Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
STUDIES ON DIGITALIS. X. EFFECTS OF OUABAIN ON FOREARM VASCULAR RESISTANCE AND VENOUS TONE IN NORMAL SUBJECTS AND IN PATIENTS IN HEART FAILURE.

Although the therapeutic action of digitalis is generally agreed to result largely from its ability to stimulate the contraction of the myocardium, there has been considerable suspicion that cardiac glycosides may also act directly upon the systemic vascular bed. Excised arterial and venous strips contract when exposed to digitalis glycosides (1-4), and generalized systemic arteriolar and venous constriction has been induced by digitalis in-anesthetized open-chest dogs on cardiopul-monary bypass (5, 6). In normal human subjects digitalis glycosides elevate arterial pressure and either have little effect on or diminish cardiac output , thus augmenting the calculated systemic vas-cular resistance (7). More direct evidence that digitalis acts upon vascular smiiooth muscle was provided by the observation that the drug elevated systemic vascular resistance in patients on total cardiopulmonary bypass, in whom the systemic perfusion rate was held constant, and in whom the cardiac effects of the drug could not influence arterial pressure directly (8). Little information is available, however, concerning the extracardiac actions of digitalis glycosides when given in the usual clinical doses to intact human subjects. The present investigation was undertaken to characterize the effects of ouabain on a specific vascular bed, that of the forearm. The effects of the drug on both the resistance and capacitance vessels were examined in normal subjects and in patients with congestive heart failure. The effects of ouabain were determined in 12 normal subjects, between 18 and 49 years of age, and in 6 patients with congestive heart failure, between 34 and 52 years in age. Four of these patients had rheumatic mitral * valve disease and 2 had coronary artery disease. All 6 of the patients had elevated venous pressures ranging from 15.8 to 23.1 and averaging 19.3 cm H O, measured in a large antecubital vein with a water manometer and a no. 18 needle, utilizing a base line 5 cm beneath the sternal angle. At right and left heart catheterization all 6 patients had elevated pulmonary arterial and left atrial pressures and cardiac indexes below normal (2.50 L per minute per m'). At the time of the study none of the patients were being treated with diuretics or salt restriction. However, they voluntarily restricted their activities in the hospital because of symptoms of diminished cardiac reserve. All 6 were in Classes III or IV, according to the functional criteria of the New York Heart Association. A plethysmographic technique was employed for the …
HDAC9 Variant Rs2107595 Modifies Susceptibility to Coronary Artery Disease and the Severity of Coronary Atherosclerosis in a Chinese Han Population

A previous genome-wide association study showed that a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs2107595 in histone deacetylase 9 (HDAC9) gene was associated with large artery stroke (LAS) in Caucasians. Based on the similar atherosclerotic pathogenesis between LAS and coronary artery disease (CAD), we aimed to evaluate the associations of SNP rs2107595 with CAD risk and the severity of coronary atherosclerosis in a Chinese Han population, and explore the potential gene-environment interactions among SNP rs2107595 and conventional CAD risk factors. In a two-stage case-control study with a total of 2317 CAD patients and 2404 controls, the AG + AA genotypes of SNP rs2107595 were significantly associated with increased CAD risk (Adjusted odds ratio (OR) = 1.23, Padj = 0.001) and higher modified Gensini scores (Adjusted OR = 1.38, Padj < 0.001). These associations remained significant in subtype analyses for unstable angina pectoris (UAP), non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) and ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). Subgroup and multifactor dimensionality reduction analyses (MDR) further found the gene-environment interactions among SNP rs2107595, body mass index, type 2 diabetes and hyperlipidemia in CAD risk and the severity of coronary atherosclerosis. Moreover, patients with CAD had higher levels of HDAC9 mRNA expression and plasma HDAC9 than controls. Subsequent genotype-phenotype analyses observed the significant correlations of SNP rs2107595 with HDAC9 mRNA expression and plasma HDAC9 levels in controls and patients with NSTEMI and STEMI. Taken together, our data suggest that SNP rs2107595 may contribute to coronary atherosclerosis and CAD risk through a possible mechanism of regulating HDAC9 expression and gene-environment interactions.
Layered Stressors In Sheltered Homeless African-American Mothers

