Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Sildenafil Prevents Change in RhoA Expression Induced by Chronic Hypoxia in Rat Pulmonary Artery

Abstract— Exposure to chronic hypoxia (CH) induces a sustained pulmonary hypertension associated with structural and functional changes in the pulmonary arterial bed, including alterations of contractile properties. The small G-protein RhoA and its effector Rho kinase play a major role in the sustained rise in tension induced by vasoconstrictors. The aim of this study was to analyze the effect of CH on the RhoA/Rho kinase signaling pathway in the rat pulmonary artery. Maximal contraction of pulmonary artery rings to endothelin-1, noradrenaline, and the thromboxane A2 analog U46619 was markedly decreased in rats exposed to CH (10% O2, 2 weeks). This CH-induced decrease response to agonists was attributable to the abolition of RhoA-mediated Ca2+ sensitization of the contraction. Real-time reverse transcriptase–polymerase chain reaction and Western blot analysis revealed a decrease in RhoA mRNA (79.4±6.0%, n=4) and RhoA (81.1±8.0%, n=4) expression in the main pulmonary artery from CH rats, whereas RhoA expression was not modified in arterial smooth muscle cells and arteries exposed to hypoxia and high intraluminal pressure, respectively. Treatment of rats with sildenafil (25 mg/kg per day) throughout 2 weeks of exposure to CH prevented CH-induced downregulation of RhoA, reduction of contraction, and pulmonary artery remodeling. These findings indicate that CH-induced downregulation of RhoA expression, leading to the abolition of RhoA/Rho kinase–mediated Ca2+ sensitization of contraction, is responsible for the decreased responses to contracting agonists in the pulmonary artery of CH rats. These alterations are prevented by sildenafil, indicating a major role of the NO/cyclic GMP pathway in CH-induced altered RhoA signaling in the pulmonary artery.
Apartheid city in transition

South Africa's urban population is set to double by the year 2010. Apartheid has already aggravated crises in housing, education and health in the townships, but unless something is done to ensure class divisions are not formed along racial lines, there is a real danger of the collapse of local government and a return to violence. This critical analysis of apartheid's legacy to the cities proposes a number of strategies that might prevent the transition to a multiracial society from ending in disaster.
Maximizing the Throughput of Cuckoo Hashing in Network Devices

Hash tables form a core component of network devices. Because of their large size, they are implemented using both fast on-chip SRAM and slow off-chip DRAM. However, this makes their implementation particularly delicate, as a suboptimal choice of the hashing scheme parameters may result in a higher average query time, and therefore in a lower throughput. Since hash tables are often on the critical packet path, this can therefore affect the throughput of the whole device. In this paper, we analyze the performance of network hash tables when using cuckoo hashing. First, we provide a complete tradeoff between the load of a hash-table and its average lookup time. The problem is solved by analyzing an equivalent problem: the expected maximum matching size of a random bipartite graph with a fixed left-side vertex degree. We provide exact results for any finite system, and also deduce asymptotic results as the SRAM memory size increases. In addition, we further consider other variants of this problem and model the impact of several parameters. Finally, we evaluate the performance of our models on Internet backbone traces, and illustrate the impact of the SRAM/DRAM access time ratio on the parameter choice. In particular, we show that the common intuition of avoiding DRAM accesses by using highly efficient schemes is not always correct. Sometimes, it is better to use a less efficient hashing method because it needs less SRAM accesses.
Boosted KZ and LLL Algorithms

There exist two issues among popular lattice reduction algorithms that should cause our concern. The first one is Korkine–Zolotarev (KZ) and Lenstra–Lenstra–Lovász (LLL) algorithms may increase the lengths of basis vectors. The other is KZ reduction suffers worse performance than Minkowski reduction in terms of providing short basis vectors, despite its superior theoretical upper bounds. To address these limitations, we improve the size reduction steps in KZ and LLL to set up two new efficient algorithms, referred to as boosted KZ and LLL, for solving the shortest basis problem with exponential and polynomial complexity, respectively. Both of them offer better actual performance than their classic counterparts, and the performance bounds for KZ are also improved. We apply them to designing integer-forcing (IF) linear receivers for multi-input multioutput communications. Our simulations confirm their rate and complexity advantages.
Unexpected effects of peripherally administered kynurenic acid on cortical spreading depression and related blood–brain barrier permeability

