Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
thyl-eicosapentaenoate ( E-EPA ) attenuates motor impairments and nflammation in the MPTP-probenecid mouse model of Parkinson ’ s disease

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder, characterized by hypokinesia, but also mood and cognitive disorders. Neuropathologically, PD involves loss of nigrostriatal dopamine (DA) and secondary non-dopaminergic abnormalities. Inflammation may contribute to PD pathogenesis, evident by increased production of pro-inflammatory cytokines. PD onset has been positively associated with dietary intake of omega-(n)-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA). On the other hand, omega-(n)-3 PUFA may benefit PD. One of these n-3 PUFA, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), is a neuroprotective lipid with anti-inflammatory properties, but its neuroprotective effects in PD are unknown. Thus, we presently tested the hypothesis that EPA can protect against behavioral impairments, neurodegeneration and inflammation in the 1methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP)-probenecid (MPTP-P) mouse model of PD. MPTP-P injections caused hypokinesia in the rotorod and pole test, hyperactivity in the open field, and impaired mice on the cued version (procedural memory) of the Morris water maze. MPTP-P caused a loss of nigrostriatal DA and altered neurochemistry in the frontal cortex and hippocampus. Furthermore, striatal levels nflammation of pro-inflammatory cytokines were increased, while the brain n-3/n-6 lipid profile remained unaltered. Feeding mice a 0.8% ethyl-eicosapentaenoate (E-EPA) diet prior to MPTP-P injections increased brain EPA and docosapentaenoic acid (DPA) but not docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) or n-6 PUFA. The diet attenuated the hypokinesia induced by MPTP-P and ameliorated the procedural memory deficit. E-EPA also supf proprot pressed the production o loss. Based on this partial
Interfacial phenomena between bacterial or mammalian cells and orthopaedic biomaterials

Adhesion as a scientific phenomenon has been researched for the past 70 years, as the notion of two entities contacting effects a huge expanse of daily activities, from writing to sophisticated cellular and bacterial interactions essential for growth and survival. Inherently, a robust and adequate model of adhesion was acquired, one in which biological aspects were considered. Initially, the methodology required was optimised using the atomic force microscope (AFM) by testing a model bone substrate against ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE), a material commonly found in the articulating acetabular cup. Once a force mapping technique was established experimentation continued to bacterial adhesion against model bone samples of various roughness, establishing that the adhesion phenomena occurs at a scale dependency due to the alterations in the topography of the surface at the micro to nano level. Aseptic loosening and osteolysis are major causes of failures in implanted biomedical devices at the hip. These issues are governed by the deterioration of the moving components, producing particles known as wear debris associated with the metals, bone cement, and UHMWPE materials initiating an immune response which is detrimental to the surrounding cells and tissues adjacent to the implant. The notion of mechanical aspects altering the health of mammalian cells has been ignored throughout the research of implantations and their effect on the cells by foreign bodies; the only concept studied to date is the viability and functionality post exposure. Therefore, this thesis aims at observing ii mesenchymal and osteoblast (both rodent and human) cells associated to wear debris (metal and polymeric particles of various sizes and compositions) exposure and the effect this has on cell nanomechanical and adhesive properties using the AFM techniques. The data obtained indicated that Cobalt nanoparticles were more damaging on all cell types than Titanium and polymeric particles.
Single Session Low Frequency Left Dorsolateral Prefrontal Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Changes Neurometabolite Relationships in Healthy Humans

