Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Protective Effects of Meniscal Transplantation on Cartilage. An Experimental Study in Sheep*

Background: Meniscal loss may result in arthritis. The aim of this study was to establish a simple operative method for meniscal transplantation in a large-animal model and to determine whether meniscal transplantation provides protection of the articular surfaces, whether meniscal allografts have the same protective effect as meniscal autogenous grafts, and whether there is any rejection phenomenon associated with meniscal allografts. Methods: Twenty-eight sheep were divided into four study groups, which were treated with (1) a sham operation (four sheep), (2) a meniscectomy (eight sheep), (3) a meniscal autogenous graft (eight sheep), or (4) a meniscal allograft (eight sheep). The meniscal transplant was secured with three suture anchors to the tibia. At four months after the operation, macroscopic and microscopic evaluations of the articular cartilage and the menisci of the sheep knees were performed in a blinded fashion. Results: The group treated with the sham operation had no cartilage damage and had normal meniscal tissue. The meniscectomies resulted in significant macroscopic and microscopic damage to the articular cartilage in the medial compartment. The mean score (and standard error of the mean) for macroscopic damage to the cartilage in the group treated with the meniscectomy was 6.5 ± 0.8 points compared with 3.9 ± 0.7 points in the group treated with the autogenous graft and 4.3 ± 0.6 points in the group treated with the allograft (p < 0.05). The size of the area of damaged articular cartilage was reduced by approximately 50 percent in both groups treated with a meniscal transplant compared with the group treated with the meniscectomy (p < 0.05). There were no significant differences between the group treated with the autogenous graft and that treated with the allograft. The histological appearance of the meniscal autogenous grafts was within normal limits. Interestingly, all of the allografts had evidence of fibrinoid degeneration with areas of hypocellularity and cloning of chondroid cells. Conclusions: These results suggest that meniscal transplantation provides noticeable although not complete protection against damage to the articular cartilage after a meniscectomy. The meniscal allografts were just as effective in providing this protection as were the meniscal autogenous grafts. Clinical Relevance: If these results are applicable to humans, they would support the transplantation of meniscal allografts, but it may be necessary to pay special attention to isometricity of meniscal grafts.
In vivo optical trapping indicates kinesin’s stall force is reduced by dynein during intracellular transport

Kinesin and dynein are fundamental components of intracellular transport, but their interactions when simultaneously present on cargos are unknown. We built an optical trap that can be calibrated in vivo during data acquisition for each individual cargo to measure forces in living cells. Comparing directional stall forces in vivo and in vitro, we found evidence that cytoplasmic dynein is active during minus- and plus-end directed motion, whereas kinesin is only active in the plus direction. In vivo, we found outward (∼plus-end) stall forces range from 2 to 7 pN, which is significantly less than the 5- to 7-pN stall force measured in vitro for single kinesin molecules. In vitro measurements on beads with kinesin-1 and dynein bound revealed a similar distribution, implying that an interaction between opposite polarity motors causes this difference. Finally, inward (∼minus-end) stalls in vivo were 2–3 pN, which is higher than the 1.1-pN stall force of a single dynein, implying multiple active dynein.
Machine Learning Classification of fMRI Data in Semantic and Syntactic Tasks

The mental processes underlying the understanding of words and sentences are still poorly understood. Computational analysis of data from Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) experiments has been an invaluable tool for understanding the patterns of neural activation associated with mental processes. Analysis of data can be very difficult due to interference between stimuli as well as noise in fMRI measurements. This thesis focuses on discovering if there are differences in brain activity between classifying words and classifying sentences by using a naïve Bayes classifier. Further, the differences in neural activity are quantified at various levels of detail to determine where such processing takes place. To achieve this goal, proper methodology and procedure for analysis of fMRI data was developed and refined to ensure legitimate conclusions.
Mir-27 a promotes apoptosis of cochlear sensory epithelium in Cx 26 knockout mice

