Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A 4-Amino Analogue of Tetrahydrobiopterin Attenuates Endotoxin-Induced Hemodynamic Alterations and Organ Injury in Rats

Most recently we have shown that 4-aminotetrahydrobiopterin (4-ABH4), an analogue of tetrahydrobiopterin (cofactor of NO synthase), even administered 2 h after endotoxin challenge, improves survival rate in rats. The following experiment was performed to examine the effects of 4-ABH4 with respect to endotoxin-induced hemodynamic alterations and organ failure. At 2 h after endotoxic challenge (10 mg kg−1 body weight) animals received 4-ABH4 at a dose of 1, 10, or 100 mg kg−1 body weight. The controls were treated similarly but received saline at the same volume. Eight hours after endotoxin challenge cardiac index and stroke volume were significantly increased in animals treated with 10 mg 4-ABH4 compared to controls (0.23 ± 0.06 vs. 0.16 ± 0.04 mL min−1 kg−1 and 0.29 ± 0.05 vs. 0.22 ± 0.03 mL beat−1) while mean arterial pressure and peripheral vascular resistance index did not significantly differ among the groups. Plasma alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and creatinine levels were significantly increased in endotoxin controls compared with laboratory controls (ALT: 1643 ± 1436 vs. 74 ± 17 U L−1; Creatinine: 91 ± 29 vs. 42± 3 &mgr;mol L−1) which was attenuated in animals treated with 10 mg kg−1 4-ABH4 (ALT: 417 ± 318 U L−1; Creatinine: 78 ± 26 &mgr;mol L−1). Moreover, endotoxin-induced lung edema and intestinal necrosis were significantly reduced by 4-ABH4. Our study provides information that tetrahydrobiopterin analogue, 4-ABH4, improves LPS induced hemodynamic conditions and organ injury. This may, at least in part, account for the previously observed protection of rats by 4-ABH4 against endotoxin-induced mortality in the same endotoxic shock model.
A heuristic solution of the Vehicle Routing Problem to optimize the office bus routing and scheduling using Clarke & Wright's savings algorithm

Office bus routing is a rising problem because transportation service should be more efficient, safe and reliable. This research try to answer a question how to facilitate employees with transportation service that would be fast, cost effective, and in a timely manner. This research work discourse the Vehicle Routing Problem and scheduling issues of transportation service for Dhaka City, Bangladesh. Our implementation will help to develop office bus routing and scheduling prototype model. This model will help to design transportation management system of any organization. From this implementation, it will able to find shortest and fastest routes and schedule of office bus, and also allocate bus stops that will use to pick up and drop employees according to their residence. This application has considered cost matrix of time, routes length and the vehicles with same capacity. We have implemented this application with Clarke & Wright's savings algorithm. This paper concludes with the solutions of schedules and visualization of routes with GIS techniques that will helps to develop decision support system for any kind of Vehicle Routing Problem.
Dynamic and structural analysis of isotropically distributed molecular ensembles

An efficient new method is presented for the characterization of motional correlations derived from a set of protein structures without requiring the separation of overall and internal motion. In this method, termed isotropically distributed ensemble (IDE) analysis, each structure is represented by an ensemble of isotropically distributed replicas corresponding to the situation found in an isotropic protein solution. This leads to a covariance matrix of the cartesian atomic positions with elements proportional to the ensemble average of scalar products of the position vectors with respect to the center of mass. Diagonalization of the covariance matrix yields eigenmodes and amplitudes that describe concerted motions of atoms, including overall rotational and intramolecular dynamics. It is demonstrated that this covariance matrix naturally distinguishes between “rigid” and “mobile” parts without necessitating a priori selection of a reference structure and an atom set for the orientational alignment process. The method was applied to the analysis of a 5‐ns molecular dynamics trajectory of native ubiquitin and a 40‐ns trajectory of a partially folded state of ubiquitin. The results were compared with essential dynamics analysis. By taking advantage of the spherical symmetry of the IDE covariance matrix, more than a 10‐fold speed up is achieved for the computation of eigenmodes and mode amplitudes. IDE analysis is particularly suitable for studying the correlated dynamics of flexible and large molecules. Proteins 2002;46:177–189. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Identifying factors that influence the success of ICT in developing a learning community: the CELT experience

A learning community has been developing in a distributed environment amongst the members of the Centre for the Enhancement of Learning and Teaching (CELT) located in the Bathurst, Goulburn and Orange campuses of Charles Sturt University. This group is known by the acronym of GDMOB, with the purpose of the community to facilitate the professional development and learning of its members. To facilitate the learning ICT has been employed to enhance, through an improved sense of community and social presence of the more isolated members of the group, the learning of the members of the community. It is the intent of this paper to explore and identify factors that contribute to the successful implementation and use of ICT to enhance learning and the construction of a sense of community. Presenting the GDMOB experience as a case study it is intended to start to develop a model that can be applied and extrapolated into more generic learning and teaching experiences in distance environments.
Preventing Malnutrition in Post-Conflict, Food Insecure Settings: A Case Study from South Sudan

