Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Freight Distribution in Urban Areas: The role of supply chain alliances in addressing the challenge of traffic congestion for city logistics

Despite the recent recognition of the contribution of freight transportation to the performance of urban areas under the rubric of city logistics, the authors see a void in the study of how the stakeholders in the supply chain associated with the distribution of goods (whose destination is an urban location) might cooperate through participation in distribution networks, to reduce the costs associated with traffic congestion. Given that transport costs are typically over 45 percent of all distribution costs, with congestion contributing a substantial amount of cost in the urban setting, the importance of establishing ways in which supply chain partnerships might aid in reducing the levels of freight vehicle movements in urban areas has much merit. This paper sets out a framework to investigate how agents in the supply chain might interact more effectively to reduce their costs of urban freight distribution. The authors propose an interactive agency choice method as a way of formalising a framework for studying the preferences of participants in the supply chain to support specific policy initiatives. (a)
Apoptosis Inspired Intrusion Detection System

— Artificial Immune Systems (AIS), inspired by the human immune system, are algorithms and mechanisms which are self-adaptive and self-learning classifiers capable of recognizing and classifying by learning, long-term memory and association. Unlike other human system inspired techniques like genetic algorithms and neural networks, AIS includes a range of algorithms modeling on different immune mechanism of the body. In this paper, a mechanism of a human immune system based on apoptosis is adopted to build an Intrusion Detection System (IDS) to protect computer networks. Features are selected from network traffic using Fisher Score. Based on the selected features, the record/connection is classified as either an attack or normal traffic by the proposed methodology. Simulation results demonstrates that the proposed AIS based on apoptosis performs better than existing AIS for intrusion detection.
Subtle Symptoms Associated with Self-Reported Mild Head Injury

We conducted a survey on the relationship between mild head injury incidence and a variety of psychological and educational symptoms in a sample of 1,345 high school and 2,321 university students. Once figures were adjusted to represent a 50:50 gender ratio, 30% to 37% of subjects reported having experienced a head injury incident, with 12% to 15% of the total group of subjects reporting such an incident with loss of consciousness. We found significant relationships between the incidence of such mild head injury and gender, sleep difficulties, social difficulties, handedness pattern, and diagnoses of attention deficit, depression, and speech, language, and reading disorders.
Resistance to Apoptosis in HIV-Infected CD4+ T Lymphocytes Is Mediated by Macrophages: Role for Nef and Immune Activation in Viral Persistence1

Apoptosis or programmed cell death may play a critical role in AIDS pathogenesis through depletion of both CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes. Using a reporter virus, a recombinant HIV infectious clone expressing the green fluorescent protein (GFP), apoptosis was measured in productively infected CD4+ T lymphocytes, in the presence and absence of autologous macrophages. The presence of macrophages in the culture increased the frequency of nonapoptotic GFP-positive productively infected CD4+ T lymphocytes. The appearance of nonapoptotic productively infected CD4+ T lymphocytes in the culture required intercellular contacts between macrophages and PBLs and the expression of the HIV Nef protein. The presence of macrophages did not reduce apoptosis when CD4+ T lymphocytes were infected with a GFP-tagged virus deleted for the nef gene. TNF-α (TNF) expressed on the surface of macrophages prevented apoptosis in nef-expressing, productively infected CD4+ T lymphocytes. Similarly, following TNF stimulation, apoptosis was diminished in Jurkat T cells transfected with a nef-expressing plasmid. TNF stimulation of nef-expressing Jurkat T cells resulted in NF-κB hyperactivation, which has been shown to deliver anti-apoptotic signals. Our results indicate that intercellular contacts with macrophages increase the rate of productively infected nonapoptotic CD4+ T lymphocytes. The survival of productively infected CD4+ T lymphocytes requires Nef expression as well as activation by TNF expressed on the surface of macrophages and might participate in the formation and maintenance of viral reservoirs in HIV-infected persons.
The evolutionary history of kinetoplastids and their kinetoplasts.

