Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Jasmonic Acid Signaling Modulates Ozone-Induced Hypersensitive Cell Death

Recent studies suggest that cross-talk between salicylic acid (SA)–, jasmonic acid (JA)–, and ethylene-dependent signaling pathways regulates plant responses to both abiotic and biotic stress factors. Earlier studies demonstrated that ozone (O3) exposure activates a hypersensitive response (HR)–like cell death pathway in the Arabidopsis ecotype Cvi-0. We now have confirmed the role of SA and JA signaling in influencing O3-induced cell death. Expression of salicylate hydroxylase (NahG) in Cvi-0 reduced O3-induced cell death. Methyl jasmonate (Me-JA) pretreatment of Cvi-0 decreased O3-induced H2O2 content and SA concentrations and completely abolished O3-induced cell death. Cvi-0 synthesized as much JA as did Col-0 in response to O3 exposure but exhibited much less sensitivity to exogenous Me-JA. Analyses of the responses to O3 of the JA-signaling mutants jar1 and fad3/7/8 also demonstrated an antagonistic relationship between JA- and SA-signaling pathways in controlling the magnitude of O3-induced HR-like cell death.
University of Waterloo at TREC 2011 Microblog Track

For the first year of the Microblog Track, a real time ad hoc search task was determined to be a suitable first task. The goal of the track is to return the most recent but also relevant tweets for a user’s query. Participating runs will be officially scored using precision at 30. Other experimental scoring measures will be evaluated in parallel to the official measure. As this was the first year for the Microblog Track, our primary goal was to create a baseline method and then attempt to improve upon the baseline. Since the only task was to perform a real time ad hoc search for the track, we decided that the task would be best suited by using a traditional search methodology. In doing so we used the Wumpus Search Engine, which was developed by Stefan Buttcher while at the University of Waterloo.
Equivalence of Measurements of Carotid Stenosis: A Comparison of Three Methods on 1001 Angiograms

There is confusion about how carotid stenosis should be measured on angiograms. If the results of research based on different methods of measurement of stenosis are to be discussed and the results of clinical trials properly applied to routine clinical practice, measurements made by the different methods must be formally compared. Methods The method of measurement of stenosis used in the European Carotid Surgery Trial (ECST), that used in the North American Symptomatic Carotid Endarterectomy Trial (NASCET), and a method based on measurement of the common carotid (CC) artery lumen diameter were compared. Carotid stenosis was measured by two observers, working independently and using the three different methods of measurement, on the angiographic view of the symptomatic carotid stenosis that showed the most severe disease in 1001 patients from the ECST. Results The results of using the ECST and CC methods differed from those of using the NASCET method in the classification of stenoses as mild (0% to 29%), moderate (30% to 69%), or severe (70% to 99%) in 51% of measurements. The ECST and CC methods indicated that twice as many stenoses were severe as did the NASCET method, and classified less than a third of the number of stenoses as mild. The results of the ECST and CC methods differed from each other in 15% of measurements. The relations between measurements made by each method to those made by the others were approximately linear, so a simple equation could be derived to convert measurements made by one method to measurements made by the others. Conclusions There were major and clinically important disparities between measurements of stenosis made using different methods of measurement on the same angiograms. However, it is possible to convert measurements made by one method to those of another using a simple arithmetic equation.
Predictive Factors of Hyponatremia in Under-Five Severely Malnourished Children with Pneumonia Admitted to a Large Urban Hospital in Dhaka, Bangladesh: A Nested Case-Control Design

