Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A wogonin-loaded glycyrrhetinic acid-modified liposome for hepatic targeting with anti-tumor effects

Abstract Liver cancer has become one of the most common fatal cancers worldwide, with morbidity rates increasing each year. Wogonin (WG) is an attractive candidate for the development of new anti-cancer drugs. In this study, a novel glycyrrhetinic acid (GA)-modified WG liposome was developed for use in targeted anti-cancer therapy. Three types of WG preparations were investigated: free wogonin in solution (WG), passively targeted wogonin liposomes (WG-Lip) and GA-modified wogonin liposomes (GA-WG-Lip). The entrapment efficiency, size and zeta potential were measured. Cellular uptake, cytotoxicity, in vivo bio-distribution and anti-tumor efficacy were also investigated. Addition of GA to the liposomes did not diminish the high entrapment efficiency observed in the liposomes without GA. GA-WG-Lip showed the greatest uptake and had an IC50 value 1.46 times higher than that of WG-Lip. The GA-modified liposomes rapidly accumulated in the liver with a long retention time, and also displayed a better tumor inhibitory ratio than that of the unmodified liposomes. Overall, the data indicated that use of the GA-modified WG liposomes conferred improvements in bio-distribution, accumulation at the tumor and therapeutic efficacy, perhaps due to increased receptor-mediated uptake of liposomes by liver-targeted cells. Together, these data show that GA-WG-Lip is a promising means of targeted therapy for liver cancer.
Social deprivation increases cardiac hospitalisations in chronic heart failure independent of disease severity and diuretic non-adherence

OBJECTIVE To examine whether social deprivation has any independent effect on emergency cardiac hospitalisations in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF). DESIGN Cohort study of 478 patients with CHF who had been hospitalised before 1993 and who were followed up during 1993 and 1994. SETTING Emergency admissions within Tayside acute hospitals. PATIENTS 478 CHF patients who had a previous myocardial infarction, a previous CHF admission, and were on diuretic treatment. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Emergency hospital admissions are divided into those for all causes and those for cardiac causes only. RESULTS Social deprivation was significantly associated with an increase in the number of cardiac hospitalisations (p = 0.007). This effect was mainly caused by increasing the proportion of patients hospitalised in each deprivation category (26% in deprivation category 1–2 versus 40% in deprivation category 5–6, p = 0.03). This effect of deprivation was independent of disease severity, as judged by the dose of prescribed diuretic, the death rate, and the duration of each hospital stay. Non-adherence with diuretic treatment could not account for these findings either. CONCLUSIONS Social deprivation increases the chance of a CHF patient being rehospitalised independently of disease severity. Possible explanations are that doctors who look after socially deprived patients have a lower threshold for cardiac hospitalisation of their patients, or that social deprivation alters the way a CHF patient accesses medical care during decompensation. Understanding how social deprivation influences both doctor and patient behaviour in the prehospital phase is now crucial in order to reduce the amplifying effect that social deprivation appears to have on cardiac hospitalisations.
Extracting entity-relationship schemas from relational databases: a form-driven approach

The paper presents a framework for extracting an entity-relationship schema from a set of form model schemas of an operational relational database. Form model schemas gather information, i.e., structural information and constraints among data, extracted from both form structures and instances and then generalized into database semantics using an inference process guided by human activity. The approach uses these schemas to supplement low-level schemas to help reconstruct a conceptual schema, in this case an entity-relationship schema.
An iterative hyperelastic parameters reconstruction for breast cancer assessment

In breast elastography, breast tissues usually undergo large compressions resulting in significant geometric and structural changes, and consequently nonlinear mechanical behavior. In this study, an elastography technique is presented where parameters characterizing tissue nonlinear behavior is reconstructed. Such parameters can be used for tumor tissue classification. To model the nonlinear behavior, tissues are treated as hyperelastic materials. The proposed technique uses a constrained iterative inversion method to reconstruct the tissue hyperelastic parameters. The reconstruction technique uses a nonlinear finite element (FE) model for solving the forward problem. In this research, we applied Yeoh and Polynomial models to model the tissue hyperelasticity. To mimic the breast geometry, we used a computational phantom, which comprises of a hemisphere connected to a cylinder. This phantom consists of two types of soft tissue to mimic adipose and fibroglandular tissues and a tumor. Simulation results show the feasibility of the proposed method in reconstructing the hyperelastic parameters of the tumor tissue.
Neuroanatomical variation in autism spectrum disorder: A comprehensive review

