Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Metabolic syndrome and the hepatorenal reflex

Insufficient hepatic O2 in animal and human studies has been shown to elicit a hepatorenal reflex in response to increased hepatic adenosine, resulting in stimulation of renal as well as muscle sympathetic nerve activity and activating the renin angiotensin system. Low hepatic ATP, hyperuricemia, and hepatic lipid accumulation reported in metabolic syndrome (MetS) patients may reflect insufficient hepatic O2 delivery, potentially accounting for the sympathetic overdrive associated with MetS. This theoretical concept is supported by experimental results in animals fed a high fructose diet to induce MetS. Hepatic fructose metabolism rapidly consumes ATP resulting in increased adenosine production and hyperuricemia as well as elevated renin release and sympathetic activity. This review makes the case for the hepatorenal reflex causing sympathetic overdrive and metabolic syndrome in response to exaggerated splanchnic oxygen consumption from excessive eating. This is strongly reinforced by the fact that MetS is cured in a matter of days in a significant percentage of patients by diet, bariatric surgery, or endoluminal sleeve, all of which would decrease splanchnic oxygen demand by limiting nutrient contact with the mucosa and reducing the nutrient load due to the loss of appetite or dietary restriction.
Analyzing Incomplete Item Scores in Longitudinal Data by Including Item Score Information as Auxiliary Variables

The aim of this study is to investigate a novel method for dealing with incomplete scale scores in longitudinal data that result from missing item responses. This method includes item information as auxiliary variables, which is advantageous because it incorporates the observed item-level data while maintaining the scale scores as the focus of the analysis. These auxiliary variables do not change the analysis model, but improve missing data handling. The investigated novel method uses the item scores or some summary of a parcel of item scores as auxiliary variables, while treating the scale scores missing in a latent growth model. The performance of these methods was examined in several simulated longitudinal data conditions and analyzed through bias, mean square error, and coverage. Results show that including the item information as auxiliary variables results in rather dramatic power gains compared with analyses without auxiliary variables under varying conditions.
Effects of Welding Parameters and Pre-Heating on the Friction Stir Welding of UHMW-Polyethylene

The aim of this study was to investigate the weldability of UHMW-polyethylene via friction stir welding method. The samples were joined with single pass under 960–1960 rpm rotational speeds and 10–20 mm/min transverse speeds. In this study, three different heating processes were used. These processes are welding at room temperature, welding by pre-heating from the bottom of plastic samples at 50°C and 80°C with metal molding. A tensile test, durometer hardness test and an optical microstructure analysis were conducted on welded joint. In the experiments, a tensile strength of 72% was achieved in non-preheated welds whereas tensile strength of parent material was achieved approximately at an optimum value of 89% by pre-heating at 50°C. Pre-heating process enabled a homogeneous heat distribution by approximating the plastic material to fusing point in a short time and facilitated mixing and as a result welded joint of a supremer characteristic was obtained.
Pulsed laser induced breakdown in solid state materials and air

Laser induced breakdown is important in applications ranging from laser machining to laser induced breakdown spectroscopy to laser induced damage. Laser induced breakdown in dielectric materials results from a combination of multiphoton absorption (MPA), tunneling and avalanche ionization. Aspects of these processes have been studied through measurements of the laser induced damage threshold (LIDT) and its dependence on pulse duration, polarization and wavelength. At long pulse durations (> 1 ns), relaxation of conduction band electrons during the pulse is responsible for the increased LIDT compared to scaling derived from sub-picosecond pulses. Linear polarization produces lower LIDT than circular polarization for MPA order of m = 3 and 4 with femtosecond and picosecond pulses. Laser damage tests with two-color pulse pairs show that the damage threshold depends on the order of the pulse pair. The measured difference between single-pulse
UMass/Hughes: Description of the CIRCUS System Used for MUC-51

The primary goal of our effort is the development of robust and portable language processing capabilities for information extraction applications. The system under evaluation here is based on language processing components that have demonstrated strong performance capabilities in previous evaluations [Lehnert et al. 1992a]. Having demonstrated the general viability of these techniques, we are now concentrating on the practicality of our technology by creating trainable system components to replace hand-coded data and manually-engineered software.
Peripheral Arterial Testing Before Lower Extremity Amputation Among Medicare Beneficiaries, 2000 to 2010

