Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Different vulnerability to cytotoxicity and susceptibility to protection of progenitors versus mature oligodendrocytes.

Oligodendrocytes are known to be particularly vulnerable to the cytotoxic effect evoked by different neurodegenerative processes, such as ischemic insult, hypoxia, hypoglycemia or autoaggressive immunological attack like SM. They are the neural cells that undergo sophisticated process of maturation characterized by huge changes in cell metabolism and morphology. Small bipolar cells differentiate into multiprocessed mature oligodendrocytes capable of myelinating CNS. A question arises whether there are any differences in their sensitivity to excitotoxic events? To address this problem, the cells of two distinct stages of differentiation, i.e. progenitors (O-2A) and mature, myelinating oligodendrocytes (MBP+) were selected for investigation of the effects of such apoptogenic factors as H(2)O(2) or serum-withdrawal in vitro. Primary cultures obtained from the brain hemispheres of 18 days old Wistar rat embryos served after 10 days for the establishing pure oligodendrocyte culture (the "shake-off" method by McCarthy and de Vellis, 1980). Oligodendrocytes were cultured in DMEM with addition of insulin, transferrin and sodium selenite. Cytotoxic influence of selected apoptotic factors as well as neuroprotective effects of CsA were estimated by immunochemical detection. The obtained data suggest that progenitors and mature cells respond to apoptogenic conditions by activation of different molecular pathways and specific cytoprotective conditions should be worked out for each type of the cells.
Identifying and Seeing beyond Multiple Sequence Alignment Errors Using Intra-Molecular Protein Covariation

Background There is currently no way to verify the quality of a multiple sequence alignment that is independent of the assumptions used to build it. Sequence alignments are typically evaluated by a number of established criteria: sequence conservation, the number of aligned residues, the frequency of gaps, and the probable correct gap placement. Covariation analysis is used to find putatively important residue pairs in a sequence alignment. Different alignments of the same protein family give different results demonstrating that covariation depends on the quality of the sequence alignment. We thus hypothesized that current criteria are insufficient to build alignments for use with covariation analyses. Methodology/Principal Findings We show that current criteria are insufficient to build alignments for use with covariation analyses as systematic sequence alignment errors are present even in hand-curated structure-based alignment datasets like those from the Conserved Domain Database. We show that current non-parametric covariation statistics are sensitive to sequence misalignments and that this sensitivity can be used to identify systematic alignment errors. We demonstrate that removing alignment errors due to 1) improper structure alignment, 2) the presence of paralogous sequences, and 3) partial or otherwise erroneous sequences, improves contact prediction by covariation analysis. Finally we describe two non-parametric covariation statistics that are less sensitive to sequence alignment errors than those described previously in the literature. Conclusions/Significance Protein alignments with errors lead to false positive and false negative conclusions (incorrect assignment of covariation and conservation, respectively). Covariation analysis can provide a verification step, independent of traditional criteria, to identify systematic misalignments in protein alignments. Two non-parametric statistics are shown to be somewhat insensitive to misalignment errors, providing increased confidence in contact prediction when analyzing alignments with erroneous regions because of an emphasis on they emphasize pairwise covariation over group covariation.
Comparing the effects of reflexology and relaxation on fatigue in women with multiple sclerosis

Background: Fatigue is the most common and highly disabling symptom of multiple sclerosis (MS) that has negative effects on employment, the process of socialization, compliance with the disease, and other factors effective on activities of daily living. The usage of complementary and alternative medicine methods in MS patients is higher than in the general population. However, there is no scientific evidence to support their effectiveness. Therefore, this study aimed to compare the effects of reflexology and relaxation on fatigue in women with MS. Materials and Methods: This study is a single-blinded randomized clinical trial that was done on 75 patients with MS who referred to the MS Clinic of Ayatollah Kashani Hospital (Isfahan, Iran). After simple non-random sampling, participants were randomly assigned by minimization method to three groups: Reflexology, relaxation, and control groups (25 patients in each group). In the experimental groups, the interventions foot reflexology and relaxation (Jacobson and Benson) were performed for 4 weeks, twice a week for 40 min in each session, and the control group received care and routine medical treatment as directed by a physician. Data were collected through a questionnaire and the fatigue severity scale before, immediately after, and 2 months after interventions from all three groups. Data analysis was performed by SPSS version 18 using descriptive and inferential statistical methods. Results: Findings obtained from analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that there was no significant difference in the mean fatigue severity scores in the pre-interventions between the three groups (P > 0.05), but there was significant difference immediately after and 2 months after interventions between the three groups (P < 0.05). Findings obtained from repeated measures (ANOVA) showed that there was significant difference in the mean fatigue severity scores during different times between the three groups (P < 0.05), while this difference was not significant in the control group (P > 0.05). Furthermore, least significant difference post-hoc test revealed that the mean scores of fatigue severity immediately after intervention was lower in the reflexology group than in the other two groups and were lower in the relaxation group than in the control group; 2 months after interventions, the mean scores of fatigue severity were lower in the reflexology group than in the other two groups, but there was no significant difference between the two groups of relaxation and control (P > 0.05). Conclusions: It seems that both interventions were effective in reducing fatigue, but the effects of reflexology on reducing fatigue were more than those of relaxation. Hence, as these two methods are effective and affordable techniques, they can be recommended.
Reconstructing Pathways in Large Genetic Networks from Genetic Perturbations

