Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Comparison of the myoplasmic calcium transient elicited by an action potential in intact fibres of mdx and normal mice

The myoplasmic free [Ca2+] transient elicited by an action potential (Δ[Ca2+]) was compared in fast‐twitch fibres of mdx (dystrophin null) and normal mice. Methods were used that maximized the likelihood that any detected differences apply in vivo. Small bundles of fibres were manually dissected from extensor digitorum longus muscles of 7‐ to 14‐week‐old mice. One fibre within a bundle was microinjected with furaptra, a low‐affinity rapidly responding fluorescent calcium indicator. A fibre was accepted for study if it gave a stable, all‐or‐nothing fluorescence response to an external shock. In 18 normal fibres, the peak amplitude and the full‐duration at half‐maximum (FDHM) of Δ[Ca2+] were 18.4 ± 0.5 μm and 4.9 ± 0.2 ms, respectively (mean ±s.e.m.; 16°C). In 13 mdx fibres, the corresponding values were 14.5 ± 0.6 μm and 4.7 ± 0.2 ms. The difference in amplitude is statistically highly significant (P= 0.0001; two‐tailed t test), whereas the difference in FDHM is not (P= 0.3). A multi‐compartment computer model was used to estimate the amplitude and time course of the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) calcium release flux underlying Δ[Ca2+]. Estimates were made based on several differing assumptions: (i) that the resting myoplasmic free Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]R) and the total concentration of parvalbumin ([ParvT]) are the same in mdx and normal fibres, (ii) that [Ca2+]R is larger in mdx fibres, (iii) that [ParvT] is smaller in mdx fibres, and (iv) that [Ca2+]R is larger and [ParvT] is smaller in mdx fibres. According to the simulations, the 21% smaller amplitude of Δ[Ca2+] in mdx fibres in combination with the unchanged FDHM of Δ[Ca2+] is consistent with mdx fibres having a ∼25% smaller flux amplitude, a 6–23% larger FDHM of the flux, and a 9–20% smaller total amount of released Ca2+ than normal fibres. The changes in flux are probably due to a change in the gating of the SR Ca2+‐release channels and/or in their single channel flux. The link between these changes and the absence of dystrophin remains to be elucidated.
Granulocyte‐macrophage colony‐stimulating factor‐cultured bone marrow‐derived macrophages reveal accessory cell function and synthesis of MHC class II determinants in the absence of external stimuli

The antigen‐mediated activation of a number of T cell clones by bone marrow (BM) cells cultivated in the presence of various colony‐stimulating factor (CSF) preparations was investigated. BM macrophages (BMMϕ,) grown in L929 cell supernatant as a crude source of macrophage colony‐stimulating factor (M‐CSF) as well as BM cells propagated in the presence of recombinant M‐CSF exhibited transient antigen presentation potential to some T cell clones, being maximal on day 7 and having declined to a low level by day 19 of in vitro culture. Treatment of these long‐term‐cultivated BMMϕ, populations with recombinant interferon‐γ (IFN‐γ) resulted in predominant antigen presentation capacity. In contrast, BM cells differentiated in the presence of recombinant granulocyte (G)M‐CSF developed highly efficient accessory cell function to all T cell clones examined. This function became apparent earlier, was retained during the time period tested (up to day 19 of continuous culture) and did not require prior stimulation by IFN‐γ. The functionally competent cells were shown to belong to the monocyte/macrophage lineage. These findings are consistent with the demonstration of substantial levels of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II molecules synthesized by GM‐CSF‐cultured BM cells in the absence of exogenous IFN‐γ. In contrast, M‐CSF grown BM cells synthesized only minute amounts of Ia antigens unless they were stimulated by IFN‐γ. Because GM‐CSF‐cultivated BM cells proved clearly superior to M‐CSF‐grown and IFN‐γ‐activated BM cells with respect to antigen‐presenting capacity but exhibited lower levels of MHC class II molecules, other properties acting in addition to surface Ia antigens might be responsible for their pronounced T cell accessory function.
Commentary: Estimates of Global, Regional, and National Morbidity, Mortality, and Aetiologies of Diarrhoeal Diseases: A Systematic Analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015

