Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mechanism of lactate‐induced relaxation of isolated rat mesenteric resistance arteries.

1. The effects of the sodium salt of the weak acid lactate on tension and intracellular pH (pH1) were studied in rat mesenteric small arteries mounted on a wire myograph. Sodium lactate was substituted iso‐osmotically for sodium chloride. 2. At a concentration of 50 mM, both L‐ and D‐stereoisomers of lactate markedly relaxed arteries preconstricted with noradrenaline (NA) within 10 min. The concentration‐response relationship for L‐lactate showed that the NA contracture was relaxed by 50% at approximately 26 mM. L‐Lactate did not, however, relax arteries preconstricted with high‐K+(45 mM) solution. 3. L‐Lactate did not alter extracellular pH (pHo) but caused a small but significant decrease in pH1, measured using the pH‐sensitive fluorochrome, 2',7'‐bis(carboxyethyl)‐5‐(6)‐carboxyfluorescein (BCECF). Relaxation to L‐lactate was unaffected when this change in pHi was offset by the simultaneous addition of NH4Cl to the solution. 4. Sodium pyruvate (50 mM) caused a significant intracellular acidosis but did not relax arteries preconstricted with NA. 5. L‐Lactate‐induced relaxations were unaffected by removal of the endothelium or when the synthesis of nitric oxide (NO) was inhibited by 10(‐4) M N omega‐nitro‐L‐arginine methyl ester (L‐NAME). 6. The potassium channel blockers glibenclamide (10 microM), 4‐aminopyridine (3 mM) and tetraethylammonium chloride (10 mM) did not affect L‐lactate‐induced relaxation in arteries preconstricted with NA. Inhibition of guanylate cyclase with Methylene Blue, or cyclooxgenase with indomethacin, also did not affect relaxation to L‐lactate. 7. The Rp stereoisomer of adenosine‐3',5'‐cyclic monophosphothioate (Rp‐cAMPS), an analogue of cAMP which inhibits competitively stimulation of protein kinase A, reduced significantly L‐lactate‐induced relaxation at a concentration of 25 microM. Rp‐cAMPS also significantly reduced forskolin‐induced relaxation of the NA contracture. 8. It is concluded that L‐lactate‐induced relaxation in this vascular bed is pHi‐1 endothelium‐, and nitric oxide‐independent. It is not mediated by inhibition of voltage‐gated Ca2+ channels, opening of K+ channels, prostacylin or cyclic GMP. cAMP may however play a role in L‐lactate‐induced relaxation.
On the Use of Taxonomies for Representing Case Features and Local Similarity Measures

For defining attribute types to be used in the case representation, taxonomies occur quite often. The symbolic values at any node of the taxonomy tree are used as attribute values in a case or a query. A taxonomy type represents a relationship between the symbols through their position within the taxonomy-tree which expresses knowledge about the similarity between the symbols. This paper analyzes several situations in which taxonomies are used in different ways and proposes a systematic way of specifying local similarity measures for taxonomy types. The proposed similarity measures have a clear semantics and are easy to compute at runtime.
Variable‐density one‐shot fourier velocity encoding

In areas of highly pulsatile and turbulent flow, real‐time imaging with high temporal, spatial, and velocity resolution is essential. The use of 1D Fourier velocity encoding (FVE) was previously demonstrated for velocity measurement in real time, with fewer effects resulting from off‐resonance. The application of variable‐density sampling is proposed to improve velocity measurement without a significant increase in readout time or the addition of aliasing artifacts. Two sequence comparisons are presented to improve velocity resolution or increase the velocity field of view (FOV) to unambiguously measure velocities up to 5 m/s without aliasing. The results from a tube flow phantom, a stenosis phantom, and healthy volunteers are presented, along with a comparison of measurements using Doppler ultrasound (US). The studies confirm that variable‐density acquisition of kz‐kv space improves the velocity resolution and FOV of such data, with the greatest impact on the improvement of FOV to include velocities in stenotic ranges. Magn Reson Med, 2005. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Insights into an Agile Adventure with Offshore Partners

