Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Chapter 4 Vascular Inflammation and Genetic Predisposition as Risk Factors for Cardiovascular Diseases

Atherosclerosis previously defined as an obstructive disease leads to fatty deposits in the arterial wall. Nowadays, according to the best of our knowledge, specific cells, molecular mechanisms, and genes play crucial roles in the pathogenesis of the disease. Inflammatory reaction contributes to atherosclerotic lesion formation, since fatty streak leads to a plaque erosion or rupture. Experimental and clinical studies have shown that besides well-known risk factors, such as smoking, hypertension, diabetes, and dyslipidemia, genetic variations in certain locuses affect the disease burden. A common genetic variability at the apoE locus has been shown to be associated with a risk for cardiovascular disease. In many studies, a higher cardiovascular risk has been associated with the presence of the apo ε4 allele, whereas the apo ε2 allele has been protective. Recent studies stated that pro-inflammatory cytokines increase the binding of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) to endothelium and smooth muscle cells, so inflammatory response solely increases lipoprotein accumulation within the vessel wall. As a conclusion, cholesterol accumulation leads to atherosclerotic plaque via several mechanisms. Genetic predisposition and inflammatory process may affect disease severity.
PHARMACOLOGICAL TREATMENT IN STABILIZING THE SYMPTOMS IN CHILDREN WITH ADHD SYMPTOMS

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a chronic disorder characterized by problems with paying attention, impulsivity and over-activity which influence all the life fields of a child with ADHD. The prevalence of ADHD in children is approximately 7% worldwide, both males and females being affected and with different etiology. A high rate of these patients present neurologic etiology, determined by factors which occurred in different stages of the development process. The consequences of ADHD cause social problems because these children have difficulties regarding family, school and social integration, associating a considerable impairment in the quality of life (QoL). The goal of therapeutic approaches is to improve the QoL by managing the symptoms. There is no treatment for curing ADHD, but there is a pharmacologic treatment used in order to control the symptoms. The goal of the study was to determine the impact of treatment on symptoms control in ADHD patients. The subjects were administered methylphenidate or atomoxetine. The ADHD symptoms were screened with Child Symptom Inventory-4 scale. Pharmacological treatment and early diagnosis have a positive impact on outcomes, QoL and long-term prognosis. Rezumat Tulburarea hiperkinetică cu deficit de atenţie (ADHD) este o afecţiune cronică care apare in copilărie si este caracterizată prin deficit de atenţie, impulsivitate si hiperactivitate, simptome care pot afecta toate aspectele vieţii unui copil. Prevalenţa la copii este de aproximativ 7% la nivel mondial, abordând ambele sexe si având etiologie diferită. Un procent important dintre pacienţi prezintă etiologie neurologică, cauzată de factori ce au intervenit in diverse etape de dezvoltare. Datorită simptomelor, copiii cu ADHD intâmpină dificultăţi de integrare in familie, la scoală, precum si in societate, calitatea vieţii fiind astfel compromisă. Dezideratul major in abordarea terapeutică a copiilor cu ADHD este imbunătăţirea calităţii vieţii prin stabilizarea simptomelor. Nu există tratament curativ pentru ADHD, dar există tratament farmacologic folosit pentru a controla simptomatologia la copii, realizând astfel managementul comportamentului psiho-social. Studiul a urmărit impactul tratamentului farmacologic asupra controlului simptomelor la copiii cu ADHD. Au fost selectaţi pacienţi care au urmat tratament cu metilfenidat sau atomoxetină, iar grupul de control a fost format din pacienţi care au primit
Jitter Effect on the Performance of the Sound Localization Model of Medial Superior Olive Neural Circuit

Objectives: Additional properties of the stochastic neural circuit model suggested in [1] were studied. Methods: The performance of the whole circuit when the system employs a different jitter was studied by extensive simulations. By performance we mean the time needed to obtain a reliable estimate of ITD. Results: It was found that the relation between jitter and performance is nonlinear and we estimated a plausible range of jitter values for the model. Conclusion: To conclude, there exists an upper bound of the timing jitter since the number of neurons needed to compensate the injected noise grows exponentially and above certain jitter values becomes unrealistically high.
Ocena podobieństwa genetycznego mieszańców pszenżyta z Aegilops juvenalis (Thell.) Eig

