Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cancer Chemopreventive Activity of Resveratrol, a Natural Product Derived from Grapes

Resveratrol, a phytoalexin found in grapes and other food products, was purified and shown to have cancer chemopreventive activity in assays representing three major stages of carcinogenesis. Resveratrol was found to act as an antioxidant and antimutagen and to induce phase II drug-metabolizing enzymes (anti-initiation activity); it mediated anti-inflammatory effects and inhibited cyclooxygenase and hydroperoxidase functions (antipromotion activity); and it induced human promyelocytic leukemia cell differentiation (antiprogression activity). In addition, it inhibited the development of preneoplastic lesions in carcinogen-treated mouse mammary glands in culture and inhibited tumorigenesis in a mouse skin cancer model. These data suggest that resveratrol, a common constituent of the human diet, merits investigation as a potential cancer chemopreventive agent in humans.
High Concentration of Antioxidants N-Acetylcysteine and Mitoquinone-Q Induces Intercellular Adhesion Molecule 1 and Oxidative Stress by Increasing Intracellular Glutathione1

In endothelial cells, the intracellular level of glutathione is depleted during offering protection against proinflammatory cytokine TNF-α-induced oxidative stress. Administration of anti-inflammatory drugs, i.e., N-acetylcysteine (NAC) or mitoquinone-Q (mito-Q) in low concentrations in the human pulmonary aortic endothelial cells offered protection against depletion of reduced glutathione and oxidative stress mediated by TNF-α. However, this study addressed that administration of NAC or mito-Q in high concentrations resulted in a biphasic response by initiating an enhanced generation of both reduced glutathione and oxidized glutathione and enhanced production of reactive oxygen species, along with carbonylation and glutathionylation of the cellular proteins. This study further addressed that IκB kinase (IKK), a phosphorylation-dependent regulator of NF-κB, plays an important regulatory role in the TNF-α-mediated induction of the inflammatory cell surface molecule ICAM-1. Of the two catalytic subunits of IKK (IKKα and IKKβ), low concentrations of NAC and mito-Q activated IKKα activity, thereby inhibiting the downstream NF-κB and ICAM-1 induction by TNF-α. High concentrations of NAC and mito-Q instead caused glutathionylation of IKKα, thereby inhibiting its activity that in turn enhanced the downstream NF-κB activation and ICAM-1 expression by TNF-α. Thus, establishing IKKα as an anti-inflammatory molecule in endothelial cells is another focus of this study. This is the first report that describes a stressful situation in the endothelial cells created by excess of antioxidative and anti-inflammatory agents NAC and mito-Q, resulting in the generation of reactive oxygen species, carbonylation and glutathionylation of cellular proteins, inhibition of IKKα activity, and up-regulation of ICAM-1expression.
Transforming Electromagnetics Using Metamaterials

Electromagnetic metamaterials are artificially structured media with unusual electromagnetic properties that can be engineered from the radio-frequency (RF) and microwave range all the way up to optical frequencies. In its present form, the field of metamaterials is just over ten years old but has already attracted intense interest from many research groups around the globe. Suddenly, classical electromagnetism took on a fresh and exciting perspective, revealing that there are fascinating phenomena still waiting to be discovered and corresponding applications to be invented. In particular, all this excitement is associated with the notion of the macroscopic constitutive parameters, such as the permittivity and permeability. What would be possible if we were able to synthesize electromagnetic materials with arbitrarily valued constitutive parameters? The richness of this possibility becomes more evident when we recall that material parameters can be anisotropic (varying with direction) or spatially inhomogeneous (varying from point to point). Moreover, they can attain values previously not considered (i.e., negative or close to zero), and they can even mix together the electric and magnetic response of a material (chirality).
Naphthoquinone Components from Alkanna tinctoria (L.) Tausch Show Significant Antiproliferative Effects on Human Colorectal Cancer Cells