Background: Hyponatremia is the most common electrolyte imbalance encountered in the management of diarrheal children. Common ramifications include cerebral edema and fatal outcomes. However, pediatric data remain lacking, particularly in developmental contexts where resources are limited and associated conditions like malnutrition and pneumonia are common. Aim: This study aimed to evaluate predicting factors associated with hyponatremia in children under five years of age with severe acute malnutrition (SAM) in Bangladesh. Methods: Using a nested case-control design, we compared clinical and laboratory characteristics of children with (n = 61) and without hyponatremia (n = 183) taken from a parent population of all children under five with SAM and clinical or radiological pneumonia admitted to Dhaka Hospital of icddr,b between April 2011 and June 2012 (n = 407). Results: Logistic regression analysis adjusting for potential confounders such as lack of breast feeding, duration of vomiting (days), and severe wasting revealed that older age (OR 1.05, 95%CI 1.02 - 1.07, p = 0.001) (5% increase in the relative odds of hyponatremia for each additional month of age), presence of diarrhea (OR 2.43, 95%CI 1.0 - 6.0, p = 0.05), and difficulty breathing (OR 1.52, 95%CI 1.0 - 2.05, p = 0.05) were significantly associated with hyponatremia. Conclusion: Our data suggest that older age, presence of diarrhea, and difficulty breathing in under-five children with SAM is independent predictors of hyponatremia. These findings underscore the importance of detecting simple clinical predictors early in order to facilitate appropriate management and to prevent potential ramifications of hyponatremia in SAM children, especially in resource-poor settings.
Genetic and environmental factors affecting 305-day mature equivalent milk yield of Holstein Friesian cows in the United Arab Emirates

The main objective of this research was determining the effect of sire of cow, year and season of freshening, lactation number, and their different interactions on 305-day mature equivalent (ME) milk yield of Holstein Friesian cows in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). It also aimed to estimate sire and error variance and heritability of 305-day ME milk yield. The data was collected from AL Salamat Dairy Farm in Al Ain. The average size of the herd was 1000 animals during the experimental period. The Dairy Comp 305 computer program was used for compiling the data. The data under the study covered the years 2004 to 2007. The climatic temperature during the summer (April to September) varied from moderate to very hot. The winter (October to March) had lower temperature and higher relative humidity than the summer. All the effects were fixed except for random sire and residual error term. The overall least-square mean of the 305-day ME milk yield was 11060A}355 kg/305 days. The data showed a significant effect of sire of cow (p≤0.001), year of freshening (p≤0.001), lactation number (p≤0.01), year x season of freshening (p≤0.01), and year of freshening x lactation number (p≤0.001) on milk yield. However, the effect of season of freshening showed non significant effect. No significant seasonal differences were found in 2004. However, in the year 2005 and 2006, the summer fresheners had significantly higher yield than those of the winter season. The 305-day ME pertaining to summer vs. winter were 11691A}400 kg vs. 11483A}410 kg and 11522A}369 kg vs. 11041A}374 kg for the year 2005 and 2006, respectively. However, the reverse was true in 2007 with the fresheners during summer that have lower 305-day ME (10286A}372kg) than those freshening during winter (10672A}388 kg). The differences among the three lactations were relatively high in 2004 (9837 to 12116 kg), compared to 2005 - 2006 (11267 to 11747 kg) and 2007 (9853 to 11355 kg). The heritability of 305-day ME was 0.31 indicating that a significant response to selection would be achieved through a well-designed progeny testing and cow evaluation program.
Kinetics of Cl-dependent K fluxes in hyposmotically swollen low K sheep erythrocytes

A detailed kinetic study of K:Cl cotransport in hyposmotically swollen low K sheep red blood cells was carried out to characterize the nature of the outwardly poised carrier. The kinetic parameters were determined from the rate of K efflux and influx under zero-K-trans conditions in red cells with cellular K altered by the nystatin method and with different extracellular K or Rb concentrations. Although apparent affinities for efflux and influx were quite similar, the maximal velocity for K efflux was approximately two times greater than for influx. Furthermore, at thermodynamic equilibrium (i.e., when the ion product of K and Cl within the cell was equal to that outside) a temperature-dependent net K efflux was observed, approaching zero only when the external product reached approximately two times the internal product. The binding order of the ions to the transporter was asymmetric, being ordered outside (Cl binding first, followed by K) and random inside. K efflux but not influx was trans-inhibited by KCl. Trans inhibition of K efflux was used to verify the order of binding outside: trans inhibition by external Cl occurred in the absence of external K, but not vice versa. Thus K:Cl cotransport is kinetically asymmetric in hyposmotically swollen low K sheep red cells.
Mathematical Modelling of Vertical-Axis Wind Turbines Rotors Aerodynamics

