Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Isoproterenol infusion induces alterations in expression of hypertrophy-associated genes in rat heart.

Chronic infusion of isoproterenol (Iso) in rats results in cardiac hypertrophy via incompletely understood mechanisms. Our purpose was to determine whether Iso infusion would alter the expression of genes associated with hypertrophy. Male Wistar rats received either 2.4 mg Iso.kg-1.day-1, 9.9 mg propranolol (Prop). kg-1.day-1, both Iso and Prop, or vehicle (NaCl) via subcutaneously implanted osmotic pumps. In Iso-treated rats, the ventricular weight-to-body weight ratio was increased by 27% after 1 day and peaked on day 3 (+ 40%). Levels of atrial natriuretic factor (ANF) and fibronectin (FN) mRNA in the left ventricles were elevated 20-fold and 13-fold in Iso-treated rats, respectively, peaking at 3 days of infusion. The increase in FN mRNA accumulation was at least partially accounted for by elevated expression of extra type IIIA and IIIB (EIIIA and EIIIB) splicing variants. Levels of transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta 1 mRNA were elevated twofold after 3 days of Iso infusion. The abundance of skeletal alpha-actin (SK) mRNA increased fourfold after 1 day of Iso and declined thereafter. Iso infusion decreased sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca(2+)-ATPase (SERCA) and preproenkephalin (PNK) gene expression by approximately 50% and induced a myosin heavy chain (MHC) isogene switch favoring beta-MHC. Prop partially inhibited the Iso-evoked increases in ANF and FN mRNA, completely prevented the Iso-induced changes in TGF-beta 1 and SERCA mRNA, but had no effect on the Iso-stimulated changes in SK and PNK gene expression. These results demonstrate that chronic Iso infusion elicits alterations in cardiac gene expression that are consistent with the development of myocyte hypertrophy and interstitial fibrosis and are directionally identical to those previously reported for pressure overload hypertrophy.
An Alternative Clustering Scheme in WSN

Despite significant advancements in wireless sensor networks (WSNs), energy conservation in the networks remains one of the most important research challenges. One approach commonly used to prolong the network lifetime is through aggregating data at the cluster heads (CHs). However, there is possibility that the CHs may fail and function incorrectly due to a number of reasons such as power instability. During the failure, the CHs are unable to collect and transfer data correctly. This affects the performance of the WSN. Early detection of failure of CHs will reduce the data loss and provide possible minimal recovery efforts. This paper proposes a self-configurable clustering mechanism to detect the disordered CHs and replace them with other nodes. Simulation results verify the effectiveness of the proposed approach.
Expanding College Access in Taiwan, 1978–2014: Effects on Graduate Quality and Income Inequality

Between 1990 and 2014, Taiwan increased the college share of its labor force from 7 to 32 percent by converting junior colleges to 4-year colleges. Such a rapid surge in skill supply should suppress college wages and lower wage income inequality. Instead, wage inequality rose 7 percent since 1978. We show that the surge of weaker college graduates made them poor substitutes for better-trained college graduates and led to an increase in wage inequality within skill groups. Rising wage inequality due to increased variation in the quality of young college graduates added another source of inequality to the Taiwan labor market. The Taiwan case shows that increasing college access alone will not lower inequality.
Comparative expressed sequence hybridization studies of high‐hyperdiploid childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia

