Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Regulation of µ-Opioid Receptors: Desensitization, Phosphorylation, Internalization, and Tolerance

Morphine and related µ-opioid receptor (MOR) agonists remain among the most effective drugs known for acute relief of severe pain. A major problem in treating painful conditions is that tolerance limits the long-term utility of opioid agonists. Considerable effort has been expended on developing an understanding of the molecular and cellular processes that underlie acute MOR signaling, short-term receptor regulation, and the progression of events that lead to tolerance for different MOR agonists. Although great progress has been made in the past decade, many points of contention and controversy cloud the realization of this progress. This review attempts to clarify some confusion by clearly defining terms, such as desensitization and tolerance, and addressing optimal pharmacological analyses for discerning relative importance of these cellular mechanisms. Cellular and molecular mechanisms regulating MOR function by phosphorylation relative to receptor desensitization and endocytosis are comprehensively reviewed, with an emphasis on agonist-biased regulation and areas where knowledge is lacking or controversial. The implications of these mechanisms for understanding the substantial contribution of MOR signaling to opioid tolerance are then considered in detail. While some functional MOR regulatory mechanisms contributing to tolerance are clearly understood, there are large gaps in understanding the molecular processes responsible for loss of MOR function after chronic exposure to opioids. Further elucidation of the cellular mechanisms that are regulated by opioids will be necessary for the successful development of MOR-based approaches to new pain therapeutics that limit the development of tolerance.
Watermarking Techniques for Relational Databases: Survey, Classification and Comparison

Digital watermarking for relational databases emerged as a candidate so- lution to provide copyright protection, tamper detection, traitor tracing, maintaining integrity of relational data. Many watermarking techniques have been proposed in the literature to address these purposes. In this paper, we survey the current state-of-the- art and we classify them according to their intent, the way they express the watermark, the cover type, the granularity level, and their verifiability.
Validation of the Antidiabetic and Hypolipidemic Effects of Hawthorn by Assessment of Gluconeogenesis and Lipogenesis Related Genes and AMP-Activated Protein Kinase Phosphorylation

Since with the increased use of antidiabetic and antihyperlipidemic effect of phytonutrients for daily supplement has gained considerable attention worldwide, we examine the effect and molecular mechanism of Crataegus pinnatifida Bge. var. major N.E. Br. (hawthorn) by quantifying the expression of hepatic gluconeogenesis and lipogenesis on diabetes and dyslipidemia in high-fat (HF)-fed C57BL/6J mice. Firstly, mice were divided randomly into two groups: the control (CON) group was fed with a low-fat diet, whereas the experimental group was fed a 45% HF diet for 8 weeks. Afterwards, the CON group was treated with vehicle, whereas the HF group was subdivided into five groups and was given orally hawthorn extract (including 0.2, 0.5, 1.0 g/kg/day extracts) or rosiglitazone (Rosi) or vehicle for 4 weeks afterward. Diabetic mice showed an increase in plasma glucose and insulin. Glucose lowering was comparable with Rosi-treated mice. This study demonstrated that hawthorn was effective in ameliorating the HF diet-induced hyperglycemia, hypertriglyceridemia and hypercholesterolaemia. Hawthorn extract significantly increases the hepatic protein contents of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) phosphorylation and reduces expression of phosphenol pyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK) and glucose production. Furthermore, hawthorn decreased in hepatic triacylglycerol and cholesterol synthesis (including sterol regulatory element binding protein-1c (SREBP-1c), fatty acid synthase (FAS), SREBP2). An increase in expressions of apoA-I gene and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) was detected in HF-fed mice treated with high dose hawthorn. Our data suggest that hawthorn extract are capable of decreasing glucose production and triacylglycerol synthesis by inducing AMPK-phosphorylation and hawthorn is a candidate source of antidiabetic and antihyperlipidemic phytonutrients factors.
Evaluation of Artificial Neural Network Performance in Predicting Diesel Engine NOx Emissions

