Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Anthocyanins: Structural characteristics that result in unique metabolic patterns and biological activities

Interest in anthocyanins has increased immensely during the past decade. From these studies, it is clear that anthocyanins have unique properties: Anthocyanins are absorbed intact and absorption can be saturated; acylation of anthocyanins lowers their apparent absorption; anthocyanidin diglycosides in the form of sambubioside or rutinoside impart increased stability to the anthocyanin molecule; and the quantities excreted in urine are less than 0.1% of intake. However, 60–90% of the anthocyanins may disappear from the gastrointestinal tract within 4 h after a meal. What happens to the bulk of the anthocyanins that disappear is not clear. Degradation accounts for a part of this disappearance, but differs for the various aglycones and may be modified further by the nature of the aglycone glycosylation, which further complicates our understanding of this process. Anthocyanins may play an important role in health promotion in terms of obesity prevention, cardiovascular health, anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer effects.
Practical Systems for Personal Thermal Comfort

Conventional centralized HVAC systems cannot provide office workers with personalized thermal comfort because workers in a single zone share a common air handling unit and thus a single air temperature. Moreover, they heat or cool an entire zone even if a single worker is present, which can waste energy. Both drawbacks are addressed by Personal Environmental Control (PEC) systems that modify the thermal envelope around a worker’s body to provide personalized comfort. However, most PEC systems are both expensive and difficult to deploy, making them unsuitable for large-scale deployment. In contrast, we present two novel PEC systems: SPOTlight and its successor OpenTherm. These systems are carefully designed for practical, rapid, and scalable deployment. Intuitive web-based interfaces for user controls allow OpenTherm to be installed in only about 15 minutes, including user training. It is also low-cost (as low as US$80, in volume) because it uses the fewest possible sensors and a lightweight compute engine that can optionally be located in the cloud. In this thesis, we present the detailed design of SPOTlight and OpenTherm systems, and results from a cumulative 81 months of OpenTherm’s operation in 15 offices. In our objective evaluation, we find that OpenTherm improved user comfort by ∼67%. This is in comparison to when only the central HVAC system with no knowledge of occupancy and inability to control offices individually is used.
Further observations of the effects of noradrenaline and dopamine on cortical neurones.

ELK}IAWAD, A.O. & WOODRUFF, G.N. (1975). Studies on the behavioural pharmacology of a cyclic analogue of dopamine following its injection into the brains of conscious rats. Br. J. Pharmac. , 54, 107-114. MILLER, R.J., HORN, A.S. & IVERSEN, L.L. (1974). The action of neuroleptic drugs on dopamine-stimulated adenosine cyclic 3',5'-monophosphate production in rat neostriatum and limbic forebrain. Mol. Pharmac. , 10, 759-766. ROBERTS, PJ. , WOODRUFF, G.N. & POAT, J.A. (1977). Binding of a conformationally restricted dopamine analogue (2-amino-6,7-dihydroxy1 ,2,3,4-tetrahydronaphthalene) to receptors on rat brain synaptic membranes. Mol. Pharmac. , in press. WOODRUFF, G.N. , McCARTHY, P.S. & WALKER, R.J. (1976). Studies on the pharmacology of neurones in the nucleus accumbens of the rat. Brain Res., 115, 233-242.
Comparative development of digestive organs, intestinal disaccharidases and some blood metabolites in broiler and layer-type chicks after hatching.

1. Body weight, digestive organ weights, and activities of disaccharidases (maltase and saccharase) activities were determined from day of hatch to 21 d of age in meat- and egg-type chickens. Blood plasma was analysed for enzyme activities and metabolite concentration. 2. In meat-type chickens food intake and growth rate were about 3-fold those in egg-type chickens. Food efficiency was superior in meat-type chickens throughout the experimental period. 3. Meat-type chickens hatched with disaccharidase activities exceeding those found in their egg-type counterparts 2- to 5-fold. From 7 d of age on, this trend reversed, i.e. activity was much higher in egg-type than in meat-type chickens. 4. Blood plasma amylase activity increased gradually in meat-type chickens and was higher than in egg-type chickens to 14 d of age. No breed differences were observed for alkaline phosphatase or lactate dehydrogenase activities during the experimental period. 5. Blood plasma concentrations of total protein, albumin, glucose, and calcium, were lower in meat than in egg-type chickens.
Cloning and molecular analysis of genes encoding two immunodominant antigens of Ehrlichia risticii.

