Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Regulation of Nicotinic Receptor Subtypes Following Chronic Nicotinic Agonist Exposure in M10 and SH‐SY5Y Neuroblastoma Cells

Abstract: The present study further investigated whether nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) subtypes differ in their ability to up‐regulate following chronic exposure to nicotinic agonists. Seven nicotinic agonists were studied for their ability to influence the number of chick α4β2 nAChR binding sites stably transfected in fibroblasts (M10 cells) following 3 days of exposure. The result showed a positive correlation between the Ki values for binding inhibition and EC50 values for agonist‐induced α4β2 nAChR up‐regulation. The effects of epibatidine and nicotine were further investigated in human neuroblastoma SH‐SY5Y cells (expressing α3, α5, β2, and β4 nAChR subunits). Nicotine exhibited a 14 times lower affinity for the nAChRs in SH‐SY5Y cells as compared with M10 cells, whereas epibatidine showed similar affinities for the nAChRs expressed in the two cell lines. The nicotine‐induced up‐regulation of nAChR binding sites in SH‐SY5Y cells was shifted to the right by two orders of magnitude as compared with that in M10 cells. The epibatidine‐induced up‐regulation of nAChR binding sites in SH‐SY5Y cells was one‐fourth that in M10 cells. The levels of mRNA of the various nAChR subunits were measured following the nicotinic agonist exposure. In summary, the various nAChR subtypes show different properties in their response to chronic stimulation.
Synthèse de texture par décomposition parcimonieuse contrainte

Cet article aborde la synthese de texture par une approche variationnelle. A partir d'un echantillon de la texture a synthetiser, nous definissons une energie non-convexe composee de termes de penalite associes a des contraintes statistiques. Ces contraintes portent sur l'histogramme et le spectre de l'image, ainsi que sur une decomposition de ses patchs dans un dictionnaire appris au prealable. Le probleme de synthese est alors transforme en un probleme de minimisation, pour lequel nous proposons un algorithme. Les minima locaux ainsi obtenus sont de nouvelles syntheses de la texture originale. Des experiences numeriques illustrent les resultats de cette approche.
Adaptation in the input‐output relation of the synapse made by the barnacle's photoreceptor.

A study was made of synaptic transmission between the four median photoreceptors of the giant barnacle (Balanus nubilus) and their post‐synaptic cells (I‐cells). Simultaneous intracellular recordings were made from the presynaptic terminal region of a photoreceptor and from the soma of an I‐cell. The photoreceptor's membrane potential provided feed‐back to bath electrodes that passed current into the receptors' axons, permitting the voltage to be controlled at the point of arborization of their presynaptic terminals. Simultaneous recordings from a second photoreceptor showed that its voltage tracked the first. Step depolarizations of the receptors from their dark resting potential (about ‐60 mV) caused hyperpolarizations of the I‐cell that reached a peak, then decayed to a plateau value. The amplitude of the I‐cell's response grew with presynaptic depolarizations, saturating at presynaptic values 10‐20 mV depolarized from dark rest. Step hyperpolarizations of the receptors from dark rest evoked depolarizations of the I‐cell consisting of an initial peak, which varied greatly in amplitude and wave form from preparation to preparation, followed by a plateau. The presence of this post‐synaptic response indicates that transmitter is released continuously from the receptors at their dark resting potential. An input‐output relation of the synapse was obtained by presenting step depolarizations from a holding potential of ‐80 mV, where steady‐state transmitter release is shut off. The relation is sigmoidal; in the exponentially rising phase of the curve, a 5‐11 mV presynaptic change produces a 10‐fold change in post‐synaptic response. When the presynaptic holding potential was set at values ranging from ‐80 to ‐40 mV, the relation between the I‐cell's response and the absolute potential to which the receptor was stepped shifted along the presynaptic voltage axis. The slopes of the input‐output relations were roughly parallel or increased as the photoreceptors were held more depolarized. This observation limits the possible mechanisms of the shift.
Respiratory symptoms in children and exposure to pesticides

