Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Prognostic Value of Plasma Intermedin Level in Patients With Non-ST-Segment Elevation Acute Coronary Syndrome

AbstractIntermedin (IMD), an autocrine/paracrine biologically active peptide, plays a critical role in maintaining vascular homeostasis. Recent research has shown that high plasma levels of IMD are associated with poor outcomes for patients with ST-segment elevation acute myocardial infarction. However, the prognostic utility of IMD levels in non-ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndrome (NSTE-ACS) has not yet been investigated. We hypothesized that the level of plasma IMD would have prognostic value in patients with NSTE-ACS.Plasma IMD was determined by radioimmunoassay in 132 NSTE-ACS patients on admission to hospital and 132 sex- and age-matched healthy-control subjects. Major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs), including death, heart failure, hospitalization, and acute myocardial infarction, were noted during follow-up. In total, 23 patients suffered MACEs during the follow-up period (mean 227 ± 118 days, range 2–421 days). Median IMD levels were higher in NSTE-ACS patients than control [320.0 (250.9/384.6) vs. 227.2 (179.7/286.9) pg/mL, P <0.001]. The area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve for IMD and N-terminal pro-B-type brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) did not significantly differ (0.73 and 0.79, both P <0.001, respectively; P = 0.946). ROC curve analysis revealed a cut-off value for IMD at 340.7 pg/mL. Cox regression analysis with cardiovascular risk variables and NT-proBNP showed that the risk of MACEs increased by a factor of 12.96 (95% CI, 3.26–49.42; P <0.001) with high IMD levels (at the cut-off value). IMD has potential as a prognostic biomarker for predicting MACEs in patients with NSTE-ACS.
Differentiation of human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells into hepatocyte‐like cells by hTERT gene transfection in vitro

The availability of a large quantity of MSCs (mesenchymal stem cells) would greatly advance liver‐directed cell therapies. However, MSCs have a limited lifespan in vitro. Therefore we tested whether hUCMSCs (human umbilical cord MSCs) could be immortalized by transduction with a lentiviral vector carrying the hTERT (human telomerase reverse transcriptase) catalytic subunit gene, and investigated their differentiation potential. Transfected hUCMSCs overexpressed the hTERT gene and up‐regulated their telomerase activity. The transfected hUCMSCs maintained their typical morphology and MSC‐specific markers, and vigorously proliferated, undergoing more than 100 PDs (population doublings) to date. Following incubation with hepatogenic agents, the transfected hUCMSCs differentiated into hepatocyte‐like cells, and expressed hepatic markers, such as albumin, AFP (α‐fetoprotein) and CK‐18 (cytokeratin‐18). Transfected hUCMSCs showed no transformation into tumours in nude mice. In conclusion, telomerization of hUCMSCs by hTERT overexpression extends their replicative lifespan without influencing their hepatogenic differentiation potential. This offers opportunities for obtaining sufficient quantities of cells for liver‐directed therapies.
Validating Aurora B as an anti-cancer drug target

The Aurora kinases, a family of mitotic regulators, have received much attention as potential targets for novel anti-cancer therapeutics. Several Aurora kinase inhibitors have been described including ZM447439, which prevents chromosome alignment, spindle checkpoint function and cytokinesis. Subsequently, ZM447439-treated cells exit mitosis without dividing and lose viability. Because ZM447439 inhibits both Aurora A and B, we set out to determine which phenotypes are due to inhibition of which kinase. Using molecular genetic approaches, we show that inhibition of Aurora B kinase activity phenocopies ZM447439. Furthermore, a novel ZM compound, which is 100 times more selective for Aurora B over Aurora A in vitro, induces identical phenotypes. Importantly, inhibition of Aurora B kinase activity induces a penetrant anti-proliferative phenotype, indicating that Aurora B is an attractive anti-cancer drug target. Using molecular genetic and chemical-genetic approaches, we also probe the role of Aurora A kinase activity. We show that simultaneous repression of Aurora A plus induction of a catalytic mutant induces a monopolar phenotype. Consistently, another novel ZM-related inhibitor, which is 20 times as potent against Aurora A compared with ZM447439, induces a monopolar phenotype. Expression of a drug-resistant Aurora A mutant reverts this phenotype, demonstrating that Aurora A kinase activity is required for spindle bipolarity in human cells. Because small molecule-mediated inhibition of Aurora A and Aurora B yields distinct phenotypes, our observations indicate that the Auroras may present two avenues for anti-cancer drug discovery.
HETEROGENEOUS FEATURE SELECTION FOR CLASSIFICATION OF CUSTOMER LOYALTY FAST MOVING CONSUMER GOODS ( CASE STUDY : INSTANT NOODLE )

