Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cardiac Histological Substrate in Patients With Clinical Phenotype of Brugada Syndrome

Background— The role of structural heart disease and sodium channel dysfunction in the induction of electrical instability in Brugada syndrome is still debated. Methods and Results— We studied 18 consecutive patients (15 males, 3 females; mean age 42.0±12.4 years) with clinical phenotype of Brugada syndrome and normal cardiac structure and function on noninvasive examinations. Clinical presentation was ventricular fibrillation in 7 patients, sustained polymorphic ventricular tachycardia in 7, and syncope in 4. All patients underwent cardiac catheterization, coronary and ventricular angiography, biventricular endomyocardial biopsy, and DNA screening of the SCN5A gene. Biopsy samples were processed for histology, electron microscopy, and molecular screening for viral genomes. Microaneurysms were detected in the right ventricle in 7 patients and also in the left ventricle in 4 of them. Histology showed a prevalent or localized right ventricular myocarditis in 14 patients, with detectable viral genomes in 4; right ventricular cardiomyopathy in 1 patient; and cardiomyopathic changes in 3. Genetic studies identified 4 carriers of SCN5A gene mutations that cause in vitro abnormal function of mutant proteins. In these patients, myocyte cytoplasm degeneration was present at histology, whereas terminal dUTP nick end-labeling assay showed a significant increase of apoptotic myocytes in right and left ventricle versus normal controls (P=0.014 and P=0.013, respectively). Conclusions— Despite an apparently normal heart at noninvasive evaluation, endomyocardial biopsy detected structural alterations in all 18 patients with Brugada syndrome. Mutations in the SCN5A gene, identified in 4 of the 18 patients, may have induced concealed structural abnormalities of myocardiocytes that accounted for paroxysmal arrhythmic manifestations.
Avibase – a database system for managing and organizing taxonomic concepts

Abstract Scientific names of biological entities offer an imperfect resolution of the concepts that they are intended to represent. Often they are labels applied to entities ranging from entire populations to individual specimens representing those populations, even though such names only unambiguously identify the type specimen to which they were originally attached. Thus the real-life referents of names are constantly changing as biological circumscriptions are redefined and thereby alter the sets of individuals bearing those names. This problem is compounded by other characteristics of names that make them ambiguous identifiers of biological concepts, including emendations, homonymy and synonymy. Taxonomic concepts have been proposed as a way to address issues related to scientific names, but they have yet to receive broad recognition or implementation. Some efforts have been made towards building systems that address these issues by cataloguing and organizing taxonomic concepts, but most are still in conceptual or proof-of-concept stage. We present the on-line database Avibase as one possible approach to organizing taxonomic concepts. Avibase has been successfully used to describe and organize 844,000 species-level and 705,000 subspecies-level taxonomic concepts across every major bird taxonomic checklist of the last 125 years. The use of taxonomic concepts in place of scientific names, coupled with efficient resolution services, is a major step toward addressing some of the main deficiencies in the current practices of scientific name dissemination and use.
Effect of Submaximal Physical Exercise on Antioxidative Protection of Human Blood Platelets

The study was performed on healthy volunteers subjected to submaximal physical exercise (75% VO2max). Activities of catalase (CT) (EC 1.11.1.6), glutathione peroxidase (GPO) (EC 1.11.1.9), superoxide dismutase (ZnCu-SOD) (EC 1.15.1.1) and malonyldialdehyde (MDA) concentration in blood platelets before and after physical exercise were estimated. Physical exercise was found to induce a significant increase in the blood platelet enzymes activity accompanied by lowering platelet MDA concentration and platelet aggregability. The obtained results suggest that physical exercise has some effect on platelet reactivity and on platelet antioxidative enzymes.
Describing Spoken Dialogue Systems Differences

A connector includes a head from which there extends a split shank. The split shank forms opposing first and second members having an offset or stepped inner surface. The free end of the shank includes a tapered flange provided with a retaining lip which extends beyond the outer surface of the shank. One or more openings may be provided through the shank for receiving a cotter pin.
Performance Analysis of Evolutionary Algorithms for the Minimum Label Spanning Tree Problem

