Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Uterine Expression of NDRG4 Is Induced by Estrogen and Up-Regulated during Embryo Implantation Process in Mice

Embryo implantation is an essential step for the establishment of pregnancy and dynamically regulated by estrogen and progesterone. NDRG4 (N-myc down-regulated gene 4) is a tumor suppressor that participates in cell survival, tumor invasion and angiogenesis. The objective of this study was to preliminarily explore the role of NDRG4 in embryo implantation. By immunohistochemistry (IHC) and quantitive RT-PCR (qRT-PCR), we found that uterine expression of NDRG4 was increased along with puberal development, and its expression in adult females reached the peak at the estrus stage during the estrus cycle. Furthermore, uterine NDRG4 expression was significantly induced by the treatment of estradiol (E2) both in pre-puberty females and ovariectomized adult females. Uterine expression pattern of NDRG4 during the peri-implantation period in mice was determined by IHC, qRT-PCR and Western blot. It was observed that NDRG4 expression was up-regulated during the implantation process, and its expression level at the implantation sites was significantly higher than that at the inter-implantation sites. Meanwhile, an increased expression in NDRG4 was associated with artificial decidualization as well as the activation of delayed implantation. By qRT-PCR and Western blot, we found that the in vitro decidualization of endometrial stromal cells (ESCs) was accompanied by up-regulation of NDRG4 expression, whereas knockdown of its expression in these cells by siRNA inhibited the decidualization process. In addition, Western blot analysis showed that NDRG4 protein expression was decreased in human villus tissues of recurrent miscarriage (RM) patients compared to normal pregnant women. Collectively, these data suggested that uterine NDRG4 expression could be induced by estrogen, and NDRG4 might play an important role during early pregnancy.
Reliability of the rabbit postero‐lateral spinal fusion model: A meta‐analysis

The rabbit model of spinal fusion with the autogenous iliac crest bone graft (ICBG) control is widely used to evaluate bone graft substitutes and enhancers. This study examined the reliability of this model using meta‐analysis. A systematic literature search from January 1995 to May 2011 identified 56 studies, involving 733 animals. The primary outcome was fusion success calculated as logit event rate. Study design, surgical technique, rabbit characteristics (gender, species, age, weight), and institution were analyzed. Overall fusion success was 52.4%. Important positive variables were time‐point >4 weeks, ICBG dose >1 cm3, initial weight of animals ≥3 kg, level at L4‐5 or L5‐6, and age ≥6 months. Inter‐ and intra‐institutional reliability was excellent. The rabbit model ICBG control group is reliable, although several factors can affect results. Fusion under normal handling occurs reliably in 5 weeks. The volume of bone graft should be >1 cm3 but no benefits are present with >2 cm3. The animals should weigh a minimum of 3 kg and be at least 6 months old. © 2013 Orthopaedic Research Society Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Orthop Res 31:1261–1269, 2013
A Type of Nonlocal Elliptic Problem: Existence and Approximation Through a Galerkin-Fourier Method

The aim of this paper is to study a type of nonlocal elliptic equation whose format includes a kernel $k$ and a design function $h$. We analyze how this equation is connected with the classical elliptic equation that includes $h$ as diffusive term. On one hand, the spectrum of the nonlocal operator that defines the nonlocal equation is studied. Existence and unicity of solutions for the nonlocal equation are proved. On the other hand, the convergence of these solutions to the solution of the classical elliptic equation as the kernel $k$ converges to a Dirac Delta is analyzed. This work is performed by using an spectral theorem on the nonlocal operator and by applying some specific compactness results. The kernel $k$ is assumed to be radial. Dirichlet boundary conditions are assumed for the classical problem, whereas for the nonlocal equation a nonlocal boundary Dirichlet constraint must be defined.
Polysomy of chromosome 12 in 60 patients with non‐hodgkin's lymphoma assessed by fluorescence in situ hybridization: Differences between follicular and diffuse large cell lymphoma

