Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of osmolality on 86Rb+ uptake and release by Leishmania donovani

Promastigotes from late‐log phase cultures of Leishmania donovani were washed and resuspended in Hanks' Balanced Salt Solution without glucose or phenyl red but with 20 mM (N‐[2‐hydroxyethyl] piperazine‐N'‐[2‐ethanesulfonic acid]) (HEPES) (HBSS−, 305 mOsm/kg). They were then added to a solution containing 86Rb such that the final osmolality and ionic composition was as desired. Samples were taken at known times and the amount of intracellular 86Rb was measured. Similarly, experiments were performed in which 86Rb was added to the cultures about 18 hr before collection, and the amount of 86Rb released from the washed cells was measured. Under iso‐osmotic conditions only about 1.3% of the intracellular 86Rb was released in 900 sec. This increased about 4‐fold if the osmolality was reduced from 305–153 mOsm/kg. This is much slower than the very rapid release of alanine in response to hypo‐osmotic stress, indicating that alanine release is not via a non‐specific pore. Reducing the temperature from 26°C to 3–4°C completely inhibits 86Rb release under iso‐osmotic conditions and largely inhibits it under hypo‐osmotic conditions. The rate of 86Rb release was not sensitive to K+ concentration and was not altered if chloride was replaced by sulfamate. Ouabain had no effect on either 86Rb uptake or release, but carbonylcyanide P‐trifluoromethoxyphenylhydrazone (FCCP) reduced the rate of 86Rb release and, after about a 300 sec exposure, completely inhibited 86Rb uptake. Amiloride partially inhibited 86Rb release, but had no effect on uptake. A decrease in pH from 7.1–5.9 had little effect on 86Rb release under iso‐osmotic conditions and slightly increased the rate of release under hypo‐osmotic conditions, but it decreased the rate of uptake under both iso‐osmotic and hypo‐osmotic conditions. Cells taken from 3‐day stationary phase cultures released 86Rb more slowly under iso‐osmotic conditions than cells from late log phase cultures, but were more responsive to hypo‐osmotic stress than were log phase cells. These data appear to rule out an [Na‐K‐Cl] transporter or a [K‐Cl] cotransporter as the means of K+ release, but are consistent with the possiblity that a K+/H+ exchanger is present. The possibility that other carrier systems may be present is also discussed. © 1992 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
An efficient methodology to improve service negotiation in cloud environment

Cloud computing is one of the fast emerging technologies that rely on sharing computing resources rather than having local servers or other devices to handle applications. To reduce the cost of installing individual servers for handling several applications, cloud computing provides an environment to share the resources. The cloud can provide services based on the requesting environment. Thus, cloud computing can be termed as an environment-based service provider. Cloud-based services reduce the individual installation cost for server and are also able to improve the QoS for the user. This can be achieved by providing the configuration settings for the server to the requesting client. Using this configuration, the client can access the server through the cloud. In this paper, we propose a methodology to improve the QoS to provide better performance compared to the existing method. We can achieve this by improving various parameters to negotiate the cloud easily.
Epigenetic marks in melanoma

Melanoma is a highly heterogeneous cancer that comes in different flavors (lentigo maligna melanoma, superficial spreading melanoma, nodular melanoma, acral lentiginous/mucosal melanoma and other less common subtypes including malignant cellular blue nevus, desmoplastic melanoma, nevoid melanoma, and animal‐type melanoma) and colors (black/bluish or unpigmented). Pathologists have known for many years that melanoma displays notable changes in the nuclear architecture including thick chromatic rims, presence of mitosis, nuclear grooves, and more. It is now evident from other cancers that such changes reflect not only genomic alterations but also non‐genomic changes in both the structure of DNA and the structure of chromatin to which the DNA is bound (nucleosomes). Although aberrant gene expression resulting from DNA methylation has been known for many years, genome alterations resulting from histone modifications became evident in the current decade. In prostate and other cancers, some histone marks have clinical diagnostic and/or prognostic value. Here, we review the current data on epigenetic research in melanoma skin cancers, discuss ways to modify the epigenetic landscape of melanoma for inhibiting its growth, and propose strategies for identifying novel melanoma markers.
Hospital readmission and parent perceptions of their child's hospital discharge.