In the face of ASEAN open market, the actors (Fast Moving Consumer Goods industry) must increasingly explore patterns of business development because of tough competition and challenges in the market. One of strategy for surviving in high competition is retain the customer loyalty. The data were usually obtained from various sources and contains heterogeneous features, such as numerical and non-numerical features. The datasets with heterogeneous features can affect feature selection results that are not appropriate because of the difficulty of evaluating heterogeneous features concurrently. In this paper, we propose a method that combine the features transformation and subset selection based on mutual information to obtain feature subset that able to improve performance classification algorithm. Analysis comparative among before feature subset selection, dynamic mutual information (DMI) methods, p-value methods and researcher estimate were also done. Feature transformation (FT) is another way to handle the selection of heterogeneous features. The datasets were obtained from the survey of customers fast moving consumer goods, with a total of 386 respondents. By applying unsupervised feature transformation and dynamic mutual information methods, can be known the relevant features that affected the performance of decision tree algorithm. The accuracy and F-measure increased of the DMIunsupervised-feature-transformation compared to all features (without features subset selection), p-value methods and manual features subset selection. The accuracy and F-measure for DMI-unsupervised-feature transformation are 76.68% and 73.5% respectively.
Invalid Command SELECT RF Power ON Preamble Valid Command RF Power OFF READY State INTERROGATING State ROM Enable Temperature Sensor Enable Photo Sensor Enable ACTIVE State OFF State

A RF-powered transponder with temperature and photo sensors is designed and fabricated for environmental monitoring. The transponder gathers power from external ISM (860 – 960MHz) band RF signal and senses ambient temperature and light It contains a supply volage generator, a temperaturecompensated ring oscillator, an oversampling synchronizer, a PTAT temperature sensor and an abrupt transition buffered photo sensor. Its internal clock frequency has variation less than 7% for 1.5-V supply voltage and 90C temperature change. The transponder occupies 0.4mm with 0.25-μm CMOS process and dissipates only 5.14-μW during active state.
Phytochemical Analysis, Biological Activity, and Secretory Structures of Stachys annua (L.) L. subsp. annua (Lamiaceae) from Central Italy

Stachys annua subsp. annua, well‐known in central Italy as ‘stregona annuale’, is an annual, small, slightly‐scented herb, commonly found in fields and uncultivated areas in almost all regions of Italy. In folk medicine, its aerial parts were used as anti‐catarrhal, febrifuge, tonic, and vulnerary. In the present work, the chemical composition of the flowering aerial parts was studied. The hydrodistilled volatile oil, analysed by GC/MS, showed sesquiterpenoids as the major fraction (42.5%); phytol (9.8%), germacrene D (9.2%), and spathulenol (8.5%) were the most abundant constituents. The volatile oil was assayed for antioxidant and cytotoxic activity by DPPH, ABTS, FRAP, and MTT methods. The cytotoxicity results against HCT116, A375, and MDA‐MB 231 human tumor cell lines were significant, with IC50 values of 23.5, 37.2, and 41.5 μg/ml, respectively, whereas the antioxidant power was negligible. The EtOH extract was composed mainly of three glycosidic flavonoids, namely 7‐{[2‐O‐(6‐O‐acetyl‐β‐D‐allopyranosyl)‐β‐D‐glucopyranosyl]oxy}‐5,8‐dihydroxy‐2‐(4‐methoxyphenyl)‐4H‐1‐benzopyran‐4‐one (1), 7‐{[6‐O‐acetyl‐2‐O‐(6‐O‐acetyl‐β‐D‐allopyranosyl)‐β‐D‐glucopyranosyl]oxy}‐2‐(3,4‐dihydroxyphenyl)‐5,8‐dihydroxy‐4H‐1‐benzopyran‐4‐one (2), and 7‐{[6‐O‐acetyl‐2‐O‐(β‐D‐allopyranosyl)‐β‐D‐glucopyranosyl]oxy}‐2‐(3‐hydroxy‐4‐methoxyphenyl)‐5,8‐dihydroxy‐4H‐1‐benzopyran‐4‐one (3). On the contrary, iridoids, considered chemotaxonomic markers of the genus Stachys, were absent in this species. Finally, the morphological and histochemical survey showed that glandular trichomes were composed of two main types, i.e. peltate type A and capitate types B and C giving positive response for both lipids and polyphenols.
Méthodes Asymptotiques pour la Propagation des Ondes dans les Milieux comportant des Fentes

