Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Antiinflammatory Efficacy of Extracts of Latex of Calotropis procera Against Different Mediators of Inflammation

The latex of the plant Calotropis procera has been reported to exhibit potent antiinflammatory activity against carrageenin and formalin that are known to release various mediators. In the present study, we have evaluated the efficacy of extracts prepared from the latex of C procera against inflammation induced by histamine, serotonin, compound 48/80, bradykinin (BK), and prostaglandin E2(PGE2) in the rat paw oedema model. The paw oedema was induced by the subplantar injection of various inflammagens and oedema volume was recorded using a plethysmometer. The aqueous and methanol extracts of the dried latex (DL) and standard antiinflammatory drugs were administered orally 1 hour before inducing inflammation. The inhibitory effect of the extracts was also evaluated against cellular influx induced by carrageenin. The antiinflammatory effect of aqueous and methanolic extracts of DL was more pronounced than phenylbutazone (PBZ) against carrageenin while it was comparable to chlorpheniramine and PBZ against histamine and PGE2, respectively. Both extracts produced about 80%, 40%, and 30% inhibition of inflammation induced by BK, compound 48/80, and serotonin. The histological analysis revealed that the extracts were more potent than PBZ in inhibiting cellular infiltration and subcutaneous oedema induced by carrageenin. The extracts of DL exert their antiinflammatory effects mainly by inhibiting histamine and BK and partly by inhibiting PGE2.
Hand tracking by combining enhanced incremental learning and background model

Hand tracking is a difficult problem because of its highly articulated characteristic and complexion-like disturbance. This paper proposed an enhanced incremental subspace learning (EISL) algorithm for color image. In this method, the HSV color space is used in consideration of its individuality, clustering and compatibility to human color perception, incremental subspace learning used for tracking is based on high dimensional vectors reshaped from the three color channels. Considering tracking failure, a dynamic background model is established and applied to deal with the problem. Experiment results show that our tracking algorithm is robust for viewpoint change, distortion, drastic illumination change and partial occlusion, and the method for tracking failure judgment is effective.
Towards Scale-out Capability on Social Graphs

The development of cloud storage and computing has facilitated the rise of various big data applications. As a representative high performance computing (HPC) workload, graph processing is becoming a part of cloud computing. However, scalable computing on large graphs is still dominated by HPC solutions, which require high performance all-to-all collective operations over torus (or mesh) networking. Implementing those torus-based algorithms on commodity clusters, e.g., cloud computing infrastructures, can result in great latency due to inefficient communication. Moreover, designing a highly scalable system for large social graphs, is far from being trivial, as intrinsic features of social graphs, e.g., degree skewness and lacking of locality, often profoundly limit the extent of parallelism. To resolve the challenges, we explore the iceberg of developing a scalable system for processing large social graphs on commodity clusters. In particular, we focus on the scale-out capability of the system. We propose a novel separator-combiner based query processing engine which provides native load-balancing and very low communication overhead, such that increasinglylarger graphs can be simply addressed by adding more computing nodes to the cluster.The proposed system achieves remarkable scale-out capability in processing large social graphs with skew degree distributions, while providing many critical features for big data analytics, such as easy-to-use API, fault-tolerance and recovery. We implement the system as a portable and easily configurable library, and conduct comprehensive experimental studies to demonstrate its effectiveness and efficiency.
Contact-analog information representation in an automotive head-up display

This contribution presents an approach for representing contact-analog information in an automotive Head-Up Display (HUD). Therefore, we will firstly introduce our approach for the calibration of the optical system consisting of the virtual image plane of the HUD and the drivers eyes. Afterward, we will present the used eyetracking system for adaptation of the HUD content at the current viewpoint/position of the driver. We will also present first prototypical concepts for the visualization of contact-analog HUD content and inital test results from a brief usability study.
Thermal tolerance, acclimatory capacity and vulnerability to global climate change

