Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Size isn't everything: The importance of the hindlimb accessory ligament of the deep digital flexor tendon

(ALDDFT) in the hindlimb is frequently forgotten about, not only because the frequency of injury affecting this structure is a fraction of that affecting its bigger sister in the forelimb, but also because of its small size and the description of its variable presence in older anatomical texts. In contrast to this latter commonly held belief, the advent of diagnostic ultrasonography has demonstrated that the accessory ligament is certainly present in every horse, deep to the deep digital flexor tendon on the dorsal margin the tarsal sheath wall in the proximal metatarsal region (Fig 1). While injury to this structure is relatively rare, a case series of 23 cases has been published (Eliashar et al. 2005), which documented 2 different syndromes associated with this structure: an acute desmitis giving rise to lameness, and a chronic manifestation associated with swelling and distal interphalangeal joint flexural deformity. It was not possible based on this case series to determine whether these 2 syndromes were mutually exclusive or whether one could lead to the other. Certainly each syndrome has been identified with no history of the other preceding it. It is strange that such a small structure can contribute, albeit rarely, to such marked clinical problems. A normal ALDDFT in the hindlimb is usually only approximately 2 mm in thickness and <1 cm in width. However, in all clinical cases the ligament can be identified both by palpation and ultrasonography to be considerably enlarged, such that its size was at least equivalent to its forelimb counterpart and hence mechanically was substantially stronger and capable of influencing the mechanics of the limb or causing pain on loading. With injury, the transverse and longitudinal ultrasonographic images from the proximal metatarsal region more closely represent the appearance of a generalised forelimb desmitis (see Fig 1 in Lamas et al. 2008 and compare with Fig 1 here). The cause of these injuries is not well understood; the ALDDFT in the forelimb receives the second highest load of the palmar soft tissue structures (Jansen et al. 1993) but, interestingly, the strain in the ALDDFT did not alter significantly 625
Secure composition of untrusted code: wrappers and causality types

We consider the problem of assembling concurrent software systems from untrusted or partially trusted off-the-shelf components, using wrapper programs to encapsulate components and enforce security policies. In previous work we introduced the box-/spl pi/ process calculus with constrained interaction to express wrappers and discussed the rigorous formulation of their security properties. This paper addresses the verification of wrapper information flow properties. We present a novel causal type system that statically captures the allowed flows between wrapped possibly-badly-typed components; we use it to prove that an example unidirectional-flow wrapper enforces a causal flow property.
CRISPR elements provide a new framework for the genealogy of the citrus canker pathogen Xanthomonas CURRENT

Background: Xanthomonads are an important clade of Gram-negative bacteria infecting a plethora of economically important host plants, including citrus. Knowledge about the pathogen’s diversity and population structure are prerequisite for epidemiological surveillance and efficient disease management. Rapidly evolving genetic loci, such as Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR), are of special interest to develop new molecular typing tools. Results: We analyzed CRISPR loci of 56 Xanthomonas citri pv. citri strains of world-wide origin, a regulated pathogen causing Asiatic citrus canker in several regions of the world. With one exception, 23 unique sequences built up the repertoire of spacers, suggesting that this set of strains originated from a common ancestor that already harbored these 23 spacers. One isolate originating from Pakistan contained a string of 14 additional, probably more recently acquired spacers indicating that this genetic lineage has or had until recently the capacity to acquire new spacers. Comparison of CRISPR arrays with previously obtained molecular typing data, such as amplified fragment length polymorphisms(AFLP), variable-number of tandem-repeats (VNTR) and genome-wide single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP), demonstrated that these methods reveal similar evolutionary trajectories. Notably, genome analyses allowed to generate a model for CRISPR array evolution in X. citri pv. citri, which provides a new framework for the genealogy of the citrus canker pathogen. Conclusions: CRISPR-based typing will further improve the accuracy of the genetic identification of X. citri pv. citrioutbreak strains in molecular epidemiology analyses, especially when used concomitantly with another genotyping method. not have CRISPR loci, as indicated by the absence of cas genes and CRISPR arrays in the genome sequences. Hence, CRISPR loci appear to be restricted to X. citri pv. citri among citrus-infecting xanthomonads and our results demonstrate that the cas1 gene is a useful diagnostic marker for the presence or absence of the CRISPR/Cas system and could be used to differentiate citrus pathogens of the genus Xanthomonas. 43 of
QUALITY MANAGEMENT PRACTICES AND COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE OF SELECTED FOOD AND BEVERAGE MANUFACTURING FIRMS IN LAGOS STATE, NIGERIA

