Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Toxic Effects of Domoic Acid on Caenorhabditis elegans and the Underlying Mechanism

Domoic acid (DA) is a well-known marine bio-toxin and has been investigated extensively through many in vitro and in vivo studies. However, the mechanism for DA-induced toxicity is still not fully understood. In the present study, we performed toxicity assessment of DA in Caenorhabditis elegans system and investigated the underlying mechanism for DA-induced toxicity. Our data show that DA exposure has toxic effects on locomotion behavior, lifespan and intestine of nematodes. Moreover, we observed the increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation in DA exposed nematodes, implying the involvement of oxidative stress in DA-induced toxicity. In addition, our data demonstrates that p38 signaling pathway is required for the DA-induced ROS formation and toxicity. Therefore, our study proves the effectiveness of C. elegans system in toxicity assessment of DA, and DA may induce toxicity through p38 pathway dependent oxidative stress.
Sentiment Analysis using Averaged Histogram

Sentiment analysis or opinion mining is a process of categorizing and identifying the sentiment expressed in a particular text. The need of automatic sentiment retrieval of the text is quite high as amount of reviews obtained from the Internet are huge in number. Reviews on various „Ecommerce websites‟, „social networks‟, and „movie review websites‟ come up huge in number regularly. These reviews on popular products help in determining the public opinion towards the product. An averaged histogram model is proposed in the process that deals with text classification in continuous variable approach. After data cleaning and feature extraction from the reviews, average histograms are constructed for every class, containing a generalized feature representation in that particular class. Histograms of every test elements are then matched with the averaged histograms of every class using k-Nearest Neighbor and Naïve Bayesian Classifier. Results showed on 3000 reviews a steady classification accuracy of 79-80% with the Naïve Bayesian Classifier with very little cost of computation, and increase in the number of training dataset k-Nearest Neighbor can give up to a high accuracy of 85%. This work proposed here is language independent, neither include any dictionary nor depend on the meaning of any word. General Terms Sentiment Analysis, Text classification, k-Nearest Neighbor, Naïve Bayesian Classifier
Topological color codes on Union Jack lattices: a stable implementation of the whole Clifford group

We study the error threshold of topological color codes on Union Jack lattices that allow for the full implementation of the whole Clifford group of quantum gates. After mapping the error-correction process onto a statistical mechanical random three-body Ising model on a Union Jack lattice, we compute its phase diagram in the temperature-disorder plane using Monte Carlo simulations. Surprisingly, topological color codes on Union Jack lattices have a similar error stability to color codes on triangular lattices, as well as to the Kitaev toric code. The enhanced computational capabilities of the topological color codes on Union Jack lattices with respect to triangular lattices and the toric code combined with the inherent robustness of this implementation show good prospects for future stable quantum computer implementations.
The Rijndael algorithm

The Rijndael algorithm is the new advanced encryption standard (AES) approved by the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). With this algorithm supporting significantly larger key sizes than DES (data encryption standard) supports, NIST believes that the AES has the potential of remaining secure for the next few decades. In overall performance, based on the speed of encryption and decryption and on key set-up time, the Rijndael algorithm has attained top scores in tests conducted by NIST. The belief is that almost all US government agencies will shift to the AES algorithm for their data security needs in the next few years. Also, that the algorithm will find its way in smart cards and other security-oriented applications used for safely storing private information about individuals.
Bergamot (Citrus bergamia) Essential Oil Inhalation Improves Positive Feelings in the Waiting Room of a Mental Health Treatment Center: A Pilot Study

