Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Comparative locomotor costs of domestic dogs reveal energetic economy of wolf-like breeds

ABSTRACT The broad diversity in morphology and geographic distribution of the 35 free-ranging members of the family Canidae is only rivaled by that of the domesticated dog, Canis lupus familiaris. Considered to be among nature's most elite endurance athletes, both domestic and wild canids provide a unique opportunity to examine the variability in mammalian aerobic exercise performance and energy expenditure. To determine the potential effects of domestication and selective breeding on locomotor gait and economy in canids, we measured the kinematics and mass-specific metabolism of three large (>20 kg) dog breed groups (northern breeds, retrievers and hounds) of varying morphological and genomic relatedness to their shared progenitor, the gray wolf. By measuring all individuals moving in preferred steady-state gaits along a level transect and on a treadmill, we found distinct biomechanical, kinematic and energetic patterns for each breed group. While all groups exhibited reduced total cost of transport (COT) at faster speeds, the total COT and net COT during trotting and galloping were significantly lower for northern breed dogs (3.0 and 2.1 J kg−1 m−1, respectively) relative to hound (4.2 and 3.4 J kg−1 m−1, respectively) and retriever dogs (3.8 and 3.0 J kg−1 m−1, respectively) of comparable mass. Similarly, northern breeds expended less energy per stride (3.5 J kg−1 stride−1) than hounds or retrievers (5.0 and 4.0 J kg−1 stride−1, respectively). These results suggest that, in addition to their close genetic and morphological ties to gray wolves, northern breed dogs have retained highly cursorial kinematic and physiological traits that promote economical movement across the landscape. Summary: Northern breed dogs have lower locomotor transport costs than other breeds, in part due to an energy-saving morphological mechanism retained from their highly cursorial progenitor, the gray wolf.
The Dose-Response Relationship and Regional Distribution of Lactate After Intramuscular Injection of Halothane and Caffeine in Malignant Hyperthermia-Susceptible Pigs

We hypothesized that IM halothane and caffeine injection increases local lactate concentration dose-dependently in malignant hyperthermia-susceptible (MHS) and nonsusceptible (MHN) pigs and that the hypermetabolic reaction measured by regional distribution of lactate and carbon dioxide is limited to a small muscle volume. Microdialysis probes were placed in the hindlimbs of 7 MHS and 7 MHN pigs and perfused with Ringer's solution. After equilibration, boluses of increasing halothane and caffeine concentrations were injected. For the second hypothesis regarding regional distribution, microdialysis probes were positioned in 7 MHS and 6 MHN pigs at the injection site for halothane and caffeine and at a distance of 10 mm and 25 mm. Lactate was measured in the dialysate by spectrophotometry. In addition, Pco2 was measured in the halothane experiments. Halothane and caffeine increased IM lactate dose-dependently in MHS pigs significantly more than in MHN pigs. Lactate and Pco2 were increased only at the injection site but not at 10 mm and 25 mm distance. MH susceptibility leads to a leftward shift of the dose-response curve for IM lactate after local injection of halothane and caffeine. The increase of lactate and carbon dioxide levels after local MH trigger injection is limited to a small area around the probe.
Modeling and Simulation of a Fuzzy Supervisory Controller for an Industrial Boiler

In this paper we compare and discuss the performance of a boiler evaporator system when the system is controlled by a traditional PID-type strategy and when the system is enhanced by using fuzzy logic blocks to provide set-points for the system. The strategy used in fuzzy logic controllers (FLCs) is called fuzzy supervisory control and it generates set-points for the conventional controllers. The boiler under test is a VU-60 industrial system that produces 180,000 pounds of steam per hour. The mathematical model of the plant is a scaled version model of that obtained for a thermoelectric unit. The new model simplifies the large-scale thermoelectric boiler model to an industrial small-scale type VU-60 boiler model based upon first principle mass and energy balance equations. The main change consists of representing only the behavior of the drum—evaporator system, having a partial model of the combustion process, with a simplified combustion control system and a three-element boiler feed-water controller. The control system for combustion and boiler feed-water receives a supervisory signal (or set-point tracking signal) that comes from the FLC to improve the performance of the overall control system. The behavior of the supervisory controller brings some advantages to the system performance, compared with the traditional control schemes. The comparison reflects fuel improvements from 2.5% to 6.5% depending upon the steam load ramp regime. The simulations are performed using the SIMULINK® shell running under the MATLAB ® platform.
Localizing artistic objects in frescos through contour based features

