Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Quantitative Immunocytochemical Study of Blood-Brain Barrier Glucose Transporter (GLUT-1) in Four Regions of Mouse Brain

Application of immunogold cytochemistry revealed polar (asymmetric) distribution of GLUT-1 in mouse brain microvascular endothelia, representing the anatomic site of the blood-brain barrier (BBB). This polarity was manifested by an approximately threefold higher immunolabeling density of the abluminal than the luminal plasma membrane of the endothelial cells. The immunoreaction for GLUT-1 in nonbarrier continuous (skeletal muscle) or fenestrated (brain circumventricular organs) microvascular endothelial cells was absent. In the choroid plexus, the basolateral plasmalemma of the epithelial cells was labeled more intensely than the vascular fenestrated endothelium. Addition of morphometry to the applied immunogold technique makes it possible for even subtle differences to be revealed in the density of immunolabeling for GLUT-1 in blood microvessels located in four brain regions. We found that the density of immunosignals in the microvessels supplying the cerebral cortex, hippocampus, and cerebellum was essentially similar, whereas in the olfactory bulb it was significantly lower. Asymmetric distribution of GLUT-1 in the endothelial plasma membranes presumably leads to a reduced concentration of glucose molecules in the endothelial cells compared to blood plasma and also secures their more rapid transport across the abluminal plasmalemma to the brain parenchyma. (J Histochem Cytochem 47:1021–1029, 1999)
Effect of ionization and vehicle on skin absorption and penetration of azelaic acid

Objective: The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of ionization and vehicle of topical formulations on skin absorption and penetration of azelaic acid (AZA). Materials and methods: In vitro transport of AZA was determined for two topical formulations containing AZA with pH values of 3.9 and 4.9, respectively. FINACEA® (15% AZA gel), a US Food and Drug Administration approved drug for treatment of acne and rosacea, was also used for comparison. Release profile and flux of AZA were determined in an in vitro hairless mouse skin model using Franz Diffusion Cell. Results: The data have shown that a higher concentration of AZA is retained in the epidermis/dermis layer and the whole skin for the formulation with pH = 4.9 as compared to that with pH = 3.9 at an active loading level of 2.82 mg/cm2. In addition, the flux of ionized species of AZA in the pH 4.9 formulation (128.4 ± 35.9 μg/cm2/h) is approximately five-fold greater than that in the pH 3.9 formulation (27.7 ± 4.0 μg/cm2/h). The results suggest that the ionized AZA penetrates through the skin and accounts for majority of the total flux. Discussion and conclusion: This study has demonstrated that the penetration and absorption of AZA show a strong pH- and vehicle-dependency. Solubilization is the rate-limiting step in percutaneous absorption of AZA.
Designing a Global Digital Currency

Abstract The notion of a global currency is a debate set aside in the past decade as the abstraction saw little potential for realization in a world with heterogeneous governments unwilling to sacrifice seigniorage for optimal design. The technical capability of creating digital currencies, independent of governments, resurrects the discussion and begs the questions of practical design and implementation. Given that price stability is a key feature of currency design, we consider theoretically the issue of pegging a continuously traded digital currency to a periodic measure of inflation. Empirically we identify factors a cryptocurrency might use to create a portfolio mimicking the ideal design.
Verification of Snapback Model by Transient $I$ –$V$ Measurement for Circuit Simulation of ESD Response

It is demonstrated that if the compact model of a snapback-type device is calibrated using only pulsed I-V data, it may not correctly reproduce the device response to arbitrary electrostatic discharge (ESD) waveforms. Transient I-V measurements are demonstrated to improve the completeness of the device characterization and model verification. Given an accurately calibrated ESD compact model, circuit simulations may be used to identify device-tester interactions that have been reported to cause unexpected damage during ESD testing. The interaction between a snapback device and an ESD tester can be understood in the context of a relaxation oscillator.
Physicochemical Characterization and Consumer Acceptance by Asian Consumers of Aromatic Jasmine Rice