In Lebanon, childhood asthma is an important disease and pesticides are commonly used. The objective of this study was to evaluate whether exposure to pesticides has chronic effects on the respiratory health of Lebanese children. A crosssectional study was performed on children from a randomly selected sample of Lebanese public schools. Exposure to pesticides was evaluated by a standardised questionnaire and a residential exposure score, and respiratory symptoms were assessed by using the American Thoracic Society standardised questionnaire. A chronic respiratory disease was reported in 407 (12.4%) out of 3,291 children. The baseline difference in mean age was small but statistically significant. Any exposure to pesticides, including residential, paraoccupational and domestic, was associated with respiratory disease and chronic respiratory symptoms (chronic phlegm, chronic wheezing, ever wheezing), except for chronic cough. Exposure to pesticides was associated with chronic respiratory symptoms and disease among Lebanese children.
Hepatitis C virus infection in special populations.

Dr Flamm has served on the speakers bureau of Vertex and Gilead and the advisory boards of Vertex, Gilead, AbbVie, Bristol-Myers Squibb, and Janssen; acted as a consultant for Merck, Vertex, Gilead, AbbVie, Bristol-Myers Squibb, and Janssen; and received research funding from Merck, Vertex, Gilead, AbbVie, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Boehringer-Ingelheim, and Janssen.
Reações Adversas dos Adjuvantes Farmacêuticos Presentes em Medicamentos para Uso Pediátrico

Os excipientes ou adjuvantes sao substâncias auxiliares diretamente envolvidas na composicao das formas farmaceuticas. As industrias farmaceuticas sao obrigadas a descrever a composicao qualitativa dos excipientes na bula. Os excipientes sao definidos como substâncias inertes, entretanto, trabalhos tem demonstrado que esta definicao tornou-se inadequada. A maioria dos excipientes e utilizada em baixas concentracoes, porem eles podem desencadear efeitos indesejaveis por intolerância ou alergia. Na pratica clinica essas reacoes sao atribuidas, de forma equivocada, ao principio ativo do medicamento, nao considerando o fato dos excipientes serem apontados como os responsaveis por reacoes adversas a medicamentos. Objetivos: Identificar a presenca de possiveis excipientes indutores de reacao adversa presentes em medicamentos para uso oral pediatrico comercializados no Brasil. Metodologia: Esta pesquisa de natureza qualitativa e exploratoria adotou a tecnica de analise de documentos, constituidos por bulas de medicamentos de formulacoes liquidas constantes no Dicionario de Especialidades Farmaceuticas, direcionadas a pacientes pediatricos. Foram selecionados quatro medicamentos: acebrofilina, dimeticona, dipirona e paracetamol. Os excipientes farmaceuticos citados na literatura como possiveis causadores de reacao adversa, foram selecionados para essa pesquisa a partir da identificacao de suas presencas nas formulas farmaceuticas dos produtos pesquisados. Resultados: Em 40 apresentacoes pesquisadas foram identificados 23 excipientes, destes, seis foram considerados como possiveis causadores de reacoes adversas. A presenca de excipiente de risco foi identificada em 97,5% das apresentacoes analisadas com a seguinte distribuicao: 24 continham metilparabeno, 20 propilparabeno, 11 sorbitol, 9 benzoato de sodio, 5 tartrazina e 2 bissulfito de sodio. Conclusao: Os pacientes pediatricos estao expostos a reacoes adversas como urticaria, asma bronquica, transtornos gastrointestinais, nauseas, vomitos e outras ocasionadas pela presenca dos excipientes metilparabeno e propilparabeno, benzoato de sodio, sulfitos em geral, corante amarelo tartrazina e sorbitol na maior parte das apresentacoes liquidas analisadas, na sua maioria de venda livre.
A pragmatic framework for truth in fiction

According to R. Stalnaker, context plays a role in determining the proposition expressed by a sentence by providing the domain of possible worlds that propositions distinguish between: a sentence expresses a proposition by selecting a subset of the set of possible situations given by the context. This is also true for embedded sentences, but these sentences express propositions by selecting subsets out of contexts derived from the basic one. In this paper we propose a semantic analysis of sentences of the form “In fiction x, p” based on this picture of context. We argue that the derived contexts for sentences in the scope of “In fiction x” are determined by three factors: what the beliefs of the author are taken to be, the conventions established for the fiction, and a defeasible presumption of reliability of the narrator. We develop a formal implementation based on the notion of a system of spheres centered on a set of worlds.
Automatic Foreground-Background Segmentation Based on Depth from Coded Aperture