Citation: Abdoli A and Maspi N (2018) Commentary: Estimates of Global, Regional, and National Morbidity, Mortality, and Aetiologies of Diarrhoeal Diseases: A Systematic Analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015. Front. Med. 5:11. doi: 10.3389/fmed.2018. 00011 Commentary: estimates of Global, regional, and national morbidity, mortality, and aetiologies of Diarrhoeal Diseases: a Systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015
A National Survey of Clinic Sexual Histories for Sexually Transmitted Infection and HIV Screening

Background: Optimal elements of a sexual history for sexually transmitted infection (STI) and HIV risk assessment remain undefined. Goal: The goal of this study was to describe sexual histories in use at STI clinics across the United States. Study: This study consisted of a cross-sectional survey of facilities in cities with populations >200,000 (n = 65). Within each city, a public health STI clinic (71% of the sample) or other STI care facility (29%) was randomly selected and sexual history forms were requested. Information was obtained from 48 clinics (74% response). Results: Most forms recorded information on symptoms and prior STI (96%), condom use (88%), other contraception (85%), and numbers and gender (83%) of sex partners. Common HIV risk questions were injecting drug use (IDU; 94%), sex for drugs or money (58%), and sex with an HIV-positive or IDU partner (52%). Ascertainment of time during which risks occurred (contact periods) varied from the past 14 days to the past 12 months, with only 38% of clinics using any 1 time period. Few histories (17%) incorporated questions for men who have sex with men (MSM). Only 2 (4%) had space to record information about sexual behaviors by the HIV status of the sex partner. Condom use was infrequently assessed specifically for vaginal and anal sex (13%), and condom use problems were rarely explored (10%). Most forms documented STI/HIV counseling, although few (25%) included specific risk reduction plans. Conclusions: Sexual histories are highly variable. Although challenging to accomplish, STI/HIV care, surveillance, and prevention may be improved by developing consensus on core questions to be used in sexual histories.
Stable seroprevalence of Helicobacter pylori infection in children during 1989−1999 in Taipei, Taiwan

Abstract Background : Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is thought to be acquired in childhood. The present study aimed to examine the changing seroepidemiology of H. pylori in children in the same area of Taipei city during 1989−1999, and to try to elucidate the possible transmission route of H. pylori in children by comparing hepatitis A virus (HAV) seroprevalence in Taipei during the same decade.
Impact of voice excitation features on speaker verification

Mel-frequency cepstrum coefficients (MFCC) have been the most popular features used in speaker recognition. It has been recently shown that residual signal estimated through linear prediction (LP) also conveys speaker-specific information, and applied to speaker identification. In this paper, we investigate on the impact of LP-residual cepstrum coefficients (LPRC) on speaker verification along with MFCC and linear predictive cepstrum coefficients (LPCC) as well, and make comparisons of their performance in verification by conducting experiments on NIST 2001 SRE corpus, including modern classifiers. It is shown that LPRC features are as useful as MFCC and LPCC features in speaker verification, and fusing the LPRC, LPCC, and MFCC features in pairs improves the verification performance.
Iron and Copper Enzymes in Leaf Lamina of Tobacco When Deficient in Micronutrients or Grown on Calcareous and Organic Soils.