Background: Decades of civil conflict compound the challenges of food insecurity in South Sudan and contribute to persistent, high levels of child malnutrition. As efforts to prevent child malnutrition continue, there is a critical need for strategies that effectively supplement the diets of pregnant women and young children in transitional, highly food insecure settings like South Sudan. Methods: This mixed-methods case study of four communities in South Sudan reports on the diets of children under 2 years of age and explores household-level factors including household size, intrahousehold food allocation practices, and responses to scarcity that may have significant impact on the effectiveness of strategies relying on household ration distribution to supplement the diets of pregnant women and children under 2 years of age. Results: Participants reported experiencing increased scarcity as a result of prolonged drought and household sizes enlarged by the high volume of returning refugees. Although communities were receiving monthly household rations through a non-emergency food assistance program, most households had exhausted rations less than 30 days after receipt. Results showed that more than one half of children 12-17 months and one third of children 18-23 months consumed diets consisting of fewer than 4 food groups in the last week. Intrahousehold food allocation patterns give children first priority at meal times even in times of scarcity, yet adult women, including pregnant women, have last priority. Discussion: These findings suggest that distribution of supplementary household rations will likely be insufficient to effectively supplement the diets of young children and pregnant women in particular. In light of the multiple contextual challenges experienced by households in transitional, food-insecure settings, these findings support recommendations to take a context-specific approach to food assistance programming, in which considerations of intrahousehold food allocation patterns and broader cultural and environmental factors inform program design. Incorporating assessments of intrahousehold food allocation patterns as part of needs assessments for food assistance and voucher or cash transfer programs may contribute to more effective, context specific programming.
Mitogenic effects of oestrogen mediated by a non‐genomic receptor in human colon

Oestrogens are important mitogens in epithelial cancers, particularly where tumours express complementary receptors. While the traditional model of oestrogen action involves gene‐directed (genomic) protein synthesis, it has been established that more rapid, non‐genomic steroid hormone actions exist. This study investigated the hypothesis that oestrogen rapidly alters cell membrane activity, intracellular pH and nuclear kinetics in a mitogenic fashion.
A sparse kernelized matrix learning vector quantization model for human activity recognition

The contribution describes our application to the ESANN’2013 Competition on Human Activity Recognition (HAR) using Android-OS smartphone sensor signals. We applied a kernel variant of learning vector quantization with metric adaptation using only one prototype vector per class. This sparse model obtains very good accuracies and additionally provides class correlation information. Further, the model allows an optimized class visualization.
EGF-R Protein Expression and Gene Amplification do not Correlate in Pancreas Cancer

In a series of 13 pancreas cancer specimens, EGF-R was evaluated by means of both immunohistochemistry (IHC) for protein expression and FISH for genetic amplification. The results were discording in 7 cases (IHC positive, FISH negative), while in the remaining 6 cases both IHC and FISH were negative. The possible clinical implications of these results are discussed.
Time Independent Tracking Using 2-D Movement Flow-Based Visual Servoing

In this paper, the so-called 2-D movement flow-based visual servoing system is proposed, which allows the tracking of trajectories planned in the image space. This method is time-independent, which is useful when problems such as obstructions occur during the tracking. This method allows the tracking of image trajectories assuring the correct behaviour in the 3-D space and avoiding the limitations of the time-dependent systems used up to now for tracking trajectories. This aspect has allowed its application to manipulation tasks in which the trajectory can be obstructed during the tracking.
Group communication patterns for high performance computing in scala

We developed a Functional Object-Oriented Parallel framework (FooPar) for high-level high-performance computing in Scala. Central to this framework are Distributed Memory Parallel Data structures (DPDs), i.e., collections of data distributed in a shared nothing system together with parallel operations on these data. In this paper, we first present FooPar's architecture and the idea of DPDs and group communications. Then, we show how DPDs can be implemented elegantly and efficiently in Scala based on the Traversable/Builder pattern, unifying Functional and Object-Oriented Programming. We prove the correctness and safety of one communication algorithm and show how specification testing (via ScalaCheck) can be used to bridge the gap between proof and implementation. Furthermore, we show that the group communication operations of FooPar outperform those of the MPJ Express open source MPI-bindings for Java, both asymptotically and empirically. FooPar has already been shown to be capable of achieving close-to-optimal performance for dense matrix-matrix multiplication via JNI. In this article, we present results on a parallel implementation of the Floyd-Warshall algorithm in FooPar, achieving more than 94% efficiency compared to the serial version on a cluster using 100 cores for matrices of dimension 38000 x 38000.
Dissolution improvement of high drug-loaded solid dispersion

