Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Antibacterial activity and Fatty Acid composition of the extract from hypnea musciformis (gigartinales, rhodophyta).

The red alga Hypnea musciformis (Wulf.) Lamour. , collected from the coast of Karachi, Pakistan has been studied for its fatty acid composition. Sixteen fatty acids were found in its methanolic extract, which were analysed as methyl esters by GC-MS. Altogether 7 satuated, 3 monoenoic, 2 dienoic and 4 trienoic fatty acids could be detected. Two saturated i.e. nonadecylic and heneicosanoic acids and all the 9 unsaturated acids are being reported for the first time from this seaweed. Pentadecylate was present in largest and monadecylate in smallest quantity among saturated, while decatrienoate was detected in largest and myristoleate in smallest amount among unsaturated acids. The methanolic extract of the seaweed exhibited strong antibacterial activity against the gram positive and seven gram negative bacteria, the former appeared to be more sensitive than the latter.
Imaging of the brain in acute ischaemic stroke: comparison of computed tomography and magnetic resonance diffusion-weighted imaging

Background and objectives: Controversy exists about the optimal imaging technique in acute stroke. It was hypothesised that CT is comparable with DWI, when both are read systematically using quantitative scoring. Methods: Ischaemic stroke patients who had CT within six hours and DWI within seven hours of onset were included. Five readers used a quantitative scoring system (ASPECTS) to read the baseline (b) and follow up CT and DWI. Use of MRI in acute stroke was also assessed in patients treated with tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) by prospectively recording reasons for exclusion. Patients were followed clinically at three months. Results: bDWI and bCT were available for 100 consecutive patients (admission median NIHSS = 9). The mean bDWI and bCT ASPECTS were positively related (p<0.001). The level of interrater agreement ranged from good to excellent across all modalities and time periods. Bland–Altman plots showed more variability between bCT and bDWI than at 24 hours. The difference between bCT and bDWI was ⩽2 ASPECTS points. Of bCT scans with ASPECTS 8–10, 81% had DWI ASPECTS 8–10. Patients with bCT ASPECTS of 8–10 were 1.9 times more likely to have a favourable outcome at 90 days than those with a score of 0–7 (95% CI 1.1 to 3.1, p = 0.002). The relative likelihood of favourable outcome with a bDWI ASPECTS 8–10 was 1.4 (95% CI 1.0 to 1.9, p = 0.10). Of patients receiving tPA 45% had contraindications to urgent MRI. Conclusion: The differences between CT and DWI in visualising early infarction are small when using ASPECTS. CT is faster and more accessible than MRI, and therefore is the better neuroimaging modality for the treatment of acute stroke.
An Integrated Model of Knowledge Sharing in Contemporary Communication Environments

Why do people share (or withhold) knowledge through online public knowledge management systems (KMS)? What benefits and costs might they experience from doing so? How does one’s ability to cognitively integrate the knowledge shared through a KMS affect these costs and benefits? Sharing knowledge, both contributing and collecting, requires active communication and engagement with others; involves complex issues about knowledge, governance structures and public goods, and individual and collective costs and benefits, and is increasingly done through online public knowledge management systems. An interdisciplinary review of these issues leads to an integrated model of individual and collective influences on knowledge sharing behavior through, and use of, knowledge management systems. Primary contributions of the model include the role of cognitive integration in mediating between a knowledge management system’s use and resulting costs and benefits, and the notion that such costs and benefits can occur at both the individual and collective level.
Associations between the intake of miso soup and Japanese pickles and the estimated 24-hour urinary sodium excretion: a population-based cross-sectional study.

