Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Fibre sizes and histochemical staining characteristics in normal and chronically stimulated fast muscle of cat.

1. Normal and chronically stimulated peroneus longus muscles of the cat's hind limb were studied with respect to fibre size and staining properties for myofibrillar (myosin) adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase) and succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) activity. The intensity of staining for SDH activity was measured by microphotometry from the central portions of the muscle fibres ('core‐SDH staining'). For comparison, histochemical properties were also studied in non‐stimulated soleus muscles. 2. On account of the pH sensitivity of their myofibrillar ATPase, about 18% of the fibres in normal peroneus longus muscles were classified as type I, and about half of the remainder as II A and II B respectively. 3. In the normal peroneus longus muscles, the mean diameter of single muscle fibres generally varied between about 25 and 75 micron, whereby the average size of type I less than type II. 4. In the normal peroneus longus muscles the staining intensity for core SDH varied over a wide range. The average heaviness of staining was clearly ranked in the order type I greater than type II A greater than type II B. 5. Chronic stimulation was given to the deafferented common peroneal nerve by aid of a portable and remotely controlled mini‐stimulator. The stimulation was delivered in 'tonic' patterns (greater than or equal to 50% of total time taken up by activity) of 'fast' (20 or 40 Hz) or 'slow' (5 or 10 Hz) rates. 6. Prior to the period of long‐term stimulation, the cats had been subjected to a dorsal rhizotomy and hemispinalization on the ipsilateral (left) side. In the absence of chronic stimulation, these operations had no evident effects on the sizes or staining properties of peroneus longus fibres. 7. After 8 weeks of treatment with tonic patterns of stimulation, the fibres of peroneus longus muscles clearly became more similar to each other with respect to their diameter as well as their staining for ATPase and SDH activity. With respect to ATPase staining, however, the chronically stimulated peroneus longus fibres had become more similar to non‐stimulated soleus fibres than to non‐stimulated type I fibres of peroneus longus. With respect to the staining for core SDH, the chronically stimulated fibres all became similar to normal II A fibres of peroneus longus. The 'fast' and 'slow' patterns of chronic stimulation had the same effects on the staining properties. 8. Chronically stimulated peroneus longus muscles showed a decrease in fibre diameter which corresponded, roughly, to the concomitant decrease in muscle weight. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Identification of genes differentially expressed in vascular smooth muscle cells following benzo[a]pyrene challenge: implications for chemical atherogenesis.

We have previously shown that serial passage of vascular smooth muscle cells (vSMCs) treated with a single low dose of benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) induces acquisition of highly proliferative (i.e. atherogenic) phenotypes. To define the molecular basis of this response, differential display polymerase chain reaction was used to identify early target genes in murine vSMCs challenged with 3 microM BaP for 8 hr. Of 170 differentially expressed cDNAs, 111 were re-amplified, and 64 examined for homology to known genes. Aac11 apoptosis inhibitor, aldose reductase, GalNAc transferase, TCP-1 chaperonin gene, and mouse mitochondrial gene, were downregulated in vSMCs treated with BaP. In contrast, enhanced expression of unique retrotransposon cDNAs were found in BaP-treated cells. This is the first report showing that BaP modulates the expression of these genes in mammalian cells. Of particular interest is the modulation of retrotransposon mRNAs which coupled to other genetic events, may play a significant role in the atherogenic response to this carcinogen.
Duodenal expression of a putative stimulator of Fe transport and transferrin receptor in anemia and hemochromatosis.

BACKGROUND & AIMS Stimulator of Fe Transport (SFT) and transferrin receptor (TfR) are proteins involved in iron transport. This study evaluated iron metabolism protein expression in duodenal biopsy specimens from controls and patients with abnormal iron metabolism. METHODS Twelve controls, 8 patients with iron deficiency anemia, 7 with HFE-related hemochromatosis, and 6 with non-HFE-related iron overload were studied. Immunohistochemistry was performed on duodenal biopsy specimens with anti-TfR and anti-SFT antibodies which recognize a putative stimulator of Fe transport of ~80 kilodaltons. RESULTS In controls, the putative stimulator of Fe transport was expressed in the middle and distal part of the villi in the subapical cytoplasmatic region. Its expression increased in anemics and, to a lesser degree, in HFE-related hemochromatotics, whereas it was reduced in patients with non-HFE-related iron overload. TfR expression showed a crypt-to-tip gradient in controls, but not in anemics, in whom it was uniformly overexpressed. TfR expression was intermediate in HFE-related hemochromatotics and similar to controls in non-HFE-related iron overload. CONCLUSIONS Expression of the putative stimulator of Fe transport and TfR increases in iron deficiency. Increased expression of both proteins is present only in HFE-related hemochromatotics suggesting that other factors may be involved in determining non-HFE-related iron overload phenotype.
GRA-based handover for dense small cells heterogeneous networks

