Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Central administration of a specific angiotensin II receptor antagonist on baroreflex function in spontaneously hypertensive rats.

To determine whether the increase in baroreflex sensitivity previously reported in lifetime captopril-treated spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) was due to an inhibition of brain angiotensin II mechanisms, we tested the effect of intracerebroventricular administration of an angiotensin II receptor antagonist on baroreflex control of heart rate in lifetime captopril-treated and untreated male and female SHR. Baroreceptor reflex control of heart rate was assessed by the slope of the relationship between changes in mean arterial pressure (delta MAP, mmHg) and changes in pulse interval (delta PI, ms). MAP was raised and lowered with infusions of phenylephrine and nitroprusside, respectively. Following basal assessment of baroreflex control of heart rate, rats received an intracerebroventricular injection (100 pmol) of Sar1Thr8 angiotensin II (sarthran) and reflex control of heart rate was reassessed. Adequacy of blockade was tested with central and peripheral administration of angiotensin II. Captopril-treated male (130 +/- 7 mmHg) and female (123 +/- 4 mmHg) rats had significantly lower MAP than untreated rats (174 +/- 4 and 173 +/- 8 mmHg, respectively) and enhanced bradycardia in response to increases in MAP. Intracerebroventricular administration of sarthran had no effect on basal blood pressure or heart rate but enhanced the bradycardia in response to increases in MAP in both untreated and captopril-treated rats. The increase in the slope of the line relating delta MAP to delta PT was greater for untreated than captopril-treated SHR (male untreated 2.7-fold versus captopril-treated 1.5-fold; female untreated 1.6-fold versus captopril-treated 1.5-fold). (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Sifting informative examples from a random source.

We discuss two types of algorithms for selecting relevant examples that have been developed in the context of computation learning theory. The examples are selected out of a stream of examples that are generated independently at random. The first two algorithms are the so-called "boosting" algorithms of Sehapire [Schapire, 1990] and Freund [Freund, 1990], and the Query-by-Committee algorithm of Seung [Seung et al., 1992]. We describe the algorithms and some of their proven properties, point to some of their commonalities, and suggest some possible future implications.
Resource sharing in the attentional blink

Humans have difficulty processing more than one event at a time, as is evidenced by the attentional blink (‘blink’) phenomenon: the second of two targets in a visual stream of events cannot be reported accurately if it appears between 100 and 500 ms after the first. By using whole-head magnetoencephalography, we show that the probability of behaviourally failing to correctly identify the second target can be predicted from the amount of attentional resources devoted to processing the first target, as indexed by T1 activation. This important finding supports resource sharing accounts of divided attention tasks such as the ‘blink’; that is, such tasks may reflect an individual processing strategy rather than an immutable structural processing bottleneck.
NEW METHODS FOR AUTOMATIC READING OF VLP's (VEHICLE LICENSE PLATES)

ABSTRACT In a former work, we built a VLP (Vehicle License Plates)reader using computer vision. To test other methods, wedecided to implement a whole new system from scratch. Inthis communication, we summarize the methods that wehave tested and the results we have obtained. Platelocation is based on mathematical morphology andcharacter recognition is implemented using Hausdorffdistance. Results are comparable to those obtained withother methods. KEY WORDS Computer Vision, Morphologic Analysis, TextRecognition, Hausdorff Distance. 1. Introduction This communication describes the development of anautomatic VLP recognizer. Such a system has manypractical applications: security and accounting systems inparking facilities, traffic monitoring, stolen car detectionand other law enforcement applications.To develop this system we cleared our minds and decidedto use methods that were new for us. Our purpose was totest these methods and to compare them to other methodswe had used previously in the same problem [1]. Our nextproject is to merge both systems to get an improved one.The structure of this work is as follows:a) Recognition Algorithms: this part is the core of thepaper and explains the different computer visionmethods. We used mathematical morphology forlocating the plate. We also used image projectionsfor segmenting the caracters (this is a widely usedmethod of O.C.R. technology, but we had neverused it for plate images). Finally, we tested theHausdorff Distance for character recognition(Haussdorf Distance is a well behaved method forcomparing bilevel images). b) Practical Results: here, we see the global resultsachieved by our system. We also compare thissystem to our previous system.c) Future Lines.d) Conclusions.There are other publications that describe VLPrecognizing. For example [2] uses syntactic patternrecognition, [3] also uses morphology for location andneural networks for recognition (they do not publish theirresults), in [4] they use a bunch of heuristical methods(they get good partial results but they do not publish theglobal ones).
rats exposed to hyperoxia Isoproterenol improves ability of lung to clear edema in