Sixty consecutive evaluable specimens from patients with non‐Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) were studied for the incidence of polysomy of chromosome 12 by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) with probes for the repetitive DNA sequence in the centromeric region of chromosome 12. Thirty‐six samples were from follicular lymphomas (FLs), and twenty‐four were from diffuse large cell lymphomas (DLCLs). Fifty‐two specimens (86%) were obtained by fine‐needle aspiration of a diseased node, seven (11.6%) were from involved bone marrows, and one specimen was from a pleural effusion. Twelve of the thirty‐six (33%) cases with FL had trisomy 12 in 3‐41% of the cells (median, 10%) (normal controls had three signals in 1.4 +M 0.7% of cells). Trisomy 12 was found in 62% of the patients who had had FL for more than 5 years. Nine of the twenty‐four cases (37%) with DLCL had more than two copies of chromosome 12 in 4‐92% of the cells (median, 78%), and all nine cases were of B‐cell phenotype. Unlike FL cells, some DLCL cells had 4‐6 copies of chromosome 12. In previously untreated patients, 54% of DLCLs and 26% of FLs had subpopulations of cells containing more than two copies of chromosome 12 (P = 0.04). Only 2/7 cases of DLCL with polysomy 12 had rearrangement of the BCL2 gene, indicating that the majority of DLCL cases with polysomy 12 did not result from histologic transformation of low grade follicular lymphomas. These data demonstrate that FISH of interphase cells is a sensitive method for detecting numerical abnormalities of chromosome 12 in NHL. The differences between FL and DLCL in the number of chromosomes 12 and the number of involved cells may be related to differences in the biology of these tumors. Genes Chrom Cancer 9:161‐167 (1994). © 1994 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Comparison of transcranial color-coded sonography and magnetic resonance angiography in acute stroke.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE We sought to compare the ability of transcranial color-coded Doppler sonography (TCCS) and magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) to identify circulatory changes that occur after acute stroke. METHODS Forty-four patients with a clinical diagnosis of acute stroke were studied with both TCCS and MRA within 24 hours of stroke onset. The appearances of all vessels identified on MRA were divided into three categories: normal, attenuated, and absent vessels. The basal cerebral arteries were identified with the use of TCCS, and their velocities were measured with pulsed-wave Doppler. The side-to-side asymmetry was calculated and expressed as an asymmetry index. RESULTS Five patients could not be studied with TCCS because of lack of a suitable acoustic window. An additional 4 patients were too restless to tolerate MRA scanning. Three patients had intracerebral hemorrhages, 2 patients had intracerebral gliomas, and the remaining 30 patients had cerebral infarctions. In the group of patients with acute cerebral infarction, TCCS identified 10 patients with normal asymmetry indices, 1 patient with an increased asymmetry index, 9 patients with decreased asymmetry indices, and 10 patients with occlusion of the symptomatic middle cerebral artery (MCA). MRA identified 8 normal angiograms, 6 patients had attenuated MCA branch vessels, 4 patients had MCA branch occlusions, 2 angiograms demonstrated MCA main stem attenuation, and 10 angiograms showed MCA occlusion. CONCLUSIONS TCCS and MRA are both noninvasive techniques that can be used to study the acute stroke patient. They both yield information regarding the pathophysiology of acute stroke and may be useful techniques in deciding on therapeutic interventions. The findings agree closely with each other, and these techniques may be useful in the long-term follow-up of stroke patients.
Fluorescein-labeled Tyramide Strongly Enhances the Detection of Low Bromodeoxyuridine Incorporation Levels

Immunocytochemical detection of bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) labeling can be hampered by low BrdU incorporation levels. We describe here an amplification method for weak BrdU immunosignals. The tyramide signal amplification method based on catalyzed reporter deposition (CARD) uses fluorescein-labeled tyramide as a substrate for horseradish peroxidase. The enzyme catalyzes the formation of highly reactive tyramide radicals with a very short half-life, resulting in the binding of fluorescein-conjugated tyramide only at the site of the enzymatic reaction. MCF-7 cells were grown in vitro in medium containing charcoal-stripped fetal bovine serum supplemented by growth factors. Under these culture conditions, the BrdU immunosignal was hard to detect but could be enhanced specifically by the tyramide signal amplification system, resulting in clear-cut differences between BrdU-negative and BrdU-positive cells. This enabled rapid and objective quantification of the BrdU labeling index without the risk of underestimating the number of cells in S-phase. Therefore, this amplification of BrdU immunosignals might also prove valuable for in vivo cancer prognosis, cell kinetics studies, and computer-assisted image analyses.
Design and evaluation of mucoadhesive beads of glipizide as a controlled release drug delivery system

