Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Parametric testing of a DWPF glass

A series of tests has been performed to characterize the chemical stability of a DWPF borosilicate glass sample as part of the Waste Package Task of the Nevada Nuclear Waste Storage Investigations (NNWSI) Project. This material was prepared at the Savannah River Laboratory for the purpose of testing the 165-frit matrix doped with a simulated nonradioactive waste. All tests were conducted at 90{sup 0}C using deionized water and J-13 water (a tuffaceous formation ground water). In the deionized water tests, both monoliths and crushed glass were tested at various ratios of surface area of the sample to volume of water in order to compare leach rates for different sample geometries or leaching times. Effects on the leach rates as a result of the presence of crushed tuff and stainless steel material were also investigated in the tests with J-13 water. 3 refs., 12 figs., 7 tabs.
Neddylation Blockade Diminishes Hepatic Metastasis by Dampening Cancer Stem-Like Cells and Angiogenesis in Uveal Melanoma

Purpose: Liver metastasis is the major and direct cause of death in patients with uveal melanoma (UM). There is no effective therapy for patients with metastatic UM. Improved treatments of hepatic metastatic patients with UM were urgently needed. Inspired by readily detectable key components in the neddylation pathway in UM cells, we aimed at exploring whether neddylation pathway was a therapeutic target for liver metastatic UM. Experimental Design: Expression of key proteins in the neddylation pathway in UM was detected by Western blotting, real-time quantitative RT-PCR (qRT-PCR), and immunohistochemical staining. Cellular proliferation, apoptosis, cell cycle, migration, and cancer stem-like cells (CSCs) properties were examined upon treatment with MLN4924, a potent and selective NAE inhibitor. Antitumor activity and frequency of CSCs were determined by using a NOD-SCID mouse xenograft model. Liver metastasis was evaluated by use of a NOD-scid-IL2Rg−/− mouse model. Results: NAE1 expression was readily detectable in UM. Inhibition of the neddylation pathway by MLN4924 repressed the CSCs properties in UM (capacities of tumorsphere formation and serially replating, aldehyde dehydrogenase-positive cells, and frequency of CSC) through Slug protein degradation. MLN4924 treatment disturbed the paracrine secretion of NF-κB-mediated VEGF-C and its dependent angiogenesis. The inhibitory effect of neddylation blockade on proliferation, which was confirmed by xenografted UM tumor in NOD-SCID mice, was involved in activation of ATM-Chk1-Cdc25C DNA damage response, and G2–M phase arrest. Neddylation inhibition profoundly inhibited hepatic metastasis in UM. Conclusions: Our studies validate the neddylation pathway as a promising therapeutic target for the treatment of patients with hepatic metastasis of UM. Clin Cancer Res; 24(15); 3741–54. ©2017 AACR. See related commentary by Yang et al., p. 3477
Imatinib Mesylate Enhances Therapeutic Effects of Gemcitabine in Human Malignant Mesothelioma Xenografts Cancer Therapy: Preclinical

