Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Bioaccumulation of persistent organic pollutants in lichen-caribou-wolf food chains of Canada's Central and Western Arctic.

While biomagnification of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in aquatic food chains is well documented, there have been few investigations of the trophodynamics of POPs in Arctic terrestrial food chains. This study presents field-collected concentration data and corresponding fugacities of various hydrophobic organic chemicals (ranging in octanol-water partition coefficients or K(OW) from approximately 10(3.8) to 10(9)) in two lichen species (Cladina rangiferina and Cetraria nivalis), willow leaves (Salix glauca), barren-ground caribou (Rangifer tarandus), and wolves (Canis lupus) from Canada's Central and Western Arctic region. The results show that, in contrast to aquatic food chains, persistent substances including beta-hexachlorocyclohexane and 1,2,4,5-tetrachlorobenzene with a K(OW) <10(5) can substantially biomagnify in lichen-caribou-wolf food chains in Canada's Central and Western Arctic. Strong positive correlations between the biomagnification factor and the octanol-air partition coefficients (K(OA)) of nonmetabolizable compounds were observed in wolves. In caribou, the biomagnification factors dropped slightly with increasing K(OA). K(OA) proved to be a better indicator of biomagnification than K(OW). Current management policies that consider only chemicals with K(OW) values >10(5) as bioaccumulative substances fail to identify substances that have the potential to biomagnify in Arctic terrestrial food chains despite a low K(OW) because of a high K(OA).
Interservice Physician Assistant Program: Educators for an Expanding Profession

Purpose The number of physician assistant (PA) programs has increased exponentially across the past decade, and the demand for PAs will likely remain strong through 2025. Because of this rapid growth, both new and established PA programs face significant challenges in recruiting experienced educators. We describe the value of using PAs trained through the Interservice Physician Assistant Program (IPAP) as civilian PA educators. Methods The literature on IPAP and its graduates proved too limited to conduct a formal systematic review. We searched the PubMed and Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) databases for works speaking to the value that IPAP-trained PAs may bring to civilian PA training. Those findings were supplemented with informal conversations with IPAP-trained PAs currently employed in the military and those working in civilian PA education. Themes were identified supporting the potential value of IPAP-trained PAs in civilian training. Results Military PAs work within hierarchical organizations and may transition easily to academic settings. They leave military service not only as highly trained and proficient primary care providers but also as experienced educators. Military PAs must demonstrate professionalism across their entire military careers. They serve as leaders and work in teams, but they are also experienced in negotiating up chains of command. They are trained in and apply the latest innovations in health care delivery and have provided care with a degree of autonomy uncommon in civilian PA practice. Conclusions The PAs trained through IPAP leave the service with skills and experiences valuable to civilian PA training. Employing these PAs in civilian education honors their service contributions while addressing emerging PA educator workforce demands.
The Hemodynamic Effects Analysis of the New CPR Technique-Electro Ventilation Double Pump CPR: Studies in the Computer Model

To study the hemodynamic effects during human cardiac arrest and compare the new cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) technique- electro ventilation double pump CPR (EDCPR) with standard CPR by building a computer model of human circulation. Developing a computer model of circulatory system; performing the effects of Standard CPR and EDCPR to the model respectively; comparing the computer simulating results. Enhanced external countpulsation (EECP) got the better hemodynamic effects than standard CPR And it was in accordance with the results of parallel animal experiments and the data published before. The developed model can successfully describe the effects of different CPR techniques to the circulation system during cardiac arrest.
Randomized Comparison of Renal Effects, Efficacy, and Safety With Once-Daily Abacavir/Lamivudine Versus Tenofovir/Emtricitabine, Administered With Efavirenz, in Antiretroviral-Naive, HIV-1–Infected Adults: 48-Week Results From the ASSERT Study

