Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Sulforaphane attenuates the development of atherosclerosis and improves endothelial dysfunction in hypercholesterolemic rabbits

The aim of the present work was to explore possible protective effects of sulforaphane (SFN) against atherosclerosis development and endothelial dysfunction in hypercholesterolemic rabbits. Rabbits were assigned to three groups of five: group I fed normal chow diet for four weeks, group II fed 1% high cholesterol diet (HCD) and group III fed HCD + SFN (0.25 mg/kg/day). Blood samples were collected for measurement of serum triglycerides (TGs), total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and C-reactive protein (CRP). Aortic malondialdehyde (MDA), reduced glutathione (GSH), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and total nitrite/nitrate (NOx) were measured. Vascular reactivity and intima/media (I/M) ratio were analyzed. Nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) activation in aortic endothelial cells was identified immunohistochemically. HCD induced significant increases in serum TGs, TC, LDL-C, LDH, and CRP, and aortic MDA and SOD. Moreover, HCD caused significant reductions in serum HDL-C, aortic GSH and NOx. SFN administration significantly decreased HCD-induced elevations in serum TC, LDL-C, CRP, and LDH. while significantly increased HDL-C and GSH levels and normalized aortic SOD and NOx. Additionally, SFN significantly improved rabbit aortic endothelium-dependent relaxation to acetylcholine. Moreover, SFN significantly reduced the elevation in I/M ratio. This effect was confirmed by aortic histopathologic examination. The expression of NF-κB in aortic tissue showed a marked reduction upon treatment with SFN. In conclusion, this study reveals that SFN has the ability to ameliorate HCD-induced atherosclerotic lesions progression and vascular dysfunction, possibly via its lipid-lowering and antioxidant effects and suppression of NF-κB-mediated inflammation.
Copyright 2009 by Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, Inc. All rights reserved. 10.1518/107118109X12524442637066

Patient non-compliance with treatment goals and medical guidance poses significant health risks for the patient and a financial burden on the health care system. The proposed compliance prediction process provides health care professionals with a patient-centric methodology to improve patient self-management. The Social Personal Organizational Technological (SPOT) Patient Compliance Model was developed to integrate the success-critical Performance Shaping Factors (PSF) of the patient compliance system. The SPOT Model will be built and validated in an empirical study to iteratively evaluate the dynamic relationship between compliance prognostics and treatment adherence. PSF risk severity states, determined from compliance stakeholder questionnaires, are input to an algorithm which predicts patient non-compliance probability. SPOT Model predictions can be utilized by providers to develop strategies to mitigate identified compliance risks. Potential benefits of utilizing SPOT Model predictions in treatment decisions include: 1) a reduction in chronic and acute conditions due to effective patient self-management and disease prevention and 2) a significant decrease in patient and health care system resources.
Improving channel state information feedback for static intercell interference coordination in LTE

Intercell Interference is the main issue limiting the capacity of modern OFDMA-based cellular networks. Recently, extensive research work has been focused on intercell interference coordination since it has been recognized as a key concept to achieve seamless levels of quality of service. Nevertheless, very often this problematic is addressed as a standalone issue. In this work, a novel channel state information feedback scheme is proposed aiming at improving the overall system performance when both channel state information and static interference coordination are jointly considered. By means of the proposed scheme, gains in terms of users throughput, cell edge performance and energy efficiency are achieved with respect to existing aperiodic LTE-based mechanisms without additional complexity.
Sensing Matrix Optimization Based on Equiangular Tight Frames With Consideration of Sparse Representation Error

This paper deals with the sensing matrix optimization problem for compressed sensing (CS) systems. Traditionally, the optimal sensing matrix is designed such that the Gram of the equivalent dictionary defined as the product of the sensing matrix and the dictionary is as close to a target Gram with some proper properties as possible. In this study, the sensing matrix is designed to make the equivalent dictionary approximate to a certain target frame. In addition, to avoid the sparse representation error (SRE) to be amplified in the measurement domain, a penalty term related to the SRE is included in the design criterion. An alternating minimization algorithm is proposed to solve the optimum sensing matrix problem, where the target frame is taken as the relaxed equiangular tight frame, which is constructed with a new method with the purpose of reducing the mutual coherence and maintaining the tightness of the frame, then the solution of the optimal sensing matrix is derived analytically with the target frame fixed. Experiments are carried out with synthetic data and real images, which demonstrate promising performance of the proposed algorithms and superiority of the CS system designed with the optimized sensing matrix to existing ones in terms of signal reconstruction accuracy.
A full diversity PIC group decoding for a family of space-time block codes