Purpose: Platelet-derived growth factor receptor h (PDGFRh), frequently activated in malignant mesothelioma, is a promising cancer therapeutic target. Imatinib mesylate (STI571; Glivec) is a selective inhibitor of tyrosine kinases as bcr-abl, c-kit, c-fms, and PDGFRh and enhances tumor drug uptake by reducing the interstitial fluid pressure. We previously showed that imatinib mesy-late synergizes with gemcitabine and pemetrexed in PDGFRh-positive mesothelioma cells. Here, we aimed at investigating these combined treatments in a novel mesothelioma model. Experimental Design: REN mesothelioma cells, infected with a lentiviral vector carrying the luciferase gene, were injected in the peritoneum of severe combined immunodeficient mice. This model allowed imaging of live animals treated with pemetrexed or gemcitabine chemotherapeu-tics, or with imatinib mesylate alone, as well as with a combination of gemcitabine and imatinib mesylate. Results: We show here that, consistent with our previous in vitro studies, gemcitabine inhibited tumor growth, whereas pemetrexed was ineffective, even at the highest dosage tested. Compared with monotreatment, the combination of gemcitabine with imatinib mesylate led to a further tumor growth inhibition and improved mice survival, by a decrease rate of tumor cell proliferation and an increase in number of apoptotic tumor cells. Conclusions: Imatinib mesylate enhances the therapeutic response to gemcitabine, in accordance with our previous in vitro data. These in vivo results validate imatinib mesylate and gemci-tabine as a combination treatment of malignant mesothelioma, also in view of its known positive effects on tumor drug uptake. These evidences provide the rationale for the currently ongoing clinical trials. Malignant mesothelioma is an asbestos-related malignant tumor, whose incidence will increase dramatically in the next decade (1). Due to its biological aggressiveness, the median survival is about 12 months, with a yearly death toll of 2,000 to 3,000 in the United States and about 1,000 in the United Kingdom (2). Hence, the urgency of new drug development to improve the clinical course of the disease. The continuing increase in the incidence of malignant mesothelioma has been associated with the widespread use of asbestos in the past century. The mechanism of asbestos carcinogenesis has been linked to the activation of proin-flammatory cytokines and nuclear factor-nB (3). Only a fraction of about 5% of the subjects exposed to high levels of asbestos develop malignant mesothelioma (4). This finding suggests that additional factors, such as SV40 infection and genetic predisposition, may render these individuals to be more susceptible to asbestos carcinogenicity (5 – 7). Moreover, SV40 …
An Accurate Model for Genetic Hitchhiking

We suggest a simple deterministic approximation for the growth of the favored-allele frequency during a selective sweep. Using this approximation we introduce an accurate model for genetic hitchhiking. Only when Ns < 10 (N is the population size and s denotes the selection coefficient) are discrepancies between our approximation and direct numerical simulations of a Moran model notable. Our model describes the gene genealogies of a contiguous segment of neutral loci close to the selected one, and it does not assume that the selective sweep happens instantaneously. This enables us to compute SNP distributions on the neutral segment without bias.
Social stress predicts preterm birth in twin pregnancies

Abstract Objective: To investigate whether stress, anxiety and depression predict preterm birth in twin pregnancies. Methods: A prospective cohort study with a convenience sample of women pregnant with dichorionic, diamniotic twins. They were interviewed at 24–28 weeks using the Life Events and Difficulties Schedule and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Corticotrophin-releasing hormone, ACTH and cortisol levels were assessed at 28 weeks. The main outcome was premature delivery; there were 42 preterm and 73 term births. Results: Preterm births (<37 weeks) were predicted by higher levels of social stress: 24/42 (57.1%) of women labouring prematurely and 14/73 (19.2%) of those giving birth at term had experienced a severe life event and/or marked social difficulty in the preceding year (<0.001). In logistic regression controlling for age, anxiety and depression, the experience of a severe life event during the year preceding the interview (OR =15.6; 95%CI: 3.0 to 80.8) and a marked difficulty in a close relationship (OR = 17.8; 95%CI: 1.7 to 192) were the factors predicting preterm birth. Levels of CRH, cortisol and ACTH at 28 weeks were not associated with preterm birth. Of the women whose pregnancy lasted less than 34 weeks (early preterm birth) 15/16 had experienced a severe life event and/or marked social difficulty compared to a third (9/26) of those delivering at 34–36 weeks (late preterm birth) and 14/73 of women whose pregnancy reached term (p < .001). Conclusion: Experience of severe social stress predicts preterm birth in twin pregnancies.
Security Enhancement via Device-to-Device Communication in Cellular Networks

Device-to-device (D2D) communication underlaying cellular networks improves spectral efficiency but causes interference to cellular users (CUs). Such interference can be utilized to help CUs prevent wiretapping. This paper aims to achieve the twofold goal of security provisioning for CUs and spectral efficiency enhancement for D2D links by optimizing the resource sharing of CUs and D2D links. We first provide the necessary and sufficient conditions for the accessibility of a CU channel by a D2D link. Then, we derive the jointly optimal resource sharing strategy, including the closed-form power control and the optimal channel pairing of CUs and D2D links. Numerical results show that the proposed strategy can improve both the CUs' security and D2D spectral efficiency.
Sink regulation of photosynthesis.

