Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Gadolinium and Multiple Sclerosis: Vessels, Barriers of the Brain, and Glymphatics

SUMMARY: The pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis is characterized by a cascade of pathobiologic events, ranging from focal lymphocytic infiltration and microglia activation to demyelination and axonal degeneration. MS has several of the hallmarks of an inflammatory autoimmune disorder, including breakdown of the BBB. Gadolinium-enhanced MR imaging is currently the reference standard to detect active inflammatory lesions in MS. Knowledge of the patterns and mechanisms of contrast enhancement is vital to limit the radiologic differential diagnosis in the staging and evaluation of MS lesion activity. The aim of this review was the following: 1) to outline the pathophysiology of the effect of lymphocyte-driven inflammation in MS, 2) to describe the effects of gadolinium on the BBB and glymphatic system, and 3) to describe gadolinium enhancement patterns and artifacts that can mimic lesions in MS.
Biomarkers in abnormal uterine bleeding†

Abstract Abnormal uterine bleeding (AUB) is an extremely common problem and represents a clinical area of unmet need. It has clinical implications and a high cost for the healthcare system. The PALM-COEIN acronym proposed by FIGO may be used as a foundation of care; it improves the understanding of the causes of AUB, and in doing so facilitates effective history taking, examination, investigations, and management. Heavy menstrual bleeding, a subset of AUB, is a subjective diagnosis and should be managed in the context of improving the woman's quality of life. Available evidence suggests that there is poor satisfaction with standard treatment options often resulting in women opting for major surgery such as hysterectomy. Such women would benefit from a tailored approach, both for diagnosis and treatment, highlighting the deficiency of biomarkers in this area. This article focuses on the causes of AUB as per the PALM-COEIN acronym, the researched biomarkers in this area, and the potential pathogenetic mechanisms. In the future, these approaches may improve our understanding of AUB, thereby enabling us to direct women to most suitable current treatments and tailor investigative and treatment strategies to ensure best outcomes, in keeping with the principles of personalized or precision medicine. Summary Sentence Abnormal uterine bleeding (AUB) is an extremely common problem and represents a clinical area of unmet need. Identifying potential biomarkers in this area would allow for planning individualized care and improving treatment outcomes.
Automatic Car Licenses Number Plate Recognition

MANET is Mobile Adhoc NETwork. Mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs) are self-configured networks which do not have need of any centralized base station for monitoring and controlling the network. There is no central control in MANET. Routing is a difficult task in network as topology changes frequently. In this paper, we discuss various attacks and different types of methods to detect and respond to the collaborative attacks. QoS parameters are also used for resource utilization. Main focus in this paper is to detect the destination node whether it is malicious or not and find the stable path from source to destination. In this paper new fitness function along with hybrid of hill climbing and genetic algorithm is proposed and use collaborative attacks approach. Automatic car license number plate is one of the most wholly studied topics in mathematical pattern recognition. Car license number plate is a Style of picture processing technology for recognition car number plate. This system also offers users to place mark out and monitor moving car automatic by extracting their number plates. A most important role in Toll-collection, security system, traffic control . In the present study, super resolution technique is used to the visual quality. The system detects the number plate of a car from input picture and then performs super resolution technique. Morphological technique operation based on different structure element and improves object area. The super resolution photo of car number plate compares with the RTO database. It shows the detail of car owner names, car registration. Six algorithm car number plates Localization that identifies a license plate. It is able to adjust for the contrast and brightness. Orientation, normalization, segmentation, OCR, syntactical algorithm used to recognition the car number plate. The morphological operation using database of number plates results improvements and compared with conventional system. The success rate of the method is
Comprehensive evaluation of stool-based diagnostic methods and benzimidazole resistance markers to assess drug efficacy and detect the emergence of anthelmintic resistance: A Starworms study protocol