Ultra-dense small cell (SC) deployment in the future 5G network makes the architecture of the network as heterogeneous networks (HetNets). This is a good solution to boost the capacity of the network and extend its coverage. However, the dense SCs deployment has brought new challenges to the network including interference, frequent unnecessary handovers, and handover failures. Therefore, user equipment will suffer from a degraded quality of service. In this paper, the authors propose a grey rational analysis-based handover (GRA-HO) method in dense SCs HetNet. The proposed method combines the analytical hierarchy process technique to obtain the weight of the handover metrics and the GRA method to rank the available cells for the best handover target. The performance of the proposed method is evaluated and compared with the traditional multiple attribute decision-making methods including simple additive weighting and VIKOR methods. Results show that the GRA-HO method has outperformed the existing methods in terms of reducing the number of frequent handovers and link failures, in addition to enhancing energy efficiency.
SHORT TERM HYDROTHERMAL SCHEDULING IN POWER SYSTEM USING IMPROVED PARTICLE SWARM OPTIMIZATION

The problem of determining the optimal hourly generation in hydrothermal power plants and total thermal generation is studied. A multi reservoir cascaded hydro-electric system with a non-linear relationship between water discharge rate, net head and power generation is considered. PSO technique has been motivated by the behavior of the organisms such as fish schooling and bird flocking. The individual particles are drawn stochastically towards the position of their own previous best performances and the best previous performances of the neighbors. The improved PSO technique is applied in this problem and the results are obtained. The simulation results reveal that the features of are easy to implement, with an acceptable execution time for scheduling the hydrothermal system can be active. KEYWORDS— Particle Swarm Optimization, Hydro Thermal Scheduling, Economic Operation, Problem Formulation,
Protein phosphatase inhibitors induce modification of synapse structure and tau hyperphosphorylation in cultured rat hippocampal neurons

Protein phosphatase inhibitors, okadaic acid and Caliculin A, were used to investigate how perturbation of phosphorylation and dephosphorylation processes might affect neurite and synapse structure in cultures of fetal rat hippocampal neurons. Drug treatments induced neuritic tree modification, with retraction of the processes and the appearance of dilatations along the neurites. The characteristic dotlike pattern of immunoreactivity of synaptic vesicle proteins disappeared. Normal synapses were extremely rare by ultrastructural observation. Vesicles of various diameters accumulated in the dilatations, as did organelles and amorphous material, suggesting impaired axonal transport. Hyperphosphorylation of tau protein was also observed as indicated by the shift in the electrophoretic mobility of a 32P‐labeled 55‐kDa band and by immunoblot with epitope‐specific tau antibody.
Evaluation of toxicity of polluted marine sediments from Bahía Salina Cruz, Mexico

Bahía Salina Cruz, Oaxaca, Mexico is a major center of oil and refined product distribution on the Mexican Pacific coast. From the start of oil industry operations in 1979, negative effects from discharges of treated effluents in the bay have been a constant concern for local communities. We analyzed 28 surface sediment samples obtained in June, 2002 to evaluate the level of toxicity in the littoral zone, port-harbor, and La Ventosa estuary in Bahía Salina Cruz. The extractable organic matter concentration was high (1213 to 7505 μ g g−1) in 5 of 7 stations from the port and harbor, whereas it was low in 12 of 16 stations in the littoral zone (36 to 98 μ g g−1). The total aromatic hydrocarbon concentration was highest (57 to 142 μ g g−1) in the port and harbor compared to the La Ventosa estuary and the littoral zone. Among the heavy metals analyzed, cadmium exceeded the effects range-low values associated with adverse biological effects. The geo-accumulation index of sediments was moderate to strong contamination at 5 stations in the nonlittoral and 6 stations in the littoral zone. The enrichment of lead, zinc, and cadmium at 5 stations from the littoral, port, and harbor suggest that these metals are of anthropogenic origin. Bioassay tests of elutriates of sediments on nauplii of Artemia franciscana and Artemia sp. showed that the port and harbor were more toxic than the La Ventosa estuary and the coastal zone. The Microtox test (Vibrio fischeri) did not show a similar response with the solid phase of the sediments. The results of this study indicate that the high levels of organic content and metals in the sediments of port-harbor and the La Ventosa estuary are mainly caused by anthropogenic activities.
Proposal and evaluation of Joint Rate Control for stored video streaming

