Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A finite element investigation on plaque vulnerability in realistic healthy and atherosclerotic human coronary arteries

Atherosclerosis is the most common arterial disease. It has been shown that stresses that are induced during blood circulation can cause plaque rupture and, in turn, lead to thrombosis and stroke. In this study, finite element method is used to predict plaque vulnerability based on peak plaque stress using human samples. A total of 23 healthy and atherosclerotic human coronary arteries of 14 healthy and 9 atherosclerotic patients are excised within 5 h postmortem. The samples are mounted on an uniaxial tensile test machine, and the obtained mechanical properties are used in two-dimensional and three-dimensional finite element models. The results including the Neo–Hookean hyperelastic coefficients of the samples as well as peak plaque stresses are analyzed. The results indicate that the atherosclerotic human coronary arteries have significantly (p < 0.05) higher stiffness compared with the healthy ones. The hypocellular plaque also has the highest stress values and, as a result, is most likely (vulnerable) to rupture, while the calcified type has the lowest stress values and, consequently, is expected to remain stable. The results could be used in the plaque vulnerability anticipation and have clinical implications in interventions and surgeries, including balloon angioplasty, bypass, and stenting.
Histopathological Image Analysis for cancer detection

Histopathology, the study of tissues, has a major contribution in determining prog nosis of diseases at the tissue level. Quantitative analysis of histopathological images is used to dete rmine the future course of treatment. However, the analysis is a very laborious process given the complexity of structures in tissues. Pathologists require a lot of expertise and skill to perform the ana lysis. Hence, development of Computer Aided Diagnostic (CAD) algorithms which rely on automated image analysis , is of great interest. CAD development in histopathology is a relatively new field of resea ch. Some of the major hurdles in this field are non-availability of public datasets, difficulty in acquirin g data and ground-truth marking. This thesis aims at developing CAD tools for assisting pathologists. In our work , e have identified two problems in this field and provided solution for the same. The first is identifi cation of stromal regions in tissue and the second is detecting mitotic candidates. Both these are ne cessary for assessing and staging cancer. For stroma identification we propose a novel block-ba sed approach of suppressing foreground texture to learn discriminative textural features in a block. Th e results of the block-based stage are refined to obtain the stroma segments. We have tested our method on 3 d atasets (two public and one locally acquired) varying in size and type (breast and prostate tis su ) and have obtained around 80% accuracy and 90% sensitivity. Both the qualitative as well as the quantita tive results show an improvement over the existing methods. The existing algorithms for mitosis detection employ a traditional approach of classification post feature-extraction. A major road-block in this problem is the presence of vis ual clutter ( false positives, similar in appearance to mitotic candidates). We use biological cues to design re jection stages to get rid of the false positives for mitosis detection followed by classification. The pipeline d esign comprising of rejection stages adapt to variability in the magnification levels of datasets. This w as confirmed by determining percentage of rejection after each stage on a locally acquired da taset t different magnification settings. We further improve the performance by incorporating an efficie nt classifier regenerative random forests. The algorithm was validated on MITOS dataset against the g round truth and a recall of 0.81,precision of 0.84 and f-measure of 0.83 was obtained.
Gracilone, a new sesquiterpene lactone from Tanacetum gracile (Tansies)

Abstract The methanolic extract of the Tanacetum gracile afforded the isolation of new sesquiterpene lactone, named gracilone (1) along with four known compounds as 14α-taraxeran-3-one (2), 14α-taraxeran-3-ol (3), apigenin (4) and β-sitosterol (5). The structure of compound 1 was elucidated on the basis of 1D, 2D NMR and MS spectroscopic analysis. Antimicrobial, antioxidant and anticancer activities of all compounds were evaluated, from which gracilone (1) showed a moderate antibacterial activity, while apigenin (4) showed comparatively more antibacterial activity against both grampositive and gramnegative tested strains.
Confronting Language, Representation, and Belief: A Limited Defense of Mental Continuity

According to the mental continuity claim (MCC), human mental faculties are physical and beneficial to human survival, so they must have evolved gradually from ancestral forms and we should expect to see their precursors across species. Materialism of mind coupled with Darwin’s evolutionary theory leads directly to such claims and even today arguments for animal mental properties are often presented with the MCC as a premise. However, the MCC has been often challenged among contemporary scholars. It is usually argued that only humans use language and that language as such has no precursors in the animal kingdom. Moreover, language is quite often understood as a necessary tool for having representations and forming beliefs. As a consequence, by lacking language animals could not have developed representational systems or beliefs. In response to these worries, we aim to mount a limited defense of the MCC as an empirical hypothesis. First, we will provide a short historical overview of the origins of the MCC and examine some of the motives behind traditional arguments for and against it. Second, we will focus on one particular question, namely whether language as such is necessary for having beliefs. Our goal is to show that there is little reason to think language is necessary for belief. In doing so, we will challenge a view of belief that is widely accepted by those working in animal cognition, namely representational belief, and we will argue that if belief is non-representational, then different research questions and methods are required. We will conclude with an argument that to study the evolution of belief across species, it is essential to begin the study of subjects in their social and ecological environment rather than in contexts that are not ecologically valid along the social and ecological dimensions. Thus, rather than serving as a premise in an argument
Type A behavior: epidemiologic foundations and public health implications.

