Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Canine cytogenetics – from band to basepair

Humans and dogs have coexisted for thousands of years, during which time we have developed a unique bond, centered on companionship. Along the way, we have developed purebred dog breeds in a manner that has resulted unfortunately in many of them being affected by serious genetic disorders, including cancers. With serendipity and irony the unique genetic architecture of the 21st century genome of Man’s best friend may ultimately provide many of the keys to unlock some of nature’s most intriguing biological puzzles. Canine cytogenetics has advanced significantly over the past 10 years, spurred on largely by the surge of interest in the dog as a biomedical model for genetic disease and the availability of advanced genomics resources. As such the role of canine cytogenetics has moved rapidly from one that served initially to define the gross genomic organization of the canine genome and provide a reliable means to determine the chromosomal location of individual genes, to one that enabled the assembled sequence of the canine genome to be anchored to the karyotype. Canine cytogenetics now presents the biomedical research community with a means to assist in our search for a greater understanding of how genome architectures altered during speciation and in our search for genes associated with cancers that affect both dogs and humans. The cytogenetics ‘toolbox’ for the dog is now loaded. This review aims to provide a summary of some of the recent advancements in canine cytogenetics.
Reactive Power Compensation Capabilities of V2G-Enabled Electric Vehicles

Vehicle-to-grid (V2G) paradigm is a way of executing services in favor of the grid by electric vehicles (EVs) with bidirectional battery chargers (BBC). The V2G service that has attracted the major interest is the exchange of active power for load leveling purposes. Less attention has received the so-called ancillary V2G services, such as the reactive power compensation. This service is much attractive since it does not involve any exchange of active power and, therefore, leaves the EV batteries charged and does not expose them to additional discharging–charging cycles. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the capabilities of V2G-enabled EVs in executing the reactive power compensation, whether done alone or simultaneously with either battery charging or battery power delivery to the grid. Two topologies of BBC are examined, namely the topologies with the dc side of the charger either directly connected to the battery or through a bidirectional dc–dc converter of buck type. This paper closes by reporting experimental results that corroborate the theoretical findings.
Modeling and throughput analysis of distributed WiFi networks

Throughput performance of WiFi networks, which employ the Carrier Sense Multiple Access (CSMA) technique, can be estimated fairly accurately using Bianchi's analytic solution provided all elements of the network are within the carrier sensing range of one another. However, this solution cannot be applied to networks that are spread over a wide area. A paper by Liew, et al proposed an interesting approximate solution for such networks. While this solution was shown to work well in a variety of conditions, it suffers from a limitation in that it requires all transmitter-receiver pairs to have independent and identically distributed (i.i.d.) transmission times. In this paper, we generalize some of the key results of Liew, et al by removing the restriction on transmission times, which leads to a solution technique that can be used to analyze CSMA networks where different transmitter-receiver pairs operate at different bit rates. We also provide a few examples to illustrate how well this technique works in different settings and compare it with solutions based on other methods.
Optimizing delayed branches

Delayed branches are commonly found in micro-architectures. A compiler or assembler can exploit delayed branches. This is achieved by moving code from one of several points to the positions following the branch instruction. We present several strategies for moving code to utilize the branch delay, and discuss the requirements and benefits of these strategies. An algorithm for processing branch delays has been implemented and we give empirical results. The performance data show that a reasonable percentage of these delays can be avoided.
Population stress, growth deficit, and degenerative joint disease in foragers from South Africa's Later Stone Age

Population stress, growth deficit, and degenerative joint disease in foragers from South Africa’s Later Stone Age L. Elizabeth Doyle Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Department of Anthropology University of Toronto 2015 Harsh conditions during development may alter the human adult phenotype in ways that affect vulnerability to disease and death. This study’s objectives are A) to explore the utility of neural canal size and appendicular osteoarthritis as prospective indicators of developmental stress; B) to test for developmental stress effects in a foraging population with no significant socioeconomic stratification; and C) to explore temporal variation in neuroskeletal size and joint degeneration. The study sample consists of 143 Later Stone Age foragers (M=75, F=64, I=4) from the Cape Floristic Region of southern Africa. 135 cases have radiocarbon dates between 9100 and 560 uncalibrated years BP. Osteoarthritis was quantified with an ordinal scoring procedure. Relationships among 14C date, measures of body and neural canal size, OA, and age at death were explored using logistic and ordinary least squares regression, independence tests, and means contrasts. Age, sex, and body size were controlled where appropriate. A positive relationship is observed between age at death and both body size and ML NC diameter, but reaches statistical significance only in the latter case (OR=1.74, 95% CI=1.08– 2.82). The effect is detected in both sexes, but odds ratios are greater and p values smaller in females (Male OR=1.50, 95% CI=0.82–2.73)5; Female OR=2.14, 95% CI=1.02–4.50). Age at death is the only significant predictor for both presence and severity of osteoarthritis. No significant relationship is observed between age and anteroposterior diameter. Average mediolateral diameter of the neural canal declines between 3000–2000BP and increases slightly afterwards (β1 = −0.83, β2 = 0.68, adjusted R2 = 0.06, SEE=0.99). This quadratic curve is consistent
Biochemical and molecular effects of UCN-01 in combination with 5-fluorodeoxyuridine in A431 human epidermoid cancer cells

