Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Kit and foxd3 genetically interact to regulate melanophore survival in zebrafish

We have investigated the role of foxd3 activity in conjunction with signaling by the kit tyrosine kinase receptor in zebrafish black pigment cell (melanophore) development. As loss‐of‐function of these molecules individually has distinct effects on melanophore number, we have examined the phenotype of double mutants. Individuals with a null mutation in kit have fewer melanophores than wild‐type, with cells lost through death. When kit mutants are injected with foxd3 antisense morpholino oligonucleotides or crossed with a foxd3 zebrafish mutant, they have more melanophores than their uninjected or foxd3+ counterparts. Examination of foxd3 loss‐of‐function in two additional kit mutants that differentially alter kit‐dependent migration and survival indicates a change in melanophore number in survival mutants only. Consistently, TUNEL (terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase–mediated deoxyuridinetriphosphate nick end‐labeling) analysis confirms a partial rescue of melanophores from cell death. Ectopic expression of foxd3 indicates that foxd3 promotes early melanophore death only when kit is inactive. Taken together, these data suggest a kit‐dependent role for foxd3 in the regulation of melanophore survival. Developmental Dynamics 238:875–886, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Transition from inspiral to plunge for a compact body in a circular equatorial orbit around a massive, spinning black hole

There are three regimes of gravitational-radiation-reaction-induced inspiral for a compact body with mass μ, in a circular, equatorial orbit around a Kerr black hole with mass M≫μ: (i) the adiabatic inspiral regime, in which the body gradually descends through a sequence of circular, geodesic orbits; (ii) a transition regime, near the innermost stable circular orbit (isco); (iii) the plunge regime, in which the body travels on a geodesic from slightly below the isco into the hole’s horizon. This paper gives an analytic treatment of the transition regime and shows that, with some luck, gravitational waves from the transition might be measurable by the space-based LISA mission.
Visualization of oxygen‐concentration‐dependent production of nitric oxide in rat hippocampal slices during aglycemia

Our novel fluorescent indicator, DAF‐FM, permits the bioimaging of nitric oxide (NO) in living cells with high resolution in space and time, with stable intensity above pH 5.8. A membrane‐permeable derivative, DAF‐FM DA, was applied to imaging of NO generated in rat hippocampal slices by exposure to an aglycemic medium. NO production was observed mainly in the CA1 area, and was dependent on the concentration of O2. During exposure to an anoxic‐aglycemic medium, NO was hardly produced, while marked elevation of intracellular Ca2+ was observed. Production of NO increased sharply as soon as the perfusate was changed to the normal medium. These results suggest that NO synthase is activated after reperfusion rather than during ischemia.
Path-Loss and Energy Efficient Model (PLEEM) for wireless body area networks (WBANs)

Recently research in the area of WBAN focusing on energy preservation, routing protocol and channel modeling. Considering less for path-loss. In this research a Path-loss and Energy Efficient Model (PLEEM) scheme is proposed to minimize path-loss for both on-body and off-body communications. To minimize the path-loss when the body is in movement, two off-body relays are utilized. Direct communication for regular needed data and indirect communication for normal data is employed. Cost function is calculated on the basis of residual energy of the nodes and minimum distance to sink. Simulation results show that the proposed model enhances the stability period, life time of network, residual energy and throughput. Profound results in term of path-loss for both on-body and off-body communication are found compared to its variants.
Towards Brain Research in a Pocket Bringing EEG Research and Diagnostics out of the Lab

Bringing brain research tools like EEG devices out of the lab into the pockets of practitioners and researchers may fundamentally change the way we perform diagnostics and research. While most of the current techniques are limited to research clinics and require excessive set-up, new consumer EEG devices connected to standard, off-the-shelf mobile devices allow us to lift these limitations. This allows neuropsychological assessment and research in mobile settings, possibly even in remote areas with limited accessibility and infrastructure, thus bringing the equipment to the patient, instead of bringing the patient to the equipment. We are developing an Android based mobile framework to perform EEG studies. By connecting a mobile consumer EEG headset directly to an unmodified mobile device, presenting auditory and visual stimuli, as well as user interaction, we create a self-contained experimental platform. We complement this platform by a toolkit for immediate evaluation of the recorded data directly on the device, even without internet connectivity. Initial results from the replication of two Event Related Potentials studies indicate the feasibility of the approach.
Design considerations for a level-2 on-board PEV charger based on interleaved boost PFC and LLC resonant converters