This paper is an experience report from my time working at CampusSoft in the UK. The focus is on their experiences using agile in a multi-site software development environment, spread across the UK, Romania and India. We will start by looking at the motivations behind outsourcing some of their work to India and why the relationship with their partners in India led them to try using an agile approach. We will then look at some of the approaches which were important for them to be agile and the challenges that they faced, such as communication, working practices and culture.
A new image division for LBP method to improve face recognition under varying lighting conditions

Local binary patterns (LBP) is one of the most used methods in face recognition. This paper presents a different way of obtaining the regions that are used to construct the LBP histograms, in order to improve its performance in front of illumination problems. The proposed method takes into account the shape of the face to build a triangular mesh in which a better description of the face image through LBP is achieved. Experimental results conducted on Yale B database show that under varying lighting conditions, the proposal improves the performance of the traditional rectangular division of the LBP method.
The Role of Epigenetics in Arterial Calcification

Arterial calcification is highly prevalent and correlated with cardiovascular mortality, especially in patients with ESRD or diabetes. The pathogenesis of arterial calcification is multifactorial, with both genetic and environmental factors being implicated. In recent years, several mechanisms contributing to arterial calcification have been proposed. However, these can only explain a small proportion of the variability in arterial calcification, which is a major obstacle for its prevention and management. Epigenetics has emerged as one of the most promising areas that may fill in some of the gaps in our current knowledge of the interaction between the environmental insults with gene regulation in the development of diseases. Epigenetics refers to heritable and acquired changes in gene transcription that occur independently of the DNA sequence. Well-known components of epigenetic regulation include DNA methylation, histone modifications, and microRNAs. Epigenetics research in the regulation of arterial calcification has only recently been elucidated. In this review, we will summarise recent progress in epigenetic pathways involved in arterial calcification and discuss potential therapeutic interventions based on epigenetic mechanisms.
Matching output queueing with a combined input output queued switch

The Internet is facing two problems simultaneously: there is a need for a faster switching/routing infrastructure, and a need to introduce guaranteed qualities of service (QoS). Each problem can be solved independently: switches and routers can be made faster by using input-queued crossbars, instead of shared memory systems; and QoS can be provided using WFQ-based packet scheduling. However, until now, the two solutions have been mutually exclusive-all of the work on WFQ-based scheduling algorithms has required that switches/routers use output-queueing, or centralized shared memory. This paper demonstrates that a combined input output queueing (CIOQ) switch running twice as fast as an input-queued switch can provide precise emulation of a broad class of packet scheduling algorithms, including WFQ and strict priorities. More precisely, we show that a "speedup" of 2 is sufficient, and a speedup of 2-1/N is necessary, for this exact emulation. We introduce a variety of algorithms that configure the crossbar so that emulation is achieved with a speedup of two, and consider their running time and implementation complexity. An interesting feature of our work is that the exact emulation holds for all input traffic patterns. We believe that, in the future, these results will make possible the support of QoS in very high bandwidth routers.
Work in progress -test engineering program

A pilot program of lectures and laboratory work in mixed-signal test development engineering has been initiated at San Jose State University with support from Agilent Technologies and National Semiconductor Corporation. Class one uses bench-top equipment and a specifically-designed printed circuit board to explore the basic issues of testing: accuracy, guard bands, design for test (DfT), DSP-based tests, load board design, and the blocks of the per-pin architecture present in all manufacturing testers. Class two revisits many of the issues of class one in off-line and on-line programs for a variety of manufacturing testers. The trade-offs of accuracy versus test time are focal. This paper outlines the primary course sequence and its laboratory work
Postactivation Potentiation Response in Athletic and Recreationally Trained Individuals

