Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Gene expression and protein localization of calmodulin‐dependent phosphodiesterase during ontogenesis of chick retina

Calmodulin‐dependent phosphodiesterase (PDE1) is a key enzyme in cyclic nucleotides metabolism. We studied its gene expression and protein localization during retinal development in chick embryos. Western blot and densitometric analysis demonstrated that the expression of the three isoforms changed during development. PDE1A was highly expressed at the early stages and decreased as development proceeded. PDE1B expression remained relatively low and constant over time. PDE1C showed a prominent increase (13‐fold) between embryonic day (E) 7 and E13, followed by a moderate increase between E13 and postnatal day (P) 1. The presence of the enzyme in the different retinal locations was strongly modulated by development. PDE1A immunostaining was first detected at the ganglion cell level (E7), then in the outer retina (E15–E21). At P5, the immunostaining was confined in the optic fiber layer. Isoform C immunolocalization followed the same inner–outer pattern as isoform A. At 5 days posthatching (P5), the immunoreactivity was restricted, as well as for the isoform A, in the optic fiber layer. The isoform B immunolabelling was low and evenly distributed across the retina at all stages. The different developmental profiles of PDE1A, PDE1B, and PDE1C induced a temporal modulation in cyclic nucleotides concentration, suggesting specific roles of this enzyme in the morphofunctional development of retinal circuitry. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
SUJEITOS NULOS EM LÍNGUA DE TÓPICOS PROEMINENTES

Este trabalho apresenta dados do portugues brasileiro, do finlandes e do chines que mostram que, pelo menos nessas linguas, sujeito nulos podem ser licenciados e identificados sem a participacao da flexao vebal. A analise proposta trata tais sujeitos nulos como topicos elididos numa cadeia de topicos discursivos. A relacao entre pronomes nulos e flexao pode entao ser mantida e as caracteristicas peculiares dos sujeitos nulos naquelas linguas podem ser explicados.
Effect of Topical Microbicides on Infectious Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Binding to Epithelial Cells

ABSTRACT Topical microbicides (cellulose acetate 1,2 benzene dicarboxylate [CAP], PRO 2000, SPL7013, and UC781) are being investigated to reduce the sexual transmission of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1). These products were shown to prevent the transfer of infectious HIV-1 from urogenital and colorectal epithelial cell lines to peripheral blood mononuclear cells. However, it was unclear if the topical microbicides rendered the virus noninfectious and/or reduced the binding to the epithelial cells. To test this, epithelial cells were cultured with HIV-1 in the presence or absence of topical microbicides or their placebos. The cells were washed, RNA lysates were made, and real-time PCR was performed for HIV-1. PRO 2000 and SPL7013 significantly (P < 0.0001) reduced the amount of bound HIV-1 to the colorectal epithelial cell line across clades A, B, C, and CRF01-AE. While none of the products reduced the binding of HIV-1 clades A and C to the urogenital cell line, CAP, PRO 2000, and SPL7013 significantly (P ≤ 0.002) reduced the binding of clades B and CRF01-AE. In general, PRO 2000 and SPL7013 placebos significantly (P < 0.0001) reduced the amount of bound HIV-1 but were less than the active products. UC781, its placebo, and hydroxyethyl cellulose (placebo for CAP) minimally affected the amount of bound HIV-1. These results suggest that rendering HIV-1 noninfectious may not correlate to the amount of HIV-1 bound to epithelial cells and possible shedding into mucosal secretions. Therefore, functional virological assays in addition to measuring viral RNA should be included when clinically evaluating topical microbicide use by infected persons.
Reduction of low-frequency noise in MOSFETs under switched gate and substrate bias

A strong reduction of MOSFET low-frequency noise under switched gate bias conditions is observed for forward substrate bias. The effect of forward substrate bias is significantly larger in switched compared to constant gate bias conditions. Experimental results reveal that forward substrate bias is most effective when applied during the off-state of the transistor. This finding is explained by the physics of trap emission time constants and suggests new topologies and biasing schemes for analog CMOS circuits.
Performance of the EQ-5D in patients with irritable bowel syndrome.

