Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Differential Regulation of Receptor Activation and Agonist Selectivity by Highly Conserved Tryptophans in the Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor Binding Site

We have shown previously that a highly conserved Tyr in the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) ligand-binding domain (LBD) (α7 Tyr188 or α4 Tyr195) differentially regulates the activity of acetylcholine (ACh) and the α7-selective agonist 3-(4-hydroxy,2-methoxybenzylidene)anabaseine (4OH-GTS-21) in α4β2 and α7 nAChR. In this study, we mutated two highly conserved LBD Trp residues in human α7 and α4β2 and expressed the receptors in Xenopus laevis oocytes. α7 Receptors with Trp55 mutated to Gly or Tyr became less responsive to 4OH-GTS-21, whereas mutation of the homologous Trp57 in β2 to Gly, Tyr, Phe, or Ala resulted in α4β2 receptors that showed increased responses to 4OH-GTS-21. Mutation of α7 Trp55 to Val resulted in receptors for which the partial agonist 4OH-GTS-21 became equally efficacious as ACh, whereas α4β2 receptors with the homologous mutation remained nonresponsive to 4OH-GTS-21. In contrast to the striking alterations in agonist activity profiles that were observed with mutations of α7 Trp55 and β2 Trp57, mutations of α7 Trp149 or α4 Trp154 universally resulted in receptors with reduced function. Our data support the hypothesis that some conserved residues in the nAChR LBD differentially regulate receptor activation by subtype-selective agonists, whereas other equally well conserved residues play fundamental roles in receptor activation by any agonist. Residues like α7 Trp149 (α4 Trp154) may be considered pillars upon which basic receptor function depends, whereas α7 Trp55 (β2 Trp57) and α7 Tyr188 (α4 Tyr195) may be fulcra upon which agonists may operate differentially in specific receptor subtypes, consistent with the hypothesis that ACh and 4OH-GTS-21 are able to activate nAChR in distinct ways.
Altered Hippocampal Lipid Profile Following Acute Postnatal Exposure to Di(2-Ethylhexyl) Phthalate in Rats

Slight changes in the abundance of certain lipid species in the brain may drastically alter normal neurodevelopment via membrane stability, cell signalling, and cell survival. Previous findings have demonstrated that postnatal exposure to di (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) disrupts normal axonal and neural development in the hippocampus. The goal of the current study was to determine whether postnatal exposure to DEHP alters the lipid profile in the hippocampus during postnatal development. Systemic treatment with 10 mg/kg DEHP during postnatal development led to elevated levels of phosphatidylcholine and sphingomyelin in the hippocampus of female rats. There was no effect of DEHP exposure on the overall abundance of phosphatidylcholine or sphingomyelin in male rats or of lysophosphatidylcholine in male or female rats. Individual analyses of each identified lipid species revealed 10 phosphatidylcholine and six sphingomyelin lipids in DEHP-treated females and a single lysophosphatidylcholine in DEHP-treated males with a two-fold or higher increase in relative abundance. Our results are congruent with previous work that found that postnatal exposure to DEHP had a near-selective detrimental effect on hippocampal development in males but not females. Together, results suggest a neuroprotective effect of these elevated lipid species in females.
Vascular endothelial growth factor is an important determinant of sepsis morbidity and mortality

Sepsis, the systemic inflammatory response to infection, is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality. The mechanisms of sepsis pathophysiology remain obscure but are likely to involve a complex interplay between mediators of the inflammatory and coagulation pathways. An improved understanding of these mechanisms should provide an important foundation for developing novel therapies. In this study, we show that sepsis is associated with a time-dependent increase in circulating levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and placental growth factor (PlGF) in animal and human models of sepsis. Adenovirus-mediated overexpression of soluble Flt-1 (sFlt-1) in a mouse model of endotoxemia attenuated the rise in VEGF and PlGF levels and blocked the effect of endotoxemia on cardiac function, vascular permeability, and mortality. Similarly, in a cecal ligation puncture (CLP) model, adenovirus-sFlt-1 protected against cardiac dysfunction and mortality. When administered in a therapeutic regimen beginning 1 h after the onset of endotoxemia or CLP, sFlt peptide resulted in marked improvement in cardiac physiology and survival. Systemic administration of antibodies against the transmembrane receptor Flk-1 but not Flt-1 protected against sepsis mortality. Adenovirus-mediated overexpression of VEGF but not PlGF exacerbated the lipopolysaccharide-mediated toxic effects. Together, these data support a pathophysiological role for VEGF in mediating the sepsis phenotype.
Coach pressure and disordered eating in female collegiate athletes : is the coach-athlete relationship a mediating variable?