: Physicochemical properties and acceptance by Asian consumers in the United States of 3 commercially U. S. -grown and 12 imported jasmine rice samples were evaluated. Rice kernels, flour, and starch were characterized for physical, chemical, pasting, and thermal properties. Amylose content, gel type, hardness-to-stickiness ratio, surface fat, protein, and pasting properties significantly affected the eating and cooking qualities and physical appearances of the rice samples; these variables were key to distinguishing the major quality differences and to differentiating U. S. -grown from imported jasmine rice. Data collected from this study could be useful to rice producers, importers, or rice breeders for understanding the physicochemical characteristics of aromatic jasmine rice and its acceptance by Asian consumers.
A resolving matrix approach for synthetic aperture imaging radiometers

Synthetic aperture imaging radiometers (SAIRs) are potential powerful instruments for high-resolution observation of planetary surfaces at low microwave frequencies. This paper deals with the reconstruction of radiometric brightness temperature maps from SAIR interferometric measurements. It is demonstrated that the corresponding inverse problem is not well-posed and must, therefore, be regularized in order to provide a unique and stable solution. A new approach is presented by referring to the notion of modeling operator and to the concept of a resolving matrix of the instrument. To illustrate the theory, numerical simulations are carried out in reference to the Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity space mission led by the European Space Agency. The results are discussed with emphasis on stability and error analysis.
THE APPLYING OF THE HARDWARE-BASED RECONFIGURATION FOR AUTONOMOUS CONTROL SYSTEMS OF SPACE MOBILE ROBOTS

The problem of applying of hardware-based reconfiguration for autonomous control systems of space mobile robots is concerned. The challenges associated with using space mobile robots for planetary exploration missions are described and a set of requirements on the design of such space-based robots is imposed. The functional structure of hardware-reconfigurable digital module for intellectual control of mobile space-based robots is proposed and further interaction between its functional modules and remote support center in different situations requiring reconfiguration is concerned. The procedures of self-check and self-testing of the hardware-reconfigurable digital module for intellectual control of mobile spacebased robots are described, which are necessary to ensure reliability of reconfiguration. The algorithms for self-testing of the hardware of the digital control module are researched, taking the advantage of on-line partial reconfiguration ability of FPGA. The means to achieve optimal testing coverage while minimizing the amount of additional testing hardware and testing time are considered.
Eukaryotic Elongation Factor 1A2 Cooperates with Phosphatidylinositol-4 Kinase III β To Stimulate Production of Filopodia through Increased Phosphatidylinositol-4,5 Bisphosphate Generation

ABSTRACT Eukaryotic elongation factor 1 alpha 2 (eEF1A2) is a transforming gene product that is highly expressed in human tumors of the ovary, lung, and breast. eEF1A2 also stimulates actin remodeling, and the expression of this factor is sufficient to induce the formation of filopodia, long cellular processes composed of bundles of parallel actin filaments. Here, we find that eEF1A2 stimulates formation of filopodia by increasing the cellular abundance of cytosolic and plasma membrane-bound phosphatidylinositol-4,5 bisphosphate [PI(4,5)P2]. We have previously reported that the eEF1A2 protein binds and activates phosphatidylinositol-4 kinase III beta (PI4KIIIβ), and we find that production of eEF1A2-dependent PI(4,5)P2 and generation of filopodia require PI4KIIIβ. Furthermore, PI4KIIIβ is itself capable of activating both the production of PI(4,5)P2 and the creation of filopodia. We propose a model for extrusion of filopodia in which eEF1A2 activates PI4KIIIβ, and activated PI4KIIIβ stimulates production of PI(4,5)P2 and filopodia by increasing PI4P abundance. Our work suggests an important role for both eEF1A2 and PI4KIIIβ in the control of PI(4,5)P2 signaling and actin remodeling.
Nasal cavity neoplasia in F344/N rats and (C57BL/6 x C3H)F1 mice inhaling propylene oxide for up to two years.