OBJECTIVE The EQ-5D is a standardized, nondisease-specific instrument for evaluating patients' preference-based valuations of health-related quality of life (HRQoL). This study's purpose was to determine the psychometric properties of EQ-5D in patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). METHODS Data from four European IBS studies were assessed: UK (n = 161 and n = 297), Spain (n = 503), and Germany (n = 100). The EQ-5D is a five-item health state descriptive system used to develop health states (EQ-5D(INDEX)) and a visual analog scale (VAS) (0-100 from worst to best imaginable health state, EQ-5D(VAS)). Measures used with the EQ-5D included the SF-36, Irritable Bowel Syndrome--Quality of Life (IBS-QOL), and both subjective and clinical global assessments of IBS. Convergent validity was assessed using SF-36 and IBS-QOL data, discriminant validity using global ratings of IBS severity, and responsiveness by subjective and physician assessment of condition. RESULTS Moderate-to-high associations (r >or= 0.33) were seen between the EQ-5D(VAS) and the SF-36 and IBS-QOL subscales. Mean response scores to EQ-5D(INDEX) dimensions and the EQ-5D(VAS) score were significantly better for control patients than for patients with IBS (all P < 0.01). The EQ-5D(VAS) was able to discriminate between levels of pain severity (quartiles, P < 0.001; mild/moderate/severe, P < 0.05) and general health severity (mild/moderate/severe, P < 0.001). The EQ-5D(VAS) and the EQ-5D(INDEX) were responsive in patients using both a self-perceived (Subject's Global Assessment) and physician-rated (Clinic Global Assessment) improvement. CONCLUSIONS The EQ-5D performs well in comparison to general and disease-specific outcomes. It is a valid and responsive measure that can be used to generate preference-based valuations of HRQoL in patients with IBS and useful for comparisons in clinical and cost-effectiveness studies.
Design and Implementation of a Generic Energy-Harvesting Framework Applied to the Evaluation of a Large-Scale Electronic Shelf-Labeling Wireless Sensor Network

Most wireless sensor networks (WSNs) consist of battery-powered nodes and are limited to hundreds of nodes. Battery replacement is a very costly operation and a key factor in limiting successful large-scale deployments. The recent advances in both energy harvesters and low-power communication systems hold promise for deploying large-scale wireless green-powered sensor networks (WGSNs). This will enable new applications and will eliminate environmentally unfriendly battery disposal. This paper explores the use of energy harvesters to scavenge power for nodes in a WSN. The design and implementation of a generic energy-harvesting framework, suited for a WSN simulator as well as a real-life testbed, are proposed. These frameworks are used to evaluate whether a carrier sense multiple access with collision avoidance scheme is sufficiently reliable for use in emerging large-scale energy harvesting electronic shelf label (EHESL) systems (i.e., 12000 labels in a star topology). Both the simulator and testbed experiments yielded an average success rate up to 92%, with an arrival rate of 40 transceive cycles per second. We have demonstrated that our generic energy-harvesting framework is useful for WGSN research because the simulator allowed us to verify the achieved results on the real-life testbed and vice versa.
A Fully Automatic Approach for Enhancement of Microarray Images

 Abstract—DNA microarray technology has promised a very accelerating research inclination in recent years. There are numerous applications of this technology, including clinical diagnosis and treatment, drug design and discovery, tumor detection, and in the environmental health research. Enhancement is the major pre-processing step in microarray image analysis. Microarray images when corrupted with noise may drastically affect the subsequent stages of image analysis and finally affects gene expression profile. This paper presents an approach that achieves an automated way for applying mathematical morphology for the enhancement of microarray images. White and black top-hat transform is performed to denoise the image. A threshold is estimated which is dependent on image characteristics to remove artifacts present in the image. Experiments on Stanford, TBDB and UNC database illustrate robustness of the proposed approach in the presence of noise, artifacts and weakly expressed spots. Experimental results and analysis illustrates the performance of the proposed method with the contemporary methods discussed in the literature.
Allele polymorphisms of interleukin-10 and hepatitis B, C virus infection.

