Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Multisite-Binding Switchable Fluorescent Probe for Monitoring Mitochondrial ATP Level Fluctuation in Live Cells.

Adenosine triphosphate (ATP), commonly produced in mitochondria, is required by almost all the living organisms; thus fluorescent probes for monitoring mitochondrial ATP levels fluctuation are essential and highly desired. Herein, we report a multisite-binding switchable fluorescent probe, ATP-Red 1, which selectively and rapidly responds to intracellular concentrations of ATP. Live-cell imaging indicated that ATP-Red 1 mainly localized to mitochondria with good biocompatibility and membrane penetration. In particular, with the help of ATP-Red 1, we successfully observed not only the decreased mitochondrial ATP levels in the presence of KCN and starvation state, but also the increased mitochondrial ATP levels in the early stage of cell apoptosis. These results indicate that ATP-Red 1 is a useful tool for investigating ATP-relevant biological processes.
Metabolic syndrome and diabetes are associated with low serum amylase in a Chinese asymptomatic population

Abstract Objective. Previous studies have shown that lower serum amylase levels are associated with chronic pancreatitis. However, recently, lower serum amylase levels have been associated with metabolic syndrome (MS) and diabetes. The objective of the present study was to investigate the relationship between metabolic syndrome and diabetes and serum amylase levels in Chinese asymptomatic individuals living in Hangzhou, China. Methods. Serum amylase, triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC), high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c), γ-glutamyltransferase (γ-GT), high sensitivity C reactive protein (hsCRP) and fasting plasma glucose (FPG) levels were measured in 3,728 patients from Hangzhou in China. Study participants were divided into four groups, Q1–Q4, according to serum amylase levels. Odds ratios (OR) of Q1–Q4 were calculated using multivariate logistic regression. Results. Significant differences were found in sex, age, body mass index (BMI), systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, γ-GT, TG, HDL-C and FPG levels, as well as the prevalence of metabolic syndrome and diabetes among these four groups. Across Q1 to Q4, the prevalence of metabolic syndrome and diabetes decreased from 28.5–15.2% and 10.1–3.6%, respectively. Multiple logistic regression models following adjustment for age, gender, BMI, and γ-GT showed that the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (OR: 1.284; 95% CI: 0.909–1.813) and diabetes (OR: 2.081; 95% CI: 1.230–3.523) in the Q1 was significantly higher compared to the Q4. Conclusions. Low serum amylase levels are significantly associated with an increased prevalence of metabolic syndrome and diabetes in a Chinese asymptomatic population.
Sensorless control of a PMSM with a transmission system including shunt branches

In oil and gas applications, permanent magnet synchronous motors (PMSM) are becoming a preferred choice to drive subsea and submersible pumps to achieve higher efficiency than induction motors. In the drive system, a submersible PMSM is fed through a transmission system by a top-side variable speed drive. Previous studies have included the series impedance of the transmission system but excluded the transformer magnetizing branch and the cable capacitive branches. In this work, both the series impedance and the shunt admittance of the transmission system are considered. The PMSM current controller is restructured to be an inverter current controller. A static estimator is implemented to estimate the PMSM stator voltage and current. Sensorless control is realized by combining the statically compensated voltage model method and the high frequency injection method. The developed controller can successfully start and accelerate the PMSM from standing still up to 6000 rev/min within 5 s.
The Mix family homeodomain gene bonnie and clyde functions with other components of the Nodal signaling pathway to regulate neural patterning in zebrafish

