Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of Parathyroidectomy on Cardiac Fibrosis and Apoptosis: Possible Role of Aldosterone

Background/Aim: It has been demonstrated that parathyroidectomy prevents left ventricular hypertrophy in uremic animals. Although this effect may be mediated by direct actions of parathormone (PTH), it may also be exerted through regulation of profibrotic factors such as aldosterone. In adrenal cortex cell cultures, PTH increases aldosterone release. The objective of this work is to assess the effect of parathyroidectomy on aldosterone levels and on cardiac fibrosis and apoptosis in uremic rats. Methods: Four groups of rats were studied: C, control; 5/6Nx, 5/6 nephrectomy; PTx, parathyroidectomy, and 5/6NxPTx, 5/6 nephrectomy plus parathyroidectomy. Thirty days after the last surgical procedure the animals were sacrificed. Serum creatinine, ionized calcium, aldosterone, PTH, cardiac weight, fibrosis and apoptosis were measured. Results: Serum creatinine levels were significantly higher in 5/6Nx and 5/6NxPTx groups (1.62 ± 0.21 and 1.38 ± 0.15 mg/dl) than in C and PTx groups (0.66 ± 0.02 and 0.47 ± 0.01 mg/dl, p < 0.001). Potassium levels were significantly higher in the 5/6Nx and 5/6NxPTx groups (5.2 ± 0.3 and 5.4 ± 0.3 mg/dl) than in the C group (4.3 ± 0.06 mg/dl, p < 0.05). Values in 5/6Nx and 5/6NxPTx groups were not significantly different from each other. PTH levels were significantly higher in the 5/6Nx group (470.5 ± 156.3 µg/ml) than in the controls (102.3 ± 14.3 µg/ml). PTH levels in the PTx group (1.78 ± 0.52 µg/ml) and in the 5/6NxPTx group (81.64 ± 32.15 µg/ml) were similar to control values. Ionized calcium was lower in PTx and 5/6NxPTx groups (0.80 ± 0.07 and 0.89 ± 0.07 mmol/l) as compared with C and 5/6Nx groups (1.14 ± 0.01 and 0.96 ± 0.01 mmol/ l, p < 0.01). The heart weight as percentage of the body weight increased significantly in 5/6Nx animals (4.20 ± 0.15%) compared to the C group (3.41 ± 0.27%, p < 0.05); parathyroidectomy reversed the heart weight increment in the 5/6NxPTx animals (3.58 ± 0.16%). Myocardial fibrosis was significantly higher in the 5/6Nx group (12.5 ± 1.1%) than in the C group (7.3 ± 1.5%, p < 0.001); in the 5/6NxPTx animals fibrosis returned towards control values (8.9 ± 0.2%). Myocardial apoptosis rose significantly in 5/6Nx animals (24.3 ± 1.2%) compared to the C group (6.7 ± 0.83%, p < 0.001); parathyroidectomy reversed the apoptosis in the 5/6NxPTx animals (10.4 ± 0.49%). Aldosterone levels increased significantly in the 5/6Nx group (2,461 ± 257 pg/ml) compared to the C group (703 ± 81 pg/ml, p < 0.001); in the 5/6NxPTx animals aldosterone levels were below control values (509 ± 99 pg/ml). Conclusions: Uremia was associated to myocardial hypertrophy, fibrosis and apoptosis. Surgically induced hypoparathyroidism prevented the development of these disorders. Our results suggest that in the remnant kidney rat model myocardial hypertrophy, fibrosis, and apoptosis are mediated by high circulating aldosterone levels. Aldosterone, in turn, may be regulated by PTH.
Generalized Least Squares With Ignored Errors in Variables

