Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Measurement Uncertainty of Microscopic Laser Triangulation on Technical Surfaces

Abstract Laser triangulation is widely used to measure three-dimensional structure of surfaces. The technique is suitable for macroscopic and microscopic surface measurements. In this paper, the measurement uncertainty of laser triangulation is investigated on technical surfaces for microscopic measurement applications. Properties of technical surfaces are, for example, reflectivity, surface roughness, and the presence of scratches and pores. These properties are more influential in the microscopic laser triangulation than in the macroscopic one. In the Introduction section of this paper, the measurement uncertainty of laser triangulation is experimentally investigated for 13 different specimens. The measurements were carried out with and without a laser speckle reducer. In the Materials and Methods section of this paper, the surfaces of the 13 specimens are characterized in order to be able to find correlations between the surface properties and the measurement uncertainty. The last section of this paper describes simulations of the measurement uncertainty, which allow for the calculation of the measurement uncertainty with only one source of uncertainty present. The considerations in this paper allow for the assessment of the measurement uncertainty of laser triangulation on any technical surface when some surface properties, such as roughness, are known.
Injectable living marrow stromal cell-based autologous tissue engineered heart valves: first experiences with a one-step intervention in primates.

AIMS A living heart valve with regeneration capacity based on autologous cells and minimally invasive implantation technology would represent a substantial improvement upon contemporary heart valve prostheses. This study investigates the feasibility of injectable, marrow stromal cell-based, autologous, living tissue engineered heart valves (TEHV) generated and implanted in a one-step intervention in non-human primates. METHODS AND RESULTS Trileaflet heart valves were fabricated from non-woven biodegradable synthetic composite scaffolds and integrated into self-expanding nitinol stents. During the same intervention autologous bone marrow-derived mononuclear cells were harvested, seeded onto the scaffold matrix, and implanted transapically as pulmonary valve replacements into non-human primates (n = 6). The transapical implantations were successful in all animals and the overall procedure time from cell harvest to TEHV implantation was 118 ± 17 min. In vivo functionality assessed by echocardiography revealed preserved valvular structures and adequate functionality up to 4 weeks post implantation. Substantial cellular remodelling and in-growth into the scaffold materials resulted in layered, endothelialized tissues as visualized by histology and immunohistochemistry. Biomechanical analysis showed non-linear stress-strain curves of the leaflets, indicating replacement of the initial biodegradable matrix by living tissue. CONCLUSION Here, we provide a novel concept demonstrating that heart valve tissue engineering based on a minimally invasive technique for both cell harvest and valve delivery as a one-step intervention is feasible in non-human primates. This innovative approach may overcome the limitations of contemporary surgical and interventional bioprosthetic heart valve prostheses.
The Expression of Intermediate Filament Protein Nestin as Related to Vimentin and Desmin in Regenerating Skeletal Muscle

Intermediate filament (IF) proteins show specific spatial and temporal expression during development of skeletal muscle. Nestin, the least known muscle IF, has an important role in neuronal regeneration. Therefore, we analyzed the expression pattern of nestin as related to that of vimentin and desmin during skeletal muscle regeneration. Nestin and vimentin appear at 6 h post-injury in myoblasts, with maximum expression around day 3–5 post-injury. Thereafter, vimentin expression ceases completely, whereas that of nestin is downregulated to remain only in the sarcoplasm next to neuromuscular and myotendinous junctions. Desmin appears at 6–12 h post-injury and becomes the predominant IF in myofibers simultaneously with the appearance of cross-striations. The expression pattern and colocalization of nestin and vimentin, known to form heteropolymers, suggests that they are essential during the early dynamic phase of the myofiber regeneration when migration, fusion, and structural modeling of myogenic cells occurs, whereas desmin is responsible for keeping myofibrils in register in mature myofibers. In conclusion, the expression of nestin is dynamically orchestrated with that of vimentin and desmin during skeletal muscle regeneration and recapitulates that seen during myogenesis, i.e. these IFs have key functional roles in the construction and restoration of skeletal myofibers.
Conditioned Medium From Human Amniotic Mesenchymal Stromal Cells Limits Infarct Size and Enhances Angiogenesis

