Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Multi-dimensional Numerical Scheme for Resistive Relativistic MHD

The paper describes a new upwind conservative numerical scheme for special relativistic resistive magnetohydrodynamics with scalar resistivity. The magnetic field is kept approximately divergence free and the divergence of the electric field consistent with the electric charge distribution via the method of Generalized Lagrange Multiplier. The hyperbolic fluxes are computed using the HLL prescription and the source terms are accounted via the time-splitting technique. The results of test simulations show that the scheme can handle equally well both resistive current sheets and shock waves and thus can be a useful tool for studying phenomena of relativistic astrophysics that involve both colliding supersonic flows and magnetic reconnection.
THE VMC SURVEY. XIX. CLASSICAL CEPHEIDS IN THE SMALL MAGELLANIC CLOUD

The “VISTA near-infrared YJKs survey of the Magellanic Clouds System” (VMC) is collecting deep Ks-band time-series photometry of pulsating variable stars hosted by the two Magellanic Clouds and their connecting Bridge. In this paper, we present Y, J, Ks light curves for a sample of 4172 Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) Classical Cepheids (CCs). These data, complemented with literature V values, allowed us to construct a variety of period–luminosity (PL), period–luminosity–color (PLC), and period–Wesenheit (PW) relationships, which are valid for Fundamental (F), First Overtone (FO), and Second Overtone (SO) pulsators. The relations involving the V, J, Ks bands are in agreement with their counterparts in the literature. As for the Y band, to our knowledge, we present the first CC PL, PW, and PLC relations ever derived using this filter. We also present the first near–infrared PL, PW, and PLC relations for SO pulsators to date. We used PW(V, Ks) to estimate the relative SMC–LMC distance and, in turn, the absolute distance to the SMC. For the former quantity, we find a value of Δμ = 0.55 ± 0.04 mag, which is in rather good agreement with other evaluations based on CCs, but significantly larger than the results obtained from older population II distance indicators. This discrepancy might be due to the different geometric distributions of young and old tracers in both Clouds. As for the absolute distance to the SMC, our best estimates are μSMC = 19.01 ± 0.05 mag and μSMC = 19.04 ± 0.06 mag, based on two distance measurements to the LMC which rely on accurate CC and eclipsing Cepheid binary data, respectively.
Adiponectin plays a protective role in caerulein-induced acute pancreatitis in mice fed a high-fat diet

Background: Obesity is a risk factor for acute pancreatitis (AP), but the molecular mechanism remains unclear. Adiponectin, an adipose tissue-derived secretory factor, has anti-inflammatory properties in addition to various biological functions, and its plasma concentrations are reduced in obese subjects. However, the role of adiponectin in AP has not been investigated. Aim: To determine the effects of adiponectin on AP. Methods: We investigated the effects of adiponectin on experimental AP by using adiponectin-knockout (APN-KO) mice and adenovirus-mediated adiponectin over-expression. AP was induced by 10 hourly intraperitoneal injections of low-dose caerulein (10 μg/kg) after 2 week feeding of normal chow or a high-fat diet (HFD) in wild-type (WT) and APN-KO mice. We evaluated the severity of AP biochemically and morphologically. Results: Low-dose caerulein treatment did not induce pancreatic damage in either WT or APN-KO mice under normal chow feeding. APN-KO mice, but not WT mice, fed a HFD and then treated with caerulein developed pancreatic damage and inflammation, accompanied by increased macrophage/neutrophil infiltration and upregulation of pro-inflammatory mediators such as tumour necrosis factor α in the pancreas. Adenovirus-mediated over-expression of adiponectin attenuated the severity of HFD/caerulein-induced AP in APN-KO mice. Conclusions: Adiponectin plays a protective role in caerulein-induced AP in HFD-fed mice.
The prevalence of and factors associated with diabetic retinopathy in the Australian population.

