Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Aneugenic Effects of Epirubicin in Somatic and Germinal Cells of Male Mice

The ability of the antineoplastic agent epirubicin to induce aneuploidy and meiotic delay in the somatic and germinal cells of male mice was investigated by fluorescence in situ hybridization assay using labeled DNA probes and BrdU-incorporation assay. Mitomycin C and colchicine were used as positive controls for clastogen and aneugen, respectively, and these compounds produced the expected responses. The fluorescence in situ hybridization assay with a centromeric DNA probe for erythrocyte micronuclei showed that epirubicin is not only clastogenic but also aneugenic in somatic cells in vivo. By using the BrdU-incorporation assay, it could be shown that the meiotic delay caused by epirubicin in germ cells was approximately 48 h. Disomic and diploid sperm were shown in epididymal sperm hybridized with DNA probes specific for chromosomes 8, X and Y after epirubicin treatment. The observation that XX- and YY-sperm significantly prevailed over XY-sperm indicates missegregation during the second meiotic division. The results also suggest that earlier prophase stages contribute less to epirubicin-induced aneuploidy. Both the clastogenic and aneugenic potential of epirubicin can give rise to the development of secondary tumors and abnormal reproductive outcomes in cured cancer patients and medical personnel exposed to epirubicin.
Increased Constriction of the Ductus Arteriosus with Combined Administration of Indomethacin and Betamethasone in Fetal Rats

ABSTRACT: To find a better treatment for patent ductus arteriosus of preterm infants, we studied the combined effect of indomethacin and betamethasone on the fetal ductus in rats. We used a rapid whole-body freezing technique, and the ratio of the inner diameter of the ductus to the main pulmonary artery, which was 1.0 in controls, was used as an index of constriction. Indices of ductal constriction 4 h after administration of indomethacin (1 mg/kg) alone, betamethasone (1 mg/kg) alone or in combination in near-term rats were 0.56 ± 0.05 (mean ± SEM), 0.76 ± 0.06, and 0.17 ± 0.03, respectively. In preterm rats too, a marked increase in fetal ductus constriction was observed with the combined administration of these two drugs. Study of the dose effect of betamethasone revealed that maximal effects were obtained with 1 mg/kg of betamethasone combined with indomethacin in both preterm and near-term fetal rats. Increased constriction of the fetal ductus with combination treatment persisted from 1 to 8 h after administration. Administration of betamethasone 24 h before the rat was killed did not augment constriction of the fetal ductus by indomethacin administered 4 h before they were killed. Fetal ductus constriction by sulindac, another nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drug with little inhibitory effect on renal function, also was augmented by combined use with betamethasone (1 mg/kg). In conclusion, ductal constriction was markedly increased by combined administration of indomethacin and betamethasone in near-term and preterm fetal rats.
Pro-arrhythmic and pro-ischaemic effects of inhaled anticholinergic medications

The majority of deaths in COPD are from cardiovascular causes. Several large randomized controlled trials demonstrate that inhaled anticholinergic agents ipratropium and tiotropium increase the risk of serious cardiovascular events, including cardiovascular mortality. Tiotropium Respimat is associated with a statistically significant increased risk of mortality (RR 1.52; 95% CI 1.06 to 2.16) and cardiovascular death (RR 2.05; 95% CI 1.06 to 3.99) compared with placebo in a meta-analysis of clinical trials. In the largest study, the subgroup of patients with COPD in the Respimat group with known rhythm and cardiac disorders at baseline had an especially high risk for cardiac death (RR 8.6; 95% CI 1.1 to 67.2). Although there was no significantly increased risk of mortality (HR 0.89; 95% CI 0.79 to 1.02) or myocardial infarction (MI) (RR 0.73; 95% CI 0.53 to 1.00) with tiotropium handihaler in the Understanding Potential Long-Term Impacts on Function with Tiotropium (UPLIFT) trial, the reported excess of angina (RR 1.44; 95% CI 0.91 to 2.26), imbalance in strokes related to ischaemia and rates of supraventricular tachyarrhythmias are consistent with the pro-ischemic and pro-arrhythmic effects. The subjects at greatest risk of cardiovascular death, such as those with a recent history of MI, unstable or life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias or hospitalisation with heart failure, were excluded from the UPLIFT trial. The Prevention of Exacerbations with Tiotropium in COPD trial showed an excess of serious coronary ischaemic events of angina, myocardial ischaemia and MI with the tiotropium Handihaler compared with salmeterol. The authors urge caution in prescribing inhaled anticholinergics for patients with pre-existing arrhythmias or cardiac disorders.
Mechanisms of Adrenomedullin-Induced Increase of Pulmonary Blood Flow in Fetal Sheep