Ehrlichia risticii, the causative agent of Potomac horse fever, is an obligate intracellular rickettsial organism. To understand the role of 55 and 51 kilodalton immunodominant antigens of E. risticii in strain variation, their genes from the 25-D and 90-12 strains were cloned, sequenced, and expressed in E. coli. Sequence analysis revealed that the gene for the 55 kDa antigen was present in a heat shock operon along with the gene for a ;10 kDa protein. Homology searches indicated that the 55 kDa antigen and the 10 kDa protein were homologues of E. coli GroEL and GroES proteins, respectively. There was no nucleotide sequence difference between the genes of the 55 kDa antigen, nor between the entire operons, from both strains of E. risticii. The sequence-based estimation of the sizes of the putative mature 51 kDa antigens of the 90-12 and 25-D strains were 52.7 kDa and 52.9 kDa, respectively. The 51 kDa antigens from the 90-12 and 25-D strains shared a 98% identity in their deduced amino acid sequences. The difference in some of the amino acids may be responsible for variation in their mobilities on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, where the 51 kDa antigen of the 25-D strain migrates towards a ;2 kDa lower molecular weight region. In Western blots, a 155 kDa protein that appeared to be a trimer product of the 51 kDa antigen was identified. The 55 and 51 kDa antigens were overexpressed in E. coli using a commercial expression system, pRSET A,B,C (Invitrogen Inc., San Diego, CA, U.S. A.). The purified recombinant proteins cross-reacted with antisera to E. canis and E. sennetsu.
Cogrowth and spectral gap of generic groups

L'exposant de cocroissance d'un groupe controle le spectre de la marche aleatoire. Nous prouvons que pour un groupe generique (dans le modele a densite) cet exposant est arbitrairement proche de celui du groupe libre. En outre, cet exposant est stable par quotient aleatoire d'un groupe hyperbolique sans torsion.
A peptide that binds and stabilizes p53 core domain: Chaperone strategy for rescue of oncogenic mutants

Conformationally compromised oncogenic mutants of the tumor suppressor protein p53 can, in principle, be rescued by small molecules that bind the native, but not the denatured state. We describe a strategy for the rational search for such molecules. A nine-residue peptide, CDB3, which was derived from a p53 binding protein, binds to p53 core domain and stabilizes it in vitro. NMR studies showed that CDB3 bound to p53 at the edge of the DNA binding site, partly overlapping it. The fluorescein-labeled peptide, FL-CDB3, binds wild-type p53 core domain with a dissociation constant of 0.5 μM, and raises the apparent melting temperatures of wild-type and a representative oncogenic mutant, R249S core domain. gadd45 DNA competes with CDB3 and displaces it from its binding site. But this competition does not preclude CDB3 from being a lead compound. CDB3 may act as a “chaperone” that maintains existing or newly synthesized destabilized p53 mutants in a native conformation and then allows transfer to specific DNA, which binds more tightly. Indeed, CDB3 restored specific DNA binding activity to a highly destabilized mutant I195T to close to that of wild-type level.
Effects of Glucocorticoids on Hormone-Stimulated Lipolysis and Calcium Uptake in the Adipose Cells

Hormone-induced lipolysis and calcium accumulation were concomitantly reduced in the adipose tissue from adrenalectomized rats. In contrast, both epinephrine-activated lipolysis and calcium accumulation were potentiated when the adipocytes were preincubated with 33 ng/ml of dexamethasone for 3 hrs. These potentiating effects of dexamethasone on epinephrine-stimulated lipolysis were completely inhibited when the adipocytes were preincubated with the steroid and verapamil which inhibited hormone-induced calcium influx into the adipocytes. These findings suggest that the potentiating effect of glucocorticoid on hormone-stimulated lipolysis depends upon its accelerating action on hormone-induced calcium influx into the adipocytes.
ApoB versus non-HDL-cholesterol: Diagnosis and cardiovascular risk management

