Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Quality-Assured Measurements of Animal Building Emissions: Particulate Matter Concentrations

Abstract Federally funded, multistate field studies were initiated in 2002 to measure emissions of particulate matter (PM) <10 μm (PM10) and total suspended particulate (TSP), ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, carbon dioxide, methane, non-methane hydrocarbons, and odor from swine and poultry production buildings in the United States. This paper describes the use of a continuous PM analyzer based on the tapered element oscillating microbalance (TEOM). In these studies, the TEOM was used to measure PM emissions at identical locations in paired barns. Measuring PM concentrations in swine and poultry barns, compared with measuring PM in ambient air, required more frequent maintenance of the TEOM. External screens were used to prevent rapid plugging of the insect screen in the PM10 preseparator inlet. Minute means of mass concentrations exhibited a sinusoidal pattern that followed the variation of relative humidity, indicating that mass concentration measurements were affected by water vapor condensation onto and evaporation of moisture from the TEOM filter. Filter loading increased the humidity effect, most likely because of increased water vapor adsorption capacity of added PM. In a single layer barn study, collocated TEOMs, equipped with TSP and PM10 inlets, corresponded well when placed near the inlets of exhaust fans in a layer barn. Initial data showed that average daily mean concentrations of TSP, PM10, and PM2.5 concentrations at a layer barn were 1440 ± 182 μg/m3 (n = 2), 553 ± 79 μg/m3 (n = 4), and 33 ± 75 μg/m3 (n = 1), respectively. The daily mean TSP concentration (n =1) of a swine barn sprinkled with soybean oil was 67% lower than an untreated swine barn, which had a daily mean TSP concentration of 1143 ± 619 μg/m3. The daily mean ambient TSP concentration (n = 1) near the swine barns was 25 ± 8 μg/m3. Concentrations of PM inside the swine barns were correlated to pig activity.
How we resolve conflict: an empirical study of method-level conflict resolution

Context: Branching and merging are common activities in large-scale software development projects. Isolated development with branching enables developers to focus their effort on their specific tasks without wasting time on the problems caused by other developers' changes. After the completion of tasks in branches, such branches should be integrated into common branches by merging. When conflicts occur in merging, developers need to resolve the conflicts, which are troublesome. Goal: To support conflict resolution in merging, we aim to understand how conflicts are resolved in practice from large-scale study. Method: We present techniques for identifying conflicts and detecting conflict resolution in method level. Result: From the analysis of 10 OSS projects written in Java, we found that (1) 44% (339/779) of conflicts are caused by changing concurrently the same positions of methods, 48% (375/779) are by deleting methods, 8% (65/779) are by renaming methods, and that (2) 99% (771/779) of conflicts are resolved by adopting one method directly. Conclusions: Our results suggest that most of conflicts are resolved by simple way. One of our future works is developing methods for supporting conflict resolution.
Increased Adiposity in Annexin A1-Deficient Mice

Production of Annexin A1 (ANXA1), a protein that mediates the anti-inflammatory action of glucocorticoids, is altered in obesity, but its role in modulation of adiposity has not yet been investigated. The objective of this study was to investigate modulation of ANXA1 in adipose tissue in murine models of obesity and to study the involvement of ANXA1 in diet-induced obesity in mice. Significant induction of ANXA1 mRNA was observed in adipose tissue of both C57BL6 and Balb/c mice with high fat diet (HFD)-induced obesity versus mice on chow diet. Upregulation of ANXA1 mRNA was independent of leptin or IL-6, as demonstrated by use of leptin-deficient ob/ob mice and IL-6 KO mice. Compared to WT mice, female Balb/c ANXA1 KO mice on HFD had increased adiposity, as indicated by significantly elevated body weight, fat mass, leptin levels, and adipocyte size. Whereas Balb/c WT mice upregulated expression of enzymes involved in the lipolytic pathway in response to HFD, this response was absent in ANXA1 KO mice. A significant increase in fasting glucose and insulin levels as well as development of insulin resistance was observed in ANXA1 KO mice on HFD compared to WT mice. Elevated plasma corticosterone levels and blunted downregulation of 11-beta hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 in adipose tissue was observed in ANXA1 KO mice compared to diet-matched WT mice. However, no differences between WT and KO mice on either chow or HFD were observed in expression of markers of adipose tissue inflammation. These data indicate that ANXA1 is an important modulator of adiposity in mice, with female ANXA1 KO mice on Balb/c background being more susceptible to weight gain and diet-induced insulin resistance compared to WT mice, without significant changes in inflammation.
Removing XML Data Redundancies Using Functional and Equality-Generating Dependencies

