Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Advances in monoclonal antibody application in myocarditis

Monoclonal antibodies have become a part of daily preparation technologies in many laboratories. Attempts have been made to apply monoclonal antibodies to open a new train of thought for clinical treatments of autoimmune diseases, inflammatory diseases, cancer, and other immune-associated diseases. This paper is a prospective review to anticipate that monoclonal antibody application in the treatment of myocarditis, an inflammatory disease of the heart, could be a novel approach in the future. In order to better understand the current state of the art in monoclonal antibody techniques and advance applications in myocarditis, we, through a significant amount of literature research both domestic and abroad, developed a systematic elaboration of monoclonal antibodies, pathogenesis of myocarditis, and application of monoclonal antibodies in myocarditis. This paper presents review of the literature of some therapeutic aspects of monoclonal antibodies in myocarditis and dilated cardiomyopathy to demonstrate the advance of monoclonal antibody application in myocarditis and a strong anticipation that monoclonal antibody application may supply an effective therapeutic approach to relieve the severity of myocarditis in the future. Under conventional therapy, myocarditis is typically associated with congestive heart failure as a progressive outcome, indicating the need for alternative therapeutic strategies to improve long-term results. Reviewing some therapeutic aspects of monoclonal antibodies in myocarditis, we recently found that monoclonal antibodies with high purity and strong specificity can accurately act on target and achieve definite progress in the treatment of viral myocarditis in rat model and may meet the need above. However, several issues remain. The technology on how to make a higher homologous and weak immunogenic humanized or human source antibody and the treatment mechanism of monoclonal antibodies may provide solutions for these open issues. If we are to further stimulate progress in the area of clinical decision support, we must continue to develop and refine our understanding and use of monoclonal antibodies in myocarditis.
Applying Developmental Criminology to Law: Reconsidering Juvenile Sex Offenses

In this article we apply a developmental psychology analysis to sex offender laws and policies for adolescents to examine how such laws and policies, derived primarily from downward extension of adult criminal predatory sexual offender statutes and policies, serve the early identification of predators, constraint of such behavior, and/or engagement in rehabilitation. This focus is framed within advances in the past 20 years in the understanding of neurobiology and the social development of adolescence and in the understanding of the makeup of the population potentially coming under juvenile sex offender regulations. We find a significant mismatch between the prevailing laws and policies and the scientific knowledge about adolescents' development and the intended service to public safety. We provide suggestions from the attending empirical knowledge for increasing differentiation in the understanding of and treatment of adolescents and adult offenders. We also suggest heterogeneity, or subgroup differences, within the adolescent population now considered offenders are an important contributor to the mismatch. We discuss the benefits of structuring policies and laws so they are grounded in a developmental understanding of behavior, which will likely lead to a reduction in recidivism and an increase in public safety. Similarly, important research efforts to shore up understanding are proposed.
Recoverability of Group Sparse Signals from Corrupted Measurements via Robust Group Lasso

This paper considers the problem of recovering a group sparse signal matrix $\mathbf{Y} = [\mathbf{y}_1, \cdots, \mathbf{y}_L]$ from sparsely corrupted measurements $\mathbf{M} = [\mathbf{A}_{(1)}\mathbf{y}_{1}, \cdots, \mathbf{A}_{(L)}\mathbf{y}_{L}] + \mathbf{S}$, where $\mathbf{A}_{(i)}$'s are known sensing matrices and $\mathbf{S}$ is an unknown sparse error matrix. A robust group lasso (RGL) model is proposed to recover $\mathbf{Y}$ and $\mathbf{S}$ through simultaneously minimizing the $\ell_{2,1}$-norm of $\mathbf{Y}$ and the $\ell_1$-norm of $\mathbf{S}$ under the measurement constraints. We prove that $\mathbf{Y}$ and $\mathbf{S}$ can be exactly recovered from the RGL model with a high probability for a very general class of $\mathbf{A}_{(i)}$'s.
Distributed soft thresholding for sparse signal recovery