A few experimental investigations have shown that evolutionary algorithms (EAs) are efficient for the minimum label spanning tree (MLST) problem. However, we know little about that in theory. In this paper, we theoretically analyze the performances of the (1+1) EA, a simple version of EA, and a simple multiobjective evolutionary algorithm called GSEMO on the MLST problem. We reveal that for the MLSTb problem, the (1+1) EA and GSEMO achieve a (b + 1)/2-approximation ratio in expected polynomial runtime with respect to n, the number of nodes, and k, the number of labels. We also find that GSEMO achieves a (2 lnn+1)-approximation ratio for the MLST problem in expected polynomial runtime with respect to n and k. At the same time, we show that the (1+1) EA and GSEMO outperform local search algorithms on three instances of the MLST problem. We also construct an instance on which GSEMO outperforms the (1+1) EA.
Thermal Death of Temperature-Sensitive Lysyl- and Tryptophanyl-Transfer Ribonucleic Acid Synthetase Mutants of Bacillus subtilis: Effect of Culture Medium and Developmental Stage

The growth of thermosensitive Bacillus subtilis lysyl- and tryptophanyl-transfer ribonucleic acid synthetase mutants (lysS1 and trypS1) (l-lysine:transfer ribonucleic acid [tRNA] ligase [AMP], EC 6.1.1.6; and l-tryptophan:tRNA ligase [AMP], EC 6.1.1.2) was terminated when exponential phase cells were shifted from 30 to 43 C in a rich medium. Under these conditions, the temperature-inhibited cells undergo thermal death; they rapidly lose their ability to form colonies at 30 C. Another lysyl-tRNA synthetase mutant (lysS2) is refractory to thermal death even though its growth is inhibited at 43 C. The thermal death response of the lysS1 mutant is affected by the stage of cell development. At periods in spore outgrowth and sporogenesis these cells become refractory to thermal death. The refractory state does not result from the production of an inhibitor, or from the degradation of an activator of thermal death. However, culture medium composition does modify the thermal death response. Rich media enhance the effect, and no thermal death occurs in the lysS1 strain grown in a minimal medium. Temperature-sensitive cells can grow in a lysine- (0.25 mM) or tryptophan- (0.25 mM) supplemented minimal medium at 43 C, but amino acid concentrations of 25 mM only transiently protect trypS1 and lysS1 cells from thermal death in a rich medium. Osmotic agents such as sucrose (0.5 M) and NaCl (0.34 M) completely prevent thermal death in the lysS1 strain, although growth is still arrested. On solid media, sucrose stabilized lysS1 cells can form colonies at the restrictive temperature, but neither sucrose (0.5 M) nor NaCl (0.34 M) stabilized the lysS1 enzyme in vitro. Chloramiphenicol increased the rate of thermal death of the lysS1 strain but decreased the thermal death response of the trypS1 mutant. Considering the nature of the enzyme defect in the lysS1 strain, the common genetic origin of the spore and vegetative lysyl-tRNA synthetase, and the protective effects exerted by lysine and osmotic agents, it is tentatively concluded that thermal death results from irreversible inactivation of the mutant gene product. According to this hypothesis, either the lysS1 enzyme is altered during sporogenesis or some physiological or structural aspect of this developmental phase can stabilize the mutant phenotype and thereby rescue cells from thermal death.
Maximizing the utilization of the male breeder: a review.

Abstract INTRODUCTION Reproductive inefficiency is the most costly and limiting constraint to efficient production by food animals. Even though the reproductive capacity of poultry exceeds that of other farm animals, problems in reproduction still cause economic losses to the poultry breeding industries (Opel, 1979). For example, the average percent hatch of all turkey eggs set is approximately 74%. Also, the percent hatchability of broiler breeder eggs has declined 3% within the last 5 years (Smith, 1981). Reasons for the decline in reproductive performance generally have been attributed to genetic selection for growth, since reproductive traits and growth traits are genetically antagonistic entities (Tierce, 1980). Despite these failings, poultry production is expected to continue to increase because of worldwide consumer demand for an inexpensive source of protein. The per capita consumption for chicken and turkey is expected to increase 70% by the year 2,000 (Cunha, 1980). Thus, the challenge facing the poultry …
Overlapping waves in tool use development: A curiosity-driven computational model

