Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Celecoxib, a COX-2 inhibitor, synergistically potentiates the anti-inflammatory activity of docosahexaenoic acid in macrophage cell line

Abstract Background: The anti-inflammatory properties of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs overlap in many ways. The aim of this study was to examine the individual and synergetic anti-inflammatory effects of celecoxib, EPA and DHA in RAW-264.7 cell line. Methodology: The cells were exposed to EPA, DHA, celecoxib, rosiglitazone, GW9662 alone or their combination, and stimulated with 5 μg/mL lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Nitric oxide (NO), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin (IL)-6 and prostaglandin-E2 (PGE2) levels were estimated in the medium using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. The cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and inducible Nitric Oxide Synthase (iNOS) expression were analyzed in the cell lysate by immunoblotting. Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ) and nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) transcription factor activation assays were performed in the nuclear extract. Results: Combined treatment of DHA (50 μM) and celecoxib (20 μM) significantly inhibited LPS induced synthesis of NO, TNF-α, IL-6 and PGE2 levels in the cells, compared to the individual treatments. In addition, DHA and celecoxib diminished the COX-2 and iNOS expression in the cells. This was associated with increased PPARγ activity, supressed NF-κB activity in the nucleus. We determined whether GW9662, a specific PPARγ inhibitor, could abolish the anti-inflammatory effect of DHA and celecoxib. GW9662 has abolished the DHA and celecoxib induced PPARγ activation, but did not alter the NF-κB mediated anti-inflammatory effects induced by celecoxib and DHA. Interestingly, EPA did not exhibit any inhibitory effect on these parameters. Conclusion: Our results suggest that DHA and celecoxib exhibit anti-inflammatory effect through inhibition of NF-κB, independent of PPARγ. Co-administration of celecoxib and DHA would be promising approach for the treatment of inflammatory diseases.
Use of a brief behavioral skills intervention to prevent HIV infection among chronic mentally ill adults.

OBJECTIVE Research shows that many chronic psychiatric patients are at risk for infection by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). This study investigated the effects of a behavioral skills training program designed to prevent HIV infection among chronic mentally ill adults living in an inner-city area. METHODS Twenty-seven men and 25 women were randomly assigned either to a four-session AIDS prevention program emphasizing risk education, sexual assertiveness, condom use, risk-related behavioral self-management, and problem-solving skills or to a waiting-list group, who later received the same intervention. RESULTS Compared with the waiting-list control group, participants in the prevention program demonstrated significant gains in AIDS-related knowledge and intentions to change risk behaviors. The prevention program also significantly reduced rates of unprotected sexual intercourse and increased the use of condoms over a one-month follow-up period. A subset of participants who provided two-month follow-up data maintained some behavior changes. CONCLUSIONS A relatively brief, skills-focused AIDS prevention program for chronic psychiatric patients produced reductions in HIV risk behaviors. Such HIV risk reduction intervention programs may be of use in inpatient, outpatient, and community-based settings.
Characterization of a gene product (Sec53p) required for protein assembly in the yeast endoplasmic reticulum

SEC53, a gene that is required for completion of assembly of proteins in the endoplasmic reticulum in yeast, has been cloned, sequenced, and the product localized by cell fractionation. Complementation of a sec53 mutation is achieved with unique plasmids from genomic or cDNA expression banks. These inserts contain the authentic gene, a cloned copy of which integrates at the sec53 locus. An open reading frame in the insert predicts a 29-kD protein with no significant hydrophobic character. This prediction is confirmed by detection of a 28-kD protein overproduced in cells that carry SEC53 on a multicopy plasmid. To follow Sec53p more directly, a LacZ-SEC53 gene fusion has been constructed which allows the isolation of a hybrid protein for use in production of antibody. With such an antibody, quantitative immune decoration has shown that the sec53-6 mutation decreases the level of Sec53p at 37 degrees C, while levels comparable to wild-type are seen at 24 degrees C. An eightfold overproduction of Sec53p accompanies transformation of cells with a multicopy plasmid containing SEC53. Cell fractionation, performed with conditions that preserve the lumenal content of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), shows Sec53p highly enriched in the cytosol fraction. We suggest that Sec53p acts indirectly to facilitate assembly in the ER, possibly by interacting with a stable ER component, or by providing a small molecule, other than an oligosaccharide precursor, necessary for the assembly event.
Knolwedge organisation and Firms ’ specialisation in the biotech industry