In this paper, we address the problem of distributed sparse recovery of signals acquired via compressed measurements in a sensor network. We propose a new class of distributed algorithms to solve Lasso regression problems, when the communication to a fusion center is not possible, e.g., due to communication cost or privacy reasons. More precisely, we introduce a distributed iterative soft thresholding algorithm (DISTA) that consists of three steps: an averaging step, a gradient step, and a soft thresholding operation. We prove the convergence of DISTA in networks represented by regular graphs, and we compare it with existing methods in terms of performance, memory, and complexity.
Heuristics for computing attribute values of C++ program complexity metrics

We proposed new metrics for computing the program complexity of object oriented programs (E.M. Kim et al., 1994). In these metrics, we examined program complexity from three dimensional viewpoints in object oriented paradigm: syntax dimension, inheritance dimension and interaction dimension. We have defined attributes to evaluate three viewpoints quantitatively. We present some heuristics for computing actual values of the attributes, for which we have given only definitions in a previous paper. Then, we analytically evaluate the new metrics with regard to E.J. Weyuker's (1988) measurement principles. As a result, it is found that our metrics satisfy essential properties which any measure must have. Finally, we develop the tool to compute the values of the attributes automatically.
Effects of nearest neighbors interactions on control of nonlinear vehicular platooning

The paper introduces a novel platooning model for vehicles subject to nonlinear drag. A linear parametric controller, taking into account both the actual position and the relative displacement with respect to neighbors, is applied to each vehicle and, then, its effects are investigated via a semi-analytical approach based on partial differential equations. When the control law on the interactions with the neighbors is asymmetric, the platoon can exhibit undesired oscillations around the desired formation. Numerical simulations confirm the predicted results.
An in vitro system for measuring genotoxicity mediated by human CYP3A4 in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

P450 activity is required to metabolically activate many chemical carcinogens, rendering them highly genotoxic. CYP3A4 is the most abundantly expressed P450 enzyme in the liver, accounting for most drug metabolism and constituting 50% of all hepatic P450 activity. CYP3A4 is also expressed in extrahepatic tissues, including the intestine. However, the role of CYP3A4 in activating chemical carcinogens into potent genotoxins is unclear. To facilitate efforts to determine whether CYP3A4, per se, can activate carcinogens into potent genotoxins, we expressed human CYP3A4 in the DNA‐repair mutant (rad4 rad51) strain of budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae and tested the novel, recombinant yeast strain for ability to report CYP3A4‐mediated genotoxicity of a well‐known genotoxin, aflatoxin B1 (AFB1). Yeast microsomes containing human CYP3A4, but not those that do not contain CYP3A4, were active in hydroxylation of diclofenac, a known CYP3A4 substrate drug, a result confirming CYP3A4 activity in the recombinant yeast strain. In cells exposed to AFB1, the expression of CYP3A4 supported DNA adduct formation, chromosome rearrangements, cell death, and expression of the large subunit of ribonucleotide reductase, Rnr3, a marker of DNA damage. Expression of CYP3A4 also conferred sensitivity in rad4 rad51 mutants exposed to colon carcinogen, 2‐amino‐3,8‐dimethylimidazo[4,5‐f]quinoxaline (MeIQx). These data confirm the ability of human CYP3A4 to mediate the genotoxicity of AFB1, and illustrate the usefulness of the CYP3A4‐expressing, DNA‐repair mutant yeast strain for screening other chemical compounds that are CYP3A4 substrates, for potential genotoxicity. Environ. Mol. Mutagen. 58:217–227, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
On learning context-free and context-sensitive languages

The long short-term memory (LSTM) is not the only neural network which learns a context sensitive language. Second-order sequential cascaded networks (SCNs) are able to induce means from a finite fragment of a context-sensitive language for processing strings outside the training set. The dynamical behavior of the SCN is qualitatively distinct from that observed in LSTM networks. Differences in performance and dynamics are discussed.
Automated generation of test cases from logical specification of software requirements

