Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Methylphenidate‐Induced Alterations in Synaptic Vesicle Trafficking and Activity

The psychostimulant, methylphenidate (MPD), is commonly prescribed to treat attention‐deficit hyperactivity disorder. MPD binds to the neuronal dopamine (DA) transporter, where it blocks the inward transport of DA. The present study expands upon these findings by examining the effects of in vivo MPD administration on the vesicular monoamine transporter‐2 (VMAT‐2) in membrane‐associated vesicle and cytoplasmic vesicle subcellular fractions (i.e., those vesicles that do and do not co‐fractionate with synaptosomal membranes after osmotic lysis, respectively) isolated from lysates of rat striatal synaptosomes. The results indicate that a single MPD administration redistributes VMAT‐2 and associated vesicles within nerve terminals away from the synaptosomal membranes and into the cytoplasm, as assessed 1 hour after treatment. DA transport is also increased by MPD in both vesicle fractions (on account of vesicle trafficking in the cytoplasmic vesicles and to kinetic upregulation of the VMAT‐2 in the membrane‐associated vesicles). This, in turn, leads to an increase in the DA content of both vesicle fractions as well as an increase in the velocity and magnitude of K+‐stimulated DA release from striatal suspensions. Taken together, these data show that the trafficking, DA sequestration function, DA content, and exocytotic DA release function of synaptic vesicles can all be pharmacologically manipulated by in vivo MPD treatment. These findings may provide important insights useful for understanding and treating disorders involving abnormal DA transmission including drug abuse, Parkinson's disease, and attention‐deficit hyperactivity disorder.
Comb filters for harmonics control in grid connected power electronic converters applications

This paper presents the method of current higher harmonics control for grid connected power electronic converter by means of a digital comb filter application. The proposed method provides multiple harmonics compensation and simple implementation. The Proportional-Resonant (PR) control was complemented with appropriately tuned comb filter which resulted in reduced mitigation of output current harmonics and reduced THD. Two types of comb filters have been verified as a harmonic compensator namely feedback and feedforward structures. The compensator based on the feedback comb filter included additional casual FIR low-pass filter for increased robustness. Proposed FIR filter is casual therefore its implementation on the digital microprocessors is greatly facilitated. The experimental results have demonstrated the effectiveness of proposed solution for grid connected converter operating in a network with distorted supply voltage.
DNA Damage Recognition for Mammalian Global Genome Nucleotide Excision Repair

As a blueprint for genetic information, the structural and functional integrity of DNA must be maintained during cell division and gamete formation. However, this fundamental principle is threatened continuously by the vulnerability of DNA itself and/or by assaults from endogenously produced agents, such as reactive oxygen species and other metabolites, as well as various environmental agents including ultraviolet light (UV), ionizing radiation and chemical compounds (Friedberg et al., 2006). Among the DNA components, bases in particular are frequently the targets for such insults. Because DNA replication and transcription rely on the formation of specific base pairs, even a subtle change in the base structures can compromise faithful propagation and the expression of genetic information. For instance, replicative DNA polymerases, which exhibit very high intrinsic fidelity, are often blocked at sites where template bases are modified, which can lead to replication fork collapse and consequent chromosomal aberrations and/or cell death. This problem is overcome, at least partly, by translesion DNA synthesis, which is an error-prone process (Friedberg et al., 2005). To minimize the risk of mutagenesis, it is crucial for growing cells to detect and to remove damaged bases as much as possible before replication forks collide with them. Nucleotide excision repair (NER) is a major DNA repair pathway that can eliminate an extremely broad spectrum of base damage. The NER substrates include dipyrimidinic UV photolesions, such as cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers (CPDs) and pyrimidine-pyrimidone (6-4) photoproducts (6-4PPs), intrastrand crosslinks caused by bifunctional alkylating agents (e.g., cisplatin), and bulky base adducts induced by numerous chemical carcinogens (Gillet & Scharer, 2006). The common feature shared by all of these insults does not reside in their chemical structure, but rather in the accompanying distortions of the otherwise regular DNA helical structure. Two subpathways are associated with mammalian NER: global genome NER (GG-NER) and transcription-coupled NER (TC-NER). GG-NER is a general pathway that operates throughout the genome. It minimizes the collision of replication forks with damaged bases and, thereby, contributes to the maintenance of genome integrity (Gillet & Scharer, 2006). TC-NER is specialized to remove transcription-blocking lesions from the template DNA strands, which ensures rapid recovery of transcriptional activity and thus averts apoptosis (Hanawalt & Spivak, 2008). In humans, hereditary defects in NER are associated with several autosomal recessive disorders, including xeroderma
Prognostic factors for patients with newly diagnosed brain metastasis from breast cancer.

