Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Impacts of combustion phasing, load, and speed on soot formation in spark-ignition engines

The premixed prevaporized engine operation method was used to study the effects of main combustion thermodynamic properties and residence time on soot formation in a spark-ignition engine. Select cases were repeated under early-injection, nearly homogeneous, spark-ignition direct-injection operation to determine if the impact of the investigated parameters was the same or if the impact of in-cylinder liquid fuel injection and the resulting heterogeneous fuel-air mixture alters the trends. The original premixed prevaporized study hypothesized that soot is more likely to form after main combustion than during the main combustion event under completely homogeneous conditions. This hypothesis was tested in this study by performing premixed prevaporized combustion phasing sweeps at equivalence ratios (Φs) of 1.35 and 1.40. Both sweeps showed low sensitivity of the particle size distribution to significant changes in peak temperature and pressure during combustion, providing supporting evidence for the original hypothesis. This information was then used to design experiments to isolate the impacts of pressure (engine load) and residence time (engine speed). A premixed prevaporized load sweep showed that particulate emissions increase as a function of load/pressure. A spark-ignition direct-injection load variation showed similar pressure dependence for cases with in-homogeneous in-cylinder fuel-air distributions. A premixed prevaporized residence time variation (performed by changing engine speed) demonstrated an increase in soot formation with increased residence time. The results for identical spark-ignition direct-injection residence-time variations suggest a trade-off in soot formation between the effects of increased mixing time and increased residence time for spark-ignition direct-injection operation. The premixed prevaporized load and speed points were each investigated using Φ sweeps to determine the critical enrichment threshold for soot formation (ΦC) and the dependence of soot formation for Φ > ΦC. The spark-ignition direct-injection investigations were performed at Φ = 0.98, such that any soot formation above the non-fuel-related baseline particle size distribution could be attributed either to mixture heterogeneity or in-cylinder fuel films.
Application of EEG, ERP and intracranial recordings to the investigation of cognitive functions in children

Neurophysiological measures can provide important information about the substrate of cognitive function in children, and most importantly, can give precise temporal information about ‘on-line’ brain function. These measures can be readily used in infants and children, and we present some examples of their application to understanding cognitive development. The most widely used of these techniques for developmental research is the method of event-related potentials (ERPs). In addition, the electroencephalogram (EEG) and the more rarely used invasive, intracranial investigations are also important to furthering our knowledge of how the brain‐behaviour relations develop. The paper summarizes practical issues and presents some selected examples of experimental and clinical research.
Role of L3T4+ lymphocytes in protective immunity to systemic Candida albicans infection in mice

Protective immunity to lethal Candida albicans challenge in vivo and activation of splenic macrophages with highly candidacidal activity in vitro were detected in mice infected with low-virulence agerminative yeast cells of the variant strain PCA-2, at a time when a strong delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) reaction to C. albicans occurred in the footpads of PCA-2-treated mice. The DTH reaction was transferable with spleen cell populations from these animals, and enrichment of splenic lymphocytes in L3T4+ cells significantly increased the footpad swelling. The reactivity transferred by L3T4+ cells was a radiosensitive (2,500 rads in vitro) phenomenon that required collaboration with radioresistant, silica-sensitive syngeneic cells in the host and was inhibited by treatment of recipient mice with antibodies to the L3T4 antigen or murine gamma interferon. In vitro, the PCA-2-immune L3T4+ cells produced various lymphokine activities upon incubation with C. albicans, including gamma interferon and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor. Anti-L3T4 monoclonal antibody treatment of PCA-2-infected mice significantly impaired their footpad reaction and resistance to C. albicans, as shown by increased recovery of yeast cells from the kidneys of anti-L3T4-treated mice. These results suggested that the mechanisms of anti-Candida resistance induced by PCA-2 may involve specific induction of a DTH response mediated by inflammatory L3T4+ T cells and lymphokine-activated phagocytic effectors. However, the survival rate of the PCA-2-immune mice challenged with C. albicans was not significantly modified by administration of the anti-L3T4 antibody, thus allowing for the conclusion that compensatory mechanisms lead to considerable anti-Candida resistance when the activity of L3T4+ cells is deficient.
TRANSGENIC IL-2 EXPRESSION IN EWING TUMOR CELL LINES AFTER TRANSFECTION WITH STARBURST DENDRIMERS AND CATIONIC LIPOSOMES