BACKGROUND Interleukin 10 (IL-10) is an important cytokine with anti-inflammatory, anti-immune and anti-fibrotic functions. This study aimed at evaluating the relationship between allele polymorphisms in the IL-10 promoter region and hepatitis B virus (HBV) or hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. METHODS The odds ratios (ORs) of IL-10 allele distributions in patients with HBV or HCV infection were analyzed against healthy controls. All the relevant studies in PubMed were identified, and poor qualified studies were excluded. The meta-analysis software REVMAN 4.2 was applied for investigating heterogeneity among individual studies and summarizing all the studies. The publication bias was also evaluated. RESULTS This study demonstrated a significant association between the IL-10-592 A/C polymorphism and HBV infection in the Asian population under the overall effect size of allele A versus C. In our subgroup meta-analysis, we found a significant association of IL-10-592 A/C polymorphism to HCV infection susceptibility in Asian populations, although sensitivity analysis showed that the combined result was not associated with the worldwide population. Other IL-10 allele polymorphisms were not associated with HBV or HCV infection. CONCLUSION IL-10-592 A/C allele might be a risk factor for HBV or HCV in Asians but not in Europeans.
Determination of protein degradation rates using a rumen in vitro system containing inhibitors of microbial nitrogen metabolism

1. A previously reported rumen in vitro system (Broderick, 1978) was modified to include chloramphenicol (CAP) with hydrazine sulphate (HS) to give quantitative recovery of protein breakdown products. Degradation rates were determined by regression v. time of log proportion remaining undegraded (computed by subtracting from added nitrogen the amount of N recovered as ammonia and amino acids). Concentrations of reagents giving optimal N recoveries and estimated degradation rates for casein and expeller soya-bean-meal (SBM) were: 1.0 mM-HS, 30 μg CAP/ml, 20 mM-mercaptoethanol, 3.3 mg maltose/ml, when protein was added at 0125 mg N/ml. 2. Digestion of azo-casein and azo-albumin, solubilization of radioactivity from 14C-labelled casein, ovalbumin and bovine serum albumin (BSA), and hydrolysis of benzoyl-L-tyrosine p-nitroanilide and benzoyl-L-arginine p-nitroanilide were not significantly decreased by HS and CAP. This suggests that the inhibitors did not reduce microbial proteolysis. 3. Mean fractional degradation rates (/h) were: 0395 casein, 0.135 BSA, 0.159 solvent-SBM, 0.045 expeller-SBM, 0.061 meat meal, 0070 lucerne (Medicago sativa) hay. Extents of protein escape, estimated assuming rumen passage of 0.06/h, were 13, 28, 56 and 40% for casein, solvent-SBM, expeller-SBM and lucerne hay respectively. This method appears more reliable for assessing rumen degradability than buffer N solubility and protein digestibility with ficin protease. 4. Azo-dye treatment slowed the rate of casein degradation, measured by ammonia plus amino acid release, but did not alter digestion of BSA. 5. The validity of the inhibitor in vitro method for estimating protein degradability, as well as potential problems in its application, are discussed. The complete procedure may be limited to laboratories with automated analytical equipment, but a simplified version of the method may be more generally applicable.
Utilizing Soybean Milk to Culture Soybean Pathogens

Liquid and semi-solid culture media are used to maintain and proliferate bacteria, fungi, and Oomycetes for research in microbiology and plant pathology. In this study, a comparison was made between soybean milk medium, also referred to as soymilk, and media traditionally used for culturing soybean pathogens to determine if soymilk medium was an effective medium for growth of Colletotrichum truncatum, Fusarium virguliforme, Macrophomina phaseolina, Passalora sojina, Phomopsis longicolla, Phytophthora sojae, Pythium irregulare, Rhizoctonia solani, and Sclerotinia sclerotiorum. Based on radial mycelial colony growth rates, C. sojina grew significantly (P C. truncatum and F. virguliforme grew significantly (P P S. sclerotiorum grown on SDA as compared to PDA. Soymilk used with agar or used alone as a broth may be an option for replacing more expensive processed culture media.
International Conference on Concentrating Solar Power and Chemical Energy Systems , SolarPACES 2014 Numerical evaluation of multi-layered solid-PCM thermocline-like tanks as thermal energy storage systems for CSP applications

