Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Racemic Salsolinol and its Enantiomers Act as Agonists of the μ-Opioid Receptor by Activating the Gi Protein-Adenylate Cyclase Pathway

Background: Several studies have shown that the ethanol-derived metabolite salsolinol (SAL) can activate the mesolimbic system, suggesting that SAL is the active molecule mediating the rewarding effects of ethanol. In vitro and in vivo studies suggest that SAL exerts its action on neuron excitability through a mechanism involving opioid neurotransmission. However, there is no direct pharmacologic evidence showing that SAL activates opioid receptors. Methods: The ability of racemic (R/S)-SAL, and its stereoisomers (R)-SAL and (S)-SAL, to activate the μ-opioid receptor was tested in cell-based (light-emitting) receptor assays. To further characterizing the interaction of SAL stereoisomers with the μ-opioid receptor, a molecular docking study was performed using the crystal structure of the μ-opioid receptor. Results: This study shows that SAL activates the μ-opioid receptor by the classical G protein-adenylate cyclase pathway with an half-maximal effective concentration (EC50) of 2 × 10−5 M. The agonist action of SAL was fully blocked by the μ-opioid antagonist naltrexone. The EC50 for the purified stereoisomers (R)-SAL and (S)-SAL were 6 × 10−4 M and 9 × 10−6 M respectively. It was found that the action of racemic SAL on the μ-opioid receptor did not promote the recruitment of β-arrestin. Molecular docking studies showed that the interaction of (R)- and (S)-SAL with the μ-opioid receptor is similar to that predicted for the agonist morphine. Conclusions: It is shown that (R)-SAL and (S)-SAL are agonists of the μ-opioid receptor. (S)-SAL is a more potent agonist than the (R)-SAL stereoisomer. In silico analysis predicts a morphine-like interaction between (R)- and (S)-SAL with the μ-opioid receptor. These results suggest that an opioid action of SAL or its enantiomers is involved in the rewarding effects of ethanol.
Enhanced Photosensitivity in Monolayer MoS2 with PbS Quantum Dots

Absract Photocurrent enhancement has been investigated in monolayer (1L) MoS 2 with PbS quantum dots (QDs). A metal-semiconductor-metal (Au-1L MoS 2 -Au) junction device is fabricated using a standard photolithography method. Considerably improved photo-electrical properties are obtained by coating PbS QDs on the Au-1L MoS 2 -Au device. Time dependent photoconductivity and current-voltage characteristics are investigated. For the QDs-coated MoS 2 device, it is observed that the photocurrent is considerably enhanced and the decay life time becomes longer. We propose that carriers in QDs are excited and transferred to the MoS 2 channel under light illumination, improving the photocurrent of the 1L MoS 2 channel. Our experimental findings suggest that two-dimensional layered semiconductor materials combined with QDs could be used as building blocks for highly-sensitive optoelectronic detectors including radiation sensors.
Locating Noun Phrases with Finite State Transducers

We present a method for constructing, maintaining and consulting a database of proper nouns. We describe noun phrases composed of a proper noun and/or a description of a human occupation. They are formalized by finite state transducers (FST) and large coverage dictionaries and are applied to a corpus of newspapers. We take into account synonymy and hyperonymy. This first stage of our parsing procedure has a high degree of accuracy. We show how we can handle requests such as: 'Find all newspaper articles in a general corpus mentioning the French prime minister', or 'How is Mr. X referred to in the corpus; what have been his different occupations through out the period over which our corpus extends? ' In the first case, non trivial occurrences of noun phrases are located, that is phrases not containing words present in the request, but either synonyms, or proper nouns relevant to request. The results of the search is far better than than those obtained by a key-word based engine. Most answers are correct: except some cases of homonymy (where a human reader would also fail without more context). Also, the treatment of people having several different occupations is not fully resolved. We have built for French, a library of about one thousand such FSTs, and English FSTs are under construction. The same method can be used to locate and propose new proper nouns, simply by replacing given proper names in the same FSTs by variables.
Expedited Publications Molecular Characterization of Angiotensin Ii- Induced Hypertrophy of Cardiac Myocytes and Hyperplasia of Cardiac Fibroblasts Critical Role of the At1 Receptor Subtype Key Words * Angiotensin Ii * At1 Receptor * Immediate-early Genes * Mitogenesis * Hypertrophy