Background To work towards reaching the WHO goal of eliminating soil-transmitted helminth (STH) infections as a public health problem, the total number of children receiving anthelmintic drugs has strongly increased over the past few years. However, as drug pressure levels rise, the development of anthelmintic drug resistance (AR) is more and more likely to appear. Currently, any global surveillance system to monitor drug efficacy and the emergence of possible AR is lacking. Consequently, it remains unclear to what extent the efficacy of drugs may have dropped and whether AR is already present. The overall aim of this study is to recommend the best diagnostic methods to monitor drug efficacy and molecular markers to assess the emergence of AR in STH control programs. Methods A series of drug efficacy trials will be performed in four STH endemic countries with varying drug pressure (Ethiopia and Brazil: low drug pressure, Lao PDR: moderate drug pressure and Tanzania: high drug pressure). These trials are designed to assess the efficacy of a single oral dose of 400 mg albendazole (ALB) against STH infections in school-aged children (SAC) by microscopic (duplicate Kato-Katz thick smear, Mini-FLOTAC and FECPAKG2) and molecular stool-based diagnostic methods (quantitative PCR (qPCR)). Data will be collected on the cost of the materials used, as well as the time required to prepare and examine stool samples for the different diagnostic methods. Following qPCR, DNA samples will also be submitted for pyrosequencing to assess the presence and prevalence of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the β-tubulin gene. These SNPs are known to be linked to AR in animal STHs. Discussion The results obtained by these trials will provide robust evidence regarding the cost-efficiency and diagnostic performance of the different stool-based diagnostic methods for the assessment of drug efficacy in control programs. The assessment of associations between the frequency of SNPs in the β-tubulin gene and the history of drug pressure and drug efficacy will allow the validation of these SNPs as a marker for AR in human STHs. Trial registration The trial was retrospectively registered the 7th of March 2018 on Clinicaltrials.gov (ID: NCT03465488).
Modulation Of Circadian Cycling By The C-Terminal Transactivation Domain Of BMAL1

Author(s): Gustafson, Chelsea Lebrun | Advisor(s): Partch, Carrie L | Abstract: Nearly all terrestrial organisms possess an intrinsic biological timekeeping system that functions to align key physiological processes with the solar day. In mammals, this circadian cycling is driven by temporally specific interactions between the heterodimeric transcription factor, CLOCK:BMAL1 and its cognate transcriptional regulators. The biochemical processes that drive the handoff between active and repressive complexes tunes the phase, period and robustness of circadian cycling. In this study, we show that the unstructured C-terminal transactivation domain (TAD) of BMAL1 is a regulatory hub where transcriptional activators and repressors compete for binding. Using NMR spectroscopy and real time monitoring of circadian cycling in mammalian cells we studied how interactions of the TAD with transcriptional regulators control the generation of circadian rhythms. We show that the KIX and TAZ1 domains of CBP and the CC helix of CRY1 interact with the BMAL1 TAD at overlapping sites. Perturbations of these regions of BMAL1 by site-directed mutagenesis have direct consequences for the balance of transcriptional activation and repression and elicit large changes the period of circadian oscillations. Using paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy we show that the BMAL1 TAD undergoes significant and differing conformational rearrangements upon binding CBP KIX and CRY CC. Furthermore, we identified a slow conformational change in the extreme C-terminus of BMAL1, a region of the TAD that is essential for normal circadian timekeeping. Using NMR spectroscopy, we performed structural and kinetic analysis of the conformational switch to identify a cis/trans isomerization about a Trp-Pro imide bond. Using NMR, fluorescence polarization and cell-based studies, we further characterized the switch to assess its role in circadian cycling and identified cyclophilins capable of regulating the rate of switch interconversion in vitro. Together, these data highlight the importance of structural dynamics of the BMAL1 TAD in tuning the molecular circadian clock.
The prothrombotic state in atrial fibrillation: pathophysiological and management implications

