Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of D-ribose-L-cysteine on aluminum induced testicular damage in male Sprague-Dawley rats

Objective This study investigated the effects of D-ribose and L-cysteine on aluminum-induced testicular damage in male Sprague-Dawley rats. Method A total number of thirty-five (35) adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into four groups (AD). Group A (comprised five (5) rats) was designated the Control Group that received Physiological Saline; while groups B, C, and D (comprised ten (10) rats) were given 75 mg/kg, 150 mg/kg and 300 mg/kg of body weight of aluminum chloride respectively for 39 days. At day 40, the aluminum-treated groups were subdivided into sub-groups (B1, C1, D1) comprising of five (5) rats each, and 30 mg/kg body weight of Riboceine were administered for twenty (20) days. Groups B, C and D remained on the normal dosage of aluminum chloride for three more weeks (59 days). Results Andrological parameters (Sperm count, motility, morphology and testosterone) in the aluminum-treated Groups B and C showed no significant difference in their mean values when compared with their control counterparts, whereas there was a significant reduction in the andrological parameters in Group D rats when compared with the Control animals. Histoarchitecture of the testes "stain with H&E" of Group A, B and C rats appeared normal while Group D rats showed testicular damages with several abnormal seminiferous tubules with incomplete maturation of germinal cell layers and absence of spermatozoa in their lumen; Leydig cells appear hyperplastic. Group B1, C1 and D1 andrological and histological parameters appeared normal. Conclusion Riboceine treatment significantly attenuates aluminum-induced testicular toxicity in male Sprague-Dawley in rats.
Chromatin States Accurately Classify Cell Differentiation Stages

Gene expression is controlled by the concerted interactions between transcription factors and chromatin regulators. While recent studies have identified global chromatin state changes across cell-types, it remains unclear to what extent these changes are co-regulated during cell-differentiation. Here we present a comprehensive computational analysis by assembling a large dataset containing genome-wide occupancy information of 5 histone modifications in 27 human cell lines (including 24 normal and 3 cancer cell lines) obtained from the public domain, followed by independent analysis at three different representations. We classified the differentiation stage of a cell-type based on its genome-wide pattern of chromatin states, and found that our method was able to identify normal cell lines with nearly 100% accuracy. We then applied our model to classify the cancer cell lines and found that each can be unequivocally classified as differentiated cells. The differences can be in part explained by the differential activities of three regulatory modules associated with embryonic stem cells. We also found that the “hotspot” genes, whose chromatin states change dynamically in accordance to the differentiation stage, are not randomly distributed across the genome but tend to be embedded in multi-gene chromatin domains, and that specialized gene clusters tend to be embedded in stably occupied domains.
The Evolutionary Basis of Translational Accuracy in Plants

Mistranslation errors compromise fitness by wasting resources on nonfunctional proteins. In order to reduce the cost of mistranslations, natural selection chooses the most accurately translated codons at sites that are particularly important for protein structure and function. We investigated the determinants underlying selection for translational accuracy in several species of plants belonging to three clades: Brassicaceae, Fabidae, and Poaceae. Although signatures of translational selection were found in genes from a wide range of species, the underlying factors varied in nature and intensity. Indeed, the degree of synonymous codon bias at evolutionarily conserved sites varied among plant clades while remaining uniform within each clade. This is unlikely to solely reflect the diversity of tRNA pools because there is little correlation between synonymous codon bias and tRNA abundance, so other factors must affect codon choice and translational accuracy in plant genes. Accordingly, synonymous codon choice at a given site was affected not only by the selection pressure at that site, but also its participation in protein domains or mRNA secondary structures. Although these effects were detected in all the species we analyzed, their impact on translation accuracy was distinct in evolutionarily distant plant clades. The domain effect was found to enhance translational accuracy in dicot and monocot genes with a high GC content, but to oppose the selection of more accurate codons in monocot genes with a low GC content.
Loss of foundation species: consequences for the structure and dynamics of forested ecosystems