The performance of Food and Beverages manufacturing firms is important to the development of the economy and this has been considered by researchers. In Nigeria, the decline in the performance of this sector in terms of competitive advantage has been noticed which could be as a result of a lack of quality management practices such as leadership behaviour, strategic quality planning, supplier quality management, process management and customer focus. The study investigated the effect of quality management practices on the competitive advantage of selected Food and Beverages manufacturing firms in Lagos State, Nigeria. The survey research design was adopted. The population of the study was 14, 591 top, middle and low-level management employees of the selected Food and Beverages manufacturing firms in Lagos State, Nigeria. A sample size of 491 was determined using the research advisor table. A simple random sampling technique was used. A validated questionnaire was used to collect data. Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficients for the constructs ranged from 0.866 to 0.954. The response rate was 100%. Data were statistically analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics (multiple and hierarchical regression). Findings revealed that quality management practices had a significant effect on the competitive advantage of Food and Beverages manufacturing firms in Lagos State, (Adj.R2 = 0.117; F (5, 485) = 14.025, p < 0.05). The study concluded that quality management practices affected competitive advantage in Food and Beverages manufacturing firms in Lagos State, Nigeria. The study recommends that Food and Beverages manufacturing firms should encourage the adoption of quality management practices to enhance competitive advantage. Article visualizations:
Conference on ‘ Over-and undernutrition : challenges and approaches ’ Plenary Lecture 1 Dietary strategies for the prevention and treatment of obesity

Obesity is a rapidly-growing public health problem that is related in part to the foods available in the eating environment. Properties of foods such as portion size and energy density (kJ/g) have robust effects on energy intake; large portions of energy-dense foods promote excess consumption and this effect starts in early childhood. Studies show, however, that in both adults and children these food characteristics can also be used strategically to moderate energy intake, as well as to improve diet quality. Dietary energy density can be reduced by increasing intake of water-rich foods such as vegetables and fruits. Their high water content allows individuals to eat satisfying portions of food while decreasing energy intake. Filling up at the start of a meal with vegetables or fruit and increasing the proportion of vegetables in a main course have been found to control hunger and moderate energy intake. Data from several clinical trials have also demonstrated that reducing dietary energy density by the addition of water-rich foods is associated with substantial weight loss even though participants eat greater amounts of food. Population-based assessments indicate that beginning in childhood there is a relationship between consuming large portions of energy-dense foods and obesity. These data suggest that the promotion of diets that are reduced in energy density should be an important component of future efforts to both prevent and treat obesity.
The Role Of Adiponectin, TNF- α And Glutathione In The Pathogenesis And Evolution Of Type 1 Diabetes Diabetes, Metabolic Syndrome and Obesity: Targets and Therapy

Introduction: Type 1 diabetes (T1DM) is a chronic autoimmune or idiopathic condition, featuring complex and unique interactions between proteins and enzyme systems. The purpose of the present study is to investigate the role of AdipoQ +276G>T, TNF- α -308G>A, GSTT1/GSTM1 polymorphic variants in the development of T1DM. Materials and methods: The study is designed as a cross-sectional study, involving 72 diabetic cases and 90 controls. Genotyping was carried out according to speci ﬁ c protocols for the above-mentioned polymorphic variants. Results: The G allele of AdipoQ was associated with the development of type 1 diabetes (OR 0.577, CI95% 0.336 – 0.802, p=0.001), similar to the GG and GA genotypes (OR 0.405, CI95% 0.156 – 0.654, p=0.001 and OR 0.623, CI95% 0.401 – 0.855, p=0.004). The G allele of TNF- α was marginally associated with the development of type 1 diabetes (OR 0.789, CI95% 0.579 – 0.956, p=0.005). The presence of the T1 genotype was a strong predictor for type 1 diabetes (OR 3.4, CI95% 1.433 – 6.243, p<0.001). Conclusion: The results of our study suggest that G alleles of AdipoQ and TNF α act as a protective factor in T1DM, while the T1 allele for GST could be considered a risk factor for the development of Type 1 diabetes in our study group.
Chemical composition and mechanisms underlying the spasmolytic and bronchodilatory properties of the essential oil of Nepeta cataria L .