Our research to seek active compounds against human colorectal cancer from the root of Alkanna tinctoria (L.) Tausch led to the isolation of two naphthoquinones, alkannin (1) and angelylalkannin (2). The antiproliferative effects of the two compounds on human colon cancer cells HCT‐116 and SW‐480 were determined by the 3,4‐(5‐dimethylthiazol‐2‐yl)‐5‐(3‐carboxymethoxyphenyl)‐2‐(4‐sulfophenyl)‐2H‐tetrazolium salt (MTS) method. Cell cycle profile and cell apoptosis were determined using flow cytometry. Both of the two compounds showed significant inhibitory effects on the cancer cells. For alkannin (1) and angelylalkannin (2), the median inhibitory concentration (IC50) values were 2.38 and 4.76 µ m for HCT‐116 cells, while for SW‐480 cells they were 4.53 and 7.03 µ m, respectively. The potential antiproliferative mechanisms were also explored. At concentrations between 1–10 µ m, both compounds arrested the cell cycle at the G1 phase and induced cell apoptosis. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Identification of Polar Constituents in the Decoction of Juglans mandshurica and in the Medicated Egg Prepared with the Decoction by HPLC-Q-TOF MS2

As a folk medicinal plant, Juglans mandshurica has been used for the treatment of cancer in China and Korea. Traditionally, J. mandshurica is decocted together with chicken eggs. Both the decoction and medicated eggs possess anti-tumor properties. Clarifying the constituents of the decoction and absorbed by the medicated eggs is essential for the investigation of the active principles of J. mandshurica. Herein, the medicated eggs were prepared by decocting raw chicken eggs, having unbroken shells, with the decoction of J. mandshurica. A systematic investigation of the chemical profile of the J. mandshurica decoction and the medicated egg extraction was conducted by HPLC-Q-TOF-MS2. In total, 93 peaks, including 45 tannins, 14 naphthalene derivatives, 17 organic acids, 3 diarylheptanoids, 4 lignans, 3 anthraquinones, 1 flavonoid glycoside, 3 amino acids, and 3 nitrogenous compounds, were tentatively identified in the decoction. In the medicated egg extraction, 44 peaks including 11 organic acids, 3 amino acids, 3 nitrogenous compounds, 8 naphthalene derivatives, 3 diarylheptanoids, 15 tannins, and 1 lignan were tentatively identified. The chemical profile presented provided a detailed overview of the polar chemical constituents in J. mandshurica and useful information for the research of bioactive compounds of this plant.
Stimulation of inflammatory markers after blunt trauma

Inflammatory mediators are released after trauma and may be related to the pathogenesis of sepsis. A prospective combined study of the pattern of release of an inflammatory mediator, interleukin (IL) 6, leucocyte activation (polymorphonuclear leucocyte (PMN) CD11b receptor expression and plasma elastase‐α1 proteinase inhibitor complex (E–α1PI)) and soluble endothelial adhesion molecule expression (soluble E‐selectin (sE‐selectin) and soluble intracellular adhesion molecule 1 (sICAM‐1)) was performed in patients suffering blunt trauma without adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) or multiple organ failure syndrome (MOFS).
Free radical-scavenging activities of oligomeric proanthocyanidin from Rhodiola rosea L. and its antioxidant effects in vivo

This study aimed to determine the antioxidant activity of oligomeric proanthocyanidin from Rhodiola rosea L. (OPCRR). The free radical-scavenging activities exhibited by OPCRR, as determined by using 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl, hydroxyl radical and superoxide anion (√) scavenging assays, were greater than that of vitamin C. The effects of OPCRR on the antioxidant enzymes activity and lipid peroxide content in vivo were evaluated through three observation biomarkers, including superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) and malondialdehyde (MDA) in serum, heart, liver and brain tissues in mice. The OPCRR significantly enhanced the SOD and GSH-Px activities, and reduced the MDA content in mice. These results indicated that the OPCRR has a great potential to be a natural antioxidant due to its considerable antioxidant activities in vitro and in vivo.
Evidence in biomass burning smoke for a light-absorbing aerosol with properties intermediate between brown and black carbon

