Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Some differences in contractile responses of isolated longitudinal and circular muscle from the guinea‐pig stomach.

The mechanical and electrical properties of the longitudinal (fundus and corpus) and circular (antrum) muscle fibres of the guinea‐pig stomach were investigated. 1. In the longitudinal but not in the circular muscle isotonic K Krebs and Na‐free (sucrose) Krebs solutions produced a contracture with a tonic component. The different mechanical responses were not accompanied by different membrane responses. Verapamil abolished both phasic and tonic components of K‐induced contracture. 2. During the tonic response of the K‐induced contracture, repolarization of the membrane by current pulses relaxed the tissue; after cessation of the current pulse, rebound contracture occurred. In the circular muscle, the Q10 value for the rate of relaxation induced by inward current pulse was 3‐1 and for the development of rebound contracture was 2‐4. 3. After the tissue had been immersed in Ca‐free isotonic K Krebs solution, application of Ca produced a large contracture in the longitudinal muscle, but contracture in the circular muscle was small or absent. However, the amplitude of subsequent carbachol‐induced contracture in the above solution was enlarged in proportion to the durations of Ca treatment in both tissues. 4. Direct tetanic electrical stimulation could produce tension in both tissues. With low frequency of stimulation (0‐1 Hz) a positive staircase was observed in the circular but not in the longitudinal muscle. 5. It is concluded from these results that topical differences of the motility in the stomach may be due not only to the activity of nervous elements, but also to differences in the properties of the muscle fibres themselves.
Epitope mapping of monoclonal antibodies against human immunodeficiency virus type 1 structural proteins by using peptides

Murine monoclonal antibodies directed against the structural proteins p17 and p24 of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 were investigated in an epitope mapping system. Overlapping peptides consisting of 15 amino acids of the p17 and p24 protein, respectively, were used as competitors in an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Three different immunogenic regions (A, B, and C) could be defined, one on p17 and two on p24. Twenty monoclonal antibodies reacted with the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 peptides of region B, although differences in the reactivity of these antibodies with human immunodeficiency virus type 2 and simian immunodeficiency virus strain mac were detectable. Recognized epitopes were characterized by computer analysis as described by T.P. Hopp and K.R. Woods (Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 78:3824-3828, 1981) and P.Y. Chou and G.D. Fasman (Biochemistry 13:222-245, 1974).
The definition and classification of glaucoma in prevalence surveys

This review describes a scheme for diagnosis of glaucoma in population based prevalence surveys. Cases are diagnosed on the grounds of both structural and functional evidence of glaucomatous optic neuropathy. The scheme also makes provision for diagnosing glaucoma in eyes with severe visual loss where formal field testing is impractical, and for blind eyes in which the optic disc cannot be seen because of media opacities.
Asymmetric Exchange Rate Pass-through: Evidence from Nonlinear SVARs

We study the response of headline inflation to exchange rate innovations in a nonlinear context, where we distinguish between positive (depreciation) and negative (appreciation) exchange rate shocks. For that purpose, we specify a nonlinear Structural Vector Autoregressive (SVAR) model and we compute asymmetric impulse response functions for headline inflation after exchange rate innovations. We introduce a bootstrap Monte Carlo routine that allows to compute the error bands for these nonlinear impulse responses. Results for the Peruvian economy exhibit a remarkable statistically significant asymmetry in the response of headline inflation, both on impact and on propagation. In absolute values, the effect of a depreciation shock after one year is about twice the size of that corresponding to an appreciation shock. Roughly speaking, the one-year exchange rate pass-through to prices is 20 percent under a depreciation and only 10 percent under an appreciation.
R-OFDM Transmission Scheme for Visible Light Communication Using RGBA-LED