Background: Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) low frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (LF-rTMS) has shown promise as a treatment and investigative tool in the medical and research communities. Researchers have made significant progress elucidating DLPFC LF-rTMS effects—primarily in individuals with psychiatric disorders. However, more efforts investigating underlying molecular changes and establishing links to functional and behavioral outcomes in healthy humans are needed. Objective: We aimed to quantify neuromolecular changes and relate these to functional changes following a single session of DLPFC LF-rTMS in healthy participants. Methods: Eleven participants received sham-controlled neuronavigated 1 Hz rTMS to the region most activated by a 7-letter Sternberg working memory task (SWMT) within the left DLPFC. We quantified SWMT performance, functional magnetic resonance activation and proton Magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) neurometabolite measure changes before and after stimulation. Results: A single LF-rTMS session was not sufficient to change DLPFC neurometabolite levels and these changes did not correlate with DLPFC activation changes. Real rTMS, however, significantly altered neurometabolite correlations (compared to sham rTMS), both with baseline levels and between the metabolites themselves. Additionally, real rTMS was associated with diminished reaction time (RT) performance improvements and increased activation within the motor, somatosensory and lateral occipital cortices. Conclusion: These results show that a single session of LF-rTMS is sufficient to influence metabolite relationships and causes widespread activation in healthy humans. Investigating correlational relationships may provide insight into mechanisms underlying LF-rTMS.
Localizing Webpages for Francophone Audiences with Machine Translation

Localization is the process of translating the text and adapting the visual content of a software product for a specific target region. Given the global nature of the economy, organizations can appeal to nonEnglish speaking consumers by offering localized versions of their software or web application. Currently, the localization process calls for time-consuming and costly translations of text strings by language service providers (LSP) with each additional locale incurring a new cost for LSP’s manual translations. The high cost in terms of both time and money makes localizing software intimidating for organizations. This project explores the automation of the translation aspect of the localization process by using machine translation (MT) services. A Python script was developed to scrape HTML data and translate strings to French using Google Translate. The automatically generated translations were scored by human evaluators and the automated metric, BLEU. Participants were surprised at the quality of the translations, which were preserved meaning and were understandable despite some grammatical errors. This research suggests that the translation aspect of localizing software can be at least partially automated then edited for quality and fluency.
Microlasers based on polymer composites

The aim of the thesis is the fabrication and optical characterization of three-dimensional organic microlasers based on organic dyes and luminescent erbium/ytterbium nanoparticles.At the beginning, we considered submicron polymer structures with high aspect ratio, as well as the phenomenon of redistribution of nanoparticles in the volume of the composite during the exposure by a periodic light field pattern.The main part of the work is devoted to obtaining three-dimensional polymer microlasers by UV-lithography. Comparison of the lasing threshold for microcavities obtained by different methods was performed. Periodic orbits in cuboid microlasers with square cross-section were identified. Analysis of possible periodic orbits in microlasers Fabry-Perot showed that the shape of the orbit depends on the dye, the type of substrate and the size of the microlaser (width, height). The last part of the work contains a study of low-temperature synthesis of luminescent nanoparticles of erbium and ytterbium oxides in a anhydrous medium, and polymer composites based on them. Three dimensional organic microlasers doped by these luminescent nanoparticles were obtained and investigated.
Cilium Length and Intraflagellar Transport Regulation by Kinases PKG-1 and GCK-2 in Caenorhabditis elegans Sensory Neurons

ABSTRACT To understand how ciliopathies such as polycystic kidney disease or Bardet-Biedl syndrome develop, we need to understand the basic molecular mechanisms underlying cilium development. Cilium growth depends on the presence of functional intraflagellar transport (IFT) machinery, and we hypothesized that various kinases and phosphatases might be involved in this regulatory process. A candidate screen revealed two kinases, PKG-1 (a cGMP-dependent protein kinase) and GCK-2 (a mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase kinase kinase 3 [MAP4K3] kinase involved in mTOR signaling), significantly affecting dye filling, chemotaxis, cilium morphology, and IFT component distribution. PKG-1 and GCK-2 show similar expression patterns in Caenorhabditis elegans cilia and colocalize with investigated IFT machinery components. In pkg-1 mutants, a high level of accumulation of kinesin-2 OSM-3 in distal segments was observed in conjunction with an overall reduction of anterograde and retrograde IFT particle A transport, likely as a function of reduced tubulin acetylation. In contrast, in gck-2 mutants, both kinesin-2 motility and IFT particle A motility were significantly elevated in the middle segments, in conjunction with increased tubulin acetylation, possibly the cause of longer cilium growth. Observed effects in mutants can be also seen in manipulating upstream and downstream effectors of the respective cGMP and mTOR pathways. Importantly, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis revealed no structural changes in cilia of pkg-1 and gck-2 mutants.
Trading Speed and Accuracy by Coding Time: A Coupled-circuit Cortical Model