Despite extensive phylogenetic analysis of small subunit ribosomal RNA (SSUrRNA) genes, the deep-level relationships among kinetoplastids remain poorly understood, limiting our grasp of their evolutionary history, especially the origins of their bizarre mitochondrial genome organizations. In this study we examine the SSUrRNA data in the light of a new marker--cytoplasmic heat shock protein 90 (hsp90) sequences. Our phylogenetic analyses divide kinetoplastids into four main clades. Clades 1-3 include the various bodonid kinetoplastids. Trypanosomatids comprise the fourth clade. SSUrRNA analyses give vastly different and poorly supported positions for the root of the kinetoplastid tree, depending on the out-group and analysis method. This is probably due to the extraordinary length of the branch between kinetoplastids and any out-group. In contrast, almost all hsp90 analyses place the root between clade 1 (including Dimastigella, Rhynchomonas, several Bodo spp., and probably Rhynchobodo) and all other kinetoplastids. Maximum likelihood and maximum likelihood distance analyses of hsp90 protein and second codon-position nucleotides place trypanosomatids adjacent to Bodo saltans and Bodo cf. uncinatus (clade 3), as (weakly) do SSUrRNA analyses. Hsp90 first codon- plus second codon-position nucleotide analyses return a slightly different topology. We show that this may be an artifact caused, in part, by the different evolutionary behavior of first- and second-codon positions. This study provides the most robust evidence to date that trypanosomatids are descended from within bodonids and that B. saltans is a close relative of trypanosomatids. A total reevaluation of the high-level systematics within kinetoplastids is needed. We confirm that the interlocking network organization of kinetoplast DNA seen in trypanosomatids is a derived condition within kinetoplastids but suggest that open-conformation minicircles may have arisen early in kinetoplastid evolution. Further understanding of the evolution of kinetoplast structure and RNA editing is hampered by a paucity of data from basal (i.e., clade 1) bodonids.
AACE Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Management of Thyroid Nodules

and Management of Thyroid Nodules were developed by the Thyroid Nodule Task Force of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE) and the American College of Endocrinology (ACE). The publication of these clinical practice consensus guidelines coincides with AACE’s second Thyroid Disease Awareness Month in January 1996. The goal is to increase the understanding and awareness of the diagnosis and management of thyroid nodules for physicians and the public. The guidelines are not meant to be complete, nor are they intended to be dogma. Achieving unanimous agreement by clinical endocrinologists on all aspects of this very complicated subject would be difficult. The committee was selected in an attempt to arrive at a consensus by a diversely opinionated group. The purpose of the task force was to formulate a clear and concise state-of-the-art approach to thyroid nodules. These guidelines are not intended to be definitive because all knowledge is fluid and subject to change. Additionally, the guidelines clarify and emphasize the added value of the clinical endocrinologist in the diagnosis and management of thyroid nodules. I thank Drs. Jack Baskin, Rhoda Cobin, Hossein Gharib, Ian Hay, Michael Kaplan, and Ernest Mazzaferri for their extraordinary effort in contributing to and shaping these guidelines. The process has been an invigorating experience for all participants. Dr. Michael Garcia, my co-chairman, must be applauded independently for his tireless work in completing these guidelines. The fellowship generated during the development of these guidelines is another memorable life experience for me personally that will never be forgotten. Finally, I wish to thank AACE’s President Stephen F. Hodgson, M.D., F.A. C.E. , for his encouragement and support as well as the support of the entire board of directors of AACE. The AACE Thyroid Guidelines were supported by an educational grant from Knoll Pharmaceutical Company. Introduction To Guidelines
Advances in platelet function testing assessing bleeding complications in patients with coronary artery disease