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the commonest sustained cardiac arrhythmia and is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. There is plenty of evidence available to support the presence of a prothrombotic or hypercoagulable state in AF, but the contributory factors are multifactorial and cannot simply be explained by blood stasis. Abnormal changes in atrial wall (anatomical and structural, as 'vessel wall abnormalities'), the presence of spontaneous echo contrast to signify abnormal changes in flow and stasis ('flow abnormalities'), and abnormal changes in coagulation, platelet, and other pathophysiologic pathways ('abnormalities of blood constituents') are well documented in AF. The presence of these components therefore fulfils Virchow's triad for thrombogenesis. In this review, we present an overview of the established and professed pathophysiological mechanisms for thrombogenesis in AF and its management implications.
Cryo–electron microscopy structure of the lipid droplet–formation protein seipin

Sui et al. report the cryo-EM structure of the conserved luminal domain of the lipid droplet (LD)-formation protein seipin. The structure reveals key features of this domain and suggest a new model for seipin’s role in LD formation. Metabolic energy is stored in cells primarily as triacylglycerols in lipid droplets (LDs), and LD dysregulation leads to metabolic diseases. The formation of monolayer-bound LDs from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) bilayer is poorly understood, but the ER protein seipin is essential to this process. Here, we report a cryo-electron microscopy structure and functional characterization of D. melanogaster seipin. The structure reveals a ring-shaped dodecamer, with the luminal domain of each monomer resolved at ∼4.0 Å. Each luminal domain monomer exhibits two distinctive features: a hydrophobic helix positioned towards the ER bilayer, and a β-sandwich domain that has structural similarity with lipid-binding proteins. This structure, and our functional testing in cells, suggest a model in which seipin oligomers initially detect forming LDs in the ER via hydrophobic helices and subsequently act as membrane anchors to enable lipid transfer and LD growth.
Validation of an Enclosed Blood Collection System in a Pediatric Laboratory.

BACKGROUND Preanalytical, analytical, and postanalytical issues are often magnified in pediatric laboratories, and traditional vacuum-based blood tubes can contribute to some of these issues. Because of this, we investigated adopting an enclosed blood collection system that can perform vacuum or gentle aspiration blood collection, eliminating syringes, transfer device, and transfer steps, as well as potentially minimizing preanalytical error in the pediatric laboratory. We embarked on a validation of this tube system, in comparison with our current collection tubes, across most in-house tests at a large pediatric hospital. METHODS Twenty adult volunteers were recruited. Blood was drawn into lithium heparin, serum, EDTA, and citrate tubes of each commercial tube type for comparison. For some tests, remnant blood from pediatric syringe draws was used when available. Samples were then processed and analyzed across all general areas of the clinical laboratory, and correlations of the results from the 2 tube systems were performed. RESULTS Across 95 tests in the core laboratory and blood bank, almost all demonstrated clinically acceptable comparisons, with most R values >0.90. Only 3 of 95 tests demonstrated clinically significant differences between the tube systems. CONCLUSIONS Our validation of the enclosed blood collection system demonstrated acceptable results when compared with our current collection tubes. Additionally, with some minor modifications, our automated instruments could utilize ultralow-volume tubes from the enclosed blood collection system for direct tube sampling, which is impossible using our current small-volume tubes with our main chemistry analyzer.
Prospective Memory: Age related change is influenced by APOE genotype

ABSTRACT Non-focal prospective memory (PM) is sensitive to age-related decline; an additional impairment in focal PM is characteristic of mild stage Alzheimer’s disease. This research explored whether, by mid-adulthood, the distinct demands of focal and non-focal PM expose differences in carriers of an APOE ε4 allele, a genetic risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease. Thirty-three young and 55 mid-age adults, differentiated by APOE genotype, completed a category-decision task with a concurrent focal or non-focal PM demand. Only mid-age ε4 carriers showed a cost of carrying a focal PM intention. In addition, mid-age ε4 carriers showed a significantly greater cost of carrying a non-focal PM intention than young ε4 carriers, supporting a profile of accelerated aging. Consistency in the profile of cost differences observed in mid-age ε4 carriers and pathological aging may indicate premature vulnerability. Future research correlating a shift in PM performance with early genotype differences in brain-based markers of decline is important.
Complex Polymeric Architectures Self-Assembling in Unimolecular Micelles: Preparation, Characterization and Drug Nanoencapsulation

