Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
HPLC-MS and GC-MS Analyses Combined with Orthogonal Partial Least Squares to Identify Cytotoxic Constituents from Turmeric (Curcuma Longa L.)

We investigated the fingerprints of 48 batches of turmeric total extracts (TTE) by HPLC-MS-MS and GC-MS analyses and 43 characteristic peaks (22 constituents from HPLC-MS-MS; 21 from GC-MS) were analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively. An MTT {3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)- 2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide} assay was implemented to measure the cytotoxicity of the TTE against HeLa cells. Then we utilized orthogonal partial least squares analysis, which correlated the chemical composition of the TTE to its cytotoxic activity, to identify potential cytotoxic constituents from turmeric. The result showed that 19 constituents contributed significantly to the cytotoxicity. The obtained result was verified by canonical correlation analysis. Comparison with previous reports also indicated some interaction between the curcuminoids and sesquiterpenoids in turmeric.
Improving Web site navigation: creating high-scent links

We introduce the concept of high-scent links, provide examples of low-scent and high-scent links. We suggest how technical communicators can apply the concept of high-scent links to develop a better understanding of users, select appropriate descriptive terminology for links, write better elaborations, and use iterative design and formative evaluation to enhance Web sites.
Basic Fibroblast Growth Factor-induced Activation of Novel CREB Kinase during the Differentiation of Immortalized Hippocampal Cells*

Growth factors bind to their specific receptors on the responsive cell surface and thereby initiate dramatic changes in the proliferation, differentiation, and survival of their target cells. In the present study we have examined the mechanism by which growth factor-induced signals are propagated to the nucleus, leading to the activation of transcription factor, cis-acting cAMP response element (CRE)-binding protein (CREB), in immortalized hippocampal progenitor cells (H19-7). During the differentiation of H19-7 cells by basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) a critical regulatory Ser133 residue of CREB was phosphorylated followed by an increase of CRE-mediated gene transcription. Expression of S133A CREB mutants blocked the differentiation of H19-7 cells by bFGF. Although the kinetics of CREB phosphorylation by EGF was transient, bFGF induced a prolonged pattern of CREB phosphorylation. Interestingly, bFGF-induced CREB phosphorylation and subsequent CRE-mediated gene transcription is not likely to be mediated by any of previously known signaling pathways that lead to phosphorylation of CREB, such as mitogen-activated protein kinases, protein kinase A, protein kinase C, phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase-p70S6K, calcium/calmodulindependent protein kinase, and casein kinase 2. By using in vitro in gel kinase assay the presence of a novel 120-kDa bFGF-inducible CREB kinase was identified. These findings identify a new growth factor-activated signaling pathway that regulates gene expression at the CRE.
A Survey on Human Pose Estimation

AbstractHuman pose estimation has attracted widespread attention due to its important application value and theoretical significance. A systemic survey of human pose estimation would be very meaningful. However, relevant studies have significantly lagged behind in this respect. To this end, we discuss the difficulties of human pose estimation and give a data-driven overview of recent approaches to performing human pose estimation, including depth-based approaches and traditional image-based methods. While the focus of this study is on approaches using depth and RGB image data, we also discuss human pose estimation methods based on object detection and action recognition. Finally, we give some analysis advice to researchers.
False positive and false negative reduction in digital mammograms using binary rotation invariant and noise tolerant texture descriptor

