Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mechanism Underlying the Fanconi Syndrome in Cystinosis

Cystinosis is an autosomal recessive disease characterized by the accumulation of cystine in all cells in the body, due to a mutation in the CTNS gene, encoding for a lysosomal cystine transporter. The cystine accumulation can be explained by a mutation in the CTNS gene, encoding for cystinosin, a lysosomal cystine transporter. A consequence is the renal Fanconi Syndrome, characterized by reduced transport of solutes by apical Na+/solute cotransport systems in the renal proximal tubule (RPT). In order to study the mechanism, primary rabbit RPT cell cultures were transfected with siRNA against cystinosin (reducing the cystinosin level by 83 +/− 4%). Following treatment with cystinosin siRNA, the Na+ dependent component of Pi uptake was reduced by 70 +/− 6%, as compared with cultures treated with control scrambled siRNA. Although ATP levels were reduced by 52 +/− 6% in cystinosin siRNA treated cultures, the activity of the Na, K‐ATPase was not reduced (a regulator of the Na+ gradient in epithelial cells). Instead, our results indicate that the level of the apical Na+/phosphate cotransporter NaPi2a, is reduced. Presently, we are examining the underlying mechanism.
Modelica-Based Model for Activated Sludge System

Activated sludge system is the most important stage in municipal wastewater treatment process. It is a biological operation used for treating sewage by means of microorganism. One type of activated sludge systems is the oxidation ditch. In this work, models derived through object-oriented programming will be used to build a simulation model for a typical oxidation ditch. The derived model was constructed and programmed using Modelica language. The simulation model will help better understand the system behavior. Thereby, the model will be provided as an assessment or evaluation tool for the performance of control schemes. The tool gave the expected results, in terms of reducing the concentration of organic matter in wastewater coming out from oxidation ditches
Comparative process-based life-cycle assessment of bioconcrete and conventional concrete

Purpose Bioconcrete is widely believed to be environmentally beneficial over conventional concrete. However, the process of bioconcrete production involves several steps, such as waste recovery and treatment, that potentially present significant environmental impacts. Existing life-cycle assessments of bioconcrete are limited in the inventory and impact analysis; therefore, they do not consider all the steps involved in concrete production and the corresponding impacts. The purpose of this study is to extensively study the cradle-to-gate environmental impacts of all the production stages of two most common bioconcrete types (i.e. sludge-based bioconcrete and cement kiln dust-rice husk ash (CKD-RHA) bioconcrete) as opposed to conventional concrete. Design/methodology/approach A cradle-to-gate life-cycle assessment process model is implemented to systematically analyze and quantify the resources consumed and the environmental impacts caused by the production of bioconcrete as opposed to the production of conventional concrete. The impacts analyzed in this assessment include global warming potential, ozone depletion potential, eutrophication, acidification, ecotoxicity, smog, fossil fuel use, human toxicity, particulate air and water consumption. Findings The results indicated that sludge-based bioconcrete had higher levels of global warming potential, eutrophication, acidification, ecotoxicity, fossil fuel use, human toxicity and particulate air than both conventional concrete and CKD-RHA bioconcrete. Originality/value The contribution of this study to the state of knowledge is that it sheds light on the hidden impacts of bioconcrete. The contribution to the state of practice is that the results of this study inform the bioconcrete production designers about the production processes with the highest impact.
p38 gamma Mapk is required for exercise‐induced Pgc‐1alpha expression and mitochondrial biogenesis in skeletal muscle

We have previously shown that endurance exercise promotes peroxisome proliferator‐activated receptor γ co‐activator‐1α (Pgc‐1α) gene transcription through activation of the p38 mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway. Here, we subjected mice with a muscle‐specific knockout (KO) of the p38α, p38β, or p38γ gene (all normally expressed in skeletal muscle) to 4 weeks of voluntary running. Exercise training resulted in increased expression of cytochrome c oxidase IV (COX‐IV) and cytochrome c (Cyt c) in plantaris muscles of wild‐type, p38α KO and p38β KO mice, but not in p38γ KO mice. In addition, we employed electric pulse‐mediated gene transfer of plasmid DNA encoding dominant negative (DN) forms of p38α, p38β, or p38γ into mouse tibialis anterior (TA) muscles followed by motor nerve‐stimulation. Neuromuscular activity resulted in a significant increase of endogenous Pgc‐1α mRNA in muscles transfected with empty control DNA, DN‐p38α and DN‐p38β, but not in muscles transfected with DN‐p38γ. Thus, these gain‐of‐function and loss‐of‐function experiments strongly support that p38γ is required for exercise‐induced Pgc‐1α gene expression and mitochondrial biogenesis in skeletal muscle.
A Method of Learner's Sitting Posture Recognition Based on Depth Image

