Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Obsessive-Compulsive Aspects of Obesity

Obesity is related in some ways to the range of disorders which are compulsively produced and sustained. Like drug or alcohol addiction, obesity may be the consequence of a personality configuration that compels some individuals to overeat as a way of dealing with emotional distress. Such individuals feel exempt from the human physiological limitations and feel they can eat without gaining weight, or they perceive their body image as slender rather than obese. Any therapeutic program must take into account this aspect of grandiosity, which is at the core of many addictive processes. Obesity therefore is viewed here as an addictive disorder in which physiological factors may initiate or sustain the psychological processes.
TDC with 1.5% DNL based on a single-stage vernier delay-loop fine interpolation

We present a compact TDC Module based on the Time-to-Digital Converter ASIC fabricated in 0.35 μm CMOS technology. This chip measures the time-interval between two inputs, called START and STOP, with a 10 ps resolution when using a 10 ns reference clock. Thanks to the structure, composed by two independent “interpolators” for each input and a “coarse” counter, the TDC chip can reach an average precision better than 15 psRMS and a differential non-linearity (DNL) smaller than 0.9 %LSB with a maximum conversion rate of about 3 Msps. A simple calibration allows to compute proper coefficients to apply to raw data. The TDC Module is composed by two SMA inputs, followed by an electronic front-end to provide compatibility to any kind of signal, an USB 2.0 connector for parameters setting and data upload to a remote computer and the power supply connector.
Lipid Infusion Decreases the Expression of Nuclear Encoded Mitochondrial Genes and Increases the Expression of Extracellular Matrix Genes in Human Skeletal Muscle*

The association between elevated plasma free fatty acid (FFA) concentrations and insulin resistance is well known. Although the cause and effect relationship between FFAs and insulin resistance is complex, plasma FFA is negatively correlated with the expression of peroxisome proliferator activated receptor-γ cofactor-1 (PGC-1) and nuclear encoded mitochondrial genes. To test whether this association is causal, we infused a triglyceride emulsion (or saline as control) into healthy subjects to increase plasma FFA for 48 h followed by muscle biopsies, microarray analysis, quantitative real time PCR, and immunoblots. Lipid infusion increased plasma FFA concentration from 0.48 ± 0.02 to 1.73 ± 0.43 mm and decreased insulin-stimulated glucose disposal from 8.82 ± 0.69 to 6.67 ± 0.66 mg/kg·min, both with p < 0.05. PGC-1 mRNA, along with mRNAs for a number of nuclear encoded mitochondrial genes, were reduced by lipid infusion (p < 0.05). Microarray analysis also revealed that lipid infusion caused a significant overexpression of extracellular matrix genes and connective tissue growth factor. Quantitative reverse transcription PCR showed that the mRNA expression of collagens and multiple extracellular matrix genes was higher after the lipid infusion (p < 0.05). Immunoblot analysis revealed that lipid infusion also increased the expression of collagens and the connective tissue growth factor protein. These data suggest that an experimental increase in FFAs decreases the expression of PGC-1 and nuclear encoded mitochondrial genes and also increases the expression of extracellular matrix genes in a manner reminiscent of inflammation.
Characterization of an IgA receptor from group B streptococci: specificity for serum IgA

Some strains of group B streptococci express a cell surface protein which binds IgA. This report describes some properties of such an IgA receptor and compares it with a previously described IgA receptor from group A streptococci. The group B receptor was released in an almost pure form from bacteria incubated at elevated pH, and could be isolated by IgA‐Sepharose affinity chromatography. The sequence of the N‐terminal 19 amino acid residues was unique. The receptor preferentially binds IgA of human origin, as shown in immunoblotting experiments with purified IgA from nine different species. The affinity constant of the purified receptor for serum IgA was determined to be 3.5 × 108 M−1, but for secretory IgA it was too low to allow determination. This result indicates that secretory component and/or J chain interferes with the binding of IgA to this type of bacterial receptor, which may be one of the physiological functions of these polypeptides. A reduction in affinity was also observed for another complexed form of IgA, α1‐microglobulin‐IgA. The group B receptor is antigenically unrelated to the IgA receptor from group A streptococci (protein Arp), but competitive inhibition experiments indicate that they bind to the same region in IgA. The implications of these findings, and the biological role of bacterial IgA receptors, are discussed.
U1 and U2 small nuclear RNAs are present in nuclear speckles