To investigate the underlying molecular mechanism for connexin 26 (Cx26) knockout-induced apoptosis, we performed TUNEL assays to detect apoptosis in the cochlear sensory epithelium in Cx26 knockout mice. We also compared the miRNA expression profiles of Cx26 knockout and wild-type mice using microarray technology and bioinformatic analyses. Real-time PCR, luciferase reporter gene assays, and scala media microinjections were performed to identify the effect of a specific miRNA and its targets. The results showed that apoptosis increased in the cochlear sensory epithelium of Cx26 knockout mice. The abnormal expression of mir-27a and sgk1 in Cx26 knockout mice was verified with real-time PCR. Luciferase reporter gene assays showed that overexpression of mir-27a significantly decreased sgk1 reporter gene activity; an inhibitor of mir-27a blocked the effect. Mir-27a lentivirus also inhibited sgk1 expression in cultured cochlear tissue. Mir-27a promotes apoptosis of cochlear sensory epithelium in Cx26 knockout mice
X Chromosome Sites Autonomously Recruit the Dosage Compensation Complex in Drosophila Males

It has been proposed that dosage compensation in Drosophila males occurs by binding of two core proteins, MSL-1 and MSL-2, to a set of 35–40 X chromosome “entry sites” that serve to nucleate mature complexes, termed compensasomes, which then spread to neighboring sequences to double expression of most X-linked genes. Here we show that any piece of the X chromosome with which compensasomes are associated in wild-type displays a normal pattern of compensasome binding when inserted into an autosome, independently of the presence of an entry site. Furthermore, in chromosomal rearrangements in which a piece of X chromosome is inserted into an autosome, or a piece of autosome is translocated to the X chromosome, we do not observe spreading of compensasomes to regions of autosomes that have been juxtaposed to X chromosomal material. Taken together these results suggest that spreading is not involved in dosage compensation and that nothing distinguishes an entry site from the other X chromosome sites occupied by compensasomes beyond their relative affinities for compensasomes. We propose a new model in which the distribution of compensasomes along the X chromosome is achieved according to the hierarchical affinities of individual binding sites.
Bioactive Peptides in Milk and Dairy Products: A Review

Functionally and physiologically active peptides are produced from several food proteins during gastrointestinal digestion and fermentation of food materials with lactic acid bacteria. Once bioactive peptides (BPs) are liberated, they exhibit a wide variety of physiological functions in the human body such as gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, immune, endocrine, and nervous systems. These functionalities of the peptides in human health and physiology include antihypertensive, antimicrobial, antioxidative, antithrombotic, opioid, anti-appetizing, immunomodulatory and mineral-binding activities. Most of the bioactivities of milk proteins are latent, being absent or incomplete in the original native protein, but full activities are manifested upon proteolytic digestion to release and activate encrypted bioactive peptides from the original protein. Bioactive peptides have been identified within the amino acid sequences of native milk proteins. Due to their physiological and physico-chemical versatility, milk peptides are regarded as greatly important components for health promoting foods or pharmaceutical applications. Milk and colostrum of bovine and other dairy species are considered as the most important source of natural bioactive components. Over the past a few decades, major advances and developments have been achieved on the science, technology and commercial applications of bioactive components which are present naturally in the milk. Although the majority of published works are associated with the search of bioactive peptides in bovine milk samples, some of them are involved in the investigation of ovine or caprine milk. The advent of functional foods has been facilitated by increasing scientific knowledge about the metabolic and genomic effects of diet and specific dietary components on human health.
Me design and freeform fabrication of compliant cellular materials with graded stiffness

Typically, cellular materials are designed for structural applications to provide stiffness or absorb impact via permanent plastic deformation. Alternatively, it is possible to design compliant cellular materials that absorb energy via recoverable elastic deformation, allowing the material to spring back to its original configuration after the load is released. Potential applications include automotive panels or prosthetic applications that require repeated, low-speed impact absorption without permanent deformation. The key is to arrange solid base material in cellular topologies that permit high levels of elastic deformation. To prevent plastic deformation, the topologies are designed for contact between cell walls at predetermined load levels, resulting in customized, graded stiffness profiles. Design techniques are established for synthesizing cellular topologies with customized compliance for static or quasi-static applications. The design techniques account for cell wall contact, large scale deformations, and material nonlinearities. Resulting cellular material designs are fabricated with selective laser sintering, and their properties are experimentally evaluated.
Characteristics of Stem Cells Derived from the Degenerated Human Intervertebral Disc Cartilage Endplate

