Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A re-examination of a human femur found at the Blind River Site, East London, South Africa: Its age, morphology, and breakage pattern

A re-examination of a human femur found at the Blind River Site, East London, South Africa: Its age, morphology, and breakage pattern Modern human femoral features might have appeared in the early Middle Stone Age (156 ka to 20 ka) in South Africa, as demonstrated by the recent re-examination of a human femur fossil found at the Blind River Site, East London in the 1930s, if new dating results hold. Two optically stimulated luminescence dates from the relocated original Blind River shallow marine/estuarine deposits that contained the femur gave almost identical ages of ~120 ka, corresponding to the early part of the Last Interglacial (Oxygen Isotope Stage 5). Overall, the slender headless femur is of modern human form. The distal epiphysis bears some typical squatting features, including a newly recognized squatting facet on the anterior wall of the intercondylar fossa. With the typical V-shaped and oblique fracture pattern left by the missing head, the Blind River femur was most likely modified through human activity. But this style is not a cultural trait found in recent South African people. Further study is needed to place this specimen in its due context in the course of human evolution. Kość udowa z Blind River została odkryta w East London (Afryka Południowa) w 1933 r. , pozostawała jednak niezauważona w literaturze, mimo, że znaleziska takich sfosylizowanych kości zdarzają się rzadko, a ich znaczenie dla badań pochodzenia człowieka jest duże. Przyczyną tego było niepewne datowanie znaleziska, przeszkodę tę jednak ostatnio udało się pokonać dzięki zastosowaniu metody stymulowanej optycznie luminescencji (OSL). Datowanie OSL estuaryjnych osadów, z których pochodzi kość, wskazuje na wiek około 120 tys. lat, co odpowiada początkowej fazie ostatniego interglacjału. Kość udowa z Blind River, w stanie, w jakim się zachowała, nie wskazuje żadnych, nawet drobnych różnic w stosunku do dzisiejszego człowieka. Jej nowoczesne cechy i lokalizacja geograficzna potwierdzają związek nowoczesnych populacji ludzkich z południową Afryką. Omawiana kość ma bardzo smukły trzon. Jest ona pozbawiona głowy, a jej dalsza nasada wykazuje typowe dla nawykowego kucania cechy, w tym pogłębiony dół dla rzepki i głęboki dół międzykłykciowy. Trzon kości jest przełamany, a powierzchnia przełomu jest niezerodowana i ma ostre krawędzie. Brzeg złamania wykazuje cechy charakterystyczne dla złamania świeżej kości i nosi ślady modyfikacji na skutek działania człowieka. Modyfikacja ta jednak nie przypomina jakichkolwiek znanych kulturowych zabiegów dokonywanych przez ludy Afryki południowej. Jeśli zaakceptujemy wiek geologiczny kości z Blind River, mamy do czynienia z zasadniczo nowoczesną kością ze śladami modyfikacji dokonanych ludzką ręką już w czasach ostatniego interglacjału lub środkowej epoki kamiennej (MSA), tj. 156-20 tys. lat temu.
The development of preferred orientations during the freezing of metals and alloys

Previous work with columnar castings of lead has shown that there exists a connexion between the solidification texture and the morphologies of the decanted freezing interfaces. This has been explained in terms of crystal growth from the melt by the extension of relatively large (one micron) steps or platelets which are visible on many decanted interfaces. The present work consists of an examination of preferred orientations and interface morphologies in castings of lead and of metals having structures other than face-centred cubic. Metal castings have been prepared in which the orientations of columnar grains could be correlated directly with the morphologies of the corresponding decanted solid/liquid interfaces. Experiments have been carried out with lead, zinc, magnesium, tin, bismuth and a β-brass alloy, and except in the last case, the morphologies of the freezing interfaces were controlled by varying the purities of the metals for given conditions of casting. Except in the case of tin the preferred orientations are determined by the morphologies of the freezing interfaces. The results can be satisfactorily explained if the mechanism of crystal growth is one of edgewise extension of closely packed planes in directions lying close to the plane of the actual solid/liquid interface. The origin of the platelet structure on decanted interfaces is discussed, and the appearances of decanted interfaces are compared with structures visible on the free surfaces of rapidly frozen metal sheets. It is suggested that there may be some connection between the platelet formation on decanted interfaces and those seen on the solid/gaseous interfaces, and that the existence of a residual liquid layer over the freshly decanted surfaces might give rise to a structure which is not typical of the original solid/liquid interface. The thickness of this residual liquid film is ~20 μm, but under the conditions of these experiments the liquid freezes in less time than is. required for the nucleation of new grain structures or even of eutectic lamellae. It is concluded that decanted surfaces are probably an approximate representation of the true solid/liquid interfaces, but that it is uncertain how far this is true of the platelet structure.
The endogenous insulin-like growth factor system in radiocontrast nephropathy.