Mechanisms of adrenomedullin-induced increases in fetal pulmonary blood flow were examined in 19 near-term fetal sheep using four key blocker drugs: nitric oxide synthase inhibitor (Nω-nitro-L-arginine), calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) receptor blocker, ATP-dependent potassium (KATP) channel blocker (glibenclamide), and cyclooxygenase inhibitor (indomethacin). Catheters were inserted into the left pulmonary artery and superior vena cava to administer drugs and into the main pulmonary and carotid arteries to measure pressures and heart rate. An ultrasonic flow transducer was placed around the left pulmonary artery to measure flow continuously. Adrenomedullin (mean 1.06 µg/kg) was injected into the left pulmonary artery before and after infusion of Nω-nitro-L-arginine (mean 96.5 mg/kg, n = 6), glibenclamide (mean 11.8 mg/kg, n = 6), CGRP receptor blocker (mean 312.0 µg/kg, n = 6), and indomethacin (mean 1.7 mg/kg, n = 8). Blockade was confirmed by appropriate agonist injection. The adrenomedullin-induced response in left pulmonary artery blood flow was inhibited by Nω-nitro-L-arginine (inhibition rate 99%) and significantly attenuated by glibenclamide (inhibition rate 44%); however, no significant changes were found with CGRP receptor blocker or indomethacin (inhibition rate 0 and 17%, respectively). The responses of the main pulmonary and carotid arterial pressures were similarly affected by those blockers. Our data suggest that in the fetal pulmonary circulation, the adrenomedullin-induced increase in pulmonary blood flow depends largely on nitric oxide release and partly on KATP channel activation, and does not involve the CGRP receptor or a cyclooxygenase-mediated mechanism.
The effects of auxin and strigolactones on tuber initiation and stolon architecture in potato

Various transcriptional networks and plant hormones have been implicated in controlling different aspects of potato tuber formation. Due to its broad impact on many plant developmental processes, a role for auxin in tuber initiation has been suggested but never fully resolved. Here, auxin concentrations were measured throughout the plant prior to and during the process of tuber formation. Auxin levels increase dramatically in the stolon prior to tuberization and remain relatively high during subsequent tuber growth, suggesting a promoting role for auxin in tuber formation. Furthermore, in vitro tuberization experiments showed higher levels of tuber formation from axillary buds of explants where the auxin source (stolon tip) had been removed. This phenotype could be rescued by application of auxin on the ablated stolon tips. In addition, a synthetic strigolactone analogue applied on the basal part of the stolon resulted in fewer tubers. The experiments indicate that a system for the production and directional transport of auxin exists in stolons and acts synergistically with strigolactones to control the outgrowth of the axillary stolon buds, similar to the control of above-ground shoot branching.
Compile-Time Techniques for Data Distribution in Distributed Memory Machines

A solution to the problem of partitioning data for distributed memory machines is discussed. The solution uses a matrix notation to describe array accesses in fully parallel loops, which allows the derivation of sufficient conditions for communication-free partitioning (decomposition) of arrays. A series of examples that illustrate the effectiveness of the technique for linear references, the use of loop transformations in deriving the necessary data decompositions, and a formulation that aids in deriving heuristics for minimizing a communication when communication-free partitions are not feasible are presented. >
Biochemical and structural characterization of a novel cooperative binding mode by Pit-1 with CATT repeats in the macrophage migration inhibitory factor promoter