The quality of the delivered software relies on rigorous testing performed. However, designing good test cases is a challenging task. The challenges are multi-fold and test-cases design is often delayed towards the end of implementation phase. In this paper, we propose an approach to automatically generate test cases from the logical form of requirements specifications during early phases of software development. Our approach is based on courteous logic representation of requirements. The Knowledge stored in the courteous logic predicates is used to automatically generate the test cases. We evaluate the effectiveness of our generated test-cases through case-studies.
Novel Antiplatelet Activity of Protocatechuic Acid through the Inhibition of High Shear Stress-Induced Platelet Aggregation

Bleeding is the most common and serious adverse effect of currently available antiplatelet drugs. Many efforts are being made to develop novel antithrombotic agents without bleeding risks. Shear stress-induced platelet aggregation (SIPA), which occurs under abnormally high shear stress, plays a crucial role in the development of arterial thrombotic diseases. Here, we demonstrate that protocatechuic acid (PCA), a bioactive phytochemical from Lonicera (honeysuckle) flowers, selectively and potently inhibits high shear (>10,000 s−1)-induced platelet aggregation. In isolated human platelets, PCA decreased SIPA and attenuated accompanying platelet activation, including intracellular calcium mobilization, granule secretion, and adhesion receptor expression. The anti-SIPA effect of PCA was mediated through blockade of von Willebrand factor binding to activated glycoprotein Ib, a primary and initial event for the accomplishment of SIPA. Conspicuously, PCA did not inhibit platelet aggregation induced by other endogenous agonists like collagen, thrombin, or ADP that are important in both pathological thrombosis and normal hemostasis. Antithrombotic effects of PCA were confirmed in vivo in a rat arterial thrombosis model, where PCA significantly delayed the arterial occlusion induced by FeCl3. Of particular note, PCA did not increase bleeding times in a rat tail transection model, whereas conventional antiplatelet drugs, aspirin, and clopidogrel substantially prolonged it. Collectively, these results suggest that PCA may be a novel antiplatelet agent that can prevent thrombosis without increasing bleeding risks.
Biomimetic Centering for Undulatory Robots

Substantial work exists in the robotics literature on the mechanical design, modeling, gait generation and implementation of undulatory robotic prototypes. However, there appears to have been relatively limited work on closing the control loop for such robotic locomotors using sensory information from on-board exteroceptive sensors, in order to realize more complex undulatory behaviors. In this paper we consider a biologically inspired sensor-based “centering” behavior for undulatory robots traversing corridor-like environments. Such behaviors have been observed and studied in bees, and robotic analogs were originally developed for non-holonomic mobile robots. Adaptation to the significantly more complex dynamics of undulatory locomotors highlights a number of issues related to the use of sensors (possibly distributed over the elongated body of the mechanism) for the generation of reactive undulatory behaviors and also related to biomimetic neuromuscular control and to the formation control of multi-undulatory swarms. These issues are explored in simulation by means of computational tools specifically geared towards undulatory locomotion in robotics and biology. Moreover, a series of undulatory robotic prototypes has been developed, which are able to propel themselves on a variety of hard and granular substrates, by means of both head-to-tail (“eel-like”) and tail-to-head (“polychaete-like”) undulatory waves. The undulatory centering behavior is demonstrated experimentally in several layouts of corridor-like environments using these robotic prototypes equipped with infrared distance sensors.
From parent to 'peer facilitator': a qualitative study of a peer-led parenting programme.

BACKGROUND Peer-led interventions are increasingly common in community health settings. Although peer-led approaches have proven benefits for service users, relatively little is known about the process and outcomes of participation for peer leaders. This study investigated experiences of parents who had participated as 'peer facilitators' in Empowering Parents, Empowering Communities (EPEC), a peer-led programme designed to improve access to evidence-based parenting support in socially disadvantaged communities. METHOD A qualitative cross-sectional design was used. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 14 peer facilitators and scrutinized using thematic analysis. RESULTS Peer facilitators developed their knowledge and skills through personal experience of receiving parenting support, participation in formal training and supervised practice, access to an intervention manual, and peer modelling. Peer facilitators described positive changes in their own families, confidence and social status. Transformative personal gains reinforced peer facilitators' role commitment and contributed to a cohesive 'family' identity among EPEC staff and service users. Peer facilitators' enthusiasm, openness and mutual identification with families were seen as critical to EPEC's effectiveness and sustainability. Peer facilitators also found the training emotionally and intellectually demanding. There were particular difficulties around logistical issues (e.g. finding convenient supervision times), managing psychosocial complexity and child safeguarding. CONCLUSIONS The successful delivery and sustained implementation of peer-led interventions requires careful attention to the personal qualities and support of peer leaders. Based on the findings of this study, support should include training, access to intervention manuals, regular and responsive supervision, and logistical/administrative assistance. Further research is required to elaborate and extend these findings to other peer-led programmes.
After the PBDE Phase-Out: A Broad Suite of Flame Retardants in Repeat House Dust Samples from California

