Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of exercise on transdermal nicotine release in healthy habitual smokers.

OBJECTIVE Transdermal nicotine patches have become a frequently prescribed tool in smoking cessation programs during the past years. However, there is circumstantial evidence that transdermal nicotine release substantially varies with physical activity producing toxic plasma concentrations that may account for severe adverse events. METHODS We, therefore, compared nicotine release from two different transdermal nicotine systems (TDNS) at rest and during strenuous physical activity in a two-period crossover study in healthy smokers (n = 10). The subjects were randomly assigned to receive either 21 mg/day of formulation A or B on study Day 1 and 2. Patches were applied eight hours before starting standardized physical activity, and nicotine concentrations were measured in plasma and topically in the tissue layers underneath the application site by microdialysis. RESULTS There was no difference between groups in the mean values for area under the time-concentration curve at rest from 0 - 8 hours AUC(0-8) (p < 0.799) and during exercise from 8 - 11 hours AUC(8-11) (p < 0.878). C(max) values between groups with C(max) values of 16.4 +/- 9.5 ng/ml and 16.0 +/- 10.7 ng/ml at rest (p < 0.919, NS) and 10.05 +/- 6.8 ng/ml and 10.2 +/- 6.9 ng/ml (p < 0.959, NS) during exercise did not differ significantly. Nicotine tissue concentrations increased two-fold during exercise versus baseline (p < 0.878). Skin blood flow increased significantly during exercise compared with baseline (p < 0.001). No adverse events were observed. CONCLUSION The present study provides evidence that transdermal nicotine release from TDNS increases during exercise. However, this increase has no significant effect on overall plasma pharmacokinetics. Our pharmacokinetic data further indicate that the two TDNS formulations are equivalent during conditions of rest and exercise.
ARM Wrestling with Big Data: A Study of ARM64 and x64 Servers for Data Intensive Workloads

ARM processors have dominated the mobile device market in the last decade due to their favorable computing to energy ratio. In this age of Cloud data centers and Big Data analytics, the focus is increasingly on power efficient processing, rather than just high throughput computing. ARM's first commodity server-grade processor is the recent AMD A1100-series processor, based on a 64-bit ARM Cortex A57 architecture. In this paper, we study the performance and energy efficiency of a server based on this ARM64 CPU, relative to a comparable server running an AMD Opteron 3300-series x64 CPU, for Big Data workloads. Specifically, we study these for Intel's HiBench suite of web, query and machine learning benchmarks on Apache Hadoop v2.7 in a pseudo-distributed setup, for data sizes up to $20GB$ files, $5M$ web pages and $500M$ tuples. Our results show that the ARM64 server's runtime performance is comparable to the x64 server for integer-based workloads like Sort and Hive queries, and only lags behind for floating-point intensive benchmarks like PageRank, when they do not exploit data parallelism adequately. We also see that the ARM64 server takes 1/3rd the energy, and has an Energy Delay Product (EDP) that is $50-71\%$ lower than the x64 server. These results hold significant promise for data centers hosting ARM64 servers to reduce their operational costs, while offering a competitive performance for Big Data workloads.
Robust dynamic ID-based remote user authentication scheme using smart cards

Smart card-based password authentication scheme is one of the most simple and efficient method to identify the legitimacy of a user via an insecure channel. To protect the user from tracking by the attacker, many dynamic ID-based user authentication schemes have been proposed. Recently, Chen et al. proposed an efficient and secure dynamic ID-based authentication scheme using smart cards. However, we find that Chen et al.'s scheme cannot really protect user's anonymity and forward secrecy. Besides, their scheme is inefficient in the authentication phase and cannot resist stolen smart card attack. In this paper, we propose a robust dynamic ID-based user authentication scheme using smart cards to cover the above weaknesses, the proposed scheme can really protect the user's anonymity and is more secure comparing with other related schemes.
Experimental investigation and modelling on dry sliding wear behaviour of Al–zircon metal matrix composites