Background:Abacavir/lamivudine and tenofovir/emtricitabine fixed-dose combinations are commonly used first-line antiretroviral therapies, yet few studies have comprehensively compared their safety profiles. Methods:Forty-eight-week data are presented from this multicenter, randomized, open-label study comparing the safety profiles of abacavir/lamivudine and tenofovir/emtricitabine, both administered with efavirenz, in HLA-B*5701-negative HIV-1-infected adults. Results:Three hundred eighty-five subjects were enrolled in the study. The overall rate of withdrawal was high (28%). Changes in estimated glomerular filtration rate from baseline were similar between arms [difference 0.953 mL·min−1·1.73 m−2 (95% confidence interval: −1.445 to 3.351), P = 0.435]. Urinary excretion of retinol-binding protein and β-2 microglobulin increased significantly more in the tenofovir/emtricitabine arm (+50%; +24%) compared with the abacavir/lamivudine arm (no change; −47%) (P < 0.0001). A lower proportion achieved viral load <50 copies per milliliter in the abacavir/lamivudine arm (114 of 192, 59%) compared with the tenofovir/emtricitabine arm (137 of 193, 71%) [difference 11.6% (95% confidence interval: 2.2 to 21.1)]. The overall virological failure rate was low. The adverse event rate was similar between arms (except drug hypersensitivity, reported more in the abacavir/lamivudine arm). Conclusions:The study showed no difference in estimated glomerular filtration rate between the arms, however, increases in markers of tubular dysfunction were observed in the tenofovir/emtricitabine arm, the long-term consequence of which is unclear. A significant difference in efficacy favoring tenofovir/emtricitabine was observed.
RGB Color Cube-Based Histogram Specification for Hue-Preserving Color Image Enhancement

A large number of color image enhancement methods are based on the methods for grayscale image enhancement in which the main interest is contrast enhancement. However, since colors usually have three attributes, including hue, saturation and intensity of more than only one attribute of grayscale values, the naive application of the methods for grayscale images to color images often results in unsatisfactory consequences. Conventional hue-preserving color image enhancement methods utilize histogram equalization (HE) for enhancing the contrast. However, they cannot always enhance the saturation simultaneously. In this paper, we propose a histogram specification (HS) method for enhancing the saturation in hue-preserving color image enhancement. The proposed method computes the target histogram for HS on the basis of the geometry of RGB (rad, green and blue) color space, whose shape is a cube with a unit side length. Therefore, the proposed method includes no parameters to be set by users. Experimental results show that the proposed method achieves higher color saturation than recent parameter-free methods for hue-preserving color image enhancement. As a result, the proposed method can be used for an alternative method of HE in hue-preserving color image enhancement.
Religious Identity among Christian Korean-American Adolescents

This exploratory study examined religious identity among Christian Korean-American adolescents. Marcia's 1966 model of identity formation, which conceptualizes identity along dimensions of exploration and commitment, provided the framework for the current study. 49 participants, between the ages of 14 and 19 years, completed the Duke Religion Index, the religion items from the Extended Objective Measure of Ego Identity Status, the Pan-denominational Measure of Personal Devotion and Personal Conservatism, and six questions assessing perceived parental involvement. Analysis indicated that high scores on Organizational and Intrinsic Religiosity were positively correlated with the commitment statuses of Achievement and Foreclosure and negatively correlated with the noncommitment statuses of Moratorium and Diffusion. Also high scores on perceived parental involvement were positively correlated with the nonexploration status of Foreclosure and negatively correlated with the exploration status of Moratorium. Overall, the study provided a general portrait and initial examination of the formation of religious identity in a sample of Christian Korean-American adolescents.
Protein Kinase A-Dependent Stimulation of Exocytosis in Mouse Pancreatic β-Cells by Glucose-Dependent Insulinotropic Polypeptide