The paracrine properties of human amniotic membrane‐derived mesenchymal stromal cells (hAMCs) have not been fully elucidated. The goal of the present study was to elucidate whether hAMCs can exert beneficial paracrine effects on infarcted rat hearts, in particular through cardioprotection and angiogenesis. Moreover, we aimed to identify the putative active paracrine mediators. hAMCs were isolated, expanded, and characterized. In vitro, conditioned medium from hAMC (hAMC‐CM) exhibited cytoprotective and proangiogenic properties. In vivo, injection of hAMC‐CM into infarcted rat hearts limited the infarct size, reduced cardiomyocyte apoptosis and ventricular remodeling, and strongly promoted capillary formation at the infarct border zone. Gene array analysis led to the identification of 32 genes encoding for the secreted factors overexpressed by hAMCs. Among these, midkine and secreted protein acidic and rich in cysteine were also upregulated at the protein level. Furthermore, high amounts of several proangiogenic factors were detected in hAMC‐CM by cytokine array. Our results strongly support the concept that the administration of hAMC‐CM favors the repair process after acute myocardial infarction.
Retrograde Melanopsin Signaling Increases With Age in Retinal Degenerate Mice Lacking Rods and the Majority of Cones.

PURPOSE Following on from reports of retrograde retinal signaling in mice, we sought to investigate the influence of age and retinal location on this phenomenon using mice that lack rods and the majority of cones. METHODS We used functional anatomy for c-fos (Fos) and tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) to measure light-driven activation of dopamine neurons along a dorsal-ventral transect in C3H/He wild-type and rodless-coneless rd/rd cl (rdcl) mice aged 3, 5, and >14 months. A parallel series of retinae from 3-month-old mice was also stained for cone opsins and melanopsin. RESULTS Analysis by confocal microscopy revealed light-driven Fos activation in TH cells residing in the middorsal retina of the youngest rdcl mice. This region was largely devoid of residual cones but contained a large number of intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (ipRGCs) and the highest density of melanopsin neurites. With advancing age, there was a paradoxical increase in retrograde signaling from ∼3% Fos-positive (Fos+) TH cells at 3 months to ∼36% in rdcl mice >14 months. This increased activation occurred in more central and peripheral retinal regions. CONCLUSIONS Our data provide new insights into the anatomy and plasticity of retrograde melanopsin signaling in mice with severe rod/cone dystrophy. The increased retrograde signaling we detect may result from either an increased potency of melanopsin signaling with advancing age and/or postsynaptic modification to dopaminergic neurons.
Fibrinolytic capacity increases with age in healthy humans, while endothelium-dependent vasodilation is unaffected

Summary The capacity for stimulated endothelial release of tissue-type plasminogen activator (tPA) and endothelium-dependent vasodilation is diminished in patients with cardiovascular risk factors. We examined the effect of age on desmopressin-stimulated tPA release and endothelium-dependent vasodilation, using the perfused-forearm model. Thirty-two healthy subjects were divided into quartiles by age (mean age 24, 36, 54, and 72 years, respectively). Baseline fibrinolytic parameters, baseline forearm blood flow (FBF), and increase in stimulated FBF were all similar across age. By contrast, the capacity for desmopressin-stimulated release of tPA increased linearly by age. For tPA antigen, the total amount released (area-under-the-curve) was 1015, 1282, 2139, and 2845 ng/L tissue (p = 0.011) and the peak release rates were 62, 80, 113, and 163 ng/min/L tissue (p = 0.008) in the age-quartiles, respectively. A similar significant age-related response was observed for tPA activity. We conclude that in healthy individuals there is an up-regulation of the fibrinolytic response by age.
How can high-throughput screening deliver drugs to treat atherosclerosis?

