Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Modulatory control of buccal musculature by a serotonergic neuron (metacerebral cell) in Aplysia.

I. We have studied the central and peripheral functions of the metacerebral cell (MCC) ofAplysia. This research concentrated on the role of the MCC in controlling the ARC muscle, which is representative of a group of muscles that effect the biting and swallowing response of Aplysia. 2. Firing of the MCC produced a slowly rising and slowly decaying excitatory synaptic potential in motoneurons of the ARC muscle and other muscles of the buccal mass. The excitatory synaptic potential was not sufficient to fire motoneurons unless they received another source of depolarization. 3. In isolated buccal ganglia that exhibit periodic burst output, firing of the MCC at low, physiological rates, increased the frequency of occurrence of the burst output. Firing of the MCC was never effective in eliciting sustained burst output from nonbursting ganglia. 4. Although the MCC sends axonal branches to nerves innervating the accessory radula closer (ARC) and other muscles, firing of the MCC produced neither an increase nor decrease of the resting tension of the ARC muscle. Furthermore, firing of the ARC was never associated with any direct depolarizing or hyperpolarizing responses in muscle fibers. 5. Brief firing of the MCC enhanced the muscle contraction produced by firing of ARC motoneurons. The enhancement of contraction was maximum approximately 30 s after termination of a brief burst of MCC spikes (e.g., 30 spikes at 5/s), and the process then gradually decayed over a period of a minute or more. Physiological rates of MCC firing (see below) also enhanced contraction of ARC muscles. 6. The above data suggested that the MCCs might be involved in feeding behavior. To explore this hypothesis, chronic extracellular recordings from a MCC were obtained while ani-
Cholinergic strategies in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease

Since the identification of the cholinergic deficit, strategies aimed at enhancing cholinergic neurotransmission have dominated the field of pharmacology in Alzheimer's disease (AD). These strategies include increasing acetylcholine precursor availability, delaying synaptic degradation and stimulating muscarinic receptors. Although most clinical trials report mild symptomatic improvements in some patients, support for large‐scale clinical use of cholinomimetics in AD is not yet available. This article presents the most representative clinical trials, discusses the limitations of the cholinergic strategies and suggests future directions in the treatment of AD.
Vitamin D in Multiple Sclerosis and Central Nervous System Demyelinating Disease—A Review

Background: The role of vitamin D as both a risk factor and a disease modifier in multiple sclerosis (MS) has a storied history with ongoing accumulation of supportive convergent evidence from animal data, clinical studies and trials, and biomarkers of disease. Evidence Acquisition: A detailed review of the published literature ranging from in vivo immune studies to human clinical studies of epidemiology, physiology, immunology, clinical, and radiological markers was undertaken. Results: There is compelling evidence that vitamin D is not only a risk factor for central nervous system (CNS) demyelinating disease (namely MS) but also seems to modify both the inflammatory and neurodegenerative elements of the disease, with large-scale treatment trials underway. The authors also address questions of interest that remain unanswered. Conclusions: Vitamin D is an important contributor and modifiable risk factor in CNS demyelinating disease. Further work will determine whether it is also neuroprotective and if such benefits will apply to other inflammatory and degenerative neurological diseases.
Memory BIST area estimator using Artificial Neural Networks

Time to market constraints pushes more and more designers to make area estimations early during the design process. Estimating the Built-In Self Test (BIST) area is only possible once the different design memories BIST are synthesized. This is time consuming and not realistic for a large circuit such as a SOC which can include hundreds of memories. In this paper we propose a push button solution for BIST area estimation called BARES based on Artificial Neuronal Networks handling. Experiments have been performed on different STMICROELECTRONICS BIST memories and results prove the efficiency of the proposed method.
One-to-Many Node-Disjoint Paths Routing in Dense Gaussian Networks

In this paper, an efficient constant time complexity algorithm that constructs node disjoint paths (NDP) from a single source node to the maximum number of destination nodes in dense Gaussian networks is given. Then, it is proved that this algorithm always returns a solution. Also, the lower and upper bounds of the sum of the NDP lengths are derived. Finally, via execution of the algorithm, it is shown that on the average the sum of lengths of NDP given by the algorithm is only ∼10% more than the sum of the shortest paths lengths.
Lightweight Scene Management for Real-Time Visualization of Underground Scene Based on Web3D

