Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Inhibition of the Rac1 GTPase protects against nonlethal ischemia/reperfusion‐induced necrosis and apoptosis in vivo

Reperfusion of ischemic tissue results in the generation of reactive oxygen species that contribute to tissue injury. The sources of reactive oxygen species in reperfused tissue are not fully characterized. We hypothesized that the small GTPase Rac1 mediates the oxidative burst in reperfused tissue and thereby contributes to reperfusion injury. In an in vivo model of mouse hepatic isch‐emia/reperfusion injury, recombinant adenoviral expression of a dominant negative Rac1 (Rac1N17) completely suppressed the ischemia/reperfusion‐induced production of reactive oxygen species and lipid peroxides, activation of nuclear factor‐kappa B, and resulted in a significant reduction of acute liver necrosis. Expression of Rac1N17 also suppressed ischemia/reperfusion‐induced acute apoptosis. The protection offered by Rac1N17 was also evident in knockout mice deficient for the gp91phox component of the phagocyte NADPH oxidase. This work demonstrates the crucial role of a Rac1‐regulated oxidase in mediating the production of injurious reactive oxygen species, which contribute to acute necrotic and apoptotic cell death induced by isch‐emia/reperfusion in vivo. Targeted inhibition of this oxidase, which is distinct from the phagocyte NADPH oxidase, should provide a new avenue for in vivo therapy aimed at protecting organs at risk from ischemia/reperfusion injury. —Ozaki, M. , Deshpande, S. S. , Angkeow, P., Bellan, J., Lowenstein, C. J., Dinauer, M. C. , Goldschmidt‐Clermont, P. J., Irani, K. Inhibition of the Rac1 GTPase protects against nonlethal ischemia/reperfusion‐induced necrosis and apoptosis in vivo. FASEB J. 14, 418—429 (2000)
Selective Suppression of Local Interneuron Circuits in Human Motor Cortex Contributes to Movement Preparation

Changes in neural activity occur in the motor cortex before movement, but the nature and purpose of this preparatory activity is unclear. To investigate this in the human (male and female) brain noninvasively, we used transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to probe the excitability of distinct sets of excitatory inputs to corticospinal neurons during the warning period of various reaction time tasks. Using two separate methods (H-reflex conditioning and directional effects of TMS), we show that a specific set of excitatory inputs to corticospinal neurons are suppressed during motor preparation, while another set of inputs remain unaffected. To probe the behavioral relevance of this suppression, we examined whether the strength of the selective preparatory inhibition in each trial was related to reaction time. Surprisingly, the greater the amount of selective preparatory inhibition, the faster the reaction time was. This suggests that the inhibition of inputs to corticospinal neurons is not involved in preventing the release of movement but may in fact facilitate rapid reactions. Thus, selective suppression of a specific set of motor cortical neurons may be a key aspect of successful movement preparation. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Movement preparation evokes substantial activity in the motor cortex despite no apparent movement. One explanation for the lack of movement is that motor cortical output in this period is gated by an inhibitory mechanism. This notion was supported by previous noninvasive TMS studies of human motor cortex indicating a reduction of corticospinal excitability. On the contrary, our data support the idea that there is a coordinated balance of activity upstream of the corticospinal output neurons. This includes a suppression of specific local circuits that supports, rather than inhibits, the rapid generation of prepared movements. Thus, the selective suppression of local circuits appears to be an essential part of successful movement preparation instead of an external control mechanism.
Antecedents to Women's Fear of Rape

