Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Inhibition of PI3Kdelta restores glucocorticoid function in smoking-induced airway inflammation in mice.

RATIONALE There is an increasing prevalence of reduced responsiveness to glucocorticoid therapy in severe asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The molecular mechanism of this remains unknown. Recent studies have shown that histone deacetylase activity, which is critical to glucocorticoid function, is altered by oxidant stress and may be involved in the development of glucocorticoid insensitivity. OBJECTIVES To determine the role of phosphoinositol-3-kinase (PI3K) in the development of cigarette smoke-induced glucocorticoid insensitivity. METHODS Wild-type, PI3Kgamma knock-out and PI3Kdelta kinase dead knock-in transgenic mice were used in a model of cigarette smoke-induced glucocorticoid insensitivity. Peripheral lung tissue was obtained from six healthy nonsmokers, nine smokers with normal lung function, and eight patients with COPD. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS In vitro oxidative stress activates PI3K and induced a relative glucocorticoid resistance, which is restored by PI3K inhibition. In vivo, cigarette smoke exposure in mice increased tyrosine nitration of histone deacetylase 2 in the lung, correlating with reduced histone deacetylase 2 activity and reduced glucocorticoid function. Histone deacetylase 2 activity and the antiinflammatory effects of glucocorticoids were restored in PI3Kdelta kinase dead knock-in but not PI3Kgamma knock-out smoke-exposed mice compared with wild type mice, correlating with reduced histone deacetylase 2 tyrosine nitration. Glucocorticoid receptor expression was significantly reduced in smoke-exposed mice, in smokers with normal lung function, and in patients with COPD. CONCLUSIONS These data show that therapeutic inhibition of PI3Kdelta may restore glucocorticoid function in oxidative stress-induced glucocorticoid insensitivity.
Tuberin Regulates p70 S6 Kinase Activation and Ribosomal Protein S6 Phosphorylation

Although the cellular functions ofTSC2 and its protein product, tuberin, are not known, somatic mutations in the TSC2 tumor suppressor gene are associated with tumor development in lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM). We found that ribosomal protein S6 (S6), which exerts translational control of protein synthesis and is required for cell growth, is hyperphosphorylated in the smooth muscle-like cell lesions of LAM patients compared with smooth muscle cells from normal human blood vessels and trachea. Smooth muscle (SM) cells derived from these lesions (LAMD-SM) also exhibited S6 hyperphosphorylation, constitutive activation of p70 S6 kinase (p70S6K), and increased basal DNA synthesis. In parallel, TSC2−/− smooth muscle cells (ELT3) and TSC2−/− epithelial cells (ERC15) also exhibited hyperphosphorylation of S6, constitutive activation of p70S6K, and increased basal DNA synthesis. Re-introduction of wild type tuberin into LAMD-SM, ELT3, and ERC15 cells abolished phosphorylation of S6 and significantly inhibited p70S6K activity and DNA synthesis. Rapamycin, an immunosuppressant, inhibited hyperphosphorylation of S6, p70S6K activation, and DNA synthesis in LAMD-SM cells. Interestingly, the basal levels of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase, Akt/protein kinase B, and p42/p44 MAPK activation were unchanged in LAMD-SM and ELT3 cells relative to levels in normal human tracheal and vascular SM. These data demonstrate that tuberin negatively regulates the activity of S6 and p70S6K specifically, and suggest a potential mechanism for abnormal cell growth in LAM.
The Papanicolaou smear as a sentinel screening test for health screening in women.

