Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Blood-brain barrier efflux transport.

Efflux transport at the blood-brain barrier (BBB) limits the brain tissue exposure to a variety of potential therapeutic agents, including compounds that are relatively lipophilic and would be predicted to permeate the endothelial lining of the brain microvasculature. Recent advances in molecular and cell biology have led to identification of several specific transport systems at the blood-brain interface. Refinement of classical pharmacokinetic experimentation has allowed assessment of the structural specificity of transporters, the impact of efflux transport on brain tissue exposure, and the potential for drug-drug interactions at the level of BBB efflux transport. The objective of this minireview is to summarize efflux transporter characteristics (location, specificity, and potential inhibition) for transport systems identified in the BBB. A variety of experimental approaches available to ascertain or predict the impact of efflux transport on net brain tissue uptake of substrates also are presented. The potential impact of efflux transport on the pharmacodynamics of agents acting in the central nervous system are illustrated. Finally, general issues regarding the role of identifying efflux transport as part of the drug development process are discussed.
A modular approach to the evaluation of Adaptive User Interfaces

Adaptive User Interfaces (AUIs) are a continuously growing area of research, with numerous experimental and commercial systems reported in the literature, in diverse application areas. Although there exist today a number of established approaches and frameworks for the design and implementation of AUIs, their evaluation is yet to be addressed in a comprehensive way. Arguably, the main drawback of existing evaluation methods and techniques is that they fail to provide adequate feedback into the AUI design process, or to generate empirical findings that can be reused across application boundaries. This paper proposes a new, modular approach to the evaluation of AUIs, which is specifically intended to cater for the aforementioned problems. The adaptive Nautilus Web browser, on which the approach will be applied is also briefly presented.
Molecular Detection and Identification of Influenza Viruses by Oligonucleotide Microarray Hybridization

ABSTRACT Microarrays of virus-specific oligonucleotides may provide a method of screening samples for the presence or absence of a large variety of viruses simultaneously. Influenza viruses are ideal for evaluating such microarrays because of their genetic and host diversity, and the availability of an extensive sequence database. A collection of 476 influenza virus-specific oligonucleotides was spotted onto glass slides as probes. Viral RNAs were reverse transcribed and amplified by PCR, and the products were labeled with cyanine dyes. The presence of viruses and their identities were determined by hybridization. The fluorescence intensities of oligonucleotide spots were highly reproducible within each slide and satisfactorily proportional between experiments. However, the intensities of probe spots completely complementary to target sequences varied from background to saturation. The variations did not correlate with base composition, nucleotide sequence, or internal secondary structures. Therefore, thresholds for determining whether hybridization to a spot should be judged as positive were assigned individually. Considering only positive spots from probes predicted to be monospecific for influenza virus species, subtype, host source, or gene segment, this method made correct identifications at the species, hemagglutinin subtype, and gene segment levels. Monospecific neuraminidase (NA) subtype probes were insufficiently diverse to allow confident NA subtype assignment. Incorporating positive spots from polyspecific probes into the identification scheme gave similar results. Overall, the results demonstrate the potential of microarray-based oligonucleotide hybridization for multiple virus detection.
Conformations of random polyampholytes

We study the size R(g) of random polyampholytes (i.e., polymers with randomly charged monomers) as a function of their length N. All results of our extensive Monte Carlo simulations can be rationalized in terms of the scaling theory we develop for the Kantor-Kardar necklace model, although this theory neglects the quenched disorder in the charge sequence along the chain. We find approximately N1/2. The elongated globule model, the initial predictions of both Higgs and Joanny ( approximately N1/3) and Kantor and Kardar ( approximately N), and previous numerical estimates are ruled out.
Preliminary trials with praziquantel in human infections due to Schistosoma mansoni.

