Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Bile acid receptors as targets for the treatment of dyslipidemia and cardiovascular disease

Dyslipidemia is an important risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and atherosclerosis. When dyslipidemia coincides with other metabolic disorders such as obesity, hypertension, and glucose intolerance, defined as the metabolic syndrome (MS), individuals present an elevated risk to develop type 2 diabetes (T2D) as well as CVD. Because the MS epidemic represents a growing public health problem worldwide, the development of therapies remains a major challenge. Alterations of bile acid pool regulation in T2D have revealed a link between bile acid and metabolic homeostasis. The bile acid receptors farnesoid X receptor (FXR) and TGR5 both regulate lipid, glucose, and energy metabolism, rendering them potential pharmacological targets for MS therapy. This review discusses the mechanisms of metabolic regulation by FXR and TGR5 and the utility relevance of natural and synthetic modulators of FXR and TGR5 activity, including bile acid sequestrants, in the treatment of the MS.
Can Cystatin C Be a Better Marker for the Early Detection of Renal Damage in Primary Hypertensive Patients?

In this study, we aimed to compare Cystatin C (Cys C) with other traditional glomerular filtration rate (GFR) markers and to evaluate its superiority over them in detecting early renal involvement in patients with primary hypertension. Fifty-one primary hypertensive patients and 29 healthy control subjects, who were similar in terms of age and gender, were included in the study. In all subjects serum levels of Cys C, beta-2 microglobulin, serum creatinine (SCr), uric acid, BUN, albumin; 24 h urinary levels of protein (Upro), albumin (Ualb) and creatinine were measured. The GFR was calculated according to Creatinine Clearance (CrCl), Cockcroft-Gault (CG) and Modification of Diet in Renal Disease (MDRD) formulas. The MDRD was used as the reference method. A GFR < 80 mL/min/1.73 m2 was considered as the lower cut-off limit. Mean levels of the serum parameters were found to be significantly higher in the patient group than they were in the control group (p < 0.05). Mean CrCl, CG, and MDRD levels were lower in patients than they were in controls but the difference was statistically significant for CG and MDRD. The serum parameter having the best correlation with MDRD was SCr (r = − 0.760) in patients and Cys C (r = − 0.622) in controls. However, in ROC analysis; the area under curve (AUC) for Cys C was found to be superior (AUC = 0.900) to the other markers. The CrCl was the parameter having the worst diagnostic efficiency (AUC = 0.598). As a conclusion, compared to other traditional markers, measurement of Cys C may be a better parameter to estimate GFR, especially to detect mild reductions of GFR in primary hypertensive patients.
Mitochondrial PKC&egr; and Mitochondrial ATP-Sensitive K+ Channel Copurify and Coreconstitute to Form a Functioning Signaling Module in Proteoliposomes

Mitochondria are key mediators of the cardioprotective signal and the mitochondrial ATP-sensitive K+ channel (mitoKATP) plays a crucial role in originating and transmitting that signal. Recently, protein kinase C &egr; (PKCϵ) has been identified as a component of the mitoKATP signaling cascade. We hypothesized that PKCϵ and mitoKATP interact directly to form functional signaling modules in the inner mitochondria membrane. To examine this possibility, we studied K+ flux in liposomes containing partially purified mitoKATP. The reconstituted proteins were obtained after detergent extraction of isolated mitochondria, 200-fold purification by ion exchange chromatography, and reconstitution into lipid vesicles. Immunoblot analysis revealed the presence of PKCϵ in the reconstitutively active fraction. Addition of the PKC activators 12-phorbol 13-myristate acetate, hydrogen peroxide, and the specific PKCϵ peptide agonist, &psgr;ϵRACK, each activated mitoKATP-dependent K+ flux in the reconstituted system. This effect of PKCϵ was prevented by chelerythrine, by the specific PKCϵ peptide antagonist, ϵV1-2, and by the specific mitoKATP inhibitor 5-hydroxydecanoate. In addition, the activating effect of PKC agonists was reversed by exogenous protein phosphatase 2A. These results demonstrate persistent, functional association of mitochondrial PKCϵ and mitoKATP.
Heterogeneous data fusion and selection in high-volume molecular and imaging datasets