The development of tool use in children is a key question for the understanding of the development of human cognition. Several authors have studied it to investigate how children explore, evaluate and select alternative strategies for solving problems. In particular, Siegler has used this domain to develop the overlapping waves theory that characterizes how infants continue to explore alternative strategies to solve a particular problem, even when one is currently better than others. In computational models of strategy selection for the problem of integer addition, Shrager and Siegler proposed a mechanism that maintains the concurrent exploration of alternative strategies with use frequencies that are proportional to their performance for solving a particular problem. This mechanism was also used by Chen and Siegler to interpret an experiment with 1.5- and 2.5-year-olds that had to retrieve an out-of-reach toy, and where they could use one of several available strategies that included leaning forward to grasp a toy with the hand or using a tool to retrieve the toy. In this paper, we use this domain of tool use discovery to consider other mechanisms of strategy selection and evaluation. In particular, we present models of curiosity-driven exploration, where strategies are explored according to the learning progress/information gain they provide (as opposed to their current efficiency to actually solve the problem). In these models, we define a curiosity-driven agent learning a hierarchy of different sensorimotor models in a simple 2D setup with a robotic arm, a stick and a toy. In a first phase, the agent learns from scratch how to use its robotic arm to control the tool and to catch the toy, and in a second phase with the same learning mechanisms, the agent has to solve three problems where the toy can only be reached with the tool. We show that agents choosing strategies based on a learning progress measure also display overlapping waves of behavior compatible with the one observed in infants, and we suggest that curiosity-driven exploration could be at play in Chen and Siegler's experiment, and more generally in tool use discovery.
Towards Optimal Connectivity on Multi-Layered Networks

Networks are prevalent in many high impact domains. Moreover, cross-domain interactions are frequently observed in many applications, which naturally form the dependencies between different networks. Such kind of highly coupled network systems are referred to as multi-layered networks, and have been used to characterize various complex systems, including critical infrastructure networks, cyber-physical systems, collaboration platforms, biological systems, and many more. Different from single-layered networks where the functionality of their nodes is mainly affected by within-layer connections, multi-layered networks are more vulnerable to disturbance as the impact can be amplified through cross-layer dependencies, leading to the cascade failure to the entire system. To manipulate the connectivity in multi-layered networks, some recent methods have been proposed based on two-layered networks with specific types of connectivity measures. In this paper, we address the above challenges in multiple dimensions. First, we propose a family of connectivity measures (SubLine) that unifies a wide range of classic network connectivity measures. Third, we reveal that the connectivity measures in the SubLine family enjoy diminishing returns property, which guarantees a near-optimal solution with linear complexity for the connectivity optimization problem. Finally, we evaluate our proposed algorithm on real data sets to demonstrate its effectiveness and efficiency.
A fuzzy neural network approach to classification based on proximity characteristics of patterns

A neural network classifier is presented, which is based on geometrical fuzzy sets. Starting from the construction of the Voronoi diagram of the training patterns, an aggregation of Voronoi regions is performed leading to the identification of larger regions belonging exclusively to one of the pattern classes. The resulting scheme is a constructive algorithm that defines fuzzy clusters of patterns. Based on observations concerning the grade of membership of the training patterns to the created regions, decision probabilities are computed through which the final classification is performed. Experimental results concerning several classification problems indicate that the proposed method achieves high classification rates and compares favorably with other well-known approaches.
Detection and Functional Characterization of p180, a Novel Cell Cycle Regulated Yeast Transcription Factor That Binds Retinoblastoma Control Elements*