As part of a programme of multicentre trials of the tolerance and therapeutic effect of praziquantel, clinical trials were carried out in Brazil in patients with active Schistosoma mansoni infections, each of whom had a minimum geometric mean egg output of 100 eggs per gram of faeces calculated from multiple pretreatment stool examinations.The first stage was a double-blind assessment of tolerance and efficacy of oral doses of 1 x 20, 2 x 20, or 3 x 20 mg of praziquantel per kg of body weight. Subsequently, single-blind trials explored the effects of 3 x 20 mg/kg at 4-hourly intervals, and a single dose of 50 mg/kg.Side effects increased in frequency as dosage increased. Nausea, epigastric pain, headache, dizziness, and drowsiness were all noted but their severity was mild or moderate and they disappeared in 48 hours. In general, monitoring laboratory tests showed little change.Following a stringent parasitological follow-up, 96% of 28 patients followed at 1 year after treatment with either 3 x 20 mg/kg or 1 x 50 mg/kg were cured. Praziquantel seems to be a very promising drug against S. mansoni and further clinical trials should be strongly encouraged.
The natural history of "pure" late-stage semantic dementia

Relatively little is known about the neuropsychological profile of late-stage semantic dementia. This article provides a detailed assessmentof patient MK who, despite her very severe semantic impairments, remained cooperative to testing and, unusually, did not show additionalbehavioral/personality changes. Although MKs initial presentation was typical of semantic dementia (SD), her performance began todeviate from the normal pattern. She developed impairments of single word repetition and regular word reading, and began to producephonological errors in picture naming and spontaneous speech. These deficits might suggest that late-stage SD includes an independentdisorder of phonology. An alternative possibility, however, is that phonological processing cannot proceed normally in the face of profoundsemantic degradation. A series of experiments supported the latter explanation of MKs deficits. In picture naming, MK showed little effectof progressive phonological cueing, did not reveal an increased sensitivity to word length or phonological complexity and continued toshow a high degree of item-specific consistency in both accuracy and errors: she tended to produce the same erroneous phonemes for eachitem. She remained sensitive to the effects of phonological similarity in immediate serial recall. Letter substitution errors in regular wordreading were more common for lower frequency letters (e.g., Q, Z). These letters also produced more item errors in immediate serial recall,suggesting that a frequency-graded loss of letter knowledge, rather than separate orthographic and phonological deficits, accounted for thedeficits in both of these tasks. These findings are discussed in terms of theories that posit strong interactivity between phonology andsemantics.
Argos: A Novel 3-DoF Parallel Wrist Mechanism

This article presents a novel parallel spherical mechanism called Argos with three rotational degrees of freedom. Design aspects of the first prototype built of the Argos mechanism are discussed. The direct kinematic problem is solved, leading always to four nonsingular configurations of the end effector for a given set of joint angles. The inverse-kinematic problem yields two possible configurations for each of the three pantographs for a given orientation of the end effector. Potential applications of the Argos mechanism are robot wrists, orientable machine tool beds, joy sticks, surgical manipulators, and orientable units for optical components. Another pantograph based new structure named PantoScope having two rotational DoF is also briefly introduced.
Comparison of PCA and FDA for monitoring of coupled liquid tank system

This paper deals with the implementation of data driven techniques, Principal component analysis (PCA) and Fisher Discriminant analysis (FDA), for fault detection and identification in coupled liquid tank system (CLTS). A CLTS is used as a non-linear benchmark in control engineering. PCA transforms the higher dimensional data to a lower dimension, while FDA extracts the discriminant information for fault diagnosis. Actuator and sensor faults are detected. Multiple faults are detected simultaneously by using T2 - statistics and Q - statistics(SPE). Component fault is not detected by common Fault detection and isolation (FDI) schemes, but data driven techniques are applied to detect such faults as well. PCA has limitations for fault identification purpose, while FDA performance for component fault detection and fault identification is significantly better then PCA.
Coevolution of the Relaxin‐Like Peptides and Their Receptors

Abstract: Currently, four relaxin peptide family receptors are known: LGR7 is the relaxin receptor, although it also interacts specifically with relaxin‐3; LGR8 is the insulin‐like factor 3 (INSL3) receptor; and GPCR135 or the somatostatin‐ and angiotensin‐like peptide receptor (SALPR) and GPCR142 are both specific relaxin‐3 receptors. Because these receptors coevolved together with their relaxin ligands, phylogenetic analysis of these sequences can provide insight into peptide‐receptor interactions and even predict interacting partners for INSL4, INSL5, and INSL6, the receptors for which are unknown.
A DTN Routing Scheme for Quasi-Deterministic Networks with Application to LEO Satellites Topology