Abstract This study assessed the relative merits of sociodemographic variables and psychological variables in understanding women's fear of rape. A comprehensive understanding of the factors involved in women's fear of rape may allow for more effective interventions with women. Four hundred and eleven women, aged 18 years or older participated in the study, which surveyed their fear of rape and experience of rape. In agreement with previous findings, sociodemographic variables contributed significantly but relatively little (13%) to the variance in women's fear of rape. In contrast, psychological factors (perceived likelihood of being raped and perceived severity of consequences) predicted an additional 29% of the variance to this fear. Greater perceived likelihood of being raped functioned as a partial mediating variable between sociodemographic factors of age and relationship status and women's fear of rape. These results are encouraging as psychological models provide more avenues for restructuring such fear and modifying concordant, dysfunctional behaviours. Consequently, these results provide direction to intervention and education programs aimed at reducing women's fear of rape.
Hierarchical approach for scientific document classification

Classification is the grouping of information or objects in predefined labeled categories based on similarities. Exponential growth rates of scientific document collection leads to unmanageable manual classification. Feature extraction is the central prerequisite of automatic document classification. TF-IDF (term frequency-inverse document frequency) is commonly used to express the text feature weight. This paper proposes a new feature weighting method by modifying TF-IDF formula.
Multi-script handwriting recognition with N-streams low level features

The multi-stream paradigm provides an interesting framework for the integration of multiple sources of information. In this paper, we present our multi-script recognition system using the multi-stream formalism to combine low level feature streams. We Analyze how the combination of n streams (n=2,.,4) can improve the recognition performance. Significant experiments have been carried out on two publicly available word databases: IFN/ENIT benchmark database (Arabic script) and IRONOFF database (Latin script). The proposed framework shows interesting results in both cases thanks to the use of low level features in a segmentation free approach which ensure its applicability to various scripts.
Solution to a door crossing problem for an autonomous wheelchair

This paper proposes a solution to a door crossing problem in unknown environments for an autonomous wheelchair. The problem is solved by a dynamic path planning algorithm implementation based on successive frontier points determination. An adaptive trajectory tracking control based on the dynamic model is implemented on the vehicle to direct the wheelchair motion along the path in a smooth movement. An EKF feature-based SLAM is also implemented on the vehicle which gives an estimate of the wheelchair pose inside the environment. The SLAM allows the map reconstruction of the environment for future safe navigation purposes. The entire system is evaluated in a real time simulator of a robotic wheelchair.
Description of the Odin Event Extraction Framework and Rule Language

This document describes the Odin framework, which is a domain-independent platform for developing rule-based event extraction models. Odin aims to be powerful (the rule language allows the modeling of complex syntactic structures) and robust (to recover from syntactic parsing errors, syntactic patterns can be freely mixed with surface, token-based patterns), while remaining simple (some domain grammars can be up and running in minutes), and fast (Odin processes over 100 sentences/second in a real-world domain with over 200 rules). Here we include a thorough definition of the Odin rule language, together with a description of the Odin API in the Scala language, which allows one to apply these rules to arbitrary texts.
Adaptive Clipping for PAPR Reduction in OFDM

A new Technique “Adaptive Clipping” is introduced to reduce the Peak to Average Power Ratio (PAPR) of OFDM system efficiently for wireless applications. In this technique, the threshold for clipping the signal is decided according to the peak size and number of peaks in the OFDM burst signal. A comparison is done between selective clipping and adaptive clipping and the results are shown in terms of Bit error rate (BER) and PAPR. Adaptive clipping offers nearly half a dB reduction in PAPR compared to selective clipping. With proposed adaptive clipping, PAPR of 3 dB is obtained with BER of 10 -4 . For a particular set of signals where there are large number of peak variations, adaptive clipping is more efficient in terms of BER compared to selective clipping. The simulation of adaptive clipping is done with the MATLAB software and the BER is plotted. An IEEE 806.11 standard is used for OFDM signal Transmission.
Productivity Analysis of the Distributed QoS Modeling Language

