Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Where Does Metonymy Stop? Senses, Facets, and Active Zones

The purpose of this article is to propose a constrained lexical semantic definition of referential metonymy within a model of meaning as ontology and construal. Due to their various types of lexical-referential pairings, 3 types of construals that are frequently referred to as metonymy in the cognitive literature are distinguished as metonymization, facetization, and zone activation. Metonymization involves the use of a lexical item to evoke the sense of something that is not conventionally linked to that particular lexical item. It is argued that metonymy is a contingent relation that stops at the sense level. Facetization and zone activation both involve the use of conventional pairings of lexical items and contextual readings. Facetization takes place within senses at the level of qualia structure and zone activation takes place within qualia structure. Zone activation is a ubiquitous phenomenon that concerns all readings, senses as well facets.
Effect of ELOM-080 on exacerbations and symptoms in COPD patients with a chronic bronchitis phenotype – a post-hoc analysis of a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial

Background Treating symptoms and preventing exacerbations are key components of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) long-term management. Recently, a more tailored treatment approach has been proposed, in particular for two well-established clinical phenotypes, frequent exacerbators and chronic bronchitis-dominant COPD. ELOM-080 has demonstrated clinical efficacy in treating symptoms and preventing exacerbations in subjects with chronic bronchitis. However, little is known about the potential effects of ELOM-080 in COPD patients. Aim To evaluate the effect on exacerbation, cough sputum, and general state of health of long-term treatment with ELOM-080 in COPD patients with an exacerbation history and chronic bronchitis. Methods We performed a post-hoc analysis of a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled parallel-group clinical trial of a 6-month treatment with ELOM-080 (3×300 mg) in patients with chronic bronchitis and concomitant COPD. The primary outcome was the proportion of subjects with at least one exacerbation over the 6-month study period. Secondary outcomes included the total number of exacerbations (ie, cumulative occurrence of exacerbations during the study period) and the proportion of acute exacerbations necessitating an antibiotic treatment, monthly evaluations of sputum and cough symptoms, and the general state of health and a safety analysis. Results Of 260 randomized subjects, 64 patients fulfilled the inclusion criteria for COPD (ELOM-080: 35, placebo: 29). Compared to placebo, ELOM-080 reduced the percentage of subjects with at least one exacerbation (29% versus 55%, P=0.031) and a reduction in the overall occurrence of exacerbations (ELOM-080: 10, placebo: 21, P=0.012) during the winter season. The percentage of asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic patients (sputum/expectoration and cough) was consistently higher in the ELOM-080 group compared to placebo, with statistical significant differences after 2 and 3 months of treatment (2 months: ELOM-080 25%, placebo 11%, P<0.005; 3 months: ELOM-080 26%, placebo 14%, P<0.05). Likewise the subjective rating of general health status was better in the ELOM-080 group with statistically significant superiority after 2 and 3 months of treatment (2-month treatment: P=0.015; 3-month treatment: P=0.024). Tolerability results were comparable between ELOM-080 and placebo. Conclusion ELOM-080 is efficacious in patients with COPD and a chronic bronchitis phenotype. Prophylactic use reduces the rate of exacerbations and improves the key symptoms of sputum and cough with a favorable long-term tolerability profile.
Effects of calcium-sensing receptors on apoptosis in rat hippocampus during hypoxia/re-oxygenation through the ERK1/2 pathway.

OBJECTIVES To explore the effects of calcium-sensing receptors (CaSR) on apoptosis in rat hippocampus during hypoxia/re-oxygenation (H/R). METHODS After post-culturing of isolated rat hippocampus, the cultures were subjected to H/R, meanwhile gadolinium chloride (GdCl3, agonist of CaSR) and NPS 2390 (antagonists of CaSR) was added to reperfusion solution. The number of hippocampal neuron, cell proliferation assay and apoptosis rate was determined by inverted microscope, 3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2, 5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) and flow cytometer (FCM). Besides, caspase-3, Bax, cytochrome C (Cyt-c), extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase (ERK) 1/2, pERK1/2, P38 and pP38 were analyzed by western blotting. RESULTS The hippocampal neuron number and cell viability were significantly decreased after H/R treatment, and were further significantly reduced when co-treatment with CaSR agonist GdCl3. But the effects of GdCl3 were attenuated by NPS-2390. Whereas, apoptosis rate, the expression level of caspase-3, Bax and Cyt-c were all significantly increased under H/R condition, and was further significantly increased by GdCl3, but were reversed by NPS-2390 (P < 0.05). Moreover, there were no significant differences in expression of ERK1/2, P38 and pP38 among different groups. However, the expression of pERK1/2 was significantly increased after H/R treatment, but was significantly reduced by NPS 2390 (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION The results suggest that CaSR might play significant roles in the induction of hippocampus apoptosis in rat during H/R through phosphorylation of ERK1/2.
Circulating concentrations of biomarkers and metabolites related to vitamin status, one-carbon and the kynurenine pathways in US, Nordic, Asian, and Australian populations123