—Real-time detection of learner's sitting posture not only helps prevent myopia in time but also promotes the improvement of learning efficiency. However, most of the current sitting detection methods have the shortcomings of low detection variety and recognition rate, et al. Based on this, a sitting posture detection method based on Cartesian plane projection is proposed. The sitting depth images are projected into three Cartesian planes respectively. The background removal, interpolation scaling and normalization are performed for each projection map. The projection feature is obtained and the PCA is used to reduce the dimension of the feature. Finally, the projection feature and the front view HOG feature are fused to generate the new posture feature vector. In the experiment we collected 20 people, each person 14 kinds of sitting posture to form test database and the use of random forest to classify the extracted sitting posture characteristics. The experimental results show that this method can effectively detect the learner's sitting posture and it is superior to the existing method in recognition accuracy and recognition speed.
Pharyngeal Pumping in the Nematode C. elegans: Resolving Treatment Effects through Variability Assessment

In C. elegans, feeding is achieved through a well characterized behavior, pharyngeal pumping. This pumping is controlled by two pairs of pharyngeal motor neurons (MC and M3). Each pump cycle corresponds to the propagation of a single pharyngeal muscle action potential, initiated by MC and terminated by M3. Age‐related changes in tissue morphology and function, and a decline in C. elegans health are correlated with reduced rates of pharyngeal pumping. As such, pharyngeal pumping frequencies have been used to exemplify health‐ and age‐related decline in this model organism. Traditionally pharyngeal pumping has been assessed by eye, and reported as a pump rate, which is computed from the number of pumps observed divided by total recording time. Although rhythmic, pharyngeal pumping is both variable and periodic, traditionally pharyngeal pumping rate assessment does not consider underlying variability of pumping behavior. We have found that between‐subject variation in pumping frequency, and the relative coarseness of measures of occurrence frequency, interfere with the resolution of what could be subtle treatment effects between groups. The recently developed NemaMetrix ScreenChip system resolves individual pumping events by recording an electrical signature resulting from large voltage transients produced by pharynx muscle action potentials, the electropharyngeogram (EPG). We aimed to assess patterns of variability in EPG measurements to test the hypothesis that underlying variability could be a relevant and insightful index of functional decline in this model organism. In a companion presentation, we describe the theory and practice of normalization and variability assessments in EPG recordings. In this study, we used these analyses strategies to evaluate treatments known to influence pharyngeal pumping. Pharyngeal pumping is stimulated by the presence of bacterial food (E. coli) and/or the endogenous neuromodulator of feeding behavior, serotonin (5HT). Dose‐dependent increases in pumping are well characterized in this system. We recorded EPG in N2 wild‐type subjects treated with a range of 5HT concentrations (0, 2, 5 and 10 mM). We resolved both a dose‐dependent influence on pump frequency and pump variability, and we were able to resolve more subtle treatment effects through assessments of variability. Patterns of variability suggested variation on motor neuron pacing. Pharyngeal pumping is initiated by the MC motor neurons activating a levamisole‐sensitive (nicotinic) EAT‐2‐containing pharyngeal acetylcholine receptor. We compared EPG recordings between N2 wild‐type and eat‐2 [BT1] mutant strains. Again, subject groups were separated by pump frequency and pump variability, with variability suggesting differences in neuro‐muscular fidelity. We are completing levamisole dose‐response experiments, and results will be discussed. We suggest it may be possible to resolve more subtle aspects of functional decline in the C. elegans model from assessments of EPG variability than are possible from pharyngeal pumping frequencies alone.
CD47 is Required for Activation and Clustering of the TCR/CD3/Intraflagellar Transport Complex to the Immune Synapse