We study the design issues of data-centric XML documents where (1) there are no mixed contents, i.e., each element may have some subelements and attributes, or it may have a single value in the form of a character string, but not a mixture of strings and subelements and/or attributes, (2) the ordering of subelements is of no significance. We provide a new definition of functional dependency (FD) for XML that generalizes those published previously. We also define equality-generating dependencies (EGDs) for XML, which, to our knowledge, have not been studied before. We show how to use EGDs and FDs to detect data redundancies in XML, and propose normal forms of DTDs with respect to these constraints. We show that our normal forms are necessary and sufficient to ensure all conforming XML documents have no redundancies. In passing, we define a normal form for relational databases based on EGDs in relational systems that can help remove data redundancies across multiple relations.
How Does G-CSF Act on the Kidney during Acute Tubular Injury?

Recent findings in stem cell research have demonstrated multi-lineage plasticity of bone marrow cells, and also the contribution of hematopoietic bone marrow stem cells to the regeneration of injured organs including the kidney. These findings suggested the possibility of the use of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) as a therapeutic option to regenerate injured organs. Recently, several studies regarding the effect of G-CSF on renal function have been reported in mouse models of acute renal failure. This series of experiments provided potentially important information regarding the treatment of patients with renal injury. This review summarizes the possible actions of G-CSF on the kidney, especially during acute tubular injury caused by toxic or ischemic insults.
Predicting Consumer Situational Choice with Neural Networks

This study shows how neural networks can be used to predict the posterior probabilities in a consumer choice situation. We provide the theoretical basis for its use and illustrate the entire neural network modeling procedure with a situational choice data set from AT&T. Our findings supported the appropriateness of this application and clearly illustrate the nonlinear modeling capability of neural networks. The posterior probability predictions clearly add to the usefulness of the technique for marketing research.
[Our experience with mini tapes (TVT Secur and MiniArc) in the surgery for stress urinary incontinence].

BACKGROUND The purpose of this publication is to describe the surgical technique, assess complications and short-term results of TVT secur and MiniArc tapes. MATERIALS AND METHODS From October 2006 to August 2007 it was carried out the surgical correction with TVT Secur,Women's Health & Urology, Ethicon, Johnson & Johnson, placing the tape as a hammock, to 51 patients, 38 of them with pure stress incontinence and 13 with mixed incontinence and with an average age of 57 years. From September 2007 to February 2008 41 patients, 33 of them with pure stress incontinence and 8 with mixed incontinence, with an average of age of 58 years were operated with AMS Miniarc swing system tape, posted on hammock. All procedures were performed with sedoanalgesia and Ambulatory Surgery regime. Patients were monitored in outpatient visits one month, 3 months and one year after surgical procedure. Medical history and questionnaire and ICIQ-SF, to which we added a question to quantify the degree of satisfaction, as well as physical examination, were done. We compared the results of both technical procedures and statistical survey was conducted by Student test. [Analysis with SPSS software (V14.0)]. RESULTS The median follow-up in TVT secur group was 328 days (range 163-522 days) and 101 days (range 41-209 days) inthe MiniArc group. We only had one (TVT secur group) surgical complication in all the series (92 patients) being a bladder perforation. Taking into account that we read a negative test effort as an objective cure in the TVT secur group, 80.4% patients are cured and 90.2% inthe MiniArc group without significant difference between both groups (p 0095). To assess the subjective healing we utilized the ICIQ-SF test and the satisfaction extra-question and we noted that there is no significant difference between the first and third month controls. (90% of patients satisfied). 80% of patients were completely satisfied in the first year control that was only performed to TVT secur group. CONCLUSION These new tapes show fewer complications that the TVT-O and TOT tapes and allow the possibility of placement with local anesthesia but further studies are needed.
Is Retroflexion Helpful in Detecting Adenomas in the Right Colon?: A Single Center Interim Analysis