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by impairments in socialization, communication, and behavior. Many investigators have described the anatomical abnormalities in autistic brains, in an attempt to correlate them with the manifestations of ASD. Herein, we reviewed all the available literature about the neuroanatomical findings in ASD available via “PubMed” and “Google Scholar. ” References found in review articles were also searched manually. There was substantial discrepancy throughout the literature regarding the reported presence and significance of neuroanatomical findings in ASD, and this is thoroughly discussed in the present review. Clin. Anat. 29:454–465, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
UNIMARC: Estudo da sua utilização na PORBASE

O UNIMARC e o formato normalizado utilizado na PORBASE para troca de dados bibliograficos com as bibliotecas cooperantes, sendo tambem utilizado pelos sistemas de gestao documental de grande parte das bibliotecas em Portugal. E uma norma complexa, da familia de formatos MARC – MAchine-Readable Cataloging, que define um elevado numero de elementos tanto para uso generalizado como para utilizacao especifica. Este artigo apresenta uma analise da frequencia da utilizacao dos elementos do UNIMARC, campos e subcampos, levada a cabo sobre a totalidade dos registos da PORBASE. Apresenta-se tambem uma comparacao com os resultados de um estudo semelhante publicado para o formato MARC21 numa amostra de registos da OCLC, em que se detectam semelhancas relevantes, o que pensamos valida assim ambos os estudos. Espera-se que as conclusoes desta analise sejam importantes para a manutencao e evolucao das Regras Portuguesas de Catalogacao, das recomendacoes e opcoes internas da PORBASE, e ainda para as actividades relacionadas da IFLA, especialmente do programa ICABS (IFLA-CDNL Alliance for Bibliographic Standards), em que a BNP (Biblioteca Nacional de Portugal) tem um papel relevante como coordenadora das actividades UNIMARC.
Conservação de pólen de mamoeiro (Carica papaya L.)

A viabilidade e a conservacao de graos de polen sao importantes fatores a serem considerados na conservacao de germoplasma e em programas de melhoramento. Esta pesquisa teve como objetivos selecionar o melhor corante para analise da viabilidade polinica em mamoeiro, e determinar o periodo e ambiente de conservacao de graos de polen de dois cultivares de mamoeiro, Golden e Tainung 01. Para o primeiro caso, foram testados dois corantes (FCR e solucao de Alexander), enquanto para conservacao dos graos de polen botoes florais na antese foram coletados, colocados em recipientes plasticos e mantidos em dois ambientes, freezer (-18o C) e geladeira (12o C), por 60 dias. Antes e apos o periodo de conservacao, os graos de polen tiveram sua viabilidade testada. A analise de variância indicou que os dois metodos de analise da viabilidade polinica nao diferiram estatisticamente, conforme Teste “t” a 5% de probabilidade. A solucao de Alexander e mais simples de preparar e mais viavel economicamente quando comparada com o metodo FCR. Assim sendo, o primeiro metodo foi selecionado para testar a viabilidade polinica dos graos de polen conservados. Os resultados indicaram que a conservacao dos graos de polen em botao floral para os cultivares Tainung 01 e Golden foi viavel por 60 e 30 dias, respectivamente. O cultivar Golden apresentou drastica reducao na viabilidade aos 60 dias de armazenamento. Nao foi observada diferenca estatistica significativa entre os ambientes de conservacao.
Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha agonists increase nitric oxide synthase expression in vascular endothelial cells.