Immunotherapy with IL-2-transduced cells requires efficient methods of gene transfer. Nonviral methods have been studied intensively in recent years. This study examined whether tumor and fibroblast cell lines established from Ewing tumor patients could be efficiently transfected with the IL-2 gene. Starburst dendrimers (Superfect), a novel transfection reagent, were chosen for a transfection study and optimal conditions for gene transfer were evaluated. Three Ewing tumor cell lines and 3 fibroblast cell lines obtained from Ewing tumor patients were analyzed. The concentration of IL-2 in the supernatant of transfected cells was measured by ELISA. All three Ewing tumor cell lines transfected by Starburst dendrimers yielded higher IL-2 levels than after lipofection. In contrast to lipofection, expression of IL-2 increased with time and peaked later. In one of three tested fibroblast cell lines, transfection using Superfect yielded higher IL-2 levels. IL-2 production was generally lower in fibroblasts as compared to Ewing tumor cell lines. Given the low toxicity of Superfect reagent and the high efficiency of transfection, this method seems to be ideal for clinical studies on the immunotherapy of Ewing tumors.
Protein-energy malnutrition and oxidative injury in growing rats

1 Weaning rats were fed ad libitum isocaloric diets containing 5% and 20% casein based proteins. 5% protein diet was protein deficient diet. Pair fed rats with the 5% protein group were maintained simulta neously on 20% protein diet but the amount restricted to the amount taken up by PEM group. 2 Glutathione, antioxidative enzymes, lipid peroxida tion and histopathological studies in liver and only glutathione and antioxidative enzymes in blood were carried out. 3 Rats fed the 5% protein diet developed a severe protein energy malnutrition (PEM) whereas those on pair-fed diet developed mild to moderate PEM. 4 Glutathione related thiols, superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase, catalase and glutathione-S- transferase with (1 Chloro 2,4-dinitro benzene (CDNB) substrate) were decreased in liver with concomitant increase of lipid peroxidation in severe PEM. In blood glutathione, glutathione peroxidase and catalase were decreased while superoxide dismutase was increased in severe PEM group. 5 Mild to moderate PEM (pair-fed group) also resulted in similar changes in liver except glutathione peroxidase, lipid peroxidation in liver and superoxide dismutase in blood. 6 Hepatic injury was detectable only in the severe PEM group. 7 Oxidative-stress and hepatic injury occurred in severe PEM and to a lesser degree in mild to moderate PEM.
Exploring auditory network composition during free listening to audio excerpts via group-wise sparse representation

With the growing number of audio excerpts through various media and distribution channels, advanced audio analysis approaches have received significant interest in the multimedia field. However, current audio analysis approaches are still far from satisfactory due to the semantic gaps between the low-level acoustic features and high-level semantics perceived by human brain. In order to alleviate the problem, this paper propose a novel computational framework to bridge acoustic features with high-level semantic features derived from functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) signals which record the brain's response during free listening to music/speech excerpts, and to explore the brain auditory network composition of acoustic features for different types of music/speech excerpts. Specifically, we identify meaningful brain networks and corresponding brain activities representing high-level semantic features via a novel group-wise sparse representation of whole brain fMRI signals. Then we associate the brain activities with specific low-level acoustic features and analyze the auditory network composition of acoustic features for different types of music/speech excerpts. Experimental results demonstrate that multiple acoustic features are involved in the brain auditory networks during free listening to music/speech excerpts. Meanwhile, there is considerable variability of auditory network composition of acoustic features for different types of music/speech. Our results provide new insights of how to narrow the semantic gaps in audio content analysis.
Physiologically normal 5% O2 supports neuronal differentiation and resistance to inflammatory injury in neural stem cell cultures