Mental health issues have been increasingly recognized as public health problems globally. Their burden is projected to increase over the next several decades. Additional therapies for mental problems are in urgent need worldwide due to the limitations and costs of existing healthcare approaches. Essential oil aromatherapy can provide a cost‐effective and safe treatment for many mental problems. This pilot study observed the effects of bergamot essential oil inhalation on mental health and well‐being, as measured by the Positive and Negative Affect Scale, in a mental‐health treatment center located in Utah, USA. Fifty‐seven eligible participants (50 women, age range: 23–70 years) were included for analysis. Fifteen minutes of bergamot essential oil exposure improved participants' positive feelings compared with the control group (17% higher). Unexpectedly, more participants participated in experimental periods rather than control periods, suggesting even brief exposure to essential oil aroma may make people more willing to enroll in clinical trials. This study provides preliminary evidence of the efficacy and safety of bergamot essential oil inhalation on mental well‐being in a mental health treatment center, suggesting that bergamot essential oil aromatherapy can be an effective adjunct treatment to improve individuals' mental health and well‐being. © 2017 The Authors. Phytotherapy Research published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Notice of RetractionNear Range Millimeter Wave Radiometer Passive Image High Resolution Restoration

Since a millimeter wave (MMW) image is lower resolution and higher noise than optical, it appears particularly important to restore high resolution MMW image, on which many works have been done. However there is rare report on scanning image restoration technology under near range conditions. Change of antenna characteristics is main factor to affect image quality in near range, for example, the antenna pattern mainlobe emerges fluctuation and the gain is greatly reduced. In addition, scanning movement of servomechanism is another important factor to affect imaging quality. This paper firstly estimates point spread function (PSF) of scanning prototype to establish blurred model, and then takes estimated PSF as initial value into restoration algorithm that combines maximum likelihood (ML) estimation and blind deconvolution techniques, resumes restoration of hidden target MMW images. Simulations show that the combined restoration algorithm is better in effect and convergence.
Selectively Targeting the DNA-binding Domain of the Androgen Receptor as a Prospective Therapy for Prostate Cancer*

Background: The androgen receptor (AR) is a transcription factor regulating progression of prostate cancer. Results: Developed compounds inhibit AR transcriptional activity in vitro and in vivo by selective targeting of the AR-DNA-binding domain (DBD). Conclusion: By targeting the DBD, the compounds differ from conventional anti-androgens. Significance: Anti-androgens with a novel mechanism of action have the potential to treat recurrent prostate cancer. The androgen receptor (AR) is a transcription factor that has a pivotal role in the occurrence and progression of prostate cancer. The AR is activated by androgens that bind to its ligand-binding domain (LBD), causing the transcription factor to enter the nucleus and interact with genes via its conserved DNA-binding domain (DBD). Treatment for prostate cancer involves reducing androgen production or using anti-androgen drugs to block the interaction of hormones with the AR-LBD. Eventually the disease changes into a castration-resistant form of PCa where LBD mutations render anti-androgens ineffective or where constitutively active AR splice variants, lacking the LBD, become overexpressed. Recently, we identified a surfaced exposed pocket on the AR-DBD as an alternative drug-target site for AR inhibition. Here, we demonstrate that small molecules designed to selectively bind the pocket effectively block transcriptional activity of full-length and splice variant AR forms at low to sub-micromolar concentrations. The inhibition is lost when residues involved in drug interactions are mutated. Furthermore, the compounds did not impede nuclear localization of the AR and blocked interactions with chromatin, indicating the interference of DNA binding with the nuclear form of the transcription factor. Finally, we demonstrate the inhibition of gene expression and tumor volume in mouse xenografts. Our results indicate that the AR-DBD has a surface site that can be targeted to inhibit all forms of the AR, including enzalutamide-resistant and constitutively active splice variants and thus may serve as a potential avenue for the treatment of recurrent and metastatic prostate cancer.
Quantitative ultrasound technique for the assessment of osteoporosis and prediction of fracture risk