Higher house dust levels of PBDE flame retardants (FRs) have been reported in California than other parts of the world, due to the state’s furniture flammability standard. However, changing levels of these and other FRs have not been evaluated following the 2004 U.S. phase-out of PentaBDE and OctaBDE. We analyzed dust collected in 16 California homes in 2006 and again in 2011 for 62 FRs and organohalogens, which represents the broadest investigation of FRs in homes. Fifty-five compounds were detected in at least one sample; 41 in at least 50% of samples. Concentrations of chlorinated OPFRs, including two (TCEP and TDCIPP) listed as carcinogens under California’s Proposition 65, were found up to 0.01% in dust, higher than previously reported in the U.S. In 75% of the homes, we detected TDBPP, or brominated “Tris,” which was banned in children’s sleepwear because of carcinogenicity. To our knowledge, this is the first report on TDBPP in house dust. Concentrations of Firemaster 550 components (EH-TBB, BEH-TEBP, and TPHP) were higher in 2011 than 2006, consistent with its use as a PentaBDE replacement. Results highlight the evolving nature of FR exposures and suggest that manufacturers continue to use hazardous chemicals and replace chemicals of concern with chemicals with uncharacterized toxicity.
Prostate Stem Cells in the Development of Benign Prostate Hyperplasia and Prostate Cancer: Emerging Role and Concepts

Benign Prostate hyperplasia (BPH) and prostate cancer (PCa) are the most common prostatic disorders affecting elderly men. Multiple factors including hormonal imbalance, disruption of cell proliferation, apoptosis, chronic inflammation, and aging are thought to be responsible for the pathophysiology of these diseases. Both BPH and PCa are considered to be arisen from aberrant proliferation of prostate stem cells. Recent studies on BPH and PCa have provided significant evidence for the origin of these diseases from stem cells that share characteristics with normal prostate stem cells. Aberrant changes in prostate stem cell regulatory factors may contribute to the development of BPH or PCa. Understanding these regulatory factors may provide insight into the mechanisms that convert quiescent adult prostate cells into proliferating compartments and lead to BPH or carcinoma. Ultimately, the knowledge of the unique prostate stem or stem-like cells in the pathogenesis and development of hyperplasia will facilitate the development of new therapeutic targets for BPH and PCa. In this review, we address recent progress towards understanding the putative role and complexities of stem cells in the development of BPH and PCa.
Comparison of three tonometers for measuring intraocular pressure in rabbits.

PURPOSE Rabbits are used commonly for the evaluation of drugs and surgery to lower intraocular pressure (IOP). The authors compared the accuracy and variability of three tonometers for measuring IOP in rabbits. METHODS The anterior chamber of adult rabbits was cannulated with a 25-gauge needle connected to an elevated bottle of balanced salt solution. The bottle was raised and lowered to control IOP. A fluid-filled pressure transducer also was placed in the anterior chamber. Intraocular pressure was decreased in increments of 5 to 10 cm H2O from 50 to 0 mm Hg and was recorded with each of these instruments: the hand-held applanation tonometer, the Tono-pen XL, and the pneumatonometer. RESULTS The Tono-pen XL and the hand-held applanation tonometer underestimated the IOP, whereas the pneumatonometer slightly overestimated IOP. Under close stopcock conditions, at IOPs between 3 and 30 mm Hg, the Tono-pen XL was as accurate as the pneumatonometer but had a smaller variance; the hand-held applanation tonometer had lower accuracy and higher variability. CONCLUSIONS The Tono-pen XL is the tonometer of choice for measuring IOP in rabbits within the range of IOP 3 to 30 mm Hg. All tonometers were less accurate when the IOP was elevated markedly.
Candesartan Attenuates Diabetic Retinal Vascular Pathology by Restoring Glyoxalase-I Function

