Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Eicosanoid Production in Nonparenchymal Liver Cells Isolated From Rats Infused With E. coli Endotoxin

Continuous i.v. infusion of a nonlethal dose of Escherichia coll endotoxin induced an early (3‐h) accumulation of neutrophils in the rat liver followed by a later (30‐h) greater extravasation of mononuclear phagocytes (MNP). These inflammatory cells, recovered together by centrifugal elutriation, were analyzed for their potential capacity to metabolize [1‐14C]‐AA. Ca2+ ionophore A23187 (5 μM) stimulated the release of [1‐14C]‐AA from PC and PI both in cells from saline‐ and ET‐infused rats, the latter showing a higher capacity to further metabolize AA to eicosanoids. LTB4 and 5‐HETE were the major metabolites accumulated in cells from rats infused with ET for 3 h, while PGD2 played the main role in cells from saline‐infused rats. This could reflect [1‐14C]‐AA metabolism by PMNP and Kupffer cells, respectively. By 30 h of ET‐infusion, a shift from PGD2 to PGE2 release was observed. These results suggest that eicosanoids released by nonparenchymal cells (i.e., Kupffer and endothelial cells) and PMNP in the liver of ET‐infused rats may alter the normal intercellular information flow between parenchymal and nonparenchymal cells, contributing to the severe impairment in liver function and metabolism during endotoxicosis and sepsis.
Solar Disinfection of MODS Mycobacterial Cultures in Resource-Poor Settings

Introduction Safe disposal of TB culture material in which the infectious burden of clinical samples has been greatly amplified is an important challenge in resource-limited settings. The bactericidal capacity of solar cookers has been demonstrated previously for conventional bacteria and contaminated clinical waste. We investigated the use of a simple solar cooker for the sterilization of mycobacterial broth cultures from the microscopic observation drug susceptibility assay (MODS). Methods Simulated TB culture materials were prepared by inoculating 24-well MODS plates with 500 µL of a known concentration of Mycobacterium bovis BCG. In a series of experiments, samples were simultaneously placed inside a box-type solar cooker and control box and removed at timepoints between 15 minutes and 6 hours. Quantitative cultures were performed using retrieved samples to determine sterilization effect. Results All cultures from the control box were positive at or within 1–4 logs of inoculation concentration. Simulated culture plates at concentrations from 103colony-forming-units (CFU)/ml to 107 CFU/ml were completely sterilized after only one hour of cooker exposure, at temperatures between 50–102°C. At 109 CFU/ml (far in excess of diagnostic cultures), it was only possible to recover mycobacterial growth in plates removed after 15 minutes. By 30 minutes all plates were effectively sterilized. Discussion Solar disinfection provides a very effective, safe and low-cost alternative to conventional equipment used for disposal of mycobacterial culture material. Effect of climatic conditions and optimal operating procedure remain to be defined.
Using Electromyography to Detect the Weightings of the Local Muscle Factors to the Increase of Perceived Exertion During Stepping Exercise

Rate of perceived exertion (RPE) is a clinically convenient indicator for monitoring exercise intensity in cardiopulmonary rehabilitation. It might not be sensitive enough for clinicians to determine the patients' physiological status because its association with the cardiovascular system and local muscle factors is unknown. This study used the electromyographic sensor to detect the local muscle fatigue and stabilization of patella, and analyzed the relationship between various local muscle and cardiovascular factors and the increase of RPE during stepping exercise, a common exercise program provided in cardiopulmonary rehabilitation. Ten healthy adults (4 males and 6 females) participated in this study. Each subject used their right bare foot to step up onto a 23-cm-high step at a constant speed until the RPE score reached 20. The RPE, heart rate (HR), and surface EMG of the rectus femoris (RF), vastus medialis, and vastus lateralis were recorded at 1-minute intervals during the stepping exercise. The generalized estimating equations (GEE) analysis indicated that the increase in RPE significantly correlated with the increase in HR, and decrease in median frequency (MF) of the EMG power spectrum of the RF. Experimental results suggest that the increase in RPE during stepping exercise was influenced by the cardiovascular status, localized muscle fatigue in the lower extremities. The weighting of the local muscle factors was more than half of the weighting of the cardiovascular factor.
Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease and Extra-Hepatic Cancers