White light-emitting diode (LED) consisting of red, green, blue, and amber chips (RGBA-LED) has recently been adopted as transmitter in visible light communication (VLC) systems. This paper proposed a reshaped orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (R- OFDM) scheme for RGBA-LED-based VLC systems. In the R- OFDM, the signal is adjusted by separation and biasing after clipping (BAC) operations for transmitting in RGBA-LED. Then, the biasing factor of BAC is derived according to the color mix ratio (CMR) of RGBA-LED. At the receiver, We develop a direct detection algorithm to recover the original data, and analyze its the theoretical bit error rate (BER). Furthermore, a lower bound of the BER is analyzed under high clipping ratio (CR) by using SNR upper bound. Finally, simulation results confirm our theoretical analysis and verify that R-OFDM outperforms the ACO-OFDM in term of BER.
The role of O‐GlcNAc signaling in the pathogenesis of diabetic retinopathy

Diabetic retinopathy is a leading cause of blindness worldwide. Despite laser and surgical treatments, antiangiogenic and other therapies, and strict metabolic control, many patients progress to visual impairment and blindness. New insights are needed into the pathophysiology of diabetic retinopathy in order to develop new methods to improve the detection and treatment of disease and the prevention of blindness. Hyperglycemia and diabetes result in increased flux through the hexosamine biosynthetic pathway, which, in turn, results in increased PTM of Ser/Thr residues of proteins by O‐linked β‐N‐acetylglucosamine (O‐GlcNAc). O‐GlcNAcylation is involved in regulation of many nuclear and cytoplasmic proteins in a manner similar to protein phosphorylation. Altered O‐GlcNAc signaling has been implicated in the pathogenesis of diabetes and may play an important role in the pathogenesis of diabetic retinopathy. The goal of this review is to summarize the biology of the hexosamine biosynthesis pathway and O‐GlcNAc signaling, to present the current evidence for the role of O‐GlcNAc signaling in diabetes and diabetic retinopathy, and to discuss future directions for research on O‐GlcNAc in the pathogenesis of diabetic retinopathy.
T helper and B cell escape mutations within the HBc gene in patients with asymptomatic HBV infection: a study from the South-Eastern region of Iran.

BACKGROUND Escape mutations potentially allow viruses to avoid detection and clearance by the host immune system and may represent a mechanism through which infections may persist in some patients. The association of the mutations in the HBcAg gene with Hepatitis B asymptomatic carriers (ASC) has not been studied adequately. The current study was aimed to investigate HBcAg18-27 CTL epitope mutations in ASC patients in the South-Eastern region of Iran. METHODS 100 ASC patients were selected for this study and screened for HLA-A2 using flow cytometry. HBV-DNA was extracted from the HLA-A2 positive patients and the HBc gene was amplified using PCR. Direct double sequencing was performed to analyse mutations in the HBc gene of HBV isolates from patients with ASC. RESULTS Overall, 25 (25%) of individuals were HLA-A2 positive. Direct double sequencing indicated no mutations in the HBcAg18-27 epitope. However, four mutations within the T helper and three mutations within the B cell epitopes of ASC patients were identified. CONCLUSIONS The lack of mutations within the HBcAg18-27 epitope suggests that the antigenicity of this region is not altered in HBV isolates of our patients and therefore antigen presentation would occur normally to the patient's immune system through HLA-A2. However, in the course of this study we revealed some novel mutations within the T helper and B cell epitopes that may affect the efficiencies of immune response of ASC patients against these novel HBV epitopes.
A Nonlinear Model for Mouse Pointing Task Movement Time Analysis Based on Both System and Human Effects

This paper provides a detailed model for analyzing movement time performance during rapid goal-directed point- and-click motions with a computer mouse. Twelve typically developed individuals and eleven youths with cerebral palsy conducted point and click computer tasks from which the model was developed. The proposed model is nonlinear and based on both system (target width and movement amplitude) and human effects (erroneous clicks, number of submovements, number of slip-offs, curvature index, and average speed). To ensure successful targeting by youths with cerebral palsy, the index of difficulty was limited to a range of 1.58 - 3.0 bits. For consistency, the same range was used with both groups. The most significant contributing human effect to movement time was found to be the curvature index for both typically developed individuals and individuals with cerebral palsy. This model will assist in algorithm development to improve cursor speed and accuracy for youths with cerebral palsy.
Historical Relationships among Wild Boar Populations of the Ryukyu Archipelago and Other Eurasian regions, as Inferred from Mitochondrial Cytochrome b Gene Sequences

