Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Neuronal Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase 1B Deficiency Results in Inhibition of Hypothalamic AMPK and Isoform-Specific Activation of AMPK in Peripheral Tissues

ABSTRACT PTP1B−/− mice are resistant to diet-induced obesity due to leptin hypersensitivity and consequent increased energy expenditure. We aimed to determine the cellular mechanisms underlying this metabolic state. AMPK is an important mediator of leptin's metabolic effects. We find that α1 and α2 AMPK activity are elevated and acetyl-coenzyme A carboxylase activity is decreased in the muscle and brown adipose tissue (BAT) of PTP1B−/− mice. The effects of PTP1B deficiency on α2, but not α1, AMPK activity in BAT and muscle are neuronally mediated, as they are present in neuron- but not muscle-specific PTP1B−/− mice. In addition, AMPK activity is decreased in the hypothalamic nuclei of neuronal and whole-body PTP1B−/− mice, accompanied by alterations in neuropeptide expression that are indicative of enhanced leptin sensitivity. Furthermore, AMPK target genes regulating mitochondrial biogenesis, fatty acid oxidation, and energy expenditure are induced with PTP1B inhibition, resulting in increased mitochondrial content in BAT and conversion to a more oxidative muscle fiber type. Thus, neuronal PTP1B inhibition results in decreased hypothalamic AMPK activity, isoform-specific AMPK activation in peripheral tissues, and downstream gene expression changes that promote leanness and increased energy expenditure. Therefore, the mechanism by which PTP1B regulates adiposity and leptin sensitivity likely involves the coordinated regulation of AMPK in hypothalamus and peripheral tissues.
A dual-polarity SCR for RF IC ESD protection

Low-parasitic electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection is highly desirable for RF ICs. Silicon controlled rectifier (SCR), which is usually used as an on-chip electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection device in ICs, has the advantages of high current shunting ability and low parasitic effect. In this paper, a new ESD protection device based on the dual-polarity SCR (DSCR) is proposed in 0.18-mum CMOS mixed-signal process. The structure, crucial parameters and performance optimization of this new DSCR device have been discussed, too. The new DSCR has a high ESD human body model (HBM) protection level, low parasitic effects and easily-adjustable crucial parameter.
Discovery of Itraconazole with Broad-Spectrum In Vitro Antienterovirus Activity That Targets Nonstructural Protein 3A

ABSTRACT There is currently no approved antiviral therapy for the prophylaxis or treatment of enterovirus infections, which remain a substantial threat to public health. To discover inhibitors that can be immediately repurposed for treatment of enterovirus infections, we developed a high-throughput screening assay that measures the cytopathic effect induced by enterovirus 71 (EV71) to screen an FDA-approved drug library. Itraconazole (ITZ), a triazole antifungal agent, was identified as an effective inhibitor of EV71 replication in the low-micromolar range (50% effective concentrations [EC50s], 1.15 μM). Besides EV71, the compound also inhibited other enteroviruses, including coxsackievirus A16, coxsackievirus B3, poliovirus 1, and enterovirus 68. Study of the mechanism of action by time-of-addition assay and transient-replicon assay revealed that ITZ targeted a step involved in RNA replication or polyprotein processing. We found that the mutations (G5213U and U5286C) conferring the resistance to the compound were in nonstructural protein 3A, and we confirmed the target amino acid substitutions (3A V51L and 3A V75A) using a reverse genetic approach. Interestingly, posaconazole, a new oral azole with a molecular structure similar to that of ITZ, also exhibited anti-EV71 activity. Moreover, ITZ-resistant viruses do not exhibit cross-resistance to posaconazole or the enviroxime-like compound GW5074, which also targets the 3A region, indicating that they may target a specific site(s) in viral genome. Although the protective activity of ITZ or posaconazole (alone or in combination with other antivirals) remains to be assessed in animal models, our findings may represent an opportunity to develop therapeutic interventions for enterovirus infection.
Adaptive Output Current FeedforwardControl in VR Applications