We present data, both real and simulated, that show generalized least squares (GLS) estimation, intended to account for correlated response error structure, can produce gross biasing in regression parameter estimates under misspecified models with ignored errors in explanatory-variable measurements. The bias, and its subsequent effect on mean squared error (MSE), can be much more severe than the apparently less appropriate ordinary least squares (OLS) estimator. This article provides a theoretical basis for these effects by deriving expressions for the bias and MSE for the general GLS estimator through Taylor-series expansions. The results are compared with simulations for two specific weight matrices and applied to a dataset relating atmospheric pollutant levels in Los Angeles with average recorded wind speed. We show that the bias (with subsequent implications for the MSE) is always worse for the exponential correlation model with equally spaced explanatory-variable observations and present a simple test to decide a preference for OLS or GLS in practice.
Data-Driven Decisions in Service Engineering and Management

Today, the frontier for using data to make business decisions has shifted, and high-performing service companies are building their competitive strategies around data-driven insights that produce impressive business results. In principle, the ever-growing amount of available data would allow for deriving increasingly precise forecasts and optimised input for planning and decision models. However, the complexity resulting from considering large volumes of high-dimensional, fine-grained, and noisy data in mathematical models leads to the fact that dependencies and developments are not found, algorithms do not scale, and traditional statistics as well as data-mining techniques collapse because of the well-known curse of dimensionality. Hence, in order to make big data actionable, the intelligent reduction of vast amounts of data to problemrelevant features is necessary and advances are required at the intersection of economic theories, service management, dimensionality reduction, advanced analytics, robust prediction, and computational methods to solve managerial decisions and planning problems.
Biological Properties of Superparamagnetic Iron Oxide Nanoparticles

Despite the intense progress achieved in processing the magnetic particle imaging (MPI) technology, there is no suitable tracer that satisfies all MPI requirements. For this purpose, dextran-coated superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) were designed and synthesized as appropriate MPI tracer. To ensure a prospective biosafe application of these nanoparticles, we started to evaluate the biocompatibility, including cell toxicity and cellular uptake. The SPIONs internalized into mouse fibroblast cells were showing good labeling efficiencies and a cytosolic accumulation. Flow cytometry analysis demonstrated no difference of the cell viability of labeled cells in comparison with unlabeled control cells. But we observed decreased cell proliferation in response to increased SPION concentrations. In conclusion, SPIONs could reveal harmful properties and, therefore, further experiments should be considered.
Material strength examination of thin film PDMS for reliable pneumatic balloon actuator

This paper examines the material strength of thin film PDMS widely used for biomedical MEMS and μTAS. This study focuses on the material strength of PBA membrane. Stress-strain diagram of PDMS is examined through the tensile test. Breaking strength is also estimated with an aim to relate with the fracture of balloon membrane of PBA. As the result of PDMS tensile test, non-linear stress-strain relation could be observed. We defined stress as T and l'/l as λ(here, l is distance between two diamond-shaped gauge marks, l' is l+Δl). Logarithmic relationship between T and λ plays important role for analysis of mechanical behavior of polymer such as PDMS by the neo-Hookean constitutive equation.
ARF6 Activated by the LHCG Receptor through the Cytohesin Family of Guanine Nucleotide Exchange Factors Mediates the Receptor Internalization and Signaling*