The Ryukyu wild boar (Sus scrofa riukiuanus) is an endemic, morphologically defined subspecies of the Eurasian wild boar (S. scrofa) found on five islands of the Ryukyu Archipelago (a group of small islands stretching from mainland Japan to Taiwan). Two hypothetical scenarios have been proposed regarding the origin of the current Ryukyu wild boar populations: 1) natural dispersal and 2) transportation and subsequent release by prehistoric humans. To test these two hypotheses, we compared the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene sequence (1140 base pairs) in 352 individual wild boar samples that included representatives of all five insular populations of the Ryukyu wild boar and populations of other conspecific subspecies in insular East and Southeast Asia and the Eurasian Continent. A total of 68 haplotypes were recognized, of which 12 were unique to the Ryukyu wild boar populations. The results of Bayesian phylogenetic analyses supported monophyly of the five Ryukyu populations (posterior probability value of 92), confirming the validity of the subspecies as a natural group. Coalescent analysis estimated the divergence times between the Ryukyu wild boar and the other conspecific subspecies as 144–465 thousand years ago (Kya), with a 95% HPD (highest posterior density) range of 51–837 Kya, and with no significant migration. Taking the broadly accepted date of initial human migration to the Ryukyus (no earlier than 50 Kya) into consideration, our results strongly suggest that the ancestral form of the Ryukyu wild boar first entered the Ryukyu Archipelago by natural dispersal prior to the arrival of prehistoric humans.
Three-Point Method of Prescribing Exercise with Ratings of Perceived Exertion is Valid for Cardiac Patients

It is often difficult to use heart rate to prescribe exercise for cardiac patients due to the effects of medications and procedures such as cardiac transplantation. Ratings of Perceived Exertion (RPE) is the preferred method of regulating exercise intensity in these situations. An RPE-based exercise prescription has previously depended on perceptual data from a maximal Graded Exercise Test (GXT). Recently, using 13 healthy subjects, we validated a Three-point RPE for prescribing exercise using RPE which can be used when ratings from a GXT are not available. Currently, we examined the accuracy of this method for developing target RPEs for patients in Phase II cardiac rehabilitation. Such target RPEs did not differ from those obtained using standard procedures. We conclude that the Three-point Method is valid for preparing RPE-based exercise prescriptions for Phase II cardiac rehabilitation patients.
Structure and dynamics of dark‐state bovine rhodopsin revealed by chemical cross‐linking and high‐resolution mass spectrometry

Recent work using chemical cross‐linking to define interresidue distance constraints in proteins has shown that these constraints are useful for testing tertiary structural models. We applied this approach to the G‐protein‐coupled receptor bovine rhodopsin in its native membrane using lysine‐ and cysteine‐targeted bifunctional cross‐linking reagents. Cross‐linked proteolytic peptides of rhodopsin were identified by combined liquid chromatography and FT‐ICR mass spectrometry with automated data‐reduction and assignment software. Tandem mass spectrometry was used to verify cross‐link assignments and locate the exact sites of cross‐link attachment. Cross‐links were observed to form between 10 pairs of residues in dark‐state rhodopsin. For each pair, cross‐linkers with a range of linker lengths were tested to determine an experimental distance‐of‐closest‐approach (DCA) between reactive side‐chain atoms. In all, 28 cross‐links were identified using seven different cross‐linking reagents. Molecular mechanics procedures were applied to published crystal structure data to calculate energetically achievable theoretical DCAs between reactive atoms without altering the position of the protein backbone. Experimentally measured DCAs are generally in good agreement with the theoretical DCAs. However, a cross‐link between C316 and K325 in the C‐terminal region cannot be rationalized by DCA simulations and suggests that backbone reorientation relative to the crystal coordinates occurs on the timescale of cross‐linking reactions. Biochemical and spectroscopic data from other studies have found that the C‐terminal region is highly mobile in solution and not fully represented by X‐ray crystallography data. Our results show that chemical cross‐linking can provide reliable three‐dimensional structural information and insight into local conformational dynamics in a membrane protein.
Joint power and subcarrier allocation using auction games for secure multiuser OFDMA networks

