Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Insulin and Sulfonylurea Therapy in NIDDM Patients: Are the Effects on Lipoprotein Metabolism Different Even With Similar Blood Glucose Control?

This study evaluates the effects of insulin versus glibenclamide on lipoprotein metabolism at comparable levels of blood glucose control, in particular on the concentration and distribution of VLDL subfractions and lipolytic enzyme activities in nine NIDDM men (aged 56 ± 3 years, BMI 26.5 ± 0.9 kg/m2) (means ± SE) participating in a crossover study. After a 3-week washout period, patients were randomly assigned to 2-month treatment periods (insulin or glibenclamide); thereafter, each patient crossed to the other treatment. At the end of each period, mean daily blood glucose (MDBG), HbA1c, plasma lipids, lipoproteins (VLDL, LDL, HDL), lipoprotein subfractions (VLDL1, 2, 3; HDL2) HDL3), and post-heparin lipase activities (lipoprotein lipase [LPL], hepatic lipase [HL]) were evaluated. Although glucose control was similar at the end of both periods (MDBG 8.3 ± 0.3 vs. 7.9 ± 0.3 mmol/l HbA1c 7.4 ± 0.3 vs. 7.0 ± 0.2%, insulin versus glibenclamide), insulin compared with glibenclamide induced a significant reduction in plasma triglycerides (0.9 ± 0.1 vs. 1.1 ± 0.1 mmoH, P < 0.05), VLDL triglycerides (50.1 ± 12.2 vs. 63.6 ± 12.3 mg/dl, P < 0.02), VLDL1 lipid concentration (24.9 ± 7.5 vs. 39.9 ± 9.5 mg/dl, P < 0.006), and increased HDL2 cholesterol (25.2 ± 1.6 vs. 20.3 ± 1.3 mg/dl, P < 0.03). In terms of VLDL percentage subfraction distribution, with insulin, there was a decrease in the larger subfractions (VLDL1 26.5 ± 3.0 vs. 37.8 ± 3.4%, P < 0.02) and an increase in the smallest (VLDL3 47.3 ± 3.8 vs. 37.3 ± 3.3%, P < 0.05). Moreover, HL activity was significantly lower after insulin than after glibenclamide (HL 247.2 ± 22.3 vs. 263.5 ± 22.6 mU/ml, P < 0.05). In conclusion, compared with glibenclamide, insulin treatment (independent of variations in glucose control) is able to decrease significantly plasma triglycerides, to increase HDL2 cholesterol, and to reduce only the concentration of the larger VLDL subfractions, with a consequent redistribution of their profile.
A new approach to internet banking

This thesis investigates the protection landscape surrounding online banking. First, electronic banking is analysed for vulnerabilities and a survey of current attacks is carried out. This is represented graphically as an attack tree describing the different ways in which online transactions can be attacked. The discussion then moves on to various defences which have been developed, categorizing them and analyzing how successful they are at protecting against the attacks given in the first chapter. This covers everything from TLS encryption through phishing site detection to two-factor authentication. Having declared all current schemes for protecting online banking lacking in some way, the key aspects of the problem are identified. This is followed by a proposal for a more robust defence system which uses a small security device to create a trusted path to the customer, rather than depend upon trusting the customer’s computer. The protocol for this system is described along with all the other restrictions required for actual use. This is followed by a description of a demonstration implementation of the system. Extensions to the system are then proposed, designed to afford extra protection for the consumer and also to support other types of device. There is then a discussion of ways of managing keys in a heterogeneous system, rather than one managed by a single entity. The conclusion discusses the weaknesses of the proposed scheme and evaluates how successful it is likely to be in practice and what barriers there may be to adoption in the banking system. Full text PDF (1.3 MB)
Ultralow threshold optical bistability in metal/randomly layered media structure.