This paper presents a new contour based feature in the application of localizing artistic objects in frescos of Dunhuang Caves. The method treats contour curves of an image as a set of straight lines and constructs a descriptor for each line. In the construction of descriptors, in addition to the length and direction of the line itself, we consider the context information in the line space. We express the context of a line as the distance, length ratio and direction difference between the line and its K nearest neighbor lines. And similar to the method in [1], which constructs a score function for each interest point, we construct a score function for each line through an SVM classifier trained by our contour line features. In the localizing process, we calculate a score for each line detected according to the score function constructed and assign the score to each pixel on the line, and further get a score matrix with the same size as the original image. Then we apply ESS[1] algorithm to search the location of the artistic object according to the score matrix generated to complete the localization task. Experimental results show that our feature works fine in localizing artistic objects in frescos.
Head and neck cancer: reduce and integrate for optimal outcome

proach can have a primary benefit of yielding a practical clinical tool and a secondary benefit of generating hypotheses for testing mechanisms. We face a great challenge in studying HNSCC because of the many factors affecting cancer development and behavior including multiple etiologies, genetics of risk for individuals and populations, varying distributions of geographic exposures and differences in risk behaviors across populations and variable behavior by anatomic site ( Fig. 1 ). To meet this challenge our reductionist approach initially is to employ multiple global analyses assessing different biochemical and genetic characteristics of HNSCC in the context of the patient with respect to clinical outcome. The ability to integrate these findings will require a systems biology approach which ultimately will lead to the identification of combinatorial effects occurring in individual patients and resulting from the behavior of the cancer with its genetic dysregulation in the context of each patient’s genome. Identifying not only the pathways but the interaction of pathways will permit optimal opportunities to produce clinically useful tools and to identify potential new therapeutic targets.
Role of Monitoring in Management of Acute Ischemic Stroke Patients

Background and Purpose— Although several studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of specialist Stroke Unit (SU) care of stroke patients, there is still disagreement over how these units are best organized. We sought to clarify the role of continuous monitoring of physiological parameters in acute ischemic stroke. Methods— We conducted a prospective study of 268 first-ever ischemic stroke patients admitted to our Cerebrovascular Department and allocated, according to the availability of beds, to the SU or Cerebrovascular Unit (CU). Statistical analysis compared mortality and outcome at discharge, medical and neurological complications, and length of hospitalization in the 2 care settings. Results— Two hundred sixty-eight patients were enrolled. A good outcome at discharge, observed in 114 SU patients (85%) and 78 CU patients (58%) (odds ratio, 2.63; 95% CI, 1.4 to 4.8; P <0.02), was found, on multivariate analysis, to be significantly related to type of care (SU versus CU). A significantly greater proportion of SU patients showed adverse changes in monitored parameters, which required acute medical treatment (SU: 64%; CU: 19%; P <0.0001). The mean duration of these complications was significantly shorter in the SU patients (SU: 1.0 day; CU: 2.4 days; P <0.02), and the outcome in patients experiencing complications covered by the monitoring protocol was significantly better in the SU (66%) than in the CU (35%) group (P <0.0001). Conclusions— Admission of acute stroke patients to a monitoring SU may positively influence their outcome at discharge. Confirmation of our findings in larger trials will indicate the need for a revision of the minimum requirements of SUs, with the addition of monitoring as a new requirement.
Assessment of cancer therapy effects using texton-based characterization of quantitative ultrasound parametric images