rats exposed to hyperoxia Isoproterenol improves ability of lung to clear edema in You might find this additional info useful. especially those papers emphasizing adaptive and integrative mechanisms. It is published 12 times a year (monthly) by publishes original papers that deal with diverse area of research in applied physiology,
Development of a Strain-Rate Dependent Model for Uniaxial Loading of SMA Wires

This paper describes a modeling approach to incorporate the effects of nonquasistatic loading on the extensional behavior of an SMA wire. Experimental results under a variety of loading conditions indicate that the instantaneous temperature of the material is closely related to the applied strainrate in the material. In order to predict this behavior, a coupled thermo-mechanical analysis with the rate form of SMA constitutive models is formulated. The temperatures and temperature rates are not prescribed, but are derived from energy conservation of the material. The stress rate is simultaneously derived using the rate form of SMA constitutive models. Important parameters governing heat transfer such as specific heat, heat transfer and latent heat are modeled and validated with experimental data. For the material tested (0.38 mm diameter SMA wire), the quasistatic strain rate below which no significant deviation in material characteristics are observed was empirically determined to be about 0.0005/s. At a strain rate of 0.01/s, the transformation stresses in the material are increased by approximately 0.5 × 10 8 Pa, accompanied by an increase in temperature of about 2°C over the quasistatic values. The predictions for the stress-strain curves are compared with experimental data at different strain rates over a range of environmental temperatures, and are found to be in good qualitative agreement. The model is also shown to be in good qualitative agreement with the experimental behavior under more complex loading conditions involving two different strain rates of loading. Parametric variation of the model coefficients is discussed. Although the qualitative aspects of the model are in good agreement with experimental data, it is argued that more comprehensive estimation of the model parameters is required to assess the quantitative aspects of the model. The model described in the paper uses the rate forms of the Brinson model. However, it is equally applicable with a modified rate-dependant form of any other quasistatic model describing SMA behavior.
An Evaluation of Staged Run-Time Optimizations in DyC

Previous selective dynamic compilation systems have demonstrated that dynamic compilation can achieve performance improvements at low cost on small kernels, but they have had difficulty scaling to larger programs. To overcome this limitation, we developed DyC, a selective dynamic compilation system that includes more sophisticated and flexible analyses and transformations. DyC is able to achieve good performance improvements on programs that are much larger and more complex than the kernels. We analyze the individual optimizations of DyC and assess their impact on performance collectively and individually.
Modeling of Tension-Stiffening Behavior of Reinforced Concrete Ties Strengthened with Fiber Reinforced Plastic Sheets

A model to analyze the behavior of reinforced concrete tension ties strengthened with fiber reinforced plastic (FRP) laminates is developed that allows introduction of a nonlinear constitutive relationship for materials and bond-slip laws at the steel and FRP interface. Experimental results are introduced and compared with analytical results confirming the model reliability. By using the model, a numerical study is carried out to provide evidence of the influence of the amount of fibers and the tension-stiffening behavior of strengthened elements. Considering elements with the same mechanical percentage of reinforcement but composed of different amounts of steel and fibers, the stiffness is influenced only after steel yielding, even if the crack width is reduced by the external strengthening. Finally, evidence is provided for the reduction of tension stiffening in strengthened elements due to reduction of crack spacing.
Bisulfite genomic sequencing: systematic investigation of critical experimental parameters