I present an algorithm that determines the longest path between every gene pair in an arbitrarily large genetic network from large scale gene perturbation data. The algorithm's computational complexity is O(nk(2)), where n is the number of genes in the network and k is the average number of genes affected by a genetic perturbation. The algorithm is able to distinguish a large fraction of direct regulatory interactions from indirect interactions, even if the accuracy of its input data is substantially compromised.
Characterization of Antiapoptotic Activities ofChlamydia pneumoniae in Human Cells

ABSTRACT Chlamydia pneumoniae is an obligate intracellular bacterium which frequently causes airway infection in humans and has been implicated in atherosclerosis. Here we show that infection withC. pneumoniae protects HeLa human epithelioid cells against apoptosis induced by external stimuli. In infected HeLa cells, apoptosis induced by staurosporine and CD95-death-receptor signaling was strongly reduced. Upon treatment with staurosporine, generation of effector caspase activity, processing of caspase-3 and caspase-9 and cytochrome c redistribution were all profoundly inhibited in cells infected with C. pneumoniae. Bacterial protein synthesis during early infection was required for this inhibition. Furthermore, cytochrome c-induced processing and activation of caspases were inhibited in cytosolic extracts from infected cells, suggesting that a C. pneumoniae-dependent antiapoptotic factor was generated in the cytosol upon infection. Infection with C. pneumoniaefailed to induce significant NF-κB activation in HeLa cells, indicating that no NF-κB-dependent cellular factors were involved in the protection against apoptosis. These results show that C. pneumoniae is capable of interfering with the host cell's apoptotic apparatus at probably at least two steps in signal transduction and might explain the propensity of these bacteria to cause chronic infections in humans.
Use of Droplet Digital PCR for Estimation of Fish Abundance and Biomass in Environmental DNA Surveys

An environmental DNA (eDNA) analysis method has been recently developed to estimate the distribution of aquatic animals by quantifying the number of target DNA copies with quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR). A new quantitative PCR technology, droplet digital PCR (ddPCR), partitions PCR reactions into thousands of droplets and detects the amplification in each droplet, thereby allowing direct quantification of target DNA. We evaluated the quantification accuracy of qPCR and ddPCR to estimate species abundance and biomass by using eDNA in mesocosm experiments involving different numbers of common carp. We found that ddPCR quantified the concentration of carp eDNA along with carp abundance and biomass more accurately than qPCR, especially at low eDNA concentrations. In addition, errors in the analysis were smaller in ddPCR than in qPCR. Thus, ddPCR is better suited to measure eDNA concentration in water, and it provides more accurate results for the abundance and biomass of the target species than qPCR. We also found that the relationship between carp abundance and eDNA concentration was stronger than that between biomass and eDNA by using both ddPCR and qPCR; this suggests that abundance can be better estimated by the analysis of eDNA for species with fewer variations in body mass.
Weighted Co-SVM for Image Retrieval with MVB Strategy

In relevance feedback, active learning is often used to alleviate the burden of labeling by selecting only the most informative data. Traditional data selection strategies often choose the data closest to the current classification boundary to label, which are in fact not informative enough. In this paper, we propose the moving virtual boundary (MVB) strategy, which is proved to be a more effective way for data selection. The co-SVM algorithm is another powerful method used in relevance feedback. Unfortunately, its basic assumption that each view of the data be sufficient is often untenable in image retrieval. We present our weighted co-SVM as an extension of co-SVM by attaching weight to each view, and thus relax the view sufficiency assumption. The experimental results show that the weighted co-SVM algorithm outperforms co-SVM obviously, especially with the help of MVB data selection strategy.
Residents’ Support for Tourism

Social exchange theory (SET) has made significant contributions to research on residents’ support for tourism. Nevertheless, studies are based on an incomplete set of variables and are characterized by alternative, yet contradictory, and theoretically sound research propositions. Using key constructs of SET, this study develops a baseline model of residents’ support and compares it with four competing models. Each model contains the terms of the baseline model and additional relationships reflecting alternative theoretical possibilities. The models were tested using data collected from residents of Niagara Region, Canada. Results indicated that in the best fitted model, residents’ support for tourism was influenced by their perceptions of positive impacts. Residents’ power and their trust in government significantly predicted their life satisfaction and their perceptions of positive impacts. Personal benefits from tourism significantly influenced residents’ perceptions of the positive and negative impacts of tourism. The study provides valuable and clearer insights on relationships among SET variables.
On the Expressive Power of Extended Process Rewrite Systems

We provide a unified view on three extensions of Process rewrite systems (PRS) and compare their and PRS's expressive power. We show that the class of Petri Nets is less expressible up to bisimulation than the class of Process Algebra extended with finite state control unit. Further we show our main result that the reachability problem for PRS extended with a so called weak finite state unit is decidable.
INFLUENCE OF SODIUM HEXAMETAPHOSPHATE ON SELECTED BACTERIA.