BACKGROUND There has been evidence that, in primary care practices, health screening tests are not ordered in random fashion but instead are coupled or bundled into distinct groups. This study was performed to determine if the Papanicolaou (Pap) smear serves as a marker for other health screening tests. METHODS The study consisted of a retrospective chart review of female patients over the age of 18 years at three rural health clinics, followed by a prospective study of patients during a 3-month period in five rural family practice clinics. The study focused on whether a Pap smear was performed and whether a breast examination, mammogram, rectal examination or stool occult blood test, or serum cholesterol testing was performed. RESULTS In both the retrospective and prospective series, patients who received Pap smears were significantly more likely to receive breast examinations, mammograms, colorectal screening and cholesterol tests. In addition, the coupling of other screening tests with the Pap smear appeared to increase with advancing patient age, with a decline after age 70 years. In patients who did not have Pap smears, only cholesterol testing increased as patients aged. CONCLUSION Health screening tests in women are associated with the performance of a Pap smear. Providers may use the Pap smear as a marker of whether a woman has received screening for several other medical problems. Thus, the Pap smear can be considered a "sentinel" test for health screening in women, and efforts to identify women at high risk and increase health promotion and disease prevention in this group should focus on women who have not received this test.
The Influence of Chemical Structure of Fatty Acid Alkyl Ester on Properties , Combustion Characteristics , and Emissions : A Review

Alarming situation of world fossil fuel and environment degradation has been stimulating the researchers and engineers to find new sources of fuel, which must be renewable, economically available and environment friendly. In this regard biodiesel has one of the most substantial alternative renewable fuels for diesel engine. Biodiesel has made from different feedstock depending on the availability. This study is related to effect of fatty acid composition on combustion characteristics, properties and emission of biodiesel. The main advantage of biodiesel is that it potentially reduces the key pollutants like CO, HC, PM and smoke opacity but on other hand it has increased NOx and BSFC. The results of the study show that biodiesel with high saturate fatty acid has shorter delay period, low NOx, high CN, high CV and higher oxidation stability, which has favourable aspect but on other hand it has high viscosity and high cold flow properties which is unfavourable. But biodiesel with high unsaturated fatty acid has low viscosity, low cold flow properties, longer delay, high NOx, low CN, low CV and lower oxidation stability. Keywordbiodiesel; chemical structure; fatty acid; properties; emission
Assessing Adult ADHD Using a Self-Report Symptom Checklist

The self-ratings of DSM-IV ADHD symptoms by adults reporting a previous ADHD diagnosis were contrasted with ratings by controls matched for age and sex. Adults previously diagnosed with ADHD endorsed significantly more symptoms of inattention and of hyperactivity–impulsivity. Specifically, 13 of the 18 DSM-IV ADHD symptoms were endorsed more frequently by the group previously diagnosed with ADHD than by the control group. Predictive power analysis showed that persons endorsing ADHD symptoms were highly likely to have reported a prior ADHD diagnosis. Finally, the data suggested that the DSM-IV diagnostic criteria of 6 symptoms of inattention or 6 symptoms of hyperactivity–impulsivity could be appropriately applied during adult ADHD assessment.
Anti-windup compensator synthesis for saturated systems via event-triggered scheme

In this paper, the anti-windup compensator design using event-triggered strategy for linear systems subject to actuator saturation is investigated. Different from the existing result with prescribed anti-windup compensator gain, the main contribution of this paper is that a sufficient condition is presented for anti-windup compensation with event-triggered control and an iterative algorithm is formulated to obtain the anti-windup gain. Moreover, an event-triggering condition involving an exponential term is introduced in order to avoid Zeno behavior when using output feedback control. Numerical example is given to show the validity of the proposed method and the trade-off between the size of the domain of attraction and communication resources saving.
Reliability Prediction for Inverters in Hybrid Electrical Vehicles

Due to the increasing importance of power electronic components in automobiles, it becomes necessary to consider their reliability. This applies especially to hybrid electrical vehicles (HEV) where a malfunction of the power electronics may prevent the vehicle to operate. Of paramount importance for the reliability of power electronics is the component operating temperature and temperature cycling. This paper deals with the development of an advanced simulation tool which is capable of determining the component temperature of a three-phase converter over long mission profiles. In addition, the expected converter reliability is calculated. To accomplish this, losses in the semiconductors and dc-link capacitors are determined first. Next, this loss data is fed into a thermal model to compute the component temperatures, for the whole mission profile. As basis for the reliability computation, failure-rate catalogs, such as Military Handbook 217F or RDF 2000, are used. Also an approach using simple formulas for lifetime prediction is presented. According to failure-rate catalogs, temperature cycles are of particular importance for the reliability of power semiconductors. A novel algorithm, detecting all relevant temperature cycles within the computed temperature curve is developed. Finally, the applicability and significance of the presented reliability prediction methods is assessed.
Histopathological and histochemical changes in the liver of Bagrus bayad caused by environmental pollution