Diesel engine is becoming increasing popular due to its high efficiency and durability. Considering the most important greenhouse gas, carbondioxide (CO2), the diesel engine is superior to gasoline engine. Unfortunately, the diesel engine emits high level of oxides of nitrogen (NOx). Close control of combustion in the engine will be essential to achieve ever-increasing efficiency improvements while meeting increasingly stringent emissions standards. As new degrees of freedom are created, due to advances in technology, the complicated processes of emission formation are difficulty to assess. Artificial neural network (ANN)-based engine modelling offers the potential for a multidimensional, adaptive, learning control system which does not require knowledge of the governing equations for engine performance or the combustion kinetics of emissions formation that a conventional map-based engine model require. This paper evaluates the capabilities of ANN as a predictive tool for multi-cylinder diesel engine NOx emissions. The experiments were carried out with a stationary light-duty Nissan diesel engine test-rig designed and assembled to allow testing of the engine in a laboratory environment. Standard laboratory procedures were used to measure the engine operating parameters and its tailpipe emissions. ANNs were trained on experimental data and used to predict the oxides of nitrogen (NOx) emissions under various operating variables. Fraction of variance (R 2 ) and mean absolute percentage error (ξ) were used for comparison in the sensitivity analysis. The Levenberg-Marquardt (LM) algorithm with 11 neurons produced the best results. Among the examined combinations of learning criteria in different architectures of backpropagation (BP) designs, a set of 0.05, 0.05 and 0.3 for learning rate, momentum and weight respectively, gave the best-averaged accuracy. For pre-specified engine speeds and loads with LM algorithm, ξ were found to be between 0.68 and 3.34%.
A Distributed Eigensolver for Loosely Coupled Networks

We introduce a new distributed eigensolver (dOI) for square matrices based on orthogonal iteration. In contrast to standard parallel eigensolvers, our approach performs only nearest neighbor communication and provides much more flexibility with respect to the properties of the hardware infrastructure on which the computation is performed. This is achieved by utilizing distributed summation methods with randomized communication schedules which do not require global synchronization across the nodes. Our algorithm is particularly attractive for loosely coupled distributed networks with arbitrary network topologies and potentially unreliable components. Our distributed eigensolver dOI is based on a novel distributed matrix-matrix multiplication algorithm and on an extension of a distributed QR factorization algorithm proposed earlier. We illustrate the advantages of dOI in terms of higher flexibility with respect to the underlying network and lower communication cost compared to a related distributed eigensolver by Kempe and McSherry. Moreover, we experimentally illustrate how the overall communication cost of dOI is further reduced by adapting the accuracy of each distributed summation during the orthogonal iteration process.
Current trends in cloud storage for resource constrained mobile devices

In the modern world, mobile devices as smart phones, tablets are the main source for users to access their data from any place at any time. But due to the inherent problems of mobile devices as limited data storage capacity, processing power and battery backup, users are unable to store large amount of data on these devices. To avoid these limitations, the concept of Mobile Cloud Computing introduced, in which main processing tasks and data are offloaded into the cloud for processing and storage so that resource intensive applications can also be executed and a large amount of data can be stored on resource constrained mobile devices. In this paper, we are describing the current trends used in cloud storage for resource constrained mobile devices and their different perspectives. Then, we explore the issues faced by users when accessing cloud storage services on mobile devices and solutions proposed by different authors.
Progress towards Sustainable Utilisation and Management of Food Wastes in the Global Economy