OBJECTIVE There has been accumulating evidence demonstrating that activators for peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPARalpha) have antiinflammatory, antiatherogenic, and vasodilatory effects. We hypothesized that PPARalpha activators can modulate endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) expression and its activity in cultured vascular endothelial cells. METHODS AND RESULTS Bovine aortic endothelial cells were treated with the PPARalpha activator fenofibrate. The amount of eNOS activity and the expression of eNOS protein and its mRNA were determined. Our data show that treatment with fenofibrate for 48 hours resulted in an increase in eNOS activity. Fenofibrate failed to increase eNOS activity within 1 hour. Fenofibrate also increased eNOS protein as well as its mRNA levels. RU486, which has been shown to antagonize PPARalpha action, inhibited the fenofibrate-induced upregulation of eNOS protein expression. WY14643 and bezafibrate also increased eNOS protein levels, whereas rosiglitazone did not. Transient transfection experiments using human eNOS promoter construct showed that fenofibrate failed to enhance eNOS promoter activity. Actinomycin D studies demonstrated that the half-life of eNOS mRNA increased with fenofibrate treatment. CONCLUSIONS PPARalpha activators upregulate eNOS expression, mainly through mechanisms of stabilizing eNOS mRNA. This is a new observation to explain one of the mechanisms of PPARalpha-mediated cardiovascular protection.
Pressure Ulcers and Nutritional Support: A Partnership to Improve Patient Outcomes

Prevention of pressure ulcers in hospitalized patients represents a challenge with great financial impact for hospitals and serious consequences for patients. A partnership composed of dieticians and nurses was assembled to identify best practices for providing nutritional support and intervention to patients at risk for pressure ulcers. This article describes the process, outcomes, recommendations, and lessons learned by the pressure ulcer/nutrition work group.
Evaluation of Thyroid Function in Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease

Background Thyroid function has been extensively evaluated in patients with chronic kidney disease, however the results are variable. Objective The study was designed to investigate the thyroid dysfunction in uremic patients clinically and biochemically. Methods The study was conducted in the department of medicine and dialysis unit in AL-Kadhimiya Teaching Hospital in Baghdad. Three groups were taken sixteen patients with end stage renal disease undergoing regular hemodialysis, 22 patients with chronic renal failure treated conservatively and 21 healthy volunteers with no previous history of thyroid disease and their renal function were normal(control group), serum TT3, TT4 and TSH were estimated in all patients and control group by RIA Kits. The results were tabulated and statistically analyzed using Chisequare and t-test. Results Fifty nine persons included in this study divided into three groups (regular hemodialysis 16, conservative treatment 22 and the control group were 21). Goiter was demonstrated in 12.5% in hemodialysis group, 4.54% of the conservatively treated group. Uremic patients kept on conservative treatment or on regular hemodialysis showed significant reduction of TT3 and TT4 in comparison to the control group, however the level of TSH didn’t show significant alterations, and there were no significant deference in TT3 andTT4 between the patients on conservative management and those maintained on regular hemodialysis. Conclusions Low TT3 and TT4 are often observed in clinically euthyroid patients with chronic renal failure. These abnormalities do not appear to change significantly after the institution of regular dialysis, on other hand TSH values in clinically euothyroid patients with chronic renal failure were within the normal range, this normal TSH may indicate functional euthyroid status.
Complex antibody profile changes in an experimental autoimmune glaucoma animal model.

PURPOSE Increased serum antibodies against heat shock protein 27 (HSP27) have been identified in patients with glaucoma. Immunization with HSP27 caused retinal ganglion cell (RGC) loss in animals. The authors analyzed whether HSP27 immunization not only causes RGC loss but also affects systemic antibody patterns. METHODS Rats were immunized with HSP27 and were surveyed for 4, 5, and 6 weeks (groups 1-3). Control animals were humanely killed after 6 weeks (group 4). Intraocular pressure was measured before and 2 and 4 weeks after immunization. Fundus images were taken at the same time. Retinal flatmounts were prepared, and Brn-3a labeled RGCs were counted. Serum was collected during the study to detect antibody patterns against retinal antigens through Western blot analysis and mass spectrometry techniques. Patterns were analyzed by multivariate statistical techniques, and biomarkers were identified with the use of mass spectrometry. RESULTS No significant changes in intraocular pressure were observed, and no fundus abnormalities were noted. The animals immunized with HSP27 showed lower RGC density than controls (P < 0.05). Two and 4 weeks after immunization, we detected a significant difference in antibody profiles between groups 1 and 4 (P < 0.05) and groups 3 and 4 (P < 0.05). Proteins with different antibody level expression after immunization included heat shock protein 90, alpha-enolase, and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase. CONCLUSIONS After immunization with HSP27, animals showed IOP-independent RGC loss and changes in serum antibody patterns. Thus, this model might be a beneficial approach to study the development and effects of anti-retinal antibodies and their involvement in RGC loss.
Polyclonal anti-intimin antibody: immunological characterization and its use in EPEC and EHEC diagnosis