The localization of U1 and U2 small nuclear RNAs (snRNAs) has been examined by in situ hybridization using 2'-O-alkyl oligonucleotide probes. We have found that these snRNAs, which are essential for pre-mRNA splicing, localize in a speckled distribution, in addition to being present in three of four foci, in HeLa cell nuclei. However, in cells of defined passage, such as Detroit 551 and WI-38 fibroblasts, these snRNAs are concentrated in nuclear speckles, and foci are not observed. The speckled distribution of U1 and U2 snRNAs is coincident with the speckled regions enriched in small nuclear ribonucleoprotein particle (snRNP) proteins and the essential non-snRNP splicing factor SC-35. The localization of these key components of the pre-mRNA splicing machinery to speckled nuclear regions suggests that these regions may be involved in pre-mRNA splicing.
Type I Phosphatidylinositol-4-phosphate 5-Kinases Synthesize the Novel Lipids Phosphatidylinositol 3,5-Bisphosphate and Phosphatidylinositol 5-Phosphate*

Inositol phospholipids regulate a variety of cellular processes including proliferation, survival, vesicular trafficking, and cytoskeletal organization. Recently, two novel phosphoinositides, phosphatidylinositol-3,5-bisphosphate (PtdIns-3,5-P2) and phosphatidylinositol- 5-phosphate (PtdIns-5-P), have been shown to exist in cells. PtdIns-3,5-P2, which is regulated by osmotic stress, appears to be synthesized by phosphorylation of PtdIns-3-P at the D-5 position. No evidence yet exists for how PtdIns-5-P is produced in cells. Understanding the regulation of synthesis of these molecules will be important for identifying their function in cellular signaling. To determine the pathway by which PtdIns-3,5-P2 and Ptd-Ins-5-P might be synthesized, we tested the ability of the recently cloned type I PtdIns-4-P 5-kinases (PIP5Ks) α and β to phosphorylate PtdIns-3-P and PtdIns at the D-5 position of the inositol ring. We found that the type I PIP5Ks phosphorylate PtdIns-3-P to form PtdIns-3,5-P2. The identity of the PtdIns-3,5-P2 product was determined by anion exchange high performance liquid chromatography analysis and periodate treatment. PtdIns-3,4-P2 and PtdIns-3,4,5-P3 were also produced from PtdIns-3-P phosphorylation by both isoforms. When expressed in mammalian cells, PIP5K Iα and PIP5K Iβ differed in their ability to synthesize PtdIns-3,5-P2 relative to PtdIns-3,4-P2. We also found that the type I PIP5Ks phosphorylate PtdIns to produce PtdIns-5-P and phosphorylate PtdIns-3,4-P2 to produce PtdIns-3,4,5-P3. Our findings suggest that type I PIP5Ks synthesize the novel phospholipids PtdIns-3,5-P2 and PtdIns-5-P. The ability of PIP5Ks to produce multiple signaling molecules indicates that they may participate in a variety of cellular processes.
Predicting the Effects of Ocean Acidification on Predator-Prey Interactions: A Conceptual Framework Based on Coastal Molluscs

The influence of environmental change on species interactions will affect population dynamics and community structure in the future, but our current understanding of the outcomes of species interactions in a high-CO2 world is limited. Here, we draw upon emerging experimental research examining the effects of ocean acidification on coastal molluscs to provide hypotheses of the potential impacts of high-CO2 on predator-prey interactions. Coastal molluscs, such as oysters, mussels, and snails, allocate energy among defenses, growth, and reproduction. Ocean acidification increases the energetic costs of physiological processes such as acid-base regulation and calcification. Impacted molluscs can display complex and divergent patterns of energy allocation to defenses and growth that may influence predator-prey interactions; these include changes in shell properties, body size, tissue mass, immune function, or reproductive output. Ocean acidification has also been shown to induce complex changes in chemoreception, behavior, and inducible defenses, including altered cue detection and predator avoidance behaviors. Each of these responses may ultimately alter the susceptibility of coastal molluscs to predation through effects on predator handling time, satiation, and search time. While many of these effects may manifest as increases in per capita predation rates on coastal molluscs, the ultimate outcome of predator-prey interactions will also depend on how ocean acidification affects the specified predators, which also exhibit complex responses to ocean acidification. Changes in predator-prey interactions could have profound and unexplored consequences for the population dynamics of coastal molluscs in a high-CO2 ocean.
[Cellular laser microscopy of corneal ulcer and infiltrate].

