Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
In vivo effects of endothelin A- and B-receptor antagonists in guinea pigs.

Endothelin (ET)-1, a novel 21-amino acid constrictor peptide, has been recently reported to have a potential pathophysiological role in asthma. We hypothesized that ET-1 might affect guinea pig lung via different ET receptor subtypes, i.e., ETA and ETB, in vivo. To test this hypothesis, we investigated the effects of ET-1 on airways in anesthetized, open-chest, mechanically ventilated [frequency (f) = 1 Hz; tidal volume (VT) = 9 ml/kg; positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) = 4 cmH2O] guinea pigs in the absence or the presence of ETA and ETB selective antagonists, i.e., BQ-123 and BQ-788, respectively. We affixed alveolar capsules to the lungs to measure alveolar pressure and calculated the elastance of lung (EL) and the resistance of lung (RL), tissue (Rti), and airway (R(aw)) under control conditions and after intravenous administration of ET-1 (10(-8) mol/kg). ET-1 induced a concentration-dependent increase in RL, Rti, R(aw), and EL.BQ-123 (2 mg/kg) partially blocks delta RL and delta R(aw) during ET-1 induced constriction, while delta Rti and delta EL were not significantly affected. BQ-788 (2 mg/kg) significantly inhibited delta RL, delta Rti, delta R(aw), and delta EL during ET-1-induced constriction. The combination of BQ-123 and BQ-788 completely ablated the response to ET-1. These data suggest that both ET receptor subtypes, i.e., ETA and ETB, may have physiological roles in guinea pig airways in response to ET-1, a potential mediator of asthma.
[Arnebia root oil promotes wound healing and expression of basic fibroblast growth factor on the wound surface in rabbits].

OBJECTIVE To observe the promoting effect of arnebia root oils on expression of basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) in skin wound of rabbits and the histomorphological changes in the wound surface, and to discuss its mechanism. METHODS Bilateral round skin wounds were made on the back of 15 rabbits. The three wounds on one side of the back of each rabbit were treated with arnebia root oils, while the three wounds on the other side were treated with vaseline in order to promote the wound healing. The histomorphology and ultrastructure under electron microscopy of the wounds, and the rate of wound healing were examined at different time. Western blotting assay was used to detect the expression of bFGF in the wound surface. RESULTS The healing rate of the arnebia root oils-treated wounds was evidently higher than that of the vaseline-treated wounds (P<0.05). The quantities of fibroblast, collagen and capillary in the arnebia root oils-treated wounds were much more than those in the vaseline-treated wounds, and the expression of endogenous bFGF in the arnebia root oils-treated wounds was enhanced obviously as compared with that in the vaseline-treated wounds in different period of wound healing. There existed a parallel correlation between the expression level of bFGF and the rate of wound healing. CONCLUSION The promoting effect of arnebia root oils on wound healing may be related to increasing the expression level of basic fibroblast growth factor in the skin wound.
A standardized ZAP‐70 assay—Lessons learned in the trenches

The disease of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) has been shown to exhibit varying clinical outcomes based on reported laboratory parameters. One of these parameters involves the measurement of the protein levels of zeta‐associated protein (ZAP‐70) in CLL cells. A standardized assay has not yet reached consensus in the clinical cytometry community.
Multi‐dimensional fuzzy trust evaluation for mobile social networks based on dynamic community structures

As mobile social networks (MSNs) are booming and gaining tremendous popularity, there have been an increasing number of communications and interactions among users. Taking this advantage, users in MSNs make decisions via collecting and combining trust information from different users. Hence, trust evaluation technology has become a key requirement for network security in MSNs. In such MSNs, however, the community/group structures are dynamically changing, and users may belong to multiple communities/groups. Therefore, trust evaluation plays a critical role in inferring trustworthy contacts among users. In this paper, an innovative trust inference model is proposed for MSNs, in which multiple dimensional trust metrics are incorporated to reflect the complexity of trust. To infer trust relations between users in MSNs with complex communities, we first construct dynamic implicit social behavioral graphs (DynISBG) based on dynamic complex community/group structures and propose an efficient detection algorithm for DynISBG under fuzzy degree κ. We then present a multi‐dimensional fuzzy trust inferring approach that involves four metrics, that is, static attribute trust factor, dynamic behavioral trust factor, long‐term trust evolution factor, and recommendation‐based trust opinion. Moreover, to obtain the recommendation‐based trust opinion about indirect connected users, we discuss the trust aggregation and propagation along trust path. Finally, we evaluate the performance of our novel approach with simulations. The results show that, compared with the existing approaches, the proposed model provides a more detailed analysis in trust evaluation with higher accuracy. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Dengue virus inoculation to human skin explants: an effective approach to assess in situ the early infection and the effects on cutaneous dendritic cells

