Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Masked hypertension in adults

A body of evidence indicates that masked hypertension is a significant predictor of cardiovascular disease, but how to identify these patients is still a matter of dispute. Data obtained in several cross-sectional studies have demonstrated that masked hypertension is associated with increased left ventricular mass index and carotid intima–media thickness, and impaired large artery distensibility. Furthermore, in longitudinal studies, masked hypertension was a strong predictor of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Several factors that can selectively raise ambulatory blood pressure increase the likelihood of having masked hypertension. These include younger age, smoking, alcohol use, contraceptive use in women, sedentary habits and central obesity. In addition, masked hypertension is more common in individuals with high-normal clinic blood pressure or transiently elevated blood pressure. Increased reactivity to daily life stressors and behavioural factors are other important predictors of masked hypertension. In clinical practice, masked hypertension should be searched for in individuals who are more likely to have this condition or are at increased risk of cardiovascular events including those with coronary, cerebrovascular or kidney disease, patients with diabetes and individuals with a high cardiovascular risk profile. To determine whether the use of ambulatory blood pressure monitoring is cost-effective in these individuals, further research is needed.
Severity distribution of diabetic macular edema at the time of diagnosis.

BACKGROUND The International Clinical Diabetic Macular Edema Disease Severity Scale grades retinal thickening according to its distance from the macular center, but its definitions have not been standardized quantitatively. We undertook this study to identify the severity distribution of diabetic macular edema at the time of diagnosis. We used optical coherence tomography (OCT) in a standardized manner and identified the proportion of eyes that required immediate treatment. METHODS We carried out an observational, prospective, cross-sectional, descriptive study. Diabetic patients with a diagnosis of clinically significant macular edema were evaluated. Severity levels according to the International Clinical Scale were operatively defined, guided by the thickening location in a 6-mm OCT fast macular map, as mild (thickening outside the 3-mm circle), moderate (thickening outside the 1-mm circle), and severe (thickening within the 1-mm circle). The proportion and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were identified for each severity level. RESULTS We studied 118 eyes (mean ± SD: 59.9 ± 8.3 years). Seventy one eyes had nonproliferative retinopathy (60.1%), 94 eyes (79.7%) had focal macular edema, and 24 eyes (20.3%) showed diffuse edema. Edema severity was mild in 27 eyes (22.9%, 95% CI 15.3-30.5), moderate in 23 (19.5%, 95% CI 12.3-26.6) and severe in 68 (57.6% 95% CI 48.7-66.5). CONCLUSIONS Standardization of the International Clinical Scale using OCT showed that the most common severity level of macular edema was severe; the minimum expected proportion of eyes with high risk of visual loss secondary to severe edema approached 50%. Opportune detection needs reinforcement because more than half of these eyes require immediate treatment.
Is a Big Entrant a Threat to Incumbents? The Role of Demand Substitutability in Competition Among the Big and the Small

We establish a model of market competition between large and small firms and investigate the way in which demand substitutability affects how the entry of big firms impacts incumbents. We focus on the relative strength of two opposing effects of entry on large incumbent firmsâ€™ demand: the direct substitution effect among large firms (negative) and the indirect feedback effect through the change in small firmsâ€™ aggregated behavior (positive). If the substitutability between large and small firms is sufficiently high, the indirect effect dominates the direct effect and large incumbentsâ€™ equilibrium prices and profits increase. We show that welfare effects are ambiguous, which calls for careful assessment when regulating large firmsâ€™ entry.
Molecular Interactions of Yeast Neo1p, an Essential Member of the Drs2 Family of Aminophospholipid Translocases, and Its Role in Membrane Trafficking within the Endomembrane System