The relationship between firms’ strategic directions, the evolution of its technological knowledge and the competitive conditions on the market place is an intriguing question that remains largely unclear in the literature. Following Smith (1776), specialisation is presented as a natural consequence of the knowledge production process (Loasby, 1998). It is not clear, however, what are the consequences of this specialisation on business firms. The traditional competence based approach suggests that firms tend to build their competitive advantage by specialising around specific competencies (Prahald and Hamel, 1990), thus reducing the range of their technological knowledge and focusing on their expertise field. This is consistent with the evolutionary view of industrial organisation explaining that firms in a given sector remain endowed with idiosyncratic technological characteristics (Nelson, 1991). Others argue, on the contrary, that firms tend to increase the diversity of their technological knowledge (Granstrand et al., 1997), even when they reduce the range of product. Competition, here, is not related to technological expertise, which tend to be similar between firms in the same sector. This seems to be particularly verified in when products exhibit the highest rate of technical change (Patel and Pavitt, 1997, Gambardella and Torrisi, 1998).
Chronic intravascular coagulation syndrome.

Abstract In a patient with a chronic intravascular coagulation syndrome characterized by depletion of fibrinogen and platelets, participation of other clotting factors or secondary fibrinolysis were not demonstrable. Heparin was effective in controlling the syndrome, which was evident 10 months before discovery of a primary ovarian carcinoma. Warfarin did not prevent thrombotic complications. A plasma cryoprecipitate ("cryofibrinogen") was constantly present. Physicochemical studies demonstrated, in addition to fibrinogen, a β1 globulin amounting to approximately 50 per cent of the total protein. The β1 globulin, presumably an "incomplete cryoglobulin," formed a reversible, cold-precipitable complex with the fibrinogen and was immunochemically related to a normal serum protein. The reason for the association of the cryoprecipitate with the intravascular coagulation process was not determined, but its presence helped to establish the diagnosis and reflected the intensity of intravascular coagulation during.
Association of increased basement membrane invasiveness with absence of estrogen receptor and expression of vimentin in human breast cancer cell lines

Lack of estrogen receptor (ER) and presence of vimentin (VIM) associate with poor prognosis in human breast cancer. We have explored the relationships between ER, VIM, and invasiveness in human breast cancer cell lines. In the matrigel outgrowth assay, ER+/VIM‐ (MCF‐7, T47D, ZR‐75‐1), and ER‐/VIM‐ (MDA‐MB‐468, SK‐Br‐3) cell lines were uninvasive, while ER‐/VIM+ (BT549, MDA‐MB‐231, MDA‐MB‐435, MDA‐MB‐436, Hs578T) lines formed invasive, penetrating colonies. Similarly, ER‐/VIM+ cell lines were significantly more invasive than either the ER+/VIM‐ or ER‐/VIM‐ cell lines in the Boyden chamber chemoinvasion assay. Invasive activity in nude mice was only seen with ER‐/VIM+ cell lines MDA‐MB‐231, MDA‐MB‐435 and MDA‐MB‐436. Hs578T cells (ER‐/VIM +) showed hematogenous dissemination to the lungs in one of five mice, but lacked local invasion. The ER‐/VIM+ MCF‐7ADR subline was significantly more active than the MCF‐7 cells in vitro, but resembled the wild‐type MCF‐7 parent in in vivo activity. Data from these cell lines suggest that human breast cancer progression results first in the loss of ER, and subsequently in VIM acquisition, the latter being associated with increased metastatic potential through enhanced invasiveness. The MCF‐7ADR data provide evidence that this transition can occur in human breast cancer cells. Vimentin expression may provide useful insights into mechanisms of invasion and/or breast cancer cell progression.
Tool of the Intelligence Economic: Recognition Function of Reviews Critics - Extraction and Linguistic Analysis of Sentiments