Background: The mechanisms by which ARF6 regulate LHCGR internalization and signaling are unknown. Results: Heterotrimeric G-protein, PI 3-kinase, cytohesin ARF GEFs and ARF GAPs function upstream whereas dynamin and clathrin act downstream of ARF6 in the regulation of HLHCGR internalization and signaling. Conclusion: Dissected the molecular mechanisms underlying ARF6 involvement in LHCGR internalization and signaling. Significance: This study provides insight into the mechanisms responsible for HLHCGR regulation by ARF6. The luteinizing hormone chorionic gonadotropin receptor (LHCGR) is a Gs-coupled GPCR that is essential for the maturation and function of the ovary and testis. LHCGR is internalized following its activation, which regulates the biological responsiveness of the receptor. Previous studies indicated that ADP-ribosylation factor (ARF)6 and its GTP-exchange factor (GEF) cytohesin 2 regulate LHCGR internalization in follicular membranes. However, the mechanisms by which ARF6 and cytohesin 2 regulate LHCGR internalization remain incompletely understood. Here we investigated the role of the ARF6 signaling pathway in the internalization of heterologously expressed human LHCGR (HLHCGR) in intact cells using a combination of pharmacological inhibitors, siRNA and the expression of mutant proteins. We found that human CG (HCG)-induced HLHCGR internalization, cAMP accumulation and ARF6 activation were inhibited by Gallein (βγ inhibitor), Wortmannin (PI 3-kinase inhibitor), SecinH3 (cytohesin ARF GEF inhibitor), QS11 (an ARF GAP inhibitor), an ARF6 inhibitory peptide and ARF6 siRNA. However, Dynasore (dynamin inhibitor), the dominant negative mutants of NM23-H1 (dynamin activator) and clathrin, and PBP10 (PtdIns 4,5-P2-binding peptide) inhibited agonist-induced HLHCGR and cAMP accumulation but not ARF6 activation. These results indicate that heterotrimeric G-protein, phosphatidylinositol (PI) 3-kinase (PI3K), cytohesin ARF GEF and ARF GAP function upstream of ARF6 whereas dynamin and clathrin act downstream of ARF6 in the regulation of HCG-induced HLHCGR internalization and signaling. In conclusion, we have identified the components and molecular details of the ARF6 signaling pathway required for agonist-induced HLHCGR internalization.
Reproducibility of Human Cardiac 31P‐NMR Spectroscopy

The reproducibility of the phosphocreatine to adenosine triphosphate ratio (PCr/ATP) was assessed from cardiac phosphorus‐31 (31P) NMR spectra of the human left ventricle acquired with three different localization techniques. Cardiac 31P‐NMR spectra (n=68) were obtained at rest from 16 healthy subjects with three‐dimensional (3D) image selected in vivo spectroscopy (ISIS), 1D spectroscopic imaging (SI), or with a combination of 2D ISIS and the 1D SI technique (ISIS+SI). The average PCr/ATP ratios were 1.41±0.20 for ISIS+SI and 1.31±0.19 for ISIS and were in the lower range of values obtained in previous studies, mainly because of a lower saturation correction factor for the cardiac PCr/ATP ratio. The SI experiment yielded an average PCr/ATP value of 0.98±0.20, significantly lower as compared to the correct values obtained with ISIS+SI and ISIS (p<0.001), underscoring the need for 3D localization to avoid contamination of the NMR signal by liver tissue. Intersubject standard deviations of the PCr/ATP ratio were comparable to values reported previously. For all three localization techniques the absolute intra‐examination differences in PCr/ATP (0.06 for ISIS to 0.15 for ISIS+SI) were significantly smaller (p⪅0.03) than inter‐examination differences (0.24 for ISIS to 0.29 for ISIS+SI). Therefore, consecutive acquisition of cardiac 31P‐NMR spectra from the same patient during a single examination, e.g. under various cardiac loading conditions, appears to be a reliable approach for metabolic evaluation of heart disease.
Adenosine: Cardiac Electrophysiology

The cardiovascular actions of adenosine have been known for over 60 years, but only in the last decade has the clinical relevance of this nucleoside been recognized. "̂̂ Adenosine is formed in cells upon degradation of adenine nucleotides and S-adenosylbomocysteine (Fig. 1) and is released from the heart. ** This nucleoside has multiple cardiac effects relevant to modulation of heart function and to the genesis and therapy of cardiac arrhythmias. ^"^ Adenosine acts to decrease oxygen consumption by slowing heart rate and inhibiting tbe stimulatory effects of (J-adrenergic stimulation, and to increase the supply of oxygen by causing coronary vasodilation. These actions suggest that in the heart the primary role of this nucleoside is cardioprotection. This cardioprotective function of adenosine is likely to be prominent when myocardial oxygen supply is limited (e.g., ischemia). Also clinically relevant are adenosine's negative cbronotropic, dromotropic, and antiadrenergic effects in the heart, which form the basis for its antiarrhythmic properties. ^•^•'̂
Tolerability and efficacy of N‐chlorotaurine in comparison with chloramine T for the treatment of chronic leg ulcers with a purulent coating: a randomized phase II study