S t r e s z c z e n i e . Celem pracy byla ocena podobienstwa genetycznego mieszancow pszenŜyta z Aegilops juvenalis (Thell.) Eig z wykorzystaniem metody RAPD oraz identyfikacja u pszenŜyta DNA dzikiego gatunku. Badania prowadzono z udzialem 16 starterow RAPD. Łącznie uzyskano 141 fragmentow DNA, z czego poszczegolne startery powielaly od 5 (U572) do 14 (A16) odcinkow. Średnio na starter przypadalo 2,9 polimorficznych produktow – od 1 (dla F09 i W2) do 6 (dla U225). Trzy startery (A16, G2, G10) powielaly lącznie 4 produkty potwierdzające obecnośc materialu genetycznego Aegilops juvenalis (Thell.) Eig u poszczegolnych form mieszancowych. Określono podobienstwo genetyczne pomiedzy badanymi obiektami. Stwierdzono, Ŝe najwieksze średnie podobienstwo genetyczne w stosunku do pozostalych genotypow (0,846) wykazywal rod o kombinacji Aegilops juvenalis 6x × [(Lanca × L506/79) × CZR142/79]. Średnie podobienstwo genetyczne wszystkich badanych form wynosilo 0,791. Na podstawie matrycy indeksow podobienstwa genetycznego wykonano analize skupien metodą UPGMA. S l o w a k l u c z o w e : Aegilops juvenalis (Thell.) Eig, podobienstwo genetyczne, pszenŜyto, RAPD
The problem of finding an optimal path between every pair of nodes of a network has been dealt with by many authors such as Bellman [ 1958 ] , Brucker [ 1974 ]

In this paper, the functional equation technique of dynamic programming is applied to solve the problems of a) determining an optimal path from a given origin to a fixed destination when the path is subject to a given number of improvements, b) finding an optimal path from a given origin to an assigned destination by passing at least once through each node of a set of specified nodes when the path is subject to a given number of improvements, c) obtaining an optimal path from a given origin to a fixed destination by passing at least once through at least one node of each of K sets of specified nodes when the path is subject to a given number of improvements. Zusammenfassung: In dieser Arbeit wird die Funktionalgleichung des dynamischen Programmierens verwendet, um folgende drei Netzwerkprobleme zu 16sen: a) Bestimmung eines optimalen Pfades yon einem gegebenen An_fangszu einem gegebenen Endknoten, wenn l~ings einem Pfad eine gewisse Anzahl yon Verbesserungen m/Sglich sind. b) Wie a), wobei zus~itzlich der Pfad mindestens einmal durch jeden Knoten einer spezifizierten Knotenmenge gehen soil. c) Wie a), wobei der Pfad durch mindestens einen Knoten in jeder yon K spezifizierten Knotenmenge gehen soil.
David Genome Transcription and Replication of the Viral Viability , Nuclear Localization , and Optimal Nucleoprotein Is Essential for Virus The N Terminus of the Influenza B Virus

The nucleoprotein (NP) of influenza viruses is a multifunctional protein with essential roles throughout viral replication. Despite influenza A and B viruses belonging to separate genera of the Orthomyxoviridae family, their NP proteins share a relatively high level of sequence conservation. However, NP of influenza B viruses (BNP) contains an evolutionarily conserved N-terminal 50-amino-acid extension that is absent from NP of influenza A viruses. There is conflicting evidence as to the functions of the BNP N-terminal extension; however, this has never been assessed in the context of viral infection. We have used reverse genetics to assess the significance of this region on the functions of BNP and virus viability. The truncation of more than three amino acids prevented virus recovery, suggesting that the N-terminal extension is essential for virus viability. Mutational analysis indicated that multiple regions of the protein are involved in the nuclear localization of BNP, with the entire N-terminal extension required for this to function efficiently. Viruses containing mutations in the first 10 residues of BNP demonstrated few differences in nuclear localization; however, the viruses exhibited significant reductions in viral mRNA transcription and genome replication, resulting in significantly attenuated phenotypes. Mutations introduced to ablate a previously reported nuclear localization signal also resulted in a significant decrease in mRNA production during early stages of viral replication. Overall, our results demonstrate that the N-terminal extension of BNP is essential to virus viability not only for directing nuclear localization of BNP but also for regulating viral mRNA transcription and genome replication.
Evaluation Boundary and Design Method for Insulating Packages

