Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Role of Interstitial Fluid Pressurization in TMJ Lubrication

In temporomandibular joints (TMJs), the disc and condylar cartilage function as load-bearing, shock-absorbing, and friction-reducing materials. The ultrastructure of the TMJ disc and cartilage is different from that of hyaline cartilage in other diarthrodial joints, and little is known about their lubrication mechanisms. In this study, we performed micro-tribometry testing on the TMJ disc and condylar cartilage to obtain their region- and direction-dependent friction properties. Frictional tests with a migrating contact area were performed on 8 adult porcine TMJs at 5 different regions (anterior, posterior, central, medial, and lateral) in 2 orthogonal directions (anterior-posterior and medial-lateral). Some significant regional differences were detected, and the lateral-medial direction showed higher friction than the anterior-posterior direction on both tissues. The mean friction coefficient of condylar cartilage against steel was 0.027, but the disc, at 0.074, displayed a significantly higher friction coefficient. The 2 tissues also exhibited different frictional dependencies on sliding speed and normal loading force. Whereas the friction of condylar cartilage decreased with increased sliding speed and was independent of the magnitude of normal force, friction of the disc showed no dependence on sliding speed but decreased as normal force increased. Further analysis of the Péclet number and frictional coefficients suggested that condylar cartilage relies on interstitial fluid pressurization to a greater extent than the corresponding contact area of the TMJ disc.
Human Platelet Concentrates and Derivatives Preparation Issues Pretransfusion

In this paper is tried to put forward the important differences in preparation condition of platelets(PLTs) concentrates (PCs) as pharmaceuticstherapeutically products. Although it looks like a very simple task but the ‘knowledge’ behind human PLTs and derivatives transfusion is more than only isolation, preparation and storage of a blood product. Moreover, the PLTs are very fragile blood cells, and the related Transfusion Medicine procedures are complex basic Medical Sciences. Worldwide, there is ‘limited published standard’ procedure for appropriate PCs and derivatives preparation (product quality issues). After all, prepared PCs should be transfused to a random (unknown) matched recipients with bleeding disorders, and PLTs function defect (unknown recipient issues). Nonetheless, One might expect that the most Clinics and Blood banking centra work on the standard procedures that previously written, and which they might produced PCs according to the different International establishments. Because these kind of selection and arrangements have major impact on patients’ safety, and affect morbidity and mortality rate of transfused recipients, however. The room temperature (RT)-stored PCs are currently used for either therapeutic or prophylactic applications in the Hospitals. On the other hand, the metabolic suppressed PCs (MSPs) are better haemostatic products, and they might be safer in that aspect that they are less prone to bacterial growth and multiplication. Indeed Clinical tests needed to warrant usage of this novel product, in vivo.
Low Nitrogen to Phosphorus Ratios Favor Dominance by Blue-Green Algae in Lake Phytoplankton

An analysis of growing season data from 17 lakes throughout the world suggests that the relative proportion of blue-green algae (Cyanophyta) in the epilimnetic phytoplankton is dependent on the epilimnetic ratio of total nitrogen to total phosphorus. Blue-green algae tended to be rare when this ratio exceeded 29 to 1 by weight, suggesting that modification of this ratio by control of nutrient additions may provide a means by which lake water quality can be managed.
Preoperative Anemia Adversely Affect Colon nd Rectal Surgery Outcomes ?