In this paper, a two-stage on board battery charger is proposed for plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs). An interleaved boost topology is employed in the first stage for power factor correction (PFC) and to reduce total harmonic distortion (THD). In the second stage, a half bridge LLC multi-resonant converter is adopted for galvanic isolation and dc-dc conversion. Design considerations are discussed focusing on the reducing the charger volume, and increasing conversion efficiency over the wide battery pack voltage ranges. Detailed design procedure is provided for a 7.6 kW prototype, charging the battery with an output voltage range of 320 V to 420 V from 240 V, 60 Hz single phase grid. Results of the analyses show that the first stage PFC converter achieves THD less than 4% and power factor higher than 0.99, and the second stage LLC converter operates with high efficiency over the full output voltage range under ZVT.
Organellar dynamics during the cell cycle of Toxoplasma gondii

The protozoan phylum Apicomplexa encompasses ∼5000 species of obligate intracellular parasites, including those responsible for malaria and toxoplasmosis. Rather than dividing by binary fission, apicomplexans use a remarkable mechanism for replication, assembling daughters de novo within the cytoplasm. Here, we exploit time-lapse microscopy of fluorescent markers targeted to various subcellular structures in Toxoplasma gondii tachyzoites to determine how these unicellular eukaryotes efficiently package a complete set of organelles, maintaining the highly polarized organization necessary for host cell invasion and pathogenesis. Golgi division and elongation of the apicoplast are among the first morphologically observable events, associated with an unusual pattern of centriolar migration. Daughter parasites are assembled on cytoskeletal scaffolding, whose growth proceeds from the apical end, first encapsulating the divided Golgi. Further extension of the cytoskeletal scaffold results in partitioning of the apicoplast, nucleus, endoplasmic reticulum, and finally the mitochondrion, which enters the developing daughters rapidly, but only very late during the division cycle. The specialized secretory organelles (micronemes and rhoptries) form de novo. This distinctive pattern of replication – in which organellar segregation spans ∼75% of the cell cycle, completely encompassing S phase – suggests an unusual mechanism of cell cycle regulation.
Anaesthetic Gas Analysers for Vaporiser Calibration, Patient Circuit Monitoring and Determination of Environmental Waste Anaesthetic Gas Levels

REFERENCES I. Cay DL Accidental epidural thiopentone. Anaesth lntens Care 1984: 12:61-63. 2. Brownridge P. More on epidural thiopentone. Anaesth lntens Care 1984: 12:270-271. 3. Grant G. The wrong syringe. Anaesth Intens Care 1984: 12:271. 4. Bates CP. Colour coding of drug labels. Can Anaesth Soc 1 1983: 30: 109. 5. Riley R. Drug syringe labels. Anaesth lntens Care 1985: 13:332. 6. Oldroyd K. Drug syringe labels. Anaesth Intens Care 1986: 14:91-92. 7. D4267-83 Standard Specifications for Labels for Small Volume (less than 10 ml) Parenteral Drug Containers. ASTM 1916 Race St. Philadelphia. PA 19103.
Some problems and solutions in density estimation from bearing tree data: a review and synthesis

Aim I detail several problems and solutions related to estimating pre‐settlement forest density from land surveyors’ bearing tree data. The data have a high value, so clarification of existing problems is needed in the development of a better theoretical framework in which to treat them. I focus on absolute density because it is the foundation for several other variables, e.g. basal area, timber volume and carbon content.
Psychosocial work experiences related to health: A study of Lithuanian hospital employees.