Aim of the study: The study was aimed to investigate the chemical composition and pharmacological basis for traditional use of essential oil of Nepeta cataria L. (Limiaceae) (Nc.Oil) in gastrointestinal and respiratory disorders. Materials and methods: Chemical analysis was carried out through GC-EIMS, 13C NMR and Kovats Retention Indices while pharmacological study was carried out in isolated tissues preparations. Results: Four major components; 1,8-cineol (21.00%), -humulene (14.44%), -pinene (10.43%) and geranyl acetate (8.21%) were identified among the 27 compounds in Nc.Oil. In isolated rabbit jejunum, Nc.Oil, papaverine and verapamil inhibited spontaneous and high K+(80 mM) precontractions, as well as shifted the Ca++ concentration–response curves (CRCs) to right, indicating calcium channel blocking activity. In isolated guinea-pig trachea, Nc.Oil and papaverine inhibited carbachol (1 M) and K+ precontractions with similar potency, while verapamil was more potent against K+. Nc.Oil also potentiated isoprenaline inhibitory CRCs, similar to papaverine, indicating papaverine-like PDE inhibitor activity. In isolated guinea-pig atria, Nc.Oil caused cardiodepression at around 25–80 times higher concentrations, similar to papaverine. Conclusions: These data indicate that Nepeta cataria possesses spasmolytic and myorelaxant activities mediated possibly through dual inhibition of calcium channels and PDE, which may explain its traditional use in colic, diarrhea, cough and asthma. © 2008 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.
The catastrophic dieback of Typha domingensis in a drained and restored East Mediterranean wetland: re-examining proposed models.

We experimentally tested two geochemical models which have been proposed as potential mechanisms leading to the catastrophic dieback of Typha domingensis in constructed Lake Agmon within the drained Hula peatland, northern Israel. An elaborate lysimeter station simulating the conditions imposed by sulphide toxicity and P deficiency models was used to test them experimentally. Rhizosphere pH and redox potential were monitored in situ in real time throughout the summers of 2007 and 2008. A comparative study of redox-reduction simulation was coupled with periodic sampling and analysis of sulphide and other reducing species. N and P were determined in the plant tissues to compute the N:P nutrient limitation index and evaluate nutrient deficiencies. The sulphide toxicity model was not accepted as a viable mechanism because Typha domingensis stands did not show any signs of stress, even when growing in rhizosphere with a sulphide concentration three times that during the actual dieback in 1996. The P limitation model was not supported by the N:P index, which indicated N ( 16) limitation. Since Typha has now returned and is thriving in Lake Agmon and adjacent drainage canals, we suggest a self-thinning mechanism followed by normal succession of macrophytes in this relatively young constructed wetland as the most logical mechanism to explain the observed dieback.
Last interglacial vegetation and climate history from the Portuguese coast

We examine the Atlantic maritime vegetation history from Praia Rei Cortiço, Portugal, to understand natural vegetation patterns and infer climatic conditions during the transition from the last interglacial to early glacial periods. Optically stimulated luminescence dating of quartz grains from sediments surrounding the 1.3‐m‐thick organic deposit date the section to within 120–89 ka. Pollen data were used to reconstruct the vegetation history and determine a range of possible past climates using an ensemble of seven modern analogue approaches. A five‐part environmental sequence transitioned from heath‐pine‐dominated communities, deciduous hardwood forests and pine forests to heathlands surrounded by steppe‐like environments. Mixed temperate and Mediterranean forest elements existed during the last interglacial period at Praia Rei Cortiço, suggesting a proximal limit to these floras. Abundant Fagus pollen (>6%) suggests local beech populations existed within maritime forests of the Iberian Atlantic margin, representing a greater distribution of this genus during interglacial periods than has previously been recognized. Climate reconstructions indicate that variations in moisture availability may have been a major driver of the observed environmental changes.
The Impact of Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms on the Pharmacokinetics of Tacrolimus in Kidney Allograft Recipients of Northern-West, Iran