Despite evidence that organismal distributions are shifting in response to recent climatic warming, we have little information on direct links between species' physiology and vulnerability to climate change. We demonstrate a positive relationship between upper thermal tolerance and its acclimatory ability in a well-defined clade of closely related European diving beetles. We predict that species with the lowest tolerance to high temperatures will be most at risk from the adverse effects of future warming, since they have both low absolute thermal tolerance and poor acclimatory ability. Upper thermal tolerance is also positively related to species' geographical range size, meaning that species most at risk are already the most geographically restricted ones, being endemic to Mediterranean mountain systems. Our findings on the relationship between tolerance and acclimatory ability contrast with results from marine animals, suggesting that generalizations regarding thermal tolerance and responses to future rapid climate change may be premature.
Antibiotic combinations for serious infections caused by carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii in a mouse pneumonia model.

OBJECTIVES Successful therapy of carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii strains has been reported with colistin, but recently we argued against its use as monotherapy because of the poor results obtained in a mouse pneumonia model. Our aim was to identify antibiotic combinations that were valid therapeutic alternatives in the same model. METHODS We used two carbapenem-resistant A. baumannii strains (D and E; MICs of imipenem, 8 and 512 mg/L, respectively). MICs of tobramycin, rifampicin and colistin for both strains were 8, 8 and 0.5 mg/L, respectively. RESULTS In infections caused by strain D, lung bacterial counts (log(10) cfu/g, mean +/- s.d. ) were: controls (10.86+/-0.25), imipenem (5.99+/-0.59, P < 0.05 versus controls), and colistin (10.43 +/- 1.09); imipenem + tobramycin was the most active combination (5.46+/-0.62, P < 0.05 versus controls). In infections caused by strain E, results were: controls (10.82+/-0.33), rifampicin (5.62+/-0.26, P < 0.05 versus controls), colistin (8.38+/-1.22, P < 0.05 versus controls), and imipenem (11.01+/-0.2); rifampicin + imipenem (3.79+/-0.99) and rifampicin + tobramycin (3.96+/-0.30) were the most active combinations (P < 0.05); results with rifampicin + colistin (5.59+/-1.17) were similar to those with rifampicin alone. CONCLUSIONS Our data indicate that imipenem can still be the best alternative for carbapenem-resistant A. baumannii infections with moderate levels of imipenem resistance, preferably combined with aminoglycosides. For strains highly resistant to imipenem, a combination of rifampicin with imipenem, tobramycin or colistin may be useful, if resistance to rifampicin is only moderate.
Free Convection and Irreversibility Analysis inside a Circular Porous Enclosure

We investigate the nature of heat transfer and entropy generation for natural convection in a two-dimensional circular section enclosure. The enclosure is assumed to fill with porous media. The Darcy momentum equation is used to model the porous media. The full governing differential equations are simplified with the Boussinesq approximation and solved by a finite volume method. Whereas the Prandtl number Pr is fixed to 1.0. Results are presented in terms of Nusselt number, entropy generation number, and Bejan number.
Forensic Assertive Community Treatment: Recidivism, hospitalization, and the role of housing and support

ABSTRACT While Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) is considered an evidence-based service model, there is limited evidence regarding the effectiveness of an adaptation of the model, Forensic Assertive Community Treatment (FACT), for persons with serious mental illness who also have significant criminal justice system involvement. Using a multimethod approach, this article combines quantitative and qualitative data to review baseline information and nine-month follow-up recidivism, hospitalization, and housing outcomes for individuals enrolled in a FACT program. Findings suggest substance use, housing, and FACT team members’ support played an important role in clients’ prison reentry experiences.
Comparative Physiological and Proteomic Analysis Reveal Distinct Regulation of Peach Skin Quality Traits by Altitude