This study focused on an investigation of a high drug-loaded solid dispersion system consisting of drug, carrier, and surfactant. Solid dispersions of a water-insoluble ofloxacin (OFX) with polyethylene glycol (PEG) of different molecular weights, namely binary solid dispersion systems, were prepared at drug to carrier not less than 5∶5. Polysorbate 80, a nonionic surfactant, was incorporated into the binary solid dispersion systems as the third component to obtain the ternary solid dispersion systems. The powder x-ray diffraction and differential scanning calorimetric studies indicated that crystalline OFX existed in the solid dispersions with high drug loading. However, a decreased crystallinity of the solid dispersions obtained revealed that a portion of OFX was in an amorphous state. The results indicated a remarkably improved dissolution of drug from the ternary solid dispersion systems when compared with the binary solid dispersion systems. This was because of polysorbate 80, which improved wettability and solubilized the non-molecularly dispersed or crystalline fraction of OFX.
Son Birth and Female Lifespan Are Positively Related in Humans

Sexual dimorphism of human body size starts as early as first trimester of fetal development [1]. Compared to daughters, sons develop faster [2] and weigh 2-3% higher at birth [3]. This dimorphism is believed to create an investment dimorphism for mothers, such that, women bearing sons tend to incur higher physiological investment costs. Further, analysis of human populations has shown that mothers bearing more sons require longer time to reproduce again [4]. These observations lead to the prediction that mothers bearing more sons may need to trade the physiological investments with lifespan [5].
SCOP database in 2002: refinements accommodate structural genomics

The SCOP (Structural Classification of Proteins) database is a comprehensive ordering of all proteins of known structure, according to their evolutionary and structural relationships. Protein domains in SCOP are grouped into species and hierarchically classified into families, superfamilies, folds and classes. Recently, we introduced a new set of features with the aim of standardizing access to the database, and providing a solid basis to manage the increasing number of experimental structures expected from structural genomics projects. These features include: a new set of identifiers, which uniquely identify each entry in the hierarchy; a compact representation of protein domain classification; a new set of parseable files, which fully describe all domains in SCOP and the hierarchy itself. These new features are reflected in the ASTRAL compendium. The SCOP search engine has also been updated, and a set of links to external resources added at the level of domain entries. SCOP can be accessed at http://scop.mrc-lmb.cam. ac.uk/scop.
Effects of a Classroom-Based Physical Activity Program on Children's Physical Activity Levels.

High levels of physical inactivity are evident among many American children. To address this problem, providing physical activity (PA) during the school day within the CSPAP framework, is one strategy to increase children’s PA. Thus, the purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a classroom-based PA program on children’s PA. Two hundred and ten students from one school participated in TAKE 10! for 12 weeks. All students wore pedometers and a sample of 64 students wore accelerometers for 4 days during week 1 (baseline), week 8 (midintervention), and week 12 (end-intervention). Data were analyzed using repeated-measures ANOVA. The results showed that students’ daily in-school step counts increased by 672 steps from baseline to midintervention (P < .001). Students’ moderate-to-vigorous intensity PA (MVPA) increased by approximately 2 minutes from baseline to end-intervention (P < .01). In conclusion, participating in TAKE 10! helps children strive toward the goal of recommended daily MVPA.
Curcumin, the golden nutraceutical: multitargeting for multiple chronic diseases

Curcumin, a yellow pigment in the Indian spice Turmeric (Curcuma longa), which is chemically known as diferuloylmethane, was first isolated exactly two centuries ago in 1815 by two German Scientists, Vogel and Pelletier. However, according to the pubmed database, the first study on its biological activity as an antibacterial agent was published in 1949 in Nature and the first clinical trial was reported in The Lancet in 1937. Although the current database indicates almost 9000 publications on curcumin, until 1990 there were less than 100 papers published on this nutraceutical. At the molecular level, this multitargeted agent has been shown to exhibit anti‐inflammatory activity through the suppression of numerous cell signalling pathways including NF‐κB, STAT3, Nrf2, ROS and COX‐2. Numerous studies have indicated that curcumin is a highly potent antimicrobial agent and has been shown to be active against various chronic diseases including various types of cancers, diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular, pulmonary, neurological and autoimmune diseases. Furthermore, this compound has also been shown to be synergistic with other nutraceuticals such as resveratrol, piperine, catechins, quercetin and genistein. To date, over 100 different clinical trials have been completed with curcumin, which clearly show its safety, tolerability and its effectiveness against various chronic diseases in humans. However, more clinical trials in different populations are necessary to prove its potential against different chronic diseases in humans. This review's primary focus is on lessons learnt about curcumin from clinical trials.
Uptake, elimination, and biotransformation of aqueous and dietary DDT in marine fish

