Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Guanyl Nucleotide and Divalent Cation Regulation of Cortical S2 Serotonin Receptors

Abstract: Computer‐assisted quantitative analysis of radioligand binding to rat cortical S2 serotonin receptors indicates the existence of two affinity states of the same receptor population. Monophasic antagonist competition curves for [3H]ketanserin‐labelled sites suggest a uniform population of receptors with one affinity state for antagonists. Biphasic competition curves of agonists suggest that agonists discriminate high‐and low‐agonist‐affinity forms of the S2 receptors. The affinities of agonists for the high‐and low‐affinity states, and the apparent percentages of high agonist‐affinity forms varies with different agonists. The guanine nucleotides GTP and guanyl‐5′‐imido‐diphosphate [Gpp(NH)p], as well as divalent cations, modulate the proportion of the sites with high affinity for agonists as evidenced by their ability to shift the agonist competition curves for [3H]ketanserin‐labelled S2 receptors. GTP and Gpp(NH)p effects appear to be agonist‐specific, as they do not affect antagonist competition for [3H]ketanserin‐labelled S2 receptors, or [3H]ketanserin binding to S2 receptors. ATP and ADP have little or no effect on the binding properties of S2serotonin receptors, whereas GDP is less potent than GTP. The presence of these specific nucleotide effects are the first evidence suggesting involvement of a guanine nucleotide‐binding protein in the mechanism of agonist interaction with the S, serotonin receptor. In general, the binding properties of [3H]ketanserin‐labelled S2 serotonin receptors strongly resemble those of adenylate‐cyclase coupled receptors such as the β‐adrenergic, the α2‐receptor, and the D‐2 dopamine receptor. This may indicate the S2 serotonin receptor is coupled to adenylate cyclase activity, through a GTP binding protein.
Standalone CMAC Control System With Online Learning Ability

A cerebellar model articulation controller (CMAC) control system, which contains only one single-input controller implemented by a differentiable CMAC, is proposed in this paper. In the proposed scheme, the CMAC controller is solely used to control the plant, and no conventional controller is needed. Without a preliminary offline learning, the single-input CMAC controller can provide the control effort to the plant at each online learning step. To train the differentiable CMAC online, the gradient descent algorithm is employed to derive the learning rules. The sensitivity of the plant, with respect to the input, is approximated by a simple formula so that the learning rules can be applied to unknown plants. Moreover, based on a discrete-type Lyapunov function, conditions on the learning rates guaranteeing the convergence of the output error are derived in this paper. Finally, simulations on controlling three different plants are given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed controller.
The Natural History of Smoking Cessation Among Medical Patients in a Smoke-Free Hospital

Our purpose was to determine the frequency and predictors of quitting smoking among patients hospitalized on the medical services of a smoke-free hospital. All smokers admitted to the medical services of a single university teaching hospital were eligible and 129 patients were enrolled. A questionnaire detailing demographic information, stages of change, smoking behavior while hospitalized, and intention to remain abstinent on discharge was administered. The primary discharge diagnosis was obtained from the medical record. Patients were followed at 3- and 6-month intervals for continuous abstinence, with expired carbon monoxide confirmation at 6 months. A total of 7% of smoking patients receiving usual medical care were continuously abstinent at 6 months. Of those who relapsed, 45% did so by the time of discharge, 18% within the first week, 20% between 1 week and 3 months, and 10% between 3 and 6 months after discharge. All patients who were abstinent at 6 months had been admitted for coronary artery disease (CAD). Nine of the 38 patients with CAD were abstinent, versus none of 93 with another diagnosis (p < .001). Smokers admitted to a smoke-free hospital had a high rate of relapse, especially early after discharge. Patients admitted for CAD had a greater likelihood of successfully quitting. Designing hospital-based smoking cessation interventions with a focus on early relapse prevention may help improve smoking cessation rates.
The “bit-less” corpse or mannequin manqué: South African Great War poetic embodiment 1914-1918