Background The well‐known active chlorine compound chloramine T (CAT) with broad‐spectrum antimicrobial activity is in common therapeutic use for leg ulcers with purulent coatings; however, this treatment is painful. The tolerability of the less aggressive N‐chlorotaurine (NCT), an endogenous compound also produced in vivo by stimulated human granulocytes, could be superior.
Encrypting Virtual Memory

In modern operating systems, cryptographic file systems can protect confidential data from unauthorized access. However, once an authorized process has accessed data from a cryptographic file system, the data can appear as plaintext in the unprotected virtual memory backing store, even after system shutdown. The solution described in this paper uses swap encryption for processes in possession of confidential data. Volatile encryption keys are chosen randomly, and remain valid only for short time periods. Invalid encryption keys are deleted, effectively erasing all data that was encrypted with them. The swap encryption system has been implemented for the UVM [7] virtual memory system and its performance is acceptable.
Spatial Compounding Algorithm for Speckle Reduction of Dynamic Focus OCT Images

Optical coherence tomography is capable of imaging the microstructures within tissues. To preserve the transverse resolution at all imaging depths, we implement a dynamic focusing scheme. To improve the quality of images further, a simple speckle reduction scheme is employed which uses the vibration introduced by the translation stage used for axial scanning. A spatial compounding technique is developed based on co-registration followed by an averaging algorithm. We conclude that the degree of speckle reduction achieved is worth the expense of more complicated processing required.
Comparative study of machine learning techniques for pre-processing of network intrusion data

Machine learning is widely used for network intrusion detection but the data it uses faces problems of large feature set and class imbalance which is inherent in network traffic data. This paper focuses on the performance evaluation of different strategies used for mitigating both the problems. Data used for classification was KDDCUP'99 which is a benchmark data set for intrusion detection and suffers greatly from class imbalance problem. Noise was also added to data to evaluate the performance of classifiers for noisy data. Different combinations of strategies form different scenarios. Four possible scenarios are tested by using different combinations of sampling, feature set reduction and classification. Classifiers are used for evaluating the performance of each scenario. Feature set was reduced to nine features from forty one features. Stratified remove folds and Resampling were applied to remove class imbalance problem. Results have shown that Nearest Neighbor, J48 classifier are best suited for real time detection with pre-processing whereas Gain Ratio is suitable for feature selection.
A Fuzzy Learning model for retrieving and learning information in Visual Working brain Memory mechanism

In this investigation, the idea of Visual Working Memory (VWM) mechanism modeling based on versatile fuzzy method; Active Learning method, is presented. Visual information process; retrieving and learning rely on the use of Ink Drop Spread (IDS) and Center of Gravity (COG) as spatial density convergence operators. IDS modeling is characterized by processing that uses intuitive pattern information instead of complex formulas, and it is capable of stable and fast convergence. Furthermore, because it approves that distortion in retrieving irrelative data is adaptive to avoid storing lots of repetitive external information in daily visualization. Subsequently, this distortion is analyzed via two versions of ALM. Finally, results pursue the hypothesis in which the simulation of concepts of VWM performance; dynamic information retrieval as compensation, storing and active learning, is presented.
Word Clustering Using PLSA Enhanced with Long Distance Bigrams

Probabilistic latent semantic analysis is enhanced with long distance bigram models in order to improve word clustering. The long distance bigram probabilities and the interpolated long distance bigram probabilities at varying distances within a context capture different aspects of contextual information. In addition, the baseline bigram, which incorporates trigger-pairs for various histories, is tested in the same framework. The experimental results collected on publicly available corpora (CISI, Cran field, Medline, and NPL) demonstrate the superiority of the long distance bigrams over the baseline bigrams as well as the superiority of the interpolated long distance bigrams against the long distance bigrams and the baseline bigram with trigger-pairs in yielding more compact clusters containing less outliers.
Dysregulation of microRNA biogenesis and gene silencing in cancer