Abstract The present paper presents the influence of wear parameters on wear behaviour of Al–LM25–zircon metal matrix composites. The composite has been fabricated by novel stir casting process and heat treated. The wear behaviour of composites against EN32 steel was studied using pin on disc type wear test rig. The mathematical model to predict the wear rate of Al–zircon composites has been expressed in terms of reinforcement volume fraction, particle size, applied load, sliding speed and sliding distance using five factors, five level central composite design matrix approach by response surface method. The morphology and topography of worn out surface wear were studied using a scanning electron microscope. The effect of wear parameters on wear rate of composites was analysed by statistical method.
Antimicrobial drugs

When the Executive Secretary of the Drug Research Board called to ask if I would participate in a Workshop on Dermatopharmacology, I pleaded that I knew little of the subject beyond the fact that the skin is a frequent site of toxic reactions to antimicrobial drugs, some of which are used with varying success to treat acne, pyodermas, and fungal diseases of the skin. The idea of learning more while renewing old acquaintances and meeting with the leaders in the field, plus a visit to San Francisco, were enough to overcome my reticence, so I accepted and became an instant dermatologist. In 1953, Louis Weinstein coauthored with me a brief review of the complications of antimicrobial therapy.6 About a third of that review was devoted to the cutaneous reactions and other manifestations of hypersensitivity. It may be appropriate, therefore, for me to devote this presentation primarily to these aspects of antimicrobial therapy, particularly since more experienced dermatologists will be discussing the use of these drugs in therapy of dermatologic diseases.
RNAmutants: a web server to explore the mutational landscape of RNA secondary structures

The history and mechanism of molecular evolution in DNA have been greatly elucidated by contributions from genetics, probability theory and bioinformatics—indeed, mathematical developments such as Kimura's neutral theory, Kingman's coalescent theory and efficient software such as BLAST, ClustalW, Phylip, etc., provide the foundation for modern population genetics. In contrast to DNA, the function of most noncoding RNA depends on tertiary structure, experimentally known to be largely determined by secondary structure, for which dynamic programming can efficiently compute the minimum free energy secondary structure. For this reason, understanding the effect of pointwise mutations in RNA secondary structure could reveal fundamental properties of structural RNA molecules and improve our understanding of molecular evolution of RNA. The web server RNAmutants provides several efficient tools to compute the ensemble of low-energy secondary structures for all k-mutants of a given RNA sequence, where k is bounded by a user-specified upper bound. As we have previously shown, these tools can be used to predict putative deleterious mutations and to analyze regulatory sequences from the hepatitis C and human immunodeficiency genomes. Web server is available at http://bioinformatics.bc. edu/clotelab/RNAmutants/, and downloadable binaries at http://rnamutants.csail. mit.edu/.
Biochemical and anthropometric characterization of morbid obesity in a large Utah pedigree.

A Utah family with morbid obesity was extended to include 122 persons in four generations for the purpose of characterizing anthropometric and biochemical variables in family members with and without morbid obesity. Seventy-seven subjects had blood drawn for biochemical analyses. Of the 77 subjects, 12 were morbidly obese (> or = 44.5 kg or 100 pounds overweight), 20 were between 22.5-45.4 kg (50 and 99 pounds) overweight and 45 were less than 22.5 kg (50 pounds) overweight. Sixty-two randomly-ascertained controls were used for comparisons of age- and gender-adjusted study variables. Morbidly obese subjects had mean body mass indices (BMI) of 41.0 kg/m2 (62 kg over ideal weight) compared to 25.3 kg/m2 (10 kg overweight) in the < 22.5 kg family members (p < 0.001). The < 22.5 kg family members had lower BMI than the random controls (27.6 kg/m2, p < 0.05), indicating clear bimodality of obesity within the pedigree. Percent body fat from bioelectrical impedance was 35% versus 24% in the morbidly obese and the < 22.5 kg subjects, respectively. Idealbody weight was similar among the three pedigree weight groups. Hip and waist circumferences were much larger in the morbidly obese and the waist-to-hip ratio remained significantly greater in the morbidly obese subjects compared to the < 22.5 kg group. Morbidly obese subjects had elevated triglycerides and VLDL-C levels, low HDL-levels, and normal LDL-C levels. Fasting insulin was the best predictor of morbid obesity of all biochemical and lipid measurements (odds ratio of 4.5). Fasting insulin levels and the insulin-to-glucose ratio were more than twice as high as control levels. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
On the distance distribution of codes