ABSTRACT In this article, I discuss South African Great War1 poetry within a psychoanalytical, postcolonial and poststructuralist framework. This body of poems has never been analysed and reveals the embodiment of blackness, whiteness, masculinity, colonialism and empire during the early twentieth-century South Africa. Essentially, it is the poetry that rhythmically murmurs about the relationship between life and death, object and abject, as well as suffering and loss in the nascent Union of South Africa. The war poets could only through concrete language “re-member(ed)” (Christie 2007: 237) or “mannequin” the decomposing corpse, the abject leftover thing of war experience. This was done bit by bit through words in order to flesh out the decomposing corpse: Kristeva's “word flesh” (Harrington 1998: 141). It was a “chance with meaning” (141) that had to be taken, but it was a leap of faith into the void of naming that is fear itself: words remain unstable euphemistic metaphors of unbecoming (Kristeva 1982). This very act by the war poets to dress the abject in metaphors and metonyms of wholeness reveals the loss inherent in wartime experience.
Chlorination of Bacterial and Neutrophil Proteins during Phagocytosis and Killing of Staphylococcus aureus *

Myeloperoxidase is proposed to play a central role in bacterial killing by generating hypochlorous acid within neutrophil phagosomes. However, it has yet to be demonstrated that these inflammatory cells target hypochlorous acid against bacteria inside phagosomes. In this investigation, we treatedStaphylococcus aureus with varying concentrations of reagent hypochlorous acid and found that even at sublethal doses, it converted some tyrosine residues in their proteins to 3-chlorotyrosine and 3,5-dichlorotyrosine. To determine whether or not ingested bacteria were exposed to hypochlorous acid in neutrophil phagosomes, we labeled their proteins with [13C6]tyrosine and used gas chromatography with mass spectrometry to identify the corresponding chlorinated isotopes after the bacteria had been phagocytosed. Chlorinated tyrosines were detected in bacterial proteins 5 min after phagocytosis and reached levels of approximately 2.5/1000 mol of tyrosine at 60 min. Inhibitor studies revealed that chlorination was dependent on myeloperoxidase. Chlorinated neutrophil proteins were also detected and accounted for 94% of total chlorinated tyrosine residues formed during phagocytosis. We conclude that hypochlorous acid is a major intracellular product of the respiratory burst. Although some reacts with the bacteria, most reacts with neutrophil components.
Capillarity-driven assembly of two-dimensional cellular carbon nanotube foams

Capillary forces arising during the evaporation of liquids from dense carbon nanotube arrays are used to reassemble the nanotubes into two-dimensional contiguous cellular foams. The stable nanotube foams can be elastically deformed, transferred to other substrates, or floated out to produce free-standing macroscopic fabrics. The lightweight cellular foams made of condensed nanotubes could have applications as shock-absorbent structural reinforcements and elastic membranes. The ability to control the length scale, orientation, and shape of the cellular structures and the simplicity of the assembly process make this a particularly attractive system for studying pattern formation in ordered media.
An Analysis of the Barriers to the Proliferation of M-Commerce in Qatar: A Relationship Modeling Approach

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify and develop a hierarchical model for the barriers affecting the growth of mobile commerce (M-commerce). Based on the model developed, the authors’ objective is to identify those variables that are of strategic nature and are the root cause of the issue.Design/methodology/approach – Variables considered as barriers are identified, and utilizing the interpretive structural model approach, a relationship model is developed. Further, the impact matrix cross-reference multiplication applied to a classification approach is used to analyze the effect and dependence among these factors.Findings – The research in the area of M-commerce in the Arab world and related to the strategic aspect is limited in the extant literature. The present study tries to fill this gap by investigating the variables that inhibit the growth of M-commerce in Qatar. The research shows that there exists a group of barriers having a high driving power and low dependence requiring maximum attention and of strategic importance, while another group consists of those variables that have high dependence and are the resultant actions.Practical implications – There is a growing concern that although the numbers of mobile subscribers are increasing at a very fast pace in Qatar, actual M-commerce activities in the country remain low. The findings of this study can be used to understand the differences between the independent and dependent variables and their mutual relationships. The study would also help the policy makers to develop suitable strategies to facilitate growth of M-commerce in the country.Originality/value – This research was the first attempt to investigate the relationships among the variables inhibiting the growth of M-commerce in a fast-growing economy in a Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region. Given that there is limited research on M-commerce in the GCC context, the study can be viewed as an investigation that provides a good understanding of the variables and their interrelationships affecting M-commerce proliferation.
Associations between ten biological tumor markers in squamous cell cervical cancer and serum estradiol, serum progesterone and smoking.