Cortical spreading depression (CSD) involves a slowly-propagating depolarization wave in the cortex, which can appear in numerous pathophysiological conditions, such as migraine with aura, stroke, and traumatic brain injury. Neurons and glial cells are also depolarized transiently during the phenomena. CSD is followed by a massive increase in glutamate release and by changes in the brain microcirculation. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of two N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagonists, endogenous kynurenic acid (KYNA) and dizocilpine, on CSD and the related blood–brain barrier (BBB) permeability in rats. In intact animals, KYNA hardly crosses the BBB but has some positive features as compared with its precursor L-Kynurenine, which is frequently used in animal studies (KYNA cannot be metabolized to excitotoxic agents such as 3-hydroxy-L-kynurenine and quinolinic acid). We therefore investigated the possible effects of peripherally administered KYNA. Repetitive CSD waves were elicited by the application of 1 M KCl solution to the cortex. Direct current-electrocorticograms were measured for 1 hour. Four parameters of the waves were compared. Evans blue dye and fluorescent microscopy were used to study the possible changes in the permeability of the BBB. The results demonstrated that N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagonists can reduce the number of CSD waves and decrease the permeability of the BBB during CSD. These results suggest that KYNA itself or its derivatives may offer a new approach in the therapy of migraines.
What ’ s in a Region ?-or-Computing Control Dependence Regions in Linear Time and Space

Regions of control dependence identify the instructions in a program that execute under the same control conditions. They have a variety of applications in parallelizing and optimizing compilers. Two vertices in a control flow graph (which may represent instructions or basic blocks in a program) are in the same region if they have the same set of control dependence predecessors. The best known algorithm for computing regions takes O(V×E) time, where V and E are the number of vertices and edges in the control flow graph, respectively. We present algorithms for finding regions in O (V +E) time and O (V +E) space, without using control dependence. These algorithms are based on alternative definitions of regions, which are easier to reason with than the definitions based on control dependence.
RevUP: Automatic Gap-Fill Question Generation from Educational Texts

This paper describes RevUP which deals with automatically generating gap-fill questions. RevUP consists of 3 parts: Sentence Selection, Gap Selection & Multiple Choice Distractor Selection. To select topicallyimportant sentences from texts, we propose a novel sentence ranking method based on topic distributions obtained from topic models. To select gap-phrases from each selected sentence, we collected human annotations, using the Amazon Mechanical Turk, on the relative relevance of candidate gaps. This data is used to train a discriminative classifier to predict the relevance of gaps, achieving an accuracy of 81.0%. Finally, we propose a novel method to choose distractors that are semantically similar to the gap-phrase and have contextual fit to the gap-fill question. By crowdsourcing the evaluation of our method through the Amazon Mechanical Turk, we found that 94% of the distractors selected were good. RevUP fills the semantic gap left open by previous work in this area, and represents a significant step towards automatically generating quality tests for teachers and self-motivated learners.
A fast primal-dual method for generalized Total Variation denoising

Total Variation denoising, proposed by Rudin, Osher and Fatemi in (22), is an image processing variational technique that has attracted considerable attention in the past fifteen years. It is an advantageous technique for preserving image edges but tends to sharpen excessively smooth transitions. With the purpose of alleviating this staircase effect some generalizations of Total Variation denoising have been introduced in (17, 18, 19). In this paper we propose a fast and robust algorithm for the solution of the variational problems that generalize Total Variation image denoising (22). This method extends the primal-dual Newton method, proposed by Chan, Golub and Mulet in (7) for total variation restoration, to these variational problems. We perform some experiments for assessing the efficiency of this scheme with respect to the fixed point method that generalizes the lagged diffusivity fixed point method proposed by Vogel and Oman in (24).
2nd order adiabatic computation with 2N-2P and 2N-2N2P logic circuits