To evaluate the failure potential of insulated packaging to heat outside, a so-called evaluation boundary for insulating packages was proposed for designing and estimating insulating packages based on the heat transfer law between the environment and a packaged product through packaging. Three evaluation parameters were suggested for describing the failure mechanism of insulating packages. The validity of the presented evaluation boundary was verified by the experimental data. Finally, a new design method of insulating packages based on the boundary was proposed and an application example was performed as a demonstration. The results indicated that the three evaluation parameters (which are thermal load, adsorption ability of phase change material (PCM) and system thermal resistance of insulating packages) are the key parameters for designing insulating package and that the performance of insulating packages is only determined by the thermal load. Moreover, the proposed evaluation boundary shows a good agreement with experimental results, and the availability of the new method to design insulating packages was affirmative through the application example.
The Determinants of Self-Employed Income in a Regional Economy

Supporters claim that entrepreneurship is critical to building and sustaining the regional economies of urban and rural areas across the nation. Proponents argue that economic development practices that enhance and support entrepreneurship are essential because they cultivate innovation which, in turn, creates new jobs, new wealth, and a better quality of life. However, South Carolina’s real self-employed per capita income has decreased over the last decade. This downward trend highlights the need to examine the drivers of entrepreneurial income. The income of self-employed workers, as opposed to the number of self-employed, is critical to economic development because a major goal of economic policy is to increase incomes not just employment. Identifying and quantifying the personal, cultural, and economic factors that influence self-employed income provides policy makers with another tool to enhance economic development policies. This study uses data from the American Community Survey for South Carolina in both an ordinary regression approach and a quantile regression approach to investigate the relationship between individual entrepreneurial income and individual personal attributes, social/institutional assets available to the entrepreneur, and the regional economic environment the entrepreneur operates within. Personal attributes, such as education and sex, and the importance of self-employed income to total family income are significant variables in explaining income variation among self-employed individuals.
Corporate social reporting in a transition economy: the case of Libya

The social and economic environments of developing countries differ from those of liberal market economies of the developed countries, and the differences are reflected in the accounting disclosure practices. Recent years have shown an increased attention paid by accounting research to Corporate Social Responsibility and Disclosure which is recognized as having the potential to enhance the transparency of business enterprises’ social influence, enabling the wider society to hold business enterprises more accountable for their operations. Corporate Social Responsibility and Disclosure practices in most developing countries remain fairly rudimentary and relatively few studies have focused on the corporate social responsibility disclosure practices in such countries. The aim of this study is to investigate corporate social responsibility disclosure in Libyan companies’ annual reporting in the light of the country’s economic, social and political environment. In particular, it seeks to map current corporate social disclosure in annual reports and to understand various parties’ views of that practice and its possible future development. To achieve the aim and particular objectives of the study it was necessary to utilise more than one research method. Firstly, a descriptive method is used to provide an overview of accounting and its environment in a developing country, and the economic, social and political environment in Libya. Secondly, empirical evidence covering a five year period across a sample of private and public companies in Libyan environment is presented using content analysis to analyse the companies’ annual reports. Finally, an empirical survey by personally delivered and collected questionnaire of 303 participants in four groups of research participants (academic accountants, financial managers, government officials and investors) was performed to explore the views and perceptions regarding corporate social reporting in Libya. The content analysis showed that Libyan companies generally disclose some information related to social responsibility. However, the amount of information is low compared with counterparts in developed countries. Employee and community involvement are the themes that the companies disclose most information about. The findings from the questionnaire survey indicate that participants preferred social information to be disclosed in the annual report, ideally placed in a separate section. The disclosure of more social and environmental information was widely accepted and viewed as leading to some socioeconomic benefits at the macro level.
Development of a three-tier in vitro system, using Caco-2 cells, to assess the effects of lactate on iron uptake and transport from rye bread following in vitro digestion