Abstract The present work aims at the development of a low-cost controlled release system of glipizide beads embedded in pectin to overcome the problem of frequent dosing of drug. The method of preparation has been optimised by experimental design to achieve satisfactory responses with respect to controlling variables. The controlling variables are X1, drug–polymer ratio; X2, surfactant concentration and X3, isooctane–acetone ratio. The most effective combination is X1(1:6), X2(1%), X3(50:50). Various parameters such as mucoadhesivity and swellability of beads, characterisation, dissolution, stability, ex vivo absorption and in vivo (Oral glucose tolerance test in rat) studies were performed with the optimised product. The optimised product was found quiet satisfactory that showed yield of 86.78%, drug entrapment efficiency (DEE) of 87.38% and drug release was extended up to 18 h. The present formulation of glipizide is a promising multiparticulate system of glipizide with significant hypoglycemic effect, and moreover it was prepared rapidly with ease.
Effects of benzene and its metabolites on global DNA methylation in human normal hepatic l02 cells

Benzene is an important industrial chemical that is also widely present in cigarette smoke, automobile exhaust, and gasoline. It is reported that benzene can cause hematopoietic disorders and has been recognized as a human carcinogen. However, the mechanisms by which it increases the risk of carcinogenesis are only partially understood. Aberrant DNA methylation is a major epigenetic mechanism associated with the toxicity of carcinogens. To understand the carcinogenic capacity of benzene, experiments were designed to investigate whether exposure to benzene and its metabolites would change the global DNA methylation status in human normal hepatic L02 cells and then to evaluate whether the changes would be induced by variation of DNA methyltransferase (DNMT) activity in HaeIII DNMT‐mediated methylation assay in vitro. Our results showed that hydroquinone and 1,4‐benzoquinone could induce global DNA hypomethylation with statistically significant difference from control (p < 0.05), but no significant global DNA methylation changes were observed in L02 cells with benzene, phenol, and 1,2,4‐trihydroxybenzene exposure. Benzene metabolites could not influence HaeIII DNMT activity except that 1,4‐benzoquinone shows significantly inhibiting effect on enzymatic methylation reaction at concentrations of 5 μM (p < 0.05). These results suggest that benzene metabolites, hydroquinone, and 1,4‐benzoquinone can disrupt global DNA methylation, and the potential epigenetic mechanism by which that global DNA hypomethylation induced by 1,4‐benzoquinone may work through the inhibiting effects of DNMT activity at 10 μM (p < 0.05). © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Environ Toxicol 29: 108–116, 2014.
A New Classification of Function and Disability in China

Objectives: To develop a new classification method to describe incidence and prevalence of function and disability and their predictors in Chinese older adults. Methods: Data were obtained from 16,020 older adults in the 2002 wave of Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLHLS). The subtypes of function and disability were defined by combining physical performance (PP) tests and self-reported assessments of activities of daily living (ADL). Results: The most prevalent subtype involved PP limitations without ADL dependency. Rural living made it more likely that an individual with physical performance limitations would be independent in ADL, whereas city residence made dependence in ADL more likely, regardless of whether performance limitations were present. Discussion: Self-reported and performance-based tools can be used in combination to estimate conceptually different subtypes of function and disability, with different epidemiological rates of incidence and different social, medical, and environmental predictors.
Design of Piecewise Linear LQ Control for Linear Systems with Rate Saturations Using LMI Optimization