A partial interference cancellation (PIC) group decoding as well as a full diversity design criterion were recently proposed for space-time block code. The PIC group decoding complexity is between the lowest linear decoding complexity and the highest ML decoding complexity, and so is the code rate. Based on the criterion for the PIC group decoding, families of space-time block codes were also proposed recently. However, the interference cancellation operator is hard to determine and with the direct zero-forcing (ZF) PIC group decoding, these codes may not achieve the full diversity. In this paper, we propose a new PIC group decoding method for these existing codes, which has a similar decoding complexity to the ZF PIC group decoding, but achieves full diversity (or nearly).
Effect of silibinin and vitamin E on the ASK1-p38 MAPK pathway in D-galactosamine/lipopolysaccharide induced hepatotoxicity

Apoptosis signal-regulating kinase 1 (ASK1), a redox-sensor mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase kinase (MAPKKK) that activates p38 MAPK pathways in oxidative stress-induced hepatotoxicity in D-galactosamine/lipopolysaccharide (D-GalN/LPS) model, is a key central pathway in which specific targeting of ASK1 deactivation is of a great therapeutic potential. We tested the effect of silibinin and vitamin E in curative and prophylactic manner of treatment on the negative modulators of ASK1, thioredoxin1 (Trx1), thioredoxin reductase1 (TrxR1), and the protein phosphatase (PP5), whereas they have previously proven to have hepatoprotective effect. Either curative or prophylactic silibinin and vitamin E groups significantly decreased ASK1 and p38 MAPK levels through increasing the gene expression of Trx1, TrxR1, and PP5 to reduce the oxidative stress as demonstrated by decreasing the levels of NADPH oxidase 4 (NOX4), TBARS and conjugated diene with a concomitant increase in the levels of GSH, CAT, and SOD. These results were confirmed by histopathology examination which illustrated progressive degenerative changes of hepatocytes such as hydropic degeneration, vacuolation, pyknosis, karyolysis, and loss of architecture of some cells in D-GalN/LPS treatment, and these features were alleviated with silibinin and vitamin E administration. In conclusion, silibinin and vitamin E decreased ASK1-p38 MAPK pathway through deactivating the upstream signalling ASK1 molecule via increasing the levels of Trx1 and TrxR1 as well as the PP5 to alleviate in D-GalN/LPS induced hepatotoxicity.
A case-control genome-wide association study identifies genetic modifiers of fetal hemoglobin in sickle cell disease

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a group of inherited blood disorders that have in common a mutation in the sixth codon of the b-globin (HBB) gene on chromosome 11. However, people with the same genetic mutation display a wide range of clinical phenotypes. Fetal hemoglobin (HbF) expression is an important genetic modifier of SCD complications leading to milder symptoms and improved long-term survival. Therefore, we performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) using a case-control experimental design in 244 African Americans with SCD to discover genetic factors associated with HbF expression. The case group consisted of subjects with HbF 8.6% (133 samples) and control group subjects with HbF 3.1% (111 samples). Our GWAS results replicated SNPs previously identified in an erythroid-specific enhancer region located in the second intron of the BCL11A gene associated with HbF expression. In addition, we identified SNPs in the SPARC, GJC1, EFTUD2 and JAZF1 genes as novel candidates associated with HbF levels. To gain insights into mechanisms of globin gene regulation in the HBB locus, linkage disequilibrium (LD) and haplotype analyses were conducted. We observed strong LD in the low HbF group in contrast to a loss of LD and greater number of haplotypes in the high HbF group. A search of known HBB locus regulatory elements identified SNPs 50 of d-globin located in an HbF silencing region. In particular, SNP rs4910736 created a binding site for a known transcription repressor GFi1 which is a candidate protein for further investigation. Another HbF-associated SNP, rs2855122 in the cAMP response element upstream of Gg-globin, was analyzed for functional relevance. Studies performed with siRNA-mediated CREB binding protein (CBP) knockdown in primary erythroid cells demonstrated g-globin activation and HbF induction, supporting a repressor role for CBP. This study identifies possible molecular determinants of HbF production.
Resveratrol counters systemic lupus erythematosus-associated atherogenicity by normalizing cholesterol efflux