OBJECTIVE To describe parent perceptions of their child's hospital discharge and assess the relationship between these perceptions and hospital readmission. DESIGN A prospective study of parents surveyed with questions adapted from the care transitions measure, an adult survey that assesses components of discharge care. Participant answers, scored on a 5-point Likert scale, were compared between children who did and did not experience a readmission using a Fisher's exact test and logistic regression that accounted for patient characteristics associated with increased readmission risk, including complex chronic condition and assistance with medical technology. SETTING A tertiary-care children's hospital. PARTICIPANTS A total of 348 parents surveyed following their child's hospital discharge between March and October 2010. INTERVENTION None. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE Unplanned readmission within 30 days of discharge. RESULTS There were 28 children (8.1%) who experienced a readmission. Children had a lower readmission rate (4.4 vs. 11.3%, P = 0.004) and lower adjusted readmission likelihood [odds ratio 0.2 (95% confidence interval 0.1, 0.6)] when their parents strongly agreed (n = 206) with the statement, 'I felt that my child was healthy enough to leave the hospital' from the index admission. Parent perceptions relating to care management responsibilities, medications, written discharge plan, warning signs and symptoms to watch for and primary care follow-up were not associated with readmission risk in multivariate analysis. CONCLUSIONS Parent perception of their child's health at discharge was associated with the risk of a subsequent, unplanned readmission. Addressing concerns with this perception prior to hospital discharge may help mitigate readmission risk in children.
Options to Restrict Hematoma Expansion After Spontaneous Intracerebral Hemorrhage

Background and Purpose— Secondary expansion of hematoma after spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage occurs frequently and early with the potential sequelae of functional deterioration or death. The aim of this topical review is to give a summary of current evidence- and experience-based options to avoid or attenuate hematoma expansion. Method— We reviewed the literature of the past 10 years on efforts to restrict spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage expansion by searching Medline and adding related articles known to us. Based on evidence, current guidelines, and our own clinical practice, we have collected consistent and inconsistent pieces of data. These were differentiated according to surgical versus medical approaches, weighed and discussed with regard to expectable benefit, potential risk, and practicability. Finally, we have outlined promising future approaches. Results— Although consistent evidence on the topic is generally limited, some important studies have provided data on risk factors predicting spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage expansion implying ways of directing therapy toward these risk factors. Large trials have shed light on 4 major efforts to avoid hematoma expansion: surgical hematoma treatment, reduction of hypertension, reversal of coagulopathies or anticoagulants, and hemostatic therapy. The results were largely disappointing but provide insights for new trials. Future strategies include the combination of surgical and medical treatment and the use of neuroprotectants. Conclusions— Early restriction of intracerebral hemorrhage is of paramount importance because secondary volume expansion leads to outcome deterioration and death. Although there appear to be few indications for neurosurgical measures, nonsurgical measures such as reduction of hypertension and normalization of altered coagulation seem to be beneficial. However, the routine use of coagulation factors outside of warfarin-associated spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage cannot generally be recommended at present. The same applies for future approaches such as combined medical–surgical approaches and neuroprotective therapies at this point.
Technical problems and complications of a transanal pull-through for Hirschsprung's disease.

