Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Late Eocene perturbations: Foraminiferal biofacies and evolutionary overturn, southern Australia

Abundance patterns of planktonic and benthic foraminifera in profiles of neritic successions at high southern paleolatitudes show evidence that they represent systemic stratigraphic signals from the global ocean. In an interval correlated with upper Zone P15 and Zone P16, long-distance correlations can be made on benthic Sphaeroidina and the aragonitic Robertinacea. Among the plankton, increased numbers of Globigerinatheka alternate with high abundances of Chiloguembelina and increased numbers of Pseudohastigerina, especially during an Hantkenina ingression. Those alternations indicate environmental fluctuations in the upper part of the water column, just as alternations in Cibicididae/Uvigerinidae ratios give similar signals from the benthic communities. The fluctuations are considered to be directly or indirectly linked to available oxygen. Several local neritic events can be correlated with oceanic events, and on the basis of those correlations the suggestion of a stratified ocean during Zone P16 is supported. Near the end of Zone P16 there is a major benthic species overturn and disappearance or weakening of signals of water column stratification and restricted bottom water circulation. I conclude that local events such as species overturn, biofacies spikes, and a brief regression (the Chinaman Gully regression at about the end of Zone P16) are of global significance as part of the stepwise configuration of the Terminal Eocene Event.
Relationship between leisure-time physical activity and metabolic syndrome using varying definitions: 1999-2004 NHANES

Purpose: To examine the relationship between leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) and the metabolic syndrome in the U.S. adult population. Methods: The sample (N=5,620) in this cross-sectional study included adults aged 20 years and older. Physical activity was measured in two ways: a six-level measure based upon those reporting no LTPA and quintiles of LTPA, and a three-level categorical measure, according to participants who were found to be inactive, insufficiently active, and those meeting the current public health PA recommendation. SAS and SUDAAN were used for the statistical analysis. Results: When utilising the AHA/NHLBI criteria, adults acquiring between 736 and 1,360 MET·minutes per week (MET·min·wk-1) of LTPA were found to be 35% (OR 0.65; 95% CI 0.48, 0.88) less likely to meet the metabolic syndrome diagnosis criteria compared with those reporting no LTPA. However, protection (OR 0.70; 95% CI 0.51, 0.96) started earlier when utilising the WHO criteria (393—737 MET·min·wk-1). Significant inverse associations (OR 0.54; 95% CI 0.44, 0.66) and (OR 0.61; 95% CI 0.48, 0.77) for WHO and AHA/NHLBI criteria respectively, were also found for the metabolic syndrome when examining LTPA by the current public heath PA recommendation. In addition, the overall age-adjusted prevalence of the metabolic syndrome among U.S. adults was estimated to be 21.9% and 36.3% for the WHO and AHA/ NLHBI definitions respectively. Conclusion: Our findings estimate that adults engaging in a level of LTPA similar to the current public health recommendation may have a decreased risk of developing the metabolic syndrome. Also, depending on the definition used, between one in three and one in five U.S. adults are estimated to have the metabolic syndrome.
Phosphorylation of the Group A Streptococcal CovR Response Regulator Causes Dimerization and Promoter-Specific Recruitment by RNA Polymerase