BACKGROUND AND AIM To study possible associations between selected tumor markers and co-factors in squamous cell cervical cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS Ten biological tumor markers representing different functions in carcinogenesis were diagnosed in 128 cases of squamous cell cervical cancer. These were p53, c-myc, EGFR, COX-2, CD4+, VEGF, E-cadherin, CD44, Ki-67 (MIB-1), and p27. Smoking habits and previous oral contraceptive use were registered. Serum estradiol and progesterone levels were evaluated in 80 women. Each marker was compared to these four variables. RESULTS Highly significant assocations were found between strong c-myc staining (> or = 50%) and increased serum progesterone (p = 0.01), a low EGFR staining (< 20%) and high serum estradiol (p = 0.0007), and an absence of p53 staining and smoking (p = 0.008). There was a association between the absence of p53 and high serum progesterone (p = 0.046). CONCLUSION The study supports a role of progesterone as a promoter of cervical cancer and indicates that smoking is associated with tumor development.
Good and Bad News About the (S, T) Policy

This paper studies the optimization of the (S, T) inventory policy, where T is the replenishment interval and S is the order-up-to level. First, we demonstrate that the previously established joint convexity of the long-run average cost is false. Hence, the optimization is not straightforward. We then point out that the joint convexity concept depends on whether S and T are continuous or discrete variables, and in some situations it may not even be well defined. Nonetheless, we are able to identify several useful properties of the cost function, such as submodularity and coordinatewise convexity. Based on these properties, we develop efficient algorithms to compute the optimal policy for continuous and discrete demands.
uHelp: intelligent volunteer search for mutual help communities

When people need help with their day-to-day activities, they turn to family, friends or neighbours. But despite an increasingly networked world, technology falls short in finding suitable volunteers. In this paper, we propose uHelp, a platform for building a community of helpful people and supporting community members find the appropriate help within their social network. Lately, applications that focus on finding volunteers have started to appear, such as Helpin or Facebook's Community Help. However, what distinguishes uHelp from existing applications is its trust-based intelligent search for volunteers. Although trust is crucial to these innovative social applications, none of them have seriously achieved yet a trust-building solution such as that of uHelp. uHelp's intelligent search for volunteers is based on a number of AI technologies: (1) a novel trust-based flooding algorithm that navigates one's social network looking for appropriate trustworthy volunteers; (2) a novel trust model that maintains the trustworthiness of peers by learning from their similar past experiences; and (3) a semantic similarity model that assesses the similarity of experiences. This article presents the uHelp application, describes the underlying AI technologies that allow uHelp find trustworthy volunteers efficiently, and illustrates the implementation details. uHelp's initial prototype has been tested with a community of single parents in Barcelona, and the app is available online at both Apple Store and Google Play.
Role of Helicobacter pylori infection in aberrant DNA methylation along multistep gastric carcinogenesis