BACKGROUND: Complications associated with blood transfusions have resulted in widespread acceptance of low hematocrit levels in surgical patients. However, preoperative anemia seems to be a risk factor for adverse postoperative outcomes in certain surgical patients.This study investigated the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP) database to determine if preoperative anemia in patients undergoing open and laparoscopic colectomies is an independent predictor for an adverse composite outcome (CO) consisting of myocardial infarction, stroke, progressive renal insufficiency or death within 30 days of operation, or for an increased hospital length of stay (LOS). STUDY DESIGN: Hematocrit levels were categorized into 4 classes: severe, moderate, mild, and no anemia. From 2005 to 2008, the NSQIP database recorded 23,348 elective open and laparoscopic colectomies that met inclusion criteria. Analyses using multivariable models, controlling for potential confounders and stratifying on propensity score, were performed. RESULTS: Compared with nonanemic patients, those with severe, moderate, and mild anemia were more likely to have the adverse CO with odds ratios of 1.83 (95% CI 1.05 to 3.19), 2.19 (95 % CI 1.63 to 2.94), and 1.49 (95% CI 1.20 to 1.86), respectively. Patients with a normal hematocrit had a reduced hospital LOS, compared with those with severe, moderate, and mild anemia (p 0.01). A history of cardiovascular disease did not significantly influence these findings. CONCLUSIONS: This large multicenter database analysis suggests that the presence of severe and moderate and even mild preoperative anemia is an independent risk factor for complications and a longer hospital stay after colon surgery. (J Am Coll Surg 2011;212:187–194. © 2011 by the American College of Surgeons)
Alantolactone induces apoptosis in glioblastoma cells via GSH depletion, ROS generation, and mitochondrial dysfunction

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most malignant and aggressive primary brain tumor in adults. Despite concerted efforts to improve current therapies, the prognosis of glioblastoma remains very poor. Alantolactone, a sesquiterpene lactone compound, has been reported to exhibit antifungal, antibacteria, antihelminthic, and anticancer properties. In this study, we found that alantolactone effectively inhibits growth and triggers apoptosis in glioblastoma cells in a time‐ and dose‐dependent manner. The alantolactone‐induced apoptosis was found to be associated with glutathione (GSH) depletion, reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, mitochondrial transmembrane potential dissipation, cardiolipin oxidation, upregulation of p53 and Bax, downregulation of Bcl‐2, cytochrome c release, activation of caspases (caspase 9 and 3), and cleavage of poly (ADP‐ribose) polymerase. This alantolactone‐induced apoptosis and GSH depletion were effectively inhibited or abrogated by a thiol antioxidant, N‐acetyl‐L‐cysteine, whereas other antioxidant (polyethylene glycol (PEG)‐catalase and PEG‐superoxide‐dismutase) did not prevent apoptosis and GSH depletion. Alantolactone treatment inhibited the translocation of NF‐κB into nucleus; however, NF‐κB inhibitor, SN50 failed to potentiate alantolactone‐induced apoptosis indicating that alantolactone induces NF‐κB‐independent apoptosis in glioma cells. These findings suggest that the sensitivity of tumor cells to alantolactone appears to results from GSH depletion and ROS production. Furthermore, our in vivo toxicity study demonstrated that alantolactone did not induce significant hepatotoxicity and nephrotoxicity in mice. Therefore, alantolactone may become a potential lead compound for future development of antiglioma therapy. © © 2012 IUBMB Life, 64(9): 783–794, 2012
Phytochemical Deterrence of Snowshoe Hare Browsing by Adventitious Shoots of Four Alaskan Trees

After snowshoe hares have severely browsed deciduous trees and shrubs, these woody plants produce adventitious shoots that are extremely unpalatable to them. The adventitious shoots of four common boreal forest trees contain significantly higher concentrations of terpene and phenolic resins than the mature-growth-form twigs of the same species. These resins are experimentally shown to be repellent to snowshoe hares and appear to explain the avoidance of adventitious shoots by hares. The production of adventitious shoots after intense hare browsing and the avoidance of these shoots by hares may play an important role in the 10-year hare cycle.
A W-Band Traveling-Wave Frequency Doubler With Output Power of 9 dBm and Power Efficiency of 11.2%

An 85 to 110 GHz high efficiency, high output power frequency doubler is presented in this letter. The traveling-wave topology is used to generate even harmonics and suppress odd harmonics effectively. The output fundamental and 4th harmonic reflectors are applied to enhance the efficiency, conversion gain and fundamental rejection. The measured results show a peak conversion gain of 3.2 dB and peak efficiency of 11.2% with a saturated output power of 9 dBm at 100 GHz. The doubler exhibits higher than 30 dB fundamental rejection from 85 to 110 GHz with a compact chip size of 1.5 × 0.9 mm 2.
Implications of the Use of Magnetic Tunnel Junctions as Synapses in Neuromorphic Systems

