Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Molecular Circadian Rhythms in Central and Peripheral Clocks in Mammals

The last decade has seen tremendous progress in our understanding of the organization and function of the circadian clock. A number of so‐called clock genes were discovered, and these genes and their protein products were shown to organize into feedback loops to give a near 24 h rhythmicity. However, the mechanism is much more complicated. First, many new clock components have been identified, increasing both our understanding and the overall complexity of the mechanism. Second, there is now evidence that transcription may not play a central role in determining the functioning of the clock: the identification of post‐translational modifications of the clock proteins has revealed new levels of control. Finally, chromatin remodeling seems to be crucial in the regulation of the expression of major clock components. This review describes the recent advances in our knowledge of the molecular clockwork in mammals; in particular, the contribution of new clock components and of post‐transcriptional and post‐translational events to circadian timekeeping are discussed.
Dietary phosphorus regulates serum fibroblast growth factor-23 concentrations in healthy men.

CONTEXT Fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF-23) is important in the regulation of phosphorus and vitamin D metabolism. States of excess circulating FGF-23 are associated with renal phosphate wasting and inappropriately low serum 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D [1,25(OH)(2)D] concentrations. Conversely, states of absent or biologically inactive circulating FGF-23 are associated with increased serum phosphorus and 1,25(OH)(2)D concentrations. Restriction of the dietary intake of phosphorus increases renal phosphate reabsorption and 1,25(OH)(2)D production, whereas the opposite occurs when dietary phosphorus is supplemented. OBJECTIVE We sought to determine whether serum FGF-23 concentration is regulated by dietary phosphorus and thereby mediates the physiological response of serum 1,25(OH)(2)D to changes in dietary phosphorus. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS We studied 13 healthy men as inpatients during a 4-wk dietary phosphorus intervention study. INTERVENTION Subjects consumed a constant diet that provided 500 mg of phosphorus per day, which was supplemented to achieve three phosphorus intakes, each of 9 d: 1) control = 1500 mg/d; 2) supplemented = 2300 mg/d; 3) restricted = 625 mg/d. Intakes of calcium, sodium, potassium, magnesium, and energy were constant. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE Serum FGF-23, 1,25(OH)(2)D, phosphorus, and calcium concentrations were measured. RESULTS Serum FGF-23 concentrations decreased significantly from 30.7 +/- 8.7 pg/ml during phosphorus supplementation to 19.6 +/- 7.0 pg/ml during phosphorus restriction. Serum 1,25(OH)(2)D concentrations increased significantly from 29 +/- 10 pg/ml (75 +/- 26 pmol/liter) during phosphorus supplementation to 40 +/- 16 pg/ml (104 +/- 42 pmol/liter) during phosphorus restriction (P < 0.001). Serum 1,25(OH)(2)D concentrations varied inversely with those of serum FGF-23 (r = -0.67, P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS We conclude that in healthy men, changes in dietary phosphorus within the physiological range of intakes regulate serum FGF-23 concentrations and suggest that dietary phosphorus regulation of 1,25(OH)(2)D production is mediated, at least in part, by changes in circulating FGF-23.
Streptococcus pyogenes Fibronectin-binding Protein F2

Some Streptococcus pyogenes (group A streptococci, GAS) strains have previously been shown to express the fibronectin-binding protein F2 instead of the functionally related but structurally dissimilar protein F1/SfbI. In this study, recombinant N-terminal and C-terminal portions and the two fibronectin-binding domains of protein F2 were used to assess affinity parameters of the interaction with fibronectin and its N-terminal 70-, 30-, and 45-kDa fragments. The association and dissociation equilibrium constants for both binding domains were in the nanomolar range, although the repeat domain of protein F2 exceeded the affinity of the unique domain by up to one order magnitude. Both domains primarily interacted with the 30-kDa fibronectin fragment. Using a prtF2 gene isogenic mutant of a serotype M49 GAS strain that does not harbor the protein F1/SfbI gene, the attachment values of whole bacteria to immobilized fibronectin and to HEp-2 epithelial cells were found to be 6- and 2-fold decreased, respectively. Reduction of prtF2 mutant internalization rates for eukaryotic cells exceeded the reduction of attachment rates, indicating an independent contribution of protein F2 to both processes. The prtF2 transcription and protein F2 expression profiles documented maximum expression at the transition to the stationary phase especially under aerobic growth condition. The protein F2 function as the major fibronectin-binding adhesin in a subset of GAS strains, its expression pattern, and highly specific interaction with fibronectin would be consistent with a status as an indispensable virulence factor for both earlier and later pathogenetic stages of GAS superficial infections.
Essays on natural resources, inequality and political stability