Introduction Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) derived from adult tissues are an important candidate for cell-based therapies and regenerative medicine due to their multipotential differentiation capability. MSCs have been identified in many adult tissues but have not reported in the human intervertebral disc cartilage endplate (CEP). Materials and Methods The initial purpose of this study was to determine whether MSCs exist in the degenerated human CEP. Next, the morphology, proliferation capacity, cell cycle, cell surface epitope profile, and differentiation capacity of these CEP-derived stem cells (CESCs) were compared with bone-marrow MSCs (BM-MSCs). Finally, whether CESCs are a suitable candidate for BM-MSCs was evaluated. Isolated cells from degenerated human CEP were seeded in an agarose suspension culture system to screen the proliferative cell clusters. Cell clusters were chosen and expanded in vitro and were compared with BM-MSCs derived from the same patient. Results The morphology, proliferation rate, cell cycle, immunophenotype, and stem cell gene expression of the CESCs were similar to BM-MSCs. In addition, the CESCs could be induced into osteoblasts, adipocytes, chondrocytes, and are superior to BM-MSCs in terms of osteogenesis and chondrogenesis. This study is first to demonstrate the presence of stem cells in the human degenerated CEP. Conclusion These results may improve our understanding of intervertebral disc (IVD) pathophysiology and the degeneration process, and could provide cell candidates for cell-based regenerative medicine and tissue engineering. Disclosure of Interest None declared
ADD: A Data Dissemination Solution for Highly Dynamic Highway Environments

Vehicular Ad-Hoc Networks (VANETs) are a specific type of moving networks in which the nodes are vehicles with processing, storage and wireless communication capacity. VANETs face a number of challenges in terms of data dissemination due to the volatile density of vehicles and frequent changes in the network topology induced by the high mobility of the vehicles and of short-range communications. The envisaged applications, as well as some inherent characteristics of the VANETs render the data dissemination an essential service and a challenging task in these networks. Many data dissemination protocols have been proposed in the literature, nevertheless, most of such protocols do not deal simultaneously with the problems of broadcast storm and synchronization problem. To face such problems, we propose a new data dissemination protocol in vehicular networks named ADD, which operates in highly dynamic highway environments. The ADD consists two mechanisms, broadcast suppression and delay desynchronization. ADD uses a preference zone to eliminate the broadcast storm problem and the delay desynchronization to eliminate the synchronization problem caused by 802.11p protocol. When compared with three known solutions SRD, Flooding and AID we show that our proposal for data dissemination executes it with higher efficiency than other protocols, exceeding them in different scenarios in all the undertaken evaluations.
Development of the Smart Grid: Missing Elements in the Policy Process

This paper seeks to frame one aspect of the Smart Grid discussion which has been under-recognized in regulatory and policy debates. Significant discussion has focused Smart Grid attention on the technologies and on technical interoperability, there has been little if any attention to questions of the structure or the operation of the market(s) in which the technologies will function. The authors contend that the market structure required for a successful Smart Grid is best understood by a "platform" framework. We present our view of the interrelationship between that market platform, ultimate customers and power suppliers. It is our conclusion that without a thorough vetting of the market structure within which Smart Grid technologies will function, the full value of the innovations cannot be realized.
On protection in federated social computing systems

