Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Loss of dystrophin causes aberrant mechanotransduction in skeletal muscle fibers

Dystrophin is a cytoskeletal protein found at the inner surface of skeletal and cardiac muscle fibers. We hypothesize that deficiency of dystrophin increases muscle compliance and causes an aberrant mechanotransduction in muscle fibers. To test this hypothesis, we measured the length–tension relationships and determined intracellular signaling leading to the activation of mitogen‐activated protein (MAP) kinases in diaphragm muscle fibers from dystrophin‐deficient mdx mice. Compared with controls, length–tension curves of the mdx mice were shifted to the right. A higher level of activation of extracellular signal‐regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2) but not c‐Jun N‐terminal kinase‐1 or p38 MAP kinase was observed in the mdx muscle compared with the normal muscle in response to mechanical stretch. Removal of Ca2+ from the medium inhibited stretch‐induced ERK1/2 activation only in mdx muscle fibers but not in the normal fibers. Conversely, pretreatment with TMB‐8 (an antagonist of intracellular Ca2+) blocked the mechanical stretchinduced ERK1/2 activation in normal but not in mdx muscle fibers. Pretreatment of muscle with nifedipine (L‐type calcium channel antagonist) marginally decreased the activation of ERK1/2 in normal or mdx muscle whereas pretreatment with gadolinium (III) chloride (an inhibitor of stretch‐activated channels) only blocked the activation of ERK1/2 in mdx muscle, with no significant effect on normal muscle. A higher basal level of activation of activator protein‐1 (AP‐1) transcription factor was observed in dystrophin‐deficient diaphragm, which was further augmented by mechanical stretch. Mechanical stretch‐induced activation of AP‐1 was decreased by pretreatment of muscle fibers with PD98059 (ERK1/2 inhibitor) and removal of Ca2+ ions from incubation medium. Our results show that dystrophin is a load‐bearing element and its deficiency leads to loss of muscle stiffness and aberrant mechanotransduction in skeletal muscle fibers. —Kumar, A. , Khandelwal, N. , Malya, R. , Reid, M. B. , Boriek, A. M. Loss of dystrophin causes aberrant mechanotransduction in skeletal muscle fibers. FASEB J. 18, 102–113 (2004)
Fast multi objective optimization of an automotive PMSM using mixed BEM with genetic algorithms

In this work, we discuss multi-objective design optimization of permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM) solved by genetic algorithm (GA) and boundary element method. We choose the decrease of cogging torque and the increase of torque as objectives applied to multi-objective optimization (MO) of automotive permanent magnet synchronous motor. The airgap length, teeth width and magnetization angle of permanent magnet (PM) are also selected for the design variables respectively. From the results, our approach method enabled us to efficiently obtain diverse Pareto optimal (PO) solutions from the practical point of view
A patent analysis of hydrogen storage techniques in Taiwan: A preliminary study of the overall industry

Energy consumption is an essential issue for all human beings. With the emerging threat of environmental crisis, determining the most efficient and effective way to use the limited energy resources is becoming an urgent issue for the entire world. Hydrogen is one of the most well known energy alternatives. The difficulty of developing hydrogen storage technologies is one of the major factors hindering the widespread utilization of hydrogen energy in daily life. A study on technology development for hydrogen storage would have extraordinary value. The present study implements a deep and comprehensive patent analysis in order to identify the building blocks of hydrogen storage technologies. The scope of this study is limited to the countries most involved in developing hydrogen storage technology: the United States of America, Canada, Japan, and the European Union. By collecting data from major patent databases of each country, this study has accumulated a large amount of resources, which not only improve the comprehensiveness of this study but also help to generate valuable insights. With the results provided by this study, energy researchers can easily identify the most likely technology trajectory and improve the quality and usability of their research results.
Wavelet-fractal characteristics of leakage current on HV insulators