The mechanisms by which glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) stimulates insulin secretion were investigated by measurements of whole-cell Ca2+ currents, the cytoplasmic Ca2+ concentration, and cell capacitance as an indicator of exocytosis in individual mouse pancreatic β-cells maintained in short-term culture. GIP produced a 4.2-fold potentiation of depolarization-induced exocytosis. This stimulation of exocytosis was not associated with a change in the whole-cell Ca2+-current, and there was only a small increase (30%) in the cytoplasmic Ca2+ concentration [intercellular free Ca2+([Ca2+]i)]. The stimulatory effect of GIP on exocytosis was blocked by pretreatment with the specific protein kinase A (PKA) inhibitor Rp-8-BrcAMPS. Glucagon-like peptide-I(7–36) amide (GLP-I) stimulated exocytosis (90%) in the presence of a maximal GIP concentration (100 nmol/1). Replacement of GLP-I with forskolin produced a similar stimulatory action on exocytosis. These effects of GLP-I and forskolin in the presence of GIP did not involve a change in the whole-cell Ca2+-current or [Ca2+]i. GIP was ineffective in the presence of both forskolin and the phosphodiesterase inhibitor isobutylmethylxanthine (IBMX). Under the same experimental conditions, the protein kinase C (PKC)-activating phorbol ester 4-phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) stimulated exocytosis (60%). Collectively, our data indicate that the insulinotropic hormone GIP stimulates insulin secretion from pancreatic β-cells, through the cAMP/PKA signaling pathway, by interacting with the secretory machinery at a level distal to an elevation in [Ca2+]i.
Optimization of transmitter magnetic structures for roadway applications

This paper investigates alternative designs to the magnetic coupling structures used in electric vehicle (EV) charging applications without ferrite cores for roadway applications. High permeable materials like ferrite enhances the power transfer capabilities in magnetic coupling structures whilst minimize the leakage flux. Nevertheless, in roadway applications, the use of magnetic coupling structures with ferrite cores has low cost-effectiveness due to high number of structures required for a effective EV charging system. The alternative models designs were created in a 3D Finite Element Method (FEM) software to investigate its viability. Experimental tests were done to validate and assess the simulated models.
Managing mechanism for service compatibility and interaction issues in context-aware ubiquitous home

In this article, the intelligent home care system based on context-awareness consists of a sensor platform, a context-aware framework and an intelligent agent, where a sensor platform collects raw data and sends them to a context-aware framework, where perceives residents' and a home's context. An intelligent agent triggers intelligent and automatic services according to the information based on situation of the context-aware framework. We design and implement an intelligent home care system based on the context-awareness technology, which minimizes residents' interventions and maximizes functional autonomy of systems. Also we suggest system architecture and its flows for the proposed system. In this article we discuss interaction issue about conflict and interference between various context information and service in the ubiquitous home environment. Context information conflict arises in deciding service through various sensing information. Service interaction generated when service is applied in different controls at the same time for the same device. We focused on context-aware based service mechanism.
Transcriptome profile of lung dendritic cells after in vitro porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) infection

The porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) is an infectious disease that leads to high financial and production losses in the global swine industry. The pathogenesis of this disease is dependent on a multitude of factors, and its control remains problematic. The immune system generally defends against infectious diseases, especially dendritic cells (DCs), which play a crucial role in the activation of the immune response after viral infections. However, the understanding of the immune response and the genetic impact on the immune response to PRRS virus (PRRSV) remains incomplete. In light of this, we investigated the regulation of the host immune response to PRRSV in porcine lung DCs using RNA-sequencing (RNA-Seq). Lung DCs from two different pig breeds (Pietrain and Duroc) were collected before (0 hours) and during various periods of infection (3, 6, 9, 12, and 24 hours post infection (hpi)). RNA-Seq analysis revealed a total of 20,396 predicted porcine genes, which included breed-specific differentially expressed immune genes. Pietrain and Duroc infected lung DCs showed opposite gene expression courses during the first time points post infection. Duroc lung DCs reacted more strongly and distinctly than Pietrain lung DCs during these periods (3, 6, 9, 12 hpi). Additionally, cluster analysis revealed time-dependent co-expressed groups of genes that were involved in immune-relevant pathways. Key clusters and pathways were identified, which help to explain the biological and functional background of lung DCs post PRRSV infection and suggest IL-1β1 as an important candidate gene. RNA-Seq was also used to characterize the viral replication of PRRSV for each breed. PRRSV was able to infect and to replicate differently in lung DCs between the two mentioned breeds. These results could be useful in investigations on immunity traits in pig breeding and enhancing the health of pigs.
Bone lymphoma: 67Ga scintigraphy and CT for prediction of outcome after treatment.