OBJECTIVE In Japan, reducing the consumption of miso soup and Japanese pickles, both traditional Japanese dishes, is recommended in order to decrease dietary salt intake. With the Westernization of dietary habits, however, these dishes are now consumed less frequently, and thus a reduction in their effect on sodium intake is suspected. This study examined cross-sectional associations between the frequency of intake of miso soup and Japanese pickles and the estimated 24-hour urine sodium excretion using data obtained from health examination surveys conducted in 2013 in Sado City, Japan. METHODS The level of daily salt intake was estimated based on spot urine sodium and creatinine measurements. The frequency of intake of miso soup and Japanese pickles was determined using a self-reported questionnaire. Multiple linear regression models were used to assess associations. RESULTS Among a total of 8,821 participants (3,956 men; age range, 19-97 years), the mean daily salt intake was 9.4 g/day. The frequency of intake of miso soup and Japanese pickles increased with age and was associated with the level of daily salt intake (p for trend <0.0001). A linear regression model analysis adjusted for age, sex, body mass index, hypertension, diabetes, hypercholesterolemia and chronic kidney disease revealed that daily salt intake was associated with the frequency of intake of miso soup (p<0.0001) and Japanese pickles (p<0.0001) in all age groups, except those ≥ 80 years of age. CONCLUSION These findings suggest that reducing the consumption of miso soup and Japanese pickles may be an effective approach for decreasing the level of dietary salt intake in the general Japanese population, although not in octogenarians or nonagenarians.
Graph analysis of epileptogenic networks in human partial epilepsy

Purpose: The current gold standard for the localization of the cortical regions responsible for the initiation and propagation of the ictal activity is through the use of invasive electrocorticography (ECoG). This method is utilized to guide surgical intervention in cases of medically intractable epilepsy by identifying the location and extent of the epileptogenic focus. Recent studies have proposed mechanisms in which the activity of epileptogenic cortical networks, rather than discrete focal sources, contributes to the generation of the ictal state. If true, selective modulation of key network components could be employed for the prevention and termination of the ictal state.
Feature extraction in enhancing speech signal for mobile communication

Mobile phones are considered as smart phones if it has additional characteristics other than regular wireless voice transmission. Smartness does not mean compromising with quality of voice under noisy conditions. This paper discusses about the methodology for improving the quality of voice signal under adverse noise conditions. Voice signal affected by real time noise signals is passed through amplitude estimator and from there on, it is processed in cepstral and multiband domain to extract the features of speech signal. The extracted speech is used to reconstruct the original signal which is free from real noise.
Acute Bacterial Pneumonia is Associated With the Occurrence of Acute Coronary Syndromes

A link between acute infections and the development of acute coronary syndromes (ACS) has been proposed. We used retrospective cohort and self-controlled case series analyses to define the closeness of the association between acute bacterial pneumonia due to Streptococcus pneumoniae or Haemophilus influenzae and ACS. For the retrospective cohort analysis we included a control group of patients with admission diagnoses other than pneumonia or ACS. For the self-controlled case series analysis, we made within-person comparisons of the risk for ACS during the 15 days after admission for pneumonia with that of 365 days before and after that event. In 206 pneumonia patients (144 S. pneumoniae, 62 H. influenzae) we identified 22 (10.7%) cases of ACS, which compared to 6 (1.5%) among 395 controls resulted in an odds ratio (OR) of 7.8 (95% confidence interval [CI], 3.1-19.4). With multivariate logistic regression analysis, the OR for ACS in the pneumonia group remained elevated (OR, 8.5; 95% CI, 3.4-22.2). By the self-controlled case series method, the risk of ACS remarkably increased during the first 15 days after the diagnosis of pneumonia (incidence rate ratio, 47.6; 95% CI, 24.5-92.5). The characteristics and strength of these associations suggest a causal role for the acute infection in this relationship. Abbreviations: ACS = acute coronary syndromes, CI = confidence interval, ICU = intensive care unit, IRR = incidence rate ratio, OR = odds ratio.
Semantic Mapping between RDBMS and Domain Ontology

In general, although most data existing in the WWW are modeled as some type of relational database, characteristically even information in the same domain is often structured in different ways depending on the individual manager. In order to materialize a semantic Web, a method to efficiently map these different kinds of data is needed. This paper presents an algorithm for the matching between a relational database and domain ontology. Existing studies on the matching between a relational database and domain ontology were performed by extracting local ontology from a relational database. However the problem of losing domain information remains as a correlation with domain ontology is not used in the process of extracting local ontology. As a solution to this problem, we attempted to prevent the information loss through the measurement of similarity between the instances of the relational database and domain ontology, and increased the efficiency of the matching process by using information on the relation between tables in the relational database and also the relation between classes in ontology.
Analysis of missense variation in human BRCA1 in the context of interspecific sequence variation

