Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Vascular Angiotensin Pathways: A New Therapeutic Target

The renin-angiotensin system affects blood pressure and regional blood now through endocrine, paracrine, and autocrine influences. The circulating endocrine renin-angiotensin system (RAS) is activated for acute cardiovascular homeostasis. The recent demonstration of a local renin-angiotensin system in the blood vessel wall has led us to speculate that the local production of angiotensin is involved with autocrine and paracrine control of vascular resistance. In addition to producing arteriolar constriction, arterial wall renin-angiotensin may influence the compliance of large conduit arteries. The production of angiotensin in the blood vessels may participate in hypertension and may influence blood pressure responses to the inhibitors of the RAS.
The Impact of Electronic Tax Return Filing on Tax Compliance

The relationship between e-filing and tax compliance is of interest due to the popularity of tax e-filing. Substantial prior research has shown that ethics are situation-specific, and tax compliance has been shown to be strongly influenced by personal ethics. There may be enough difference between a traditional paper tax return filing situation and an e-filing situation to impact tax filer ethics. Specifically, we investigate whether tax compliance differs across these filing methods.
BigCrypt for big data encryption

as data size is growing up, cloud storage is becoming more familiar to store a significant amount of private information. Government and private organizations require transferring plenty of business files from one end to another. However, we will lose privacy if we exchange information without data encryption and communication mechanism security. To protect data from hacking, we can use Asymmetric encryption technique, but it has a key exchange problem. Although Asymmetric key encryption deals with the limitations of Symmetric key encryption it can only encrypt limited size of data which is not feasible for a large amount of data files. In this paper, we propose a probabilistic approach to Pretty Good Privacy technique for encrypting large-size data, named as “BigCrypt” where both Symmetric and Asymmetric key encryption are used. Our goal is to achieve zero tolerance security on a significant amount of data encryption. We have experimentally evaluated our technique under three different platforms.
Experimental study of active LRC circuits with PT symmetries

Mutually coupled modes of a pair of active LRC circuits, one with amplification and another with an equivalent amount of attenuation, provide an experimental realization of a wide class of systems where gain and loss mechanisms break the Hermiticity while preserving parity-time PT symmetry. For a value {gamma}{sub PT} of the gain and loss strength parameter the eigenfrequencies undergo a spontaneous phase transition from real to complex values, while the normal modes coalesce, acquiring a definite chirality. The consequences of the phase transition in the spatiotemporal energy evolution are also presented.
Estimating the cost to rural ambulating HIV/AIDS patients on Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART) in rural Ghana: a pilot study

Background Subsidized antiretroviral therapy programs obviously lowers the cost of antiretroviral drugs but other major costs are still incurred, which makes the overall cost of accessing and consuming antiretroviral treatment very high and sometimes catastrophic. The objective of this study was to estimate the total cost to rural ambulating HIV/AIDS patients on highly active antiretroviral therapy in a rural area of the middle belt of Ghana. Methods This was a convenient cross-sectional study of people diagnosed with HIV/AIDS receiving outpatient care and carried out from September to October 2009 involving 80 HIV/AIDS patients on HAART. Data was derived from patients’ medical records on health care utilization and a completed pre tested questionnaire used to obtain the cost of transportation and estimates of individual earned income from which the labor productivity loses (opportunity cost) for days not worked as a result of attending the antiretroviral clinic were derived. Results The median total, indirect and direct annual costs to rural ambulating HIV/AIDS patients on HAART were estimated to be $US71.18 (115.16 Ghana cedis), $US2.740 (3.92 Ghana cedis) and $US53.04 (75.00 Ghana cedis) respectively. Conclusion Although the cost of antiretroviral drugs has been subsidized by government from $360 to $41.38 per annum, HIV/AIDS patients on HAART spend double of this subsidized amount out of their pocket seeking health care. We recommend that agencies associated with HIV/AIDS activities, supplements government's effort by helping to get antiretroviral closer to the door step of patients so as to reduce this huge financial burden which constitutes more than 100% of their median annual earned income.
Cognitive Radio Based Sensor Network in Smart Grid: Architectures, Applications and Communication Technologies