Model-driven engineering (MDE), in general, and Domain-Specific Modeling Languages (DSMLs), in particular, are increasingly used to manage the complexity of developing applications in various domains. Although many DSML benefits are qualitative (e.g., ease of use, familiarity of domain concepts), there is a need to quantitatively demonstrate the benefits of DSMLs (e.g., quantify when DSMLs provide savings in development time) to simplify comparison and evaluation. This chapter describes how we conducted productivity analysis for the Distributed Quality-of-Service (QoS) Modeling Language (DQML). Our analysis shows (1) the significant productivity gain using DQML compared with alternative methods when configuring application entities and (2) the viability of quantitative productivity metrics for DSMLs.
A Shadow-Overlapping Algorithm for Estimating Building Heights From VHR Satellite Images

Building height is a key geometric attribute for generating 3-D building models. We propose a novel four-stage approach for automated estimation of building heights from their shadows in very high resolution (VHR) multispectral images. First, a building’s actual shadow regions are detected by applying ratio-band algorithm to the VHR image. Second, 2-D building footprint geometries are identified using graph theory and morphological fuzzy processing techniques. Third, artificial shadow regions are simulated using the identified building footprint and solar information in the image metadata at predefined height increments. Finally, the difference between the actual and simulated shadow regions at every height increment is computed using Jaccard similarity coefficient. The estimated building height corresponds to the height of the simulated shadow region that resulted in the maximum value for Jaccard index. The algorithm is tested on seven urban sites in Cardiff, U.K. with various levels of morphological complexity. Our method outperforms the past attempts, and the mean error is reduced by at least 21%.
Exercise Training in Athletes with Bicuspid Aortic Valve Does Not Result in Increased Dimensions and Impaired Performance of the Left Ventricle

Background. Bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) is one of the most common congenital heart disease (0.9%–2%) and is frequently found in the athletes and in the general population. BAV can lead to aortic valve dysfunction and to a progressive aortic dilatation. Trained BAV athletes exhibit a progressive enlargement of the left ventricle (LV) compared to athletes with normal aortic valve morphology. The present study investigates the possible relationship between different aortic valve morphology and LV dimensions. Methods. In the period from 2000 to 2011, we investigated a total of 292 BAV subjects, divided into three different groups (210 athletes, 59 sedentaries, and 23 ex-athletes). A 2D echocardiogram exam to classify BAV morphology and measure the standard LV systo-diastolic parameters was performed. The study was conducted as a 5-year follow-up echocardiographic longitudinal and as cross-sectional study. Results. Typical BAV was more frequent in all three groups (68% athletes, 67% sedentaries, and 63% ex-athletes) than atypical. In BAV athletes, the typical form was found in 51% (107/210) of soccer players, 10% (21/210) of basketball players, 10% track and field athletics (20/210), 8% (17/210) of cyclists, 6% (13/210) swimmers, and 15% (32/210) of rugby players and others sport. Despite a progressive enlargement of the LV (P < 0.001) observed during the follow-up study, no statistical differences of the LV morphology and function were evident among the diverse BAV patterns either in sedentary subjects or in athletes. Conclusion. In a large population of trained BAV athletes, with different prevalence of typical and atypical BAV type, there is a progressive nonstatistically significant enlargement of the LV. In any case, the dimensions of the LV remained within normal range. The metabolic requirements of the diverse sport examined in the present investigations do not seem to produce any negative impact in BAV athletes
Iloprost improves endothelial barrier function in lipopolysaccharide-induced lung injury