In this work, two disparate datasets, concerning the study of the same physiological type of cutaneous melanoma but derived from different donors, one of image (dermatoscopy) and the other of molecular (trascriptomic expression) origin are utilized, so as to form an expanded in description depth, integrative dataset. Four different imputation methods are employed in order to derive the unified dataset, prior the application of backward selection together with ensemble classifiers (random forests). The various imputation schemes applied, manage to emulate the effect of biological noise on the unified dataset, adding realistic signal variation. Thus, they immunize the discovery process in the integrative dataset, from false positive artifacts, which do not have a true differential effect. The results suggest that the expansion of the feature space through the data integration and the exploitation of elaborate imputation schemes in general, aid the classification task, imparting stability as regards the derivation of the putative classifiers.
Together or alone: Detecting group mobility with wireless fingerprints

This paper proposes a novel approach for detecting groups of people that walk “together” (group mobility) as well as the people who walk “alone” (individual movements) using wireless signals. We exploit multiple wireless sniffers to pervasively collect human mobility data from people with mobile devices and identify similarities and the group mobility based on the wireless fingerprints. We propose a method which initially converts the wireless packets collected by the sniffers into people's wireless fingerprints. The method then determines group mobility by finding the statuses of people at certain times (dynamic/static) and the space correlation of dynamic people. To evaluate the feasibility of our approach, we conduct real world experiments by collecting data from 10 participants carrying Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons in an office environment for a two-week period. The proposed approach captures space correlation with 95% and group mobility with 79% accuracies on average. With the proposed approach we successfully 1) detect the groups and individual movements and 2) generate social networks based on the group mobility characteristics.
An interview study for developing a user guide for powered seating function usage

Abstract Purpose: Powered seating functions (PSFs) provide powered wheelchair users an independent means to adjust posture dynamically. To facilitate the best use of PSFs in daily living, we conducted this structured interview study to develop a preliminary user guide to provide “take-home” information to powered wheelchair users. Method: An internally developed questionnaire to assess clinical recommendations of PSF usage was administered in an interview format to clinical seating and mobility specialists. A qualitative analysis was applied to codify the recommendations, and the findings were transformed into a PSF user guide. Results: Specific but varied seating positions and temporal indications were recommended for performing pressure relief positioning. For several activities, appropriate seating positions should be determined according to the immediate physical condition of the user and/or the environmental settings. Conclusion: The methods and positions of using PSFs should be determined with consideration for individual preferences, physical condition, environmental setting, and desired tasks after thorough clinical seating assessments. Precautions about positioning and driving safety, and the importance of discussing with clinicians are emphasized in the user guide. This PSF user guide will be updated after more scientific evidence accumulates and be structurally evaluated for its face and content validity in the future. Implications for Rehabilitation Powered seating functions (PSFs) can be used to assist with many daily activities and health management. The methods and positions of using PSFs should be determined with consideration for individual preferences, physical condition, environmental setting, and desired tasks after thorough clinical seating assessments. Precautions about driving safety and sitting stability affected by changes in the seating angles should be emphasized in user education and training.
Modifications of tissular oxygenation and systemic hemodynamics after the correction of hypocapnia induced by mechanical ventilation.