Mix family homeodomain proteins, such as Xenopus Mixer and zebrafish Bonnie and clyde (Bon), have been shown to regulate the formation of the endoderm and are likely to be transcriptional mediators of Nodal signaling. Here, we show that, in addition to its previously described role in endoderm formation, Bon also regulates the anteroposterior patterning of the neuroectoderm. bon-mutant embryos exhibit an anterior reduction of the neural plate. By using targeted injection of antisense morpholino oligonucleotides, we demonstrate that Bon is required in the axial mesoderm for anterior neural development. Consistent with these results, bon-mutant embryos show defects in axial mesoderm gene expression starting at mid-gastrulation stages. In addition, genetic analyses demonstrate a functional interaction during neural patterning between bon and two components of the Nodal signaling pathway, the nodal-related gene squint (sqt) and forkhead box H1 [foxh1; mutant locus schmalspur (sur)]. bon–/–;sqt–/– and bon–/–;sur–/– embryos exhibit neural patterning defects that are much more severe than those seen in the single mutants, suggesting that these genes function in parallel in this process. We also show that the severity of the neural patterning defects in the single- and double-mutant embryos correlates with the degree of reduction in expression of the Wnt antagonist gene dickkopf 1. Furthermore, bon–/–;sqt–/– and bon–/–;sur–/– embryos exhibit identical morphological and gene expression defects, suggesting, in part, that bon, sqt and sur (foxh1) play overlapping roles in neural patterning. Taken together, these results provide evidence for a complex genetic network in which bon functions both downstream of, and possibly in parallel to, Nodal signaling to regulate neural patterning via the modulation of mesendodermal gene expression.
Talos: an architecture for self-configuration

Autonomic computing concerns the design and development of software systems with self-maintenance capabilities and behaviors that conform to high-level policies. Self-reconfiguration is a key feature of an autonomic system. It enables self-transition from the current configuration, which may have failed or be under-performing, to a new configuration that better addresses system goals. In this paper, we propose Talos, a conceptual architecture based on the Belief-Desire-Intention (BDI) paradigm that supports various forms of self-reconfiguration. We also present a first realization of Talos in Jason, a BDI infrastructure based on the AgentSpeak programming language. Our approach follows software engineering principles and is founded on goal-oriented analysis from Requirements Engineering.
Safety and efficacy of black cohosh (Cimicifuga racemosa) during pregnancy and lactation.

BACKGROUND There is a lack of basic knowledge on the part of both clinicians and patients as to the indications for use and safety of herbal medicines in pregnancy and lactation. This is one article in a series that systematically reviews the evidence for commonly used herbs during pregnancy and lactation. OBJECTIVES To systematically review the literature for evidence on the use, safety, and pharmacology of black cohosh focusing on issues pertaining to pregnancy and lactation. METHODS We searched 7 electronic databases and compiled data according to the grade of evidence found. RESULTS Black cohosh, alone or in combination with other medicinal herbs as "mother's cordial", has a long traditional use and is frequently used by midwives as a uterine stimulant and labour-inducing aid. Low-level evidence based on theory and expert opinion shows the following concerns with respect to black cohosh use during pregnancy: 1) labour-inducing effects, 2) hormonal effects, 3) emmenagogue properties and, 4) anovulatory effects. During lactation, there is low-level evidence from theoretical and expert opinion of black cohosh having hormonal properties. CONCLUSIONS Black cohosh should be used with caution during pregnancy, particularly during the first trimester where its purported labour-inducing effects could be of concern, and during lactation. Black cohosh should undergo rigorous high quality human studies to determine its safety in pregnancy and lactation.
Transgenic mice carrying a tetracycline‐inducible, truncated transforming growth factor beta receptor (TβRII)

The transforming growth factor‐betas (TGFβs) have multiple roles, making genetic analysis of their functions difficult. We therefore developed transgenic mouse lines to disrupt TGFβ signaling using a mechanism that is inducible, reversible, and cell‐type specific. The transgenic mouse lines carry an EGFP‐pBi‐DeltaTbetaRII construct (PTR). The ΔTβRII element codes for a dominant‐negative receptor that is known to disrupt TGFβ signaling. The ΔTβRII has a c‐myc tag. The transgene was silent in the PTR mice, with expression of both EGFP and ΔTβRII occurring when the PTR mice were crossed with mice that express the tetracycline transactivator (CMV‐tTA). The expression of EGFP was repressed by the addition of doxycycline to the drinking water of the PTRxCMV‐tTA mice. The PTR mice were then crossed with neuron‐specific‐tTA mice. Expression of the ΔTβRII transgene in these mice led to an upregulation of native TGFβ receptor expression, suggesting that neurons can modulate their responsiveness to TGFβs. genesis 42:1–5, 2005. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Digital quantification of fibrosis in liver biopsy sections: Description of a new method by Photoshop software