Numerical modeling of unsteady turbulent separated flows of incompressible fluid around vertical axis wind turbines (VAWT) with Darrieus and Savonius rotors was performed on the basis of the Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations, closed by the SpalartAllmaras turbulence model. The numerical solution was obtained using original homemade program code that implements an implicit finite volume algorithm based on the artificial compressibility method. Verification of developed CFD code has been carried out by simulation of several typical testing problems, namely: laminar and turbulent flow around steady and unsteady cylinder, subcritical and supercritical flow around steady and oscillating NACA 4412, NACA 0015 airfoils, aerodynamics of the turbulent flow around a 30P30N multi-element airfoil in cruise, takeoff and landing configurations, turbulent flow around tractor-trailer. The results of Darrieus and Savonius rotors simulation, physical and computational experiments with different number and geometry of blades are presented in the form of detailed flow visualization and reconstruction for two- and three-blade Darrieus rotor. The analysis of flow field near rotors was carried out and the main stages of vortex development were identified and analyzed. The results of three series of computational experiments on aerodynamic of two and three-bucket Savonius rotor were obtained, presented and discussed.
Saturated Fatty Acids Modulate Autophagy’s Proteins in the Hypothalamus

Autophagy is an important process that regulates cellular homeostasis by degrading dysfunctional proteins, organelles and lipids. In this study, the hypothesis that obesity could lead to impairment in hypothalamic autophagy in mice was evaluated by examining the hypothalamic distribution and content of autophagic proteins in animal with obesity induced by 8 or 16 weeks high fat diet to induce obesity and in response to intracerebroventricular injections of palmitic acid. The results showed that chronic exposure to a high fat diet leads to an increased expression of inflammatory markers and downregulation of autophagic proteins. In obese mice, autophagic induction leads to the downregulation of proteins, such as JNK and Bax, which are involved in the stress pathways. In neuron cell- line, palmitate has a direct effect on autophagy even without inflammatory activity. Understanding the cellular and molecular bases of overnutrition is essential for identifying new diagnostic and therapeutic targets for obesity.
Description and analysis of genetic diversity among squash accessions

In this work, the part of the squash core collection, maintained in the Greek Gene Bank, was assessed using the morphological and molecular data. Sixteen incompletely classified accessions of the squash were characterized along with an evaluation of their resistance against two isolates of Fusarium oxysporum. A molecular analysis using Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers was also performed, revealing high level of polymorphism. To study the genetic diversity among the squash accessions, a clustering procedure using Unweighed Pair Group Method and Arithmetic Average (UPGMA) algorithm was also adopted. Two independent dendrograms, one for the morphophysiological and one for molecular data were obtained, classifying the accessions into two and three main clusters, respectively. Despite the different number of the clusters there were many similarities between these two dendrograms, and a third dendrogram resulting from their combination was also produced, based on Gower's distance and UPGMA clustering algorithm. In order to determine the optimal number of clusters, the upper tail approach was applied. The more reliable clustering of the accessions was accomplished using RAPD markers as well as the combination of the two different data sets, classifying the accessions into three significantly different groups. These groups corresponded to the three different cultivated species of C. maxima Duch. , C. moschata Duch. , and C. pepo L. The same results were also obtained using Principal Component Analysis.
An interactive 3D integration of parallel coordinates and star glyphs

Parallel coordinates are a powerful method for visualizing multidimensional data but, when applied to large data sets, they become cluttered and difficult to read. Star glyphs, on the other hand, can be used to display either the attributes of a data item or the values across all items for a single attribute. Star glyphs may readily provide a quick impression; however, since the full data set require multiple glyphs, overall readings are more difficult. We present parallel glyphs, an interactive integration of the visual representations of parallel coordinates and star glyphs that utilizes the advantages of both representations to offset the disadvantages they have separately. We discuss the role of uniform and stepped colour scales in the visual comparison of non-adjacent items and star glyphs. Parallel glyphs provide capabilities for focus-in-context exploration using two types of lenses and interactions specific to the 3D space.
DWI Lesions and TIA Etiology Improve the Prediction of Stroke After TIA