When athletes “uncritically accept” the coaching expectations associated with their sport, negative health consequences (e.g., disordered eating behaviors, clinical eating disorders) may result. The coach’s influence on disordered eating behaviors may be a product of factors related to overconformity to the sport ethic, issues with coach communication regarding recommendations for weight management, and the strength of the coach-athlete relationship. The present study investigated perceived weight-related coach pressure, the coach-athlete relationship, and disordered eating behaviors by surveying 248 female varsity athletes and dancers from four universities. Mediational analysis revealed that the coach-athlete relationship was a partial mediating variable between perceived coach pressures and disordered eating behaviors. Subsequently, strong relationships between coaches and their athletes may reduce the negative impact of perceived weight-related coach pressure on the development or exacerbation of diso.
Rv2629 Overexpression Delays Mycobacterium smegmatis and Mycobacteria tuberculosis Entry into Log-Phase and Increases Pathogenicity of Mycobacterium smegmatis in Mice

Objective: The aim of the present study was to explore the potential biological role of Rv2629 in Mycobacterium smegmatis and Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Methods: Recombinant wild type and mutant Rv2629 strains were constructed. Rv2629 expression was evaluated by real-time PCR and western blot. Microarray and interaction network analyses were used to identify the gene interactions associated with wild type and mutant Rv2629. Bacterial growth was assessed in Balb/c mice infected with wild type and mutant Rv2629 strains using CFU assay and histological analysis of the organs. Results: Overexpression of Rv2629 could delay the entry of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis cells into the log-phase, while Rv2629 decreased the number of ribosomes and the expression of uridylate kinase in Mycobacterium smegmatis. The Gene Ontology (GO) and pathway analysis indicated that 122 genes correlated with wild type Rv2629, whereas the Rv2629 mutation led to decrease in the ribosome production, oxidative phosphorylation, and virulence in Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Overexpression of Rv2629 slightly enhanced the drug resistance of Mycobacterium smegmatis to antibiotics, and increased its survival and pathogenicity in Balb/c mice. Conclusion: It is suggested that Rv2629 is involved in the survival of the clinical drug-resistant strain via bacterial growth repression and bacterial persistence induction.
Opinion evolution of a social group with extreme opinion leaders

Opinion dynamics is a collective decision making and focuses on the study of evolution and formation of opinions in a social group. Bounded confidence rule is one of intrinsical interaction principles in the human behavior dynamics. When there is no opinion leader in a social group, for a bounded confidence based opinion dynamics, the evolution of the collective opinion of the group generally depends on the initial opinions, the confidence levels, and the group size. In this paper, a new opinion dynamics model is built, on the basis of the bounded confidence rule, to consider the opinion formation in a community with extreme opinion leaders. The leaders are divided into two classes: positive leaders and negative leaders. All the agents are assumed to have heterogeneous confidence levels. Then the impacts of the opinion leaders on the final opinions of the social agents are analyzed for different trust degree and bounded confidence levels. Finally, some computer simulation results are presented to demonstrate the formation of the collective opinion.
Village in Vietnam

tory of the Movement, 1917-1963. New York: Free Press of Glencoe, 1964, 247 pp., $5.95. Treats of the appeal of Communist ideology, the traditional and the current role played by the various Latin American parties in the international Communist movement, the role of the Soviet Union in Latin American affairs, and an assessment of Communism’s future in the area. Discusses the impact of Communist China, Castro’s Cuba, and the Sino-Soviet split on the long-time subservience of Latin American Communists to Moscow.
Antibacterial activity of honey and medicinal plant extracts against Gram negative microorganisms