This study focused on two areas (Abu-Zaabal and El-Tal El-Kabir) of the Ismailia canal. The samples represented the effect of the factories’ effluent discharge onto the canal. Physical characteristics (water temperature and pH) and chemical characteristics (total hardness, dissolved oxygen, biological oxygen demand and chemical oxygen demand) were measured to identify the water quality in the two areas of the Ismailia canal. These measurements showed slight variations between the two stations. Additionally, the histological and histochemical analyses in the liver of Bagrus bayad fish samples were done. Histological studies of liver showed more severe degeneration in the fish samples of El-Tal El-Kabir station. Histochemical studies on protein and glycogen contents in the liver of B. bayad showed a progressive decrease in their staining intensity to bromophenol blue and periodic acid Schiff at two stations. This study, therefore, concludes that Ismailia canal water (Abu-Zaabal and El-Tall El-Kabir) stations create metabolic crisis and impairment in fish liver. The depletion in the levels of protein and glycogen points leads to the exhaustion of cell energy that is of high demand for fish during stressful conditions. Therefore, it is imperative for the authorities concerned to ensure that treated effluent discharge comply with acceptable standards to save our environment from destruction.
Blinding Trachoma in the Northern Provinces of Vietnam—A Cross Sectional Survey

Introduction: A prevalence study was conducted in 2001 as part of the SAFE Trachoma Control initiatives in twelve districts of eight northern provinces of Vietnam. The authors present the magnitude and some risk factors of trachomatous trichiasis (TT), trachomatous scarring (TS) and trachomatous corneal opacity (TCO). Methods: Ophthalmologists examined 43,677 people of more than 34 years of age, randomly selected. Ophthalmic loupe, torchlight and the trachoma grading card recommended by WHO were used for this examination. Results: The prevalence of TT was 7.31% (95% CI 7.07–7.55) and 382,950 persons with TT were included in the study population. The rate was higher in females (8.92%) than in males (5.35%). The rate was 13.7% in the district of Me Linh in Vinh Phuc province and in the districts of Ha Tay and Khoai Chau in Hung Yen province, while in the districts of Na Ri (Bac Kan province), Cam Xuyen (Ha Tinh province) and Van Yen (Yen Bai province), the prevalence of TT was less than 2%. The TT rate in the plains was 13%, while in mountainous, coastal and delta terrains, the rate fell to 2.4%, 3.5% and 9.4% respectively. The prevalence of TS and TCO was 8.42% (95% CI 8.21–8.61) and 1.1% (95% CI 1.00–1.20) respectively. Conclusion: Although the magnitude of TT is high, the problem of TCO seems to be less serious. The goal of eliminating blinding trachoma from the study area by 2010 represents a big challenge. Based on these survey estimates, the national program could plan resources for the ‘S’ strategy of trachoma control (surgery for those at immediate risk of blindness).
TWG 1 : Restructuring educational systems to move into the digital age

This paper is expanded based on the discussions in the Thematic Working Group 1 on restructuring educational systems to move into the digital age of the EDUsummIT, June 8-10 at UNESCO in Paris. Thematic Working Group 1 engaged 16 participants from Brazil, France, Germany, Israel, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Slovakia, UK, Uruguay, and the USA. Working group moderators were Niki Davis of New Zealand with Birgit Eickelmann and Renate Schulz-Zander from Germany. Rapporteurs were Miri Shonfeld of Israel, Jorge Grunberg of Uruguay and Elliot Soloway of the USA.
Hedycaryol Synthase in Complex with Nerolidol Reveals Terpene Cyclase Mechanism

The biosynthesis of terpenes is catalysed by class I and II terpene cyclases. Here we present structural data from a class I hedycaryol synthase in complex with nerolidol, serving as a surrogate for the reaction intermediate nerolidyl diphosphate. This prefolded ligand allows mapping of the active site and hence the identification of a key carbonyl oxygen of Val179, a highly conserved helix break (G1/2) and its corresponding helix dipole. Stabilising the carbocation at the substrate's C1 position, these elements act in concert to catalyse the 1,10 ring closure, thereby exclusively generating the anti‐Markovnikov product. The delineation of a general mechanistic scaffold was confirmed by site‐specific mutations. This work serves as a basis for understanding carbocation chemistry in enzymatic reactions and should contribute to future application of these enzymes in organic synthesis.
SPEECH SYNCHRONIZATION: INVESTIGATING THE LINKS BETWEEN PERCEPTION AND ACTION IN SPEECH PRODUCTION