A three-tier Caco-2 cell system was developed to assess simultaneously iron dialysability, uptake and transport across the Caco-2 monolayer from an in vitro digested food matrix. The effect of lactate (0–200 mmol L−1) on iron absorption from rye bread subjected to simulated peptic (pH 5.5) and pancreatic digestion (pH 6.5) was investigated to model absorption pre and post the sphincter of Oddi. Lactate increased dialysability (11.8%, P < 0.05) in peptic digests whereas it reduced it in pancreatic digests (4.9%, P < 0.001). Iron uptake from the peptic digests was in the region of 39–76 pmol mg−1 protein whereas it decreased from 281 to 51 pmol mg−1 protein in pancreatic digests. Iron transport was calculated for the peptic digests from [14C]polyethylene glycol movement and only at 200 mmol L−1 lactate was there any detectable transcellular transport (180 pmol mg−1 protein, P < 0.05). Iron absorption was positively correlated to dialysable iron for both digests (R2 = 0.48 and 0.41, respectively, P < 0.01) and the effect of lactate was therefore associated mainly with iron bioaccessibility. The three-tier system showed the potential to obtain detailed insight into each step involved in iron transport across the monolayer from a food mixture. Copyright © 2006 Society of Chemical Industry
3D cone-beam generalized pseudo-lambda tomography based on FDK

Because the medical CT scanner is rapidly evolving from fan-beam to cone-beam geometry, we motivate to take advantages of Noo's formula for cone-beam reconstruction with higher temporal resolution. Feldkamp et al. proposed a practical cone-beam reconstruction algorithm for full scan data collected on a circular locus in 1984. It is known that the Feldkamp-type reconstruction framework is compatible with any fan-beam reconstruction formula. Therefore, the Noo's formula can be generalized into Feldkamp-type algorithm for the satisfactory reconstruction of a volume of interest (VOI). Our method is the first attempt to combines the pseudo-lambda tomography (PLT) and Feldkamp-type algorithm together. Simulation using the 3D differentiable Shepp-Logan phantom is performed demonstrate the utility of this technique.
Docetaxel and bavituximab in nonsquamous NSCLC 1 Docetaxel Plus Bavituximab in Previously Treated , Advanced Nonsquamous Non – small-cell Lung Cancer

Background: Bavituximab is a phosphatidylserine-targeting antibody with a selective tumor, vascular-directed immune response. This phase 2 trial evaluated efficacy and safety of bavituximab combined with docetaxel for previously treated, advanced nonsquamous non– small-cell lung cancer. Methods: Patients were randomized 1:1:1 to receive docetaxel 75 mg/m every 21 days for up to 6 cycles combined with weekly, blinded infusions of placebo, bavituximab 1 mg/kg, or bavituximab 3 mg/kg until progression or unacceptable toxicity. The primary endpoint was overall response rate (ORR), with a predefined endpoint of 26% in the bavituximab arms. After study unblinding, vial-coding discrepancies were discovered in the placebo and bavituximab 1 mg/kg groups. In exploratory analyses, data from these groups were pooled to form the control group and compared with the 3 mg/kg group. Results: Efficacy endpoints in the bavituximab 3 mg/kg group (n=41) and in the placebo/bavituximab 1 mg/kg group (n=80), respectively, were as follows: ORR 17.1% (95% CI 5.6%, 28.6%) and 11.3% (95% CI 4.3%, 18.2%); median progression-free survival 4.5 and 3.3 M AN US CR IP T AC CE PT ED ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT Docetaxel and bavituximab in nonsquamous NSCLC 5 months (HR 0.74 [95% CI 0.45, 1.21], P=.24); median overall survival 11.7 and 7.3 months (HR 0.66 [95% CI 0.40, 1.10], P=.11). Toxicities were manageable and similar between arms. Conclusions: The combination of bavituximab and docetaxel is well tolerated. Although no firm efficacy conclusions can be drawn and the trial did not meet the predefined primary endpoint, exploratory analyses suggest trends favoring the addition of bavituximab 3 mg/kg to docetaxel. This regimen is being evaluated in the ongoing, global, phase 3 SUNRISE trial. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01138163
A fast morphological algorithm for color image multi-scale segmentation using vertex-collapse

This paper proposes a fast morphological algorithm for color image multi-scale segmentation based on the connected sets using the vertex-collapse algorithm. Color morphological operators are defined based on a special full order relation of color vectors in HSV model. Morphological opening-closing operators are implemented using vertex-collapse algorithm to form a nonlinear scale space. Both area and color are considered to calculate the similarity between adjacent regions, and entropy criterion is adopted to control the content contained in the finial scale tree. The experimental result shows that the image is segmented efficiently with perfect shape preserving.
Influenza Virus in Mammalian Hosts Pathogenicity of the Novel A / H 7 N 9 Basic Protein 2 Gene Contribute to the Amino Acid Substitutions in Polymerase