BACKGROUND Corneal ulcers can be observed occasionally due to infections, wearing contact lenses or in dry eyes. Confocal microscopy represents a new tool for the differential diagnostic work-up of pathological processes and provides the possibility for dynamic healing control. METHODS We report on the corneal morphological changes caused by corneal ulcers of varying aetiologies. Morphological changes and pathological processes in infiltrates as well as in ulcus corneae can be investigated by means of the confocal in vivo microscopy based on the confocal laser scanning microscope model Heidelberg Retina Tomograph II with the Rostock cornea module. RESULTS Corneal infiltrates are characterised by inflammatory cell infiltration without other morphological changes. An advanced process like corneal ulcer is characterised by not only the tissue defects but also by oedematous structures of the entire cornea resulting in an increase in corneal thickness, increased cell density of leukocytes and of Langerhans cells. The scar tissue formation as well as epithelium regeneration are documented during the follow-up. Confocal detection of pathogens (acanthamoeba, fungus, etc.) was performed. CONCLUSION The confocal microscopic data about micromorphological changes could be useful in the evaluation of defect geometry and healing processes of the cornea. Differential diagnostic distinction between bacterial, fungal or acanthamoeba genesis is possible.
Hearing Loss and Perceptual Effort: Downstream Effects on Older Adults’ Memory for Speech

A group of older adults with good hearing and a group with mild-to-moderate hearing loss were tested for recall of the final three words heard in a running memory task. Near perfect recall of the final words of the three-word sets by both good- and poor-hearing participants allowed the inference that all three words had been correctly identified. Nevertheless, the poor-hearing group recalled significantly fewer of the nonfinal words than did the better hearing group. This was true even though both groups were matched for age, education, and verbal ability. Results were taken as support for an effortfulness hypothesis: the notion that the extra effort that a hearing-impaired listener must expend to achieve perceptual success comes at the cost of processing resources that might otherwise be available for encoding the speech content in memory.
Role of NF-kB in multiple organ dysfunction during acute obstructive cholangitis.

AIM To elucidate the role of NF-kB activation in the development of multiple organ dysfunction (MOD) during acute obstructive cholangitis (AOC) in rats. METHODS Forty-two Wistar rats were divided into three groups: the AOC group, the group of bile duct ligation (BDL group), and the sham operation group (SO group). All the animals in the three groups were killed in the 6th and 48th hour after operation. Morphological changes of vital organs were observed under light and electron microscopy. NF-kB activation was determined with Electrophoretic Mobility Shift Assay (EMSA). Arterial blood gas analyses and the serum levels of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and creatinine were performed. The concentrations of TNF-alpha and IL-6 in plasma were also measured. RESULTS The significant changes of histology and ultrastructure of vital organs were observed in AOC group. By contrast, in BDL group, all the features of organs damage were greatly reduced. Expression of NF-kB activation in various tissues increased in AOC group when compared to other two groups. At 6 h, the arterial pH in three groups was 7.52+/-0.01, 7.46+/-0.02, and 7.45+/-0.02, and the blood pCO(2) was 33.9+/-0.95 mmHg, 38.1+/-0.89 mmHg, 38.9+/-0.94 mmHg, there was difference in three groups (P<0.05). At 48 h, the blood pH values in three groups was 7.33+/-0.07, 7.67+/-0.04, and 7.46+/-0.03, and blood HCO(3)(-) was 20.1+/-1.29 mmol x L(-1), 26.7+/-1.45 mmol x L(-1) and 27.4+/-0.35 mmol x L(-1), there was also difference in three groups (P<0.05). In AOC group, Levels of LDH, ALT, BUN and creatinine were 1,6359.9+/-2,278.8 nkat x L(-1), 5,796.2+/-941.9 nkat.L(-1), 55.7+/-15.3 mg/dl, and 0.72+/-0.06 mg/dl, which were higher than in SO group (3,739.1+/- 570.1 nkat x L(-1), 288.4+/-71.7 nkat x L(-1), 12.5+/-2.14 mg/dl, and 0.47+/-0.03 mg/dl) (P<0.05). Levels of plasma TNF-alpha and IL-6 in AOC at 48 h were 429+/-56.62 ng x L(-1) and 562+/-57 ng x L(-1), which increased greatly when compared to BDL group (139+/-16 ng x L(-1), 227+/-43 ng x L(-1)) and SO group (74+/-10 ng x L(-1), 113+/-19 ng x L(-1)) (P<0.05). CONCLUSION The pathological damages and the NF-kB activation of many vital organs excised during AOC. These findings have an important implication for the role of NF-kB activation in MOD during AOC.
Temporal Muscle Activation Assessment by Ultrasound Imaging During Flexor Withdrawal Reflex and Voluntary Contraction