A method for adapting the gain of an output current feedforward path in voltage regulation (VR) applications is presented. For regulators using adaptive voltage positioning, output current feedforward can improve the dynamic response to fast load transients. However, the feedforward path depends on parameters of the power train that are not known with precision. By analyzing the error voltage and finding its correlation with the parameter error, a gradient algorithm is derived that makes the parameter error vanish and minimizes the voltage error. The algorithm was verified with simulations and experiments on a four-phase prototype VR board with an field programmable gate array-based digital control implementation.
Minimizing End-to-End Delay in Wireless Networks Using a Coordinated EDF Schedule

We study the end-to-end delay bounds that can be achieved in wireless networks using packet deadlines. We assume a set of flows in the network, for which flow i has burst parameter &#963;_i, injection rate &#961;_i, and path length K_i. It was already known that, in wireline networks, the Coordinated-Earliest-Deadline-First (CEDF) protocol can achieve and end-to-end delay of approximately (&#963;_i/&#961;_i)+K_i, whereas other schedulers such as Weighted Fair Queuing, have end-to-end delay bounds of the form (&#963;_i + Ki)/&#961;_i. For the case of wireless networks of arbitrary topology, the focus has typically been more on throughput optimality than minimizing delay. In this paper, we study the delay bounds that can be achieved by combining wireless link scheduling algorithms with a CEDF packet scheduler. We first present a centralized scheduler that has an end-to-end delay of approximately O(&#963;_i/&#961;_i + &#931; (l &#949; p_i) N / r_l), where r_l is the total rate of flows through link l, N is the number of links in the network, and p_i is the path followed by packets of flow i. We then show how to convert this into a distributed scheduler. We also study the extent to which results on the schedulability of packet deadlines can be carried over from the wireline to the wireless context. Lastly, we examine ways in which the theoretical schedulers considered in this paper can be transferred to a more practical random-access based setting. This work was supported by NSF contract CCF-0728980 and was performed while the first author was visiting Bell Labs in Summer, 2009.
Incidence and relative risk of dementia in an urban elderly population: findings of a prospective field study

Synopsis To ascertain the frequency and distribution of new cases of dementing illness in the elderly population of Mannheim (population 308000), a survey sample of community residents of > 65 years of age was re-examined after an interval of 7–8 years, and a sample of elderly persons in long-stay care after 5–6 years. The estimated annual incidence rate for all forms of dementia, after correction for ageing of the samples, was 15·4 per 1000 persons aged > 65, made up of dementia of Alzheimer type (8·9 per 1000), vascular dementia (4·4 per 1000) and other forms (2·1 per 1000). Apart from the expected association with age > 65 years, the most powerful predictors of onset of a dementing illness were residence in long-stay care and the presence of minor cognitive deficits at the initial examination, each of which was associated with a highly significant increase in risk. In addition, a number of socio-demographic characteristics (marital status, occupational history and quality of present living accommodation) was found to be predictive, though analysis of larger samples or pooled research data would be necessary to establish their importance in this respect. The findings suggest that identification of mild cognitive impairment on screening could prove helpful in assessing risk for dementia from two to three years before the condition becomes clinically apparent.
Prediction of acid lactic-bacteria growth in turkey ham processed by high hydrostatic pressure

High hydrostatic pressure (HHP) has been investigated and industrially applied to extend shelf life of meat-based products. Traditional ham packaged under microaerophilic conditions may sometimes present high lactic acid bacteria population during refrigerated storage, which limits shelf life due to development of unpleasant odor and greenish and sticky appearance. This study aimed at evaluating the shelf life of turkey ham pressurized at 400 MPa for 15 min and stored at 4, 8 and 12 °C, in comparison to the non pressurized product. The lactic acid bacteria population up to 107 CFU/g of product was set as the criteria to determine the limiting shelf life According to such parameter the pressurized sample achieved a commercial viability within 75 days when stored at 4 °C while the control lasted only 45 days. Predictive microbiology using Gompertz and Baranyi and Roberts models fitted well both for the pressurized and control samples. The results indicated that the high hydrostatic pressure treatment greatly increased the turkey ham commercial viability in comparison to the usual length, by slowing down the growth of microorganisms in the product.
A Comparative Study on the Metabolism of Epimedium koreanum Nakai-Prenylated Flavonoids in Rats by an Intestinal Enzyme (Lactase Phlorizin Hydrolase) and Intestinal Flora