In recent years, the problem of food waste has attracted considerable interest from food producers, processors, retailers, and consumers alike. Food waste is considered not only a sustainability problem related to food security, but also an economic problem since it directly impacts the profitability of the whole food supply chain. In developed countries, consumers are one of the main contributors to food waste and ultimately pay for all wastes produced throughout the food supply chain. To secure food and reduce food waste, it is essential to have a comprehensive understanding of the various sources of food wastes throughout the food supply chain. The present review examines various reports currently in the literature and quantifies waste levels and examines the trends in wastage for various food sectors such as fruit and vegetable, fisheries, meat and poultry, grain, milk, and dairy. Factors contributing to food waste, effective cost/benefit food waste utilisation methods, sustainability and environment considerations, and public acceptance are identified as hurdles in preventing large-scale food waste processing. Thus, we highlight the need for further research to identify and report food waste so that government regulators and food supply chain stakeholders can actively develop effective waste utilisation practices.
HDL and glucose metabolism: current evidence and therapeutic potential

High-density lipoprotein (HDL) and its principal apolipoprotein A-I (ApoA-I) have now been convincingly shown to influence glucose metabolism through multiple mechanisms. The key clinically relevant observations are that both acute HDL elevation via short-term reconstituted HDL (rHDL) infusion and chronically raising HDL via a cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) inhibitor reduce blood glucose in individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). HDL may mediate effects on glucose metabolism through actions in multiple organs (e.g., pancreas, skeletal muscle, heart, adipose, liver, brain) by three distinct mechanisms: (i) Insulin secretion from pancreatic beta cells, (ii) Insulin-independent glucose uptake, (iii) Insulin sensitivity. The molecular mechanisms appear to involve both direct HDL signaling actions as well as effects secondary to lipid removal from cells. The implications of glucoregulatory mechanisms linked to HDL extend from glycemic control to potential anti-ischemic actions via increased tissue glucose uptake and utilization. Such effects not only have implications for the prevention and management of diabetes, but also for ischemic vascular diseases including angina pectoris, intermittent claudication, cerebral ischemia and even some forms of dementia. This review will discuss the growing evidence for a role of HDL in glucose metabolism and outline related potential for HDL therapies.
Obstacles constrained Mars powered descent trajectory optimization via navigation function

The scientifically interesting areas on Mars always spread of all kinds of obstacles (e.g., mountains and craters), and landing in scientifically interesting areas have the potential to obtain more scientific data in one Mars mission. In this paper, the issue of landing in the scientifically interesting areas on Mars with safety guaranteed and minimum fuel consumption is studied. Firstly, the elevation data of the target landing terrain are assumed. Then, the threat of the obstacles to the lander is treated as the virtual thrust acting on the lander through navigation function. By introducing the virtual thrust, the total thrust is separated into two parts in this paper. One part is used to avoid the obstacles and the resultant force is optimized. By this means, the obtained optimal trajectory is fuel-saving and has the obstacle avoidance ability. Finally, several sets of simulations are performed in the target landing terrain. The optimal and the obstacles constrained optimal trajectories are obtained at the same conditions. The results show that the obtained obstacles constrained optimal trajectories avoid the obstacles effectively, and take only 2.3kg more fuel consumption than the optimal trajectories for the lander of 1905kg. However, the collision probability of optimal trajectories is generally about 45.5% in the target landing terrain. In addition, the results show that the optimal trajectories with the glide slope constraint have no feasible solution in this situation. This indicates that the glide slope constraint reduces the solution space, especially for the terrain with large obstacles. The comparison of the results indicates that the obstacles constrained trajectory optimization method in this paper is fuel-saving and has the potential to achieve safe landing in the areas with obstacles.
One-flow, multistep synthesis of nucleosides by Brønsted acid-catalyzed glycosylation.