We propose a novel DTN routing algorithm, called DQN, specifically designed for quasi-deterministic networks with an application to satellite constellations. We demonstrate that our proposal efficiently forwards the information over a satellite network derived from the Orbcomm topology while keeping a low replication overhead. We compare our algorithm against other well-known DTN routing schemes and show that we obtain the lowest replication ratio without the knowledge of the topology and with a delivery ratio of the same order of magnitude than a reference theoretical optimal routing.
A Microprocessor-Based Robot Manipulator Control with Sliding Mode

The application of a sliding-mode control based on a Variable Structure System (VSS) for a multijoint manipulator is presented. The high-gain effect of a sliding-mode control suppresses the complicated interactions between each joint of a robot arm. The resulting system is completely robust whereas the obtained control law is simple and easy to apply to on-line computer control. In this-paper, the practical sliding-mode controller, which has a simple nonlinear compensator and proper continuous function, is implemented for a two-linkage manipulator. The validity of this technique is confirmed in experiments where the system shows robust performance in spite of the existing nonlinear interactions and unknown parametric changes. In addition, this sliding-mode control is improved to track the desired path.
Adoption and Application of CMS: Crucial Steps for an Effective E-Learning Component

Many tertiary institutions tout their implementation of e-learning technology as a way to lure prospective students, and promised implementation of e-learning strategies in college programs is crucial for securing valuable federal government grants. At the core of most e-learning strategies is the institution's course management system (CMS). A CMS facilitates efficient course management, increased learning outcomes, and greater student autonomy. However, getting faculty and staff to adopt the CMS has proved challenging (Black, Beck, Dawson, Jinks & DiPietro, 2007). Applying a modified technology acceptance model (TAM) (Alharbi & Drew, 2014), teachers in a university-level English language program were asked to share their opinions about the BlackboardÂ® CMS. This study reports on faculty application of the Blackboard CMS, faculty perceptions of the Blackboard CMS according to a TAM analysis, and presents steps for augmenting the effective use of the CMS in all English courses.
Mining semantic networks for knowledge discovery

We address the problem of mining a class of semantic networks, called concept frame graphs (CFG's), for knowledge discovery from text. This new representation is motivated by the need to capture richer text content so that nontrivial mining tasks can be performed. We first define the CFG representation and then describe a rule-based algorithm for constructing a CFG from text documents. Treating the CFG as a networked knowledge base, we propose new methods for text mining. On a specific task of discovering the top companies in an area, we observe that our approach leads to simpler content mining algorithms, once the CFG has been constructed. Moreover, exploiting the network structure of CFG results in significant improvements in precision and recall.
A non-uniform cache architecture for low power system design

This paper proposes a non-uniform cache architecture for reducing the power consumption of memory systems. The non-uniform cache allows having different associativity values (i.e., the number of cache-ways) for different cache-sets. An algorithm determines the optimum number of cache-ways for each cache-set and generates object code suitable for the non-uniform cache memory. The paper also proposes a compiler technique for reducing redundant cache-way accesses and cache-tag accesses. Experiments demonstrate that the technique can reduce the power consumption of memory systems by up to 76% compared to the best result achieved by the conventional method.
Aldosterone-and-Salt–Induced Cardiac Fibrosis Is Independent from Angiotensin II Type 1a Receptor Signaling in Mice