Abstract Biomass combustion produces black carbon (BC) and brown carbon (BrC) aerosols that contribute substantially to warming the Earth’s atmosphere. Accurate knowledge of their emissions and absorption per unit mass (mass absorption cross-section; MAC) can be used to quantify the radiative impact of these combustion products. We isolated particles generated from laboratory biomass burning fires by morphology and found that some particles from biomass burning do not correspond to either BC or BrC according to common operational definitions. Unlike BrC, these particles strongly absorb red light, with a MAC and spectral dependence of absorption between that of BrC and BC. They also have intermediate volatility: they survive thermodenuding at 250 °C but do not heat to incandescence in a single particle soot photometer (SP2) instrument. We also found evidence for intermediate properties in ambient wildfire smoke from the 2013 Rim Fire in California. More work is needed to understand how much this intermediate material contributes to atmospheric light absorption from typical combustion, whether or not it corresponds to “tar balls,” and how it may affect previous MAC measurements that were attributed to enhanced absorption by transparent coatings. Copyright © 2019 American Association for Aerosol Research
Clinical appraisal of chronic traumatic encephalopathy: current perspectives and future directions.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW There are currently no consensus-based clinical diagnostic criteria for chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). This review provides an update on recent literature pertaining to clinically relevant procedures that--presently or in the future--may be useful for the in-vivo detection, characterization, and/or prediction of CTE. RECENT FINDINGS Preliminary evidence about the clinical manifestations of CTE has been accumulating via post-mortem medical record review and interviews of friends or family members of individuals with neuropathologically documented CTE. This evidence suggests that CTE is manifested clinically by changes in cognition (especially memory and executive functioning, with dementia later in the disease course), mood (especially, depression, apathy, and suicidality), personality and behavior (especially poor impulse control and behavioral disinhibition), and movement (including parkinsonism and signs of motor neuron disease). At the present time, evidence regarding CTE has not been confirmed in a prospective study of a cohort at risk for CTE. SUMMARY On the basis of recent research in the fields of dementia and traumatic brain injury, several in-vivo procedures (including neurological examination, neuropsychological assessment, neuroimaging techniques, and blood and cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers) each have the potential to contribute unique information about the manifestations of CTE, including clinical and preclinical stages. More research is needed to develop a set of consensus diagnostic criteria that provide a reliable and valid indicator of neuropathologically verified CTE. Until such criteria are developed, the clinical assessment of CTE should be informed by modern research that is of relevance to traumatic brain injury and neurodegenerative diseases.
A full digital low power dpsk demodulator and clock recovery circuit for high data rate neural implants

A novel full digital and non-coherent DPSK demodulator is presented for inductively powered biomedical systems. The transmitter uses differential phase encoding technique that requires in the demodulation, a precise symbol clock recovery. This was achieved by the detection of the rising and falling edges of the digitized received carrier. Very low power consumption and high data transmission rate are obtained with an excellent data-rate-to-carrier-frequency ratio of 100% without increasing the carrier frequency. The proposed demodulator is especially appropriate for high data rate biomedical applications such as visual prostheses and brain-machine interface. The circuit is designed in the 0.35-µm CMOS technology of Austria Micro Systems and it consumes 136. 3µW @ 3.3 V at a data transmission rate of 10 Mbps.
The determination of lignin in marine sediments and particulate form in seawater.