CpG island hypermethylation is frequently found during gastric carcinogenesis. We investigated methylation profiles of p16, LOX, HAND1, THBD, p41ARC, and APC along multistep gastric carcinogenesis and determined their association with Helicobacter pylori infection. Methylation levels in these six genes were evaluated in noncancerous gastric biopsy specimens using quantitative methylation‐specific PCR in 459 patients with gastric cancer (GC), 137 with dysplasia, and 248 controls. Controls were divided into four subgroups sorted by current H. pylori infection status (active vs past or negative infection) and the presence of intestinal metaplasia (IM). In controls, active H. pylori infection significantly increased methylation levels in THBD, LOX, and HAND1 (all P < 0.001), and hypermethylation of THBD, HAND1, and APC was associated with IM. Aberrant DNA hypermethylation was correlated well with activity of H. pylori‐associated gastritis. However, methylation levels in LOX, HAND1, THBD, and p41ARC remained increased in cases with past H. pylori infection compared to those that were H. pylori negative (all P < 0.05). Hypermethylation of THBD, and possibly p16, was significantly associated with GC, regardless of the status of current H. pylori infection (all P < 0.05). These results suggest that aberrant DNA hypermethylation caused by H. pylori‐associated gastritis occurs in a gene‐specific manner along gastric carcinogenesis, which can be persistent even after the disappearance of H. pylori. Aberrant methylation of THBD might provide a link between H. pylori infection and development of GC. (Cancer Sci 2010)
The sinonasal bacterial microbiome in health and disease

Purpose of reviewThe development of culture-independent bacterial DNA sequencing techniques and integration into research practice has led to a burgeoning interest in the microbiome and its relevance to human health and disease. Introduction into the study of chronic rhinosinusitis in the past few years has shaped current thinking on the role of bacteria in the disease process. Recent findingsRich and diverse populations of bacteria inhabit the sinonasal cavity at all times. Decreased bacterial richness and diversity may be associated with disease state and outcomes. SummaryAlthough there is much to be explored, the sinus microbiome appears to have potentially promising roles in many aspects of sinus health and disease.
0 + 1 > 1

It is well known that the nervous system combines information from different cues within and across sensory modalities to improve performance on perceptual tasks. In this article, we present results showing that in a visual motion-detection task, concurrent auditory motion stimuli improve accuracy even when they do not provide any useful information for the task. When participants judged which of two stimulus intervals contained visual coherent motion, the addition of identical moving sounds to both intervals improved accuracy. However, this enhancement occurred only with sounds that moved in the same direction as the visual motion. Therefore, it appears that the observed benefit of auditory stimulation is due to auditory-visual interactions at a sensory level. Thus, auditory and visual motion-processing pathways interact at a sensory-representation level in addition to the level at which perceptual estimates are combined.
Evaluating architectural extractors

One of the goals of reverse engineering a software system is to extract an architectural design from the source code. This paper compares a selection of tools available to perform this architectural recovery. The following tools are examined: Rigi (Muller, 1996), the Dali workbench (Kazman and Carriere, 1998), the Software Bookshelf (PBS) (Finnigan et al., 1997), CIA (Chen et al., 1990) and SNiFF+. This comparison is based on the abilities of the tools to perform data extraction, classification, and visualization. Of the tools evaluated, the Software Bookshelf and the Dali workbench were found to be the most suitable for architectural recovery.
Pr doped bismuth ferrite ceramics with enhanced multiferroic properties

Pr modified Bi0.9−xLa0.1PrxFeO3 (BLPFO-x, x = 0, 0.1 and 0.2) ceramics were prepared by the conventional method based on the solid state reaction of mixed oxides and a detailed study of electrical and magnetic properties of Pr modified bismuth ferrite (BLPFO) is reported. X-ray analysis shows the formation of a bismuth ferrite rhombohedral phase. Pr doping significantly increases the resistivity and leads to a successful observation of electrical polarization hysteresis loops. All the samples have been found to possess a spontaneous magnetic moment at room temperature which increases further at low temperatures. The strong dependence of remnant polarization and dielectric constant on the strength of magnetic field is a direct evidence of magnetoelectric coupling in BLPFO-2 ceramics.
Equity in Canadian health care: does socioeconomic status affect waiting times for elective surgery?

