Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Increased carbonyl protein level in the stratum corneum of inflammatory skin disorders: A non‐invasive approach

The stratum corneum (SC) is the interface of body and environment, and is continuously exposed to oxidative stress, resulting in carbonyl modification of proteins. We have developed a simple and non‐invasive method to assess carbonyl protein (CP) level in the SC, applied it to various kinds of skin, and revealed a link between the stratum corneum carbonylated protein (SCCP) level and water content in the SC. The purpose of the present study is to examine the SCCP level in inflammatory skin disorders associated with xerosis. Psoriasis vulgaris (PV) and atopic dermatitis (AD) are typical inflammatory skin disorders, of which the stratum corneum shows markedly low water content. SC samples were non‐invasively collected from the lesional and non‐lesional areas of PV and AD by adhesive tape stripping, and their carbonyl groups were determined by reaction with fluorescein‐5‐thiosemicarbazide. The average fluorescence intensity of the SC was calculated as SCCP level. Higher SCCP level was observed in the lesional area of PV as compared with non‐lesional area or healthy control. Lesional area of AD also exhibited higher SCCP level than corresponding non‐lesional area, of which SCCP level was slightly higher than the healthy control. These data suggest the involvement of oxidative modification of the SC protein, at least in part, in generation of xerotic skin in inflammatory skin disorders as well as dry skin in healthy subjects.
Deletion of Lipoprotein PG0717 in Porphyromonas gingivalis W83 Reduces Gingipain Activity and Alters Trafficking in and Response by Host Cells

P. gingivalis (Pg), a causative agent of chronic generalized periodontitis, has been implicated in promoting cardiovascular disease. Expression of lipoprotein gene PG0717 of Pg strain W83 was found to be transiently upregulated during invasion of human coronary artery endothelial cells (HCAEC), suggesting this protein may be involved in virulence. We characterized the virulence phenotype of a PG0717 deletion mutant of pg W83. There were no differences in the ability of W83Δ717 to adhere and invade HCAEC. However, the increased proportion of internalized W83 at 24 hours post-inoculation was not observed with W83∆717. Deletion of PG0717 also impaired the ability of W83 to usurp the autophagic pathway in HCAEC and to induce autophagy in Saos-2 sarcoma cells. HCAEC infected with W83Δ717 also secreted significantly greater amounts of MCP-1, IL-8, IL-6, GM-CSF, and soluble ICAM-1, VCAM-1, and E-selectin when compared to W83. Further characterization of W83Δ717 revealed that neither capsule nor lipid A structure was affected by deletion of PG0717. Interestingly, the activity of both arginine (Rgp) and lysine (Kgp) gingipains was reduced in whole-cell extracts and culture supernatant of W83Δ717. RT-PCR revealed a corresponding decrease in transcription of rgpB but not rgpA or kgp. Quantitative proteome studies of the two strains revealed that both RgpA and RgpB, along with putative virulence factors peptidylarginine deiminase and Clp protease were significantly decreased in the W83Δ717. Our results suggest that PG0717 has pleiotropic effects on W83 that affect microbial induced manipulation of host responses important for microbial clearance and infection control.
Detecting Earning Management: Deferred Taxes vs Accruals: A Pakistani Perspective