Digital mammography is one of the most effective approaches to diagnose breast cancer at early stage. Several strategies have been proposed to identify breast tumor, yet these techniques endure with high rate of false positive and false negative. It is challenging task to reduce false positive and false negative. In this research work, a new approach is proposed that uses textural properties of the masses to reduce false positive and negative in mammograms. The thought of utilizing textural data for tackling this issue is not new and has been earlier presented in several works. However, the proposed method utilizes a recently developed texture descriptor called Binary Rotation Invariant and Noise Tolerant (BRINT) to characterize local-patterns (i.e. lines, edges, flat areas, spots). In the meantime, spatial structure of the masses is preserved. The proposed system is tested on 512 Regions of Interest (ROIs) extracted from the Digital Database for Screening Mammography (DDSM) database. Support Vector Machines (SVM) is used with radial basis kernel for classification. The comparison is performed with Local Binary Pattern (LBP) based feature extraction strategy. The results indicate that the proposed method has improved the classification accuracy.
Elevated protein carbonylation in the brain white matter and gray matter of patients with multiple sclerosis

Oxidative stress has been implicated in the pathophysiology of multiple sclerosis (MS). Increased levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) derived from infiltrating macrophages and microglial cells have been shown to reduce the levels of endogenous antioxidants and to cause the oxidation of various substrates within the MS plaque. To determine whether oxidative damage takes place beyond visible MS plaques, the occurrence of total carbonyls (TCOs) and protein carbonyls (PCOs) in the normal‐appearing white matter (NAWM) and gray matter (NAGM) of eight MS brains was assessed and compared with those of four control brains. The data show that most (7/8) of the MS‐WM samples contain increased amounts of PCOs as determined by reaction with 2,4‐dinitrophenylhydrazine and Western blot analysis. These samples also have high levels of glial fibrilary acidic protein (GFAP), suggesting that oxidative damage is related to the presence of small lesions. In contrast, we detected no evidence of protein thiolation (glutathionylation and cysteinylation) in the diseased tissue. To our surprise, MS‐NAGM specimens with high GFAP content also showed three times the concentration of TCOs and PCOs as the controls. The increase in PCOs is likely to be a consequence of reduced levels of antioxidants, in that the concentration of nonprotein thiols in both MS‐WM and ‐GM decreased by 30%. Overall, our data support the current view that both NAWM and ‐GM from MS brains contain considerable biochemical alterations. The involvement of GM in MS was also supported by the decrease in the levels of neurofilament light protein in all the specimens analyzed. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study demonstrating the presence of increased protein carbonylation in post‐mortem WM and GM tissue of MS patients. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Fish intake and the risk of fatal prostate cancer: findings from a cohort study in Japan

Abstract Objective We investigated the relationship between the intake of fish and the risk of death from prostate cancer. Design Data were derived from a prospective cohort study in Japan. Fish consumption obtained from a baseline questionnaire was classified into the two categories of ‘low intake’ and ‘high intake’. The Cox proportional hazards model was used to estimate hazard ratios (HR) and 95 % confidence intervals. Subjects Data for 5589 men aged 30–79 years were analysed. Results A total of twenty-one prostate cancer deaths were observed during 75 072 person-years of follow-up. Mean age at baseline study of these twenty-one subjects was 67·7 years, ranging from 47 and 79 years old. Results showed a consistent inverse association of this cancer between the high v. low intake groups. The multivariate model adjusted for potential confounding factors and some other food items showed a HR of 0·12 (95 % CI 0·05, 0·32) for the high intake group of fish consumption. Conclusions These results support the hypothesis that a high intake of fish may decrease the risk of prostate cancer death. Given the paucity of studies examining the association between prostate cancer and fish consumption, particularly in Asian populations, these findings require confirmation in additional cohort studies.
Space-time block codes achieving generalized optimal diversity