Although dengue virus (DV) enters through skin while mosquitoes feed, early contacts remain unexplored regarding the cutaneous viral fate and in situ immune responses. We addressed this by exposing healthy, non‐cadaveric, freshly obtained human skin explants to a human DV2 isolate. We demonstrated negative‐strand DV‐RNA and non‐structural protein‐1, both suggestive of viral replication in skin. Although control, mock‐infected and DV‐infected explants showed less (MHC‐CII+/CD1a+/Langerin+) Langerhans cells, deranged morphology and decreased frequency were more apparent in DV‐infected explants. Whereas DV+ cells were infrequent in epidermis and completely absent in dermis, some areas of basal epidermis were clearly DV+, presumably keratinocytes, cells where TUNEL positivity revealed apoptosis. Unlike fresh, control and mock‐infected skin, DV‐infected explants expressed CD80 and CD83, indicative of dendritic cell (DC) activation and maturation, respectively. However, sequential sections indicated that these cells were not DV+, suggesting that activated/mature DCs capable of priming T cells, probably, were not infected. Alternatively, the occasionally infected epidermal DC might not have reached maturation. Interestingly, skin DV infection apparently uncouples the DC activation/maturation process from another crucial DC function, the subsequent migration into dermis. This was suggested, because upon cutaneous DV infection, the few emerging CD83+ (mature) DCs remained within the outer epidermis, while no dermal CD83+ DCs were observed. These paradoxical effects might represent unknown DV subversion strategies. This approach is relatively easy, quick (results in 48 h), economical for developing countries where dengue is re‐emerging and advantageous to evaluate in situ viral biology, immunity and immunopathology and potential antiviral strategies.
Calidad en el desarrollo de aplicaciones siguiendo la metodolofgia Team Software Process TSPi

Este articulo presenta un caso de estudio basado en la aplicacion de TSPi. Los datos fueron obtenidos de 34 equipos de estudiantes de cuarto curso de la Facultad de Informatica de la Universidad Politecnica de Madrid. Todos los equipos desarrollaron el mismo proyecto a lo largo de dos ciclos de desarrollo. Con los datos obtenidos, se ha realizado un analisis por fase del ciclo de vida de TSPi, con respecto a la desviacion en la estimacion de defectos, la densidad de defectos y la evolucion del rendimiento de defectos. Finalmente, se presenta el analisis de los resultados, comparando ambos ciclos, asi como propuestas de mejora
Errors of residual stromal thickness estimation in LASIK.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE To investigate inaccuracy and variability in residual stromal thickness estimation in LASIK by pachymetry and measurements of corneal thickness, flap thickness, and ablation depth. PATIENTS AND METHODS In 73 eyes of 37 patients, preoperative and postoperative corneal thicknesses were obtained with slit-scanning elevation topography and the ultrasound pachymeter. LASIK was performed and corneal flaps were created with a microkeratome. Flap thickness and ablation depth (expected and achieved) were calculated. Residual stromal thickness estimation error was analyzed. RESULTS The mean preoperative corneal thicknesses were 559.58 +/- 23.47 and 554.92 +/- 29.95 microm for the ultrasound pachymeter and slit-scanning elevation topography, respectively. Measurement differences ranged from -36 to 30 microm. With the pachymeter, calculated mean flap thickness was 139.58 +/- 17.59 microm. With this device, predicted ablation depth differed from achieved depth by 20% or more in approximately one-third (30.14%) of treated patients; ablation differences ranged from 10.0% to 19.99% in 37% of patients and 1.00% to 9.99% in 31.5% of patients. CONCLUSION Imprecision of microkeratome cuts, preoperative corneal pachymetry, and laser ablation depth have a significant impact on the inaccuracy of residual stromal thickness prediction. Especially in patients with borderline corneal thickness, intraoperative pachymetry measurements and a residual stromal thickness higher than the safety margin of 250 microm are recommended to minimize iatrogenic ectasia.
Microwave and ultrasound imaging for biomedical tissue identification

