Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Multiple Distinct Signal Pathways, Including an Autocrine Neurotrophic Mechanism, Contribute to the Survival-Promoting Effect of Depolarization on Spiral Ganglion Neurons In Vitro

We have shown previously that BDNF, neurotrophin-3 (NT-3), chlorphenylthio-cAMP (cpt-cAMP) (a permeant cAMP analog), and membrane depolarization promote spiral ganglion neuron (SGN) survival in vitro in an additive manner, depolarization having the greatest efficacy. Expression of both BDNF and of NT-3 is detectable in cultured SGNs after plating in either depolarizing or nondepolarizing medium. These neurotrophins promote survival by an autocrine mechanism; TrkB-IgG or TrkC-IgG, which block neurotrophin binding to, respectively, TrkB and TrkC, partially inhibit the trophic effect of depolarization. The mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase inhibitor PD98059 and the phosphatidylinositol-3-OH kinase inhibitor LY294002 both abolish trophic support by neurotrophins but only partially inhibit support by depolarization. Inhibition by these compounds is not additive with inhibition by Trk-IgGs. The cAMP antagonist Rp-adenosine-3′,5′-cyclic-phosphorothioate (Rp-cAMPS) abolishes survival attributable to cpt-cAMP but has no effect on that attributable to neurotrophins, nor do inhibitors of neurotrophin-dependent survival affect survival attributable to cpt-cAMP. However, Rp-cAMPS does partially inhibit depolarization-dependent survival, an inhibition that is additive with that by Trk-IgGs, PD98059, or LY294002. Moreover, Rp-cAMPS prevents depolarization-dependent survival of PC12 cells maintained in subthreshold levels of NGF. Inhibition of Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinases (CaMKs) with KN-62 reduces SGN survival independently of Rp-cAMPS, Trk-IgGs, and LY294002 and additively with them. Combined inhibition of Trk, cAMP, and CaMK signaling prevents depolarization-dependent survival. Thus, survival of SGNs under depolarizing conditions involves additivity among a depolarization-independent autocrine pathway, a cAMP-dependent pathway, and a CaMK-dependent pathway.
Ionic liquid pretreatment at high solids loading: A clean approach for fabrication of renewable resource based particulate composites

Recently, the concept of high solids loading in ionic liquid (IL) based pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass has gained numerous attention due to significant economic, environmental, and sustainability benefits. The objective of the present work was to investigate the impact of ILs pretreatment of lignocellulosic oil palm frond (OPF) biomass at high solids loading on the mechanical and thermal properties of the composite panels. The process combines the pretreatment of OPF particles with ILs [bmim][Cl] (1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride) and [emim][OAc] (1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate) followed by IL recovery by rinsing with acetone-water mixture prior to mixing of OPF particles with polymer binder to fabricate compression-molded composite panels. Untreated and treated OPF particles were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetric analysis, and chemical composition analysis. Further, the effect of ILs pretreatment on kinetics of thermal degradation of biocomposites was evaluated by activation energy approach. Maximal flexural strength, modulus, and strain energy density (SED) of 25 MPa, 1,928 MPa, and 0.48 MJ/m3, respectively, were found for IL [emim][OAc] treated composite. Besides, thermal properties of IL treated composites were also improved. Present study could be a significant step toward practical IL pretreatment strategies for manufacturing of lignocellulosic based composite materials. POLYM. COMPOS. , 2016. © 2016 Society of Plastics Engineers
High throughput indexing for large-scale semantic web data

Distributed RDF data management systems become increasingly important with the growth of the Semantic Web. Currently, several such systems have been proposed, however, their indexing methods meet performance bottlenecks either on data loading or querying when processing large amounts of data. In this work, we propose a high throughout index to enable rapid analysis of large datasets. We adopt a hybrid structure to combine the loading speed of similar-size based methods with the execution speed of graph-based approaches, using dynamic data repartitioning over query workloads. We introduce the design and detailed implementation of our method. Experimental results show that the proposed index can indeed vastly improve loading speeds while remaining competitive in terms of performance. Therefore, the method could be considered as a good choice for RDF analysis in large-scale distributed scenarios.
Simulation of Jet Noise with OVERFLOW CFD Code and Kirchhoff Surface Integral