Introduction: Interpretation of results from mutation screening of tumour suppressor genes known to harbour high risk susceptibility mutations, such as APC, BRCA1, BRCA2, MLH1, MSH2, TP53, and PTEN, is becoming an increasingly important part of clinical practice. Interpretation of truncating mutations, gene rearrangements, and obvious splice junction mutations, is generally straightforward. However, classification of missense variants often presents a difficult problem. From a series of 20 000 full sequence tests of BRCA1 carried out at Myriad Genetic Laboratories, a total of 314 different missense changes and eight in-frame deletions were observed. Before this study, only 21 of these missense changes were classified as deleterious or suspected deleterious and 14 as neutral or of little clinical significance. Methods: We have used a combination of a multiple sequence alignment of orthologous BRCA1 sequences and a measure of the chemical difference between the amino acids present at individual residues in the sequence alignment to classify missense variants and in-frame deletions detected during mutation screening of BRCA1. Results: In the present analysis we were able to classify an additional 50 missense variants and two in-frame deletions as probably deleterious and 92 missense variants as probably neutral. Thus we have tentatively classified about 50% of the unclassified missense variants observed during clinical testing of BRCA1. Discussion: An internal test of the analysis is consistent with our classification of the variants designated probably deleterious; however, we must stress that this classification is tentative and does not have sufficient independent confirmation to serve as a clinically applicable stand alone method.
Requirements for charging of an electric vehicle system based on state of power (SoP) and state of energy (SoE)

This paper presents an analytical model for battery pack management and charging infrastructure for an Electric Vehicle. It presents a novel concept of State of Power (SoP) and State of Energy (SoE). These things determine how far a battery pack can be used in a practical circumstances. The presented model can be used to examine the power range capability of a battery pack and to determine the State of Power (SoP) & State of Energy (SoE) of the battery along with the remaining range. It presents a novel model which takes into account both of a complete battery model and battery pack management system.
Grape antioxidant dietary fibre prevents mitochondrial apoptotic pathways by enhancing Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL expression and minimising oxidative stress in rat distal colonic mucosa

Grape antioxidant dietary fibre (GADF) is a grape product rich in dietary fibre and natural antioxidants. We reported previously that GADF intake reduced apoptosis and induced a pro-reducing shift in the glutathione (GSH) redox status of the rat proximal colonic mucosa. The aim of the study was to elucidate the molecular mechanisms responsible for the anti-apoptotic effect of GADF and their association with the oxidative environment of the distal colonic mucosa. The ability of GADF to modify colonic crypt cell proliferation was also investigated. Male Wistar rats (n 20) were fed with diets containing either cellulose (control group) or GADF (GADF group) as fibre for 4 weeks. GADF did not modify cell proliferation but induced a significant reduction of colonic apoptosis. The anti-apoptotic proteins Bcl-2 (B-cell lymphoma-2) and Bcl-xL (B-cell lymphoma extra large) were up-regulated in the mitochondria and down-regulated in the cytosol of the GADF mucosa, whereas the opposite was found for the pro-apoptotic protein Bax (Bcl-2-associated X protein), leading to an anti-apoptotic shift in the pattern of expression of the Bcl-2 family. Cytosolic cytochrome c and cleaved caspase-3 levels and caspase-3 activity were reduced by GADF. The modulation of the antioxidant enzyme system and the increase of the cytosolic GSH:glutathione disulfide (GSSG) ratio elicited by GADF helped to reduce oxidative damage. The cytosolic GSH:GSSG ratio was negatively related to apoptosis. These results indicate that GADF acts on the expression of the pro- and anti- apoptotic Bcl-2 proteins, attenuating the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway in the distal colonic mucosa. This effect appears to be associated with the antioxidant properties of GADF.
Cytoplasmic isoforms of Kaposi sarcoma herpesvirus LANA recruit and antagonize the innate immune DNA sensor cGAS