UNLABELLED The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the role of 67Ga scintigraphy and CT in treatment monitoring of bone lymphoma. METHODS Forty-four lymphoma patients with 91 sites of bone involvement were evaluated. Eight patients had Hodgkin's disease, and 36 patients had non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Thirteen patients had primary lymphoma of the bone, and 31 patients had secondary lymphoma of the skeleton. 67Ga and CT studies were performed at baseline, during and at the end of treatment, and during follow-up. Positive 67Ga studies showed abnormal uptake in sites of lymphomatous involvement. Positive CT studies showed lesions with patterns of osteolysis, patterns of osteosclerosis, or a mixed pattern. A negative 67Ga or CT study showed disappearance of all lymphoma-related abnormalities. The sensitivity and specificity of 67Ga scintigraphy at presentation were calculated. Patterns of bone lymphoma on CT and their treatment-related changes were analyzed and recorded. Freedom-from-progression (FFP) curves were used to determine the prognostic value of positive and negative 67Ga and CT findings for predicting outcome after treatment. RESULTS The sensitivity of 67Ga for diagnosis of bone lymphoma was 93%, and the specificity was 91%. A CT pattern of osteolysis was seen in 70% of skeletal disease sites at diagnosis and in 21% during follow-up. Osteosclerosis was present in 23% of sites at diagnosis and in 38% during follow-up. 67Ga findings became negative in 25% of patients during treatment, whereas only 1 patient showed negative CT findings. Forty-two percent of patients had negative 67Ga findings at the end of treatment, compared with 18% who had negative CT findings. Sixty-one percent of patients had negative 67Ga findings during follow-up, compared with 21% who had negative CT findings. A statistically significant difference in FFP was found between patients with positive and negative 67Ga findings at all evaluated time points. No statistically significant difference in FFP was found at any time point between patients with positive and negative CT findings. CONCLUSION 67Ga scintigraphy has a high sensitivity and specificity for diagnosis of bone lymphoma. Bone lymphoma may show osteosclerotic and osteolytic CT patterns at diagnosis, during treatment, and after treatment. In most patients, CT studies do not become negative even 1 y after treatment. 67Ga scintigraphy, however, may be used as a predictor of long-term outcome in patients with lymphoma of the skeleton.
H.264 video transmission oveR 2×2 OFDM-MIMO

Higher capacity is achieved by using multichannel transmission technology. In this paper, we investigate the performance of H.264 standard over a 2 × 2 MIMO channel. With the use of data partitioning in H.264, it is possible to allocate the information, in an optimal way, through multiple channels with different SNR values. The results of our proposed MIMO communication show an improvement of 0.85dB by using a data-partitioning over a SISO case.
Statistical Deviations in Shoreline Detection Obtained with Direct and Remote Observations

Remote video imagery is widely used for shoreline detection, which plays a fundamental role in geomorphological studies and in risk assessment, but, up to now, few measurements of accuracy have been undertaken. In this paper, the comparison of video-based and GPS-derived shoreline measurements was performed on a sandy micro-tidal beach located in Italy (central Tyrrhenian Sea). The GPS survey was performed using a single frequency, code, and carrier phase receiver as a rover. Raw measurements have been post-processed by using a carrier-based positioning algorithm. The comparison between video camera and DGPS coastline has been carried out on the whole beach, measuring the error as the deviation from the DGPS line computed along the normal to the DGPS itself. The deviations between the two dataset were examined in order to establish possible spatial dependence on video camera point of view and on beach slope in the intertidal zone. The results revealed that, generally, the error increased with the distance from the acquisition system and with the wash up length (inversely proportional to the beach slope).
Gas Chromatographic Determination of Quinolizidine Alkaloids in Genista sandrasica and Their Antimicrobial Activity