One of the fastest growing segments of the homeless population in the United States is families, with women and their children heading up to 90% of these families. African-Americans represent a disproportionate number within the homeless population. Homelessness is a devastating experience for women and their children who often seek an emergency homeless shelter as their only option for temporary housing. This grounded theory study explored how homeless African-American mothers and their children defined their health and managed and obtained their health for themselves and their children within the context of an emergency homeless shelter. The grounded theory of Layered Stressors emerged after fifteen homeless African-American mothers were interviewed. Health was perceived by the participants as “having your own. ” In the first stage, a perceived “loss of self-control” or loss of autonomy was given over to the shelter. In the second stage, homeless mothers experienced layered stressors which consisted of “following the shelter’s rules,” “living with strangers,” “mothering in public,” “changed behaviors of their children,” “smoking more,” “feeling trapped, helpless and powerless,” “shared infectious illnesses. ” Chronic stress affects an individual’s physical, psychological and social make-up and may contribute to allostatic load, the cumulative biologic burden exacted on the body and brain. McEwen (2002) described allostatis, and allostatic load as stressors. Allostatic load may contribute to chronic medical illnesses.
Profile of Free Fatty Acids and Fractions of Phospholipids, Cholesterol Esters and Triglycerides in Serum of Obese Youth with and without Metabolic Syndrome

The study evaluated the profile of circulating fatty acids (FA) in obese youth with and without metabolic syndrome (MetS) to determine its association with nutritional status, lifestyle and metabolic variables. A cross-sectional study was conducted in 96 young people, divided into three groups: obese with MetS (OBMS), obese (OB) and appropriate weight (AW). FA profiles were quantified by gas chromatography; waist circumference (WC), fat folds, lipid profile, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, glucose, insulin, the homeostasis model assessment (HOMA index), food intake and physical activity (PA) were assessed. The OBMS group had significantly greater total free fatty acids (FFAs), palmitic-16:0 in triglyceride (TG), palmitoleic-16:1n-7 in TG and phospholipid (PL); in the OB group, these FAs were higher than in the AW group. Dihomo-gamma-linolenic (DHGL-20:3n-6) was higher in the OBMS than the AW in PL and FFAs. Linoleic-18:2n-6 in TG and PL had the lowest proportion in the OBMS group. WC, PA, total FFA, linoleic-18:2n-6 in TG and DHGL-20:3n-6 in FFAs explained 62% of the HOMA value. The OB group presented some higher proportions of FA and biochemical values than the AW group. The OBMS had proportions of some FA in the TG, PL and FFA fractions that correlated with disturbances of MetS.
Influence of annealing temperature on ζ-CrZn13 formation in electrodeposited Zn–Cr coatings

Electrоdeposited Zn–Cr alloy coatings, containing 3.6, 5.4 and 9.4 mass % Cr were analysed by DSC and XRD. X-ray diffraction patterns of the samples show that when they are annealed to selected temperatures before and after the heat flow peaks of the DSC curve, there is an irreversible transition in all three alloys from η-(Zn, Cr) to ζ-CrZn13 phase. With increasing Cr content, the start of the transition is shifted to higher temperatures (from 180 to 250°С). The η-(Zn) phase is predominant in the annealed alloy with the lowest content of Cr. In the case of the alloy with the highest Cr content, typical XRD lines of Cr appear along with those of the ζ-CrZn13 phase. The Zn–Cr coating containing 5.4 mass % Cr transforms almost completely into ζ-CrZn13 phase with insignificant traces of residual initial η-(Zn, Cr) phase.
Intelligent financial time series forecasting: A complex neuro-fuzzy approach with multi-swarm intelligence

Financial investors often face an urgent need to predict the future. Accurate forecasting may allow investors to be aware of changes in financial markets in the future, so that they can reduce the risk of investment. In this paper, we present an intelligent computing paradigm, called the Complex Neuro-Fuzzy System (CNFS), applied to the problem of financial time series forecasting. The CNFS is an adaptive system, which is designed using Complex Fuzzy Sets (CFSs) whose membership functions are complex-valued and characterized within the unit disc of the complex plane. The application of CFSs to the CNFS can augment the adaptive capability of nonlinear functional mapping, which is valuable for nonlinear forecasting. Moreover, to optimize the CNFS for accurate forecasting, we devised a new hybrid learning method, called the HMSPSO-RLSE, which integrates in a hybrid way the so-called Hierarchical Multi-Swarm PSO (HMSPSO) and the wellknown Recursive Least Squares Estimator (RLSE). Three examples of financial time series are used to test the proposed approach, whose experimental results outperform those of other methods.
Interleukin 10, a novel B cell stimulatory factor: unresponsiveness of X chromosome-linked immunodeficiency B cells