The distinct distribution of a binary code C is the sequence (B/sub i/)/sub i=0//sup n/ defined as follows: let B/sub i/(w) be the number of codewords at distance i from the codeword w, and let B/sub i/ be the average of B/sub i/(w) over all w in C. In this correspondence we study the distance distribution for codes of length n and minimal distance /spl delta/n, with /spl delta/>0 fixed and n/spl rarr//spl infin/. Our main aim is to relate the size of the code with the distribution of distances near the minimal distance. >
Adipose-Derived Stem Cells for Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine Applications

Adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs) are a mesenchymal stem cell source with properties of self-renewal and multipotential differentiation. Compared to bone marrow-derived stem cells (BMSCs), ASCs can be derived from more sources and are harvested more easily. Three-dimensional (3D) tissue engineering scaffolds are better able to mimic the in vivo cellular microenvironment, which benefits the localization, attachment, proliferation, and differentiation of ASCs. Therefore, tissue-engineered ASCs are recognized as an attractive substitute for tissue and organ transplantation. In this paper, we review the characteristics of ASCs, as well as the biomaterials and tissue engineering methods used to proliferate and differentiate ASCs in a 3D environment. Clinical applications of tissue-engineered ASCs are also discussed to reveal the potential and feasibility of using tissue-engineered ASCs in regenerative medicine.
The Giardia duodenalis 14-3-3 Protein Is Post-translationally Modified by Phosphorylation and Polyglycylation of the C-terminal Tail*

The flagellated protozoan Giardia duodenalis (syn. lamblia or intestinalis) has been chosen as a model parasite to further investigate the multifunctional 14-3-3s, a family of highly conserved eukaryotic proteins involved in many cellular processes, such as cell cycle, differentiation, apoptosis, and signal transduction pathways. We confirmed the presence of a single 14-3-3 homolog gene (g14-3-3) by an in silico screening of the complete genome of Giardia, and we demonstrated its constitutive transcription throughout the life stages of the parasite. We cloned and expressed the g14-3-3 in bacteria, and by protein-protein interaction assays we demonstrated that it is a functional 14-3-3. Using an anti-peptide antibody raised against a unique 18-amino acid sequence at the N terminus, we observed variations both in the intracellular localization and in the molecular size of the native g14-3-3 during the conversion of Giardia from trophozoites to the cyst stage. An affinity chromatography, based on the 14-3-3 binding to the polypeptide difopein, was set to purify the native g14-3-3. By matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization mass spectroscopy analysis, we showed that polyglycylation, an unusual post-translational modification described only for tubulin, occurred at the extreme C terminus of the native g14-3-3 on Glu246, Glu247, or both and that the Thr214, located in the loop between helices 8 and 9, is phosphorylated. We propose that the addition of the polyglycine chain can promote the binding of g14-3-3 to alternative ligands and that the differential rate of polyglycylation/deglycylation during the encystation process can act as a novel mechanism to regulate the intracellular localization of g14-3-3.
Combining Weak Knowledge Sources for Sense Disambiguation

There has been a tradition of combining different knowledge sources in Artificial Intelligence research. We apply this methodology to word sense disambiguation (WSD), a long-standing problem in Computational Linguistics. We report on an implemented sense tagger which uses a machine readable dictionary to provide both a set of senses and associated forms of information on which to base disambiguation decisions. The system is based on an architecture which makes use of different sources of lexical knowledge in two ways and optimises their combination using a learning algorithm. Tested accuracy of our approach on a general corpus exceeds 94%, demonstrating the viability of allword disambiguation as opposed to restricting oneself to a small sample.
Effect of increased lung volume on sleep disordered breathing in patients with sleep apnoea

