Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Progesterone-induced increase of sperm cytosolic calcium is enhanced by previous fusion of spermatozoa to prostasomes.

Ejaculated spermatozoa must undergo a number of modifications before becoming able to fertilize the oocyte. The interaction of sperm with other semen components may influence these phenomena; human semen contains vesicles of prostatic origin, called prostasomes that may fuse to sperm at slightly acidic to neutral pH values. Prostasomes contain calcium and it has been demonstrated that their fusion with spermatozoa produces a transient increase (wave) of [Ca(2+)](i) in these cells. The fusion process also transfers protein and lipid to spermatozoa. These phenomena may induce long-lasting changes of sperm properties. We test the hypothesis that spermatozoa, as modified by fusion, change their ability to undergo the progesterone-induced increase of [Ca(2+)](i) and we find that the increase of [Ca(2+)](i) produced by the fusion with prostasomes and by the stimulation with progesterone are independent and additive phenomena. We also find that spermatozoa present a stronger response to the progesterone-induced increase of [Ca(2+)](i) if they are previously made to fuse with prostasomes. This effect does not depend directly on the [Ca(2+)](i) increase due to fusion, since it is still present after the [Ca(2+)](i) has returned to resting values.
Association of Drinking Problems and Duration of Alcohol Use to Inhibitory Control in Nondependent Young Adult Social Drinkers.

BACKGROUND Deficits in inhibitory control have been widely implicated in alcohol misuse. However, the literature does not readily distinguish the effects of drinking problems and chronic alcohol use. Here, we examined how years of drinking and the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) score each influences the cerebral responses to inhibitory control in nondependent drinkers. METHODS Fifty-seven adult drinkers and 57 age- and gender-matched nondrinkers participated in one 40-minute functional magnetic resonance imaging scan of the stop signal task. Data were preprocessed and modeled using SPM8. In a regression model, we contrasted stop and go success trials for individuals and examined activities of response inhibition each in link with the AUDIT score and years of alcohol use in group analyses. We specified the effects of duration of use by contrasting regional activations of drinkers and age-related changes in nondrinkers. In mediation analyses, we investigated how regional activities mediate the relationship between drinking problems and response inhibition. RESULTS Higher AUDIT score but not years of drinking was positively correlated with prolonged stop signal reaction time (SSRT) and diminished responses in the cerebellum, thalamus, frontal and parietal regions, independent of years of alcohol use. Further, activity of the thalamus, anterior cingulate cortex, and presupplementary motor area significantly mediates the association, bidirectionally, between the AUDIT score and SSRT. The duration of alcohol use was associated with decreased activation in the right inferior frontal gyrus extending to superior temporal gyrus, which was not observed for age-related changes in nondrinkers. CONCLUSIONS The results distinguished the association of drinking problems and years of alcohol use to inhibitory control in young adult nondependent drinkers. These new findings extend the imaging literature of alcohol misuse and may have implications for treatment to prevent the escalation from social to dependent drinking. More research is needed to confirm age-independent neural correlates of years of alcohol use.
Improving the spectrum aware mobility management in cognitive radio network

Wireless spread spectrum is a standout amongst the most valuable assets. With the fast development of the quantity of remote gadgets, interchanges over the unlicensed range groups get to be extremely swarmed. Data dissemination in the wireless environment is usually characterized as the spreading of data to numerous goals through communicating. The principle target is to achieve the most extreme number of neighbors with each sent parcel. The main objective of the paper is to find the best routing and resource allocation strategies in order to minimize the average end-to-end delay of multiple data connections in the cognitive radio based wireless mesh network. Wireless mesh nodes utilize the cognitive radio to share the spectrum with primary users. Depending on the primary user's activities, the spectrum resources available to the cognitive mesh nodes are varying in both space and time. In this joint design scheme can accommodate the traffic load, or achieve half the delay compared to the disjoint methods.
A SiGe BiCMOS ultra wide band RFIC transmitter design for wireless sensor networks

