Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Enhanced osmotic responsiveness in angiotensin AT1a receptor deficient mice: evidence for a role for AT1b receptors

Experiments were performed to study the role of angiotensin (Ang) AT1a and AT1b receptor subtypes in osmotic regulation of blood pressure using gene deletion and pharmacological methods. The cardiovascular effects of hypertonic saline (HS) or vasopressin (VP) delivered via vascular catheters were measured in Ang AT1a gene deletion (AT1a−/−) and control (AT1a+/+) mice. Blood pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR) were recorded in conscious mice using direct carotid catheters. Plasma osmolality and VP concentration were also measured. The major finding was that deletion of AT1a receptors resulted in enhanced BP response to osmotic stimulation. This was seen after acute HS injection (20 μl, 20% NaCl). The peak percentage change in mean arterial pressure (MAP) was 15.4 ± 1.9%versus 28.1 ± 2.4% (AT1a+/+versus AT1a −/−, respectively). Losartan (AT1 antagonist), but not PD123319 (AT2 antagonist), inhibited the HS‐induced MAP response, specifically in AT1a−/− mice. Plasma osmolality and VP concentration were elevated after HS injection with no differences noted between groups. Vascular injection of VP (5 ng g−1) increased BP and HR, with similar MAP response between groups. Evidence shows that removal of Ang AT1a receptors results in a significant enhancement in the pressor response to acute osmotic stimulation. Studies of AT1 receptor blockade indicate that complementary Ang AT1b receptors, but not AT2 receptors, may be involved in the osmotic response.
A Chip-Stacked Memory for On-Chip SRAM-Rich SoCs and Processors

A dynamic-reconfigurable memory chip is fabricated, by which on-chip memories of an SoC chip can be moved to the memory chip to increase the efficiency of memory usage, and stacked on a logic chip by using three dimensional packaging technology. In the memory chip, many RAM-macros are arrayed and they are connected through two dimensional mesh network interconnects. By using memory-specified network interconnects, area overhead of network interconnects for the memory chip is reduced by 63% and the latency overhead by 43%. Signal lines between the two chips are directly connected by 10-¿m-pitch inter-chip electrodes, resulting in fast and low-energy inter-chip transmission.
An Asian variant of intravascular large B‐cell lymphoma: clinical, pathological and cytogenetic approaches to diffuse large B‐cell lymphoma associated with haemophagocytic syndrome

Diffuse large B‐cell lymphoma with haemophagocytic syndrome (BCL‐HS) has been reported mainly in Asia and is regarded as a distinct variant of intravascular lymphoma (IVL). However, it is unclear whether all cases of BCL‐HS fall within the framework of IVL and available clinical information is limited. We analysed 25 cases with BCL‐HS, including 11 autopsied cases (median, 66 years; male–female ratio, 1·1:1). The patients presented with fever, anaemia, thrombocytopenia, hepatosplenomegaly, haemophagocytosis, bone marrow invasion, respiratory disturbance and disseminated intravascular coagulopathy, but usually lacked lymphadenopathy, mass formation, neurological abnormalities and skin lesions. The clinical course was aggressive with a median survival of 7 months. The morphological findings were uniform: large lymphoid cells infiltrated vessels and/or sinusoids of the liver, marrow, lung, kidney and other organs. They were positive for CD19, CD20, CD79a and HLA‐DR, but negative for CD10, CD23 and CD30. CD5 was positive in five out of 17 cases. Our critical review indicates that BCL‐HS is the equivalent of the Asian variant of IVL.
An efficient approach based on identity for distributed data possession in multicloud using SelCSP framework

The vital idea in the distributed storage is checking uprightness of the remote data. It can provide the client with a check of the outsourced client documents without downloading the entire data. There are a few circumstances in which client needs their records to be continued numerous cloud servers, to give security and better expectation of cloud servers. The ID-DPDP (identity-based distributed provable data possession) for checking remote data respectability in different cloud servers. The proposed model can give different levels of checks. The ECC (Elliptic Curve Cryptography) calculation is utilized for producing keys and symmetric encryption algorithm for encryption of data and the undermined records idea is presented in our framework additionally to enhance the security of the framework utilize the SelCSP (Select Cloud Service Provider). Which will check the credibility of cloud service provider organization will likewise gather the client inputs on different cloud specialist organizations check the cloud service provider is noxious or dependable.
Ethylene glycol poisoning and lactate concentrations.