Background: Previous studies have shown that changes in lung volume influence upper airway size and resistance, particularly in patients with obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA), and that continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) requirements decrease when the lung volume is increased. We sought to determine the effect of a constant lung volume increase on sleep disordered breathing during non-REM sleep. Methods: Twelve subjects with OSA were studied during non-REM sleep in a rigid head-out shell equipped with a positive/negative pressure attachment for manipulation of extrathoracic pressure. The increase in lung volume due to CPAP (at a therapeutic level) was determined with four magnetometer coils placed on the chest wall and abdomen. CPAP was then stopped and the subjects were studied for 1 hour in three conditions (in random order): (1) no treatment (baseline); (2) at “CPAP lung volume”, with the increased lung volume being reproduced by negative extrathoracic pressure alone (lung volume 1, LV1); and (3) 500 ml above the CPAP lung volume(lung volume 2, LV2). Results: The mean (SE) apnoea/hypopnoea index (AHI) for baseline, LV1, and LV2, respectively, was 62.3 (10.2), 37.2 (5.0), and 31.2 (6.7) events per hour (p = 0.009); the 3% oxygen desaturation index was 43.0 (10.1), 16.1 (5.4), and 12.3 (5.3) events per hour (p = 0.002); and the mean oxygen saturation was 95.4 (0.3)%, 96.0 (0.2)%, 96.3 (0.3)%, respectively (p = 0.001). Conclusion: An increase in lung volume causes a substantial decrease in sleep disordered breathing in patients with OSA during non-REM sleep.
Optimal Distributed t-Resilient Election in Complete Networks

The problem of distributed leader election in an asynchronous complete network, in the presence of faults that occurred prior to the execution of the election algorithm, is discussed. Failures of this type are encountered, for example, during a recovery from a crash in the network. For a network with n processors, k of which start the algorithm that uses at most O(n log k+n+kt) messages is presented and shown to be optimal. An optimal algorithm for the case where the identities of the neighbors are known is also presented. It is noted that the order of the message complexity of a t-resilient algorithm is not always higher than that of a nonresilient one. The t-resilient algorithm is a systematic modification of an existing algorithm for a fault-free network. >
Characterizing the Crucial Components of Iron Homeostasis in the Maize Mutants ys1 and ys3

To acquire iron (Fe), graminaceous plants secrete mugineic acid family phytosiderophores through the phytosiderophore efflux transporter TOM1 and take up Fe in the form of Fe(III)–phytosiderophore complexes. Yellow stripe 1 (ys1) and ys3 are recessive mutants of maize (Zea mays L.) that show typical symptoms of Fe deficiency, i.e., interveinal chlorosis of the leaves. The ys1 mutant is defective in the Fe(III)–phytosiderophore transporter YS1 and is therefore unable to take up Fe(III)–phytosiderophore complexes. While the ys3 mutant has been shown to be defective in phytosiderophores release, the causative gene has not been identified. The present study was performed to characterize the expression profiles of the genes in ys1 and ys3 mutants to extend our understanding of Fe homeostasis in maize. Using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction, we assessed changes in the levels of gene expression in response to Fe deficiency of genes involved in Fe homeostasis, such as those related to phytosiderophore biosynthesis and Fe transport. As with other crops, these Fe deficiency-inducible genes were also upregulated in maize. In addition, these Fe deficiency-inducible genes were upregulated in both the ys1 and ys3 mutants, even under Fe-sufficient conditions. Indeed, the Fe concentrations in the roots of ys1 and ys3 plants were lower than that of wild-type controls. These results suggest that ys1 and ys3 are Fe-deficient during growth in the presence of Fe. In agreement with previous reports, the level of YS1 expression decreased in the ys1 mutant. Moreover, the expression level of a homolog of TOM1 in maize decreased significantly in the ys3 mutant. Unspliced introns of ZmTOM1 were detected only in ys3, and not in YS1YS3 or ys1, suggesting that ZmTOM1 may be involved in the ys3 phenotype.
Deposition and Characterization of CNT-Polyurethane Nanocomposite Films

