Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
2 Nitric Oxide production mediated by melatonin in a cell model of circadian rhythms

Pyranopyrazoles are known to exhibit a wide range of biological activities. 1-2 Some pyranopyrazoles have been evaluated for their bovine brain adenosine A 1 A 2A receptor binding affinity and these pyranopyrazoles are also of interest because of their structural similarity to a wide variety of flavones and flavanones that exhibit interesting biological activity. 1-2 Although the synthesis of some pyranopyrazoles has been known, the photochemical studies have not been reported. The pyrazole nucleus represents a very attractive scaffold for obtaining novel molecules endowed with diverse biological activity, Melatonin is an amphiphilic molecule secreted following a circadian cycle by the pineal gland, also produced in our body by other tissues and organs (retina, bone marrow, gut and skin). Nitric oxide (NO) is a gasotransmitter regulating, together with CO and H 2 S, several functions including mitochondrial respiration. The respiratory chain Complex IV (Cytochrome c Oxidase) is the main target of NO, whose binding at the active site of the enzyme induces its reversible inhibition. Pharmacological concentrations of melatonin (millimolar) have been known to exert antioxidant properties whereas the effects of physiological (nanomolar or less) endogenous-like concentrations, are still mostly obscure. We have recently reported that, in cultured cells, at such low concentrations melatonin induces a sudden, but reversible, increase of the intracellular expression of neuronal NOS, with a transient controlled release of nitrite/nitrate (NOx). On the same time scale, about 6 – 8 h, we have also observed depression of respiration and decreased ATP production, compensated by an increased production of lactate. These effects are exerted in a circadian compatible fashion and are reverted upon increasing the melatonin incubation time or its concentration. A mechanism involving the interaction of melatonin with cell receptors, nuclear activation and the intreacellular interaction with Ca ++-calmodulin is proposed to account for observations. c oxidase and nitric oxide in action: molecular mechanisms and pathophysiological implications. enhances nNOS expression and controls HaCaT-cells bioenergetics. New evidence for cross talk between melatonin and mitochondria mediated by a circadian-compatible interaction with nitric oxide. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) generated within the vascular wall trigger LDL oxidation, lipid peroxidation and carbonyl stress that are involved in atherogenesis. The generation of drugs sharing both antioxidant cytoprotective and/or carbonyl scavenger properties may represent a new therapeutic challenge in the prevention and treatment of atherosclerosis. Families of compounds based on the phenolic phosphonates derived from cinnamic acids with antioxidant activities have been developed in …
Temporal trends in genetic data and effective population size support efficacy of management practices in critically endangered dusky gopher frogs (Lithobates sevosus)

Abstract Monitoring temporal changes in population genetic diversity and effective population size can provide vital information on future viability. The dusky gopher frog, Lithobates sevosus, is a critically endangered species found only in coastal Mississippi, with low genetic variability as a consequence of isolation and population size reduction. Conservation management practices have been implemented, but their efficacy has not been addressed. We genotyped individuals collected 1997–2014 to determine temporal trends in population genetic variation, structure, and effective size. Observed and expected heterozygosity and allelic richness revealed temporally stable, but low, levels of genetic variation. Positive levels of inbreeding were found in each year. There was weak genetic structure among years, which can be attributed to increased effects of genetic drift and inbreeding in small populations. L. sevosus exhibited an increase in effective population size, and currently has an estimated effective size of 33.0–58.6 individuals, which is approximately half the census size. This large ratio could possibly be explained by genetic compensation. We found that management practices have been effective at maintaining and improving effective size and genetic diversity, but that additional strategies need to be implemented to enhance viability of the species.
Spatial averages of downlink coverage characteristics in CDMA networks

The aim of the present paper is to show that stochastic geometry provides an efficient computational framework allowing one to predict geometrical characteristics of large CDMA networks such as coverage or soft-handoff level. The general idea consists in representing the location of antennas and/or mobile stations as realizations of stochastic point processes in the plane within a simple parametric class, which takes into account the irregularities of antenna/mobile patterns in a statistical way. This approach leads to new formulas and simulation schemes allowing one to compute/estimate the spatial averages of these local characteristics in function of the model parameters (density of antennas or mobiles, law of emission power, fading law etc.) and to perform various parametric optimizations.
Identifying Effort Estimation Factors for Corrective Maintenance in Object-Oriented Systems

This research explores the decision-making process of expert estimators of corrective maintenance projects by using qualitative methods to identify the factors that they use in deriving estimates. We implement a technique called causal mapping, which allows us to identify the cognitive links between the information that estimators use, and the estimates that they produce based on that information. Results suggest that a total of 17 factors may be relevant for corrective maintenance effort estimation, covering constructs related to developers, code, defects, and environment. This line of research aims at addressing the limitations of existing maintenance estimation models that do not incorporate a number of soft factors, thus, achieving less accurate estimates than human experts.
ZHAO, XIE: SURVEY OF INTERACTIVE MEDICAL SEGMENTATION Interactive Segmentation of Medical Images: A Survey