Purpose: Calcineurin inhibitors (CNIs) such as tacrolimus are a major immunosuppressive therapy after renal transplantation, which inhibit cytokine expression. The pharmacokinetics of such drugs is influenced by cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes, multi-drug resistance-1 (MDR-1), and C25385T pregnane X receptor (PXR). This study aimed to investigate the impact of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) in these genes on the ratio of tacrolimus level per drug dosage (C/D ratio), acute graft rejection, and viral infections. Methods: Kidney transplantation recipients (n=65) under similar immunosuppressive treatment were included. Amplification refractory mutation systempolymerase chain reaction (ARMS-PCR) method was applied to amplify the loci containing the SNPs of interest. Results: Overall, 65 patients with a male/female ratio of 37/28 were included. The mean age was 38±1.75 years. The variant allele frequencies of CYP3A5*3, MDR-1 C3435T, and PXR C25385T were 95.38, 20.77, and 26.92%, respectively. No significant correlations were found between the studied SNPs and the tacrolimus C/D ratios. However, there was a significant difference in the C/D ratios at 2 and 8 weeks in homozygote CYP3A5 *3/*3 carriers (P=0.015). No significant association was found between the studied polymorphisms and viral infections and acute graft rejection (P>0.05). Conclusion: Homozygote CYP3A5 *3/*3 genotype could influence the tacrolimus metabolism rate (C/D ratio).
Oxidative Status of Diabetic Rat Kidneys Administered Ethanol Extract of Cucumis sativus Whole Fruit

Diabetes Mellitus (DM) remains a serious health challenge, globally. Strategies currently employed for its treatment are targeted at ameliorating the different metabolic derangement associated with the disease. The aim of the present study was to evaluate oxidative status of diabetic rat kidneys administered ethanol extract of Cucumis sativus whole fruit. Male Wistar rats (n = 25, mean weight = 215 ± 15 g) were randomly assigned to five groups of 5 rats each: normal control, diabetic control, metformin, and 200 mg/kg body weight (bwt) and 300 mg/kg bwt extract groups. Diabetes mellitus was induced via intraperitoneal injection of Streptozotocin (STZ) at a dose of 50 mg/kg bwt. The diabetic rats were then treated with metformin (50 mg/kg bwt) or the extract (200 and 300 mg/kg bwt, respectively). Treatment lasted 21 days. Indices of oxidative stress were measured in rat kidney homogenate (20 %). The results showed that the activities of catalase, Superoxide Dismutase (SOD), Glutathione Peroxidase (GPx), and Glutathione Reductase (GR) as well as concentrations of Glutathione (GSH) and % GSH were significantly lower in diabetic control group, but they were increased by extract treatment (p < 0.05). However, the concentrations of Nitric Oxide (NO) and Malondialdehyde (MDA) elevated by STZ were greatly reduced after treatment with C. sativus fruit extract (p < 0.05). These results indicate that ethanol extract of the medicinal plant fruit has the capacity to potentiate the antioxidant defense system in rats exposed to the diabetogenic agent, STZ.
Collective Graph Identification

Data describing networks—such as communication networks, transaction networks, disease transmission networks, collaboration networks, etc.—are becoming increasingly available. While observational data can be useful, it often only hints at the actual underlying process that governs interactions and attributes. For example, an email communication network provides insight into its users and their relationships, but is not the same as the “real” underlying social network. In this article, we introduce the problem of graph identification, i.e., discovering the latent graph structure underlying an observed network. We cast the problem as a probabilistic inference task, in which we must infer the nodes, edges, and node labels of a hidden graph, based on evidence. This entails solving several canonical problems in network analysis: entity resolution (determining when two observations correspond to the same entity), link prediction (inferring the existence of links), and node labeling (inferring hidden attributes). While each of these subproblems has been well studied in isolation, here we consider them as a single, collective task. We present a simple, yet novel, approach to address all three subproblems simultaneously. Our approach, which we refer to as C3, consists of a collection of Coupled Collective Classifiers that are applied iteratively to propagate inferred information among the subproblems. We consider variants of C3 using different learning and inference techniques and empirically demonstrate that C3 is superior, both in terms of predictive accuracy and running time, to state-of-the-art probabilistic approaches on four real problems.
Pharmacological Evaluation of Aldehydic-Pyrrolidinedione Against HCT-116, MDA-MB231, NIH/3T3, MCF-7 Cancer Cell Lines, Antioxidant and Enzyme Inhibition Studies