We were interested to read the article by Manini et al. (1), which confirmed previous observations that a severe ethylene glycol poisoning may lead to falsely elevated lactate levels (2). High lactate levels were indeed measured by enzymatic spectrophotometry (Integra analyzer) but excluded by a specific GC analysis. A linear correlation was nicely demonstrated between the serially determined but falsely elevated serum lactate and the serum concentration of glycolate. This main inorganic acid metabolite of ethylene glycol is indeed responsible for the metabolic acidosis frequently encountered in this type of poisoning. The authors do not report whether also other substances interfered with the lactate measurements. We have also reported a peculiar case of a man who erroneously ingested a large amount of propylene glycol (3). The high anion gap and the erroneously measured lactate levels, now on a Radiometer, were not related to any breakdown product of this glycol but due to the real presence and accumulation of D-lactate. The erroneously false lactate levels on the Radiometer (point-of-care) were therefore not due to the usual L-lactate, but due to the huge amounts of this D-lactate in blood. Propylene glycol may indeed by metabolized into D-lactate by colonic bacteria (3). The ingestion of different glycols in humans may therefore lead to falsely elevated lactate levels on different analyzers by the apparition of several interfering substances, either metabolites or D-lactate (1–3). This may be due to a lack of specificity of the lactate oxidase enzyme used in spectrophotometric analyzers and point-of-care tests for lactate (1,4). In conclusion, both this (1) and our case (3) demonstrate that very high lactate levels in poisoning must be confirmed by more specific tests before any conclusion can be taken into account. These analytical observations might be of clinical importance, as elevated lactate levels are frequently considered as a main guidance for therapy, as well as in intoxications.
Humoral immune response to the class 3 outer membrane protein during the course of meningococcal disease

We have determined the amounts of specific anti-class 3 outer membrane protein antibodies of immunoglobulin G (IgG), IgM, and IgA isotypes in patient sera during the course of meningococcal disease by using purified class 3 protein as the sensitizing antigen in an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The class 3 protein was obtained from a variant of strain 44/76 (B:15:P1.7,16) lacking class 1 and class 4 outer membrane proteins. Serum samples from 25 patients with systemic meningococcal disease caused by organisms of various serotypes were collected during the course of disease. Seven of these patients had been immunized with a meningococcal outer membrane vesicle vaccine made from strain 44/76 prior to disease. An increase in specific anti-class 3 (type 15) outer membrane protein IgG antibodies was demonstrated in 22 of 25 patients (88%), regardless of the serotype of the infecting strain. This indicates that the specific anti-class 3 antibodies were reacting in part with epitopes not determined by the monoclonal antibodies used for serotyping. A considerable heterogeneity in antibody levels and IgG subclass response was seen. Most patients had low levels of anti-class 3 antibodies during the acute illness, with antibodies peaking during the second week of disease and returning to near baseline in sera collected 6 to 12 months after the onset of the disease. The majority of the specific anti-class 3 IgG antibodies were shown to bind to surface-exposed epitopes on the whole bacteria and to belong to IgG1 and IgG3. The highest anti-class 3 IgG peak levels were seen in patients infected with strains of the homologous serotype after vaccination with the meningococcal outer membrane vesicle vaccine, suggesting an anamnestic response. However, these patients were not protected from meningococcal disease after immunization.
Hypoxia Activates Tumor Suppressor p53 by Inducing ATR-Chk1 Kinase Cascade-mediated Phosphorylation and Consequent 14-3-3γ Inactivation of MDMX Protein*