There has been a steady rise in antibiotic resistance of bacteria and this urgently calls for the discovery of alternative therapeutic agents. Honey possesses therapeutic potentials which includes antimicrobial activity. Although the antimicrobial activity of honey has been effectively established against an extensive spectrum of microorganisms, it differs depending on the type of honey. To date, not much extensive studies of the antibacterial properties of South African honeys on enteric microorganisms have been conducted. The objective of this study was to compare the antibacterial activity of extracts of six different honeys with those of medical plants commonly used in South Africa. Using a broth dilution method, the antibacterial activity extracts of six South African honeys and medicinal plants against six enteric microorganisms viz- Enterobacter cloacae, Escheriachia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Citrobacter freundii isolated from geophagia samples and Aeromonas hydrophila and plesiomonas isolated both from stool and water samples using agar well diffusion method was done. Different concentrations of honey and plant extracts were tested against each type of microorganism. Briefly, two-fold dilutions of honey solutions were tested to determine the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) against each type of microorganism. Extracts from both South African honeys and medicinal plants showed zones of inhibition that ranged from 6.94 to 37.94 mm. The most susceptible bacteria were Escheriachia coli, Aeromonas hydrophila and Plesiomonas shigelloides . MIC and MBC values of extracts were found in the range of 0.625 to 5.000 mg/ml. Extracts of honey showed good antibacterial activity against most organisms than the standard antibiotics such as Ampicillin and Gentamycin. Honey extracts showed antibacterial activity against most microorganisms which were showing some degree of resistance to commercial antibiotics. Extracts from South African honeys and medicinal plants exhibited variable activities against different microorganisms. This result suggests that the honeys could potentially be used as an alternative therapeutic agent against certain microorganisms. Keywords: Agar well diffusion assay, honey, minimum inhibitory concentration, minimum bactericidal concentration African Journal of Biotechnology , Vol. 13(4), pp. 616-625, 22 January, 2014
Sleep Quality in Medical Students; the Impact of Over-Use of Mobile CellPhone and Social Networks

Background: Poor sleep quality is closely associated with lifestyle habits including use of mobile cell-phones. This study aimed to identify the relationship between sleep quality due to abuse in mobile cell-phones and engagement in social networks. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 380 undergraduate students selected by proportional stratified sampling in Qom, Iran in 2015. Data were collected by two statndard questionnaire including Cell-Phone Over-Use Scale (COS) and Pittsburgh sleep quality questionnaire beside the status of usage in cell-phone social networks. T-test, chi-square, Pearson correlation coefficient and multivariate logistic regression were used in data analysis. Results: The mean age of participants was 21.8 ±3.2 yr, 69.1% were female, and 11.7% were married. The mean of COS and sleep quality scores were 48.18 ±17.5 and 5.38 ±2.31, respectively. The prevalence of over-use of cell phone was 10.7% (CI 0.95; 8.8%, 12.6%) and the prevalence of poor sleep quality was 61.7% (CI 0.95; 57.1%, 66.3%). The mean of all aspects and total score of sleep quality showed a direct significant association by cell-phone addiction score except sleep duration score that was inversely. Based on multivariate analysis affected to cell-phone addiction, being male gender and studying in general physician level are the most important predictors of poor sleep quality. Conclusions: Over use of internet and social networks via smart phones is related to poor sleep quality and quantity. Predefined sport programs, educational, cultural, and interesting entertainment are the essential needs for all medical students. These interventions are more important especially for male students who have longer educational.
Cohabitation: An Alternative Form of Family Living

PREFACE 1. Introduction 2. Theoretical Perspectives 3. Data Sources 4. Cohabitation Trends since the 1980s 5. Changing Attitudes Towards Union Relationships 6. The Transition to Cohabitation 7. Childbearing in Cohabitational Relationships 8. The Transition Out of Cohabitation 9. Consequences of Cohabitation 10. The Future of Cohabitation APPENDIX: CENSUS QUESTIONS ON COHABITATION NOTES REFERENCES INDEX
Day-to-Day Travel-Time Trends and Travel-Time Prediction from Loop-Detector Data