This paper proposes the application of texton-based approach for textural characterization of quantitative ultrasound parametric maps, in order to assess noninvasively the progressive effects of cancer treatment in preclinical animal models. Xenograft tumour-bearing animals were treated with chemotherapy. Ultrasound data were acquired from tumours prior to, and at different times after exposure, and quantitative ultrasound spectral parametric maps were generated. Texton-based features were extracted from 0-MHz Intercept parametric maps and applied to differentiate between preand posttreatment states. The classification error was then translated into a quantitative measure of the treatment effects. Obtained results demonstrated a very good agreement with histological observations, and suggested that the proposed approach can be used noninvasively to evaluate the progressive effects of cancer treatment.
Costimulation of CD8 T Cell Responses by OX401

The persistence of functional CD8 T cell responses is dependent on checkpoints established during priming. Although naive CD8 cells can proliferate with a short period of stimulation, CD4 help, inflammation, and/or high peptide affinity are necessary for the survival of CTL and for effective priming. Using OX40-deficient CD8 cells specific for a defined Ag, and agonist and antagonist OX40 reagents, we show that OX40/OX40 ligand interactions can determine the extent of expansion of CD8 T cells during responses to conventional protein Ag and can provide sufficient signals to confer CTL-mediated protection against tumor growth. OX40 signaling primarily functions to maintain CTL survival during the initial rounds of cell division after Ag encounter. Thus, OX40 is one of the costimulatory molecules that can contribute signals to regulate the accumulation of Ag-reactive CD8 cells during immune responses.
Arachidonic Acid-Induced Vasodilation of Rat Small Mesenteric Arteries Is Lipoxygenase-Dependent

We examined the mechanism of arachidonic acid-induced vasodilation in rat small mesenteric arteries and determined the primary arachidonic acid metabolites produced by these arteries. Responses to arachidonic acid in small mesenteric arteries from Sprague-Dawley rats were investigated in vitro in the presence or absence of endothelium or after pretreatment with inhibitors of nitric oxide (NO), cyclooxygenase, cytochrome P450, lipoxygenase, or K+channels. In addition, the metabolism of arachidonic acid was examined by incubating arteries with [3H]arachidonic acid in the presence and absence of cyclooxygenase, cytochrome P450, or lipoxygenase inhibitors. Finally, the vascular response to both 12(S)-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid (HETE) and 12(S)-hydroperoxyeicosatetraenoic acid (HPETE) was determined. Arachidonic acid induced an endothelium-dependent vasodilation that was abolished by lipoxygenase inhibitors [cin-namyl-3,4-dihydroxy-cyanocinnamate (CDC) or 5,8,11-eicosatriynoic acid (ETI)] and KCl, whereas it was partially inhibited by either tetraethylammonium or iberiotoxin. In contrast, neither NO nor cytochrome P450 enzyme inhibitors affected arachidonic acid-mediated dilation, whereas inhibition of cyclooxygenase enhanced dilation. Biochemical analysis revealed that small mesenteric arteries primarily produce 12-HETE, a lipoxygenase metabolite. Moreover, CDC and ETI inhibited the production of 12-HETE. Finally, both 12(S)-HETE and 12(S)-HPETE induced a concentration-dependent vasodilation in mesenteric arteries. These findings provide functional and biochemical evidence that the lipoxygenase pathway mediates arachidonic acid-induced vasodilation in rat small mesenteric arteries through a K+channel-dependent mechanism.
Analytical Modeling of Uplink Cellular Networks

Cellular uplink analysis has typically been undertaken by either a simple approach that lumps all interference into a single deterministic or random parameter in a Wyner-type model, or via complex system level simulations that often do not provide insight into why various trends are observed. This paper proposes a novel middle way using point processes that is both accurate and also results in easy-to-evaluate integral expressions based on the Laplace transform of the interference. We assume mobiles and base stations are randomly placed in the network with each mobile pairing up to its closest base station. Compared to related recent work on downlink analysis, the proposed uplink model differs in two key features. First, dependence is considered between user and base station point processes to make sure each base station serves a single mobile in the given resource block. Second, per-mobile power control is included, which further couples the transmission of mobiles due to location-dependent channel inversion. Nevertheless, we succeed in deriving the coverage (equivalently outage) probability of a typical link in the network. This model can be used to address a wide variety of system design questions in the future. In this paper we focus on the implications for power control and show that partial channel inversion should be used at low signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR), while full power transmission is optimal at higher SINR.
Who Said That? Privacy at Link Layer