Background—Despite mild reductions in rates of lower extremity amputation over the past decade, few data exist on the use of arterial testing in patients before amputation. Methods and Results—Using Medicare claims from 2000 through 2010, we examined rates of preamputation arterial testing between 0 to 12 and 0 to 24 months before amputation. We used multivariable, modified Poisson regression models to identify patient and clinical predictors of preamputation arterial testing. The main outcome measures were rates of preamputation arterial testing. Among 17 463 patients undergoing nontraumatic amputation, 68.4% underwent some type of arterial testing. Of these patients, 47.5% underwent ankle-brachial index measurement, 38.7% duplex ultrasound, 31.1% invasive angiography, 6.7% computed tomographic angiography, and 5.6% magnetic resonance angiography. Temporal analysis revealed an increase in testing from 65.7% in 2002 to 69.2% in 2010 (P<0.001). The use of preamputation arterial testing varied significantly by location of amputation and was lowest for foot amputation (62.5%), followed by above-knee amputation (69.0%) and below-knee amputation (76.7%; P<0.001). After multivariable adjustment, older age, male sex, black race, renal disease, diabetes mellitus, known peripheral arterial disease, evaluation by a vascular specialist, and living in the East North Central region were associated with greater rates of preamputation arterial testing. Conclusions—Rates of evaluation for peripheral arterial disease before amputation were low, and testing varied by patient, provider, and regional characteristics.
An Adversarial Regularisation for Semi-Supervised Training of Structured Output Neural Networks

We propose a method for semi-supervised training of structured-output neural networks. Inspired by the framework of Generative Adversarial Networks (GAN), we train a discriminator network to capture the notion of a quality of network output. To this end, we leverage the qualitative difference between outputs obtained on the labelled training data and unannotated data. We then use the discriminator as a source of error signal for unlabelled data. This effectively boosts the performance of a network on a held out test set. Initial experiments in image segmentation demonstrate that the proposed framework enables achieving the same network performance as in a fully supervised scenario, while using two times less annotations.
CpG-oligodeoxynucleotides inhibit RSV-enhanced allergic sensitisation in guinea pigs

Experimental respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection of guinea pigs is associated with enhanced allergic sensitisation to inhaled ovalbumin (OA) and low-level viral persistence in the lungs. Based on the T-helper (Th)1/Th2 paradigm, in which a Th2 shift is characteristic of an allergic response and less effective anti-viral immunity, the effects of immunotherapy with synthetic cytosine phosphate-guanine-oligodeoxynucleotides (CpG-ODN), which are potent Th1 stimuli, on OA sensitisation with and without RSV infection were evaluated. Measurements included quantitative histology for airway inflammation by T-cells and eosinophils, semiquantitative RT-PCR for lung Th1/Th2 balance (interferon (IFN)-γ/interleukin (IL)-5 mRNA ratios), and serology for circulating titres of OA-specific immunoglobulin (Ig)G1 antibodies. RSV antigens were identified in lung tissue sections by immunohistochemistry. CpG-ODN immunotherapy did not prevent OA sensitisation of guinea pigs; however, in RSV-infected, OA-sensitised animals, CpG-ODN administration was associated with significant reductions of airway T-cells and eosinophils, increased lung IFN-γ/IL-5 ratios, and decreased OA-specific IgG1 antibody titres to levels observed in uninfected, OA-sensitised animals. Viral antigens were identified in a similar proportion of the lungs of RSV-infected animals, irrespective of CpG-ODN immunisation status. In conclusion, cytosine phosphate-guanine-oligodeoxynucleotides immunotherapy protects guinea pigs against respiratory syncytial virus-enhanced ovalbumin sensitisation and might be a relevant intervention in the context of post-bronchiolitis allergic sensitisation in children.
Contribution of Organic Anion-Transporting Polypeptides 1A/1B to Doxorubicin Uptake and Clearance

