Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Hepatitis B virus: something old, something new.

350 million carriers worldwide, remains a difficult management problem despite decades of research into potential therapies and regimens. The most effective antiHBV drugs are interferon-a (IFN-a) and antiviral nucleoside analogues such as lamivudine. At best, however, only approximately one third of those treated respond to therapy with either of these drugs (1). The conundrum deepens when the treatment of children infected with HBV comes into question. Children exhibit a markedly different disease course than adults and consequently, the relevance of results of studies in adult patients to the treatment of children is unclear. HBV in itself is not hepatotoxic; it is the immune response to HBV that is hepatotoxic. An indicator of whether a patient is mounting a significant immune response is given by the serum levels of transaminases, released by damaged hepatocytes. The natural course of acute HBV infection in adults and children older than 6 years old can be subdivided in 3 stages. The first, known as the replicative stage, is characterised by seropositivity for HBeAg, high HBV DNA levels and high transaminase levels, the rise in transaminase levels reflecting the host immune response to the virus. This is usually followed by loss of HBeAg, development of antiHBe antibodies, reduction of HBV DNA levels and normalisation of transaminases. The second stage is known as the inactive carrier state. The third stage, resolution of the infection, is characterised by HBsAg loss and anti-HBsAg seroconversion. Chronic HBV infection goes through an initial tolerance phase, with minimal liver damage but active viral replication. This is followed years later by an immune
Inhibition of nitric oxide synthase ameliorates cellular injury in sickle cell mouse kidneys.

BACKGROUND In previous studies of transgenic sickle cell mice, increased renal expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and endothelial cell isoform of NOS (EcNOS) was found by Western blot and immunohistochemistry. In addition, putative evidence of peroxynitrite (ONOO-) formation was found in the form of positive immunostaining and immunoblot for nitrotyrosine. Apoptosis was also detected by DNA strand breakage and TUNEL assay. The present study was carried out to examine the role of NO/ONOO- in mediating renal tubular cell apoptosis in sickle cell mouse kidneys. METHODS Mercaptoethylguanidine (MEG), a compound that selectively inhibits iNOS and also is a scavenger of ONOO-, was administered intraperitoneally over a five-day period to control and betas mice. Immunohistochemistry of iNOS and nitrotyrosine, DNA electrophoresis, ApoTACS assay for apoptosis, and Western blot of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) were carried out. RESULTS MEG administration virtually eliminated renal immunostaining of iNOS and nitrotyrosine and prevented DNA strand breakage. In addition, Western blot analysis of PARP, a nuclear DNA-reparative enzyme activated in response to DNA strand breakage, was found to be cleavaged in hypoxic betas mice, but was partially protected in MEG-treated betas hypoxic mice. Finally, apoptosis was markedly reduced by MEG in betas hypoxic mice. CONCLUSIONS These observations provide evidence that NO and/or ONOO- are responsible for initiating cell damage, which leads to apoptosis in sickle cell mouse kidneys.
Residential Demand Response for Renewable Energy Resources in Smart Grid Systems

With the current state of development in demand response (DR) programs in smart grid systems, there have been great demands for automated energy scheduling for residential customers. Recently, energy scheduling in smart grids have focused on the minimization of electricity bills, the reduction of the peak demand, and the maximization of user convenience. Thus, a user convenience model is proposed under the consideration of user waiting times, which is a nonconvex problem. Therefore, the nonconvex is reformulated as convex to guarantee optimal solutions. Moreover, mathematical formulations for DR optimization are derived based on the reformulated convex problem. In addition, two types of pricing policies for electricity bills are designed in the mathematical formulations, i.e., real-time pricing policy and progressive policy. With real-time pricing policy, convexity is guaranteed whereas progressive policy cannot. Then, heuristic algorithms are finally designed for obtaining approximated optimal solutions in progressive policy.
100 kW DC biased, all semiconductor switch using Si P-I-N diodes and AlGaAs 2-D laser arrays