Background and Purpose— The ABCD2 score has been shown to predict the early risk of stroke after transient ischemic attack (TIA). The additional predictive value of diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) and TIA etiology is not well known. Methods— From January 2003 to June 2007, 343 consecutive patients (mean±SD age, 62.4±15.4 years) with TIA were admitted to our stroke unit. Most (339) patients underwent DWI and all had an etiologic work-up and were followed up for 3 months. The predictive value of the ABCD2 score, positive DWI findings, large-artery atherosclerosis (LAA), and atrial fibrillation (AF) with respect to occurrence of ischemic stroke at 1 week and 3 months was assessed. Results— DWI was positive in 136 (40%) patients. Sixty (17%) patients had LAA and 27 (8%) had AF. Patients with positive DWI findings were more likely to have unilateral weakness (odds ratio [OR]=2.2; 95% CI, 1.3 to 3.7), TIA duration ≥60 minutes (OR=2.6; 95% CI, 1.3 to 5.2), ABCD2 >5 (OR=4.7; 95% CI, 2.0 to 11.0), LAA (OR=1.8; 95% CI, 1.0 to 3.1), and AF (OR=3.5; 95% CI, 1.5 to 8.0). During follow-up, 5 patients had a stroke within 7 days (absolute risk=1.5%, 95% CI, 0.3% to 2.7%), and 10 had a stroke within 3 months (absolute risk=2.9%; 95% CI, 1.1% to 4.7%). All early strokes but 1 occurred in patients with positive DWI findings. ABCD2 score and positive DWI findings were associated with an increased 7-day and 3-month risk of stroke. At 3 months, ABCD2 score >5 (hazard ratio=10.1; 95% CI, 1.1 to 93.4), positive DWI result (hazard ratio=8.7; 95% CI, 1.1 to 71.0), and LAA (hazard ratio=3.4; 95% CI, 1.0 to 11.8) were independently associated with an increased risk of stroke. There was no association with AF. Conclusions— Taking DWI and TIA etiology into account in addition to the ABCD2 score improves the prediction of the early risk of stroke after TIA.
5 Conclusions

We have studied organization and access for broadcast data, taking a stand that periodic broadcasting is a form of storage. Data is stored \on the air" with the latency of access proportional to the duration of the bcast. Broadcasted data can be reorganized \on the y" and refreshed (re BLOCKINecting updates) between two successive bcasts. The main dierence with the disk based les is that we need to minimize two parameters (access time and tuning time) contrary to just one (access time) for the disk based les. While broadcast tuning time roughly corresponds to disk access time, the broadcast access time is an equivalent of the disk space taken by the le. We investigated two data organization methods namely Hashing and exible indexing and we have demonstrated the relative advantages of both the schemes. In [3] which is orthogonal to this paper we also study data organization methods based on dierent types of indexing called (1; m) indexing and distributed indexing. Distributed Indexing is better than any Hashing scheme for small key sizes. We provided evidence in [4] that hashing performs better then distributed indexing in case the key sizes are large. There are a number of research questions which have to be investigated. If l-tering has to be done by complex predicate matching then more sophisticated data organizations techniques are needed. In particular we would like to investigate further techniques of secondary indexing. There are a number of communication issues which have to be looked at in detail. How to achieve reliability of the broadcast in error prone environments such as wireless cellular? Since the clients are only listening there is no (or very limited) possibility of the acknowledgment. Multiple Access protocols which guarantee timely delivery of information are necessary for the broadcasting (and especially the directory) to work correctly. Finally, we view data broadcasted on the channel as another level of storage hierarchy, where data is literally \stored on the channel". This view allows us to look at data in a uniform way regardless of whether it is stored in one location or multicasted on the network. \The application of digital broadcast communication to large scale information systems," IEEE Journal on selected As the capacity of buckets (n) increases the access time due to exible indexing increases very slowly and the access time due to hashing increases quite fast. The dierence between the access times due to exible …
Mit Sloan School of Management Mit Sloan School Working Paper 4702-08 2/7/2008 Provably Near-optimal Lp-based Policies for Revenue Management in Systems with Reusable Resources Provably Near-optimal Lp-based Policies for Revenue Management in Systems with Reusable Resources