With the increase of voltage grade in power transmission system and the aggravation of industrial pollution, flashover of contaminated insulators is getting more and more serious in high-voltage (HV) and ultra-high-voltage (UHV) systems, threatening the security of power transmission severely. The key to improve the security of power system is to explore methods of monitoring states of insulator's surface by some eigenvalues. A new idea, using wavelet as the ruler to define fractal dimension, is proposed in this paper, based on self- similarity of knowing essence of things from collectivity to part, from macroscopy to microcosm, in fractal theory and wavelet transform. Wavelet-fractal dimension is defined as the sum of high-frequency values of decomposed signals. The fractal characteristics of leakage current (LC) are gotten from this dimension. The results show that the wavelet-fractal dimension efficiently describes the information of arcs discharge in LC, and it is also a good eigenvalue for flashover discrimination and risk prediction.
New anticoagulants – promising and failed developments

New direct and indirect acting factor Xa (FXa) and thrombin inhibitors are being developed to overcome the downsides of the conventional anticoagulants – unfractionated and low molecular weight heparins and vitamin K antagonists. Ximelagatran and idraparinux failed to demonstrate an acceptable safety profile. Rivaroxaban and dabigatran are approved for the post‐operative prevention of thromboembolic complications after elective hip or knee replacement surgery; dabigatran is approved for the prevention of embolism in patients with atrial fibrillation in an increasing number of countries. Several novel indirect antithrombin‐dependent anticoagulants as well as antithrombin‐independent oral direct FXa and thrombin inhibitors are investigated in multiple indications for the prophylaxis and treatment of venous thromboembolism and the prophylaxis of arterial thrombotic disorders. Quality‐adjusted life years costs and incremental cost‐effectiveness ratios are relatively high at present, but may decrease after approval of more new anticoagulants for additional indications.
GETTING ISO 9001 CERTIFIED FOR SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT USING SCRUM AND OPEN SOURCE TOOLS: A CASE STUDY

Subject review This article presents a case study of adopting the Scrum process for Java development using tools coming from the open source software world. The approach is focused on small to medium sized software enterprises, which can sometimes be intimidated by the introduction of formal processes and quality management systems. The paper describes agile practices, Scrum process, and tools selection aimed at software development using Java. Each selected tool is described and put into the context of the Scrum process and implementation of a quality management system. The paper introduces ISO 9001:2008 standard and discusses benefits of the implementation of a quality management system. Finally, the case study illustrates how the selected tools and Scrum artefacts can be used for the adoption of a quality management system, which leads to a successful ISO 9001:2008 certification.
Method for Extracting Gate-Voltage-Dependent Source Injection Resistance of Modified Schottky Barrier (MSB) MOSFETs

The modified Schottky barrier (MSB) MOSFET with low-resistance metal source/drain and good short-channel effect immunity is one of the promising nanoscale device structures. In this letter, a modified external load resistance method was proposed to extract the bias-dependent source injection resistance of the MSB MOSFET for the first time. The effect of the thermal budget of the MSB process on the source injection resistance is reported. The injection resistance is exponentially proportional to (V GS - V th - 0.5 V DS) and would be close to the source/drain resistance of conventional MOSFETs at high gate bias. This work provides a good method to directly evaluate the efficiency of the MSB junction.
New outbred colony derived from Mus musculus castaneus to identify skin tumor susceptibility loci

