Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Potentials of Long Noncoding RNAs (LncRNAs) in Sarcoma: From Biomarkers to Therapeutic Targets

Sarcoma includes some of the most heterogeneous tumors, which make the diagnosis, prognosis and treatment of these rare yet diverse neoplasms especially challenging. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are important regulators of cancer initiation and progression, which implies their potential as neoteric prognostic and diagnostic markers in cancer, including sarcoma. A relationship between lncRNAs and sarcoma pathogenesis and progression is emerging. Recent studies demonstrate that lncRNAs influence sarcoma cell proliferation, metastasis, and drug resistance. Additionally, lncRNA expression profiles are predictive of sarcoma prognosis. In this review, we summarize contemporary advances in the research of lncRNA biogenesis and functions in sarcoma. We also highlight the potential for lncRNAs to become innovative diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers as well as therapeutic targets in sarcoma.
Factors Associated with Low Levels of HIV Testing among Men Who Have Sex with Men (MSM) in Brazil

The aim of this study was to assess risk factors associated with low levels of HIV testing among MSM recruited through respondent driven sampling (RDS) in Brazil. Of 3,617 participants, 48.4% had never tested previously for HIV. A logistic model indicated that younger age, lower socioeconomic class, education, poor HIV/AIDS knowledge, no history of cruising, and having been tested during the study were characteristics independently associated with low levels of previous HIV testing. The HIV testing rate among MSM in Brazil is still low in spite of the availability of a large number services providing universal and free access to HIV/AIDS diagnosis and treatment. To respond to low utilization, the authors propose a higher priority for testing for key populations such as MSM, expanded education, expanding testing sites and a welcoming and nonjudgmental environment in health services.
Local sex ratio affects the cost of reproduction.

1. Costs and benefits of reproduction are central to life-history theory, and the outcome of reproductive trade-offs may depend greatly on the ecological conditions in which they are estimated. In this study, we propose that costs and benefits of reproduction are modulated by social effects, and consequently that selection on reproductive rates depends on the social environment. 2. We tested this hypothesis in a great tit Parus major population. Over 3 years, we altered parental reproductive effort via brood size manipulations (small, intermediate, large) and manipulated the local social environment via changes in the local fledgling density (decreased, increased) and the local sex ratio (female-biased, control, male-biased). 3. We found that male-biased treatment consistently increased the subsequent local breeding densities over the 3-year study period. We also found that parents rearing small broods in these male-biased plots had increased survival rates compared with the other experimental groups. 4. We conclude that reproductive costs are the product of an interaction between parental phenotypic quality after reproduction and the social environment: raising a small brood had long-lasting effects on some phenotypic traits of the parents and that this increased their survival chances in male-biased environment where habitat quality may have deteriorated (via increased disease/predation risk or intraspecific competition). 5. Our results provide the first experimental evidence that local sex ratio can affect reproductive costs and thus optimal clutch size.
Sodium dependency of L-alanine absorption in canine Thiry-Vella loops 1

The effect of sodium on the absorption of L-alanine in vivo was tested by measuring the absorption of L-alanine from Thiry-Vella loops in dogs. Solutions containing L-alanine (10 or 50 mM) sodium at concentrations of 0, 74, or 145 m-equiv/1 and mannitol, as needed to maintain isotonicity were instilled into the loops for 10 minutes. Similar studies were done with L-alanine 50 mM and either 0 or 145 m-equiv/1 of sodium for five minutes. Under all conditions absorption of alanine was significantly less from the solution initially free of sodium. Although these differences were statistically significant, the physiological significance was not great since the actual differences in amounts of L-alanine absorbed were small. Insorption of sodium was low from the fluid which initially had no sodium, but exsorption proceeded rapidly and was unaffected by the luminal sodium concentration. This resulted in a rapid rise of intraluminal sodium concentration when no sodium was initially present. This persistent exsorption of sodium was, therefore, adequate to provide sodium in the lumen to activate the sodium-dependent carrier, postulated on the basis of studies in vitro. These data in vivo are consistent with the view that sodium at the intraluminal surface is important in accelerating amino acid transport, but indicate that in the absence of added intraluminal sodium the gut mucosa itself, under normal circumstances, provides the sodium needed for L-alanine absorption.
Mid-Infrared Galaxy Morphology along the Hubble Sequence

The mid-infrared emission from 18 nearby galaxies were imaged with the Infrared Array Camera (IRAC) on the Spitzer Space Telescope, sampling the spatial distributions of the reddening-free stellar photospheric emission and the warm dust in the interstellar medium. These two components provide a new framework for galaxy morphology classification in which the presence of spiral arms and their emission strength relative to the starlight can be measured directly and with high contrast. Four mid-infrared classification methods are explored, three of which are based on quantitative global parameters (colors and bulge-to-disk ratio) that are similar to those used in the past for optical studies; in this limited sample, all correlate well with traditional B-band classification. We suggest reasons why infrared classification may be superior to optical classification.
Impaired Gas Mixing and Low Lung Volume in Preterm Infants with Mild Chronic Lung Disease

