Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Meta-analysis of cardiovascular disease risk markers in women with polycystic ovary syndrome.

BACKGROUND The relation between polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains unclear. In an attempt to provide high-quality evidence on the relation between PCOS and CVD, relevant literature for CVD risk markers [C-reactive protein (CRP), homocysteine (Hcy), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1), lipoprotein (a) [Lp(a)], advanced glycation end-products (AGEs), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), interleukin-6 (IL-6), asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA), endothelin-1 (ET-1) and fibrinogen] in women with PCOS was reviewed and analyzed. METHODS A systematic search was conducted electronically using specific eligibility criteria. Weighted mean differences (WMDs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated and combined appropriately. To ensure synthesis of the best available evidence, sensitivity analyses were performed. RESULTS A total of 130 data sets were included in 11 different outcomes, involving 7174 and 5076 CVD markers in women with PCOS and controls, respectively. Women with PCOS demonstrated significantly elevated CRP [WMD (95% CI) 0.99 (0.77-1.21)], Hcy [2.25 (1.46-3.03)], PAI-1 antigen [16.96 (7.25-26.28)], PAI-1 activity [0.71 (0.18-1.23)], VEGF [1.72 (0.96-2.48)], ADMA [0.19 (0.08-0.3)], AGEs [3.91 (2.36-5.45)] and Lp(a) [0.81 (0.58-1.04)] concentrations compared with controls, yet with significant between-study heterogeneity. Borderline significance (not robust in the sensitivity analyses) was detected for TNF-α [0.75 (0.07-1.44)], ET-1 [1.06 (0.52-1.59)] and fibrinogen [0.20 (0.01-0.39)], whereas no difference was detected for IL-6 [0.71 (-0.16 to 1.59)]. CONCLUSIONS Women with PCOS have increased serum concentrations of CVD risk markers compared with controls. Whether this apparent risk is translated into increased incidence of CVD in later life remains to be elucidated.
Abnormal Expression of CD Antigens in Mastocytosis

Human mast cells are myeloid cells derived from human pluripotential CD34+ stem cells. Normal mast cells exhibit a myeloid immunophenotype characterized by the expression of CD117, CD33 and FcΕRI in the absence of reactivity for CD14, CD15 and lymphoid-lineage-associated antigens. Multiparametric flow-cytometric studies have shown that mast cells from mastocytosis display unique immunophenotypic characteristics, including coexpression of CD2 and CD25 antigens together with abnormally high levels of the activation-related antigens CD35, CD63 and CD69 among others. Such aberrant immunophenotypic features are of great relevance in the diagnosis and differential diagnosis of the disease, flow-cytometric immunophenotyping of mast cells representing the most sensitive method for the diagnosis of tissue involvement in mastocytosis. From the pathogenetic point of view, the immunophenotypical patterns described suggest the existence of profound changes regarding the adhesion and activation status of mast cells in mastocytosis and may represent a useful tool for a better understanding of some pathophysiological aspects of the disease.
Carboxyethylpyrrole Protein Adducts and Autoantibodies, Biomarkers for Age-related Macular Degeneration*

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a slow, progressive disease with both genetic and environmental risk factors. Free radical-induced oxidation of docosahexaenoate (DHA)-containing lipids generates ω-(2-carboxyethyl)pyrrole (CEP) protein adducts that are more abundant in ocular tissues from AMD than normal human donors. To understand better the role of oxidative damage in AMD, we have synthesized CEP-modified proteins, produced anti-CEP antibodies, and initiated analysis of CEP immunoreactivity and autoantibodies in human plasma. A highly selective rabbit polyclonal anti-CEP antibody was raised that binds CEP 1000 times more strongly than carboxypropylpyrrole, a close structural analogue. The CEP adduct uniquely indicates oxidative modification from DHA derivatives because CEP protein modifications cannot arise from any other common polyunsaturated fatty acid. Immunocytochemistry localized CEP to photoreceptor rod outer segments and retinal pigment epithelium in mouse retina and demonstrated more intense CEP immunoreactivity in photoreceptors from a human AMD donor compared with healthy human retina. The mean level of anti-CEP immunoreactivity in AMD human plasma (n = 19 donors) was 1.5-fold higher (p = 0.004) than in age-matched controls (n = 19 donors). Sera from AMD patients demonstrated mean titers of anti-CEP autoantibody 2.3-fold higher than controls (p = 0.02). Of individuals (n = 13) exhibiting both antigen and autoantibody levels above the mean for non-AMD controls, 92% had AMD. These results suggest that together CEP immunoreactivity and autoantibody titer may have diagnostic utility in predicting AMD susceptibility.
Circuit based optimization of radiation characteristics of single and multi-port antennas