The organic anion-transporting polypeptides represent an important family of drug uptake transporters that mediate the cellular uptake of a broad range of substrates including numerous drugs. Doxorubicin is a highly efficacious and well-established anthracycline chemotherapeutic agent commonly used in the treatment of a wide range of cancers. Although doxorubicin is a known substrate for efflux transporters such as P-glycoprotein (P-gp; MDR1, ABCB1), significantly less is known regarding its interactions with drug uptake transporters. Here, we investigated the role of organic anion transporting polypeptide (OATP) transporters to the disposition of doxorubicin. A recombinant vaccinia-based method for expressing uptake transporters in HeLa cells revealed that OATP1A2, but not OATP1B1 or OATP1B3, and the rat ortholog Oatp1a4 were capable of significant doxorubicin uptake. Interestingly, transwell assays using Madin-Darby canine kidney II cell line cells stably expressing specific uptake and/or efflux transporters revealed that OATP1B1, OATP1B3, and OATP1A2, either alone or in combination with MDR1, significantly transported doxorubicin. An assessment of polymorphisms in SLCO1A2 revealed that four variants were associated with significantly impaired doxorubicin transport in vitro. In vivo doxorubicin disposition studies revealed that doxorubicin plasma area under the curve was significantly higher (1.7-fold) in Slco1a/1b−/− versus wild-type mice. The liver-to-plasma ratio of doxorubicin was significantly decreased (2.3-fold) in Slco1a/1b2−/− mice and clearance was reduced by 40% compared with wild-type mice, suggesting Oatp1b transporters are important for doxorubicin hepatic uptake. In conclusion, we demonstrate important roles for OATP1A/1B in transporter-mediated uptake and disposition of doxorubicin.
Dynamic Stress Intensity Factor for an Interfacial Crack on a Circular Cavity in Piezoelectric Media

Dynamic stress intensity factor is investigated theoretically on two dissimilar piezoelectric media with an interfacial crack at the edge of a circular cavity subjected to time-harmonic incident anti-plane shearing in present paper. The formulations are based on the methods of Green’s function and conjunction. Dynamic stress intensity factor at the crack’s tip are obtained by solving boundary value problems with the methods of conjunction and crack-division technique. The calculating results are plotted so as to show how the frequencies of incident wave, all kinds of physical parameters of two dissimilar piezoelectric materials, applied electric loads and geometric parameters influence on the dynamic stress intensity factor (DSIF). While some of the calculating results are compared with other published documents.Copyright © 2010 by ASME
Spitzer Irac Confirmation of Z 850 -dropout Galaxies in the Hubble Ultra Deep Field: Stellar Masses and Ages at Z ≈ 7

Using Spitzer IRAC mid-infrared imaging from the Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey, we study z 850-dropout sources in the Hubble Ultra Deep Field. After carefully removing contaminating flux from foreground sources, we clearly detect two z 850-dropouts at 3. 6µm and 4. 5µm, while two others are marginally detected. The mid-infrared fluxes strongly support their interpretation as galaxies at z ≈ 7, seen when the Universe was only 750 Myr old. The IRAC observations allow us for the first time to constrain the rest-frame optical colors, stellar masses, and ages of the highest redshift galaxies. Fitting stellar population models to the spectral energy distributions, we find photometric redshifts in the range 6.
Antibiotic-specific differences in the response of Staphylococcus aureus to treatment with antimicrobials combined with manuka honey

Skin infections caused by antibiotic resistant Staphylococcus aureus are a significant health problem worldwide; often associated with high treatment cost and mortality rate. Complex natural products like New Zealand (NZ) manuka honey have been revisited and studied extensively as an alternative to antibiotics due to their potent broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity, and the inability to isolate honey-resistant S. aureus. Previous studies showing synergistic effects between manuka-type honeys and antibiotics have been demonstrated against the growth of one methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) strain. We have previously demonstrated strong synergistic activity between NZ manuka-type honey and rifampicin against growth and biofilm formation of multiple S. arueus strains. Here, we have expanded our investigation using multiple S. aureus strains and four different antibiotics commonly used to treat S. aureus-related skin infections: rifampicin, oxacillin, gentamicin, and clindamycin. Using checkerboard microdilution and agar diffusion assays with S. aureus strains including clinical isolates and MRSA we demonstrate that manuka-type honey combined with these four antibiotics frequently produces a synergistic effect. In some cases when synergism was not observed, there was a significant enhancement in antibiotic susceptibility. Some strains that were highly resistant to an antibiotic when present alone become sensitive to clinically achievable concentrations when combined with honey. However, not all of the S. aureus strains tested responded in the same way to these combinational treatments. Our findings support the use of NZ manuka-type honeys in clinical treatment against S. aureus-related infections and extend their potential use as an antibiotic adjuvant in combinational therapy. Our data also suggest that manuka-type honeys may not work as antibiotic adjuvants for all strains of S. aureus, and this may help determine the mechanistic processes behind honey synergy.
Evaluation of a soft error tolerance technique based on time and/or space redundancy

