Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Metformin Induces Cell Cycle Arrest, Reduced Proliferation, Wound Healing Impairment In Vivo and Is Associated to Clinical Outcomes in Diabetic Foot Ulcer Patients

Background Several epidemiological studies in diabetic patients have demonstrated a protective effect of metformin to the development of several types of cancer. The underlying mechanisms of such phenomenon is related to the effect of metformin on cell proliferation among which, mTOR, AMPK and other targets have been identified. However, little is known about the role that metformin treatment have on other cell types such as keratinocytes and whether exposure to metformin of these cells might have serious repercussions in wound healing delay and in the development of complications in diabetic patients with foot ulcers or in their exacerbation. Material and Methods HaCaT Cells were exposed to various concentrations of metformin and cell viability was evaluated by a Resazurin assay; Proliferation was also evaluated with a colony formation assay and with CFSE dilution assay by flow cytometry. Cell cycle was also evaluated by flow cytometry by PI staining. An animal model of wound healing was used to evaluate the effect of metformin in wound closure. Also, an analysis of patients receiving metformin treatment was performed to determine the effect of metformin treatment on the outcome and wound area. Statistical analysis was performed on SPSS v. 18 and GraphPad software v.5. Results Metformin treatment significantly reduces cell proliferation; colony formation and alterations of the cell cycle are observed also in the metformin treated cells, particularly in the S phase. There is a significant increase in the area of the wound of the metformin treated animals at different time points (P<0.05). There is also a significant increase in the size and wound area of the patients with diabetic foot ulcers at the time of hospitalization. A protective effect of metformin was observed for amputation, probably associated with the anti inflammatory effects reported of metformin. Conclusions Metformin treatment reduces cell proliferation and reduces wound healing in an animal model and affects clinical outcomes in diabetic foot ulcer patients. Chronic use of this drug should be further investigated to provide evidence of their security in association with DFU.
Two-step Model Predictive Power Control for a Single-Phase NPC Inverter with Fixed Switching Frequency and Optimal Switching Sequences

Traditional model predictive power control (MPPC) has outstanding dynamic and static performance. However, this kind of control method is difficult to be applied into single-phase system and suffers from variable switching frequency and heavy computational burden. Thus, this paper presents a novel two-step MPPC for a single-phase neutral point clamped (NPC) inverter with fixed switching frequency and optimal switching sequences (OSS). A virtual axis is formed by using second-order generalized integrator (SOGI), in order to realize active and reactive power estimation of the inverter system. The proposed MPPC method is based on two-step model prediction, which involves two cost functions. The control objective of the first cost function is to regulate the power from the inverter system to the grid, while the control objective of the second cost function is to balance the neutral-point voltage. The most suitable control vectors are selected and their effective time are determined by solving these two cost functions. Then, specific patterns of switching sequence are set up to achieve symmetric PWM control signal. Compared to traditional MPPC method, the proposed 2-step MPPC method has constant switching frequency and reduced computational amount. Simulation and experimental results verify the effectiveness and excellent performance of the proposed control method.
Understanding User's Role in Computer-Based Information Systems--Lessons Learned from Dealing with Mislabelling in Blood Production Process

A computer-based information system is implicitly or explicitly subject to the labelling problem - identifying the real-world object and establishing its cross-reference to its modelling entity stored in the database. Labelling errors in blood production process are very serious defects and pose great threats to blood safety, patient safety and the society. Yet, evidence shows that there are still blood donation centres using software with no measures at all or only insufficient ones against such errors. One of the possible causes why the software designer has failed to address this problem is the design barrier put up by computer's obvious limitation on its ability to access user's actions and circumstances. A better understanding of the user's role in a computer-based information system helps the software designer break through this barrier and encourages him to seek better solutions.
Developing Purchasing Strategies