Bisulfite genomic sequencing is the method of choice for the generation of methylation maps with single-base resolution. The method is based on the selective deamination of cytosine to uracil by treatment with bisulfite and the sequencing of subsequently generated PCR products. In contrast to cytosine, 5-methylcytosine does not react with bisulfite and can therefore be distinguished. In order to investigate the potential for optimization of the method and to determine the critical experimental parameters, we determined the influence of incubation time and incubation temperature on the deamination efficiency and measured the degree of DNA degradation during the bisulfite treatment. We found that maximum conversion rates of cytosine occurred at 55 degrees C (4-18 h) and 95 degrees C (1 h). Under these conditions at least 84-96% of the DNA is degraded. To study the impact of primer selection, homologous DNA templates were constructed possessing cytosine-containing and cytosine-free primer binding sites, respectively. The recognition rates for cytosine (>/=97%) and 5-methylcytosine (>/=94%) were found to be identical for both templates.
Structural Determinants of Imidazoacridinones Facilitating Antitumor Activity Are Crucial for Substrate Recognition by ABCG2

Symadex is the lead acridine compound of a novel class of imidazoacridinones (IAs) currently undergoing phase II clinical trials for the treatment of various cancers. Recently, we have shown that Symadex is extruded by ABCG2-overexpressing lung cancer A549/K1.5 cells, thereby resulting in a marked resistance to certain IAs. To identify the IA residues essential for substrate recognition by ABCG2, we here explored the ability of ABCG2 to extrude and confer resistance to a series of 23 IAs differing at defined residue(s) surrounding their common 10-azaanthracene structure. Taking advantage of the inherent fluorescent properties of IAs, ABCG2-dependent efflux and drug resistance were determined in A549/K1.5 cells using flow cytometry in the presence or absence of fumitremorgin C, a specific ABCG2 transport inhibitor. We find that a hydroxyl group at one of the R1, R2, or R3 positions in the proximal IA ring was essential for ABCG2-mediated efflux and consequent IA resistance. Moreover, elongation of the common distal aliphatic side chain attenuated ABCG2-dependent efflux, thereby resulting in the retention of parental cell sensitivity. Hence, the current study offers novel molecular insight into the structural determinants that facilitate ABCG2-mediated drug efflux and consequent drug resistance using a unique platform of fluorescent IAs. Moreover, these results establish that the IA determinants mediating cytotoxicity are precisely those that facilitate ABCG2-dependent drug efflux and IA resistance. The possible clinical implications for the future design of novel acridines that overcome ABCG2-dependent multidrug resistance are discussed.
Effect of secondary infection on epithelialisation and total healing of cutaneous leishmaniasis lesions

BACKGROUND Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) generally presents with a single or several localised cutaneous ulcers without involvement of mucous membranes. Ulcerated lesions are susceptible to secondary contamination that may slow the healing process. OBJECTIVE This study verified the influence of non-parasitic wound infection on wound closure (epithelialisation) and total healing. METHODS Twenty-five patients with a confirmed diagnosis of CL and ulcerated lesions underwent biopsy of ulcer borders. One direct microbial parameter (germ identification in cultures) and four indirect clinical parameters (secretion, pain, burning sensation, pruritus) were analysed. FINDINGS Biopsies of ten lesions showed secondary infection by one or two microorganisms (Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Enterococcus faecalis, Streptococcus pyogenes and Candida parapsilosis). “Secretion” and “burning sensation” influenced epithelialisation time but not total healing time. Positive detection of germs in the ulcer border and “pain” and “pruritus” revealed no influence on wound closure. CONCLUSIONS Our borderline proof of clinical CL ulcer infection inhibiting CL wound healing supports the need to follow antimicrobial stewardship in CL ulcer management, which was recently proposed for all chronic wounds.
Pharmacist Advancement of Transitions of Care to Home (PATCH) Service