Image segmentation is a fundamental process in most systems that support medical diagnosis, surgical planning and treatments. Generally this process is done manually by clinicians, which may be time-consuming and tedious. To alleviate the problem, a number of interactive segmentation methods have been proposed in the literature. These techniques take advantage of automatic segmentation and allow users to intervene the segmentation process by incorporating prior-knowledge, validating results and correcting errors, thus potentially lead to accurate segmentation results. In this paper, we present a survey of interactive segmentation techniques popular for medical image analysis.
Serum Galectin-2, -4, and -8 Are Greatly Increased in Colon and Breast Cancer Patients and Promote Cancer Cell Adhesion to Blood Vascular Endothelium

Purpose: Adhesion of disseminating tumor cells to the blood vascular endothelium is a pivotal step in metastasis. Previous investigations have shown that galectin-3 concentrations are increased in the bloodstream of patients with cancer and that galectin-3 promotes adhesion of disseminating tumor cells to vascular endothelium in vitro and experimental metastasis in vivo. This study determined the levels of galectin-1, -2, -3, -4, -8, and -9 in the sera of healthy people and patients with colon and breast cancer and assessed the influence of these galectins on cancer-endothelium adhesion. Experimental Design: Serum galectins and auto–anti-MUC1 antibodies were assessed using ELISA and mucin protein (MUC1) glycan microarrays, and cancer-endothelium adhesion was determined using monolayers of human microvascular lung endothelial cells. Results: The levels of serum galectin-2, -3, -4, and -8 were significantly increased up to 31-fold in patients with cancer and, in particular, those with metastases. As previously shown for galectin-3, the presence of these galectins enhances cancer-endothelium adhesion by interaction with the Thomsen-Friedenreich (TF; Galβ1,3GalNAcα-) disaccharide on cancer-associated MUC1. This causes MUC1 cell surface polarization, thus exposing underlying adhesion molecules that promote cancer-endothelium adhesion. Elevated circulating galectin-2 levels were associated with increased mortality in patients with colorectal cancer, but this association was suppressed when anti-MUC1 antibodies with specificity for the TF epitope of MUC1 were also present in the circulation. Conclusions: Increased circulation of several members of the galectin family is common in patients with cancer and these may, like circulating galectin-3, also be involved in metastasis promotion. Clin Cancer Res; 17(22); 7035–46. ©2011 AACR.
Protein Structure and Biology

The ability of PrP to convert PrP into protease-resistance isoforms has been exploited using a variety of techniques such as protein misfolding cyclic amplification (PMCA), quaking induced conversion (QuIC) and most recently, real-time quaking induced conversion (RT-QuIC). These cell-free assays have enabled a better understanding of prion diseases and have facilitated the development of potential diagnostic tests for prionrelated diseases. The RT-QuIC technique exploits the ability of PrP in brain tissue or CSF to induce a recombinant PrP to change shape and aggregate over time. This aggregation is observed by the binding of Thioflavin T (ThT) in the reaction mixture to the aggregates causing a change in the ThT emission spectrum, which can be monitored in real time. Studies have shown that CSF samples from hamsters inoculated with experimental scrapie and from patients with sCJD can be correctly identified using RT-QuIC. At the National CJD Research and Surveillance unit (NCJDRSU) we have completed a retrospective study and are currently undertaking a prospective audit investigating the value of RT-QuIC in the diagnosis of sCJD. During our studies various elements of the technique have been modified during the optimisation process of this potential sCJD CSF diagnostic tool such as: the volume of CSF; the source of recombinant PrP (rPrP); the size of construct (Full-length or Truncated); and the shaking time, speed and mechanism used, each can make a significant difference to the results obtained. This study looks at some of these variables and what the effect of altering them has on the results and the ultimate understanding of the technique.
Capacity for Classes of Broadcast Channels with Receiver Side Information

Methods are developed that achieve all rate points inside the capacity region of two-receiver memoryless broadcast channels where each receiver knows the message it need not decode. The capacity result generalizes to channels with per-letter average cost constraints, e.g., additive white Gaussian noise channels with power constraints. The result further generalizes to cases where the receivers have only partial message information and where one receiver must decode both messages.
SIMPLE TEMPO MODELS FOR REAL-TIME MUSIC TRACKING

