Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Bioactivity of Pomegranate: Impact on Health and Disease

The aim of the present review is to discuss the cumulative evidence that suggests that pomegranate consumption possesses a diverse array of biological actions and may be helpful in the prevention of some inflammatory-mediated diseases including cancer. The pomegranate fruit can be divided into at least three parts—seeds, peel, and juice. All these components have been studied for their antioxidant properties in a chemoprevention approach. Pomegranate exerts antiproliferative, anti-invasive, and antimetastatic effects, induces apoptosis through modulation of Bcl-2 proteins, increases p21 and p27, and downregulates cyclin-cdk network. In addition, pomegranate inhibits the activation of inflammatory pathways including, but not limited to, the NFκ-B pathway. Anti-cancer effects with the most impressive data have been demonstrated so far in prostate cancer.
Calbindin D 28 K Overexpression Protects Striatal Neurons From Transient Focal Cerebral Ischemia

Background and Purpose —Increased intracellular calcium accumulation is known to potentiate ischemic injury. Whether endogenous calcium-binding proteins can attenuate this injury has not been clearly established, and existing data are conflicting. Calbindin D28K (CaBP) is one such intracellular calcium buffer. We investigated whether CaBP overexpression is neuroprotective against transient focal cerebral ischemia. Methods—Bipromoter, replication-incompetent herpes simplex virus vectors that encoded the genes for cabp and, as a reporter gene, lacZ were used. Sprague-Dawley rats received bilateral striatal injections of viral vector 12 to 15 hours before ischemia onset. With the use of an intraluminal occluding suture, animals were subjected to 1 hour of middle cerebral artery occlusion followed by 47 hours of reperfusion. Brains were harvested and stained with X-gal (to visualize b-galactosidase, the gene product of lacZ). The number of remaining virally transfected, X-gal–stained neurons in both the ischemic and contralateral striata were counted and expressed as the percentage of surviving neurons in the ischemic striatum relative to the contralateral nonischemic striatum. Results—Striatal neuron survivorship among cabp-injected animals was 53.5 64.1% (n510) versus 26.865. 4% among those receivinglacZ (n59) (mean6SEM;P,0.001). Conclusions—We conclude that viral vector–mediated overexpression of CaBP leads to neuroprotection in this model of central nervous system injury. This is the first demonstration that CaBP overexpression protects neurons in a focal stroke model. (Stroke. 2001;32:1028-1035.)
SynchroMate: a phatic technology for mediating intimacy

By and large interaction design has been concerned with information exchange - technologies for the collection, processing and transmission of informational content. This design sketch discusses preliminary ideas about an alternative way to think about interactive technologies - phatic technologies - that are less concerned with capturing and communicating information and more about the establishment and maintenance of social connection. Drawing on insights and inspiration gleaned from a recent field-based study of the role of interactive technologies within intimate relationships we outline our preliminary ideas concerning technologies to support phatic interaction. Using the materials collected during our fieldwork as design inspirations, we developed design sketches for phatic technologies intended to support playful connection between intimates. One of these sketches - SynchroMate - is presented. SynchroMate is a phatic technology designed to mediate intimacy by affording serendipitous synchronous exchanges.
Estrogen and Xenoestrogens in Breast Cancer

There is growing concern that estrogenic environmental compounds that act as endocrine-disrupting chemicals might potentially have adverse effects on hormone-sensitive organs such as the breast. This concern is further fueled by evidence indicating that natural estrogens, specifically 17β-estradiol, are important factors in the initiation and progression of breast cancer. We have developed an in vitro—in vivo model in which we have demonstrated the carcinogenicity of E2 in human breast epithelial cells MCF-10F. Hypermethylation of NRG1, STXBP6, BMP6, CSS3, SPRY1, and SNIP were found at different progression stages in this model. The use of this powerful and unique model has provided a tool for exploring whether bisphenol A and butyl benzyl phthalate have relevance in the initiation of breast cancer. These studies provide firsthand evidence that the natural estrogen 17β-estradiol and xenoestrogenic substances like bisphenol A are able to induce neoplastic transformation in human breast epithelial cells.
Experimental demonstration of PDM-32QAM single-carrier 400G over 1200-km transmission enabled by training-assisted pre-equalization and look-up table

We experimentally demonstrate a single-carrier 400G solution based on 51.25-GBaud PDM-32QAM signal at 6.15-b/s/Hz SE over 1200-km transmission distance. Training assisted pre-compensations and both transmitter and receiver based look-up table are employed to mitigate channel bandwidth constraint and component nonlinearity impairment.
Psychopathy and deception detection.