This thesis consists of three distinct essays on natural resources, inequality and stability. In the first essay, we retest the resource curse hypothesis that natural resources have a negative impact on growth. We use a panel fixed effect model to examine the effects of higher resource rents and exports from different types of resources on income level and growth rate. We show no evidence of the resource curse; however, we find that natural resources are beneficial for the economy as higher resource rents and exports increase income level and promote growth. In the second essay, we develop a theoretical model on the use of public resources by a political regime to generate political groups’ consensus and regimes’ stability. We analyze a baseline model of a prestige-motivated regime that maximizes consensus from two groups that differ in their political preferences: elite and egalitarian. We show that while an increase in public resources always reduces the probability of coups organized by the elite, it increases (reduces) the probability of revolutions organized by the egalitarian when the initial level of public resources is low (high). Overall, regime’s stability is always increasing in public resources. Furthermore, we show that higher political influence and larger size of the elite group increase the regime’s stability only for high levels of resources. In the third essay, we empirically test our theoretical predictions. We first use a semi-parametric regression and obtain strong supporting evidence that higher income increases regime’s stability. We show that the probability of coups always decreases with income, whereas the probability of a revolution is a non-linear function of income. We extend the analysis and find that higher income increases democracy, whereas inequality has the opposite effect. We also find that higher income and inequality make the country prone to external conflicts and government repressions.
Block matching super-resolution parallel GPU implementation for computational imaging

This work presents the computational acceleration of a proprietary Super-Resolution (SR) algorithm (patented) for image and video enhancement. The considered algorithm is based on fusion SR techniques. The version proposed in this paper consists on the comparison of frames divided into Macro Blocks (MB) of fixed dimensions and on acquisition from a single camera. Due to its intensive computation, that limits its practical application in specific contexts where fast processing (even with real-time constraints) is necessary, the algorithm has been implemented in two platforms: OpenMP and GPU. Several tests have been conducted on seven popular image sequences and the results show a considerable improvement of the proposed solutions, in particular the Graphic Processing Units implementations. Consequently, it can be stated that GPUs represent an efficient solution to accelerate this type of algorithms to improve the perception of the image quality.
Stress doses of hydrocortisone reduce systemic inflammatory response in patients undergoing cardiac surgery without cardiopulmonary bypass.

BACKGROUND Systemic inflammatory response occurs after cardiac surgery (CS) and leads to a worse outcome in many cases. Stress doses of hydrocortisone have been successfully used to reduce SIRS and to improve outcome of patients after CS with cardiopulmonary bypass grafting (on-pump CABG), but the effect of hydrocortisone on patients undergoing CS without cardiopulmonary bypass grafting (off-pump CABG) is unclear. Therefore, we evaluated the effect of stress doses of hydrocortisone in this group of patients. METHODS A total of 305 patients undergoing off-pump CABG were enrolled in a prospective randomized trial according to the study protocol. The patients either received stress doses of hydrocortisone or placebo. We measured various laboratory and clinical variables characterizing the patients' outcomes. RESULTS The two study groups did not differ with regard to demographic data. Patients receiving hydrocortisone had an increased Higgins score and a decreased ejection fraction. Furthermore, patients from the hydrocortisone group had significantly lower levels of IL-6 (275 [162/677] pg/mL vs. 450 [320/660] pg/mL, P=0.001) and a shorter stay in the ICU (1 [1/3] day vs. 2 [2/3] days, P=0.04). Both groups did not differ in regard to catecholamine support, duration of mechanical ventilation, incidence of postoperative atrial fibrillation, blood loss, and mortality rate. CONCLUSION We conclude that intravenous stress doses of hydrocortisone lead to a reduction of systemic inflammation and to a potential improvement in the early outcome of patients undergoing off-pump CABG.
Control of accelerated vein graft atheroma with the nitric oxide precursor: L-arginine.