ABSTRACT The group A streptococcus (GAS), Streptococcus pyogenes, is an important human pathogen that causes infections ranging in severity from self-limiting pharyngitis to severe invasive diseases that are associated with significant morbidity and mortality. The pathogenic effects of GAS are mediated by the expression of virulence factors, one of which is the hyaluronic acid capsule (encoded by genes in the has operon). The expression of these virulence factors is controlled by the CovR/S (CsrR/S) two-component regulatory system of GAS which regulates, directly or indirectly, the expression of about 15% of the genome. CovR is a member of the OmpR/PhoB family of transcriptional regulators. Here we show that phosphorylation by acetyl phosphate results in dimerization of CovR. Dimerization was not observed using a D53A mutant of CovR, indicating that D53 is the site of phosphorylation in CovR. Phosphorylation stimulated binding of CovR to a DNA fragment containing the promoter of the has operon (Phas) approximately twofold. Binding of CovR D53A mutant protein to Phas was indistinguishable from the binding of wild-type unphosphorylated CovR. In vitro transcription, using purified GAS RNA polymerase, showed that wild-type CovR repressed transcription, and repression was stimulated more than sixfold by phosphorylation. In the presence of RNA polymerase, binding at Phas of phosphorylated, but not unphosphorylated, CovR was stimulated about fourfold, which accounts for the difference in the effect of phosphorylation on repression versus DNA binding. Thus, regulation of Phas by CovR is direct, and the degree of repression of Phas is controlled by the phosphorylation of CovR.
Serum levels of lead and copper in a group of Egyptian children with bronchial asthma

Background: Copper and lead are trace elements required for the activity of antioxidant enzymes and changes in their levels may lead to reduction in antioxidant activities in asthma. Objective: Our study aims to investigate the serum levels of copper and lead in asthmatic children in correlation to disease severity to anticipate their role as oxidant defenders in this disease. Methods: We enrolled 45 children who were divided into two groups: group 1 included 30 asthmatic children during disease quiescence and group 2 included 15 clinically healthy children matched for age and sex as a control group. Patients were subjected to: history taking, clinical examination, spirometry before and after bronchodilator therapy, complete blood counting, and measurement of serum levels of total IgE, copper and lead (in patients and controls). Results: Patients’ group had significantly higher serum levels of lead (mean 8.2±3.1 μg/dl) and copper (122±31.5 μg/dl) in comparison to controls (mean 5.7±2.3 μg/dl and103.3±21.1 μg/dl respectively). Serum lead and copper levels were higher among patients with moderate persistent asthma than those with mild asthma. Serum total IgE levels correlated positively with serum lead levels among the asthmatic children. However, serum lead and copper levels did not correlate with any of the measured pulmonary function parameters tested. Conclusion: Increased serum level of lead and copper were high in a group of children with bronchial asthma in children and this was more evident in moderate than mild cases. Keywords: children; trace elements; lead; copper; spirometry; bronchial asthma; antioxidants; severity
Turbulent Coherent Structures Near Coastal Capes

of a dissertation at the University of Miami. Dissertation supervised by Professor Tamay M. Özgökmen. No. of pages in text. (117) A numerical study aimed at investigating the conditions under which different flow regimes appear near coastal capes is presented. The impacts of the regimes are also quantified in terms of integral quantities like mixing, current transport and form drag. Idealized and realistic numerical simulations are run both in barotropically and baroclinically-driven systems. The realistic cases model the Western Adriatic Current (WAC) in the Adriatic Sea. In both cases, the turbulent state of the flow is controlled in first approximation by the Burger number, Bu. When a steady barotropic and geostrophic current impinges on a triangular idealized cape, vertical movements are strong for Bu < 0.1 and pronounced lee waves can be found downstream of the obstacle. For 0.1 ≤ Bu < 1, fluid parcels flow more around the obstacle than over it. Flow separation occurs and small tip eddies start to shed. For Bu ≥ 1, tip eddies merge to form larger eddies in the lee of the cape. Flow regimes are also strongly dependent on the obstacle slope α when Bu ≥ 1. Flow regime diagrams in the Bu–α space are determined. A baroclinic current as the WAC becomes unstable in absence of wind as it separates from the coast for the presence of capes along its path. Downwelling favorable winds narrow and thicken the coastal buoyant current, raising Bu above a critical value and suppressing baroclinic instabilities. Upwelling favorable winds enhance instabilities via the opposite mechanism. With downwelling winds waters mix but remain relatively fresh (S ≤ 38), while most of the freshwater signal is lost with upwelling winds. The along shore transport increases with downwelling winds while it decreases and can even reverse with upwelling winds. The form drag calculated across the obstacles in the different simulations is at least twice the magnitude of skin friction. In barotropic conditions it increases with increasing Bu and decreasing α and an empirical parametrization in the Bu–α space is put forth. Across the Gargano Promontory, more symmetric pressure fields are observed with downwelling winds; the form drag decreases as a result. The opposite is registered with
Population dynamics of galeate acritarchs at the Cambrian–Ordovician transition in the Algerian Sahara