OBJECTIVE To determine the prevalence and factors associated with diabetic retinopathy in the Australian population and to estimate the time difference between disease onset and clinical diagnosis of type 2 diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS The Australian Diabetes, Obesity and Lifestyle study (AusDiab) included 11,247 adults aged > or =25 years in 42 randomly selected areas of Australia. Retinopathy was assessed in participants identified as having diabetes (based on self-report and oral glucose tolerance test), impaired fasting glucose, and impaired glucose tolerance and in a random sample with normal glucose tolerance. Data were available for 2,177 participants. RESULTS Overall, 15.3% of those with diabetes had retinopathy. The prevalence of retinopathy was 21.9% in those with known type 2 diabetes (KDM) and 6.2% in those newly diagnosed (NDM). The prevalence of proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) was 2.1% in those with KDM. No cases of PDR were found in those with NDM. Untreated vision threatening retinopathy (presence of PDR or macular edema) was present in 1.2% (n = 4). Factors associated with retinopathy were duration of diabetes, HbA(1c), and systolic blood pressure. Using linear extrapolation of the prevalence of retinopathy with diabetes duration, the onset of diabetes in this population was approximately the time of diagnosis. CONCLUSIONS This is one of the first national studies of diabetic retinopathy in a developed country. The prevalence of retinopathy was similar to that in other population-based studies. Vision threatening retinopathy was relatively rare; however, four untreated cases were identified. Regular screening for diabetic retinopathy and more aggressive management of modifiable risk factors could reduce the numbers of people who develop vision-threatening retinopathy.
Combine Antimicrobial Effect of Ginger and Honey on Some Human Pathogens

The aim of this study is to determine the antibacterial effects of different honey samples on clinically isolated bacteria species. Ginger (Zingiber officinales) and honey are one of the nature gifts to mankind and have been used to prevent and control disease conditions. The crude extracts of the plant materials were used with pure honey collected from various parts of Kogi State. The Agar diffusion method was used to determine the antimicrobial activity of the plant extracts, honey and combination of both against Salmonella typhi, Shigella dysenteriae, Escherichia coli and Candida albican. The growth of all test organisms were inhibited though to varying degrees by the plant extract and honey and with greater effect when combined thus justifying their use in traditional medicines in treating enteric infection and other diseases across Africa.
Plasma Fibrinogen Levels As A Prognostic Biomarker In Acute Ischemic Stroke

Background: Stroke patients have significantly higher fibrinogen levels. Previous studies revealed that, hyperfibrinogenemia at the beginning of acute ischemic stroke is associated with increased risk of death within one year after stroke. Little is known about the influence of fibrinogen levels on functional outcome. Aim: Investigate the prognostic influence of the change in the plasma fibrinogen levels after acute ischemic stroke on the functional outcome of the patients. Methods: Fibrinogen levels were determined within 24 hours and at day 5 of stroke onset. Modified Rankin Scale (mRS) at 90 days quantified functional outcomes. Pearson’s product correlation coefficient “r” was used to assess linear correlation between fibrinogen levels and mRS. Results Plasma fibrinogen levels are high in patients with acute ischemic stroke. The mean plasma fibrinogen level at the first 24 hours was 3.66 ± 0.796 g/L, while after 5 days was higher with a mean of 4.72 ± 1.669 g/L, with significant correlation with functional outcome at 90 days p <0.0001 . Conclusion: The present study found that not only the high fibrinogen level at onset of acute ischemic stroke was correlated with poor function outcome but also the sustained increase of the plasma fibrinogen level after 5 days of ischemic stroke.
Model-based dose calculations for COMS eye plaque brachytherapy using an anatomically realistic eye phantom.