Security is a critical issue in downlink multiuser orthogonal frequency division multiplexing access (OFDMA) networks. In this paper, we propose a joint power and subcarrier allocation algorithm to maximize secrecy rate. Specifically, we propose an iterative scheme to allocate transmit power for each subcarrier under the transmit power constraint. Furthermore, we propose two auction-based algorithms, i.e. Frist-price Sealed-bid Auction and Flexible-language Combinatorial Auction, to allocate the subcarrier among multiusers. Finally, simulation results are provided to indicate that the First-price Sealed-bid Auction has a better performance in improving the system secrecy rate while the Flexible-language Combinatorial Auction reflects more fairness among users in the subcarrier distribution. In addition, the flexible bidding language in the combinatorial auction is proved to achieve a higher secrecy rate than the traditional bidding language.
Topoisomerase 1 inhibitor topotecan delays the disease progression in a mouse model of Huntington’s disease

Huntington's disease (HD) is a dominantly inherited progressive neurodegenerative disorder caused by the accumulation of polyglutamine expanded mutant huntingtin as inclusion bodies primarily in the brain. After the discovery of the HD gene, considerable progress has been made in understanding the disease pathogenesis and multiple drug targets have been identified, even though currently there is no effective therapy. Here, we demonstrate that the treatment of topotecan, a brain-penetrating topoisomerase 1 inhibitor, to HD transgenic mouse considerably improved its motor behavioural abnormalities along with a significant extension of lifespan. Improvement of behavioural deficits are accompanied with the significant rescue of their progressively decreased body weight, brain weight and striatal volume. Interestingly, topotecan treatment also significantly reduced insoluble mutant huntingtin load in the HD mouse brain. Finally, we show that topotecan treatment to HD mouse not only inhibits the expression of transgenic mutant huntingtin, but also at the same time induces the expression of Ube3a, an ubiquitin ligase linked to the clearance of mutant huntingtin. These findings suggest that topotecan could be a potential therapeutic molecule to delay the progression of HD.
Neuroimaging comparison of primary progressive apraxia of speech and progressive supranuclear palsy

Primary progressive apraxia of speech, a motor speech disorder of planning and programming, is a tauopathy that has overlapping histological features with progressive supranuclear palsy. We aimed to compare, for the first time, atrophy patterns, as well as white matter tract degeneration, between these two syndromes.
Are workers less absent when wage dispersion is small

Purpose - – The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of wage dispersion on sickness absenteeism observed in Belgian firms. Design/methodology/approach - – The authors use detailed linked employer-employee panel data for the period 1999-2006 that allow the authors to compute a conditional wage dispersion indicator following the Winter-Ebmer and Zweimuller (1999) methodology and to estimate the relationship between sickness absenteeism and wage dispersion while controlling for time-invariant workplace characteristics. Findings - – The authors find a positive and hump-shaped relationship between intra-firm wage dispersion and sickness absenteeism, the turning point of this relation being extremely high. In addition, the magnitude of the influence of wage dispersion on sickness absenteeism is found to be stronger in firms employing a larger share of blue-collar workers. Practical implications - – The results could therefore suggest that wage dispersion, suggestive of larger pay-for-performance mechanisms, decreases worker satisfaction and the workplace climate in general. Only a minority of workers, who are less sensitive to equity and cohesion considerations, would be less absent as pay-for-performance increases. Originality/value - – While numerous approaches analyse the link between wage dispersion and firm productivity, very few studies we are aware of are devoted to the relationship between wage dispersion and sickness absenteeism. Yet, the outcomes in terms of productivity and sickness absenteeism may be different. Furthermore, the influence of wage dispersion on sickness absenteeism does not seem unambiguous from a theoretical point of view. To the authors knowledge, it is the first time that this relation is analysed with Belgian data.
A stylized computational model of the rat for organ dosimetry in support of preclinical evaluations of peptide receptor radionuclide therapy with (90)Y, (111)In, or (177)Lu.