Galeate acritarchs are a major component of Late Cambrian and Early Ordovician palynological assemblages. The populations of galeate acritarchs from the Cambrian–Ordovician transition section in borehole Nl‐2 of the Algerian Sahara show a gradual increase in process length and in complexity of the process structures through the succession. While the number of striate elements at the process base, the number of distal ramifications, and the number of membranes between the processes increases progressively, the central body diameter shows only minor variation within the succession. The galeate acritarchs are here interpreted as probably being resting cysts of a microorganism similar to modern dinoflagellates. Published laboratory culture experiments on living dinoflagellates document a considerable morphological variation with respect to the process morphology of the resting cysts that can be produced by a single biologically defined species. Based on these experiments, it is possible to interpret the morphological changes in the galeate acritarchs as being possibly related to changing ecological conditions. By analogy to the cyst distribution of modern dinoflagellates, changing salinity may have played an important role. Depending on environmental parameters, and perhaps on the maturity attained before rupture of the outer membrane during cyst formation, the galeate acritarchs may show a wide variety of process morphologies that have to date been used to describe four genera (morphogenera) and 84 species (morphospecies).
Biointerfacial phenomena of amlodipine buccomucosal tablets of HPMC matrix system containing polyacrylate polymer/β-cyclodextrin: Correlation of swelling and drug delivery performance

ABSTRACT Objectives: This study focuses on the development of amlodipine bilayer buccal tablets of hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) matrix system containing polyacrylate polymer (Carbopol®)/β-cyclodextrin as the drug layer and ethylcellulose as the non-swellable backing layer, and their biointerfacial phenomena. Methods: Tablets were evaluated for swelling, erosion and mucoadhesion using buccal mucosal tissue ex vivo. In vitro drug release and ex vivo drug transport across mucosal tissue were also performed in phosphate buffer (pH 6.8). The relationship of swelling with buccoadhesion and buccal permeation of various bilayer tablet formulations containing HPMC alone and in combination with Carbopol or drug-β-cyclodextrin complex has been prepared. Results: Overall buccoadhesion of the tablet with combination of HPMC and Carbopol was increased significantly compared with that of HPMC alone. Presence of cyclodextrin did not change bioadhesion force and swelling behavior significantly. Ex vivo permeation was increased with the increase of HPMC proportion in other formulations as observed in in vitro dissolution. Conclusion: Drug–cyclodextrin complexes in the tablet improved permeation due to its improved dissolution at the site of biointerface of tablet and buccomucosa. Correlations of ex vivo and in vitro data have been established to predict the buccomucosal permeation from the swelling index or drug release alone.
Schedule Adaptation of Low-Power-Listening Protocols for Wireless Sensor Networks

Many recent advances in MAC protocols for wireless sensor networks have been proposed to reduce idle listening, an energy wasteful state of the radio. Low-Power-Listening (LPL) protocols transmit packets for U s (the "interlistening interval"), thereby, allowing nodes to sleep for long periods of time between channel probes. The interlistening interval as well as the particular type of LPL protocol should be well matched to the network conditions. In this paper, we propose network-aware adaptation of the specific succession of repeated packets over the U interval (the "MAC schedule"), which yields significant energy savings. Moreover, some LPL protocols interrupt communication between the sender and the receiver after the data packet has been successfully received. We propose a new and simple adaptation of the "transmit/receive schedule" to synchronize nodes on a slowly changing path so that energy consumption and delay are further reduced, at no cost of overhead in most cases. Our results show that using network-aware adaptation of the MAC schedule provides up to 30 percent increase in lifetime for different traffic scenarios. Additional adaptation of the transmit/receive schedule to automatically synchronize the nodes can reduce packet delivery delays by up to 50 percent, providing an additional decrease in energy consumption of 18 percent.
Differential Genetic Expression in Large Versus Small Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma: Results from Microarray Analysis

