Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
THE COMMUNICATION BETWEEN INJURED BONE AND THE HYPOTHALAMIC NEUROPEPTIDE Y SYSTEM: THE ROLE OF THE HUMORAL PATHWAY

iii Master in Biomedical Engineering 2013/2014 ABSTRACT The fields of neuroscience and bone biology have converged following the discovery that the nervous system is a key regulator of bone metabolism. Among the different pathways of bone regulation by the nervous system, the Neuropeptide Y (NPY) neuronal pathway has been attracting particular attention. Recently, we showed that the hypothalamic NPY system also responds to bone injury. However, the processes of feedback from injured bone to the NPY neuronal pathway remain unknown. Regarding this, the aim of this study was to understand whether the factors released in the injured bone microenvironment may cross and/or interact with the blood brain barrier (BBB), to reach the central nervous system and subsequently modulate the NPYergic hypothalamic response. To achieve this goal, as first step, two crucial tools were established for an in vitro approach: hypothalamic organotypic cultures and in vitro BBB cultures. The hypothalamic organotypic cultures were prepared from 8-days-old C57Bl/6 mice brains, based on the air-medium interface culture method. High tissue viability and a dense neuronal network were achieved in these cultures. Moreover, the stimulation with dexamethasone resulted in an increased NPY expression, confirming the responsiveness of the NPY system within the established hypothalamic organotypic cultures. The in vitro model of the BBB was performed using a brain microvascular endothelial cell line (bEnd.3) and primary astrocytes obtained from the cortices of 0 to 2-day-old Wistar rat pups. The two cell types were cocultured in transwell filters. The expression of junctional molecules as claudin-5, ZO-1, occludin and VE-cadherin was observed in the bEnd.3 cell-cell contact, confirming the BBB phenotype of these endothelial cells. Moreover, the transendothelial electrical resistance (TEER) values averaging 71.1 ± 9.4 Ω. cm support high integrity of the established barrier, which was further confirmed by the low permeability coefficients (Pe) obtained in the transendothelial flux test. The optimization of the in vitro tools allowed to set-up an experimental platform to address the role of the humoral pathway in the feedback from injured bone to the hypothalamic NPY system. Hence, the in vitro BBB cultures were treated with plasma collected from animals with a bone defect. The resultant conditioned medium was used to treat the organotypic cultures and the modulation of the NPY system activity was evaluated. The results obtained suggest that molecules within the plasma are able to cross and/or interact with the BBB and subsequently increase the NPY hypothalamic system activity. However, it was not possible so far to
A Multifaceted Implementation Strategy to Increase Out-of-Office Blood Pressure Monitoring

Key Points Question Is a theory-informed multifaceted implementation strategy that includes access to an ambulatory blood pressure (BP) monitoring service effective at increasing out-of-office BP monitoring among primary care patients with elevated office BP in accordance with US hypertension screening guidelines? Findings In this cluster randomized trial including 8 safety-net practices and 1186 patients with elevated office BP but no hypertension diagnosis, the implementation strategy modestly increased patient completion of out-of-office BP monitoring. Meaning These findings suggest that there is a need for more intensive implementation strategies for increasing adherence to hypertension screening guidelines that recommend out-of-office BP monitoring before hypertension diagnosis.
Electronic Reprint Biological Crystallography Ligand Identification Using Electron-density Map Correlations Biological Crystallography Ligand Identification Using Electron-density Map Correlations

Author(s) of this paper may load this reprint on their own web site provided that this cover page is retained. Republication of this article or its storage in electronic databases or the like is not permitted without prior permission in writing from the IUCr. A procedure for the identification of ligands bound in crystal structures of macromolecules is described. Two characteristics of the density corresponding to a ligand are used in the identification procedure. One is the correlation of the ligand density with each of a set of test ligands after optimization of the fit of that ligand to the density. The other is the correlation of a fingerprint of the density with the fingerprint of model density for each possible ligand. The fingerprints consist of an ordered list of correlations of each the test ligands with the density. The two characteristics are scored using a Z-score approach in which the correlations are normalized to the mean and standard deviation of correlations found for a variety of mismatched ligand-density pairs, so that the Z scores are related to the probability of observing a particular value of the correlation by chance. The procedure was tested with a set of 200 of the most commonly found ligands in the Protein Data Bank, collectively representing 57% of all ligands in the Protein Data Bank. Using a combination of these two characteristics of ligand density, ranked lists of ligand identifications were made for representative (F o À F c) exp(i' c) difference density from entries in the Protein Data Bank. In 48% of the 200 cases, the correct ligand was at the top of the ranked list of ligands. This approach may be useful in identification of unknown ligands in new macromolecular structures as well as in the identification of which ligands in a mixture have bound to a macromolecule.
Interface techniques for 3D control of spatial keyframing

