Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Evaluation of safety and efficacy of biodegradable polymer-based sirolimus-eluting stent in a porcine coronary artery model

Aims: The safety and efficacy of biodegradable polymer-based drug-eluting stents remain unclear. The aim of this study was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of biodegradable polymer-based sirolimus-eluting stent (SES) in a porcine coronary model. Methods and Results: Sirolimus and biodegradable PLGA (50:50) polymer were used to coat-a diamond-like carbon-coated bare metal stent (MOMO-BMS). The sirolimus content was 100 μg/cm2 (SES100) or 140 μg/cm2 (SES140). Stents were implanted in porcine coronaries. The animals were euthanized at 1 and 3 months (n = 4 each). At 1 month, histological analysis revealed that both SES100 and SES140 had significantly higher fibrin scores than MOMO-BMS, and like MOMOBMS, they decreased to baseline level at 3 months. Furthermore, both SES100 and SES140 showed less neointima than MOMO-BMS at 1 month (0.72 ± 0.35, 0.75 ± 0.20, 1.05 ± 0.42, respectively; p = 0.34), and this was maintained at 3 months with no increase of inflammatory reaction. Conclusion: The results indicate that the novel biodegradable polymer-based SES is safe and effective.
Silicon Slot Waveguide Electro-Optic Kerr Effect Modulator

The theoretical background to calculate the effective index tuning using the ultrafast electro-optic Kerr effect and a design of slot waveguide geometry are presented. Analysis of the slot waveguide ring resonator with silicon nanocrystals as the active medium to implement the CMOS compatible electro-optic Kerr effect modulator indicates a modulation bandwidth of 51 GHz, therefore, allowing for 90 Gb/s data rate transmission, and a low energy consumption of 22.99 fJ/bit.
Berberine: metabolic and cardiovascular effects in preclinical and clinical trials

Correspondence: Arrigo FG Cicero Clinical Pharmacologist, Lipidologist, “GC Descovich” Atherosclerosis and Metabolic Diseases research Center internal Medicine, Aging and Kidney Diseases Dept., Sant’Orsola-Malpighi Hospital, University of Bologna, via Massarenti, 9, 40138 Bologna, italy Tel +39 34 9855 8017 Fax +39 05 139 0646 Email afgcicero@cardionet.it Abstract: Berberine is a plant alkaloid with numerous biological activities. A large body of preclinical in vitro and in vivo studies support different pharmacological actions of berberine that could be potentially useful in the management of metabolic diseases associated with high cardiovascular disease risk, such as mixed hyperlipidemia, insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome, and type 2 diabetes. Moreover, it seems that berberine also exerts anti-inflammatory and antiproliferative effects that could play a role in the development of atherosclerosis and its clinical consequences. Recently, the metabolic effects of berberine have been demonstrated in humans, opening new perspectives for the use of this molecule in patient therapy. Larger and longer clinical studies need to be carried out to implement the definition of the therapeutic role of berberine in humans.
The Effect of Interpersonal Counseling for Subthreshold Depression in Undergraduates: An Exploratory Randomized Controlled Trial

Background Subthreshold depression and poor stress coping strategies are major public health problems among undergraduates. Interpersonal counseling (IPC) is a brief structured psychological intervention originally designed for use in primary care to treat depressive patients whose symptoms arose from current life stress. Objectives This study examined the efficacy of IPC in treating subthreshold depression and coping strategies among undergraduates in school counseling. Materials and Methods We carried out an exploratory randomized controlled trial comparing the efficacy of IPC with counseling as usual (CAU). Participants were 31 undergraduates exhibiting depression without a psychiatric diagnosis. Results The Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale total score decreased significantly in the IPC group (n = 15; Z = −2.675, p = .007), but not in the CAU group (n = 16). The task-oriented coping score of the Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations showed a tendency towards a greater increase in the IPC group than in the CAU group (t = 1.919, df = 29, p = .065). Conclusions The IPC might be more useful for student counseling because it can teach realistic coping methods and reduce depressive symptoms in a short period. Further studies using more participants are required.
Discriminant Validity Assessment: Use of Fornell & Larcker criterion versus HTMT Criterion