BACKGROUND The purpose of this study was to evaluate the technical difficulties and complications of a transanal pull-through for Hirschsprung's disease. MATERIAL AND METHODS This report was based on a multicentric retrospective study of 65 cases. Pull-through procedures were transanal Swenson or Soave procedures in 26 and 39 cases, respectively. RESULTS Evaluation of the aganglionic level, peri-rectal dissection, and anastomosis were the three steps in the procedure where surgeons encountered difficulties. Such difficulties led to serious complications in 3 cases. A patient with a colon biopsy before the pull-through procedure had a postoperative pneumoperitoneum requiring a second laparoscopy for suture and washing. Another patient had peritonitis due to anastomotic leakage. Finally, a difficult rectal dissection in a neonate led to a urethral injury requiring secondary urethral repair. Only 41 of the 65 patients had no abdominal scars (63 %). CONCLUSION We considered the transanal pull-through for Hirschsprung's disease to be a reliable technique. Nevertheless, it requires an urethral stent, precise dissection, careful anastomosis and selected indications in order to avoid major complications.
Design of magnetic encoder based on reconstructing and mapping looking-up table

This paper proposed an integrated hall magnetic encoder error correction method. In order to eliminate the steady-state error caused by installation errors and so on, this paper proposed three-phase zero and sine symmetric reconstruction. The sum of three-phase hall signal could be constant zero through zero reconstruction. In sine symmetric reconstruction method, transform three-phase hall signal into two-phase orthogonal static coordinate to make sinusoidal orthogonal reconstruction. Then Symmetrical three-phase sinusoidal signal could be obtained using Clark transform. In order to solve dynamic error in temperature drift, this paper proposed a mapping projection method. This algorithm calculates real-time signal amplitude to get temperature drift coefficient. After standardize actual signal using this proportion factor, motor position angle can be received by querying standard table. The proposed solution can solve position angle constant and jump problem near the endpoint of angle section. Moreover, it has simple realization and high response speed. The simulation and experiments were carried out to prove the performance and validity.
Iodine nutrition status among schoolchildren after salt iodisation.

UNLABELLED Earlier studies done in Sri Lanka have indicated the importance of iodine deficiency as a public health problem. The universal salt iodisation programme has been implemented since 1995. The goals of salt iodisation are reduction of the goitre rate to <5% in school-aged children, to maintain the median urinary iodine level in the population between 100-200 microg/L and >90% of households using iodised salt. OBJECTIVE To estimate the goitre prevalence, the urinary iodine level, and measure the household iodised salt consumption pattern by Province. METHOD A school-based study of 6574 randomly selected children in the age group 8-10 years, from 263 schools was assessed for goitre by palpation. The concentration of urinary iodine levels was measured in 2630 of these children. Estimation of iodine in the 6181 samples of salt used in households of the schoolchildren was also assessed by test kits. RESULTS The prevalence of goitre in the Provinces varied from 16.3% to 26.2%. The median urinary iodine levels were above the cut-off point of 100 microg/L in all Provinces except in Uva. The highest median urinary iodine level was reported in North Central Province (231.3 microg/L). Overall, 35.4% of the children had urine iodine levels in the 'ideal' range (100-199.9 microg/L); 30.6% with lower values (<100 microg/L) indicated iodine deficiency and 16.3% with higher values (< 300 microg/L) indicated excessive iodine intake. Only 49.5% of households had used adequately iodised salt. CONCLUSIONS This study showed that iodine deficiency still exists in Uva Province, and that more than adequate iodine levels were found in the North Central Province. The level of permitted salt iodine at household level needs to be revised.
Project Solaris, a Global Network of Autonomous Observatories: Design, Commissioning, and First Science Results