Abstract Alkaline nitrobenzene oxidation was used to produce vanillin and syringaldehyde from the lignin fraction of marine sediments and particulate matter filtered from seawater. Results indicate that this material constitutes a substantial proportion (1-14%) of the organic matter in the sediments and that a general background level (20-60 mcg/1) of material in the suspended fraction is attributable to lignin. The highest levels were found in the vicinity of forest industry plants.
Speech Enhancement for a Noise-Robust Text-to-Speech Synthesis System Using Deep Recurrent Neural Networks

Quality of text-to-speech voices built from noisy recordings is diminished. In order to improve it we propose the use of a recurrent neural network to enhance acoustic parameters prior to training. We trained a deep recurrent neural network using a parallel database of noisy and clean acoustics parameters as input and output of the network. The database consisted of multiple speakers and diverse noise conditions. We investigated using text-derived features as an additional input of the network. We processed a noisy database of two other speakers using this network and used its output to train an HMM acoustic text-to-synthesis model for each voice. Listening experiment results showed that the voice built with enhanced parameters was ranked signiﬁcantly higher than the ones trained with noisy speech and speech that has been enhanced using a conventional enhancement system. The text-derived features improved re-sults only for the female voice, where it was ranked as highly as a voice trained with clean speech.
Application of Multivariate Empirical Mode Decomposition to Noise Reduction in Seismic Signal

The three-component signals of earthquake waves are very complex, requiring filtering methods that can filter three-component signal simultaneously. A good seismic signal is a signal that is free of noise, both in the instrument noise and in the field noise. In this paper, an effective and efficient filter method is proposed to reduce noise on the three-component seismic signal, The proposed method use multivariate empirical mode decomposition (MEMD) to decompose a multivariate signal into several intrinsic mode functions (IMF). MEMD is highly adaptive and can be very satisfying in time-frequency characteristics of signals. The method requires no prior knowledge of the target signals. MEMD method was tested on synthetic data with the different random noise level. The result shows that this method can reduce the seismogram of signal noise efficiently. This method is very effective to reduce noise, both on synthetic and field data.
The unintelligibility of speech to children

ABSTRACT Words artificially isolated from twelve parents' speech to their children (aged 1; 10–3; 0) were significantly less intelligible to adult listeners than words originally spoken to an adult. This effect holds for randomly sampled words and, to a lesser extent, for matched pairs. While parents did not adjust the clarity of word tokens to the linguistic naiveté of the child listeners, they did adjust intelligibility inversely to the observed predictability of the sampled words in their sentence contexts, and words to children proved more redundant in this sense. The relationship of these findings to other work on the clarity of motherese is examined and the implications for the study of children's speech perception outlined.
Brain stem gliomas of children a clinicopathological study

To determine the risks and benefits of biopsying brain stem gliomas of children, the authors analyzed the clinical and histopathological features of 27 children with biopsied brain stem gliomas and compared them to 26 children with brain stem gliomas that were not biopsied. In both groups, cranial nerve palsies at the time of diagnosis were associated with increased mortality. There was no operative mortality and low operative morbidity associated with biopsies, and 35% of the biopsied children survived 5 years or longer. Children with exophytic tumors and those who received more than 4000 rad survived significantly longer. When the histologic features of pleomorphism, nuclear hyperchromatism, and mitoses were present, they occurred uniformly throughout each biopsy, regardless of the sample size. Mitoses in the biopsy specimen were associated with significantly increased mortality. The authors conclude that the risk of biopsying brain stem gliomas in children is low, and that the benefit is the identification of those children who should be treated more intensively because of their poor prognosis. Cancer 52:2313‐2319, 1983.
The Usefulness of an Accounting Information System for Effective Organizational Performance

The aim of this study is to investigate usefulness of accounting information system (AIS) for effective organizational performance. AIS is the whole of the related components that are working together to collect, store and disseminate data for the purpose of planning, control, coordination, analysis and decision making. Therefore, impact of AIS on elements of organizational performance such as: performance management and financial performance is examined. The results of this study show that although AIS is very useful and have effect on organizational performance to listed companies in Dubai financial market (DFM) but, there is no relationship between AIS and performance management.
K9® Auxiliary Power Unit - Locomotive Idle Reduction System A New Technology towards Reducing GHG Emissions from the Railroad Sector