Background: Circulating concentrations of biomarkers that are related to vitamin status vary by factors such as diet, fortification, and supplement use. Published biomarker concentrations have also been influenced by the variation across laboratories, which complicates a comparison of results from different studies. Objective: We robustly and comprehensively assessed differences in biomarkers that are related to vitamin status across geographic regions. Design: The trial was a cross-sectional study in which we investigated 38 biomarkers that are related to vitamin status and one-carbon and tryptophan metabolism in serum and plasma from 5314 healthy control subjects representing 20 cohorts recruited from the United States, Nordic countries, Asia, and Australia, participating in the Lung Cancer Cohort Consortium. All samples were analyzed in a centralized laboratory. Results: Circulating concentrations of riboflavin, pyridoxal 5′-phosphate, folate, vitamin B-12, all-trans retinol, 25-hydroxyvitamin D, and α-tocopherol as well as combined vitamin scores that were based on these nutrients showed that the general B-vitamin concentration was highest in the United States and that the B vitamins and lipid soluble vitamins were low in Asians. Conversely, circulating concentrations of metabolites that are inversely related to B vitamins involved in the one-carbon and kynurenine pathways were high in Asians. The high B-vitamin concentration in the United States appears to be driven mainly by multivitamin-supplement users. Conclusions: The observed differences likely reflect the variation in intake of vitamins and, in particular, the widespread multivitamin-supplement use in the United States. The results provide valuable information about the differences in biomarker concentrations in populations across continents.
UvA-DARE ( Digital Academic Repository ) Unified theory of inertial granular flows and non-Brownian suspensions

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Efficacy and safety of subcutaneous and intravenous rituximab plus cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone in first-line diffuse large B-cell lymphoma: the randomized MabEase study

Intravenous rituximab plus chemotherapy is standard treatment for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. A subcutaneous formulation of rituximab is expected to simplify and shorten drug preparation and administration, and to reduce treatment burden. MabEase (clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: 01649856) examined efficacy, safety and patient satisfaction with subcutaneous rituximab plus chemotherapy in treatment-naïve patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. Patients were randomized 2:1 to subcutaneous rituximab (intravenous 375 mg/m2 cycle 1; subcutaneous 1,400 mg cycles 2–8) or intravenous rituximab (375 mg/m2 cycles 1–8) plus cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone every 14 or 21 days. The primary endpoint was investigator-assessed complete response/unconfirmed complete response. Secondary endpoints included safety, treatment satisfaction (Cancer Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire and Rituximab Administration Satisfaction Questionnaire), time savings, and survival. Of 576 randomized patients, 572 (378 subcutaneous; 194 intravenous) received treatment. End of induction complete response/unconfirmed complete response rates were 50.6% (subcutaneous) and 42.4% (intravenous). After a median 35 months, median overall, event-free and progression-free survivals were not reached. Grade ≥3 adverse events (subcutaneous 58.3%; intravenous 54.3%) and administration-related adverse events (both groups 21%) were similar between arms. Injection-site reactions were more common with subcutaneous injections (5.7% versus 0%, respectively). Rituximab Administration Satisfaction Questionnaire scores for ‘impact on activities of daily living’, ‘convenience’, and ‘satisfaction’ were improved with subcutaneous versus intravenous injections; Cancer Therapy Satisfaction Questionnaire scores were similar between arms. Median administration time (6 minutes vs. 2.6 to 3.0 hours), chair/bed and overall hospital times were shorter with subcutaneous versus intravenous rituximab. Overall, subcutaneous and intravenous rituximab had similar efficacy and safety, with improved patient satisfaction and time savings.
Anchoring in Numeric Judgments of Visual Stimuli

This article investigates effects of anchoring in age estimation and estimation of quantities, two tasks which to different extents are based on visual stimuli. The results are compared to anchoring in answers to classic general knowledge questions that rely on semantic knowledge. Cognitive load was manipulated to explore possible differences between domains. Effects of source credibility, manipulated by differing instructions regarding the selection of anchor values (no information regarding anchor selection, information that the anchors are randomly generated or information that the anchors are answers from an expert) on anchoring were also investigated. Effects of anchoring were large for all types of judgments but were not affected by cognitive load or by source credibility in either one of the researched domains. A main effect of cognitive load on quantity estimations and main effects of source credibility in the two visually based domains indicate that the manipulations were efficient. Implications for theoretical explanations of anchoring are discussed. In particular, because anchoring did not interact with cognitive load, the results imply that the process behind anchoring in visual tasks is predominantly automatic and unconscious.
Traffic-Related Air Pollution and Telomere Length in Children and Adolescents Living in Fresno, CA: A Pilot Study