Background/Aims Colonoscopy is less effective at screening for colorectal cancer in the right side of the colon. Retroflexion during colonoscopy is expected to improve the detection rate of colorectal adenomas. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the usefulness of retroflexion in the right-sided colon. Methods From April to November 2013, a total of 398 patients were enrolled in this study. For each patient, a cap-assisted colonoscopic examination was performed. After cecal intubation, a forward view examination from the cecum up to the hepatic flexure was performed and all identified polyps were removed. The colonoscope was reinserted to the cecum, and a careful second forward view examination of the cecum to the hepatic flexure was performed, with removal of additionally identified polyps. The colonoscope was then reinserted to the cecum and retroflexed; a third colonoscopic examination was then performed to the hepatic flexure in retroflexion with removal of additional polyps. Total polyp numbers and characteristics were compared between the two forward view examinations and the retroflexion examination. Results A successful retroflexion was performed in 90.2% of patients. A total of 213 polyps and 143 adenomas were detected in the right-sided colon using the routine method of examining the right colon twice in forward view. An additional 35 polyps and 24 adenomas were detected on retroflexion. Of these 35 polyps, 27 (77.1%) were small-sized polyps (≤5 mm) and 24 (71.4%) were adenomas. Finding additional adenomas using the retroflexion technique was associated with older age. Conclusions Colonoscopic retroflexion is helpful in the detection of cecum and ascending colon adenomas, especially small-sized adenomas (≤5 mm). It is particularly useful in older patients.
Temporal and epigenetic regulation of neurodevelopmental plasticity

The anticipated therapeutic uses of neural stem cells depend on their ability to retain a certain level of developmental plasticity. In particular, cells must respond to developmental manipulations designed to specify precise neural fates. Studies in vivo and in vitro have shown that the developmental potential of neural progenitor cells changes and becomes progressively restricted with time. For in vitro cultured neural progenitors, it is those derived from embryonic stem cells that exhibit the greatest developmental potential. It is clear that both extrinsic and intrinsic mechanisms determine the developmental potential of neural progenitors and that epigenetic, or chromatin structural, changes regulate and coordinate hierarchical changes in fate-determining gene expression. Here, we review the temporal changes in developmental plasticity of neural progenitor cells and discuss the epigenetic mechanisms that underpin these changes. We propose that understanding the processes of epigenetic programming within the neural lineage is likely to lead to the development of more rationale strategies for cell reprogramming that may be used to expand the developmental potential of otherwise restricted progenitor populations.
Sequential FDG-PET scanning in the assessment of response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in operable esophageal cancer.

4056 Background: Neoadjuvant chemotherapy using two cycles of cisplatin and 5FU is standard practice in the UK in patients with potentially operable cancer of the esophagus. The role of FDG-PET scanning in predicting response to this chemotherapy was assessed. METHOD Twenty-three patients with potentially operable disease at presentation underwent two cycles of chemotherapy as in the OEO2 trial protocol. FDG-PET scanning was performed before chemotherapy, and again after the second cycle of chemotherapy in seventeen patients. Two independent assessors, who were unaware of the histopathological results, assessed the percentage change in tumour SUV max, mean and tumour to liver ratio. Histopathological regression was graded according to the Mandard score 1 to 5 (where 1 represents a complete response, and 5 represents no regression). Association between histopathological and FDG-PET response was quantified by Spearman's rank correlation coefficient, rS. RESULTS No significant correlation was found between change in SUV max (rS=-0.188, 95% CI -0.613,0.322) mean (rS=-0.118, 95% CI -0.118,0.384) or tumour:liver ratio (for max values rS=0.098, 95% CI -0.402,0.553, for mean values, rS=0.127, 95% CI -0.377, 0.573;) and histopathological response. CONCLUSION There is a universal lack of agreement when assessing FDG-PET scans as to which parameters should be reported; in this study, all the frequently used parameters were analysed - yet no correlation with histological response was found. Changes in FDG-PET scans post neoadjuvant chemotherapy in patients with potentially operable esophageal cancer should be interpreted with caution, since this study has sufficient statistical power to rule out any clinically useful positive correlation with histopathological response to chemotherapy. No significant financial relationships to disclose.
Constructive feedback linearization of underactuated mechanical systems with 2-DOF