A two-dimensional laser array, delivering a peak power of 1 kW with an overall efficiency of 33%, was used to activate silicon p-i-n diodes. A single device, activated by a 1 kW laser, produced a holding voltage of 1000 V and conducted 56 A. When two similar p-i-n diodes were connected in parallel and activated by two 1 kW AlGaAs laser arrays, a holding voltage of 1000 V and conduction of 100 A were obtained. <<ETX>>
Towards continuous monitoring of pulse rate in neonatal intensive care unit with a webcam

We describe a novel method to monitor pulse rate (PR) on a continuous basis of patients in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) using videos taken from a high definition (HD) webcam. We describe algorithms that determine PR from videoplethysmographic (VPG) signals extracted from multiple regions of interest (ROI) simultaneously available within the field of view of the camera where cardiac signal is registered. We detect motion from video images and compensate for motion artifacts from each ROI. Preliminary clinical results are presented on 8 neonates each with 30 minutes of uninterrupted video. Comparisons to hospital equipment indicate that the proposed technology can meet medical industry standards and give improved patient comfort and ease of use for practitioners when instrumented with proper hardware.
A Taint Based Smart Fuzzing Approach for Integer Overflow Vulnerability Detection

-Fuzzing is one of the most commonly used methods to detect software vulnerabilities which are one major cause of information security incidents. The basic idea of fuzzing is to discover software vulnerabilities by feeding unexpected input and monitoring abnormal behaviors. Although it has advantages of simple design and low error report, its efficiency is usually poor. In this paper we present a taint based smart fuzzing approach for integer overflow vulnerability detection and a tool, SwordFuzzer, which implements this approach. Unlike standard fuzzing techniques, which randomly change parts of the input file with no information about the underlying syntactic structure of the file, SwordFuzzer uses online dynamic taint analysis to identify which bytes in the input file are used in security-sensitive operations (e.g., Malloc) and then focuses on mutating such bytes. Thus, generated inputs are more likely to trigger potential vulnerabilities. We evaluated SwordFuzzer with an example program and a number of real applications, experimental results show that SwordFuzzer can accurately locate the key bytes of the input file and dramatically improve the effectiveness of fuzzing. Further efficacy for detection of zero-day integer overflow vulnerabilities is being under test.
Evidence for genetic distinction among sympatric ecotypes of Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus) in south‐western Alaskan lakes

Resource polymorphism may play an important role in the process of speciation. The Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus) exhibits great phenotypic and genetic diversity across its range, making it an ideal species for studies of resource polymorphism and divergence. Here, we investigated genetic variation at 11 microsatellite loci among 287 Arctic char from five isolated yet proximate postglacial lakes in south-western Alaska that were previously examined for resource polymorphism. Significant differences in pairwise FST were detected among all lakes (range from 0.05 to 0.28, all P < 0.02). In one lake (Lower Tazimina Lake), we found evidence for two genetic groups of char and for significant differences in the distribution of microsatellite variability among at least two of the three previously described body size morphotypes (‘large’-, ‘medium’-, and ‘small’-bodied char; maximum FST = 0.09; differences in admixture proportions). We also found a significant association between genetic admixture proportions and gill raker counts among body size morphs (r = −0.73, P < 0.001). Our data represent the first record of genetically distinct sympatric morphs of Arctic char in Alaska and provide further evidence that differences in morphology associated with feeding (gill rakers) and growth trajectories reflect niche diversification and promote genetic divergence in Holarctic populations of Arctic char.
Effects of Dietary Supplementation of Fish Oil on Neutrophil and Epidermal Fatty Acids: Modulation of Clinical Course of Psoriatic Subjects

† Findings from an eight-week fish oil-supplemented diet given to 13 psoriatic patients demonstrated that eicosapentaenoic acid (20:5,n3 [EPA]) and docosahexaenoic acid (22:6,n3 [DCHA]) are rapidly incorporated into the sera, neutrophils, and epidermis of participating patients, and that the incorporation of EPA and DCHA into epidermal lipids increased with weeks of supplementation with minimal alteration of arachidonic acid (AA) in the epidermal lipids. Global clinical evaluation showed that eight patients demonstrated mild to moderate improvement in their psoriatic lesions. Improved clinical response correlated with high EPA/DCHA ratios attained in epidermal tissue specimens. These findings underscore the need for further investigations into the role of dietary n3 fatty acids, particularly the possibility of pentaenoic acid as a potential protective agent and/or therapeutic adjunct for the clinical management of psoriasis. ( Arch Dermatol 1986;122:1277-1282)
Estrés postraumático en mujeres víctimas de violencia doméstica