Resveratrol is a bioactive molecule used in dietary supplements and herbal medicines and consumed worldwide. Numerous investigations by our group and others have indicated cardioprotective and anti-inflammatory properties of resveratrol. The present study explored potential atheroprotective actions of resveratrol on cholesterol efflux in cultured human macrophages exposed to plasma from systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients. These results were confirmed in ApoE−/−Fas−/− double knockout mice, displaying a lupus profile with accelerated atherosclerosis. Resveratrol treatment attenuated atherosclerosis in these mice. THP-1 human macrophages were exposed to 10% pooled or individual plasma from patients who met diagnostic criteria for SLE. Expression of multiple proteins involved in reverse cholesterol transport (ABCA1, ABCG1, SR-B1, and cytochrome P450 27-hydroxylase) was assessed using QRT-PCR and Western blotting techniques. Ten-week-old ApoE−/−Fas−/− double knockout mice (n = 30) were randomly divided into two equal groups of 15, one of which received 0.01% resveratrol for 10 consecutive weeks. Atherosclerosis progression was evaluated in murine aortas. Bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMDM) were cultured and expression of cholesterol efflux proteins was analyzed in each group of mice. Our data indicate that inhibition of cholesterol efflux by lupus plasma in THP-1 human macrophages is rescued by resveratrol. Similarly, administration of resveratrol in a lupus-like murine model reduces plaque formation in vivo and augments cholesterol efflux in BMDM. This study presents evidence for a beneficial role of resveratrol in atherosclerosis in the specific setting of SLE. Therefore, resveratrol may merit investigation as an additional resource available to reduce lipid deposition and atherosclerosis in humans, especially in such vulnerable populations as lupus patients.
Motion Classification-Based Fast Motion Estimation for High-Efficiency Video Coding

High efficiency video coding (HEVC), the latest video coding standard, is becoming popular due to its excellent coding performance. However, the significant gain in performance is achieved at the cost of substantially higher encoding complexity than its precedent H.264/AVC, in which motion estimation (ME) is the most time-consuming module that effectively removes temporal redundancy. Test zone search (TZS) is adopted as the default fast ME method in the reference software of HEVC; however, its computational complexity is still too high for real-time applications. Several fast ME algorithms have been recently proposed to further reduce ME complexity; however, these approaches typically lead to non-negligible performance loss. To address this problem, this paper proposes a motion classification-based fast ME algorithm. By exploring the motion relationship of neighboring blocks and the coding cost characteristic, the prediction unit (PU) is first categorized into one of three classes, namely, motion-smooth PU, motion-medium PU and motion-complex PU. Then different search strategies are carefully designed for PUs of each class according to their respective motion and content characteristics. Furthermore, a fast search priority-based partial internal termination scheme is presented to rapidly skip impossible positions that speeds up cost computation during the ME process. Extensive experimental results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm achieves as much as 12.47% and 20.25% reductions in total encoder complexity when compared with TZS under low delay P and random access configuration, respectively, with negligible rate-distortion degradation; thus, it outperforms state-of-the-art fast ME algorithms in terms of both coding performance and complexity reduction.
Probabilistic Approach to People-Centric Photo Selection and Sequencing

—We present a crowdsourcing (CS) study to examine how speciﬁc attributes probabilistically affect the selection and sequencing of images from personal photo collections. 13 image attributes are explored, including 7 people-centric properties. We ﬁrst propose a novel dataset shaping technique based on Mixed Integer Linear Programming (MILP) to identify a subset of photos in which the attributes of interest are uniformly distributed and minimally correlated. Shaping enables the synthesis of compact, balanced and representative datasets for CS, and facilitates effective learning of the selection likelihood of an image as well as its relative position in a sequence, given its attributes. We further present an ILP-based slideshow creation framework to select and arrange (a subset of) appealing images from a personal photo library. Quantitative and qualitative evaluations conﬁrm that our method outperforms regression-based and greedy approaches for photo selection and sequencing, generating slideshows similar in quality to those created by humans.
Large-Scale Tracking for Images With Few Textures

Image tracking provides crucial insight for the image motion, which generates essential information for incremental structure-from-motion reconstruction and camera pose estimation. Typical usages, such as 3D reconstruction and visual odometry, all rely on robust and accurate local feature tracking through consecutive images. Current algorithms realize feature tracking through matching features extracted from discriminant textures in the images, for which distinctive image content is required to obtain accurate feature matching. For images with few textures, usually, an insufficient number of features are extracted to perform reliable tracking in a series of sequential images. We propose a method that makes use of a limited number of discriminate features to explore other features without strong discriminant power. We develop a feature integrating surrounding salient points distribution knowledge, raw pixel value, and coordinate information to discover a significant amount of features in weakly textured areas in an image. We also incorporate epipolar geometry in the feature correspondence calculation by taking the distance from the matching candidate to its corresponding point's epipolar line into account. To reduce the number of unreliable features, we project the estimated 3D points back to the images. The reprojection error is standardized according to the 3D point's depth, which reduces the bias introduced by the object distance to the camera. We conduct experiments on a large dataset of Arctic sea ice images, mainly composed by planes of ices and sea water. The experimental results demonstrate that our method can perform fast and accurate tracking in weakly textured images.
Streptococcal M1 Protein Triggers Farnesyltransferase-Dependent Formation of CXC Chemokines in Alveolar Macrophages and Neutrophil Infiltration of the Lungs