The protective effects of prostacyclin and its stable analogue iloprost are mediated by elevation of intracellular cyclic AMP (cAMP) leading to enhancement of the peripheral actin cytoskeleton and cell–cell adhesive structures. This study tested the hypothesis that iloprost may exhibit protective effects against lung injury and endothelial barrier dysfunction induced by bacterial wall lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Endothelial barrier dysfunction was assessed by measurements of transendothelial permeability, morphologically and by analysis of LPS-activated inflammatory signalling. In vivo, C57BL/6J mice were challenged with LPS with or without iloprost or 8-bromoadenosine-3′,5′-cyclic monophosphate (Br-cAMP) treatment. Lung injury was monitored by measurements of bronchoalveolar lavage protein content, cell count and Evans blue extravasation. Iloprost and Br-cAMP attenuated the disruption of the endothelial monolayer, and suppressed the activation of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), the nuclear factor (NF)-&kgr;B pathway, Rho signalling, intercellular adhesion molecular (ICAM)-1 expression and neutrophil migration after LPS challenge. In vivo, iloprost was effective against LPS-induced protein and neutrophil accumulation in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, and reduced myeloperoxidase activation, ICAM-1 expression and Evans blue extravasation in the lungs. Inhibition of Rac activity abolished the barrier-protective and anti-inflammatory effects of iloprost and Br-cAMP. Iloprost-induced elevation of intracellular cAMP triggers Rac signalling, which attenuates LPS-induced NF-&kgr;B and p38 MAPK inflammatory pathways and the Rho-dependent mechanism of endothelial permeability.
FISCO: A Fully Integrated Scheme of Self-Configuration and Self-Organization for WSN

To enable spontaneous communications in wireless sensors networks, both self-configuration and self-organization appear to be two fundamental mechanisms. However, the majority of prior contributions in ad hoc network suffer from the low processing capability, limited storage space, energy constraint and large number of nodes when being applied in wireless sensor networks. Moreover, self-configuration and self-organization have been always considered as two independent mechanisms. The authors believe that this consideration leads to inefficient network and redundant protocol cost. Hence, in this paper a fully integrated scheme of self-configuration and self-organization was proposed. It can better resolve the distributed address allocation using the structure generated by itself with low message overhead. It also provides significant energy savings comparing to other schemes and low latency.
Studies on Calcium and Sodium in Uterine Smooth Muscle Excitation under Current-Clamp and Voltage-Clamp Conditions

The objective of these studies was to define the roles of calcium and sodium in uterine smooth muscle excitation. The double sucrose-gap technique was used for current-clamp and voltage-clamp experiments. It was shown that neither sodium nor calcium alone is capable of supporting excitation in estrogen-dominated uterine smooth muscle. Calcium dependence was explained in part by increased membrane "leakage" current in calcium-free solution and calcium control of the voltage dependence of the early transient conductance. High concentrations of TTX did not affect the magnitude of the peak transient current while La+++, Mn++, and Co++ greatly reduced or abolished it and decreased the steady-state current. From these and other data it was concluded that the regenerative mechanism in uterine smooth muscle has the functional characteristics of a single transient conductance channel whose activation requires the presence of both sodium and calcium. Insensitivity to TTX indicates that the molecular structure of the channel is unlike that in certain sodium-dependent systems, while the effects of La+++, Mn++, Co++, and Ca++ reveal a similar dependence of conductances on extracellular polyvalent cations.
Identification of a Novel Human Granzyme B Inhibitor Secreted by Cultured Sertoli Cells1

Sertoli cells have long since been recognized for their ability to suppress the immune system and protect themselves as well as other cell types from harmful immune reaction. However, the exact mechanism or product produced by Sertoli cells that affords this immunoprotection has never been fully elucidated. We examined the effect of mouse Sertoli cell-conditioned medium on human granzyme B-mediated killing and found that there was an inhibitory effect. We subsequently found that a factor secreted by Sertoli cells inhibited killing through the inhibition of granzyme B enzymatic activity. SDS-PAGE analysis revealed that this factor formed an SDS-insoluble complex with granzyme B. Immunoprecipitation and mass spectroscopic analysis of the complex identified a proteinase inhibitor, serpina3n, as a novel inhibitor of human granzyme B. We cloned serpina3n cDNA, expressed it in Jurkat cells, and confirmed its inhibitory action on granzyme B activity. Our studies have led to the discovery of a new inhibitor of granzyme B and have uncovered a new mechanism used by Sertoli cells for immunoprotection.
Joining of advanced and specialty materials : proceedings from Materials Solutions Conference '98 on Joining of Advanced and Specialty Materials 12-15 October 1998, Rosemont, Illinois