Las secuelas fisicas y psicologicas en las victimas de violencia domestica son numerosas, siendo el desarrollo del Trastorno por Estres Postraumatico (TEPT) una de las mas frecuentemente observadas. En esta investigacion se caracteriza una muestra de 42 mujeres consultantes por violencia domestica. A traves de una entrevista semiestructurada y de la Escala de Gravedad del TEPT1, se evaluo la presencia de estres postraumatico en ellas y se analizo la percepcion de las propias consultantes respecto de su situacion y la atencion recibida en las instituciones y programas a los que asistian. Se encontro que un 40,5% de la muestra reunia los criterios de TEPT y que un 26,2% adicional presentaba sintomatologia subumbral significativa. Un 39,3% de las mujeres cuya situacion de violencia habia terminado continuaban presentando TEPT. La mayoria de las mujeres valoriza el apoyo psicologico recibido y lo destaca como el elemento mas relevante de la atencion requerida. Los resultados indican la necesidad de fortalecer el componente psicologico de las intervenciones destinadas a las victimas de violencia domestica y, en particular, de considerar la sintomatologia postraumatica como uno de los objetivos importantes de intervencion.
Computer-aided mammographic screening for spiculated lesions.

PURPOSE To study the use of a computer vision method as a second reader for the detection of spiculated lesions on screening mammograms. MATERIALS AND METHODS An algorithmic computer process for the detection of spiculated lesions on digitized screen-film mammograms was applied to 85 four-view clinical cases: 36 cases with cancer proved by means of biopsy and 49 cases with negative findings at examination and follow-up. The computer detections were printed as film with added outlines that indicated the suspected cancers. Four radiologists screened the 85 cases twice, once without and once with the computer reports as ancillary films. RESULTS The algorithm alone achieved 100% sensitivity, with a specificity of 82%. The computer reports increased the average radiologist sensitivity by 9.7% (P = .005), moving from 80.6% to 90.3%, with no decrease in average specificity. CONCLUSION The study demonstrated that computer analysis of mammograms can provide a substantial and statistically significant increase in radiologist screening efficacy.
A survey of game based strategies of resource allocation in cloud computing

Cloud is an environment which provides services and resources to enterprises on the go. It provides various resources like CPU, Memory, Storage, Network Bandwidth, most importantly some service to the subscriber. These services may be Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), Resource management Software as a Service (SaaS). Cloud allows many users to use central facilities, thus posses the problem of resource allocation between various users. Allocation of the resource is to be done on demand; moreover it must be done in a fair manner so that no user is denied a service. Further we need to optimize the resource allocation so that costs can be reduced and profits may be increased. There is variety of methods to allocate resource amongst users. This paper surveys such methods giving brief account of situations where a particular method may perform the best.
The histological relationship between "peste des petits ruminants" and kata in West Africa.

The histopathology of" Peste des Petits Ruminants (P.P.R.) " and Kata was compared. The lesions demonstrated a close similarity, with necrosis of alimentary tract epithelium, degeneration and proliferation in respiratory epithelium and depression of lymphoid tissues. Intranuclear and intracytoplasmic inclusion bodies occurred constantly in epithelial tissues. (Resume d'auteur)
Rate and Distortion Optimization for Reversible Data Hiding Using Multiple Histogram Shifting