The response of insulin-like growth factor (IGF) I in acute renal failure was evaluated in a model of radiocontrast nephropathy associated with selective necrosis of medullary thick ascending limbs. In brief, rats were administered radiocontrast medium or vehicle injections for controls after combined inhibition of prostanoids and nitric oxide. Twenty-four hours after the insult, tissue mRNAs for IGF-I, the IGF-I receptor, and IGF-binding proteins (IGFBP) 1 and 3 were assayed in cortex, medulla, and liver by solution hybridization-RNase protection assay, and IGFBPs were measured in serum and tissue by Western ligand blotting. Cortical IGF-I increased, whereas medullary IGF-I mRNA decreased. Renal IGFBPs decreased, whereas IGFBP-1 mRNA increased. The IGF system in the liver was unchanged. We conclude that general changes in renal IGFBPs in this experimental model of acute renal failure might increase the level of cortical IGF-I in a way that could modulate medullary recovery.
Mechanisms of length history-dependent tension in an ionic model of the cardiac myocyte.

The ionic model of the ventricular myocyte developed by Luo and Rudy ( Circ. Res. 74: 1071-1096, 1994) was used to investigate potential mechanisms of the slow changes in stress (SCS) that follow step changes in muscle length. A step change in myofilament sensitivity alone caused an immediate increase in active tension, but no SCS. The effects of additional step changes in the parameters of sarcolemmal ion fluxes were examined for each ion flux in the model. Changes in the coefficients of Ca2+ or K+ channels did not produce SCS. SCS was produced by step changes in parameters of the Na+-K+pump or the Na+ leak current. This simulated mechanism was mediated through a slow increase in intracellular Na+ concentration and a resulting increase in systolic Ca2+ entry through the Na+/Ca2+exchanger. The model reproduced the effects of several experimental interventions such as sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ depletion, "diastolic" length changes, and changes in extracellular Ca2+. Thus SCS in cardiac muscle may be caused by length-induced changes in sarcolemmal Na+ fluxes.
Long-term outcomes and predictors of survival after cardiopulmonary resuscitation for in-hospital cardiac arrest in a tertiary care hospital in Thailand

Background There are limited data available regarding long-term survival and its predictors in cases of in-hospital cardiac arrest (IHCA) in which patients receive cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Purpose The objectives of this study were to determine the 1-year survival rates and predictors of survival after IHCA. Patients and methods Data were retrospectively collected on all adult patients who were administered cardiopulmonary resuscitation from January 1, 2013 to December 31, 2014 in Srinagarind Hospital (Thailand). Clinical outcomes of interest and survival at discharge and 1 year after hospitalization were reviewed. Descriptive statistics and survival analysis were used to analyze the outcomes. Results Of the 202 patients that were included, 48 (23.76%) were still alive at hospital discharge and 17 (about 8%) were still alive at 1 year post cardiac arrests. The 1-year survival rate for the cardiac arrest survivors post hospital discharge was 72.9%. Prearrest serum HCO3<20 meq/L, asystole, urine <800 cc/d, postarrest coma, and absence of pupillary reflex were predictors of death. Conclusion Only 7.9% of patients with IHCA were alive 1 year following cardiac arrest. Prearrest serum HCO3<20 meq/L, asystole, urine <800 cc/d, postarrest coma, and absence of pupillary reflex were the independent factors that predicted long-term mortality.
One-Shot Segmentation in Clutter