Recent advances in compact, practical adiabatic computing circuits which demonstrate signi cant energy savings have renewed interest in using such techniques in lowpower systems. Several recently introduced circuits for adiabatic computing make use of diodes in a way which reduces switching energy from O(CV dd) in the nonadiabatic (ie: standard CMOS) case, to O(CV ddV t). These circuits provide an energy savings of at most one order of V dd=V t. This paper introduces a new class of adiabatic computing circuits which o er several advantages over existing approaches, the primary one being that, because no diodes are used, switching energy can be reduced to an energy oor of O(CV t). These second order adiabatic computing circuits provide an energy savings of as much as O(V dd=V t) over conventional CMOS. Additional advantages of the proposed circuits include the fact that, in comparison to most compact adiabatic circuits which have oating output levels over the entire data valid time, these new circuits have nonoating output levels over most of the data valid time. This is important for restoring logic levels and minimizing problems with crosstalk. The proposed circuits have been simulated and demonstrate adiabatic power savings compared to standard CMOS circuits over an operating frequency range from 1MHz to 100MHz of as much as a factor of 3. One circuit topology has been fabricated and tested and operates properly at up to 100MHz, the maximum speed which could be tested. Power measurements on the functioning circuit are in progress and preliminary results demonstrate adiabatic power-vs-frequency behavior. These second order adiabatic computing circuits provide an attractive alternative to achieve adiabatic power savings without su ering from many of the limitations of alternative approaches and without costing much more either in terms of complexity or size.
Is HIV Infection a Risk Factor for Multi-Drug Resistant Tuberculosis? A Systematic Review

Background Tuberculosis (TB) is an important cause of human suffering and death. Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), multi-drug resistant TB (MDR-TB), and extensive drug resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) have emerged as threats to TB control. The association between MDR-TB and HIV infection has not yet been fully investigated. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to summarize the evidence on the association between HIV infection and MDR-TB. Methods and Results Original studies providing Mycobacterium tuberculosis resistance data stratified by HIV status were identified using MEDLINE and ISI Web of Science. Crude MDR-TB prevalence ratios were calculated and analyzed by type of TB (primary or acquired), region and study period. Heterogeneity across studies was assessed, and pooled prevalence ratios were generated if appropriate. No clear association was found between MDR-TB and HIV infection across time and geographic locations. MDR-TB prevalence ratios in the 32 eligible studies, comparing MDR-TB prevalence by HIV status, ranged from 0.21 to 41.45. Assessment by geographical region or study period did not reveal noticeable patterns. The summary prevalence ratios for acquired and primary MDR-TB were 1.17 (95% CI 0.86, 1.6) and 2.72 (95% CI 2.03, 3.66), respectively. Studies eligible for review were few considering the size of the epidemics. Most studies were not adjusted for confounders and the heterogeneity across studies precluded the calculation of a meaningful overall summary measure. Conclusions We could not demonstrate an overall association between MDR-TB and HIV or acquired MDR-TB and HIV, but our results suggest that HIV infection is associated with primary MDR-TB. Future well-designed studies and surveillance in all regions of the world are needed to better clarify the relationship between HIV infection and MDR-TB.
Sea lice (Lepeophtheirus salmonis) infection rates on juvenile pink (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) and chum (Oncorhynchus keta) salmon in the nearshore marine environment of British Columbia, Canada

This study compared sea lice (Lepeophtheirus salmonis) infestation rates on juvenile pink (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) and chum (Oncorhynchus keta) salmon in five nearshore areas of the British Columbia coast selected on the basis of proximity to salmon farms. A 10-week study in the Broughton Archipelago found sea lice were 8.8 times more abundant on wild fish near farms holding adult salmon and 5.0 times more abundant on wild fish near farms holding smolts than in areas distant from salmon farms. We found that 90% of juvenile pink and chum salmon sam- pled near salmon farms in the Broughton Archipelago were infected with more than 1.6 lice·(g host mass) -1 , a pro- posed lethal limit when the lice reach mobile stages. Sea lice abundance was near zero in all areas without salmon farms. Salinity and temperature differences could not account for the higher infestation rates near the fish farms. The most immature life stages dominated the lice population throughout the study, suggesting the source of lice was a sta- tionary, local salmonid population. No such wild population could be identified. The evidence from this control-impact study points to a relationship between salmon farms and sea lice on adjacent, wild, juvenile salmon. Resume : Notre etude compare les taux d'infestation des poux de mer (Lepeophtheirus salmonis) chez le saumon rose (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) et le saumon keta (Oncorhynchus keta) dans cinq regions cotieres de la Co-
Genomic-Assisted Prediction of Genetic Value With Semiparametric Procedures