The concept that photosynthetic flux is influenced by the accumulation of photo-assimilate persisted for 100 years before receiving any strong experimental support. Precise analysis of the mechanisms of photosynthetic responses to sink activity required the development of a battery of appropriate molecular techniques and has benefited from contemporary interest in the effects of elevated CO2 on photosynthesis. Photosynthesis is one of the most highly integrated and regulated metabolic processes to maximize the use of available light, to minimize the damaging effects of excess light and to optimize the use of limiting carbon and nitrogen resources. Hypotheses of feedback regulation must take account of this integration. In the short term, departure from homeostasis can lead to redox signals, which cause rapid changes in the transcription of genes encoding photosystems I and II. End-product synthesis can exert short-term metabolic feedback control through Pi recycling. Beyond this, carbohydrate accumulation in leaves when there is an imbalance between source and sink at the whole plant level can lead to decreased expression of photosynthetic genes and accelerated leaf senescence. In a high CO2 world this may become a more prevalent feature of photosynthetic regulation. However, sink regulation of photosynthesis is highly dependent on the physiology of the rest of the plant. This physiological state regulates photosynthesis through signal transduction pathways that co-ordinate the plant carbon : nitrogen balance, which match photosynthetic capacity to growth and storage capacity and underpin and can override the direct short-term controls of photosynthesis by light and CO2. Photosynthate supply and phytohormones, particularly cytokinins, interact with nitrogen supply to control the expression of photosynthesis genes, the development of leaves and the whole plant nitrogen distribution, which provides the dominant basis for sink regulation of photosynthesis.
Improvement of osseointegration: Guiding cells with external factors including a novel surface microstructure and recognizing bacterial infections

Aalto University, P.O. Box 11000, FI-00076 Aalto www.aalto. fi Author Emilia Kaivosoja Name of the doctoral dissertation Improvement of osseointegration Publisher School of Electrical Engineering Unit Department of Electronics Series Aalto University publication series DOCTORAL DISSERTATIONS 34/2013 Field of research Electronics Production Technology Manuscript submitted 9 November 2012 Date of the defence 15 March 2013 Permission to publish granted (date) 24 January 2013 Language English Monograph Article dissertation (summary + original articles)
Inequalities in low birth weight: parental social class, area deprivation, and "lone mother" status.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the extent of socioeconomic inequalities in low birth weight. To assess the relative benefits of measuring socioeconomic status by individual occupation, socioeconomic deprivation status of area of residence, or both, for describing inequalities and targeting resources. DESIGN: Analysis of birth registrations by registration status: joint compared with sole registrants ("lone mothers"), routinely recorded parental occupation (father's for joint registrants), and census derived enumeration district (ED) deprivation. SETTING: England and Wales, 1986-92. SUBJECTS: 471,411 births with coded parental occupation (random 10% sample) and birth weight. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Proportion of low birth weight (< 2500 g) RESULTS: 34% of births to joint registrants in social classes IV and V, and 45% of births to sole registrants, were in the quintile of most deprived EDs. It was found that 6.8% of births were of low birth weight. Sole registrants were at higher risk (9.3% overall) than joint registrants, across all deprivation quintiles. For joint registrants, the socioeconomic risk gradient was similar by social class or area deprivation, but a greater gradient from 4.7% to 8.7% was found with combined classification. CONCLUSIONS: Up to 30% of low birth weight can be seen as being associated with levels of socioeconomic deprivation below that of the most affluent group, as measured in this study. Caution is needed when targeting interventions to high risk groups when using single indicators. For example, the majority of births to lone mothers and to joint registrants in social classes IV and V would be missed by targeting the most deprived quintile. There is a high degree of inequality in low birth weight according to social class, area deprivation and lone mother status. When using routinely recorded birth and census data, all three factors are important to show the true extent of inequalities.
Rolling of lymphocytes and neutrophils on peripheral node addressin and subsequent arrest on ICAM‐1 in shear flow