Assessment of discriminant validity is a must in any research that involves latent variables for the prevention of multicollinearity issues. Fornell and Larcker criterion is the most widely used method for this purpose. However, a new method has emerged for establishing the discriminant validity assessment through heterotrait-monotrait (HTMT) ratio of correlations method. Therefore, this article presents the results of discriminant validity assessment using these methods. Data from previous study was used that involved 429 respondents for empirical validation of value-based excellence model in higher education institutions (HEI) in Malaysia. From the analysis, the convergent, divergent and discriminant validity were established and admissible using Fornell and Larcker criterion. However, the discriminant validity is an issue when employing the HTMT criterion. This shows that the latent variables under study faced the issue of multicollinearity and should be looked into for further details. This also implied that the HTMT criterion is a stringent measure that could detect the possible indiscriminant among the latent variables. In conclusion, the instrument which consisted of six latent variables was still lacking in terms of discriminant validity and should be explored further.
Adherence to guidelines for treatment of depression in in-patients

Background Adherence to treatment guidelines enhances treatment outcome. However, in clinical practice many patients with depression do not receive appropriate treatment. Aims To evaluate the treatment of depression in in-patients of German psychiatric hospitals with respect to treatment outcome and adherence to guidelines. Method We recruited 1202 in-patients with depression from ten different hospitals. Quality data concerning treatment were collected at admission, during the treatment course and at discharge. Results The level of depression was significantly decreased and most patients were satisfied with treatment. Many aspects of the treatment routine adhered to guideline recommendations. Adherence to guidelines could be improved with respect to adjustment of antidepressant dosage, reduction of benzodiazepine prescription, enhanced use of electroconvulsive therapy and wider use of interpersonal therapy. Conclusions The study reveals a high standard of psychiatric treatment of in-patients with depression. Nevertheless there is still room for improvement. Differences between hospitals in adherence to guidelines indicates the need for individual application of quality management tools.
Distinctive courtship phenotype of the Vogelkop Superb Bird-of-Paradise Lophorina niedda Mayr, 1930 confirms new species status

The birds-of-paradise (Aves: Paradisaeidae) are a quintessential example of elaborate ornamental diversification among animals. Ornamental evolution in the birds-of-paradise is exemplified by the presence of a highly integrated courtship phenotype, which is the whole package of plumage ornaments, behaviors and sounds that each species uses during courtship. Characterizing a species’ courtship phenotype is therefore a key part of evolutionary and taxonomic investigation in the group. With its unprecedented transmogrification from bird-like form into something abstract and otherworldly, the courtship phenotype of the Superb Bird-of-Paradise, Lophorina superba, is one of the most remarkable of all. Recent research by Irestedt et al. (2017) suggests that the genus Lophorina is not a single species but is likely a complex of three allopatric species spanning the island of New Guinea: L. niedda in the Bird’s Head Peninsula of the west, L. superba throughout the central cordillera and L. minor in the Papuan Peninsula of the east. Of these, niedda is the most phenotypically divergent with plumage traits hypothesized to possibly produce differences in ornamental appearance during display. However, the whole courtship phenotype of niedda has not been documented and so the actual extent of differences in ornamental appearance during courtship remain unknown. Here we analyze the first audiovisual recordings of niedda and compare its courtship phenotype with superba to test the hypothesis of potential differences in ornamental appearance. Our main goals are to: (1) provide the first description of the courtship phenotype of niedda in the wild, (2) determine if and how the niedda courtship phenotype differs from superba and (3) evaluate any uncovered differences in light of niedda’s newly recognized species status. Our secondary goal is to provide a more thorough characterization of courtship phenotype diversity within the genus Lophorina to facilitate future comparative study within the genus and family. Results show that the niedda courtship phenotype differs substantially from superba in numerous aspects of ornamental appearance, display behavior and sound. We highlight six key differences and conclude that the new species status of niedda is corroborated by the distinctly differentiated ornamental features documented here. With full species status, niedda becomes the fourth endemic bird-of-paradise to the Bird’s Head region of Indonesian New Guinea (i.e., the Vogelkop Peninsula), a fact that underscores the importance of this region as a center of endemic biodiversity worthy of enhanced conservation protection.
Salidroside Protects Against Advanced Glycation End Products-Induced Vascular Endothelial Dysfunction