ABSTRACT Neo1p is an essential yeast member of the highly conserved Drs2 family of P-type ATPases with proposed aminophospholipid translocase activity. Here we present evidence that Neo1p localizes to endosomes and Golgi elements. In agreement with that finding, the temperature-sensitive neo1-37 and neo1-69 mutants exhibit defects in receptor-mediated endocytosis, vacuole biogenesis, and vacuolar protein sorting. Furthermore, neo1 mutants accumulate aberrantly shaped membranous structures most likely derived from vacuoles and the endosomal/Golgi system. At permissive temperatures, HA-Neo1-69p, like wild-type Neo1p, is stable and associates with endosomes. In contrast, HA-Neo1-37p is rapidly degraded and is predominantly retained within the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). Thus, the two neo1 alleles affect the stability and localization of the mutant polypeptides in different ways. A C-terminally truncated and a C-terminally epitope-tagged version of Neo1p are nonfunctional and also mislocalize to the ER. In agreement with a role within the endomembrane system, Neo1p exhibits genetic and physical interactions with Ysl2p, a potential guanine nucleotide exchange factor for Arl1p. Interestingly, deletion of ARL1 rescues the temperature sensitivity of neo1-37 and neo1-69. We demonstrate that Arl1p in its myristoylated and GTP-bound form is responsible for the inhibitory effect. Thus, Neo1p, Ysl2p, and Arl1p represent three proteins that collaborate in membrane trafficking within the endosomal/Golgi system.
Characterization of CPP32‐Like Protease Activity Following Apoptotic Challenge in SH‐SY5Y Neuroblastoma Cells

Abstract: We characterized the activation of interleukin‐1β‐converting enzyme (ICE)‐like proteases (caspases) in human neuroblastoma cells (SH‐SY5Y) following challenge with staurosporine, an established agent known to induce apoptosis. Time course analyses of lactate dehydrogenase release detected a significant increase in cell death as early as 6 h that continued at least until 24 h following staurosporine treatment. Western blot analyses using anti‐poly(ADP‐ribose) polymerase (anti‐PARP) and anti‐CPP32 antibodies revealed proteolytic processing of CPP32 (an ICE homologue) as well as fragmentation of PARP as early as 3 h following staurosporine challenge. Furthermore, the hydrolysis of the CPP32 substrate acetyl‐DEVD‐7‐amido‐4‐methylcoumarin was detected as early as 3 h and became maximal at 6 h after staurosporine challenge, suggesting a delayed and sustained period of CPP32‐like activation. In addition, we used the first immunohistochemical examination of CPP32 and PARP in cells following an apoptotic challenge. The localization of CPP32 in untreated SH‐SY5Y cells was exclusively restricted to the cytoplasm. Following staurosporine challenge there was a condensing of CPP32 immunofluorescence from the cytoplasm to a region adjacent to the plasma membrane. In contrast, PARP immunofluorescence was evenly distributed in the nucleus in untreated SH‐SY5Y cells and on staurosporine challenge was found to be associated with condensed chromatin. It is important that a pan ICE inhibitor [carbobenzoxy‐Asp‐CH2OC(O)‐2,6‐dichlorobenzene] was able to attenuate lactate dehydrogenase release and PARP and CPP32 cleavage and altered immunohistochemical staining patterns for PARP and CPP32 following staurosporine challenge.
Elevated levels of prostate‐specific antigen (PSA) in prostate cancer cells expressing mutant p53 is associated with tumor metastasis

The underlying basis for rising levels of prostate‐specific antigen (PSA) in prostate cancer is not fully understood, but attention has turned to the possibility that loss of normal p53 function might be directly involved. We have investigated the relationship between p53 function and PSA expression using in vitro and in vivo approaches. Three prostate cancer–derived p53 mutants (F134L, M237L, R273H) were introduced into LNCaP prostate cancer cells and stable transfectants established. Expression of mutant p53 was demonstrated by Western blot analysis, inactivation of wtp53 function, and a loss of p53‐dependent responses to DNA damage induced by UV‐irradiation and cisplatin. Levels of PSA mRNA and secreted protein were determined by RT‐PCR and Western blotting, respectively. Serine protease activity was assessed using an esterase assay. In vivo effects of mutant p53 expression were examined after orthotopic implantation into prostates of nude mice. Expression of all p53 mutants was associated with elevated PSA mRNA and secreted PSA protein. In a representative line, mutant p53 was also associated with increased PSA protease‐like activity compared with a control line expressing wildtype p53. Overall PSA levels, and PSA levels in serum from mice bearing tumors derived from cells expressing mutant p53, were increased compared with levels in mice bearing tumors derived from control cells. In addition, the tumors derived from cells with mutant p53 had increased vascularization and induced lymph node metastases. These data provide in vitro and in vivo support for the notion that p53 mutations directly contribute to increased levels of serum PSA, and are associated with more aggressive tumors. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Expression of CD95 (Fas) in sun‐exposed human skin and cutaneous carcinomas