Activating flexor reflexes by electrical stimulation has been used as a mechanism to initiate the swing phase or to enhance it for spinal cord injured patients. However, it is necessary to know their contraction dynamics in order to artificially induce them at the right moment of a walking cycle. This requires understanding the temporal activation pattern of both surface and deep muscles simultaneously. This study aimed at developing a system to measure and analyze the temporal activation of both surface and deep muscles during voluntary contraction and flexor reflexes (also called withdrawal reflexes) using ultrasound imaging. A set of experiments were done to verify the validity of the system, while exploring the temporal pattern of muscle activation during flexor reflexes. As a result, we were able to quantify the surface and deep muscle activity by measuring the muscle thickness, pennation angle and long-axis displacement, from the ultrasound images.
High resolution micro-CT scanning as an innovatory tool for evaluation of the surgical positioning of cochlear implant electrodes

X-ray microtomography (micro-CT) is a new technique allowing for visualization of the internal structure of opaque specimens with a quasi-histological quality. Among multiple potential applications, the use of this technique in otology is very promising. Micro-CT appears to be ideally suited for in vitro visualization of the inner ear tissues as well as for evaluation of the electrode damage and/or surgical insertion trauma during implantation of the cochlear implant electrodes. This technique can greatly aid in design and development of new cochlear implant electrodes and is applicable for temporal bone studies. The main advantage of micro-CT is the practically artefact-free preparation of the samples and the possibility of evaluation of the interesting parameters along the whole insertion depth of the electrode. This paper presents the results of the first application of micro-CT for visualization of the inner ear structures in human temporal bones and for evaluation of the surgical positioning of the cochlear implant electrodes relative to the intracochlear soft tissues.
CALL FOR PAPERS Bioengineering the Lung: Molecules, Materials, Matrix, Morphology, and Mechanics CYR61 (CCN1) overexpression induces lung injury in mice

CYR61 (CCN1) overexpression induces lung injury in mice. Am Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol L759–L765, doi:10.1152/ajplung.00190. 2014. —Cys-teine-rich protein-61 (CYR61), also known as connective tissue growth factor, CYR61, and nephroblastoma overexpressed gene 1 (CCN1), is a heparin-binding protein member of the CCN family of matricellular proteins. Gene expression proﬁles showed that Cyr61 is upregulated in human acute lung injury (ALI), but its functional role is unclear. We hypothesized that CYR61 contributes to ALI in mice. First, we demonstrated that CYR61 expression increases after bleo-mycin-induced lung injury. We then used adenovirus-mediated gene transfer to determine whether CYR61 overexpression in the lungs was sufﬁcient to cause ALI. Mice instilled with CYR61 adenovirus showed greater weight loss, increased bronchoalveolar lavage total neutrophil counts, increased protein concentrations, and increased mortality compared with mice instilled with empty-vector adenovirus. Immunohistochemical studies in lungs from humans with idiopathic pulmonary ﬁbrosis revealed CYR61 expression on the luminal membrane of alveolar epithelial cells in areas of injury. We conclude that CYR61 is upregulated in ALI and that CYR61 overexpression exacerbates ALI in mice. contributing to tissue injury in the lungs. We show that CYR61 expression increases in the lungs after bleomycin instillation. Moreover, CYR61 overexpression in murine lungs after adenovirus-me-diated gene transfer was associated with weight loss, lung injury, and increased mortality.
Avaliação de desempenho de Contêineres Docker para aplicações do Supremo Tribunal Federal