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a leading cause of chronic liver disease but the second cause of death among NAFLD patients are attributed to malignancies at both gastrointestinal (liver, colon, esophagus, stomach, and pancreas) and extra-intestinal sites (kidney in men, and breast in women). Obesity and related metabolic abnormalities are associated with increased incidence or mortality for a number of cancers. NAFLD has an intertwined relationship with metabolic syndrome and significantly contributes to the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), but recent evidence have fuelled concerns that NAFLD may be a new, and added, risk factor for extra-hepatic cancers, particularly in the gastrointestinal tract. In this review we critically appraise key studies on NAFLD-associated extra-hepatic cancers and speculate on how NAFLD may influence carcinogenesis at these sites.
Exploring Issues in Difficult‐to‐Treat Hypertension

The past few years have seen a major increase in clinician interest in difficult-to-treat hypertension, sometimes referred to as treatment-resistant hypertension. This interest has been stimulated largely by new opportunities to treat refractory or severe hypertension with more effective strategies. For instance, new drug combinations, including up to three powerful and welltolerated agents all within a single tablet, have provided a simple solution for many patients who require multiple drugs to control their hypertension. Perhaps the biggest stimulus to discussions of treatment-resistant hypertension, however, has been the recent development of the technique of renal denervation. This method of treating hypertension depends on ablation of the renal nerves produced by applying energy—most usually by radiofrequency—through catheters placed in the renal arteries. But even as this new technology has become available, experts in hypertension are starting to question whether, in fact, we could do an equally effective job in managing difficult hypertension with improved regimens based on pharmacologic agents already available. This question goes beyond simply being a matter of therapeutics, because the diagnosis of treatment-resistant hypertension is also now being scrutinized. The standard definition of this condition is that it describes patients whose blood pressures (BPs) remain uncontrolled despite receiving at least three effective and welldosed drugs, typically including a diuretic. However, all these aspects in a given patient are open to challenge. Is the pressure truly uncontrolled, or is the patient’s high BP simply a reflection of a white-coat effect? And, just as importantly, how can we be certain that the patient is actually taking the three or more drugs that have been prescribed? It may even be appropriate to ask whether a patient with treatment-resistant hypertension might unknowingly be taking other types of treatment, such as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory agents, that could be interfering with the BP medications and preventing an adequate reduction in BP. And if all these questions have been adequately addressed, the possibility of an unsuspected form of secondary hypertension must be considered. Several articles providing information and opinions on this interesting and difficult area have recently been published in this and other journals and provide us an opportunity to review interesting information that can bring further clarity to this evolving area.
Shaly Sand Petrophysics and its Impact on Full Field Reservoir Simulation