The concept of strategy as applied to purchasing has not attracted the attention of many writers in the management field. The reasons are not difficult to find. They reflect the diminished attention paid by top management and management academics to the purchasing field as a whole. The point has been made by Ammer that top management often perceives purchasing as performing a “passive” role: “His (the purchasing manager's) performance is considered to be satisfactory (a) if he operates his department efficiently (as measured by operating costs…) and (b) if he does not antagonise the executives who really do make a direct contribution to company objectives. ”
Characterization of the Jembrana Disease Virustat Gene and the cis- andtrans-Regulatory Elements in Its Long Terminal Repeats

ABSTRACT Jembrana disease virus (JDV) is a newly identified bovine lentivirus that is closely related to the bovine immunodeficiency virus (BIV). JDV contains a tat gene, encoded by two exons, which has potent transactivation activity. Cotransfection of the JDVtat expression plasmid with the JDV promoter chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) construct pJDV-U3R resulted in a substantial increase in the level of CAT mRNA transcribed from the JDV long terminal repeat (LTR) and a dramatic increase in the CAT protein level. Deletion analysis of the LTR sequences showed that sequences spanning nucleotides −68 to +53, including the TATA box and the predicted first stem-loop structure of the predicted Tat response element (TAR), were required for efficient transactivation. The results, derived from site-directed mutagenesis experiments, suggested that the base pairing in the stem of the first stem-loop structure in the TAR region was important for JDV Tat-mediated transactivation; in contrast, nucleotide substitutions in the loop region of JDV TAR had less effect. For the JDV LTR, upstream sequences, from nucleotide −196 and beyond, as well as the predicted secondary structures in the R region, may have a negative effect on basal JDV promoter activity. Deletion of these regions resulted in a four- to fivefold increase in basal expression. The JDV Tat is also a potent transactivator of other animal and primate lentivirus promoters. It transactivated BIV and human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) LTRs to levels similar to those with their homologous Tat proteins. In contrast, HIV-1 Tat has minimal effects on JDV LTR expression, whereas BIV Tat moderately transactivated the JDV LTR. Our study suggests that JDV may use a mechanism of transactivation similar but not identical to those of other animal and primate lentiviruses.
Distribution of Individual Stock Performances and Fund Manager’s Stock Picking Ability

We find that the performance distribution of the individual stocks inside a mutual fund can toss out additional information about the fund manager’s stock picking ability. When a mutual fund contains mostly mediocre-performing stocks but one super-performer, it is likely that the overall fund performance, albeit good, would be due to luck. On the other hand, a fund that has a larger number of above-average performing stocks may have a good fund performance due to its manager’s true ability. With this intuition in mind, we develop a measure of fund manager ability from the distribution of the individual stock performances inside the fund. Our measure predicts fund performances for up to two years. An investment strategy based on our measure can generate an extra 9% annual return. Our measure has the strongest explanatory power for currently well-performing mutual funds, suggesting that it would be very useful to tell whether the current good performance is due to luck or true ability of the fund manager.
Menstrual cycle effects on perceived exertion and pain during exercise among sedentary women.

BACKGROUND Increasing cardiovascular fitness through exercise participation among sedentary people is important for decreasing all-cause mortality. From an intervention perspective, identifying modifiable factors that maximize the successful initiation of exercise is of utmost importance. For women, cyclic hormonal variations can influence aspects of health and health behaviors, from smoking cessation efficacy to physiological responses to exercise. The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of menstrual cycle phase and hormonal contraceptive (HC) use on subjective response to an initial bout of moderate intensity exercise among previously sedentary women (n = 117). METHODS Women completed a treadmill exercise challenge session at 65% of their previously determined maximum oxygen consumption (Vo(2) max) during the early follicular, late follicular, or luteal phase. Participants reported ratings of perceived exertion and pain using Borg's Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE) and CR10 scales at 10, 20, and 30 minutes during the exercise session. RESULTS There was a significant menstrual phase x birth control interaction on change in RPE [F(2, 111) = 3.75, p < 0.05] and change in perceived pain [F(2, 110) = 3.31, p < 0.05]. Women in the early follicular phase who were not using HCs had significantly greater increases in RPE and increases in pain compared with women in the late follicular and luteal phases. CONCLUSIONS Our results indicate that the use of HC and cycle phase influence sedentary women's subjective response to exercise. These results have important implications for the timing of exercise interventions aimed at increasing exercise among sedentary women.
X-, C-, and L-Band DInSAR Investigation of the April 6, 2009, Abruzzi Earthquake