The functional consequences of a high‐hyperdiploid karyotype, found in up to one‐third of cases of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), are unknown. Using the technique of comparative expressed sequence hybridization (CESH), we sought to address the question of whether increased chromosome copies in hyperdiploid ALL lead to increased gene expression. Relative expression of hyperdiploid ALL blasts versus peripheral blood mononuclear cells was analyzed in 18 patients. Common regions of overexpression corresponding to the presence of tri‐/tetrasomies included: Xp22.1–22.2, 4q28, 6q14–15, 6q24, 10p13, 14q23–24, 17q21, 18q12, and 21q21, identified in 28–89% of cases. However, increased expression without underlying trisomy occurred at 3p21.3, 7q11.2, 8p21, and 8q24.1 in 39–90% of cases. High expression at 7q11.2, the most consistent change detected, was confirmed by quantitative PCR. Poor correlation between the presence of tri‐/tetrasomy and overexpression was observed for chromosomes 14 and 17. Two cases were reanalyzed versus (i) B cells, (ii) transformed B cells, and (iii) CD34+19+ cells (the putative counterpart of the leukemic cell). A reduction in the number of relatively overexpressed regions was observed with CD34+19+ cells. In particular, the peak at 7q11.2 disappeared, suggesting up‐regulation of genes from this region in the early ontology of normal B‐cell development. In conclusion, we have shown that tri‐/tetrasomies in hyperdiploid ALL lead to an increase in the expression of associated sequences. The choice of a biologically relevant reference is crucial for data interpretation. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Drug targeting to brain: a systematic approach to study the factors, parameters and approaches for prediction of permeability of drugs across BBB

Introduction: Drug targeting to brain by circumventing the physiological barriers is a prerequisite for drugs acting on central nervous system (CNS) and therapeutic potential of many drugs can be improved by effectively targeting the drug(s) to brain. Areas covered: Present review describes blood–brain barrier (BBB), drug transport mechanisms and factors affecting drug transportation across BBB along with in vitro BBB models; and the approaches for evaluation of permeability of drug across BBB. Expert opinion: The development of a still awaited perfect in vitro model to mimic BBB is a challenging task. System biologist, network biologist and computational technologist should come together to integrate the role of transporters, physiological and pathophysiological complexity of BBB to replicate vascular properties of the brain microcapillaries as a suitable model to facilitate the high-throughput screening of CNS acting biomolecules.
Visualization of conformational variability in the domains of long single-stranded RNA molecules

Abstract We demonstrate an application of atomic force microscopy (AFM) for the structural analysis of long single-stranded RNA (>1 kb), focusing on 28S ribosomal RNA (rRNA). Generally, optimization of the conditions required to obtain three-dimensional (3D) structures of long RNA molecules is a challenging or nearly impossible process. In this study, we overcome these limitations by developing a method using AFM imaging combined with automated, MATLAB-based image analysis algorithms for extracting information about the domain organization of single RNA molecules. We examined the 5 kb human 28S rRNA since it is the largest RNA molecule for which a 3D structure is available. As a proof of concept, we determined a domain structure that is in accordance with previously described secondary structural models. Importantly, we identified four additional small (200–300 nt), previously unreported domains present in these molecules. Moreover, the single-molecule nature of our method enabled us to report on the relative conformational variability of each domain structure identified, and inter-domain associations within subsets of molecules leading to molecular compaction, which may shed light on the process of how these molecules fold into the final tertiary structure.
The eroticism of Internet cruising as a self-contained behaviour: a multivariate analysis of men seeking men demographics and getting off online

Most studies on men seeking men and who use the Internet for sexual purposes have focused on the epidemiological outcomes of Internet cruising. Other research has only focused on online sexual behaviours such as cybersex. The present study examines men who find the acts of Internet cruising and emailing to be erotic as self-contained behaviours. We surveyed 499 men who used craigslist.org for sexually-oriented purposes, and ran an ordinary least squares multiple regression model to determine the demographic characteristics of men seeking men who found Internet cruising erotic. Our results showed that younger compared to older men seeking men found the acts erotic. Likewise, men seeking men from mid-sized cities and large cities compared to men from smaller cities found Internet cruising and emailing to be erotic. Most notably, bisexual- and heterosexual-identifying men seeking men compared to gay-identifying men found these acts to be more erotic. Our results suggested that self-contained Internet cruising might provide dual functions. For some men (e.g., heterosexual-identifying men), the behaviour provides a sexual outlet in which fantasy and experimentation may be explored without risking stigmatization. For other men (e.g., those from large cities), the behaviour may be an alternative to offset sexual risk while still being able to ‘get off’.
Calbindin and S100 protein expression in the developing inner ear in mice