Alkaloid profile of the aerial parts of Genista sandrasica Hartvig & Strid. (Fabaceae) growing in Turkey was studied by capillary gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Ten quinolizidine alkaloids were identified in the alkaloid extract of G. sandrasica. The main alkaloids were: sparteine (13.68%), Nacetylcytisine (6.48%), 13-methoxylupanine (13.12%), anagyrine (40.49%) and baptifoline (10.76%). In addition, antibacterial and antifungal activities of the alkaloid extract of G. sandrasica were tested against standard strains of the bacteria (Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus) as well as the fungi (Candida albicans and Candida krusei). The alkaloid extract of G. sandrasica showed significant activity against B. subtilis and S. aureus with minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) of 31.25 and 62.5 μg/mL.
Negative Correlation between Cytoglobin Expression and Intracellular ROS Levels in Human Skin Keloid Fibroblasts

BACKGROUND: In our previous study, we found higher cytoglobin (Cygb) expression in keloid than normal tissue. Cytoglobin is a new globin family protein which function is still being studied to date. The purpose of this research is to elucidate the function of Cygb in human skin keloid fibroblasts (KFs), especially its role in intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels.METHODS: The study was conducted on human skin KFs obtained from primary culture. Inhibition of Cygb expression was achieved by using siRNA targeting Cygb. We compared the relative expression of Cygb between treatment and control group, and its effect on intracellular ROS levels. Gene expression was measured using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) while the ROS level counted by dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate (DCFHDA) assay.RESULTS: There was an increase in intracellular ROS levels in the small interfering RNA (siRNA) (+) Cygb group compared to control group (1.673 vs. 1.260; 1.773 vs. 1.393; 1.710 vs. 1.360; respectively). There is a negative correlation between Cygb expression and ROS level (p<0.05; r=-0.651). CONCLUSION: There is a negative correlation between Cygb expression and intracellular ROS levels, we suggest Cygb acts as a ROS scavenger in human skin KFs.KEYWORDS: skin keloid fibroblasts, cytoglobin, siRNA, ROS
Hierarchical cell type classiﬁcation using mass, heterogeneous RNA-seq data from human primary cells

Gene expression-based classiﬁcation of a biological sample’s cell type is an important step in many transcriptomic analyses, including that of annotating cell types in single-cell RNA-seq datasets. In this work, we explore the novel application of hierarchical classiﬁcation algorithms that take into account the graph structure of the Cell Ontology to this task. We train these algorithms on a novel curated dataset comprising nearly all human public, primary bulk samples in the NCBI’s Sequence Read Archive. These algorithms improve on state-of-the-art methods and produce accurate cell type predictions on both bulk and single-cell data across diverse and ﬁne-grained cell types.
Serum proteomics of hepatitis C virus infection reveals retinol-binding protein 4 as a novel regulator.

Persistent infection of hepatitis C virus (HCV) can lead to liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma, which are currently diagnosed by invasive liver biopsy. Approximately 15-20 % of cases of chronic liver diseases in India are caused by HCV infection. In North India, genotype 3 is predominant, whereas genotype 1 is predominant in southern parts of India. The aim of this study was to identify differentially regulated serum proteins in HCV-infected Indian patients (genotypes 1 and 3) using a two-dimensional electrophoresis approach. We identified eight differentially expressed proteins by MS. Expression levels of one of the highly upregulated proteins, retinol-binding protein 4 (RBP4), was validated by ELISA and Western blotting in two independent cohorts. We also confirmed our observation in the JFH1 infectious cell culture system. Interestingly, the HCV core protein enhanced RBP4 levels and partial knockdown of RBP4 had a positive impact on HCV replication, suggesting a possible role for this cellular protein in regulating HCV infection. Analysis of RBP4-interacting partners using a bioinformatic approach revealed novel insights into the possible involvement of RBP4 in HCV-induced pathogenesis. Taken together, this study provided information on the proteome profile of the HCV-infected Indian population, and revealed a link between HCV infection, RBP4 and insulin resistance.
Polarity Contrast for the Detection of Verbal Irony

In this paper, we propose two metrics capable of modeling forms of polarity contrast: polarity divergence and polarity dimorphism. To explore their potential usefulness to the detection of verbal irony and sentiment polarity, we performed an exploratory text analysis on a corpus of figurative tweets annotated by sentiment. The results of a text analysis show that, employing two different types of valenced lexicon, we can improve performance in polarity classification.