Analyzing logs in shaly formations to make accurate petrophysical models is a challenging task. As clay minerals in shale add electrical conductivity to the formation, water saturation tends to be overestimated using conventional clean sand approaches. A standard resolution density log, used to determine porosity, has about a 0.4 meters measurement interval. If thin shales of smaller scale than 0.4 meters are present, they will be measured together with nearby clean sands and the section will seem to have poorer reservoir quality than it actually does. The fact is, dependent on the amount and distribution of shale, the sands can have excellent porosity and permeability contributing to the oil production. To correct for the shale in the formation, two approaches are commonly applied. The total sand porosity is either multiplied with the fraction of sand, or the total porosity is converted into effective porosity by simply subtracting the volume of shale porosity. In this Thesis a total porosity model with Waxman & Smits shaly sand equation have been compared with an effective porosity model with the Poupon & Leveaux Indonesia equation. To investigate the full effect of this choice, a comparison of the full field reservoir simulations was made. In laboratories, core-samples are dried before total porosity is measured. After that, air is flowed through some of the samples and a pressure drop is recorded. The calculated permeability is then logarithmically correlated to the porosity. This means that a small difference in porosity input will have a large effect on permeability. Other factors, such as water saturation in the geomodel grid, are calculated based on porosity and permeability. Further out in the workflow, relative permeability is again dependent on the water saturation and it is affecting the flow rate of the different fluids. By using data from the two Ivar Aasen field models, all these effects are investigated to quantify the full differences and see what effect the two petrophysical models has on the prognosis of production and estimation of volumes. In addition, both methods were tested for their sensitivity to uncertainties in volume of shale. The simulation results proved significant differences between the models, both in terms of volumes and production rates. This indicates that no matter which model is chosen, effort should be made to limit this uncertainty as much as possible. The models have proved to have approximately the same sensitivity to the volume of shale, with the total porosity model behaving slightly better in this study. The effect of sealing faults and variations in vertical transmissibility was also investigated, showing a different response based on the chosen model. As we can see the choice of petrophysical model has a much larger impact than faults or transmissibility settings.
Promoting Water Conservation: Where to from here?

This paper reports on a review of international water conservation efforts, but with a particular focus on the Australian context. The aim is to take stock of the current understanding of water conservation, in particular: what influences people’s decision to conserve water, what influences whether people persist with water conservation behavior and what contributes to awareness and familiarity of water conservation behaviors. We also explore how all these factors jointly can achieve water savings over time, and the efficacy of past efforts to save water. Subsequently, this is used to identify where leading practice for managing water conservation is heading, which we argue is the application of recent developments in behavioral science and advances in smart metering to personalize water conservation programs. To support individualized water conservation efforts, we need more longitudinal studies of water conservation behavior, a greater focus on behavioral science, as well as the development of modelling tools that embed insights and lessons of this research into decision support capability. This can help to develop the capacity to better implement water conservation programs that respond to short-term water scarcity crises, such as droughts, while also providing persistent reductions in per-capita water demand that can help meet strategic water planning needs, such as deferring or downsizing capital investment in supply infrastructure to accommodate demands associated with population growth.
Alcohol Dependence: The Impact of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy with or Without Naltrexone on Subjective Health Status

Objectives: To examine the health-related quality of life of alcohol-dependent patients across a 12-week cognitive behaviour treatment (CBT) program and identify whether the patient selection of the anticraving medication naltrexone further enhanced these outcomes. Method: One hundred and thirty-six consecutive alcohol-dependent subjects voluntarily participated and were offered naltrexone, of which 73 (54%) participants declined medication. A matched design was used. Of the 136 subjects, 86 (43 naltrexone and CBT; 43 CBT only) could be individually matched (blind to outcome measures) for gender, age, prior alcohol detoxification and dependence severity. Measures of health status and mental health wellbeing included the Rand Corporation Medical Outcomes Short Form 36 Health Survey (SF-36) and the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28). Results: Pre-treatment, all had SF-36 and GHQ-28 scores markedly below national norms. Post-treatment, significant improvement in seven of the eight SF-36 subscales and all of the GHQ-28 subscales occurred, approximating national normative levels. Patients in the CBT ++ naltrexone group were significantly more likely to have increased days abstinent (p = 0.002) and to complete the program abstinent (p = 0.051). The adjunctive use of naltrexone did not provide additional benefit as reflected in SF-36 and GHQ-28 scores, beyond CBT alone. Conclusions: Patients who completed the CBT-based treatment program reported significant improvements in self-reported health status (SF-36) and wellbeing (GHQ-28). The adjunctive use of naltrexone demonstrated no additional improvement in these measures.
Illegal land use change assessment using GIS and remote sensing to support sustainable land management strategies in Taiwan