To determine if training status directly impacted the response to postactivation potentiation, athletes in sports requiring explosive strength (ATH; n = 7) were compared to recreationally trained (RT; n = 17) individuals. Over the course of 4 sessions, subjects performed rebound and concentric-only jump squats with 30%, 50%, and 70% 1 RM loads. Jump squats were performed 5 minutes and 18.5 minutes following control or heavy load warm-ups. Heavy load warm-up consisted of 5 sets of 1 repetition at 90% 1 RM back squat. Jump squat performance was assessed with a force platform and position transducer. Heavy load warm-up did not have an effect on the subjects as a single sample. However, when percent potentiation was compared between ATH and RT groups, force and power parameters were significantly greater for ATH (p < 0.05). Postactivation potentiation may be a viable method of acutely enhancing explosive strength performance in athletic but not recreationally trained individuals.
Meningitis: is a major cause of disability amongst Papua New Guinea children?

Purpose: This article is intended to focus on the need for the use of rehabilitation services, for children with meningitis in Papua New Guinea, which is one of largest developing country in The Pacific with diverse culture and landscape. Meningitis is the fifth leading disease that results in disability in the country. The first line of treatment is usually antibiotics, administration of vaccination is also recommended. Currently community based rehabilitation workers and Physiotherapist offer the rehabilitation services. There is a need for the other rehabilitation professionals and appropriate education to the CBR workers, caregivers for providing effective Rehabilitation. Method: Articles related to meningitis were recruited through various electronic database such as Ovid SP, MEDLINE, CINHAL, Google Scholar and HINARI and EBSCOhost for full text. The search includes journal articles, editorials, research reports, systematic reviews and books. Results: The neurological sequelae resulting from meningitis are increasing. There is a need for Hib vaccination to reduce the rate of mortality. Physiotherapists are new professionals that emerged since 2006 and are assisting in reducing the motor and neurological disability. Conclusions: A multidisciplinary approach is required to manage the child with meningitis. Adequate knowledge, resources and assistance about the condition among the health professionals, carers and teachers would enable the children to achieve the quality of life. Implications for Rehabilitation Meningitis is a neurological disorder resulting from mild to severe neurological sequelea. The need for availability of cephalosporin is required to reduce the consequence of disease. Multidisciplinary approach will reduce the rate of disability resulting from meningitis.
Cytokine-specific regulation of urokinase receptor (CD87) expression by U937 mononuclear phagocytes.

Mononuclear phagocytes concentrate urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA) at the cell surface by expressing membrane uPA receptors (uPAR). This study examines the ability of exogenous cytokines to alter expression of membrane-associated uPA and uPAR in U937 mononuclear phagocytes. Cells were stimulated with recombinant interferon gamma (IFN gamma) or tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF alpha), followed by immunolabeling for uPA or uPAR and flow cytometry. IFN gamma increased surface uPA 2.2-fold relative to unstimulated controls (P < .001), whereas TNF alpha had no significant effect. Likewise, maximal uPA binding capacity was increased 2.8-fold by IFN gamma (P < .02), but was not affected by TNF alpha. In unstimulated cells, 50% of receptors were occupied by endogenously generated uPA, and this proportion was not affected by either cytokine. IFN gamma upregulated uPAR 2.1-fold relative to unstimulated controls (P < .001), whereas TNF alpha had no effect. In contrast to effects on surface protein, TNF alpha induced a substantial increase in uPAR mRNA, equaling the effect of IFN gamma. In addition, both cytokines doubled the intracellular uPAR pool (P < .01). By contrast, TNF alpha induced a 2.5-fold increase in the level of uPAR protein released into conditioned medium (compared with unstimulated cells), whereas IFN gamma had no effect. These results indicate that uPAR expression is regulated in a cytokine-specific fashion. Some stimuli, such as TNF alpha, may increase uPAR synthetic activity without a corresponding change in membrane expression, because of enhanced release of uPAR from the cell. Cytokine-specific modulation of uPAR may be important in regulating the function of mononuclear phagocytes in inflammation and tissue repair.
Evolutionary Origins of Genomic Repertoires in Bacteria