This paper describes the part of recommender system designed for movies’ critics recognition. Such a system allows the automatic collection, evaluation and rating of critics and opinions of the movies. First the system searches and retrieves texts supposed to be movies’ reviews from the Internet. Subsequently the system carries out an evaluation and rating of movies’ critics. Finally the system automatically associates a numerical mark to each critic. The goal of system is to give the score of critics associated to the users’ who wrote them. All of this data are the input to the cognitive engine. Data from our base allow making correspondences which are required for cognitive algorithms to improve advanced recommending functionalities for e-business and e-purchases websites. Our sesystem uses three different methods for classifying opinions from reviews critics. In this paper we describe the part of system which is based on automatically identifying opinions using natural language processing knowledge.
Spermatozoa quality of the tranSgenic rabbit offSpring

The objective of this study was to evaluate the spermatozoa quality of the F 4 - F 5 generation of transgenic rabbit males carrying the mWAP-hFVIII gene in comparison to non-transgenic individuals and previous transgenic generations. Semen samples from 4 transgenic rabbits and 10 randomly selected non-transgenic males of the same breed and age were collected once a week (5 ejaculates per male were analyzed) using an artificial vagina. Each sample of fresh ejaculate was evaluated using CaSa system for concentration and motility parameters. The ejaculate volume was the same in both groups of animals, but the sperm concentration was significantly higher (p<0.001) in transgenic bucks than in non-transgenic ones. there was not statistically significant difference in motility of spermatozoa, but the progressive motility was significantly lower (p<0.001) in transgenic males when compared to non-transgenic ones. We found significant differences also in other CaSa parameters: daP, LIn, BCF (p<0.05) and dSL, VSL (p<0.01). In comparison to our previous results (F 1 - F3), the spermatozoa quality in the offspring (F4 - F5) was similar, although the sperm concentration increased twofold, but the ejaculate volume and sperm motility were roughly the same. Our results showed good spermatozoa quality of the F 4 and F 5 generations of transgenic rabbit males without any reproductive disorders caused by transgenesis. Consequently the ability to produce offspring for the purpose to create stable transgenic line was retained.
Clinical studies on bone-related outcome and the effect of TNF-&agr; blocking therapy in ankylosing spondylitis

Purpose of reviewTo provide an overview of clinical trials and observational studies investigating the effect of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-&agr;) blocking therapy on bone formation and bone loss in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS). Recent findingsThe effect of TNF-&agr; blocking therapy on excessive bone formation or osteoproliferation remains inconclusive. Radiographic assessment of spinal osteoproliferation is complicated by the overall slow rate of progression and the high variability between individual AS patients. Multiple studies demonstrated that TNF-&agr; blocking therapy results in a significant increase in bone mineral density (BMD) at the lumbar spine and hip. Based on bone turnover marker (BTM) analysis, this can mainly be explained by an increase in mineralization and decrease in bone resorption. SummaryBoth osteoproliferation (e.g. syndesmophytes and ankylosis of vertebrae) and excessive bone loss resulting in osteoporosis and vertebral fractures are frequently present in AS. Previous studies showed that BMD increases during TNF-&agr; blocking therapy. Long-term follow-up in a large cohort of patients is needed to investigate whether TNF-&agr; blockers can consolidate or stop spinal osteoproliferation and prevent vertebral fractures. Future studies should focus on the effect of these agents on bone-related outcome in AS patients with early vs. advanced disease.
The Primate visual system

Introduction: A Brief Overview of the Primate Visual System. The K, P, and M Pathways from Retina to Cortex. The Pulvinar Complex. The Development of Neuron Response Properties in Primary Visual Cortex. The Second Visual Area, V2. The Superior Colliculus. Early Visual Areas: V2, V3, DM, DL, and MT. Plasticity of Visual Cortex in Adults. Processing Hierarchies in Visual Cortex. Visuomotor Areas in Frontal and Parietal Cortex. Specializations of Human Visual Cortex. Maps of the Visual Field in the Cerebral Cortex of Primates: Functional Organization and Significance. Face Expertise and Category Specialization in the Human Occipitotemporal Cortex. Motion Processing in Human Visual Cortex. The Functional Organization of Monkey Inferotemporal Cortex. Comparative Studies of Pyramidal Neurons in Visual Cortex of Monkeys. Feedback Connections: Splitting the Arrow.
Bounding the Sensitivity of Polynomial Threshold Functions