We studied leukocyte interactions in shear flow with peripheral lymph node addressin (PNAd), a mixture of glycoproteins expressed on high endothelial venules (HEV) that is required for lymphocyte homing and has been shown to contain a ligand for L‐selectin. T lymphocytes and neutrophils tether and roll on plastic‐immobilized PNAd and E‐selectin at 1.8 dyn/cm2 wall shear stress, but fail to interact with immobilized ICAM‐1, a ligand for LFA‐1 and Mac‐1, at the same flow rate. Cells roll faster on PNAd than on P‐selectin or E‐selectin. L‐selectin mAb inhibit T lymphocyte and neutrophil tethering to PNAd, but do not inhibit T lymphocyte tethering to purified E‐selectin. If allowed to interact with ICAM‐1 under static conditions, phorbol ester‐treated T lymphocytes, but not resting T lymphocytes, are able to form stationary adhesions that withstand the detachment force generated by 36 dyn/cm2 wall shear stress. In contrast, a wall shear stress of 7.3 dyn/cm2 detaches 50% of resting T lymphocytes bound to PNAd. Incubating T lymphocytes on PNAd and ICAM‐1 does not result in adhesion strengthening, suggesting that adhesion through PNAd by L‐selectin does not stimulate lymphocyte LFA‐1 avidity for ICAM‐1. Chemoattractant stimulation of neutrophils or phorbol ester stimulation of lymphoblasts rolling on co‐immobilized PNAd and ICAM‐1 results in rapid arrest and firm sticking, extending the model of sequential selectin‐mediated rolling and subsequent integrin‐mediated firm arrest to lymphocytes and ligands expressed on HEV.
A Critical Simulation of CPU Scheduling Algorithm using Exponential Distribution

A multiprogramming operating system allows more than one process to be loaded into the executable memory at a time and for the loaded process to share the CPU using time-multiplexing. Part of the reason for using multiprogramming is that the operating system itself is implemented as one or more processes, so there must be a way for the operating system and application processes to share the CPU. The assignment of physical processors to processes allows processors to accomplish work. The problem of determining when processors should be assigned and to which processes is called CPU scheduling. How do we select a CPU Scheduling algorithm for a particular system? Since we have different scheduling algorithm with its own parameter selection can be difficult. To select an algorithm we must first define the relative importance of CPU Scheduling criteria. Next we use an evaluation method. This paper presents an algorithm and a life simulation of the CPU Scheduling algorithms using exponential distribution to generate the random numbers for the burst times, arrival times and processes with Ms Visual Basic 2010 for the Scheduling algorithms and comparing their average waiting time to know which has the least average waiting time.
Multicenter evaluation of the elecsys® anti‐HCV II assay for the diagnosis of hepatitis C virus infection

Routine screening of patients at risk of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection has become a priority given recent improvements in therapeutic options and the asymptomatic nature of most chronic infections. The aim of this study was to evaluate the performance of the Elecsys® Anti‐HCV II assay, a new qualitative antibody immunoassay, compared with currently available assays, and assess its suitability for routine diagnostic testing. The sensitivity of the Elecsys® Anti‐HCV II, ARCHITECT® Anti‐HCV, AxSYM® HCV 3.0, PRISM® HCV, Vitros® ECi Anti‐HCV, Elecsys® Anti‐HCV, and ADVIA Centaur® HCV assays was compared using commercially available seroconversion panels and samples from patients known to be HCV positive and infected with HCV genotypes 1–6. Specificity was investigated using samples from blood donors, unselected hospitalized patients, and patients with potential cross‐reacting factors or from high‐risk groups. The Elecsys® Anti‐HCV II assay detected more positive bleeds than the comparator assays, was more sensitive in recognizing early HCV infection, and correctly identified all 765 samples known to be HCV positive, regardless of genotype. The overall specificity of the Elecsys® Anti‐HCV II assay was 99.84% (n = 6,850) using blood donor samples, 99.66% (n = 3,922) using samples from unselected hospitalized patients, and 99.66% (n = 2,397) using samples from patients with potentially cross‐reacting factors or from high‐risk groups. The specificity of the Elecsys® Anti‐HCV II assay was superior or equal to the comparator assays. In conclusion, the Elecsys® Anti‐HCV II assay is a sensitive and specific assay suitable for routine use in the reliable detection of anti‐HCV antibodies. J. Med. Virol. 85:1362–1368, 2013. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
ASSET BUBBLES AND OVERLAPPING GENERATIONS