Microwave tomography (MWT) and ultrasound tomography (UT) are two biomedical imaging modalities which are currently being investigated for applications such as breast cancer imaging. In MWT, the object of interest (OI) is surrounded by a number of antennas that are used to radiate the OI successively with electromagnetic waves in the microwave frequency range. The scattered electric fields are collected at receiver locations surrounding the OI. On the other hand, in UT the OI is surrounded by several ultrasound transducers illuminating the OI by acoustic waves and the scattered pressure from the OI is then collected at the receivers. In both MWT and UT, the scattered data is given to an inverse scattering algorithm to reconstruct specific properties of the object: in MWT the relative permittivity and conductivity (or complex permittivity) of the OI are reconstructed, whereas in UT the complex compressibility and inverse density are reconstructed. Both are quantitative imaging methods and thereby provide some insight into type of tissue corresponding to a pixel value in the image.
EFFECTS OF DIFFERENT MACRONUTRIENT CONSUMPTION FOLLOWING A RESISTANCE‐TRAINING SESSION ON FAT AND CARBOHYDRATE METABOLISM

The effect of consuming meals of different macronutrient content on substrate oxidation following resistance exercise was examined in 9 resistance-trained men (26.2 ±2.4 years). Subjects completed 3 resistance exercise bouts of 8 exercises and 1 warm-up set (50% of 10 repetition maximum [RM]), which were followed by 3 sets of 10 repetitions (72.7 ± 1.9% 10RM), with 60 seconds of rest between sets. Forty-five minutes after exercise, subjects consumed meals of high fat (HF, 37% carbohydrate, 18% protein, and 45% fat), high carbohydrate (HC, 79% carbohydrate, 20% protein, and 1% fat), or water (CON). Fat and carbohydrate oxidation were determined at 15-minute periods after meal consumption for 165 minutes. Blood was collected at preexercise (pre), premeal (0 minutes), and 15, 30, 45, 60, 90, 120, 150, and 180 minutes postmeal and was analyzed for insulin, glucose, triacylglycerols, and glycerol. There were no significant differences among the meal conditions for fat and carbohydrate oxidation. Insulin and glucose concentrations were significantly higher (p < 0.05) following HC at 15, 30, 45, 60, and 90 minutes compared to HF and CON. Triacyl-glycerol concentrations were significantly higher (p < 0.05) following HF at 90, 120, 150, and 180 minutes compared to HC and CON. Fat and carbohydrate oxidation were not affected by differences in macronutrient meal consumption after an acute bout of resistance training. Different macronutrient consumption does influence insulin, glucose, and triacylglycerol concentrations after resistance exercise.
DNA extraction replicates improve diversity and compositional dissimilarity in metabarcoding of eukaryotes in marine sediments

Human impact on marine benthic communities has traditionally been assessed using visible morphological traits and has focused on the macrobenthos, whereas the ecologically important organisms of the meio- and microbenthos have received less attention. DNA metabarcoding offers an alternative to this approach and enables a larger fraction of the biodiversity in marine sediments to be monitored in a cost-efficient manner. Although this methodology remains poorly standardised and challenged by biases inherent to rRNA copy number variation, DNA extraction, PCR, and limitations related to taxonomic identification, it has been shown to be semi-quantitative and useful for comparing taxon abundances between samples. Here, we evaluate the effect of replicating genomic DNA extraction in order to counteract small scale spatial heterogeneity and improve diversity and community structure estimates in metabarcoding-based monitoring. For this purpose, we used ten technical replicates from three different marine sediment samples. The effect of sequence depth was also assessed, and in silico pooling of DNA extraction replicates carried out in order to maintain the number of reads constant. Our analyses demonstrated that both sequencing depth and DNA extraction replicates could improve diversity estimates as well as the ability to separate samples with different characteristics. We could not identify a “sufficient” replicate number or sequence depth, where further improvements had a less significant effect. Based on these results, we consider replication an attractive alternative to directly increasing the amount of sample used for DNA extraction and strongly recommend it for future metabarcoding studies and routine assessments of sediment biodiversity.
On the Educational Aspects of Potential Functions for the System Analysis and Control