Population-based epidemiological research has identified certain characteris­ tics, or risk factors, that are associated with poor cardiovascular health. These include a family history of heart disease, elevations in blood pressure and serum cholesterol, smoking, dietary intake of animal fat, a sedentary life style, and a complex of behaviors called the Type A behavior pattern (T ABP). Risk factors for heart disease such as smoking, blood pressure, and cholesterol have been accepted by researchers for several decades. Systematic research on behavioral risk for heart disease, in particular the T ABP, has been a more recent pursuit and was initially spurred by the belief that the previously established risk factors could not predict most new cases of coronary heart disease (CHD) (46, 47). In 1981, Cooper, Detre, & Weiss ( 14) published the conclusions of an expert review panel that had been convened to evaluate the evidence concerning the TABP and CHD. It was the opinion of this panel that the T ABP, as measured by the Structured Interview, the Jenkins Activity Survey, or the Framingham Type A scale (described below), was a risk factor for CHD. My purpose in this chapter is to review the evidence bearing upon an association between Type A behavior and heart disease. I first present a description of the Type A behavior pattern and the major methods of assessing the behavior pattern. Findings relevant to the T ABP as a risk factor for CHD are then presented, and the criteria for causation, as used in epidemiological research, are applied to these data. Included in this presentation are the physiological mechanisms that could possibly account for a relationship be-
Requirement for Fc Effector Mechanisms in the APOBEC3/Rfv3-Dependent Neutralizing Antibody Response

ABSTRACT Antiretroviral neutralizing antibody (NAb) responses are often evaluated in the absence of Fc-dependent immune effectors. In murine Friend retrovirus infection, Apobec3/Rfv3 promotes a potent polyclonal NAb response. Here, we show that the Apobec3/Rfv3-dependent NAb response correlated with virus-specific IgG2 titers and that the in vivo neutralization potency of Apobec3/Rfv3-resistant antisera was dependent on activating Fcγ receptors but not complement. The data strengthen retroviral vaccine strategies aimed at eliciting NAbs that activate specific Fcγ receptors.
Obsessive–compulsive symptoms in adults with history of rheumatic fever, Sydenham's chorea and type I diabetes mellitus: preliminary results

Objective: Rheumatic fever (RF) associated with Sydenham's chorea (a neurological variant of RF), but not RF without chorea, has been acutely related to obsessive–compulsive symptomatology/disorder (OCS/OCD). This study investigated the presence of OCS in adults who had RF with or without chorea in childhood.
Two-port MIMO cylindrical dielectric resonator antenna for LTE systems

In this paper, a single cylindrical dielectric resonator antenna (CDRA) is designed and proposed for multi-input multi-output (MIMO) wireless communications. The proposed antenna is excited from two ports and operated around the same frequency 1.9 GHz, suitable for the 33 and 35 LTE bands. The proposed design exhibits high isolation between the two ports, with a transmission coefficient less than -35 dB. The electromagnetic analysis is carried out using CST microwave studio and HFSS software. The numerical results, obtained from simulation, show a good agreement in terms of S-parameters and radiation patterns.
A Combined Model of Clustering and Classification Methods for Preserving Privacy in Social Networks against Inference and Neighborhood Attacks

In the last decade online social networks has gained remarkable attention. Facebook or Google+, are example social network services which allow people to create online profiles and share personal information with their friends. These networks publish details about users while some of the information revealed inside is private. In order to address privacy concerns, many social networks allow users to hide their private or sensitive information in their profiles from the public. In this paper, we focus on the problem of information revelation in online social networks by preserving the privacy of sensitive information in their data using machine learning and data mining algorithms. We show how an adversary can launch an inference or neighborhood attack to exploit an online social network using released data and structure of the network to predict the private information and attributes of users. For this purpose, we propose a new data mining based model that uses neighborhood information and attributes details of a user to infer private attributes of user profiles. The proposed model consists of two main parts: a clustering approach to ensure the k-anonymity and a classification algorithm to preserve the privacy against inference attacks. Finally we explore the effectiveness of some sanitization techniques that can be used to combat such inference attacks, and we show experimentally the success of different neighborhood re-identification strategies. Our experimental results reveal that using combination of data mining algorithm can notably help to preserve private and sensitive information in social network data.
Efficient Agrobacterium-Mediated Transformation of the Liverwort Marchantia polymorpha Using Regenerating Thalli