Objective: The main objective of this pilot study was to gather preliminary information about how telomere length (TL) varies in relation to exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in children living in a highly polluted city. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study of children living in Fresno, California (n = 14). Subjects with and without asthma were selected based on their annual average PAH level in the 12-months prior to their blood draw. We measured relative telomere length from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). Results: We found an inverse linear relationship between average PAH level and TL (R2 = 0.69), as well as between age and TL (R2 = 0.21). Asthmatics had shorter mean telomere length than non-asthmatics (TLasthmatic = 1.13, TLnon-asthmatic = 1.29). Conclusions: These preliminary findings suggest that exposure to ambient PAH may play a role in telomere shortening. Learning Objectives Become familiar with previous evidence suggesting that telomere length may be a biomarker of air pollution-induced cytotoxicity. Summarize the new findings on the association between polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) exposure and telomere length in adolescents, including those with asthma. Discuss the implications for recommendations and policies to mitigate the health and respiratory effects of traffic-related air pollution.
Cross-language acoustic emotion recognition: An overview and some tendencies

Automatic emotion recognition from speech has matured close to the point where it reaches broader commercial interest. One of the last major limiting factors is the ability to deal with multilingual inputs as will be given in a real-life operating system in many if not most cases. As in real-life scenarios speech is often used mixed across languages more experience will be needed in performance effects of cross-language recognition. In this contribution we first provide an overview on languages covered in the research on emotion and speech finding that only roughly two thirds of native speakers' languages are so far touched upon. We thus next shed light on mis-matched vs matched condition emotion recognition across a variety of languages. By intention, we include less researched languages of more distant language families such as Burmese, Romanian or Turkish. Binary arousal and valence mapping is employed in order to be able to train and test across databases that have originally been labelled in diverse categories. In the result - as one may expect - arousal recognition works considerably better across languages than valence, and cross-language recognition falls considerably behind within-language recognition. However, within-language family recognition seems to provide an `emergency-solution' in case of missing language resources, and the observed notable differences depending on the combination of languages show a number of interesting effects.
16S rRNA gene sequencing reveals effects of photoperiod on cecal microbiota of broiler roosters

Photoperiod is an important factor in stimulating broiler performance in commercial poultry practice. However, the mechanism by which photoperiod affects the performance of broiler chickens has not been adequately explored. The current study evaluated the effects of three different photoperiod regimes (short day (LD) = 8 h light, control (CTR) = 12.5 h light, and long day (SD) = 16 h light) on the cecal microbiota of broiler roosters by sequencing bacterial 16S rRNA genes. At the phylum level, the dominant bacteria were Firmicutes (CTR: 68%, SD: 69%, LD: 67%) and Bacteroidetes (CTR: 25%, SD: 26%, and LD: 28%). There was a greater abundance of Proteobacteria (p < 0.01) and Cyanobacteria (p < 0.05) in chickens in the LD group than in those in the CTR group. A significantly greater abundance of Actinobacteria was observed in CTR chickens than in SD and LD chickens (p < 0.01). The abundance of Deferribacteres was significantly higher in LD chickens than in SD chickens (p < 0.01). Fusobacteria and Proteobacteria were more abundant in SD chickens than in CTR and LD chickens. The predicted functional properties indicate that cellular processes may be influenced by photoperiod. Conversely, carbohydrate metabolism was enhanced in CTR chickens as compared to that in SD and LD chickens. The current results indicate that different photoperiod regimes may influence the abundance of specific bacterial populations and then contribute to differences in the functional properties of gut microbiota of broiler roosters.
Relation of perceived breathiness to laryngeal kinematics and acoustic measures based on computational modeling.

PURPOSE In this study, the authors sought to determine (a) how specific vocal fold structural and vibratory features relate to breathy voice quality and (b) the relation of perceived breathiness to 4 acoustic correlates of breathiness. METHOD A computational, kinematic model of the vocal fold medial surfaces was used to specify features of vocal fold structure and vibration in a manner consistent with breathy voice. Four model parameters were altered: vocal process separation, surface bulging, vibratory nodal point, and epilaryngeal constriction. Twelve naïve listeners rated breathiness of 364 samples relative to a reference. The degree of breathiness was then compared to (a) the underlying kinematic profile and (b) 4 acoustic measures: cepstral peak prominence (CPP), harmonics-to-noise ratio, and two measures of spectral slope. RESULTS Vocal process separation alone accounted for 61.4% of the variance in perceptual rating. Adding nodal point ratio and bulging to the equation increased the explained variance to 88.7%. The acoustic measure CPP accounted for 86.7% of the variance in perceived breathiness, and explained variance increased to 92.6% with the addition of one spectral slope measure. CONCLUSION Breathiness ratings were best explained kinematically by the degree of vocal process separation and acoustically by CPP.
BDNF/NF-κB Signaling in the Neurobiology of Depression.