Osteoporosis in men and women is increasingly recognised as an important health issue. Bone mineral density (BMD) and bone strength appears to be major determinants of osteoporotic fracture. Measurement of bone strength by ultrasound is found to be a competitive means of measuring osteoporotic fracture risk and provide additional information about bone's structure and composition. In the present work quantitative ultrasound assessment of osteoporosis is carried out in Indian men and women by measuring broadband ultrasound attenuation (BUA) and speed of sound (SOS) through calcaneum bone to provide a clinical measure called the stiffness index (SI). The SI is the sum of the scaled and normalised BUA and SOS values, which is a measure of bone strength and is sensitive to bone structure used to predict the risk of bone fracture due to osteoporosis. Measurement of SI is carried out in 283 men, 108 premenopausal and 85 postmenopausal women. SI results expressed as T-score and Z-score are used to assist the physicians in the diagnosis of osteoporosis. The presence of osteoporosis is defined as T-score lower than -2.5. Observation shows that osteoporosis is predominant in postmenopausal women population who are at greater risk of fracture compared to premenopausal women and men. The effect of age, weight, height and body mass index (BMI) on SI in men and women is analyzed. The SI has negative correlation with age and is found to be a significant factor in both men and women with a high percentage of bone mineral loss in early menopausal women. In univariate analysis body weight and BMI have moderate positive correlation with SI in men and women. Height seems to have no significant effect on SI. There is a rapid loss of bone mineral content leading sudden decrease in SI during the first five years after menopause and it continues to decrease at a lesser rate with increasing age.
Spatial Modeling of Air Pollution in Studies of Its Short‐Term Health Effects

Summary In studies that estimate the short‐term effects of air pollution on health, daily measurements of pollution concentrations are often available from a number of monitoring locations within the study area. However, the health data are typically only available in the form of daily counts for the entire area, meaning that a corresponding single daily measure of pollution is required. The standard approach is to average the observed measurements at the monitoring locations, and use this in a log‐linear health model. However, as the pollution surface is spatially variable this simple summary is unlikely to be an accurate estimate of the average pollution concentration across the region, which may lead to bias in the resulting health effects. In this article, we propose an alternative approach that jointly models the pollution concentrations and their relationship with the health data using a Bayesian spatio‐temporal model. We compare this approach with the simple spatial average using a simulation study, by investigating the impact of spatial variation, monitor placement, and measurement error in the pollution data. An epidemiological study from Greater London is then presented, which estimates the relationship between respiratory mortality and four different pollutants.
IgG4 can induce an M2-like phenotype in human monocyte-derived macrophages through FcγRI

Antibodies evoke cellular responses through the binding of their Fc region to Fc receptors, most of which contain immunoreceptor tyrosine-based activation motif domains and are thus considered “activating. ” However, there is a growing appreciation of these receptors for their ability to deliver an inhibitory signal as well. We previously described one such phenomenon whereby interferon (IFN)γ signaling is inhibited by immune complex signaling through FcγRI. To understand the implications of this in the context of therapeutic antibodies, we assessed individual IgG subclasses to determine their ability to deliver this anti-inflammatory signal in monocyte-derived macrophages. Like IgG1, we found that IgG4 is fully capable of inhibiting IFNγ-mediated events. In addition, F(ab’)2 fragments that interfere with FcγRI signaling reversed this effect. For mAbs developed with either an IgG1 or an IgG4 constant region for indications where inflammation is undesirable, further examination of a potential Fc-dependent contribution to their mechanism of action is warranted.
Augmentation of Tendon-to-Bone Healing with a Magnesium-Based Bone Adhesive