This paper presents the results of our studies on the deposition and characterization of multi wall carbon nanotube films in combination with polyurethane (PU) and N-methyl- 2-pyrrolidone (NMP). These studies mainly focused on the effect of ultra violet Ozone plasma treatment on the on the contact angle and wettability characteristics of the substrates, Silicon and Polyimide. Polyurethane/ multi-walled carbon nanotube elastomer composite films are synthesized on polyimide and glass substrates using spin coating methods. The effect of Ultraviolet-Ozone Plasma treatment (UVO) on the wettability of the substrate was studied after different exposure times, by making contact angle measurements on the chosen substrates. These measurements showed that the contact angle decreases with increasing exposure times, which indicated enhanced wettability after longer exposure to UVO plasma. The microstructure of these films are examined using optical and scanning electron microscopes. The conductivities of the films are examined using Van der Pauw method. The AC conductivity of 1wt%, 5wt% and 8wt% CNT loaded PU nanocomposite films were found to be 3.86, 5.90 and 5.38 S/m respectively which are few orders higher than the values reported in the literature. These values were confirmed with the Nyquist plot and equivalent circuit modelling. This shows the frequency independent conductive nature of the composite films. The quality of these films is analyzed using Laser Raman spectroscopy. The effect of substrate (Polyimide or Glass), UVO exposure (Ultraviolet-Ozone plasma treatment, carbon nanotube loading (1-8%) on the quality of the films are presented in detail in this paper.
Inducible Expression of Mu-Class Glutathione S-Transferases Is Associated with Fenpropathrin Resistance in Tetranychus cinnabarinus

The carmine spider mite, Tetranychus cinnabarinus (Boisduval), is a serious pest on a variety of economically important crops widely distributed in China, and its resistance to acaricides has quickly developed. In this study, we fully sequenced 13 GST genes of T. cinnabarinus (TcGSTs). The phylogenetic tree showed that five of them belonged to the delta class and the other eight belonged to the mu class. The alignment of gene sequences and comparison of gene expressions between a fenpropathrin-resistant strain (FR) and a susceptible strain (SS) showed that neither point mutation nor overexpression was detected in TcGSTs. However, when challenged by a sublethal dose of fenpropathrin, the mRNA levels of three GSTs from the mu class (TCGSTM2, TCGSTM3, and TCGSTM8) highly increased in FR, while in SS, the expression of these genes was still at the same level under the treatment. In conclusion, specific TcGSTs were identified that were inducible to stimulation by fenpropathrin, and proved that TcGSTs in FR were not constantly expressed at a high level, but could react much more quickly under the stress of fenpropathrin than SS.
Histologic Findings from Positive Crossmatch or ABO‐Incompatible Renal Allografts: Accomodation or Chronic Allograft Injury?

Transplantation of kidneys into ABO-incompatible or HLAsensitized individuals has historically been prohibited because of the risk of antibody-mediated rejection (ABMR). The most severe variant of ABMR is hyperacute rejection, representing fixation of preformed alloantibody to the microcirculation, but a burst of alloantibody from an anamnestic response can also create severe graft damage. ABMR is characterized by neutrophilic capillaritis, glomerular/arteriolar thrombi, and C4d deposition in peritubular capillaries (PTC), which occurs with both anti-HLA and antiABO antibodies.
LncRNA HULC enhances epithelial-mesenchymal transition to promote tumorigenesis and metastasis of hepatocellular carcinoma via the miR-200a-3p/ZEB1 signaling pathway

Highly upregulated in liver cancer (HULC), a lncRNA that is considered a key molecule in human liver cancer, has recently been revealed to be involved in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) development and progression [1, 2]. It has been reported that HULC can promote tumor invasion and metastasis of HCC, but its function and mechanism of action in HCC have not been elucidated. In this study, we found that HULC was aberrantly up-regulated in HCC tissues and associated with TNM stage, intrahepatic metastases, HCC recurrence, and postoperative survival. HULC depletion inhibited the growth and metastasis of HCC cell lines in vitro and in vivo. Moreover, HULC contributes to ZEB1-induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), a requirement for tumor invasion and metastasis that plays a key role in cancer progression. This effect of ZEB1 was inhibited by HULC siRNA. We conclude that the HULC functioned as a competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) to mediate EMT via up-regulating ZEB1. In this way, it sequesters the miR-200a-3p signaling pathway to facilitate HCC metastasis. HULC comes into play as an oncogene in HCC, acting mechanistically by inducing HCC cells to activate EMT. Such an effect promotes tumor progression and metastasis through the miR-200a-3p/ZEB1 signaling pathway. The identification of this novel pathway that links high expression levels of HULC with EMT in HCC cells may serve as the foundation for the development of novel anti-tumor therapeutics.