Abstract Overexpression of the proinflammatory cytokine macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) is linked to a number of autoimmune diseases and cancer. MIF production has been correlated to the number of CATT repeats in a microsatellite region upstream of the MIF gene. We have characterized the interaction of pituitary-specific positive transcription factor 1 (Pit-1) with a portion of the MIF promoter region flanking a microsatellite polymorphism (−794 CATT5–8). Using fluorescence anisotropy, we quantified tight complex formation between Pit-1 and an oligonucleotide consisting of eight consecutive CATT repeats (8xCATT) with an apparent Kd of 35 nM. Using competition experiments we found a 23 base pair oligonucleotide with 4xCATT repeats to be the minimum DNA sequence necessary for high affinity interaction with Pit-1. The stoichiometry of the Pit-1 DNA interaction was determined to be 2:1 and binding is cooperative in nature. We subsequently structurally characterized the complex and discovered a completely novel binding mode for Pit-1 in contrast to previously described Pit-1 complex structures. The affinity of Pit-1 for the CATT target sequence was found to be highly dependent on cooperativity. This work lays the groundwork for understanding transcriptional regulation of MIF and pursuing Pit-1 as a therapeutic target to treat MIF-mediated inflammatory disorders.
Uso e ocupação do solo

O uso e ocupacao do solo estao relacionados as atividades economicas, a exemplo da agricultura e industria, que acarretam alteracoes na qualidade da agua, do ar, do solo e de outros recursos naturais, o que interfere diretamente na qualidade de vida da populacao (PEREIRA; SANTOS, 2012). Alem das atividades economicas, outras atividades antropicas, especialmente, a urbanizacao, devem ser planejadas para o adequado uso e ocupacao do solo. Em uma area urbana, ou rural, o uso e ocupacao do solo de forma planejada contribui para o bem estar publico, ou seja, para a qualidade de vida dos habitantes do local. No entanto, quando o contrario ocorre, diversos impactos ambientais negativos poderao surgir, por exemplo, o aumento no risco de acidentes, prejuizos economicos, danos a saude, degradacao ambiental e aumento da desigualdade social.
Gender differences among suspected suicide attempts in a rural tertiary care hospital in South India

Context: Globally, majority of suicide completers are known to be men as opposed to the majority of suicide attempters being women. Men use lethal methods more often than women who rely more on poisoning. Aims: To study the gender differences in the characteristics of the suspected cases of suicidal attempts among the medicolegal cases admitted to a rural tertiary care hospital. Settings and design: Retrospective, explorative-descriptive study of medicolegal case records of patients admitted to a rural tertiary care hospital situated in the southern state of Karnataka, India. Methods and material: Medicolegal case records of suspected cases of suicide attempt (n=829) admitted between the period of January 2013 to December 2015 were analysed. Statistical analysis: Descriptive analysis for frequencies and percentages was done. The Pearson’s chi-square test was used to study the gender difference amongst the different variables. Results: Majority of the suspected suicide attempters were male (59.8%), in the age group of 21-30 years (44.8%), married (62.2%), farmers (51.4%), and belonging to lower socioeconomic status (62.7%). For both the genders, the most common mode of attempting suicide was by pesticide poisoning (overall 49.2%) and the most common immediate precipitants were relationship issues (overall 49.5%). Females were significantly younger than males. There was statistically significant association of gender with age group, occupation, mode of attempt, and immediate precipitant. Conclusions: Gender differences among suicide attempters might be reflective of the socio-cultural and regional influences on suicidal behaviour in a rural agrarian setting.
Enhancing the Spatial Resolution of Stereo Images Using a Parallax Prior