Highly purified, small dense splenic B cells from unstimulated mice showed increased expression of class II major histocompatibility complex (MHC) antigens and enhanced viability when cultured with affinity-purified recombinant interleukin 10 (rIL-10), compared with B cells cultured in medium alone. These responses were blocked by a monoclonal antibody (mAb) specific for IL-10, but not by an isotype- matched control antibody. IL-10 did not upregulate the expression of Fc epsilon receptors (CD23) or class I MHC antigens on small dense B cells or induce their replication as monitored by [3H]thymidine incorporation. While these B cell-stimulatory properties of IL-10 are also mediated by IL-4, the two cytokines appear to act independently in these assays; anti-IL-10 antibodies blocked IL-10 but not IL-4-mediated B cell viability enhancement, and vice versa. Similarly, since IL-4 upregulates CD23 on small dense B cells, the inability of IL-10 to do so argues against its acting via endogenously generated IL-4. Finally, IL-10 did not upregulate class II MHC antigens on B cells from X chromosome-linked immunodeficiency (XID) mice, while the same cells showed normal upregulation of class II antigens in response to IL-4. This report also extends our understanding of the relationship between IL-10 and the highly homologous Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-encoded Bam HI fragment C rightward reading frame no. 1 (BCRFI) protein. It has previously been shown that BCRFI protein exhibits the cytokine synthesis inhibitory activity of IL-10. This report indicates that BCRFI protein also enhances in vitro B cell viability, but does not upregulate class II MHC antigens on B cells. One explanation for these data is that IL-10 contains at least two functional epitopes, only one of which has been conserved by EBV.
A Virtual Machine Introspection Based Architecture for Intrusion Detection

Today’s architectures for intrusion detection force the IDS designer to make a difficult choice. If the IDS resides on the host, it has an excellent view of what is happening in that host’s software, but is highly susceptible to attack. On the other hand, if the IDS resides in the network, it is more resistant to attack, but has a poor view of what is happening inside the host, making it more susceptible to evasion. In this paper we present an architecture that retains the visibility of a host-based IDS, but pulls the IDS outside of the host for greater attack resistance. We achieve this through the use of a virtual machine monitor. Using this approach allows us to isolate the IDS from the monitored host but still retain excellent visibility into the host’s state. The VMM also offers us the unique ability to completely mediate interactions between the host software and the underlying hardware. We present a detailed study of our architecture, including Livewire, a prototype implementation. We demonstrate Livewire by implementing a suite of simple intrusion detection policies and using them to detect real attacks.
Handling of long objects in iterative improvement of nonexact reconstruction in helical cone-beam CT

In medical helical cone-beam CT, it is common that the region-of-interest (ROI) is contained inside the helix cylinder, while the complete object is long and extends outside the top and the bottom of the cylinder. This is the Long Object Problem. Analytical reconstruction methods for helical cone-beam CT have been designed to handle this problem. It has been shown that a moderate amount of over-scanning is sufficient for reconstruction of a certain ROI. The over-scanning projection rays travel both through the ROI, as well as outside the ROI. This is unfortunate for iterative methods since it seems impossible to compute accurate values for the projection rays which travel partly inside and partly outside the ROI. Therefore, it seems that the useful ROI will diminish for every iteration step. We propose the following solution to the problem. First, we reconstruct volume regions also outside the ROI. These volume regions will certainly be incompletely reconstructed, but our experimental results show that they serve well for projection generation. This is rather counter-intuitive and contradictory to our initial assumptions. Second, we use careful extrapolation and masking of projection data. This is not a general necessity, but needed for the chosen iterative algorithm, which includes rebinning and iterative filtered backprojection. Our idea here was to use an approximate reconstruction method which gives cone-beam artifacts and then improve the reconstructed result by iterative filtered backprojection. The experimental results seem very encouraging. The cone-beam artifacts can indeed be removed. Even voxels close to the boundary of the ROI are as well enhanced by the iterative loop as those in the middle of the ROI
Clinical characterization of a newly described neonatal diabetes syndrome caused by RFX6 mutations