The cognitive radio-based sensor network (CRSN) is envisioned as a strong driver in the development of modern power system smart grids (SGs). This can address the spectrum limitation in the sensor nodes due to interference cause by other wireless devices operating on the same unlicensed frequency in the Industrial, Scientific and Medical band. These sensor nodes are used for monitoring and control purposes in various components of a SG, ranging from generation, transmission, and distribution, and down to the consumer, including monitoring of utility network assets. A reliable SG communication network architecture is required for transferring information which needed by the SG applications, alongside the monitoring and control by CRSN. Hence, this paper investigates and explores the CRSN conceptual framework, and SG communication architecture with its applications; vis-à-vis the communication access technologies, including implementation design with quality of service support. Consequently, this paper highlights various research gaps, such as implementation design model, utilization of LPWAN for CRSN based SG deployment, and so on. This includes discussion on the future direction for various aspects of the CRSN in SG. To address these research gaps, we introduced a smart unified communication solution to improve the efficiency of the SG and mitigate various associated challenges.
A $2 \times 70$ W Monolithic Five-Level Class-D Audio Power Amplifier in 180 nm BCD

A 2 × 70 W from 24 V into 4 Ω class-D audio power amplifier in 30/40 V 180 nm bipolar CMOS DMOS is presented. The device employs a flying capacitor (FC) three-level half bridge topology to reduce switching frequency and filter/load power losses in near-idle operation. This is combined with a fourth-order analog feedback system for shaping noise introduced by the digital FC voltage control loop. A power-efficient gate drive scheme suitable for power converters with multiple floating switching devices is also presented, including a compact fast low-power dV/dt robust high-voltage level shifter circuit. Power-efficient operation from idle to full-power operation is demonstrated along with a very high audio performance of 0.003% THD + N at 10 W/1 kHz into 4 Ω.
A Qualitative Analysis of Online Gaming: Social Interaction, Community, and Game Design

The popularity of Massively Multi-Player Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs) has risen dramatically over the last decade. Some gamers spend many hours a day in these virtual environments interacting with other gamers, completing quests, and forming social groups. The present study set out to explore the experiences and feelings of online gamers. The study comprised 71 interviews with online gamers (52 males and 19 females) from 11 different countries. Many themes emerged from the analyses of the interview transcripts including (i) engaging in social interaction, (ii) being part of a community, (iii) learning real-life skills, (iv) gaining in-game rewards, (v) playing never-ending games (vi) escaping from real life, (vii) playing longer than intended, and (viii) being obligated towards other gamers in-game. These findings specifically showed the many positives of online gaming (including the social interaction and the community aspects of belonging) as well as the in-game features within MMORPGs that in some cases can lead to excessive online gaming. The implications of these findings are discussed in relation to previous qualitative and quantitative research in the area.
Self‐Evaluation of Quality of Life Among Patients Receiving Home Parenteral Nutrition: A Validation Study

BACKGROUND Home parenteral nutrition (HPN) can increase survival and quality of life (QOL) in cases of chronic intestinal failure. The present study compares a gold standard-a validated QOL assessment by Baxter et al (hereafter, HPN-QOL)-with a shorter questionnaire for QOL evaluation (hereafter, New QOL). MATERIALS AND METHODS Both questionnaires were completed by 58 patients attending the nutrition clinic of the Rabin Medical Center (Israel). A z score was used to equate means and variances. Statistical analysis was based on Pearson correlation between variances. Stepwise regression was used to evaluate the best value predictor in the New QOL for QOL during HPN. Cronbach's α was used for internal consistency, and confirmatory factor analysis was used for structural validity. RESULTS Results from the sections of the New QOL that relate to the patient's general health, level of independence, and experience with handling the parenteral nutrition therapy are highly correlated with the HPN-QOL (r = 0.43 and r = 0.50, respectively). In addition, there was good correlation between the questionnaires with reference to the patient's social state, mental state, and everyday functioning (r = -0.43, New QOL; r = -0.39, HPN-QOL). However, the New QOL results show no correlation between the patient's physical symptoms and QOL during HPN. This was hypothesized to result from the nature of the study population. CONCLUSION The results of our new questionnaire are well correlated with the gold standard HPN-QOL. The New QOL appears to be simple and easy to use.
Morphometric Analysis of Longipalpis (Diptera: Psychodidae) Complex Populations in Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil

ABSTRACT Owing to the existence of cryptic species that are difficult to distinguish morphologically, the search for new taxonomic characters and methods for identifying and classifying sand flies continues. Lutzomyia longipalpis (Lutz & Neiva, 1912) and Lutzomyia cruzi (Mangabeira, 1938) (Diptera: Psychodidae) are two such species that occur in sympatry in some regions of Mato Grosso do Sul State (MS). Twenty females and twenty males from each of the five populations of Lu. longipalpis and one population of Lu. cruzi from MS were examined. An outlying population of Lu. longipalpis from Estrela de Alagoas, State of Alagoas, was used to compare the degree of divergence among the groups in MS. Specimens were cleared, mounted on slides, identified, and measured using LAS-Leica. The principal component analysis of morphometric characters showed a high degree of variation among females, while males varied to a lower degree. The populations of Alagoas and Miranda demonstrated the greatest variation. The first region, Alagoas, is geographically distant from the others and occurs under distinctly different ecological conditions, which likely accounts for the variation. Further studies should be made to elucidate the factors that contribute to the differences found between the populations of MS.
Connectivity of BA46 involvement in the executive control of language.

BACKGROUND Understanding the functions of different brain areas has represented a major endeavor of contemporary neurosciences. Modern neuroimaging developments suggest cognitive functions are associated with networks rather than with specific areas. OBJECTIVES The purpose of this paper was to analyze the connectivity of Brodmann area (BA) 46 (anterior middle frontal gyrus) in relation to language. METHODS A meta-analysis was conducted to assess the language network in which BA46 is involved. The DataBase of Brainmap was used; 19 papers corresponding to 60 experimental conditions with a total of 245 subjects were included. RESULTS Our results suggest the core network of BA46. The localization and modules involved suggest BA46 participation in a “frontal language production system" (or extended Broca's system). The depicted BA46 connectivity is also concordant with a minor role in language semantics and language understanding. CONCLUSION It was concluded that BA46 plays a central role in the language production system, most likely related to its executive control.
Stimulation of coronary vasculogenesis/angiogenesis by hypoxia in cultured embryonic hearts

Hypoxia is known to stimulate vascular growth by up‐regulating vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), but little is known about the function of hypoxia in the development of the coronary vasculature, and the relationship between hypoxia and VEGF in this event. To test the effects of hypoxia and VEGF on coronary vasculogenesis/angiogenesis in the developing heart, ventricles from 6‐day‐old quail embryos were cultured on three‐dimensional collagen gels. After 2 days of growth in normal medium and 1 day of starvation in low serum medium (0.5% fetal bovine serum), the heart explants were further cultured under various oxygen levels for another 24, 48, and 72 hr. Angioblasts and endothelial cells, which migrated out from the heart explants, were identified by QH1 antibody using immunofluorescence and confocal microscopy. In the normoxic culture environment, the endothelial cells began to proliferate and migrate out from the heart explants after 3 days of growth; they formed tubes mainly after another 72 hr. In contrast, this vascular growth was accelerated under hypoxic conditions, as evidenced by increased tube formation with significant differences observed at 48 hr. On the other hand, hyperoxia delayed this process. Reverse transcription‐polymerase chain reaction results indicated that VEGF (including VEGF122, VEGF166, and VEGF190) was up‐regulated in the heart explants under hypoxia and down‐regulated under hyperoxia. VEGF neutralizing antibody added to the culture medium partially blocked this vascular growth. We conclude from this study that hypoxia can stimulate or up‐regulate coronary vasculogenesis/angiogenesis and that VEGF signaling plays a major role in this event. Dev Dyn 1999;216:28–36. © 1999 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Concepts and schemes for the re-engineering of physical protein modules: generating nanodevices via targeted replacements with constrained amino acids