Hyperlipidemia contributes to the development of intimal hyperplasia and subsequent accelerated atherosclerosis in vein bypass grafts. This study examines the effect of dietary supplementation with L-arginine on the development of intimal hyperplasia and the vasomotor function of vein grafts in hypercholesterolemic animals. Thirty male New Zealand White rabbits had a right carotid vein bypass graft and were sacrificed at 28 days postoperatively. Twenty animals received a 1% cholesterol diet for 4 weeks prior to surgery and this diet was continued until harvest. Of these, 10 also received L-arginine (2.25%, 2 g/kg, p.o.) 7 days preoperatively and thereafter until harvest. The last 10 animals were controls. Vein grafts were harvested either for morphology or for in vitro isometric tension studies. Cumulative dose-response curves to norepinephrine, serotonin, and bradykinin were recorded, and following norepinephrine precontraction, relaxation to acetylcholine and sodium nitroprusside were determined. After in situ pressure fixation, intimal thicknesses of the vein grafts were measured by videomorphometry. The addition of L-arginine doubled the serum arginine concentrations. Intimal hyperplasia of both groups of hypercholesterolemic vein grafts contained foam cells and lipid-laden endothelial and smooth muscle cells. There was a 24% reduction in the intimal thickness of vein graft intimal hyperplasia in the L-arginine group compared to that in the hypercholesterolemia group (P < 0.05). All hypercholesterolemic vein grafts were two-fold thicker than in the control group. L-arginine supplementation resulted in the preservation of acetylcholine-mediated relaxation but did not change hypercholesterolemia-induced contractile agonist supersensitivity. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
A control strategy for islanded operation of a Distributed Resource (DR) unit

This paper proposes a mathematical model and a voltage/frequency regulation strategy for an islanded, electronically-coupled, Distributed Resource (DR) unit. The DR unit can either represent a Distributed Storage (DS) unit or a dispatchable Distributed Generation (DG) unit. The proposed control strategy benefits from the power circuit configuration, dq-frame current-control scheme, and the Phase-Locked Loop (PLL) mechanism that exist and are optimized in modern grid-connected DR units. Therefore, the proposed control strategy requires minimal software modifications to enable the operation of the DR unit in the islanded mode, with black-start capability, for example, for a remote microgrid application. In addition, the proposed control strategy employs feed-forward techniques to mitigate the impacts of (i) load dynamics on the system stability and performance, and (ii) inherent inter-couplings and nonlinearities of the control system. This, in turn, remarkably facilitates the controller design procedure. The principles supporting the proposed control strategy are discussed and analyzed, and the effectiveness of the control is demonstrated through digital time-domain simulations conducted on a detailed switched model of a 5. 0 MVA DR unit.
HAEMATOPOIETIC STEM CELLS (CFUc) IN HUMAN CORD BLOOD

ABSTRACT. Colony forming units (CFUc) giving rise to myelocytic colonies in methylcellulose cultures were found among non‐adherent mononuclear cells of human cord blood with a frequency of one in 1678. The number decreased markedly during the first 8 to 10 days of life. They were rarely detected in adult blood by this technique.
A 25-GHz CMOS Tunable Injection Locking Quadrature LC-Divider for Multi-Channel Transceivers