The paper describes a simple but effective method for incorporating automatically learned tempo models into realtime music tracking systems. In particular, instead of training our system with ‘rehearsal data’ by a particular performer, we provide it with many different interpretations of a given piece, possibly by many different performers. During the tracking process the system continuously recombines this information to come up with an accurate tempo hypothesis. We present this approach in the context of a real-time tracking system that is robust to almost arbitrary deviations from the score (e.g. omissions, forward and backward jumps, unexpected repetitions or re-starts) by the live performer.
ntegrative data helps the assessment of a butterfly within the dranomia kikkawai species complex ( Lepidoptera : Hesperiidae ) : mmature stages , natural history , and molecular evidence

The immature stages of the skipper butterfly Udranomia kikkawai from Brazil are described, including information on host plant use in cerrado savanna, shelter building behavior, and barcode sequences. The caterpillars feed on young leaves of two host food plants, Ouratea spectabilis and Ouratea hexasperma (Ochnaceae). The duration from egg hatching to adult eclosion averaged 30 days. Immature stages of U. kikkawai morphologically resemble those of other Hesperiidae by lacking head horns and complete lack of body scoli, and having a fusiform pupa with uniform color (except for mimetic false eye spots) and no projections. The young-leaf color of Udranomia caterpillars contrasts with that observed in the sister genus Drephalys, whose larvae are conspicuously colored. The food plant of Udranomia is also iet breadth NA barcodes udaminae ost plants very uniform: all records are Ochnaceae across the distribution range of Udranomia. Based on molecular data, Brazilian populations correspond to the true U. kikkawai, which is part of a species complex that includes at least two additional undescribed species from Costa Rica. Our paper shows that free access to exchangeable database platforms can raise natural history studies to an integrative level that helps clarify patterns of diversity within taxonomically problematic groups. © 2016 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.
Restaurant Mobile Application towards Purchase Intention

The fast development of mobile applications has widely impact many industries including tourism. Restaurant as one of tourism product must then adapt to this new technology because it will benefit more than mobile web. Domino’s Pizza Indonesia is the first fast food restaurant in Indonesia that launched its mobile application in 2015 and keeps gaining its popularity. The purpose of this research is to identify the Domino’s Pizza Indonesia Mobile Application quality rating and to determine the extent of Domino’s Pizza Indonesia Mobile Application towards purchase intention. This research is using quantitative method. Primary data were collected from Domino’s Pizza Indonesia mobile application and survey using questionnaire. A survey was conducted for 76 respondents using simple random sampling method. Data was analyzed using Mobile Application Rating Scale (MARS) as guidelines that consist of four objectives quality scales; engagement, functionality, aesthetics and information quality; and one subjective quality scales. The results indicate that Domino’s Pizza Indonesia Mobile Application quality considered as good, but assess differently between apps-user and non apps-user. Apps-user assesses information quality as the highest scale while non apps-user assesses functionality quality; with both assess engagement quality as the lowest scale. This research reveals that branded mobile application has strong relationship with purchase intention, despite whether people install the mobile application or not. However, purchase intention is likely influenced more by branded mobile application non apps-user rather than the apps-user itself. Implication of this study provides recommendations for restaurant business to always maintain and enhance the mobile application quality that are expected to be in line with the growth of restaurant revenue.
To Improve the Measurement of Longitudinal Changes of Cortical Thickness and Cortical Bone Mineral Density in QCT : A Simulation Study

The quantification of cortical bone mineral density (BMD) and thickness in QCT images remains challenging due to the limited spatial resolution of the CT scanner. In our work, we used three different algorithms to determine changes of cortical thickness and cortical BMD and investigated their ability to detect a change of these two parameters. Another part of this study was to investigate the influence of noise on these measurements. Therefore, all simulations were performed at two different noise levels.
Genetic Algorithm based Comparison of Different SVM

The SVM has recently been introduced as a new learning technique for solving variety of real world applications based on learning theory. The classical RBF network has similar structure as SVM with Gaussian kernel. Similarly, the FNN also possess an identical structure with SVM. The support vector machine includes polynomial learning machine, radial-basis function network, Gaussian radial-basis function network, and two layer perceptron as special cases. Genetic algorithm has been increasingly applied to various search and optimization problems in the recent past but in spite of its broad applicability, ease of use and global perspective, it has not yet been used in comparison and optimization of different support vector machines. In this paper attempt has been made to compare and optimize the rate of convergence of different SVMs by using the concepts of GAs and important results are worked out.
A MetaL for C and Pascal

