Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Ultrasound-mediated micellar drug delivery

During the last decade, nanomedicine has emerged as a new field of medicine that utilises nanoscale materials for delivery of drugs, genes and imaging agents. The efficiency of drug delivery may be enhanced by the application of directed energy, which provides for drug targeting and enhanced intracellular uptake. In this paper, we present a review of recent advances in the ultrasound-mediated drug delivery with the emphasis on polymeric micelles as tumour-targeted drug carriers. This new modality of drug targeting to tumours is based on the drug encapsulation in polymeric micelles followed by a localised release at the tumour site triggered by focused ultrasound. The rationale behind this approach is that drug encapsulation in micelles decreases systemic concentration of free drug and provides for a passive drug targeting to tumours via the enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) effect, therefore reducing unwanted drug interactions with healthy tissues. Ultrasound affects micellar drug delivery on various levels. Mild hyperthermia induced by ultrasound may enhance micelle extravasation into tumour tissue; mechanical action of ultrasound results in drug release from micelles and enhances the intracellular uptake of both released and encapsulated drug. In addition, polymeric micelles sensitise multidrug resistant (MDR) cells to the action of drugs.
Photobiological safety of the recently introduced energy efficient household lamps

ObjectivesNowadays more and more newly introduced light sources (tungsten-halogen, compact fluorescent (CFL) and light-emitting diode (LED) lamps) are used in households. It is important to know whether their radiation poses any possible risk for human health or not. These light sources emit optical radiation not solely in the visible spectrum. Other bands emitted by these sources, i.e., ultraviolet and infrared, are potentially hazardous for human health. The visible light, especially the blue light, could also damage human retina. The purpose of this study was to determine the ultraviolet (UV) and blue light (BL) emissions from halogen bulbs, CFLs and LED lamps, and to evaluate them from the point of view of possible health risks for general public.Material and MethodsThe exposure of UV and BL emissions from 19 types of CFLs, 11 types of halogen lamps and 4 types of LED lamps produced by different manufacturers were measured at 200 mm distance from the source.ResultsThe exposures to UV and BL were below the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) exposure limits in spite of the very conservative assumption of the assessment.ConclusionsResults of this study indicate that the UV and BL radiation from the newly introduced lamps does not exceed the current exposure limit values and thus, in comparison with the former incandescent bulbs, does not result in a higher risk for general public.
Divorce Rates and the Fault Requirement

No-fault divorce legislation fundamentally changed the formal legal requirements for divorce from grounds based on moral concerns to those showing that the marriage has broken down without attributing blame. The old laws, which required that the plaintiff be blameless and prove malfeasance by the spouse, would have greatly restricted the number of divorces if they had not been widely subverted through collusion and perjury. The no-fault legislation gives an opportunity to test whether the attempts to legislate morality had any impact on divorce rates. Many reformers and researchers have claimed that the fault provisions were so thoroughly subverted that their removal did not lead to more divorces. The present study explores the impact of no-fault laws in thirty-eight states by applying a time-series-cross-sectional design. When grouped into one variable the laws did increase divorces, but when individual laws are analyzed, only a minority, primarily in eastern states, evidence significant impacts. Finally, I argue that it is probably beyond the limits of feasible social science research to determine why some laws had impacts but others did not.
Evaluation of glucose metabolism in three horses with lower motor neuron degeneration.