Semiparametric procedures for prediction of total genetic value for quantitative traits, which make use of phenotypic and genomic data simultaneously, are presented. The methods focus on the treatment of massive information provided by, e.g., single-nucleotide polymorphisms. It is argued that standard parametric methods for quantitative genetic analysis cannot handle the multiplicity of potential interactions arising in models with, e.g., hundreds of thousands of markers, and that most of the assumptions required for an orthogonal decomposition of variance are violated in artificial and natural populations. This makes nonparametric procedures attractive. Kernel regression and reproducing kernel Hilbert spaces regression procedures are embedded into standard mixed-effects linear models, retaining additive genetic effects under multivariate normality for operational reasons. Inferential procedures are presented, and some extensions are suggested. An example is presented, illustrating the potential of the methodology. Implementations can be carried out after modification of standard software developed by animal breeders for likelihood-based or Bayesian analysis.
The Emerging Role of Complement Lectin Pathway in Trypanosomatids: Molecular Bases in Activation, Genetic Deficiencies, Susceptibility to Infection, and Complement System-Based Therapeutics

The innate immune system is evolutionary and ancient and is the pivotal line of the host defense system to protect against invading pathogens and abnormal self-derived components. Cellular and molecular components are involved in recognition and effector mechanisms for a successful innate immune response. The complement lectin pathway (CLP) was discovered in 1990. These new components at the complement world are very efficient. Mannan-binding lectin (MBL) and ficolin not only recognize many molecular patterns of pathogens rapidly to activate complement but also display several strategies to evade innate immunity. Many studies have shown a relation between the deficit of complement factors and susceptibility to infection. The recently discovered CLP was shown to be important in host defense against protozoan microbes. Although the recognition of pathogen-associated molecular patterns by MBL and Ficolins reveal efficient complement activations, an increase in deficiency of complement factors and diversity of parasite strategies of immune evasion demonstrate the unsuccessful effort to control the infection. In the present paper, we will discuss basic aspects of complement activation, the structure of the lectin pathway components, genetic deficiency of complement factors, and new therapeutic opportunities to target the complement system to control infection.
Filtering for medical news items

In this paper we describe recent work toprovide a filtering service for readers interested in medically related news articles from online news sources. The first task is to filter out the nonmedical news articles. The remaining articles, the medically related ones, are then assigned MeSH headings for context and then categorized further by intended audience level (medical expert, medically knowledgeable, no particular medical background needed). The effectiveness goals include both accuracy and efficiency. That is, the process must be robust and efficient enough to scan significant data sets dynamically for the user at the same time as provide accurate results. Our primary effectiveness goal is to provide high accuracy at the medical/nonmedical filtering step. The secondary concern is the effectiveness of the subsequent grouping of the medical articles into reader groups with MeSH contexts for each paper. While it is relatively easy for people to judge that an article is nonmedical or medical in content it is relatively difficult to judge that any given article is of interest to certain types of readers, based on the medical language used. Consequently the goal is not necessarily to remove articles of higher readership level but rather to provide more information for the reader.
Classification Method Validation for Rice Mapping Using Envisat ASAR APS Data