Abstract A model of the servomechanism used for high-powered actuators in mechanical systems consists of a position feedback loop around the cascade connection of a memoryless saturation function with an integrator with a large time constant. The saturation function in the servomechanism has a linear high gain characteristics for a small input and so the equivalent time constant of the actuator servomechanism becomes small. As the input to the saturation function becomes larger than the linear range for a drastic control demand, the output of the saturation function becomes constant irrespective of the input magnitude and the actuator response has a rate saturation determined by the large time constant of the integrator and so the time lag of the actuator response behind the demand results in the actual plant input much different from the demand and the plant may exhibit an undesirable behavior of the system. Therefore in this paper we consider a control method for a system with rate saturations in the actuator servomechanisms to keep stable by switching the controller gain according to the input magnitudes to the saturation functions so that the inputs to the saturation functions are controlled within the permissible maximum absolute values which are decided according to each level of LQ controller gain groups determined beforehand to ensure the local absolute stability of the total system whose conditions are expressed as a linear matrix inequalities optimization problem by introducing a Lure-type Lyapunov function. In a piecewise linear control the switching function selects a controller gain group by on-line monitoring the inputs to the saturation functions in the actuator servomechanisms. The effectiveness of the design method is illustrated with a practical example of dynamic positioning(DP) system.
Feedforward control of piezoactuators in atomic force microscope systems

This article describes an inversion-based feedforward approach to compensate for dynamic and hysteresis effects in piezoactuators with application to AFM technology. To handle the coupled behavior of dynamics and hysteresis, a cascade model is presented to enable the application of inversion-based feedforward control. The dynamics, which include vibration and creep, are modeled using linear transfer functions. A frequency-based method is used to invert the linear model to find an input that compensates for vibration and creep. The inverse is noncausal for nonminimum-phase systems. Similarly, the hysteresis is handled by an inverse-Preisach model. To avoid the complexity of finding the inverse-Preisach model, high- gain feedback control can be used to linearize the system's behavior. A feedforward input is then combined with the feedback system to compensate for the linear dynamics to achieve high-speed AFM imaging. Finally, recent efforts in feedforward control for an SPM application including the use of iteration to handle hysteresis as well as uncertainties and variations in the system model is discussed.
A low-noise amplifier for switched capacitor filters

A low-noise CMOS amplifier and a switched capacitor integrator is described along with experimental data on 1/f noise. An amplifier for use in switched capacitor circuits was fabricated that achieved an input referred noise of 130 nV per root Hz at 100 Hz in a die area of only 0.12 mm/SUP 2/. Using the amplifier the authors fabricated a low-noise switched capacitor integrator which has a dynamic range of 110 dB over a 10 kHz bandwidth.
Doping as a versatile tool to realize highly efficient organic devices

Doping of organic layers is a key technology for organic electronics. Several examples demonstrating the capabilities of the organic doping technology are presented: highly efficient white organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) reaching the efficiency of fluorescent tubes, highly reproducible organic memory devices, and organic Zener Diodes with precisely adjustable breakdown voltages.
Quantitative Analysis of Dynamic Fault Trees Based on the Structure Function

This paper presents a probabilistic model of dynamic gates which allows to perform the quantitative analysis of any dynamic fault tree (DFT) from its structure function. Both these probabilistic models and the quantitative analysis which can be performed thanks to them can accommodate any failure distribution of basic events. We illustrate our approach on a DFT example from the literature. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Reduced citrulline production in sepsis is related to diminished de novo arginine and nitric oxide production.