In many forested ecosystems, the architecture and functional ecology of certain tree species define forest structure and their species-specific traits control ecosystem dynamics. Such foundation tree species are declining throughout the world due to introductions and outbreaks of pests and pathogens, selective removal of individual taxa, and over-harvesting. Through a series of case studies, we show that the loss of foundation tree species changes the local environment on which a variety of other species depend; how this disrupts fundamental ecosystem processes, including rates of decomposition, nutrient fluxes, carbon sequestration, and energy flow; and dramatically alters the dynamics of associated aquatic ecosystems. Forests in which dynamics are controlled by one or a few foundation species appear to be dominated by a small number of strong interactions and may be highly susceptible to alternating between stable states following even small perturbations. The ongoing decline of many foundation species provides a set of important, albeit unfortunate, opportunities to develop the research tools, models, and metrics needed to identify foundation species, anticipate the cascade of immediate, short- and long-term changes in ecosystem structure and function that will follow from their loss, and provide options for remedial conservation and management.
Technical solution on reducing reflectance of MCP input surface electrode

To reduce scattered noise which results from photons reflected by transparent or semitransparent photocathode at input surface of microchannel plate(MCP),the qualitative analysis of its influence on reflectance of the MCP input surface electrode and the test investigation of electrode film coating,film thickness,electrode depth,and open area ratio of MCP were given.Based on the influence of MCP input electrode on other MCP parameters,a technical solution was obtained which adopted electron gun to heat Ni-Cr alloy for electrode film coating and implemented the control of film thickness by keeping a constant resistance of 100Ω,the electrode depth in channel accounted for 35% of channel diameter and the open area ratio of MCP was as larger as possible.Finally,the reflectivity of MCP input surface electrode is reduced to less than 4% and the photon scattered noise of image intensifier is decreased.
Accessibility of Myofilament Cysteines and Effects on ATPase Depend on the Activation State during Exposure to Oxidants

Signaling by reactive oxygen species has emerged as a major physiological process. Due to its high metabolic rate, striated muscle is especially subject to oxidative stress, and there are multiple examples in cardiac and skeletal muscle where oxidative stress modulates contractile function. Here we assessed the potential of cysteine oxidation as a mechanism for modulating contractile function in skeletal and cardiac muscle. Analyzing the cysteine content of the myofilament proteins in striated muscle, we found that cysteine residues are relatively rare, but are very similar between different muscle types and different vertebrate species. To refine this list of cysteines to those that may modulate function, we estimated the accessibility of oxidants to cysteine residues using protein crystal structures, and then sharpened these estimates using fluorescent labeling of cysteines in cardiac and skeletal myofibrils. We demonstrate that cysteine accessibility to oxidants and ATPase rates depend on the contractile state in which preparations are exposed. Oxidant exposure of skeletal and cardiac myofibrils in relaxing solution exposes myosin cysteines not accessible in rigor solution, and these modifications correspond to a decrease in maximum ATPase. Oxidant exposure under rigor conditions produces modifications that increase basal ATPase and calcium sensitivity in ventricular myofibrils, but these effects were muted in fast twitch muscle. These experiments reveal how structural and sequence variations can lead to divergent effects from oxidants in different muscle types.
CYP 2 C 19 Genotype , Clopidogrel Metabolism , Platelet Function , and Cardiovascular Events

CLOPIDOGREL IS AN ANTIp l a t e l e t d r u g u s e d b y approximately 40 million patients worldwide , 2 to treat or prevent atherothrombotic events and after percutaneous coronary revascularization. An overview of randomized trials including 7384 cardiovascular events in 79 613 patients with acute or stable coronary heart disease (CHD) or with multiple CHD risk factors demonstrated an association of clopidogrel therapy with reduced rates of cardiovascular events (odds ratio [OR], 0.88; 95% CI, 0.830.93) compared with placebo. Clopidogrel is also associated with a mechanism-based increase in major b l e e d i n g ( O R , 1 . 2 8 ; 9 5 % C I , 1.13-1.45). Despite the overall benefit, some individuals may be less responsive to clopidogrel than others because clopidogrel is a prodrug activated by several enzymes, including CYP2C19, and common genetic variation in CYP2C19 alters enzyme activity. In 2009, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a boxed warning, recommending “consideration of CYP2C19 genotype” prior to prescribing clopidogrel. However, the American Heart Association and American College of Cardiologists argued there was insufficient evidence for this For editorial comment see p 2727.
Interference margin analysis for OFDMA cellular networks planning