Propylene oxide (CAS: 75-56-9) was studied for potential carcinogenicity and chronic toxicity by inhalation in F344/N rats and (C57BL/6 x C3H)F1 mice. Groups of 50 animals of each sex were exposed to 0, 200, or 400 ppm propylene oxide for 6 hours/day, 5 days/week, for up to 103 weeks. Survival decreased in mice exposed to propylene oxide; the decrease was significant (P less than .005) in mice exposed to 400 ppm. Survival of exposed rats was comparable to that of controls. Mean body weight of rats and mice exposed to 400 ppm propylene oxide decreased, when compared to that of controls, during the 2d year of exposure. Exposure to propylene oxide for up to 2 years induced inflammatory and proliferative responses in nasal cavity of both species. There was clear evidence of carcinogenicity in mice exposed to 400 ppm propylene oxide; 10 of 50 males and 5 of 50 females had hemangiomas or hemangiosarcomas of the nasal submucosa. Papillary adenomas involving the nasal respiratory epithelium and underlying submucosal glands were observed in 3 female rats and 2 male rats exposed to 400 ppm propylene oxide.
In vivo synthesis of selenium nanoparticles by Halococcus salifodinae BK18 and their anti‐proliferative properties against HeLa cell line

Nanoparticles synthesis by bacteria and yeasts has been widely reported, however, synthesis using halophilic archaea is still in a nascent stage. This study aimed at the intracellular synthesis of selenium nanoparticles (SeNPs) by the haloarchaeon Halococcus salifodinae BK18 when grown in the presence of sodium selenite. Crystallographic characterization of SeNPs by X‐ray diffraction, Selected area electron diffraction, and transmission electron microscopy exhibited rod shaped nanoparticles with hexagonal crystal lattice, a crystallite domain size of 28 nm and an aspect ratio (length:diameter) of 13:1. Energy disruptive analysis of X‐ray analysis confirmed the presence of selenium in the nano‐preparation. The nitrate reductase enzyme assay and the inhibitor studies indicated the involvement of NADH‐dependent nitrate reductase in SeNPs synthesis and metal tolerance. The SeNPs exhibited good anti‐proliferative properties against HeLa cell lines while being non‐cytotoxic to normal cell line model HaCat, suggesting the use of these SeNPs as cancer chemotherapeutic agent. This is the first study on selenium nanoparticles synthesis by haloarchaea. © 2014 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog. , 30:1480–1487, 2014
Conceptual information retrieval of technical papers for digital libraries

We propose a novel information retrieval (IR) method using semantic information from technical papers. The proposed method is suitable for use in digital libraries (DL). Users of digital libraries need to retrieve information which meets their semantic requirements. An important problem is the reduction of retrieval errors caused by differences in requests among individual users. To solve this problem, we used some techniques of natural language processing, and dictionaries that describe the relations between words and concepts. We describe the details of the proposed method and show experimental results that reveal the effectiveness of the method. We focus on technical papers written in Japanese.
Threshold attribute-based signcryption and its application to authenticated key agreement

Signcryption is a public key cryptosystem that achieves the functions of digital signature and public key encryption simultaneously. It significantly reduces the cost of traditional signature-then-encryption approach. Although a large body of signcryption schemes have been proposed, few works have been done on attribute-based signcryption (ABSC), which simultaneously achieves the functionalities of attribute-based encryption and attribute-based signature, two important cryptographic primitives proposed to enforce fine-grained access control and user authentication in cloud computing applications. In this paper, we present a threshold ABSC scheme. The scheme is proven secure under the well-established Decisional Bilinear Diffie–Hellman and the standard Computational Diffie–Hellman assumptions in the standard model. Compared with the state of the ABSC art, our scheme has comparable efficiency without relying on any random oracle. Furthermore, we construct an authenticated key agreement protocol based on this threshold attribute-based signcryption from the point of improving the security of cloud computing. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
0 An Overview on Privacy Preserving Biometrics