An ultra wide band (UWB) transmitter has been designed for integration with sensor readout and data conversion circuitry for wireless sensor network applications. The transmitter operates over three 500 MHz bands at center frequencies of 4.6/6.4/8.0 GHz, and generates pulses with BPSK modulation. While hopping between the different bands, the transmitter is capable of settling and retransmitting in less than 0.7 /spl mu/s using an internal fast lock phase-locked loop (PLL). An 8-bit successive approximation ADC is also implemented to interface with the sensor readout circuitry. The 8-bit parallel output from the ADC is then converted to serial signal at the transmitter data input port. The design is currently being fabricated through Freescale Semiconductor's (formerly Motorola SPS) HIP6WRF BiCMOS process. A prototype switched tank VCO with 2-bands (4.4/5.4 GHz) was fabricated in the same technology with reasonable tuning ability.
EEG complexity as a measure of depth of anesthesia for patients

A new approach for quantifying the relationship between brain activity patterns and depth of anesthesia (DOA) is presented by analyzing the spatio-temporal patterns in the electroencephalogram (EEG) using Lempel-Ziv complexity analysis. Twenty-seven patients undergoing vascular surgery were studied under general anesthesia with sevoflurane, isoflurane, propofol, or desflurane. The EEG was recorded continuously during the procedure and patients' anesthesia states were assessed according to the responsiveness component of the observer's assessment of alertness/sedation (OAA/S) score. An OAA/S score of zero or one was considered asleep and two or greater was considered awake. Complexity of the EEG was quantitatively estimated by the measure C(n), whose performance in discriminating awake and asleep states was analyzed by statistics for different anesthetic techniques and different patient populations. Compared with other measures, such as approximate entropy, spectral entropy, and median frequency, C(n) not only demonstrates better performance (93% accuracy) across all of the patients, but also is an easier algorithm to implement for real-time use. The study shows that C(n) is a very useful and promising EEG-derived parameter for characterizing the (DOA) under clinical situations.
Determining the level of the dural sac tip: magnetic resonance imaging in an adult population

Purpose: To determine the variation in the location of the dural sac (DS) in a living adult population and to correlate this position with age and sex. Material and Methods: T2-weighted, midline, sagittal, spin-echo magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies of 743 patients were assessed to identify the tip of the DS. This location was recorded in relation to the upper, middle, or lower third of the adjacent vertebral body or the adjacent intervertebral disk. Results: Frequency distribution for levels of termination of the DS on MRI demonstrated that the end of the DS was usually located at the upper one-third of S2 (25.2%). The mean level in females was also the upper one-third of S2 (26.5%) and in males the lower one-third of S2 (24.1%). The overall mean DS position was mostly at the upper one-third of S2. No significant differences in DS position were seen between male and female patients or with increasing age. Conclusion: It is important to know the possible range for the termination level of the DS when performing caudal anesthesia and craniospinal irradiation in some clinical situations. The distribution of DS location in a large adult population was shown to range from the L5-S1 intervertebral disk to the upper third of S3 vertebrae.
Growth Differentiation Factor 15 as a Biomarker in Cardiovascular Disease.

BACKGROUND Growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF-15) is expressed and secreted in response to inflammation, oxidative stress, hypoxia, telomere erosion, and oncogene activation. Cardiovascular (CV) disease is a major driver of GDF-15 production. GDF-15 has favorable preanalytic characteristics and can be measured in serum and plasma by immunoassay. CONTENT In community-dwelling individuals higher concentrations of GDF-15 are associated with increased risks of developing CV disease, chronic kidney disease, and cancer, independent of traditional CV risk factors, renal function, and other biomarkers (C-reactive protein, B-type natriuretic peptide, cardiac troponin). Low concentrations of GDF-15 are closely associated with longevity. GDF-15 is as an independent marker of all-cause mortality and CV events in patients with coronary artery disease, and may help select patients with non-ST-elevation acute coronary syndrome for early revascularization and more intensive medical therapies. GDF-15 is independently associated with mortality and nonfatal events in atrial fibrillation and heart failure (HF) with preserved or reduced ejection fraction. GDF-15 reflects chronic disease burden and acute perturbations in HF and responds to improvements in hemodynamic status. GDF-15 is independently associated with major bleeding in patients receiving antithrombotic therapies and has been included in a new bleeding risk score, which may become useful for decision support. SUMMARY GDF-15 captures distinct aspects of CV disease development, progression, and prognosis, which are not represented by clinical risk predictors and other biomarkers. The usefulness of GDF-15 to guide management decisions and discover new treatment targets should be further explored.
Derivados de gramina con actividad dual sobre canales de calcio y serina/treonina fosfatasas: nueva estrategia multidiana para el tratamiento de la enfermedad de Alzheimer