Foreground-background segmentation is an important problem in computer vision, and it has many applications. We propose a technique of Automatic foreground-background segmentation based on depth from coded aperture. This method first calculates a coarse depth map using technique of coded aperture depth extraction, then estimate the general area of foreground. At last, in order to get the foreground, we use the GrabCut algorithm to segment the image. The entire progress is fully automatic, without any manual intervention. Experiments have proved its effectiveness. And we also did some simple examples for application.
RAD51 Is Required for the Repair of Plasmid Double-Stranded DNA Gaps from Either Plasmid or Chromosomal Templates

ABSTRACT DNA double-strand breaks may be induced by endonucleases, ionizing radiation, chemical agents, and mechanical forces or by replication of single-stranded nicked chromosomes. Repair of double-strand breaks can occur by homologous recombination or by nonhomologous end joining. A system was developed to measure the efficiency of plasmid gap repair by homologous recombination using either chromosomal or plasmid templates. Gap repair was biased toward gene conversion events unassociated with crossing over using either donor sequence. The dependence of recombinational gap repair on genes belonging to the RAD52epistasis group was tested in this system. RAD51,RAD52, RAD57, and RAD59 were required for efficient gap repair using either chromosomal or plasmid donors. No homologous recombination products were recovered fromrad52 mutants, whereas a low level of repair occurred in the absence of RAD51, RAD57, orRAD59. These results suggest a minor pathway of strand invasion that is dependent on RAD52 but not onRAD51. The residual repair events in rad51mutants were more frequently associated with crossing over than was observed in the wild-type strain, suggesting that the mechanisms forRAD51-dependent and RAD51-independent events are different. Plasmid gap repair was reduced synergistically inrad51 rad59 double mutants, indicating an important role for RAD59 in RAD51-independent repair.
Performance evaluation of ITLinQ and FlashLinQ for overlaid device-to-device communication

We present a performance evaluation of ITLinQ and FlashLinQ, the two most popular schemes proposed to date to channelize D2D transmissions, i.e., to parse transmissions into noninterfering sets to be allocated to separate channels. Recognizing that it captures well the spatial characteristics of D2D networks, a stochastic geometry setting is utilized for this evaluation with the parameters of either scheme optimized in order to maximize the system spectral efficiency (bits/s/Hz per unit area). Although independently formulated and seemingly based on different principles, both schemes are found to exercise similar mechanisms to avoid situations of excessive interference, yielding substantial improvements with respect to unchannelized networks.
Association of TBX21 T‐1993C polymorphism with viral persistence but not disease progression in hepatitis B virus carriers

Aim: Transcription factor T‐bet is responsible for the differentiation of naive T lymphocytes, and its expression level is linked with different responses to some viral infections, including hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. In this report we examine whether promoter polymorphisms of the TBX21 gene (encoding T‐bet) are associated with susceptibility to HBV persistence or disease progression in chronic HBV carriers.
Elimination and Conjugal Transfer of Their Resistance In Isolated Gram Negative Bacteria from

In this study, sixty-seven strains were isolated from Aksu River (KahramanmaraoTurkey) and selected for antibiotic susceptibility testing. Elimination of their antibiotic resistance and their resistance transfer were examined. According to the Nitrocephin method, on the beta-lactamase producing 5 strains, plasmid elimination test was carried out by using Ethidium Bromide (150mg/mL). Some of the representative isolates lost their antibiotic resistance after Ethidium Bromide (150mg/mL) mediated curing. Plasmid elimination was observed in different rates for antibiotics, KP(0%,15%), ATM(0%,100%,20%,35%), CRP(100%,30%,10%,0%), CZ(100%,0%,10%), SAM(0%,100%,25%,5%), FOX(63%,100%,7%), IPM(100%), CFZ(100%,0%) and CRO(100%,0%). Two methods (uninterrupted tube method and solid substrate mediated mating) were tried in vivo gene transfer studies for determining the conjugative/ transferable nature of the drug resistance plasmid markers. Conjugation between E. coli and Klebsiella spp. was seen in different rates for KP(100), ATM(96%), CRP(78%), CZ(40%,83%), SAM(45%,96%), FOX(83%), CFZ(74%), CRO(65%) and MER(0%) antibiotics in the broth conjugation experiments and KP(100%), ATM(92%), CRP(92%), CZ(46%), SAM(100%), FOX(10%), CFZ(42%) and CRO(29%) antibiotics using filter paper in conjugation experiments. The rest of the plasmid borne markers was non-conjugative/nontransferable. Conjugative plasmids carried a tremendous potential to disseminate resistance markers to distant recipient cells.
Dimensionnement énergétique de réseaux de capteurs ultra-compacts autonomes en énergie.