An acoustic prediction capability for supersonic axisymmetric jets was developed on the basis of OVERFLOW Navier-Stokes CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) code of NASA Langley Research Center. Reynolds-averaged turbulent stresses in the flow field are modeled with the aid of Spalart-Allmaras one-equation turbulence model. Appropriate acoustic and outflow boundary conditions were implemented to compute time-dependent acoustic pressure in the nonlinear source-field. Based on the specification of acoustic pressure, its temporal and normal derivatives on the Kirchhoff surface, the near-field and the far-field sound pressure levels are computed via Kirchhoff surface integral, with the Kirchhoff surface chosen to enclose the nonlinear sound source region described by the CFD code. The methods are validated by a comparison of the predictions of sound pressure levels with the available data for an axisymmetric turbulent supersonic (Mach 2) perfectly expanded jet.
Cyclic Nucleotide Gated Channels 7 and 8 Are Essential for Male Reproductive Fertility

The Arabidopsis thaliana genome contains 20 CNGCs, which are proposed to encode cyclic nucleotide gated, non-selective, Ca2+-permeable ion channels. CNGC7 and CNGC8 are the two most similar with 74% protein sequence identity, and both genes are preferentially expressed in pollen. Two independent loss-of-function T-DNA insertions were identified for both genes and used to generate plant lines in which only one of the two alleles was segregating (e.g., cngc7-1+/−/cngc8-2−/− and cngc7-3−/−/cngc8-1+/−). While normal pollen transmission was observed for single gene mutations, pollen harboring mutations in both cngc7 and 8 were found to be male sterile (transmission efficiency reduced by more than 3000-fold). Pollen grains harboring T-DNA disruptions of both cngc7 and 8 displayed a high frequency of bursting when germinated in vitro. The male sterile defect could be rescued through pollen expression of a CNGC7 or 8 transgene including a CNGC7 with an N-terminal GFP-tag. However, rescue efficiencies were reduced ∼10-fold when the CNGC7 or 8 included an F to W substitution (F589W and F624W, respectively) at the junction between the putative cyclic nucleotide binding-site and the calmodulin binding-site, identifying this junction as important for proper functioning of a plant CNGC. Using confocal microscopy, GFP-CNGC7 was found to preferentially localize to the plasma membrane at the flanks of the growing tip. Together these results indicate that CNGC7 and 8 are at least partially redundant and provide an essential function at the initiation of pollen tube tip growth.
The Selection Mosaic and Diversifying Coevolution between Crossbills and Lodgepole Pine

Asymmetrical competition determines which of two seed predators drives the evolution of lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta ssp. latifolia) cones. Red squirrels (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) are effective preemptive competitors in lodgepole pine forests so that red crossbills (Loxia curvirostra) are uncommon and selection from Tamiasciurus drives cone evolution. When Tamiasciurus are absent, crossbills increase in abundance and coevolve in an evolutionary arms race with pine. Similarly, Tamiasciurus alters the evolutionary trajectories of large‐seeded pines, many of which rely on birds (Corvidae) for their seed dispersal. Populations therefore exhibit a selection mosaic with coevolutionary hot spots. In the coevolutionary hot spots, divergent selection on crossbills potentially leads to reproductive isolation and speciation. This results in a subsequent reduction in the geographic mosaic but diversifies the adaptive landscape on which crossbills have radiated. Thus, divergent selection is a double‐edged sword. Divergent selection is critical in creating a selection mosaic but erodes the selection mosaic when it promotes reproductive isolation and speciation.
The photodecarboxylative addition of carboxylates to phthalimides as a key-step in the synthesis of biologically active 3-arylmethylene-2,3-dihydro-1H-isoindolin-1-ones