The Tamm plasmon polaritons (TPPs) at the metal/randomly layered media (RLM) structure were studied. The optical bistability was realized by replacing one of the RLM components of the Kerr nonlinear material. An ultralow switching threshold of 44 kW/cm2 was obtained, due to the field enhancement through the resonant transmission in the RLM and TPPs. A theoretical analysis was presented, matching the numerical simulation result well. The bistability threshold was found to be related to the mismatch in the excitation frequency of TPPs, the thickness of metal film, and the intensity of nonlinear response.
Antidiabetic, Antihyperlipidaemic and Antioxidant activity of Pterocarpus marsupium Roxb. in alloxan induced diabetic rats.

Pterocarpus marsupium Roxb (Fabaceae) is a well known medicinal plant and is used in various human ailments. The ethanol extracts of Pterocarpus marsupium wood, bark and combined extract of wood and bark were investigated for its antidiabetic effect in Wistar albino rats. Diabetes was induced in Albino rats by administration of alloxan monohydrate (150mg/kg,i.p). The ethanol extracts of Pterocarpus marsupium wood and bark at a dose of 150mg/kg of body weight respectively and combined extracts of wood and bark at a dose of 150 +150mg/kg of body weight were administered at single dose per day to diabetes induced rats for a period of 14 days. The effect of ethanol extracts of Pterocarpus marsupium on blood glucose, plasma insulin, glycosylated haemoglobin, serum lipid profile (total cholesterol, triglycerides, low density lipoprotein - cholesterol (LDL-C), very low density lipoprotein - cholesterol (VLDL-C), and high density lipoprotein-cholesterol(HDL-C)) serum protein, albumin, globulin, A/G ratio, serum enzymes (Serum glutamate pyruvate transaminases (SGPT), serum glutamate oxaloacetate transaminases (SGOT) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP)), antioxidant enzymes lipoprotein peroxidation (LPO), reduced glutathione (GSH), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), glutathione reductase (GR), erythrocytes (catalase (CAT) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) were measured in the diabetic rats. The ethanol extracts of Pterocarpus marsupium resulted significant reductions of blood glucose(p<0.01), lipid parameters except HDL-C, serum enzymes and significantly increased HDL-C and antioxidant enzymes. The extracts also caused significant increase in plasma insulin(p<0.01) in the diabetic rats. From the above results it is concluded that ethanol extracts of Pterocarpus marsupium possesses significant antidiabetic, antihyperlipidaemic and antioxidant effects in alloxan induced diabetic rats.
Unambiguous quantum measurement of nonorthogonal states.

Generalized quantum measurements can be used to separate deterministically two nonorthogonal quantum states. However, such measurements also lead to inconclusive results, where the initial state remains unknown. We introduce a particular type of generalized quantum measurement, which we term loss induced generalized (LIGe) quantum measurement, and present an experimental realization. This LIGe measurement achieves optimal deterministic separation of two nonorthogonally polarized single photons. {copyright} {ital 1996 The American Physical Society. }
The Dynamics of Money Velocity, External Sectors and Electronic Transactions in India: Connecting dots using Empirical Approach

The article presents a study to understand the behavior of money velocity for different money stock measures in India for the period 1982 – 2012 along with the important factors by which they get influenced. The first part checks the random walk hypothesis for money velocity fluctuations. The results show that the velocities do not exhibit random walk behavior which proved to be useful for analysis of money velocity dynamics. The causality tests show that the recent developments in electronic transactions are yet to have an impact on money velocity. The last part analyzes the impact of external sectors which includes the trade, the debt inflows, remittances from abroad, investments in India and the interventions from Reserve Bank of India on money velocity suitably in a VAR (1) framework and responses of the variables in future to shocks in the other variables at present have been analyzed using impulse response functions.
Facial expression recognition from a side view face by using face plane