Abstract The most recent guidelines released by the EAS/ESC and the Canadian Cardiovascular Society (CCS) retain low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) as the primary measure of the atherogenic risk of the apolipoprotein B (apoB) lipoproteins and the primary target of LDL-C lowering therapy. Both organizations endorse non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (non-HDL-C) and apoB as “alternate/secondary” targets, but neither group offers evidence supporting the continued preference of LDL-C as the primary target over non-HDL-C and apoB. Further, both suggest that non-HDL-C and apoB more or less measure the same thing and, therefore, are essentially interchangeable. But what is the evidence that LDL-C should remain the primary target, and are apoB and non-HDL-C mirror images of one another? Furthermore, are estimation of risk and establishment of treatment targets the only relevant issues, or is diagnosis also an essential objective? These are the questions this article will address. Our principal objectives are: (1) to clarify the differences between LDL-C, non-HDL-C, and apoB and to distinguish what they measure; (2) to summarize the evidence relating to LDL-C, non-HDL-C, and apoB as predictors of cardiovascular risk and as targets for treatment; and (3) to demonstrate that diagnosis of atherogenic dyslipoproteinemias should be a fundamental clinical priority.
Life and cancer without telomerase: ALT and other strategies for making sure ends (don’t) meet

Abstract While most cancer cells rely on telomerase expression/re-activation for linear chromosome maintenance and sustained proliferation, a significant population of cancers (10–15%) employs telomerase-independent strategies, collectively dubbed Alternative Lengthening of Telomeres (ALT). Most ALT cells relax the usual role of telomeres as inhibitors of local homologous recombination while maintaining the ability of telomeres to prohibit local non-homologous end joining reactions. Here we review current concepts surrounding how ALT telomeres achieve this new balance via alterations in chromatin landscape, DNA damage repair processes and handling of telomeric transcription. We also discuss telomerase independent end maintenance strategies utilized by other organisms, including fruitflies and yeasts, to draw parallels and contrasts and highlight additional modes, beyond ALT, that may be available to telomerase-minus cancers. We conclude by commenting on promises and challenges in the development of effective anti-ALT cancer therapies.
Procedure for detection of and response to Distributed Denial of Service cyber attacks on complex enterprise systems

The increasing frequency, rising costs, and growing sophistication of cyber attacks on DoD, agency and commercial enterprise systems are dramatically reducing the quality of end-user services and compromising mission effectiveness. Of those attacks, one of the more severe is Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) through which an attacker can disrupt, and possibly shutdown, local network enclaves and global net-centric enterprise systems. Previous attempts to overcome this threat include intrusion detection and prevention systems (IDS/IPS), firewalls, and packet scanning software. However, none of these approaches individually achieves prevention or provides sufficient countermeasures to overcome and resolve DDoS threats. This paper presents a detailed procedure for identifying both the on-set of DDoS attacks and corresponding countermeasures to prevent or limit their effects. This procedure applies a hybrid approach that adapts to changing DDoS attack scenarios. Concrete examples provided for each step of the procedure identify the key tools to proactively prevent or respond to DDoS events. Simulated results demonstrate the effectiveness of the procedure for a representative DDoS attack scenario.
Characterization of an amylase-binding component of Streptococcus gordonii G9B