The synthesis of various 3-arylmethylene-2,3-dihydro-1H-isoindolin-1-ones was realized following a simple three-step process. The protocol utilized the photodecarboxylative addition of readily available carboxylates to N-(bromoalkyl)phthalimides as a versatile and efficient key step. The initially obtained hydroxyphthalimidines were readily converted to the desired N-diaminoalkylated 3-arylmethylene-2,3-dihydro-1H-isoindolin-1-ones via acid-catalyzed dehydration and subsequent nucleophilic substitution with the corresponding secondary amines. The procedure was successfully applied to the synthesis of known local anesthetics (AL-12, AL-12B and AL-5) in their neutral forms.
Efficient Dense Disparity Map Reconstruction using Sparse Measurements

In this paper, we propose a new stereo matching algorithm able to reconstruct efficiently a dense disparity maps from few sparse disparity measurements. The algorithm is initialized by sampling the reference image using the Simple Linear Iterative Clustering (SLIC) superpixel method. Then, a sparse disparity map is generated only for the obtained boundary pixels. The reconstruction of the entire disparity map is obtained through the scanline propagation method. Outliers were effectively removed using an adaptive vertical median filter. Experimental results were conducted on the standard and the new Middlebury datasets show that the proposed method produces high-quality dense disparity results.
Ceramic Matrix Composites: Combined Materials And Mechanics Curricula

The research in ceramic-matrix composites is of industrial and national importance. For example, continuous fiber reinforced ceramic composites (CFCCs) have been successfully fabricated by chemical vapor infiltration techniques at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and industrial companies, such as DuPont, 3M/Delta G, B. F. Goodrich, Amercom, Refractory Composites and B. P. Chemicals Ltd. The CFCCs are being recognized as necessary for high-temperature structural applications. The pertinent applications include heat exchangers, combustors, hot gas filters and boiler components in power generation systems, and first walls and high heat flux surfaces in fusion reactors. The technology for fabrication, characterization, modeling, design, and applications of ceramic composites is of crucial importance for improving U.S. industrial competitiveness in the worldwide market.
Herbal medicines in the treatment of psychiatric disorders: 10‐year updated review

This paper provides a 10‐year update of the 2007 systematic review of herbal medicines studied in a broad range of psychiatric disorders, including depression, anxiety, obsessive–compulsive, seasonal affective, bipolar, psychotic, phobic, somatoform, and attention‐deficit hyperactivity disorders. Ovid Medline, PubMed, and the Cochrane Library were searched for herbal medicines with both pharmacological and clinical evidence of psychotropic activity. This updated review now covers clinical trial evidence for 24 herbal medicines in 11 psychiatric disorders. High‐quality evidence was found to exist for the use of Piper methysticum (Kava), Passiflora spp. (passionflower) and Galphimia glauca (galphimia) for anxiety disorders; and Hypericum perforatum (St John's wort) and Crocus sativus (saffron) for major depressive disorder. Other encouraging herbal medicines with preliminary evidence include Curcuma longa (turmeric) in depression, Withania somnifera (ashwagandha) in affective disorders, and Ginkgo biloba (ginkgo) as an adjunctive treatment in Schizophrenia. Although depression and anxiety are commonly researched, many other mental disorders still require further prospective investigation. Although the previous review suggested increasing the adjunctive study of select herbal medicines with pharmaceuticals, this was still only found to sparingly occur in research designs. Aside from this, future focus should involve the incorporation of more biomarker analysis, in particular pharmacogenomics, to determine genetic factors moderating response to herbal medicines.
A hybrid automated trading system based on multi-objective grammatical evolution

This paper describes a hybrid automated trading system (ATS) based on grammatical evolution and microeconomic analysis. The proposed system takes advantage from the flexibility of grammars for introducing and testing novel characteristics. The ATS introduces the self-generation of new technical indicators and multi-strategies for stopping unforeseen losses. Additionally, this work copes with a novel optimization method combining multi-objective optimization with a grammatical evolution methodology. We implemented the ATS testing three different fitness functions under three mono-objective approaches and also two multi-objective ATSs. Experimental results test and compare them to the Buy and Hold strategy and a previous approach, beating both in returns and in number of positive operations. In particular, the multi-objective approach demonstrated returns up to 20% in very volatile periods, proving that the combination of fitness functions is beneficial for
Postoperative outcomes of natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery-assisted vaginal hysterectomy and conventional laparoscopic-assisted vaginal hysterectomy: a comparative study