We tackle the problem of one-shot segmentation: finding and segmenting a previously unseen object in a cluttered scene based on a single instruction example. We propose a novel dataset, which we call $\textit{cluttered Omniglot}$. Using a baseline architecture combining a Siamese embedding for detection with a U-net for segmentation we show that increasing levels of clutter make the task progressively harder. Using oracle models with access to various amounts of ground-truth information, we evaluate different aspects of the problem and show that in this kind of visual search task, detection and segmentation are two intertwined problems, the solution to each of which helps solving the other. We therefore introduce $\textit{MaskNet}$, an improved model that attends to multiple candidate locations, generates segmentation proposals to mask out background clutter and selects among the segmented objects. Our findings suggest that such image recognition models based on an iterative refinement of object detection and foreground segmentation may provide a way to deal with highly cluttered scenes.
EFFECT OF DIFFERENT TILLAGE METHODS ON SOIL PHYSICAL PROPERTIES AND CROP YIELD OF MELON (Cucumis melo)

A two year field experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of different tillage methods on soil physical properties and crop yield of melon. Tillage treatments in the study were moldboard plow + two passes of disk harrow as conventional tillage (CT), two passes of disk harrow as reduced tillage (RT), one pass of disk harrow as minimum tillage (MT) and no-tillage (NT) as direct drilling method. The statistical results of the study indicated that tillage method significantly (P ≤ 0.05) affected crop yield, fruit weight, fruit length, fruit diameter, total soluble solids and root dry matter, but there was no significant differences in other components such as number of plants per hectare, number of fruits per plant and root length. The maximum value of crop yield (27.2 t ha -1 ), number of plants per hectare (6360) and number of fruits per plant (1.9) was obtained in case of CT treatment, while maximum value of fruit weight (3.6kg), total soluble solids (10.25%), root length (42.3cm) and root dry matter (72.5%) was observed in case of RT treatment. Also, maximum value of fruit length (29.0cm) and fruit diameter (17.2cm) was noted in case of MT treatment. Conversely, the minimum value of crop yield (20.6 t ha -1 ), number of plants per hectare (5910), fruit weight (1.9kg), fruit length (26.4cm), fruit diameter (14.1cm), root length (36.6cm) and root dry matter (54.1%) was obtained in case of NT treatment, while minimum value of number of fruits per plant (1.2) was observed in case of RT treatment. Moreover, minimum value of total soluble solids (9.75%) was noted in case of MT treatment. The statistical results of the study also indicated that tillage method significantly affected soil physical properties. The soil of the CT treatment had consistently the highest moisture contents (19.6%) and the lowest bulk density (1.41g) and penetration resistance (560 kPa); while the soil of the NT treatment had the lowest moisture contents (16.8%) and the highest bulk density (1.52g) and penetration resistance (1250 kPa). Therefore, moldboard plow followed by two passes of disk harrow was found to be more appropriate and profitable tillage method in improving soil physical properties and crop yield of melon due to reduced soil compaction, increased soil moisture content, enhanced seed-soil contact and suppressing weed growth.
Multimodal Management of Locally Advanced Neuroendocrine Cervical Carcinoma: A Single Institution Experience

Objective The aim of this study was to report our institutional experience of a multimodal approach for treatment of locally advanced high-grade neuroendocrine cervical cancer. Methods and Materials Patients with primary locally advanced neuroendocrine cervical cancer diagnosed between 2001 and 2014 were included. The scheduled treatment sequence was as follows: pelvic +/− para-aortic radiotherapy (according to tumor stage), associated with chemotherapy based on platine-derivate and etoposide regimen, followed with a brachytherapy boost, then completion surgery if there was no progression +/− consolidation etoposide chemotherapy (for a total of 5–6 cycles). Disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) were reported and prognostic factors were searched. Results A total of 24 patients fulfilled inclusion criteria. Median age was 48 (range 22–77 years). Fourteen patients (58%) had pelvic lymph node metastases. After chemoradiation/brachytherapy, a radical hysterectomy could be performed in 18 of 24 patients (75%). Histologically complete resection was achieved in 14 (78%) of 18 patients. Complete pathological response was reported in 7 (39%) of 18. With median follow-up of 29.7 months, 10 (42%) of 24 patients experienced tumor relapse, all associated with distant failure, including one local failure. The DFS and OS rates estimated at 3 years were 55% and 63%, respectively. Lymph node metastases and tumor stage were prognostic for DFS (P = 0.016 and P = 0.022, respectively). Complete resection was associated with a lower incidence of relapses, as compared with microscopically incomplete resection (P = 0.04). A total of 12 (86%) of 14 patients with histologically complete resection were in complete remission at last follow-up. Apart from manageable acute hematological toxicities, most treatment complications were mild to moderate. Conclusions This series based on a multimodal management compares favorably with previously published data. Most patients could be eligible to surgery, and complete remission was achieved in 85% of those amenable to complete resection.
Exploring Immune Development in Infants With Moderate to Severe Atopic Dermatitis