Susceptibility to tumor development varies among mice strains. Using inbred NIH and wild‐derived outbred Mus spretus backcrosses, skin cancer‐susceptibility loci were mapped [Nagase et al. 1995. Nat Genet 10: 424–429; Nagase et al. 1999. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 96: 15032–15037], and Skts13 was identified as the Aurka gene using a conventional linkage in conjunction with haplotype analysis [Ewart‐Toland et al. 2003. Nat Genet 34: 403–412]. In the present study, we examined another wild‐derived outbred Mus musculus castaneus in which 10.3% of the analyzed SNPs showed heterogeneity among the colony. All mice examined were completely resistant to the two‐stage skin carcinogenesis protocol using 7.12‐dimethylbenz(a)anthracene (DMBA)/12‐O‐tetradecanoylphorbol‐13‐acetate (TPA), and this resistant phenotype was dominant when we crossed them with the highly susceptible strain FVB. By scanning F1 backcross progeny between M. m. castaneus and FVB, we found a highly significant linkage for tumor multiplicity on Chromosome 4, which was overlapped with the Skts‐fp1 locus, found in the previous study using FVB and PWK cross [Fujiwara et al. 2007. BMC Genet 8: 39]. The linkage was observed in all pedigrees from the five F1 founders, while the linkage for papilloma size on Chromosome 4 was mapped only in pedigrees from founders 1 and 2. By scanning the whole Chromosome 4 of the five F1 founders, founders 1‐ and 2‐specific haplotype block was found between D4Mit293 (20.6 Mbp) and D4Mit171 (22.4 Mbp). In this study we exploited the outbred nature of M. m. castaneus stock to identify a haplotype contributing to papilloma size on mouse Chromosome 4. These data illustrate the strength of using outbred mice in identification of the genetic component of a mouse complex trait such as the skin cancer‐susceptibility phenotype. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Experimental research on phospholipids variation of halothane on liver mitochondria.

AIM:To study the pathogenesis of hepatotoxicity of halothane.METHODS:The effect of different concentration of halothane and sevoflurane on mitochondrial membrane phospholipids composition of rat liver were analyzed using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) technology.RESULTS:Halothane at low concentration could degrade mitochondrial membrane major phospholipids and increase lysophosph-atidylcholine.CONCLUSION:The pathogenesis of halothane hepatotoxicity was the phospholipids variation on liver mitochondria.
ROLE OF INVENTORY MANAGEMENT ON PERFORMANCE OF MANUFACTURING FIRMS IN KENYA – A CASE OF NEW KENYA COOPERATIVE CREAMERIES

The past 15-20 years have seen an increase in research focusing on operational issues relating to supply chain management. Most of the research has been related to multi-echelon inventory models. The general objective of this study was to examine the role of inventory management on performance of manufacturing firms in Kenya. The specific objectives of the study were to determine how inventory management cost reduction affects performance of manufacturing firms in Kenya, to assess how the use of inventory control systems affects performance of manufacturing firms in Kenya, to investigate how lead time affects performance of manufacturing firms in Kenya and to establish how supplier demand affects performance of manufacturing firms in Kenya. The study population was 500 respondents. The sample size of the study was 83 respondents. A descriptive research design was used in this study. Quantitative data was analyzed by employing descriptive statistics and inferential analysis using statistical package for social science (SPSS). The data was then presented using frequency distribution tables, bar charts and pie charts for easier understanding. The study concluded that holding stocks and ordering costs may increase the performance of an organization, cost reduction helps in preparing employees towards managing the inventory ideology, that cost reduction equips organization with sufficient resources and that inventory cost reduction helps in achieving profitability objective. Inventory control system, organizational development, information sharing and channels relationships affect the performance of the manufacturing firms. The study recommended that improved anticipation of future developments in manufacturing firms in Kenya will improve their performance. The study further recommended that unified data gives firms the information integrity and should be used. IT is a competitive tool in organizations for realizing its corporate competitive strategy. European Journal of Business Management Vol.2, Issue 1, 2014 http://www.ejobm. org ISSN 2307-6305| P a g e 2
Logistics and the Competitiveness of Canadian Supply Chains