Background: It remains unclear how the hypoxia-ATR-Chk1 pathway induces p53. Results: Hypoxia suppresses MDMX activity via ATR/Chk1 phosphorylation of Ser-367 and subsequent MDMX-14-3-3 interaction, leading to p53 activation. Conclusion: Induction of MDMX-14-3-3 binding accounts for p53 activation by hypoxia. Significance: Our study elucidates a molecular mechanism underlying hypoxia-induced p53 activation. It has been known that p53 can be induced and activated by hypoxia, an abnormal condition that often occurs in rapidly growing solid tumors or when normal tissues undergo ischemia. Although the ATR-Chk1 kinase cascade was associated with hypoxia-induced p53 activation, molecules that directly link this hypoxia-ATR-Chk1 pathway to p53 activation have been elusive. Here, we showed that hypoxia could induce phosphorylation of MDMX at Ser-367 and enhance the binding of this phosphorylated MDMX to 14-3-3γ, consequently leading to p53 activation. A Chk1 inhibitor or knockdown of ATR and Chk1 inhibited the phosphorylation of MDMX at Ser-367 and impaired the binding of MDMX to 14-3-3γ in addition to p53 activation in response to hypoxia. In primary mouse embryonic fibroblast cells that harbor a mutant MDMX, including the S367A mutation, hypoxia also failed to induce the binding of this mutant MDMX to 14-3-3γ and to activate p53 and its direct targets. These results demonstrate that hypoxia can activate p53 through inactivation of MDMX by the ATR-Chk1-MDMX-14-3-3γ pathway.
[Genetic determinants of antibiotic resistance in oropharyngeal streptococci in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and in those with asthma].

AIM To identify oropharyngeal Streptococcus species and to analyze the genetic determinants of antibiotic resistance in patients with asthma and in those with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). MATERIAL AND METHODS An experimental diagnostic Streptopol+ (Lytech Co. LTD) panel based on a multiplex real-time PCR was applied to investigate the representation of antimicrobial resistance genes (mef and ermB) and the species composition of streptococci isolated from oropharyngeal swab samples from 89 patients with stable COPD and from 51 patients with asthma. RESULTS In the stable disease period, the oropharyngeal swabs were found to contain Streptococcus pneumoniae in 7.8% of the patients with asthma and in 6.74% of those with COPD; the common feature of these groups was a tendency towards a severe disease course and recurrent exacerbations requiring antibiotics. S. pyogenus was detected in 42.9% of the oropharyngeal swabs from COPD and asthma patients without exacerbations. The oropharyngeal swabs showed the mef gene in 100% of the patients with asthma and in 100% of those with COPD; the ermB gene was encountered in 91% of the patients with COPD and in 82.4% of those with asthma. The COPD patients displayed a direct correlation between the representation of the ermB gene and sputum production and smoking index. The mef and ermB genes were directly correlated with the frequency of exacerbations in patients with COPD. CONCLUSION The identified streptococci are a reservoir of antimicrobial resistance genetic determinants - the mef and ermB genes encoding the mechanisms of streptococcal macrolide resistance. The representation of the above genes directly correlates with the frequency of exacerbations and the number of antimicrobial drug uses.
A wide-band and good gain flatness class AB power amplifier design for mobile communication

In this study, Class AB power amplifier was designed for use 3G and 4G mobile communication systems. Agilennt EEsof ADS(Advanced Design System) program was used for the design. BLF621-10G model transistor of NXP company was used as active element and Murata brand of coils and capacitors was used as passive elements. As a result of the design, a power amplifier design and simulation with 200 MHz bandwidth at 2.1 GHz was realized. When the designed power amplifier is exited with 17.5 dBm input power, a stable and good gain flatness(±0.36dBm swing in the 20dB dynamic range) was obtained by obtaining 38 dBm oputput power.
Airway Clearance in Bronchiectasis: A Randomized Crossover Trial of Active Cycle of Breathing Techniques versus Acapella®