Concurrent and pre-exposure of A431 human epidermoid cancer cells to UCN-01, an investigational anticancer drug, with 5-fluoro-–2′-deoxyuridine (FdUrd), which targets thymidylate synthase, produced more than additive cytotoxicty. A 24-h exposure to 10 nM FdUrd led to inhibition of TS, a 2.5-fold increase in total thymidylate synthase protein content, profound dTTP depletion and a 6.3-fold increase in the ratio of dATP to dTTP, but did not cause single-strand breaks in DNA. However, FdUrd enhanced UCN-01-associated DNA strand breaks. Concurrent thymidine exposure led to repletion of dTTP pools, and cytoprotection against FdUrd alone and with UCN-01. UCN-01 arrested cells in G1, decreased the percentage of FdUrd-treated cells in S phase and reduced FdUrd-DNA incorporation, suggesting the latter was not important for cytotoxicity. Delayed induction of high molecular mass DNA fragmentation and poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase cleavage was observed with the combination of UCN-01 and FdUrd. These findings suggest that while FdUrd-mediated deoxynucleotide imbalance alone was insufficient to induce apoptosis in this p53-mutant cell line, it magnified UCN-01's effects, most likely by interfering with DNA repair. The clinical evaluation of UCN-01 combined with 5-fluoropyrimidines may be of interest.
Consequences of peripheral frequency selectivity for nonsimultaneous masking.

The frequency selectivity of the peripheral ear (e.g., at the VIIIth nerve level) is so acute that onset and offset transients in responses to short signals produce a nonnegligible extension of the signal duration. Thus, peripheral excitation patterns produced by signals which were separated in time can overlap and thereby mask each other. We refer to this type of masking as transient masking. Published data on nonsimultaneous masking and the results of two new experiments are compared with the masking that may be expected from filter transients. It is concluded that backward masking is mainly due to interactions at the level of the filter outputs, and that in forward masking, in addition to a short‐term component, a long‐term component is distinguishable. The latter has an exponential decay with a time constant of approximately 75 msec, and is probably related to physiological adaptation effects.
Accuracy evaluation of handwritten signature verification: Rethinking the random-skilled forgeries dichotomy

Traditionally, the accuracy of signature verification systems has been evaluated following a protocol that considers two independent impostor scenarios: random forgeries and skilled forgeries. Although such an approach is not necessarily incorrect, it can lead to a misinterpretation of the results of the assessment process. Furthermore, such a full separation between both types of impostors may be unrealistic in many operational real-world applications. The current article discusses the soundness of the random-skilled impostor dichotomy and proposes complementary approaches to report the accuracy of signature verification systems, discussing their advantages and limitations.
Regulation of the soxRS Oxidative Stress Regulon

SoxR protein, a transcriptional activator of the soxRS (superoxide response) regulon of Escherichia coli, contains autooxidizable [2Fe-2S] centers that are presumed to serve as redox sensors. In vitro transcription experiments previously demonstrated that only the oxidized form is active. Reduced SoxR was detected in overproducing strains by EPR spectroscopy of suspensions of intact cells. Oxidized Fe-S centers were determined by lysing the cells and treating them with the reducing agent sodium dithionite prior to EPR measurements. In uninduced cells, 90% of the SoxR was in the reduced form. Treatment with the redox cycling agents phenazine methosulfate or plumbagin was accompanied by reversible oxidation of the Fe-S centers. Mutant SoxR derivatives that were constitutively activated existed constitutively in an oxidized state. The results indicate the presence of a cellular pathway for countering the autooxidation of SoxR and confirm the hypothesis that induction of the regulon is mediated by a shift in the redox equilibrium of SoxR rather than by assembly of its Fe-S clusters.
Isotopic Fractionation Associated With Symbiotic N(2) Fixation and Uptake of NO(3) by Plants.