Calbindin (CB) and S100 are calcium‐binding proteins expressed in the inner ear in vertebrates. Information about their developmental roles is incomplete. This study investigated the expression patterns of CB and S100 in C3H mice using immunohistochemistry, from embryonic day 11 (E11) to postnatal day 10 (P10). CB was expressed in the otocyst and vestibulocochlear ganglion (VCG) from E11. In the cochlea at E17, CB immunoreactivity clearly labeled the VCG, the outer and inner hair cells, and the stria vascularis. CB staining was also present in the vestibular sensory cells, including their nerve fibers. Two days later, to this expression pattern was added the labeling of Kölliker's organ. Early postnatal CB expression encompassed VCG neurons, auditory hair cells, their afferent nerve fibers, and cells of the cochlear lateral wall. The first signs of S100 immunostaining of cochlear and vestibular epithelial cells appeared at E14. At E17 S100 immunoreactivity was found in a restricted expression pattern in the cochlea. Immunostaining was also present in the sacculus and utriculus and their afferent fibers. The Deiters', pillar and inner hair cells, and the VCG were S100‐positive from E19. Postnatally, S100 staining also appeared in the inner hair cells and Deiters' cells, in some VCG neurons, and, in addition, in the spiral limbus, the spiral prominence, and the intermediate cells of the stria vascularis. This study demonstrates that the sites of CB and S100 expression in the mouse inner ear during embryonic and early postnatal development do not overlap and signal independent developmental patterns. J. Comp. Neurol. 513:469–482, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Bilateral high- and low-frequency rTMS in acute stroke patients with hemiparesis: A comparative study with unilateral high-frequency rTMS

Abstract Background: High- and low-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (HF-rTMS and LF-rTMS) has been shown to be beneficial for upper limb hemiparesis in patients with acute stroke. However, no study has examined the usefulness of bilateral application of HF- and LF-rTMS (BL-rTMS). Methods: Fifty-eight hemiparetic patients with acute stroke were randomly assigned into two groups: HF-rTMS group and BL-rTMS group. All patients were scheduled to receive five sessions of either HF-rTMS over the lesional hemisphere or BL-rTMS over both hemispheres for 5 days. Motor function of the affected upper limb was evaluated using the Brunnstrom Recovery Stage (BRS) for upper-limb and hand-fingers, grip strength and tapping frequency, before the first session and after the last session of rTMS. Results: Improvement of BRS for the upper limb and hand/finger was significantly greater in the BL-rTMS group than the HF-rTMS group (p < 0.01). Improvement in grip strength and tapping frequency was also greater in the BL-rTMS group, although the differences were not statistically significant. Conclusions: The proposed BL-rTMS is safe and feasible and showed a greater improvement of BRS of the affected upper limb compared to HF-rTMS. This novel rTMS approach may be a useful intervention for hemiparetic patients with acute stroke.
Analytic Solution to the Photovoltaic Maximum Power Point Problem

Photovoltaic (PV) power has been successfully used for over five decades. Whether in dc or ac form, photovoltaic cells provide power for systems in many applications on earth and space. Its principles of operation are therefore well understood, and circuit equivalents have been developed that accurately model the nonlinear relationship between the current and voltage of a photovoltaic cell. With the improved efficiencies of power electronics converters, it is now possible to operate photovoltaic system about its maximum power point (MPP) in order to improve the overall system efficiency. Hitherto, this problem has been tackled using tracking (MPPT) algorithms that iteratively find the point of maximum power and respond to changes in solar irradiance accordingly. A mathematical manipulation that uses the mean value theorem is presented here that provides the analytic solution of a point in a close neighborhood of the MPP. It is thoroughly proved that this point is enclosed in a ball of small radius that also contains the MPP and therefore can practically be considered as the MPP. Since the solution is analytic, no iterative schemes are necessary, and only a periodic measurement is required to adjust to changes in solar irradiance. A circuit is implemented that shows the validity of the theory and the accuracy of the solution.
Communication system for people with locked-in syndrome through electromyography signals

The objective of this study is make a communication system for people with Locked-in syndrome, these people have Quadriplegia and Anarthria, but intact cognitive abilities. In Ecuador, this type of studies are not performed for various reasons, for this reason, it seeks to generate a support tool for communication between people, seeking to improve their life style through a prototype that was evaluated by young health people from 19 to 25 years old, giving favorable results in terms of performance, optimization of time, flexibility, functionality and adaptability. The prototype have a matrix, where find the letters of the alphabet and special characters such as space or deleted depending of the idiom, in this case is Spanish, each letter have a light indicator, that will serve to character selection by scanning rows and columns; the selection is made by electromyography signals of the eyelid, that are the unique muscle controlled by the persona with quadriplegia.
Are intranasal corticosteroids all equally consistent in managing ocular symptoms of seasonal allergic rhinitis?