Purpose: The current work was designed to synthesize a bioactive derivative of succinimide and evaluate it for anti-Alzheimer, anticancer and anti-diabetic potentials. Methods: The compound was synthesized by Michael addition of butyraldehyde with N -phenylmaleimide. The synthesized compound was screened for biological potentials including anti-cholinesterase, in-vitro anti-diabetic, antioxidant and anthelmintic potentials. The anti-cholinesterase potential was evaluated against acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BChE), anti-diabetic potential against α -glucosidase, antioxidant potential against ABTS, DPPH and H 2 O 2 and anthelmintic potential against Perethima posthuma and Ascaridia galli respectively. Results: The compound demonstrated signi ﬁ cant AChE and BChE inhibition i.e., 71.34 ±1.92 and 73.42 ±1.92 at the concentration of 1000 µg/mL respectively. Other dilutions exhibited concentration-dependent inhibitory activity against both enzymes. In the MTT assay, the newly synthesized compound was found active against all of the cell lines viz, HCT-116, MDA-MB231, NIH/3T3 and MCF-7 and the highest cytotoxicity potential was observed against the colon cancer cell line (HCT-116) with an IC 50 value of 78 µg/mL exhibiting its highest potential. Moreover, the compound exhibited prominent α -glucosidase inhibitory potentials (79.86±2.54% at 1000 µg/mL) with IC 50 value of 156.23 µg/mL. Further, our test compound exhibited considerable scavenging activity against DPPH, ABTS and H 2 O 2 free radicals with percent inhibitions of 75.84±1.58, 72.85±1.17 and 54.82±1.82 and IC 50 values of 84.36, 139.74 and 752.21 µg/mL respectively. Our test sample exhibited signi ﬁ cant anthelmintic potentials. It demonstrated signi ﬁ cant paralysis and death of the test worms in an unbelievably short time in comparison with albendazole. Conclusion: Going into the detail of all observations, it may be deduced that the newly synthesized succinimide derivative could be an important drug candidate against neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer ’ s disease, cancer, diabetes mellitus and worms. Further detailed studies in animal models are required for in-vivo analysis of the compound.
Towards the AlexNet Moment for Homomorphic Encryption: HCNN, the First Homomorphic CNN on Encrypted Data With GPUs

Deep Learning as a Service (DLaaS) stands as a promising solution for cloud-based inference applications. In this setting, the cloud has a pre-learned model whereas the user has samples on which she wants to run the model. The biggest concern with DLaaS is the user privacy if the input samples are sensitive data. We provide here an efficient privacy-preserving system by employing high-end technologies such as Fully Homomorphic Encryption (FHE), Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) and Graphics Processing Units (GPUs). FHE, with its widely-known feature of computing on encrypted data, empowers a wide range of privacy-concerned applications. This comes at high cost as it requires enormous computing power. In this article, we show how to accelerate the performance of running CNNs on encrypted data with GPUs. We evaluated two CNNs to classify homomorphically the MNIST and CIFAR-10 datasets. Our solution achieved sufficient security level (<inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$> 80$</tex-math><alternatives><mml:math><mml:mrow><mml:mo>></mml:mo><mml:mn>80</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:math><inline-graphic xlink:href="qaisarahmadalbadawi-ieq1-3014636.gif"/></alternatives></inline-formula> bit) and reasonable classification accuracy (99) and (77.55 percent) for MNIST and CIFAR-10, respectively. In terms of latency, we could classify an image in 5.16 seconds and 304.43 seconds for MNIST and CIFAR-10, respectively. Our system can also classify a batch of images (<inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$>$</tex-math><alternatives><mml:math><mml:mo>></mml:mo></mml:math><inline-graphic xlink:href="qaisarahmadalbadawi-ieq2-3014636.gif"/></alternatives></inline-formula> 8,000) without extra overhead.