This letter compares the coseismic deformation maps obtained from different synthetic aperture radar (SAR) sensors using the well-known differential SAR interferometry technique. In particular, four deformation maps have been obtained from X-, C-, and L-band SAR sensors onboard COSMO-SkyMed, Envisat, and ALOS satellite missions correspondingly. The test case is the April 6,2009, earthquake (Mw = 6.3). This seismic event struck a densely populated region of the Apennines and was felt all over Central Italy. The SAR data set is rather inhomogeneous, since it includes interferograms with three different wavelengths, four acquisition geometries, different spatial resolutions, variable temporal and spatial baselines, and differently emphasized signal noise. However, we find that the detected displacements are highly comparable. The outcome of this work is that, even though such differences have an impact on the properties of the interferograms, the displacements can be measured with an overall discrepancy of about half the value of the shortest wavelength (COSMO-SkyMed) data set.
No association between a promoter dopamine D(4) receptor gene variant and schizophrenia.

The dopamine D(4) receptor has been implicated in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia. An association between a putative functional promoter polymorphism (-521C/T) in the dopamine D(4) receptor gene (DRD4) and schizophrenia was recently reported. In the present study, patients with schizophrenia (n = 132) and control subjects (n = 388) were analyzed with respect to the DRD4 - 521C/T polymorphism. No significant case control differences emerged. The present results do not support a major role for DRD4 in the etiology of schizophrenia among Caucasians from Sweden.
Doppler‐Derived Myocardial Performance Index in Patients with Impaired Left Ventricular Relaxation and Preserved Systolic Function

Background: The Doppler‐derived myocardial performance index (MPI) has been used in the evaluation of left ventricular (LV) function in several diseases. In patients with isolated diastolic dysfunction, the diagnostic utility of this index remains unclear. The aim of this study was to determine the diagnostic utility of MPI in patients with systemic hypertension, impaired LV relaxation, and normal ejection fraction. Methods: Thirty hypertensive patients with impaired LV relaxation were compared to 30 control subjects. MPI and its components, isovolumetric relaxation time (IRT), isovolumetric contraction time (ICT), and the ejection time (ET), were measured from LV outflow and mitral inflow Doppler velocity profiles. Results: MPI was higher in patients than in control subjects (0.45 ± 0.13 vs 0.37 ± 0.07 P < 0.0029). The increase in MPI was due to the prolongation of IRT without significant change of ICT and ET. MPI cutoff value of ≥0.40 identified impaired LV relaxation with a sensitivity of 63% and specificity of 70% while an IRT >94 ms had a sensitivity of 67% and specificity of 80%. Multivariate analysis identified relative wall thickness, mitral early filling wave velocity (E), and systolic myocardial velocity (Sm) as independent predictors of MPI in patients with hypertension. Conclusions: MPI was increase in patients with hypertension, diastolic dysfunction, and normal ejection fraction but was not superior to IRT to detect impaired LV relaxation.
Sodium Ferulate Modified Gene Expression Profile of Oxidized Low-Density Lipoprotein-Stimulated Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells

Oxidized low-density lipoprotein (ox-LDL) is known to trigger vascular injury in atherosclerosis development. Sodium ferulate is an effective component from Chinese medicines with various beneficial cardiovascular pharmacological activities. Here, we investigated the effects of sodium ferulate on the gene expression profile of ox-LDL-stimulated endothelial cells. Cultured human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were treated with ox-LDL (50 μg/mL) in the absence or presence of sodium ferulate (5 μmol/L). Sodium ferulate significantly reduced ox-LDL-induced endothelial cell death as evaluated by cell viability assay. Human oligonucleotide microarray analysis demonstrated that a total of 32 ox-LDL-induced genes were significantly downregulated to control levels by sodium ferulate. These genes included members from families of chemokine, inflammatory factor, growth factor, and nuclear receptor. These data provided an overview of the gene expression profile of endothelial cells in response to ox-LDL and sodium ferulate, and demonstrated that sodium ferulate could regulate the expression of inflammation-related genes in endothelial cells and has the potential to benefit endothelial function in the setting of atherosclerosis.
[μ-1,3-Bis(3,5-dimethyl-1H-pyrazol-1-yl-κN 2)propan-2-olato-κ2 O:O]bis[(ethanol-κO)zinc(II)] bis(perchlorate)