The Internet has consolidated itself as a very powerful platform that has changed the communication and business way. Nowadays, the number of users navigating through Internet is about 1,552 millions according to Internet World Stats. This large audience demands online commerce, e-government, knowledge sharing, social networks, online gaming . which grew exponentially over the past few years. The security of these transactions is very important considering the number of information that could be intercepted by an attacker. Within this context, authentication is one of the most important challenges in computer security. Indeed, the authentication step is often considered as the weakest link in the security of electronic transactions. In general, the protection of the message content is achieved by using cryptographic protocols that are well known and established. The well-known ID/password is far the most used authentication method, it is widely spread despite its obvious lack of security. This is mainly due to its implementation ease and to its ergonomic feature: the users are used to this system, which enhances its acceptance and deployment. Many more sophisticated solutions exist in the state of the art to secure logical access control (one time passwords tokens, certificates . . . ) but none of them are used by a large community of users for a lack of simplicity usage (O’Gorman, 2003). Among the different authentication methods of an individual, biometrics is often presented as a promising solution. Few people know that biometrics has been used for ages for identification or signature purposes. Fingerprints were already used as a signature for commercial exchanges in Babylon (-3000 before JC). Alphonse Bertillon proposed in 1879 to use anthropometric information for police investigation. Nowadays, all police forces in the world use this kind of information to solve crimes. The first prototypes of terminals providing an automatic processing of the voice and digital fingerprints have been defined in the middle of the years 1970. Today, a large number of biometric systems are used for logical and physical access control applications. This technology possesses many favorable properties. First, there is a strong link between the user and its authenticator. As for example, it is not possible to loose its fingerprint as it could be the case for a token. Second, this solution is very usable: indeed, it is very convenient for a user to authenticate himself/herself by putting his/her finger on a sensor or making a capture of the face. Last, biometrics is an interesting candidate to be a unique user’s authenticator. A study done by NTA group in 2002 (Monitor, 2002) on 500 users showed that there was approximately 21 passwords per user, 81% of them use 4
Epidemiology of chronic cutaneous wounds in China

Chronic cutaneous wounds represent a major health care burden in China. However, limited information exists regarding the epidemiologic changes associated with recent social and economic development. We designed a cross‐sectional survey in 2,513 patients who underwent treatment of chronic cutaneous wounds from a nationally representative sample in 17 hospitals between 2007 and 2008. Results revealed the prevalence of chronic cutaneous wounds among hospitalized patients was 1.7‰. Patient ages ranged from 18 days to 96 years (median, 58 years). The highest ratios were among 40–60 and 60–80‐year‐old patients (31% and 38%, respectively). The leading causes of chronic cutaneous wounds were diabetes (31.3% men, 35.3% women) trauma (26.4% men, 19.2% women). Manual workers (38.5% men, 29.3% women) and retirees (27.9% men, 23.5% women) accounted for over half the chronic cutaneous wound patients. Regarding treatments, only 22.4% were treated with modern dressings or other novel technologies and more patients received antibiotics (77.8%). Treatment was paid for by the patients in 42.3% of cases, by social medical insurance in 25.0%, by commercial medical insurance in 4.8%, while 27.9% received free medical care. Approximately half the patients' wounds were completely healed at discharge (1,345/2,513). In conclusion, diabetes has recently become the leading cause of chronic cutaneous wounds in China. The large population and considerable financial burden mean that serious attention should be paid to the early detection, prevention and diagnosis of chronic cutaneous wounds, and suggest that an overall health insurance system should be established, especially for the elderly.
An in Silico, Biomarker-Based Method for the Evaluation of Virtual Neuropsychiatric Drug Effects