ABSTRACT Background: Nasal and ocular symptoms of allergic rhinitis (AR) are reported by >70% of patients and have a profound impact on quality of life while also incurring substantial healthcare costs. It has been suggested that intranasal corticosteroids (INS), in addition to effectively treating the nasal components of AR, are effective in treating the ocular symptoms. Objective: This review provides a comprehensive, updated assessment of available data in the public domain to determine the consistency of INS efficacy in treating ocular AR symptoms. Methods: MEDLINE and EMBASE searches, and research of governmental and regulatory institution sources identified 35 randomised, placebo-controlled trials of INS and seasonal AR (SAR) published between 1990 and May 2009 that specifically contained ocular efficacy as part of the study analyses. Results: Examination of these studies reveals substantial inconsistency of effect of some INS across, and even within, trials, casting doubt on the suggestion that ocular efficacy is a class effect of INS. Conflicting, inconsistent or even negative effects were observed for most INS examined including mometasone furoate and fluticasone propionate. Only fluticasone furoate nasal spray, in addition to established efficacy in treating nasal symptoms, demonstrated a consistent positive effect on ocular symptoms of SAR compared with placebo in a large number of patients across all of its prospective studies. Moreover, these results were consistent across different allergy seasons, including grass, ragweed, and mountain cedar seasons, and different geographical locations throughout Europe and the USA. Conclusion: While additional prospective head-to-head clinical trials comparing the efficacy of INS in treating ocular symptoms of AR are needed to fully elucidate the benefits of one INS compared with another, data available to date suggest that not all INS are equally consistent in managing ocular symptoms of SAR. Fluticasone furoate is currently the most consistent.
Defining ATM-Independent Functions of the Mre11 Complex with a Novel Mouse Model

The Mre11 complex (Mre11, Rad50, and Nbs1) occupies a central node of the DNA damage response (DDR) network and is required for ATM activation in response to DNA damage. Hypomorphic alleles of MRE11 and NBS1 confer embryonic lethality in ATM-deficient mice, indicating that the complex exerts ATM-independent functions that are essential when ATM is absent. To delineate those functions, a conditional ATM allele (ATMflox) was crossed to hypomorphic NBS1 mutants (Nbs1ΔB/ΔB mice). Nbs1ΔB/ΔB Atm−/− hematopoietic cells derived by crossing to vavcre were viable in vivo. Nbs1ΔB/ΔB Atm−/− VAV mice exhibited a pronounced defect in double-strand break repair and completely penetrant early onset lymphomagenesis. In addition to repair defects observed, fragile site instability was noted, indicating that the Mre11 complex promotes genome stability upon replication stress in vivo. The data suggest combined influences of the Mre11 complex on DNA repair, as well as the responses to DNA damage and DNA replication stress. Implications: A novel mouse model was developed, by combining a vavcre-inducible ATM knockout mouse with an NBS1 hypomorphic mutation, to analyze ATM-independent functions of the Mre11 complex in vivo. These data show that the DNA repair, rather than DDR signaling functions of the complex, is acutely required in the context of ATM deficiency to suppress genome instability and lymphomagenesis. Mol Cancer Res; 14(2); 185–95. ©2015 AACR.
Effect of Raloxifene on Urinary Incontinence: A Randomized Controlled Trial