ENVISAT is the first satellite that provides alternative polarization (AP) SAR data to end users. In order to validate the rice mapping capability of ASAR AP data, multi-temporal ASAR VV-VH alternative polarization single look complex (APS) data products were acquired for the test site in Xinghua district of Jiangsu province. The three scenes of APS image were acquired in June 22 July 8 and Oct. 15, 2003. The Institute of agriculture modernization of Jiangsu academy of agriculture science was carrying an operational rice mapping project using Landsat TM data and other sources of ground truth data. The rice mapping results for the year 2003 was used as ground truth for this study. Two kinds of preprocessing methods were validated: backscattering coefficient based method (BSCBM) and the polarimetric SAR data processing method (PSDPM). Different combinations of the output images from the two methods were used as inputs to a Maximum Likelihood Classifier (MLC). It has been observed that the performance of PSDPM is better than that of BSCBM; Multi-temporal VV co-polarization SAR data has higher capability for land cover classification than multi-temporal VH cross-polarization SAR data; Integrating alpha and entropy images with all the 6 intensity images can achieve highest rice classification accuracy, but a litter bit lower total accuracy. Applying PSDPM to APS data and combining all the information from it as inputs to a certain classifier was suggested for operational rice mapping using multi-temporal ASAR APS data.
Deficiency of Adipose Differentiation-Related Protein Impairs Foam Cell Formation and Protects Against Atherosclerosis

Foam cells are a hallmark of atherosclerosis. However, it is unclear whether foam cell formation per se protects against atherosclerosis or fuels it. In this study, we investigated the role of adipose differentiation-related protein (ADFP), a major lipid droplet protein (LDP), in the regulation of foam cell formation and atherosclerosis. We show that ADFP expression facilitates foam cell formation induced by modified lipoproteins in mouse macrophages in vitro. We show further that Adfp gene inactivation in apolipoprotein E–deficient (ApoE−/−) mice reduces the number of lipid droplets in foam cells in atherosclerotic lesions and protects the mice against atherosclerosis. Moreover, transplantation of ADFP-null bone marrow-derived cells effectively attenuated atherosclerosis in ApoE−/− mice. Deficiency of ADFP did not cause a detectable compensatory increase in the other PAT domain proteins in macrophages in vitro or in vivo. Mechanistically, ADFP enables the macrophage to maintain its lipid content by hindering lipid efflux. We detected no significant difference in lesion composition or in multiple parameters of inflammation in macrophages or in their phagocytic activity between mice with and without ADFP. In conclusion, Adfp inactivation in ApoE−/− background protects against atherosclerosis and appears to be a relatively pure model of impaired foam cell formation.
PKC activation sets an upper limit to the functional plasticity of GABAergic transmission induced by endogenous neurosteroids

The activity of GABAergic inhibitory interneurones located in lamina II of the spinal cord is of fundamental importance for the processing of peripheral nociceptive messages. We have recently shown that 3α‐hydroxy ring A‐reduced pregnane neurosteroids [3α5α‐neurosteroids (3α5αNS)], potent allosteric modulators of GABAA receptors (GABAARs), are synthesized in the spinal cord and limit thermal hyperalgesia during inflammatory pain. Because changes in the expression of calcium‐dependent protein kinases [protein kinase C (PKC)] are observed during pathological pain in the spinal cord, we examined the possible interactions between PKC and 3α5αNS at synaptic GABAARs. Using patch‐clamp recordings of lamina II interneurones in the spinal cord of 15–20‐day‐old rats, we showed that synaptic inhibition mediated by GABAARs and its modulation by 3α5αNS in lamina II of the spinal cord largely depend on activation of PKC. Our experimental results suggested that activation of PKC locks synaptic GABAARs in a functional state precluding further positive allosteric modulation by endogenous and exogenous 3α5αNS. This effect was fully prevented by coadministration of chelerythrin, an inhibitor of PKC. Furthermore, application of chelerythrin alone rendered synaptic GABAARs hypersensitive to endogenously produced or exogenously applied 3α5αNS. These findings confirmed that there was a significant production of endogenous 3α5αNS in lamina II of the spinal cord but also indicated that PKC‐dependent phosphorylation processes were tonically activated to control GABAAR‐mediated inhibition under resting conditions. We therefore can conclude that PKC activation sets an upper limit to the functional plasticity of GABAergic transmission induced by endogenous neurosteroids.