The role of environment in fruit physiology has been established; however, knowledge regarding the effect of altitude in fruit quality traits is still lacking. Here, skin tissue quality characters were analyzed in peach fruit (cv. June Gold), harvested in 16 orchards located in low (71.5 m mean), or high (495 m mean) altitutes sites. Data indicated that soluble solids concentration and fruit firmness at commercial harvest stage were unaffected by alitute. Peach grown at high-altitude environment displayed higher levels of pigmentation and specific antioxidant-related activity in their skin at the commercial harvest stage. Skin extracts from distinct developmental stages and growing altitudes exhibited different antioxidant ability against DNA strand-scission. The effects of altitude on skin tissue were further studied using a proteomic approach. Protein expression analysis of the mature fruits depicted altered expression of 42 proteins that are mainly involved in the metabolic pathways of defense, primary metabolism, destination/storage and energy. The majority of these proteins were up-regulated at the low-altitude region. High-altitude environment increased the accumulation of several proteins, including chaperone ClpC, chaperone ClpB, pyruvate dehydrogenase E1, TCP domain class transcription factor, and lipoxygenase. We also discuss the altitude-affected protein variations, taking into account their potential role in peach ripening process. This study provides the first characterization of the peach skin proteome and helps to improve our understanding of peach's response to altitude.
DynMapNoCSIM : A Dynamic Mapping SIMULATOR for Network on Chip based MPSoC

To fulfill the need of intensive embedded computations, architects have proposed Network-on-Chip based Multi-Processor Systems-on-Chip. Applications exploit the distinct features of the different types of processors in Multi-Processor Systems-on-Chip to optimize the performance metrics: overall execution time, energy consumption, resource usage, etc. Application designers often map statically the tasks on the processors. This static mapping cannot handle many kinds of applications such as those with dynamic workloads and one must use dynamic mapping when several applications run concurrently. As such, there has been an increased need for defining and developing simulation software for carrying out a simulation of the proposed dynamic Mapping heuristics to the NoC-based MPSoC architectures. In this paper, we present DynMapNoCSIM, a JAVA based Dynamic Mapping simulator for NoC-based MPSoC architecture, which builds upon the objectoriented modular design of the NoC-based MPSoC architecture components. Here we demonstrate the use of our proposed simulator by providing a conceptual detail. We have also presented all the features offered. Finally, we have validated the outputs of DynMapNoCSIM with the studies of existing and proposed Dynamic mapping strategies.
Pretreatment With Electroacupuncture Induces Rapid Tolerance to Focal Cerebral Ischemia Through Regulation of Endocannabinoid System

Background and Purpose— Our previous study demonstrated that pretreatment with electroacupuncture (EA) induces rapid tolerance to focal cerebral ischemia. The present study was aimed to investigate the involvement of the endocannabinoid system in the early neuroprotection conferred by EA pretreatment in the animal model of focal cerebral ischemia. Methods— Two hours after the end of EA pretreatment, focal cerebral ischemia was induced by middle cerebral artery occlusion for 120 minutes in male Sprague-Dawley rats or male C57BL/6 mice. The neurobehavioral scores, infarction volumes, and neuronal apoptosis were evaluated at 24 hours or 7 days after reperfusion in the presence or absence of AM251 (a selective cannabinoid receptor type 1 [CB1] receptor antagonist) or CB1 short interfering RNA. The expression of CB1 receptor and the content of endocannabinoids in the brains were also investigated. Results— EA pretreatment reduced infarct size, improved neurological outcome, and inhibited neuronal apoptosis at 24 hours or 7 days after reperfusion. The beneficial effects were abolished by AM251. CB1 knockdown by CB1 short interfering RNA attenuated EA pretreatment-induced neuroprotection. EA pretreatment upregulated the neuronal expression of CB1 receptor in the rat brains and elevated the brain tissue content of the endocannabinoid 2-arachidonylglycerol and N-arach-idonoylethanolamine-anandamide. Pretreatment with 2-arachidonylglycerol and N-arach-idonoylethanolamine-anandamide also reduced infarct size and improved neurological outcome. Conclusion— We conclude that pretreatment with EA increases the production of endocannabinoid 2-arachidonylglycerol and N-arach-idonoylethanolamine-anandamide, which elicits protective effects against transient cerebral ischemia through CB1 receptors. These results suggest a novel mechanism of EA pretreatment-induced rapid tolerance to focal cerebral ischemia.
Automation and Evaluation of the SOWH Test of Phylogenetic Topologies with SOWHAT