Recent studies have demonstrated that neural stem cell (NSC) culture at physiologically normoxic conditions (2–5% O2) is advantageous in terms of neuronal differentiation and survival. Neuronal differentiation is accompanied by a remarkable shift to mitochondrial oxidative metabolism compared with preferentially glycolytic metabolism of proliferating cells. However, metabolic changes induced by growth in a normoxic (5%) O2 culture environment in NSCs have been minimally explored. This study demonstrates that culturing under 5% O2 conditions results in higher levels of mitochondrial oxidative metabolism, decreased glycolysis, and reduced levels of reactive oxygen species in NSC cultures. Inflammation is one of the major environmental factors limiting postinjury NSC neuronal differentiation and survival. Our results show that NSCs differentiated under 5% O2 conditions possess better resistance to in vitro inflammatory injury compared with those exposed to 20% O2. The present work demonstrates that lower, more physiologically normal O2 levels support metabolic changes induced during NSC neuronal differentiation and provide increased resistance to inflammatory injury, thus highlighting O2 tension as an important determinant of cell fate and survival in various stem cell therapies. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Epidemiology and outcome of osteomyelitis in the era of sequential intravenous-oral therapy.

BACKGROUND There has been little recent information on the epidemiology and outcome of childhood osteomyelitis since the era of sequential intravenous-oral antibiotic therapy. METHODS Retrospective chart review. OBJECTIVE To review the recent experience and outcome of osteomyelitis in children. RESULTS Between 1984 and 1996 we identified 146 patients with osteomyelitis. Decreased limb use and fever were the most common presenting symptoms, and tenderness was the most common sign. Staphylococcus aureus was the most common causative organism, and Haemophilus influenzae was not identified after 1990. Bone biopsies or aspirates were superior (83%) to blood cultures (32%) in yielding organisms. 99mTc bone scan was the most sensitive imaging test (94%). Lack of use of anti-teichoic acid titers and serum bactericidal titers did not adversely affect outcome. The median duration of intravenous antibiotic therapy was 11 days, with a median duration of total antibiotics of 38 days. Complications occurred in 6.6% of patients. CONCLUSION S. aureus remains the most important cause of osteomyelitis. Despite inconsistent use of tests for diagnosis and management and use of sequential intravenous-oral therapy, the overall outcome remains excellent.
Securing Visible Light Communication Systems by Beamforming in the Presence of Randomly Distributed Eavesdroppers

This paper considers secrecy enhancement mechanisms in visible light communication (VLC) systems with spatially distributed passive eavesdroppers (EDs) under the assumption that there are multiple LED transmitters and one legitimate user equipment. Based on certain amplitude constraints, we propose a beamforming scheme to improve secrecy performance. Contrary to the case where null-steering is made possible by using knowledge of the ED locations, the proposed beamforming when only statistical information about ED locations is available directs the transmission along a particular eigenmode related to the intensity of the ED process and the intended channel. Then, a LED selection scheme that is less complicated than beamforming is provided to reduce the secrecy outage probability (SOP). An approximate closed-form for the SOP is derived by using secrecy rate bounds. All the analysis is numerically verified by Monte-Carlo simulations. The analysis shows that the beamformer yields superior performance to LED selection. However, LED selection is still a highly efficient alternative scheme due to the complexity associated with the use of multiple transmitters in the full beamforming approach. These performance trends and exact relations between system parameters can be used to develop a secure VLC system in the presence of randomly distributed EDs.
Impact of Health Education on the Knowledge and Practice Regarding Personal Hygiene among Primary School Children in Urban Area of Karnataka, India