Objective: Earning Management has been one of the major areas of accounting research which has received a great attention in the past and also quite recently. Detecting earning management has always been one of the major areas of concern for the researchers. Earnings Management is pervasive. There are a number of models available to Detect and measure the earnings management activity.Methodology: The accrual models are the most used models to proxy the discretionary accruals and the earnings management. The effectiveness of the accrual models is somewhat skeptical at times when researchers found some inconsistencies in results while using the accrual models. & The researchers are still finding some better and effective model that can be used to better measure and capture the earnings management activity. The focus of this study is to find out as to whether a deferred tax as compared to accrual models is more useful in measuring or detecting the earnings management in Pakistani perspective. The study is based on the Pakistani companies listed on the Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE). This study is expected to be an addition to the existing research as to whether the models used for detecting earnings management through deferred taxes by Philips et al (2003) are also applicable to Pakistani Scenario which is a developing country. The study used Probit Regression Model with pooled cross sectional data to measure the usefulness of both; accruals and deferred taxes (the proxies)&& used as better measure for Earnings management.Results: The results of the study are inconsistent with the Philips et al. (2003) study. Based on this study it is concluded that deferred tax is not incrementally useful along with the other accrual measure. The accruals models show significant results and are more powerful metric to detect earnings management as compared to the deferred taxes in Pakistan.
Propofol-Induced Injection Pain: Comparison of a Modified Propofol Emulsion to Standard Propofol with Premixed Lidocaine

Propofol is well known for its association with pain on injection. The most frequently used method to reduce this pain is premixture with lidocaine. Recently, a modified lipid emulsion of propofol containing medium-chain triglycerides (MCT) with long-chain triglycerides (LCT), in contrast to the usual LCT formulation, has been advocated to alleviate pain. In a randomized, prospective, controlled, double-blind study on 222 surgical patients, we compared the effect of the two solutions on the incidence and intensity of injection pain. Patients were randomly allocated to receive either propofol MCT/LCT (group M; n = 109) or standard propofol LCT with the addition of 20 mg of lidocaine (2 mL of lidocaine 1%) to 200 mg of propofol (group L; n = 113). Pain scores were assessed using a verbal analog scale (VAS) ranging from 0–10. Group L was found to have significantly less pain on the injection of propofol (mean VAS, 2.5 ± 2.9) (mean ± sd) than group M (mean VAS, 3.8 ± 3.2; P = 0.002). Regarding postoperative recall of pain on injection, patients in group L indicated significantly less pain (mean VAS, 2.2 ± 2.4) than patients in group M (mean VAS, 3.0 ± 2.7; P = 0.02). Premixing of 20 mg of lidocaine (2 mL of lidocaine 1%) to 200 mg of standard propofol LCT causes less pain on injection than propofol MCT/LCT and thus increases patient comfort.
Pre-Sertoli Specific Gene Expression Profiling Reveals Differential Expression of Ppt1 and Brd3 Genes Within the Mouse Genital Ridge at the Time of Sex Determination1

Abstract In mammals, testis determination is initiated when the SRY gene is expressed in pre-Sertoli cells of the undifferentiated genital ridge. SRY directs the differentiation of these cells into Sertoli cells and initiates the testis differentiation pathway via currently ill-defined mechanisms. Because Sertoli cells are the first somatic cells to differentiate within the developing testis, it is likely that the signals for orchestrating testis determination are expressed within pre-Sertoli cells. We have previously generated a transgenic mouse line that expresses green fluorescent protein under the control of the pig SRY promoter, thus marking pre-Sertoli cells via fluorescence. We have now used suppression-subtractive hybridization (SSH) to construct a normalized cDNA library derived from fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) purified pre-Sertoli cells taken from 12.0 to 12.5 days postcoitum (dpc) fetal transgenic mouse testes. A total of 35 candidate cDNAs for known genes were identified. Detection of Sf1, a gene known for its role in sex determination as well as Vanin-1, Vcp1, Sparc, and Aldh3a1, four genes previously identified in differential screens as gene overexpressed in developing testis compared with ovary, support the biological validity of our experimental model. Whole-mount in situ hybridization was performed on the 35 candidate genes for qualitative differential expression between male and female genital ridges; six were upregulated in the testis and one was upregulated in the ovary. The expression pattern of two genes, Ppt1 and Brd3, were examined in further detail. We conclude that combining transgenically marked fluorescent cell populations with differential expression screening is useful for cell expression profiling in developmental systems such as sex determination and differentiation.
Effect of propranolol on facial scanning in autism spectrum disorder: A preliminary investigation