Our actions take place in space and time, but despite the role of time in decision theory and the growing acknowledgement that the encoding of time is crucial to behaviour, few studies have considered the interactions between neural codes for objects in space and for elapsed time during perceptual decisions. The speed-accuracy trade-off (SAT) provides a window into spatiotemporal interactions. Our hypothesis is that temporal coding determines the rate at which spatial evidence is integrated, controlling the SAT by gain modulation. Here, we propose that local cortical circuits are inherently suited to the relevant spatial and temporal coding. In simulations of an interval estimation task, we use a generic local-circuit model to encode time by ‘climbing’ activity, seen in cortex during tasks with a timing requirement. The model is a network of simulated pyramidal cells and inhibitory interneurons, connected by conductance synapses. A simple learning rule enables the network to quickly produce new interval estimates, which show signature characteristics of estimates by experimental subjects. Analysis of network dynamics formally characterizes this generic, local-circuit timing mechanism. In simulations of a perceptual decision task, we couple two such networks. Network function is determined only by spatial selectivity and NMDA receptor conductance strength; all other parameters are identical. To trade speed and accuracy, the timing network simply learns longer or shorter intervals, driving the rate of downstream decision processing by spatially non-selective input, an established form of gain modulation. Like the timing network's interval estimates, decision times show signature characteristics of those by experimental subjects. Overall, we propose, demonstrate and analyse a generic mechanism for timing, a generic mechanism for modulation of decision processing by temporal codes, and we make predictions for experimental verification.
High-resolution neutron spectroscopy on protein solution samples

Proteins in solution move subject to a complex superposition of global translational and rotational diffusion as well as internal relaxations covering a wide range of time scales. With the advent of new high-flux neutron spectrometers in combination with enhanced analysis frameworks it has become possible to separate these different contributions. We discuss new approaches to the analysis by presenting example spectra and fits from data recorded on the backscattering spectrometers IN16, IN16B, and BASIS on the same protein solution sample. We illustrate the separation of the rotational and translational diffusion contribution, the accurate treatment of the solvent contribution, and the extraction of information on internal fluctuations. We also exemplify the progress made in passing from second- to third-generation backscattering spectrometers.
Shank Proteins Differentially Regulate Synaptic Transmission

Abstract Shank proteins, one of the principal scaffolds in the postsynaptic density (PSD) of the glutamatergic synapses, have been associated with autism spectrum disorders and neuropsychiatric diseases. However, it is not known whether different Shank family proteins have distinct functions in regulating synaptic transmission, and how they differ from other scaffold proteins in this aspect. Here, we investigate the role of Shanks in regulating glutamatergic synaptic transmission at rat hippocampal SC-CA1 synapses, using lentivirus-mediated knockdown and molecular replacement combined with dual whole-cell patch clamp in hippocampal slice culture. In line with previous findings regarding PSD-MAGUK scaffold manipulation, we found that loss of scaffold proteins via knockdown of Shank1 or Shank2, but not Shank3, led to a reduction of the number but not the unitary response of AMPAR-containing synapses. Only when both Shank1 and Shank2 were knocked down, were both the number and the unitary response of active synapses reduced. This reduction was accompanied by a decrease in NMDAR-mediated synaptic response, indicating more profound deficits in synaptic transmission. Molecular replacement with Shank2 and Shank3c rescued the synaptic transmission to the basal level, and the intact sterile α-motif (SAM) of Shank proteins is required for maintaining glutamatergic synaptic transmission. We also found that altered neural activity did not influence the effect of Shank1 or Shank2 knockdown on AMPAR synaptic transmission, in direct contrast to the activity dependence of the effect of PSD-95 knockdown, revealing differential interaction between activity-dependent signaling and scaffold protein families in regulating synaptic AMPAR function.
Analysis of Structural and Electrical Properties of Iron Sulfide (FeS2)Thin Films doped with Aluminum and Strontium impurities