Increasing evidence suggests that angiotensin II (Ang II) may act as a growth factor for the heart. However, direct effects of Ang II on mammalian cardiac cells (myocytes and nonmyocytes), independent of secondary hemodynamic and neurohumoral effects, have not been well characterized. Therefore, we analyzed the molecular phenotype of cultured cardiac cells from neonatal rats in response to Ang II. In addition, we examined the effects of selective Ang II receptor subtype antagonists in mediating the biological effects of Ang II. In myocyte culture, Ang II caused an increase in protein synthesis without changing the rate of DNA synthesis. In contrast, Ang II induced increases in protein synthesis, DNA synthesis, and cell number in nonmyocyte cultures (mostly cardiac fibroblasts). The Ang II-induced hypertrophic response of myocytes and mitogenic response of fibroblasts were mediated primarily by the AT1 receptor. Ang II caused a rapid induction of many immediate-early genes (c-fos, c-jun, jun B, Egr-1, and c-myc) in myocyte and nonmyocyte cultures. Ang II induced "late" markers for cardiac hypertrophy, skeletal a-actin and atrial natriuretic factor expression, within 6 hours in myocytes. Ang II also caused upregulation of the angiotensinogen gene and transforming growth factor-,f1 gene within 6 hours. Induction of immediate-early genes, late genes, and growth factor genes by Ang II was fully blocked by an AT, receptor antagonist but not by an AT2 receptor antagonist. These results indicate that (1) Ang II causes hypertrophy of cardiac myocytes and mitogenesis of cardiac fibroblasts, (2) the phenotypic changes of cardiac cells in response to Ang II in vitro closely mimic those of growth factor response in vitro and of load-induced hypertrophy in vivo, (3) all biological effects of Ang II examined here are mediated primarily by the AT1 receptor subtype, and (4) Ang II may initiate a positive-feedback regulation of cardiac hypertrophic response by inducing the angiotensinogen gene and transforming growth factor-l1 gene. T he renin-angiotensin system plays a critically important role in the control of cardiovascular and renal homeostasis.12 Previously, this system has been considered to be an endocrine system, in which angiotensinogen is produced in the liver and secreted into the systemic circulation, where the successive pro-teolytic cleavages by renin and angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) occur to produce the biologically active peptide angiotensin II (Ang II). 1,2 Recently, however, there is accumulating evidence for the existence of an independent tissue (local) renin-angiotensin system in several organs. This concept is supported by …
Speaker Identification Using Instantaneous Frequencies

This paper presents an experimental evaluation of different features for use in speaker identification. The features are tested using speech data provided by the chains corpus, in a closed-set speaker identification task. The main objective of the paper is to present a novel parametrization of speech that is based on the AM-FM representation of the speech signal and to assess the utility of these features in the context of speaker identification. In order to explore the extent to which different instantaneous frequencies due to the presence of formants and harmonics in the speech signal may predict a speaker's identity, this work evaluates three different decompositions of the speech signal within the same AM-FM framework: a first setup has been used previously for formant tracking, a second setup is designed to enhance familiar resonances below 4000 Hz, and a third setup is designed to approximate the bandwidth scaling of the filters conventionally used in the extraction of Mel-fequency cepstral coefficients (MFCCs). From each of the proposed setups, parameters are extracted and used in a closed-set text-independent speaker identification task. The performance of the new featural representation is compared with results obtained adopting MFCC and RASTA-PLP features in the context of a generic Gaussian mixture model (GMM) classification system. In evaluating the novel features, we look selectively at information for speaker identification contained in the frequency range 0-4000 Hz and 4000-8000 Hz, as the instantaneous frequencies revealed by the AM-FM approach suggest the presence of structures not well known from conventional spectrographic analyses. Accuracy results obtained using the new parametrization perform as well as conventional MFCC parameters within the same reference system, when tested and trained on modally voiced speech which is mismatched in both channel and style. When the testing material is whispered speech, the new parameters provide better results than any of the other features tested, although they remain far from ideal in this limiting case.
Hyperactivity of the default-mode network in first-episode, drug-naive schizophrenia at rest revealed by family-based case–control and traditional case–control designs