BACKGROUND Research in the area of workplace health promotion from a salutogenic perspective is lacking in Eastern Europe. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the relationship between psychosocial work environment and health from a salutogenic perspective among Lithuanian hospital workers. METHODS Using a cross-sectional design a questionnaire was distributed to staff in a large hospital in Lithuania. Out of 811 employees, 714 completed the survey: 151 physicians, 449 nurses and 114 other staff members (e.g., psychologists, technicians, therapists). A response rate of 88.0% was achieved. The Work Experience Measurement Scale (WEMS) and the Salutogenic Health Indicator Scale (SHIS) were linguistically adapted and used for the first time in a Lithuanian context. Logistic and multiple linear regression models were used for the analyses. RESULTS Supportive working conditions, positive internal work experiences and time experience contributed the most to good health, defined as a high SHIS index. Having an executive post was significantly related to good work experiences, i.e. a high WEMS score, while being at the age of 40-54 years was associated with a low WEMS score. Physicians had the highest score on supportive working conditions; while nurses had the lowest scores on autonomy. CONCLUSIONS A salutogenic approach enables an organisation to identify how to improve working conditions for the employees by focusing on possibilities and resources. Individual activities for workplace health promotion among different work groups seem necessary.
Coordinate control of distributed generation and power electronics loads in microgrid

Droop control is an effective power sharing control scheme for islanding microgrid. With the load increasing, the microgrid may face overload challenge. Dispatch system should schedule energy storage system to provide power reserve or load shedding for preventing islanding microgrid black out. This paper proposes a coordinate control scheme for distributed generation (DG) units and active loads to provide instantaneous reserve for microgrid. A load frequency trimming control is invested to participate into supply-demand balance service to maintain and enhance the system reliability, only using control variables of the converter itself that can be measured locally. Through the frequency trimming control strategy, supply-demand balance can be realized automatically, and microgrid can avoid malfunction. Therefore, the communication links, dispatch system, and additional energy storage system can be excluded. Matlab simulations are presented to show the effectiveness of the proposed scheme performance in islanding microgrid.
Leptin Receptor Expression in Mouse Intracranial Perivascular Cells

Past studies have suggested that non-neuronal brain cells express the leptin receptor. However, the identity and distribution of these leptin receptor-expressing non-neuronal brain cells remain debated. This study assessed the distribution of the long form of the leptin receptor (LepRb) in non-neuronal brain cells using a reporter mouse model in which LepRb-expressing cells are permanently marked by tdTomato fluorescent protein (LepRb-CretdTomato). Double immunohistochemistry revealed that, in agreement with the literature, the vast majority of tdTomato-tagged cells across the mouse brain were neurons (i.e., based on immunoreactivity for NeuN). Non-neuronal structures also contained tdTomato-positive cells, including the choroid plexus and the perivascular space of the meninges and, to a lesser extent, the brain. Based on morphological criteria and immunohistochemistry, perivascular cells were deduced to be mainly pericytes. Notably, tdTomato-positive cells were immunoreactive for vitronectin and platelet derived growth factor receptor beta (PDGFBR). In situ hybridization studies confirmed that most tdTomato-tagged perivascular cells were enriched in leptin receptor mRNA (all isoforms). Using qPCR studies, we confirmed that the mouse meninges were enriched in Leprb and, to a greater extent, the short isoforms of the leptin receptor. Interestingly, qPCR studies further demonstrated significantly altered expression for Vtn and Pdgfrb in the meninges and hypothalamus of LepRb-deficient mice. Collectively, our data demonstrate that the only intracranial non-neuronal cells that express LepRb in the adult mouse are cells that form the blood-brain barrier, including, most notably, meningeal perivascular cells. Our data suggest that pericytic leptin signaling plays a role in the integrity of the intracranial perivascular space and, consequently, may provide a link between obesity and numerous brain diseases.
2D WAKE FIELD CALCULATIONS OF TAPERED STRUCTURES WITH DIFFERENT FDTD DISCRETIZATION SCHEMES