We present the design and commissioning of Project Solaris, a global network of autonomous observatories. Solaris is a Polish scientific undertaking aimed at the detection and characterization of circumbinary exoplanets and eclipsing binary stars. To accomplish this, a network of four fully autonomous observatories has been deployed in the Southern Hemisphere: Solaris-1 and Solaris-2 in the South African Astronomical Observatory in South Africa; Solaris-3 in Siding Spring Observatory in Australia; and Solaris-4 in Complejo Astronomico El Leoncito in Argentina. The four stations are nearly identical and are equipped with 0.5-m Ritchey-Crétien (f/15) or Cassegrain (f/9, Solaris-3) optics and high-grade 2 K × 2 K CCD cameras with Johnson and Sloan filter sets. We present the design and implementation of low-level security; data logging and notification systems; weather monitoring components; all-sky vision system, surveillance system; and distributed temperature and humidity sensors. We describe dedicated grounding and lighting protection system design and robust fiber data transfer interfaces in electrically demanding conditions. We discuss the outcomes of our design, as well as the resulting software engineering requirements. We describe our system’s engineering approach to achieve the required level of autonomy, the architecture of the custom high-level industry-grade software that has been designed and implemented specifically for the use of the network. We present the actual status of the project and first photometric results; these include data and models of already studied systems for benchmarking purposes (Wasp-4b, Wasp-64b, and Wasp-98b transits, PG 1663-018, an eclipsing binary with a pulsator) as well J024946-3825.6, an interesting low-mass binary system for which a complete model is provided for the first time.
Cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor roscovitine induces cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in rabbit retinal pigment epithelial cells.

AIMS Cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs) play essential roles in the intracellular control of the cell cycle. It has been postulated that roscovitine, a potent CDK2, CDK5, and CDC2 inhibitor, might inhibit cellular proliferation by arresting the cell cycle. This in vitro study investigated the antiproliferative and apoptotic effects of roscovitine in cultured rabbit retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells. METHODS Experiments using rabbit RPE from young pigmented rabbits were carried out using roscovitine dissolved in dimethylsulfoxide at concentrations ranging from 1 to 100 micromol. Cell proliferation was measured by an MTT assay. The cell cycle response of RPE cells to roscovitine was analyzed by flow cytometry of propidium iodide-stained nuclei. Proteins related to DNA damage in the RPE cells were then assayed by Western blot. RESULTS Roscovitine inhibited proliferation of RPE cells in a dose-dependent manner. Cell cycle analysis after treatment demonstrated an accumulation of cells arrested in the S- and G2/M phases. Flow cytometry showed that 40 microM of roscovitine increased the cell population in the sub-G1 peak, which is considered a marker of cell death by apoptosis. Western blot analysis revealed Bcl-2 decreased and Bax increased after treatment of RPE cells with roscovitine. CONCLUSIONS This study of the response of RPE cells to roscovitine demonstrated a bidirectional relationship between cell cycle control and apoptosis.
Resistance to Tellurite as a Selection Marker for Genetic Manipulations of Pseudomonas Strains

ABSTRACT Resistance to the toxic compound potassium tellurite (Telr) has been employed as a selection marker built into a set of transposon vectors and broad-host-range plasmids tailored for genetic manipulations of Pseudomonas strains potentially destined for environmental release. In this study, the activated Telr determinants encoded by the cryptic telABgenes of plasmid RK2 were produced, along with the associatedkilA gene, as DNA cassettes compatible with cognate vectors. In one case, the Telr determinants were assembled between the I and O ends of a suicide delivery vector for mini-Tn5 transposons. In another case, the kilAand telAB genes were combined with a minimal replicon derived from a variant of Pseudomonas plasmid pPS10, which is able to replicate in a variety of gram-negative hosts and is endowed with a modular collection of cloning and expression assets. Either in the plasmid or in the transposon vector, the Telr marker was combined with a 12-kb DNA segment of plasmid pWW0 of Pseudomonas putida mt-2 encoding the upper TOL pathway enzymes. This allowed construction of antibiotic resistance-free but selectable P. putida strains with the ability to grow on toluene as the sole carbon source through anortho-cleavage catabolic pathway.
Evaluation of core loss in magnetic materials employed in utility grid AC filters

Inductive components play an important role in filtering the switching harmonics related to the pulse width modulation in voltage source converters. Particularly, the filter reactor on the converter side of the filter is subjected to rectangular excitation which may lead to significant losses in the core, depending on the magnetic material of choice and current ripple specifications. Additionally, shunt or series reactors that exists in LCL or trap filters and which are subjected to sinusoidal excitations have different specifications and requirements. Therefore, the core losses of different magnetic materials adopted in utility grid ac filters have been investigated and measured for both sinusoidal and rectangular excitation, with and without dc bias condition. The core loss information can ensure cost-effective passive filter designs and may avoid trial-error design procedures of the passive components parameters.
Brain size evolution in pipefishes and seahorses: the role of feeding ecology, life history and sexual selection