Certain enzyme responses in plants were considered by Bailey and McHargue (1), Mac Vicar and Burris (6), and Quilan-Watson (7) as the effects of an element on a particular enzyme system. Enzymatic activity has been used by Brown and Hendricks (2) as indicative of the type deficiency produced in chlorosis susceptible plants grown on a naturally calcareous soil and a copper-deficient organic soil. Relative activities of ascorbic acid oxidase (copper enzyme? AAO), catalase and peroxidase (iron enzymes) were determined for wheat, corn, tobacco, three species of lupines, and two varieties of soybeans. The ascorbic acid oxidase activity was reduced in plants grown on the copper-deficient soil and a comparatively reduced catalase activity was observed in plants grown on the naturally calcareous soil. These data verified the assumption that if copper or iron, respectively, were the limiting factors in the plant's nutrition, the deficiencies would be revealed as diminished activities of one or more of the enzymes requiring a specific element to function properly. In recognition of the possibility that similar results might have been obtained through uncontrolled variations in other micronutrient elements, these experiments have been repeated, using tobacco, for the comparison of plants deficient in specific micronutrients. Comparisons of enzymatic activity patterns resulting from specific micronutrient deficiencies with those of plants grown on calcareous and organic soils were considered desirable. Coincidence in responses under the widely different environmental conditions of soil and water-culture would be strong additional evidence of the cause of the soil abnormalities. Moreover, since the calcium carbonate method for removal of micronutrient impurities also removes many of the unessential trace element impurities, the latter could also be minimized as contributory factors.
Less is More: Filtering Abnormal Dimensions in GloVe

GloVe, global vectors for word representation, performs well in some word analogy and semantic relatedness tasks. However, we find that some dimensions of the trained word embedding are abnormal. We verify our conjecture via removing these abnormal dimensions using Kolmogorov-Smimov test and experiment on several benchmark datasets for semantic relatedness measurement. The experimental results confirm our finding. Interestingly, some of the tasks outperform the state-of-the-art model SensEmbed by simply removing these abnormal dimensions. The novel rule of thumb technique which leads to better performance is expected to be useful in practice.
Extracellular Signal-Regulated Kinase, Synaptic Plasticity, and Memory

The mitogen-activated protein kinase, extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK), has been studied extensively in recent years for its involvement in synaptic plasticity and memory function. Activation of ERK is coupled to stimulation of cell-surface proteins via several different upstream signaling pathways, and contributes to the regulation of diverse cellular processes, ranging from cell excitability to gene expression. We herein review evidence for ERK's role in different forms of synaptic plasticity and different types of learning paradigms, drawing on examples from different systems in molluscs as well as the mammalian brain. The picture that emerges is that ERK activation in response to conditions that give rise to synaptic and behavioral modification contributes to that modification in a multitude of functionally distinct ways. The functional diversity is likely to be achieved by the operation of multiple, parallel ERK cascades that differ with respect to the subcellular compartments in which ERK exerts its effects and the temporal windows during which the effects are manifested. We conclude that our understanding of the mechanisms by which ERK contributes to synaptic plasticity and memory has much to gain by further study of the signaling events up- and downstream of ERK activation and the spatiotemporal characteristics of ERK activation in association with activity-dependent synaptic modification and information processing.
Statistical fidelity: a tool to quantify the similarity between multi-variable entities with application in complex networks

ABSTRACT Complex networks are often characterized by their underlying graph metrics, yet there is no unified computational method for comparing networks to each other. Given that complex networks are entities characterized by a set of known properties, our problem is reduced to quantifying the similarity between the multi-variable entities. To address this issue, we introduce the new statistical fidelity metric, which can compare any types of entities, characterized by specific individual metrics, in order to gauge the similarity of the entities under the form of a single number between 0 and 1. To test the efficiency of statistical fidelity, we apply our composite metric in the field of complex networks, by assessing topological similarity and realism of social networks and urban road networks. Pinned against other statistical methods, such as the cosine similarity, Pearson correlation, Mahalanobis distance and fractal dimension, we highlight the superior analytic power of statistical fidelity.
Hemodialysis Access Ultrasound

Maintenance of hemodialysis graft and fistula patency is becoming even more important as the number of patients with end-stage renal disease increases. There are two major categories of dialysis access: native arteriovenous fistula (AVF) and synthetic arteriovenous graft. Arteriovenous fistulas have superior longevity after maturation and are the recommended type of hemodialysis access, if possible. However, AVFs have a higher rate of primary failure as compared with grafts. Close monitoring has been shown to prolong access survival. Ultrasound is a noninvasive means of imaging for access complications. Ultrasound is sensitive in detection of access or draining vein stenosis. Ultrasound is also useful in the evaluation of other graft or fistula abnormalities, such as pseudoaneurysm, steal, or infection. Careful attention to technical detail is required, and avoidance of several diagnostic pitfalls is necessary.
Axonal transection in the lesions of multiple sclerosis.