We propose a generalized code structure for constructing space-time codes (STCs) that can achieve generalized optimum diversity (GOD) with minimum delay. As a GOD code, it can achieve the full diversity and a maximum coding gain for any number of transmit antennas ( t N ) and any rate ( R ), if the rate is less than or equal to the rank of the channel matrix. As a minimum delay code, the structure requires only t N time slots in order to achieve the full diversity. The proposed structure combines mutu- ally exclusive R data symbols with complex weights at each transmit antenna and the same set of data symbols is repeated at every time slot in a code block, but is transmitted through different transmit antennas with different sets of complex weights. In addi- tion, the structure does not need any restrictions to the complex weights, thus the code can be designed with the maximum degrees of freedom. The design of an optimum code would be done by finding the set of the complex weights so that the minimum abso- lute determinant of code word difference matrices could be maxi- mized. The optimum code could be easily designed so that two types of constraints, that is, the power constraints and the orthogo- nality constraint could be satisfied. The two constraints make the channel resource fully utilized when the channel state information (CSI) is not available at the transmitter and also reduce to the uni- tary constraint for capacity lossless code design in the case of t N R = . We give two STC design examples: (1) an STC with rate 2 for two transmit antennas and (2) an STC with rate 3 for three transmit antennas. We also provide some guidelines for code de- sign. Computer simulations are performed to demonstrate the per- formance of the proposed designs. From simulation results, we see that the proposed code structure and code designs can achieve GOD with minimum delay.
Deleting the IF1-like ζ subunit from Paracoccus denitrificans ATP synthase is not sufficient to activate ATP hydrolysis

In oxidative phosphorylation, ATP synthases interconvert two forms of free energy: they are driven by the proton-motive force across an energy-transducing membrane to synthesize ATP and displace the ADP/ATP ratio from equilibrium. For thermodynamically efficient energy conversion they must be reversible catalysts. However, in many species ATP synthases are unidirectional catalysts (their rates of ATP hydrolysis are negligible), and in others mechanisms have evolved to regulate or minimize hydrolysis. Unidirectional catalysis by Paracoccus denitrificans ATP synthase has been attributed to its unique ζ subunit, which is structurally analogous to the mammalian inhibitor protein IF1. Here, we used homologous recombination to delete the ζ subunit from the P. denitrificans genome, and compared ATP synthesis and hydrolysis by the wild-type and knockout enzymes in inverted membrane vesicles and the F1-ATPase subcomplex. ATP synthesis was not affected by loss of the ζ subunit, and the rate of ATP hydrolysis increased by less than twofold, remaining negligible in comparison with the rates of the Escherichia coli and mammalian enzymes. Therefore, deleting the P. denitrificans ζ subunit is not sufficient to activate ATP hydrolysis. We close by considering our conclusions in the light of reversible catalysis and regulation in ATP synthase enzymes.
Local node selection for localization in a distributed sensor network

This paper discusses a new localized resource manager for a wireless sensor network of bearings-only sensors. Specifically, each node uses knowledge of the target under surveillance to determine whether it should actively collect measurements and how far to disseminate the data in order for the sensor network to maintain track of the target. At each node, the resource manager requires only knowledge of the relative location to the target for itself and the active nodes from the previous snapshot. The decentralized strategy represents a modification to the global node selection (GNS) method that exploits knowledge of the location of all nodes in the network. Simulations show that despite the lack of global network knowledge, the new localized management method is almost as effective as GNS in terms of balancing the tradeoff between energy usage and localization accuracy.
IL-33 Reduces Macrophage Foam Cell Formation

The development of atherosclerosis, a chronic inflammatory disease characterized by the formation of arterial fibrotic plaques, has been shown to be reduced by IL-33 in vivo. However, whether IL-33 can directly affect macrophage foam cell formation, a key feature of atherosclerotic plaques, has not been determined. In this study, we investigated whether IL-33 reduces macrophage foam cell accumulation in vivo and if IL-33 reduces their formation in vitro using THP-1 and primary human monocyte-derived macrophages. In Apolipoprotein E−/− mice fed on a high fat diet, IL-33 treatment significantly reduced the accumulation of macrophage-derived foam cells in atherosclerotic plaques. IL-33 also reduced macrophage foam cell formation in vitro by decreasing acetylated and oxidized low-density lipoprotein uptake, reducing intracellular total and esterified cholesterol content and enhancing cholesterol efflux. These changes were associated with IL-33–mediated reduction in the expression of genes involved in modified low-density lipoprotein uptake, such as CD36, and simultaneous increase in genes involved in cholesterol efflux, including Apolipoprotein E, thereby providing a mechanism for such an action for this cytokine. IL-33 also decreased the expression of key genes implicated in cholesterol esterification and triglyceride storage, including Acyl-CoA:cholesterol acyltransferase 1 and Adipocyte differentiation-related protein. Furthermore, using bone marrow-derived macrophages from ST2−/− mice, we demonstrate that the IL-33 receptor, ST2, is integral to the action of IL-33 on macrophage foam cell formation. In conclusion, IL-33 has a protective role in atherosclerosis by reducing macrophage foam cell formation suggesting that IL-33 maybe a potential therapeutic agent against atherosclerosis.
Alcohol consumption and fatty acid intakes in the 2001-2002 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