The modifications of systemic hemodynamics, oxygen transport and tissular oxygenation in mechanically-ventilated critical ARF (acute respiratory failure) patients, after the correction of its hypocapnia by addition of dead space (VD) are determined. The prospective and randomized study was carried out in a multidisciplinary ICU. Fifteen ARF patients were studied within the first 48 hours of evolution. All the patients were intubated and mechanically ventilated. Three stages were delimited: I) 30 min after the beginning of anesthesia; II) 30 min after adding 30 cm of VD; III) 30 min after replacing the previous VD with a VD of 60 cm. Similar steady states had been reached when the measurements were taken. Ventilation parameters and FiO2 were kept stable. In stage I the patients presented a pure respiratory alkalosis and, with respect to hemodynamics, a hyperdynamic situation. In stage II the acid-base balance was normalized with a continuation of the hyperdynamic situation and an increase in mixed venous oxygen tension and saturation (PvO2 and SvO2) (p < 0.001). Stage III was characterized by a pure hypercapnic acidosis and an increase in capillary wedge pressure (CWP) (p < 0.05), right atrial pressure (RAP) (p < 0.001) and cardiac output (Qt) (p < 0.001); simultaneously, the systemic vascular resistances (SVR) decreased (p < 0.01), the PvO2, SvO2 and oxygen delivery (DO2) increased (p < 0.001); oxygen utilization coefficient (OUC) decreased (p < 0.01). The results suggest that the variations in PvO2 and SvO2 are a direct consequence of the modifications in blood flow. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
The ‘second‐codon rule’ and autophosphorylation govern the stability and activity of Mos during the meiotic cell cycle in Xenopus oocytes.

The c‐mos proto‐oncogene product, Mos, functions in both early (germinal vesicle breakdown) and late (metaphase II arrest) steps during meiotic maturation in Xenopus oocytes. In the early step, Mos is only partially phosphorylated and metabolically unstable, while in the late step it is fully phosphorylated and highly stable. Using a number of Mos mutants expressed in oocytes, we show here that the instability of Mos in the early step is determined primarily by its penultimate N‐terminal residue, or by a rule referred to here as the ‘second‐codon rule’. We demonstrate that unstable Mos is degraded by the ubiquitin‐dependent pathway. In the late step, on the other hand, Mos is stabilized by autophosphorylation at Ser3, which probably acts to prevent the N‐terminus of Mos from being recognized by a ubiquitin‐protein ligase. Moreover, we show that Ser3 phosphorylation is essential for Mos to exert its full cytostatic factor (CSF) activity in fully mature oocytes. Thus, a few N‐terminal amino acids are primary determinants of both the metabolic stability and physiological activity of Mos during the meiotic cell cycle.
An Equilibrium Search Model of Fire Sales

This paper presents a novel approach to the theory of ﬁre sales, where an asset is sold for a price below its fundamental value. Speciﬁcally, we model the “urgency to sell” motivation that pushes some unlucky sellers in the market to become anxious (desperate) about liquidating their asset because failing to do so would cause them to incur a cost. Homogenous buyers strategically choose when to enter the market and what price to oﬀer, knowing that some sellers are more motivated, but do not know the type of the seller they meet. We characterize equilibrium prices in this economy both in the steady state and on the transition path as the economy converges to a new steady state after a permanent demand shock. We ﬁnd that prices oscillate, rather than monotonically converging to the steady state. Moreover, the dynamic behavior of prices indicate overshooting, where sometimes prices fall below their long run equilibrium value and rise above it, depending on the proportion of desperate to relaxed sellers as well as the number of buyers that would clear the market.
Optimal grey topological predicting approach to short-term load forecasting in power system

A refined grey topological predicting approach is proposed in this paper to solve short-term load forecasting (STLF) problems in power systems. The traditional topological predicting technique is not capable of accurately predicting the graphical outline in cases of periodic fluctuation. The proposed method can overcome this disadvantage. The proposed method takes an hour as the threshold value, arranges the power load and temperature data into original data sequences and variable sequences respectively, and establishes a grey GM(1,2) model for load forecasting. In order to construct an optimal GM(1,2) model to raise the accuracy of predicting, the real-code genetic algorithm (GA) is applied to search the optimal value of GM(1,2) model. The daily load of the Taipower system was used to test the proposed GA-GM(1,2) model. The test results showed that the proposed method had better accuracy and practicality than traditional statistics technique.
[Kaposi's sarcoma and organ transplantation: 22 cases].