In this work, we have tried to combine Pascal and C language to form a meta-frame work. This metaplatform also provides data structure flexibility to the programmers. By this, one can declare a data structure in Pascal and can use it in C language segments, and vice versa. This meta-language provides a simple, flexible, extensible, and a formal framework for expressing transformational schemes. It also automates the cumbersome and error-prone part of the program transformation. Our aim is to make meta-programming less error-prone, by providing a type system to facilitate the construction of correct meta- frame.
A Caspase-Independent Pathway Mediates Macrophage Cell Death in Response to Mycobacterium tuberculosis Infection

ABSTRACT Macrophages can undergo apoptosis after infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis. This macrophage response deprives the bacillus of its niche cell and supports the host response through better antigen presentation. The intracellular pathways of apoptosis that elaborate this macrophage response are not well understood. To address this issue, we investigated the contribution of various apoptosis pathways to M. tuberculosis-induced macrophage cell death. We found that macrophages die in a caspase-independent manner after infection with M. tuberculosis (at multiplicities of infection ranging from 1 to 20). There was evidence for the involvement of both the mitochondria (cleavage of Bid) and the lysosomes (cathepsin-mediated DNA fragmentation) in this cell death pathway. Dying macrophages displayed several features typical of apoptosis, including DNA fragmentation, nuclear condensation, and exposure of phosphatidylserine on the plasma membrane. However, nuclear fragmentation was not observed, which suggests that M. tuberculosis-induced cell death differs in some respects from classical apoptosis. This novel mechanism of cell death was blocked by serine protease inhibitors. A better understanding of this protective macrophage response may direct new vaccine and treatment options.
AGH University of Scince and Technology in Crakow

This paper examines the implications of announced changes in dividends on stock prices using data from the Austrian stock market . We assess the market impacts of these announcements by measuring abnormal returns and the variability of returns. Thereby we infer the information content of a company’s dividend policy. To establish the impact of dividend announcements on stock prices, we conduct an event study analysis based on selected non-linear stochastic timeseries models. This is different from most related studies that use simple linear regressions (based on the Market Model ) to forecast stock returns. Significant effects surrounding corporate announcements of changing dividend payouts are confirmed by several studies, mainly for the US market. One of the first is that of Aharony and Swary [1]. For a sample of 384 events, the authors report average significant excess returns on the day of announced dividend changes of +0.36% in case of dividend increases, and –1.13% for dividend decreases.
Image database TID 2013 : Peculiarities , results and perspectives

This paper describes a recently created image database, TID2013, intended for evaluation of full-reference visual quality assessment metrics. With respect to TID2008, the new database contains a larger number (3000) of test images obtained from 25 reference images, 24 types of distortions for each reference image, and 5 levels for each type of distortion. Motivations for introducing 7 new types of distortions and one additional level of distortions are given; examples of distorted images are presented. Mean opinion scores (MOS) for the new database have been collected by performing 985 subjective experiments with volunteers (observers) from five countries (Finland, France, Italy, Ukraine, and USA). The availability of MOS allows the use of the designed database as a fundamental tool for assessing the effectiveness of visual quality. Furthermore, existing visual quality metrics have been tested with the proposed database and the collected results have been analyzed using rank order correlation coefficients between MOS and considered metrics. These correlation indices have been obtained both considering the full set of distorted images and specific image subsets, for highlighting advantages and drawbacks of existing, state of the art, quality metrics. Approaches to thorough performance analysis for a given metric are presented to detect practical situations or distortion types for which this metric is not adequate enough to human perception. The created image database and the collected MOS values are freely available for downloading and utilization for scientific purposes. & 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/). er B.V. This is an open acce
Design and Implementation of a RIA Framework for IPTV Set-Top Boxes

As increasing emphasis is being placed on user experience design, the RIA (Rich Internet Application) technology is now widely deployed for user interface and software execution on embedded devices including cell phones, PMPs and TVs. In particular, RIA-based IPTVs are recently gaining attraction in that they enable creation of various sophisticated contents via animation and interactivity. This paper proposes a RIA framework for IPTV set-top boxes. We design and implement a programming interface for media playback in IPTV environments. Based on the interface, we develop a prototype of Adobe Flash-compatible RIA run-time with the support of IPTV media. The runtime was carefully designed to fully utilize the builtin graphic acceleration hardware in media processors. It is therefore able to render sophisticated vector graphics in the resource-constrained IPTV systems. Demonstration and extensive experiments validate the proposed framework.
Fast approximation of geodesic based on heuristic estimate

Geodesic computation is very important in various mesh processing techniques such as segmenting, re-meshing, parameterizing, navigating and editing. In this paper, we present a new method to quickly extract geodesic paths on 3D triangle meshes. Based on heuristic estimate and Dimas Martinez and Luiz Velho's evolving method, we generate an iterative process to obtain a good discrete geodesic approximation. It can handle convex and non-convex surfaces. Experiment results show that our method works very well both in efficiency and precision.