The thallus, the gametophyte body of the liverwort Marchantia polymorpha, develops clonal progenies called gemmae that are useful in the isolation and propagation of isogenic plants. Developmental timing is critical to Agrobacterium-mediated transformation, and high transformation efficiency has been achieved only with sporelings. Here we report an Agrobacterium-mediated transformation system for M. polymorpha using regenerating thalli. Thallus regeneration was induced by cutting the mature thallus across the apical-basal axis and incubating the basal portion of the thallus for 3 d. Regenerating thalli were infected with Agrobacterium carrying binary vector that contained a selection marker, the hygromycin phosphotransferase gene, and hygromycin-resistant transformants were obtained with an efficiency of over 60%. Southern blot analysis verified random integration of 1 to 4 copies of the T-DNA into the M. polymorpha genome. This Agrobacterium-mediated transformation system for M. polymorpha should provide opportunities to perform genetic transformation without preparing spores and to generate a sufficient number of transformants with isogenic background.
Efficient Contention Window Control with Two-Element Array

in wireless networks, the sharing channel has limited communication bandwidth. So designing efficient Medium Access Control (MAC) protocol with high performances is a major focus in distributed contention-based MAC protocol research. IEEE 802.11 MAC protocol is the most famous standard in this area. But, this standard has a problem with adopting its backoff range based on channel status. It causes some problems in throughput and fairness in a real situation. In this paper, we propose a simple algorithm that maximizes the throughput and fairness among competing nodes. We have divided nodes into four section of our backoff range. Numerical results show improvement in all performances except end to end delay.
Serum and Glucocorticoid-regulated Kinase Modulates Nedd4-2-mediated Inhibition of the Epithelial Na+Channel*

The epithelial Na+ channel (ENaC) forms the pathway for Na+ absorption across epithelia, including the kidney collecting duct, where it plays a critical role in Na+ homeostasis and blood pressure control. Na+ absorption is regulated in part by mechanisms that control the expression of ENaC at the apical cell surface. Nedd4 family members (e.g. Nedd4, Nedd4-2) bind to the channel and decrease its surface expression by catalyzing its ubiquitination and degradation. Conversely, serum and glucocorticoid-regulated kinase (SGK), a downstream mediator of aldosterone, increases the expression of ENaC at the cell surface. Here we show that SGK and human Nedd4-2 (hNedd4-2) converge in a common pathway to regulate epithelial Na+ absorption. Consistent with this model, we found that SGK bound to hNedd4-2 and hNedd4. A PY motif in SGK mediated the interaction and was required for SGK to stimulate ENaC. SGK phosphorylated hNedd4-2 (but not hNedd4), altering hNedd4-2 function; phosphorylation reduced the binding of hNedd4-2 to αENaC, and hence, the hNedd4-2-mediated inhibition of Na+ absorption. These data suggest that SGK regulates epithelial Na+ absorption in part by modulating the function of hNedd4-2.
The isolation and characterization of the Escherichia coli DNA adenine methylase (dam) gene

The E. coli dam (DNA adenine methylase) enzyme is known to methylate the sequence GATC. A general method for cloning sequence-specific DNA mothylase genes was used to isolate the dam gene on a 1.14 kb fragment, inserted in the plasmid vector pBR322. Subsequent restriction mapping and subcloning experiments established a set of approximate boundaries of the gene. The nucleotide sequence of the dam gene was determined, and analysis of that sequence revealed a unique open reading frame which corresponded in length to that necessary to code for a protein the size of dam. Amino acid composition derived from this sequence corresponds closely to the amino acid composition of the purified dam protein. Enzymatic and DNA:DNA hybridization methods were used to investigate the possible presence of dam genes in a variety of prokaryotic organisms.
Cholinotoxic Effects of Aluminum in Rat Brain