Rate control, which involves adapting the sending rate and video rate to network environments, is effective for stably streaming stored video over unmanaged IP networks. In this paper, we propose a novel rate control technique for optimizing the evaluation function defined as user-perceived video quality using an optimal control law in modern control theory. We call our method Joint Rate Control because it integrally controls both the sending rate and video rate. The results of numerical evaluation show that Joint Rate Control improved the evaluation function value by about 20%–50% from that of a conventional rate control method. We have demonstrated that Joint Rate Control optimizes the video quality; that is, this control method was the most effective in streaming video.
[Analysis of drug resistance and drug resistance genes of imipenem-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains isolated from burn wards].

OBJECTIVE To analyze the drug resistance and drug resistance genes of imipenem-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa (IRPA) strains isolated from burn wards. METHODS From June 2011 to June 2012, 30 strains of IRPA were isolated from wound excretion, sputum, and venous catheter attachment from burn patients hospitalized in Guangzhou Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine. Drug resistance of the IRPA to 12 antibiotics commonly used in clinic, including ceftazidime, amikacin, ciprofloxacin, etc., was tested with K-B paper agar disk diffusion method. Metallo-β-lactamase (MBL)-producing IRPA was detected by synergism test with imipenem-2-mercaptoethanol. Plasmid of IRPA was extracted, and it was inserted into competent cells, producing transformation strains (TSs). Drug resistance of TSs to imipenem and the MBL-producing TSs were detected. The genes blaIMP, blaVIM, blaOXA-1, blaOXA-2 and blaOXA-10 of IRPA and the TSs were detected by polymerase chain reaction. The drug resistance of IRPA producing MBL or OXA enzyme was summed up. RESULTS The sensitive rates of the 30 strains of IRPA to the 12 antibiotics were equal to or above 60.0%. Six strains of MBL-producing IRPA were screened. Twenty-four TSs were resistant to imipenem, and 6 strains among them were MBL-producing positive. Among the 30 strains of IRPA, 6 strains and their corresponding TSs carried blaVIM; 20 strains and their corresponding TSs carried blaOXA-10; no strain was detected to carry blaIMP, blaOXA-1 or blaOXA-2. Two strains and their corresponding TSs were detected carrying both blaVIM and blaOXA-10. No significant difference of drug resistance was observed between strains producing only MBL or OXA enzyme, with the same high resistance to β-lactam antibiotics and some degree of sensitivity to aminoglycoside antibiotics. Strains producing enzymes MBL and OXA were all resistant to the 12 antibiotics. CONCLUSIONS IRPA strains isolated from burn wards of Guangzhou Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine are multidrug-resistant, and they mainly produce type B and D carbapenemases.
Sampling Independent Increment Processes without Gaussian Component

It is well known that any process with right continuous paths has at most a finite number of jumps greater than ε (> 0). Based on this fact, it is proved that any non negative independent increment processes without gaussian component (Lévy Process) can be almost everywhere approximated by a sequence of compound Poisson process, aside from fixed points of discontinuity. An algorithm to generate a sample path of a Lévy process is developed and the proposed algorithm is applied in the simulation of the Beta and Gamma processes. Furthermore, an algorithm for the survival analysis is developed based on the proposed algorithm.
Histamine 4 Receptor Activation Induces Recruitment of FoxP3+ T Cells and Inhibits Allergic Asthma in a Murine Model1