Background Healing of an anterior cruciate ligament graft in a bone tunnel occurs by formation of fibrous scar tissue, which is weaker than the normal fibrocartilaginous insertion. Hypothesis We hypothesized that a magnesium-based bone adhesive would improve tendon-to-bone healing in a rabbit anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction model. Study Design Controlled laboratory study. Methods Thirty-five New Zealand White rabbits underwent bilateral anterior cruciate ligament reconstructions with semitendinosus autografts. A total of 12.5 g of bone adhesive was placed in the intraosseous tunnel around the graft in one limb, while the tunnels in the contralateral limb received no implant. Sixteen animals each were sacrificed at 3 weeks and at 6 weeks (12 biomechanical testing/4 histology). Outcomes included semiquantitative histologic analyses for new cartilage formation and fibrous tissue formation in the tendon-bone interface, microcomputed tomography to quantify new bone formation along the bone tunnel, and biomechanical testing of load-to-failure and stiffness. Three animals were sacrificed at time 0 to confirm adequate tunnel fill with the bone adhesive on microcomputed tomography. Results All specimens had adequate tunnel fill with the bone adhesive at time 0. Application of the bone adhesive resulted in more cartilage formation and less fibrous tissue formation at the tendon-bone interface at 6 weeks compared with controls (P < .05). There was significantly more bone formation in the tibia of the treated limbs at 6 weeks (P = .01). The load-to-failure was significantly higher in the treated group at 6 weeks (71.8 ± 31.8 N vs 43.4 ± 14.8 N; P = .04). There were no differences in stiffness at either time point, and there were no differences at 3 weeks in any outcome variable. Conclusion The magnesium-based bone adhesive improves tendon-to-bone healing based on histologic and biomechanical testing at 6 weeks in a rabbit model of anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction. Clinical Relevance Further studies are needed to investigate the clinical potential of this bone adhesive to enhance healing and decrease recovery time in soft-tissue ligament reconstruction.
Research tool: validation of floxed α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor conditional knockout mice using in vitro and in vivo approaches

Currently, no animal model exists in which selective deletion of α7 nAChRs from a specific cell type or tissue is possible through genetic manipulation. We have generated mice in which the fourth exon of the α7 nAChR gene (Chrna7) is flanked by loxP sites (B6‐Chrna7LBDEx4007Ehs) which we refer to as floxed α7 nAChR conditional knockout or α7nAChRflox. In the brain, α7 nAChRs are expressed both on neurons and astrocytes. Proper Cre recombinase excision of the targeted gene was verified with a combination of in vitro and in vivo approaches including demonstrating that α7 nAChR binding sites were absent on glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP)‐positive astrocytes in hippocampal slices obtained from offspring of α7nAChRflox and GFAP‐Cre mating. This study validates the chosen approach for deletion of α7 nAChR gene expression from any tissue for which appropriate Cre constructs are available, thus providing the nicotinic receptor research field with new technical capabilities.
Slightly superior performance of bioimpedance spectroscopy over single frequency regression equations for assessment of total body water

Electrical bioimpedance has been used for several decades to assess body fluid distribution and body composition by using single frequency and bioimpedance spectroscopic (BIS) techniques. It remains uncertain whether BIS methods have better performance compare to single frequency regression equations. In this work the performance of two BIS methods and four different 50 kHz single frequency prediction equations was studied in a data set of wrist-to-ankle tetrapolar BIS measurements (5-1000 kHz) together with reference values of total body water obtained by tritium dilution in 92 patients. Data were compared using regression techniques and Bland-Altman plots. The results of this study showed that all methods produced similarly high correlation and concordance coefficients, indicating good accuracy as a method. Limits of agreement analysis indicated that the population level performance of Sun's prediction equations was very similar to the performance of both BIS methods. However, BIS methods in practice have slightly better predictive performance than the single-frequency equations as judged by higher correlation and the limits of agreement from the Bland-Altman analysis. In any case, the authors believe that an accurate evaluation of performance of the methods cannot be done as long as the evaluation is done using Bland-Altman analysis, the commonly accepted technique for this kind of performance comparisons.
Consumption of silicic acid below the euphotic zone by sedimenting diatom blooms in the Barents Sea