Aldosterone infusion with high salt treatment induces cardiac fibrosis in rats. Aldosterone enhanced angiotensin II (Ang II) has been shown to induce proliferation and increase the expression of Ang II receptor mRNA and Ang II binding in vitro. To investigate the role of Ang II type 1a receptor (AT1aR) in aldosterone-and-salt (Ald-NaCl)−induced cardiac fibrosis, we subcutaneously infused aldosterone (0.15 μg/h) and 1% NaCl (Ald-NaCl) into AT1aR knockout mice (AT1aR-KO) or wild type mice (Wt). To examine the role of NaCl on cardiac fibrosis, we gave some of the aldosterone-treated AT1aR-KO tap water (Ald-H2O). Ald-NaCl treatment increased systolic blood pressure and induced cardiac hypertrophy in both strains, whereas there were no such changes in the mice without aldosterone. Severe cardiac fibrosis was seen in Ald-NaCl–treated AT1aR-KO and not in Ald-NaCl–treated Wt. In contrast, Ald-NaCl–treated Wt with co-administration of an active metabolite of olmesartan, the AT1aR antagonist (10 mg/kg/day) did not show cardiac fibrosis. Na+/H+ exchanger, and Na+-K+ ATPase α2 subunit mRNA were decreased in AT1aR-KO. Na+/Ca2+ exchanger mRNA was lower in AT1aR-KO than Wt and was decreased by Ald-NaCl in both strains. Phosphorylation of epidermal growth factor receptor and extracellular signal–regulated kinase was increased by Ald-NaCl treatment in AT1aR-KO. Connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) and osteopontin mRNA were increased and accumulation of CTGF proteins was seen in the hearts of Ald-NaCl–treated AT1aR-KO. Ald-H2O–treated AT1aR-KO did not show any cardiac fibrosis. These results suggest that Ald-NaCl–induced cardiac fibrosis required both aldosterone and salt. Because cardiac fibrosis was exaggerated in Ald-NaCl–treated AT1aR-KO but was not seen in Wt treated with Ald-NaCl and olmesartan, AT1aR may not play a primary role in progression of cardiac fibrosis by Ald-NaCl, and gene disruption of AT1aR may have some implications in this model.
Semantic Audit Application

Abstract. Compliance checking of business processes executed by auditors requires to analyze documents e.g. log files, business process models depending on requirements derived from reference guidelines. This paper presents a forward compliance checking application for facilitating conformant behavior by detecting organizational operations and their deviations based on these documents in a semantic way. This application has been tested on the Internalization process in the respect of Erasmus mobility.
Hiding Skype VoIP calls from parametric identification

The proliferation of wideband connections and the use of more innovative technological platforms in both the business and the private market have caused a shift of the phone traffic from traditional circuit switched networks to packet switched IP based networks in the so-called Voice Over IP revolution. The flexibility of VoIP in general and of Voice Over Internet in particular comes at a price: the lack of a dedicated carrier infrastructure makes extremely hard to identify calls and to track them, thus lawful interception has turned extremely difficult as voice is mixed and randomly interleaved with generic data traffic. In past works it has been demonstrated the feasibility of call identification based on statistical parameters of data flow. However, we argue that it is extremely easy to "poison" the statistical characteristics of a VoIP stream making it stealthy without compromising its acoustical quality and we prove it first implementing a statistical detector showing a larger than 95% accuracy in detection and then a simple program capable of scrambling the statistical characteristics of Skype data streams.
Virtual screening: a step towards a sparse partial inductance matrix

We extend the partial inductance concept by replacing the magnetic interaction between open filaments i and j by that between filament j and a (finite) closed loop, formed by connecting the endpoints of a filament pair (i-i/sup l/). The secondary filament i/sup l/ is constructed by radial projection of filament i onto a cylindrical shell around filament j. We show that, although individual partial inductance values are modified, the inductive behaviour of the full circuit is invariant. Mutual inductances of distant filaments are particularly reduced, because the far field of a conductor loop falls off much faster than that of a single filament. Therefore, it is expected that subsequent removal of such transformed off-diagonal elements from the partial inductance matrix has less effect on the overall inductive properties, so our method provides a tool to enhance robustness under matrix sparsification. We call our method "virtual screening", because the screening filaments (i/sup l/) are not physically present. Symmetry of the inductance matrix is presented for orthogonal networks only. We also present an extension of our method to a more general class of shells. This allows a detailed comparison of the virtual screening method and the "potential shift-truncate method", introduced with spherical equipotential shells (B. Krauter and L.T. Pileggi, 1995) and extended to ellipsoidal equipotential shells (M. Beattie et al., 1998). We find strong similarities, but also differences. An interesting result is the fact that the virtual screening method with tubular shells applied to orthogonal networks can be interpreted as a generalization of the potential shift-truncate method to non-equipotential shells, which also implies that preservation of stability is guaranteed.
Distribution of glial‐associated proteins in the developing chick auditory brainstem

