. The present study reveals that (1) excess Zn intake does not accelerate growth in rats, but is detrimental to the pancreas, (2) the excess Zn is effectively accumulated in the liver, kidney and bone, without sufficient protection of the pancreas and (3) expression of Zn transporters is down-regulated in response to excess Zn intake.
The human metapneumovirus: a case series and review of the literature

S. Shahda, W.G. Carlos, P.J. Kiel, B.A. Khan, C.A. Hage. The human metapneumovirus: a case series and review of the literature Transpl Infect Dis 2011: 13: 324–328. All rights reserved
The Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service Ocean State Report

ABSTRACT The Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service (CMEMS) Ocean State Report (OSR) provides an annual report of the state of the global ocean and European regional seas for policy and decision-makers with the additional aim of increasing general public awareness about the status of, and changes in, the marine environment. The CMEMS OSR draws on expert analysis and provides a 3-D view (through reanalysis systems), a view from above (through remote-sensing data) and a direct view of the interior (through in situ measurements) of the global ocean and the European regional seas. The report is based on the unique CMEMS monitoring capabilities of the blue (hydrography, currents), white (sea ice) and green (e.g. Chlorophyll) marine environment. This first issue of the CMEMS OSR provides guidance on Essential Variables, large-scale changes and specific events related to the physical ocean state over the period 1993–2015. Principal findings of this first CMEMS OSR show a significant increase in global and regional sea levels, thermosteric expansion, ocean heat content, sea surface temperature and Antarctic sea ice extent and conversely a decrease in Arctic sea ice extent during the 1993–2015 period. During the year 2015 exceptionally strong large-scale changes were monitored such as, for example, a strong El Niño Southern Oscillation, a high frequency of extreme storms and sea level events in specific regions in addition to areas of high sea level and harmful algae blooms. At the same time, some areas in the Arctic Ocean experienced exceptionally low sea ice extent and temperatures below average were observed in the North Atlantic Ocean.
Determination of macrocyclic ellagitannin oenothein B in plant materials by HPLC-DAD-MS: method development and validation.

INTRODUCTION Oenothein B (OeB) is a dimeric macrocyclic ellagitannin occurring mainly in the genus Oenothera. In the literature no validated HPLC method for quantification of this compound has been reported. OBJECTIVE To develop and validate an efficient HPLC method for quantification of OeB in plant materials. METHODOLOGY Extraction conditions of OeB from plant material were optimised. Then the first validated HPLC method for quantification was developed. RESULTS We have shown that ultrasonic-assisted extraction at 40 °C in 15 min using water are the most optimal conditions for OeB extraction. We have quantified OeB in several plant materials belonging to Oenotheraceae family. The lowest amount of OeB was present in Circaea lutetiana herb (27.64 ± 0.26 mg/g) and the highest was quantified in Epilobium hirsutum aerial parts (72.91 ± 1.38 mg/g). CONCLUSION The first HPLC method for quantification of OeB in plant materials was developed and validated. We also for the first time optimised the extraction conditions for OeB.