Scene management is one of the key technologies in virtual reality systems, particularly for those based on Web3D. Taking into account the characteristics of underground (UG) scene, a lightweight scene management mechanism for real-time visualization of large-scale scene over the internet is proposed. Firstly, a lightweight preprocess method is employed to simplify the raw data with which the whole UG scene is separated with outdoor and indoor scenes. Secondly, the corresponding management mechanisms are put forward. A mechanism named SOI-Exterior Shell is designed for outdoor scene, and a Portal-Interior Shell mechanism for indoor ones. Our method can reduce resource consumption greatly and make it possible to navigate large-scale scenes over the internet. The final experiment also shows that our method is highly efficient.
Case-based formulation to knowledge capitalization for plastic injection mold design

Knowledge management is to exploit existing knowledge after it is collected, analyzed, classified, formulated and stored in the case library. Case-based reasoning is an effective method which has widely applied and accepted in order to prepare existing knowledge before usage. Knowledge capitalization is the process how to reuse knowledge usefully. It consists of retrieval process, knowledge modification and adaptation, knowledge validation and restoration in the case library. Plastic injection molding is a complex, continuous, and sensitive process. From product descriptions to mold design and making through injection processing contain many parameters which mostly link to experiences of operators. Reuse verified knowledge is more appropriate way to meet competitive advantage. This paper presents a knowledge formulation using case-based reasoning and knowledge capitalization for plastic injection molding. Knowledge is collected by students' project of injection mold making special projects.
Special Concerns in the Cardiac Catheterization Lab

Invasive cardiology has not always been a traditional venue for anesthesiologists. The typical type of care to be rendered has changed from the occasional monitoring of a patient with a difficult airway to caring for patients with extraordinarily complicated cardiac disease. The quest for anesthesiology coverage in off-site cardiology venues is becoming significantly more common, particularly in the setting of the evoked potentials (EP) laboratory. This chapter will center on anesthesia for EP procedures, discuss the history and evolution of EP, review both anesthetic and institutional considerations, and address future trends for the application of this therapy. Recent history in the evolution of EP is important because understanding the course of events to date makes it easier to predict events in the future. In 1996 and 1997, several landmark studies estimated the impact of prophylactically implanted defibrillators on patient mortality. Each studied patients with coronary artery disease and resultant left ventricular dysfunction, the most frequent setting for sudden cardiac death. These trials differed significantly with respect to admission criteria, approaches to therapy, and the use of antiarrhythmic drugs. As would be predicted, the results differed as well. Nevertheless, these studies introduced many physicians at large to the therapeutic advantages of automatic implantable cardiac defibrillators (AICDs) and also began to significantly alter the indications, transforming AICDs from an infrequently used approach to a commonly used therapy. The first study was the Multi-System Automatic Defibrillator Implant Trial, also known as the MADIT study. MADIT compared AICD prophylaxis to antiarrhythmic therapy in 196 patients with myocardial infarction and left ventricular dysfunction. MADIT was a randomized, multicenter trial studying patients with coronary artery disease, left ventricular ejection fractions of less than 36%, and asymptomatic nonsustained ventricular tachycardia with inducible sustained ventricular tachycardia or fibril-
Improved ICP control algorithm in robot surgery application

The iterative closest point (ICP) algorithm has been widely used for the registration of geometric data and wide field of activities that range from 3D object modeling to object recognition. However, the main practical difficulty of the ICP algorithm is to require complicated computation steps. This paper proposes an improved solution to overcome that problem. The proposed algorithm focuses on how to select the best sample points so as to reduce computation time while still retain accuracy. The obtained simulation results show that it is highly potential to apply for medical robot surgery applications.
Rat Experimental Model of Continuous Regional Arterial Infusion of Protease Inhibitor and Its Effects on Severe Acute Pancreatitis

Objectives: The rat experimental model of continuous regional arterial infusion of protease inhibitor (CRAI) on acute pancreatitis has yet to be established. Therefore, the aims of this study were (1) to establish the rat experimental model of CRAI and (2) to evaluate the effects of nafamostat on rat severe acute pancreatitis via different routes of administration. Methods: The rat internal jugular vein or the celiac artery was infused with nafamostat, and the concentration of nafamostat in the lung and pancreas was measured. After the induction of severe acute pancreatitis, rats received intravenous or regional intraarterial infusion of nafamostat and then concentrations of trypsinogen activated peptide (TAP) and serum interleukin (IL-6), and histologic sections of the pancreas were examined and the 96-hour survival rate was evaluated. Results: CRAI rats had higher concentrations of nafamostat in the pancreas than those infused intravenously. However, CRAI rats had lower concentrations of nafamostat in the lung that those infused intravenously. CRAI significantly reduced the levels of TAP and pancreatic necrosis. Moreover, the levels of serum IL-6 and the mortality rate were significantly reduced after CRAI compared with the intravenous infusion of nafamostat. Conclusion: The effectiveness of the rat experimental model of CRAI on acute pancreatitis was clearly demonstrated. The concentration of nafamostat in the lung and pancreas and the effects of nafamostat differ according to the route of administration.
UvA-DARE ( Digital Academic Repository ) Poiseuille flow to measure the viscosity of particle model fluids