IC technologies are approaching the ultimate limits of silicon in terms of channel width, power supply and speed. By approaching these limits, circuits are becoming increasingly sensitive to noise, which will result in unacceptable rates of soft-errors. Manufacturing testing and periodic testing cannot cope with soft errors. Thus, fault tolerant techniques will become necessary even for commodity applications. This work considers the implementation of a new soft error tolerance technique based on time redundancy. Arithmetic circuits were used as test vehicle to validate the approach. Simulations and performance evaluation of the proposed fault-tolerance technique were made using in-house tools realized around an event driven simulator. The obtained results show that tolerance of soft errors can be achieved at low cost.
The Histochemical Localization of Triphosphopyridine Nucleotide Diaphorase

A histochemical method is described for the localization of triphosphopyridine nucleotide diaphorase using a recently synthesized tetrazolium salt (Nitro-BT). By virtue of the favorable histochemical properties of this reagent, it has been possible to demonstrate that whereas DPN diaphorase is usually restricted to the mitochondria, the TPN diaphorase activity of corresponding cells was distributed throughout the cytoplasm in granules too fine to be considered mitochondria. Furthermore, although the diaphorase alone is responsible for the passage of electrons from TPNH to the tetrazole, it has been found that sites of activity of different TPN-linked dehydrogenases can be visualized in tissue sections, and characteristic loci for each enzyme may be observed. For example, whereas TPN diaphorase and isocitric dehydrogenase have an extensive distribution in the kidney cortex, 6-phosphogluconic dehydrogenase is limited to the cells of the macula densa.
Dynamic spatiotemporal inhibition in the guinea pig auditory cortex

Real-time optical imaging was conducted in the guinea pig auditory cortex to study spatiotemporal interrelations of excitation and inhibition in response to tone stimulation. Tone stimulation elicited responses consisting of three phases in the anterior field (the primary auditory cortex of guinea pig) and in the dorsocaudal field of the auditory cortex. An early depolarization was followed by a late hyperpolarization and an even later depolarization both in the maximum excitatory regions and in the lateral regions beside and/or between them. The late hyperpolarization began significantly earlier and was stronger in the lateral regions than in the maximum excitatory regions. These results show that inhibition is dynamic, both in time and in space, in the auditory cortex.
Correct Performance of Pelvic Muscle Exercises in Women Reporting Prior Knowledge

Objectives This study aimed to assess correct performance of pelvic muscle exercises (PMEs) in women presenting for urogynecologic care who express prior PME knowledge and to identify optimal instruction. Methods New patients referred to urogynecology clinic reporting knowledge of PME or Kegels were asked to complete a questionnaire concerning knowledge, prior instruction, and current use of PME. During examination, the participants were asked to perform their PME or Kegel. Initial levator strength was documented by Oxford Scale. Randomized-order instructions were then given to educate women who contracted incorrectly. The participants completed a postexamination questionnaire. Analyses described percentage of women who were able to perform a correct contraction on initial attempt and factors associated with correct performance. Standard statistical methods were used to assess factors associated with correct PME performance and initial strength. Results Two hundred fifty eligible participants completed the questionnaires. Sixty (24%) participants were unable to correctly perform a PME initially. Of the 83 participants reporting current practice of PME, 23% performed them incorrectly. Prior instruction (odds ratio, 3.0; 95% confidence interval, 1.6–5.7; P < 0.01) and prior feedback (odds ratio, 3.5; 95% confidence interval, 1.0–12.0; P < 0.05) were associated with correct PME performance. In women who performed PME incorrectly at the initial assessment, “Squeeze the vaginal muscles you use to hold your urine” resulted in correct PME performance most often. Conclusions Women reporting prior knowledge of PME may still perform them incorrectly. Providing instruction and feedback is strongly associated with correct performance and can be easily incorporated into pelvic examination. This may improve PME use and effectiveness to control symptoms of pelvic floor disorders.
Macrophages Polarized by Expression of ToxoGRA15II Inhibit Growth of Hepatic Carcinoma