Abstract Abnormal regional activity and functional connectivity of the default-mode network (DMN) have been reported in schizophrenia. However, previous studies may have been biased by unmatched case–control design. To limit such bias, the present study used both the family-based case–control design and the traditional case–control design to investigate abnormal regional activity of the DMN in patients with schizophrenia at rest. Twenty-eight first-episode, drug-naive patients with schizophrenia, 28 age-, sex-matched unaffected siblings of the patients (family-based controls, FBC), and 40 healthy controls (HC) underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans. The group-independent component analysis and fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (fALFF) methods were used to analyze the data. Patients with schizophrenia show increased fALFF in an overlapped region of the right superior medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) relative to the FBC and the HC. Compared with the HC, the patients and the FBC exhibit increased fALFF in an overlapped region of the left posterior cingulate cortex/precuneus (PCC/PCu). Furthermore, the z values of the 2 overlapped regions can separate the patients from the FBC/HC, and separate the patients/FBC from the HC with relatively high sensitivity and specificity. Both the family-based case–control and traditional case–control designs reveal hyperactivity of the DMN in first-episode, drug-naive patients with paranoid schizophrenia, which highlights the importance of the DMN in the neurobiology of schizophrenia. Family-based case–control design can limit the confounding effects of environmental factors in schizophrenia. Combination of the family-based case–control and traditional case–control designs may be a viable option for the neuroimaging studies.
Cell‐ and developmental stage‐specific Dicer1 ablation in the lung epithelium models cystic pleuropulmonary blastoma

Inherited syndromes provide unique opportunities to identify key regulatory mechanisms governing human disease. We previously identified germline loss‐of‐function DICER1 mutations in a human syndrome defined by the childhood lung neoplasm pleuropulmonary blastoma (PPB), which arises during lung development. DICER1 regulates many biological processes critical in development and disease pathogenesis. Significant challenges in defining the role of DICER1 in human disease are identifying cause–effect relationships and generating manipulatable systems that model the complexity of organ development and disease pathogenesis. Here we report the generation of a murine model for PPB and demonstrate that precise temporal and cell type‐specific Dicer1 ablation is necessary and sufficient for the development of cystic lungs that histologically and phenotypically model PPB. Dicer1 ablation in the distal airway epithelium during early stages of lung development resulted in a cystic lung phenotype indistinguishable from PPB, whereas DICER1 function was not required for development of the proximal airway epithelium or during later stages of organogenesis. Mechanistic studies demonstrate that Dicer1 loss results in epithelial cell death, followed by cystic airway dilatation accompanied by epithelial and mesenchymal proliferation. These studies define precise temporal and epithelial cell type‐specific DICER1 functions in the developing lung and demonstrate that loss of these DICER1 functions is sufficient for the development of cystic PPB. These results also provide evidence that PPB arise through a novel mechanism of non‐cell‐autonomous tumour initiation, in which the genetic abnormality initiating the neoplasm does not occur in the cells that ultimately transform, but rather occurs in a benign‐appearing epithelial cell component that predisposes underlying mesenchymal cells to malignant transformation. Copyright © 2014 Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Synthesis of walking primitive databases for biped robots in 3D-environments

This paper presents a systematic approach to generate walking primitive databases for anthropomorphic 3D-bipeds allowing step length adaptation, direction changes and stepping over obstacles. The individual walking primitives are derived by optimal control techniques. Zero moment point (ZMP) and friction conditions at the feet ensuring postural stability of the biped, as well as bounds on the joint angles and on the control torques, are treated as constraints. The resulting reference trajectories are validated by dynamic simulations.
Antenna-in-Package Design for Wirebond Interconnection to Highly Integrated 60-GHz Radios