Objective The present study aimed to determine the differences in outcomes between natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery-assisted vaginal hysterectomy (NAVH) and conventional laparoscopy-assisted vaginal hysterectomy (LAVH). Methods We retrospectively reviewed the charts of patients who between July 2012 and September 2015, were diagnosed as having benign uterine disease such as uterine myoma, endometriosis, or adenomyosis and managed via NAVH or LAVH in a single-center (Eulji University Hospital). Data such as age, body weight, height, parity, operation time, intra/post-operative complications, and uterus weight were obtained from the clinical charts. NAVH and LAVH recipients were matched 1:3 in terms of baseline characteristics, and the 2 groups were compared regarding surgical outcomes. Results Of the 160 patients with benign uterine disease included in the present study. Forty received NAVH and remaining 120 received LAVH. There were significant differences between the groups regarding operation time and hemoglobin change. Notably, although the operation time was shorter for LAVH, hemoglobin change was lower for NAVH. Additionally, although maximum hospitalization duration was shorter for LAVH, the average length of hospitalization was similar between NAVH and LAVH. There were no significant differences between the groups in terms of other variables. Conclusion NAVH may become a new alternative surgical method of choice for hysterectomy, as it represents a clinically feasible and safe approach; moreover is superior to LAVH in terms of bleeding loss.
Psychological risk factors, cognitive-contextual approaches and neural correlates in eating disorders: an integrative review

Department of Psychological Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Coimbra, Portugal Visual Neuroscience Laboratory, Institute for Biomedical Imaging and Life Sciences (CNC.IBILI), Faculty of Medicine, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal Cognitive-Behavioural Research Centre (CINEICC), University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal Coimbra Institute for Biomedical Imaging and Translational Research (CIBIT), ICNAS, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
Assessing the potential of pharmaceuticals and their transformation products to cause mutagenic effects: Implications for gene expression profiling

The selection and prioritization of pharmaceuticals and their transformation products for evaluating effects on the environment and human health is a challenging task. One common approach is based on compounds (e.g., mixture composition, concentrations), and another on biology (e.g., relevant endpoint, biological organizational level). Both of these approaches often resemble a Lernaean Hydra—they can create more questions than answers. The present study embraces this complexity, providing an integrated approach toward assessing the potential effects of transformation products of pharmaceuticals by means of mutagenicity, estrogenicity, and differences in the gene expression profiles. Mutagenicity using the tk kinase assay was applied to assess a list of 11 priority pharmaceuticals, namely, atenolol, azithromycin, carbamazepine, diclofenac, ibuprofen, erythromycin, metoprolol, ofloxacin, propranolol, sulfamethoxazole, and trimethoprim. The most mutagenic compounds were found to be β‐blockers. In parallel, the photolabile pharmaceuticals were assessed for their mixture effects on mutagenicity (tk assay), estrogenicity (T47D‐ KBluc assay), and gene expression (microarrays). Interestingly, the mixtures were mutagenic at the µg/L level, indicating a synergistic effect. None of the photolysed mixtures were statistically significantly estrogenic. Gene expression profiling revealed effects related mainly to certain pathways, those of the p53 gene, mitogen‐activated protein kinase, alanine, aspartate, and glutamate metabolism, and translation‐related (spliceosome). Fourteen phototransformation products are proposed based on the m/z values found through ultra‐performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry analysis. The transformation routes of the photolysed mixtures indicate a strong similarity with those obtained for each pharmaceutical separately. This finding reinforces the view that transformation products are to be expected in naturally occurring mixtures. Environ Toxicol Chem 2016;35:2753–2764. © 2016 SETAC
Oxacillin-induced inhibition of protein and RNA synthesis in a tolerant Staphylococcus aureus isolate