Antiplatelet therapy is the cornerstone of treatment in preventing ischemic events in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD), particularly in the setting of acute coronary syndromes and percutaneous coronary interventions. However, antiplatelet therapy is also associated with an increased risk of bleeding complications, which are more frequent with the use of more potent antiplatelet treatment regimens. Therefore, defining the balance between the risk of thrombotic events and the risk of bleeding is essential to improve overall clinical outcomes. The pharmcodynamic effects of antiplatelet agents vary broadly and may be associated with differences in outcomes. In particular, patients are at an increased risk of ischemic or bleeding complications if the pharmacodynamic effects are reduced or enhanced, respectively. Multiple platelet function assays are currently available to assess the pharmacodynamic effects of commonly used antiplatelet agents. The present manuscript will review the prognostic value of platelet function testing to identify patients with CAD at risk of bleeding complications and the potential applications of these tests in the modern era of antiplatelet pharmacotherapy.
Signal enhancement in the output stage of the basal ganglia by synaptic short-term plasticity in the direct, indirect, and hyperdirect pathways

Many of the synapses in the basal ganglia display short-term plasticity. Still, computational models have not yet been used to investigate how this affects signaling. Here we use a model of the basal ganglia network, constrained by available data, to quantitatively investigate how synaptic short-term plasticity affects the substantia nigra reticulata (SNr), the basal ganglia output nucleus. We find that SNr becomes particularly responsive to the characteristic burst-like activity seen in both direct and indirect pathway striatal medium spiny neurons (MSN). As expected by the standard model, direct pathway MSNs are responsible for decreasing the activity in SNr. In particular, our simulations indicate that bursting in only a few percent of the direct pathway MSNs is sufficient for completely inhibiting SNr neuron activity. The standard model also suggests that SNr activity in the indirect pathway is controlled by MSNs disinhibiting the subthalamic nucleus (STN) via the globus pallidus externa (GPe). Our model rather indicates that SNr activity is controlled by the direct GPe-SNr projections. This is partly because GPe strongly inhibits SNr but also due to depressing STN-SNr synapses. Furthermore, depressing GPe-SNr synapses allow the system to become sensitive to irregularly firing GPe subpopulations, as seen in dopamine depleted conditions, even when the GPe mean firing rate does not change. Similar to the direct pathway, simulations indicate that only a few percent of bursting indirect pathway MSNs can significantly increase the activity in SNr. Finally, the model predicts depressing STN-SNr synapses, since such an assumption explains experiments showing that a brief transient activation of the hyperdirect pathway generates a tri-phasic response in SNr, while a sustained STN activation has minor effects. This can be explained if STN-SNr synapses are depressing such that their effects are counteracted by the (known) depressing GPe-SNr inputs.
Glucose Ingestion Does Not Improve Maximal Isokinetic Force

Abstract Fairchild, TJ, Dillon, P, Curtis, C, and Dempsey, AR. Glucose ingestion does not improve maximal isokinetic force. J Strength Cond Res 30(1): 194–199, 2016—The purpose of this study was to assess maximal isokinetic leg extension force in response to glucose ingestion and to determine whether any performance changes occur in a time-dependent manner. Seventeen young (22.1 ± 3.9 years), lean (%body fat [%BF]: 14.3 ± 8.0; %BF males: 9.7 ± 4.2; %BF females: 23.7 ± 4.2), and recreationally active (>150 min·wk−1 of physical activity) male (n = 11) and female participants completed the trials. Using a double-blinded crossover design, participants performed sets of 3 maximum isokinetic efforts on a dynamometer (HumacNorm) before and after (5, 15, 30, 45, 60, 75, and 90 minutes after) ingesting either a carbohydrate (75 g glucose) or isovolumic placebo (saccharin-flavored) drink. Blood glucose and electromyography (EMG) were recorded concurrent with force output (max peak force; mean peak force). Despite a significant rise in blood glucose (mean glycemic excursion = 4.01 ± 1.18 mmol·L−1), there were no significant interactions in any (absolute or percentage) force (mean peak force: p ≥ 0.683; max peak force: p ≥ 0.567) or EMG (mean peak EMG: p ≥ 0.119; max peak EMG: p ≥ 0.247) parameters measured. The ingestion of glucose resulted in a 3.4% reduction in mean force across subsequent time points (highest: +2.1% at 15 minutes; lowest: −8.6% at 90 minutes after ingestion); however, this effect was small (d < 0.1). The ingestion of glucose does not alter performance of maximal isokinetic efforts in recreationally active young individuals. Additionally, there were no differences in force when assessed as a function of time after glucose ingestion. Consequently, in the absence of fatigue, carbohydrate ingestion is unlikely to present any ergogenic benefits to athletes performing resistance-based exercise.
Dietary Fiber Intake and Risk of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: A Prospective Cohort Study of Men