OBJECTIVE Advanced glycation end products (AGEs) and the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) are both implicated in the development of diabetic retinopathy. How these pathways interact to promote retinal vasculopathy is not fully understood. Glyoxalase-I (GLO-I) is an enzyme critical for the detoxification of AGEs and retinal vascular cell survival. We hypothesized that, in retina, angiotensin II (Ang II) downregulates GLO-I, which leads to an increase in methylglyoxal-AGE formation. The angiotensin type 1 receptor blocker, candesartan, rectifies this imbalance and protects against retinal vasculopathy. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Cultured bovine retinal endothelial cells (BREC) and bovine retinal pericytes (BRP) were incubated with Ang II (100 nmol/l) or Ang II+candesartan (1 μmol/l). Transgenic Ren-2 rats that overexpress the RAS were randomized to be nondiabetic, diabetic, or diabetic+candesartan (5 mg/kg/day) and studied over 20 weeks. Comparisons were made with diabetic Sprague-Dawley rats. RESULTS In BREC and BRP, Ang II induced apoptosis and reduced GLO-I activity and mRNA, with a concomitant increase in nitric oxide (NO•), the latter being a known negative regulator of GLO-I in BRP. In BREC and BRP, candesartan restored GLO-I and reduced NO•. Similar events occurred in vivo, with the elevated RAS of the diabetic Ren-2 rat, but not the diabetic Sprague-Dawley rat, reducing retinal GLO-I. In diabetic Ren-2 rats, candesartan reduced retinal acellular capillaries, inflammation, and inducible nitric oxide synthase and NO•, and restored GLO-I. CONCLUSIONS We have identified a novel mechanism by which candesartan improves diabetic retinopathy through the restoration of GLO-I.
See-Through Technology for Biological Tissue: 3-Dimensional Visualization of Macromolecules

Tissue clearing technology is currently one of the fastest growing fields in biomedical sciences. Tissue clearing techniques have become a powerful approach to understand further the structural information of intact biological tissues. Moreover, technological improvements in tissue clearing and optics allowed the visualization of neural network in the whole brain tissue with subcellular resolution. Here, we described an overview of various tissue-clearing techniques, with focus on the tissue-hydrogel mediated clearing methods, and discussed the main advantages and limitations of transparent tissue for clinical diagnosis.
Pre-Launch Radiometric Characterization of JPSS-1 VIIRS Thermal Emissive Bands

The Joint Polar Satellite System 2 (JPSS-2) Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) is the third in its series of sensors designed to produce high quality data products for environmental and climate data records once launched. To meet this goal, the VIIRS instrument must be calibrated and characterized prior to launch. A comprehensive test program was conducted at the Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems facility in 2016–2017, including extensive environmental testing. The pre-launch thermal band radiometric performance and stability is the focus of this work including: the evaluation of a number of sensor performance metrics, comparison to the design requirements, and the estimation of uncertainties. Comparisons of the thermal band performance to the earlier Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (SNPP) and JPSS-1 VIIRS instruments as well as the design specifications have shown that JPSS-2 VIIRS exhibits similar performance to its predecessors. The differences of note (decreased blackbody uniformity, reduced dynamic range for bands M15 and M16, and improved performance with respect to striping) are small and not expected to have a significant impact on the science products.
Application and taxonomy of through-the-lens techniques

In this work, we present a set of tools based on the through-the-lens metaphor. This metaphor enables simultaneous exploration of a virtual world from two different viewpoints. The one is used to display the surrounding environment and represents the user, the other is interactively manipulated and the resulting images are displayed in a dedicated window. We discuss in detail the various different states of the two viewpoints and the two synthetic worlds, introducing taxonomy for their relationship to each other. We also elaborate on navigation with the through-the-lens concept extending the ideas behind known tools. Furthermore, we also present a new remote object manipulation technique based on the through-the-lens concept.