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The immediate release patch in the correction of experimental atrial septal defects

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the Immediate Release Patch (IRP) in the occlusion of experimental Atrial Septal Defects (ASDs). Background: The IRP consists of a polyurethane foam patch, supported by a balloon catheter which incorporates a detaching mechanism. This mechanism allows for withdrawal of the catheter from the balloon/patch complex. After release, the device is held in position using a bioabsorbable safety thread, which is sutured subcutaneously at the groin. Methods: Experimental ASDs, 10–14 mm in diameter, were created in ten piglets. The ASDs were then corrected using IRPs 12–16 mm in diameter, under fluoroscopy and echocardiography. The animals were followed for one to four months, and were then euthanized and autopsied. A RAST test, which detects the presence of IgE antibodies for latex, was performed in seven animals. Results: All procedures, except for one, resulted in full occlusion of the defects, without serious complications. No devices embolized, and in less than two months, the balloons had deflated and the area of the device had decreased significantly. The autopsies revealed complete endothelialization as well as no thrombus formation on the device or the thread. The thread was absorbed after one month. In a single case, infection was detected on the right side of the device. Latex antibodies were not detected. Conclusion: The IRP was effective and safe in the animal model of an ASD. There was evidence of bio‐absorption of the complete device over time, without adverse reaction to latex. Clinical application is justified. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Systems Biology and the Molecular Circuits of Cancer

Proliferative disorders are a major challenge for human health. The understanding of the organization of cell‐cycle events is of the utmost importance to devise effective therapeutic strategies for cancer. The awareness that cells and organisms are complex, modular, hierarchical systems and the availability of genome‐wide gene expression and protein analyses, should make it feasible to elucidate human diseases in terms of dysfunctions of molecular systems. Here we review evidence in support of a systems model of the cell cycle, in which two sequential growth‐sensitive thresholds control entry into S‐phase. The putative molecular determinants that set the threshold for entry into S‐phase are consistently altered in cancer cells. Such a framework could be useful in guiding both experimental investigation and data analysis by allowing wiring to other relevant cell modules thereby highlighting the differential responses, or lack of response of cancer cells to intra‐ and extracellular factors. Pharmacological approaches that take advantage of transformation‐induced fragility to glucose shortage are discussed. Extension of this hierarchical, modular approach to tumors as a whole holds promise for the development of effective drug discovery approaches and more efficient therapeutic protocols.
Rituximab for the treatment of lupus erythematosus panniculitis

Lupus erythematosus panniculitis (LEP) or lupus profundus (LP) is a clinical variant of lupus eryhematosus that involves the deep dermis and the subcutaneous fat and is associated with tender subcutaneous nodules or plaques, with occasional ulceration, atrophy, and scarring. The management of this entity can be difficult because of the lack of response to conventional treatments, such as systemic steroids and antimalarials. The two patients of this study presented LP refractory to several therapies that demonstrated a remarkable improve to the infusion of the anti‐CD20 monoclonal antibody, rituximab at a dosage of 375 mg/m2/week. After the first infusion, painful lesions had resolved without the appearance of new lesions. Rituximab may be an effective treatment for patients with LP when other therapies are ineffective. To date, there is only one case report of LEP treated with rituximab in the literature.
An Exploratory Study of Common Coding Faults in C Progams

Large scale code testing can be mad viable by determining and searching for the most probable faults in the system under examination. The results of an exploratory survey carried out to determine the common error factors for code written in C indicates that the program task and the programmer experience are important considerations. Using this information, testing can be directed efficiently towards the removal of prevalent coding faults. The results of the survey can also be useful in determining features of C which are likely to become the subject of corrective maintenance.
Computational design of a self-assembling symmetrical β-propeller protein