Background: The limited literature suggests that dietary fiber intake from whole grains, fruits, and vegetables is negatively associated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) via fiber’s anti-inflammatory properties. Therefore, we investigated the association between total fiber and fiber sources and risk of COPD in the population-based prospective Cohort of Swedish Men (45,058 men, ages 45–79 years) with no history of COPD at baseline. Methods: Dietary fiber intake was assessed with a self-administered questionnaire in 1997 and was energy adjusted using the residual method. Cox proportional hazard regression models were used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) adjusted for potential confounders. Results: During a mean follow-up of 13.1 years (1998–2012), 1,982 incident cases of COPD were ascertained via linkage to the Swedish health registers. A strong inverse association between total fiber intake (≥36.8 vs. <23.7 g/day) and COPD was observed in current smokers (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.54; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.43, 0.67) and ex-smokers (HR = 0.62; 95% CI = 0.50, 0.78) but not in never smokers (HR = 0.93; 95% CI = 0.60, 1.45; P interaction = 0.04). For cereal fiber, HRs for highest versus lowest quintile were 0.62 (95% CI = 0.51, 0.77; P trend < 0.001) in current smokers and 0.66 (95% CI = 0.52, 0.82; P trend < 0.001) in ex-smokers; for fruit fiber, the HR was 0.65 (95% CI = 0.52, 0.81; P trend < 0.001) in current smokers and 0.77 (95% CI = 0.61, 0.98; P trend = 0.17) in ex-smokers; and for vegetable fiber, it was 0.71 (95% CI = 0.57, 0.88; P trend = 0.003) in current smokers and 0.92 (95% CI = 0.71, 1.19; P trend = 0.48) in ex-smokers. Conclusions: Our findings indicate that high fiber intake was inversely associated with COPD incidence in men who are current or ex-smokers.
Procaine (Gerovital H3) Therapy: Mechanism of Inhibition of Monoamine Oxidase

ABSTRACT: The mechanism by which Gerovital H3 (GH3), a specially stabilized form of procaine hydrochloride, produces a weak inhibition of the enzyme, monoamine oxidase (MAO), was studied by several methods. Purified rat‐brain mitochondrial MAO was used as the enzyme source and the reaction velocities were determined by quantitating the rate of appearance of 4‐hydroxyquinoline from kynuramine. Data on dilutional studies with pre‐incubated enzyme‐inhibitor complexes, as well as other data, strongly indicated that GH3 was a reversible inhibitor of MAO. Analysis of Lineweaver‐Burk and Dixon plots obtained by determining the velocity of oxidation of kynuramine with various concentrations of substrate and inhibitor, showed that GH3 was a fully competitive inhibitor of MAO. The weak, reversible, fully competitive inhibition of MAO produced by GH3 is in marked contrast to the potent, irreversible inhibition of MAO produced by currently available agents. The mechanism by which GH3 inhibits MAO may help to explain the absence of severe adverse reactions with GH3 that are traditionally associated with irreversible MAO inhibitors in the treatment of depressive illness. Because of these characteristics of GH3 as an inhibitor of MAO, assessment of its activity in vivo may not be easily accomplished, despite its pronounced pharmacologic effects.
The XG-PON System: Cost Effective 10 Gb/s Access

The ten gigabit passive optical network (XG-PON) system is the newest member of the ITU-T family of passive optical network standards. XG-PON is the result of a 3 year project involving the full service access network (FSAN) group and ITU-T study group 15 (SG15) question 2. This paper reviews the deliberations that led to the selection of the XG-PON system, and then explains the three primary layers of the system: physical, protocol, and management. The paper concludes with information on standards and implementations of the system, and on future work in this area.
Purification of an acidic recombinant protein from transgenic tobacco