This paper first presents a quasi-cavity-backed, guard-ring-directed, substrate-material-modulated slot antenna. The antenna, intended for use in highly integrated 60-GHz radios, is deliberately designed to exhibit capacitive input impedance to suit low-cost wire-bonding packaging and assembly technique. The antenna implemented in a thin cavity-down ceramic ball grid array (CBGA) package in low-temperature cofired ceramic (LTCC) technology has achieved an acceptable impedance bandwidth from 59 to 65 GHz with an estimated efficiency of 94%. At millimeter-wave (mm-wave) frequency 60 GHz, one of key challenges is how to realize low-loss interconnection between a radio chip and an antenna using wire-bonding technique. This paper then addresses this issue in the framework of antenna-in-package (AiP) design at 60 GHz and proposes a new solution to the challenge. Detailed wirebond design method and results are given. A major concern with AiP is the risk of the antenna coupling to the radio chip. This paper also evaluates this unwanted coupling and shows that the coupling from the in-package antenna to the on-chip inductor is lower than 30 dB for the worst case. These results clearly demonstrate the feasibility and promise of the elegant AiP technology for emerging high-speed short-range 60-GHz wireless communications.
The Relation Between the Transversus Abdominis Muscles, Sacroiliac Joint Mechanics, and Low Back Pain

Study Design. Two abdominal muscle patterns were tested in the same group of individuals, and their effects were compared in relation to sacroiliac joint laxity. One pattern was contraction of the transversus abdominis, independently of the other abdominals; the other was a bracing action that used all the lateral abdominal muscles. Objectives. To demonstrate the biomechanical effect of the exercise for the transversus abdominis known to be effective in low back pain. Summary of Background Data. Drawing in the abdominal wall is a specific exercise for the transversus abdominis muscle (in cocontraction with the multifidus), which is used in the treatment of back pain. Clinical effectiveness has been demonstrated to be a reduction of 3-year recurrence from 75% to 35%. To the authors’ best knowledge, there is not yet in vivo proof of the biomechanical effect of this specific exercise. This study of a biomechanical model on the mechanics of the sacroiliac joint, however, predicted a significant effect of transversus abdominis muscle force. Methods. Thirteen healthy individuals who could perform the test patterns were included. Sacroiliac joint laxity values were recorded with study participants in the prone position during the two abdominal muscle patterns. The values were recorded by means of Doppler imaging of vibrations. Simultaneous electromyographic recordings and ultrasound imaging were used to verify the two muscle patterns. Results. The range of sacroiliac joint laxity values observed in this study was comparable with levels found in earlier studies of healthy individuals. These values decreased significantly in all individuals during both muscle patterns (P < 0.001). The independent transversus abdominis contraction decreased sacroiliac joint laxity (or rather increased sacroiliac joint stiffness) to a significantly greater degree than the general abdominal exercise pattern (P < 0.0260). Conclusions. Contraction of the transversus abdominis significantly decreases the laxity of the sacroiliac joint. This decrease in laxity is larger than that caused by a bracing action using all the lateral abdominal muscles. These findings are in line with the authors’ biomechanical model predictions and support the use of independent transversus abdominis contractions for the treatment of low back pain.
Wireless Tracking Analysis in Location Fingerprinting

Wireless tracking analysis is useful for deploying the efficient indoor positioning system. Location fingerprinting (LF) method uses a training dataset of Wi-Fi received signal strength (RSS) at different location to track the target. Fuzzy logic modeling can be applied to evaluate the behavior of wireless received signal strength (RSS). Previous analytical models based on LF are not sufficient for modeling spatial factors of wireless coverage. Spatial analytical model is useful for analysis of how the wireless infrastructure affecting the accuracy of positioning. The main concept of fuzzy logic is to reflect the reality of our world of experience, which is uncertain and fuzzy. In this paper, we develop a multilayer fuzzy modeling for the wireless coverage in the huge and open area. Large scale site surveying has been used to collect RSS in 9.34 hectare campus area. The color fuzzy model allows us to visualize the spatial distribution of wireless RSS. Base on the fuzzy analytical model, we analyze the effect of existence of human's presence and large obstacle, the accuracy and efficiency of tracking system.
Coarsening of sand ripples in mass transfer models.