Cette these porte sur la modelisation de la diffraction d'ondes en regime harmonique dans des milieux bidimensionnels comportant des fentes minces. Tout d'abord, nous introduisons et analysons un modele approche dont la propriete principale est d'utiliser une approximation unidimensionnelle dans la fente. L'originalite de ce modele se situe au niveau des conditions de couplage par raccord ``brutal'' a travers les extremites de la fente. La precision de cette premiere technique etant limitee, nous utilisons la technique des developpements asymptotiques raccordes pour obtenir et justifier le developpement asymptotique de la solution a tout ordre en fonction de l'epaisseur de la fente. Les resultats sont radicalement differents suivant que la longueur de la fente est un multiple de la demi-longueur d'onde ou non, auquel cas un phenomene de resonance est observe. De nouvelles procedures de raccord 1D-2D peuvent etre deduites de cette etude.
Effect of intravenous quinine on capillary glucose levels in malaria.

OBJECTIVE Hypoglycemia occurring during management in patients of severe malaria is often overlooked, which can be associated with higher morbidity and mortality rates. METHOD Capillary glucose was estimated in 32 patients of malaria before, at one hour and at six hours of quinine administration. Quinine was given in saline solution intravenously. RESULTS Pretreatment capillary glucose was found to be lower (71-80 mg/dl) in 12.5% cases. After one hour of intravenous quinine administration, capillary glucose levels fell by 11.84% in all the cases. A further fall of 20.50% was observed in 75% of cases after six hour. Two patients died and both were suffering from cerebral malaria. Statistically, fall in capillary glucose was highly significant at one hour (t=9.4, p < 0.001) and at six hours. (t=3.87, p < 0.001) CONCLUSION Statistically significant fall in capillary glucose levels has been observed in patients of malaria with quinine administration.
Approche énergétique non locale du calcul de durée de vie de structures en fatigue multiaxiale sous chargements d'amplitude variable : application à une roue de train ferroviaire

L'objectif de cette etude, realisee en collaboration avec l'Agence d'Essais Ferroviaire (AEF) de la SNCF, est de proposer une methode de calcul de duree de vie sous chargements complexes (chargements multiaxiaux d'amplitude variable) en fatigue a grande duree de vie. La premiere partie du document presente une analyse critique de differentes methodes de la litterature dans ce domaine. La seconde partie du document presente la base de donnees experimentales etablie en vue de l'identification et de l'evaluation de la methode proposee. Cette base de donnees est constituee d'essais sur eprouvettes lisses sous une large gamme de sollicitations a complexite croissante (les essais vont de la traction d'amplitude constante a des essais de flexion-torsion hors phase d'amplitude variable) mais egalement sur roue de TGV a echelle 1 (essais realises a l'AEF, sous chargements d'amplitude variable inspires d'enregistrements en service). La suite du document presente une nouvelle methode de calcul de duree de vie sous chargements multiaxiaux d'amplitude variable. En conservant une base energetique et la notion de seuil de "non endommagement" definies au cours des precedents travaux menes au LAMEFIP, cette proposition prend en compte l'effet, sur la duree de vie, de la repartition spatiale des contraintes dans la piece. Basee sur une definition incrementale du travail de deformation fourni au materiau, cette proposition s'affranchit de toute methode de comptage de cycle et est apte a prevoir la duree de vie d'une structure soumise a une sollicitation quelconque d'amplitude variable. Les previsions de cette methode sont confrontees a des resultats de differents essais de la litterature, notamment obtenus sur des eprouvettes entaillees, et aux resultats experimentaux de l'etude. Enfin la methode proposee est appliquee a un cas industriel : la prevision de la tenue en fatigue de la toile d'une roue de train a grande vitesse sous chargements d'amplitude constante ou par blocs. Les previsions de la methode, appliquee en post-processeur des resultats de calculs elements finis sur la roue, sont en bon accord avec les resultats d'essais.
A Group Key Agreement With Efficient Communication for Ad Hoc Networks