Speakers can achieve a high degree of synchrony when reading a prepared text together. Under these constraints, there is necessarily a very tight coupling of production and perception. In a first experiment, we demonstrate that speakers can successfully synchronize with selected recordings of others obtained in a synchronous speaking condition. We then have speakers attempt to synchronize with modified recordings, in which the original recording is replaced with altered speech. The goal is to find out the physical properties of the speech signal which permit the coupling required for synchronization. It is demonstrated that the energy envelope itself is not sufficient to support coupling, while pitch information is essentially unimportant.
Thrombin as a Hormonally Regulated Growth Factor in Estrogen-Responsive Tissue

The possibility that thrombin has a physiologic role in addition to its central place in coagulation is indicated by observations that thrombin is a mitogen or potentiator of other peptide growth factors in various cell types. In this article I explore the possibility that thrombin might act as a mediator of steroid hormone-directed growth and development. The steroid estradiol (E 2 ) induces increases in tissue factor (TF) and prothrombin by different mech­ anisms. Increases in both allow a generation of thrombin that is appropriate for its subsequent involvement in ste­ roid-induced growth and development.
Comparison between Lagrangian and Eulerian methods for the simulation of particle-laden flows subject to radiative heating

Turbulent particleor droplet-laden flows play a key role in numerous applications, including natural processes such as droplet clouds, dust storms, and protoplanetary disks, as well as in industrial applications such as fuel sprays in internal combustion engines, fluidized beds, particle-based solar receivers, and pharmaceutical sprays. Understanding the key processes underlying the coupled dynamics of particles and fluids in such systems requires the development of models capable of reproducing their physics. In most of these systems the particle-laden mixture is under turbulent conditions, and turbulence can induce preferential concentration in the particle field (Squires & Eaton 1991b; Elgobashi & Truesdell 1992; Eaton & Fessler 1994; Fessler et al. 1994): inertial particles are ejected from vortex cores and accumulated in low-vorticity zones. This phenomenon is characterized by the particle Stokes number Stk = τp/τk, i.e., the ratio between the particle inertial relaxation time to the Kolmogorov time scale of the turbulence (Eaton & Fessler 1994). Previous investigations have indicated that preferential concentration is strongest for systems with a Stokes number of order unity (Eaton & Fessler 1994). Very small particles with small Stokes number essentially follow the flow streamlines, and cannot be effectively centrifuged outside of vortex zones; in the limit of very large Stokes number, the particle phase is hardly influenced by the flow field and thus the effects of preferential concentration are suppressed. Preferential concentration plays a key role in various processes including enhancement of particle-particle collision (e.g., leading to faster particle agglomeration or drop coalescence Sundaram & Collins (1997); Wang et al. (1998)), and turbulence modulation (Gore & Crowe 1989; Elgobashi & Truesdell 1993; Fessler et al. 1994; Boivin et al. 1998). In some scenarios preferential concentration plays a primary role even in generating and sustaining turbulence (Zamansky et al. 2014; Mizukami et al. 1992). Therefore, when it comes to modeling of particle-laden flow phenomena, one key concern is the capability of the model to capture preferential concentration. Early numerical models attempted to couple Lagrangian particle methods with traditional Eulerian fluid turbulence simulations (Riley & Patterson 1974; Elgobashi & Truesdell 1992; Squires & Eaton 1991a,b). In the most simple limit, trajectory of the particles can be determined by use of the Stokes drag formula (Stokes 1851). In this study, the following assumptions are made: (i) the particles are smaller than the Kolmogorov length scale (d < η), microscopic particle-resolved DNS is not necessary, and a mesoscopic‡ point-particle approximation is envisaged (Maxey & Riley 1983; Fox 2012);
Push and Pull: Physician Usage of and Satisfaction with Health Information Exchange