Significance In addition to the well-characterized main nuclear latency-associated nuclear antigen (LANA) protein of Kaposi sarcoma herpesvirus (KSHV), cytoplasmic LANA isoforms are known to exist, but their function has thus far been unknown. Here we show that N-terminally truncated cytoplasmic isoforms of LANA play a role in antagonizing the innate response triggered, by means of cGMP-AMP synthase (cGAS) and stimulator of interferon genes (STING), during the reactivation of KSHV from latency. By directly interacting with cGAS, cytoplasmic LANA variants inhibit the cGAS-STING–dependent induction of interferon and thereby promote the reactivation of KSHV from latency. These findings extend the roles of a γ-herpesvirus latent protein into the lytic replication cycle. The latency-associated nuclear antigen (LANA) of Kaposi sarcoma herpesvirus (KSHV) is mainly localized and functions in the nucleus of latently infected cells, playing a pivotal role in the replication and maintenance of latent viral episomal DNA. In addition, N-terminally truncated cytoplasmic isoforms of LANA, resulting from internal translation initiation, have been reported, but their function is unknown. Using coimmunoprecipitation and MS, we found the cGMP-AMP synthase (cGAS), an innate immune DNA sensor, to be a cellular interaction partner of cytoplasmic LANA isoforms. By directly binding to cGAS, LANA, and particularly, a cytoplasmic isoform, inhibit the cGAS-STING–dependent phosphorylation of TBK1 and IRF3 and thereby antagonize the cGAS-mediated restriction of KSHV lytic replication. We hypothesize that cytoplasmic forms of LANA, whose expression increases during lytic replication, inhibit cGAS to promote the reactivation of the KSHV from latency. This observation points to a novel function of the cytoplasmic isoforms of LANA during lytic replication and extends the function of LANA from its role during latency to the lytic replication cycle.
Force-balanced coil for large scale SMES

In large scale SMES, huge electromagnetic force caused by high magnetic fields and coil currents is a serious problem. In order to solve this problem, we propose a concept of force-balanced coil (FBC) applied to the SMES. The FBC balances the centering force with the hoop force, both of which are exerted in the major radius direction. Moreover, for the optimization of large aspect ratio superconducting coils, we propose a stress-balanced coil (SEC) concept, improving the concept of FBC, which balances magnetic pressures at the coil nose part where the produced magnetic field reaches its maximum value. Comparing the toroidal magnetic field coil (TFC) and FBC with SEC, the last can reduce coil stresses and obtain large stored energy with shorter length conductors and/or lower magnetic fields.
Detection of genomic changes in transgenic Bt rice populations through genetic fingerprinting using amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP)

A highly precise molecular marker technique, Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism (AFLP) was used to characterize the changes in genomic structure occurred due to introduction of foreign gene and/ or due to the induced tissue culture stress during the development of various transgenic Bt rice populations. The transgenic rice plants having complex to simple Bt gene and selectable marker gene organizations were selected from the six insect resistant Bt rice lines. Our results clearly demonstrate that integration pattern, extent of rearrangement of foreign DNA and method of transformation may influence the genomic changes in transgenic rice populations. Eleven of fourteen AFLP primer combinations tested, generated distinct scorable banding pattern, which were further used in this study. Three primer combinations E-TA / M-CTT (IRRI-NPT), E-AG / M-CAC (Tulasi) and E-AA / M-CAG (IR 68899B) produced only monomorphic bands in all the transgenic and control rice plants . A percentage of 0.61% of 430 million bases of haploid rice genome were examined by the use of 11 AFLP primer combinations employed in this study. The DNA fingerprints generated by AFLP analysis, of each Bt rice population was compared with their respective non-transgenic control and was found to be > 97% similar. This indicated that the introduction of Bt gene into the genome of six rice varieties showed few genomic changes. The comparison shows that fewer changes were observed among the transgenic plants developed by Agrobacterium infection than that of developed through particle bombardment. Transgene integration pattern and their copy number were associated with the extent of genomic changes observed in the transgenic Bt rice varieties. AFLP fingerprints of the six transgenic rice varieties evidenced few, but consistent polymorphic bands between the transgenic individuals with different PI values. Relationships among the transgenic populations with their control rice plants were expressed in the form of dendrograms.
Volatility of the 2008 Crisis