Intraflagellar Transport Protein 57 (IFT 57) and Intraflagellar Transport Protein 20 (IFT 20) have been recently shown as important components of the immune synapse and are required for CD3 clustering on the surface and T cell activation. Using The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) data analysis, we found that CD47 positively co‐related with expression of IFT57 in several cancer types. CD47 is also a regulatory molecule for T cell activation. We hypothesized that IFT57 may play role in activation by a CD47 dependent mechanism. To elucidate, we over‐expressed IFT57‐Flag using Jurkat (Wild‐Type) and CD47 deficient (JinB8) Jurkat T cell lines. We have confirmed that IFT57 expression is positively co‐related with CD47 in Jurkat (Wild‐Type) and JinB8 T cells. We have further found that the up‐regulation of IFT57 leads to an increase in Tumor Necrosis Factor Alpha (TNFα) and downregulates Signal‐Regulatory Protein Gamma (SRP‐γ) mRNA expression. Our preliminary results indicate that cell surface localization of CD3 differs between Jurkat (Wild‐Type) and JinB8 T cells. Currently, we are working on the localization of CD3 and IFT57 during T cell activation and localization to the Immune Synapse. Future studies will examine differential regulation of SIRP‐α, SIRP‐β1 and SIRP‐γ in relation to IFT57 and CD47 using T cells and Raji cells.
Book Review: Design and Analysis of Fault-Tolerant Digital Systems

Design and Analysis ofFault-Tolerant Digital Systems: B. W. JOHNSON (Addison Wesley, 1989,577 pp., £41.35) The book provides an introduction to the important aspects of designing fault-tolerant systems, and an evaluation of how well the reliability goals have been achieved. The book is mainly oriented towards a final year undergraduate course on fault-tolerant computing, primarily with an implementation bias. In chapters 1 and 2, definitions and basic terminology are covered, which sets the stage for the remaining chapters, and provides the background and motivation for the remainder of the book. Chapter 3 provides a thorough analysis of fault-tolerance techniques and concepts. This chapter in particular is remarkably well written, covering the issues of hardware and information redundancy, which form the mainstay offault-tolerant computing. Subsequent chapters on the use and evaluation of the various approaches illustrate the principles as they have been put into practice. At the end of chapter 5, small projects that allow the reader to apply the material presented in the preceding chapters are included. The resurgence of interest in fault-tolerance with the emergence of VLSI is the theme of chapter 6, focussing on designing fault-tolerant systems in a VLSI environment. The problems and opportunities presented by VLSI are discussed and the use of redundancy techniques in order to enhance manufacturing yield and to provide in-service reliability are reviewed. The final chapter covers testing, design for testability and testability analysis, which must be considered during each phase of the design process to guarantee that resulting designs can be thoroughly tested. Each chapter is followed by a summary of the key issues and concepts presented therein, and a separate list of references, which makes it easily readable. In addition, there is a reading list with more comprehensive and specialised references devoted to each chapter. Overall, the book is well written, and contains a great deal of information in 577 pages. The book has a definite implementation bias, and draws considerably on the author's experience in industry, particularly reflected in the projects accompanying chapter 5. The book should be a useful addition to a library, and a suitable text to accompany a lecture course on fault-tolerant computing. R. RAMASWAMI, Department ofComputation, UMIST
Signaling to contractile proteins by muscarinic and purinergic pathways in neurally‐stimulated bladder smooth muscle