Explaining the diversity of gene repertoires has been a major problem in modern evolutionary biology. In eukaryotes, this diversity is believed to result mainly from gene duplication and loss, but in prokaryotes, lateral gene transfer (LGT) can also contribute substantially to genome contents. To determine the histories of gene inventories, we conducted an exhaustive analysis of gene phylogenies for all gene families in a widely sampled group, the γ-Proteobacteria. We show that, although these bacterial genomes display striking differences in gene repertoires, most gene families having representatives in several species have congruent histories. Other than the few vast multigene families, gene duplication has contributed relatively little to the contents of these genomes; instead, LGT, over time, provides most of the diversity in genomic repertoires. Most such acquired genes are lost, but the majority of those that persist in genomes are transmitted strictly vertically. Although our analyses are limited to the γ-Proteobacteria, these results resolve a long-standing paradox—i.e., the ability to make robust phylogenetic inferences in light of substantial LGT.
Some Finite Sample Results On Testing For Granger Noncausality

We compare testing strategies for Granger noncausality in vector autoregressions (VARs)that may or may not have unit roots and cointegration. Sequential testing methods are examined; these test for cointegration and use either a differenced VAR or a vector error correction model(VECM), in which to undertake the main noncausality test. Basically, these strategies attempt to verify the validity of appropriate standard limit theory. We contrast such methods with an augmented lag approach that ensures the limiting Chi Square null distribution irrespective of the data’s nonstationarity characteristics. Our simulations involve bivariate and trivariate VARs in which we allow for the lag order to be selected by general to specific testing as well as by model selection criteria. We find that the current practice of pretesting for cointegration can result in severe over-rejections of the noncausal null while overfitting results in better control of the Type I error probability with often little loss in power.
Dorsal Slit-Sleeve Technique for Male Circumcision

The author of this paper has described in detail the surgical technique of combining dorsal slit and the sleeve methods of circumcision as a single procedure of circumcision of choice in their center. [1] The described technique is simple, easy to follow and readily reproducible. The author was able to show also that the complication rate of the procedure is comparable with complication rate reported for other methods employed in the male circumcision. [2]
Development of a Hospital-Based Integrative Healthcare Program

Public demand for complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) therapies, often referred to as integrative health (IH), continues to grow. Health systems are now pursing the integration of these therapies with conventional medical care. This article describes the development and evolution of 1 nursing-led model for the integration of CAM services in an inpatient setting and to provide lessons learned for nursing administrators or others interested in developing hospital-based IH programs.
A Specific Pattern of Phosphodiesterases Controls the cAMP Signals Generated by Different Gs-Coupled Receptors in Adult Rat Ventricular Myocytes

Compartmentation of cAMP is thought to generate the specificity of Gs-coupled receptor action in cardiac myocytes, with phosphodiesterases (PDEs) playing a major role in this process by preventing cAMP diffusion. We tested this hypothesis in adult rat ventricular myocytes by characterizing PDEs involved in the regulation of cAMP signals and L-type Ca2+ current (ICa,L) on stimulation with &bgr;1-adrenergic receptors (&bgr;1-ARs), &bgr;2-ARs, glucagon receptors (Glu-Rs) and prostaglandin E1 receptors (PGE1-Rs). All receptors but PGE1-R increased total cAMP, and inhibition of PDEs with 3-isobutyl-1-methylxanthine strongly potentiated these responses. When monitored in single cells by high-affinity cyclic nucleotide–gated (CNG) channels, stimulation of &bgr;1-AR and Glu-R increased cAMP, whereas &bgr;2-AR and PGE1-R had no detectable effect. Selective inhibition of PDE3 by cilostamide and PDE4 by Ro 20-1724 potentiated &bgr;1-AR cAMP signals, whereas Glu-R cAMP was augmented only by PD4 inhibition. PGE1-R and &bgr;2-AR generated substantial cAMP increases only when PDE3 and PDE4 were blocked. For all receptors except PGE1-R, the measurements of ICa,L closely matched the ones obtained with CNG channels. Indeed, PDE3 and PDE4 controlled &bgr;1-AR and &bgr;2-AR regulation of ICa,L, whereas only PDE4 controlled Glu-R regulation of ICa,L thus demonstrating that receptor–PDE coupling has functional implications downstream of cAMP. PGE1 had no effect on ICa,L even after blockade of PDE3 or PDE4, suggesting that other mechanisms prevent cAMP produced by PGE1 to diffuse to L-type Ca2+ channels. These results identify specific functional coupling of individual PDE families to Gs-coupled receptors as a major mechanism enabling cardiac cells to generate heterogeneous cAMP signals in response to different hormones.
Structure and function of the ductuli efferentes: A review