The problem of recognizing the partial face expression captured from a viewpoint between -/+45deg arises in many fields of science and engineering, this paper propose the novel method for recognizing the partial face expression by using an 2.5D partial face image. The 2.5D partial face image is captured from a viewpoint between -/+45deg. The 3D virtual expression face is reconstructed from 2.5D partial face image. The facial expression is analyzed in term of the distribution of cross points on the face plane, and then the feature of cross points on the face plane is evaluated by original feature contribution. Finally, the significant feature is used for facial expression recognition by means of multiple similarity method. This proposed method has the advantages: 1) the 2.5D partial face image captured from a viewpoint of face rotation between -45deg and + 45deg can be used for recognition, 2) facial parts extraction like eyes, mouth is not required in this recognition system. The experiments were done for four facial expressions (neutral, anger, surprise and smiling) from 21 persons, based on the assumption that the person has been known. The results show the feasibility of the proposed method.
Altered Functional Connectivity of Fronto-Cingulo-Striatal Circuits during Error Monitoring in Adolescents with a History of Childhood Abuse

Childhood maltreatment is associated with error hypersensitivity. We examined the effect of childhood abuse and abuse-by-gene (5-HTTLPR, MAOA) interaction on functional brain connectivity during error processing in medication/drug-free adolescents. Functional connectivity was compared, using generalized psychophysiological interaction (gPPI) analysis of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data, between 22 age- and gender-matched medication-naïve and substance abuse-free adolescents exposed to severe childhood abuse and 27 healthy controls, while they performed an individually adjusted tracking stop-signal task, designed to elicit 50% inhibition failures. During inhibition failures, abused participants relative to healthy controls exhibited reduced connectivity between right and left putamen, bilateral caudate and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), and between right supplementary motor area (SMA) and right inferior and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Abuse-related connectivity abnormalities were associated with longer abuse duration. No group differences in connectivity were observed for successful inhibition. The findings suggest that childhood abuse is associated with decreased functional connectivity in fronto-cingulo-striatal networks during error processing. Furthermore that the severity of connectivity abnormalities increases with abuse duration. Reduced connectivity of error detection networks in maltreated individuals may be linked to constant monitoring of errors in order to avoid mistakes which, in abusive contexts, are often associated with harsh punishment.
Generation of a transgenic rabbit model of retinal degeneration.

PURPOSE To generate a transgenic (Tg) rabbit model of retinal degeneration and to characterize the pattern of degeneration by using histology and electrophysiology. METHODS Rhodopsin Pro347Leu Tg rabbits were generated by BAC transgenesis. Tg rabbits were identified by Southern blot analysis, and the expression levels were measured by quantitative RT-PCR. Retinal histology was examined by light and electron microscopy and immunohistochemistry. Retinal function was assessed by full-field electroretinograms (ERGs). RESULTS Six lines of Tg rabbits were generated, and two lines with higher levels of expression showed rod-dominant progressive retinal degeneration. Retinal histology indicated a marked regional variation in the loss of photoreceptors with the central retina more severely affected than the peripheral retina. The characteristics of the ERGs of transgenic rabbits indicated that the rod components of the ERGs were reduced to only 5% by 48 weeks, whereas the cone components remained at 35% in the wild-type at the same time point. The retinal ultrastructure of Tg rabbits showed a large number of small vesicles that accumulated in the extracellular space of the photoreceptors. CONCLUSIONS To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first rabbit model of progressive retinal degeneration. Because rabbits have large eyes and are easy to handle and breed, they will provide a useful animal model for the study of the pathophysiology of and new treatments for retinal degeneration.
Transient discharge current measurements to study dielectric charging in MEMS

Dielectric charging effect is the most important failure in Micro electromechanical switches (MEMS). In this paper we explain a novel method to characterize the dielectric charging phenomena by means of transient discharge current. The most common technique used to quantify the reliability problems on MEMS is capacitance - voltage (C-V). However, the analysis of the transients shows that several time constants are governing the charge dynamics, one of them related to the resistivity-permittivity product of the dielectric and the others can be related to internal dielectric characteristics.
The influence of indomethacin on the ventilatory response to CO2 in newborn anaesthetized piglets.