Histamine has an important role in regulation of immune response which is mediated by differential expression of four distinct receptors, H1R–H4R. H1R and HR2 have previously been shown to be involved with modulation of lung inflammation. H4R is also expressed on inflammatory cells; therefore, we investigated the potential role of H4R in development of allergic asthma in a murine model. We determined that the H4R agonist 4-methylhistamine when delivered intratracheally before Ag challenge mitigated airway hyperreactivity and inflammation. This was associated with an increase in IL-10 and IFN-γ, but not TGF-β or IL-16, as well as a decrease in IL-13 in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid. We also observed that H4R agonist instillation resulted in accumulation of FoxP3+ T cells suggesting a direct effect on T regulatory cell recruitment. To investigate this further, we determined the in vitro effect of H4R stimulation on human T cell migration. The H4R agonist induced a 2- to 3-fold increase in T cell migration, similar to that seen for H1R agonists. Cells transmigrating to the H4R agonist, but not H1R, were skewed toward a CD4 cell expressing CD25 and intracellular FoxP3. H4R-responsive cells suppressed proliferation of autologous T cells, an effect that was dependent on IL-10 production. We conclude that H4R stimulation enriches for a regulatory T cell with potent suppressive activity for proliferation. These findings identify a novel function for H4R and suggest a potential therapeutic approach to attenuation of asthmatic inflammation.
Nouvelle approche de décryptage de la diversité bactérienne environnementale par capture magnétique de populations spécifiques de bactéries au sein de microbiotes complexes

Les bacteries, organismes les plus abondants de notre planete, ont un role fondamental dans le fonctionnement des ecosystemes. En depit de leur importance, la caracterisation des communautes bacteriennes (microbiotes) demeure encore aujourd’hui tres incomplete. Ceci a pour origine l’impossibilite de completement decrypter taxonomiquement et fonctionnellement les microbiotes de ces ecosystemes et donc a apprehender la diversite bacterienne dans son ensemble que ce soit par des approches culturales (avec seulement 1% de bacteries cultivables) ou par des approches metagenomiques limitees par les biais d’extraction, de sequencage et d’analyse. Les travaux entrepris dans le cadre de cette these visent a developper une nouvelle voie exploratoire passant par le fractionnement des microbiotes afin d’en etudier separement les genomes des differentes populations ou groupes de populations, leur somme devant permettre de reconstituer un metagenome complet. Cet objectif requiert le developpement d’un outil pour la selection specifique de bacteries (sur des criteres taxonomiques ou fonctionnels) et leur isolement du reste des microorganismes non cibles. Les travaux de these ont porte sur le developpement d’une approche de marquage magnetique des bacteries basee sur l’hybridation moleculaire (hybridation in situ) completee par celui d’un outil de tri microfluidique. Deux methodes ont ete developpees, MISH et HCR, ciblant le gene de l’ARNr 23S, chacune reposant sur la formation, lors du processus d’hybridation, d’une structure secondaire en arborescence (MISH) ou ordonnee (HCR) permettant le greffage de nanoparticules magnetiques. Les resultats obtenus illustrent le potentiel des deux approches d’abord pour le marquage specifique de bacteries cibles (E.coli et Pseudomonas putida) en conditions de culture au laboratoire puis dans un second temps dans des echantillons de sol. Le tri microfluidique a egalement ete optimise par le developpement d’un nouveau dispositif de tri magnetique permettant la separation des cellules marquees sous flux continu faisant appel a l’injection d’un polymere composite magnetique pour integrer au fond du microcanal une serie de bandes paralleles magnetiques. La fonctionnalite du dispositif a ete demontree, sa simplicite de fabrication en faisant un outil de choix pour une application en routine dans les laboratoires d’ecologie microbienne. En depit de resultats prometteurs toute cette nouvelle approche d’etude de la diversite bacterienne environnementale necessite encore de nombreuses etapes d’optimisation.
Sensitivity and specificity of Anti‐HBc screening assays – which assay is best for blood donor screening?