Recent particle accelerator designs demand for advanced prediction of parasitic effects like wake fields, even in structures of comparatively weak influence like tapers. In the case of smoothly tapered components even well established codes like MAFIA [1] demonstrate strong discretization dependency of the results or solver instabilities, making alternative approaches necessary for such applications. Grid dispersion is assumed to cause these problems. In Ref. [2] an alternative discretization scheme is described, using a homogeneous rotated mesh intended to eliminate such grid dispersion effects. In order to study the dependence on the discretization applied, we use this scheme to calculate wake fields in prototype taper structures of rotational symmetry. Furthermore a comparison is provided with results of a non-rotated mesh, MAFIA runs and - so far applicable - analytical approaches.
Serelaxin a novel treatment for acute heart failure

Acute heart failure (AHF) represents a major healthcare burden with a high risk of in-hospital and post-discharge mortality, which remained almost unchanged in the last few decades, underscoring the need of new treatments. Relaxin is a naturally occurring human peptide initially identified as a reproductive hormone and has been shown to play a key role in the maternal hemodynamic and renal adjustments that accommodate pregnancy. Recently, the new molecule serelaxin, a recombinant form of the naturally occurring hormone relaxin has been studied in patients hospitalized for AHF. In addition to vasodilation, serelaxin has anti-oxidative, anti-inflammatory and connective tissue regulating properties. In preclinical studies, it reduced both systemic and renal vascular resistance and, in the clinical trials Pre-RELAX-AHF and RELAX-AHF, it improved dyspnea and signs of congestion. In addition, serelaxin was associated with a reduction of 180-day mortality. The aim of this review is to summarize the pharmacological properties of serelaxin and the results of the preclinical and clinical studies.
Ventricular tachycardia and fibrillation detection by a sequential hypothesis testing algorithm

An algorithm for detecting ventricular fibrillation (VF) and ventricular tachycardia (VT) by the method of sequential hypothesis testing is presented. The algorithm first generates a binary sequence by comparing the signal to a threshold. The probability distribution of the time intervals of the binary sequence is obtained, and the sequential hypothesis testing procedure of A.J. Wald and J. Wolfowitz (1948) is employed to discriminate the arrhythmias. Sequential hypothesis testing of 85 cases resulted in identification of (1) 97.64% VF and 97.65% VT episodes after 5 s and (2) 100% identification of both VF and VT after 7 s. The desired false positive and false negative error probabilities can be programmed into the algorithm. An important feature of the sequential method is that extra time for detection can be traded off for improved accuracy, and vice versa. <<ETX>>
Functional foods: from theory to practice.

Among Functional Foods there are many different "traditional" foods rich in specific compounds shown to produce an effect or modulate a function in our organism. However, in most cases, e. g. in tomato, the evidence has not been sufficient to obtain an official health claim. Nevertheless it is important to investigate further the effects of vegetables in our diet and to communicate correctly their advantages for health. Different works were performed in my laboratory on cruciferous vegetables which contain a lot of active compounds such as vitamins, minerals, carotenoids and glucosinolates. Glucosinolates are metabolised and absorbed as isothiocyanates that can affect the activity of enzymes involved both in the antioxidant defence system and in the detoxification from xenobiotics. Promising are the preliminary results of human intervention studies demonstrating that the regular intake of broccoli for a relatively short period of time could significantly affect glutathione-S-transferase (GST) activity and cell protection against DNA damage. The entity of the protective effect registered seems also related to the genetic characteristic (GSTM1 polimorphysm) of the subjects considered. These results support the use of the nutrigenetic approach also to study functional foods (e. g. for specific groups of population).
Effects of Traumatic Stress on Brain Structure and Function: Relevance to Early Responses to Trauma