Spin transfer torque magnetic random access memory (STT-MRAM) is a major breakthrough for embedded and standalone memory applications. Its basic cell, the magnetic tunnel junction, can also be used in a low-energy stochastic regime and implement a "synaptic" function. It can then be the basic element for learning-capable neuromorphic chips that do not separate logic and memory and exploit the magnetic tunnel junctions with an optimum energy efficiency. Implementing this vision, however, raises challenges at the circuit level. Proper addressing of the junctions can perturb their synaptic function. In this work, we investigate several architectures for a system based on stochastic synapses, and compare them in terms of reliability and energy efficiency. These results show the high potential of this technology, and pinpoint some main design challenges and tradeoff.
Low-dose IFN-gamma induces tumor MHC expression in metastatic malignant melanoma.

Specific antitumor immune responses require expression of MHC class I or II molecules on tumor cells, and MHC antigen down-regulation is a presumed tumor growth promoting mechanism. Because IFN-gamma up-regulates tumor MHC antigen expression in vitro, in this Phase II trial of an immunologically active dose and schedule we evaluated whether this was the case in vivo. Twenty-three patients with metastatic melanoma were treated with IFN-gamma 100 microg/m(2) s.c. once weekly for a maximum of 6 months. There were three complete responses, now maintained for 53, 36, and 25 months. The remainder had progressive disease. The treatment was well tolerated, with no toxicity exceeding National Cancer Institute Common Toxicity Criteria grade II. Immunohistochemical analysis of tumor biopsies during treatment was performed using monoclonal antibodies to HLA class I (W/632) and class II (CR3/43) monomorphic determinants. HLA class I was down-regulated in 2 of 19 patients pretreatment and up-regulated by IFN-gamma in both. HLA class II was down-regulated pretreatment in 14 of 18 patients and up-regulated by IFN-gamma in 6 (43%). The HLA up-regulation persisted throughout the study. IFN-gamma induced significant but short-lived up-regulation of surrogate markers of monocyte activation (serum neopterin) and class I up-regulation (serum beta-2-microglobulin) in most patients. There was no consistent relationship between surrogate marker up-regulation, tumor antigen up-regulation, and responses. The study shows that the significant immune modulation induced by IFN-gamma does not correlate with tumor responses and that the serum surrogate marker changes do not reflect tumor events. The durable and long-lived responses, clear demonstration of tumor MHC up-regulation, and low toxicity suggest that weekly IFN-gamma 100 microg/m(2) would be a useful addition to chemoimmunotherapeutic regimens.
O RECONHECIMENTO DE COMIDAS, SABERES E PRÁTICAS ALIMENTARES COMO PATRIMÔNIO CULTURAL IMATERIAL

O artigo analisa algumas iniciativas recentes de patrimonializacao de comidas, saberes e praticas alimentares, no âmbito internacional e nacional. Na Unesco, sao analisados os processos de reconhecimento, como “patrimonio cultural imaterial”, da dieta mediterrânea, da gastronomia tradicional mexicana, da comida gastronomica dos franceses, do Washoku (sistema culinario japones) e do pao de gengibre da Croacia. Iphan ja registrou como bens culturais imateriais: o oficio das baianas de acaraje, a producao tradicional de cajuina no Piaui, o modo artesanal de fazer queijo minas e o sistema agricola tradicional do Rio Negro-AM. Ha outras iniciativas em curso, como o oficio das tacacazeiras do Para. O artigo discute os principais questionamentos em torno de tais iniciativas, e os potenciais avancos que elas podem representar para promover a diversidade alimentar como expressao da diversidade cultural. DOI: 10.12957/demetra.2015. 16054
Remote sensing monitoring and analysis of expansion characteristics of Chongming Island in Shanghai, China