Purpose: Tumor growth and progression requires multiple steps and genetic alterations. The molecular events that occur as tumors increase in size are unknown. Patients with von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) provide a unique opportunity to study molecular alterations during tumor growth as these patients develop multiple bilateral renal tumors. To better characterize biologic events associated with tumor growth, we evaluated the alterations in gene expression in large versus small renal tumors removed from the same kidney of the same individuals. Experimental Design: We reviewed pathology reports from patients who underwent partial nephrectomies at the National Cancer Institute for multiple tumors. We identified 11 patients who fulfilled the following inclusion criteria: 1) The patient must have had a surgical resection of more than one solid tumor from the same kidney during the same operation; 2) Among the solid tumors at least one must have been greater than 3 cm in the largest dimension and at least one less than 2 cm; 3) the nuclear Furhman grade for both larger and smaller solid tumors was identical; 4) a portion of each tumor was procured and snap frozen after surgical removal; 5) Hematoxylin and eosin staining of the frozen sample confirmed clear cell carcinoma to be present in at least 80% of the section. Affymetrix platform and protocol for gene expression arrays were used. RNA from the frozen large and small tumor samples was extracted using Trizol-Chlorophorm method. The RNA was then reverse transcribed, labeled, fragmented, and hybridized on to an Affymetrix U133 Plus 2.0 array that contains 54,000 probe sets representing 24,568 genes. Analysis included unsupervised clustering and chromosomal analysis. The paired t-test was performed to compare gene expression levels in small and large tumors. P<0.01 was considered statistically significant. Results: Gene expression profiles were assessed for 22 tumors (11 patients). Upon unsupervised clustering the pairs with larger tumor volume difference clustered separately from pairs with smaller volume difference. Chromosomal analysis revealed few consistent changes other than reduced expression of chromosome 3p25 among all tumors. Paired t-test showed 860 differentially expressed genes in the T1b vs T1a group, a number far greater than expected due to chance alone. When analyzed by gene function, most differences were observed in genes involved in DNA replication and in cytokine signaling. Conclusions: This study demonstrates that as tumors increase in size there is an increasing difference in gene expression. Unsupervised clustering analysis confirms that as the volume difference increases there are a distinct set of genes that are regulated either as a response to a tumor's growth or as an early event that causes the tumor to grow. While we did not observe chromosomal instability, we did note differences in expression of individual transcripts as tumors grew larger.
Building Energy Analysis Programs

Building Energy Analysis Computer Programs consist of Loads, Systems, Plant, and Economic sub-programs. They are used by engineers and architects in the design and analysis of energy efficient building envelopes, heating, ventilating, and air conditioning, electrical and other service systems. The historical development of energy analysis programs is presented, the methodologies used in various programs are compared, and areas for future improvements are discussed.
The influence of temperature on earth pressure cell readings

Vibrating-wire earth pressure cells are often used to measure soil pressure in fills and embankments or contact pressure between soil and buried structures. Instrumentation companies provide each cell with a formula to calculate pressure based on frequency and temperature readings. This paper presents the calibration work that was carried out on a series of 76 mm diameter cells and four 228 mm diameter cells with temperatures ranging from 10 to +30 °C with and without the effect of applied pressure. Based on this work and additional data from two field sites, it was found that temperature calibration factors given on the calibration sheet specific to each cell largely underestimated the temperature effect. It was also found that the correction factors were dependent not only on temperature, but also on the pressure applied to the cell. The temperature calibration factor, which is given as a linear correction on the calibration datasheet, becomes parabolic as a pressure is applied on the cell. Based on th.
The effect of the invaded zone on full wavetrain acoustic logging