Background: The efficacy of a new airway clearance device (Acapella®) has not been previously investigated. Active cycle of breathing techniques (ACBT) is the standard airway clearance technique used in patients with bronchiectasis. Objective: The objective of this study was to compare the efficacy of ACBT with Acapella as methods of airway clearance in adults with stable, productive bronchiectasis. Methods: Twenty patients (7 males), age 58 ± 11 years (mean ± SD), FEV1 64 ± 22% predicted with stable (change of not greater than FEV1 10% predicted during 3 months prior to study), productive (history of expectoration of half an egg cup sputum/day) bronchiectasis attended the respiratory clinic on 3 days. Day 1: 40-min training session on ACBT and Acapella. Days 2 and 3: 30-min treatment session of either ACBT or Acapella. Treatment order was determined by a concealed randomization procedure. The following outcomes were measured before and after treatment spirometry, SpO2 and breathlessness by an independent assessor who was blinded to treatment order. Weight of sputum (during treatment plus 30 min after treatment), number of coughs and patient preference were also recorded. Results: No significant differences were found at baseline indicating that patients were stable. No significant differences were found between weight of sputum expectorated with ACBT treatment and weight of sputum expectorated with Acapella treatment – mean difference 0.54 g (95% CI –0.39 to 1.46). A greater proportion of patients preferred Acapella (14/20). Conclusion: Acapella is as effective a method of airway clearance as ACBT and may offer a user-friendly alternative to ACBT for patients with bronchiectasis.
Prediction of oesophageal varices with platelet count/spleen diameter ratio or platelets alone.

We read with great interest the article by Giannini et al on platelet count/spleen diameter ratio or platelets alone as predictors of oesophageal varices ( Gut 2003; 52 :1200–5). As the incidence of chronic liver diseases is growing, we are convinced that the development of non-invasive predictive tools to identify cirrhotic patients with oesophageal varices is of major interest. Several markers have been studied, and among them platelet count is commonly reported to be a good predictor of oesophageal varices. However, in the eight studies already published,1–8 their discriminative power was moderate, with areas under the receiver operating curve (ROC) of 0.70 or less for platelets alone4 and for indexes combining platelets with other markers.1,4,5 Most of these studies included heterogeneous groups of patients, with compensated and decompensated cirrhosis. In our unit, we performed prospectively platelet count and screening upper oesogastroduodenoscopy on the same day in 41 patients with compensated cirrhosis and confirmed the moderate value of platelet count alone (AUROC = 0.70 (0.07); Thabut, data not shown). The major drawback of platelet count is that it can depend on factors other than portal hypertension in cirrhotic patients. To avoid this bias, Giannini et al developed an index based on platelet count/spleen diameter ratio and found far better results than previous studies, with a c index (equivalent to the area under the ROC) of 0.92 for patients with compensated liver cirrhosis. However, we were surprised to see that the use of platelets/spleen diameter ratio did not add significant discrimination to platelet count alone (c index of 0.92 v 0.88) in their population. …
A noise-power-area optimized novel programmable gain and bandwidth instrumentation amplifier for biomedical applications

In this paper, we are presenting a novel programmable gain and bandwidth instrumentation amplifier (PGB-INA) for biomedical applications. By virtue of its programmable gain and bandwidth, it can measure various bio-potentials such as ECG, EMG, EOG, etc. The proposed PGB-INA also features an extremely low input referred noise (1.34 μVrms within the integration bandwidth of 50 mHz to 11 kHz) and high CMRR (84 dB). The design is fabricated in 180 nm mixed-mode CMOS technology. The PgB-INA provides a measured programmable gain and bandwidth of 30 to 40 dB and 100 Hz to 2.7 kHz, respectively. The PGB-INA occupies die area of only 150 μm × 200 μm and consumes 18.3 μΑ current from 1.8 V supply. Various bio-potentials are measured using the proposed PGB-INA such as ECG, EMG and EOG which are also presented in the paper.
dDRAID: A technique for capacity and performance enhancement of RAID storage systems

With the growing technology, need for data storage systems is increasing day by day. Usage of inexpensive disk drives that provides higher disk capacity are less reliable. To increase the performance of the storage systems, multiple disk array are used so that different tasks can be executed concurrently. Different RAID levels have been implemented by researchers and are being used worldwide. All RAID levels requires a lot of storage space. If there is duplication in the data, then storing these duplicated data blocks is a wastage of storage space, as it is not required to store duplicated data blocks again and again. In this paper, we have proposed a new method i.e. dDRAID (data Deduplication over RAID Levels) by implementing the technique of deduplication over RAID levels so as to reduce the amount of storage space in order to provide better performance and reliability with maximum storage space available at least amount of cost involved. Implementation of deduplication over RAID levels in the proposed approach utilizes around 50% to 70% of storage space.
When Women Imbibe