Locomotives have historically been allowed to idle for extended periods of time when not in operation in order to protect the engine from freezing. Depending on their assignment, locomotives typically idle 8-14 hours a day, sometimes even more. This has resulted in large quantities of harmful emissions into the atmosphere, particularly NOx, SO2 and GHG. In this paper we introduce the K9reg Auxiliary Power Unit (APU) for locomotives, an idle reduction system that controls locomotive engine shutdown. The APU consists of an Engine Shutdown Timer coupled with a generator set that is connected to the fluid system of the main engine. This configuration allows for the safe shutdown of the locomotive while monitoring and maintaining the fluid temperature and battery voltage, as well as providing auxiliary power for air conditioning/heating for the cab. The APU system results in large fuel savings, as well as emission and noise reduction. The APU is also equipped with a GPS communication device that allows remote monitoring of the locomotive and quantification of emissions reductions and fuel savings. The APU has been recognized as a system that enables the creation of NOx and SO2 emission reduction credits by the Ontario Ministry of the Environment and has the potential to be a strong mechanism of GHG emissions mitigation for the railroad sector.
Minority women and breast cancer screening: the role of cultural explanatory models.

Mammography and clinical breast exams are effective secondary prevention techniques for reducing the morbidity and mortality due to breast cancer. Although minority women have higher mortality rates due to breast cancer, they are less likely than white women to use screening procedures. This paper provides a complementary understanding of the use of breast cancer screening among minority women by drawing attention to the role of women's cultural explanatory models (CEMs). CEMs stem from the sociocultural context and involve cultural beliefs and values, personal life experiences, and both biomedical and popular explanations of health and illness. Although women's CEMs may not accord with those of health professionals, they do have an impact on screening behavior. This paper discusses suggestions for addressing these issues in an effort to improve breast cancer screening rates through adopting a cultural relativistic approach.
Developmental and Tissue-specific Expression of Mouse Pelle-like Protein Kinase*

The NF-κB/c-Rel proteins are a family of evolutionarily conserved transcription factors activated during development that in the adult, mediate many processes including the immune response. A high degree of sequence similarity is shared between the NF-κB/c-Rel family of transcription factors and the Drosophila Dorsal protein as well as between its cytoplasmic inhibitor, IκBα, and the Drosophila Cactus protein. Genetic analyses of Dorsal have defined components of a signaling pathway for Dorsal activation, including a serine/threonine kinase, Pelle, placed upstream of Dorsal and Cactus. We demonstrate that this pathway is likely to be conserved in mammals by the isolation of a cDNA that encodes a novel mouse protein highly related to Pelle, mPLK (mouse Pelle-like protein kinase). Expression of mPLK mRNA is developmentally regulated in the mouse and in adult tissue mPLK expression is greatest in the liver, a tissue that expresses a high level of NF-κB. Recombinant mPLK produced in bacteria is a protein kinase capable of autophosphorylating and phosphorylating IκBα.
Understanding persistent scientific collaboration

Common sense suggests that persistence is key to success. In academia, successful researchers have been found more likely to be persistent in publishing, but little attention has been given to how persistence in maintaining collaborative relationships affects career success. This paper proposes a new bibliometric understanding of persistence that considers the prominent role of collaboration in contemporary science. Using this perspective, we analyze the relationship between persistent collaboration and publication quality along several dimensions: degree of transdisciplinarity, difference in coauthor's scientific age and their scientific impact, and research‐team size. Contrary to traditional wisdom, our results show that persistent scientific collaboration does not always result in high‐quality papers. We find that the most persistent transdisciplinary collaboration tends to output high‐impact publications, and that those coauthors with diverse scientific impact or scientific ages benefit from persistent collaboration more than homogeneous compositions. We also find that researchers persistently working in large groups tend to publish lower‐impact papers. These results contradict the colloquial understanding of collaboration in academia and paint a more nuanced picture of how persistent scientific collaboration relates to success, a picture that can provide valuable insights to researchers, funding agencies, policy makers, and mentor–mentee program directors. Moreover, the methodology in this study showcases a feasible approach to measure persistent collaboration.