The two-tank system is the technology used for thermal energy storage (TES) in current concentrating solar power (CSP) plants. Thermocline storage concept has been considered for more than a decade as a possible solution to reduce the high cost of the storage system in these plants. In previous works, multi-layered solid-PCM (MLSPCM) thermocline-like storage tank configurations has been introduced and studied, giving promising results for their use as thermal energy storage systems for CSP. In this work, further analysis is performed in the use of this new concept of TES, by considering variable inlet conditions, and simulating the tank shell and the foundation. The numerical simulations are based on a modular object-oriented methodology. Energetic and exergetic results are presented and compared against a reference 2-tank case and against different thermocline configurations with either solid or phase change filler materials. Again, promising results are obtained for the tested MLSPCM concept. © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. Peer review by the scientific conference committee of SolarPACES 2014 under responsibility of PSE AG.
Diagnostic Tests for the Selection on Observables Assumption: The Case of Women Infants and Children Program ** PRELIMINARY AND INCOMPLETE **

In this paper we present diagnostic tests for selection on observables assumption. Our diagnostic tests are based on the presence of a variable among our controls that has an atom (bunching) at a known point, but is otherwise continuously distributed. This set up was first exploited by [4] to test exogeneity of smoking during pregnancy in considering the effect of smoking during pregnancy on baby’s birth weight. Caetano’s test, however, cannot be applied to test exogeneity of a discrete covariate, which is the focus of this paper. We demonstrate our diagnostic tests using birth certificate data, which covers more than 80% of all births in the U.S. from 2010 2012 and contains a rich, detailed set of parental and pregnancy covariates, to study the impact of the Supplemental Program for Women Infants and Children (WIC) on birth outcomes.
Spatial and temporal characterization of agricultural crop volumes by means of polarimetric SAR tomographyatc-band

In this paper, agricultural crop volumes are analysed using (polarimetric) tomographic SAR methodologies. A procedure for the separation of the ground and volume multibaseline coherences is proposed. This separation is used in particular to investigate the polarization dependency of the vegetation vertical structure in order to get first insights about orientation effects. This analysis has been carried out for different crops and on different development stages. The presented results have been obtained by processing a multibaseline fully polarimetric data set purposely acquired at C-band by the DLR's airborne sensor F-SAR in 2014.
Variation in how frequently adolescents think about the past, the present, and the future in relation to academic achievement

Abstract In an effort to contribute information on the relationship between time perspective and academic outcomes, we examined the frequency with which adolescents’ reported thinking about the past, the present, and the future in relation to self-reported grade point average. Analyses of questions that assessed how often (i.e., never, monthly, weekly, and daily) adolescents thought about the past, the present, and the future yielded several findings: (a) about half of the adolescents’ reported thinking about each time period on a daily basis, (b) patterns of responses indicated that daily and weekly occurrences were the most common rate of thinking between time periods, and (c) the frequency with which adolescents’ reported thinking about the past predicted academic achievement, with more frequent thoughts about the past associated with higher academic achievement. Results are discussed in light of additional areas for research on time perspective. Keywords : time frequency, time perspective, adolescents, academic achievement.
The relationship between hospital managers' leadership style and effectiveness with passing managerial training courses