An approach is presented for estimating future travel times on a freeway using flow and occupancy data from single-loop detectors and historical travel-time information. Linear regression, with the stepwise-variable-selection method and more advanced tree-based methods, is used. The analysis considers forecasts ranging from a few minutes into the future up to an hour ahead. Leave-a-day-out cross-validation was used to evaluate the prediction errors without underestimation. The current traffic state proved to be a good predictor for the near future, up to 20 min, whereas historical data are more informative for longer-range predictions. Tree-based methods and linear regression both performed satisfactorily, showing slightly different qualitative behaviors for each condition examined in this analysis. Unlike preceding works that rely on simulation, real traffic data were used. Although the current implementation uses measured travel times from probe vehicles, the ultimate goal is an autonomous system that relies strictly on detector data. In the course of presenting the prediction system, the manner in which travel times change from day to day was examined, and several metrics to quantify these changes were developed. The metrics can be used as input for travel-time prediction, but they also should be beneficial for other applications, such as calibrating traffic models and planning models.
New Convergence and Performance Measures for Blind Source Separation Algorithms

Neural learning algorithms developed for blind separation of mixed source signals give rise to a Global Separating-Mixing (GSM) matrix that can be used to measure the performance of the unmixing system. In the case of the instantaneous linear noiseless mixing model, we consider the GSM as a transformation operator and show that it is equivalent to a combined stretching and rotation in the signal space. The extent of rotation is obtained using a polar decomposition method and can be taken as a measure of convergence to the problem solution. We also propose a new performance index (E3) that can be used to measure the performance of algorithms used in blind separation problems. The index E3 is more precise than the commonly used E1 and E2 indices and is normalized to the interval {0,1}. Experimentations using artificially generated supergaussian Laplacian signals have been performed using a fast ICA algorithm and considering a wide range of the number of mixed sources. Using the proposed E3 measure, we present experimental results on the dependence of algorithm performance on the number of mixed signals.
Cholinesterase Enzymes Inhibitors from the Leaves of Rauvolfia Reflexa and Their Molecular Docking Study

Plants of the Apocynaceae family have been traditionally used in the treatment of age-related brain disorders. Rauvolfia reflexa, a member of the family, has been used as an antidote for poisons and to treat malaria. The dichloromethane, ethanol and methanol extracts from the leaves of Rauvolfia reflexa showed potential acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) inhibitory activities, with IC50 values in the 8.49 to 52.23 g/mL range. Further cholinesterase inhibitory-guided isolation of these extracts afforded four bioactive compounds, namely: (E)-3-(3,4,5-trimethoxyphenyl)acrylic acid (1), (E)-methyl 3-(4-hydroxy-3,5-dimethoxyphenyl) acrylate (2), 17-methoxycarbonyl-14-heptadecaenyl-4-hydroxy-3-methoxycinnamate (3) and 1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-1-oxo-β-carboline (4). The isolated compounds showed moderate cholinesterase inhibitory activity compared to the reference standard, physostigmine. Compounds 1 and 2 showed the highest inhibitory activity against AChE (IC50 = 60.17 µM) and BChE (IC50 = 61.72 µM), respectively. Despite having similar molecular weight, compounds 1 and 2 were structurally different according to their chemical substitution patterns, leading to their different enzyme inhibition selectivity. Compound 2 was more selective against BChE, whereas compound 1 was a selective inhibitor of AChE. Molecular docking revealed that both compounds 1 and 2 were inserted, but not deeply into the active site of the cholinesterase enzymes.
Are Extracted Materials Truly Representative of Original Samples? Impact of C18 Extraction on CDOM Optical and Chemical Properties