Importance of the field: Atherosclerosis is a progressive disease that is characterized by the accumulation of lipid-rich plaques within the artery walls. Despite the past 3 decades witnessing the most significant advances in the pharmacotherapy of atherosclerosis with statins, atherosclerosis is still one of the leading causes of mortality in industrialized and developing nations. The applications of high-throughput screening (HTS) have retrieved hits and lead compounds which may be further developed to new promising therapeutics to achieve more effective reductions in the risk of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Areas covered in this review: The review provides a summary of potential drug targets other than HMG-CoA reductase (primary target of statins) and their application in biochemical or cell-based HTS assays used by pharmaceutical companies and academic laboratories for anti-atherosclerotic drug discovery. What the reader will gain: The reader will gain an overview of the HTS strategies currently used in the development of anti-atherosclerotic agents. The reader is also provided with some abortive examples in anti-atherosclerotic drug discovery as well as the associated limitations and challenges of the process that HTS delivers new drugs to treat atherosclerosis. Take home message: HTS can assist in the efficient discovery of new drugs towards the potential targets involved in the progress of atherosclerosis.
Geometric FDI based on SVD for redundant inertial sensor systems

We consider inertial navigation system (INS) sensor redundancy which has symmetric configuration and propose an FDI (fault detection and isolation) method for multiple faults using singular value decomposition (SVD). When redundant sensor configuration is given, such as dodecahedron configuration in INS, the range space and null space of configuration matrix can be determined. We use null space component of faults with respect to configuration matrix to obtain the geometric FDI method.
An oral adsorbent, AST-120, combined with a low-protein diet and RAS blocker, for chronic kidney disease.

BACKGROUND A low-protein diet and treatment with renin-angiotensin system (RAS) blockers can delay the progression of chronic kidney disease (CKD). The oral adsorbent AST-120 (Kremezin) has a renoprotective effect by reducing serum levels of uremic toxins. We investigated the influence of AST-120 on the preservation of renal function in patients with CKD. METHODS Twenty-eight patients were randomized to 2 groups: 15 patients receiving 6.0 g of AST-120 daily for 12 months plus a low-protein diet and RAS blocker therapy (group A) and 13 patients who were not given AST-120 (group B). All of them had shown progressive deterioration of renal function with basal treatment. Mean baseline serum creatinine level (+/- standard deviation) was 2.4 +/- 0.8 mg/dL in group A and 2.7 +/- 0.8 mg/dL in group B. There were no significant differences in background parameters before AST-120 therapy. RESULTS The change in the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) was significantly smaller in group A than in group B. The change was also significantly smaller in patients with a baseline serum creatinine <2.4 mg/dL and in patients with rapid progression. After 12 months, the slope of the eGFR curve was significantly less steep compared with baseline in group A (-1.77 vs. -0.52 ml/min per month), but there was no significant change in group B. The slope was also significantly less steep in patients with rapid progression. CONCLUSIONS Adding AST-120 to a low-protein diet and RAS blocker therapy may delay the deterioration of chronic renal failure, especially in patients with early or rapid progression.
The effect of L-carnitine and acetyl-L-carnitine on the disappearance of DNA single-strand breaks in human peripheral blood lymphocytes.