Introduction: Poor personal hygiene, in combination with insanitary conditions and contaminated water, creates a serious public health threat to school children. Children are not conscious of personal hygiene at school level. For better knowledge health education is needed. Objective: To assess the change on knowledge and practice regarding personal hygiene among primary school children after educational interventions. Material and methods: Out of 7 schools Government Urdu Primary School was selected by Simple Random Sampling. All of students of grade 3 rd , 4 th and 5 th were included. Baseline and end line survey was done in February and September 2013.Health education sessions were conducted once a week for six weeks. Paired t test, Mc Nemar test and proportions were calculated. Ethical clearance and informed consent was obtained. Results: The mean knowledge score of personal hygiene increased from 51.55 to 75.46 which was statistically significant at paired t 13.01, df 19 and p<0.01. The mean practice score of personal hygiene increased from 44.19 to 69.22 which was statistically significant at paired t 7.26, df 8 and p<0.01. Conclusion: There is need of proper health education intervention through framework of schools to the school children, for improvement regarding personal hygiene among them, throughout the nation.
Calretinin immunoreactivity in the brain of the zebrafish, Danio rerio: Distribution and comparison with some neuropeptides and neurotransmitter‐synthesizing enzymes. II. Midbrain, hindbrain, and rostral spinal cord

The distribution of calretinin (CR) in the brainstem and rostral spinal cord of the adult zebrafish was studied by using immunocytochemical techniques. For analysis of some brainstem nuclei and regions, CR distribution was compared with that of complementary markers (choline acetyltransferase, glutamic acid decarboxylase, tyrosine hydroxylase, neuropeptide Y). The results reveal that CR is a marker of various neuronal populations distributed throughout the brainstem, including numerous cells in the optic tectum, torus semicircularis, secondary gustatory nucleus, reticular formation, somatomotor column, gustatory lobes, octavolateral area, and inferior olive, as well as of characteristic tracts of fibers and neuropil. These results indicate that CR may prove useful for characterizing a number of neuronal subpopulations in zebrafish. Comparison of the distribution of CR observed in the brainstem of zebrafish with that reported in an advanced teleost (the gray mullet) revealed a number of similarities, and also some interesting differences. Our results indicate that many brainstem neuronal populations have maintained the CR phenotype in widely divergent teleost lines, so CR studies may prove very useful for comparative analysis. J. Comp. Neurol. 494:792–814, 2006. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Angiotensin II Infusion Alters Vascular Function in Mouse Resistance Vessels: Roles of O–·2 and Endothelium

We hypothesized that prolonged angiotensin II (AngII) infusion would alter vascular reactivity by enhancing superoxide anion (O–·2) generation. Male C57BL/6 mice were infused with AngII at 400 ng/kg/min (n = 16, AngII mice) or vehicle (n = 16, sham mice) for 2 weeks via subcutaneous osmotic minipumps. Contraction and relaxation of mesenteric resistance vessels (MRVs) were assessed using a Mulvany-Halpern myograph. AngII infusion increased systolic blood pressure, MRV NADPH oxidase activity and expression of p22phox mRNA. Contraction to norepinephrine was unchanged, but AngII infusion increased contractile responses to AngII (41 ± 5 vs. 10 ± 4%, p < 0.001) and endothelin-1 (ET-1; 95 ± 10 vs. 70 ± 9%, p < 0.05), which was normalized by tempol (10–4 M, a stable membrane-permeable superoxide dismutase mimetic) and ebselen [10–5 M, a peroxynitrite (ONOO–) scavenger]. Endothelium removal enhanced MRV contraction to AngII and ET-1 in sham mice but blunted these contractile responses in AngII mice. Relaxation to ACh was impaired in AngII mice (60.1 ± 8.8 vs. 83.2 ± 3.5%, p < 0.01), which normalized by tempol, whereas relaxation to sodium nitroprusside was similar in both groups. N-nitro-L-arginine (NNLA, a nitric oxide synthase inhibitor), partially inhibited acetylcholine relaxation of vessels from sham mice but not from AngII mice. The residual endothelium-dependent hyperpolarizing-factor-like relaxation was not different between groups. In conclusion,the AngII slow pressor response in mouse MRVs consisted of specific contractile hyperresponsiveness and impairment in the NO-mediated component of endothelium-dependent relaxation, which was mediated by O–·2 and ONOO– in the vascular smooth muscle cell.
Impact of Fever on Outcome in Patients With Stroke and Neurologic Injury: A Comprehensive Meta-Analysis