A method for optimization of multi-port antennas is presented and exemplified. The method was first presented in [1,2] and uses data from full wave solvers in combination with circuit simulations for efficient calculations of radiation properties of multi-port antennas. In this paper a few single and multi-port antenna structures are analyzed to illustrate the potential of the method. The antenna structures are two parallel dipole antennas and IFA antennas in two different configurations. Results from simulations as well as measurements are presented.
Floral ontogeny and gene protein localization rules out euanthial interpretation of reproductive units in Lepironia (Cyperaceae, Mapanioideae, Chrysitricheae).

BACKGROUND AND AIMS In the sedge subfamily Mapanioideae there are considerable discrepancies between the standard trimerous monocot floral architecture expected and the complex floral and inflorescence morphologies seen. Decades of debate about whether the basic reproductive units are single flowers or pseudanthia have not resolved the question. This paper evaluates current knowledge about Mapaniid reproductive structures and presents an ontogenetic study of the Mapaniid genus Lepironia with the first floral protein expression maps for the family, localizing the products of the APETALA1/FRUITFULL-like (AP1/FUL) MADS-box genes with the aim of shedding light on this conundrum. METHODS A range of reproductive developmental stages, from spikelet primordia through to infructescence material, were processed for anatomical and immunohistochemical analyses. KEY RESULTS The basic reproductive unit is subtended by a bract and possesses two prophyll-like structures, the first organs to be initiated on the primordium, which grow rapidly, enclosing two whorls of initiating leaf-like structures with intervening stamens and a central gynoecium, formed from an annular primordium. The subtending bract and prophyll-like structures possess very different morphologies from that of the internal leaf-like structures and do not show AP1/FUL-like protein localization, which is otherwise strongly localized in the internal leaf-like structures, stamens and gynoecia. CONCLUSIONS Results support the synanthial hypothesis as the evolutionary origin of the reproductive unit. Thus, the basic reproductive unit in Lepironia is an extremely condensed pseudanthium, of staminate flowers surrounding a central terminal pistillate female flower. Early in development the reproductive unit becomes enclosed by a split-prophyll, with the whole structure subtended by a bract.
Zebrafish as a Model for the Study of Chaperonopathies

There is considerable information on the clinical manifestations and mode of inheritance for many genetic chaperonopathies but little is known on the molecular mechanisms underlying the cell and tissue abnormalities that characterize them. This scarcity of knowledge is mostly due to the lack of appropriate animal models that mimic closely the human molecular, cellular, and histological characteristics. In this article we introduce zebrafish as a suitable model to study molecular and cellular mechanisms pertaining to human chaperonopathies. Genetic chaperonopathies manifest themselves from very early in life so it is necessary to examine the impact of mutant chaperone genes during development, starting with fertilization and proceeding throughout the entire ontogenetic process. Zebrafish is amenable to such developmental analysis as well as studies during adulthood. In addition, the zebrafish genome contains a wide range of genes encoding proteins similar to those that form the chaperoning system of humans. This, together with the availability of techniques for genetic manipulations and for examination of all stages of development, makes zebrafish the organism of choice for the analysis of the molecular features and pathogenic mechanisms pertaining to human chaperonopathies. J. Cell. Physiol. 231: 2107–2114, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Equivalence Among Different Variants of One-Class Nearest Neighbours and Creating Their Accurate Ensembles