A novel avian-origin influenza A/H7N9 virus emerged in 2013 to cause more than 130 cases of zoonotic human disease, with an overall case fatality rate of around 30% in cases detected. It has been shown that an E-to-K amino acid change at residue 627 of polymerase basic protein 2 (PB2) occurred frequently in the H7N9 isolates obtained from humans but not in viruses isolated from poultry. Although this mutation has been reported to confer increased mammalian pathogenicity in other avian influenza subtypes, it has not been experimentally investigated in the H7N9 virus. In this study, we determined the contribution of PB2E627K in H7N9 virus to its pathogenicity in mammalian hosts. In addition, the compensatory role of the PB2 mutations T271A, Q591K, and D701N in H7N9 virus was investigated. We characterized the activity of polymerase complexes with these PB2 mutations and found that they enhance the polymerase activity in human 293T cells. The rescued mutants enhanced growth in mammalian cells in vitro. Mice infected with the H7N9 mutant containing the avian signature protein PB2-627E showed a marked decrease in disease severity (weight loss) and pathology compared to mice infected with the wild-type strain (PB2-627K) or other PB2 mutants. Also, mutants with PB2-627E showed lower virus replication and proinflammatory cytokine responses in the lungs of the virus-infected mice, which may contribute to pathogenicity. Our results suggest that these amino acid substitutions contribute to mouse pathogenicity and mammalian adaptation.
, H 7 N 9 and Seasonal Influenza Viruses Replication of Emerging In Vivo Role in The Host Protease TMPRSS 2 Plays a Major

Proteolytic cleavage of the hemagglutinin (HA) protein is essential for influenza A virus (IAV) to acquire infectivity. This process is mediated by a host cell protease(s) in vivo. The type II transmembrane serine protease TMPRSS2 is expressed in the respiratory tract and is capable of activating a variety of respiratory viruses, including low-pathogenic (LP) IAVs possessing a single arginine residue at the cleavage site. Here we show that TMPRSS2 plays an essential role in the proteolytic activation of LP IAVs, including a recently emerged H7N9 subtype, in vivo. We generated TMPRSS2 knockout (KO) mice. The TMPRSS2 KO mice showed normal reproduction, development, and growth phenotypes. In TMPRSS2 KO mice infected with LP IAVs, cleavage of HA was severely impaired, and consequently, the majority of LP IAV progeny particles failed to gain infectivity, while the viruses were fully activated proteolytically in TMPRSS2 / wild-type (WT) mice. Accordingly, in contrast to WT mice, TMPRSS2 KO mice were highly tolerant of challenge infection by LP IAVs (H1N1, H3N2, and H7N9) with >1,000 50% lethal doses (LD50) for WT mice. On the other hand, a high-pathogenic H5N1 subtype IAV possessing a multibasic cleavage site was successfully activated in the lungs of TMPRSS2 KO mice and killed these mice, as observed for WT mice. Our results demonstrate that recently emerged H7N9 as well as seasonal IAVs mainly use the specific protease TMPRSS2 for HA cleavage in vivo and, thus, that TMPRSS2 expression is essential for IAV replication in vivo.
Spindle Checkpoint Factors Promote NHEJ 1 Spindle Checkpoint Factors Bub 1 and Bub 2 Promote DNA 1 Double Strand Break Repair by Non-Homologous End Joining 2 3

Ashkan Golshani, Mohan Babu 8 9 Department of Biochemistry, Research and Innovation Centre, 10 University of Regina, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada 11 12 Department of Biology and Ottawa Institute of Systems Biology, 13 Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada 14 15 Banting and Best Department of Medical Research, Donnelly Centre, 16 University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada 17 18 Cancer Research Unit, Saskatchewan Cancer Agency, Saskatoon, 19 Saskatchewan, Canada 20 21 Department of Medicine, Regina Qu’Appelle Health Region, 22 Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada 23 24 Department of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology, University of California, 25 San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, 94158, USA 26 27 # Communicating Authors Contact Info: 28 29 Email: ashkan_golshani@carleton.ca, Phone: 613-520-2600; Fax: 613-520-3539 30