BACKGROUND Waiting times for surgical and other procedures are an important measure of how well the health care system responds to patient needs. In a universal health care system such as Canada's, it is important to determine if waiting times vary by socioeconomic status (SES). We compared waiting times for elective surgery of patients living in low and high socioeconomic areas. METHODS We reviewed the medical charts of all patients who underwent elective surgery at a Canadian academic health centre between 1992 and 1999. Using patient postal codes we assigned SES on the basis of 5 characteristics in the 1996 census data. We compared waiting times for surgery for people from regions in the lowest third (low SES group) with that for patients from regions in the upper third (high SES group). RESULTS On average, patients in the high SES group waited 31.1 days and those in the low SES group waited 29.3 days. When differences in waiting times for 22 common procedures were examined between the groups, only the difference for prostatectomy was statistically significant: patients in the high SES group waited 4.4 fewer days than those in the low SES group. INTERPRETATION We found little evidence that residing in a region in which SES was in the lowest third was associated with longer waiting times for elective surgery.
Nutrition Delivery Affects Outcomes in Pediatric Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome

Background: Malnutrition is prevalent in critically ill children. We aim to describe nutrition received by children with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and to determine whether provision of adequate nutrition is associated with improved clinical outcomes. Materials and Methods: We studied characteristics and outcomes of 2 groups of patients: (1) those who received adequate calories (defined as ≥80% of predicted resting energy expenditure) and (2) those who received adequate protein (defined as ≥1.5g/kg/d of protein). Outcomes of interest were mortality, ventilator-free days (VFDs), intensive care unit (ICU)–free days, multiorgan dysfunction, and need for extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. Categorical variables were analyzed using the Fisher exact test, and continuous variables were analyzed using the Mann-Whitney U test. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression models were used to identify associated risk factors related to these outcomes of interest. Results: In total, 107 patients with ARDS were identified. There was a reduction in ICU mortality in patients who received adequate calories (34.6% vs 60.5%, P = .025) and adequate protein (14.3% vs 60.2%, P = .002) compared with those that did not. Patients with adequate protein intake also had more VFDs (median [interquartile range], 12 [3.0–19.0] vs 0 [0.0–14.8] days; P = .005). After adjusting for severity of illness, adequate protein remained significantly associated with decreased mortality (adjusted odds ratio [95% confidence interval], 0.09 [0.01–0.94]; P = .044). Conclusion: Our study demonstrated that adequate nutrition delivery in children with ARDS was associated with improved clinical outcomes. Protein delivery may have potentially more impact than overall caloric delivery.
Antibiotic prophylaxis and incisional surgical site infection following colorectal cancer surgery: an analysis of 330 cases.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the rate of incisional surgical site infection (SSI) following colorectal cancer surgery in a university hospital and to determine whether duration of prophylactic antibiotic administration can affect the development of this complication. MATERIAL AND METHOD The medical records of 330 patients with colorectal cancer undergoing elective oncological resection between 2003 and 2006 at Siriraj Hospital were reviewed. Patients were divided into two groups according to the duration of antibiotic administration; group A: prophylactic antibiotics were discontinued within 24 hours after surgery and group B: antibiotics administration was extended beyond 24 hours after surgery. Data including rate of incisional SSI were analyzed. RESULTS There were 180 males and 150 females, with a mean age of 63 years. There were 126 patients (38%) in group A and 204 patients (62%) in group B. There was no statistical difference in patient characteristics and tumor-related variables between the two groups, except tumor location. Overall rate of incisional SSI was 14.5%. The rate of incisional SSI was not statistically different between the two groups (group A 11.1% vs. group B 16.7%, p = 0.22). Patients with incisional SSI had a significantly longer hospital stay than patients without incisional SSI (15.9 vs. 8.3 days, p < 0.001). CONCLUSION This present study found the overall rate of incisional SSI following colorectal surgery to be 14.5%. There was no significant difference in the rate of this complication between the two groups. Thus, surgeons should be encouraged to use a shorter duration of antibiotics to prevent the emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacterial infection and reduce hospital expenditure.