AIM This retrospective study determined features associated with brain metastasis (BM) in women with breast cancer. PATIENTS & METHODS A total of 215 initially early breast cancer cases were included. We reviewed files and CT scan images of BM. RESULTS Median age was 47 years and most of our cases were stage III (58.6%), grade III (62.8%), ER negative (62.3%) and nonluminal (59.1%). Median survival after BM was 4 months. Nonluminal, extracranial disease, time to CNS shorter than 15 months, >three brain lesions and poor breast-graded prognostic assessment and recursive partitioning analysis scores were associated with shorter survival. Adding extracranial disease to breast-graded prognostic assessment score also predicted survival after BM. Radiation response was assessed in 57 patients and response tended to be associated with nonluminal phenotype but not with survival. CONCLUSION Factors associated with both initial tumor and clinical features at BM time are associated with shorter survival in our Latinas population.
Quantitative Comparison of Affine Invariant Feature Matching

It is a key problem in computer vision to apply accurate feature matchers between images. Thus the comparison of such matchers is essential. There are several survey papers in the field, this study extends one of those: the aim of this paper is to compare competitive techniques on the ground truth (GT) data generated by our structured-light 3D scanner with a rotating table. The discussed quantitative comparison is based on real images of six rotating 3D objects. The rival detectors in the comparison are as follows: Harris-Laplace, Hessian-Laplace, Harris-Affine, Hessian-Affine, IBR, EBR, SURF, and MSER.
Characteristic Model-Based Adaptive Discrete-Time Sliding Mode Control for the Swing Arm in a Fourier Transform Spectrometer

This paper aims to guarantee high-precision tracking of the desired optical path difference velocity for a Fourier transform spectrometer (FTS) in a space exploration system with time-varying parameters and nonlinear dynamics. A novel characteristic model-based adaptive discrete-time sliding mode control (ADSMC) scheme is proposed. The design of the ADSMC includes characteristic modeling, characteristic model-based discrete-time sliding mode control, and the estimator of the uncertain coefficients. The stability analysis of the ADSMC is also given in this paper. Simulation and experimental results demonstrate that the proposed characteristic model-based ADSMC can achieve high-precision control over a Michelson interferometer-based FTS. The significant advantages of the proposed ADSMC are its robustness and better control performance over the external disturbance and internal parameter uncertainty of the system.
Response to Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy in the Breast Predicts Axillary Nodal Status