In the planning of cellular networks, link budget calculation is the first step to get the maximum allowable cell radius that guarantees a target signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR) with a certain level of outage probability at the cell border. The interference margin as one of key inputs for link budget is used to compensate for co-channel interference. In this paper, a mathematical analysis for interference margin as a function of system load is proposed in orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) cellular networks. The analysis is derived from OFDMA features based on a general expression of exponential effective SINR mapping (EESM). The proposed approach can be easily applied to the evaluation of interference from neighboring cells, and help to improve the accuracy of the link budget calculation in OFDMA systems. All the theoretical analysis given in this paper have been proved by Monte Carlo simulations.
Personalised CFTR pharmacotherapeutic response testing and therapy of cystic fibrosis

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a fatal, multisystem, genetic disorder caused by mutations in the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR), a chloride transporter critical to luminal fluid homeostasis at respiratory airway and other ductal epithelial surfaces. Therapeutic options for some CF patients were transformed by the approval of ivacaftor and lumacaftor/ivacaftor, which are indicated, respectively, for patients heterozygous for a subset of rare class III mutations [1] or homozygous for the common class II mutation Phe508del [2]. Notwithstanding, more than 40% of CF patients do not meet the CFTR mutation-specific inclusion criteria and are excluded from these therapies and, while it is impractical to conduct a clinical trial for each new pharmacotherapy-responsive CFTR mutation identified, an evolution of the drug approval process now permits drug label expansion based on in vitro physiological response testing. Indeed, the development of novel patient cell-based methods such as cultured intestinal organoids [3, 4] or nasal epithelial spheroids [5] permit in vitro testing of targeted CFTR molecular therapies. Here, we report the use of a novel preclinical test in one such patient to demonstrate patient-specific functional correction of CFTR ex vivo followed by initiation of therapy and functional correction in vivo. Further, while adverse respiratory effects have been reported with lumacaftor/ivacaftor therapy [6], a comprehensive description of the treatment adjustment period has not been previously reported, here we provide a detailed account of this phenomenon. Pharmacotherapeutic response testing identified CFTR Ser1159Pro as responsive to cystic fibrosis modulator therapy http://ow.ly/dvsq30jcBMw
Cognitive Radio Techniques Under Practical Imperfections: A Survey

Cognitive radio (CR) has been considered as a potential candidate for addressing the spectrum scarcity problem of future wireless networks. Since its conception, several researchers, academic institutions, industries, and regulatory and standardization bodies have put their significant efforts toward the realization of CR technology. However, as this technology adapts its transmission based on the surrounding radio environment, several practical issues may need to be considered. In practice, several imperfections, such as noise uncertainty, channel/interference uncertainty, transceiver hardware imperfections, signal uncertainty, and synchronization issues, may severely deteriorate the performance of a CR system. To this end, the investigation of realistic solutions toward combating various practical imperfections is very important for the successful implementation of cognitive technology. In this direction, first, this survey paper provides an overview of the enabling techniques for CR communications. Subsequently, it discusses the main imperfections that may occur in the most widely used CR paradigms and then reviews the existing approaches toward addressing these imperfections. Finally, it provides some interesting open research issues.
The Influence of Testing Protocols on Microhardness Tests of Composite Resin with Different Viscosities.