In distributed ad hoc sensor networks, scalable group key agreement protocol plays an important role. They are designed to provide a group of users with a shared secret key such that the users can securely communicate with each other over a public network. In most of previous group key agreement protocols, the number of messages sent by all users increases with the number of all participants. In this paper, a dynamic authenticated group key agreement protocol is presented using pairing for ad hoc networks. In $Join$ algorithm, the number of transmitted messages does not increase with the number of all group members, which makes the protocol more practical. The protocol is provably secure. Its security is proved under Decisional Bilinear Diffie-Hellman assumption. The protocol also provides many other security attributes.
NimbRo picking: Versatile part handling for warehouse automation

Part handling in warehouse automation is challenging if a large variety of items must be accommodated and items are stored in unordered piles. To foster research in this domain, Amazon holds picking challenges. We present our system which achieved second and third place in the Amazon Picking Challenge 2016 tasks. The challenge required participants to pick a list of items from a shelf or to stow items into the shelf. Using two deep-learning approaches for object detection and semantic segmentation and one item model registration method, our system localizes the requested item. Manipulation occurs using suction on points determined heuristically or from 6D item model registration. Parametrized motion primitives are chained to generate motions. We present a full-system evaluation during the APC 2016 and component-level evaluations of the perception system on an annotated dataset.
Adipophilin-enriched domains in the ER membrane are sites of lipid droplet biogenesis

The prevailing hypothesis of lipid droplet biogenesis proposes that neutral lipids accumulate within the lipid bilayer of the ER membrane from where they are budded off, enclosed by a protein-bearing phospholipid monolayer originating from the cytoplasmic leaflet of the ER membrane. We have used a variety of methods to investigate the nature of the sites of ER–lipid-droplet association in order to gain new insights into the mechanism of lipid droplet formation and growth. The three-dimensional perspectives provided by freeze-fracture electron microscopy demonstrate unequivocally that at sites of close association, the lipid droplet is not situated within the ER membrane; rather, both ER membranes lie external to and follow the contour of the lipid droplet, enclosing it in a manner akin to an egg cup (the ER) holding an egg (the lipid droplet). Freeze-fracture cytochemistry demonstrates that the PAT family protein adipophilin is concentrated in prominent clusters in the cytoplasmic leaflet of the ER membrane closely apposed to the lipid droplet envelope. We identify these structures as sites at which lipids and adipophilin are transferred from ER membranes to lipid droplets. These findings call for a re-evaluation of the prevailing hypothesis of lipid droplet biogenesis.
Sequence-Specific Recognition and Cleavage of Telomeric Repeat (TTAGG)n by Endonuclease of Non-Long Terminal Repeat Retrotransposon TRAS1

ABSTRACT The telomere of the silkworm Bombyx mori consists of (TTAGG/CCTAA) n repeats and harbors a large number of telomeric repeat-specific non-long terminal repeat retrotransposons, such as TRAS1 and SART1. To understand how these retrotransposons recognize and integrate into the telomeric repeat in a sequence-specific manner, we expressed the apurinic-apryrimidinic endonuclease-like endonuclease domain of TRAS1 (TRAS1 EN), which is supposed to digest the target DNA, and characterized its enzymatic properties. Purified TRAS1 EN could generate specific nicks on both strands of the telomeric repeat sequence between T and A of the (TTAGG) n strand (bottom strand) and between C and T of the (CCTAA) n strand (top strand). These sites are consistent with insertion sites expected from the genomic structure of boundary regions of TRAS1. Time course studies of nicking activities on both strands revealed that the cleavages on the bottom strand preceded those on the top strand, supporting the target-primed reverse transcription model. TRAS1 EN could cleave the telomeric repeats specifically even if it was flanked by longer tracts of nontelomeric sequence, indicating that the target site specificity of the TRAS1 element was mainly determined by its EN domain. Based on mutation analyses, TRAS1 EN recognizes less than 10 bp around the initial cleavage site (upstream 7 bp and downstream 3 bp), and the GTTAG sequence especially is essential for the cleavage reaction on the bottom strand (5′. . . TTAGGTT ↓ AGG . . . 3′). TRAS1 EN, the first identified endonuclease digesting telomeric repeats, may be used as a genetic tool to shorten the telomere in insects and some other organisms.
Dysphagia in Wallenberg’s Syndrome: The Challenge in Treatment