Altered microRNA production in cancer promotes cell proliferation, migration, survival, and adaptation to new environments. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are noncoding RNAs that play key roles in the regulation of gene expression and the maintenance of homeostasis in animals and plants. Because miRNAs contribute to the regulation of various signaling pathways that mediate cell behavior, aberrant expression of miRNAs is associated with pathological conditions, including cancer. In this review, which contains three figures and 140 references, we discuss current knowledge about how the dysregulation of miRNAs occurs and how this contributes to tumorigenesis. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small noncoding RNAs that suppress the abundance of partially complementary mRNAs and inhibit their translation. Each miRNA can regulate hundreds of mRNAs, sometimes strongly but often weakly, to mediate a diverse array of biological functions, including proliferation, cell signaling, differentiation, stress responses and DNA repair, cell adhesion and motility, inflammation, cell survival, senescence, and apoptosis, all intimately related to cancer initiation, treatment response, and metastasis. The expression and activity of miRNAs are spatially and temporally controlled. Global miRNA expression is reduced in many cancers. In addition, the expression and processing of cancer-related miRNAs that act as oncogenes (“oncomiRs”) or tumor suppressors are often dysregulated in cancer. In this review, we summarize emerging knowledge about how miRNA biogenesis and gene silencing are altered to promote cancer.
Downlink Performance of a Finite Word Length Implemented Rake Receiver for 3G WCDMA

In this paper, the performance degradation due to the finite word length implementation of the Rake receiver for 3G WCDMA is investigated. The performance in terms of bit error rate (BER) as a function of Eb/N0 in Rayleigh fading channels using Monte-Carlo computer simulations are carried out for varied word lengths. The performance results are also compared with that of the floating-point simulations. The 8/6/4/2-bit word length implementations are considered in the simulation runs in order to compare their effect on the performance. It is shown that the BER performance with 8-bit word length based implementation of the Rake receiver is similar to that of the floating-point implementation.
90th Anniversary of the development by Nikolai S. Korotkoff of the auscultatory method of measuring blood pressure.

Every day, all over the world, many thousands of physicians, nurses, and paramedics measure systemic arterial pressure by applying a cuff with an inflatable bladder around the patient's arm and using a stethoscope to listen to the sounds in the brachial artery. Many care providers know that they are listening to “Korotkoff sounds,” but very few know that the method was introduced 90 years ago by a Russian doctor and scientist, Nikolai Sergeevich Korotkoff (Fig 1⇓). Indeed, a report on a new method of measurement of arterial pressure1 was presented on November 8, 1905, at a scientific seminar of the Imperial Military Medical Academy, Saint Petersburg, Russia, by Korotkoff, a young surgeon from the clinic of Prof Sergei P. Fedorov. (The authors found the date of the presentation mentioned in Korotkoff's dissertation.2(p116)) An English translation of the text of Korotkoff's presentation1 was published by W.H. Lewis, Jr, in 1941.3 In the 90 years since Korotkoff presented the new method to measure the arterial pressure, medical science and medical technology have made big strides. However, because of its simplicity and high degree of accuracy, the method of auscultatory measurement of arterial pressure remains the most acceptable in everyday medical practice. Moreover, this method is one of only a few techniques for clinical examination of patients that has not undergone significant changes since it was introduced. Very little is known, even in his native Russia, about the life and work of this doctor and scientist.4 Outside Russia, even less is known about Korotkoff. Some biographical information by Segall was published in English in 1965.5 However, because of differences between the Russian and American systems of education, Segall misinterpreted some facts of Korotkoff's life. Information in the present article was based on materials available in the …