Mutations in the RFX6 gene were recently described to underlie a distinct autosomal recessive syndrome of neonatal diabetes comprising intestinal atresia and hepatobiliary abnormalities. Until now, only six patients harboring RFX6 mutations have been reported. We report on a new case due to a novel homozygous splice site mutation and update on the clinical outcome of a previously reported patient. In addition we review the clinical and molecular features of all RFX6 mutated cases to better characterize the syndrome. Our results suggest that despite the early postnatal fulminant course, patients who survive may expect a relatively favorable prognosis. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Spontaneous polarization of the Kondo problem associated with the higher-spin six-vertex model

We study the multi-channel Kondo model associated with an integrable higher-spin analogue of the anti-ferroelectric six-vertex model, which is constructed by inserting spin ½ to spin 1 lines: We formulate the problem in terms of representation theory of quantum affine algebra [1]. We derive an exact formula for the spontaneous staggered polarization for our model, which corresponds to Baxter's formula [2] for the six-vertex model.
Different mechanosensory stimulations of the lower back elicit specific changes in hemodynamics and oxygenation in cortical sensorimotor areas—A fNIRS study

This study aimed at investigating the feasibility of functional near‐infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to measure changes in cerebral hemodynamics and oxygenation evoked by painful and nonpainful mechanosensory stimulation on the lower back. The main objectives were to investigate whether cortical activity can be (1) detected using functional fNIRS, and (2) if it is possible to distinguish between painful and nonpainful pressure as well as a tactile brushing stimulus based on relative changes in oxy‐ and deoxyhemoglobin ([O2Hb] and [HHb]).
Effect of rearing system and mixing at loading on transport and lairage behaviour and meat quality : comparison of outdoor and conventionally raised pigs

The effect of raising pigs outdoors or conventionally in a barren environment was investigated with respect to behaviour during a 3 to 4 h journey and a 2 h lairage, blood chemistry at slaughter and meat quality characteristics. Pigs were either kept in farm pen groups or were mixed at loading and kept in the groups, so formed, until slaughter. Non-mixed outdoor pigs settled more quickly during transport and lay down to a greater extent at the end of the journey and lairage period compared with conventionally raised pigs. Mixing led to fewer pigs sitting and lying during transport for conventionally raised pigs, where nearly 80% were still standing at the end of the journey. Mixing had no effect on pig posture in the lairage. Outdoor pigs were less aggressive than conventionally raised pigs especially during lairage and had a lower frequency of unacceptable skin damage in the rear and shoulder area. Aggressive interactions were almost exclusively confined to mixed groups and occurred mainly between pigs from different farm pens, i.e. between unfamiliar animals. Mixing at loading led therefore to higher levels of unacceptable skin damage. Cortisol concentrations in slaughter blood were not affected by rearing system or mixing, but mixed, conventionally raised pigs had higher plasma creatine kinase (CK) activities than non-mixed ones (1132 v. 761 U/l, respectively, P , 0.05). Outdoor pigs had similar CK activities, irrespective of mixing (682 and 771 U/l for mixed and non-mixed, respectively). Muscle pH early post mortem was highest in outdoor pigs and muscle temperature lower, but no pig showed pH values below 6.0. Ultimate pH values were both higher (Semimembranosus (S)) and lower (Semispinalis capitis (SC)) than in conventionally raised pigs, and outdoor pigs tended to have a lower frequency of higher than normal pH values. Internal reflectance (MQM) values in Biceps femoris (BF) were highest in outdoor pigs but the incidence of pale, soft and exudative (PSE) meat was low, varying between 0% and 1% for experimental groups. In general, the effects of rearing system and mixing on meat quality measurements taken early post mortem or the day after slaughter were slight, but the trends seen support the CK results, and show that conventionally raised pigs may have found mixing pre-slaughter to be more physically stressful than outdoor pigs did.
Two-way admission control and resource allocation for quality of service support in location-aided mobile ad hoc networks