Nowadays, a user may belong to multiple social computing systems (SCSs) in order to benefit from a variety of services that each SCS may provide. To facilitate the sharing of contents across the system boundary, some SCSs provide a mechanism by which a user may "connect" his accounts on two SCSs. The effect is that contents from one SCS can now be shared to another SCS. Although such a connection feature delivers clear usability advantages for users, it also generates a host of privacy challenges. A notable challenge is that the access control policy of the SCS from which the content originates may not be honoured by the SCS to which the content migrates, because the latter fails to faithfully replicate the protection model of the former. In this paper we formulate a protection model for a federation of SCSs that support content sharing via account connection. A core feature of the model is that sharable contents are protected by access control policies that transcend system boundary - they are enforced even after contents are migrated from one SCS to another. To ensure faithful interpretation of access control policies, their evaluation involves querying the protection states of various SCSs, using Secure Multiparty Computation (SMC). An important contribution of this work is that we carefully formulate the conditions under which policy evaluation using SMC does not lead to the leakage of information about the protection states of the SCSs. We also study the computational problem of statically checking if an access control policy can be evaluated without information leakage. Lastly, we identify useful policy idioms.
The Internal Customers Perceptions Of A Multi-Campus University System In Zimbabwe. A Case Of Great Zimbabwe University.

Multi-campus university system is not a new approach in the developed countries but in developing countries the strategy has been adopted especially in Africa. This paper serves to determine the perception of internal customers regarding the adoption of a multi-campus at the Great Zimbabwe University in 2013 from the single campus university. As a new approach to the institution there is a mixed view about the strategy and it's important to measure it so that possible information gap can be filled. This paper focuses on internal customersperception towards its impact on learning venues, institutional administration, learning and the library activities. A qualitative survey research was used which adopted a descriptive survey design to get in-depth understanding about effectiveness of the multi-campus system as compared to the single centralised system. A sample size of 140 respondents were used whereby it comprised of 100 students, 25 academic staff and 15 non-academic staff who filled questionnaires which were collected after a day or two since they all belonged to the university A random judgemental sampling technique was chosen and (20) students respondents were chosen from each campus, 5 academic staff were selected from each campus and 3 respondents were chosen from each campus also. Data analysis was done through the useof SPSS version 14.0 and mean and standard deviations were used to interpret the meaning of data analysed. The overall results were reflective of the fact that multi-campus system was accepted in Zimbabwean universities especially at Great Zimbabwe University because of a number of benefits that accrue to both students, academic staff and non-academic staff. Key terms: Administration boards, Customers Perception, Multi-campus challenges, Multi-Campus autonomy, organizationalperformance, Service delivery, Service quality, University system, College where the faculties of Commerce and Social Sciences were housed and still there were limited facilities for any meaningful expansion of the faculties. This university since its establishment owned very few infrastructure to accommodate its students, staff, lecture rooms as noted above. The slow growth of the student populationand lecturing staff saw GZU renting classrooms from Paramount Academy for two semesters of the year 2011 and Shingirirai Centre (Roman Catholic training centre) buildings in the Mucheke high density suburbs in the same year and the use of Khan Centre, a private property in the city centre of Masvingo and some groups from the Faculty of Education had lectures in the Methodist Church vestry rooms. Since 2011, GZU had increased the number of courses and programmes such as Faculty of Culture and Heritage, the Faculty of Arts, the Faculty of Commerce, the Faculty of Education, the Faculty of Social Sciences, the Faculty of Agriculture and Natural
Altered Pharmacokinetics of Indinavir by a Novel Nonnucleoside Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitor (HBY‐097): A Pharmacokinetic Evaluation in HIV‐Positive Patients