Physically building complex multi-molecular structures from naturally occurring biological macromolecules has aroused a great deal of interest. Here we focus on nanostructures composed of re-engineered, natural ‘foldamer’ building blocks. Our aim is to provide some of the underlying concepts and schemes for crafting structures utilizing such conformationally relatively stable molecular components. We describe how, via chemical biology strategies, it is further possible to chemically manipulate the foldamer building blocks toward specific shape-driven structures, which in turn could be used toward potential-designed functions. We outline the criteria in choosing candidate foldamers from the vast biological repertoire, and how to enhance their stability through selected targeted replacements by non-proteinogenic conformationally constrained amino acids. These approaches combine bioinformatics, high performance computations and mathematics with synthetic organic chemistry. The resulting artificially engineered self-organizing molecular scale structures take advantage of nature's nanobiology toolkit and at the same time improve on it, since their new targeted function differs from that optimized by evolution. The major challenge facing nanobiology is to be able to exercise fine control over the performance of these target-specific molecular machines.
CD4+ T Cells Are Required for the Priming of CD8+ T Cells following Infection with Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1

ABSTRACT The role of CD4+ helper T cells in modulating the acquired immune response to herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) remains ill defined; in particular, it is unclear whether CD4+ T cells are needed for the generation of the protective HSV-1-specific CD8+-T-cell response. This study examined the contribution of CD4+ T cells in the generation of the primary CD8+-T-cell responses following acute infection with HSV-1. The results demonstrate that the CD8+-T-cell response generated in the draining lymph nodes of CD4+-T-cell-depleted C57BL/6 mice and B6-MHC-II−/− mice is quantitatively and qualitatively distinct from the CD8+ T cells generated in normal C57BL/6 mice. Phenotypic analyses show that virus-specific CD8+ T cells express comparable levels of the activation marker CD44 in mice lacking CD4+ T cells and normal mice. In contrast, CD8+ T cells generated in the absence of CD4+ T cells express the interleukin 2 receptor α-chain (CD25) at lower levels. Importantly, the CD8+ T cells in the CD4+-T-cell-deficient environment are functionally active with respect to the expression of cytolytic activity in vivo but exhibit a diminished capacity to produce gamma interferon and tumor necrosis factor alpha. Furthermore, the primary expansion of HSV-1-specific CD8+ T cells is diminished in the absence of CD4+-T-cell help. These results suggest that CD4+-T-cell help is essential for the generation of fully functional CD8+ T cells during the primary response to HSV-1 infection.
Remote artificial eyes using micro-optical circuit for long-distance 3D imaging perception

A small-scale optical device incorporated with an optical nano-antenna is designed to operate as the remote artificial eye using a tiny conjugate mirror. A basic device known as a conjugate mirror can be formed using the artificial eye device, the partially reflected light intensities from input source are interfered and the 3D whispering gallery modes formed within the ring centers, which can be modulated and propagated to the object. The image pixel is obtained at the center ring and linked with the optic nerve in the remote area via the nano-antenna, which is useful for blind people.
CSLBP and OCLBP local descriptors for speaker identification from video sequences

The aim of our work is to develop a speaker identification system based on the visual modality, in particularly the lip image, using local descriptors LBP and their extensions Center-Symmetric Local Binary Patterns (CS-LBP) and the opponent color LBP (OCLBP). An artificial neural network RBF "Radial basis function" is used to classify the correct speaker depending on what he is saying. Two databases are used for this purpose; the first one is our own audiovisual dataset where the recordings were made in speech communication and signal processing laboratory (LCPTS) concerning the Arabic monosyllables, the second one is the audiovisual dataset of Tulips concerning the English digits. A comparison for each descriptor and for each dataset is done to find the best solution for our lip characterization. Good recognition rate were obtained for CSLBP and OCLBP applied for the Arabic dataset.
Physiological response properties of cells labeled intracellularly with horseradish peroxidase in cat dorsal cochlear nucleus