Wireless LAN and other radio broadcast technologies are now in full swing. However, the widespread usage of these technologies comes at the price of location privacy, be it by observing the communication patterns or the interface identifiers. Although a number of network level solutions have been proposed , this paper describes a novel approach to location privacy at the link layer level. We present a generic mechanism and then map it to a real protocol, IEEE 802.11. The work also provides an analysis of the protocol in terms of privacy and performance considerations.
Effects of aerobic and strength exercise on motor fatigue in men and women with multiple sclerosis: a randomized controlled trial

Objective: To investigate the effects of aerobic and strength exercise on motor fatigue of knee flexor and extensor muscles in subjects with multiple sclerosis (MS). Design: A randomized controlled trial. Setting: At Masku Neurological Rehabilitation Centre, Masku, and the Social Insurance Institution, Research Department, Turku, Finland. Subjects: Ninety-five MS patients with mild to moderate disability were randomized into exercise group (n = 47) and a control group (n = 48). Intervention: Participants in the exercise group attended in a supervised exercise period of three weeks, which was followed by a home exercise programme lasting for 23 weeks. Patients in the control group continued with their normal living. Outcome measures: Motor fatigue of knee flexor and extensor muscles was measured during a static 30-s maximal sustained muscle contraction. The decline in force (Nm) during the 30 s was recorded, and a fatigue index (FI) was calculated. Subjective fatigue was measured by using the Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS). The Ambulatory Fatigue Index (AFI) was calculated on the basis of a 500-m walking test. Assessment took place at baseline, at the third week (not for the control group) and at the 26th week. All outcome variables were analysed, men and women together, and some interesting contrasts were analysed by gender. Results: Associations were observed with changes in extension FI and Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) score and mean extension torque (Nm), but not with changes in FI and aerobic or strength exercise activity, mean AFI, mean FSS or in mean knee flexion torque. AFI was decreased in all subject groups (p = 0.007). Motor fatigue was reduced in knee flexion (p = 0.0014) and extension (ns) among female but not in male exercisers after six months of exercise. The exercise activity of women was 25% higher than that of the men. Conclusions: Six months of exercise reduced motor fatigue in women, but not in men.
Protein Nutrition, Exercise and Aging

Aging is associated with remarkable changes in body composition. Loss of skeletal muscle, a process called sarcopenia, is a prominent feature of these changes. In addition, gains in total body fat and visceral fat content continue into late life. The cause of sarcopenia is likely a result of a number of changes that also occur with aging. These include reduced levels of physical activity, changing endocrine function (reduced testosterone, growth hormone, and estrogen levels), insulin resistance, and increased dietary protein needs. Healthy free-living elderly men and women have been shown to accommodate to the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for protein of 0.8 g · kg−1 · d−1 with a continued decrease in urinary nitrogen excretion and reduced muscle mass. While many elderly people consume adequate amounts of protein, many older people have a reduced appetite and consume less than the protein RDA, likely resulting in an accelerated rate of sarcopenia. One important strategy that counters sarcopenia is strength conditioning. Strength conditioning will result in an increase in muscle size and this increase in size is largely the result of increased contractile proteins. The mechanisms by which the mechanical events stimulate an increase in RNA synthesis and subsequent protein synthesis are not well understood. Lifting weight requires that a muscle shorten as it produces force (concentric contraction). Lowering the weight, on the other hand, forces the muscle to lengthen as it produces force (eccentric contraction). These lengthening muscle contractions have been shown to produce ultrastructural damage (microscopic tears in contractile proteins muscle cells) that may stimulate increased muscle protein turnover. This muscle damage produces a cascade of metabolic events which is similar to an acute phase response and includes complement activation, mobilization of neutrophils, increased circulating an skeletal muscle interleukin-1, macrophage accumulation in muscle, and an increase in muscle protein synthesis and degradation. While endurance exercise increases the oxidation of essential amino acids and increases the requirement for dietary protein, resistance exercise results in a decrease in nitrogen excretion, lowering dietary protein needs. This increased efficiency of protein use may be important for wasting diseases such as HIV infection and cancer and particularly in elderly people suffering from sarcopenia. Research has indicated that increased dietary protein intake (up to 1.6 g protein · kg−1 · d−1) may enhance the hypertrophic response to resistance exercise. It has also been demonstrated that in very old men and women the use of a protein-calorie supplement was associated with greater strength and muscle mass gains than did the use of placebo.
Evaluation of Isolation Methods for Circulating Tumor Cells (CTCs)