Background and Purpose— Many studies associate fever with poor outcome in patients with neurological injury, but this relationship is blurred by divergence in populations and outcome measures. We sought to incorporate all recent scholarship addressing fever in brain-injured patients into a comprehensive meta-analysis to evaluate disparate clinical findings. Methods— We conducted a Medline search for articles since January 1, 1995 (in English with abstracts, in humans) and hand searches of references in bibliographies and review articles. Search terms covered stroke, neurological injury, thermoregulation, fever, and cooling. A total of 1139 citations were identified; we retained 39 studies with 67 tested hypotheses contrasting outcomes of fever/higher body temperature and normothermia/lower body temperature in patients with neurological injury covering 14 431 subjects. A separate meta-analysis was performed for each of 7 outcome measures. Significance was evaluated with Zc developed from probability values or t values. Correlational effect size, r(es), was calculated for each study and used to derive Cohen’s d unbiased combined effect size and relative risk. Results— Fever or higher body temperature was significantly associated with worse outcome in every measure studied. Relative risk of worse outcome with fever was: mortality, 1.5; Glasgow Outcome Scale, 1.3; Barthel Index, 1.9; modified Rankin Scale, 2.2; Canadian Stroke Scale, 1.4; intensive care length of stay, 2.8; and hospital length of stay, 3.2. Conclusions— In the pooled analyses covering 14 431 patients with stroke and other brain injuries, fever is consistently associated with worse outcomes across multiple outcome measures.
Effect of positive end-expiratory pressure on regional ventilation distribution during bronchoconstriction in rabbit studied by synchrotron radiation imaging*

Objective:To assess the effects of positive end-expiratory pressure on regional ventilation distribution in normal lung and after histamine-induced bronchoconstriction. Design:Experimental study. Setting:International research laboratory. Subjects:Six healthy New Zealand rabbits weighing 2.5 ± 0.1 kg. Interventions:Rabbits were anesthetized, tracheostomized, paralyzed, and mechanically ventilated. Synchrotron radiation computed tomography images of tissue density and specific ventilation were acquired using K-edge subtraction imaging with inhaled stable xenon gas in middle and caudal thoracic levels on 0 and 5 cm H2O positive end-expiratory pressure at baseline and twice after histamine inhalation. Measurements and Main Results:At baseline, a positive end-expiratory pressure of 5 cm H2O significantly increased lung volume. Histamine inhalation caused patchy areas of decreased specific ventilation, including some areas with no ventilation. After histamine, positive end-expiratory pressure significantly increased the area of well-ventilated lung regions and decreased the heterogeneity of specific ventilation. This improvement went together with a significant but limited increase in the area of hyperinflated lung zones. Conclusions:The findings of this study suggest that in mechanically ventilated rabbit with severely heterogeneous bronchoconstriction, a positive end-expiratory pressure of 5 cm H2O significantly improves regional ventilation homogeneity through dilation of flow-limited airways and recruitment of closed airways.
Experimental Verification of Modeled Thermal Distribution Produced by a Piston Source in Physiotherapy Ultrasound

Objectives. To present a quantitative comparison of thermal patterns produced by the piston-in-a-baffle approach with those generated by a physiotherapy ultrasonic device and to show the dependency among thermal patterns and acoustic intensity distributions. Methods. The finite element (FE) method was used to model an ideal acoustic field and the produced thermal pattern to be compared with the experimental acoustic and temperature distributions produced by a real ultrasonic applicator. A thermal model using the measured acoustic profile as input is also presented for comparison. Temperature measurements were carried out with thermocouples inserted in muscle phantom. The insertion place of thermocouples was monitored with ultrasound imaging. Results. Modeled and measured thermal profiles were compared within the first 10 cm of depth. The ideal acoustic field did not adequately represent the measured field having different temperature profiles (errors 10% to 20%). Experimental field was concentrated near the transducer producing a region with higher temperatures, while the modeled ideal temperature was linearly distributed along the depth. The error was reduced to 7% when introducing the measured acoustic field as the input variable in the FE temperature modeling. Conclusions. Temperature distributions are strongly related to the acoustic field distributions.