The present research examines how alcohol, or even the illusion of imbibing alcohol, affects women's perceived self-efficacy for avoiding HIV. Women (N= 82) were randomly assigned to one of four conditions in a 2 (alcohol or no alcohol) × 2 (expect alcohol or not) balanced placebo design. After consuming alcoholic or nonalcoholic beverages, participants assessed their self-efficacy for HIV risk prevention. Both alcohol consumption and alcohol expectancy increased women's confidence that they could detect whether a potential partner was HIV positive simply by interacting with the potential partner.
Virtual Property Trade in Online Games

Industry revenue for online games is surging. A unique phenomenon in this market is the significant volume of trade among game users, who exchange real money for virtual goods that do not exist in the real world. The market of virtual goods has two distinctive characteristics: 1) the resold virtual items normally involve no quality loss since the attributes are digitally defined, and 2) the game companies can impose measures to control the trade. Intuitively, game providers should restrict competition from potential traders of virtual goods. However, in practice game providers adopt dramatically different trade policies, ranging from strict prohibition to explicit permission. This paper attempts to analyze the optimal trade policy from a game provider’s perspective. We find that, despite the reduction in unit revenue, the firm may benefit from abandoning a strict trade policy. This is because the players’ decision to participate in the game is influenced by their estimate of the firm’s optimal behavior, which in turn can be strategically affected by the trade policy.
Human Regulatory T Cells Rapidly Suppress T Cell Receptor–Induced Ca2+, NF-κB, and NFAT Signaling in Conventional T Cells

Inhibition of calcium signaling is critical for the suppression of T cell responses by regulatory T cells. Suppressing Calcium Suppresses T Cells Regulatory T cells (Tregs) are required to keep conventional T cells in check, and disruption of the generation or function of Tregs leads to autoimmunity. Conversely, Tregs can have a deleterious effect by dampening antitumor responses of T cells. Thus, improved understanding of the mechanisms by which Tregs inhibit T cell receptor (TCR)–induced responses in conventional T cells would help to develop better therapies against autoimmune disorders and cancer. Schmidt et al. found that TCR-induced, Ca2+-dependent signaling in human conventional T cells that were incubated with Tregs was inhibited compared to that in nonsuppressed T cells, which led to defective activation of the transcription factors NFAT and NF-κB. In contrast, Ca2+-independent signaling was unaffected. Suppressed signaling persisted after the Tregs were removed from cocultures. Increasing the intracellular concentration of Ca2+ in conventional T cells reversed the inhibitory effects of Tregs. Together, these data suggest that inhibition of Ca2+ signaling is critical for the suppressive effects of Tregs. CD4+CD25hiFoxp3+ regulatory T cells (Tregs) are critical mediators of self-tolerance, which is crucial for the prevention of autoimmune disease, but Tregs can also inhibit antitumor immunity. Tregs inhibit the proliferation of CD4+CD25− conventional T cells (Tcons), as well as the ability of these cells to produce effector cytokines; however, the molecular mechanism of suppression remains unclear. Here, we showed that human Tregs rapidly suppressed the release of calcium ions (Ca2+) from intracellular stores in response to T cell receptor (TCR) activation in Tcons. The inhibition of Ca2+ signaling resulted in decreased dephosphorylation, and thus decreased activation, of the transcription factor nuclear factor of activated T cells 1 (NFAT1) and reduced the activation of nuclear factor κB (NF-κB). In contrast, Ca2+-independent events in Tcons, such as TCR-proximal signaling and activation of the transcription factor activator protein 1 (AP-1), were not affected during coculture with Tregs. Despite suppressing intracellular Ca2+ mobilization, coculture with Tregs did not block the generation of inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate in TCR-stimulated Tcons. The Treg-induced suppression of the activity of NFAT and NF-κB and of the expression of the gene encoding the cytokine interleukin-2 was reversed in Tcons by increasing the concentration of intracellular Ca2+. Our results elucidate a previously unrecognized and rapid mechanism of Treg-mediated suppression. This increased understanding of Treg function may be exploited to generate possible therapies for the treatment of autoimmune diseases and cancer.