Dada la naturaleza multifactorial de la enfermedad de Alzheimer, existe un creciente interes en el desarrollo de compuestos neuroprotectores capaces de interaccionar con dos o mas dianas biologicas involucradas en el proceso neurodegenerativo. El ion Ca2+ juega un papel central en muchos procesos celulares, por lo que su concentracion intracelular debe estar estrechamente regulada, para evitar el desencadenamiento de eventos patologicos. Por esto, compuestos capaces de regular su senalizacion intracelular han sido clasicamente estudiados para el tratamiento de las enfermedades neurodegenerativas, como la enfermedad de Alzheimer. Por otro lado, una de las caracteristicas histopatologicas de la enfermedad son los ovillos neurofibrilares, formados por la proteina tau hiperfosforilada. Este desequilibrio en los niveles de fosforilacion de tau se debe, entre otras causas, a una disminucion de la actividad de las enzimas Ser/Thr fosfatasas, responsables de catalizar la eliminacion de los grupos fosfato, entre las que destaca la fosfoproteina fosfatasa 2A. La linea de investigacion de esta Memoria de Tesis esta dirigida al descubrimiento de nuevos compuestos neuroprotectores, proponiendose una estrategia innovadora basada en el abordaje simultaneo de la dishomeostasis del Ca2+ y la actividad enzimatica de las Ser/Thr fosfatasas. Tomando el alcaloide natural gramina como compuesto de partida, por su potencial actividad dual sobre ambas dianas de interes, se presenta el diseno y sintesis de un total de 44 compuestos, asi como la evaluacion de su actividad farmacologica. En general, la gramina y sus derivados disminuyen la entrada de Ca2+ al interior celular, medido mediante la sonda fluorescente Fluo-4, presumiblemente a traves de un bloqueo de los CCDV, en base a los resultados obtenidos mediante tecnicas de patch-clamp. Ademas, son capaces de mantener la actividad Ser/Thr fosfatasa, comprometida por la presencia del inhibidor AO, confirmandose su afinidad por la enzima PP2A mediante estudios de docking molecular. Por ultimo, la actividad dual de los compuestos es capaz de proteger a las neuronas frente a estimulos toxicos relacionados con la enfermedad de Alzheimer, como son la hiperfosforilacion de la proteina tau, el estres oxidativo, la sobrecarga de Ca2+ y la excitotoxicidad. En base a los resultados obtenidos, se propone esta estrategia multidiana como una aproximacion innovadora y prometedora para el tratamiento de la enfermedad de Alzheimer, siendo su abordaje factible gracias a esta nueva familia de compuestos neuroprotectores derivada de gramina.
Human monocytes cultured with and without interferon‐gamma inhibit Plasmodium falciparum parasite growth in vitro via secretion of reactive nitrogen intermediates

Adherent cells from human peripheral blood were studied for their interaction with asexual blood forms of Plasmodium falciparum in vitro. Freshly isolated monocytes only showed weak anti‐parasitic effects. However, an enhancement of this anti‐parasitic activity was apparent when monocytes were allowed to mature in vitro. Monocytes activated with IFN‐γ for two or three days had an enhanced anti‐parasitic effect. In contrast, the inhibition mediated by cells incubated for five days was the same with or without IFN‐γ treatment. There was no evidence of toxicity when IFN‐γ at high concentrations was added directly to P. falciparum cultures. The anti‐parasitic activity of the activated cells seemed to be due to nitric oxide since incubation of macrophages with L‐NMMA reduced the level of inhibition. However, inhibition was only partial suggesting that other factors also were involved in inhibition of parasite growth.
What is in an octopus's mind?