Background: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by social communication impairments and restricted, repetitive behaviors. Whereas current pharmacological interventions for ASD focus primarily on psychiatric symptoms, including agitation and obsessive behaviors, few agents target core symptomatology. It has been previously hypothesized that abnormalities in facial scanning, such as reduced eye contact or increased mouth fixation, contribute to social communication deficits in ASD. In addition, previous reports have suggested elevated stress and anxiety in ASD, symptoms that are believed to impact facial scanning patterns. Objectives: The present pilot study sought to explore the effects of pharmacological intervention via propranolol, a nonselective β-adrenergic antagonist and known anxiolytic, on facial scanning in ASD. Specifically, we wished to determine whether there is an increase in eye contact and a decrease in mouth fixation with administration of propranolol. Method: A sample of 14 participants with ASD and 14 matched controls participated in two study sessions in which propranolol and placebo were administered in a counterbalanced, double-blinded manner. At each session, ocular fixation data were collected during presentation of video stimuli of 16 human faces. Fixation time on the eye, nose, and mouth regions of the face stimuli was analyzed. Results: The baseline fixation patterns for the ASD and control groups did not significantly differ; however, administration of propranolol was associated with a significant reduction in mouth fixation for the ASD group. Additionally, mouth fixation was positively related to nonverbal communication impairment in the ASD group. Conclusions: Although eye fixation in ASD appears typical in the present study, the effect of propranolol in reducing mouth fixation suggests an important focus for further research. Future studies are needed to better characterize the relationship between stress and anxiety and facial scanning in ASD, as well as the effects of pharmacological intervention.
A comparative study of multivariate approach with neural networks and support vector machines for arrhythmia classification

This paper presents a comparative study of multivariate approach i.e. principal component analysis (PCA) for ECG signal analysis with support vector machine (SVM) and back propagation neural network for classification. Here, the combination of different sets of feature extraction and classification algorithms are analyzed and compared with each other to yield the best performance in terms of accuracy and other performance metrics. The experiment is performed to classify six classes of ECG beats and evaluated using the MIT-BIH database. The results show that the kernel based PCA with support vector machine performs better with an average overall accuracy, sensitivity, specificity and positive predictivity of 98.96%, 98.90%, 99.79% and 98.98% respectively.
A Fair Transmission Opportunity by Detecting and Punishing the Malicious Wireless Stations in IEEE 802.11e EDCA Network

We propose a malicious detection algorithm that permits identification of misbehaving wireless stations, and then dispenses punishment by denying an ACK packet which allows transmission by the malicious stations. The proposed algorithm is designed for an IEEE 802.11e network and is based upon detecting a change in quality of service (QoS) where a station is moved up in terms of permission to a level not justified. Non-detection causes honest stations to increase their retransmit attempts, exceeding the specified deadline in order to sustain continuous receipt of their data. Even with the coexistence of such malicious stations, our algorithm guarantees the lower bound of performance degradation to the honest stations. Also, the punished period imposed upon the malicious stations compensates the experienced degradation in QoS for the honest stations in the next transmission period. As a result, we provide fair resource sharing among the stations operating from the same access point. Our simulation within the ns-2 framework of the IEEE 802.11e enhanced distributed channel access network shows how our algorithm actually detects and adjusts the punishment phase for stations that may be misbehaving as well as stations which are misbehaving.
Self-nanoemulsifying drug delivery system (SNEDDS) of the poorly water-soluble grapefruit flavonoid Naringenin: design, characterization, in vitro and in vivo evaluation