In the last years, the control community has developed several and powerful methods to control nonlinear systems, especially for underactuated mechanical systems. Thus, methods based on passivity, like Interconnection and damping assignment passivity–based control (IDA-PBC) and Controlled Lagrangians have solved many interesting control problems for particular full classes of systems. Usually, the solutions of these methods relies on solving a set of partial differential equations (PDEs), which is not always possible. This paper presents a constructive methodology to control underactuated mechanical systems with 2-DOF, by means of classical feedback linearization and Lyapunov design. The steps of the design are presented following a simple pseudo-code1, that allows us to redesign a proposed fictitious output in a constructive way. The methodology has been tested with three very well-known underactuated mechanical systems: the inertia wheel pendulum, the pendulum on a cart and the rotary pendulum. The obtained solution for the inertia wheel pendulum takes into account the friction, since recent works have shown that it cannot be neglected. In the case of the planar pendulum on a cart, the solution is quite similar to the one obtained by Controlled Lagrangians but with better performance, and, furthermore, our planar pendulum solution paves the way to obtain a new solution for the rotary pendulum, or the so–called Furuta pendulum, that, to the best of our knowledge, has the largest attraction basin presented and experimentally tested so far. The attraction basin tends to the whole upper half plane by increasing a control gain.
Topical Administration of Manuka Oil Prevents UV-B Irradiation-Induced Cutaneous Photoaging in Mice

Manuka tree is indigenous to New Zealand, and its essential oil has been used as a traditional medicine to treat wounds, fever, and pain. Although there is a growing interest in the use of manuka oil for antiaging skin care products, little is known about its bioactivity. Solar ultraviolet (UV) radiation is the primary environmental factor causing skin damage and consequently premature aging. Therefore, we evaluated manuka oil for its effects against photoaging in UV-B-irradiated hairless mice. Topical application of manuka oil suppressed the UV-B-induced increase in skin thickness and wrinkle grading in a dose-dependent manner. Application of 10% manuka oil reduced the average length, depth, and % area of wrinkles significantly, and this was correlated with inhibition of loss of collagen fiber content and epidermal hyperplasia. Furthermore, we observed that manuka oil could suppress UV-B-induced skin inflammation by inhibiting the production of inflammatory cytokines. Taken together, this study provides evidence that manuka oil indeed possesses antiphotoaging activity, and this is associated with its inhibitory activity against skin inflammation induced by UV irradiation.
The role of attention in priming for left-right reflections of object images: evidence for a dual representation of object shape.

Three experiments investigated the role of visual attention in priming for object images and their left-right reflections. Objects to which participants attended were visually primed in both the same view and in the left-right reflected view; ignored objects were primed only in the same view. The effects of attention (attended vs. ignored) and view (same vs. reflected) were strictly additive. These results suggest that 2 separate representations mediate human object recognition (J.E. Hummel & B.J. Stankiewicz, 1996): One requires attention but is invariant with left-right reflection, whereas the other can be activated automatically but is sensitive to left-right reflection. Both representations appear to be invariant with translation across the visual field.
Osteopontin attenuates aging‐associated phenotypes of hematopoietic stem cells