Les capteurs sans fil ont un avenir prometteur c’est pourquoi leur developpement est al’origine de nombreuses recherches. Leur autonomie reste cependant un probleme a resoudre.Les travaux de cette these se concentrent precisement sur cette problematique : trouverune strategie permettant aux capteurs d’etre autonomes en energie.L’energie necessaire a l’alimentation du capteur, quel que soit son mode de fonctionnement,doit en effet etre recuperee de l’environnement dans lequel le capteur se trouve. Deplus, en cas d’absence ou d’insuffisance d’energie environnante, le fonctionnement du capteurdoit pouvoir perdurer. A cela s’ajoute la necessite de connaitre a tout instant la quantited’energie disponible afin de pouvoir maintenir un niveau de charge constant et ainsi prolongerla vie du capteur. Enfin, toute cette gestion de l’energie doit pouvoir garantir le meilleurrendement possible.Cette etude a conduit a la conception et au test d’un circuit en technologie CMOS 90nm.Ce meme circuit a ete integre dans les capteurs sans fil d’un reseau en cours de developpement.Et enfin, une methode permettant de connaitre le niveau d’energie embarquee a etemise au point et pourra permettre a l’avenir la conception d’un nouveau circuit de power managementpour capteurs autonomes en energie.
Mechanisms that underlie co‐variation of the brain and face

The effect of the brain on the morphology of the face has long been recognized in both evolutionary biology and clinical medicine. In this work, we describe factors that are active between the development of the brain and face and how these might impact craniofacial variation. First, there is the physical influence of the brain, which contributes to overall growth and morphology of the face through direct structural interactions. Second, there is the molecular influence of the brain, which signals to facial tissues to establish signaling centers that regulate patterned growth. Importantly, subtle alterations to these physical or molecular interactions may contribute to both normal and abnormal variation. These interactions are therefore critical to our understanding of how a diversity of facial morphologies can be generated both within species and across evolutionary time. genesis 49:177–189, 2011. © 2011 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Polysilicon Memory Switching: Electrothermal-Induced Order

Polysilicon memory switching is demonstrated in vertical n-i-p diodes with TiN contacts and with feature sizes of 150 nm. An increase of more than three orders of magnitude of the forward current at +2 V is achieved after the application of a +8 V programming pulse. A physical change in the polysilicon is confirmed by different wet-etch rates of unprogrammed and programmed diodes. By comparing the ideality factors of the TiN-contacted diodes before and after programming, it is shown that the programming pulse increases the degree of order in the polysilicon. The mechanism by which the programming pulse increases order is electrothermal heating of the Si. When the metal contact to the polysilicon is changed from TiN to TiSi2, memory switching is eliminated. The TiSi2 contact seeds the crystallization of more ordered polysilicon during device fabrication compared to crystallization with TiN contacts, as shown by transmission electron microscopy
TNFα suppresses IFNγ‐induced MHC class II expression on retinal pigmented epithelial cells cultures

Purpose: One major consequence of retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cell activation during autoimmune uveitis is the induction of MHC II molecules expression at their surface. IFNγ is regarded as the main cytokine involved in this induction. As TNFα plays a central role in autoimmune uveitis, we investigated its effects on IFNγ‐mediated MHC II induction on RPE cells.
CLONAL VARIATION AND COVARIATION IN APHID RESISTANCE TO PARASITOIDS AND A PATHOGEN