Unimolecular polymeric micelles are a class of single-molecule amphiphilic core-shell polymeric architectures, where the hydrophobic core is well stabilized by the hydrophilic shell, avoiding intermolecular core-core interactions. Multi-arm copolymers with a dendritic core, as well as hyperbranched and comb-like polymers, can form unimolecular micelles easily. In this review, examples of polymers able to form detectable unimolecular micelles will be presented, summarizing the analytical techniques used to characterize the unimolecular micelles and discriminate them from other supramolecular aggregates, such as multi-micelle aggregates. Unimolecular micelles are suitable for the nanoencapsulation of guest molecules. Compared to traditional supramolecular micelles, unimolecular micelles do not disassemble under dilution and are stable to environmental modifications. Recent examples of their application as drug delivery systems, endowed with increased stability and transport properties, will be discussed.
Stay Rates of Foreign Doctorate Recipients from U

A pressure accumulator receives liquid refrigerant from the receiver and supplies it to the evaporators. Liquid from the evaporators is temporarily stored in an upper accumulator from which it may drain to a drum which can be pressurized to return it to the pressure accumulator. A gaseous refrigerant connection from the receiver supplies pressure for the accumulator and for defrosting the evaporators, the arrangement eliminating the need for individual back pressure valves for each evaporator or group of evaporators during defrosting.
Effects of food distribution on foraging competition in rhesus monkeys, Macaca mulatta, and hamadryas baboons, Papio hamadryas


Abstract Abstract. Models of the ecology of primate groups have predicted that foraging competition among adult females in female-bonded species should occur in rich, clumped food conditions, rather than in meagre dispersed conditions. Competition should occur within groups rather than between groups and non-female-bonded species are not expected to compete. In female-bonded species, females remain in their natal group and develop strong affiliative bonds among female members. In non-female-bonded species, females neither remain in their natal group nor develop affiliative bonds with other female members. While it is not feasible to test the evolution of primate groups, the immediate situation is of interest and can be investigated. The present study tested the predictions of the models in two socially housed primate species, rhesus monkeys and hamadryas baboons, representing a female-bonded and a non-female-bonded species, respectively. Food distribution was manipulated to produce appropriate conditions, and comparisons were made within and between groups as well as between the two species. Neither species conformed completely to the models, although the hamadryas baboons did in most respects. Between-group competition proved to be important with dominance a deciding factor. Spatial and temporal conditions affected competition in rhesus monkeys and temporal conditions in hamadryas baboons. Within-group competition occurred largely in dispersed meagre conditions with food equally available in time. The two species used different strategies to the same end; the hamadryas baboons were more efficient at obtaining food while the rhesus monkeys had a more flexible foraging strategy. Food storage was used by both species as a strategy in foraging competition.
Evidence for differential control of muscle sympathetic single units during mild sympathoexcitation in young, healthy humans.