Brain size varies greatly at all taxonomic levels. Feeding ecology, life history and sexual selection have been proposed as key components in generating contemporary diversity in brain size across vertebrates. Analyses of brain size evolution have, however, been limited to lineages where males predominantly compete for mating and females choose mates. Here, we present the first original data set of brain sizes in pipefishes and seahorses (Syngnathidae) a group in which intense female mating competition occurs in many species. After controlling for the effect of shared ancestry and overall body size, brain size was positively correlated with relative snout length. Moreover, we found that females, on average, had 4.3% heavier brains than males and that polyandrous species demonstrated more pronounced (11.7%) female‐biased brain size dimorphism. Our results suggest that adaptations for feeding on mobile prey items and sexual selection in females are important factors in brain size evolution of pipefishes and seahorses. Most importantly, our study supports the idea that sexual selection plays a major role in brain size evolution, regardless of on which sex sexual selection acts stronger.
Potassium currents underlying the oscillatory response in hair cells of the goldfish sacculus.

1. Ionic currents underlying the oscillatory response of membrane potential were studied in oscillatory‐type hair cells isolated from the goldfish sacculus with the whole‐cell recording method using a patch pipette. 2. Bath application of 4‐aminopyridine (4‐AP; 10 mM) reversibly produced moderate depolarization of the resting potential along with complete suppression of the oscillatory response. Sustained injection of a small depolarizing current also suppressed the oscillatory response. 3. A 4‐AP‐sensitive atypical A‐type K+ current which had a high threshold voltage for inactivation (IA(H)) was found to be a major outward current underlying the oscillatory response. 4. IA(H) was activated with a time constant of 0.4‐10 ms and was inactivated slowly with a time constant of 0.6‐2 s. IA(H) activation and inactivation occurred mostly at membrane potentials more positive than ‐70 mV. 5. There was a clear correlation between activation speed of IA(H) and the frequency of pulse‐evoked oscillation. A ‘hump’‐type response was produced in about one‐quarter of the oscillatory‐type hair cells.
Anti‐tissue factor pathway inhibitor activity in patients with primary antiphospholipid syndrome

The association between antiphospholipid antibodies and an increased risk of thrombosis in antiphospholipid syndrome (aPS) patients is probably caused by numerous mechanisms, including the effects of antibodies to phospholipid‐binding proteins such as β2‐glycoprotein I and prothrombin. In this study, we investigated the inhibition of tissue factor pathway inhibitor (TFPI) in 33 patients with primary antiphospholipid syndrome (PAPS). TFPI was measured in PAPS patients using an amidolytic assay, dependent on the generation of activated factor X (Fxa), and this was compared with 55 healthy subjects. Functional levels of TFPI (mean ± SD) were significantly lower in PAPS patients (0·89 ± 0·37 U/ml) than the control group (1·05 ± 0·15 U/ml) (P = 0·02). The difference was caused by a subset of five patients who had TFPI levels below the lower 99% confidence interval of the normal reference range, representing increased FXa generation in the assay system. IgG fractions were isolated from these five patients and five control subjects, then incorporated into normal plasma to measure FXa generation in the TFPI assay system. FXa generation was increased when polyclonal rabbit anti‐human TFPI IgG (P < 0·0001) or PAPS IgG (P = 0·0001) were added to normal plasma, demonstrating inhibition of TFPI. The apparent anti‐TFPI activity demonstrated in the five subjects with PAPS in this study may represent a significant new mechanism for thrombosis in patients with aPS, as it implies that increased tissue factor FVIIa‐mediated thrombin generation might occur.