Abstract The potential rate of evolution of resistance to natural enemies depends on the genetic variation present in the population and any trade-offs between resistance and other components of fitness. We measured clonal variation and covariation in pea aphids (Acyrthosiphon pisum) for resistance to two parasitoid species (Aphidius ervi and A. eadyi) and a fungal pathogen (Erynia neoaphidis). We found significant clonal variation in resistance to all three natural enemies. We tested the hypothesis that there might be trade-offs (negative covariation) in defensive ability against different natural enemies, but found no evidence for this. All correlations in defensive ability were positive, that between the two parasitoid species significantly so. Defensive ability was not correlated with fecundity. A number of aphid clones were completely resistant to one parasitoid (A. eadyi), but a subset of these failed to reproduce subsequently. We discuss the factors that might maintain clonal variation in natural enemy resistance. Corresponding Editor: T. Kawecki
m-DIBCR: MAC Protocol with Multiple-Step Distributed In-Band Channel Reservation

A new medium access control (MAC) protocol to handle packet collisions is proposed. Different from traditional MAC protocols, where only one-step reservation is considered, we propose a multiple-step distributed in-band channel reservation, called m-DIBCR, where m represents the number of steps we consider in the channel reservation. In the protocol, each node maintains m timers, each of which serves as the backoff timer for one of the next m packets to be sent. A node broadcasts the initial values of these timers by piggybacking them in the data packet, and simultaneous transmissions can be avoided when its neighboring nodes overhear these values. Extensive simulations show that, compared with one-step channel reservation, throughput can be dramatically improved by multiple-step channel reservation, especially in networks with high transmission error probabilities and/or a large number of contending nodes.
A Regenerative Hexagonal-Cascaded Multilevel Converter for Two-Motor Asynchronous Drive

This paper presents a hexagonal-cascaded multilevel converter for two-motor asynchronous drive application. By adding an ac input to the hexagonal configuration, this multilevel converter becomes a tri-port system with one input port and two output ports, which can drive two motors with asynchronous operation by sending different control commands. The detailed analysis of power distribution is presented, and it is found that the six branches are equivalent to two groups of three-phase voltage sources, which can share the power of two motors. The regenerative energy from one generating motor can be directly supplied to the other one in motoring mode. Consequently, the dc-link voltage overshoot can be suppressed, and the energy storage requirement of capacitors can be reduced as well. A two-motor drive system has been tested in MATLAB/Simulink and a downscaled laboratory prototype. Simulation and experimental results are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed motor drive system and control strategies.
Survivor loneliness of women following breast cancer.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES To describe the experience of loneliness for women more than a year following breast cancer treatment. RESEARCH APPROACH Qualitative, phenomenologic. SETTING Interviews conducted in women's setting of choice (e.g., home, library). PARTICIPANTS Purposive sample of 13 women, 1-18 years following breast cancer treatment. METHODOLOGIC APPROACH Streubert's descriptive phenomenologic method based on Husserl's phenomenology. MAIN RESEARCH VARIABLES Phenomenon of loneliness. FINDINGS Women conveyed a unique description of loneliness that was termed survivor loneliness. They described how they felt alone in the awareness of mortality and were invalidated in the experience of ongoing symptom burden, a changed sense of identity and connection, and an altered threshold for distress that pervaded their long-term experiences. As they sought ways to lead more authentic lives, the women sometimes withheld truth or projected images they perceived as inauthentic, contributing to their loneliness. Paradoxically, as survivors perceived connections with others as more fragile, they also felt a strengthened vitality of connection, particularly with their children, and a deepened sense of empathy and connectedness to the suffering of others. CONCLUSIONS Findings shed light on the ongoing symptom experience of women and the isolation they experienced as they sought to work through an altered sense of self, connection, and identity as breast cancer survivors. Although survivor loneliness was experienced by all participants, findings suggest that some women may be more vulnerable to heightened psychological distress. Follow-up care should include giving recognition to survivors' experiences and normalizing the situation to allow for survivors' expressions of experience. INTERPRETATION Through attentive and empathic assessment, clinicians need to be alert to the unmet needs of longer-term survivors, including the experience of survivor loneliness and the importance of identifying and assisting survivors who describe heightened distress. Prospective studies are needed to examine survivor loneliness and the factors that make some women more vulnerable to psychological distress. Grounded theory studies are needed to delineate the phases and challenges of breast cancer survivorship, including survivor loneliness.