The goal of the present study was to begin characterizing the amylase-binding component(s) on the surface of Streptococcus gordonii G9B. Alkali extracts but not phenol-water extracts of this bacterium inhibited 125I-amylase binding to S. gordonii G9B. To identify the bacterial components involved in amylase binding, the alkali extract was subjected to affinity chromatography on amylase-Sepharose. Immunoblotting with a rabbit antiserum against S. gordonii G9B revealed that a 20-kDa streptococcal component was eluted from the amylase-Sepharose with 1% sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), 2 M KSCN, or 0.1 M sodium citrate buffer, pH 4.5. Subsequently, the 20-kDa component was prepared from alkali extracts by electroelution from preparative SDS electrophoresis or by gel filtration chromatography. This component was trypsin sensitive, and an antibody raised against it inhibited the binding of 125I-amylase to S. gordonii G9B. Indirect immunofluorescence microscopy and immunogold electron microscopy demonstrated that both bound amylase and the 20-kDa component were localized to the cell division septum on dividing cells or to polar zones on single cells. In addition, exponentially growing bacteria bound more 125I-amylase than stationary-phase cells did. Collectively, these results suggest that a 20-kDa amylase-binding component is present on the surface of the nascent streptococcal cell wall.
Limitation and challenges of TCP in Mobile ad hoc Networks

Transmission control protocol (TCP) is a transport layer protocol which is basically designed for wired networks. However, it is not performing well in multi-hop wireless networks especially Mobile Ad-hoc Network (MANET). Dynamic topology, multi-hop architecture, high errors ratio, channel contentions, inability to differentiate congestion and non-congestion losses, slow errors recovery process, security shortcomings and inefficient packet ordering mechanism are such limitations and challenges of TCP in multi-hop wireless networks, which are affecting the efficiency and reduce the chances of overall multi-hop wireless network optimization. There is a need either to propose an entire new transport layer protocol for such multi-hop wireless networks, or cross layer approach can be a good candidate solution. In this article we discuss the challenges and limitation with possible directions for TCP improvements. This article will serve the purpose of a basic guideline for the multi-hop wireless TCP researchers.
Associations between stratospheric variability and tropospheric blocking

[1] There is widely believed to be a link between stratospheric flow variability and stationary, persistent “blocking” weather systems, but the precise nature of this link has proved elusive. Using data from the ERA-40 Reanalysis and an atmospheric general circulation model (GCM) with a well-resolved stratosphere (HadGAM), it is shown that there are in fact several different highly significant associations, with blocking in different regions being related to different patterns of stratospheric variability. This is true in both hemispheres and in both data sets. The associations in HadGAM are shown to be very similar to those in ERA-40, although the model has a tendency to underestimate both European blocking and the wave number 2 stratospheric variability to which this is related. Although the focus is on stratospheric variability in general, several of the blocking links are seen to occur in association with the major stratospheric sudden warmings. In general, the direction of influence appears to be upward, as blocking anomalies are shown to modify the planetary stationary waves, leading to an upward propagation of wave activity into the stratosphere. However, significant correlations are also apparent with the zonal mean flow in the stratosphere leading the occurrence of blocking at high latitudes. Finally, the underestimation of blocking is an enduring problem in GCMs, and an example has recently been given in which improving the resolution of the stratosphere improved the representation of blocking. Here, however, another example is given, in which increasing the stratospheric resolution unfortunately does not lead to an improvement in blocking.
Prevalence of fungi in the conjunctival sac of clinically normal sheep.

Conjunctival swabs were obtained from both eyes of 50 healthy sheep to identify the fungal flora. Data were analyzed for effect of age and sex. Out of 100 samples cultured, 18 (18%) showed fungal growth with predominance of the genus Cladosporium (38.89%). Other isolated fungal genera were Penicillium (16.67%), Rhodotorula (16.67%), Aspergillus (16.67%) and Curvularia (11.10%). There was no significant effect of sex and age on frequency of fungal isolation. Results showed that fungi are not prevalent on the ocular surface of healthy sheep.
Tyrosine kinase inhibitors as modulators of ATP binding cassette multidrug transporters: substrates, chemosensitizers or inducers of acquired multidrug resistance?