Background There is a paucity of literature on a well-defined role of a pharmacist in different aspects of transition of care service (TCS). Although health care institutions have specific details on the discharge process, there is a need for a sustainable TCS with a well-defined role of pharmacists. Objective To describe the impact of a pharmacist-led TCS on acute health care utilization, clinic quality indicators, and identification and resolution of medication-related problems (MRPs). Methods A pharmacist-managed TCS service, referred to as the Pharmacist Advancement of Transitions of Care to Home (PATCH) service, was established at an academic medical center, where high-risk patients received a postdischarge phone call from a pharmacist followed by a face-to-face meeting with the pharmacist and the patient's primary care provider (PCP). In a prospective transitions of care group (n = 74), outcomes of patients such as acute health care utilization (an emergency department visit or an inpatient readmission, within 30 days post discharge), clinic quality indicators, and identification and resolution of MRPs were compared to a retrospective control group (n = 87) who received the standard of care. Results Utilization of acute health care services was significantly lower in the prospective group compared to the retrospective control group (23% vs 41.4%; P = .013). A total of 49 MRPs were discovered in patients who received the TCS. Conclusions Pharmacists play an integral role in improving the transitions of care to reduce acute health care utilization. In addition, they may improve care transitions by optimizing clinic quality indicators and by identifying and resolving MRPs.
Augmented brain function by coordinated reset stimulation with slowly varying sequences

Several brain disorders are characterized by abnormally strong neuronal synchrony. Coordinated Reset (CR) stimulation was developed to selectively counteract abnormal neuronal synchrony by desynchronization. For this, phase resetting stimuli are delivered to different subpopulations in a timely coordinated way. In neural networks with spike timing-dependent plasticity CR stimulation may eventually lead to an anti-kindling, i.e., an unlearning of abnormal synaptic connectivity and abnormal synchrony. The spatiotemporal sequence by which all stimulation sites are stimulated exactly once is called the stimulation site sequence, or briefly sequence. So far, in simulations, pre-clinical and clinical applications CR was applied either with fixed sequences or rapidly varying sequences (RVS). In this computational study we show that appropriate repetition of the sequence with occasional random switching to the next sequence may significantly improve the anti-kindling effect of CR. To this end, a sequence is applied many times before randomly switching to the next sequence. This new method is called SVS CR stimulation, i.e., CR with slowly varying sequences. In a neuronal network with strong short-range excitatory and weak long-range inhibitory dynamic couplings SVS CR stimulation turns out to be superior to CR stimulation with fixed sequences or RVS.
Do Lower Student to Counselor Ratios Reduce School Disciplinary Problems?

Abstract The American School Counselor Association (ASCA) recommends that there be no more than 250 students to each school counselor. Although numerous studies in the education literature show that school counselors play a positive role in educating children, to our knowledge, this is the first study answering the question of whether lower student to counselor ratios, all else equal, improve student outcomes. Using data provided to us by Florida's Alachua County School District and the University of Florida Counselor Education Department, we show that lower student to counselor ratios decrease both the recurrence of student disciplinary problems and the share of students involved in a disciplinary incident. These effects are greater for minority and low-income students. The fixed-effect models used, control for all unobserved heterogeneity across schools, isolating the effects on discipline from the within-school changes in the student-to-counselor ratio. The empirical methodologies employed produce unbiased estimates as long as the variation in the student to counselor ratio is not driven by unobserved factors that affect disciplinary outcomes.
Device design considerations for double-gate, ground-plane, and single-gated ultra-thin SOI MOSFET's at the 25 nm channel length generation

We present a simulation-based analysis of device design at the 25 nm channel length generation. Double-gate, ground-plane, and single-gated ultra-thin SOI MOSFET's are considered. Dependencies of short-channel effects on channel thickness and ground-plane bias are illustrated. Two-dimensional field effects in the gate insulator (high k) and the buried insulator (low k) in single-gate SOI are studied.
On the Approximation of Instance Level Update and Erasure in Description Logics