All rights reserved. Short sections of text, not to exceed two paragraphs, may be quoted without explicit permission, provided that full credit including © notice is given to the source. Abstract Motivated by emerging applications in workforce management, we consider a class of revenue management problems in systems with reusable resources. The corresponding applications are modeled using the well-known loss network systems. We use an extremely simple linear program (LP) that provides an upper bound on the best achievable expected long-run revenue rate. The optimal solution of the LP is used to devise a conceptually simple control policy that we call the class selection policy (CSP). Moreover, the LP is used to analyze the performance of the CSP policy. We obtain the rst control policy with uniform performance guarantees. In particular, for the model with single resource and uniform resource requirements, the CSP policy is guaranteed to have expected long-run revenue rate that is at least half of the best achievable. More generally, as the ratio between the capacity of the system and the maximum resource requirement grows to innnity, the CSP policy is asymptotically optimal, regardless of any other parameter of the problem. The asymptotic performance analysis that we obtain is more general than existing results in several important dimensions. It is based on several novel ideas that we believe will be useful in other settings.
Transcriptional Control of KCNQ Channel Genes and the Regulation of Neuronal Excitability

Regulation of the resting membrane potential and the repolarization of neurons are important in regulating neuronal excitability. The potassium channel subunits Kv7.2 and Kv7.3 play a key role in stabilizing neuronal activity. Mutations in KCNQ2 and KCNQ3, the genes encoding Kv7.2 and Kv7.3, cause a neonatal form of epilepsy, and activators of these channels have been identified as novel antiepileptics and analgesics. Despite the observations that regulation of these subunits has profound effects on neuronal function, almost nothing is known about the mechanisms responsible for controlling appropriate expression levels. Here we identify two mechanisms responsible for regulating KCNQ2 and KCNQ3 mRNA levels. We show that the transcription factor Sp1 activates expression of both KCNQ2 and KCNQ3, whereas the transcriptional repressor REST (repressor element 1-silencing transcription factor) represses expression of both of these genes. Furthermore, we show that transcriptional regulation of KCNQ genes is mirrored by the correlated changes in M-current density and excitability of native sensory neurons. We propose that these mechanisms are important in the control of excitability of neurons and may have implications in seizure activity and pain.
Effects of insulin resistance and testosterone on the participation of cyclooxygenase isoforms in vascular reactivity

Testosterone plays an important role in mediating hypertension and altered vascular reactivity associated with insulin resistance. In addition to other pathways, testosterone-dependent changes in aortic cyclooxygenase (COX-2) mRNA levels affect blood pressure following insulin resistance. However their effects on vascular tone are unclear. We studied the changes in contraction response to phenylephrine (PE) in the aorta and superior mesenteric artery (SMA) from intact and gonadectomized fructose-fed rats. Constriction response to PE was studied in tissues incubated with the COX-1 and COX-2-selective antagonists, SC-560 and NS-398, respectively, and indomethacin, in addition to assessing its role in endothelium-dependent relaxation. Finally changes in COX-2 protein expression and plasma thromboxane A2 (TXA2), a downstream vasoconstrictor metabolite of COX-2, were measured. In fructose-fed rats, castration prevented the increase in blood pressure but not insulin resistance. The involvement of COX-2 in mediating the alpha-adrenergic vasoconstriction was higher in intact rat aorta compared to COX-1, which was prevented by castration. However, in the SMA, COX-2 participation was dependent on testosterone alone. Fructose-induced attenuation of endothelial relaxation was restored by indomethacin, which suggests a pro-vasoconstrictor role for COX. Both diet and testosterone did not alter vascular COX-2 expression thus suggesting the involvement of downstream testosterone-dependent pathways. This is supported by increased plasma TXA2 in the castrated rats compared to intact rats. Isoform-specific actions of COX are tissue-selective in states of insulin resistance and involve potential testosterone-dependent downstream targets. Further studies are needed to investigate the role of androgens and insulin resistance in vascular arachidonic acid metabolism.