Introduction: Anticancer tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) are small molecule hydrophobic compounds designed to arrest aberrant signaling pathways in malignant cells. Multidrug resistance (MDR) ATP binding cassette (ABC) transporters have recently been recognized as important determinants of the general ADME-Tox (absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion, toxicity) properties of small molecule TKIs, as well as key factors of resistance against targeted anticancer therapeutics. Areas covered: The article summarizes MDR-related ABC transporter interactions with imatinib, nilotinib, dasatinib, gefitinib, erlotinib, lapatinib, sunitinib and sorafenib, including in vitro and in vivo observations. An array of methods developed to study such interactions is presented. Transporter–TKI interactions relevant to the ADME-Tox properties of TKI drugs, primary or acquired cancer TKI resistance, and drug–drug interactions are also reviewed. Expert opinion: Based on the concept presented in this review, TKI anticancer drugs are considered as compounds recognized by the cellular mechanisms handling xenobiotics. Accordingly, novel anticancer therapies should equally focus on the effectiveness of target inhibition and exploration of potential interactions of the designed molecules by membrane transporters. Thus, targeted hydrophobic small molecule compounds should also be screened to evade xenobiotic-sensing cellular mechanisms.
Information technologies: when will they make it into physicians' black bags?

CONTEXT Physicians in the United States are only slowly adopting information technology (IT) tools, despite studies demonstrating their clinical benefits. More is known about IT use within institutional settings than by individual physicians. OBJECTIVES This study investigates physicians' current use of, future plans for, and perceived barriers to adopting electronic medical records (EMRs), computerized prescribing and order entry, clinical decision support systems, and electronic communication (email) with other physicians and with patients. DESIGN Self-administered mail surveys were completed between March and May 2003 among a national random sample of physicians involved in direct patient care of adults. A total of 1837 surveys were returned for a response rate of 52.8%. RESULTS Physicians most commonly use IT for billing. For clinical management, the most common tool is computerized access to laboratory results (59%). Other tools are less prevalent: Twenty-seven percent of respondents use EMRs routinely or occasionally; 27% prescribe or order tests electronically; and 12% receive electronic alerts about potential drug-prescribing problems. Only 24% of surveyed physicians practice in a "high-tech" office setting. Physicians in groups of 50 or more are significantly more likely to use any IT tools and to practice in a high-tech office, as compared with physicians in solo practice (odds ratio = 7.7). The top 3 barriers to adoption of IT are start-up costs (56%), lack of uniform standards (44%), and lack of time (39%). CONCLUSION Most physicians do not use EMRs and related technologies. Adoption is uneven, and a technologic divide exists between physicians depending on their practice environment and mode of compensation. Cost remains the most important barrier to adoption. Attention needs to be focused on policies and business models that will make IT tools accessible and affordable to all physicians.
Mucosal IL‐12 gene delivery inhibits allergic airways disease and restores local antiviral immunity

Allergic asthma strongly correlates with airways inflammation driven by interleukin (IL)‐4 and IL‐5 secreted by allergen‐specific CD4+ T cells. It is possible that over‐production of these factors in the lungs may render asthmatic individuals less able to resolve virus infection of the respiratory tract by down‐regulating type 1 cytokine‐driven immune responses. IL‐12 is important for the establishment of cell‐mediated immunity (CMI) and may also inhibit responses driven by type 2 cytokine production. Sustained expression of IL‐12 in the airways may, therefore, represent an effective preventive treatment or therapy for allergic asthma and any adverse consequences of excessive production of type 2 cytokines for the development of local CMI. Here, we show that allergic responses in airways profoundly inhibit the development of antiviral CMI in mice following local immunization with vaccinia virus (VV) leading to persistent lung infection. However, mucosal gene transfer of IL‐12 in the lung, via a VV vector, inhibited local type 2 cytokine production, both prevented the development of allergic disease and airways hyperreactivity in a manner largely dependent on endogenous interferon‐γ expression and suppressed established allergic disease, and reversed the suppression of local antiviral CMI responses resulting in rapid resolution of virus infection. Our study provides the first direct demonstration that allergic conditions, particularly in airways, may inhibit immune responses to concomitant virus infection and suggests that transient mucosal IL‐12 gene therapy represents an effective approach to both the prevention and treatment of allergic airways disease and associated immunosuppression of CMI.