Automation and Evaluation of the SOWH Test of Phylogenetic Topologies with SOWHAT Samuel H. Church1,∗, Joseph F. Ryan, Casey W. Dunn 1 Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, United States of America 2 Whitney Laboratory for Marine Biosciences, St. Augustine, Florida, United States of America 3 Sars International Centre For Marine Molecular Biology, Bergen, Norway ∗ E-mail: samuel church@brown.edu
Microchip Screening Platform for Single Cell Assessment of NK Cell Cytotoxicity

Here, we report a screening platform for assessment of the cytotoxic potential of individual natural killer (NK) cells within larger populations. Human primary NK cells were distributed across a silicon–glass microchip containing 32,400 individual microwells loaded with target cells. Through fluorescence screening and automated image analysis, the numbers of NK and live or dead target cells in each well could be assessed at different time points after initial mixing. Cytotoxicity was also studied by time-lapse live-cell imaging in microwells quantifying the killing potential of individual NK cells. Although most resting NK cells (≈75%) were non-cytotoxic against the leukemia cell line K562, some NK cells were able to kill several (≥3) target cells within the 12-h long experiment. In addition, the screening approach was adapted to increase the chance to find and evaluate serial killing NK cells. Even if the cytotoxic potential varied between donors, it was evident that a small fraction of highly cytotoxic NK cells were responsible for a substantial portion of the killing. We demonstrate multiple assays where our platform can be used to enumerate and characterize cytotoxic cells, such as NK or T cells. This approach could find use in clinical applications, e.g., in the selection of donors for stem cell transplantation or generation of highly specific and cytotoxic cells for adoptive immunotherapy.
Limiting stance leg heel angle by sole shape to achieve stable passive dynamic walk

One of the ideal methods to stabilize passive dynamic walk is to reset the angle and the velocity of a swing leg to their initial values every time after a new gait phase begins. To achieve this, it was proposed to mechanically limit the range of the rotation of a hip joint. This drastically contributes to realize stable walk. But a hip joint limitation does not always ensure the same angle for the beginning of a swing leg, especially when an entire robot rapidly turns over. For an alternative approach, we propose a straight forward method where the angle of the starting swing leg is set to its initial value by constraining its angle at the bottom of its sole. We show that simply extending a sole shape toward a toe direction gives this effect. The proposed shape was applied to a 3D stick leg passive walker and achieved a long time non stopping walk. Computer simulations of a simplified stick walker model with this sole constraint shows that the mechanism widens stability of walk over a wide range of walking conditions.
An Escrow-Free Hierarchical Identity-Based Signature Scheme from Composite Order Bilinear Groups

Hierarchical Identity-Based Signature (HIBS) is an efficient digital signature scheme to be applied to the cloud storage. However, the key escrow problem, which is an inherent problem in HIBS scheme, primarily hinders the widespread adoption of this cryptosystem in practice. In this paper we propose an HIBS scheme using composite order bilinear groups, and present the methodology of dual system signature to prove that our scheme is secure against existential forgery on adaptively chosen message and identity attack under standard model. Based on the scheme, we propose an escrow-free method that employs user-selected-secret signing algorithm and obtain an escrow-free HIBS scheme. We illuminate that our scheme can resist the key abusing and user slandering attacks.
The spectrum of thyroid disease and risk of new onset atrial fibrillation: a large population cohort study

Objectives To examine the risk of atrial fibrillation in relation to the whole spectrum of thyroid function in a large cohort of patients. Design Population based cohort study of general practice patients identified by linkage of nationwide registries at the individual level. Setting Primary care patients in the city of Copenhagen. Subjects Registry data for 586 460 adults who had their thyroid function evaluated for the first time by their general practitioner during 2000-10 and who were without previously recorded thyroid disease or atrial fibrillation. Main outcome measure Poisson regression models used to estimate risk of atrial fibrillation by thyroid function. Results Of the 586 460 individuals in the study population (mean (SD) age 50.2 (16.9) years, 39% men), 562 461 (96.0%) were euthyroid, 1670 (0.3%) had overt hypothyroidism, 12 087 (2.0%) had subclinical hypothyroidism, 3966 (0.7%) had overt hyperthyroidism, and 6276 (1.0%) had subclinical hyperthyroidism. Compared with the euthyroid individuals, the risk of atrial fibrillation increased with decreasing levels of thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) from high normal euthyroidism (incidence rate ratio 1.12 (95% CI 1.03 to 1.21)) to subclinical hyperthyroidism with reduced TSH (1.16 (0.99 to 1.36)) and subclinical hyperthyroidism with supressed TSH (1.41 (1.25 to 1.59)). Both overt and subclinical hypothyroidism were associated with a lower risk of atrial fibrillation. Conclusion The risk of atrial fibrillation was closely associated with thyroid activity, with a low risk in overt hypothyroidism, high risk in hyperthyroidism, and a TSH level dependent association with risk of atrial fibrillation across the spectrum of subclinical thyroid disease.
Deconvolution of teleseismic body waves for enhancing structure beneath a seismometer array