In one-class classification (OCC) problems, only the data for the target class is available, whereas the data for the non-target class may be completely absent. In this paper, we study one-class nearest neighbour (OCNN) classifiers and their different variants for the OCC problem. We present a theoretical analysis to show the equivalence among different variants of OCNN that may use different neighbours or thresholds to identify unseen examples of the non-target class. We also present a method based on inter-quartile range for optimizing parameters used in OCNN in the absence of non-target data during training. Then, we propose to use two ensemble approaches based on random sub-space and random projection approaches to create accurate ensemble that significantly outperforms the baseline OCNN. We tested the proposed methods on various benchmark and real word domain-specific datasets to show their superior performance. The results give strong evidence that the random projection ensemble of the proposed OCNN with optimized parameters variants perform significantly and consistently better than the single OCC on all the tested datasets.
The Immovable East

(q) THE carpenter or joiner (nayj"(ir) in a country which, like Palestine, has not enough wood for big constructions, is called upon to make small articles only-doors, windows, cradles, low tables, small chairs, chests for the women, and the like. The short Caramanian boards of Katrdni wood used to be imported from Asia Minor by ~Iersina. Now long, broad boards are imported from Trieste, i\larseilles, and Sweden ; they are usually a softer wood than the Caramanian. vV ood in general is called khasab; 'w;ah ( \.a.c) "the stick," is the only trace of the Hebrew 'e-~, which is used for wood in general. vV ood in small twigs or small branches is called ~atab; from the same root is derived the "hewers of wood" (~6tebe 'e,~im) of Jeremiah (xlvi, 22). A board is called lO? i, with which we may compare the Hebrew Hia~-e.g., Cant. viii, 9 (" a board of cedar"). To the Arabian joiner the most indispensable tool is the adze, which is called taddtlm in Palestine, but in _Egypt mu~shut. This instrument was used before the introduction of the European plane, which is called faraf.l The soft European wood cannot be so easily smoothed with the plane as with the adze. The saw is called rnnnshar, the Hebrew term being massor (Isaiah x, 15). The awl is a very different instrument to the European one ; it is called variously rrie~dazi and barimet in Palestine, and mithfdb or kharbar in Egypt. The handle resembles a whip, the leather strap of which is twisted once round the movable wooden handle of the iron borer, and the fiddling, so to speak, drives the borer into the wood. 2 The hammer is called shaki1Bh, wa(ra~,at, or m~d~at. The ~addum, however, is mostly used for this purpose.3
Mechanism of Telomerase Activation by v-Rel and Its Contribution to Transformation

ABSTRACT Telomerase is activated during the transformation of lymphoid cells and fibroblasts by v-Rel, the oncogenic member of the Rel/NF-κB family of transcription factors. v-Rel-transformed cell lines have longer telomeres than untransformed chicken lymphoid cells and have high levels of telomerase activity. v-Rel-mediated activation of telomerase is achieved by multiple mechanisms. The expression of the gene encoding the catalytic subunit of telomerase (TERT) was directly upregulated by v-Rel. Moreover, the expression of v-Rel altered the ratio of alternatively spliced and full-length TERT transcripts in favor of the full-length forms. The activation of telomerase by v-Rel in lymphocytes was also accompanied by inactivation of nuclear inhibitors. The inhibition of telomerase activity in v-Rel-transformed cell lines led to apoptosis within 24 h. The expression of v-Rel in a macrophage cell line resulted in elevated levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS), increased telomerase activity, and increased sensitivity to telomerase inhibitors. In contrast, the ectopic expression of TERT decreased the extent of apoptosis induced by ROS. The activation of telomerase by v-Rel may, therefore, partially protect the transformed cells from apoptosis induced by ROS.
The histone deacetylase inhibitor valproic acid selectively induces proteasomal degradation of HDAC2

Histone‐modifying enzymes play essential roles in physiological and aberrant gene regulation. Since histone deacetylases (HDACs) are promising targets of cancer therapy, it is important to understand the mechanisms of HDAC regulation. Selective modulators of HDAC isoenzymes could serve as efficient and well‐tolerated drugs. We show that HDAC2 undergoes basal turnover by the ubiquitin–proteasome pathway. Valproic acid (VPA), in addition to selectively inhibiting the catalytic activity of class I HDACs, induces proteasomal degradation of HDAC2, in contrast to other inhibitors such as trichostatin A (TSA). Basal and VPA‐induced HDAC2 turnover critically depend on the E2 ubiquitin conjugase Ubc8 and the E3 ubiquitin ligase RLIM. Ubc8 gene expression is induced by both VPA and TSA, whereas only TSA simultaneously reduces RLIM protein levels and therefore fails to induce HDAC2 degradation. Thus, poly‐ubiquitination and proteasomal degradation provide an isoenzyme‐selective mechanism for downregulation of HDAC2.
Statistical filter for image feature extraction.