Histogram shifting (HS) embedding as a typical reversible data hiding scheme is widely investigated due to its high quality of stego-image. For HS-based embedding, the selected side information, i.e., peak and zero bins, usually greatly affects the rate and distortion performance of the stego-image. Due to the massive solution space and burden in distortion computation, conventional HS-based schemes utilize some empirical criterion to determine those side information, which generally could not lead to a globally optimal solution for reversible embedding. In this paper, based on the developed rate and distortion model, the problem of HS-based multiple embedding is formulated as the one of rate and distortion optimization. Two key propositions are then derived to facilitate the fast computation of distortion due to multiple shifting and narrow down the solution space, respectively. Finally, an evolutionary optimization algorithm, i.e., genetic algorithm is employed to search the nearly optimal zero and peak bins. For a given data payload, the proposed scheme could not only adaptively determine the proper number of peak and zero bin pairs but also their corresponding values for HS-based multiple reversible embedding. Compared with previous approaches, experimental results demonstrate the superiority of the proposed scheme in the terms of embedding capacity and stego-image quality.
Credentialing for endoscopic ultrasound: A proposal for Canadian guidelines

Wang et al. evaluated EUS trainees’ evolution prospectively. Compared with pretraining, the proportion of trainees who succeeded in locating each structure after the training were, respectively, celiac axis (36% vs. 80.5%), pancreatic body and tail (51.5% vs. 80.5%), splenic vein and artery (48.5% vs. 84%), left kidney (60% vs. 83%), and spleen (47% vs. 83%). They concluded that a structured training program signifi cantly improved the successful localization of structures. [3]
Novel cyclotides from Hedyotis diffusa induce apoptosis and inhibit proliferation and migration of prostate cancer cells.

BACKGROUND Hedyotis diffusa is a well-known herb in traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) which is used to treat various cancers including prostate cancer. Recently, lots of cyclotides possessing anti-cancer activities were found in Hedyotis family plants, suggesting that H.diffusa may also contain these bioactive ingredients. Cyclotides are heat-stable macrocyclic peptides from plants that display a wide range of biological activities. Currently, over 250 cyclotides have been discovered. OBJECTIVE This study tried to isolate novel cyclotides from H.diffusa and further investigate their anti-cancer activities for the prostate cancer cells in vitro and in vivo. METHODS The novel cyclotides from H.diffusa were isolated and purified by High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), amino acid sequences in their primary structure were confirmed using Edman degradation and gene cloning. Colorimetric cell viability assay (CCK8 assay), wound healing assay and human prostate cancer xenograft were used to analyze their anti-prostate cancer activity in vitro and in vivo. RESULTS Three novel cyclotides, termed as Diffusa cyclotide 1 to 3 (DC1-3) from the leaves and root of H.diffusa, were isolated firstly based on my knowledge. Using Edman degradation sequencing and gene cloning, we confirmed their amino acid sequence and obtained precursors of these peptides. By CCK8 assay, all present cyclotides showed potent cytotoxicity against all three prostate cancer cell lines, especially for DC3. In migration assay and wound healing assay, DC3 inhibited the cell migration and invasion Of LNCap cells. By model of prostate xenograft, DC3 could significantly inhibit development of the tumor in weight and size compared to the placebo. CONCLUSION The novel cyclotides extracted from H.Diffusa have anti-cancer effects, and they are potential bioactive ingredients in H.diffusa.
Can alcohol lead to inhibition or disinhibition? Applying alcohol myopia to animal experimentation.

AIMS Animal experimentation often demonstrates that alcohol leads to disinhibited behaviour, such as increased aggression, increased social behaviour, or increased impulsivity. However, human experimentation demonstrates that alcohol can have either disinhibiting or inhibiting effects on behaviour, depending on salient environmental cues. Our aim was to illustrate how alcohol myopia theory could be applied to the literature assessing the effects of alcohol on behaviour in animals. METHODS The effects of alcohol on animal behaviour were reviewed in several domains, including aggression, social behaviours, and impulsivity. Suggestions for testing alcohol myopia with animal research paradigms were provided. RESULTS Current animal research paradigms are often designed in such a way that alcohol myopia cannot be tested. To test alcohol myopia, we recommend manipulating the salience of both impelling and inhibiting environmental cues. CONCLUSIONS Disinhibition alone cannot explain alcohol's effects on behaviour. We contend that alcohol myopia theory helps to explain some contradictory findings in the human and animal literature. We encourage animal researchers to develop research paradigms to provide tests of alcohol myopia.
Polarization electronics - a path to multifunctional nanoscale materials