This paper proposes a new QoS-aware medium access control (MAC) protocol in mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs). This takes the unique challenges of MANETs into consideration, and works in conjunction with the location-based forwarding strategy. This novel protocol is based on the legacy IEEE 802.11, and thus can be relatively easily integrated into existing systems. It is adaptive and network-aware depending on the type and intensity of traffic, and relative mobility patterns of nodes. In addition, it makes use of the point-coordination-function (PCF) of IEEE 802.11 in a distributed fashion for the first time in multihop MANETs. Our strategy enables two-way admission control for improved performance, whereby the forwarder-node selection algorithm allows previous hop nodes to perform implicit admission control using locally available information, while a selected forwarder-node performs explicit admission control depending on its current load. Analytical results confirm the performance improvement of our strategy.
Obligate Role for Ketone Body Oxidation in Neonatal Metabolic Homeostasis*

To compensate for the energetic deficit elicited by reduced carbohydrate intake, mammals convert energy stored in ketone bodies to high energy phosphates. Ketone bodies provide fuel particularly to brain, heart, and skeletal muscle in states that include starvation, adherence to low carbohydrate diets, and the neonatal period. Here, we use novel Oxct1−/− mice, which lack the ketolytic enzyme succinyl-CoA:3-oxo-acid CoA-transferase (SCOT), to demonstrate that ketone body oxidation is required for postnatal survival in mice. Although Oxct1−/− mice exhibit normal prenatal development, all develop ketoacidosis, hypoglycemia, and reduced plasma lactate concentrations within the first 48 h of birth. In vivo oxidation of 13C-labeled β-hydroxybutyrate in neonatal Oxct1−/− mice, measured using NMR, reveals intact oxidation to acetoacetate but no contribution of ketone bodies to the tricarboxylic acid cycle. Accumulation of acetoacetate yields a markedly reduced β-hydroxybutyrate:acetoacetate ratio of 1:3, compared with 3:1 in Oxct1+ littermates. Frequent exogenous glucose administration to actively suckling Oxct1−/− mice delayed, but could not prevent, lethality. Brains of newborn SCOT-deficient mice demonstrate evidence of adaptive energy acquisition, with increased phosphorylation of AMP-activated protein kinase α, increased autophagy, and 2.4-fold increased in vivo oxidative metabolism of [13C]glucose. Furthermore, [13C]lactate oxidation is increased 1.7-fold in skeletal muscle of Oxct1−/− mice but not in brain. These results indicate the critical metabolic roles of ketone bodies in neonatal metabolism and suggest that distinct tissues exhibit specific metabolic responses to loss of ketone body oxidation.
Chemical equilibrium study in nucleus-nucleus collisions at relativistic energies

We present a detailed study of chemical freeze-out in nucleus-nucleus collisions at beam energies of $11.6A$, $30A$, $40A$, $80A$, and $158A\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\text{GeV}$. By analyzing hadronic multiplicities within the statistical hadronization approach, we have studied the strangeness production as a function of center-of-mass energy and of the parameters of the source. We have tested and compared different versions of the statistical model, with special emphasis on possible explanations of the observed strangeness hadronic phase space undersaturation. We show that, in this energy range, the use of hadron yields at midrapidity instead of in full phase space artificially enhances strangeness production and could lead to incorrect conclusions as far as the occurrence of full chemical equilibrium is concerned. In addition to the basic model with an extra strange quark nonequilibrium parameter, we have tested three more schemes: a two-component model superimposing hadrons coming out of single nucleon-nucleon interactions to those emerging from large fireballs at equilibrium, a model with local strangeness neutrality and a model with strange and light quark nonequilibrium parameters. The behavior of the source parameters as a function of colliding system and collision energy is studied. The description of strangeness production entails a nonmonotonic energy dependence of strangeness saturation parameter ${\ensuremath{\gamma}}_{S}$ with a maximum around $30A\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\text{GeV}$. We also present predictions of the production rates of still unmeasured hadrons including the newly discovered ${\ensuremath{\Theta}}^{+}(1540)$ pentaquark baryon.