Edge extraction techniques have become important as a preprocessing step in extraction of image features for the purpose of image segmentation, object identification, and bandwidth compression. The use of conventional edge extractors such as Sobel and Laplacian filters results in images that in many cases have a high degree of clutter due to the natural spatial texture of the scene background. To overcome this difficulty, a statistical filter has been developed that enhances local grey level activity around objects while reducing contributions due to background. The statistical filter is employed in a neighborhood modification process where the central pixel is replaced with the third central moment computed from the surrounding neighborhood.Choice of the third central moment is due in part to the fact that it is a function of the scene within the neighborhood rather than the power spectral density (Wiener spectrum) of the neighborhood. Application of the filter requires no prior knowledge, and pixels within the filter window may be chosen in random order due to the statistical nature of the operation. Results of the filter applied to IR images show performance comparable with, and in some cases superior to, the Sobel and Laplacian filters most commonly used for feature and edge extraction.
Recurrent neural-network training by a learning automaton approach for trajectory learning and control system design

Training of recurrent neural networks by conventional error backpropagation methods introduces considerable computational complexities due to the need for gradient evaluations. In this paper we shall present a training approach using concepts from the theory of stochastic learning automata that eliminates the need for computation of gradients and hence affords a very simple implementation, particularly for implementation on low-end platforms such as personal computers. This approach also offers the flexibility of tailoring a number of specific training algorithms based on the selection of linear and nonlinear reinforcement rules for updating automaton action probabilities. The training efficiency is demonstrated by application to two complex temporal learning scenarios, viz. learning of time-dependent continuous trajectories and feedback controller designs for continuous dynamical plants. For the first problem, it is shown that training algorithms can be tailored following the present approach for a recurrent neural net to learn to generate a benchmark circular trajectory more accurately than possible with existing gradient-based training procedures. For the second problem, it is shown that recurrent neural-network-based feedback controllers can be trained for different control objectives (plant stabilization, output tracking) even when the plant being controlled has complex nonlinear dynamics, and that these controllers possess excellent robustness characteristics with respect to variations in the initial states of the dynamical plant being controlled.
Discouraging Abusive Behavior in Privacy-Preserving Online Social Networking Applications

In this position paper we present the challenge of detecting abuse in a modern Online Social Network (OSN) while balancing data utility and privacy, with the goal of limiting the amount of user sensitive information processed during data collection, extraction and analysis. While we are working with public domain data available in a contemporary OSN, our goal is to design a thorough method for future alternative OSN designs that both protect user's sensitive information and discourage abuse. In this summary, we present initial results for detecting abusive behavior on Twitter. We plan to further investigate the impact of reducing input metadata on the quality of the abuse detection. In addition, we will consider defeating Byzantine behavior by opponents in the system.
2 Utilising Heuristic Evaluation as an approach to evaluation pedagogic software : an empirical application

Two fast growing areas for technology-enhanced learning are serious games and mobile instruction (M-instruction or M-instruction). Serious games are ones that are meant to be more than just entertainment. They have a serious use to educate or promote other types of activity. Immersive Games frequently involve many players interacting in a shared rich and complex – perhaps webbased mixed reality world, where their circumstances will be multi and varied. Their reality may be augmented and often self-composed, as in a user-defined avatar in a virtual world. M-instruction and M-instruction is learning on the move; much of modern computer use is via smart devices, pads, and laptops. People use these devices all over the place and thus it is a natural extension to want to use these devices where they are to learn. This presents a problem if we wish to evaluate the effectiveness of the pedagogic media they are using. We have no way of knowing their situation, circumstance, education background and motivation, or potentially of the customisation of the final software they are using. Getting to the end user itself may also be problematic; these are learning environments that people will dip into at opportune moments. If access to the end user is hard because of location and user self-personalisation, then one solution is to look at the software before it goes out. Heuristic Evaluation allows us to get User Interface (UI) and User Experience (UX) experts to reflect on the software before it is deployed. The effective use of heuristic evaluation with pedagogical software [1] is extended here, with existing Heuristics Evaluation Methods that make the technique applicable to Serious Immersive Games and mobile instruction (M-instruction). We also con-sider how existing Heuristic Methods may be adopted. The result represents a new way of making this methodology applicable to this new developing area of learning technology.
Bones, teeth, and estimating age of perinates: Carthaginian infant sacrifice revisited