In 2009, Canada ranked ninth among OECD countries with a per capita gross domestic product (GDP) of $46,243,1 a measurement generally used to compare societies’ standards of living. That same year, our main trading partner, the United States, ranked third with a per capita GDP of $56,109—21.3% higher than the figure for Canada. It is generally acknowledged that an increase in a country’s standard of living is linked to growth in labour productivity, that is, the relationship between the GDP and the number of hours worked. Based on this criterion, Canada placed 17th among OECD countries in 2009, with labour productivity of $53.79 per hour worked, while the United States ranked 7th, with labour productivity of $64.91—20.7% higher than the figure for Canada. This lag on Canada’s part is nothing new. Between 1981 and 2009, average annual labour production growth in Canada was among the lowest for industrialized OECD member countries. In fact, only Italy and Switzerland had lower growth rates during that period.2 Between 1984 and 2006, growth in labour productivity in Canada came essentially from the services sector, including a positive contribution from the wholesale and retail sectors. However, virtually none of this growth came from the transportation and warehousing industry.3 More recently, between 2002 and 2008, the increased labour productivity in Canada’s retail sector was much higher than the private sector average. This good performance may be attributable to investments made by companies in that sector in innovative practices, particularly in the area of logistics management (Industry Canada, 2010). It is therefore appropriate and important to compare Canada’s supply chain management performance, both in terms of international trade and from the perspective of innovative practices adopted by Canadian companies in the domestic market. This chapter begins with a comparative analysis of Canada’s performance with the performance of 155 countries from the perspective of their global supply chain as measured by an index developed by the World Bank. Next, the relationship between logistics performance and business productivity is
A Novel Content and Style Based Measurement of Web Pages Distance

Nowadays, many web-based systems have been using machine learning techniques in order to design more intelligent mechanisms for organizing, indexing, and retrieving web content, and it is necessary for more and more researches and applications to calculate the distance of web pages rationally. Generally proposed methodology is fit for extracting the differences between HTML documents of web pages, results of which cannot be used to tell the actual distance, between the content of web pages and the facade displayed in internet explorers. Based on these above, content distance, style distance, and hybrid distance are proposed in this paper, to make measurement result more practical. The efficiency will be proved through some classical experiments.
Blood Loss of Scalpel versus Cutting Cautery in Bilateral Reduction Mammoplasty Procedures

Cutting electrocautery may be used for the dissection of breast tissue in bilateral reduction mammoplasty procedures without adverse effects on wound healing. It has been suggested that the use of cutting cautery reduces perioperative blood loss; however, very few studies have been performed to verify this assumption. This study compares the blood loss using cutting cautery with scalpel dissection. The study analyzed the preoperative and one-day postoperative hemoglobin levels of 22 randomly chosen patients dissected with scalpel at University Hospital during 1983, and compared these results with results obtained from 39 randomly chosen patients dissected using cutting cautery in 1993. The results show a difference in the mean postoperative result of 5.77 g/L, which is significant at the 95% confidence level with P>0.03 and P<0.04.
Comparison of four contingent valuation methods to estimate the economic value of a pneumococcal vaccine in Bangladesh

Objectives: To compare four contingent valuation elicitation methods as a means to estimate the value of a pneumococcal vaccine in Bangladesh and to test if the elicitation methods are subject to bias and if they produce valid responses. Methods: Three hundred sixty-one households with at least one child under 5 years of age were recruited in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Subjects were cluster-randomized to various elicitation methods: open-ended, dichotomous choice (at one of two asking prices), payment card (one of two cards with differing ranges). The dichotomous choice method was then followed up with a bidding game methodology, with the dichotomous choice price acting as the starting price for the bidding game. Analysis focused on summary statistics, demand curve estimation and multivariate regression analysis to test for validity and bias. Results: Thirty-one households refused to participate, leaving a total of 330 participating households (a 91.4 percent response rate). Willingness to pay estimates varied significantly across the methods (p < .001), with average estimates varying between $2.34 and $18 (US). The open-ended elicitation method was found to produce highly inflated values that were insensitive to construct validity tests. The dichotomous choice method produced quantity (demand) estimates rather than value estimates, and there was some evidence of yea saying. The payment card elicitation method was found to be affected by range bias. The bidding game elicitation method was found to be less sensitive to starting point bias and yea-saying. Conclusions: Different elicitation format do give rise to different demand curves; however, this may be partially due to the fact that they do not measure the same outcome. For example, the dichotomous choice format produces a demand curve, while the payment card, open-ended and bidding game produce inverse demand curves. All formats are prone to multiple biases. When choosing an elicitation format, it is important to first consider the purpose and use of the data. Each elicitation method has strengths and weaknesses and can be used for different purposes in technology assessment.
Envelope Glycoprotein Incorporation, Not Shedding of Surface Envelope Glycoprotein (gp120/SU), Is the Primary Determinant of SU Content of Purified Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 and Simian Immunodeficiency Virus