Abstract: Thin films of iron sulfide (FeS2) prepared by CBD technique were doped with aluminum (Al: 0.020.04M) and strontium (Sr: 0.02-0.04M) impurities at room temperature of 26 C. X-Ray diffraction (XRD) and four-point probe were used to analyze the structural and electrical properties of the thin films. The XRD results show that 0.02M of strontium impurities produced polycrystalline structure of the thin films with diffraction peak values located at Bragg’s angles, 2Θ of 14.71, 25.03 and 34.95, while the un-doped polycrystalline FeS2 thin films have diffraction peaks at 2Θ values of 19.81, 24.43, 31.45 and 36.73. Clearly, the contributing inphase reflections for the different diffraction angles occur from different orientations of lattice planes and/or different crystallite sizes caused by the Sr impurity. On the other hand, 0.02M of aluminum dopant produced mono-crystalline structure of the FeS2 thin film with 2Θ value of 24.97 o and a broadened full width at half maximum (FWHM). It is remarkable that the single peak of the mono-crystal due to Al impurity coincides with the highest intensity and sharper peak of the un-doped FeS2 thin film. The electrical resistivity of the thin films decreased while the conductivity increased with increase in impurity concentrations with non-uniform changes occurring from 0.02M for both impurities. The film thickness remained between 0.09-0. 1μm but showed a more dramatic increase with impurity concentration from 0.02M for both impurities.
Decreased Flight Activity in Culex pipiens (Diptera: Culicidae) Naturally Infected With Culex flavivirus

Abstract Insect-specific flaviviruses (ISFVs) commonly infect vectors of mosquito-borne arboviruses. To investigate whether infection with an ISFV might affect mosquito flight behavior, we quantified flight behavior in Culex pipiens L. naturally infected with Culex flavivirus (CxFV). We observed a significant reduction in the scotophase (dark hours) flight activity of CxFV-positive mosquitoes relative to CxFV-negative mosquitoes, but only a marginal reduction in photophase (light hours) flight activity, and no change in the circadian pattern of flight activity. These results suggest that CxFV infection alters the flight activity of naturally infected Cx. pipiens most dramatically when these vectors are likely to be host seeking and may therefore affect the transmission of medically important arboviruses.
Experimental Study on Ductile Fracture Mechanism of Q&P Steel

The dynamic change process of the crack coppicing and extending on annealed QP steel was in-situ observed by SEM,and the micro-crack characteristic was studied. The results show that,in the early of loading,at the main crack tip,the fracture produces on the plane at an approximate angle of 45° to the tensile loading direction ,a new microcrack produces in some place ahead of main crack under the action of crack-tip stress field in the middle of loading,and plastic deformation occurs when main crack connecting. The fracture surfaces show a ductile failure with shear dimples in the later of loading.
Comparison of the Results of Creep and Micro-Indentation Creep to Irradiated HDPE

The main goal of this paper is to compare measurements of creep behavior of Crosslinking polymer materials. Creep properties have been measured by two methods, first is micro-indentation with Depth Sensing Indention (DSI) and the second method is long-term creep test in room temperature. By using of these principally different methods can be better analyzed the influence of radiation netting, and therefore better suggest an appropriate dose of radiation with respect to use of polymer material in practice. The evaluation criteria for DSI test is index CIT [%]. The evaluation criteria for the standard creep test is value of average elongation at the end of the test. Comparison of these two values shows slight influence of radiation dose with using the standard creep test instead of using micro-indentation creep test, which shows very slight influence of radiation dose on material.
Nonlinear Optical Characteristics of C60 Thin Films

Abstract The results of investigation of the real and imaginary parts of third‐order nonlinear susceptibility (χ(3)) of C60 thin films (∼100 nm) at the wavelength of Nd: YAG laser radiation (532 nm, τ = 55 ps) are presented using Z‐scan technique. Our studies show that the sign of Reχ(3) changes from negative, at pulse repetition rate of 2 Hz to positive, at 0.5 Hz. Sign variations of the real part of the third‐order susceptibility were attributed to the influence of the thermal lens.
Android based advanced attendance vigilance system using wireless network with fusion of bio-metric fingerprint authentication