HBY‐097 (HBY), an investigational nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI), and indinavir (IDV) share a common metabolic pathway, cytochrome P4503A4 (CYP3A4), and may clinically be used together as well as with zidovudine (ZDV). Thus, the potential pharmacokinetic (PK) interaction between these drugs was evaluated. HBY (500 mg Q8H), IDV (800 mg Q8H), and ZDV (200 mg Q8H) were given to 8 HIV‐infected subjects. Serial plasma samples were collected at baseline (ZDV and IDV alone) and day 11 (all 3drugs) to determine PK parameters using noncompartmental analysis. PK parameters for ZDV in the presence and absence of HBY were not appreciably different. However, both the maximum (Cmax) and minimum (Cmin) concentrations of IDV were significantly reduced, from a mean of 7514 ⌖ 1636 and 146 ⌖ 81 mcg/L to 4725 ⌖ 2494 mcg/L and 54 ⌖ 24 mcg/L (p < .05) after addition of HBY. Furthermore, apparent clearance (CL/F) of IDV before and after 11 days of concomitant HBY administration was significantly higher, from 0.69 ⌖ 0.14 to 1.94 ⌖ 0.63 L/h/kg (p < .05) with an associated reduction in area under the curve (AUC0–8) from 16,034 ⌖ 4903 to 6134 ⌖ 2701 mg/L/h (p < .05). The increase in IDV CL/F is consistent with the observed metabolic induction effects of other NNRTIs. The results of this trial showed that HBY significantly alters the pharmacokinetic parameters of IDV at the dose studied.
A drug-eluting contact lens.

PURPOSE To formulate and characterize a drug-eluting contact lens designed to provide extended, controlled release of a drug. METHODS Prototype contact lenses were created by coating PLGA (poly[lactic-co-glycolic acid]) films containing test compounds with pHEMA (poly[hydroxyethyl methacrylate]) by ultraviolet light polymerization. The films, containing encapsulated fluorescein or ciprofloxacin, were characterized by scanning electron microscopy. Release studies were conducted in phosphate-buffered saline at 37 degrees C with continuous shaking. Ciprofloxacin eluted from the contact lens was studied in an antimicrobial assay to verify antimicrobial effectiveness. RESULTS After a brief and minimal initial burst, the prototype contact lenses demonstrated controlled release of the molecules studied, with zero-order release kinetics under infinite sink conditions for over 4 weeks. The rate of drug release was controlled by changing either the ratio of drug to PLGA or the molecular mass of the PLGA used. Both the PLGA and the pHEMA affected release kinetics. Ciprofloxacin released from the contact lenses inhibited ciprofloxacin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus at all time-points tested. CONCLUSIONS A prototype contact lens for sustained drug release consisting of a thin drug-PLGA film coated with pHEMA could be used as a platform for ocular drug delivery with widespread therapeutic applications.
Guidelines for the early management of patients with ischemic stroke: 2005 guidelines update a scientific statement from the Stroke Council of the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association.

This article serves as an update of “Guidelines for the Early Management of Patients With Ischemic Stroke,” published in Stroke in 2003 (http://stroke.ahajournals.org/cgi/content/full/34/4/1056). This update is intended to reflect advances in the field since the publication of the full guidelines. See Tables 1 and 2⇓, reprinted in this article from the 2003 document, for explanations of grade (strength of recommendation). View this table: TABLE 1. Levels of Evidence View this table: TABLE 2. Quality of Evidence Ratings for Radiological Diagnostic Tests CT remains the most widely used neuroimaging technique for the evaluation of patients with suspected acute ischemic stroke. Quantitative CT-based scoring systems (eg, the Alberta Stroke Program Early CT Score [ASPECTS]) are useful for identifying patients who are unlikely to recover fully despite thrombolytic therapy.1 Substantial agreement between the ASPECTS rating performed in real time and the score obtained later by an expert can be achieved when used by an experienced reader, but correlations are not perfect (weighted κ 0.69, 95% CI 0.59 to 0.79). 2 This scoring system has not been assessed in general clinical practice and is limited to use in patients with infarctions suspected to be in the distribution of the middle cerebral artery. In addition, advances in CT technology, including the development of CT angiography and perfusion studies, may affect future recommendations about the use of CT in the evaluation of patients with suspected stroke. MRI techniques also are used widely in the assessment of patients with suspected stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA). For example, a retrospective analysis of patients having diffusion-weighted MRI studies within 3 days of TIA demonstrated relevant abnormalities in 21% of cases.3 Changes in ≈44% of cases are detected by T2-weighted or fluid attenuation inversion recovery MRI studies. A scientific statement authored by a panel of the American Heart Association focused on …