ABSTRACT Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) and simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) particles typically contain small amounts of the surface envelope protein (SU), and this is widely believed to be due to shedding of SU from mature virions. We purified proteins from HIV-1 and SIV isolates using procedures which allow quantitative measurements of viral protein content and determination of the ratios of gag- and env-encoded proteins in virions. All of the HIV-1 and most of the SIV isolates examined contained low levels of envelope proteins, with Gag:Env ratios of approximately 60:1. Based on an estimate of 1,200 to 2,500 Gag molecules per virion, this corresponds to an average of between 21 and 42 SU molecules, or between 7 and 14 trimers, per particle. In contrast, some SIV isolates contained levels of SU at least 10-fold greater than SU from HIV-1 isolates. Quantification of relative amounts of SU and transmembrane envelope protein (TM) provides a means to assess the impact of SU shedding on virion SU content, since such shedding would be expected to result in a molar excess of TM over SU on virions that had shed SU. With one exception, viruses with sufficient SU and TM to allow quantification were found to have approximately equivalent molar amounts of SU and TM. The quantity of SU associated with virions and the SU:TM ratios were not significantly changed during multiple freeze-thaw cycles or purification through sucrose gradients. Exposure of purified HIV-1 and SIV to temperatures of 55°C or greater for 1 h resulted in loss of most of the SU from the virus but retention of TM. Incubation of purified virus with soluble CD4 at 37°C resulted in no appreciable loss of SU from either SIV or HIV-1. These results indicate that the association of SU and TM on the purified virions studied is quite stable. These findings suggest that incorporation of SU-TM complexes into the viral membrane may be the primary factor determining the quantity of SU associated with SIV and HIV-1 virions, rather than shedding of SU from mature virions.
Evaluation of analgesic, anti-inflammatory, thrombolytic and hepatoprotective activities of roots of Premna esculenta (Roxb)

Abstract Background: The objective of this study was to investigate the antinociceptive, anti-inflammatory, thrombolytic and hepatoprotective activities of root extracts of Premna esculenta (family: Verbenaceae). Methods: The analgesic activity was evaluated using the acetic-acid-induced writhing test in mice and radiant heat tail-flick method in rats. The anti-inflammatory activity was investigated by carrageenan-induced rat’s paw edema, while the thrombolytic activity was evaluated by in vitro clot lysis model. The hepatoprotective activity was investigated against carbon-tetrachloride-induced liver damage in rats. Results: In acetic-acid-induced writhing test, chloroform and ethyl acetate fraction of ethanolic extract at a dose of 200 mg/kg showed a significant (p<0.001) reduction in the number of writhes with 85.96% and 61.98% of inhibition, respectively. In radiant heat tail-flick method, the ethanolic extract produced 88.49% (p<0.001) elongation of tail-flicking time at 90 min after oral administration at same dose level. In the carrageenan-induced edema test, the ethanolic extract at a dose of 200 mg/kg showed a significant inhibition of paw edema with 22.68% and 17.24% inhibition after the first and third hours of the study period, respectively. In clot lysis model, the ethanolic extract at 5 mg/mL induced a significant clot lysis activity (37.69%, p<0.001). Oral administration of ethanolic extract at the dose of 400 mg/kg/day for 7 days significantly (p<0.001) reduced the elevated levels of serum glutamic pyruvic transaminase, serum glutamyl oxaloacetate transaminase and alkaline phosphatase compared to the CCl4-treated control group. Conclusions: The results of the study demonstrated the antinociceptive, anti-inflammatory, thrombolytic and hepatoprotective activities of roots of P. esculenta.