BACKGROUND L-Arginine is an important precursor of nitric oxide (NO) and protein synthesis. Arginine is produced in the body (mainly kidney) by de novo production from citrulline and by protein breakdown. Arginine availability appears to be limited in sepsis. OBJECTIVE The objective was to compare arginine and citrulline metabolism in septic patients and nonseptic control patients in an intensive care unit (ICU) and in healthy control subjects. DESIGN Ten patients with septic shock, 7 critically ill control patients, and 16 healthy elderly subjects were studied. Metabolism was measured by using a primed continuous (2 h) stable-isotope infusion protocol. NO production was calculated as the conversion rate of arginine to citrulline; de novo arginine production was calculated as the conversion rate of citrulline to arginine. Arterial blood (arterialized venous blood in healthy subjects) was collected for the measurement of amino acid enrichment and concentrations. Data are reported as means +/- SDs. RESULTS Whole-body citrulline production was significantly lower in septic patients (4.5 +/- 2.1 micromol . kg(-1) . h(-1)) than in ICU control patients (10.1 +/- 2.9 micromol . kg(-1) . h(-1); P < 0.01) and in healthy control subjects (13.7 +/- 4.1 micromol . kg(-1) . h(-1); P < 0.001). Accordingly, de novo arginine production was lower in patients with sepsis (3.3 +/- 3.7 micromol . kg(-1) . h(-1)) than in healthy controls (11.9 +/- 6.6 micromol . kg(-1) . h(-1); P < 0.01) and tended to be lower in septic patients than in ICU control patients (10.9 +/- 9.4 micromol . kg(-1) . h(-1); P = 0.05). NO production was lower in septic patients than in healthy control subjects (P < 0.01), whereas a larger part of arginine was converted to urea in sepsis. CONCLUSIONS Citrulline production is severely low in patients with sepsis and is related to diminished de novo arginine and NO production. These metabolic alterations contribute to reduced citrulline and arginine availability, and these findings warrant further studies of therapeutic nutritional interventions to restore arginine metabolism in sepsis.
An Automatic Vehicle Number Plate Detection By A Fast Vertical Edge Detection Algorithm

The main aim of this paper is to propose a fast method for car-license plate detection (CLPD) and presents three main contributions. The first contribution is that we propose a fast vertical edge detection algorithm (VEDA) based on the contrast between the grayscale values, which enhances the speed of the CLPD method. After binarizing the input image using adaptive thresholding (AT), an unwantedline elimination algorithm (ULEA) is proposed to enhance the image, and then, the VEDA is applied. The second contribution is that our proposed CLPD method processes very-low-resolution images taken by a web camera. After the vertical edges have been detected by the VEDA, the desired plate details based on color information are highlighted. Then, the candidate region based on statistical and logical operations will be extracted. Finally, an LP is detected. The third contribution is that we compare the VEDA to the Sobel operator in terms of accuracy, algorithm complexity, and processing time. The results show accurate edge detection performance and faster processing than Sobel by five to nine times. In terms of complexity, a big-O-notation module is used and the following result is obtained: The VEDA has less complexity by K2 times, whereasK2 represents the mask size of Sobel. Results show that the computation time of the CLPD method is 47.7 ms, which meets the real-time
Design of an outer-rotor-type permanent magnet motor for electric scooter propulsion systems

This paper proposes an outer-rotor-type permanent magnet motor for electric scooter propulsion systems. The designed motor is integrated into the wheel rim on the tire and meets the specifications of the electric scooter. The simulation using non-linear finite element analysis (FEA) method results match experimental data obtained from the prototype 20-poles motor for electric scooter propulsion systems. The overall efficiency achieved 87% at rated speed. The detailed test results have been presented.
Energy bus-based equalization scheme with bi-directional isolated Cuk equalizer for series connected battery strings

A bi-directional isolated Cuk equalizer for the energy bus-based equalization network is presented in this paper. The battery side is isolated from the bus side by two isolated capacitors. A synchronous approach for Cuk equalizer is used to improve equalization efficiency. The equalization efficiency can achieve above 90% in a wide range of equalization power. The operating principle, steady-state analysis and derivation of synchronous conditions have been made to show the merits of the equalization scheme. The validity of this equalization scheme and synchronous conditions has been verified by experiments.
Emotion clustering based on probabilistic linear discriminant analysis

This study proposes an emotion clustering method based on Probabilistic Linear Discriminant Analysis (PLDA). Each emotional utterance is modeled as a GMM mean supervector. Hierarchical clustering is applied to cluster supervectors that represent similar emotions using a likelihood ratio from a PLDA model. The PLDA model can be trained with a different emotional database from the test data, with different emotion categories, speakers, or even languages. The advantage of using a PLDA model is that it identiﬁes emotion dependent subspaces of the GMM mean supervector space. Our proposed emotion clustering based on PLDA likelihood distance improves 5-emotion clustering accuracy by 37.1% absolute compared to a baseline with Euclidean distance when PLDA model is trained with a separate set of speakers from the same database. Even when PLDA model is trained using a different database with a different language, clustering performance is improved by 11.2%.