BACKGROUND Mood disorders, consisting of unipolar and bipolar depression, are complex diseases characterized by depressed mood and anhedonia. These core symptoms are accompanied in a varying manner by anxiety, several neurovegetative symptoms and cognitive impairment. Mood disorders are characterized by decreases in neurogenesis, alteration in synaptic structure and synaptic transmission, all of them regulated by BDNF, a neurotrophin that performs multiple functions in the adult central nervous system. Many evidences show that BDNF is critically decreased in mood disorders and plays an essential role in most anti-depressant treatments. In turn, the transcription factor NF-kB has recently emerged as an important player in the pathophysiology of depression, with roles in neurogenesis, synaptic transmission and plasticity. METHODOLOGY We review the bidirectional interactions between BDNF and NF-kB signaling pathways. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS We discuss a potential beneficial effect of a positive feedback loop between BDNF and NF-kB activated pathways in antidepressant action. This could be transduced into the identification of downstream NF-kB gene targets able to potentiate antidepressant mechanisms, thus guiding the development of novel and faster acting antidepressant drugs.
Endothelial growth factor receptor inhibitors in recurrent metastatic cancer of the head and neck

Targeted therapy has become an important new class of therapeutic agents used in squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN). Among them epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibitors have been studied the most. Today, two classes of EGFR inhibitors are routinely used in the clinic; anti‐EGFR monoclonal antibodies and small‐molecule inhibitors of the EGFR tyrosine kinase activity. These agents have been used clinically in the recurrent metastatic (R/M) settings but only cetuximab has reached a regulatory approval. Current research is focused on innovative compound design, predictive biomarker discovery, and combination strategies in order to overcome resistance. Efforts should also be focused on endpoints other than overall survival, which is the current gold standard, such as surrogate endpoints. This article summarizes the clinical evidence of the anticancer activity of EGFR inhibitors in patients with R/M SCCHN, and analyzes the current, controversial clinical issues with respect to their interpretation. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck 38: E2221–E2228, 2016
Exactly Robust Kernel Principal Component Analysis

Robust principal component analysis (RPCA) can recover low-rank matrices when they are corrupted by sparse noises. In practice, many matrices are, however, of high rank and, hence, cannot be recovered by RPCA. We propose a novel method called robust kernel principal component analysis (RKPCA) to decompose a partially corrupted matrix as a sparse matrix plus a high- or full-rank matrix with low latent dimensionality. RKPCA can be applied to many problems such as noise removal and subspace clustering and is still the only unsupervised nonlinear method robust to sparse noises. Our theoretical analysis shows that, with high probability, RKPCA can provide high recovery accuracy. The optimization of RKPCA involves nonconvex and indifferentiable problems. We propose two nonconvex optimization algorithms for RKPCA. They are alternating direction method of multipliers with backtracking line search and proximal linearized minimization with adaptive step size (AdSS). Comparative studies in noise removal and robust subspace clustering corroborate the effectiveness and the superiority of RKPCA.
Use of Bladder Filling to Prevent Urinary System Complications in the Management of Placenta Percreta: a Randomized Prospective Study

Abstract Introduction The aim of our study was to evaluate the effect of filling the bladder on peripartum genitourinary injuries (especially bladder complications) in women with placenta percreta and to compare patient characteristics. Material and Methods Our prospective cohort study consisted of pregnant women with placenta percreta who underwent planned cesarean hysterectomy at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology of Gaziantep University Hospital between January 2015 and July 2016. Bladders were filled with 300 ml saline solution to determine surgical borders better and enable dissection of the lower uterine segment without excessive bleeding or unintended injury. Results A total of 66 women were included in the study: 32 women whose bladders were filled during surgery (filled-bladder group) and 34 women whose bladders were not filled (not filled-bladder group). Comparisons of demographic and obstetrical data, surgical parameters, the need for transfusion, and bladder injury rates revealed no significant differences between the two groups. We did not observe any beneficial effect of filling the bladder on preventing urinary complications compared with the women whose bladders were not filled (p = 0.339). Conclusions Filling the bladder with saline solution and mobilization of the bladder from the lower uterine segment did not have a statistically significant beneficial effect on preventing complications of the genitourinary system. But although the beneficial effects were not significant, shorter operation times, shorter postoperative hospital stays, and fewer bladder injuries were noted in patients whose bladders were filled.