The aim of this study was to assess the possible role of gas mixing inefficiency in spontaneously breathing infants with mild chronic lung disease(CLD) of prematurity in relation to changes in other functional parameters. A simple bedside technique for recording and analysis of multiple breath nitrogen washout curves was applied together with occlusion mechanics. Fifteen preterm infants with mild or moderately severe CLD were studied at a mean postconceptional age of 35 wk, together with 15 healthy preterm infants at the same maturity. All infants breathed spontaneously, and the test was performed by a continuous bypass flow system, connected to a face mask, a pneumotachograph, and a nitrogen meter. The results showed impaired gas mixing with moment ratios above the 95th percentile of the normal group in 11/15 infants with CLD. Functional residual capacity (FRC) was low in 13/15 infants, but specific compliance and resistance of the respiratory system did not differ between the groups. As FRC and moment ratios were not correlated, it is suggested that they may reflect different aspects of the pathophysiology in CLD. It is concluded that low FRC and disturbed gas mixing are characteristic disturbances in CLD at different degrees of severity. The multiple breath nitrogen washout test, followed by moment analysis of end-tidal nitrogen concentrations, is a simple and sensitive method for detection of these disturbances and for monitoring purposes.
Hydrogen Epoch of Reionization Array (HERA)

The Hydrogen Epoch of Reionization Array (HERA) is a staged experiment to measure 21 cm emission from the primordial intergalactic medium (IGM) throughout cosmic reionization (z = 6–12), and to explore earlier epochs of our Cosmic Dawn (z ∼ 30). During these epochs, early stars and black holes heated and ionized the IGM, introducing fluctuations in 21 cm emission. HERA is designed to characterize the evolution of the 21 cm power spectrum to constrain the timing and morphology of reionization, the properties of the first galaxies, the evolution of large-scale structure, and the early sources of heating. The full HERA instrument will be a 350-element interferometer in South Africa consisting of 14 m parabolic dishes observing from 50 to 250 MHz. Currently, 19 dishes have been deployed on site and the next 18 are under construction. HERA has been designated as an SKA Precursor instrument. In this paper, we summarize HERA’s scientific context and provide forecasts for its key science results. After reviewing the current state of the art in foreground mitigation, we use the delay-spectrum technique to motivate high-level performance requirements for the HERA instrument. Next, we present the HERA instrument design, along with the subsystem specifications that ensure that HERA meets its performance requirements. Finally, we summarize the schedule and status of the project. We conclude by suggesting that, given the realities of foreground contamination, current-generation 21 cm instruments are approaching their sensitivity limits. HERA is designed to bring both the sensitivity and the precision to deliver its primary science on the basis of proven foreground filtering techniques, while developing new subtraction techniques to unlock new capabilities. The result will be a major step toward realizing the widely recognized scientific potential of 21 cm cosmology.
Expression of nestin–green fluorescent protein transgene marks oval cells in the adult liver

Oval cells, which become apparent in the liver after chronic injury, serve as bipotent progenitors for differentiated hepatocytes and cholangiocytes. We found that, in the liver of adult transgenic mice in which expression of green fluorescent protein (GFP) is driven by regulatory elements of the nestin gene, the GFP signal marks a subpopulation of small epithelial cells that meet the criteria for oval cells, including morphology, localization, antigenic profile, and reactivity in response to injury. In the regenerating and developing liver, we also found nestin‐GFP–positive cells that express hepatocyte markers; such cells may correspond to transiently appearing differentiating progeny of oval cells. During development, GFP‐expressing cells in the liver emerge relatively late, after the appearance of differentiated hepatocytes and cholangiocytes. Our results suggest that nestin‐GFP cells in the liver correspond to a specialized cell type whose primary function may be to serve as a reserve for adult liver epithelial cell types. Development Dynamics 234:413–421, 2005. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Evaluating the use of lecture capture using a revealed preference approach

This article discusses the introduction of lecture capture technology on a large undergraduate module with diverse student cohorts. The literature has, so far, relied on surveying students to discover their use of the technology or attempted to quantify the impact of watching lecture recordings on assessment performance. Alternatively, the principal contribution of this article is an evaluation of the use of the recorded lectures using a revealed preference approach. Specifically, we identify to what extent students watched lecture recordings, rather than simply claimed to watch them, when asked to provide comments on the technology. Data indicate the number of distinct students who watched recordings, the frequency with which they watched recordings, the average length of viewings as well as the time of the day when lectures were viewed. We monitored viewings over two academic years, identifying ‘spikes’ in the number of viewings in the days before tests, as well as regularities in the viewing patterns across the 2 years. We analyse the data to assess the extent to which students used the recordings, how and when they watched the recordings. We conclude that the students value lecture recordings, making more extensive use of the recordings than has been identified in the literature, to date. Ultimately, lecture recordings are suggested to offer valuable support for students’ independent study.
Simple Risk Model Predicts Incidence of Atrial Fibrillation in a Racially and Geographically Diverse Population: the CHARGE‐AF Consortium