We discuss three stacking deconvolution techniques for enhancing signal of Earth structure contained in the seismograms of teleseismic body waves recorded by a seismometer array. The goal of the deconvolution is to remove from the seismograms the complications due to the source. For three-component data, the removal of the source can be efficiently achieved by deconvolving one component from another, as in the receiver function analysis. In the case of an array, if the structure beneath individual stations varies, the source wavelet can be estimated and removed from the seismograms by stacking. This allows structural analysis in the situations when only single-component seismometers are used or when a particular component can provide additional independent information. Here we compare the efficacy of conventional time-domain stacking, cepstral averaging, and autocorrelation stacking. The latter is a new approach developed here. For cepstral averaging, we present conditions that stabilize the convergence. Examples are presented using synthetics and real data from a broadband seismic array experiment conducted in the Cascadia subduction zone (Oregon) in 1993 to 1994. Data from subduction zones are particularly well suited because of the spatially rapidly varying structure. We find that all three methods work well for low frequencies, which are not sensitive to the time alignment of the seismic traces. The latter two methods do not require precisely aligned seismograms, and their advantage becomes evident at higher frequencies where the appropriate time alignment is harder to achieve. At high frequencies, time-domain stacking is likely to fail.
CD4 T cell help is required for primary CD8 T cell responses to vesicular antigen delivered to dendritic cells in vivo

Insight into the mechanisms by which dendritic cells (DC) present exogenous antigen to T cells is of major importance in the design of vaccines. We examined the effectiveness of free antigen as well as antigen with lipopolysaccharide, emulsified in complete Freund's adjuvant, and antigen encapsulated in liposomes in activating adoptively transferred antigen‐specific CD4 and CD8 T cells. When contained in liposomes, 100‐ to 1000‐fold lower antigen amounts were as efficient in inducing proliferation and effector functions of CD4 and CD8 T cells in draining lymph nodes as other antigen forms. CD11c+/CD11b+/CD205mod/CD8α– DC that captured liposomes were activated and presented this form of antigen in an MHC class I‐ and class II‐restricted manner. CD4 T cells differentiated into Th1 and Th2 effector cells. Primary expansion and cytotoxic activity of CD8 T cells were CD4 T cell‐dependent and required the transporter associated with antigen processing (TAP). Finally, adoptively transferred CD4 and CD8 T cells were not deleted after primary immunization and rapidly responded to a secondary immunization with antigen‐containing liposomes. In conclusion, encapsulation of antigen in liposomes is an efficient way of delivering antigen to DC for priming of both CD4 and CD8 T cell responses. Importantly, primary CD8 T cell responses were CD4 T cell‐dependent.
Construct validity in Operations Management by using Rasch Measurement Theory. The case of the construct “motivation to implement continuous improvement"

Construct design and validation is a common practise in the Operations Management field. In this sense, the aim of this study is to present Rasch Measurement Theory (RMT) as richful and useful methodology in order to validate constructs. In order to do so, the measurement controversy in the social science is presented; then, RMT is explained as a solution for this measurement issue; after that, the different applications of RMT are described and, finally, the different stages of the validation process are presented. Thus, this work aims to serve as a guide for those researchers interested in the methodology. Therefore, a specific case is included: the validation of the construct “motivation to implement continuous improvement”.