Background: Detection of CTCs is a poor prognostic factor for many cancer types; however, their very low frequency represents an obstacle for their detection. The objective of the current study was to compare the performance of commonly used methods for CTCs isolation. Methods: The evaluated methods using spiking experiments of MCF7, SKBR3 and MDA MB-231 breast cancer cell lines were (i) ficoll density gradient separation (DGS), (ii) red blood cell lysis (Erythrolysis) isolation, (iii) positive immunomagnetic selection (EpCAM Dynal beads), (iv) two different negative immunomagnetic separation systems (Dynal vs Miltenyi CD45 beads) as well as (v) the Cell Search platform and (vi) the ISET system. Results: The recovery rates of Erythrolysis and DGS were 39% and 24%, respectively. Magnetic isolations are ranked from the worse to the best recovery rate as follows:, Myltenyi-anti-CD45 microbeads (24%); Dynal-anti-EpCAM beads (75%); Dynabeads-anti-CD45 (97%). CTCs isolation from blood samples using the CellSearch and ISET systems revealed that the recovery rate for Cell Search and ISET was 52% and 95%, respectively. Conclusions: Dynal-anti-CD45 beads have the best recovery rate compared to other magnetic methods. Furthermore the recovery rate of ISET was higher compared to Cell Search, especially for the more aggressive MDA-MB 231 cell line.
Cone beam computed tomography diagnostic imaging of intra-osseous mucoepidermoid carcinoma in the mandible

Intra-osseous mucoepidermoid carcinoma in the mandible is a rarely reported entity, comprising only 2-3% of all mucoepidermoid carcinomas. Unilocular and/or multilocular radiolucency is characteristic of mucoepidermoid carcinoma, but has a radiographic appearance similar to that of odontogenic benign and malignant tumors and thus cannot be accurately diagnosed on plain films. This article describes a case of a 36-year-old man with intra-osseous mucoepidermoid carcinoma in the left mandible. For a detailed analysis, both panoramic radiograph and cone beam computed tomograph were taken. Important clinico-pathological and imaging features, differential diagnosis and review of the literature are described. Key words:Diagnosis, Cone Beam Computed Tomography, Head and Neck Tumors.
Isolated limb infusion for melanoma: a simple alternative to isolated limb perfusion.

OBJECTIVE To describe initial experience with the new technique of isolated limb infusion (ILI) for in-transit melanoma. DESIGN A prospective case series. SETTING The major tertiary care oncology centre for the state of Victoria, Australia. PATIENTS Nine patients having for extensive in-transit limb melanoma INTERVENTIONS All patients received ILI (13 treatments). OUTCOME MEASURES Patient survival, response to treatment and complications of treatment. RESULTS There were no perioperative deaths and morbidity was limited to deep venous thrombosis and pulmonary embolism in 1 patient. Control of the in-transit metastases was achieved to some degree in all patients and was complete in 4. CONCLUSIONS ILI is an alternative treatment modality for patients suffering from multiple, advanced in-transit melanoma metastases. It provides effective palliation with limited morbidity and offers a safe, quick, inexpensive alternative to isolated limb perfusion with comparable results.