OBJECTIVES To determine whether increased glucose metabolism is the potential cause of the decreased plasma glucose curve determined after oral glucose tolerance testing in horses with lower motor neuron degeneration. ANIMALS 3 horses with signs suggestive of lower motor neuron degeneration, 1 horse with malignant melanoma with multiple metastases, and an obese but otherwise healthy horse. Procedures-Glucose metabolism was assessed by use of the hyperglycemic clamp and euglycemic hyperinsulinemic clamp techniques. RESULTS Mean rate of glucose metabolism of horses with lower motor neuron degeneration was significantly greater (mean, 3.7 times greater than control horses; range, 2.1 to 4.8 times greater) than that reported in 5 healthy control horses (41 +/- 13 micromol/kg/min vs 11 +/- 4.5 micromol/kg/min, respectively). In addition, one of the affected horses, an 8-year-old warmblood gelding, had a 5.6-times increased sensitivity to exogenously administered insulin, compared with that reported in 5 healthy control horses. Pancreatic insulin secretion was not insufficient in horses with lower motor neuron degeneration. Findings in the 2 diseased control horses were unremarkable. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE Increased glucose metabolism in horses with lower motor neuron degeneration may be the cause of the decreased plasma glucose curve detected after oral glucose tolerance testing. This finding could aid in developing supportive treatments with respect to adequate glucose and vitamin E supplementation.
Challenging the Fructose Hypothesis: New Perspectives on Fructose Consumption and Metabolism

The field of sugar metabolism, and fructose metabolism in particular, has experienced a resurgence of interest in the past decade. The “fructose hypothesis” alleges that the fructose component common to all major caloric sweeteners (sucrose, high-fructose corn syrup, honey, and fruit juice concentrates) plays a unique and causative role in the increasing rates of cardiovascular disease, hypertension, diabetes, cancer, and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. This review challenges the fructose hypothesis by comparing normal U.S. levels and patterns of fructose intake with contemporary experimental models and looking for substantive cause-and-effect evidence from real-world diets. It is concluded that 1) fructose intake at normal population levels and patterns does not cause biochemical outcomes substantially different from other dietary sugars and 2) extreme experimental models that feature hyperdosing or significantly alter the usual dietary glucose-to-fructose ratio are not predictive of typical human outcomes or useful to public health policymakers. It is recommended that granting agencies and journal editors require more physiologically relevant experimental designs and clinically important outcomes for fructose research.
Escherichia coli K-12 Survives Anaerobic Exposure at pH 2 without RpoS, Gad, or Hydrogenases, but Shows Sensitivity to Autoclaved Broth Products

Escherichia coli and other enteric bacteria survive exposure to extreme acid (pH 2 or lower) in gastric fluid. Aerated cultures survive via regulons expressing glutamate decarboxylase (Gad, activated by RpoS), cyclopropane fatty acid synthase (Cfa) and others. But extreme-acid survival is rarely tested under low oxygen, a condition found in the stomach and the intestinal tract. We observed survival of E. coli K-12 W3110 at pH 1.2–pH 2.0, conducting all manipulations (overnight culture at pH 5.5, extreme-acid exposure, dilution and plating) in a glove box excluding oxygen (10% H2, 5% CO2, balance N2). With dissolved O2 concentrations maintained below 6 µM, survival at pH 2 required Cfa but did not require GadC, RpoS, or hydrogenases. Extreme-acid survival in broth (containing tryptone and yeast extract) was diminished in media that had been autoclaved compared to media that had been filtered. The effect of autoclaved media on extreme-acid survival was most pronounced when oxygen was excluded. Exposure to H2O2 during extreme-acid treatment increased the death rate slightly for W3110 and to a greater extent for the rpoS deletion strain. Survival at pH 2 was increased in strains lacking the anaerobic regulator fnr. During anaerobic growth at pH 5.5, strains deleted for fnr showed enhanced transcription of acid-survival genes gadB, cfa, and hdeA, as well as catalase (katE). We show that E. coli cultured under oxygen exclusion (<6 µM O2) requires mechanisms different from those of aerated cultures. Extreme acid survival is more sensitive to autoclave products under oxygen exclusion.
Model Checking Behavioral Specification of BPEL Web Services

BPEL is a business flow language which describes the composition of web services. Since business flow may be very complex, the method of formalized analysis can help ensure the accuracy of work flow. For web services described by BPEL, in this paper we establish a formalized analysis model, provide specifications and semantics of business flow, and finally translate it into the asynchronous communication model of the model checker SPIN. Based on the formalized analysis model proposed in this paper, we analyze and verify the SAS (1), Loan and Auction protocols (2), and detect a flaw in the data flow of SAS protocol.
A decisional tool for quality improvement in higher education