: It is difficult to imagine what an animal as different from us as the octopus ‘ thinks ’ , but we can make some progress. In the Umwelt or perceptual world of an octopus, what the lateralized monocular eyes perceive is not color but the plane of polarization of light. Information is processed by a bilateral brain but manipulation is done by a radially symmetrical set of eight arms. Octopuses do not self-monitor by vision. Their skin pattern system, used for excellent camouflage, is open loop. The output of the motor system of the eight arms is organized at several levels — brain, intrabrachial commissure and local brachial ganglia. Octopuses may be motivated by a combination of fear and exploration. Several actions — a head bob for motion parallax, a ‘ Passing Cloud ’ skin display to startle prey, and particularly exploration by their arms — demonstrate the presence of a controlling mind, motivated to gather information. Yet most octopuses are solitary and many are cannibalistic, so they must always be on guard, even against conspecifics. The actions of octopuses can be domain general, with flexible problem-solving strategies, enabling them to survive “by their wits” i n a challenging and variable environment.
A study on partial purification and characterizatio n of extracellular amylases from Bacillus subtilis

Soil collected from kitchen waste decomposing plots of the restaurant, Lucknow was enrinched in laboratory by adding chopped potatoes to enhance the Amylase producing microorganisms. The bacterial isolate isolated from the enriched so il was screened for amylase production, and the isolate showing maximum hydrolysis identified a s Bacillus subtilis. The production was carried out by submerged fermentation. Maximum Amyl ase activity (0.0115 U/ml/min) was obtained at 37°C after 72 h of incubation. The enzy me was purified using ammonium sulphate precipitation and showed a molecular weight of 65Kd a by SDS- PAGE. The enzyme was relatively stable between pH 7 to pH 9 and at tempe rature ranging from 37°C to 50°C. Moreover, activity was enhanced by using metal ions such as Ca 2+ , Mg 2+ and Zn 2+ . The decline
ETHNO MEDICINAL AND THERAPEUTIC POTENTIAL OF SIDA ACUTA BURM.F.

Sida is one of ethnomedicinally important genus of plants . The plants from genus Sida are used in India over 2000 years. The most medicinally important species of Sida like , Sida acuta, Sida cordif olia, S. rhombifolia , S. spinosa, S. carpenifolia, S. humilis, S. veronicaefolia are used in Ayurvedic system. Sida acuta is one of s uch ethnomedicinally important shrubs or herbs f rom genus Sida belonging to Malvaceae family . In the present review we list ed the plant usages in folk medicine in some regions where the plant grows and discussed on the confirmed activities after laboratory scre enings .
Completely Decentralized Active Balancing Battery Management System

The performance of a string of series-connected batteries is typically restricted by the worst cell in the string and a single failure point will render the entire string unusable. To address these issues, we present a decentralized battery management system with no communication requirement based on a modular multilevel converter topology with a distributed inductor and distributed controller running on a local microprocessor. This configuration is referred to as a “smart cell. ” By sensing the voltage across the local distributed inductor, each smart cell is able to: first, determine its optimal switching pattern in order to minimize the output voltage ripple; and second, adjust its duty cycle to synchronize its state of charge (SOC) with the average SOC of the series string of cells. The decentralized controller is derived using the theory of Kuramoto oscillators, and the stability of a system of smart cells is investigated. We experimentally show that a system of three smart cells with their decentralized controllers can accurately synchronize the SOC while minimizing their output voltage ripple.
Analysis of Respiratory Viral Infections Detected Using Multiplex Real-Time PCR in Hwaseong, Korea from 2013 to 2015.