Background: The precise quantification of fibrous tissue in liver biopsy sections is extremely important in the classification, diagnosis and grading of chronic liver disease, as well as in evaluating the response to antifibrotic therapy. Because the recently described methods of digital image analysis of fibrosis in liver biopsy sections have major flaws, including the use of out‐dated techniques in image processing, inadequate precision and inability to detect and quantify perisinusoidal fibrosis, we developed a new technique in computerized image analysis of liver biopsy sections based on Adobe Photoshop software.
Emulated Digital Control System Validation in Nuclear Power Plant Training Simulators

Methods for validating an emulated digital control system (DCS) are discussed. Results are presented from a digital turbine control system in which the validation methods have been executed. The focus of this paper is on the validation of emulated control logic rather than the validation of the entire integrated control system, human machine interface (HMI), and plant dynamics simulation.
Using automatic programming to design improved variants of differential evolution

To automatically design improvements of stochastic numerical optimization algorithms is challenging due to the high computation time required to ensure sufficiently rigorous evaluation of synthesized programs. In this paper, we develop evaluation methodology that is used with the evolutionary automatic programming system ADATE to enhance two variants of the differential evolution algorithm, namely, the original algorithm and the competitive differential evolution algorithm. When improving the original differential evolution algorithm, we find an improved mutation operator that is optimized to few function evaluations, while for the competitive differential evolution algorithm we find an improved pool of mutation strategies that outperforms the original for over 63% of the 30-dimensional CEC 2014 problems, while being worse for less than 10% of the problems, when comparing using a Wilcoxon rank-sum test. The successful improvement of both algorithms shows that the methodology we developed in this paper provides sufficient guidance for ADATE to navigate the stochastic search space when improving stochastic numerical optimization algorithms.
H ∞ output-feedback control for switched linear discrete-time systems with time-varying delays

In this paper, the problem of H ∞ output feedback control for switched linear discrete-time systems with time delays is investigated. The time delay is assumed to be time-varying and bounded. By constructing a switched quadratic Lyapunov function for the underlying system, both static and dynamic H ∞ output feedback controllers are designed respectively such that the corresponding closed-loop system under arbitrary switching signals is asymptotically stable and a prescribed H ∞ noise-attenuation level bound is guaranteed. A cone complementary linearization algorithm is exploited to design the controllers. A numerical example is presented to show the effectiveness of the developed theoretical results.
Spatiotemporal Gene Expression Targeting with the TARGET and Gene-Switch Systems in Drosophila

Targeted gene expression has become a standard technique for the study of biological questions in Drosophila. Until recently, transgene expression could be targeted in the dimension of either time or space, but not both. Several new systems have recently been developed to direct transgene expression simultaneously in both time and space. We describe here two such systems that we developed in our laboratory. The first system provides a general method for temporal and regional gene expression targeting (TARGET) with the conventional GAL4-upstream activator sequence (UAS) system and a temperature-sensitive GAL80 molecule, which represses GAL4 transcriptional activity at permissive temperatures. The second system, termed Gene-Switch, is based on a GAL4-progesterone receptor chimera that is hormone-inducible. We have used both systems for simultaneous spatial and temporal rescue of memory dysfunction in the rutabaga (rut) memory mutant of Drosophila. In this protocol, we provide guidelines for the use of these two novel systems, which should have general utility in studying Drosophila biology and in using the fly as a model for human disease.
Glucose-6-Phosphate Dehydrogenase Deficiency among Male Blood Donors in Sana'a City, Yemen.