In the actual economical context, characterized by the competition pressures, the use of decisional tools become a valuable advantage to make the difference. The concepts of data warehouse, multidimensional model and data mining, are essentials in the design and the deployment of such tools. In this paper we describe the design and implementation of a decisional tool, dedicated to a no lucrative goal institution. Our case study is a university that hopes to improve the quality of his service, by analyzing the pedagogical results, to discover the success and failure factors, and attempt to increase success chances of students. In this perspective we use OLAP (Online Analytical Process) and association rules discovery techniques.
Perceptions of Americans and the Iraq Invasion

This study examines perceptions of the “typical American” from 49 cultures around the world. Contrary to the ethnocentric bias hypothesis, a strong agreement was found between in-group and out-group ratings on the American profile (assertive, open-minded, but antagonistic). In fact, Americans had a somewhat less desirable view of Americans than did others. Within cultures, in-group ratings were not systematically more favorable than out-group ratings. The Iraq invasion had a slight negative effect on perceptions of the typical American, but people around the world seem to draw a clear distinction between U.S. foreign policy and the character of the American people. National character stereotypes appear to have a variety of sources and to be perpetuated by both cognitive mechanisms and sociocultural forces.
Lapatinib-Binding Protein Kinases in the African Trypanosome: Identification of Cellular Targets for Kinase-Directed Chemical Scaffolds

Human African trypanosomiasis is caused by the eukaryotic microbe Trypanosoma brucei. To discover new drugs against the disease, one may use drugs in the clinic for other indications whose chemical scaffolds can be optimized via a medicinal chemistry campaign to achieve greater potency against the trypanosome. Towards this goal, we tested inhibitors of human EGFR and/or VEGFR as possible anti-trypanosome compounds. The 4-anilinoquinazolines canertinib and lapatinib, and the pyrrolopyrimidine AEE788 killed bloodstream T. brucei in vitro with GI50 in the low micromolar range. Curiously, the genome of T. brucei does not encode EGFR or VEGFR, indicating that the drugs recognize alternate proteins. To discover these novel targets, a trypanosome lysate was adsorbed to an ATP-sepharose matrix and washed with a high salt solution followed by nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+). Proteins that remained bound to the column were eluted with drugs, and identified by mass spectrometry/bioinformatics. Lapatinib bound to Tb927.4. 5180 (termed T. brucei lapatinib-binding protein kinase-1 (TbLBPK1)) while AEE788 bound Tb927.5. 800 (TbLBPK2). When the NAD+ wash was omitted from the protocol, AEE788, canertinib and lapatinib eluted TbLBPK1, TbLBPK2, and Tb927.3. 1570 (TbLBPK3). In addition, both canertinib and lapatinib eluted Tb10.60. 3140 (TbLBPK4), whereas only canertinib desorbed Tb10.61. 1880 (TbCBPK1). Lapatinib binds to a unique conformation of protein kinases. To gain insight into the structural basis for lapatinib interaction with TbLBPKs, we constructed three-dimensional models of lapatinib•TbLBPK complexes, which confirmed that TbLBPKs can adopt lapatinib-compatible conformations. Further, lapatinib, AEE788, and canertinib were docked to TbLBPKs with favorable scores. Our studies (a) present novel targets of kinase-directed drugs in the trypanosome, and (b) offer the 4-anilinoquinazoline and pyrrolopyrimidines as scaffolds worthy of medicinal chemistry and structural biology campaigns to develop them into anti-trypanosome drugs.
Robust detection of sonorant landmarks