Intimins are outer membrane proteins expressed by enteric bacterial pathogens capable of inducing intestinal attachment-and-effacement lesion (A/E). Through immunoblotting, immunofluorescence, flow citometry and immunogold we observed that the obtained polyclonal antibody against conserved intimin region recognizes the different intimin subtypes and suggests that it can be used as a tool for EPEC and EHEC detection. Besides, immuno-dot assay seems to be a possible alternative as a capture method.
Prognostic significance of progesterone receptor immunohistochemistry for lymph node metastases in endometrial carcinoma.

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to determine whether progesterone receptor (PR), estrogen receptor (ER), p53 protein, and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) expression constitute independent prognostic factors for lymph node metastases in endometrial carcinoma using immunohistochemical techniques on hysterectomy and biopsy specimens. METHODS We evaluated the correlation between lymph node metastases and PR/ER immunohistochemistry, p53/PCNA expression, age, tumor grade, myometrial tumor invasion, cervical involvement, and ovarian metastases in a series of 99 cases of primary endometrial carcinoma surgically staged with systemic pelvic lymphadenectomy and para-aortic lymph node biopsy. RESULTS Lymph node metastases from endometrial carcinoma were statistically correlated with negative PR immunohistochemistry (P = 0.001), intense p53 expression (66% or more of the tumor cells stained, P = 0.003), deep myometrial tumor invasion (greater than one-half, P = 0.001), and cervical involvement (P = 0.001). Tumor grade showed borderline statistical significance for lymph node metastases (P = 0.058). On multivariate analysis, negative PR, intense p53 expression, and cervical involvement were significant prognostic variables for lymph node metastases (P = 0.0001, 0.0023, and 0.002, respectively). Immunohistochemical study indicated that the PR status on preoperative biopsy specimens and hysterectomy specimens was in good agreement, but p53 status was not. Age, ovarian metastases, ER immunohistochemistry, and PCNA expression were not significantly related to lymph node metastases. CONCLUSION PR immunohistochemistry appeared to be the most powerful prognostic factor associated with lymph node metastases in endometrial carcinoma, independent of other clinicopathological parameters.
Stabilization of fenofibrate in low molecular weight hydroxypropylcellulose matrices produced by hot-melt extrusion

Abstract The objective of this study was to improve the dissolution rate and to enhance the stability of a poorly water-soluble and low glass-trasition temperature (Tg) model drug, fenofibrate, in low molecular weight grades of hydroxypropylcellulose matrices produced by hot-melt extrusion (HME). Percent drug loading had a significant effect on the extrudability of the formulations. Dissolution rate of fenofibrate from melt extruded pellets was faster than that of the pure drug (p < 0.05). Incorporation of sugars within the formulation further increased the fenofibrate release rates. Differential scanning calorimetry results revealed that the crystalline drug was converted into an amorphous form during the HME process. Fenofibrate is prone to recrystallization due to its low Tg. Various polymers were evaluated as stabilizing agents among which polyvinylpyrrolidone 17PF and amino methacrylate copolymer exhibited a significant inhibitory effect on fenofibrate recrystallization in the hot-melt extrudates. Subsequently immediate-release fenofibrate tablets were successfully developed and complete drug release was achieved within 5 min. The dissolution profile was comparable to that of a currently marketed formulation. The hot-melt extruded fenofibrate tablets were stable, and exhibited an unchanged drug release profile after 3-month storage at 40°C/75% RH.
Artificial neural network based controller for home energy management considering demand response events