Significance In this study, we have designed and experimentally validated, to our knowledge, the first perfectly symmetrical β-propeller protein. Our results provide insight not only into protein evolution through duplication events, but also into methods for creating designer proteins that self-assemble according to simple arithmetical rules. Such proteins may have very wide uses in bionanotechnology. Furthermore our design approach is both rapid and applicable to many different protein templates. Our novel propeller protein consists of six identical domains known as “blades. ” Using a variety of biophysical techniques, we show it to be highly stable and report several high-resolution crystal structures of different forms of the protein. Domain swapping allows us to generate related oligomeric forms with fixed numbers of blades per complex. The modular structure of many protein families, such as β-propeller proteins, strongly implies that duplication played an important role in their evolution, leading to highly symmetrical intermediate forms. Previous attempts to create perfectly symmetrical propeller proteins have failed, however. We have therefore developed a new and rapid computational approach to design such proteins. As a test case, we have created a sixfold symmetrical β-propeller protein and experimentally validated the structure using X-ray crystallography. Each blade consists of 42 residues. Proteins carrying 2–10 identical blades were also expressed and purified. Two or three tandem blades assemble to recreate the highly stable sixfold symmetrical architecture, consistent with the duplication and fusion theory. The other proteins produce different monodisperse complexes, up to 42 blades (180 kDa) in size, which self-assemble according to simple symmetry rules. Our procedure is suitable for creating nano-building blocks from different protein templates of desired symmetry.
Caractérisation des processus d'ubiquitination régulant la protéine Themis durant le développement des lymphocytes T

Themis est une proteine de signalisation des recepteurs des lymphocytes T (TCR) essentielle pour la selection positive des cellules T. La fonction moleculaire de Themis a ete controversee mais de recentes etudes suggerent qu'il est un regulateur positif des voies de signalisation des TCR. Nous avons montre dans une etude preliminaire que Themis interagit avec des deubiquitinases et qu'il est ubiquitine dans les thymocytes. L'objectif de ma these etait de caracteriser les mecanismes moleculaires qui regulent l'ubiquitination de Themis et de determiner si ces processus affectent la fonction de Themis durant le developpement des lymphocytes T. Nous avons montre que si l'expression des ARNm codant pour Themis diminue dans les stades precoces de la selection positive, son expression proteique est parallelement augmentee, suggerant une stabilisation de Themis par des modifications post-traductionnelles durant cette etape. Nous avons montre que la deubiquitinase USP9X deubiquitine Themis pour stabiliser son expression durant la stimulation des TCR. L'ensemble de nos resultats proposent qu'USP9X soit active durant la stimulation des TCR grâce a son recrutement dans les complexes proximaux des TCR par l'intermediaire de l'adaptateur Grb2 et Themis, entrainant la stabilisation de l'expression de Themis. Nous pensons que ce mecanisme est important pour maintenir l'expression de Themis durant la selection positive afin de favoriser l'induction d'un signal des TCR soutenu, requis pour l'efficacite de ce processus.
IL-6, RANKL, TNF-alpha/IL-1: interrelations in bone resorption pathophysiology.

All osteogenic cells (osteoclasts, osteoblasts) contribute individually to bone remodeling. Their cellular interactions control their cellular activities and the bone remodeling intensity. These interactions can be established either through a cell-cell contact, involving molecules of the integrin family, or by the release of many polypeptidic factors and/or their soluble receptor chains. These factors can act directly on osteogenic cells and their precursors to control differentiation, formation and functions (matrix formation, mineralization, resorption.). Here, we present the involvement of three groups of cytokines which seem to be of particular importance in bone physiology: interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) (TNF-alpha)/IL-1, and the more recently known triad osteoprotegerin (OPG)/receptor activator of NF-kappaB (RANK)/RANK ligand (RANKL). The interactions between these three groups are presented within the framework of bone resorption pathophysiology such as tumor associated osteolysis. The central role of the OPG/RANK/RANKL triad is pointed out.
Minimum jerk path generation

A simple method of trajectory generation of robot manipulators is presented. It is based on an optimal control problem formulation. The jerk, the third derivative of position, of the desired trajectory, adversely affect the efficiency of the control algorithms and therefore should be minimized. assuming joint position, velocity and acceleration to be constrained, a cost criterion containing jerk is considered. Initially, the simple environment without obstacles and constrained by the physical limitations of the joint angles only is examined. For practical reasons, the free execution time has been used to handle the velocity and acceleration constraints instead of the complete bounded state variable formulation. The problem of minimizing the jerk along an arbitrary Cartesian trajectory is formulated and given analytical solution, making this method useful for real-world environments containing obstacles. <<ETX>>
A Graph-Based Mathematical Model for an Efficient Load Balancing and Fault Tolerance in Cloud Computing

All the Cloud Data Centers (CDC) provision service ranging from compute to storage. The rate of service accessed by the end users increases drastically. Hence, to deal with an ondemand dynamic loads, an efficient load balancing of resources such as hosts and virtual machines in the CDC becomes necessary. This paper proposes a load balancing technique based on a graph structure called weighted complete graph augmented with dominating set concept for the CDC is proposed. A mathematical model is devised and the proposed method improves utilization of resources in CDC by load balancing and also enables fault tolerance.