Spatial Keyframing offers a compelling approach for interactive control of 3D characters, as user motion directly controls the timing of an animated interpolation among a set of target poses [Igarashi et al. 2005]. In the original system, the user sets up a collection of target icons with associated character poses in a two dimensional control space that is overlaid with an interactive rendering of the 3D character. Mouse pointer location in this control space defines a multi–target pose interpolation, allowing navigation to become a form of interactive character animation. We are investigating techniques for using 3D control spaces (Figure 1), as the extra dimension provides more freedom in terms of specifying motions among the target poses, similar to how 2D control provides more potential motions than a one–dimensional slider that transitions through a fixed sequence of poses. This presents control difficulties, however, as mouse motion and traditional displays are inherently two– dimensional, which makes setup, control, and visualization more difficult. We are developing techniques that assist users with positioning new pose targets and choosing control space views that maximize the number of reachable targets. In addition, the 3D control space allows us to use novel interfaces to capture expressive 3D hand motion without the constraints associated with mouse navigation. We are taking this approach to create a virtual puppeteering system, in which users navigate a true 3D control space to control a 3D volumetric rendering of an interactive character.
Whole Genome Gene Expression Meta-Analysis of Inflammatory Bowel Disease Colon Mucosa Demonstrates Lack of Major Differences between Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis

Background In inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), genetic susceptibility together with environmental factors disturbs gut homeostasis producing chronic inflammation. The two main IBD subtypes are Ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn’s disease (CD). We present the to-date largest microarray gene expression study on IBD encompassing both inflamed and un-inflamed colonic tissue. A meta-analysis including all available, comparable data was used to explore important aspects of IBD inflammation, thereby validating consistent gene expression patterns. Methods Colon pinch biopsies from IBD patients were analysed using Illumina whole genome gene expression technology. Differential expression (DE) was identified using LIMMA linear model in the R statistical computing environment. Results were enriched for gene ontology (GO) categories. Sets of genes encoding antimicrobial proteins (AMP) and proteins involved in T helper (Th) cell differentiation were used in the interpretation of the results. All available data sets were analysed using the same methods, and results were compared on a global and focused level as t-scores. Results Gene expression in inflamed mucosa from UC and CD are remarkably similar. The meta-analysis confirmed this. The patterns of AMP and Th cell-related gene expression were also very similar, except for IL23A which was consistently higher expressed in UC than in CD. Un-inflamed tissue from patients demonstrated minimal differences from healthy controls. Conclusions There is no difference in the Th subgroup involvement between UC and CD. Th1/Th17 related expression, with little Th2 differentiation, dominated both diseases. The different IL23A expression between UC and CD suggests an IBD subtype specific role. AMPs, previously little studied, are strongly overexpressed in IBD. The presented meta-analysis provides a sound background for further research on IBD pathobiology.
Differential Games. A Mathematical Theory with Applications to Warfare and Pursuit, Control and Optimization

Recognizing the pretension ways to acquire this books differential games a mathematical theory with applications to warfare and pursuit control and optimization rufus isaacs is additionally useful. You have remained in right site to start getting this info. get the differential games a mathematical theory with applications to warfare and pursuit control and optimization rufus isaacs associate that we provide here and check out the link.
Characterization and interpretation of polythermal structure in two subarctic glaciers

I use ice-penetrating radar to probe the thermal structure in two small glaciers in the Saint Elias Range, southwestern Yukon. I develop processing workflows to separate bed and englacial reflections in radar and use these to build maps of both bed topography and englacial scattering. Comparison with borehole data shows that englacial scattering occurs in ice at the freezing point. The pattern in thermal structure suggests that the observed regime is dominated by accumulation zone processes. I develop a numerical model to simulate steady and time-dependent thermal regimes in glaciers. Diagnostic simulations support the hypothesis that meltwater entrapment is a critical control on the observed structure. Sensitivity tests suggest a climate sensitivity such that thinning and retreat of the near-surface aquifer may dramatically alter the thermal structure. Prognostic simulations illustrate scenarios in which these polythermal glaciers may cool as climate warms in the future.
Structure-Based Discovery of A2A Adenosine Receptor Ligands

The recent determination of X-ray structures of pharmacologically relevant GPCRs has made these targets accessible to structure-based ligand discovery. Here we explore whether novel chemotypes may be discovered for the A2A adenosine receptor, based on complementarity to its recently determined structure. The A2A adenosine receptor signals in the periphery and the CNS, with agonists explored as anti-inflammatory drugs and antagonists explored for neurodegenerative diseases. We used molecular docking to screen a 1.4 million compound database against the X-ray structure computationally and tested 20 high-ranking, previously unknown molecules experimentally. Of these 35% showed substantial activity with affinities between 200 nM and 9 μM. For the most potent of these new inhibitors, over 50-fold specificity was observed for the A2A versus the related A1 and A3 subtypes. These high hit rates and affinities at least partly reflect the bias of commercial libraries toward GPCR-like chemotypes, an issue that we attempt to investigate quantitatively. Despite this bias, many of the most potent new ligands were novel, dissimilar from known ligands, providing new lead structures for modulation of this medically important target.
Couplage de modèles trophiques et effets combinés de la pêche et du climat, Coupling trophodynamic models for assessing the combined effects of fishing and climate