In the centrosymmetric dinuclear title complex, [Zn2(C13H19N4O)2(C2H5OH)2](ClO4)2, the ZnII atom is in a distorted trigonal-bipyramidal coordination geometry. The equatorial plane is constructed by one N atom and one O atom from two 1,3-bis(3,5-dimethylpyrazol-1-yl)propan-2-olate (bppo) ligands and one O atom from an ethanol molecule. One N atom and one O atom from the two bppo ligands occupy the axial positions. Intermolecular O—H⋯O hydrogen bonds between the ethanol molecules and perchlorate anions, and O⋯π interactions between the perchlorate anions and pyrazole rings [O⋯centroid distances = 3.494 (3) and 3.413 (3) Å], lead to a chain structure along [010].
Variovorax gossypii sp. nov., isolated from Gossypium hirsutum.

A beige-pigmented bacterial strain (JM-310T), isolated from the healthy internal root tissue of 4-week-old cotton (Gossypium hirsutum, cultivar 'DES-119') in Tallassee (Macon county), Alabama, USA, was studied taxonomically. The isolate produced small rod-shaped cells, which showed a Gram-negative staining behaviour. A comparison of the 16S rRNA gene sequence of the isolate revealed 99.2, 98.8, 98.7, 98.7, 98.1 and 97.6 % similarity to the 16S rRNA gene sequences of the type strains of Variovorax paradoxus, Variovorax boronicumulans, Variovorax ginsengisoli, Variovorax soli, Variovorax defluvii and Variovorax dokdonensis, respectively. In phylogenetic trees based on 16S rRNA gene sequences, strain JM-301T was placed within the monophyletic cluster of Variovorax species. The fatty acid profile of strain JM-310T consisted mainly of the major fatty acids C16 : 0, C10 : 0 3-OH and summed feature 4 (iso-C15 : 0 2-OH/C16 : 1ω7c/t). The quinone system of strain JM-310T contained predominantly ubiquinone Q-8 and lesser amounts of Q-7 and Q-9. The major polyamine was putrescine and the diagnostic polyamine 2-hydroxyputrescine was detected as well. The polar lipid profile consisted of the major lipids phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol, diphospatidylglycerol and several unidentified lipids. DNA-DNA hybridization experiments with V. paradoxus LMG 1797T, V. boronicumulans 1.22T, V. soli KACC 11579T and V. ginsengisoli 3165T gave levels of relatedness of < 70 %. These DNA-DNA hybridization results in addition to differential biochemical properties indicate clearly that strain JM-310T is a member of a novel species, for which the name Variovorax gossypii sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is JM-310T ( = LMG 28869T = CIP 110912T = CCM 8614T).
Assembly and release of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 Gag proteins containing tandem repeats of the matrix protein coding sequences in the matrix domain.