BACKGROUND Alcohol consumption has the potential to affect dietary intakes of nutrients; however, little is known about fatty acid intakes among alcohol consumers in the U.S. population. METHOD We examined the relation between self-reported alcohol consumption and dietary fatty acid intake in 4,168 adults in the cross-sectional National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2001-2002. Fatty acid intake was determined from a single, interviewer-administered 24-hour recall. The adjusted, weighted mean level of dietary fatty acid intakes, as characterized by nutrient density, was calculated as grams of fatty acid per 1,000 kcal of energy consumed according to average daily alcohol consumption and binge-drinking episodes. RESULTS Energy intake showed a significant increasing trend across alcohol consumption categories in both genders and binge-drinking categories in men. Women binge drinkers also showed a higher energy intake compared with nonbinge drinkers. Among men, decreased nutrient densities of saturated, monounsaturated, polyunsaturated, linoleic, and alpha-linolenic acids were associated with increasing alcohol consumption. Binge-drinking men but not women had significantly decreased intakes of total saturates, monounsaturates, polyunsaturates and linoleic, alpha-linolenic, eicosapentaenoic, and docosahexaenoic acid. When alcohol energy was excluded from calculation of nutrient densities, the results were similar to those with alcohol energy included, except that total saturated and monounsaturated fatty acid differences were no longer significant. In addition, there was an inverse relationship among men between binge-drinking frequency and total polyunsaturates, linoleic, alpha-linolenic, and eicosapentaenoic acids. CONCLUSION Our cross-sectional results suggest that alcohol consumption may impact the dietary intake of essential fatty acids (EFAs). Given the public health importance of both alcohol consumption and intakes of EFAs, prospective studies of the relation should be considered.
Infective endocarditis in children: clinical analyses and evaluation of two diagnostic criteria

A new diagnostic schema for infective endocarditis (IE), the Duke criteria, has been compared with the previously published criteria of von Reyn in adult patients. This study was designed to analyze the clinical characteristics of a group of pediatric patients with IE and to compare the diagnostic efficiency of both sets of criteria. We reviewed retrospectively the clinical records of 38 patients, 22 with predisposing heart disease (Subgroup A) and 16 with no known cardiologic abnormality (Subgroup B). Ventricular septal defect was the most frequent preexisting heart disease (31.8%) and central venous catheters were the most frequent predisposing factor (68.7%). Comparison of the clinical features between subgroups (A vs. B) showed differences only for the presence of a new regurgitant murmur (9% vs. 44%, P < 0.05) and a hemoglobin value ≤10 g/dl (50% vs. 94%, P < 0.05). The most frequent microorganisms isolated were viridans streptococci (36%) in Subgroup A and Staphylococcus aureus (50%) in Subgroup B. Of the 6 pathologically confirmed cases all would have been classified as clinically definite by the Duke criteria, as compared with 2 of 6 being defined as probable and one being rejected by von Reyn criteria. Of the 32 cases clinically defined 19 (59%) were classified as definite by the Duke criteria, and 11 (34%) were probable by the von Reyn criteria (difference 25%, P < 0.01). Although no case of IE was rejected by Duke criteria, 8 (25%) were rejected by von Reyn criteria (difference 25%, P < 0.01), with all 8 classified as possible by Duke criteria. We conclude that the Duke criteria were superior to the von Reyn criteria for the diagnosis of pediatric IE, including more cases as definite and significantly fewer cases as rejected.
Four cases of venous thrombosis in athletes with silent hereditary defects of the protein C system