Background: Effective leadership that rises from managerial training courses is highly constructive in managing hospitals more effectively. This study aims at investigating the relationship between leadership effectiveness with providing management training courses for hospital managers. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study carried out on top and middle managers of 16 hospitals of Iran University of Medical Sciences. As a sample, 96 participants were selected through census method. Data were collected using leadership effectiveness and style questionnaire, whose validity and reliability were certified in previous studies. Pearson correlation coefficient and linear regressions were used for data analysis. Results: Leadership effectiveness score was estimated to be 4.36, showing a suitable status for managers' leadership effectiveness compared to the set criteria. No significant difference was found between leadership effectiveness and styles among managers who had passed the training courses with those who had not (p>0.05). Conclusion: Passing managerial training courses may have no significant effect on managers' leadership effectiveness, but there may be some other variables which should be meticulously studied.
CS 229 Final Report : Artistic Style Transfer for Face Portraits

The goal of our project is to learn the content and style representations of face portraits, and then to combine them to produce new pictures. The content features of a face are the features that identify a face, such as the outline shape. The stylistic features are the artistic characteristics of a certain portrait or painting, such as brush strokes, or background color. We forward-pass a content image, and several style images through a CNN to extract the desired content and style features. Then we initialize a white noise image, and perform gradient descent on its pixels until it matches the desired style and content features.
Chondrodermatitis nodularis helicis successfully treated with photodynamic therapy.

Five patients at our clinic, 3 women and 2 men, with a mean age of 77 years (age range, 58-88 years), were diagnosed as having CDNH. All cases presented with 1 or 2 small, painful erythematous nodules, 3 of which were centered by an ulcer, on the upper part of the helix (Figure 1). Two patients also had a painful erythematous lesion on the antihelix. Pressure-relieving devices, topical corticosteroids, and cryotherapy had been previously used with little or no improvement. In addition, in 1 case the lesion was a recurrence after surgical excision 2 years previously. The mean duration of the CDNH was 11.6 months (range,6-24 months).
Technology roadmapping as a new tool of knowledge management

For high technology companies, the successful acquisition and management of technology to enable the development and manufacture of innovative products is a key factor in their competitiveness. Technology roadmapping is a strategic decision-making technique which is applied to science, technology and product strategic planning. Technology roadmapping process can accelerate new product development more efficient. This paper firstly describes the definition of technology roadmapping, technology roadmapping process, its implications to policy, and its help for communication system. Secondly, this paper illustrates six different stages of TRM implementation and the inputs and outputs of each stage. Finally, the paper discusses on the relation of technology roadmap tool and knowledge management.
Increased neocortical expression of the P2X7 receptor after status epilepticus and anticonvulsant effect of P2X7 receptor antagonist A‐438079

ATP is an essential transmitter/cotransmitter in neuron function and pathophysiology and has recently emerged as a potential contributor to prolonged seizures (status epilepticus) through the activation of the purinergic ionotropic P2X7 receptor (P2X7R). Increased P2X7R expression has been reported in the hippocampus, and P2X7R antagonists reduced seizure‐induced damage to this brain region. However, status epilepticus also produces damage to the neocortex. The present study was designed to characterize P2X7R in the neocortex and assess effects of P2X7R antagonists on cortical injury after status epilepticus.
Antiparkinson drug – Mucuna pruriens shows antioxidant and metal chelating activity

Parkinson's disease is a neurodegenerative disorder for which no neurorestorative therapeutic treatment is currently available. Oxidative stress plays an important role in the pathophysiology of Parkinson's disease. The ancient Indian medical system, Ayurveda, traditionally uses Mucuna pruriens to treat Parkinson's disease. In our earlier studies, Mucuna pruriens has been shown to possess antiparkinson and neuroprotective effects in animal models of Parkinson's disease. The antioxidant activity of Mucuna pruriens was demonstrated by its ability to scavenge DPPH radicals, ABTS radicals and reactive oxygen species. Mucuna pruriens significantly inhibited the oxidation of lipids and deoxyribose sugar. Mucuna pruriens exhibited divalent iron chelating activity and did not show any genotoxic/mutagenic effect on the plasmid DNA. These results suggest that the neuroprotective and neurorestorative effect of Mucuna pruriens may be related to its antioxidant activity independent of the symptomatic effect. In addition, the drug appears to be therapeutically safe in the treatment of patients with Parkinson's disease. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.