Upon aging, hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) undergo changes in function and structure, including skewing to myeloid lineages, lower reconstitution potential and loss of protein polarity. While stem cell intrinsic mechanisms are known to contribute to HSC aging, little is known on whether age‐related changes in the bone marrow niche regulate HSC aging. Upon aging, the expression of osteopontin (OPN) in the murine bone marrow stroma is reduced. Exposure of young HSCs to an OPN knockout niche results in a decrease in engraftment, an increase in long‐term HSC frequency and loss of stem cell polarity. Exposure of aged HSCs to thrombin‐cleaved OPN attenuates aging of old HSCs, resulting in increased engraftment, decreased HSC frequency, increased stem cell polarity and a restored balance of lymphoid and myeloid cells in peripheral blood. Thus, our data suggest a critical role for reduced stroma‐derived OPN for HSC aging and identify thrombin‐cleaved OPN as a novel niche informed therapeutic approach for ameliorating HSC phenotypes associated with aging.
Piecewise linear regularized solution paths

We consider the generic regularized optimization problem β(λ) = argminβ L(y, Xβ) + λJ(β). Efron, Hastie, Johnstone and Tibshirani [Ann. Statist. 32 (2004) 407-499] have shown that for the LASSO-that is, if L is squared error loss and J(β) = ∥β∥ 1 is the l 1 norm of β-the optimal coefficient path is piecewise linear, that is, ∂β(λ)/∂λ. is piecewise constant. We derive a general characterization of the properties of (loss L, penalty J) pairs which give piecewise linear coefficient paths. Such pairs allow for efficient generation of the full regularized coefficient paths. We investigate the nature of efficient path following algorithms which arise. We use our results to suggest robust versions of the LASSO for regression and classification, and to develop new, efficient algorithms for existing problems in the literature, including Mammen and van de Geer's locally adaptive regression splines.
The Role of Native-Language Knowledge in the Perception of Casual Speech in a Second Language

Casual speech processes, such as /t/-reduction, make word recognition harder. Additionally, word recognition is also harder in a second language (L2). Combining these challenges, we investigated whether L2 learners have recourse to knowledge from their native language (L1) when dealing with casual speech processes in their L2. In three experiments, production and perception of /t/-reduction was investigated. An initial production experiment showed that /t/-reduction occurred in both languages and patterned similarly in proper nouns but differed when /t/ was a verbal inflection. Two perception experiments compared the performance of German learners of Dutch with that of native speakers for nouns and verbs. Mirroring the production patterns, German learners’ performance strongly resembled that of native Dutch listeners when the reduced /t/ was part of a word stem, but deviated where /t/ was a verbal inflection. These results suggest that a casual speech process in a second language is problematic for learners when the process is not known from the leaner’s native language, similar to what has been observed for phoneme contrasts.
A Genome Sequence Resource for the Aye-Aye (Daubentonia madagascariensis), a Nocturnal Lemur from Madagascar

We present a high-coverage draft genome assembly of the aye-aye (Daubentonia madagascariensis), a highly unusual nocturnal primate from Madagascar. Our assembly totals ∼3.0 billion bp (3.0 Gb), roughly the size of the human genome, comprised of ∼2.6 million scaffolds (N50 scaffold size = 13,597 bp) based on short paired-end sequencing reads. We compared the aye-aye genome sequence data with four other published primate genomes (human, chimpanzee, orangutan, and rhesus macaque) as well as with the mouse and dog genomes as nonprimate outgroups. Unexpectedly, we observed strong evidence for a relatively slow substitution rate in the aye-aye lineage compared with these and other primates. In fact, the aye-aye branch length is estimated to be ∼10% shorter than that of the human lineage, which is known for its low substitution rate. This finding may be explained, in part, by the protracted aye-aye life-history pattern, including late weaning and age of first reproduction relative to other lemurs. Additionally, the availability of this draft lemur genome sequence allowed us to polarize nucleotide and protein sequence changes to the ancestral primate lineage—a critical period in primate evolution, for which the relevant fossil record is sparse. Finally, we identified 293,800 high-confidence single nucleotide polymorphisms in the donor individual for our aye-aye genome sequence, a captive-born individual from two wild-born parents. The resulting heterozygosity estimate of 0.051% is the lowest of any primate studied to date, which is understandable considering the aye-aye's extensive home-range size and relatively low population densities. Yet this level of genetic diversity also suggests that conservation efforts benefiting this unusual species should be prioritized, especially in the face of the accelerating degradation and fragmentation of Madagascar's forests.