Mapping and detecting landscape pattern changes and features has become an urgent task due to the increasing pressures of rapid urbanization and associated environmental problems. This is exactly the case of Chongming Island which has been proposed to become an “ecological” island in the near future. A dynamic study on the island's expansion, vegetation and land use/cover shift patterns over the past 30 years was carried out based on Landsat and ALOS satellite remote sensing imagery by employing an object-oriented classification approach incorporated with vegetation indices (NDVI and NDVSI). NDVSI index which was developed in this study was fused with red and infrared bands to improve the resolution and extract the vegetation and land use type by NN arithmetic for the Landsat MSS image. It is found that vegetation area almost remain unchangeableness with the expanding the Chongming island from 1979 to 2009, while the area of built-up and water body were increased obviously. Most expansion area of the island is added to urbanization and rural settlements development, wetland and water body. In the past 30 years, the proportion of vegetation area to the total area of Chongming Island decreased from 71% to 52%, by contraries, the proportion increased from 5% to 14% for built-up area. The population in 2009 had been more than 2 times of that in 1979. The change of vegetation area in Chongming Island does not correspond proportionally with the growth of island , but the temporal changes of the built-up areas are highly correlated with the population changes, the revenue of local government, which reflect the fast development of economy and urbanization.
An interleaved buck converter with reduced reverse-recovery problems

An interleaved buck converter with low conduction losses and reduced diode reverse-recovery problems is proposed in this paper. The circuit consists of two interleaved buck converters with one coupled inductor for each phase, operating in continuous conduction mode (CCM). Zero-current switching (ZCS) condition duting turn-on transitions and significant reduction of the losses associated with diode reverse recovery are accomplished through the coupled inductors. The two phases operate in out of phase mode. Thus, the input and output currents can be continuous with low ripple. Constant frequency operation with low switching losses and low output current ripple is very suitable for the realization of battery chargers in standalone PV applications. The operating principle of the proposed converter are presented in detail. Finally, an 400 W, 100 kHz experimental prototype was built to verify the theoretical analysis and feasibility of the proposed converter, with the efficiency up to 94.5 %.
NCL-3D: A 3D Natural Compound Library for Structure-Based Drug Discovery

In recent years, virtual chemical library screening has emerged as a very important tool and method for finding new leads in the drug discovery process. The first requirement in virtual screening is searchable three dimensional (3D) structure libraries of chemical compounds. Since traditional herbal medicine is a rich source for modern, molecular target-specific drug discovery, our center has been interested in the development of a structure-based approach to discover promising lead compounds using structure-based drug discovery approach from natural products isolated from traditional herbal medicine. In this reports, we present NCL-3D, a searchable 3D structure library of small molecules from natural products and their derivatives.
Measuring Word Semantic Relatedness Using WordNet-Based Approach

Word semantic relatedness measure plays an important role in many applications of computational linguistics and artificial intelligence. In recent years the measures based on WordNet have shown its talents and attracted great concern. Many measures have been proposed to achieve the best expression possible for the degree of semantic relatedness of words. In this paper, we consider two different modified measures for computing the semantic relatedness between two words based on the path-based approach. The first measure introduces the maximum node path into the classical path-based method to compute the relatedness of words from ontology hierarchy; it mainly exploits edge-counting technique. The second one takes the definition and semantic relationships of synsets into account; it is based on the assumption that the explicit and implicit semantic relationships between synsets impose equally importance factors in the word relatedness measure. The experimental results using the proposed methods on common datasets show that our measures yields into better levels of performance compared to several classical methods. In addition, the second approach performed better than the first one.
Comparative analysis of several feature extraction methods in vehicle brand recognition

Several feature extraction methods, such as the local energy shape histogram, the local binary pattern model and the gradient histogram, are comparatively used to characterize vehicle face images, and Support Vector Machines (SVM) are proposed to classify vehicle brands. Theoretical analysis and experimental results show that the vehicle brand recognition method based on HOG feature extraction and SVM exceeds the other four methods, and the recognition rate is up to 92.40%.
Screening for target Rabs of TBC (Tre‐2/Bub2/Cdc16) domain‐containing proteins based on their Rab‐binding activity