We hypothesize that the diminishing role of axillary node dissection (ALND) in early stage breast cancer could be further reduced in patients with advanced disease depending on the response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NC). We reviewed records of patients managed with NC and recorded demographics, tumor characteristics, pre/postoperative axillary nodal status, and NC response. We define a response to NC as follows: T2 tumors at least a 50 per cent reduction in the product of the length and width of the tumor and in T3–4 tumors a reduction in tumor size to less than 2 cm. We defined a negative axillary nodal status as either a negative sentinel node biopsy before or after NC or a negative ALND. We defined a positive axillary nodal status as clinical persistence of nodal disease despite NC or involved nodes determined by ALND. Fisher's exact test was used to evaluate the association between response to NC and nodal status. Over the past 4 years, 35 patients have completed NC and surgical treatment including lymph node assessment. Sixteen cancers demonstrated a response to NC and two (12.5%) had positive lymph nodes. Nineteen cancers failed to respond to NC and 13 (68.4%) had involved lymph nodes. Fisher's exact test shows a strong association between NC response and nodal status (two-tailed P value 0.0016). Patients with advanced locoregional breast cancer that respond to NC are unlikely to benefit from ALND. If this study's findings are confirmed in larger trials, ALND could be limited to patients with advanced locoregional breast cancer unresponsive to NC.
Cardiovascular, Pulmonary and Renal Pathology Critical Protective Role for Annexin 1 Gene Expression in the Endotoxemic Murine Microcirculation

The inflammatory response is a protective process of the body to counteract xenobiotic penetration and injury, although in disease this response can become deregulated. There are endogenous biochemical pathways that operate in the host to keep inflammation under control. Here we demonstrate that the counterregulator annexin 1 (AnxA1) is critical for controlling experimental endotoxemia. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) markedly activated the AnxA1 gene in epithelial cells, neutrophils, and peritoneal, mesenteric, and alveolar macrophages—cell types known to function in experimental endotoxemia. Administration of LPS to AnxA1-deficient mice produced a toxic response characterized by organ injury and lethality within 48 hours, a phenotype rescued by exogenous application of low doses of the protein. In the absence of AnxA1, LPS generated a deregulated cellular and cytokine response with a marked degree of leukocyte adhesion in the microcirculation. Analysis of LPS receptor expression in AnxA1-null macrophages indicated an aberrant expression of Toll-like receptor 4. In conclusion, this study has detailed cellular and biochemical alterations associated with AnxA1 gene deletion and highlighted the impact of this protective circuit for the correct functioning of the homeostatic response to sublethal doses of LPS. (Am J Pathol 2005, 166:1607–1617)
Performance Analysis and Parameter Optimization of CPPS-Based Electromagnetic Railgun System

A fast solving method for the launching process of the electromagnetic railgun and an automatic assignment method for the trigger strategy of the capacitive pulsed power supply (CPPS) are proposed. The accuracy of the solving method and the feasibility of the assignment method are verified through an illustrative example with a 1.8-MJ initially stored energy. On the basis of these methods, parameter optimization in design phase and performance analysis in operation phase are conducted around the projectile muzzle kinetic energy Ek and the system energy transfer efficiency η. To be specific, the single-objective optimal solutions of Ek and η and the biobjective Pareto front of Ek-η are acquired by evolutionary computation. And the influence relations of certain system parameters on Ek and η are acquired by parameter sweep. The research methods and results in this paper have both theoretical and pragmatic values in improving the performance of the CPPS-based electromagnetic railgun system.
Cimetidine enhances delayed-type hypersensitivity responses and serum interleukin (IL)-2, -10, -12, and IL-17 levels after burn injury in an animal model