A 25-GHz injection locking quadrature LC divider for multi-channel transceivers is described herein. The injection locking technique is used to eliminate the trade-off between quadrature accuracy and phase noise performance. Using harmonic balance to analyze the injection locking behavior, an analytical expression for the locking range is derived. The proposed topology allows for independent tuning of I/Q injection locking dividers resulting in a reduction phase offset. A full-rate oscillator with I/Q injection locking dividers designed in a 0.13-mum standard digital CMOS process indicates 20% frequency locking range while consuming 2.2 mA at a supply voltage of 1.2V, excluding the output buffers. It is shown that I/Q phase imbalance from inductor mismatch can be corrected up to 57 degrees
The associations between fast bowling technique and ball release speed: A pilot study of the within-bowler and between-bowler approaches

Abstract The inability of the between-bowlers methodology to control parameters external to technique could lead to erroneous significant and non-significant associations being reported between fast-bowling technique and ball release speed. Using Pearson's product – moment correlation, we first examined the effectiveness of a within-bowler methodology to identify associations between technique and ball release speed of an elite semi-open fast bowler over 20 deliveries. These results were compared with associations identified from a between-bowlers methodology in which 20 single-performance trials bowled by elite fast bowlers adopting a semi-open shoulder alignment were collated. Sufficient variation was observed in within-bowler ball release speed to allow f relationships to be identified between technique and ball release speed. Although greater variation in bowling technique parameters was observed in the between-bowlers methodology, no associations were identified between technique and ball release speed. Multiple stepwise regression analysis showed that 87.5% of the within-bowler variation in ball release speed can be attributed to run-up velocity, angular velocity of the bowling arm, vertical velocity of the non-bowling arm, and stride length. The within-bowler methodology provided significant detailed information about the individual bowler that the between-bowlers methodology overlooked, forming the basis of a performance enhancement programme. It is recommended that within-bowler methodology be used in future investigation of technique relationships.
Epidural steroids in the management of chronic spinal pain: a systematic review.

BACKGROUND Epidural injection of corticosteroids is one of the most commonly used interventions in managing chronic spinal pain. However, there has been a lack of well-designed randomized, controlled studies to determine the effectiveness of epidural injections. Consequently, debate continues as to the value of epidural steroid injections in managing spinal pain. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effect of various types of epidural steroid injections (interlaminar, transforaminal, and caudal), in managing various types of chronic spinal pain (axial and radicular) in the neck and low back regions. STUDY DESIGN A systematic review utilizing the criteria established by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) for evaluation of randomized and non-randomized trials, and criteria of Cochrane Musculoskeletal Review Group for randomized trials were used. METHODS Data sources included relevant English literature performed by a librarian experienced in Evidence Based Medicine (EBM), as well as manual searches of bibliographies of known primary and review articles and abstracts from scientific meetings within the last 2 years. Three reviewers independently assessed the trials for the quality of their methods. Subgroup analyses were performed among trials with different control groups, with different techniques of epidural injections (interlaminar, transforaminal, and caudal), with different injection sites (cervical/thoracic, lumbar/sacral), and with timing of outcome measurement (short- and long-term). OUTCOME MEASURES The primary outcome measure is pain relief. Other outcome measures were functional improvement, improvement of psychological status, and return to work. Short-term improvement is defined as 6 weeks or less, and long-term relief is defined as 6 weeks or longer. RESULTS In managing lumbar radicular pain with interlaminar lumbar epidural steroid injections, the evidence is strong for short-term relief and limited for long-term relief. In managing cervical radiculopathy with cervical interlaminar epidural steroid injections, the evidence is moderate. The evidence for lumbar transforaminal epidural steroid injections in managing lumbar radicular pain is strong for short-term and moderate for long-term relief. The evidence for cervical transforaminal epidural steroid injections in managing cervical nerve root pain is moderate. The evidence is moderate in managing lumbar radicular pain in post lumbar laminectomy syndrome. The evidence for caudal epidural steroid injections is strong for short-term relief and moderate for long-term relief, in managing chronic pain of lumbar radiculopathy and postlumbar laminectomy syndrome. CONCLUSION There is moderate evidence for interlaminar epidurals in the cervical spine and limited evidence in the lumbar spine for long-term relief. The evidence for cervical and lumbar transforaminal epidural steroid injections is moderate for long-term improvement in managing nerve root pain. The evidence for caudal epidural steroid injections is moderate for long-term relief in managing nerve root pain and chronic low back pain.
Gender Differences in Needs and Care of Severely Mentally Ill Persons: Findings From a Swedish Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Study