Two subpopulations of muscle sympathetic single units with opposite discharge characteristics have been identified during low-level cardiopulmonary baroreflex loading and unloading in middle-aged adults and patients with heart failure. The present study sought to determine whether similar subpopulations are present in young healthy adults during cardiopulmonary baroreflex unloading ( study 1) and rhythmic handgrip exercise ( study 2). Continuous hemodynamic and multiunit and single unit muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA) data were collected at baseline and during nonhypotensive lower body negative pressure (LBNP; n = 12) and 40% maximal voluntary contraction rhythmic handgrip exercise (RHG; n = 24). Single unit MSNA responses were classified as anticipated or paradoxical based on whether changes were concordant or discordant with the multiunit MSNA response, respectively. LBNP and RHG both increased multiunit MSNA burst frequency (∆5 ± 3 bursts/min, P < 0.001; ∆5 ± 8 bursts/min, P = 0.005), burst amplitude (∆5 ± 7%, P = 0.04; ∆13 ± 14%, P < 0.001), and total MSNA (∆302 ± 191 AU/min, P = 0.001; ∆585 ± 556 AU/min, P < 0.001). During LBNP and RHG, 43 and 64 muscle single units were identified, respectively, which increased spike frequency (∆9 ± 11 spikes/min, P < 0.001; ∆10 ± 19 spikes/min, P < 0.001) and the probability of multiple spike firing (∆10 ± 12%, P < 0.001; ∆11 ± 26%, P = 0.001). During LBNP and RHG, 36 (84%) and 39 (61%) single units possessed anticipated firing responses (∆12 ± 10 spikes/min, P < 0.001; ∆19 ± 19 spikes/min, P < 0.001), whereas 7 (16%) and 25 (39%) single units exhibited paradoxical reductions (∆-3 ± 1 spikes/min, P = 0.003; ∆-4 ± 5 spikes/min, P < 0.001). The observation of divergent subpopulations of muscle sympathetic single units in healthy young humans during two mild sympathoexcitatory stressors supports differential control at the fiber level as a fundamental characteristic of human sympathetic regulation. NEW & NOTEWORTHY The activity of muscle sympathetic single units was recorded during cardiopulmonary baroreceptor unloading and rhythmic handgrip exercise in young healthy humans. During both stressors, the majority of single units (84% and 61%) exhibited anticipated behavior concordant with the integrated muscle sympathetic response, whereas a smaller proportion (16% and 39%) exhibited paradoxical sympathoinhibition. These results support differential control of postganglionic muscle sympathetic fibers as a characteristic of human sympathetic regulation during mild sympathoexcitatory stress. Listen to this article's corresponding podcast at https://ajpheart.podbean. com/e/differential-control-of-sympathetic-outflow-in-young-humans/ .
Line in the Sand: An Essay on Principal-Teacher Relationships

was a fall Saturday morning, and I was in my Auburn doctoral program monthly seminar where wetalked of various topics of interest to our group of 15. Somehow the topic came around to therelationships between teachers and principals. Consensus of the group was that the proverbial line inthe sand was an inevitable and unchangeable part of being a school principal. I, to the surprise of noone then or now, disagreed. This time I was not playing my well-honed role of Devil’s Advocate, I reallybelieved that there was no good or logical reason that there should exist, a barrier between teachersand principals.
Nanodispersions stabilized by β-cyclodextrin nanosponges: application for simultaneous enhancement of bioactivity and stability of sage essential oil

Abstract The aim of this work was to stabilize oil-in-water nanoemulsion containing sage (salvia officinalis) essential oil, for enhancing its physicochemical stability and enlarging its industrial applications. New β-cyclodextrin nanosponges were synthesized by polycondensation using naphthalene dicarboxylic acid as cross-linking agent, the latter system was characterized by FTIR spectroscopy, SEM, BET, and powder XRD. Nanoemulsions stabilized by free β-cyclodextrin or nanosponges were prepared, their physicochemical properties were determined (particles size, zeta potential, viscosity, turbidity, and essential oil content) and their stability was studied at different storage temperatures (4 °C, 20 °C, and 40 °C) during 3 months. Pharmaceutical application of prepared nanoemulsions was investigated in vitro by dissolution test study and in vivo by their antidiabetic activity evaluation in rats. Sage essential oil nanoemulsion stabilized by β-cyclodextrin-naphthalene dicarboxylic acid nanosponges presents very high stability and promising uses in pharmaceutical industry.
Propuesta de plataforma para la integración de TIC orientadas al agro

Resumen El presente proyecto propone la definición de una plataforma prototipo, soporte para diversos eventos y sistemas de información con dominio de aplicación en el sector agropecuario, mediante el uso de las Tecnoloǵıas de la Información y la Comunicación. Las caracteŕısticas principales están orientadas a la posibilidad abierta de la recolección de datos de diferentes fuentes, su almacenamiento compartido, la integración progresiva de diversas funcionalidades, la explotación y la visualización de la información, como aśı también capacidades de generación de reportes, estad́ısticas, mensajeŕıas o avisos de eventos, entre otros. Dicha plataforma se propone disponible en la web, con accesibilidad mediante tecnoloǵıa móvil.