Researchers have found that most people have difficulty detecting deception; however, certain individuals are able to consistently detect deception above the level of chance. This study examined whether psychopathic traits are related to deception detection. Undergraduate participants (n = 117) indicated whether individuals in video clips were lying or telling the truth and completed a measure of psychopathy. Overall, participants' performance was significantly greater than chance. Scores on the psychopathy measure were unrelated to participants' performance and their confidence on the lie detection task. Possible explanations for the findings are briefly discussed.
Clinicopathological Manifestations of Pasteurella Multocida (Serotypes A: 1, 3 And 4) Infections in Commercial Chickens in Jos, Nigeria

National Veterinary Research Institute, Akure, Zonal Office, Hospital Road, Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria. Department of Veterinary Microbiology, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria. Department of Veterinary Medicine, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria. Deprtment of Veterinary Pathology, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria. Central Diagnostic Department, National Veterinary Research Institute, Vom Jos, Nigeria. *Corresponding author`s Email: yakubudashe@yahoo.co.uk Received: 07 Sep. 2015 Accepted: 20 Oct. 2015 ABSTRACT This pathogenicity study was conducted to document the clinicopathologic features observed in commercial chickens inoculated with Pasteurella multocida serotypes A: 1, 3 and 4. Thirty, eighteen weeks old (adult) commercial chickens were divided into five groups (A, B, C, D and E) of 6 birds each. Chickens in groups A, B and C were inoculated with 0.1 ml of Pasteurella multocida serotypes A: 1, 3 and 4 at concentrations of 10 6 , 10 7 and 10 8 CFU/chicken respectively using intramuscular route. Group D were inoculated with 0.1 ml fowl cholera vaccine strain of P. multocida serotype A: 1 at of concentrations of 10 6 , 10 7 and 10 8 CFU/chicken, while group E the uninfected control chickens were given normal saline. All deaths in groups A and B occurred on day 7 and mortality rates were 83.3% for group A and 50% for B. No mortality was recorded in groups C, D (vaccine strain) and E (uninfected control). Gross lesions observed were petechial and ecchymotic haemmorhages on the heart and breast muscles, congestion of the liver and lungs. Histopathological lesions observed were mononuclear cellular infiltration and pulmonary congestion. This study has shown that chickens were susceptible to both Pasteurella multocida serotypes A: 1 and 3.
British Society for Rheumatology and British Health Professionals in Rheumatology guideline for the management of gout.

Gout is a common disease both in primary care and hospital practice [1]. Although drug therapy for gout has become a paradigm for the effective management and prevention of an acute and potentially chronic rheumatic disease, many of the recommendations for treatment are based on expert consensus rather than research evidence and audits of practice suggest that treatment is very variable. Evidence-based guidelines are needed at the present time:
Multiple shifts in the representation of a motor sequence during the acquisition of skilled performance

When do learning-related changes in performance occur? Here we show that the knowledge of a sequence of movements evolves through several distinctive phases that depend on two critical factors: the amount of practice as well as the passage of time. Our results show the following. (i) Within a given session, large performance gains constituted a signature for motor novelty. Such gains occurred only for newly introduced conditions irrespective of the absolute level of performance. (ii) A single training session resulted in both immediate but also time-dependent, latent learning hours after the termination of practice. Time in sleep determined the time of expression of these delayed gains. Moreover, the delayed gains were sequence-specific, indicating a qualitative change in the representation of the task within 24 h posttraining. (iii) Prolonged training resulted in additional between-session gains that, unlike the effects of a single training session, were confined to the trained hand. Thus, the effects of multisession training were qualitatively different than the immediate and time-dependent effects of a single session. Altogether, our results indicate multiple time-dependent shifts in the representation of motor experience during the acquisition of skilled performance.
The physiological consequences of exposure to chronic, sublethal waterborne nickel in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss): exercise vs resting physiology

SUMMARY In rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), following chronic (42 day) exposure to both 384 μg Ni l–1 and 2034 μg Ni l–1, Ni accumulation was greatest in the gill, kidney and plasma, with the plasma as the main sink for Ni. Indeed, trapped plasma analysis revealed that extensive loading of Ni in the plasma accounted for substantial percentages of accumulated Ni in several tissues including the liver and heart. Accumulated Ni in the gill and kidney was less dependent on plasma Ni concentration, suggesting a more intracellular accumulation of Ni in these tissues. We present evidence for a clear, persistent cost of acclimation to chronic, sublethal Ni exposure. Chronic (40–99 day) exposure to sublethal waterborne Ni (243–394 μg Ni l–1; ∼1% of the 96 h LC50) impaired the exercise physiology, but not the resting physiology, of rainbow trout. Ni acted as a limiting stressor, decreasing maximal rates of oxygen consumption (\batchmode \documentclass[fleqn,10pt,legalpaper]{article} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amsmath} \pagestyle{empty} \begin{document} \({\dot{M}}_{\mathrm{O}_{2},\mathrm{max}}\) \end{document}) during strenuous exercise in trout exposed for 34 days to sublethal Ni. This drop in high-performance gas exchange was attributed mainly to a reduction in relative branchial diffusing capacity (Drel) caused by thickening of secondary lamellae. Morphometric analysis of the gills of chronically exposed fish revealed overall swelling of secondary lamellae, as well as hypertrophic respiratory epithelia within secondary lamellae. Additionally, contraction of the lamellar blood pillar system and narrowing of interlamellar water channels occurred, possibly contributing to decreased high-performance gas exchange. Decreased aerobic capacity persisted in fish previously exposed to nickel despite a clean-water exposure period of 38 days and an almost complete depuration of gill Ni, suggesting that extrabranchial mechanisms of chronic Ni toxicity may also be important. Chronic impairment of such a dynamically active and critical organ as the gill may depress the overall fitness of a fish by impairing predator avoidance, prey capture and migration success with obvious environmental implications.
The killer cell immunoglobulin‐like receptor (KIR) genomic region: gene‐order, haplotypes and allelic polymorphism