The first part of this paper considers the interaction between productive and nonproductive savings in a growing economy. It employs an overlapping generations model with capital accumulation and various types of rents, and gives necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of an aggregate bubble. The second part is a series of thoughts on the definition, nature, and consequences of asset bubbles. First, it derives some implications of bubbles for tests of asset pricing. Second, it demonstrates the specificity of money as
The analgesic effects of the GABAB receptor agonist, baclofen, in a rodent model of functional dyspepsia

Background The amino acid γ‐aminobutyric acid (GABA) is an important modulator of pain but its role in visceral pain syndromes is just beginning to be studied. Our aims were to investigate the effect and mechanism of action of the GABAB receptor agonist, baclofen, on gastric hypersensitivity in a validated rat model of functional dyspepsia (FD).
Chemical genetics reveals the requirement for Polo-like kinase 1 activity in positioning RhoA and triggering cytokinesis in human cells

Polo-like kinases (Plks) play crucial roles in mitosis and cell division. Whereas lower eukaryotes typically contain a single Plk, mammalian cells express several closely related but functionally distinct Plks. We describe here a chemical genetic system in which a single Plk family member, Plk1, can be inactivated with high selectivity and temporal resolution by using an allele-specific, small-molecule inhibitor, as well as the application of this system to dissect Plk1's role in cytokinesis. To do this, we disrupted both copies of the PLK1 locus in human cells through homologous recombination and then reconstituted Plk1 activity by using either the wild-type kinase (Plk1wt) or a mutant version whose catalytic pocket has been enlarged to accommodate bulky purine analogs (Plk1as). When cultured in the presence of these analogs, Plk1as cells accumulate in prometaphase with defects that parallel those found in PLK1Δ/Δ cells. In addition, acute treatment of Plk1as cells during anaphase prevents recruitment of both Plk1 itself and the Rho guanine nucleotide exchange factor (RhoGEF) Ect2 to the central spindle, abolishes RhoA GTPase localization to the equatorial cortex, and suppresses cleavage furrow formation and cell division. Our studies define and illuminate a late mitotic function of Plk1 that, although difficult or impossible to detect in Plk1-depleted cells, is readily revealed with chemical genetics.
Periodically time-varying dynamical controller synthesis for polytopic-type uncertain discrete-time linear systems

This is a continuation of our preceding study dealing with robust stabilizing controller synthesis for uncertain discrete-time linear periodic/time-invariant systems. In this preceding study, we dealt with the case where the underlying systems are affected by polytopic-type uncertainties and revealed a particular periodically time-varying dynamical controller (PTVDC) structure that allows LMI-based robust stabilizing controller synthesis. Based on these preliminary results, in this paper, we provide LMI conditions for robust H2 and H¿ PTVDC synthesis. One of the salient features of the proposed method is that we can reduce the conservatism and improve the control performance gradually by increasing the period of the controller to be designed. In addition, we prove rigorously that the proposed design method encompasses the well-known extended-LMI-based design methods as particular cases. Through numerical experiments, we illustrate that our design method is indeed effective to achieve less conservative results under both the periodic and time-invariant settings.
Analyzing the Performance of Greedy Maximal Scheduling via Local Pooling and Graph Theory

Efficient operation of wireless networks and switches requires using simple (and in some cases distributed) scheduling algorithms. In general, simple greedy algorithms (known as Greedy Maximal Scheduling - GMS) are guaranteed to achieve only a fraction of the maximum possible throughput (e.g., 50% throughput in switches). However, it was recently shown that in networks in which the Local Pooling conditions are satisfied, GMS achieves 100% throughput. Moreover, in networks in which the &#963;- Local Pooling conditions hold, GMS achieves &#963;% throughput. In this paper, we focus on identifying the specific network topologies that satisfy these conditions. In particular, we provide the first characterization of all the network graphs in which Local Pooling holds under primary interference constraints (in these networks GMS achieves 100% throughput). This leads to a polynomial time algorithm for identifying Local Pooling-satisfying graphs. Moreover, by using similar graph theoretical methods, we show that in all bipartite graphs (i.e., input-queued switches) of size up to 7×n, GMS is guaranteed to achieve 66% throughput, thereby improving upon the previously known 50% lower bound. Finally, we study the performance of GMS in interference graphs and show that in certain specific topologies its performance could be very bad. Overall, the paper demonstrates that using graph theoretical techniques can significantly contribute to our understanding of greedy scheduling algorithms.