Carcinomas of the skin are by far the most common human malignancies. Continuous exposure to ultraviolet (UV) light facilitates the development of precancerous lesions (actinic keratosis [AK]) that may progress to invasive squamous carcinomas. Apoptosis, triggered by the activation of CD95 (Fas), is one of the most important defense mechanisms against UV light–induced carcinogenesis in experimental models, but the dynamics of CD95 expression in patients with sun‐induced lesions are largely unknown.
The Effect of Foreign Direct Investment on Economic Growth of Developing Countries: The Case of Zambia

Generally speaking, Foreign Direct Investment is undeniably necessary in almost all economies and can add to a country’s GDP when it is injected into an economy with a deeper view of the current economic situation as well as the assessment of appropriate variables of the economy in question. When dealing with developing countries like Zambia, careful measures should particularly be taken as the benefits of FDI can be illusionary. It is important to ensure that FDI is employed into a developing economy at the right time, with the right conditions, appropriate institutions and for the Review Article Libanda et al.; BJEMT, 16(2): 1-15, 2017; Article no.BJEMT. 30175 2 right reasons. Foreign Direct Investment, just like any other type of cash inflow, is said to add to a nation’s economic growth. In spite of the known numerous advantages that FDI brings to the host country, the level to which FDI benefits its recipients or the quality of benefits it brings into the host country is questionable in the case where the host country is a developing economy. It is vital to realize that the benefits that FDI brings to host countries can take many other forms and should be carefully examined before considering its injection into an economy. From another perspective, the flexibility that Foreign Direct Investment has during financial crises of an economy makes it to be considered as a private capital inflow of choice by multitudes. This study proves that FDI has similarities with other better capital flow approaches which are injected more indirectly into another nation’s economy (developing nation in this case) by using instruments and are more beneficial and less owner biased. Because Zambia and many more developing countries are more promising, have abundant minerals and have good, flexible institutions and policies, capital inflow to Zambia in the recent past has become increasingly dominated by FDI. Should Zambia encourage FDI while demoting other forms of cash flows? This research seeks to investigate the downside effects of FDI on aspects of the economy like employment sector and to analyze whether it is the best alternative of capital inflow for Zambia as a developing nation and if it can be replaced by better forms of capital inflow. This paper further answers the questions: “does FDI generally benefit a developing country like Zambia? ” “To what extent does FDI actually benefit developing economies? ” “Are there any other forms of capital inflows that can replace FDI in a developing economy like Zambia? ”
Greater trochanter tracking in ultrasound imaging during gait

We are developing a new system called Computer-Aided Tracking and Motion Analysis with Ultrasound System (CAT & MAUS) to dynamically describe joint kinematics for pathology research on musculoskeletal conditions. It is essential to have computer-aided bony structure tracking in ultrasound (US) sequences in such a system for practical use. However, unlike CT or MRI imaging, the appearance of bony landmarks in US imagery can be distorted by the image formation process. In this paper, a target patch tracking approach is presented for tracking ultrasound landmarks. The tracker is based on compressed intensity features which are stored in k-dimensional (K-D) trees for fast and discriminatory image patch searches. Dynamic programming is used to find the optimal track through the ultrasound video. We find that our method is more accurate than the mean-shift and the KLT trackers for bony structures, especially with large movements.
Integrated watershed management in the Bow River basin, Alberta: experiences, challenges, and lessons learned