Wallenberg syndrome was initially described by Gaspard Vieusseaux of Geneva in 1810. It was characterized by vertigo, unilateral facial numbness, loss of pain and temperature appreciation in the opposite limbs, dysphagia and hoarseness, minor tongue involvement, hiccups and a dropped eyelid [1]. Wallenberg described in his case reports from 1895-1922 how the patients could not swallow solids at all while liquids were taken in minute amounts [2]. In 2003, Kim [3] described findings in WS based on clinical MRI in a correlation study on 130 patients. There was sudden onset of WS in 75% cases and it typically started with headache, vertigo, dizziness, and gait ataxia. The symptoms that appeared later include dysphagia, hoarseness, hiccups, and sensory signs. Among these, dysphagia was found in 65% cases [3]. Although cerebral, cerebellar, or brainstem strokes can all impair swallowing physiology, brainstem strokes can result in the largest swallowing compromise despite they are less common than cortical lesions. Brainstem lesions can affect sensation of the mouth, tongue and cheek, timing in the trigger of the pharyngeal swallow, laryngeal elevation, glottic closure, and cricopharyngeal relaxation [4].
Computational and Experimental Approach for the Identification of Mesencephalon-Specific Cis-Element of Dbx 1 Gene

Gene regulation is central to the biological processes of differentiation, morphogenesis, and the creation of diversity of cell types. The identification of gene regulatory elements is thus essential for the understanding of the molecular mechanism underlying these processes. Here, we present an integrative approach for the identification and characterization of a cis-element of Dbx1 gene. Dbx1 (developing brain homeobox 1) plays an essential role during development of the central nervous system (CNS). Dbx1 expression is regionally restricted within the brain and spinal cord to define neuronal specific domains. Although the functional roles of Dbx1 have been established, the molecular mechanism that governs Dbx1 regional specific expression is not well understood. Using comparative genomics method, we revealed a highly evolutionarily conserved noncoding DNA fragment of 624 bp located approximately18 kb upstream of Dbx1 locus (CR5) and is predicted as a cis-element. Using experimental approaches, we show that this cis-element CR5 directs mesencephalon-specific gene expression during chick embryonic CNS development. Cells with CR5 activity contain a heterogeneous neuronal population suggesting that CR5 is involved in multiple neuronal lineage development. Together, these findings provide additional insight into the complex regulation of Dbx1 expression during CNS development. In addition, our study established an effective approach for the discovery and characterization of genomic regulatory elements.
Preparation of calcium phosphate nanoparticles and evaluation of their effects on muscle cells of rat

Calcium phosphate has been used for many years as a DNA delivery system. It has not been approved for use in the vaccine adjuvant system since it has been known for site-specific reaction in the muscle cells for irritant effects. Calcium phosphate nanoparticles have been shown to be a lesser irritant than the macroparticles. In the present study calcium phosphate nanoparticles were prepared with bovine serum albumin using different stirring times and each analysed for entrapment efficiency. The void calcium phosphate nanoparticles were injected intramuscularly into rats for testing the site-specific inflammation. The muscle samples were collected on the 14th day of injection. The smallest particle size of about 40 μm of calcium phosphate nanoparticle–BSA complex was obtained by stirring for 1 h. The void calcium phosphate nanoparticles did not elicit any site-specific reaction in rats, as revealed by in histopathological examination. Hence calcium phosphate nanoparticles can be efficiently used as an adjuvant for non-live vaccines. However, further analysis of effects of calcium phosphate nanoparticles on the vital organs such as brain, liver, kidney is warranted.
Governing Large Carnivores—Comparative Insights from Three Different Countries

ABSTRACT The governance of large carnivores is often surrounded by conflicts. Along with the difficulties of governing large carnivores through centralized, top-down governing and a general shift towards participatory approaches in natural resource governance, this has led many countries to establish various collaborative measures in large carnivore governance – often presented as a catch-all solution to problems of legitimacy, democratic deficit and effectiveness. However, the field of large carnivore governance currently lacks a coherent understanding of strengths and weaknesses of different kinds of collaborative arrangements. In this paper, we address this knowledge gap. Using the framework of modes of governance to categorize and compare the governance of large carnivores in Norway, Sweden and Finland, we discuss the potential and limitations of various governance modes and identify gaps in contemporary research literature. The main conclusion is that all three governance systems need to incorporate more interactive governance elements.