A clinical isolate of Staphylococcus aureus was found to be tolerant (MBC much greater than MIC) to a number of beta-lactam antibiotics, including oxacillin. Biophotometric analysis showed that a number of concentrations of oxacillin were capable of stimulating rapid cellular lysis in this organism, but the extent of lysis was antibiotic concentration dependent and limited. Cell cultures treated with an antibiotic concentration yielding the maximum rate and extent of lysis were analyzed for protein and RNA synthesis by pulse-labeling techniques. RNA synthesis was initially stimulated and then severely inhibited. Protein synthesis was not inhibited initially; however, the increase in the rate of synthesis expected as the result of logarithmic growth was not observed. Instead, the antibiotic-treated culture maintained for approximately 50 min the rate of protein synthesis ongoing at the time of antibiotic addition. The rate of protein synthesis declined thereafter. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of protein samples taken 1 and 3 h after antibiotic addition showed that the shutdown of protein synthesis was not coordinate but rather was suggestive of the operation of a stress regulon perhaps similar to those responsible for heat shock, SOS, and oxidation stress.
Genetic organization and transcriptional analysis of a major gene cluster involved in siderophore biosynthesis in Pseudomonas putida WCS358

In iron-limited environments, the plant-growth-stimulating Pseudomonas putida WCS358 produces a yellow-green fluorescent siderophore called pseudobactin 358. The transcriptional organization and the iron-regulated expression of a major gene cluster involved in the biosynthesis and transport of pseudobactin 358 were analyzed in detail. The cluster comprises a region with a minimum length of 33.5 kilobases and contains at least five transcriptional units, of which some are relatively large. The directions of transcription of four transcriptional units were determined by RNA-RNA hybridization and by analysis in Escherichia coli minicells. The latter also demonstrated that large polypeptides were encoded by these transcriptional units. The results allowed us to localize several promoter regions on the DNA. The iron-dependent expression of at least two genes within this cluster appears to be regulated at the transcriptional level.
A closed-form power control algorithm in cognitive radio networks based on Nash bargaining solution

In this paper, a power control algorithm based on Nash bargaining solution (NBS) in cooperative game is proposed for cognitive radio networks (CRNs). The uplink power control problem under interference power constraint (IPC) in cognitive networks for two users' case is considered from both non-cooperative game and cooperative game. A signal-to-interference plus noise (SINR) utility function is proposed for the cooperative power control game. Based on NBS, a close-form expression of the power control algorithm is derived for the CRNs. Simulation results show that the proposed power control algorithm based on NBS achieves an effective tradeoff between the fairness and the efficiency.
Silica nanoparticles induce autophagy dysfunction via lysosomal impairment and inhibition of autophagosome degradation in hepatocytes

Autophagy dysfunction is considered as a potential toxic mechanism of nanomaterials. Silica nanoparticles (SiNPs) can induce autophagy, but the specific mechanism involved remains unclear. Therefore, the aim of this study was to confirm the effects of SiNPs on autophagy dysfunction and explore the possible underlying mechanism. In this article, we reported that cell-internalized SiNPs exhibited dose- and time-dependent cytotoxicity in both L-02 and HepG2 cells. Multiple methods verified that SiNPs induced autophagy even at the noncytotoxic level and blocked the autophagic flux at the high-dose level. Notably, SiNPs impaired the lysosomal function through damaging lysosomal ultrastructures, increasing membrane permeability, and downregulating the expression of lysosomal proteases, cathepsin B, as evidenced by transmission electron microscopy, acridine orange staining, quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, and Western blot assays. Collectively, these data concluded that SiNPs inhibited autophagosome degradation via lysosomal impairment in hepatocytes, resulting in autophagy dysfunction. The current study not only discloses a potential mechanism of autophagy dysfunction induced by SiNPs but also provides novel evidence for the study of toxic effect and safety evaluation of SiNPs.