In recent years it has become apparent that the cellular machinery governing cell cycle progression and transcription control are often homologous in yeast and mammalian cells. We and others have previously shown that the SP family of mammalian transcription factors regulates the transcription of a number of genes whose activities are governed by the product of the retinoblastoma (Rb) susceptibility gene, including c-FOS, c-MYC, TGFβ-1, IGF-II, and c-JUN To determine whether a similar pathway of transcriptional regulation may function in yeast, we explored the possibility that transcription factors with nucleotide-binding specificities akin to those of the SP family are expressed in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Schizosaccharomyces pombe Here we report the detection of novel yeast proteins (S. cerevisiae, p180; S. pombe, p200) that specifically bind Rb-regulated promoter elements in vitro dependent on nucleotides that are also required for binding and trans-activation by SP family members in vivo Our results indicate that the S. cerevisiae retinoblastoma control element-binding activity 1) requires zinc for association with DNA; 2) does not bind to SCB, MCB, or E2F sites in vitro; 3) is cell cycle-regulated in a SWI6-independent fashion; and 4) maximally stimulates retinoblastoma control element-mediated transcription in early- to mid-S phase. Taken together, these data suggest that p180 may regulate the transcription of a subset of yeast genes whose expression is coincident with the onset and/or progression of DNA replication.
Proportional Conflict Redistribution Rule

In this paper we propose five versions of a Proportional Conflict Redistribution rule (PCR) for information fusion together with several examples. From PCR1 to PCR2, PCR3, PCR4, PCR5 one increases the complexity of the rules and also the exactitude of the redistribution of conflicting masses. PCR1 restricted from the hyper-power set to the power set and without degenerate cases gives the same result as the Weighted Average Operator (WAO) proposed recently by J{\o}sang, Daniel and Vannoorenberghe but does not satisfy the neutrality property of vacuous belief assignment. That's why improved PCR rules are proposed in this paper. PCR4 is an improvement of minC and Dempster's rules. The PCR rules redistribute the conflicting mass, after the conjunctive rule has been applied, proportionally with some functions depending on the masses assigned to their corresponding columns in the mass matrix. There are infinitely many ways these functions (weighting factors) can be chosen depending on the complexity one wants to deal with in specific applications and fusion systems. Any fusion combination rule is at some degree ad-hoc.
Proteomic Study to Survey the CIGB-552 Antitumor Effect

CIGB-552 is a cell-penetrating peptide that exerts in vitro and in vivo antitumor effect on cancer cells. In the present work, the mechanism involved in such anticancer activity was studied using chemical proteomics and expression-based proteomics in culture cancer cell lines. CIGB-552 interacts with at least 55 proteins, as determined by chemical proteomics. A temporal differential proteomics based on iTRAQ quantification method was performed to identify CIGB-552 modulated proteins. The proteomic profile includes 72 differentially expressed proteins in response to CIGB-552 treatment. Proteins related to cell proliferation and apoptosis were identified by both approaches. In line with previous findings, proteomic data revealed that CIGB-552 triggers the inhibition of NF-κB signaling pathway. Furthermore, proteins related to cell invasion were differentially modulated by CIGB-552 treatment suggesting new potentialities of CIGB-552 as anticancer agent. Overall, the current study contributes to a better understanding of the antitumor action mechanism of CIGB-552.
Erector Spinae Plane Block versus Quadratus Lumborum Block for Postoperative Analgesia after Laparoscopic Resection of Colorectal Cancer: A Prospective Randomized Study

Background In recent years, the attention paid to colorectal cancer (CRC) surgery and postoperative analgesia has increased. Objective The objective of the current study was to compare the impact of ultrasound-guided erector spinae plane block (ESPB) and transmuscular quadratus lumborum block (TQLB) upon providing relief to patients with postoperative pain who underwent laparoscopic resection for CRC. Methods In this prospective, comparative, and randomized study, the authors considered a total of 60 patients who chose to undergo laparoscopic resection for colorectal cancer. The total number of patients was randomly divided into two groups (such as ESPB and TQLB) so that each group had a total of 30 patients. For the former group, i.e., the ESPB group, 20 ml of 0.25% bupivacaine was administered at each side for bilateral ultrasound-guided erector spinae plane block, while the latter group received the same dose of medicine for bilateral ultrasound-guided transmuscular quadratus lumborum block (TQLB). The researchers recorded the first time to rescue an analgesic, the whole amount of rescue analgesia under consumption in the first 24 hours after the surgical procedure, and associated adverse events. Results Among the groups considered, the ESPB group took a significantly lengthy time to raise a first request for rescue analgesic (280 ± 15.5 min) in comparison with the TQLB group (260 ± 13.8 min). Likewise, the consumption of overall nalbuphine was remarkably lesser in the ESPB group during the first 24 hours (24 ± 2.5 mg) compared to the TQLB group (30.5 ± 1.55 mg). Conclusion The analgesic efficacy of ESPB was better when compared to TQLB in terms of time to rescue analgesia and overall opioid consumption during the first 24 hours. This study was registered at ClinicalTrials.gov on 10/10/2022 (registration number: NCT05574283).
Candidate gene markers for sperm quality and fertility in bulls