Electricity demand response and residential load modeling play important roles in the development of home energy management system. Accurate load models are required to produce a load profile at residential level. In this paper, modeling of four load types that include air conditioner, electric water heater, washing machine, and refrigerator are developed considering customer lifestyle and priority by using Matlab/ Simulink. In addition, the home energy management controller is proposed using artificial neural network (ANN) to predict the optimal ON/OFF status of the home appliances. The feedforward neural network type and Levenberg-Marquardt (LM) training algorithm are chosen for training the ANN in the Matlab toolbox. Results showed that the proposed ANN based controller can decrease the energy consumption for home appliances at specific time and can maintain the total household power consumption below its demand limit without affecting customer lifestyles.
MAC layer handoff algorithm for IEEE 802.11 wireless networks

IEEE 802.11 based wireless networks are widely deployed in densely populated areas such as university campuses, airports, offices, cafeterias, etc. Their popularity is rising because of their low cost and high bandwidth except that they cover small coverage areas. In order to cover large areas several access points (AP) are required, which makes it disruptive technology. During roaming, the mobile station (STA) makes frequent handoffs (HO) between APs. Scanning delay during the HO process is quite high, which makes it unsuitable for real-time applications such as VoIP (voice over internet protocol). In this article, we present a technique to reduce the MAC layer HO delay. Using an analytical model, we discuss our technique along with numerical results, and show that the scanning delay is within VoIP constraint which is a major obstacle for WLANs to be used for real-time applications.
Rat prominin, like its mouse and human orthologues, is a pentaspan membrane glycoprotein.

Mouse prominin is the first characterized member of a novel family of membrane glycoproteins. It displays a characteristic membrane topology with five transmembrane segments and two large glycosylated extracellular loops. Prominin orthologues and paralogues have been identified in human, fish, fly, and worm. Recently, a cDNA sequence encoding the rat homologue of mouse prominin has been reported [Zhu et al. (2001) Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 281, 951-956]. Surprisingly, due to a single nucleotide deletion that shifts the reading frame and introduces a premature stop codon, the protein predicted from this cDNA would correspond to a C-terminally truncated form of prominin with only four transmembrane segments. Here we report evidence that is in contrast to the report of Zhu et al. (2001). We isolated a rat prominin cDNA devoid of any frameshift mutation, demonstrate that rat prominin, like the other mammalian prominins, is a full-length 120-kDa pentaspan membrane glycoprotein, and have not been able to detect any C-terminally truncated form of rat prominin.
Presynaptic Fmr1 Genotype Influences the Degree of Synaptic Connectivity in a Mosaic Mouse Model of Fragile X Syndrome

Almost all female and some male fragile X syndrome (FXS) patients are mosaic for expression of the FMR1 gene, yet all research in models of FXS has been in animals uniformly lacking Fmr1 expression. Therefore, we developed a system allowing neuronal genotype to be visualized in vitro in mouse brain slices mosaic for Fmr1 expression. Whole-cell recordings from individual pairs of presynaptic and postsynaptic neurons in organotypic hippocampal slices were used to probe the cell-autonomous effects of Fmr1 genotype in mosaic networks. These recordings revealed that wild-type presynaptic neurons formed synaptic connections at a greater rate than presynaptic neurons lacking normal Fmr1 function in mosaic networks. At the same time, the postsynaptic Fmr1 genotype did not influence the probability that a neuron received synaptic connections. Asymmetric presynaptic function during development of the brain could result in a decreased participation in network function by the portion of neurons lacking FMR1 expression.
A PML Absorbing Boundary Condition for the Nonlinear Euler Equations in Unbounded Domains

In this paper a PML absorbing boundary condition (ABC) is presented for the nonlinear Euler equations. There are two steps involved. First, the PML technique is applied to the Euler equations linearized about uniform and parallel flows. Then the nonlinear PML equations are formed by replacing the linearized flux functions with their nonlinear counterparts. Since a stiff source term gets involved in the nonlinear PML equations, an Implicit-Explicit Runge-Kutta scheme is recommended to compute numerical solutions. Some tests are performed, and the results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed PML ABC.