Urinary bladder smooth muscle contraction is triggered by parasympathetic nerves, which release acetylcholine and ATP that bind to muscarinic and purinergic receptors, respectively. The contributions of these receptors to myosin regulatory light chain (RLC) phosphorylation and contraction may be distinct. Both receptors mediate Ca2+ influx whereas muscarinic receptors may also recruit Ca2+‐sensitization mechanisms. Using transgenic mice expressing CaM‐sensor myosin light chain kinase (MLCK) in smooth muscles, effects of atropine or suramin/αβ‐meATP on neurally stimulated force, MLCK activation, and phosphorylation of RLC, myosin light chain phosphatase (MLCP) targeting subunit MYPT1 and MLCP inhibitor protein CPI‐17 were examined. Measurements of MLCK activation showed the purinergic component dominant in the initial phase of contraction and the muscarinic component prominent in the sustained phase. Phosphorylation of RLC and CPI‐17 was increased upon stimulation with maximal responses at 20 Hz for 10 sec; responses were blunted by atropine and suramin/αβ‐meATP. Stimulation did not evoke MYPT1 phosphorylation at T696 or T850. Thus, purinergic Ca2+ signals provide the initial activation of MLCK with cholinergic receptors supporting sustained responses. Further, both receptors recruit CPI‐17‐mediated MLCP inhibition to increase RLC phosphorylation, and thus contraction. HL26043
The Effect of Oil Palm Phenolics (OPP) on Urinary Metabolomic Profile in Atherogenic Diet Induced Rat Model of Alzheimer's Disease (AD)

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder, estimated to strike more than 4.7 million individuals older than 65 in the USA. Since oxidative stress is a key component driving AD, we hypothesized that OPP, a water soluble fraction extracted from oil palm fruit rich in phenolics with high antioxidant activity, may attenuate its progression. In this study, we used the metabolomic approach to investigate the effect of OPP on change in metabolism produced in high cholesterol diet induced model for AD. Thirty two male Brown Norway rats were randomly assigned to 4 groups: the isocaloric control diet (C), high cholesterol (2% cholesterol) (H), high cholesterol + OPP (5% OPP) (HP) and high cholesterol + curcumin (2% curcumin) (HC). Urine samples were collected once a month for 6 months. Water maze was performed monthly to evaluate cognitive behavior. β‐amyloid was measured at termination of study as a marker for AD using ELISA. Curcumin, a dietary polyphenolic compound has been shown to have benefit in AD and was used as a positive control. Proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR) spectra, acquired using 500 MHz magnet were processed using ACD labs software. The processed, digitized NMR spectral data was subjected to multivariate data analysis (SIMCA P+). Principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least squares‐discriminant analysis (PLS‐DA) score plots showed clear separation among all four groups indicating differences in their metabolomics profiles. OPLS regression analysis gave significant correlations between the urinary metabolomic profiles and escape latency using water maze (R2=0.78) and the β amyloid burden (R2=0.73). The metabolites responsible for the differences in the metabolomic profile between different groups were quantified using CHENOMX NMR metabolite database. Some metabolites from the tryptophan‐kynurenine‐quinolinic pathway were significantly higher in the cholesterol fed animals (H) as compared to the control (C). Treatment with curcumin (HC) or OPP (HP) brought down the concentration of these metabolites significantly and closer to the control levels. This pathway has been shown to be perturbed in neurodegenerative diseases. Taken together, our data indicates that dietary OPP or curcumin have potential benefit in AD. In addition, specific urinary metabolites may serve as non‐invasive biomarkers for progression of neurodegenerative diseases including AD.
Embryonic Rhombomere Hindbrain Patterning Delineates Distinct Functional Neuron Populations in the Adult Central Noradrenergic System

Central noradrenergic (NA) neurons are a critical participant in the brainstem networks that maintain respiratory homeostasis. However, limitations in previous approaches have provided conflicting results and it is still not entirely clear how and which NA neurons are integrated into central respiratory circuits and how they may play a role in congenital respiratory pathophysiologies including Congenital Central Hypoventilation Syndrome and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). Studies suggest that proper partitioning of the developing hindbrain into transient, genetically‐defined segments called rhombomeres (r) is required for normal respiratory function. Thus, we hypothesize that the genetic programs within individual rhombomeres play a role in functionally patterning the adult NA system into distinct circuit modules with unique respiratory functions. To test our hypothesis, we used acute pharmaco‐genetic DREADD receptors to either perturb (hM4D) or stimulate (hM3D) genetically‐defined rhombomere‐specific NA subpopulations (derived from r1, r2, r3&5, r4, and r7&8) in the adult brainstem. Whole‐body barometric plethysmography with conscious and unrestrained mice was used to determine the effect of hM4D inhibition and hM3D stimulation in the whole NA population and rhombomeric NA subtypes under room air, hypercapnic (5% CO2), and hypoxic (10% O2) challenges that parallel conditions thought to frequently occur in SIDS.
The Optimization Problem of Product Mix and Linear Programming Applications: Case Study in the Apparel Industry