1. Indomethacin, a cyclo‐oxygenase inhibitor, decreases baseline values of cerebral blood flow, attenuates the cerebrovascular sensitivity to CO2 and stimulates ventilation in newborn piglets. 2. In twelve newborn anaesthetized piglets we investigated the influence of indomethacin on the ventilatory response to CO2 using the dynamic end‐tidal forcing technique by applying square‐wave changes in end‐tidal CO2 tension of 1.5‐2.0 kPa at constant end‐tidal PO2 of 15 kPa. 3. Each response, measured on a breath‐to‐breath basis, is separated into a fast peripheral and a slow central component with each component characterized by a CO2 sensitivity, a time constant, a time delay and an apnoeic threshold. 4. The results showed that indomethacin increases the central CO2 sensitivity from 232 +/‐ 38 to 292 +/‐ 43 ml min‐1 kPa‐1 (mean +/‐ S.E.M.). Neither the peripheral CO2 sensitivity nor the apnoeic threshold changed. 5. The central on‐transient and off‐transient time constants increased from 50.0 +/‐ 7.4 and 81.0 +/‐ 9.6 s, respectively, to 69.1 +/‐ 9.8 and 139.9 +/‐ 13.4 s after indomethacin. 6. Using a physiological model we argue that the respiratory effects of indomethacin are due to effects on cerebral blood flow.
A CMOS Envelope-Tracking Transmitter With an On-Chip Common-Gate Voltage Modulation Linearizer

This letter presents a fully integrated CMOS envelope-tracking transmitter with an on-chip common-gate voltage modulation linearizer that achieves an average output power of 26/23.5 dBm with a PAE of 33/28%, an ACLR of -33 / -32.5 dBc at a frequency of 1.9 GHz for 3.84 MHz BW 3.5 dB PAPR WCDMA and 5 MHz BW 7.5 dB PAPR LTE signals in an 0.18-μm CMOS process. The CMOS ET transmitter is integrated with an envelope amplifier, two pairs of saturated power amplifiers, and an on-chip linearizer. The total chip size is 2.5 × 1.5 mm2 with the input/output on-chip transformers and matching networks.
A Secure and Dynamic Multi-keyword Ranked Search Scheme over Encrypted Cloud Data

The major aim of this paper is to solve the problem of multi-keyword ranked search over encrypted cloud data (MRSE) at the time of protecting exact method wise privacy in the cloud computing concept. Data holders are encouraged to outsource their difficult data management systems from local sites to the business public cloud for large flexibility and financial savings. However, for protecting data privacy, sensitive data have to be encrypted before outsourcing, which performs traditional data utilization based on plain text keyword search. As a result, allowing an encrypted cloud data search service is of supreme significance. In view of a large number of data users and documents in the cloud, it is essential to permit several keywords in the search demand and return documents in the order of their appropriate to these keywords. The similar mechanism on searchable encryption makes center on single keyword search or Boolean keyword search and rarely sort the search results. In the middle of various multi-keyword semantics, deciding the well-organized similarity measure of “coordinate matching,” it means that as many matches as possible, to capture the appropriate data documents to the search query. Particularly, we consider “inner product similarity” i.e., a number of query keywords show in a document, to quantitatively estimate such match measure that document to the search query. Through the index construction, every document is connected with a binary vector as a sub-index where each bit characterize whether matching keyword is contained in the document. The search query is also illustrated as a binary vector where each bit means whether the corresponding keyword appears in this search request, so the matched one could be exactly measured by the inner product of the query vector with the data vector. On the other hand, directly outsourcing the data vector or the query vector will break the index privacy or the search privacy. The vector space model facilitates to offer enough search accuracy, and the DES encryption allows users to occupy in the ranking while the popularity of computing work is done on the server side by the process only on cipher text. As a consequence, data leakage can be eradicated and data security is guaranteed.
Microsatellite Instable and Microsatellite Stable Primary Endometrial Carcinoma Cells and Their Subcutaneous and Orthotopic Xenografts Recapitulate the Characteristics of the Corresponding Primary Tumor