Abstract: The in vivo and in vitro effects of A1 on the cholinergic system of rat brain were studied. The amount of A1 accumulated after the chronic, intraperitoneal administration of aluminum gluconate (Al‐G) or AlCl3, both at a dose of 1 mg/ml/100 g of body weight, increased in the frontal and parietal cortices, the hippocampus, and the striatum. Significantly decreased choline acetyltransferase activities after chronic Al treatment were measured in the parietal cortex, the hippocampus, and the striatum, but not in the frontal cortex. The acetylcholinesterase activity was not changed significantly in any brain area investigated. Both Al‐G and AlCl3 administrations resulted in a general decrease (to 40–70% of the control values) in the specific l‐[3H]nicotine binding, involving all brain areas studied. The specific (–)‐[3H]quinuclidinyl benzilate binding was reduced (to 40–60% of the control values) only after 25 days of Al treatment. Al‐G and AlCl3 were equivalent in eliciting these reductions. In vitro studies revealed different alterations of the cholinergic system in response to Al treatment. No changes were observed either in choline acetyltransferase activity or in cholinergic receptor bindings. Both Al‐G and Al2(SO4)3 treatments, however, exhibited a biphasic effect on the acetylcholinesterase activity. At low Al concentrations (10–8–10–6M), the activity was slightly increased, whereas at higher concentrations (10–6–10–4M), it was inhibited by a maximum of 25% as compared to the controls. Thus, these cholinotoxic effects are probably due not to a direct interaction between the metal and the cholinergic marker proteins, but rather to a manifestation and consequence of its neurodegenerative effects.
On the coefficients of variation of uptime and downtime in manufacturing equipment

It was reported in the literature that the coefficients of variation of uptime and downtime of manufacturing equipment are often less than 1. This technical paper is intended to provide an analytical explanation of this phenomenon. Specifically, it shows that the distributions of uptime and downtime have the coefficients of variation less than 1 if the breakdown and repair rates are increasing functions of time.
Potentials of fablabs for biomimetic architectural research

A fablab, with its set of different tools and machines for digital fabrication, as well as with the people with various expertise who work in there, is a perfect environment for inter- and multidisciplinary connections and research. More and more fablabs are including the biology i.e. wet-lab components giving opportunity for various phenomena to be investigated from different perspectives, one from the biological point of view and the other from e.g. architectural. Biomimicry in architecture is an innovative concept of using organic forms found in nature as architectural solutions. Taking into account that such forms are difficult to produce in 3D without the tools of digital fabrication, present in a fablab, the authors postulate that the fablab (or more precisely a biofablab) can be efficiently utilized as a lab for biomimicry architecture research.
Toward a Definition of Neglect in Young Children

This study examined the relationship between child experiences identified conceptually as “neglectful” prior to age 4 and child outcomes at age 4. This was done using measures from two sites collected as part of LONGSCAN. Child needs were included within categories of physical and psychological safety and security. Problems with residence safety or cleanliness and untreated behavioral problems predicted child impairments in language. CPS reports of failure to provide shelter predicted impairments in several developmental outcomes. A stimulating home environment predicted less impairment in cognitive development. Multiple changes in residence predicted externalizing behavior problems. Exposure to verbally aggressive discipline predicted more behavioral problems overall. Conversely, some indicators (such as caregiver transitions and lack of medical care) predicted less developmental impairment or fewer behavior problems in certain domains. The approach supports a conceptualization of neglect based on child developmental needs. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.
The effect of dietary fat and fiber on serum estrogen concentrations in premenopausal women under controlled dietary conditions

The effect of dietary fiber and fat on serum sex hormones was studied in premenopausal women. After an initial control period during which the diet was high in fat (40% of calories as fat) and low in fiber (12 g/day), the amounts of fat and fiber were varied in the setting of a metabolic kitchen and carefully monitored meals. Forty‐eight women completed 58 protocols. When the diet was changed to low‐fat (20‐25% calories as fat) and high fiber (40 g/day), there were significant decreases in serum concentrations of estrone, estrone sulfate, testosterone, androstenedione, and sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) and near significant decreases in estradiol and free estradiol. When independent effects were examined, high fiber alone caused a decrease in estradiol and SHBG, whereas fat and fiber caused the observed decrease in estrone sulfate. Dietary fat independently influenced the serum concentration of androstenedione. Increased dietary fiber caused a lengthening of the menstrual cycle by 0.72 day and a lengthening of the follicular phase by 0.85 day.
4th Annual predictive toxicology summit 2012

Introduction: This meeting report presents a brief summary on the 4th Annual Predictive Toxicology Summit 2012, which was held on 15 – 16 February 2012 in London. Areas covered: The majority of presentations came from global pharmaceutical companies, although small and medium enterprise (SME) and academic researchers were represented too. Major regulatory bodies were also present. The article highlights the summit, which was considered a good learning opportunity to catch up on the recent advances in predictive toxicology. Expert opinion: Predictive toxicology has become more and more important due to social and economic pressure and scientific reasons. Technological developments are rapid, but there is a gulf between the technology developers and the pharmaceutical end users; hence, early engagement is desirable. Stem cell-derived cell-based assays as well as three-dimensional in vitro tissue/organ model development are within the reach now, but a lot needs to be done to optimise and validate the developed protocols and products. The field of predictive toxicology needs fundamental research of interdisciplinary nature, which requires much needed trained personnel and funding.