Some properties of dissolved organic matter (DOM) and chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM) can be easily measured directly on whole waters, while others require sample concentration and removal of natural salts. To increase CDOM content and eliminate salts, solid phase extraction (SPE) is often employed. Biases following extraction and elution are inevitable, thus raising the question of how truly representative the extracted material is of the original. In this context, we investigated the wavelength dependence of extraction efficiency for C18 cartridges with respect to CDOM optical properties using samples obtained from the Middle Atlantic Bight (MAB) and the Equatorial Atlantic Ocean (EAO). Further, we compared the optical changes of C18 extracts and the corresponding whole water following chemical reduction with sodium borohydride (NaBH4). C18 cartridges preferentially extracted long-wavelength absorbing/emitting material for samples impacted by riverine input. Extraction efficiency overall decreased with offshore distance away from riverine input. Spectral slopes of C18-OM samples were also almost always lower than those of their corresponding CDOM samples supporting the preferential extraction of higher molecular weight absorbing material. The wavelength dependence of the optical properties (absorption, fluorescence emission, and quantum yield) of the original water samples and their corresponding extracted material were very similar. C18 extracts and corresponding water samples further exhibited comparable optical changes following NaBH4 reduction, thus suggesting a similarity in nature (structure) of the optically active extracted material, independent of geographical locale. Altogether, these data suggested a strong similarity between C18 extracts and corresponding whole waters, thus indicating that extracts are representative of the CDOM content of original waters.
Spontaneous Speech Effects In Large Vocabulary Speech Recognition Applications

We describe three analyses on the effects of spontaneous speech on continuous speech recognition performance. We have found that: (1) spontaneous speech effects significantly degrade recognition performance, (2) fluent spontaneous speech yields word accuracies equivalent to read speech, and (3) using spontaneous speech training data can significantly improve performance for recognizing spontaneous speech. We conclude that word accuracy can be improved by explicitly modeling spontaneous effects in the recognizer, and by using as much spontaneous speech training data as possible. Inclusion of read speech training data, even within the task domain, does not significantly improve performance.
Human papillomavirus and skin tags: is there any association?

BACKGROUND Low-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) infections are related to the genesis of various benign lesions. In an isolated report available, HPVs have been implicated in the causation of skin tags too. AIMS The present study was designed to detect the existence of low-risk HPV types 6 and 11 in cutaneous soft fibromas (skin tag) in north Indians. METHODS A total of 37 cases of skin tags from various sites were analyzed. Highly sensitive and comprehensive polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) assays were done for the detection of low-risk HPV types 6 and 11. RESULTS The results revealed the presence of HPV DNA 6/11 in 48.6% of the skin tags examined by PCR-RFLP. CONCLUSION This result corroborates the hypothesis that HPV plays a part in the etiology of benign lesions like cutaneous soft fibromas. The identification of HPV 6/11 in these lesions, which are benign proliferations of the skin, further expands the spectrum of HPV-linked lesions.
Gradient-Type Algorithms for Partial Singular Value Decomposition

It is often desirable to calculate only a few terms of the SVD expansion of a matrix, corresponding to the largest or smallest singular values. Two algorithms, based on gradient and conjugate gradient search, are proposed for this purpose. SVD is computed term by term in a decreasing or increasing order of singular values. The algorithms are simple to implement and are especially advantageous with large matrices.
A Novel Objective Function and Algorithm for Optimal PSS Parameter Design in a Multi-Machine Power System

This paper proposes a novel objective function and algorithm to obtain a set of optimal power system stabilizer (PSS) parameters that include a feedback signal of a remote machine and local and remote input signal ratios for each machine in a multi-machine power system under various operating conditions. A novel function called the damping scale is proposed and formulated as an objective function to increase system damping after the system undergoes a disturbance. Three existing objective functions of the damping factor, damping ratio, and a combination of the damping factor and damping ratio were analyzed and compared with the proposed objective function. A novel algorithm called gradual self-tuning hybrid differential evolution (GSTHDE) was developed for rapid and efficient searching of an optimal set of PSS parameters. GSTHDE uses the gradual search concept on STHDE to enhance the probability of searching for an optimal solution. Eigenvalue analysis and nonlinear time domain simulation results demonstrated the effectiveness of the proposed objective function and algorithm.