We give the first nontrivial upper bounds on the average sensitivity and noise sensitivity of polynomial threshold functions. More specifically, for a Boolean function f on n variables equal to the sign of a real, multivariate polynomial of total degree d, we prove • The average sensitivity of f is at most O(n 1 1=(4d+6) ). (We also give a combinatorial
Nodal domain theorems à la Courant

Let H(­0) = −¢ + V be a Schrodinger operator on a bounded domain ­0 ⊂ R d (d ≥ 2) with Dirichlet boundary condition. Suppose that ­l (l ∈ {1, . . . , k}) are some pairwise disjoint subsets of ­0 and that H(­l) are the corresponding Schrodinger operators again with Dirichlet boundary condition. We investigate the relations between the spectrum of H(­0) and the spectra of the H(­l). In par- ticular, we derive some inequalities for the associated spectral count- ing functions which can be interpreted as generalizations of Courant's nodal theorem. For the case where equality is achieved we prove con- verse results. In particular, we use potential theoretic methods to relate the ­l to the nodal domains of some eigenfunction of H(­0).
Social Choreography: Ideology as Performance in Dance and Everyday Movement

Through the concept of “social choreography” Andrew Hewitt demonstrates how choreography has served not only as metaphor for modernity but also as a structuring blueprint for thinking about and shaping modern social organization. Bringing dance history and critical theory together, he shows that ideology needs to be understood as something embodied and practiced, not just as an abstract form of consciousness. Linking dance and the aesthetics of everyday movement—such as walking, stumbling, and laughter—to historical ideals of social order, he provides a powerful exposition of Marxist debates about the relation of ideology and aesthetics. Hewitt focuses on the period between the mid-nineteenth century and the early twentieth and considers dancers and social theorists in Germany, Britain, France, and the United States. Analyzing the arguments of writers including Friedrich Schiller, Theodor Adorno, Hans Brandenburg, Ernst Bloch, and Siegfried Kracauer, he reveals in their thinking about the movement of bodies a shift from an understanding of play as the condition of human freedom to one prioritizing labor as either the realization or alienation of embodied human potential. Whether considering understandings of the Charleston, Isadora Duncan, Nijinsky, or the famous British chorus line the Tiller Girls, Hewitt foregrounds gender as he uses dance and everyday movement to rethink the relationship of aesthetics and social order.
Different Genetic Functions for the Rpd3(L) and Rpd3(S) Complexes Suggest Competition between NuA4 and Rpd3(S)

ABSTRACT Rpd3(L) and Rpd3(S) are distinct multisubunit complexes containing the Rpd3 histone deacetylase. Disruption of the GCN5 histone acetyltransferase gene shows a strong synthetic phenotype when combined with either an sds3 mutation affecting only the Rpd3(L) complex or an rco1 mutation affecting only Rpd3(S). However, these synthetic growth defects are not seen in a gcn5 sds3 rco1 triple mutant, suggesting that the balance between Rpd3(L) and Rpd3(S) is critical in cells lacking Gcn5. Different genetic interactions are seen with mutations affecting the FACT chromatin reorganizing complex. An sds3 mutation affecting only Rpd3(L) has a synthetic defect with FACT mutants, while rco1 and eaf3 mutations affecting Rpd3(S) suppress FACT mutant phenotypes. Rpd3(L) therefore acts in concert with FACT, but Rpd3(S) opposes it. Combining FACT mutations with mutations in the Esa1 subunit of the NuA4 histone acetyltransferase results in synthetic growth defects, and these can be suppressed by an rco1 or set2 mutation. An rco1 mutation suppresses phenotypes caused by mutations in the ESA1 and ARP4 subunits of NuA4, while Rco1 overexpression exacerbates these defects. These results suggest a model in which NuA4 and Rpd3(S) compete. Chromatin immunoprecipitation experiments show that eliminating Rpd3(S) increases the amount of NuA4 binding to the ARG3 promoter during transcriptional activation and to the sites of DNA repair induced by a double-strand break. Our results suggest that the Rpd3(L) and Rpd3(S) complexes have distinct functions in vivo and that the relative amounts of the two forms alter the effectiveness of other chromatin-altering complexes, such as FACT and NuA4.
Music instrument recognition: from isolated notes to solo phrases