A growing body of evidence suggests that tumor-associated macrophages are deeply involved in the hepatocellular carcinoma proliferation and account for the large proportion of infiltrated cells in tumor tissues and play a major role in promotion of tumor growth. On the other hand, studies have demonstrated that Toxoplasma gondii virulence-associated molecule of dense granule protein (ToxoGRA15II) tends to induce classically activated macrophages (M1) differentiation. Thus, we explored the M1 induced by ToxoGRA15II in vitro and its inhibitory impact on the proliferation, invasion, and metastasis of hepatic carcinoma in murine model. Here, we constructed recombinant plasmid of pegfp-gra15II and subsequently ligate it to lentivirus (Lv) vector, with which RAW264.7 was transfected. The results showed that the transfected macrophages were polarized to M1. Coculture of the M1 with Hepa1-6 cells showed a remarkable inhibition of migration and invasion of the tumor cells and decreased expressions of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-9 and MMP-2 without notable apoptosis of Hepa1-6 cells. Subsequently, ToxoGRA15II-polarized macrophages inoculated to tumor-bearing C57BL/6 mice were seen in both spleen and tumor tissues, and tumor growth was sharply restricted. Particularly, interleukin-6 (IL-6) expression, which is closely associated with the cancer malignant behaviors, was significantly dampened in tumor tissues. In addition, expression of TNF-α and IL-12 mRNAs was increased, whereas IL-6 and interleukin-10 mRNAs were downregulated in splenocytes. Our results indicate that the effector molecule of ToxoGRA15II may induce macrophage polarization to M1 that has a restrictive effect on tumor growth via its related cytokines profile in tumor and spleen tissues. Besides, ToxoGRA15II, due to its early activation of specified cell population and non-toxicity to mammalians, has a potential value for a novel therapeutic strategy of enhancing host innate immunity against tumor development.
Evidence for Sequential Ion-binding Loci along the Inner Pore of the IRK1 Inward-rectifier K+ Channel

Steep rectification in IRK1 (Kir2.1) inward-rectifier K+ channels reflects strong voltage dependence (valence of ∼5) of channel block by intracellular cationic blockers such as the polyamine spermine. The observed voltage dependence primarily results from displacement, by spermine, of up to five K+ ions across the narrow K+ selectivity filter, along which the transmembrane voltage drops steeply. Spermine first binds, with modest voltage dependence, at a shallow site where it encounters the innermost K+ ion and impedes conduction. From there, spermine can proceed to a deeper site, displacing several more K+ ions and thereby producing most of the observed voltage dependence. Since in the deeper blocked state the leading amine group of spermine reaches into the cavity region (internal to the selectivity filter) and interacts with residue D172, its trailing end is expected to be near M183. Here, we found that mutation M183A indeed affected the deeper blocked state, which supports the idea that spermine is located in the region lined by the M2 and not deep in the narrow K+ selectivity filter. As to the shallower site whose location has been unknown, we note that in the crystal structure of homologous GIRK1 (Kir3.1), four aromatic side chains of F255, one from each of the four subunits, constrict the intracellular end of the pore to ∼10 Å. For technical simplicity, we used tetraethylammonium (TEA) as an initial probe to test whether the corresponding residue in IRK1, F254, forms the shallower site. We found that replacing the aromatic side chain with an aliphatic one not only lowered TEA affinity of the shallower site ∼100-fold but also eliminated the associated voltage dependence and, furthermore, confirmed that similar effects occurred also for spermine. These results establish the evidence for physically separate, sequential ion-binding loci along the long inner pore of IRK1, and strongly suggest that the aromatic side chains of F254 underlie the likely innermost binding locus for both blocker and K+ ions in the cytoplasmic pore.