This paper focuses on the education aspect of potential functions and presents the concept as a general approach for formulation of dynamic processes in different areas of engineering, e.g., dynamics of motion, electrical fields, power systems, control, and robotics. In power systems, the potential functions have been used in transient stability analysis in capacities such as 1) transient energy function and 2) the theoretical backbone of the equal-area criterion. The unified representation introduced in this paper is to help students (especially global learners by providing them with the big picture of the subject) discover similarities between different disciplines, which facilitates inter-application of the analytical methods. Recognizing the importance of digital computer based simulation techniques in education, the paper also introduces a software tool for assisting students/researchers in experimenting with different forms of potential functions and their application to a dynamic environment consisting of mobile robots, targets, and obstacles.
High-rate anaerobic treatment of domestic wastewater at ambient operating temperatures: A review on benefits and drawbacks

This paper reviews the current knowledge on high-rate anaerobic sewage treatment at ambient operating temperatures while presenting the benefits and drawbacks. Since domestic sewage is reported as the main point-source pollutant on a global scale, its treatment deserves ample research. In most of the cities and towns of some developing countries, wastewater produced in households is still discharged into the nearest water body without subjected any treatment. Therefore, simple, affordable, and effective sewage treatment systems are required. Anaerobic digestion of wastewater is reported as a sustainable alternative as recovery of energy is provided while nutrients are preserved for reuse. Anaerobic sewage treatment is certainly not limited to regions of hot climates but it also offers treatment potential in sub-tropical and even in moderate climatic regions due to their favorable temperature conditions. Since many sewage-like dilute wastewaters are discharged at low ambient temperatures especially under moderate climate conditions (15 to 20°C), heating the wastewater to maintain mesophilic conditions (35°C) for anaerobic treatment necessitates high energy and certainly high operating costs. Thus, the development of anaerobic treatment systems operated at ambient temperatures without doubt will have a great ecological and economic impact. High-rate anaerobic treatment systems, especially upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactors, have been occupying a noticeable position for sewage treatment in several tropical countries where artificial heating can be eliminated. However, in spite of their undeniable advantages, there are certain drawbacks of anaerobic sewage treatment at low operating temperatures which should be clarified. Among them, the main concern for anaerobic treatment application is its producing effluents that barely comply with the standarts for reuse in agriculture or discharge to the environment. Therefore, the effluents from anaerobic reactors usually necessitate a post-treatment step as a mean to protect the receiving water bodies. However, anaerobic sewage treatment when combined with a proper post-treatment, provides a sustainable, appropriate, and affordable method especially for developing countries.
Sex hormones regulate cerebral drug metabolism via brain miRNAs: down‐regulation of brain CYP2D by androgens reduces the analgesic effects of tramadol

Brain cytochrome P450 2D (CYP2D) metabolises exogenous neurotoxins, endogenous substances and neurotransmitters. Brain CYP2D can be regulated in an organ‐specific manner, but the possible regulatory mechanisms are poorly understood. We investigated the involvement of miRNAs in the selective regulation of brain CYP2D by testosterone and the corresponding alteration of the pharmacological profiles of tramadol by testosterone.
Long-Term Exercise Alters the Profiles of Circulating Micro-RNAs in the Plasma of Young Women