Tobacco has proven to be a promising alternative for the production of recombinant therapeutic proteins and offers numerous advantages over other plants as a host system. However, the recovery and purification steps needed to obtain a protein at high recovery and purity have not been well investigated. In this study, a process was developed to purify a model acidic protein, recombinant β‐glucuronidase (rGUS) from transgenic tobacco leaf tissue, in three main steps after extraction: polyelectrolyte precipitation, hydrophobic interaction chromatography (HIC), and hydroxyapatite chromatography (HAC). Using this three‐step process, up to 40% of the initial rGUS activity could be recovered to near homogeneity as judged by SDS–PAGE. This work demonstrates that acidic recombinant proteins expressed in tobacco may be purified to high yield with high purity in a minimal amount of steps that are suitable for scale‐up. Furthermore, the general steps used in this process may suggest that a wide variety of acidic recombinant proteins may be purified in a similar manner from transgenic tobacco or other leafy crops. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2008;99: 902–909. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Effect of age on hydrogen peroxide mediated contraction damage in the male rat bladder.

PURPOSE Recent studies introduced the concept that reactive oxygen species (ROS) may be a major factor in the progressive deterioration of bladder function induced by benign prostatic hyperplasia in men and following partial outlet obstruction in animals. We determined whether bladder contraction sensitivity to ROS changes with aging. Using H2O2 to simulate ROS damage we compared the sensitivity of the contractile responses of bladder smooth muscle isolated from young and elderly rats to H2O2. MATERIALS AND METHODS Male 3-month-old (young) and 12-month-old (elderly) Sprague-Dawley rats were used for this study with 24 per group. Each rat was anesthetized and the bladder was excised. Two longitudinal strips were cut from the bladder body. Each strip was placed in individual 15 ml baths containing oxygenated Tyrode's solution at 37C. Each strip was stimulated at 32 Hz for 20 seconds with pulses 1 millisecond in duration at 80 V. After electrical field stimulation (EFS) the response to 20 microM carbachol and 120 mM KCl was determined. The bath solution was then exchanged for H2O2 solutions of 6 different concentrations including 0%, 0.0625%, 0.125%, 0.25%, 0.5% and 1.0%. After 1 hour of exposure to H2O2 the tissues were washed free of H2O2, and the response to EFS, carbachol and KCl were measured again. At the end of the experiment the strips were weighed and frozen at -70C for malondialdehyde analysis. RESULTS The magnitude of the contractile responses of the young and elderly rats to all forms of stimulation were equal. Hydrogen peroxide caused a dose dependent decrease in the contractile responses of bladder strips to all forms of stimulation. Contractile responses to carbachol and KCl were more sensitive to H2O2 than to EFS. Contractile responses of bladder strips isolated from elderly rats were significantly more sensitive to H2O2 damage than strips isolated from young rats. Malondialdehyde generation of bladder strips isolated from elderly rats was significantly greater than those from young rats. CONCLUSIONS It is suggested that aging increases the sensitivity of detrusor contraction to oxidative damage.
Comparative evaluation of PCR and commercial DNA probes for detection and identification to species level of Mycobacterium avium and Mycobacterium intracellulare

Selective amplification of a 187-bp fragment within the DT6 sequence using the AV6 and AV7 primers for Mycobacterium avium and of a 666-bp fragment within the DT1 sequence of Mycobacterium intracellulare using the IN38 and IN41 primers was performed for 69 clinical isolates identified as M. avium complex by conventional methods. The results were compared in parallel with results with commercial M. avium and M. intracellulare probes. A positive response to either of the two PCRs or M. avium-M. intracellulare AccuProbes constituted positive detection as M. avium complex; this cumulative detection limit was 94.2% for PCR, compared with 90% for AccuProbe. Concordance, on the other hand, was considered an identical species identification using either DT1 PCR and the M. intracellulare probe or DT6 and DT1 PCRs are inexpensive and at least equally sensitive, in-house options to the AccuProbe system for species identification of M. avium and M. intracellulare.