An oft-overlooked parameter in semiconductor-based device structures is the presence of induced or spontaneous polarization. Polarization provides an added degree of freedom that can be used to fabricate new and innovative device structures both for electronics and photonics. We present a discussion of two approaches - the use of spontaneous polarization in GaN for nanoscale photonic devices and structures, and the potential for the integration of complex oxides with GaN for induced polarization electronics
A Content-based Watermarking Scheme based on Clifford Fourier Transform

In this paper, we propose a new watermarking method based on Harris interest points and Fourier Clifford Transform. We employed Harris detector to select robust interest points and to generate some non-overlapped circular interest regions. Each region was transformed into Clifford Fourier domain and the watermark was embedded into the Clifford transform coefficients magnitude. Experimental results show the robustness of the proposed method against JPEG compression
Anti‐PD‐1 synergizes with cyclophosphamide to induce potent anti‐tumor vaccine effects through novel mechanisms

Programmed death‐1 receptor (PD‐1) is expressed on T cells following TCR activation. Binding of this receptor to its cognate ligands, programmed death ligand (PDL)‐1 and PDL‐2, down‐regulates signals by the TCR, promoting T‐cell anergy and apoptosis, thus leading to immune suppression. Here, we find that using an anti‐PD‐1 antibody (CT‐011) with Treg‐cell depletion by low‐dose cyclophosphamide (CPM), combined with a tumor vaccine, induces synergistic antigen‐specific immune responses and reveals novel activities of each agent in this combination. This strategy led to complete regression of established tumors in a significant percentage of treated animals, with survival prolongation. We show for the first time that combining CT‐011 and CPM significantly increases the number of vaccine‐induced tumor‐infiltrating CD8+ T cells, with simultaneous decrease in infiltrating Treg cells. Interestingly, we find that CT‐011 prolongs Treg‐cell inhibition induced by CPM, leading to a sustainable significant synergistic decrease of splenic and tumor‐infiltrated Treg cells. Surprisingly, we find that the anti‐tumor effect elicited by the combination of CT‐011 and CPM is dependent on both CD8+ and CD4+ T‐cell responses, although the antigen we used is a class I MHC‐restricted peptide. Thus, we describe a novel and effective therapeutic approach by combining multiple strategies to target several tumor‐mediated immune inhibitory mechanisms.
Endangered Species , Endangered Culture : Native Resistance to Industrializing the Arctic

In: Watson, Alan; Sproull, Janet, comps. 2003. Science and stewardship to protect and sustain wilderness values: Seventh World Wilderness Congress symposium;2001 November 2–8; Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Proc. RMRS-P-27. Ogden, UT: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. Abstract—This paper examines the responses of two indigenous groups to the potential opening of the coastal plain of Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to oil and gas exploration. Gwich’in Indians, whose culture revolves both materially and spiritually around the caribou, oppose all such development for fear that it will jeopardize that species’ optimum calving grounds. Inupiat Eskimos, who stand to gain economically from petrodevelopment, favor oil and gas exploration on the coastal plain while opposing it offshore, where it might threaten the bowhead whale, the species at the center of their own culture. After reviewing the history of the conflict and weighing the respective claims of these two peoples, the paper concludes with a discussion of the threats posed to ANWR by international terrorism and by global warming.
Relationship between melanin content and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity in the liver of various species of animals

The scavenger effect of melanin and of superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity on superoxide anion has been shown. In this work we show the relationship between melanin content and SOD activity in livers containing different quantities of melanin which were taken from various species of animals. The mitochondrial SOD activity disappears when the melanin content in the liver is very high; moreover it increases, in the liver of various species of animals examined, proportionally to the decrease of melanin content. No significant variation of the SOD activity localized in the soluble fraction has been detected when related to the melanin content. We think that in the pigmented liver the antioxidant activity of the melanin could mimic part of the function of SOD. The loss of Mn SOD activity could be mediated by a low intracellular level of superoxide anion due to the scavenger effect of melanin on superoxide anion; in fact, it is well known that the biosynthesis of Mn SOD is induced by intracellular levels of superoxide anion.