BACKGROUND We investigated the incidences and age-related/seasonal variations of respiratory virus infections in a regional area in Korea. METHODS A total of 3,467 respiratory specimens from patients with acute respiratory infection symptoms in a teaching hospital were tested for respiratory viruses during 2013 - 2015. RESULTS At least one virus was detected in 2,561 of the 3,467 specimens (73.9%), and 706 patients (20.4%) were positive for two or more viruses. The most frequently detected viruses were rhinovirus (23.9%), respiratory syncytial virus B (15.5%), and adenovirus (12.5%). Most of the patients (with and without a detected virus) were children. Young children (< 5 years old) were significantly more likely to have two or more viruses compared to older individuals (p < 0.0001). Most viruses exhibited seasonal variations. CONCLUSIONS This study revealed the incidence of respiratory virus infections. These findings can enhance our understanding of the distribution of respiratory viruses according to patient age and season.
Analyse cinématique de l’appareil manducateur humain : constitution d’une base de données de sujets asymptomatiques et comparaison avec sujets à dysfonction

Pres d’un quart de la population mondiale presente au moins un signe de dysfonction de l’appareil manducateur, pour seulement 5 a 12% de prise en charge. Les differents composants de cet appareil fonctionnent en synergie et s’auto-influencent, ce qui entraine des dysfonctions diverses, encore mal expliquees a ce jour. L’objectif de cette these est l’etude des mouvements mandibulaires pour la comprehension du fonctionnement de l’appareil manducateur, avec comme enjeu principal, la creation d’un outil de diagnostic pour l’identification de dysfonctions. Pour cela, dans un premier temps, un protocole de mesures cinematiques, dont la precision et la repetabilite ont ete caracterisees, a ete propose. Dans un second temps, les mesures cinematiques ont ete realisees sur 29 sujets asymptomatiques et 15 sujets avec dysfonctions mineures. Des mouvements elementaires de la bouche en ouverture-fermeture, lateralite et propulsion ont ete enregistres. L’analyse des trajectoires des poles condyliens dans differents plans anatomiques permet d’identifier des tendances generales mais met en evidence une grande variabilite inter-individuelle dans l’execution des mouvements. L’etude des six mobilites de la mandibule complete cette information et demontre l’activation simultanee de translations et de rotations pour chacun des mouvements etudies. Ceci constitue la premiere base de donnees de l’evolution des mobilites pour la mandibule humaine pour trois types de mouvements elementaires. La comparaison de sujets presentant des dysfonctions mineures avec cette base de donnees montre que les mouvements de lateralite et de propulsion peuvent etre des revelateurs de ces dysfonctions. Ces premiers resultats sont encourageants pour l’utilisation de l’analyse cinematique dans le cadre du diagnostic et du suivi de patients.
Search Engine Technology and Digital Libraries: Libraries Need to Discover the Academic Internet

This article is the revised and elaborated version of a presentation that was delivered at the invitation of the American Digital Library Federation (DLF) at their Spring Forum meeting in New Orleans (http://www.diglib.org/forums/Spring2004/springforum04abs.htm). It will be followed by "Search engine technology and digital libraries: Moving from theory to praxis" as a collaborative article from this author and Friedrich Summann, Head of IT at Bielefeld University Library.
Online and model-free supplementary learning control based on approximate dynamic programming

An approximate dynamic programming (ADP) based supplementary learning control method is developed to online improve the performance of existing controllers. The proposed supplementary learning structure can make full use of the prior knowledge of the pre-designed controller and endow the controller with learning ability. Moreover, by introducing the action dependent value function for policy evaluation, the supplementary learning control can work in a model-free manner. The policy iteration algorithm is employed to train the actor-critic structure of the ADP supplementary controller. Simulation studies are carried out on the cart-pole system to validate the optimization and the adaptation capability of the proposed methodology.