The aim of this study was to compare the significance of the intestinal hydrolysis of prenylated flavonoids in Herba Epimedii by an intestinal enzyme and flora. Flavonoids were incubated at 37 °C with rat intestinal enzyme and intestinal flora. HPLC-UV was used to calculate the metabolic rates of the parent drug in the incubation and LC/MS/MS was used to determine the chemical structures of metabolites generated by different flavonoid glycosides. Rates of flavonoid metabolism by rat intestinal enzyme were quicker than those of intestinal flora. The sequence of intestinal flora metabolic rates was icariin > epimedin B > epimedin A > epimedin C > baohuoside I, whereas the order of intestinal enzyme metabolic rates was icariin > epimedin A > epimedin C > epimedin B > baohuoside I. Meanwhile, the LC/MS/MS graphs showed that icariin produced three products, epimedin A/B/C had four and baohuoside I yielded one product in incubations of both intestinal enzyme and flora, which were more than the results of HPLC-UV due to the fact LC/MS/MS has lower detectability and higher sensitivity. Moreover, the outcomes indicated that the rate of metabolization of flavonoids by intestinal enzyme were faster than those of intestinal flora, which was consistent with the HPLC-UV results. In conclusion, the metabolic pathways of the same components by intestinal flora and enzyme were the same. What’s more, an intestinal enzyme such as lactase phlorizin hydrolase exhibited a more significant metabolic role in prenylated flavonoids of Herba Epimedi compared with intestinal flora.
High‐Performance Two‐Ply Yarn Supercapacitors Based on Carbon Nanotubes and Polyaniline Nanowire Arrays

Fine count two-ply yarn supercapacitors are constructed from carbon nanotube yarns and polyaniline nanowires. The thread-like supercapacitor possess excellent electrochemical capacity and are very strong and flexible. When being woven or knitted into wearable electronic devices, alone or in combination with conventional textile yarns, the two-ply yarn supercapacitors can be flexed and stretched repeatedly without significant loss of capacitance.
Airway Smooth Muscle in Asthma Symptoms: Culprit but Maybe Innocent

The main function of smooth muscle found in either the airways or in other hollow organs is to contract. Once stimulated to contract, the smooth muscle strives to shorten. In turn, smooth muscle shortening narrows the lumen of the organ it surrounds. Contraction usually serves a physiological purpose, such as increasing arterial tension for vascular smooth muscle, micturition for the detrusor muscle or parturition for the uterus muscle. However, for the airway smooth muscle (ASM), the shortening narrows the airway lumen, which concomitantly increases the resistance to airflow. So it seems that every time ASM manifests its function it causes respiratory distress. This had raised the question of whether its existence is the problem (65, 162)? One common respiratory disorder in which the symptoms are greatly engendered by ASM contraction is asthma. In fact, a proper asthma diagnosis involved testing the reversibility of airway obstruction with a bronchodilator, a drug relaxing ASM (usually a 2-adrenoceptor agonist). A positive test is indicated by complete or partial reversibility, which simultaneously confirms the implication of ASM shortening in asthma symptoms. However, we know that a judge will never blame the gun for a murder. She/he would rather blame the assassin that pulled the trigger. Thus, the ASM could simply be an obeisant effector tissue that responds to external cues that are asking it to contract. So despite being culprit in the elaboration of asthma symptoms it may still be ‘innocent’. Hence, for asthma symptoms (at least the one mediated by airway narrowing) to be provoked, contractile stimuli need to be present. There is no doubt about the increased expression of spasmogens (i.e., contractile agonists) into asthmatic airways. Histamine (251), leukotrienes (125), endothelin-1 (148), prostaglandin D2 (170), thromboxane A2 (249), adenosine (61), bradykinin (136), anaphylatoxin C3a and C5a (121), substance P (231) and others, are all inflammatory mediators capable of stimulating ASM contraction and were all shown to be overexpressed in asthmatic lungs. These spasmogens are secreted/synthesized following exposure to environmental asthma triggers, such as allergens, viruses, bacteria, fungi, air pollutants, exercise, aspirin and/or cold dry air. The nature of the environmental trigger involved obviously varies among asthmatics but all of them ultimately lead to a type of airway inflammation with inflammation-derived spasmogens. However, not everyone who gets inflammation into her/his airways because of a cold, because they are exposed to
Extensions of “Padé Discretization for Linear Systems With Polyhedral Lyapunov Functions” for Generalized Jordan Structures