UNLABELLED The therapeutic effects of peptide receptor-based radionuclide therapy are extensively being investigated in rats bearing tumors. Both the dose to the tumor and the therapy-limiting dose to normal tissues, such as kidneys and bone marrow, are of interest for these preclinical studies. The aim of this work was to develop a generalized computational model for internal dosimetry in rats. METHODS Mature rats were dissected and the relative positions, dimensions, and weights of all of their major organs were measured. A mathematic model was set up for the rat body and its internal organs to enable Monte Carlo radiation transport calculations to determine estimates for both tumor and organ self-doses as cross-organ doses for (90)Y, (111)In, and (177)Lu. The organs and body were mostly of ellipsoid shape with the axes given as the measured length, width, and height normalized to values that, together with the measured weights, are consistent with the recommended soft-tissue and bone densities. A spheric tumor of 0.25 g was positioned on the right femur. Calculations were performed with the Monte Carlo neutral particle transport code MCNP for the beta-emitters (maximum energy, 2.28 MeV) and (177)Lu (maximum energy, 0.497 MeV) and for the gamma-emissions from (177)Lu and from (111)In. The presented absorbed dose S values are used to calculate the absorbed dose estimates for the rat organs in a study on the biodistribution of (177)Lu-DOTA-Tyr(3)-octreotate (DOTA is 1,4,7,10-tetraazadodecane-N,N',N",N"'-tetraacetic acid). Three activity distributions were considered in the kidney: uniform in the whole kidney, in the cortex, or in the outer 1-mm-thick rim of the cortex. Isodose curves and dose volume histograms were calculated for the dose distribution to the kidneys. RESULTS Depending on the activity distribution in the kidneys, the renal dose for (177)Lu-DOTA-Tyr(3)-octreotate is 0.13-0.17 mGy/MBq. CONCLUSION The renal dose of 70-95 Gy for an injected activity of 555 MBq will likely cause radiation damage, although the higher amount of peptide with this activity may influence the dosimetry by partial receptor saturation. Dose volume histograms show that (111)In and (177)Lu are likely to have a higher threshold for renal damage than (90)Y.
Norovirus‐binding proteins recovered from activated sludge micro‐organisms with an affinity to a noroviral capsid peptide

Aims: Transmission routes of noroviruses, leading aetiological agents of acute gastroenteritis, are rarely verified when outbreaks occur. Because the destination of norovirus particles being firmly captured by micro‐organisms could be totally different from that of those particles moving freely, micro‐organisms with natural affinity ligands such as virus‐binding proteins would affect the fate of viruses in environment, if such microbial affinity ligands exist. The aim of this study is to identify norovirus‐binding proteins (NoVBPs) that are presumably working as natural ligands for norovirus particles in water environments.
The Impact of Urban Low-Carbon Public Transport to Tourist Attractions' Accessibility——Suzhou City Area as the Example

This paper takes 19 representative attractions as samples,introduces the concept of accessibility,and obtains same-distance/time-carve diagrams by means of spacious/time accessibility matrix in different conditions.By measuring,comparing and analyzing the influence of urban low-carbon public transport to the accessibility of tourist attractions,The results show that:(1) there is a certain correlation between the accessibility and the tourist attractions;(2) urban public bicycles can improve the accessibility of tourist attractions to some extent;(3) the layout of the public bicycles is critical;(4) in order to achieve the improvement of the accessibility within the city,we must build a city of three-dimensional low-carbon public transport system;(5) the introduction of urban low-carbon public transport is of great significance in protection of both urban environment and tourist attractions,increase travel utility and so on.