BACKGROUND The discovery of the Human Herpes virus 8 (HHV8) improved our knowledge of the pathogenesis of Kaposi's sarcoma. After organ transplantation, Kaposi's sarcoma exhibits distinctive features compared with other forms of the disease. PATIENTS AND METHODS We report 22 cases of post-transplant Kaposi's sarcoma (12 kidneys, 2 kidney-pancreas, 6 livers and 2 hearts). The aim of this retrospective study was to analyze clinical and virological characteristics in these transplant patients and to specify the frequency of HHV8 seroconversions in this population. RESULTS Twenty-one patients showed cutaneous lesions and 9 had visceral involvement. HHV8 serology was positive in 16/20 patients at transplantation and in 21/22 cases at the time of Kaposi's sarcoma diagnosis. Most cases corresponded to viral reactivations whereas seroconversions occurred in 2 cases and may have been linked to viral transmission by the graft. Treatment led to recovery in 68p. 100 of the cases. Two heart-transplant patients died from their disease. We included in our series two cases of re-transplanted patients without recurrence of Kaposi's sarcoma and one case of familial Kaposi's sarcoma. DISCUSSION Seroconversions after transplantation emphasize the interest of systematic screening of HHV8 serology in transplant recipients and their donors.
Gp120 sequence variation in brain and in T-lymphocyte human immunodeficiency virus type 1 primary isolates.

OBJECTIVE We sought to identify genetic determinants within human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) gp120 that differentiate viral species in brain from those in lymphocytes. STUDY DESIGN/METHODS Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to amplify gp120 genes from paired brain and T-cell isolates from two infants and two adults with dementia. Amplimers were molecularly cloned and sequenced. RESULTS The degrees of amino acid divergence between brain and T-cell clones for the two adults were 7.7% and 8.6% and, for the two infants, 2.4% and 2.7%. For one adult and one infant, divergence was greater among brain cell clones than T-cell clones. In the adults, a 3-amino acid insertion, located similarly within V4 and encoding asparagine residues, was identified in the T-cell clones. CONCLUSIONS HIV-1 genetic variation within brain cells is not necessarily restricted compared with that in blood lymphocytes. The species in brain cells can be distinguished from those in lymphocytes by determinants within V4. These differences suggest that immune-mediated selection ongoing within lymphoid cell compartments may not occur within brain.
A study of the physical and chemical properties of four resin composite luting cements.

PURPOSE This study evaluated the surface microhardness and flexural and compressive strengths of five luting cements and compared the degree of conversion of dual and autopolymerized forms of four resin-based luting cements. MATERIALS AND METHODS Four resin composite luting cements-Panavia F, Variolink 2, RelyX Unicem Applicap, and RelyX ARC-and a polycarboxylate cement (Durelon, control group) were used in three-point bending, compression, and Vickers hardness tests following water storage for 1 week. Resin composite cements were additionally investigated with both dual and autopolymerization techniques under Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy. Differences were analyzed using one-way ANOVA. RESULTS The highest flexural strengths were obtained with Variolink 2 (90 MPa, SD 22), whereas the lowest were observed with Durelon (28 MPa, SD 4). RelyX Unicem showed the highest hardness values (44 HV, SD 5), whereas Variolink 2 gave the lowest (32 HV, SD 6). The highest compressive strengths were obtained with RelyX Unicem (145 MPa, SD 32), whereas the lowest were observed with Durelon (41 MPa, SD 17). For both dual and autopolymerized groups, RelyX ARC showed the highest degrees of conversion (81% and 61%, respectively) and RelyX Unicem had the lowest (56% and 26%, respectively). CONCLUSION Resin composite luting cements of similar chemical characterizations differed in their physical properties, and polymerization method influenced their degree of conversion.
PROTECTIVE ANTITOXIC CHOLERA IMMUNITY IN MICE: INFLUENCE OF ROUTE AND NUMBER OF IMMUNIZATIONS AND MODE OF ACTION OF PROTECTIVE ANTIBODIES