Isotopic fractionation associated with N(2) fixation and NO(3) (-) uptake by plants are relevant to the accuracy of estimates of N(2) fixation based on differences in the natural abundance of (15)N between N(2) fixing and nonfixing plants. The isotope effect on N(2) fixation by soybeans (Glycine max [L] Merrill, variety Harosoy) and red clover (Trifolium pratense [L]) was determined from the difference in (15)N abundance between atmospheric N(2) and the total N of plants grown hydroponically with N-free nutrient solution. In soybeans the isotope effect was found to be +0.98 +/- 0.18 per thousand (beta = 0.99902). In clover the isotope effect was +1.88 +/- 0.14 per thousand (beta = 0.99812). The magnitude of these inverse isotope effects is small. However, they would lead to an underestimation of the amount of N(2) fixed, since the N of atmospheric origin which finally appears in the plant is made richer in (15)N by the inverse isotope effects than is atmospheric N(2), and, to that degree, is attributed to soil-derived N in the calculation.Isotopic fractionation associated with NO(3) (-) uptake by plants does not have a critical effect on estimates of N(2) fixation which are based on natural abundance of (15)N since the (15)N abundance of soil-derived N in plants is measured directly (i.e. after the N has undergone fractionation). Nevertheless, such fractionation is of some interest from the point of view of deciding upon the most appropriate sampling time. The isotope effect on NO(3) (-) uptake by a nonnodulating isoline of soybeans (variety Harosoy), marigold (Tagetes erecta [L]) and ryegrass (Lolium perenne [L]) was estimated from the difference between the (15)N abundance of the total N of plants grown hydroponically and that of NO(3) (-) supplied in the medium. It was found to be about -5 per thousand (beta = approximately 1.005).
Design of a phase transformer using coordinate transformation theory

New electromagnetic devices with extraordinary characteristics have been designed by form-invariant coordinate transformation of Maxwell's equations successfully. Here, a phase transformer was designed in this way. The wave front can change from cylindrical to plane through this transformer with a slab structure and the propagation direction of electromagnetic energy in this device can be modulated as designed. Finally, two dimensional finite-element simulations were performed to confirm this result.
Craniofrontonasal Syndrome: Atrial Septal Defect with a Novel EFNB1 Gene Mutation

Craniofrontonasal syndrome (CFNS; OMIM # 304110) is a rare X-linked disorder with greater severity in heterozygous females than in hemizygous males. CFNS is characterized by coronal craniosynostosis, frontal bossing, severe hypertelorism, craniofacial asymmetry, downslant palpebral fissure, broad nasal root, bifid nasal tip, grooved fingernails, curly wiry hair, and abnormalities of the thoracic skeleton. There are very few cases describing association of CFNS with heart defects. We discuss a very rare feature: atrial septal defect in a molecularly confirmed case of CFNS.
A second polymorph of (2E)-1-(4-fluorophenyl)-3-(3,4,5-trimethoxyphenyl)prop-2-en-1-one

The crystal structure of the title compound, C18H17FO4, reported here is a polymorph of the structure first reported by Patil et al. [Mol. Cryst. Liq. Cryst. Sci. Technol. Sect. A (2007), 461, 123–130]. It is a chalcone analog and consists of substituted phenyl rings bonded at the opposite ends of a propenone group, the biologically active region. The dihedral angle between the mean planes of the aromatic rings within the 4-fluorophenyl and trimethoxyphenyl groups is 28.7 (1)° compared to 20.8 (6)° in the published structure. The angles between the mean plane of the prop-2-ene-1-one group and the mean plane of aromatic rings within the 4-fluorophenyl and trimethoxyphenyl groups are 30.3 (4) and 7.4 (7)°, respectively, in contast to 10.7 (3) and 12.36° for the polymorph. While the two 3-methoxy groups are in the plane of the trimethoxy-substituted ring, the 4-methoxy group is in a synclinical [−sc = −78.1 (2)°] or anticlinical [+ac = 104.0 (4)°] position, compared to a +sc [53.0 (4)°] or −ac [−132.4 (7)°] position. While no classical hydrogen bonds are present, weak intermolecular C—H⋯π-ring interactions are observed which contribute to the stability of the crystal packing. The two polymorphs crystallize in the same space group, P21/c, but have different cell parameters for the a, b and c axes and the β angle. A comparison of the molecular geometries of both polymorphs to a geometry optimized density functional theory (DFT) calculation at the B3-LYP/6–311+G(d,p) level for each structure provides additional support to these observations.
Increased Risk of Arthropathies and Joint Replacement Surgery in Patients With Genetic Hemochromatosis: A Study of 3,531 Patients and Their 11,794 First‐Degree Relatives

Genetic hemochromatosis (GH) is an autosomal recessive disease in individuals of Northern and Western European descent. Heterozygosity for the C282Y mutation is common (6–20%). Arthropathy is one of the few complications of GH suggested not to be associated with iron body stores; synovial iron deposition remains in iron‐depleted patients. Previous studies suggest an elevated prevalence of clinical and radiographic signs of arthropathy in patients with GH, and 2 smaller studies suggest a possibly elevated risk of joint replacement surgery, but more mixed results are shown regarding risks with HFE genotype. We therefore assessed the risks of arthropathy and joint replacement surgery in patients with GH and in their first‐degree relatives (FDRs).
Human papillomavirus infections in laryngeal cancer