Proceedings from ASM Materials Solutions Conference, Rosemont, Illinois, 12-15 October 1998. The new techniques covered in this volume now make possible the joining of the new advanced and specialty materials. Includes thirty-one papers by noted researchers from around the world Presents examples of the successful application of the new joining technologies in industries ranging from aerospace and nuclear to automotive and cutting tools These new joining techniques can be used to fabricate large and intricate shapes not feasible under previously available techniques. New advanced and specialty materials have been developed recently for enhanced performance under severe temperature and environmental conditions. This volume presents the latest information on joining technologies applicable to these metals and alloys, ceramics and composites. Topics include joining techniques (diffusion bonding, active-metal brazing, transient liquid-phase bonding and friction welding, for example) thermodynamics, kinetics and interfacial reactions joint microstructures and microstructural development at joint/bulk interfaces thermomechanical properties and environmental stability of joints ceramic-metal joints wetting and diffusion examples of application of these joining technologies. Contents: Advanced Joining Technologies Diffusion, TLP, and Direct Bonding Advanced Joining and Characterization Technologies Brazing of Advanced Materials Welding and Weld Characterization Novel and Advanced Brazing Technologies Friction Welding and Characterization.
eview ow does the corpus callosum mediate interhemispheric transfer ? A review

The corpus callosum is the largest white matter structure in the human brain, connecting cortical regions of both hemispheres. Complete and partial callosotomies or callosal lesion studies have granted more insight into the function of the corpus callosum, namely the facilitation of communication between the cerebral hemispheres. How the corpus callosum mediates this information transfer is still a topic of debate. Some pose that the corpus callosum maintains independent processing between the two hemispheres, whereas others say that the corpus callosum shares information between hemispheres. These theories of inhibition and excitation are further explored by reviewing recent behavioural studies and morphological findings to gain more information about callosal function. Additional information regarding callosal function in relation to altered morphology and dysfunction in disorders is reviewed to add
The Hsp70 Homologue Lhs1p Is Involved in a Novel Function of the Yeast Endoplasmic Reticulum, Refolding and Stabilization of Heat-denatured Protein Aggregates

Heat stress is an obvious hazard, and mechanisms to recover from thermal damage, largely unknown as of yet, have evolved in all organisms. We have recently shown that a marker protein in the ER of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, denatured by exposure of cells to 50°C after preconditioning at 37°C, was reactivated by an ATP-dependent machinery, when the cells were returned to physiological temperature 24°C. Here we show that refolding of the marker enzyme Hsp150Δ–β-lactamase, inactivated and aggregated by the 50°C treatment, required a novel ER-located homologue of the Hsp70 family, Lhs1p. In the absence of Lhs1p, Hsp150Δ–β-lactamase failed to be solubilized and reactivated and was slowly degraded. Coimmunoprecipitation experiments suggested that Lhs1p was somehow associated with heat-denatured Hsp150Δ– β-lactamase, whereas no association with native marker protein molecules could be detected. Similar findings were obtained for a natural glycoprotein of S. cerevisiae, pro-carboxypeptidase Y (pro-CPY). Lhs1p had no significant role in folding or secretion of newly synthesized Hsp150Δ–β-lactamase or pro-CPY, suggesting that the machinery repairing heat-damaged proteins may have specific features as compared to chaperones assisting de novo folding. After preconditioning and 50°C treatment, cells lacking Lhs1p remained capable of protein synthesis and secretion for several hours at 24°C, but only 10% were able to form colonies, as compared to wild-type cells. We suggest that Lhs1p is involved in a novel function operating in the yeast ER, refolding and stabilization against proteolysis of heatdenatured protein. Lhs1p may be part of a fundamental heat-resistant survival machinery needed for recovery of yeast cells from severe heat stress.