Writing about the ‘Tophet’, a children's cemetery in Carthage, Smith et al. argued in these pages that the age distribution of the children peaks at 1–1.49 months, supplying “another link in the chain of evidence—funerary practices, texts, iconography—that supports the interpretation of the Phoenician Tophets as ritual sites set aside for infant sacrifice” (2011: 871). In this they had challenged Jeffrey Schwartz and colleagues, who previously argued (2010) that “skeletal remains from Punic Carthage do not support systematic sacrifice of infants”. Here Schwartz et al. restate their position for Antiquity readers, showing that the verdict on the Phoenician practice of child sacrifice is, at best, not proven.
Deficits in Morphofunctional Maturation of Hippocampal Mossy Fiber Synapses in a Mouse Model of Intellectual Disability

The grik2 gene, coding for the kainate receptor subunit GluK2 (formerly GluR6), is associated with autism spectrum disorders and intellectual disability. Here, we tested the hypothesis that GluK2 could play a role in the appropriate maturation of synaptic circuits involved in learning and memory. We show that both the functional and morphological maturation of hippocampal mossy fiber to CA3 pyramidal cell (mf-CA3) synapses is delayed in mice deficient for the GluK2 subunit (GluK2−/−). In GluK2−/− mice this deficit is manifested by a transient reduction in the amplitude of AMPA-EPSCs at a critical time point of postnatal development, whereas the NMDA component is spared. By combining multiple probability peak fluctuation analysis and immunohistochemistry, we have provided evidence that the decreased amplitude reflects a decrease in the quantal size per mf-CA3 synapse and in the number of active synaptic sites. Furthermore, we analyzed the time course of structural maturation of CA3 synapses by confocal imaging of YFP-expressing cells followed by tridimensional (3D) anatomical reconstruction of thorny excrescences and presynaptic boutons. We show that major changes in synaptic structures occur subsequently to the sharp increase in synaptic transmission, and more importantly that the course of structural maturation of synaptic elements is impaired in GluK2−/− mice. This study highlights how a mutation in a gene linked to intellectual disability in the human may lead to a transient reduction of synaptic strength during postnatal development, impacting on the proper formation of neural circuits linked to memory.
Effect of Recombinant α1-Antitrypsin Fc-Fused (AAT-Fc) Protein on the Inhibition of Inflammatory Cytokine Production and Streptozotocin-Induced Diabetes

Abstractα1-Antitrypsin (AAT) is a member of the serine proteinase inhibitor family that impedes the enzymatic activity of serine proteinases, including human neutrophil elastase, cathepsin G and neutrophil proteinase 3. Here, we expressed recombinant AAT by fusing the intact AAT gene to the constant region of IgG1 to generate soluble recombinant AAT-Fc protein. The recombinant AAT-Fc protein was produced in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells and purified using mini-protein A affinity chromatography. Recombinant AAT-Fc protein was tested for antiinflammatory function and AAT-Fc sufficiently suppressed tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α-induced interleukin (IL)-6 in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and inhibited cytokine-induced TNFα by different cytokines in mouse macrophage Raw 264.7 cells. However, AAT-Fc failed to suppress lipopolysaccharide-induced cytokine production in both PBMCs and macrophages. In addition, our data showed that AAT-Fc blocks the development of hyperglycemia in a streptozotocin-induced mouse model of diabetes. Interestingly, we also found that plasma-derived AAT specifically inhibited the enzymatic activity of elastase but that AAT-Fc had no inhibitory effect on elastase activity.