Although the association and clinical significance of human papillomavirus (HPV) infections with a subset of head and neck cancers, particularly for oropharyngeal carcinoma, has recently been well documented, the involvement of HPV in laryngeal cancer has been inadequately evaluated. Herein we review the currently known associations of HPV infections in diseases of the larynx and their potential for oncogenicity. Using several methods of detection, HPV DNA has been detected in benign (papillomatosis), indolent (verrucous carcinoma), and malignant (squamous cell carcinoma) lesions of the larynx. Consistent with the known oncogenic risk of HPV infections, common HPV types associated with laryngeal papillomatosis include low‐risk HPV types 6 and 11, with high‐risk HPV types 16 and 18 more commonly present in neoplastic lesions (verrucous carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma). Although a broad range of prevalence has been noted in individual studies, approximately 25% of laryngeal squamous cell carcinomas harbor HPV infections on meta‐analysis, with common involvement of high‐risk HPV types 16 (highest frequency) and 18. Preliminary results suggest that these high‐risk HPV infections seem to be biologically relevant in laryngeal carcinogenesis, manifested as having viral DNA integration in the cancer cell genome and increased expression of the p16 protein. Despite this knowledge, the clinical significance of these infections and the implications on disease prevention and treatment are unclear and require further investigation. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck, 2011
Choreography of the Past: Accounting and the Writing of Christine de Pizan

ABSTRACT: This research discusses The Treasure of the City of Ladies, a manuscript written by Christine de Pizan in France during the early 15th century to give guidance on account keeping and budgeting. Christine de Pizan was born in Italy but raised in the French royal court. Her manuscript gives the keeping of accounts and budget management a religious imperative. She describes them as functions where the three divine virtues of reason, rectitude, and justice are applied. Christine de Pizan describes how demonstrating these virtues through the proper keeping of accounts and budgets is a way to demonstrate love of God. Although historical accounting records show how accounting was done, this manuscript explains why it was done. In giving a rationale for single-entry bookkeeping and budgeting, the manuscript provides a source that prevents present-mindedness when attempting to undertake contemporary analyses of accounting records from this historical period.
Learning EP-net for identification and segmentation of scanning electron microscopic image

The vertical structure (VS) in nanosheet is important to electrical application because the VS in nanosheet determines the efficiency of solar cells, electrochemical biosensors and etc. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) provides a way to observe the nanosheet structure; however, the identification of the structure is inaccuracy and when just from human justification. Deep learning gives an efficient method to identification and segmentation in an SEM image, which will enhance the precision. And the identification of VS is beneficial to get the relationship between the VS and electrical application from statistical viewpoint. In this paper we design a deep learning framework to detect the VS in the ZnO nanosheet, which overcomes two issues in the SEM: (i) the intensity inhomogeneity issue; (ii) the interference issue which is caused by other nano structures. And the experimental results exhibit height performance.
Isoform‐selective regulation of glycogen phosphorylase by energy deprivation and phosphorylation in astrocytes

Glycogen phosphorylase (GP) is activated to degrade glycogen in response to different stimuli, to support both the astrocyte's own metabolic demand and the metabolic needs of neurons. The regulatory mechanism allowing such a glycogenolytic response to distinct triggers remains incompletely understood. In the present study, we used siRNA‐mediated differential knockdown of the two isoforms of GP expressed in astrocytes, muscle isoform (GPMM), and brain isoform (GPBB), to analyze isoform‐specific regulatory characteristics in a cellular setting. Subsequently, we tested the response of each isoform to phosphorylation, triggered by incubation with norepinephrine (NE), and to AMP, increased by glucose deprivation in cells in which expression of one GP isoform had been silenced. Successful knockdown was demonstrated on the protein level by Western blot, and on a functional level by determination of glycogen content showing an increase in glycogen levels following knockdown of either GPMM or GPBB. NE triggered glycogenolysis within 15 min in control cells and after GPBB knockdown. However, astrocytes in which expression of GPMM had been silenced showed a delay in response to NE, with glycogen levels significantly reduced only after 60 min. In contrast, allosteric activation of GP by AMP, induced by glucose deprivation, seemed to mainly affect GPBB, as only knockdown of GPBB, but not of GPMM, delayed the glycogenolytic response to glucose deprivation. Our results indicate that the two GP isoforms expressed in astrocytes respond to different physiological triggers, therefore conferring distinct metabolic functions of brain glycogen. GLIA 2015;63:154–162