Summary: Recent genetic studies have established that the killer cell immunoglobulin‐like receptor (KIR) genomic region displays extensive diversity through variation in gene content and allelic polymorphism within individual KIR genes. It is demonstrated by family segregation analysis, genomic sequencing, and gene order determination that genomic diversity by gene content alone gives rise to more than 20 different KIR haplotypes and at least 40–50 KIR genotypes. In the most reductionist format, KIR haplotypes can be accommodated within one of 10 different prototypes, each with multiple permutations. Our haplotype model considers the KIR haplotype as two separate halves: the centromeric half bordered upstream by KIR3DL3 and downstream by 2DL4, and the telomeric half bordered upstream by 2DL4 and downstream by 3DL2. There are rare KIR haplotypes that do not fit into this model. Recombination, gene duplication, and inversion can however, readily explain these haplotypes. Additional allelic polymorphism imposes extensive individual variability. Accordingly, this segment of the human genome displays a level of diversity similar to the one observed for the human major histocompatibility complex. Recent application of immunogenetic analysis of KIR genes in patient populations implicates these genes as important genetic disease susceptibility factors.
On the Need for Research-Tested Smartphone Applications for Reducing Exposures to Known or Suspected Breast Carcinogens in Work and Home Environments.

Rapid technological developments have led to the development of smartphones that combine the voice and text messaging functions of cellular phones with computing technology that can support Internet access and third-party applications[1]. Major smartphone platforms provide third-party developers with application programming interfaces that can be used to build special purpose applications referred to as native apps[1]. To an increasing extent, smartphones are gaining widespread use in health promotion research and practice. For example, smartphone apps have been developed and shown to be effective for promoting healthy diet and nutrition, weight control, physical activity, and other behaviors associated with reduced risk of breast cancer and a variety of other chronic diseases[2,3]. Smartphone apps for promoting healthy behaviors should be based on health behavior theories and frameworks and include evidence-based features such as positive reinforcement and self-monitoring. Several web-based databases --for example, the Chemical Hazard and Alternatives Toolbox (ChemHat), the Pharos Project, Haz-Map, the U.S. Library of Medicine’s Genetic Toxicology Database (GENE-TOX), Environmental Working Group resources, and the California State Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment’s Proposition 65 list of chemicals[4-9] have been developed for providing information about toxic chemicals, including known or suspected breast cancer carcinogens. Not all of these databases, however, are intended for use by lay persons who are not well-versed in toxicology, occupational health and safety, or environmental epidemiology, and some key resources require a paid subscription. In a synthesis of scientific data from national and international sources, Silent Spring Institute researchers identified 216 chemicals that caused increased mammary tumors in an animal study[10]. An estimated 100 of these chemicals are likely common sources of exposure in everyday life. For example, people are exposed to carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in grilled and smoked food, tobacco smoke, and air pollution from auto exhaust. Ethylene oxide is used in hospitals and other medical facilities to sterilize instruments[10]. Mammary carcinogens are also found in certain furniture finishes, dyes, and solvents. Although conclusive evidence from epidemiologic studies is lacking, it is plausible that exposures to chemicals with estrogenic or other properties relevant to sex steroid activity (e.g., bisphenol A, polybrominated diphenyl ethers, and certain dioxins or dioxin-like compounds) could influence breast cancer risk if the exposures occur at critical life stages or in combination with exposure to similar chemicals[11]. Several studies have found an association between shift work and disruption of the circadian rhythm and risk of breast cancer[12].
Control of the Deposition Ratio of Bi2Te3 and Sb2 Te3 in a Vacuum Evaporator for fabrication of Peltier Elements