Abstract Land use is changing at accelerated rates in Taiwan, and illegal land use change practices (ILP) are regularly observed within conservation areas. For this reason, we map high-potential areas of ILP within the Soil and water conservation zone (SWCZ) as an aid for effective land management and conducted an exploratory analysis of explanatory variables to evaluate their variability within ILP hot spots. We used variables relevant to hot spots to develop a logistic regression model and identified seven statistically significant variables. We re-applied the logistic regression approach to produce spatially explicit predictions of ILP. High probability areas are distributed along the coastal regions, covering 26% of the SWCZ, and their major drivers are related to accessibility and topography. The results from this research provide relevant information on the major drivers of ILP and high-potential areas, which can support officials in monitoring efforts for better planning and governance within the SWCZ.
Physical Activity Is Related with Cartilage Quality in Women with Knee Osteoarthritis

Purpose To study the relationship between 12-month leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) level and changes in estimated biochemical composition of tibiofemoral cartilage in postmenopausal women with mild knee osteoarthritis (OA). Methods Originally, 87 volunteer postmenopausal women, age 60 to 68 yr, with mild knee OA (Kellgren Lawrence I/II and knee pain) participated in a randomized controlled, 4-month aquatic training trial (RCT), after which 76 completed the 12-month postintervention follow-up period. Self-reported LTPA was collected along the 12-month period using a diary from which MET task hours per month were calculated. Participants were divided into MET task hour tertiles: 1, lowest (n = 25); 2 = middle (n = 25) and 3 = highest (n = 26). The biochemical composition of the cartilage was estimated using transverse relaxation time (T2) mapping sensitive to the properties of the collagen network and delayed gadolinium-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging of the cartilage (dGEMRIC index) sensitive to the cartilage glycosaminoglycan content. Secondary outcomes were cardiorespiratory fitness, isometric knee extension and flexion force, and the knee injury and OA outcome questionnaire. Results During the 12-month follow-up period, there was a significant linear relationship between higher LTPA level and increased dGEMRIC index changes in the posterior region of interest (ROI) of the lateral (P = 0.003 for linearity) and medial (P = 0.006) femoral cartilage. Furthermore, these changes were seen in the posterior lateral femoral cartilage superficial (P = 0.004) and deep (P = 0.007) ROI and in the posterior medial superficial ROI (P < 0.001). There was no linear relationship between LTPA level and other measured variables. Conclusions These results suggest that higher LTPA level is related to regional increases in estimated glycosaminoglycan content of tibiofemoral cartilage in postmenopausal women with mild knee OA as measured with dGEMRIC index during a 12-month period.
Hemodialysis Reliable Outflow (HeRO) Graft device: a lifesaving solution in multiple vascular access failure in haemodialysis patients

The increasing prevalence of end -stage chronic kidney disease associated with advances in treatment is expected to lead to improved survival rates of chronic haemodialysis patients in Portugal. Establishing and maintaining vascular access patency is becoming a challenging issue in these patients. We present a case report of a multiple vascular access failure patient to whom a novel vascular access device was implanted which allowed successful haemodialysis, despite the presence of central venous stenosis and/or occlusion. To our knowledge the present case report describes the first utilization of Hemodialysis Reliable Outflow (HeRO) Graft device in Portugal. We present the case as well as a brief description of the device and available literature. This case report also underlines the importance of adopting a multidisciplinary approach in order to overcome complex and life -threatening clinical challenges.
CFD Prediction of dust deposition and installation parametric optimisation for soiling mitigation in non-tracking solar PV modules