PURPOSE To investigate the effects of the composition and geometry of ocular media and tissues surrounding the eye on dose distributions for COMS eye plaque brachytherapy with(125)I, (103)Pd, or (131)Cs seeds, and to investigate doses to ocular structures. METHODS An anatomically and compositionally realistic voxelized eye model with a medial tumor is developed based on a literature review. Mass energy absorption and attenuation coefficients for ocular media are calculated. Radiation transport and dose deposition are simulated using the EGSnrc Monte Carlo user-code BrachyDose for a fully loaded COMS eye plaque within a water phantom and our full eye model for the three radionuclides. A TG-43 simulation with the same seed configuration in a water phantom neglecting the plaque and interseed effects is also performed. The impact on dose distributions of varying tumor position, as well as tumor and surrounding tissue media is investigated. Each simulation and radionuclide is compared using isodose contours, dose volume histograms for the lens and tumor, maximum, minimum, and average doses to structures of interest, and doses to voxels of interest within the eye. RESULTS Mass energy absorption and attenuation coefficients of the ocular media differ from those of water by as much as 12% within the 20-30 keV photon energy range. For all radionuclides studied, average doses to the tumor and lens regions in the full eye model differ from those for the plaque in water by 8%-10% and 13%-14%, respectively; the average doses to the tumor and lens regions differ between the full eye model and the TG-43 simulation by 2%-17% and 29%-34%, respectively. Replacing the surrounding tissues in the eye model with water increases the maximum and average doses to the lens by 2% and 3%, respectively. Substituting the tumor medium in the eye model for water, soft tissue, or an alternate melanoma composition affects tumor dose compared to the default eye model simulation by up to 16%. In the full eye model simulations, the average dose to the lens is larger by 7%-9% than the dose to the center of the lens, and the maximum dose to the optic nerve is 17%-22% higher than the dose to the optic disk for all radionuclides. In general, when normalized to the same prescription dose at the tumor apex, doses delivered to all structures of interest in the full eye model are lowest for(103)Pd and highest for (131)Cs, except for the tumor where the average dose is highest for (103)Pd and lowest for (131)Cs. CONCLUSIONS The eye is not radiologically water-equivalent, as doses from simulations of the plaque in the full eye model differ considerably from doses for the plaque in a water phantom and from simulated TG-43 calculated doses. This demonstrates the importance of model-based dose calculations for eye plaque brachytherapy, for which accurate elemental compositions of ocular media are necessary.
A performance comparison of trained multilayer perceptrons and trained classification trees

Multilayer perceptrons and trained classification trees are two very different techniques which have recently become popular. Giving enough data and time, both methods are capable of performing arbitrary nonlinear classification. The two techniques have not previously been compared on real-world problems. The authors first consider the important differences between multilayer perceptrons and classification trees and conclude that there is not enough theoretical basis for the clear-cut superiority of one technique over the other. They then present results of a number of empirical tests on quite different problems in power system load forecasting and speaker-independent vowel identification. They compare the performance for classification and prediction in terms of accuracy outside the training set. In all cases, even with various sizes of training sets, the multilayer perceptron performed as well as or better than the trained classification trees. The authors are confident that the univariate version of the trained classification trees do not perform as well as the multilayer perceptron. More studies are needed, however, on the comparative performance of the linear combination version of the classification trees. <<ETX>>
Gene-Specific Effects of Inflammatory Cytokines on Cytochrome P450 2C, 2B6 and 3A4 mRNA Levels in Human Hepatocytes

Cytochromes P450 (P450s) are down-regulated in hepatocytes in response to inflammation and infection. This effect has been extensively studied in animal models, but significantly less is known about responses in humans and even less about responses in the absence of inducing agents. This article focuses on the effects of bacterial lipopolysaccaride (LPS), interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF), interferon γ (IFN), transforming growth factor-β (TGF) and interleukin-1β (IL-1) on expression of CYP2B6 and the CYP2C mRNAs in human hepatocytes. These effects were compared with responses of the better studied and more abundant CYP3A4. CYP3A4 and CYP2C8 were down-regulated by all cytokine treatments. CYP2C18, which is expressed at very low levels in liver, was unaffected by cytokine treatments. The other CYP2Cs and CYP2B6 showed cytokine-specific effects. CYP2C9 and CYP2C19 showed almost identical response patterns, being down-regulated by IL-6 and TGF but not significantly affected by LPS, TNF, IFN, or IL-1. CYP2B6 mRNA responded only to IL-6 and IFN. IL-6 down-regulated the mRNAs of all P450s studied. Western blot analysis of P450 protein expression supported the mRNA data to a large extent, although some inconsistencies were observed. Our results show that human CYP2C8, 2C9, 2C18, 2C19, 2B6, and 3A4 responses to inflammation are independently regulated and indicate that this fine control may have a critical effect on human drug responses in disease states.
Strengthening Mg by self-dispersed nano-lamellar faults