Background Tools for the prediction of atrial fibrillation (AF) may identify high‐risk individuals more likely to benefit from preventive interventions and serve as a benchmark to test novel putative risk factors. Methods and Results Individual‐level data from 3 large cohorts in the United States (Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities [ARIC] study, the Cardiovascular Health Study [CHS], and the Framingham Heart Study [FHS]), including 18 556 men and women aged 46 to 94 years (19% African Americans, 81% whites) were pooled to derive predictive models for AF using clinical variables. Validation of the derived models was performed in 7672 participants from the Age, Gene and Environment—Reykjavik study (AGES) and the Rotterdam Study (RS). The analysis included 1186 incident AF cases in the derivation cohorts and 585 in the validation cohorts. A simple 5‐year predictive model including the variables age, race, height, weight, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, current smoking, use of antihypertensive medication, diabetes, and history of myocardial infarction and heart failure had good discrimination (C‐statistic, 0.765; 95% CI, 0.748 to 0.781). Addition of variables from the electrocardiogram did not improve the overall model discrimination (C‐statistic, 0.767; 95% CI, 0.750 to 0.783; categorical net reclassification improvement, −0.0032; 95% CI, −0.0178 to 0.0113). In the validation cohorts, discrimination was acceptable (AGES C‐statistic, 0.664; 95% CI, 0.632 to 0.697 and RS C‐statistic, 0.705; 95% CI, 0.664 to 0.747) and calibration was adequate. Conclusion A risk model including variables readily available in primary care settings adequately predicted AF in diverse populations from the United States and Europe.
The general supersymmetric solution of topologically massive supergravity

We find the general fully nonlinear solution of topologically massive supergravity admitting a Killing spinor. It is of plane-wave type, with a null Killing vector field. Conversely, we show that all solutions with a null Killing vector are supersymmetric for one or the other choice of sign for the Chern–Simons coupling constant μ. If μ does not take the critical value, μ = ±1, these solutions are asymptotically regular on a Poincaré patch, but do not admit a smooth global compactification with boundary . In the critical case, the solutions have a logarithmic singularity on the boundary of the Poincaré patch. We derive a Nester–Witten identity, which allows us to identify the associated charges, but we conclude that the presence of the Chern–Simons term prevents us from making a statement about their positivity. The Nester–Witten procedure is applied to the BTZ black hole.
Evaluation of an rRNA-derived oligonucleotide probe for culture confirmation of Neisseria gonorrhoeae

The reliability of an rRNA-derived oligonucleotide probe for Neisseria gonorrhoeae was tested with 187 N. gonorrhoeae isolates, 81 Neisseria meningitidis isolates, and several strains of other bacterial species. The probe proved to be 100% specific and 100% sensitive. N. gonorrhoeae cells could also be reliably identified in contaminated cultures with the oligonucleotide probe. The 2.6-megadalton cryptic plasmid used as a probe for N. gonorrhoeae was shown to be less sensitive, detecting 179 of 181 N. gonorrhoeae isolates.
Occupational Radiation Exposure during Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography and Usefulness of Radiation Protective Curtains

Objective. To evaluate the effectiveness of radiation protective curtains in reducing the occupational radiation exposure of medical personnel. Methods. We studied medical staff members who had assisted in 80 consecutive therapeutic endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) procedures. Use of radiation protective curtains mounted to the X-ray tube was determined randomly for each procedure, and radiation doses were measured with electronic pocket dosimeters placed outside the protective apron. Results. When protective curtains were not used, the mean radiation doses to endoscopists, first assistants, second assistants, and nurses were 340.9, 27.5, 45.3, and 33.1 µSv, respectively; doses decreased to 42.6, 4.2, 13.1, and 10.6 µSv, respectively, when protective curtains were used (P < 0.01). When the patient had to be restrained during ERCP (n = 8), the radiation dose to second assistants without protective curtains increased by a factor of 9.95 (P < 0.01) relative to cases in which restraint was not required. Conclusions. During ERCP, not only endoscopists, but also assistants and nurses were exposed to high doses of radiation. Radiation exposure to staff members during ERCP was reduced with the use of protective curtains.
Intersections of graphs

Let G and H be two graphs of order n. If we place copies of G and H on a common vertex set, how much or little can they be made to overlap? The aim of this article is to provide some answers to this question, and to pose a number of related problems. Along the way, we solve a conjecture of Erd ős, Goldberg, Pach and Spencer. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 66:261‐282, 2011
A Review on SWAT Model for Stream Flow Simulation