Background: A great amount of research has been done in the area of gender and severe mental illness. However, there is an apparent lack of studies on gender differences concerning needs and care. Aim: To analyze differences in needs and care between men and women considered to be severely mentally ill (SMI) after the 1995 Swedish mental health care reform. Method: In one area of Sweden, surveys were made in 1995/96 and 2006 of persons considered to be SMI. These persons were interviewed and their needs assessed. In a cross-sectional study in 2006, the needs and care of men and women were compared. In a longitudinal study, men and women interviewed in both 1995/96 and 2006 were compared concerning the development of needs and care. Results: The structure of needs differed between men and women. Men had more needs concerning functional disability and those needs seemed possible to meet in the existing service structure. Women’s needs concerning physical health, information about health and own security, seemed to be more difficult to meet. Only a few gender differences were found in satisfaction with services and service utilization. Conclusion: It seems urgent to have a gender perspective in a needs-led mental healthcare service.
Probiotics Reduce the Risk of Antibiotic-Associated Diarrhea in Adults (18-64 Years) but Not the Elderly (>65 Years): A Meta-Analysis.

BACKGROUND Antibiotic-associated diarrhea (AAD) is a common problem in adults and elderly patients due to the widespread use of antibiotics in this population. Multiple previous systematic reviews have demonstrated an association between specific probiotics and decrease of AAD, especially in children. As there is no specific analysis concerning the elderly patients, we decided to focus on adults, especially elderly people. METHODS We performed a systematic review of the literature regarding the use of probiotics in the treatment of AAD in adults (18-64 years old) and elderly subjects (≥65 years old). We identified 436 articles that met the search criteria. Thirty randomized controlled trials met the predefined inclusion criteria and were included in the meta-analysis. RESULTS There was considerable heterogeneity among the trials (P < .001); thus, subgroup analyses were performed. The meta-analysis resulted in a pooled relative risk (RR) of AAD of 0.69 (95% confidence interval [95% CI]: 0.62-0.76) in a fixed effects model and 0.58 (95% CI: 0.48-0.71) in a random effects model, as compared with placebo. The positive association between intake of probiotic and reduced risk of AAD was observed in adults (RR, 0.47; 95% CI: 0.4-0.56). In contrast, in elderly patients, there was no positive effect (RR, 0.94; 95% CI: 0.76-1.15) of probiotic use and AAD. CONCLUSION In summary, the results emerging from our meta-analysis suggested that adjunct probiotic administration is associated with a reduced risk of AAD in adults but not in elderly people.
Human hair melanins: what we have learned and have not learned from mouse coat color pigmentation

Hair pigmentation is one of the most conspicuous phenotypes in humans. Melanocytes produce two distinct types of melanin pigment: brown to black, indolic eumelanin and yellow to reddish brown, sulfur‐containing pheomelanin. Biochemically, the precursor tyrosine and the key enzyme tyrosinase and the tyrosinase‐related proteins are involved in eumelanogenesis, while only the additional presence of cysteine is necessary for pheomelanogenesis. Other important proteins involved in melanogenesis include P protein, MATP protein, α‐MSH, agouti signaling protein (ASIP), MC1R (the receptor for MSH and ASIP), and SLC7A11, a cystine transporter. Many studies have examined the effects of loss‐of‐function mutations of those proteins on mouse coat color pigmentation. In contrast, much less is known regarding the effects of mutations of the corresponding proteins on human hair pigmentation except for MC1R polymorphisms that lead to pheomelanogenesis. This perspective will discuss what we have/have not learned from mouse coat color pigmentation, with special emphasis on the significant roles of pH and the level of cysteine in melanosomes in controlling melanogenesis. Based on these data, a hypothesis is proposed to explain the diversity of human hair pigmentation.