ABSTRACT Here, we show the strategies to strengthen Mg alloys through modifying the matrix by planar faults and optimizing the local lattice strain by solute atoms. The anomalous shifts of the local phonon density of state of stacking faults (SFs) and long periodic stacking-ordered structures (LPSOs) toward the high-frequency mode are revealed by HCP-FCC transformation, resulting in the increase of vibrational entropy and the decrease of free energy to stabilize the SFs and LPSOs. Through integrating bonding charge density and electronic density of states, electronic redistributions are applied to reveal the electronic basis for the ‘strengthening’ of Mg alloys. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT IMPACT STATEMENT Through integrating the bonding charge density, the phonon and electronic density of states, this work provides an atomic and electronic insight into the strengthening mechanism of Mg alloys.
Retrospective Assessment of Childhood Sexual and Physical Abuse

This study compared retrospective reports of childhood sexual and physical abuse as assessed by two measures: the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ), which uses a Likert-type scaling approach, and the Computer Assisted Maltreatment Inventory (CAMI), which employs a behaviorally specific means of assessment. Participants included 1,195 undergraduate students recruited from three geographically diverse universities. Agreement was high across the two measures in the classification of victim status (92% and 80% for sexual and physical abuse, respectively). However, the CTQ classified more participants as sexually abused than did the CAMI, whereas the opposite trend was found for physical abuse. For child physical abuse, many participants reporting abusive acts on the CAMI scored below the cut-point for physical abuse on the CTQ. Classification differences for both types of abuse were largely unrelated to demographic factors, socially desirable responding, or self-reported withholding of information. The implications of these results are discussed in light of future research using retrospective methods of assessing childhood abuse.
Helicobacter pylori Adaptation In Vivo in Response to a High-Salt Diet

ABSTRACT Helicobacter pylori exhibits a high level of intraspecies genetic diversity. In this study, we investigated whether the diversification of H. pylori is influenced by the composition of the diet. Specifically, we investigated the effect of a high-salt diet (a known risk factor for gastric adenocarcinoma) on H. pylori diversification within a host. We analyzed H. pylori strains isolated from Mongolian gerbils fed either a high-salt diet or a regular diet for 4 months by proteomic and whole-genome sequencing methods. Compared to the input strain and output strains from animals fed a regular diet, the output strains from animals fed a high-salt diet produced higher levels of proteins involved in iron acquisition and oxidative-stress resistance. Several of these changes were attributable to a nonsynonymous mutation in fur (fur-R88H). Further experiments indicated that this mutation conferred increased resistance to high-salt conditions and oxidative stress. We propose a model in which a high-salt diet leads to high levels of gastric inflammation and associated oxidative stress in H. pylori-infected animals and that these conditions, along with the high intraluminal concentrations of sodium chloride, lead to selection of H. pylori strains that are most fit for growth in this environment.
during T Cell Development Thymocytes and Is Progressively Activated Epigenetically Silent in Immature Colony-Stimulating Factor Locus Is The Human IL-3/Granulocyte-Macrophage

The closely linked IL-3 and GM-CSF genes are located within a cluster of cytokine genes co-expressed in activated T cells. Their activation in response to TCR signaling pathways is controlled by speciﬁc, inducible upstream enhancers. To study the developmental regulation of this locus in T lineage cells, we created a transgenic mouse model encompassing the human IL-3 and GM-CSF genes plus the known enhancers. We demonstrated that the IL-3/GM-CSF locus undergoes progressive stages of activation, with stepwise increases in active modiﬁcations and the proportion of cytokine-expressing cells, throughout the course of T cell differentiation. Looking ﬁrst at immature cells, we found that the IL-3/GM-CSF locus was epigenetically silent in CD4/CD8 double positive thymocytes, thereby minimizing the potential for inappropriate activation during the course of TCR selection. Furthermore, we demonstrated that the locus did not reach its maximal transcriptional potential until after T cells had undergone blast cell transformation to become fully activated proliferating T cells. Inducible locus activation in mature T cells was accompanied by noncoding transcription initiating within the enhancer elements. Signiﬁcantly, we also found that memory CD4 positive T cells, but not naive T cells, maintain a remodeled chromatin structure resembling that seen in T blast cells. The Journal of Immunology , 2010, 184: 000–000.
Transurethral instillation with fusion protein MrpH.FimH induces protective innate immune responses against uropathogenic Escherichia coli and Proteus mirabilis

Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are among the most common infections in human. Innate immunity recognizes pathogen‐associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) by Toll‐like receptors (TLRs) to activate responses against pathogens. Recently, we demonstrated that MrpH.FimH fusion protein consisting of MrpH from Proteus mirabilis and FimH from Uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) results in the higher immunogenicity and protection, as compared with FimH and MrpH alone. In this study, we evaluated the innate immunity and adjuvant properties induced by fusion MrpH.FimH through in vitro and in vivo methods. FimH and MrpH.FimH were able to induce significantly higher IL‐8 and IL‐6 responses than untreated or MrpH alone in cell lines tested. The neutrophil count was significantly higher in the fusion group than other groups. After 6 h, IL‐8 and IL‐6 production reached a peak, with a significant decline at 24 h post‐instillation in both bladder and kidney tissues. Mice instilled with the fusion and challenged with UPEC or P. mirabilis showed a significant decrease in the number of bacteria in bladder and kidney compared to control mice. The results of these studies demonstrate that the use of recombinant fusion protein encoding TLR‐4 ligand represents an effective vaccination strategy that does not require the use of a commercial adjuvant. Furthermore, MrpH.FimH was presented as a promising vaccine candidate against UTIs caused by UPEC and P. mirabilis.
Efficacy of the pear ester as a monitoring tool for codling moth Cydia pomonella (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) in New Zealand apple orchards.

BACKGROUND The behavioural response of both sexes of codling moth, Cydia pomonella to the pear-derived kairomone (ethyl (2E,4Z)-2,4-decadienoate), codling moth sex pheromone (E,E-8,10-dodecadien-1-ol), and sex pheromone combined with the pear derived kairomone loaded into red rubber septum were investigated in trapping experiments in New Zealand apple orchards. A range of 0.01-10.0 mg of pheromone loading in rubber septum dispensers was tested and the highest catch of males was in traps baited with 1.0 mg. No dose response in trap catch of males was seen in traps baited with different amounts of pear-derived kairomone (0.01-10.0 mg). RESULTS The number of females caught was significantly affected by the amount of pear derived kairomone used to bait traps, with the highest catch obtained at 10 mg loading. The attractiveness of sex pheromone was not enhanced by the addition of the kairomone either when used in the same bait or in a separate bait. The mean number of males captured in traps was reduced by 44% when the pheromone and kairomone were combined at ratio of 1:1 (0.1 mg pheromone: 0.1 mg kairomone) in separate sources. CONCLUSION Kairomone baited traps showed some potential for monitoring the flight activity of female C. pomonella in apple orchards in two locations (Canterbury and Hawke's Bay). However, the number of male moths caught was low as compared to the number of male moths caught in pheromone-baited traps, and therefore the sex pheromone should continue to be used for monitoring male activity.
Functional Inequalities in the Absence of Convexity and Lower Semicontinuity with Applications to Optimization

In this paper we extend some results in [Dinh, Goberna, Lopez, and Volle, Set-Valued Var. Anal. , to appear] to the setting of functional inequalities when the standard assumptions of convexity and lower semicontinuity of the involved mappings are absent. This extension is achieved under certain condition relative to the second conjugate of the involved functions. The main result of this paper, Theorem 1, is applied to derive some subdifferential calculus rules and different generalizations of the Farkas lemma for nonconvex systems, as well as some optimality conditions and duality theory for infinite nonconvex optimization problems. Several examples are given to illustrate the significance of the main results and also to point out the potential of their applications to get various extensions of Farkas-type results and to the study of other classes of problems such as variational inequalities and equilibrium models.