This study tested two hypotheses. The first null hypothesis affirms that there is no statistical difference when composite resin is submitted to knoop or vickers microhardness using different testing protocols. The second hypothesis tested the possible influence of elastic modulus of composite resin in microhardness tests. Two nanohybrid composites were used with different viscosity behavior (Grandio and Grandio Flow). Samples (n=540) were made with 4 mm diameter and 2 mm high using a PTFE mould, stored for 24h at 37°C protected from light and randomly divided into 36 groups according to the resin viscosity (medium and low), microhardness methodology (vickers or knoop), load (50, 100 or 500g) and time (15, 30 or 45s). Two readings were made at the light exposed surface of each sample with Shimadzu HMV tester accomplishing 1.080 indentations. The vickers and knoop results were submitted to a three-way ANOVA with fixed factors the composite viscosity, load and time, and the post-hoc Tukey multiple comparison test at α=0.05. Significant differences were recorded (p<0.001) between the microhradness methodologies with two viscosities rejecting both hypotheses rejecting both null hypotheses. Among the vickers tested samples, the average recorded ranged from 164.94 (50g for 45s) to 210.33 (100g for 45s) for the medium viscosity composite and from 31.2 (100g for 30s) to 88 (500g for 45s) for a low viscosity resin. Knoop microhardness results ranged from 128.92 (500g for 45s) to 184.26 (100g for 15s) for medium viscosity composite and from 23.6 (100g for 15s) to 73.4 (500g for 30s) for flowable compositive. In a controlled in vitro experiment, the microhardness formulas mislead researchers to associate an improvement of diagonal measurements to higher load with a linear and proportional behavior. It is not recommended to clinicians compare both vickers and knoop microhardness results of composite materials without similar protocols applied in the research.
Benchmarking fusion engines of multimodal interactive systems

This article proposes an evaluation framework to benchmark the performance of multimodal fusion engines. The paper first introduces different concepts and techniques associated with multimodal fusion engines and further surveys recent implementations. It then discusses the importance of evaluation as a mean to assess fusion engines, not only from the user perspective, but also at a performance level. The article further proposes a benchmark and a formalism to build testbeds for assessing multimodal fusion engines. In its last section, our current fusion engine and the associated system HephaisTK are evaluated thanks to the evaluation framework proposed in this article. The article concludes with a discussion on the proposed quantitative evaluation, suggestions to build useful testbeds, and proposes some future improvements.
Modeling the Behavior of Impact Induced Multiple Delaminations under Compressive Load

A two-part study is presented focusing on post-impact behavior prediction of compression after impact (CAI) specimens. The first part is dedicated to the study of cohesive zone model (CZM) and mesh density parameters as well as to the evaluation of their influence on resulting simulation accuracy and computational costs. For that purpose, two different tests are replicated by numerical simulations: double cantilever beam (DCB) and end-notched flexure (ENF) tests. The parameters under investigation are: element edge length, cohesive stiffness and strength for mode I and mode II loading. By comparing analytical with numerical results from the parametric study, an adequate parameter set is found and finally applied to the CAI model. In the second part, a procedure for predicting the behavior of impacted carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP) structures under uniaxial compressive loading is presented by the example of a CAI test simulation. For that purpose, a model is used to represent realistic impact damages with multiple delaminations of elliptical shape as well as varying sizes and orientations distributed throughout the laminate thickness. Non-self-similar delamination propagation in the resin-rich zone and sublaminate and global buckling phenomena are considered in a nonlinear simulation based on the finite element method (FEM). The sublaminate buckling modes are calculated in a preceding buckling analysis and applied simultaneously onto each sublaminate as initial geometrical imperfections. Peel and transversal shear tractions emerge as sublaminate and global buckling develops, leading to delamination propagation. The predicted behavior is in line with numerical and experimental findings reported in the literature. _____________
Comparative Genome Sequence Analysis of Choristoneura occidentalis Freeman and C. rosaceana Harris (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) Alphabaculoviruses