It has recently been proposed that the TBC (Tre2/Bub2/Cdc16) domain functions as a GAP (GTPase‐activating protein) domain for small GTPase Rab. Because of the large number of Rab proteins in mammals, however, most TBC domains have never been investigated for Rab‐GAP activity. In this study we established panels of the GTP‐fixed form of 60 different Rabs constructed in pGAD‐C1, a yeast two‐hybrid bait vector. We also constructed a yeast two‐hybrid prey vector (pGBDU‐C1) that harbors the cDNA of 40 distinct TBC proteins. Systematic investigation of 2400 combinations of 60 GTP‐fixed Rabs and 40 TBC proteins by yeast two‐hybrid screening revealed that seven TBC proteins specifically and differentially interact with specific Rabs (e.g. OATL1 interacts with Rab2A; FLJ12085 with Rab5A/B/C; and Evi5‐like with Rab10). Measurement of in vitro Rab‐GAP activity revealed that OATL1 and Evi5‐like actually possess significant Rab2A‐ and Rab10‐GAP activity, respectively, but that FLJ12085 do not display Rab5A‐GAP activity at all. These results indicate that specific interaction between TBC protein and Rab would be a useful indicator for screening for the target Rabs of some TBC/Rab‐GAP domains, but that there is little correlation between the Rab‐binding activity and Rab‐GAP activity of other TBC proteins.
Evaluation of the Quality of NDVI3g Dataset against Collection 6 MODIS NDVI in Central Europe between 2000 and 2013

Remote sensing provides invaluable insight into the dynamics of vegetation with global coverage and reasonable temporal resolution. Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) is widely used to study vegetation greenness, production, phenology and the responses of ecosystems to climate fluctuations. The extended global NDVI3g dataset created by Global Inventory Modeling and Mapping Studies (GIMMS) has an exceptional 32 years temporal coverage. Due to the methodology that was used to create NDVI3g inherent noise and uncertainty is present in the dataset. To evaluate the accuracy and uncertainty of application of NDVI3g at regional scale we used Collection-6 data from the MODerate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensor on board satellite Terra as a reference. After noise filtering, statistical harmonization of the NDVI3g dataset was performed for Central Europe based on MOD13 NDVI. Mean seasonal NDVI profiles, start, end and length of the growing season, magnitude and timing of peak NDVI were calculated from NDVI3g (original, noise filtered and harmonized) and MODIS NDVI and compared with each other. NDVI anomalies were also compared and evaluated using simple climate sensitivity metrics. The results showed that (1) the original NDVI3g has limited applicability in Central Europe, which was also implied by the significant disagreement between the NDVI3g and MODIS NDVI datasets; (2) the harmonization of NDVI3g with MODIS NDVI is promising since the newly created dataset showed improved quality for diverse vegetation metrics. For NDVI anomaly detection NDVI3g showed limited applicability, even after harmonization. Climate–NDVI relationships are not represented well by NDVI3g. The presented results can help researchers to assess the expected quality of the NDVI3g-based studies in Central Europe.
Presence of Staphylococcus aureus in the Nasal Cavity of Children Attending a Public Daycare Center in Francisco Beltrão—Paraná—Brazil *

The objective of this study was to evaluate the presence of Staphylococcus aureus in the nasal cavity of children attending a daycare center in the town of Francisco Beltrao—PR, by comparing the frequency between age groups and genders. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing with different drugs was also carried out in the bacterial isolates. A prospective study involving 200 children aged 2 and 4 years, grouped by gender, was carried out. Samples were collected from the nasal vestibules of children, incubated and identified. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was carried out in 30% of the S. aureus colonies. The results showed that 35% of children (10% female and 25% male) were colonized by S. aureus. The frequency of colonization in both male age groups was similar, with 201.93 ± 13.10 CFU/plate for 2-year-old and 266 ± 12.60 CFU/plate for 4-year-old. However, colonization averages for females were different, with 30.43 ± 1.17 CFU/plate for 2-year-old and 394.38 ± 10.70 CFU/plate for 4-year-old. In the antimicrobial susceptibility testing, some strains were resistant to oxacillin, erythromycin and tetracycline, in addition to showing intermediate susceptibility to cephalothin.