Industrial development strategy is characterized by the efficient use of resources at every production stage. The analysis and efficient utilization of resources are made sustainable by effective management decision making techniques employed in the industry. A quantitative decision making tool called linear programming can be used for the optimization problem of product mix. Understanding the concept behind the optimization problem of product mix is essential to the success of the industry for meeting customer needs, determining its image, focusing on its core business, and inventory management. Apparel manufacturing firms profit mainly depends on the proper allocation and usage of available production time, material, and labor resources. This paper considers an apparel industrial unit in Ethiopia as a case study. The monthly held resources, product volume, and amount of resources used to produce each unit of product and profit per unit for each product have been collected from the company. The data gathered was used to estimate the parameters of the linear programming model. The model was solved using LINGO 16.0 software. The findings of the study show that the profit of the company can be improved by 59.84%, that is, the total profit of Birr 465,456 per month can be increased to Birr 777,877.3 per month by applying linear programming models if customer orders have to be satisfied. The profit of the company can be improved by 7.22% if the linear programming formulation does not need to consider customer orders.
Video Processing For Flame Detection

In this paper the focus is on flame detection in video by processing the data captured by a regular camera. Now a day’s sensor based fire detection systems become one of the important inventions in automatic fire detection technology. But there are some drawbacks in this sensor based detection system. This paper focuses on overcoming drawbacks of traditional fire detection method for optimizing flame detection. It relies on identifying gray cycle pixels near the flame, which is generated because of smoke and of spreading of fire pixel along with the area spread of flame. The strength of using video in fire detection imparts the ability to monitor large and open spaces. Detection of fire and smoke pixels is at first achieved by means of a motion detection algorithm. In addition, separation of smoke and fire pixels using color information within appropriate spaces, specifically chosen in order to enhance specific chromatic features is performed.
Polyphenol Rich Extract of Syzygium cumini (L.) Skeels Leaves Decreases Platelet Aggregation and Inhibits Reductase Activity of Protein Disulfide Isomerase.

Platelet agreggation results from conformational changes in αIIbβIII integrin, which are dependent on protein disulfide isomerase (PDI) activity. Recently, PDI inhibition has been proposed as an antithrombotic mechanism, for that polyphenolic compounds have emerged as potential inhibitors. Our group has demonstrated that Syzygium cumini (L.) Skeels (Myrtacea) leaf contains multiple polyphenols, such as: gallic acid, miricetyn‐3‐a‐arabinoside, mirycetin deoxiexoside and quercetin‐3‐glycoside; which enable this species for anti‐platelet activity. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the effects of polyphenol rich extract (ERP) from S. cumini leaf on platelet aggregation and PDI reductase activity. Platelet‐rich plasma (PRP) from healthy volunteers (n=5) was incubated with ERP for 25 min at concentrations ranging from 10 to 1000μg/mL, previously to activation with 2.5 or 5μM ADP. ERP at the higher concentration inhibited platelet aggregation in 66 and 33%, respectively. Under thrombin stimulus (0.01 and 0.02 U/mL), ERP (1000 μg/mL) reduced platelet aggregation in ca. 35%. Moreover, ERP also inhibited PMA‐induced platelet aggregation by 29% in its higher concentration. To analyze the ERP effect on αIIbβIII integrin activation, flow citometry protocols were conducted in washed platelets similarly pre‐treated with ERP (10, 100 and 1000μg/mL) before activation with thrombin (0.02U/mL) and tagged with PAC–1 FITC antibody. ERP dose‐dependently reduced the integrin activation in presence of 10 μg/mL (21%), 100 μg/mL (27%) and 1000 μg/mL (33%). Finally, ERP effects on PDI reductase activity were also assessed at concentrations ranging from 0.1 to 100 μg/mL. A maximum inhibitory effect on PDI reductase activity of 77% was found for the higher concentration. Therefore, our data supports that ERP‐containing polyphenols from S. cumini leaf reduce platelet aggregation, probably through PDI inhibition, which demonstrates its prominent anti‐platelet property.