ABSTRACT The M1 serotype of Streptococcus pyogenes plays an important role in streptococcal toxic shock syndrome. Simvastatin, a 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase inhibitor, has been shown to inhibit streptococcal M1 protein-induced acute lung damage, although downstream mechanisms remain elusive. Protein isoprenylation, such as farnesylation and geranylgeranylation, has been suggested to regulate anti-inflammatory effects exerted by statins. Here, we examined the effect of a farnesyltransferase inhibitor (FTI-277) on M1 protein-triggered lung inflammation. Male C57BL/6 mice were treated with FTI-277 prior to M1 protein challenge. Bronchoalveolar fluid and lung tissue were harvested for quantification of neutrophil recruitment, edema, and CXC chemokine formation. Flow cytometry was used to determine Mac-1 expression on neutrophils. The gene expression of CXC chemokines was determined in alveolar macrophages by using quantitative reverse transcription (RT)-PCR. We found that the administration of FTI-277 markedly decreased M1 protein-induced accumulation of neutrophils, edema formation, and tissue damage in the lung. Notably, inhibition of farnesyltransferase abolished M1 protein-evoked production of CXC chemokines in the lung and gene expression of CXC chemokines in alveolar macrophages. Moreover, FTI-277 completely inhibited chemokine-induced neutrophil migration in vitro. However, farnesyltransferase inhibition had no effect on M1 protein-induced expression of Mac-1 on neutrophils. Our findings suggest that farnesyltransferase is a potent regulator of CXC chemokine formation in alveolar macrophages and that inhibition of farnesyltransferase not only reduces neutrophil recruitment but also attenuates acute lung injury provoked by streptococcal M1 protein. We conclude that farnesyltransferase activity is a potential target in order to attenuate acute lung damage in streptococcal infections.
An energy efficiency power and sub-carrier allocation for the downlink multi-user CoMP in multi-cell systems

Coordinated multi-point transmission/reception (CoMP) has been proposed as an effective technology to improve cell-edge throughput in next-generation wireless systems. However, all the BSs(Base Station) need to share all the users' messages to do the global precoding for supporting each user best service, such as which BS will be chosen for cooperating or how to realize the cooperation, lots of energy will be consumed when doing this process. In addition, in most of the existing works, BSs always allocate equal power to all the users neglecting user's Channel State Informations(CSIs) or their service requirements, this may also cause enery wasting. In this paper, we focus on the throughput maximizing problem while fully considering energy saving problem in the CoMP systems. At first, we propose the concept of “cell zooming” which we define that one of the cooperating BSs will “sleep” if it improves little to user's service, then a sub-carrier allocation algorithm with varying power assignment in downlink CoMP system is put forward, this can lower the transmit power of BS. We formulate that the sub-carrier and power allocation problem is a mixed binary integer programming (MBIP) problem, a “green” subcarrier and power allocation algorithm which can maximize the cell's throughput is proposed at last, the power allocated to each user will be calculated. Simulation results show that the proposed sub-carrier and power allocation algorithm is much better on users' throughput and fairness while consumes less energy than the existing ones.
The Glycosylphosphatidylinositol-Anchored Protease Sap9 Modulates the Interaction of Candida albicans with Human Neutrophils

ABSTRACT Human polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMNs) play a major role in the immune defense against invasive Candida albicans infection. This fungal pathogen produces a set of aspartic proteases that directly contributes to virulence properties such as adhesion, tissue invasion, and immune evasion. We show here that, in contrast to other secreted proteases, the cell surface-associated isoform Sap9 has a major impact on the recognition of C. albicans by PMNs. SAP9 is required for the induction of PMN chemotaxis toward C. albicans filaments, an essential prerequisite of effective PMN activation. Furthermore, deletion of SAP9 leads to a mitigated release of reactive oxygen intermediates (ROI) in human PMNs and decreases C. albicans-induced apoptosis triggered by ROI formation. In confrontation assays, killing of a SAP9 deletion mutant is reduced in comparison to wild-type C. albicans. These data clearly implicate Sap9 protease activity in the initiation of protective innate immunity and suggest novel molecular mechanisms in C. albicans-host interaction leading to neutrophil activation.
Complete Genome Sequence of Mycoplasma bovis Type Strain PG45 (ATCC 25523)

ABSTRACT This complete and fully assembled genome sequence of Mycoplasma bovis type strain PG45 is the first available for this species and offers a framework for comparison with additional pathogenic isolates. The single circular chromosome of 1,003,404 bp reveals multiple gene sets and mechanisms involved in variable expression of surface antigens and the incursion of numerous and assorted mobile elements, despite its reduced size.