A sonorant detection scheme using Mel-frequency cepstral coefficients and support vector machines (SVMs) is presented and tested in a variety of noise conditions. Adapting the classifier threshold using an estimate of the noise level is used to bias the classifier to effectively compensate for mismatched training and testing conditions. The adaptive threshold classifier achieves low frame error rates using only clean training data without requiring specifically designed features or learning algorithms. The frame-by-frame SVM output is analyzed over longer time periods to uncover temporal modulations related to syllable structure which may aid in landmark-based speech recognition and speech detection. Appropriate filtering of this signal leads to a representation which is stable over a wide range of noise conditions. Using the smoothed output for landmark detection results in a high precision rate, enabling confident pruning of the search-space used by landmark-based speech recognizers.
A Case for Reflection 1

The HEP (high-energy physics) community has long embraced C++ as its primary language for obtaining, saving to mass storage, restoring from mass storage, and analyzing large amounts of physics event data. Current experiments as well as experiments under development make extensive use of large bodies of code written in C++. Several ad hoc toolkits and libraries have been written to support the physicist user base in its efforts to process petabytes of scientific data. We believe that many of these activities have been significantly more difficult than they might have been. We attribute much of this difficulty to the lack of a standard means to obtain information from a C++ language processor regarding a compiled piece of code, a facility historically termed reflection.
Dynamic cooperating set planning for Coordinated Multi-Point (CoMP) in LTE/LTE-advanced systems

Coordinated Multi-Point (CoMP) is considered as one of the most important technique in 3GPP LTE/LTE-Advanced. In CoMP, several base stations can be grouped together to form the cooperating set, where the cooperating set is used to improve the system throughput as well as the throughput of cell edge users. Most of the studies discuss static cooperating set, i.e., the size of the cooperating set is fixed, such as 3 or 7. However, when big activities occur with gathered crowds, such as gala parades and New Year's Eve, the amount of wireless communication demands in such areas is over the capacity of serving base stations. In this case, the static cooperating set can bring only limited help and fails to adapt to the actual conditions. Moreover, additional communication overhead among cells is introduced but futile. In this paper, we propose the dynamic cooperating set to solve the problem. The proposed method takes the actual traffic requirement and geographical area into consideration to form dynamic cooperating set to offload the wireless communication demand. Dynamic cooperating set can not only enhance the system and cell edge throughput but also utilize the radio resource in an efficient way. The latter avoids unlimited expansion of the cooperating set. Simulation results show that the throughput of our method is 1.23 and 1.36 times of the static CoMP scheme and no CoMP scheme, respectively.
The Arabidopsis ABHD11 Mutant Accumulates Polar Lipids in Leaves as a Consequence of Absent Acylhydrolase Activity1[OPEN]

Disruption of the ABHD11 hydrolase causes polar lipids accumulation, thereby enhancing plant growth. Alpha/beta hydrolase domain (ABHD)-containing proteins are structurally related with diverse catalytic activities. In various species, some ABHD proteins have been characterized and shown to play roles in lipid homeostasis. However, little is known about ABHD proteins in plants. Here, we characterized AT4G10030 (AtABHD11), an Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) homolog of a human ABHD11 gene. In silico analyses of AtABHD11 revealed homology with other plant species with a conserved GXSXG lipid motif. Interestingly, Arabidopsis abhd11 mutant plants exhibited an enhanced growth rate compared with wild-type plants. Quantitative analyses of the total lipids showed that the mutant abhd11 has a high amount of phospholipid and galactolipid in Arabidopsis leaves. The overexpression of AtABHD11 in Escherichia coli led to a reduction in phospholipid levels. The bacterially expressed recombinant AtABHD11 hydrolyzed lyso(phospho)lipid and monoacylglycerol. Furthermore, using whole-genome microarray and real-time PCR analyses of abhd11 and wild-type plants, we noted the up-regulation of MGD1, -2, and -3 and DGD1. Together, these findings suggested that AtABHD11 is a lyso(phospho)lipase. The disruption of AtABHD11 caused the accumulation of the polar lipids in leaves, which in turn promoted a higher growth rate compared with wild-type plants.
Sub‐proteome approach to the knowledge of liver