Abstract Alberta’s Bow River is heavily engineered and hard-working, supplying water to almost 1.5 million people, while meeting the needs of hydropower, agriculture, tourism and irrigation industries upstream and downstream of Calgary. Working together since 1992, the Bow River Basin Council, a voluntary multi-stakeholder organization, with government representatives at the table, has developed watershed management plans as decision-support tools; provided a forum for relationship and trust building; shared information; and co-generated knowledge. Difficult challenges became opportunities for collaborative learning by doing. The processes involved in integrated watershed management were as important as the plans that emerged. Implementing plan objectives remains the greatest challenge.
Induction of cell surface peptidase activity: A global response to cell stress correlated with apoptosis

We have previously characterized the stimulation of HeLa cell surface peptidase activity directed toward a nonapeptide substrate in response to low fluences of ultraviolet irradiation [Brown et al. (1993): J Cell Biochem 51:102–115]. To explore the hypothesis that this comprised a global response to cell stress featuring the interruption of DNA synthesis, a variety of agents affecting macromolecular synthesis were applied to HeLa cell cultures. Actinomycin D, 5,6‐dichloro‐1 β‐ribofuranosyl benzimadazole, mitomycin C, ultraviolet light, and cycloheximide at doses which inhibited cell growth, but fell short of increasing the proportion of cells which had lost cell membrane impermeability to trypan blue, resulted in the concentration dependent increase in both amino‐ and endo‐peptidase activities of intact HeLa cell cultures. γ‐Irradiation, despite inhibiting an increase in cell number over a 20‐h observation period, had no effect on the expressed level of cell surface peptidase activity nor did the accumulation of cells in S or G2 phase by thymidine parasynchronization. Some of these agents were found to increase the proportion of cells in the culture undergoing apoptosis (programmed cell death), and a strong correlation was found between the extent of apoptosis and the degree of elevation in cell surface peptidase activity. Higher concentrations of perturbants in some instances increased the percentage of cells that were nonviable and an associated release of intracellular proteases overwhelmed the linear correlation with apoptotic cells. The present data do not distinguish between a homogeneous elevation of surface peptidase activity in all cells of treated cultures or the heterogeneous increase in only preapoptotic or apoptotic cells. Since sunburn of the skin increases both the occurrence of apoptotic keratinocytes (sunburn cells) in the affected epidermis and the release of membrane bound cell activators such as transforming growth factor α, it is suggested by way of extrapolation of these in vitro results, that the increase in cell surface proteolytic activity plays an integral part in the reparative responses of the epidermal cells in vivo.
Predicting post-operative pain: Still a long way to go!

There have been tremendous advances in understanding the physiology, signaling pathways and biochemical transmission of pain in the last two decades. This has resulted in novel medications for alleviating pain (COX-2 inhibitors etc.) and alternate drug delivery routes (neuraxial, intra-articluar, transdermal). However, post-operative pain continues to be under treated. [1-4] One of the important reasons for this is individual variation in pain perception and tolerance. Post-operative pain could be better managed if the anesthesiologists or pain physicians could predict the “quantum” of pain not only for different types of surgeries but also for individual patients. One of the areas of interest and research for all physicians dealing with pain relief is the prediction of intensity of post-operative pain. If possible, individualized post-operative pain management strategies could be “tailor made” for patients with low thresh-hold for pain. Not only this would make the patient more comfortable but would decrease the incidence of all disorders associated with over or under treating pain.
Sensor network for DC distribution for energy-efficient data centers and future buildings

This paper describes the work carried out on the implementation of a wireless sensor network that was created for a data center using the 6LoWPAN communication protocol which monitors power consumption readings at various nodes in the system. A direct current (DC) network controller was designed to distribute DC energy through the system and provide power to a data center load in future buildings. The controller makes control actions based on sensor network data. An energy measuring accuracy of 98.2% was achieved. A wireless sensor network consisting of a host node and two client nodes was implemented with 6LoWPAN. A DC network controller that provides continuous power to a data center load was implemented with an automated control method. A graphical user interface interfaced with the controller displays power consumption at different nodes in the system, stores the readings in a database and plots power usages periodically. An automated control algorithm with various control actions was developed on the control unit for the user to operate the data center. Such a system is not only limited to data centers, but can also be used in monitoring/control for future buildings. These will become more widespread with the advent of IoT and big data that will be generated from IoT.
Structure of a non-psychrophilic trypsin from a cold-adapted fish species.