DNA single-strand breaks (SSBs) and their disappearance during repair incubation were determined by alkaline filter elution in freshly isolated human peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBLs) after in vitro treatment with either the oxygen radical-generating system of xanthine oxidase (XOD) plus hypoxanthine (HYP) or the alkylating agent N-ethyl-N'-nitrosourea (ENU). The elution curves obtained with DNA from PBLs treated with XOD/HYP were markedly nonlinear, possibly as a result of a nonrandom induction of SSBs along the DNA strands. The disappearance of XOD/HYP-induced SSBs during the initial repair period was quite slow; only 20 +/- 7% (n = 6) of the induced SSBs had disappeared after a 2 1/2 h repair incubation. However, by 24 h the elution curves obtained with DNA from treated PBLs were indistinguishable from those obtained with DNA from nontreated control cells, indicating complete repair. Treatment of PBLs with ENU resulted in linear elution curves. Approximately 50% of the total amount of ENU-induced SSBs had disappeared within 1 h in PBLs from most donors; the additional SSBs were found to be persistent (Beorrigter, M.E.T.I., Mullaart, E., Berends, F., and Vijg, J. (1991) Induction and disappearance of DNA strand breaks and/or alkali-labile sites in human lymphocytes exposed to N-ethyl-N'-nitrosoureas. Carcinogenesis, 12, 77-82). Preincubation of PBLs with 5 mM L-carnitine, a trans-mitochondrial carrier of acetyl and long-chain acyl groups, or 5 mM acetyl-L-Carnitine, resulted in a more rapid disappearance of XOD/HYP-induced SSBs (48 +/- 23% and 48 +/- 30% respectively). Preincubation of PBLs with different doses of L-carnitine, before exposure to 0.5 mM ENU, increased SSB disappearance dependent on the dose and donor PBLs. In conclusion, these studies suggest that treatment with L-carnitine accelerates the disappearance of SSBs induced by oxygen radicals and alkylating agents.
CITIDEL: making resources available

In this demonstration, we present the features of the Computing and Information Technology Interactive Digital Educational Library project (CITIDEL). CITIDEL is being developed to bring learning resources related to computing into one open archive and search center. We will demonstrate the current status of development of CITIDEL, both in terms of collections accessible and of technical developments for data provision and harvesting. (www.citidel.org http://www.citidel.org). The CITIDEL development team includes people from Virginia Tech (the lead institution), Hofstra University, Penn State University, The College of New Jersey, and Villanova University. CITIDEL is part of the Collections Track activities in the U.S. National STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) education Digital Library (NSDL, www.nsdl.nsf.gov). Our focus includes technical development, content collection, search engine technology, assessment, and community development.Topics presented include metadata harvesting of collections, tailored search capabilities, and a demonstration of the front-end access to the educational resources related to computing and information technology. Conference attendees interested in having their work accessible through CITIDEL will have the opportunity to talk with a project representative during the demonstration time. Avenues of dissemination include the ACM Journal of Educational Resources in Computing (JERIC) and the Computer Science Teaching Center (CSTC, www.cstc.org).
Accentuation of high susceptibility of hypertrophied myocardium to ischemia: Complementary assessment of Gadophrin‐enhancement and left ventricular function with MRI

The aim of the study was to compare infarction size and left ventricular (LV) function in normal and hypertrophied hearts after brief ischemia using Gadophrin‐enhancement and functional assessment by MRI. Rats (n = 20) were assigned to aortic banding to induce LV hypertrophy or control. Eight weeks later, rats were subjected to 25 min of regional myocardial ischemia followed by 3 hr of reperfusion. The necrosis‐specific agent Gadophrin‐3 was injected to delineate infarcted myocardium on MRI. Effects of aortic banding and ischemia on LV mass and function were determined. At postmortem, areas at risk and infarction were measured. Close correlation was found between LV mass measured with MRI and at postmortem (r = 0.98). LV mass measured with MRI was significantly greater (0.81 ± 0.02 g) in animals with aortic banding compared to control (0.62 ± 0.02 g; P < 0.001). Infarction size was larger in hypertrophied hearts (19.0 ± 1.4% / 18.3 ± 1.5%) than in control (9.8 ± 1.7% / 9.2 ± 2.0%) on Gadophrin‐enhanced MRI and at postmortem, respectively. Similarly, greater impairment in ejection fraction was observed in hypertrophied hearts with MRI (39 ± 4% vs. 49 ± 2%; P = 0.02). Gadophrin‐3 provides accurate estimation of infarct size in hypertrophied hearts. Hypertrophied hearts are more sensitive to ischemia than nonhypertrophied hearts. The complementary assessment of Gadophrin‐enhancement and LV function with MRI provides unique information about myocardium sensitivity to ischemia. Magn Reson Med 51:552–558, 2004. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Identification of anti-filarial leads against aspartate semialdehyde dehydrogenase of Wolbachia endosymbiont of Brugia malayi: combined molecular docking and molecular dynamics approaches