In this digital era, different organizations have started taking attendance using biometric fingerprint authentication. This will keep the track of employee's attendance but the question arises if the employee is fully present at his/her workplace after giving attendance. In this modern era of digitalization, it is seen that after giving attendance a huge number of employees escape away from their workplace and do their personal job in the office time. This paper focuses on a smart attendance system where an android device will be used as a smart ID card. A mobile application is developed in Java to ensure the attendance of an individual employee using bio-metric fingerprint authentication. In addition, the entire working place will be a Wi-Fi zone. So, the connection or disconnection of the android device (Smart ID card) to the router will determine whether an employee is present in the working place or not. A counter will be there into the system to count the total amount of time an employee spends in the working place.
Reducing elliptic curve logarithms to logarithms in a finite field

Abstruct- Elliptic cuwe cryptosystems have the potential to provide relatively small block size, high-security public key schemes that can be efficiently implemented. As with other known public key schemes, such as RSA and discrete exponentiation in a finite field, some care must be exercised when selecting the parameters involved, in this case the elliptic curve and the underlying field. Specific classes of cuwes that give little or no advantage over previously known schemes are discussed. The main result of the paper is to demonstrate the reduction of the elliptic curve logarithm problem to the logarithm problem in the multiplicative group of an extension of the underlying finite field. For the class of supersingular elliptic curves, the reduction takes probabilistic polynomial time, thus providing a probabilistic subexponential time algorithm for the former problem. Index Tem- Discrete logarithms, elliptic curves, public key CryPtOSraPhY.
Aerobic Biodegradation Kinetics, Aquatic Toxicity and Partitioning, and Microbial Community Structures of Petrodiesel/Biodiesel Blends

i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS . v LIST OF FIGURES . xi LIST OF TABLES . xv CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION . 1 1.1 Background . 2 1.2 Research Objectives . 4 1.3 Structure of the Dissertation . 5 REFERENCES . 6 CHAPTER 2: MICROBIAL KINETIC MODEL FOR THE DEGRADATON OF POORLY SOLUBLE MATERIALS . 8 ABSTRACT . 10. 10 2.
To What Extent Do Financial Strain and Labour Force Status Explain Social Class Inequalities in Self-Rated Health? Analysis of 20 Countries in the European Social Survey

Introduction Nordic countries do not have the smallest health inequalities despite egalitarian social policies. A possible explanation for this is that drivers of class differences in health such as financial strain and labour force status remain socially patterned in Nordic countries. Methods Our analyses used data for working age (25–59) men (n = 48,249) and women (n = 52,654) for 20 countries from five rounds (2002–2010) of the European Social Survey. The outcome was self-rated health in 5 categories. Stratified by gender we used fixed effects linear regression models and marginal standardisation to instigate how countries varied in the degree to which class inequalities were attenuated by financial strain and labour force status. Results and Discussion Before adjustment, Nordic countries had large inequalities in self-rated health relative to other European countries. For example the regression coefficient for the difference in health between working class and professional men living in Norway was 0.34 (95% CI 0.26 to 0.42), while the comparable figure for Spain was 0.15 (95% CI 0.08 to 0.22). Adjusting for financial strain and labour force status led to attenuation of health inequalities in all countries. However, unlike some countries such as Spain, where after adjustment the regression coefficient for working class men was only 0.02 (95% CI −0.05 to 0.10), health inequalities persisted after adjustment for Nordic countries. For Norway the adjusted coefficient was 0.17 (95% CI 0.10 to 0.25). Results for women and men were similar. However, in comparison to men, class inequalities tended to be stronger for women and more persistent after adjustment. Conclusions Adjusting for financial security and labour force status attenuates a high proportion of health inequalities in some counties, particularly Southern European countries, but attenuation in Nordic countries was modest and did not improve their relative position.