An adult mouse model has been elaborated for studies of experimental cholera (Vibrio cholerae enterotoxin‐induced intestinal secretion) and protective antitoxic immunity in either ligated small bowel loops or intact small intestine. Mice of different inbred strains varied markedly in intestinal susceptibility to toxin, C57B1 being the most sentive strain tested. Fluid accumulation started within 1 h after the inoculation of toxin and was maximal after 5 h, whereafter recovery gradually ensued. The dose‐response curve was sigmoid, the ED50 of crude toxin being equivalent to about 0.1 μg purified toxin/cm in the loops and 0.3 μg/cm in the nonligated intestine. Two peroral (p.o.) immunizations induced significant protective immunity which increased markedly after two further immunizations by the same route. Additional p.o. immunizations did not appreciably enhance the protective immunity any further. Intravenous (i.v.) vaccination had to be repeated more than 5 times before intestinal immunity could be observed. No correlation between serum antitoxin titers and protective immunity was found. Electron microscopic examination revealed that whereas peroxidase‐coupled cholera toxin bound tightly to intestinal microvilli from unimmunized or 5‐times i.v. immunized mice it did not bind to the microvilli of p.o. immunized animals. The data thus suggest that the protective immunity is mediated exclusively by locally produced antibodies which prevent the binding of toxin to the gut epithelium.
Balanced Auction Mechanism for Electric Power Markets

One of the most important issues in electric power market design is to create an appropriate auction mechanism. A well-designed auction mechanism should find a reasonable balance between market efficiency and equity. This paper discusses the relationship between supplier bid cost minimization and market efficiency and that between consumer payment minimization and market equity. A balanced auction mechanism based on multi-objective function is presented to have a balanced consideration of efficiency and equity. A framework incorporating supplier bid cost unit commitment and consumer payment dispatch is applied to address this issue and a new method based on multilevel ordering is developed to solve this problem. Numerical testing results show that this method is efficient and the new model can appropriately balance the market efficiency and the equity.
Multi-linear subspace estimation and projection for efficient RFI excision in SIMO systems

The paper introduces the multi-linear algebra framework to the radio frequency interference (RFI) excision research by proposing a multi-linear subspace estimation and projection (MLSEP) algorithm for efficient RFI excision in single-input multiple-output (SIMO) systems. Thereafter, the paper compares the MLSEP algorithm with the state-of-the-art projection-based RFI excision algorithms. Eventually, Matlab® Monte-Carlo simulations corroborate that MLSEP outperforms the state-of-the-art projection-based RFI excision algorithms.
University students with learning disabilities advocating for change

Purpose: In recent decades Western psychology has conceptualized learning disabilities (LD) in terms of deficits and such related 'social emotional issues' as insecurity, low self-esteem and social isolation that can be rehabilitated through combined remedial teaching and psychological intervention. With increasing advocacy and legislation on behalf of people with disabilities in the US, UK and Australia, more resources are being made available to students with LD in institutions of higher education. Due to this increase in the quantity of services, written programmes and accommodations made to their needs, increased numbers of students with LD have been graduating successfully from institutions of higher education. This paper describes an option for treating students with LD that is based on a theoretical perspective that understands these students as an excluded population and emphasizes the importance of their empowerment. Method: A project involving social work students with LD at Hebrew University in Jerusalem is presented as a case study. Case-study investigation, one of the common methods of qualitative research, explores social and human problems in their natural context. A 6-year evaluation of this project was conducted based on questionnaires, focus groups, documentation of all activities related to the project, in-depth interviews and outcome measures. Results: The results suggest that the project developed in three stages: raising awareness, building partnerships, and lobbying for rights and services. Outcome measures indicate that the project was successful in lowering dropout rates and improving students' academic achievement. Analysis of interviews with students suggests that the project positively affected the students' perceptions by helping them reframe the social and emotional connotations of their learning disability. Students reported marked social and emotional change, including reduced stress and anxiety levels and increased self-esteem. Conclusions: Empowerment practices that are based on partnership, participation, advocacy and social change provide an alternative to rehabilitation via individual therapy.