SWAT (Soil and Water Assessment Tool) model is one of distributed hydrological model, based on spatial data offered by GIS and RS. This article mainly introduces the SWAT model principle, structure, and it is the application of stream flow simulation in China and other countries, then points out the deficiency existing in the process of model research. In order to service in water resources management work better, experts and scholars further research the rate constant and uncertainty of the simplification of the model parameters, and the combination of RS and GIS to use, and hydrological scale problems.
Hepatic Cytochrome P450s, Phase II Enzymes and Nuclear Receptors Are Downregulated in a Th2 Environment during Schistosoma mansoni Infection

Inflammation and infection downregulate the activity and expression of cytochrome P450s (P450s) and other drug metabolizing enzymes (DMEs) involved in hepatic drug clearance. Schistosoma mansoni infection was reported to cause a downregulation of hepatic P450-dependent activities in mouse liver, but little is known about the specific enzymes affected or whether phase II DMEs are also affected. Here we describe the effect of murine schistosomiasis on the expression of hepatic P450s, NADPH-cytochrome P450 reductase (Cpr), phase II drug metabolizing enzymes, and nuclear receptors at 30 and 45 days postinfection (dpi). Although the hepatic expression of some of these genes was altered at 30 dpi, we observed substantial changes in the expression of the majority of P450 mRNAs and proteins measured, Cpr protein, as well as many of the UDP-glucuronosyltransferases and sulfotransferases at 45 dpi. S. mansoni infection also altered nuclear receptor expression, inducing mRNA levels at 30 dpi and depressing levels at 45 dpi. S. mansoni evoked a T helper 2 (Th2) inflammatory response at 45 dpi, as indicated by the induction of hepatic Th2 cytokine mRNAs [interleukins 4, 5, and 13], whereas the hepatic proinflammatory response was relatively weak. Thus, chronic schistosomiasis markedly and selectively alters the expression of multiple DMEs, which may be associated with Th2 cytokine release. This would represent a novel mechanism of DME regulation in disease states. These findings have important implications for drug testing in infected mice, whereas the relevance to humans with schistosomiasis needs to be determined.
Randomized clinical trials and observational studies are more often alike than unlike.

46. O’Keefe JH Jr, Kim SC, Hall RR, Cochran VC, Lawhorn SL, McCallister BD. Estrogen replacement therapy after coronary angioplasty in women. J Am Coll Cardiol. 1997;29(1):1-5. 47. Hulley S, Grady D, Bush T, et al; Heart and Estrogen/progestin Replacement Study (HERS) Research Group. Randomized trial of estrogen plus progestin for secondary prevention of coronary heart disease in postmenopausal women. JAMA. 1998;280(7):605-613.
Whats Worth Memorizing: Attribute-Based Planning for DEC-POMDPs

Abstract : Current algorithms for decentralized partially observable Markov decision processes (DEC-POMDPs) require a large amount of memory to produce high quality plans. To combat this, existing methods optimize a set of finite-state controllers with an arbitrary amount of fixed memory. While this works well for some problems, in general, scalability and solution quality remain limited. As an alternative, we propose remembering some attributes that summarize key aspects of an agents action and observation history. These attributes are often simple to determine, provide a well-motivated choice of controller size and focus the solution search on important components of agent histories. We show that for a range of DEC-POMDPs such attribute-based representation improves plan quality and scalability.
Phylogeography and Population Genetic Structure of the Ornate Dragon Lizard, Ctenophorus ornatus

Species inhabiting ancient, geologically stable landscapes that have been impacted by agriculture and urbanisation are expected to have complex patterns of genetic subdivision due to the influence of both historical and contemporary gene flow. Here, we investigate genetic differences among populations of the granite outcrop-dwelling lizard Ctenophorus ornatus, a phenotypically variable species with a wide geographical distribution across the south-west of Western Australia. Phylogenetic analysis of mitochondrial DNA sequence data revealed two distinct evolutionary lineages that have been isolated for more than four million years within the C. ornatus complex. This evolutionary split is associated with a change in dorsal colouration of the lizards from deep brown or black to reddish-pink. In addition, analysis of microsatellite data revealed high levels of genetic structuring within each lineage, as well as strong isolation by distance at multiple spatial scales. Among the 50 outcrop populations’ analysed, non-hierarchical Bayesian clustering analysis revealed the presence of 23 distinct genetic groups, with outcrop populations less than 4 km apart usually forming a single genetic group. When a hierarchical analysis was carried out, almost every outcrop was assigned to a different genetic group. Our results show there are multiple levels of genetic structuring in C. ornatus, reflecting the influence of both historical and contemporary evolutionary processes. They also highlight the need to recognise the presence of two evolutionarily distinct lineages when making conservation management decisions on this species.