A Description Logics knowledge base is constituted by two components, called TBox and ABox, where the former expresses general knowledge about the concepts and their relationships, and the latter describes the properties of instances of concepts. We address the problem of how to deal with changes to a Description Logic knowledge base, when these changes affect only its ABox. We consider two types of changes namely update and erasure, and we characterize the semantics of these operations on the basis of the approaches proposed by Winslett and by Katsuno and Mendelzon. It is well known that, in general, Description Logics are not closed with respect to updates, in the sense that the set of models corresponding to an update applied to a knowledge base in a Description Logic L may not be expressible by ABoxes in L. We show that this is true also for erasure. To deal with this problem, we introduce the notion of best approximation of an update (erasure) in a DL L, with the goal of characterizing the L ABoxes that capture the update (erasure) at best. We then focus on DL-LiteF, a tractable Description Logic, and present polynomial algorithms for computing the best approximation of updates and erasures in this logic, which shows that the nice computational properties of DL-LiteF are retained in dealing with the evolution of the ABox.
Glucocorticoid Therapy-Induced Memory Deficits: Acute versus Chronic Effects

Conditions with chronically elevated glucocorticoid levels are usually associated with declarative memory deficits. Considerable evidence suggests that long-term glucocorticoid exposure may cause cognitive impairment via cumulative and long-lasting influences on hippocampal function and morphology. However, because elevated glucocorticoid levels at the time of retention testing are also known to have direct impairing effects on memory retrieval, it is possible that such acute hormonal influences on retrieval processes contribute to the memory deficits found with chronic glucocorticoid exposure. To investigate this issue, we examined memory functions and hippocampal volume in 24 patients with rheumatoid arthritis who were treated either chronically (5.3 ± 1.0 years, mean ± SE) with low to moderate doses of prednisone (7.5 ± 0.8 mg, mean ± SE) or without glucocorticoids. In both groups, delayed recall of words learned 24 h earlier was assessed under conditions of either elevated or basal glucocorticoid levels in a double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover design. Although the findings in this patient population did not provide evidence for harmful effects of a history of chronic prednisone treatment on memory performance or hippocampal volume per se, acute prednisone administration 1 h before retention testing to either the steroid or nonsteroid group impaired word recall. Thus, these findings indicate that memory deficits observed under chronically elevated glucocorticoid levels result, at least in part, from acute and reversible glucocorticoid effects on memory retrieval.
Multiple timescale processes drive ecosystem metabolism in eelgrass (Zostera marina) meadows

The oxygen flux between benthic eco- systems and the overlying water column is a measure of metabolic status and a commonly used proxy for carbon cycling. In this study, oxygen flux was meas- ured seasonally using the eddy correlation technique in a restored eelgrass (Zostera marina L.) meadow in the Virginia coastal bays (USA). In 5 intensive field campaigns, we covered seasonal variation in oxygen metabolism and biomass with overlap in late summer to observe interannual variability. The high-resolution measurements allowed identification of the drivers of metabolism at multiple timescales: minute to hourly, daily, and monthly to seasonally. There was a strong correlation between nighttime hourly fluxes and current velocity that varied seasonally with seagrass shoot density and temperature. No similar relationship was observed during the day. A hysteresis effect in oxygen flux throughout the day was observed during October and August that was most likely due to in- creased respiration (R) in the afternoon. In October, net community production was 90% lower in the af- ternoon than in the morning at the same irradiance. From this hysteresis, we calculated that daytime R may be up to 2.5-fold larger than nighttime R. The magnitudes of daily gross primary production (GPP) and R were well correlated throughout the year with close to a 1:1 ratio that reflected a tight coupling be- tween GPP and R on daily to seasonal timescales. Our results document the dynamic nature of oxygen fluxes that, when integrated over time, translate into highly variable rates of ecosystem metabolism over daily to seasonal timescales. This variation must be incorpo- rated to accurately determine trophic status.