Background Salidroside, the major active compound in Rhodiola, has been reported to provide beneficial effects on cardiovascular diseases, but its effects on diabetes-induced vascular endothelial dysfunction are less known. Here, we examined the protective effects of salidroside on endothelial function in diabetes and explored the potential underlying mechanism. Material/Methods First, we assessed the endothelium-dependent relaxation response to acetylcholine, with or without salidroside treatment, in aortas isolated from Sprague-Dawley rats. Then, cell viability, oxidative biomarkers, and protein expression were tested to determine the effect of salidroside treatment on human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) in vitro. Results Advanced glycation end product (AGE)-induced endothelial dysfunction was significantly improved by salidroside treatment (P<0.05), as shown by a reduced relaxation response to the vasodilator acetylcholine. Further, incubation with salidroside restored NO levels and reduced reactive oxygen species formation in AGE-stimulated HUVECs in a concentration-dependent manner (P<0.05). We also showed that nuclear factor (erythroid-derived 2)-like 2 (Nrf2)/heme oxygenase 1 (HO-1) and nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) signaling was critical for the salidroside-mediated beneficial regulation. Conclusions Our results demonstrate that salidroside protects against AGE-induced endothelial dysfunction, and its effects may be in part attributed to the induction of HO-1 and attenuation of phosphorylated NF-κB p65.
Torrefaction of Babassu: A Potential Utilization Pathway

Because of its energy and mechanical properties, babassu shell is a promising energy crop for the future. Its production potential in Brazil is estimated at 6.8 million tons of fruits/year. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of torrefaction on the main energy and mechanical properties of Orbignya speciosa (Babassu). Three different torrefaction temperatures (220, 250, and 280°C) and two different durations (15 and 30 minutes) were employed. The influence of sample orientation was taken into account. The results showed that the energy properties of babassu are greatly improved during heat treatment. Torrefaction also led to uniform resistance to babassu shell compression. It was found that low temperature treatment was sufficient to envisage grinding and babassu use in pulverulent form.
Nonequilibrium Ablation of Phenolic Impregnated Carbon Ablator

Phenolic Impregnated Carbon Ablator is the forebody heatshield material for the Mars Science Laboratory, the Stardust sample-return capsule, and the SpaceX Dragon vehicle. In previous work an equilibrium ablation and thermal response model was developed. Model predictions were compared with data from many stagnation arcjet tests conducted over a range of stagnation heat flux and pressure from 107 W/cm 2 at 2.3 kPa to 1100 W/cm 2 at 84 kPa. In general, model predictions compared well with the data for surface recession, surface temperature, in-depth temperature at multiple thermocouples, and char depth. The uncertainty of the recession predictions was greatest for test conditions with low heat flux or low pressure. Additional testing has been performed at conditions down to 40 W/cm 2 and 1.6 kPa. The new test data suggest that nonequilibrium effects become important for prediction of PICA ablation at heat flux or pressure below about 80 W/cm 2 and 10 kPa, respectively. In this work we investigate two modifications to the ablation model to account for these nonequilibrium effects. Model predictions are compared with the arcjet test data.
Antinociception by the anti‐oxidized phospholipid antibody E06