Recently, we showed that certain types of polyhedral Lyapunov functions for linear time-invariant systems, are preserved by diagonal Padé approximations, under the assumption that the continuous-time system matrix Ac has distinct eigenvalues. In this technical note, we show that this result also holds true in the case that Ac has non-trivial Jordan blocks.
Fits about fit.

On affirme dans cet article que deux traditions ont domine les recherches sur l'adequation personne-environnement, la tradition des differences individuelles et celle de la psychologie organisationnelle. Je passe rapidement en revue ces traditions en exploitant cet ensemble d'articles comme illustratifs de ces traditions. L'avenement de recherches qui se penchent sur des realites nationales et culturelles (encourage par deux articles dans ce numero) peut etre a l'origine d'une nouvelle tradition. Je mentionne finalement que les travaux portant sur la personne et son environnement manquent de theorisations et d'investigations sur l'environnement. Cela est particulierement vrai en ce qui concerne le role des gens dans la construction des envrionnements et l'efficacite environnementale dans l'adequation personne-envrionnement. Je conclus en disant que les ajustements sur l'adequation sont salutaires parce que l'adequation est habituellement conceptualisee et operationalisee a partir de nombreuses perspectives aussi differentes qu'interessantes.
The influences of professional development on teachers' self-efficacy toward educational change

Background: Many children and adolescents are physically inactive and become even less active as they age. USA high school students' rates of attendance in physical education (PE) classes sharply decline by grade with 73% of ninth graders attending PE, while only 31% of seniors attend. Non-Caucasian youth report the lowest levels of physical activity participation. Thus, helping teachers to learn how to increase their students' PA during PE is important. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the influences of professional development on teachers' self-efficacy towards teaching physically active fitness and health promoting lessons. Participants and setting: Fifty elementary physical education teachers from a large urban school district in the Midwest USA participated. Thirty teachers volunteered to be in one of the two professional development groups (n = 15 each) with a control group of 20 teachers. Teachers' students were some of the heaviest in the USA with 37% regarded as overweight and 64% reporting spending less than 10 minutes being active in physical education. Intervention: All teachers (n = 30) in the two professional development groups learned how to teach a physical activity oriented curriculum titled the Exemplary Physical Education Curriculum (EPEC) during an eight-hour workshop. Group 1 teachers (n = 15) also participated in two more eight-hour workshops and received two school site visits by teachers experienced in teaching EPEC. Thus, the Group 1 professional development intervention was an extended version of the one-day workshop experienced by Group 2 teachers. Data collection: All teachers (n = 50) in all three groups completed EPEC efficacy and general educational efficacy scales at the beginning (Time 1) and end of the academic year (Time 4). In addition the two professional development groups completed all scales at the start of the first workshop (Time 2) and immediately after the workshop ended (Time 3). Data analysis: Two sets of Repeated Measures Multivariate Analyses of Variance (RM-MANOVA) were conducted. The first RM-MANOVA used scores at Times 1 and 4 for all three groups whereas the second RM-MANOVA was conducted using Group 1 and Group 2 data from Times 1, 2, 3 and 4. Findings: Both intervention groups had increases in their efficacy to teach motor skill objectives (F(1, 28)=7.26, p < 0.01, η = 0.21), physical activity and fitness knowledge objectives (F(1, 28)=8.50, p < 0.01, η = 0.23), personal and social objectives (F(1, 28)=3.29, p < 0.08, η = 0.11) and community efficacy (F(1, 28)=3.08, p < 0.09, η = 0.10). Teachers in both groups maintained disciplinary efficacy (F(2, 47)=4.29, p = 0.02, η = 0.35), whereas the control group suffered a loss of disciplinary efficacy. Associated effect sizes were moderate to large. Conclusions: In general we found support for the value of professional development training in a physical activity curriculum on teachers' self-efficacy perceptions for teaching the curriculum.
: Rethinking the financial network