We have constructed human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) gag mutants by increasing the matrix protein (MA) sequences via tandemly repeated duplication of the central 107-MA codons. Instead of a total of 132 amino acid residues for the wild-type MA, the resultant mutants designated as MA2, MA3, and MA4 contained a total of 242, 352, and 462 codons in the MA domains, respectively. Analysis indicated that the addition of 110 or 220 amino acid residues to the MA did not significantly affect the assembly, release, and processing of particles; however, particle production was markedly reduced when another copy of 110 residues was added to the MA. Subcellular fractionation analysis suggested that the MA tandem repeat mutations enhanced the Gag membrane affinity, in a manner which correlated with the copy number of MA sequences. The effects of enhanced membrane affinity were substantially reduced when sequences downstream of the capsid (CA) domain were deleted. Sucrose density gradient fractionation analysis showed that particles produced by the large insertion mutants possessed wild-type (wt) HIV particle density. Truncation of sequences downstream of the nucleocapsid (NC) domains of the mutants did not influence the budding of particles. In contrast, particle budding was severely impaired when sequences downstream of the CA domain were truncated. Particle densities for the large Gag proteins, which were truncated at the C-terminus of CA, were about 1.12-1.14 g/ml lower than that for wt. Our results suggest that the HIV MA domain could adopt insertions of large protein sequences, and strongly support the proposal that the NC and p2 domains play a crucial role in the process of correct Gag protein packing.
C2 RC: Channel Congestion-based Re-transmission Control for 3GPP-based V2X Technologies

The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) is actively designing New Radio Vehicle-to-Everything (NR V2X)—a 5G NR-based technology for V2X communications. NR V2X, along with its predecessor Cellular V2X (C-V2X), is set to enable low-latency and high-reliability communications in high-speed and dense vehicular environments. A key reliability-enhancing mechanism that is available in C-V2X and is likely to be re-used in NR V2X is packet re-transmissions. In this paper, using a systematic and extensive simulation study, we investigate the impact of this feature on the system performance of C-V2X. We show that statically configuring vehicles to always disable or enable packet re-transmissions either fails to extract the full potential of this feature or leads to performance degradation due to increased channel congestion. Motivated by this, we propose and evaluate Channel Congestion-based Re-transmission Control (C2 RC), which, based on the observed channel congestion, allows vehicles to autonomously decide whether or not to use packet re-transmissions without any role of the cellular infrastructure. Using our proposed mechanism, C-V2X-capable vehicles can boost their performance in lightly-loaded environments, while not compromising on performance in denser conditions.
Development and Characterization of an In Vivo Central Venous Catheter Candida albicans Biofilm Model

ABSTRACT Biofilms represent a niche for microorganisms where they are protected from both the host immune system and antimicrobial therapies. Biofilm growth serves as an increasing source of clinical infections. Candida infections are difficult to manage due to their persistent nature and associated drug resistance. Observations made in biofilm research have generally been limited to in vitro models. Using a rat central venous catheter model, we characterized in vivo Candida albicans biofilm development. Time-course quantitative culture demonstrated a progressive increase in the burden of viable cells for the first 24 h of development. Fluorescence and scanning electron microscopy revealed a bilayered architecture. Adjacent to the catheter surface, yeast cells were densely embedded in an extracellular matrix. The layer adjacent to the catheter lumen was less dense. The outermost surface of the biofilm contained both yeast and hyphal forms, and the extracellular material in which they were embedded appeared fibrous. These architectural features were similar in many respects to those described for in vitro models. However, scanning electron microscopy also revealed host cells embedded within the biofilm matrix. Drug susceptibility was determined by using two assays and demonstrated a biofilm-associated drug resistance phenotype. The first assay demonstrated continued growth of cells in the presence of supra-MIC antifungal drug concentrations. The second assay demonstrated reduced susceptibility of biofilm-grown cells following removal from the biofilm structure. Lastly, the model provided sufficient nucleic material for study of differential gene expression associated with in vivo biofilm growth. Two fluconazole efflux pumps, CDR1 and CDR2, were upregulated in the in vivo biofilm-associated cells. Most importantly, the studies described provide a model for further investigation into the molecular mechanisms of C. albicans biofilm biology and drug resistance. In addition, the model provides a means to study novel drug therapies and device technologies targeted to the control of biofilm-associated infections.
On Model Reduction of Polynomial Dynamical Systems

In this paper, we develop a computational method for model reduction of polynomial dynamical systems. This is achieved using sum of squares relaxations on certain Lyapunov inequalities, which are the nonlinear counterparts of the Lyapunov controllability and observability linear matrix inequalities for linear systems. In our model reduction procedure, we use notions of balanced realization and balanced truncation for a polynomial model. In addition, we derive an a-priori error bound on the approximation error for balanced truncation.