Compared to HIV and hepatitis C virus, the residual infectious risk of hepatitis B virus (HBV) posed by blood products is about 10 times higher. In addition to HBsAg testing, screening for anti‐HBc was recommended by the German Advisory Committee Blood in March 2005. Prevalence of anti‐HBc in German blood donors was investigated at five test sites located in different geographic regions. In total, 12 000 blood donors were screened for anti‐HBc by PRISM® HBcore, and a statistically representative number of these were tested with Abbott Murex® anti‐HBc total, bioMérieux Hepanostika® anti‐HBc uniform, Bio‐Rad Monolisa® anti‐HBc PLUS and Dade Behring Enzygnost® anti‐HBc. Anti‐HBc repeat reactive samples were tested for anti‐HBs, anti‐HBe and HBV DNA by individual donation NAT. The mean prevalence of anti‐HBc was 1.75% in donors that had not been tested for anti‐HBc in the past. The percentage of anti‐HBs in anti‐HBc repeat reactive donors was 93.7%. Samples that were additionally reactive for anti‐HBe were anti‐HBc reactive in all tested assays. The sample to cut‐off (S/Co) values for anti‐HBc were lower (competitive assays) in samples that were also positive for anti‐HBe, when compared to samples that were only anti‐HBc reactive. Most commercially available anti‐HBc assays provide sufficient sensitivity for routine screening purposes, and lacking specificity is no longer a serious issue for most of them. Assay differences were recognized for samples that were anti‐HBc only reactive. The overall loss of 1.75% of positive testing donors can be significantly reduced to 0.45% by implementation of re‐entry procedures for donors with an anti‐HBs titre of over 100 IU/l and negative by sensitive ID‐NAT.
P21waf-1-Chk1 Pathway Monitors G1 Phase Microtubule Integrity and Is Crucial for Restriction Transition

Microtubule-disruption (MTD) is often thought to arrest the mammalian cell cycle only during mitosis. However, MTD has also been demonstrated to arrest cells during interphase at a G1-phase point we call G1MTA. Microtubule integrity is now shown to be required for progression past G1MTA and the mammalian restriction-point. Neither p21waf1 nor p27kip1 are required for MTD-induced G1-arrest. Only p21waf1 is crucial for normal G1MTA passage. The p21waf1-Chk1-cdc25C-cdc2-checkpoint-pathway is implicated in monitoring this passage. P21waf1 deletion deregulates G1MTA transition and decreases MTD-G1 arrest, possibly via Chk1 disregulation. Oncogene-induced overexpression of p21waf1 produced opposite effects on the Chk1-cdc25C-cdc2 pathway and enhanced MTD-G1 arrest. G1MTA thus represents a novel facet of mammalian G1/S checkpoint. Key Words: Microtubule damage, p21waf1, Cell cycle, Restriction point, G1 phase
Role of wall tension in the vasoconstrictor response of cannulated rat mesenteric small arteries.

1. We have studied the influence of mechanical loading conditions on the responses of cannulated rat mesenteric small arteries to noradrenaline, vasopressin and potassium. 2. The cross‐sectional area (CSA) of vessels was continuously monitored. Isometric loading (CSA‐controlled conditions) or isobaric loading (pressure‐controlled conditions) was achieved by feedback adjustment of the distending pressure. 3. Noradrenaline (0.3 microM) and vasopressin (0.05 u l‐1) induced myogenic responsiveness, resulting in a constant or declining CSA with increasing pressure. Potassium (32 mM) induced weak myogenic responsiveness. 4. At a constant pressure of 60 cmH2O, noradrenaline and vasopressin concentration‐response curves were graded, the concentration‐response curves of individual vessels being extended over two to three decades. Sensitivity to the vasoconstrictors, expressed as pD2 values (‐log10 EC50), averaged 6.45 +/‐ 0.18 log M and 1.27 +/‐ 0.20 log u l‐1 for the noradrenaline and vasopressin concentration‐response curves respectively. The isobaric pD2 for K+ was 1.54 +/‐ 0.07 log M. 5. During CSA‐controlled conditions, noradrenaline and vasopressin induced all‐or‐none responses to stretch. Potassium induced graded responses to stretch. 6. During CSA‐controlled conditions, noradrenaline and vasopressin concentration‐response curves also showed all‐or‐none behaviour. Almost the full response occurred through only a doubling of the concentration. pD2 values were 6.88 +/‐ 0.38 log M (noradrenaline) and 1.87 +/‐ 0.43 log u l‐1 (vasopressin). Isometric vessels were significantly more sensitive to noradrenaline and vasopressin than isobaric vessels. Isometric K+ curves were gradual. pD2 was 1.54 +/‐ 0.07 log M, a value not different from the isobaric value. 7. These findings can be explained by assuming that agonist sensitivity is wall tension dependent, such that sensitivity increases with increasing wall tension. This concept accounts for partial regulation of wall tension during pressure‐controlled conditions, as well as instability due to a positive feedback loop of active tension development and tension‐induced sensitization during CSA‐controlled conditions.