Fertility is one of the primary traits of reproduction in bulls. Decrease in fertility is a multifactorial condition and is very difficult to diagnose. Among various causes genetic abnormality holds a major share. By identifying various genes that have effects on fertility the genetic cause behind subferility can be explored and also other non genetic factors can be identified. Advancement of molecular genetic tools now easily enables us to explore individual genes in animals. Identification of these genes will eventually lead to genome assembly and development of novel tools for analysing complex genetic traits. This paper gives a brief idea about the candidate genes for bull fertility, including genes encoding hormones and their receptors, proteins of the seminal plasma, proteins involved in spermatozoa-ovum binding and genes influencing sexual development. The chromosomal location and gene structure are described, based on the bovine genome assembly.
Link capacity dimensioning and path optimization for networks supporting elastic services

We consider the problem of link capacity dimensioning and routing optimization in networks that support elastic flows and maintain proportional fairness among these flows. We assume that each demand between the origin-destination (O-D) pairs is associated with a minimum and a maximum bandwidth requirement and that a certain allocated bandwidth to a user demand (which must be between these minimum and maximum values) generates revenue for the network operator. On the other hand, the operator is incurred a capacity dependent cost for each link in the network. We then formulate the problem of bandwidth allocation, routing optimization and link capacity dimensioning as an optimization problem where the operator's objective is to maximize profit (under the fairness constraint). We propose computationally efficient algorithms to solve some important variants of this problem.
Production of rabbit chimeric embryos by aggregation of zona-free nuclear transfer blastomeres

The objective of this study was to compare in vitro developmental capacity of zona-free aggregated rabbit chimeric embryos and the allocation of EGFP (enhanced green fluorescence protein) gene expression to the inner cell mass (ICM). We produced chimeric embryos by synchronous aggregation of zona-free blastomeres from embryonic cell nuclear transfer (EMB-NT) or somatic cell nuclear transfer (SC-NT) and blastomeres from normal zona-free embryos (N) at the 16-cell stage. In the control group, transgenic (TR) and normal zona-free embryos were used to produce chimeric embryos (TR<>N). EMB-NT embryos were produced by fusion of enucleated oocytes with embryonic cells, which were derived from 32-cell stage transgenic embryos bearing the EGFP gene. The SC-NT embryos were produced by fusing enucleated oocytes with cumulus cells, which were derived from homozygotes transgenic for the EGFP gene female oocytes at 16 h post-coitum. Nuclei of transgenic blastomeres emitted a green signal under fluorescence microscopy. Zona-free EMB-NT or zona-free SC-NT rabbit embryos, both with EGFP fluorescence, as well as TR and zona-free rabbit embryos with no fluorescence (EMB-NT<>N, SC-NT<>N, TR<>N) were aggregated on day 2.5 and evaluated on day 5. The proportion of EMB-NT<>N embryos that developed to the blastocyst stage was significantly higher compared with SC-NT derived cells (p<0.05), but significantly lower than in TR<>N chimeric blastocysts (p<0.001). Similarly, a higher proportion (p<0.001) of EGFP-positive cells allocated to ICM of chimeric blastocysts was revealed in TR<>N chimeras (55%), compared with EMB-NT<>N (35%) and SC-NT<>N (21%). Our results indicate that synchronous chimeric embryos reconstructed from TR embryos were better able to develop and colonize the ICM area than EMB-NT and SC-NT embryos. In this study we have demonstrated for the first time that rabbit NT-derived embryos are able to develop into chimeric blastocysts and participate in the ICM area.