The physiology and morphology of fusiform cells in the dorsal cochlear nucleus were studied using extracellular and intracellular recording and intracellular injection of horseradish peroxidase. Fusiform cells displayed a variety of responses to tone pips presented at the characteristic frequency; most often these cells exhibited the pauser/buildup pattern defined in earlier studies. The response pattern of each neuron was dependent on frequency and sound‐pressure level. Tone pips evoked short‐lasting depolarizations of about 10 mV and long‐lasting hyperpolarizations of about 10 mV in cells whose resting potentials were −50 to −65 mV. The time courses of both the excitation and the inhibition depended on frequency and sound‐pressure level. Generally the depolarization was sustained for the duration of the tone pip, whereas the hyperpolarization could last as long as 600 ms after the end of the tone pip. Often a neuron exhibited a sustained chopper pattern after microelectrode impalement. This was probably a result of a decrease in membrane potential which altered the relative effectiveness of the excitatory and inhibitory inputs. The large, bitufted fusiform cells had many apical dendrites, which branched one to five times and were covered with spines, and fewer basal dendrites, which exhibited little branching and had few appendages. The morphology of fusiform cells varied systematically as a function of location within the dorsal cochlear nucleus. Response patterns for tone pips were not exclusive to individual cell types as two nonfusiform cells were found to exhibit a buildup pattern. Axons of injected neurons left the nucleus via the dorsal acoustic stria and 14 of 15 had collaterals within the dorsal cochlear nucleus.
PREDICTORS OF LONG-TERM SURVIVAL ON PERITONEAL DIALYSIS IN SOUTH INDIA: A MULTICENTER STUDY

♦ Background: Little is known about survival on peritoneal dialysis (PD) in Indian patients since the initiation of continuous ambulatory PD (CAPD) in India in 1991. Survival data from single centers with small numbers have been published. ♦ Objective: A retrospective 4-center analysis for predictors of survival >3 years in south Indian chronic PD patients. ♦ Methods: A total of 309 patients were trained during the observation period (from 1999 to 2004) and were analyzed in a multicenter study (4 centers), including 150 patients (male:female 109:41) that survived ≥ 3 years and 59 patients that did not survive ≥ 3 years (nonsurvivors; male: female 43:16) that were taken as controls. The patients were on chronic PD, predominantly CAPD, using double-bag disconnect systems. They were supervised by 4 nephrologists. Mean age in the nonsurvival group was 56.6 ± 10.6 years. In the survival group, mean age was 50.9 ± 14.9 years; there were 92 (62%) nondiabetics and 58 (38%) diabetics; the majority were nonvegetarians; 148 patients were doing 6 – 8 L exchanges and 2 were doing >8 L exchanges daily; 93 of 102 patients were average transporters based on peritoneal equilibration testing. At the beginning, mean combined Kt/V was 2.31 and weekly creatinine clearance was 73 L. Patients making one lifetime payment were 46% and 21% belonged to the full reimbursement group. ♦ Results: Body mass index (BMI) was normal in 114 patients (76%). Ultrafiltration volume was 1377 ± 452 at the start and 1400 ± 461 mL/day after 3 years. Anuric patients at the start were 12% and after 3 years 44%; urine output decreased from 527 ± 26 to 253 ± 14 mL/day from the start to after 3 years. Peritonitis rate was 1 episode/75 patient-months at the beginning and after 3 years it was 1 episode/30 patient-months. Exit-site care was done daily by 88% and 3 times weekly by 12%. Nonsmokers were 92% and smokers were 8%. Those that lived in the city were 62% and rural areas were 38%. Mean blood pressure was 143 ± 16/88 ± 10 and 136 ± 18/85 ± 9 mmHg, calcium × phosphorus product 44.6 ± 15.6 and 45.9 ± 15.7 mg2/dL2, albumin 3.33 ± 0.5 and 3.25 ± 0.4 g/dL, hemoglobin 9.18 ± 2 and 9.48 ± 1.8 g/dL at the beginning and after 3 years, respectively. Statistical analysis showed a significant fall in both systolic (p ≤ 0.001) and diastolic blood pressure (p ≤ 0.05), an increase in BMI (p ≤ 0.01), and a decrease in blood urea (p ≤ 0.001) in the survival group. Those with Hb ≥ 11 g/dL survived longer (p ≤ 0.001), those with serum albumin ≥ 3 g/dL had better survival (p = 0.001), and anuric patients survived longer (p = 0.001). ♦ Conclusion: This multicenter cohort study of prevalent continuous PD patients in south India showed nondiabetics, average transporters, nonsmokers with reasonable nutritional status, with Hb 11 g/dL, with low peritonitis rate, with over 1 L ultrafiltration volume per day, the great majority that joined the once per lifetime payment scheme, and the reimbursement group survived for 3 years or longer.