Abstract Naringenin (NRG), predominant flavanone in grapefruits, possesses anti-inflammatory, anti-carcinogenic, hepato-protective and anti-lipid peroxidation effects. Slow dissolution after oral ingestion due to its poor solubility in water, as well as low bioavailability following oral administration, restricts its therapeutic application. The study is an attempt to improve the solubility and bioavailability of NRG by employing self-nanoemulsifying drug delivery technique. Preliminary screening was carried out to select oil, surfactant and co-surfactant, based on solubilization and emulsification efficiency of the components. Pseudo ternary phase diagrams were constructed to identify the area of nanoemulsification. The developed self-nanoemulsifying drug delivery systems (SNEDDS) were evaluated in term of goluble size, globule size distribution, zeta potential, and surface morphology of nanoemulsions so obtained. The TEM analysis proves that nanoemulsion shows a droplet size less than 50 nm. Freeze thaw cycling and centrifugation studies were carried out to confirm the stability of the developed SNEDDS. In vitro drug release from SNEDDS was significantly higher (p < 0.005) than pure drug. Furthermore, area under the drug concentration time-curve (AUC0–24) of NRG from SNEDDS formulation revealed a significant increase (p < 0.005) in NRG absorption compared to NRG alone. The increase in drug release and bioavailability as compared to drug suspension from SNEDDS formulation may be attributed to the nanosized droplets and enhanced solubility of NRG in the SNEDDS.
Proteomics reveals acute pro‐inflammatory and protective responses in rat Kupffer cells and hepatocytes after chemical initiation of liver cancer and after LPS and IL‐6

Inflammation is a key event in the development of liver cancer. We studied early inflammatory responses of Kupffer cells (KCs) and hepatocyte (HC) after cancer initiation. The chemical carcinogen N‐nitrosomorpholine (NNM) was used in a rat model. We applied a comprehensive analytical strategy including metabolic labeling, 2‐D PAGE, LC‐MS/MS‐based spot identification and shotgun proteomics and thus determined the rates of synthesis of individual proteins, compared whole tissue with isolated constituent cells and performed in vivo to in vitro comparisons of NNM effects. NNM increased synthesis of overall and 138 individual proteins identified in HC and/or KC, indicating reprogramming of metabolism favoring protection, repair and replacement of cell constituents in HC and KC. Secretome analysis by 2‐D PAGE and shotgun proteomics of HC revealed the induction of acute phase proteins, in case of KC of proteases, cytokines and chemokines, indicating inflammatory effects. All responses were induced rapidly, independently of signals from other cells, and closely mimicked the pro‐inflammatory and protective effects of inflammation modulators LPS in KC and IL‐6 in HC. In conclusion, the carcinogen NNM exerts pro‐inflammatory effects in the liver, partially by direct activation of KC. The acute inflammation and its protective component will enhance formation, survival and proliferation of initiated cells and may therefore act synergistically with the genotoxic action of the carcinogen.
Risk factors of worsening renal function in hospitalized elderly patients.

BACKGROUND Worsening renal function during hospital treatment is a substantial hazard, especially for elderly hospitalized patients. However, data concerning the prevalence and significance of potential risk factors is lacking. METHODS All patients admitted during a 6-month observation period to a department of general internal medicine and geriatrics were enrolled. Patients <65 yrs old were excluded. Data was assessed using a retrospective analysis of patient charts; 343/583 charts provided sufficient data for the analysis. Renal function was estimated by the Cockcroft and Gault formula. Worsening renal function was defined as a decline to <66.7% of the initial value. Laboratory values at admission (serum albumin, sodium and potassium), activities of daily living at admission (ADL-score), established medical diagnosis and medication prior to and during in-patient treatment were included in the analysis of potential risk factors. RESULTS Renal function worsened in 6.1% of patients included. Risk factors were prescription of loop diuretics, trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole or non-steroidal antiphlogistics during hospitalization. Hypernatremia, lower serum albumin and lower ADL-score at admission also demonstrated an association with a decline in renal function. However, an established diagnosis of heart failure, diabetes and hypertension were not predictive. CONCLUSION Reduced physiological resources to maintain fluid and sodium balance are more predictive for worsening renal function than medical diagnosis alone. ADL-score and serum albumin could help further to identify patients at risk. Non-steroidal antiphlogistics are still frequently prescribed during in-patient treatment, although they are significant risk factors for renal function decline.
Percutaneous closure of patent foramen ovale in cryptogenic embolism.