OBJECTIVES To determine the prevalence of Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G-6-PD) deficiency among Yemeni people from different regions of the country living in the capital city, Sana'a, giving an indication of its overall prevalence in Yemen. METHODS A cross-sectional study was conducted among Yemeni male blood donors attending the Department of Blood Bank at the National Centre of the Public Health Laboratories in the capital city, Sana'a, Yemen. Fluorescent spot method was used for screening, spectrophotometeric estimation of G-6-PD activity and separation by electrophoresis was done to determine the G-6-PD phenotype. RESULTS Of the total 508 male blood donors recruited into the study, 36 were G-6-PD deficient, giving a likely G-6-PD deficiency prevalence of 7.1%. None of these deficient donors had history of anemia or jaundice. Thirty-five of these deficient cases (97.2%) showed severe G-6-PD deficiency class II (<10% of normal activity), and their phenotyping presumptively revealed a G-6-PD-Mediterranean variant. CONCLUSION The results showed a significant presence of G-6-PD deficiency with predominance of a severe G-6-PD deficiency type in these blood donors in Sana'a City, which could represent an important health problem through occurrence of hemolytic anemia under oxidative stress. A larger sample size is needed to determine the overall prevalence of G-6-PD deficiency, and should be extended to include DNA analysis to identify its variants in Yemen.
Localization of nitric oxide synthase in the central complex and surrounding midbrain neuropils of the locust Schistocerca gregaria

Nitric oxide (NO), generated enzymatically by NO synthase (NOS), acts as an important signaling molecule in the nervous systems of vertebrates and invertebrates. In insects, NO has been implicated in development and in various aspects of sensory processing. To understand better the contribution of NO signaling to higher level brain functions, we analyzed the distribution of NOS in the midbrain of a model insect species, the locust Schistocerca gregaria, by using NADPH diaphorase (NADPHd) histochemistry after methanol/formalin fixation; results were validated by NOS immunohistochemistry. NADPHd yielded much higher sensitivity and resolution, but otherwise the two techniques resulted in corresponding labeling patterns throughout the brain, except for intense immunostaining but only weak NADPHd staining in median neurosecretory cells. About 470 neuronal cell bodies in the locust midbrain were NADPHd‐positive positive, and nearly all major neuropil centers contained dense, sharply stained arborizations. We report several novel types of NOS‐expressing neurons, including small ocellar interneurons and antennal sensory neurons that bypass the antennal lobe. Highly prominent labeling occurred in the central complex, a brain area involved in sky‐compass orientation, and was analyzed in detail. Innervation by NOS‐expressing fibers was most notable in the central body upper and lower divisions, the lateral accessory lobes, and the noduli. About 170 NADPHd‐positive neurons contributed to this innervation, including five classes of tangential neuron, two systems of pontine neuron, and a system of columnar neurons. The results provide new insights into the neurochemical architecture of the central complex and suggest a prominent role for NO signaling in this brain area. J. Comp. Neurol. 484:206–223, 2005. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
New fatigue damage evaluation of MEMS materials under tension-compression cyclic loading

A novel full-reversed bending fatigue tester was developed for cyclic fatigue damage evaluation of MEMS materials. This paper focuses on; 1) the design of the micro fatigue tester; 2) establishment of the bending fatigue testing procedure; and 3) revealing fatigue lives of microscale single crystal silicon (SCS) specimens. In fatigue testing, an SCS specimen was reciprocated between the twin thick-cantilevers to induce tensile and compressive stresses at both fixed ends of the specimen. The twin cantilevers played two roles; one is as an indenter for bending and the other as a detector of cyclic loading applied to a specimen. The bending load was measured by the deflection of the twin cantilevers using a laser reflection system based on an AFM technique. This research succeeded in obtaining elastic hysteresis loops of microscale specimen.
Electrical tweezer for highly parallelized electrorotation measurements over a wide frequency bandwidth