The crystal structure of cationic trypsin (CST) from the Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) has been refined at 1.70 A resolution. The crystals are orthorhombic, belong to space group P212121, with lattice parameters a = 65.91, b = 83.11 and c = 154.79 A, and comprise four molecules per asymmetric unit. The structure was solved by molecular replacement with AMoRe and refined with X-PLOR to an R value of 17.4% and Rfree of 21.5% for reflections |F| > 3sigmaF between 8.0 and 1.7 A resolution. The four non-crystallographic symmetry (NCS) related molecules in the asymmetric unit display r.m.s. deviations in the range 0.31-0.74 A for main-chain atoms, with the largest differences confined to two loops. One of these is the calcium-binding loop where the electron-density indicates a calcium ion for only one of the four molecules. In order to find structural rationalizations for the observed difference in thermostability and catalytic efficiency of CST, anionic salmon trypsin (AST) and bovine trypsin (BT), the three structures have been extensively compared. The largest deviations for the superimposed structures occur in the surface loops and particularly in the so-called 'autolysis loop'. Both the salmon enzymes possess a high methionine content, lower overall hydrophobicity and enhanced surface hydrophilicity, compared with BT. These properties have so far been correlated to cold-adaptation features, while in this work it is shown that the non-psychrophilic cationic salmon trypsin shares these features with the psychrophilic anionic salmon trypsin.
‘Hot’ vs. ‘cold’ behavioural‐cognitive styles: motivational‐dopaminergic vs. cognitive‐cholinergic processing of a Pavlovian cocaine cue in sign‐ and goal‐tracking rats

Discrete Pavlovian reward cues acquire more potent incentive motivational properties (incentive salience) in some animals (sign‐trackers; STs) compared to others (goal‐trackers; GTs). Conversely, GTs appear to be better than STs in processing more complex contextual cues, perhaps reflecting their relatively greater bias for goal‐directed cue processing. Here, we investigated the activity of two major prefrontal neuromodulatory input systems, dopamine (DA) and acetylcholine (ACh), in response to a discrete Pavlovian cue that was previously paired with cocaine administration in STs and GTs. Rats underwent Pavlovian training in which light cue presentations were either paired or unpaired with an intravenous cocaine infusion. Following a 10‐day abstinence period, prefrontal dialysates were collected in STs and GTs during cue presentations in the absence of cocaine. In STs, the cue previously paired with cocaine significantly increased prefrontal DA levels. DA levels remained elevated over baseline across multiple cue presentation blocks, and DA levels and approaches to the cue were significantly correlated. In STs, ACh levels were unaffected by cue presentations. In contrast, in GTs, presentations of the cocaine cue increased prefrontal ACh, but not DA, levels. GTs oriented towards the cue at rates similar to STs, but they did not approach it and elevated ACh levels did not correlate with conditioned orientation. The results indicate a double dissociation between the role of prefrontal DA and ACh in STs and GTs, and suggest that these phenotypes will be useful for studying the role of neuromodulator systems in mediating opponent behavioural‐cognitive styles.
Intelligent health monitoring system for three phase induction motor using infrared thermal image

This paper deals with a new intelligent system which monitors the health condition of a three phase induction motor by using infrared thermal images. Here two systems, real time and off line, are proposed to monitor the temperature variations and analyze the hot regions beyond the rated temperature in the three phase induction motor using infrared thermograms. This system helps to monitor the variation of temperature at the different parts of the induction motor. Abnormal temperature rise in any parts indicates the faults. This technique helps to prevent the parts of induction motor before any catastrophe would happen in the future. The color based segmentation technique is used to identify abnormal hot regions in the thermograms of three phase induction motor. A changing red color intensity algorithm is also implemented to recognize the hot spots and also the change in hotness in a particular area of induction motor to declare the health of that particular area. Similarly the conditions of various areas in the machine all together monitor the overall health of the Induction motor.