BACKGROUND Multiple sclerosis is an inflammatory demyelinating disease of the central nervous system and is the most common cause of neurologic disability in young adults. Despite antiinflammatory or immunosuppressive therapy, most patients have progressive neurologic deterioration that may reflect axonal loss. We conducted pathological studies of brain tissues to define the changes in axons in patients with multiple sclerosis. METHODS Brain tissue was obtained at autopsy from 11 patients with multiple sclerosis and 4 subjects without brain disease. Fourteen active multiple-sclerosis lesions, 33 chronic active lesions, and samples of normal-appearing white matter were examined for demyelination, inflammation, and axonal pathologic changes by immunohistochemistry and confocal microscopy. Axonal transection, identified by the presence of terminal axonal ovoids, was detected in all 47 lesions and quantified in 18 lesions. RESULTS Transected axons were a consistent feature of the lesions of multiple sclerosis, and their frequency was related to the degree of inflammation within the lesion. The number of transected axons per cubic millimeter of tissue averaged 11,236 in active lesions, 3138 at the hypocellular edges of chronic active lesions, 875 in the hypocellular centers of chronic active lesions, and less than 1 in normal-appearing white matter from the control brains. CONCLUSIONS Transected axons are common in the lesions of multiple sclerosis, and axonal transection may be the pathologic correlate of the irreversible neurologic impairment in this disease.
Nitric Oxide Modulates Cardiac Na+ Channel via Protein Kinase A and Protein Kinase G

We directly tested the effects of nitric oxide (NO) on Na+ channels in guinea pig and mouse ventricular myocytes using patch-clamp recordings. We have previously shown that NO donors have no observed effects on expressed Na+ channels. In contrast, NO (half-blocking concentration of 523 nmol/L) significantly reduces peak whole-cell Na+ current (INa) in isolated ventricular myocytes. The inhibitory effect of NO on INa was not associated with changes in activation, inactivation, or reactivation kinetics. At the single-channel level, the reduction in macroscopic current was mediated by a decrease in open probability and/or a decrease in the number of functional channels with no change in single-channel conductance. Application of cell permeable analogs of cGMP or cAMP mimics the inhibitory effects of NO. Furthermore, the effects of NO on INa can only be blocked by inhibition of both cGMP and cAMP pathways. Sulfhydryl-reducing agent does not reverse the effect of NO. In summary, although NO exerts its action via the known guanylyl cyclase (GC)/cGMP pathway, our findings provide evidence that NO can mediate its function via a GC/cGMP-independent mechanism involving the activation of adynylyl cyclase (AC) and cAMP-dependent protein kinase.
Trends in maternal morbidity before and during pregnancy in California.

OBJECTIVES We examined trends in maternal comorbidities in California. METHODS We conducted a retrospective cohort study of 1,551,017 California births using state-linked vital statistics and hospital discharge cohort data for 1999, 2002, and 2005. We used International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification codes to identify the following conditions, some of which were preexisting: maternal hypertension, diabetes, asthma, thyroid disorders, obesity, mental health conditions, substance abuse, and tobacco use. We estimated prevalence rates with hierarchical logistic regression models, adjusting for demographic shifts, and also examined racial/ethnic disparities. RESULTS The prevalence of these comorbidities increased over time for hospital admissions associated with childbirth, suggesting that pregnant women are getting sicker. Racial/ethnic disparities were also significant. In 2005, maternal hypertension affected more than 10% of all births to non-Hispanic Black mothers; maternal diabetes affected nearly 10% of births to Asian/Pacific Islander mothers (10% and 43% increases, respectively, since 1999). Chronic hypertension, diabetes, obesity, mental health conditions, and tobacco use among Native American women showed the largest increases. CONCLUSIONS The prevalence of maternal comorbidities before and during pregnancy has risen substantially in California and demonstrates racial/ethnic disparity independent of demographic shifts.
On MIMO wireless eavesdrop information rates