Federal policy toward health information exchange (HIE), the electronic transfer of patient data across organizations, has evolved to support two forms-push, or point-to-point data transmission, and pull, or multisource data aggregation. HIE usage is associated with user satisfaction, but existing quantitative research is limited to settings where only pull HIE is available. To address this gap, we surveyed 99 physicians regarding usage of and satisfaction with push HIE and pull HIE available in their communities as well as effects of HIE on practice and overall HIE satisfaction. In five of nine measures, respondents reported being very satisfied with push HIE more often than pull HIE (p < 0.05). Physicians were at least four times as likely to report being very satisfied with HIE overall if they were pediatricians, were very satisfied with push HIE, or noted that HIE improved their access to complete information. Findings have implications for HIE implementation and policy.
Patients' perspectives on the self-identified goals assessment.

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to investigate patients' perspectives of the validity of the Self-Identified Goals Assessment (SIGA), which is designed for use by occupational therapists working in subacute rehabilitation and skilled nursing facilities. The SIGA has two primary purposes: (a) to help the patient identify personally meaningful occupational goals to be addressed in therapy and (b) to evaluate changing levels of patient-defined success in desired occupations. METHOD Participants (20 women, 10 men) were patients with varied diagnosed conditions at a hospital-based subacute facility. Their mean age was 73.4 years (SD = 12.2). The SIGA was administered by the patients' regular occupational therapy practitioner after admission and before discharge; a graduate student followed up each administration of the SIGA by asking participants fixed-alternative and open-ended questions about the usefulness of the assessment. Fixed-alternative questions were analyzed as simple dichotomies, and open-ended questions were analyzed through categorization into convergent and divergent themes across participants. RESULTS Twenty-nine of the 30 participants confirmed the personal meaningfulness of goals identified in the SIGA admissions interview, and 28 reported that they thought the SIGA helped the therapist realize what was personally important to them. On admission, 9 participants reported difficulty quantifying their performance on the 0-to-10 scale; however, 27 reported that their scores were accurate self-assessments. Participants' perspectives of the SIGA tended to be particularly positive at discharge. CONCLUSION Given the lack of efficient, structured approaches to the measurement of self-identified goals in subacute and skilled nursing facilities, the SIGA tentatively is recommended for use in these settings, pending future research.
Dual superconformal symmetry of N = 6 Chern-Simons theory

We demonstrate that the four and six-point tree-level amplitudes of N = 6 superconformal Chern-Simons theory (ABJM) enjoy OSp(6|4) dual superconformal symmetry if one enlarges the dual superspace to include three additional Grassmann-even coordinates which correspond to an abelian isometry of CP3. The inclusion of these coordinates enables us to match the nontrivial dual superconformal generators with level-one Yangian generators when acting on on-shell amplitudes. We also discuss some implications of dual conformal symmetry for loop-level amplitudes.
The determinants of India's implied volatility index

This study examines the determinants of India's implied volatility index (VIX). The factors considered are Purchasing Managers Index (PMI), Business Confidence Index (BCI), Net activity of Foreign Institutional Investors (FII) and Net activity of Domestic Institutional Investors (DII). In this study Granger causality is used to find whether these factors cause IndiaVIX. This study confirms that only BCI has significant and positive impact with IndiaVIX and other factors such as PMI, FII and DII do not have any significant impact on India VIX. The results show that FII has a significant and negative impact on DII and hence these two factors do not have a significant impact on IndiaVIX.
A 17.5dBm IIP3 high linear fully differential RF CMOS amplifier

A high linear fully differential RF CMOS amplifier covering UHF band is presented in this paper. A novel structure with both NMOS and PMOS differential pairs is proposed to cancel IM3 induced by 1st order derivative of transconductance (gm') and 2nd order derivative of transconductance (gm"). With appropriate DC operating points and aspect ratios, the RF CMOS amplifier achieves 12.5dB noise figure (NF), 10.5dB voltage gain and 17.5dBm input third order intercept point (IIP3) with total current consumption of 2mA from 1.8V voltage supply. The proposed amplifier is designed in TSMC 0. 18µm CMOS process.