Nucleosides and their structural variants are a well-established and important class of antiviral and anticancer agents. More recently, they have become the chemical centerpiece of the development of genetic therapies, biological probes, and modern DNA sequencing technologies, as well as investigations into the molecular mechanisms of chemical carcinogenesis and DNA repair. Due to this broad utility, the development of more efficient methods for the synthesis of nucleoside analogues remains a high priority. Currently the most widely used method of ribonucleoside synthesis is the Vorbrüggen modification of the silyl-Hilbert-Johnson reaction. This approach assembles the important nucleosidic bond by joining a glycosyl donor with a silylated nucleobase, under Lewis acid promotion. A highthroughput two-step glycosylation/deprotection sequence for the synthesis of nucleoside libraries is a notable recent improvement. Nevertheless, despite these advances the stoichiometric use of Lewis acids, e.g., trimethylsilyl triflate (TMSOTf), remains the state of the art. The limitations of this aspect are not insignificant and include the functional group compatibility of the Lewis acid and the quenching, separation, and disposal thereof, particularly on preparative scale. We now introduce pyridinium triflate salts as efficient glycosylation catalysts for the synthesis of nucleosides and nucleoside analogues. We further report the development of a general and scalable method for the continuous flow synthesis of nucleosides. An in-line deprotection step allows for one-flow, multi-step synthesis of unprotected nucleosides without intermediate isolation or purification operations. To the best of our knowledge this is the first general method of nucleoside formation catalyzed by Brønsted acids, such as pyridinium trifaltes. The high temperatures readily available to flow synthesis make this new paradigm possible and practical. [8]
LGBTQ adolescents of color: Considerations for working with youth and their families

ABSTRACT Adolescence is a period during which youth are tasked with self-discovery and formation of their identity. This may be more challenging for youths of minority backgrounds. LGBTQ individuals have the additional task of understanding who they are in comparison to heterosexual peers. For LGBTQ youth of color, however, a multiple minority status can lead to particular psychosocial vulnerabilities. These vulnerabilities are noted in family and social life, and may occur in both online and in-person settings. A review of literature as it pertains to a clinical vignette was performed, highlighting risk factors and protective factors for LGBTQ youth of color during adolescence. Cross-sectional data and longitudinal studies have been noted to show that sexual minority youth of color are at increased risk of relationships with adult individuals, substance use, suicidal ideation and suicide attempts, and trauma. In light of this, minority status may be a protective factor in these youths' lives. It is important for clinicians to be aware of the intersectionality of LGBTQ status and racial/ethnic identity, as this may yield to increased risk for psychosocial stressors and comorbidities. Furthermore, clinicians should be aware of resources for patient referral to mitigate these factors. Further research is needed to understand the complex dynamics that occur in the lives of LGBTQ youth of color.
Parallel GPU Implementation of Hough Transform for Circles

Hough transform is one of the most widely used algorithms in image processing. The major problems of Hough’s transform are its time consuming and its abundant requirement of computational resources. In this paper, we try to solve this problem by paralleling this algorithm and implementing it on GPUs(Graphic Process unit) using CUDA(Compute Unified Device Architecture) . We have introduced two methods for parallelization, each of which has been implemented on four different graphic cards using CUDA. After executing the proposed methods on GPUs, we have compared our results with sequential algorithm execution on CPU and it is observable that we have about 65 times more speedup toward the sequential algorithm.
Mobile technologies adoption and Fit with strategic goals

Our goal is to understand the reasons why firms adopt mobile technologies and analyse how these mobile technologies are appropriated by individuals, so that organizations can fully benefit from the implementation of mobile technologies. A qualitative research constituted of 80 semi-structured interviews in 10 firms was carried out. This paper presents a model which highlights the link between the reasons of adoption and the appropriation by the individuals. One of the main results of this paper lies in the fact that such a link between adoption and appropriation is likely to influence the fit between IT and strategic organizational goals.
Chandra Exposes the Core-collapsed Globular Cluster NGC 6397