The immunosuppression that occurs after burn injury causes an increase in susceptibility to infection. The aim was to investigate time-related alterations in various cytokines following thermal injury and to modulate cytokines by use of an immunomodulant, cimetidine. Male Balb/c mice were anesthetized and given a 10% total body surface area full-thickness burn by submerging in 90°C water for 9 s. Time-dependent changes in delayed type hypersensitivity (DTH) and serum levels of the cytokines IL-2, IL-10, IL-12, IL-17 and TGFβ were then assessed at various post-burn day (PBD) timepoints. Effects of 10 mg cimetidine/kg on DTH responses and cytokine levels were evaluated up to PBD 14. In comparison to healthy non-burned control mice, levels of IL-2 and IL-17 significantly decreased at PBD 3, 5, 10, and 14, those of IL-10 at PBD 1, 3, 5, and 10, and those of IL-12 at PBD 1, 3, 5, 10, and 14. Administration of cimetidine significantly augmented the levels of IL-2 (at PBD 3, 5, and 10), IL-10 (at PBD 1 and 5), IL-12 (at PBD 3, 5, 10, and 14), and IL-17 (at PBD 3 and 14) as compared to those in burned counterparts who did not receive drug. In comparison to healthy mice, biphasic alterations were observed regarding TGFβ levels; values were significant decreased and increased at PBD 3 and PBD 14, respectively. Cimetidine significantly diminished the elevated TGFβ levels at PBD 14. Cimetidine also significantly augmented DTH responses at PBD 5, 10, and 14 as compared to responses in non-drug-treated burned hosts. Taken together, the results here showed significant time-dependent changes in serum cytokines levels after burn injury and that cimetidine was able to significantly augment IL-2, IL-10, IL-12, and IL-17 levels as well as DTH responses that are normally suppressed following thermal trauma.
Controlling the cross-polarization effects of metasurfaces from the lowest to the highest possible value

It is demonstrated that cross-polarization effects for metasurfaces can be fully controlled by rotating the metasurface or equivalently the polarization state. It is possible to remove the cross-polar coefficient. Also, it is possible to find the orientation for which the cross-polar coefficient takes the maximum value.
Postreferral Colonoscopy Delays in Diagnosis of Colorectal Cancer: A Mixed-Methods Analysis

Background: Delays in diagnosis of colorectal cancer (CRC) are one of the most common reasons for malpractice claims and lead to poor outcomes. However, they are not well studied. Aims: We used a mixed quantitative-qualitative approach to analyze postreferral colonoscopy delays in CRC patients and explored referring physician's perception of processes surrounding these delays. Methods: Two physician-raters conducted independent electronic health record reviews of new CRC cases in a large integrated safety-net system to determine postreferral colonoscopy delays, which we defined as failures to perform colonoscopy within 60 days of referral for an established indication(s). To explore perceptions of colonoscopy processes, we conducted semistructured interviews with a sample of primary care physicians (PCPs) and used a content analysis approach. Results: Of 104 CRC cases that met inclusion criteria, reviewers agreed on the presence of postreferral colonoscopy delays in 35 (33.7%) cases; &kgr; = 0.99 (95% CI, 0.83–0.99). The median time between first referral and completion of colonoscopy was 123.0 days (range 62.0–938.0; interquartile range = 90.0 days). In about two-thirds of instances (64.8%), the reason for delay was a delayed future appointment with the gastroenterology service. On interviews, PCPs attributed long delays in scheduling to reduced endoscopic capacity and inefficient processes related to colonoscopy referral and scheduling, including considerable ambiguity regarding referral guidelines. Many suggested that navigation models be applied to streamline CRC diagnosis. Conclusion: Postreferral delays in CRC diagnosis are potentially preventable. A comprehensive mixed-methods methodology might be useful for others to identify the steps in the diagnostic process that are in most need for improvement.
Detection of antigens related to hepatitis C virus RNA encoding the NS5 region in the livers of patients with chronic type C hepatitis