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the effect of 3 years of treatment with raloxifene on urinary incontinence in postmenopausal women. METHODS: We used measures of urinary incontinence severity, frequency, and type in the Multiple Outcomes of Raloxifene trial, a multicenter randomized, controlled trial of women who were at least 2 years postmenopausal with osteoporosis. At 10 U.S. sites of this trial, 963 women randomly assigned to raloxifene or placebo completed questionnaires about incontinence at baseline and 3 years later. We analyzed the odds of worsening severity and frequency of incontinence and type of incontinence after 3 years of treatment with raloxifene. RESULTS: The mean age of our subjects was 68.3 ± 7 years. After 3 years of treatment, there was no significant difference between raloxifene and placebo groups in urinary incontinence severity (multivariable odds ratio [OR] 1.02; 95% [CI] 0.78, 1.34). The majority of the women (60%) had no change in urinary incontinence episodes from baseline to year 3. The odds of worsening urinary incontinence severity after 3 years of raloxifene treatment were 1.05 (95% CI 0.75, 1.48). Similarly, the odds of developing new onset incontinence were 0.95 (95% CI 0.59, 1.52). Finally, raloxifene did not effect the odds of having stress (OR 1.01; 95% CI 0.71, 1.43) or urge (OR 1.20; 95% CI 0.86, 1.68) incontinence after 3 years of use. CONCLUSION: In postmenopausal women with osteoporosis, 3 years of treatment with raloxifene had no effect on urinary incontinence. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: I
Investigation of nonlinearity in hyperspectral remotely sensed imagery — a nonlinear time series analysis approach

Hyperspectral remotely sensed imagery is often modeled and processed by algorithms assuming that the imagery is a realization of a Gaussian linear stochastic process. These algorithms include some methods for feature extraction, spectral mixture analysis, and spatial analysis. The linear assumption, however, may not be realistic since there are factors that may introduce nonlinearities during the formulation of hyperspectral imagery. The existence of nonlinearity has a negative impact on the effectiveness and accuracy of information extraction. In this study, we propose a method to investigate the existence of nonlinearity in hyperspectral data, represented by a 4m AVIRIS image acquired over an area of coastal forests on Vancouver Island. The proposed method is based on a statistical test using surrogate data, an approach originally introduced in nonlinear time series analysis. High-order autocorrelations are used as the discriminating statistic to evaluate the differences between the hyperspectral data and their surrogates. Instead of conducting a statistical test in time domain as is used in typical time series analysis, we did it in spatial and spectral domains. The investigation revealed that the existence of nonlinearity in hyperspectral data is evident in spectral domain, but not in the spatial domain.
Pedestrian collision avoidance in vehicular networks

Main applications in vehicular networks are primarily looking for road safety improvement. To achieve this goal, positiondata information of all interfering road users must be conveyed effectively. This proposal examines the performance made possible using WAVE/DSRC standard when including pedestrians/two-wheels. First, we propose a specific message format for encapsulating pedestrian and two-wheel position-data information. Second, we propose a complete system for collision avoidance at intersection level. Subsequently, we perform tests to analyze the system performance in terms of packets reception rate and transmission delay using WAVE/DSRC standard in two modes of operation. Namely, we perform a comparison between using only the control channel to announce and forward messages as a safety service, and using one of the dedicated channels 172 or 184 after announcing the service on the control channel. Taking into account different levels of network densities, we investigate the modes of operation that provide lower congestion and channel saturation. The findings in this work are relevant to the design of data transmission patterns for pedestrian collision avoidance systems at intersections when using VANETs.
Comportement au jeune âge des matériaux cimentaires - Caractérisation et modélisation chimio-hydro-mécanique du retrait. (Early-age behavior of cementitious materials - Chemo-hydro-mechanical shrinkage characterization and modeling)

Le comportement au jeune âge des materiaux a matrice cimentaire est un phenomene complexe qui met en opposition une structure evolutive, mais encore faible mecaniquement et des sollicitations externes particulieres en terme de temperature, humidite et blocage mecanique par exemple. Il en resulte dans certains cas la fissuration par retrait gene du materiau en cours de developpement. Une approche couplee experimentale-numerique a ete developpee afin de reproduire le phenomene de fissuration par retrait empeche, en laboratoire et sous conditions controlees. Cette approche identifie les parametres cles necessaires a la construction d'un modele mesoscopique numerique predictif qui prend en compte les effets des couplages chimio-hydro-mecaniques sur l'evolution des proprietes physico-mecaniques du materiau.