Objective: The objective of this paper was to study the effects of long-term exercise on circulating microRNAs (miRNAs) in human plasma. Methods: Whole blood was collected from 10 female elite athletes with at least 5 years of training experience in the Chinese National Synchronized Swimming Team (S group) and 15 female college students without regular exercise training (C group). Plasma miRNAs were then isolated, sequenced, and semi-quantified by the second-generation sequencing technology, and the results were analyzed by bioinformatics methods. Results: We found 380 differentially expressed miRNAs in the S group compared with the C group, among which 238 miRNAs were upregulated and 142 were downregulated. The top five abundant miRNAs in the 380 miRNAs of the S group are hsa-miR-451a, hsa-miR-486, hsa-miR-21-5p, hsa-miR-423-5p, and hsa-let-7b-5p. Muscle-specific/enriched miRNAs were not significantly different, except for miR-206 and miR-486. According to the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis, a large proportion of the differentially expressed miRNAs are targeted in cancer-related pathways, including proteoglycans in cancer and miRNAs in cancer and basal cell carcinoma. As the levels of circulating miRNAs (ci-miRNAs) are commonly known to be significantly deregulated in cancer patients, we further compared the levels of some well-studied miRNAs in different types of cancer patients with those in the S group and found that long-term exercise regulates the level of ci-miRNAs in an opposite direction to those in cancer patients. Conclusion: Long-term exercise significantly alters the profiles of plasma miRNAs in healthy young women. It may reduce the risk of certain types of cancers by regulating plasma miRNA levels.
Activity Patterns and Social Organization of wild boar (Sus scrofa, L.) in a Wetland Environment: Preliminary Data on the Effects of Shooting Individuals

La expansion de las poblaciones europeas de jabali han producido un aumento en la presion de esta especie sobre las marismas mediterraneas. El Parque Natural de los Aiguamolls de I'Emporda, en Cataluna, es un area protegida con cerca de 850 ha de reserva integral donde todas las actividades humanas, incluidas la caza, estan prohibidas. Desde principios de la decada de 1990, el jabali era solamente un visitante ocasional de la reserva, pero en los ultimos anos, este ungulado se ha convertido en un residente permanente, y la mayor concentracion de individuos en el area ha llevado al control de dicha poblacion. Las observaciones directas, tanto vespertinas como nocturnas (con la ayuda de visores especiales) desde la periferia de la reserva, han permitido la caracterizacion de 77 grupos de jabalies y de sus patrones de actividad. La mayoria de los animales (70% en primavera y 74% en verano) dejan la reserva al principio de su periodo activo diario, pero en otono y en invierno la proporcion de los animales que permanecen dentro de las reservas aumenta. El maximo numero de jabalies en la reserva se registra en otono, lo cual coincide con la epoca de celo, el principio de la estacion de caza y el periodo en el que las cosechas no estan disponibles en las areas que rodean a la reservas. El tamano medio del grupo era de 4,4. La composicion de los grupos varia estacionalmente, lo cual esta influenciado en parte por acontecimientos biologicos, pero tambien por otros factores, tales como la extraccion de individuos de la poblacion .
The rad51-K191R ATPase-Defective Mutant Is Impaired forPresynaptic Filament Formation

ABSTRACT The nucleoprotein filament formed by Rad51 polymerization on single-stranded DNA is essential for homologous pairing and strand exchange. ATP binding is required for Rad51 nucleoprotein filament formation and strand exchange, but ATP hydrolysis is not required for these functions in vitro. Previous studies have shown that a yeast strain expressing the rad51-K191R allele is sensitive to ionizing radiation, suggesting an important role for ATP hydrolysis in vivo. The recruitment of Rad51-K191R to double-strand breaks is defective in vivo, and this phenotype can be suppressed by elimination of the Srs2 helicase, an antagonist of Rad51 filament formation. The phenotype of the rad51-K191R strain is also suppressed by overexpression of Rad54. In vitro, the Rad51-K191R protein exhibits a slight decrease in binding to DNA, consistent with the defect in presynaptic filament formation. However, the rad51-K191R mutation is dominant in heterozygous diploids, indicating that the defect is not due simply to reduced affinity for DNA. We suggest the Rad51-K191R protein either forms an altered filament or is defective in turnover, resulting in a reduced pool of free protein available for DNA binding.