In the recent years, global proteomics approaches have been widely used to characterize a number of tissue proteomes including plasma and liver; however, the elevated complexity of these samples in combination with the high abundance of some specific proteins make the study of the lowest abundant proteins difficult. This review is focused on different strategies that have been developed to extend the proteome focused on these two tissues, as, for example, the analysis of sub‐cellular proteomes. In this regard, two special kind of extracellular vesicles – exosomes and membrane plasma shedding vesicles – are emerging as excellent biological source both to extend the liver and plasma proteomes and to be applied in the discovery of non‐invasive liver‐specific disease biomarkers.
Introducing shared-hidden-layer autoencoders for transfer learning and their application in acoustic emotion recognition

This study addresses a situation in practice where training and test samples come from different corpora - here in acoustic emotion recognition. In this situation, a model is trained on one database while tested on another disjoint one. The typical inherent mismatch between the corpora and by that between test and training set usually leads to significant performance degradation. To cope with this problem when no training data from the target domain exists, we propose a `shared-hidden-layer autoencoder' (SHLA) approach for learning common feature representations shared across the training and test set in order to reduce the discrepancy in them. To exemplify effectiveness of our approach, we select the Interspeech Emotion Challenge's FAU Aibo Emotion Corpus as test database and two other publicly available databases as training set for extensive evaluation. The experimental results show that our SHLA method significantly improves over the baseline performance and outperforms today's state-of-the-art domain adaptation methods.
GTTS-EHU Systems for QUESST at MediaEval 2014

This paper briey describes the systems presented by the Software Technologies Working Group (http://gtts.ehu.es, GTTS) of the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) to the Query-by-Example Search on Speech Task (QUESST) at MediaEval 2014. The GTTS-EHU systems consist of four modules: (1) feature extraction; (2) speech activity detection; (3) DTW-based query matching; and (4) score calibration and fusion. The submitted systems follow the same approach used in our SWS 2013 submissions, with two minor changes (needed to address the new task): the search stops at the most likely query detection (no further detections are looked for) and a score is produced for each (query, document) pair. The two approximate matching types introduced in QUESST have not received special treatment. This year, we have just explored the use of reduced feature sets, obtaining worse results but at lower computational costs.
Agenda Control in the 2008 Presidential Debates

Research indicates that, when engaging their opponents, strategic candidates will draw (and redraw) lines of conflict, pulling attention to their advantaged topics. But do these expectations hold up in debates, where candidates are at the mercy of those asking the questions? And do strategic debate behaviors matter? This study draws on past literature to hypothesize the specific types of agenda-control behaviors we should see in debates. These hypotheses are tested in the 2008 presidential debates, using quantitative content analysis to examine candidate agenda setting, issue framing, and tone. The results show that both Obama and McCain used all three means of agenda control to continually displace the line of conflict in their favor. These findings offer empirical support for theories of strategic agenda control and heighten our understanding of agenda setting, framing, and tone as agenda-control mechanisms. Additionally, media and public opinion data suggest these debate agenda-control behaviors had real effects during the 2008 election.
Non-GPS Navigation for Security Personnel and First Responders

This paper introduces a “Personal Dead-reckoning” (PDR) navigation system for walking persons. The system is useful for monitoring the position of emergency responders inside buildings, where GPS is unavailable. The PDR system uses a six-axes Inertial Measurement Unit attached to the user's boot. The system's strength lies in the use of a technique known as Zero Velocity Update (ZUPT) that virtually eliminates the ill-effects of drift in the accelerometers. It works very well with different gaits, as well as on stairs, slopes, and generally on 3-dimensional terrain. The paper explains the PDR and presents extensive experimental results, which illustrate the utility and practicality of the system. Parts of this paper were presented at the 2006 International Joint Topical Meeting: “Sharing Solutions for Emergencies and Hazardous Environments,” February 12–15, 2006, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.