The complete genome sequences of Choristoneura occidentalis and C. rosaceana nucleopolyhedroviruses (ChocNPV and ChroNPV, respectively) (Baculoviridae: Alphabaculovirus) were determined and compared with each other and with those of other baculoviruses, including the genome of the closely related C. fumiferana NPV (CfMNPV). The ChocNPV genome was 128,446 bp in length (1147 bp smaller than that of CfMNPV), had a G+C content of 50.1%, and contained 148 open reading frames (ORFs). In comparison, the ChroNPV genome was 129,052 bp in length, had a G+C content of 48.6% and contained 149 ORFs. ChocNPV and ChroNPV shared 144 ORFs in common, and had a 77% sequence identity with each other and 96.5% and 77.8% sequence identity, respectively, with CfMNPV. Five homologous regions (hrs), with sequence similarities to those of CfMNPV, were identified in ChocNPV, whereas the ChroNPV genome contained three hrs featuring up to 14 repeats. Both genomes encoded three inhibitors of apoptosis (IAP-1, IAP-2, and IAP-3), as reported for CfMNPV, and the ChocNPV IAP-3 gene represented the most divergent functional region of this genome relative to CfMNPV. Two ORFs were unique to ChocNPV, and four were unique to ChroNPV. ChroNPV ORF chronpv38 is a eukaryotic initiation factor 5 (eIF-5) homolog that has also been identified in the C. occidentalis granulovirus (ChocGV) and is believed to be the product of horizontal gene transfer from the host. Based on levels of sequence identity and phylogenetic analysis, both ChocNPV and ChroNPV fall within group I alphabaculoviruses, where ChocNPV appears to be more closely related to CfMNPV than does ChroNPV. Our analyses suggest that it may be appropriate to consider ChocNPV and CfMNPV as variants of the same virus species.
Pre-Pregnancy Body Mass Index in Relation to Infant Birth Weight and Offspring Overweight/Obesity: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background Overweight/obesity in women of childbearing age is a serious public-health problem. In China, the incidence of maternal overweight/obesity has been increasing. However, there is not a meta-analysis to determine if pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) is related to infant birth weight (BW) and offspring overweight/obesity. Methods Three electronic bibliographic databases (MEDLINE, EMBASE and CINAHL) were searched systematically from January 1970 to November 2012. The dichotomous data on pre-pregnancy overweight/obesity and BW or offspring overweight/obesity were extracted. Summary statistics (odds ratios, ORs) were used by Review Manager, version 5.1. 7. Results After screening 665 citations from three electronic databases, we included 45 studies (most of high or medium quality). Compared with normal-weight mothers, pre-pregnancy underweight increased the risk of small for gestational age (SGA) (odds ratios [OR], 1.81; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.76–1.87); low BW (OR, 1.47; 95% CI, 1.27–1.71). Pre-pregnancy overweight/obesity increased the risk of being large for gestational age (LGA) (OR, 1.53; 95% CI, 1.44–1.63; and OR, 2.08; 95% CI; 1.95–2.23), high BW (OR, 1.53; 95% CI, 1.44–1.63; and OR, 2.00; 95% CI; 1.84–2.18), macrosomia (OR, 1.67; 95% CI, 1.42–1.97; and OR, 3.23; 95% CI, 2.39–4.37), and subsequent offspring overweight/obesity (OR, 1.95; 95% CI, 1.77–2.13; and OR, 3.06; 95% CI, 2.68–3.49), respectively. Sensitivity analyses revealed that sample size, study method, quality grade of study, source of pre-pregnancy BMI or BW had a strong impact on the association between pre-pregnancy obesity and LGA. No significant evidence of publication bias was observed. Conclusions Pre-pregnancy underweight increases the risk of SGA and LBW; pre-pregnancy overweight/obesity increases the risk of LGA, HBW, macrosomia, and subsequent offspring overweight/obesity. A potential effect modification by maternal age, ethnicity, gestational weight gain, as well as the role of gestational diseases should be addressed in future studies.