Lymphatic filariasis is a debilitating vector borne parasitic disease that infects human lymphatic system by nematode Brugia malayi. Currently available anti-filarial drugs are effective only on the larval stages of parasite. So far, no effective drugs are available for humans to treat filarial infections. In this regard, aspartate semialdehyde dehydrogenase (ASDase) in lysine biosynthetic pathway from Wolbachia endosymbiont Brugia malayi represents an attractive therapeutic target for the development of novel anti-filarial agents. In this present study, molecular modeling combined with molecular dynamics simulations and structure-based virtual screening were performed to identify potent lead molecules against ASDase. Based on Glide score, toxicity profile, binding affinity and mode of interactions with the ASDase, five potent lead molecules were selected. The molecular docking and dynamics results revealed that the amino acid residues Arg103, Asn133, Cys134, Gln161, Ser164, Lys218, Arg239, His246, and Asn321 plays a crucial role in effective binding of Top leads into the active site of ASDase. The stability of the ASDase-lead complexes was confirmed by running the 30 ns molecular dynamics simulations. The pharmacokinetic properties of the identified lead molecules are in the acceptable range. Furthermore, density functional theory and binding free energy calculations were performed to rank the lead molecules. Thus, the identified lead molecules can be used for the development of anti-filarial agents to combat the pathogenecity of Brugia malayi.
Matrine inhibits the metastatic properties of human cervical cancer cells via downregulating the p38 signaling pathway.

Matrine is a traditional Chinese herbal medicine that shows antitumor efficacy for many types of cancer. The present study evaluated the antitumor efficacy of matrine on cervical cancer and to investigate the underlying mechanisms. We performed MTT assays, and in vitro invasion and migration assays, and P1 L6 found that matrine significantly inhibited cervical cancer cell growth by inducing apoptosis, and suppressed the invasion and migration ability of cervical cancer cells in vitro in a concentration-dependent manner. Mechanistically, we found that matrine decreased the expression and activity of the extracellular matrix factors, matrix metalloproteinases-2 (MMP-2) and MMP-9 via the suppression of p38 signaling pathway. In addition, when cervical cancer cells were grown as xenografts in nude mice, intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection of matrine induced a signiﬁcant dose-dependent decrease in tumor growth. Taken together, these findings suggest that a potential mechanism by which matrine inhibits the growth and metastasis of cervical cancer through downregulating the p38 signaling pathway.
Adulthood outcome of tic and obsessive-compulsive symptom severity in children with Tourette syndrome.

BACKGROUND Tourette syndrome (TS) is a childhood-onset neuropsychiatric disorder that is characterized by both motor and phonic tics. One half to two thirds of children with TS experience a reduction or complete resolution of tic symptoms during adolescence. At least one third of adults with TS have comorbid obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). OBJECTIVES To clarify the clinical course of tic and OCD symptoms in children with TS and determine if baseline clinical measurements in childhood are associated with future symptom severity in late adolescence and early adulthood. DESIGN Prospective cohort study. SETTING Yale Child Study Center tic and OCD outpatient specialty clinic. PARTICIPANTS Forty-six children with TS who received a structured clinical evaluation prior to age 14 years. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Expert-rated tic and OCD symptom severity at follow-up interview an average of 7.6 years later (range, 3.8-12.8 years). RESULTS Eighty-five percent of subjects reported a reduction in tic symptoms during adolescence. Only increased tic severity in childhood was associated with increased tic severity at follow-up. The average age at worst-ever tic severity was 10.6 years. Forty-one percent of patients with TS reported at one time experiencing at least moderate OCD symptoms. Worst-ever OCD symptoms occurred approximately 2 years later than worst-ever tic symptoms. Increased childhood IQ was strongly associated with increased OCD severity at follow-up. CONCLUSION Obsessive-compulsive disorder symptoms in children with TS became more severe at a later age and were more likely to persist than tic symptoms.