Recent research in Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) wireless communications techniques promises both opportunities and difficulties for receiving systems. Robustness and high data rates are offered at the cost of increased system complexity. This increased complexity presents new challenges for surveillance or passive eavesdropping receivers. This thesis addresses theory and issues arising in communications eavesdropping, with a particular emphasis on the recovery of data streams produced by a MIMO wireless transmission array. An information theory for MIMO eavesdroppers is developed based on standard communications information theory and estimation techniques for informed and partially-informed MIMO wireless reception. Existing literature, dealing with blind source separation and communications secrecy, is drawn upon to provide a context and background theory for the MIMO wireless communications eavesdropping problem. During the development of the background theory some deficiencies were identified and are addressed in this thesis. As a consequence, a number of original contributions have been made. Expressions required for theoretical blind source separation performance bounds for a complex-valued channel and complex-valued sources did not exist in the literature and so a derivation of the Cramér-Rao Bound (CRB), for blind separation of complex sources linearly mixed by a complex channel matrix, is included here. The CRB is also derived as a function of the source probability density function (pdf) where the generalised gaussian distribution is employed to represent the source pdf. In our source recovery model the two primary parameters are the complexvalued channel mixing matrix and the complex-valued sources. Use of maximum likelihood techniques, where either the source or channel is known, is compared with application of independent component analysis techniques, where neither
Antitumor activity of a new series of platinum complexes: trans(±)‐1,2‐cyclohexanediammineplatinum(II) conjugated to acid polysaccharides

Complexes with trans (±)-1,2-cyclohexanediammineplatinum(II) conjugated to acid polysaccharides were synthesized and their antitumor activities were tested in female CDF1 mice with intraperitoneal leukemia L1210 cells. Platinum was released from the polymers under physiological conditions, with half-lives from 3.3 to 19.3 h. A hyaluronic acid-supported complex was the most effective against the tumors (all six mice survived for 60 days). The group given a chondroitin polysulfate-supported complex had five survivors, the chondroitin sulfate A group also had five, the chondroitin sulfate C group had three and the heparan sulfate group had two. Part of the antitumor activity was due to increased efficacy of the polymers. The bioavailability of these complexes is high. Therefore, acid polysaccharides should be a good system for delivering antitumor platinum complexes.
Oxidative Stress in Human Infectious Diseases – Present and Current Knowledge About Its Druggability

Infectious diseases caused by parasites are a major threat for entire mankind, especially in the tropics. These infections are not only restricted to humans, they are also predominant in animal health. Just a few years ago infectious diseases caused by parasites were classified as an issue of the past. Due to the elevating level of drug resistance of these pathogens against the current chemotherapeutics, the need for new drugs became even more important. In particular parasitic diseases such as malaria, leishmaniasis, trypanosomiasis, amoebiasis, tri‐ chomoniasis, soil-transmitted helminthiasis, filariasis and schistosomiasis are major health problems, especially in “developing” areas (Renslo and McKerrow, 2006; Pal and Bandyo‐ padhyay, 2012). A variety of these parasitic diseases, which comprises the so called neglect‐ ed diseases Chagas disease, leishmaniasis, sleeping sickness, schistosomiasis, lymphatic filariasis, onchocerciasis and of course malaria (Chatelain and Ioset, 2011), are transmitted by vectors and therefore attempts to combat transmission became prominent. In contrast to the treatment of bacterial infections with antibiotics there are no “general” antiparasitic drugs. The use of a specific drug is dependent on the parasitic organism and therefore has to be individually chosen (Khaw et al., 1995).
Will continued process-node shrinks kill high-performance analog design?

Digital designers to take over the world when analog designers produce 10 Gbps 18-bit data converters that attach to antennas. " This may be a dream, but many next-generation analog systems need high resolution (>12 bits) circuits that run at higher sampling rates. PLL designers can push the speed envelope, but what about other analog blocks? Has scaling finally driven analog design off the submicron roadmap as supply voltages dip below 1V and devices have more leakage paths than the average basement?