ROS and their downstream molecules such as oxidized phospholipids (OxPL) and 4‐hydroxynonenal activate TRPA1 and TRPV1 (vanilloid 1) cation channels in vivo and in vitro shaping thermal and mechanical hypersensitivity in inflammatory pain. E06/T15 is a monoclonal autoantibody against oxidized phosphatidylcholine (OxPC) used in diagnostics in arteriosclerosis. Recently, we provided evidence that E06 also ameliorates inflammatory pain. Here, we studied E06 for local treatment against hypersensitivity evoked by endogenous and exogenous agonists of TRPA1 or TRPV1 channels.
Nutritional deficiencies and later behavioural development

The literature on the long-term effects of nutritional deficiencies in early life is reviewed. The severity and duration of the deficiency, the stage of the children’s development, the biological condition of the children and the socio-cultural context may all modify the effect. There is substantial evidence that reduced breast-feeding, small-for-gestational-age birth weight, Fe and I deficiency, and protein-energy malnutrition (PEM) are associated with long-term deficits in cognition and school achievement. However, all these conditions are associated with poverty and poor health, which may account for the association. It is difficult to establish that the long-term relationship is causal, as it requires a randomized treatment trial with long-term follow-up. Such studies are only available for I deficiency in utero and early childhood PEM. Results from these studies indicate that I deficiency has a long-term effect and PEM probably has a long-term effect.
The sensitivity matrix for a spectro-temporal auditory model

Perceptually optimal processing of speech and audio signals demands distortion measures that are based on sophisticated auditory models. High-rate theory can simplify these models by means of a sensitivity matrix. We present a method to derive the sensitivity matrix for distortion measures based on spectro-temporal auditory models under the assumption of small errors. This method is applied to an example auditory model and the region of validity of the approximation as well as a way to analyze the characteristics of the model with subspace methods are discussed.
CO2 exchange and evapotranspiration across dryland ecosystems of southwestern North America

Global‐scale studies suggest that dryland ecosystems dominate an increasing trend in the magnitude and interannual variability of the land CO2 sink. However, such analyses are poorly constrained by measured CO2 exchange in drylands. Here we address this observation gap with eddy covariance data from 25 sites in the water‐limited Southwest region of North America with observed ranges in annual precipitation of 100–1000 mm, annual temperatures of 2–25°C, and records of 3–10 years (150 site‐years in total). Annual fluxes were integrated using site‐specific ecohydrologic years to group precipitation with resulting ecosystem exchanges. We found a wide range of carbon sink/source function, with mean annual net ecosystem production (NEP) varying from ‐350 to +330 gCm−2 across sites with diverse vegetation types, contrasting with the more constant sink typically measured in mesic ecosystems. In this region, only forest‐dominated sites were consistent carbon sinks. Interannual variability of NEP, gross ecosystem production (GEP), and ecosystem respiration (Reco) was larger than for mesic regions, and half the sites switched between functioning as C sinks/C sources in wet/dry years. The sites demonstrated coherent responses of GEP and NEP to anomalies in annual evapotranspiration (ET), used here as a proxy for annually available water after hydrologic losses. Notably, GEP and Reco were negatively related to temperature, both interannually within site and spatially across sites, in contrast to positive temperature effects commonly reported for mesic ecosystems. Models based on MODIS satellite observations matched the cross‐site spatial pattern in mean annual GEP but consistently underestimated mean annual ET by ~50%. Importantly, the MODIS‐based models captured only 20–30% of interannual variation magnitude. These results suggest the contribution of this dryland region to variability of regional to global CO2 exchange may be up to 3–5 times larger than current estimates.
Environmental Art and Environmental Beliefs: the Case of Plastic Bag Pollution in Oceans

This paper reports the results of two experiments exploring the impact of exposure to environmental art on environmental beliefs, using images of plastic bag pollution in oceans. Even though the experimental design investigates only the immediate impact of a brief exposure to artistic images, the design controls well for other factors that might influence changes in environmental beliefs. This study is one of the few to directly estimate the effect of environmental art and it is the first to use elements of the New Ecological Paradigm in that context. Beyond the main research question of whether environmental art has effects on beliefs, the study also investigates whether expected behavior is affected, whether it is art or the information conveyed along with the art that matters, whether other factors influence the effect of exposure to the artwork, and what personal characteristics are associated with pro-environmental behaviors with respect to plastic bags as well as pro-environmental beliefs.
Dynamic analysis of water stress of sunflower leaves by means of a thermal image processing system.