Objective Well-characterized, low-passage, primary cell cultures established directly from patient tumors are an important tool for drug screening because these cultures faithfully recapitulate the genomic features of primary tumors. Here, we aimed to establish these cell cultures from primary endometrial carcinomas (ECs) and to develop subcutaneous and orthotopic xenograft models as a model to validate promising treatment options for EC in the in vivo setting. Methods Primary cell cultures of EC tumors were established and validated by analysing histologic and genetic characteristics, telomerase activity, and in vitro and in vivo growth characteristics. Using these primary cell cultures, subcutaneous and orthotopic mouse models were subsequently established. Results We established and characterized 7 primary EC cell cultures and corresponding xenograft models of different types of endometrioid tumors. Interestingly, we observed that the chance to successfully establish a primary cell culture seems higher for microsatellite instable than microsatellite stable tumors. For the first time, we also established an orthotopic murine model for EC derived from a primary cell culture. In contrast to EC cell lines, grafted tumor cultures preserved the original tumor structure and mimicked all histologic features. They also established abdominal and distant metastases, reflecting the tumorigenic behavior in the clinical setting. Remarkably, the established cell cultures and xenograft tumors also preserved the genetic characteristics of the primary tumor. Conclusions The established EC cultures reflect the epithelial genetic characteristics of the primary tumor. Therefore, they provide an appropriate model to investigate EC biology and apply high-throughput drug screening experiments. In addition, the established murine xenograft models, in particular the orthotopic model, will be useful to validate promising therapeutic strategies in vivo, as the grafted tumors closely resemble the primary tumors from which they were derived. Microsatellite instable status seems to determine the success rate of establishing primary cell cultures.
In vitro responses of equine colonic arterial and venous rings to adenosine triphosphate.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the in vitro effects of adenosine tryphosphate (ATP) on vasomotor tone of equine colonic vasculature. SAMPLE POPULATION Arteries and veins from the left ventral colon of 14 mixed-breed horses euthanatized for reasons unrelated to cardiovascular or gastrointestinal tract disease. PROCEDURES Endothelium-intact and -denuded arterial and venous rings were precontracted with 10(-7) and 1.8 x 10(-8) M endothelin-1, respectively. In 1 trial, endothelium-intact rings were also incubated with 10(-4) M N omega-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) to inhibit nitric oxide (NO) production. Adenosine triphosphate (10(-8) to 10(-3) M) was added in a noncumulative manner, and relaxation percentage versus time curves were generated. Areas under the curves (ie, percentage of relaxation time) were calculated. RESULTS Relaxation response of arterial and venous rings to ATP was dose-dependent. Percentage of relaxation time in response to 10(-4) and 10(-3) MATP was significantly greater, compared with that for rings not treated with ATP Removal of endothelium attenuated but did not eliminate the relaxation response. Addition of L-NAME did not attenuate the relaxation response in arteries. At higher concentrations, the vascular response to ATP was biphasic. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE ATP applied to equine colonic arterial and venous rings with and without intact endothelium induced a biphasic response characterized by transient contraction followed by slow, substantial, and sustained relaxation. This ATP-induced response is possibly mediated by a mechanism other than NO. Adenosine triphosphate may be a useful treatment to modulate colonic vasomotor tone in horses with strangulating volvulus of the ascending colon.
Implementation and evaluation of a communication intensive application on the EARTH multithreaded system

This paper reports a study of sparse Matrix Vector Multiplication (MVM) on a parallel computing platform based on a fine‐grained multithreaded program execution model. Such sparse MVM computations, when parallelized without performing graph partitioning, suffers a very high communication to computation ratio, and is well known to have a very limited scalability on traditional distributed‐memory machines. The particular multithreaded system we use is the Efficient Architecture for Running THreads (EARTH) model, which can be implemented from off‐the‐shelf processors.
Assessment of the respiratory exchange ratio in mechanically ventilated patients by a standard anaesthetic gas analyser

Background: The respiratory exchange ratio (R) is the CO2 production divided with O2 consumption. R is an essential factor included in several formulas during routine blood gas analysis. Instant and individual measurement of R may be of particular interest to improve the evaluation of each single patient. A standard anaesthetic gas analyser has been recommended for measurement of R among spontaneously breathing healthy subjects, but there is no experience using this method among mechanically ventilated critically ill patients. This study validates the assessment of R by a Brüel & Kjær gas analyser (B & K) during positive pressure ventilation of intensive care patients.