In the avian brainstem, nucleus magnocellularis (NM) projects bilaterally to nucleus laminaris (NL) in a pathway that facilitates sound localization. The distribution of glia during the development of this pathway has not previously been characterized. Radial glia, astrocytes, and oligodendrocytes facilitate many processes including axon pathfinding, synaptic development, and maturation. Here we determined the spatiotemporal expression patterns of glial cell types in embryonic development of the chick auditory brainstem using glial‐specific antibodies and histological markers. We found that vimentin‐positive processes are intercalated throughout the NL cell layer. Astrocytes are found in two domains: one in the ventral neuropil region and the other dorsolateral to NM. GFAP‐positive processes are primarily distributed along the ventral margin of NL. Astrocytic processes penetrate the NL cell layer following the onset of synaptogenesis, but before pruning and maturation. The dynamic, nonoverlapping expression patterns of GFAP and vimentin suggest that distinct glial populations are found in dorsal versus ventral regions of NL. Myelination occurs after axons have reached their targets. FluoroMyelin and myelin basic protein (MBP) gradually increase along the mediolateral axis of NL starting at E10. Multiple GFAP‐positive processes are directly apposed to NM‐NL axons and MBP, which suggests a role in early myelinogenesis. Our results show considerable changes in glial development after initial NM‐NL connections are made, suggesting that glia may facilitate maturation of the auditory circuit. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Develop Neurobiol, 2008.
Generation of a mouse line expressing Cre recombinase in glycinergic interneurons

In caudal regions of the CNS, glycine constitutes the major inhibitory neurotransmitter. Here, we describe a mouse line that expresses Cre recombinase under the control of a BAC transgenic glycine transporter 2 (GlyT2) promoter fragment. Mating of GlyT2‐Cre mice with the Cre reporter mouse lines Rosa26/LacZ and Rosa26/YFP and analysis of double transgenic offsprings revealed strong transgene activity in caudal regions of the central nervous system, i.e., brain stem and spinal cord. Some additional Cre expression was observed in cortical and cerebellar regions. In brain stem and spinal cord, Cre expressing cells were identified as glycinergic interneurons by staining with GlyT2‐ and glycine‐immunoreactive antibodies; here, >80% of the glycine‐immunoreactive cells expressed the Cre reporter protein. These data indicate that GlyT2‐Cre mice are a useful tool for the genetic manipulation of glycinergic interneurons. genesis 48:437–445, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Cell cycle dependent growth factor regulation of gene expression

The expression of the proto‐oncogenes c‐fos and c‐myc is a rapid response of G0‐arrested fibroblasts to serum and peptide growth factors; however, the role of the c‐fos and c‐myc gene products in subsequent cell cycle transit is not understood. We examined the expression of c‐fos and c‐myc mRNA in Balb/c 3T3 murine fibroblasts in response to platelet‐derived growth factor (PDGF) and platelet‐poor plasma, using arrest points associated with density dependent growth inhibition or metabolic inhibition to synchronize cells in S phase of the cell cycle. The expression of c‐fos and c‐myc mRNA in Balb/c 3T3 cells was differentially regulated with respect to growth factor dependence and cell cycle dependence, c‐fos expression was induced in the presence of PDGF and was unaffected by plasma. The induction of c‐fos expression in response to PDGF was cell cycle independent, occurring in cells transiting S phase and G2 as well as in G0 arrest. In contrast, c‐myc expression was both growth factor and cell cycle dependent. In G0 arrested cells, c‐myc expression was PDGF‐dependent and plasma‐independent, and PDGF was required for maintenance of elevated c‐myc levels during G1 transit. In cells transiting S phase, c‐myc mRNA was induced in response to PDGF, but was also plasma‐dependent in S phase cells that had been “primed” by exposure to PDGF during S phase.