Background Atopic dermatitis (AD) is the most common chronic inflammatory skin disease in infancy with a complex pathology. In adults, the clinical severity of AD has been associated with increases in T helper cell type (Th) 2, Th22, and Th17 serum markers, including high levels of CC chemokine ligand (CCL) 17 and CCL22 chemokines. Objective To explore the possible association between serum chemokine levels and AD severity in infants with moderate-to-severe AD and elevated immunoglobulin E (IgE). Subjects and methods Serum samples (n = 41) obtained from a randomized, double-blind, and clinical dietary intervention study were used to study biomarkers in infants with AD. Baseline- and post-intervention samples (4 months) were used, six chemokines and nine ratios thereof were analyzed using Luminex and correlated to AD severity. In the initial study, the infants were randomized to receive extensively hydrolyzed whey-based formula without (control) or with short-chain galacto-oligosaccharides/long-chain fructo-oligosaccharides (9:1) and Bifidobacterium breve M-16V (active). Results 31 Infants up to 11 months of age, with an objective-SCORAD score (oSCORAD) ≥ 20 and elevated total-IgE and/or specific-IgE levels were included. In time, the median oSCORAD decreased in both groups by −8 (control, p < 0.05; active, p < 0.01). Irrespective of dietary intervention, several changes in Th2 chemokines (CCL17 and CCL22), inflammatory chemokine (CCL20), and the Th1 chemokine, CXC chemokine ligand (CXCL) 9, were detected over time. Overall CCL17 correlated to oSCORAD (r = 0.446, p < 0.01). After 4 months of dietary intervention, CXCL9 was higher (p < 0.01) in the active group compared with control [active, 2.33 (1.99–2.89); controls, 1.95 (1.77–2.43) log 10 median (range)]. In addition, a reduction in Th2/Th1 chemokine ratios for CCL17/CXCL9, CCL22/CXCL9, CCL20/CXCL10, and CCL20/CXCL11 was detected associated with the active intervention. Conclusion While this study is small and exploratory in nature, these data contribute to immune biomarker profiling and understanding of AD in infants.
A simple test method, NAL-II, to evaluate the strength and elastic modulus of polymer matrix composite laminates

This study proposes and assesses a simple test method (NAL-II) to evaluate compressive properties of carbon fiber-reinforced polymer matrix composite laminates (CFRP). Compressive tests based on ASTM D6641 and NAL-II methods were conducted for direct comparison using three kinds of quasi-isotropic composite laminates (T800H/3633, T800S/3900-2B, and IM600/133). Stress–strain curves including the compressive modulus obtained using the NAL-II method showed good agreement with those obtained using the ASTM D6641. The NAL-II method gave slightly higher (approximately 10%) compressive strengths than the ASTM D6641 method, probably because of suppression of bending (buckling) before failure. The experimentally obtained results suggest that the NAL-II method can be useful for international standard testing of the non-hole compressive strength of CFRP laminates.
Mitochondria and ageing: role in heart, skeletal muscle and adipose tissue

Age is the most important risk factor for most diseases. Mitochondria play a central role in bioenergetics and metabolism. In addition, several lines of evidence indicate the impact of mitochondria in lifespan determination and ageing. The best‐known hypothesis to explain ageing is the free radical theory, which proposes that cells, organs, and organisms age because they accumulate reactive oxygen species (ROS) damage over time. Mitochondria play a central role as the principle source of intracellular ROS, which are mainly formed at the level of complex I and III of the respiratory chain. Dysfunctional mitochondria generating less ATP have been observed in various aged organs. Mitochondrial dysfunction comprises different features including reduced mitochondrial content, altered mitochondrial morphology, reduced activity of the complexes of the electron transport chain, opening of the mitochondrial permeability transition pore, and increased ROS formation. Furthermore, abnormalities in mitochondrial quality control or defects in mitochondrial dynamics have also been linked to senescence. Among the tissues affected by mitochondrial dysfunction are those with a high‐energy demand and thus high mitochondrial content. Therefore, the present review focuses on the impact of mitochondria in the ageing process of heart and skeletal muscle. In this article, we review different aspects of mitochondrial dysfunction and discuss potential therapeutic strategies to improve mitochondrial function. Finally, novel aspects of adipose tissue biology and their involvement in the ageing process are discussed.
Isolated superfused juxtaglomerular cells from rat kidney: a model for study of renin secretion.