Speech and audio processing techniques are used along with statistical pattern recognition principles to solve the problem of music instrument recognition. Non-temporal, frame level features only are used so that the proposed system is scalable from the isolated notes to the solo instrumental phrases scenario without the need for temporal segmentation of solo music. Based on their effectiveness in speech, line spectral frequencies (LSF) are proposed as features for music instrument recognition. The proposed system has also been evaluated using MFCC and LPCC features. Gaussian mixture models and K-nearest neighbour model classifier are used for classification. The experimental dataset included the Ulowa MIS and the C Music corporation RWC databases. Our best results at the instrument family level is about 95% and at the instrument level is about 90% when classifying 14 instruments.
Performance Comparison Between Channel-Bonding and Multi-Channel CSMA

There arises a need to increase the network throughput by broadening the bandwidth. Currently, in IEEE 802.11 wireless LAN standardizations, two approaches are taken to effectively utilize multiple existing channels. One is multi-channel technique in which multiple separate frequency channels are used for communications as seen in IEEE 802.11s. The other is channel-bonding technique in which multiple frequency channels are bonded into a single broadband channel as seen in IEEE 802.11n. The former one can mitigate traffic congestion, while the latter one can increase the transmission rates. Here, in this paper, these two approaches are analytically compared and the advantages of the respective approach are clarified in terms of the network throughput and delay performances assuming the same total bandwidth and a CSMA protocol. Our numerical and simulation results indicate that under low-traffic conditions, using channel-bonding technique can achieve a low delay, while under high-traffic conditions, the performances of both throughput and delay can be improved by using multi-channel technique.
Experimental analysis of multi-hop routing in vehicular ad-hoc networks

Evaluation of vehicular ad-hoc networks (VANETs) over real environments is still a remaining issue for most researchers. There are some works dealing with common 802.11 analysis over real vehicular environments, which carry out performance tests to measure the quality of the communication channel and justify results according to physical and MAC conditions. There are only a few works regarding multi-hop experimentation in this field, and even less (if not none) testing multi-hop protocols. In this paper an integral VANET testbed is evaluated, using 802.11b and a multi-hop network managed by the Optimized Link State Routing protocol (OLSR). Up to four vehicles are used over urban and highway environments to study the VANET performance, and different metrics are used to analyse the results in terms of delay, bandwidth, packet loss and distance between nodes. Furthermore, a deeper analysis is carried out to study the route followed by packets end to end, which enables us to count the number of hops and detect the links where packets are lost. Because a routing protocol is used, results differ from traditional two-hop and staticroute tests, presenting a more realistic study. OLSR is considered as a good reference point for the research community, although it is not the most suitable protocol for vehicular environments, as results show.
Proinflammatory cytokine levels in hyperlipidemic patients with periodontitis after periodontal treatment.

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of periodontal treatment on serum and gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) proinflammatory cytokine levels in hyperlipidemic patients with periodontitis. MATERIALS AND METHODS Fifty-two patients with hyperlipidemia and periodontitis and 28 systemically healthy controls with periodontitis (C) were included in the study. Hyperlipidemic groups were divided into two groups as suggested diet (HD) and prescribed statin (HS). The clinical periodontal parameters, fasting venous blood, and GCF samples were obtained, and serum tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), interleukin (IL) 1-beta, and IL-6 levels were evaluated at baseline and at 3 months follow-up (3MFU) after the completion of the non-surgical periodontal treatment that included scaling and root planning. RESULTS Percentage of bleeding on probing was significantly higher in the HS group than both the HD and C groups. In the HD and HS groups, there were significant decreases in serum IL-6 and GCF TNF-α levels between the 3MFU and baseline. A significant decrease was also found in GCF IL-6 at the end of the study period in the HS group. CONCLUSION The combination of the periodontal therapy and antilipemic treatment may provide beneficial effects on the metabolic and inflammatory control of hyperlipidemia.