Hepatitis C virus is a positive single‐strand RNA virus distantly related to flaviviruses. Therefore RNA replicase, an RNA‐dependent RNA polymerase, may be essential for the replication of hepatitis C virus, as well as other RNA viruses. In this study we synthesized the recombinant polypeptide (HCV‐NS5 antigen) with a 576 bp cDNA encoding a part of the NS5 region of the HCV genome that has the Gly‐Asp‐Asp motif. The antibody against this polypeptide was obtained from rabbit serum. In Western‐blot analysis with NS5 IgG HCV antibody, an 84‐kD protein was clearly detected as a single band in the microsomal fraction but not in the nuclear and mitochondrial fractions or in the cytosol fraction. Immunohistochemically, HCV‐NS5 antigen was clearly stained in the cytoplasm of hepatocytes but not in the nucleus or cell membrane. Moreover, as determined on immunoelectron microscopy, HCV‐NS5 antigen was demonstrated with fine granular distribution along the endoplasmic reticulum but not in other organelles, including the nucleus and mitochondria. Immunoreaction in other cell types was negative. These results indicate that replication of HCV may occur only in hepatocytes and that HCV‐NS5 may be produced in the endoplasmic reticulum of these cells. HCV‐NS5 antigen was stained only in the livers of hepatitis C virus–positive patients but not in sections from patients with chronic type B hepatitis or alcoholic fibrosis. In chronic type C liver disease, the overall detection rate of HCV‐NS5 antigen was 56 (33 in chronic persistent hepatitis, 52 in chronic active hepatitis and 86 in cirrhosis). These results indicate that the replication of HCV may occur more frequently in the advanced than in the early stages of type C hepatitis. Recently, interferon has been used for treatment of chronic type C hepatitis. However, it is very difficult to determine when HCV is eliminated from the liver, even if hepatitis C virus RNA is not detected in serum. Immunostaining of HCV‐NS5 antigen in liver biopsy sections may be helpful in evaluating the cessation of HCV replication. (Hepatology 1994;19:265–272).
Multidisc iplinary Approach to Esophageal and Gastric Cancer

Cancers of the esophagus and stomach are a worldwide problem, constituting the eighth and fourth most common malignancies respectively. These cancers tend to be diagnosed late and typically are advanced at presentation. Surgery traditionally has been the mainstay of treatment, although because of the high rate of locoregional and systemic recurrence with surgery alone, chemotherapy and radiation therapy have become integrated into the management of these cancers. Although exact treatment regimens may vary on a regional level, data suggest that the multimodal approach affords the best hope for improved outcomes in patients who have esophagogastric cancers.
Recent Advances in Immunomodulation and Vaccination Strategies Against Coccidiosis

Abstract Coccidiosis is a ubiquitous intestinal protozoan infection of poultry seriously impairing the growth and feed utilization of infected animals. Conventional disease control strategies rely heavily on chemoprophylaxis, which is a tremendous cost to the industry. Existing vaccines consist of live virulent or attenuated Eimeria strains with limited scope of protection against an ever-evolving and widespread pathogen. The continual emergence of drug-resistant strains of Eimeria, coupled with the increasing regulations and bans on the use of anticoccidial drugs in commercial poultry production, urges the need for novel approaches and alternative control strategies. Because of the complexity of the host immunity and the parasite life cycle, a comprehensive understanding of host-parasite interactions and protective immune mechanisms becomes necessary for successful prevention and control practices. Recent progress in functional genomics technology would facilitate the identification and characterization of host genes involved in immune responses as well as parasite genes and proteins that elicit protective host responses. This study reviews recent coccidiosis research and provides information on host immunity, immunomodulation, and the latest advances in live and recombinant vaccine development against coccidiosis. Such information will help magnify our understanding of host-parasite biology and mucosal immunology, and we hope it will lead to comprehensive designs of nutritional interventions and vaccination strategies for coccidiosis.
Gesture recognition in realistic images: the statistical approach

The paper presents a robust gesture segmentation and recognition scheme in real images using statistical pattern recognition techniques, like data clustering and linear regression. Specifically, a hierarchical clustering algorithm is adopted because it does not require the exact number of sought clusters. Thus the proposed gesture recognition scheme is capable of coping with gestures having a variable number of extended fingers, a common situation in many practical applications like the expanded user-machine interface and the automatic deaf-mute sign language translation. For the mathematical modeling of clusters, a linear regression scheme is used. While in other cases linear regression is a simplification made for time saving, in this case it also ensures representation accuracy due to the geometry of the human hand being mostly composed of linear segments. Statistical linear modeling enables the handling of points with extreme values in comparison to the rest (outliers). As a result, the suggested algorithm is not affected by pixels that have been mistakenly selected by the image processing algorithms.