Sodium hexametaphosphate (HEX), the solvent of calcium alginate wool used in swabbing inanimate surfaces was studied relative to its effect on various bacterial populations, both pure cultures and wild. It was found that bacteria in wild populations were greatly inhibited, and that a percentage reduction of count was directly related to concentration of HEX. Most gram-positive bacteria were prevented from growing on a medium containing 0.1% HEX. This, or a higher concentration, occurred in the final medium when the method recommended in Standard Methods for the Examination of Dairy Products was followed. Growth of Sarcina lutea occurred on media with higher concentrations than that of inhibition (0.05%), if MgSO(4). 7H(2)O was incorporated in the medium. Gram-negative bacteria were capable of growing in higher concentrations, even up to 10% HEX. A large percentage of the cells of some strains (represented by Pseudomonas fluorescens) were lysed on contact with HEX. Lysis could be prevented by the addition of NaCl or MgSO(4). 7H(2)O. The evidence presented suggests that HEX, a phosphate-glass water-softening sequestrant, interferes with divalent cation metabolism, notably magnesium ion, and possibly others, producing cell division inhibition and loss of cell-wall integrity. The mechanism of action was not elucidated.
The appeal of faith development theory : a sociological perspective

This thesis seeks to examine James Fowler's faith development theory from a sociological perspective in order to understand the theory's appeal and function within mainstream British churches. Assuming that all claims to knowledge articulate the interest of a particular social group, the thesis begins by outlining the intellectual tradition in which faith development theory stands and then examines its social base within Britain. Insights from the sociology of knowledge and the social psychology of religion are used to suggest that faith development theory operates as a theory of identity amongst those to whom it appeals, acting as a legitimising framework for those of a post-liberal theological outlook who work within the context of religious diversity. Looking at these dynamics in operation through the results of a questionnaire and an examination of relevant literature, it is concluded that faith development theory functions amongst church leaders who are constructing a post-liberal identity, as a framework for interpreting their own faith experience and that of those to whom they must relate. Finally, we consider the implications of this perspective upon faith development theory for pastoral theology, suggesting that studies of the social effects of Fowler's stages of faith, such as this one, form an important element in the theological assessment of faith development theory, and raise crucial questions about the kind of strategies for the maintenance of Christian identity which are appropriate in the post-modern world.
Cerebellocerebral projection from the fastigial nucleus onto the frontal eye field and anterior ectosylvian visual area in the cat

The fastigiocerebral projection in the cat was investigated electrophysiologically by recording field potentials and unit activities and also morphologically by anterograde and retrograde HRP methods. Three cortical areas mostly hidden in sulci, two in the frontal cortex and one in the insular cortex, were responsive to fastigial stimulation under pentobarbital anesthesia. The responsive areas in the frontal cortex were the ventral bank of the cruciate sulcus and the area surrounding the fundus of the presylvian sulcus; the latter area corresponds to a subregion of the frontal eye field. The responsive area in the insular cortex Was the ventral bank of the anterior ectosylvian sulcus, which overlaps largely with the “anterior ectosylvian visual area. ” The response in the frontal cortex was a surface‐positive, depth‐negative wave, whereas the response in the insular cortex was a surface negative, depth‐positive wave. Anterogradely labeled terminals of the fastigiothalamic projection were most dense in the ventromedial (VM) nucleus in which retrogradely labeled neurons were numerous when WGA‐HRP was injected into any one of the three cortical areas. In agreement with the results of the HRP studies, units that responded orthodromically to fastigial stimulation and antidromically to cortical stimulation were located in the thalamic VM nucleus. There was a marked difference between the frontal and insular cortices in laminar distribution of terminals of the thalamocortical projection fibers. Anterogradely labeled terminals after injection of WGA‐HRP into the VM nucleus were distributed mainly in layers I and III in the frontal cortex, whereas they were distributed mainly in layer I in the insular cortex.
Scheduling algorithms for multiple Bag-of-Task applications on Desktop Grids: A knowledge-free approach