SUMMARY The events of 9/11 and the widening impact of psychological trauma today have raised a higher level of awareness about the potentially deleterious effects of psychological trauma on the individual. One area of interest after 9/11 was the early trauma response and the most effective way to deal with the window of time immediately after traumatization in order to prevent long term psychopathology. Understanding the neurobiology of the acute trauma response may be useful in designing prevention and treatment strategies. Studies in animals and humans have shown that biological stress response systems, including norepinephrine and cortisol, are affected in both the acute and chronic stages of the trauma response. Brain areas involved in memory, including the hippocampus, amygdala, and prefrontal cortex, may be areas of intervention to ameliorate the early trauma response. Due to the difficulty of performing research in this time period, most research to date has been in patients with chronic disorders such as chronic posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Only a few treatment studies have been performed in the early trauma period, and more research in this area is needed.
Fruit disease recognition using improved sum and difference histogram from images

Diseases in fruit cause devastating problem in production and availability. The classical approach of fruit disease recognition is based on the naked eye observation by experts. Detection of defects is still problematic due to the natural variability of colour in different types of fruits, high variance of defect types, and presence of stem/calyx. In this paper, a framework for the recognition of fruit diseases is proposed. The proposed approach is composed of the following three main steps; defect segmentation, feature extraction, and classification. This paper also introduces an improved sum and difference histogram (ISADH) texture feature based on the intensity values of the neighbouring pixels. The gradient filters are also used with ISADH in this paper to boost the discriminative ability. We have considered apple diseases as a test case and evaluated our program. Experimental results suggest that the proposed method can significantly support automatic recognition of fruit diseases. The classification accuracy has achieved more than 97% using ISADH texture feature. Our method is able to achieve nearly 99.9% of accuracy in conjunction with the gradient filters.
PRE- AND POSTOPERATIVE CYTOKINE RELEASE AFTER IN VITRO WHOLE BLOOD LIPOPOLYSACCHARIDE STIMULATION AND FREQUENT TOLL-LIKE RECEPTOR 4 POLYMORPHISMS

ABSTRACT In a prospective cohort study, we examined 62 patients undergoing major surgical cancer therapy for Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) gene polymorphisms (Asp299Gly and Thr399Ile) and their influence on cytokine levels pre- and postoperatively, as well as cytokine levels after whole blood lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulation. Incidence of the TLR4 gene single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) Asp299Gly/Thr399Ile was 14.5% (9/62). Overall, mortality was unaffected by the TLR4 SNP. Preoperative cytokine levels were low, with most of the values of cytokines being below the detection levels. After preoperative stimulation of whole blood with 50 pg/mL LPS, TNF-&agr; and IL-6 values increased significantly in both groups. However, no significant influence was detectable between the TLR4 SNP group and the wild type group (WT group). Postoperative IL-6 levels, but not TNF-&agr; levels, were significantly increased in both groups. Postoperative LPS stimulation resulted in significantly lower TNF-&agr; levels compared with preoperative induction, with a more than 2.3-fold decrease in the TLR4 SNP group: 310.83 pg/mL (SD: 117.53) to 134.08 pg/mL (SD: 91.49; P < 0.001) and a 2.2-fold decrease in the WT group: 422.97 pg/mL (SD: 662.57) to 191.68 pg/mL (SD:147.26; P = 0.031). IL-6 levels after stimulation were comparably decreased with similarly no significant difference between the two groups. We conclude that the TLR4 polymorphism Asp299Gly/Thr399Ile has no influence on cytokine release after LPS stimulation in the early and late course after major surgery. The LPS adaptation effect of cytokine release after surgery is furthermore not affected by the presence of the TLR4 polymorphism Asp299Gly/Thr399Ile.
Influence of cyclic AMP on photosynthetic development in Rhodospirillum rubrum

During O2-free growth in the light and in medium with pyruvate, Rhodospirillum rubrum exhibits diauxic growth. The cells first fermented pyruvate and afterwards photometabolized. Exogenous cyclic AMP acted to prolong the lag period between fermentative and photosynthetic development, as well as to slow the light-dependent growth rate. This observation, and in situ changes in the cyclic AMP levels in cells undergoing biphasic growth, suggested that the cyclic nucleotide was involved in photosynthetic differentiation, perhaps by repressing the formation of the bacteriochlorophyll needed to support growth in the light.