We report four cases of athletes, carriers of a defect of the protein C (PC) anticoagulant system, who developed deep vein thrombosis (DVT) after strenuous physical exercise. These cases suggest that there could be a relationship between post-exercise hypercoagulability and the onset of DVT. A retrospective study of cases of DVT associated with hereditary thrombophilia evaluated in our laboratory over a period of about three years (1995–1997) revealed four cases of DVT that occurred in athletes soon after strenuous exercise. The first symptoms of DVT (pain, oedema and cyanosis at variable extent) occurred in the legs of all athletes between 1–3 h after exercise (swimming, rowing or football; see Table 1). Duplex Doppler ultrasound was positive for DVT. Thrombosis was localized in the femoral vein in all subjects except subject 2, in whom it occurred in the popliteal vein. All subjects practised sport at a competitive level, and one was an elite athlete. All were carriers
The use of posaconazole against Chagas disease

Purpose of review The current therapeutic scenario against Chagas disease has been recently updated with the use of the triazoles in clinical trials and several experimental assays (in-vitro and in-vivo models) which are bringing novel and promising evidence for the treatment of Chagas diseases, mainly in its chronic phase. We pretend to analyze all the evidence extracted from the in-vitro and in-vivo assays, and try to understand the poor outcome of posaconazole (POS) in the clinical experience. Recent findings POS is the drug with more advanced development in both experimental model and clinical trial. Despite the promising results initially obtained in the animal model, the clinical trial did not meet expectations. Nevertheless, it has documented the activity against Trypanosoma cruzi either in the animal model or in humans. Also new treatment strategies, combination or sequential schemes, have been evaluated in the animal model. Summary POS has been tested in humans showing activity against T. cruzi, but not enough to reach cure by itself. Those results represent one of the most important breakthroughs in the treatment of Chagas disease, and open a window to new strategies as combination therapies or even sequential treatments.
No Difference in Young Adult Athletes' Resting Energy Expenditure When Measured Under Inpatient or Outpatient Conditions.

Low energy availability can place athletes at increased risk of injury and illness and can be detected by a lower metabolic rate. The lowest metabolic rate is captured at the bedside, after an overnight fast and termed inpatient resting energy expenditure (REE). Measurements done in a laboratory with a shorter overnight fast are termed outpatient REE. Although important to know what the lowest energy expenditure, a bedside measure and/or 12-hr fast is not always practical or logistically possible particularly when you take into account an athlete's training schedule. The aim of this investigation was to compare a bedside measure of resting metabolism with a laboratory measure in athletes following an 8-hr fast. Thirty-two athletes (24 females and eight males) underwent measures of resting metabolism using indirect calorimetry once at their bedside (inpatient) and once in a simulated laboratory setting (outpatient). Paired t test was used to compare the mean ± SD differences between the two protocols. Inpatient REE was 7,302 ± 1,272 kJ/day and outpatient REE was 7,216 ± 1,116 kJ/day (p = .448). Thirteen participants repeated the outpatient protocol and 17 repeated the inpatient protocol to assess the day-to-day variation. Reliability was assessed using the intraclass correlation coefficient and typical error. The inpatient-protocol variability was 96% with a typical error of 336.2 kJ/day. For the outpatient protocol, the intraclass correlation coefficient and typical error were 87% and 477.6 kJ/day, respectively. Results indicate no difference in REE when measured under inpatient and outpatient conditions; however, the inpatient protocol has greater reliability.