Desktop grids are being increasingly used as the execution platform for a variety of applications that can be structured as bag-of-tasks (BoT). Scheduling BoT applications on desktop grids has thus attracted the attention of the scientific community, and various schedulers tailored towards them have been proposed in the literature. However, previous work has focused on scheduling a single BoT application at a time, thus neglecting other scenarios in which several users submit multiple BoT applications at the same time. This paper aims at filling this gap by proposing a set of scheduling algorithms able to deal with multiple BoT applications. The performance of these algorithm has been evaluated, by means of simulation, for a large set of operational scenarios obtained by varying both the workload submitted to the desktop grid and the characteristics of the involved resources. Our results show that, although there is no a clear winner among the proposed solutions, knowledge-free strategies (that is, strategies that do not require any information concerning the applications or the resources) can provide good performance.
The Evaluation of Security Algorithms on Mobile Platform

The rapid development of mobile platform leads to growing demand for network communications, which suffer from increasingly severe security threats as well. Considering the urgent security demand and the limitation of battery capacity, the power consumption of the encryption algorithms plays a pivotal role for mobile device. Aiming at the above problem, this paper proposes a performance evaluation system on Android platform, which can evaluate the state parameters of device battery. Our work provides elaborate analysis and exploration of 10 security algorithms' energy consumption through extensive simulation results. With the popularity of mobile network and the rapid increase of related applications, it is significant to reduce the power consumption of security encryption algorithms on mobile devices in both academic field and industry.
Mindfulness and its efficacy for psychological and biological responses in women with breast cancer

Many breast cancer survivors have to deal with a variety of psychological and physiological sequelae including impaired immune responses. The primary purpose of this randomized controlled trial was to determine the efficacy of a mindfulness‐based stress reduction (MBSR) intervention for mood disorders in women with breast cancer. Secondary outcomes were symptom experience, health status, coping capacity, mindfulness, posttraumatic growth, and immune status. This RTC assigned 166 women with breast cancer to one of three groups: MBSR (8 weekly group sessions of MBSR), active controls (self‐instructing MBSR) and non‐MBSR. The primary outcome measure was the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Secondary outcome measures were: Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale, SF‐36, Sense of Coherence, Five Facets of Mindfulness Questionnaire, and Posttraumatic Growth Index. Blood samples were analyzed using flow cytometry for NK‐cell activity (FANKIA) and lymphocyte phenotyping; concentrations of cytokines were determined in sera using commercial high sensitivity IL‐6 and IL‐8 ELISA (enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay) kits. Results provide evidence for beneficial effects of MBSR on psychological and biological responses. Women in the MBSR group experienced significant improvements in depression scores, with a mean pre‐MBSR HAD‐score of 4.3 and post‐MBSR score of 3.3 (P = 0.001), and compared to non‐MBSR (P = 0.015). Significant improvements on scores for distress, symptom burden, and mental health were also observed. Furthermore, MBSR facilitated coping capacity as well as mindfulness and posttraumatic growth. Significant benefits in immune response within the MBSR group and between groups were observed. MBSR have potential for alleviating depression, symptom experience, and for enhancing coping capacity, mindfulness and posttraumatic growth, which may improve breast cancer survivorship. MBSR also led to beneficial effect on immune function; the clinical implications of this finding merit further research.
RBAC+: Dynamic Access Control for RBAC-Administered Web-Based Databases

In a clear contrast with the phenomenal growth of Web database applications, access control issues related to data stored in the back-end databases have largely been neglected. Current approaches to access control on databases do not fit web databases because they are mostly based on individual user identities. In this paper, we propose (RBAC+), a dynamic access control model to enforce fine-grained access control to web databases. It extends the Role-Based Access Control model standard with the notions of application, application profile and sub-application session. The proposed dynamic access control model enhances the ability of detecting malicious transactions, the dominant cause that demolishes database system, by tracking application users throughout a whole session. Hence, attacks caused by malicious transactions can be detected and canceled timely before they succeed.
A Contemporary Review of the Relationship between Red Meat Consumption and Cardiovascular Risk

Cardiovascular diseases burden is increasing due to aging populations and represents one of the major health issues worldwide. Dietary habits have been extensively studied in the cardiovascular field despite the difficulty in the quantification of the assumption of each single food and the observation that several foods affect cardiovascular risk with opposite effects. Moreover, some older findings have been reverted by more recent studies. Red meat has been widely studied in this context, and it has been suggested to increase cardiovascular risk primarily by causing dyslipidemia. Our aim is to review the relationship between red meat assumption and cardiovascular risk and to present novel findings regarding their link.
Elevation of iron storage in humans attenuates the pulmonary vascular response to hypoxia

This study shows that a single dose of intravenous iron reduces the effects of hypoxia on the pulmonary circulation in a manner that persists for at least several weeks. This is long after the foreign iron-sugar complex has been cleared from the blood. It raises the possibility that manipulating iron stores, even in people who are not initially iron deficient, could be used for therapeutic gain in some forms of pulmonary hypertension.