BACKGROUND The options for secondary prevention of cryptogenic embolism in patients with patent foramen ovale are administration of antithrombotic medications or percutaneous closure of the patent foramen ovale. We investigated whether closure is superior to medical therapy. METHODS We performed a multicenter, superiority trial in 29 centers in Europe, Canada, Brazil, and Australia in which the assessors of end points were unaware of the study-group assignments. Patients with a patent foramen ovale and ischemic stroke, transient ischemic attack (TIA), or a peripheral thromboembolic event were randomly assigned to undergo closure of the patent foramen ovale with the Amplatzer PFO Occluder or to receive medical therapy. The primary end point was a composite of death, nonfatal stroke, TIA, or peripheral embolism. Analysis was performed on data for the intention-to-treat population. RESULTS The mean duration of follow-up was 4.1 years in the closure group and 4.0 years in the medical-therapy group. The primary end point occurred in 7 of the 204 patients (3.4%) in the closure group and in 11 of the 210 patients (5.2%) in the medical-therapy group (hazard ratio for closure vs. medical therapy, 0.63; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.24 to 1.62; P=0.34). Nonfatal stroke occurred in 1 patient (0.5%) in the closure group and 5 patients (2.4%) in the medical-therapy group (hazard ratio, 0.20; 95% CI, 0.02 to 1.72; P=0.14), and TIA occurred in 5 patients (2.5%) and 7 patients (3.3%), respectively (hazard ratio, 0.71; 95% CI, 0.23 to 2.24; P=0.56). CONCLUSIONS Closure of a patent foramen ovale for secondary prevention of cryptogenic embolism did not result in a significant reduction in the risk of recurrent embolic events or death as compared with medical therapy. (Funded by St. Jude Medical; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00166257.).
Tympanoplasty in adhesive otitis media: A descriptive study

There is no consensus among clinicians regarding the best treatment strategy for adhesive otitis media (AdOM). It is common practice to only intervene in the presence of recurrent infections or significant conductive hearing loss. In an attempt to provide evidence regarding the efficacy and safety of surgical intervention, we have analyzed the long‐term outcome of tympanoplasty for AdOM .
Model predictive based automatic generation control with participation of the output-constrained wind farms

With the rapid growth of installed wind power generation, there has been an increased interest for wind farms to participate in automatic generation control (AGC). While participating in AGC under normal conditions, wind farms have to track set-points by deloading control, instead of operating in maximum power point tracking (MPPT). However, if wind farms participate in AGC when their allowed outputs are lower than their capabilities due to security constraints, they could contribute to frequency regulation and reduce their wind energy curtailment simultaneously. This paper first illustrates the pitch angle control for wind turbines to track set-points. Then, a new controller based on model predictive control (MPC) is proposed, considering wind farms participating in AGC when their outputs are constrained. Simulation results show that the contributions of wind farms to AGC can help to suppress frequency fluctuation notably. The comparison with a proportional integral (PI) controller shows the effectiveness of proposed controller.
Relaxed‐residue conformational mapping of the three linkage bonds of isomaltose and gentiobiose with MM3(92)

Isoenergy surfaces were calculated for the α‐ and β‐anomers of isomaltose and gentiobiose, based on 46,656 conformers for each disaccharide. Low‐energy regions exist for each of the three staggered positions about the C‐5′  C‐6′ bonds, and known crystal structures lie in two of these regions. As expected, the molecular partition function showed greater flexibility for these three‐bond‐linked disaccharides than for comparable two‐bond‐linked structures. A model miniature crystal of gentiobiose accounts for most of the remaining structural differences between the modeled isolated molecule and the crystal structure. Based on models of isolated molecules of isomaltose and gentiobiose, the predicted Boltzmann‐weighted nmr coupling constants were satisfactory, as were predicted optical rotations for gentiobiose. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.