This article reports the main problem and the corresponding solution of the co-evaporation of Bi2Te3 and Sb 2Te3 films for the fabrication of Peltier elements. This main problem consists in the control of the deposition rates of the two elements: Bi or Sb and Te, which have very different vapor pressures. The control of the deposition ratio was achieved by means of a PID controller, which permitted the fabrication of thin-film Peltier elements that produce a temperature gradient in the order of 2degC between their hot and cold junctions, when measured at free air conditions
Managing Quality in the Free and Open Source Software Community

The Free and Open Source Software (F/OSS) paradigm has attracted much attention in the past few years. Software developed by the community is considered to be a serious rival to proprietary software developed by commercial organizations. While the adoption levels of F/OSS artifacts within the community are quite high, end users from outside the community are still skeptical about adopting F/OSS. Claims against the adoption of F/OSS are usually rooted in the apparent lack of quality assurance mechanisms required to guarantee the protection of users' interests. This paper aims to promote higher adoption of F/OSS artifacts outside the developers' community by exploring possibilities to provide appropriate assurances that F/OSS artifacts will meet the quality levels expected by users.
Structural Characteristics of the Hotel Industry and Their Effect on Adoption of Environmental Initiatives

This study attempts to ask one question: are there structural characteristics of the hotel industry that has caused it to historically be reluctant in embracing environmental responsibility? To do so, the study draws on a number of different research areas in different disciplines, including business, management, and environmental management. It also attempts to draw upon industry sources like trade magazines and publications, as well as corporate information and primary interviews with industry stakeholders and insiders. Through a marriage of these sources, the study identifies four levels – property, brand, corporation, and industry – whose characteristics together define the hotel industry structure and have, and will continue to affect, the ability of hotels to implement environmental responsibility programs. The study also suggests how the conclusions and findings from the research contained herein can be applied for both future studies and applications in real-life,on-the-ground scenarios.
Of art and science: is personalized medicine getting personal enough?

DOI:10.1097/CCO.0000000000000205 ‘None of the arts theorizes about individual cases. Medicine, for instance, does not theorize about what will help to cure Socrates or Callias, but only about what will help to cure any or all of a given class of patients: this alone is subject to technique – individual cases are so infinitely various that no knowledge of them is possible. ’ (Aristotle, Rhetoric, Book 1) Personalized medicine describes the tailoring of therapies to individual patients and, when applied to oncology, it encompasses many different parameters. These range from the genomic, epigenetic, and immunological characteristics of tumors and their microenvironments and macroenvironments to patient characteristics, such as their general state of health, immunocompetence, and socioeconomic situations. Although the science of medicine describes immuno and genomic tumor characteristics, they ultimately fall under the broader umbrella of the art of medicine, defined since antiquity. Since the end of the 1990s and the introduction of trastuzumab, the concept of personalized medicine has evolved toward a stratified scientific medical model in which a diagnostic test is often used to select appropriate and optimal therapies on the basis of a patient’s genetic make-up or other molecular or cellular analyses. Despite huge investment and extensive research by pharmaceutical companies and some exceptional successes, illustrated by the trastuzumab and the imatinib stories among others, this diagnostic testing stratified approach is deceptive with regard to the number of patients’ lives saved from the commonest cancers. We are witnessing the exponential growth of costly and toxic new drugs with limited efficacy, and early identification of patients unlikely to benefit from those treatments is vital to avoid subjecting them to needless toxicities and society to unaffordable costs. However, research for efficacy biomarkers faces several drawbacks: first, intratumor genetic heterogeneity makes it almost impossible to extrapolate the genomic analysis of a single tissue sample
Ensemble of Filter-Based Rankers to Guide an Epsilon-Greedy Swarm Optimizer for High-Dimensional Feature Subset Selection

The main purpose of feature subset selection is to remove irrelevant and redundant features from data, so that learning algorithms can be trained by a subset of relevant features. So far, many algorithms have been developed for the feature subset selection, and most of these algorithms suffer from two major problems in solving high-dimensional datasets: First, some of these algorithms search in a high-dimensional feature space without any domain knowledge about the feature importance. Second, most of these algorithms are originally designed for continuous optimization problems, but feature selection is a binary optimization problem. To overcome the mentioned weaknesses, we propose a novel hybrid filter-wrapper algorithm, called Ensemble of Filter-based Rankers to guide an Epsilon-greedy Swarm Optimizer (EFR-ESO), for solving high-dimensional feature subset selection. The Epsilon-greedy Swarm Optimizer (ESO) is a novel binary swarm intelligence algorithm introduced in this paper as a novel wrapper. In the proposed EFR-ESO, we extract the knowledge about the feature importance by the ensemble of filter-based rankers and then use this knowledge to weight the feature probabilities in the ESO. Experiments on 14 high-dimensional datasets indicate that the proposed algorithm has excellent performance in terms of both the error rate of the classification and minimizing the number of features.