To understand the biokinetics and potential risks of p,p‐dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) and its metabolites, p,p'‐dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE) and p,p'‐dichlorodiphenyldichloroethane (DDD), in fish, we exposed the black sea breams (Acanthopagrus schlegeli) to aqueous and dietary DDTs and then evaluated the bioaccumulation, distribution, biotransformation, and elimination of DDTs under controlled laboratory conditions. The fish rapidly accumulated DDTs from both routes of exposure, particularly the gills and viscera. Elimination of DDTs following aqueous or dietary uptake was slow, and biotranslocation of DDTs was significant during the exposure period but negligible during the depuration period. The biotransformation process was more significant following dietary exposure. During depuration, DDE was the major biotransformed product in the sea breams' carcasses while DDD was the major product in the gills and viscera. However, DDD had a significantly higher elimination rate than DDE and, subsequently, the fish retained more DDE in the body. Intraspecies variability in the elimination and biotransformation processes in fish was observed. We demonstrated that the route of exposure significantly affected the fate and biokinetics of DDTs in fish. The application of a dynamic model provided a tool for quantifying the elimination and biotransformation of DDT in fish. The present study provided insights into the bioaccumulation and biotransformation pathways of DDT in fish that could have important ecotoxicological implications.
Defining cortical sulcus patterns using partial clustering based on bootstrap and bagging

The cortical folding patterns are very different from one individual to another. Here we try to find folding patterns automatically using large-scale datasets by non-supervised clustering analysis. The sulci of each brain are detected and identified using the brain VIS A open software. The 3D moment invariants are calculated and used as the shape descriptors of the sulci identified. A partial clustering algorithm using bootstrap sampling and bagging (PCBB) is devised for cortical pattern mining. Partial clusters are found using a modified hierarchical clustering method constrained by an objective function which looks for the most compact and dissimilar clusters. Bagging is used to increase stability. Experiments on simulated and real datasets are used to demonstrate the strength and stability of this algorithm compared to other standard approaches. Some cortical patterns are found using our method. In particular, the patterns found for the left cingulate sulcus are consistent with the patterns described in the atlas of Ono.
Dynamic Updating for � � Minimization

The theory of compressive sensing (CS) has shown us that under certain conditions, a sparse signal can be recovered from a small number of linear incoherent measurements. An effective class of reconstruction algorithms involve solving a convex optimization program that balances the norm of the solution against a data fidelity term. Tremendous progress has been made in recent years on algorithms for solving these minimization programs. These algorithms, however, are for the most part static: they focus on finding the solution for a fixed set of measurements. In this paper, we present a suite of dynamic algorithms for solving minimization programs for streaming sets of measurements. We consider cases where the underlying signal changes slightly between measurements, and where new measurements of a fixed signal are sequentially added to the system. We develop algorithms to quickly update the solution of several different types of optimization problems whenever these changes occur, thus avoiding having to solve a new optimization problem from scratch. Our proposed schemes are based on homotopy continuation, which breaks down the solution update in a systematic and efficient way into a small number of linear steps. Each step consists of a low-rank update and a small number of matrix-vector multiplications—very much like recursive least squares. Our investigation also includes dynamic updating schemes for decoding problems, where an arbitrary signal is to be recovered from redundant coded measurements which have been corrupted by sparse errors.
Teaching Self-Determination

education circles is “empowerment,” but what does it actually mean to be an empowered individual? Although many definitions exist in the literature and include such terms such as self-determination (see box, “What Is SelfDetermination”) and self-advocacy, at the core of empowerment is the understanding that an individual is truly empowered the moment they recognize the inherent authority she possesses to control her own life. Ultimately, empowerment means to make decisions that affect one’s destiny, to choose the paths that one wishes to traverse. Although the concept of student empowerment is bantered around in special education, many students with disabilities remain unempowered, relinquishing the decision making about their lives to adults. Unfortunately, sometimes the adults in these students’ lives have an agenda of their own that does not take into consideration the student’s interests and vision for themselves. However, young people with disabilities do have the ability to engage in decision making about their lives once they have been made aware of what decisions need to be made and are encouraged to see themselves for who they are, with all the gifts and unique qualities that each brings to a community. Unfortunately, students with disabilities frequently do not understand their strengths and their needs because the adults in their lives often feel compelled to protect students from their disability. Their individualized education program (IEP) meetings are cloaked in secrecy and the facts of their disabilities are often shrouded in unfamiliar terms or are even unspoken A group of teachers decided to begin the process of unveiling the mysteries of the IEP and also to help students become self-advocates and leaders in their life decisions. These teachers agreed to work with their students to explore the steps it takes to guide students toward their own empowerment. Most of these teachers are special educators, although one teaches in a parochial school setting where formal special education services are offered only on a limited basis.