INTRODUCTION The ductuli efferentes are a series of tubules that conduct sperm from the rete testis to the epididymis . These small ducts are unique because they are the only region of the male reproductive tract that is lined by a ciliated epithelium. The presence of cilia seemed to have provided the impetus for their study starting with Becker in 1856 and 1857, who first described the cylindrical ciliated cell in the epithelial lining. Beginning with these studies, a panoply of functions ranging from absorption and transport to endocrine and metabolism has been attributed to these small ductules. In spite of the wealth of material available on the structural organization of the ductuli efferentes, many textbooks on reproduction still refer to the efferent ductules as mere "conduits" to move sperm from the testis to the epididymis (Dellmann and Wrobel, 1981). The functional considerations of these ductules have been largely ignored until recently. Also, there has been no universal agreement on the terminology of these ductules. They have been called variously as ductuli efferentes, ductuli efferentes testis, ductuli efferenti, vasa efferentia, vasa efferentes, and tubuli efferentes. The tubules have been considered as parts either of the testis or the epididymis, as well as a separate organ. The Nomina Histologica (International Anatomical Nomenclature Committee, 1980), however, considers, the ductuli to be a part of the caput epididymidis in deference to their common embryologic origin from the mesonephric structures. In this review, we will use the terms ductuli efferentes and efferent ductules or ducts, its Anglicized form, which are consistent with the Nomina Anatomica Veterinaria (Habel et al., 1983).
Evidence-based guidelines for treating depressive disorders with antidepressants: a revision of the 1993 British Association for Psychopharmacology guidelines

A revision of the British Association for Psychopharmacology guidelines for treating depressive disorders with antidepressants was undertaken in order to specify the scope and target of the guidelines and to update the recommendations based explicitly on the available evidence. A consensus meeting, involving experts in depressive disorders and their treatment, reviewed key areas and considered the strength of evidence and clinical implications. The guidelines were drawn up after extensive feedback from participants and interested parties. A literature review is given which identifies the quality of evidence followed by recommendations, the strength of which are based on the level of evidence. The guidelines cover the nature and detection of depressive disorders, acute treatment with antidepressant drugs, choice of drug versus alternative treatment, practical issues in prescribing, management when initial treatment fails, continuation treatment, maintenance treatment to prevent recurrence and stopping treatment.
Design of an optimal Chebyshev‐expanded discrimination function for globular proteins

We describe the construction of a scoring function designed to model the free energy of protein folding. An optimization technique is used to determine the best functional forms of the hydrophobic, residue‐residue and hydrogen‐bonding components of the potential. The scoring function is expanded by use of Chebyshev polynomials, the coefficients of which are determined by minimizing the score, in units of standard deviation, of native structures in the ensembles of alternate decoy conformations. The derived effective potential is then tested on decoy sets used conventionally in such studies. Using our scoring function, we achieve a high level of discrimination between correct and incorrect folds. In addition, our method is able to represent functions of arbitrary shape with fewer parameters than the usual histogram potentials of similar resolution. Finally, our representation can be combined easily with many optimization methods, because the total energy is a linear function of the parameters. Our results show that the techniques of Z‐score optimization and Chebyshev expansion work well.