Massive sedimentation of spring phytoplankton blooms occurs in the Barents Sea as in many other shelf sea environments. Associated with this sedimentation there is a large decrease in concentration of dissolved shcic acid below the nitracline. This decrease is apparently related to resting spore formation of the dominant a broken arrows: Arctic water; hatched arrow: coastal water). Dotted h e : approximate posltion of the polar front 308 Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 36: 307-312, 1987 rated a top layer of slightly warmed meltwater from the core of cold Arctic water below (Fig. 2B). Nitrate and phosphate showed marked gradients between 45 and 60 m. Silicic acid, on the other hand, was depleted down to 75 m, with a marked gradient below (Fig. 2A). Ammonium exhibited a peak of 1.1 yM in the lower part of the nitracline at 60 m (Fig. 2A). Chlorophyll in vivo fluorescence (Fig. 2C) showed a maximum at the top of the nitracline (45 m) where POC and PON also had their maxima (Fig. 2D). The highest chlorophyll a concentrations were found deeper (60 to 75 m), but this probably reflected an increase in chlorophyll due to photoadaptation (Bienfang et al. 1983) rather than a maximum in phytoplankton biomass. Particulate sihcon increased steadily with depth to 1.5 PM at 100 m (Fig. 2D). The content of particulate silicon was low compared to the amount of dissolved silicic acid depleted between 45 and 75 m. We therefore conclude that the majority of diatoms, which we suggest are responsible for this depletion, had already sedimented out from the investigated part of the water column. Species-specific differences in sinking rate (Malone et al. 1983) or seeding of resting stages (Smetacek 1985) are possible mechanisms behnd such a sink-out. Massive reduction of the shcic acid content below the nitracline is not an isolated phenomenon, but has been observed regularly over extensive areas of the Barents Sea. Fig. 3 shows isopleth diagrams of shcic acid concentrations in summer along a north-south section in the central Barents Sea (Fig. 1). Isolines for 1 and 8 yM nitrate are shown superimposed on these isopleths. The June 1983 section extended 130 km into ice-covered waters where a pre-bloom plankton situation occurred. SiLicic acid (about 4 yM) and nitrate (about 8 yM) o c c u ~ ~ e d here in the typical 1:2 molar ratio (ELlertsen et al. 1982, Sakshaug & Holrn-Hansen 1984). South of ? ON, however, nutrients were virtually depleted from the surface layer and silicic acid concentrations at the depth of 8 FM NO3 were from 1 to 3 PM (Fig. 3A). Simdarly, low silicic acid concentrations were found at the 8 yM nitrate depth in June 1984 both along the central section (Fig. 3B) and a section along 45" E. A plot of silicic acid vs nitrate concentrations for sampling depths of 50 m and deeper from this eastern section reveals that the majority of samples from all
Shake-it-off: a simple ultrasonic cryo-EM specimen-preparation device

Although microscopes and image analysis software for electron cryomicroscopy (cryo-EM) have improved dramatically in recent years, specimen preparation methods have lagged behind. Most strategies still rely on blotting microscope grids with paper to produce a thin film of solution suitable for vitrification. This approach loses more than 99.9% of the applied sample and requires several seconds, leading to problematic air-water interface interactions for macromolecules in the resulting thin film of solution and complicating time-resolved studies. Recently developed self-wicking EM grids allow use of small volumes of sample, with nanowires on the grid bars removing excess solution to produce a thin film within tens of milliseconds from sample application to freezing. Here we present a simple cryo-EM specimen preparation device that uses components from an ultrasonic humidifier to transfer protein solution onto a self-wicking EM grid. The device is controlled by a Raspberry Pi single board computer and all components are either widely available or can be manufactured by online services, allowing the device to be constructed in laboratories that specialize in cryo-EM, rather than instrument design. The simple open-source design permits straightforward customization of the instrument for specialized experiments. Synopsis A method is presented for high-speed low-volume cryo-EM specimen preparation with a device constructed from readily available components.
Development of a Computer Interface for People with Disabilities based on Computer Vision

The growing of the population with disabilities in the world must be accompanied by the growing of research and development of tools that help these users on basic computer activities. This paper presents the development of a system that allows the use of personal computers using only face movements. The system can be used by people with motor disabilities who still have head movements, such as superior members amputees and tetraplegic. For the development of the proposed system, the most efficient techniques in previous works were collected and analyzed, and new ones were developed in order to build a system with high performance and precision, ensuring the digital and social inclusion of the target public. Tests have shown that the tool is easy to learn, has a good performance and can be used in everyday computer applications.