On 16 November 2002, the first official case of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) was recorded in Guangdong Province, China. Panic ensued. Uncertainty about its causes and contagious consequences brought many neighbouring economies across Asia to a standstill. Hotel occupancy rates in Hong Kong fell from over 80% to less than 15%, while among Beijing’s 5-star hotels occupancy rates fell below 2%.
On time-frequency resolution of signal properties using parametric techniques

The problem to track time-varying properties of a signal is studied. The somewhat contradictory notion of "time-varying spectrum" and how to estimate the "current" spectrum in an on-line fashion is discussed. The traditional concepts and relations between time- and frequency resolution are crucial for this problem. An adaptive estimation algorithm is used to estimate the parameters of a time-varying autoregressive model of the signal. It is shown how this algorithm can be equipped with a feature such that the time-frequency resolution trade-off favors quick detection of changes at higher frequencies and has slower adaptation at lower frequencies. This should be an attractive feature and similar to, for example, what wavelet transform techniques achieve for the same problem. <<ETX>>
Performance Analysis and Comparison of Cluster Based Routing Protocol in in WSN

A wireless sensor network is the network having less cost, less power, compact size and multi functional sensor nodes. In Wireless Sensor Network, these nodes have a confined transmission range, and their processing and storage capabilities and their energy resources are also limited. However, in wireless sensor networks there is a requirement of more effective methods for data processing and forwarding. Routing protocols in WSNs emphasize on data dissemination, limited battery power and bandwidth constraints in order to accelerate adequate working of the network, thereby increasing the lifetime of the network. In this paper, we have compared and studied two main hierarchical based routing protocols and also optimized values for different parameters under certain assumptions in order to increase the network life time. The results shows that SEP protocol performs better than LEACH protocol.
Circulatory, Respiratory, Cerebral, and Renal Derangements in Acute Liver Failure: Pathophysiology and Management

Many of the hemodynamic abnormalities seen in acute liver failure (ALF) have now been characterized. A lowered systemic vascular resistance with a raised cardiac output are prominent features, which in part are modulated by nitric oxide (NO). At a cellular level, oxygen supply and utilization are impaired by changes in vascular tone, plugging of nutritive vessels, and pathological shunting. The use of N-acetylcysteine (NAC) and prostacyclin, a vasodilator, have been shown to increase oxygen utilization in the microcirculation. NAC may act by enhancing the effect of NO on guanylate cyclase, increasing the formation of cyclic 3',5'-guanosine monophosphate (cGMP), and thereby resulting in vasodilatation. This suggests that despite overproduction of NO in ALF, there is a short-age/ failure of utilization at a cellular level. Appropriate management of these patients should be based on a good knowledge of the underlying pathophysiology, and thus on monitoring, during the course of the disease.
BDNF Val66Met Polymorphism on Functional MRI During n-Back Working Memory Tasks

Abstract Val66Met polymorphism on the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) gene is associated with hippocampal pathology and impaired episodic memory. However, the influence of this polymorphism on working memory (WM) performance and patterns of brain activation is controversial. This study investigated the effects of BDNF Val66Met polymorphism on functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during n-back WM tasks in healthy middle-aged adults. A total of 110 participants without subjective or objective cognitive impairment underwent BDNF genotyping. Eleven Met allele carriers and 9 noncarriers underwent fMRI during WM tasks. The WM performance was similar between the 2 groups. Increased brain activation in response to increases in WM loads was observed in both groups. The Met allele carrier group showed consistently lower brain activation in the right superior frontal gyrus (SFG) and the middle occipital gyrus than that of the noncarrier group (P < 0.001). No brain region showed increased activation during WM tasks in the Met allele group. BDNF Val66Met polymorphism may affect the WM network. Met allele carriers have lower brain activation in the right SFG and middle occipital gyrus than do noncarriers during WM tasks. Defective development of the WM network during brain maturation or differentiation is a possible mechanism. Additional studies with a larger sample and longer follow-up period are warranted.