Overfishing and climate change are now recognized to have important effects on marine ecosystem functioning but uncertainties remains about their combined effects. Using a modelling approach this thesis aims at assessing how the top-down effects of fishing and the bottom-up effects of climate combine themselves within the food web. A preliminary review highlighted the lack of end-to-end model applicable as it stands to our study case - the southern Benguela - and suitable to study the combined effects of fishing and climate. Coupling the plankton model ROMS-N2P2Z2D2 and the fish model OSMOSE appeared as an innovative method allowing to develop an appropriate tool meeting our objectives. The importance of two-way coupling via the predation process is first illustrated by the study of spatial and temporal variabilities of the feedback term, and then by the comparison of plankton and ecosystem dynamics when there is feedback or not. Simulating climate and fishing scenarios show that the combined effects of these factors are generally smaller than the sum of their individual effects. This result reflects the strong resilience of the ecosystem to external perturbations, induced by the numerous and weak trophic interactions between organisms. In agreement with hypotheses of trophic functioning based on the intensity of primary production and predators diversity, the study of the trophic pyramid show that bottom-up control dominates in the southern Benguela, i.e. that climate has stronger effects on the trophic functioning of this ecosystem than fishing.
Optimal Multistage Scheduling of PMU Placement: An ILP Approach

This paper addresses various aspects of optimal phasor measurement unit (PMU) placement problem. We propose a procedure for multistaging of PMU placement in a given time horizon using an integer linear programming (ILP) framework. Hitherto, modeling of zero injection constraints had been a challenge due to the intrinsic nonlinearity associated with it. We show that zero injection constraints can also be modeled as linear constraints in an ILP framework. Minimum PMU placement problem has multiple solutions. We propose two indices, viz, BOI and SORI, to further rank these multiple solutions, where BOI is bus observability index giving a measure of number of PMUs observing a given bus and SORI is system observability redundancy index giving sum of all BOI for a system. Results on IEEE 118 bus system have been presented. Results indicate that: (1) optimal phasing of PMUs can be computed efficiently; (2) proposed method of modeling zero injection constraints improve computational performance; and (3) BOI and SORI help in improving the quality of PMU placement.
Preliminary Evaluation of the AFWA-NASA (ANSA) Blended Snow-Cover Product over the Lower Great Lakes Region

The Air Force Weather Agency (AFWA) - NASA (ANSA) blended-snow product utilizes EOS standard snow products from the Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for EOS (AMSR-E) to map daily snow cover and snow-water equivalent (SWE) globally. We have compared ANSA-derived SWE. with SWE values calculated from snow depths reported at approx.1500 National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) coop stations in the Lower Great Lakes basin. Our preliminary results show that conversion of snow depth to SWE is very sensitive to the choice of snow density (we used either 0.2 or 03 as conversion factors). We found overall better agreement between the ANSA-derived SWE and the co-op station data when we use a snow density of 0.3 to convert the snow depths to SWE. In addition, we show that the ANSA underestimates SWE in densely-forested areas, using January and February 2008 ANSA and co-op data. Furthermore, apparent large SWE changes from one day to the next may be caused by thaw-re-freeze events, and do not always represent a real change in SWE. In the near future we will continue the analysis in the 2006-07 and 2007-08 snow seasons.
A synoptic climatology of severe convective winds in the northeastern United States

INTRODUCTION There have been several studies investigating the distribution of convective storms throughout the United States. Of the most common thunderstorm hazards (hail, wind, lighting, and flooding), convective winds are the most dangerous to both life and property (Schoen and Ashley 2010). Relatively few studies have focused on severe convective winds in the Northeast U.S. despite the fact that several states in this region are located in the main fatality axis associated with nontornadic convective winds (Black and Ashley 2009; Ashley and Mote 2005). The extremely large population that resides in this area and the overall lack of public hazard perception is cause for concern. The purpose of this study is to develop a baseline climatology of severe convective winds in the Northeast United States that provides:
Mechanical Signaling and the Cellular Response to Extracellular Matrix in Angiogenesis and Cardiovascular Physiology