ABSTRACT The influence of installation parameters on dust accumulation behaviour for ground mounted solar photovoltaic collectors were investigated by computational fluid dynamics simulation. The effect of wind direction relative to the direction of the incident solar radiation on the photovoltaic module was also studied. The shear stress transport k − ω turbulence model and the discrete phase model were respectively adopted for wind flow simulation and dust deposition prediction. Installation parameter optimisation for minimum soiling and maximum energy generation was carried out using response surface methodology. Tilt angle was found to have a greater effect on dust deposition compared to orientation. A predictive model was developed for dust deposition and had a coefficient of determination, mean absolute percentage error and residual mean square error values of 0.983, 5.4 particles and 1.29 MWh/year respectively. The optimal installation configuration for a selected location was determined and it was found to produce 3.5% more energy than a system installed using tilt as the latitude angle and facing north in the same location. When wind flows from behind the solar photovoltaic module, there is 16% more energy generated than when wind flow is directly in front of the solar photovoltaic module at the optimal installation configuration.
Rotating NS5-brane solution and its exact string theoretical description

We construct the most general solution in type-II string theory that represents N coincident non-extremal rotating NS5-branes and determine the relevant thermodynamic quantities. We show that in the eld theory limit, it has an exact description. In particular, it can be obtained by an O(3; 3) duality transformation on the exact string background for the coset model SL(2; IR) N =U(1) SU(2)N. In the extreme supersymmetric limit we recover the multicenter solution, with a ring singularity structure, that has been discussed recently.
A Wideband Fully Integrated Software-Defined Transceiver for FDD and TDD Operation

Although there is much active research on software-defined radios (SDRs) with receive (RX) or transmit (TX) functionality, little work has been done on SDR transceivers supporting frequency division duplex (FDD). In this paper, we present a new circuit concept in which a distributed TX circuit cancels the transmitted signal at a reverse RX port through destructive interference while adding signal constructively at a forward TX port. We pair the distributed transmitter with a receiver-tracking PA degeneration technique to suppress the injected noise from TX circuits in the RX band. The system does not require off-chip filters or circulators, but still achieves both SDR flexibility and both FDD and time division duplex function. Measurements from the transceiver implemented in 65-nm CMOS show a frequency tuning range of 0.3–1.6 GHz with TX–RX isolation >23 dB and transmitted power up to 19 dBm.
Time-critical on-demand data broadcast: algorithms, analysis, and performance evaluation

On-demand broadcast is an effective wireless data dissemination technique to enhance system scalability and deal with dynamic user access patterns. With the rapid growth of time-critical information services in emerging applications, there is an increasing need for the system to support timely data dissemination. This paper investigates online scheduling algorithms for time-critical on-demand data broadcast. We propose a novel scheduling algorithm called SIN-/spl alpha/ that takes the urgency and number of outstanding requests into consideration. An efficient implementation of SIN-/spl alpha/ is presented. We also analyze the theoretical bound of request drop rate when the request arrival rate rises toward infinity. Trace-driven experiments show that SIN-/spl alpha/ significantly outperforms existing algorithms over a wide range of workloads and approaches the analytical bound at high request rates.
Neck circumference as a useful marker of obesity: a comparison with body mass index and waist circumference.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the usefulness of neck circumference as an index of excess weight and obesity in young adults while identifying its appropriate cutoff points. METHODS The study comprised 41 male and 109 female students, aged 18-20 years. Anthropometric markers of obesity were measured, including body mass index, waist circumference, hip circumference, waist-to-hip ratio, and compared with neck circumference of the same subjects. Overweight and obesity levels were defined by BMI > or = 23.0 and > or = 25.0 respectively. RESULTS Overall 29.2% males and 25.6% females were found overweight/obese. The mean body mass index was 21.7 kg/m2 in males and 21.0 kg/m2 in females. The mean waist and neck circumferences were higher in males (80.6 cm, and 35.5 cm) than females (78.1 cm, and 31.5 cm). Neck circumference had a strong positive correlation (p<0.001) with other relevant indicators in all subjects, except the waist-to-hip ratio which was applicable on males only. At BMI of 23.0 and 25.0, males had neck circumference 35.7cm and 37.5cm, while females had it at of 32.2cm and 33.5cm respectively. CONCLUSION Neck circumference is a potentially useful initial screening tool for overweight/obesity. A neck circumference > or = 35.5 cm in men and > or = 32 cm in women should be considered the cutoff point for overweight/obesity.