We report results of the Chandra deep-imaging observation of the closest post-core-collapse globular cluster, NGC 6397. Some 25 sources are detected within 2' of the cluster center, of which ~20 are likely cluster members, with LX ≳ 3 × 1029 ergs s-1. The X-ray spectra suggest identifications with one quiescent low-mass X-ray binary (qLMXB) detected by the thermal emission from its neutron star (NS) and nine cataclysmic variables (CVs), eight of which are identified in our deep Hubble Space Telescope (HST) imaging survey (reported separately). Three (of 16) BY Dra main-sequence binary candidates identified in our earlier HST imaging study (Taylor et al.) are detected, of which one is indeed the counterpart of the eclipsing millisecond pulsar (MSP) as recently identified by Ferraro et al. Two other BY Dra candidates are also detected, whereas none of the probable He white dwarf (WD) binaries identified by Taylor et al. are, indicating they do not contain MSP primaries. The ratio of CVs to MSPs appears to be ~10 times greater than in 47 Tuc.
CTL in the Tissue Microenvironment IL-15 Costimulate CD28-Negative Effector Cutting Edge: NKG2D Receptors Induced by

Unlike primary T cells in lymph nodes, effector CD8 (cid:1) CTL in tissues do not express the costimulatory receptor CD28. We re-port that NKG2D, the receptor for stress-induced MICA and MICB molecules expressed in the intestine, serves as a potent costimulatory receptor for CTL freshly isolated from the human intestinal epithelium. Expression and function of NKG2D are selectively up-regulated by the cytokine IL-15, which is released by the inﬂamed intestinal epithelium. These ﬁndings identify a novel CTL costimulatory pathway regulated by IL-15 and suggest that tissues can ﬁne-tune the activation of effector T cells based on the presence or absence of stress and inﬂammation. Uncontrolled secretion of IL-15 could lead to excessive induction of NKG2D and thus contribute to the development of autoimmune disease by facilitating the activation of autoreactive T cells. The Journal of Immunology, 2001, 167: 5527–5530. cell supernatants precleared A-Sepharose Pharmacia Biotech) 1 Phosphotyrosine-containing proteins immunoprecipi- tated fo r 1 at 4°C 4G10 antiphosphotyrosine mAb onto protein A-Sepharose beads (Upstate Biotechnology). SDS-PAGE on 12% acrylamide gels and Western transfer were performed using standard methods and anti-phosphotyrosine Ab detected ECL kit sham Pharmacia Biotech).
Effects of Video Placement and Spatial Context Presentation on Path Reconstruction Tasks with Contextualized Videos

Many interesting and promising prototypes for visualizing video data have been proposed, including those that combine videos with their spatial context (contextualized videos). However, relatively little work has investigated the fundamental design factors behind these prototypes in order to provide general design guidance. Focusing on real-time video data visualization, we evaluated two important design factors - video placement method and spatial context presentation method - through a user study. In addition, we evaluated the effect of spatial knowledge of the environment. Participantspsila performance was measured through path reconstruction tasks, where the participants followed a target through simulated surveillance videos and marked the target paths on the environment model. We found that embedding videos inside the model enabled realtime strategies and led to faster performance. With the help of contextualized videos, participants not familiar with the real environment achieved similar task performance to participants that worked in that environment. We discuss design implications and provide general design recommendations for traffic and security surveillance system interfaces.
Rapporteur's Report for Papers in Theme C- Development of Teams and Procedures

A metal chip of low-melting metal having a cavity is fixedly held by an embracing portion of a fusible portion of a fuse of a fusible metal conductor. The metal chip has a predetermined outer diameter, and by changing a diameter of a through hole defining the cavity, the volume of the cavity can be adjusted. By doing so, fusion characteristics of the fusible portion can be adjusted.
Governing cruise tourism at Bonaire: a networks and flows approach

Abstract Conceptual approaches to thoroughly study governance of cruise tourism are lacking in the literature. Relying on Castells’ network society, we analyze how two interconnected flows of cruise ships and passengers are governed by a marine community of users and policy makers. Bonaire is used as a case study. Research shows that the transnational cruise ship flow increasingly determines the local passenger flow at Bonaire. Therefore, the marine community increasingly connects with and adapts to the requirements of the transnational cruise network. Moreover, unequal power relations between cruise networks and flows prioritize the economy over the environment at Bonaire.