Freshly isolated rat juxtaglomerular cells (JGC) were superfused to study renin secretion rate (RSR) at the cellular level. Effluates from the superfusion chamber collected in 20-min intervals showed a time-dependent decline in RSR from 85.5 ± 32 to 4.0 ± 2.4 ng ANG I ⋅ ml-1 ⋅ h-1 ⋅ mg protein-1 ⋅ min-1within 100 min of collection (mean ± SE, n = no. of JGC preparations/superfusion chambers = 9/18). Addition of adenosine deaminase type II (ADA II, 3 U/1.4 mg protein) to the superfusion medium increased RSR more than fourfold to 402 ± 100 ng in the first collection period, which dropped to 237.5 ± 67 ng ANG I ⋅ ml-1 ⋅ h-1 ⋅ mg protein-1 ⋅ min-1( n = 9/18) within 100 min. This ADA II effect was rapid in onset and fully reversible. When the purified ADA type VII, with a 40-fold higher specific activity, was added to the superfusate, RSR was increased only by 96 ± 17.8% compared with controls. This ADA VII (5 U/30 μg) effect could be mimicked by the selective adenosine A1-receptor antagonist 1,3-dipropyl-8-cyclopentylxanthine (DPCPX, 10-6 mol/l). Since albumin stimulated RSR in a concentration-dependent fashion, to an extent similar to that of ADA II, we assume that the ADA II effect was largely unspecific in nature. We conclude that 1) superfusion of isolated JGC from rats is suitable for investigations of renin secretion at the cellular level, 2) the increase in RSR by ADA II appears to be only in part due to deamination of endogenously generated adenosine, and 3) albumin in the superfusate induces a similar stimulatory effect as ADA II.
Kernel Nyström method for light transport

We propose a kernel Nyström method for reconstructing the light transport matrix from a relatively small number of acquired images. Our work is based on the generalized Nyström method for low rank matrices. We introduce the light transport kernel and incorporate it into the Nyström method to exploit the nonlinear coherence of the light transport matrix. We also develop an adaptive scheme for efficiently capturing the sparsely sampled images from the scene. Our experiments indicate that the kernel Nyström method can achieve good reconstruction of the light transport matrix with a few hundred images and produce high quality relighting results. The kernel Nyström method is effective for modeling scenes with complex lighting effects and occlusions which have been challenging for existing techniques.
Gastric volume detection after selective vagotomies in rats.

Rats receiving intragastric infusions of 2.5, 5.0, 7.5, or 10.0 ml of normal saline while their pylori are reversibly occluded suppress meal size to the smallest infusion and display a dose-dependent reduction across volumes [Phillips, R. J., and T. L. Powley. Am. J. Physiol. 271 ( Regulatory Integrative Comp. Physiol.40): R766-R779, 1996]. To evaluate the contributions of the vagus to this detection of gastric volume, groups prepared with different selective vagotomies and equipped with pyloric cuffs and gastric catheters were tested. Liquid diet consumption during a 30-min feeding bout was measured after infusions of 5.0 and 10.0 ml of normal saline on cuff-open and cuff-closed trials. Consistent with earlier observations, sham animals with cuffs closed exhibited volume-dependent suppression of food intake to the infusions, and completely vagotomized animals did not inhibit feeding in response to the loads. In cuff-closed trials, the suppression function slopes of the selective vagotomy groups were intermediate to those of the shams and the completely vagotomized animals. Furthermore, for the different groups, the extent of suppression after vagotomy was proportional to the density of the afferent innervation respective branches supplied to the stomach. Specifically, the group with the gastric branches spared (nonsignificantly attenuated in comparison to shams) and the group with only the hepatic branch spared (significantly attenuated with respect to shams) both still exhibited significant dose-dependent suppression slopes (compared with completes), whereas the group with only celiac branches spared was not significantly different from completely vagotomized animals. In sum, the vagus nerve mediates the detection of the gastric volumes tested, and the different branches of the vagus make distinctive contributions to this afferent feedback.