Virtualization over the last decade has contributed decisively to optimizing the use of computing resources in both private Data Centers and cloud service providers’ environments. Traditionally dominated by virtual machine technology with hypervisors, environments that make use of Containers for application provisioning have become popular. Considered as a lightweight alternative to the hypervisor environment, the containers bring several benefits, such as lower hardware overhead, reduced configuration failures, software updates and errors, and faster boot speeds. The escalation in the adoption of this technology is due to the facilities offered by Docker, which simplified the creation and execution of containers. The Office of Information Technology of the Federal Supreme Court has seen in the use of container technology the potential to improve the development process and the provision of applications in court. The present work proposes to perform a performance evaluation of the Docker Containers in relation to the native installation environments (Baremetal) and Virtualization with Hypervisors to validate the feasibility of adopting this technology for the provisioning of STF applications without degradation of the services offered to the users of the Court.
LSD1 inhibitors: a patent review (2010-2015)

ABSTRACT Introduction: Lysine demethylase 1 (LSD1) plays an important role in mediating the expression of genes involved in cancer and non-cancer diseases such as viral infections, cardiovascular and neurodegenerative disorders. It is involved in a number of processes from adipogenesis to cell adhesion to viral latency, regulating several cell pathways related with proliferation, development, and cell cycle control. Numerous chemical entities have been studied in recent years and some of them entered the clinical arena. Areas covered: This review summarizes recent efforts in the drug development of LSD1 inhibitors reported in the patent literature covering the 2010-2015 period, including their potential use as therapeutics in cancerous, neurological, inflammatory, cardiovascular, and viral diseases. Expert opinion: The development of novel potent and selective LSD1 inhibitors is ongoing, in order to improve their potency and selectivity against specific types of cancer or non-cancer diseases. More in-depth studies are required to assess the role of LSD1 inhibitors in the expression of LSD1 target genes, for a better assessment of the biochemistry underlying their efficacy, and to provide evidence for any possible side effects. Furthermore, an interesting therapeutic approach is the use of LSD1 inhibitors in conjunction with other epidrugs to combine their therapeutic potential, leading to innovative, personalized treatments.
On Energy-to-Peak Filtering for Nonuniformly Sampled Nonlinear Systems: A Markovian Jump System Approach

This paper focuses on the filter design for nonuniformly sampled nonlinear systems which can be approximated by Takagi-Sugeno (T-S) fuzzy systems. The sampling periods of the measurements are time varying, and the nonuniform observations of the outputs are modeled by a homogenous Markov chain. A mode-dependent estimator with a fast sampling frequency is proposed such that the estimation can track the signal to be estimated with the nonuniformly sampled outputs. The nonlinear systems are discretized with the fast sampling period. By using an augmentation technique, the corresponding stochastic estimation error system is obtained. By studying the stochastic stability and the energy-to-peak performance of the estimation error system, we derive the linear-matrix-inequality-based sufficient conditions. The parameters of the mode-dependent estimator can be calculated by using the proposed iterative algorithm. Two examples are used to demonstrate the design procedure and the efficacy of the proposed design method.
MitoGen: A Framework for Generating 3D Synthetic Time-Lapse Sequences of Cell Populations in Fluorescence Microscopy

The proper analysis of biological microscopy images is an important and complex task. Therefore, it requires verification of all steps involved in the process, including image segmentation and tracking algorithms. It is generally better to verify algorithms with computer-generated ground truth datasets, which, compared to manually annotated data, nowadays have reached high quality and can be produced in large quantities even for 3D time-lapse image sequences. Here, we propose a novel framework, called MitoGen, which is capable of generating ground truth datasets with fully 3D time-lapse sequences of synthetic fluorescence-stained cell populations. MitoGen shows biologically justified cell motility, shape and texture changes as well as cell divisions. Standard fluorescence microscopy phenomena such as photobleaching, blur with real point spread function (PSF), and several types of noise, are simulated to obtain realistic images. The MitoGen framework is scalable in both space and time. MitoGen generates visually plausible data that shows good agreement with real data in terms of image descriptors and mean square displacement (MSD) trajectory analysis. Additionally, it is also shown in this paper that four publicly available segmentation and tracking algorithms exhibit similar performance on both real and MitoGen-generated data. The implementation of MitoGen is freely available.