Electrorotation (ROT) is a powerful tool for characterizing the dielectric properties of cells and bioparticles. However, its application has been somewhat limited by the need to mitigate disruptions to particle rotation by translation under positive DEP and by frictional interactions with the substrate. While these disruptions may be overcome by implementing particle positioning schemes or field cages, these methods restrict the frequency bandwidth to the negative DEP range and permit only single particle measurements within a limited spatial extent of the device geometry away from field nonuniformities. Herein, we present an electrical tweezer methodology based on a sequence of electrical signals, composed of negative DEP using 180‐degree phase‐shifted fields for trapping and levitation of the particles, followed by 90‐degree phase‐shifted fields over a wide frequency bandwidth for highly parallelized electrorotation measurements. Through field simulations of the rotating electrical field under this wave‐sequence, we illustrate the enhanced spatial extent for electrorotation measurements, with no limitations to frequency bandwidth. We apply this methodology to characterize subtle modifications in morphology and electrophysiology of Cryptosporidium parvum with varying degrees of heat treatment, in terms of shifts in the electrorotation spectra over the 0.05–40 MHz region. Given the single particle sensitivity and the ability for highly parallelized electrorotation measurements, we envision its application toward characterizing heterogeneous subpopulations of microbial and stem cells.
Accuracy of Doppler echocardiography in the hemodynamic assessment of pulmonary hypertension.

RATIONALE Transthoracic Doppler echocardiography is recommended for screening for the presence of pulmonary hypertension (PH). However, some recent studies have suggested that Doppler echocardiographic pulmonary artery pressure estimates may frequently be inaccurate. OBJECTIVES Evaluate the accuracy of Doppler echocardiography for estimating pulmonary artery pressure and cardiac output. METHODS We conducted a prospective study on patients with various forms of PH who underwent comprehensive Doppler echocardiography within 1 hour of a clinically indicated right-heart catheterization to compare noninvasive hemodynamic estimates with invasively measured values. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS A total of 65 patients completed the study protocol. Using Bland-Altman analytic methods, the bias for the echocardiographic estimates of the pulmonary artery systolic pressure was -0.6 mm Hg with 95% limits of agreement ranging from +38.8 to -40.0 mm Hg. Doppler echocardiography was inaccurate (defined as being greater than +/-10 mm Hg of the invasive measurement) in 48% of cases. Overestimation and underestimation of pulmonary artery systolic pressure by Doppler echocardiography occurred with a similar frequency (16 vs. 15 instances, respectively). The magnitude of pressure underestimation was greater than overestimation (-30 +/- 16 vs. +19 +/- 11 mm Hg; P = 0.03); underestimates by Doppler also led more often to misclassification of the severity of the PH. For cardiac output measurement, the bias was -0.1 L/min with 95% limits of agreement ranging from +2.2 to -2.4 L/min. CONCLUSIONS Doppler echocardiography may frequently be inaccurate in estimating pulmonary artery pressure and cardiac output in patients being evaluated for PH.
Multiple Tail Median and Bootstrap Techniques for Conservative Reliability Estimates in Design Optimization

Reliability based design with expensive computer models becomes computationally prohibitive when reliability is estimated by sampling methods. While designing for high reliability with few samples, techniques like tail models are widely used to extrapolate reliability levels from observed levels to unobserved levels. One such approach, the multiple tail median approach uses two classical tail modeling techniques and three additional extrapolation techniques in the performance space to find reliability estimates in the unobserved levels. The method provides the median as the best estimate and the range of the five methods as an estimate of the order of the magnitude of error in median. This work explores the usage of multiple tail median approach to estimate reliability in the framework of reliability-based design. Also, bootstrap technique is employed to obtain bounds on the samples and consequently to obtain a conservative estimate of reliability.