Great advances have been made in the identification of the soluble angiogenic factors, insoluble extracellular matrix (ECM) molecules, and receptor signaling pathways that mediate control of angiogenesis—the growth of blood capillaries. This review focuses on work that explores how endothelial cells integrate these chemical signals with mechanical cues from their local tissue microenvironment so as to produce functional capillary networks that exhibit specialized form as well as function. These studies have revealed that ECM governs whether an endothelial cell will switch between growth, differentiation, motility, or apoptosis programs in response to a soluble stimulus based on its ability to mechanically resist cell tractional forces and thereby produce cell and cytoskeletal distortion. Transmembrane integrin receptors play a key role in this mechanochemical transduction process because they both organize a cytoskeletal signaling complex within the focal adhesion and preferentially focus mechanical forces on this site. Molecular filaments within the internal cytoskeleton—microfilaments, microtubules, and intermediate filaments—also contribute to the cell’s structural and functional response to mechanical stress through their role as discrete support elements within a tensegrity-stabilized cytoskeletal array. Importantly, a similar form of mechanical control also has been shown to be involved in the regulation of contractility in vascular smooth muscle cells and cardiac myocytes. Thus, the mechanism by which cells perform mechanochemical transduction and the implications of these findings for morphogenetic control are discussed in the wider context of vascular development and cardiovascular physiology. (Circ Res. 2002;91:877-887.)
Soil Water Dynamics

This book presents a rigorous mathematical development of soil water and contaminant flow in variably saturated and saturated soils. Analytical and numerical methods are balanced: computer programs, among them MathCad and Fortran, are presented, and more than 150 practice and discussion questions are included. Students are thus exposed not only to theory but also to an array of solutions techniques. Those using the book as a reference will appreciate the careful development of basic flow equations, the inclusion of solutions and methodology currently available only in journals and proceedings volumes, and the examples and calculations directly applicable to their own work.
Clonal identification and characterization of self-renewing pluripotent stem cells in the developing liver

Using flow cytometry and single cell–based assays, we prospectively identified hepatic stem cells with multilineage differentiation potential and self-renewing capability. These cells could be clonally propagated in culture where they continuously produced hepatocytes and cholangiocytes as descendants while maintaining primitive stem cells. When cells that expanded in vitro were transplanted into recipient animals, they morphologically and functionally differentiated into hepatocytes and cholangiocytes with reconstitution of hepatocyte and bile duct structures. Furthermore, these cells differentiated into pancreatic ductal and acinar cells or intestinal epithelial cells when transplanted into pancreas or duodenal wall. These data indicate that self-renewing pluripotent stem cells persist in the developing mouse liver and that such cells can be induced to become cells of other organs of endodermal origin under appropriate microenvironment. Manipulation of hepatic stem cells may provide new insight into therapies for diseases of the digestive system.
Comportement thermo-chimio-hydro-mécanique d'un ciment pétrolier au très jeune âge en conditions de prise HP/HT : approche expérimentale et analyse par changement d'échelle

Le travail de these a porte essentiellement sur l'effet des conditions de prise en pression et en temperature dans une gamme (20-60°C/Patm-200 bar) d'un ciment petrolier (Portland « classe G ») au tres jeune âge (jusqu'a un jour) en condition saturee sur (i) la cinetique d'hydratation, (ii) les proprietes hydriques (permeabilite et porosite) et (iii) le developpement des proprietes elastiques dynamiques obtenues par propagation d'ultrasons et quasi-statiques. Les proprietes quasi-statiques instantanees et differees ont ete obtenues a partir d'essais mecaniques realises en compression simple a differents temps/degre d'hydratation.La partie I a permis de montrer que la pression appliquee pendant la prise a un effet negligeable sur la cinetique d'hydratation contrairement a l'effet accelerateur de la temperature de prise. Un modele de cinetique d'hydratation tenant compte de l'effet accelerateur de la temperature a ete mis en place afin de determiner l'evolution des fractions volumiques des differentes phases en presence dans la pâte de ciment au cours de son hydratation. L'evolution de la phase (porosite capillaire + eau) obtenue par le modele d'evolution des fractions volumiques est en bonne concordance avec l'evolution de la porosite connectee mesure par porosimetrie dans la deuxieme partie de travail de these. En partie II, concernant la caracterisation de la permeabilite, les valeurs obtenues ainsi que l'evolution des proprietes elastiques quasi-statiques obtenue experimentalement ont permis de determiner le temps de drainage pour chacune des conditions d'hydratation etudiees. Cette information permet de determiner la nature drainee ou non drainee des essais mecaniques quasi statiques realises. En partie III, les essais mecaniques ont permis d'identifier un comportement granulaire faiblement cohesif au niveau du sommet du pic exothermique, puis un comportement solide cohesif avec progression des proprietes mecaniques au cours de l'hydratation a partir de la decroissance du flux thermique. Enfin, deux modeles par homogeneisation multi-echelles ont ete proposes, la difference portant sur la schematisation de la pâte de ciment au tres jeune âge. Les resultats ont ete confrontes avec succes aux proprietes elastiques dynamiques et quasi-statiques drainees et non drainees obtenues experimentalement