Coarsening of sand ripples is studied in a one-dimensional stochastic model, where neighboring ripples exchange mass with algebraic rates, Gamma(m) approximately m(gamma), and ripples of zero mass are removed from the system. For gamma<0, ripples vanish through rare fluctuations and the average ripple mass grows as (t) approximately -gamma(-1)ln(t). Temporal correlations decay as t(-1/2) or t(-2/3) depending on the symmetry of the mass transfer, and asymptotically the system is characterized by a product measure. The stationary ripple mass distribution is obtained exactly. For gamma>0, ripple evolution is linearly unstable, and the noise in the dynamics is irrelevant. For gamma=1, the problem is solved on the mean-field level, but the mean-field theory does not adequately describe the full behavior of the coarsening. In particular, it fails to account for the numerically observed universality with respect to the initial ripple size distribution. The results are not restricted to sand ripple evolution since the model can be mapped to zero range processes, urn models, exclusion processes, and cluster-cluster aggregation.
具多重無線存取技術之超高密度異質性網路的共存效能分析 Coexisting Performance Analysis for Multi-RAT Ultra-Dense Heterogeneous Networks

In this thesis, we develop a general modeling and analyzing framework for a heterogeneous wireless network (HetNet) in which several wireless subnetworks coexist and use multiple radio access technologies (multi-RAT) in order to evaluate the link coverage, the mean spectrum efficiency, and the network flow. In this thesis, we consider an HetNet consisting of multiple tiers of APs adoping two different RATs. We propose the channel access protocol of opportunistic CSMA/CA used in the coexisting band since this protocol is able to alleviate severe interfering behaviors between all APs. We consider the noncrossing-RAT, crossingRAT, biased crossing-RAT user association scenarios in this thesis. In each user association scenario, the void probabilities and channel access probabilities of the APs in each tier are found and the tight lower bounds on the link coverage, the mean spectrum efficiency and the proposed network flow are all derived. Also, crossing-RAT user association is shown to achieve much higher performance than noncrossing-RAT user association. In addition, the biased crossing-RAT scenario is proposed to balance the traffic between each tiers. Finally, we apply our previous modeling and analysis framework to the LTE-U network and WiFi network coexisting in the HetNet and provide the numerical simulations and mathematical representation to validate our findings.
A model of sino-atrial node electrical activity based on a modification of the DiFrancesco-Noble (1984) equations

DiFrancesco & Noble’s (1984) equations (Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B (in the press.)) have been modified to apply to the mammalian sino-atrial node. The modifications are based on recent experimental work. The modified equations successfully reproduce action potential and pacemaker activity in the node. Slightly different versions have been developed for peripheral regions that show a maximum diastolic potential near — 75 mV and for central regions that do not hyperpolarize beyond —60 to —65 mV. Variations in extracellular potassium influence the frequency of pacemaker activity in the s.a. node model very much less than they do in the Purkinje fibre model. This corresponds well to the experimental observation that the node is less sensitive to external [K] than are Purkinje fibres. Activation of the N a-K exchange pump in the model by increasing intracellular sodium can suppress pacemaker activity. This phenomenon may contribute to the mechanism of overdrive suppression.
Epidemiology of Fatal Occupational Injuries in Jefferson County, Alabama

Background. In Alabama, little is known about the overall characteristics of job-related injuries. Methods. We examined fatal occupational injuries that occurred in Jefferson County, Alabama, from 1990 through 1999 using files maintained by the Jefferson County Coroner/Medical Examiner Office. Mortality rates were calculated by sex, age, race, occupation, and industry. Results. There were 186 fatal occupational injuries; 136 were unintentional. The overall fatality rate was 4.45 deaths per 100,000 worker-years. Mortality rates were higher among men than among women, and they increased with advancing age. The homicide rate was higher among black workers than among whites. Mining, manufacturing, and transportation were the industries with the highest fatal injury rates. Transportation-related jobs and manual labor were high-risk occupations. Conclusion. High-risk industries should consider worker-targeted injury prevention programs, and particular attention should be paid to elderly workers.