This paper will provide information on what happened in the financial crisis of 2008 and how to graph volatility outside of the option market. We will investigate the causes of the financial crisis, as well as some of the social inequalities that still exist today. We will explore household debt, deregulation, military expenditures, financial stimulus, and bailout packages. We will reference Timothy Giethner’s perspective on the 2008 financial crisis and how the recovery has been progressing as of 2012, in terms of civilian employment and GDP. Next we will investigate the stylized facts of the crisis and which markets should be reviewed. A study of the different markets is conducted using volatility, correlation and returns in three important trading markets — all volatility 3d graphing is performed using the Poseidon software.
Cl- secretion in epithelial monolayers of mucus-forming human colon cells (HT-29/B6).

HT-29, an undifferentiated human colon cell line, is known to differentiate when cultured without glucose. This study aimed to characterize ion transport in the clone HT-29/B6, which was selected from HT-29 cells differentiated by glucose-free culture. HT-29/B6 cells seeded onto filter membranes grew as polarized monolayers, mainly consisting of mucus-forming cells and exhibiting high transepithelial resistance. Short-circuit current (Isc) of unstimulated HT-29/B6 monolayers in Ussing chambers was 0.1 +/- 0.01 mumol.h-1.cm-2, and conductance was 2.0 +/- 0.2 mS/cm2. Serosal forskolin (FSK; 10(-5) M) induced a sustained Isc of 1.9 +/- 0.1 mumol.h-1.cm-2, associated with a rise of intracellular adenosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate (cAMP). Isc was identified as Cl- secretion by tracer studies and by the inhibitory effects of serosal bumetanide and Ba2+. The Cl- channel blockers NPPB and DPC diminished FSK-induced Isc at respective doses of 3 x 10(-4) and 10(-3) M, being effective from either side of the monolayer. Cl- secretion could be triggered by vasoactive intestinal peptide (10(-8) M), prostaglandin E1 (10(-6) M), and dibutyryl cAMP (10(-3) M) as well. In conclusion, HT-29/B6 cells grow as polarized monolayers, forming mucus and secreting Cl- in response to secretagogues. This clone may not only serve as a model for investigation of cellular mechanisms of intestinal Cl- secretion but may also be helpful to elucidate the contribution of mucus cells to this process.
Establishment of an Embryotoxicity Assay with Green Fluorescence Protein-expressing Embryonic Cell-derived Cardiomyocytes

Transgenic embryonic stem cells were used to determine the embryotoxic effects of chemicals on the development of embryonic tissues. This investigation supports an ongoing validation study, aimed at reducing the time-consuming procedure currently in use, and at providing more-objective and more-detailed information on the embryotoxic potentials of chemicals. Green fluorescence protein (GFP) was used as a reporter gene and was linked to a human α-cardiac-specific promoter. The expression of GFP was switched on after specific activation of the human α-actin promoter. This permitted the easy quantification of cardiac cells by using a fluorescence-activated cell sorter (FACS). The percentage of cardiac precursor cells was calculated from the FACS-distribution pattern of cells which fluoresced versus the total number of cells. The percentage of cardiac precursor cells increased from 25% in embryoid bodies on day 3, to 86% on day 7. However, in 11-day-old embryoid bodies, the percentage decreased to 35%. Five chemicals with known embryotoxic potentials were compared with respect to the IC50 (concentration causing 50% inhibition of measured effect) values obtained by various in vitro endpoints (for example, cytotoxicity, morphology). The results showed a higher sensitivity of endpoints used for the analysis of specific effects on the selected target tissue. The data also showed the need to develop in vitro methods with specific endpoints which account for the complexity of embryotoxicology.