This paper describes a method for measuring the temperatures of all regions of an intact leaf by using an infrared scanning thermometer at wavelengths between 8 and 14 micrometers combined with a digital image processing system. Pictures obtained every 2 minutes from leaves of sunflower (Helianthus annuus L. cv Large Russian) plants subjected to increasing water stress showed that water deficit develops first at the margins of leaves, accompanied by stomatal closure and increase in temperature. Finally, the temperature of the entire leaf rises 3 to 5 degrees C above that of nonstressed leaves. When transpiration resumed, it did so first at the leaf margins and these proceeded nonuniformly inward.The results of these experiments indicate that there are significant differences in the temperature and water status of different parts of a leaf. This makes it important to determine causes of such behavior and decide in what part of a leaf the temperature and water status should be measured. The thermo-imaging method can be useful in monitoring short term temperature changes occurring in leaves undergoing water, chilling, and other stresses.
Logistics of water and salt transport through the plant: structure and functioning of the xylem

The xylem is a long-distance transport system that is unique to higher plants. It evolved into a very sophisticated plumbing system ensuring controlled loading/unloading of ions and water and their effective translocation to the required sinks. The focus of this overview will be the intrinsic interrelations between structural and functional features of the xylem. Taken together the xylem is designed to prevent cavitation (entry of air bubbles), induced by negative pressures under transpiration and to repair the cavitated vessels. Half-bordered pits between xylem parenchyma cells and xylem vessels are on the one hand the gates to the vessels but on the other hand a serious ‘bottle-neck’ for transport. Hence it becomes evident that special transport systems exist at the interface between the cells and vessels, which allow intensive fluxes of ions and water to and out of the xylem. The molecular identification and biophysical/ biochemical characterization of these transporters has just started. Paradigms for the sophisticated mechanism of controlled xylem transport under changing environmental conditions are SKOR, a Shaker-like channel involved in K + loading and SOS1, a Na + /H + antiporter with a proposed dual function in Na + transport. In view of the importance
Remote-Controlled Switch Allocation Enabling Prompt Restoration of Distribution Systems

Remote-controlled switches (RCSs) play an important role in prompt service restoration of distribution systems (DSs). However, the cost of RCSs and the vast footprint of DSs limit widespread utilization of RCSs. In this paper, we present a new approach to RCS allocation for improving the performance of restoration and optimizing reliability benefits with reasonable RCS cost. Specifically, the optimal number and locations of to-be-upgraded switches can be determined with different objectives: maximizing the reduction of customer interruption cost; maximizing the reduction of system average interruption duration index; or maximizing the amount of loads that can be restored using the upgraded RCSs. We show that these models can actually be formulated as mixed-integer convex programming problems. We further introduce a novel method to equivalently transform and efficiently solve each of them. The global optimum can thus be computed within a reasonable amount of time. The IEEE 33-node and 123-node test systems are used to demonstrate the proposed models and algorithms.
Chiral near-fields around chiral dolmen nanostructure

Discriminating the handedness of the chiral molecule is of great importance in the field of pharmacology and biomedicine. Enhancing the chiral near-field is one way to increase the chiral signal of chiral molecules. In this paper, the chiral dolmen nanostructure (CDN) is proposed to enhance the chiral near-field. Numerical results show that the CDN can increase the optical chirality of the near-field by almost two orders of magnitude compared to that of a circularly polarized incident wave. In addition, the optical chirality of the near-field of the bonding mode is enhanced more than that of the antibonding mode. These results provide an effective method for tailoring the chiral near-field for biophotonics sensors.