Most theoretical studies of acoustic borehole logging have employed the simple model of a fluid borehole in an infinite solid. This work attempts to account for the invaded zone using a more sophisticated model that additionally includes finite concentric shells surrounding the borehole. By appropriately choosing the physical parameters of these cylindrical shells, one can study the effect of the invaded zone, mudcake, or a cased hole on acoustic wavetrain components. The model accounts for geometric attenuation, but it assumes the formation is perfectly elastic. A key consideration is the distance that the acoustic log “sees” into the formation. The body of this report is devoted to studying the effect of the invaded zone, mudcake, or steel casing on the components of the full wavetrain (P-wave, S-wave, reflected modes, and Stoneley mode). I conclude that a sonic logging tool has a very shallow depth of investigation. This depth, for P- and S-waves, depends upon the spacing between the source and receive.
The Politics and Policy Dimension of Sustainability and Health in Food Choice

This invention is directed to diphenyl ethers having in the 3' position a radical of the formula: The products are prepared by reacting a 3'-halocarbonyl compound with an appropriate substituted hydroxyl amine. These compounds and their agronomically acceptable salts and compositions containing these compounds as active ingredients are selective herbicides.
Cognitive Outcomes of Multiple Mild Head Injuries in Children

This study assessed cumulative effects of multiple mild head injuries on cognitive functioning in children. Subjects included 1586 children with one mild head injury, 278 with two, and 51 with three or more head injuries between birth and age 10 years and controls without head injuries matched on gender and total number of injuries. The number of head injuries and injuries not to the head was associated with decreasing performance on measures of intelligence (p < .01), reading (p < .01), and math (p - .02). There was no interaction between case-control status and number of injuries, indicating a similar relationship between cognitive outcomes and number of injuries in head-injured cases and controls. After adjustment for covariates, the relationship between number of injuries and cognitive outcomes became nonsignificant. This study suggests that cognitive deficits associated with multiple mild head injury are due to social and personal factors related to multiple injuries and not to specific damage to the head. J Dev Behav Pediatr 17:143–148, 1996. Index terms: head injuries, cognition, achievement, child, social environment.
A comprehensive interpretative model of slow slip events on Mt. Etna's eastern flank

Starting off from a review of previous literature on kinematic models of the unstable eastern flank of Mt. Etna, we propose a new model. The model is based on our analysis of a large quantity of multidisciplinary data deriving from an extensive and diverse network of INGV monitoring devices deployed along the slopes of the volcano. Our analysis had a twofold objective: first, investigating the origin of the recently observed slow‐slip events on the eastern flank of Mt. Etna; and second, defining a general kinematic model for the instability of this area of the volcano. To this end, we investigated the 2008–2013 period using data collected from different geochemical, geodetic, and seismic networks, integrated with the tectonic and geologic features of the volcano and including the volcanic activity during the observation period. The complex correlations between the large quantities of multidisciplinary data have given us the opportunity to infer, as outlined in this work, that the fluids of volcanic origin and their interrelationship with aquifers, tectonic and morphological features play a dominant role in the large scale instability of the eastern flank of Mt. Etna. Furthermore, we suggest that changes in the strain distribution due to volcanic inflation/deflation cycles are closely connected to changes in shallow depth fluid circulation. Finally, we propose a general framework for both the short and long term modeling of the large flank displacements observed.
A Kinematic Model of Finger Gaits by Multifingered Hand as Hybrid Automaton

Finger gait is necessarily needed in order to relocate fingers of the robotic hand when a dextrous manipulation task cannot be accomplished only by the rolling and sliding motions of the fingers. In this paper, a novel modeling framework for the multifingered manipulation with finger gaits is proposed. Through classifying the fingers into grasping fingers and free fingers, an alternate representation of a grasp is introduced. With the consideration of both its discrete and continuous characteristics, the kinematics model of a fingered manipulation with finger gaits is formulated into a hybrid automaton. Finally, simulation results verify the validity of the proposed modeling framework.