The recent explosion in neuroscience research has markedly increased our understanding of the neurobiological correlates of many psychiatric illnesses, but this has unfortunately not translated into more effective pharmacologic treatments for these conditions. At the same time, researchers have increasingly sought out biological markers, or biomarkers, as a way to categorize psychiatric illness, as these are felt to be closer to underlying genetic and neurobiological vulnerabilities. While biomarker-based drug discovery approaches have tended to employ in vivo (e.g., rodent) or in vitro test systems, relatively little attention has been paid to the potential of computational, or in silico, methodologies. Here we describe such a methodology, using as an example a biophysically detailed computational model of hippocampus that is made to generate putative schizophrenia biomarkers by the inclusion of a number of neuropathological changes that have been associated with the illness (NMDA system deficit, decreased neural connectivity, hyperdopaminergia). We use the specific inability to attune to gamma band (40 Hz) auditory stimulus as our illness biomarker. We expose this system to a large number of virtual medications, defined by systematic variation of model parameters corresponding to five cellular-level effects. The potential efficacy of virtual medications is determined by a wellness metric (WM) that we have developed. We identify a number of virtual agents that consist of combinations of mechanisms, which are not simply reversals of the causative lesions. The manner in which this methodology could be extended to other neuropsychiatric conditions, such as Alzheimer’s disease, autism, and fragile X syndrome, is discussed.
Organisational Variables and Job Stress: Effect of Moderating Variables

The study investigated the determinants of organisational stressors and its effect on job stress. It further investigated gender as a moderator for organisational-job stress relationship in private sector organisations. Analyses of 300 responses using hierarchical regression revealed that organizational variables (blocked career, alienation, conflict, and unfavorable work environment) had significant positive effects on job stress. Gender moderated the effects of these organizational stressors on job stress.
MOLECULAR PHYLOGENETIC METHODS IN ENTOMOLOGY - NEW INSIGHTS ON THE EVOLUTIONARY RELATIONSHIPS OF HEXAPODS AND ARTHROPODS

th 2009 Traditional phylogenetic and taxonomic methods based on examining and comparing morphological characters have in the last few decades been supplemented or even replaced by molecular phylogenetic methods that utilize a great number of molecular markers - mitochondrial and nuclear genes and genomic regions. Molecular phylogeny has profoundly changed our perception of the taxonomic position of great number of hexapod taxa and posed some intriguing questions on the evolution of basal hexapod lineages, as well as hexapods in relation to other arthropod higher-level taxa (crustaceans, myriapods and chelicerates). Regarding the question of relationships between entognathous hexapod taxa, some of the analyses yielded monophyletic Ellipura, while the others suggest the non-monophyly of Entognatha. Recent investigations of both molecular and morphological data support a closer relationship between hexapods and crustaceans, a so called “Pancrustacea” clade, opposing the classical “Tracheata” (myriapods + hexapods) hypothesis. Some of the results even suggest the reciprocal paraphyly of Crustacea and Hexapoda. Regarding the other two major arthropod clades, myriapods and chelicerates, some investigations support the sister group of Pancrustacea + Myriapoda (so called “Mandibulata”), while in some analyses support was found for the pairing of myriapods with chelicerates (so called “ Paradoxopoda” or “Myriochelata”). These hypotheses would imply that water-to-land transition occurred at least three times during the evolution of the Arthropoda. All these new phylogenetic topologies still need to be properly evaluated and compared with classical hypotheses about the evolutionary relationships of hexapods and arthropods.
Does Privacy Still Matter in the Era of Web 2.0? A Qualitative Study of User Behavior towards Online Social Networking Activities

In this study, we attempt to understand one frequently observed paradox in user social networking behavior – highly concerned about privacy issues on social networking sites, yet actively participating in social networking activities. Based on qualitative analysis of student essays on their social networking activities and perceptions, we propose a theory for user online social networking behavior – the adaptive cognition theory (ACT). The main argument of the theory is that user behavior toward social networking is dynamic and adaptive primarily influenced by the perceived benefits and risks. More often than not, the perceived benefits dominate the perceived risks in user behavior calculus, resulting in the commonly observed phenomenon that users seem to ignore privacy concerns when participating in social networking activities and using social networking web sites. We argue that ACT explains user social networking behavior better than well-established behavioral theories do such as TAM, TPB, and rational choice. Furthermore, ACT provides prescriptive insights for managers of social networking sites and companies interested in taking advantage of the social networking phenomenon. Limitations and future research directions are discussed as well.