We present a novel method that can enhance the spatial resolution of stereo images using a parallax prior. While traditional stereo imaging has focused on estimating depth from stereo images, our method utilizes stereo images to enhance spatial resolution instead of estimating disparity. The critical challenge for enhancing spatial resolution from stereo images: how to register corresponding pixels with subpixel accuracy. Since disparity in traditional stereo imaging is calculated per pixel, it is directly inappropriate for enhancing spatial resolution. We, therefore, learn a parallax prior from stereo image datasets by jointly training two-stage networks. The first network learns how to enhance the spatial resolution of stereo images in luminance, and the second network learns how to reconstruct a high-resolution color image from high-resolution luminance and chrominance of the input image. Our two-stage joint network enhances the spatial resolution of stereo images significantly more than single-image super-resolution methods. The proposed method is directly applicable to any stereo depth imaging methods, enabling us to enhance the spatial resolution of stereo images.
Optimal Convergence for Distributed Learning with Stochastic Gradient Methods and Spectral Algorithms

We study generalization properties of distributed algorithms in the setting of nonparametric regression over a reproducing kernel Hilbert space (RKHS). We first investigate distributed stochastic gradient methods (SGM), with mini-batches and multi-passes over the data. We show that optimal generalization error bounds (up to logarithmic factor) can be retained for distributed SGM provided that the partition level is not too large. We then extend our results to spectral algorithms (SA), including kernel ridge regression (KRR), kernel principal component regression, and gradient methods. Our results show that distributed SGM has a smaller theoretical computational complexity, compared with distributed KRR and classic SGM. Moreover, even for a general non-distributed SA, they provide optimal, capacity-dependent convergence rates, for the case that the regression function may not be in the RKHS.
Physical Processes and Chemical Reactions in Cometary

A variety of physical and chemical processes are important in the comae of active comets near the Sun. We review the principal physical processes occurring in the outflowing gas and dust and their effects on thermodynamics of the coma. We describe the coupling between the physics and the chemistry and emphasize that any accurate model of the coma must include both. Chemically, there are a number of mechanisms capable of altering the initial chemical composition of the gas escaping from the nucleus surface. We assess the importance of these chemical processes, and discuss several recent models that follow the chemical evolution of the coma gas. The ultimate aim of most coma studies is to understand the nature of the icy nucleus, and we briefly review the major obstacles in using coma observations to infer the nucleus properties.
Exploiting diversity for efficient machine learning

A common practice for solving machine learning problems is currently to consider each problem in isolation, starting from scratch every time a new learning problem is encountered or a new model is proposed. This is a perfectly feasible solution when the problems are sufficiently easy or, if the problem is hard when a large amount of resources, both in terms of the training data and computation, are available. Although this näıve approach has been the main focus of research in machine learning for a few decades and had a lot of success, it becomes infeasible if the problem is too hard in proportion to the available resources. When using a complex model in this näıve approach, it is necessary to collect large data sets (if possible at all) to avoid overfitting and hence it is also necessary to use large computational resources to handle the increased amount of data, first during training to process a large data set and then also at test time to execute a complex model. An alternative to this strategy of treating each learning problem independently is to leverage related data sets and computation encapsulated in previously trained models. By doing that we can decrease the amount of data necessary to reach a satisfactory level of performance and, consequently, improve the accuracy achievable and decrease training time. Our attack on this problem is to exploit diversity – in the structure of the data set, in the features learnt and in the inductive biases of different neural network architectures. In the setting of learning from multiple sources we introduce multiple-source cross-validation, which gives an unbiased estimator of the test error when the data set is composed of data coming from multiple sources and the data at test time are coming from a new unseen source. We also propose new estimators of variance of the standard k-fold cross-validation and multiple-source cross-validation, which have lower bias than previously known ones. To improve unsupervised learning we introduce scheduled denoising autoencoders, which learn a more diverse set of features than the standard denoising auto-encoder. This is thanks to their training procedure, which starts with a high level of noise, when the network is learning coarse features and then the noise is lowered gradually, which allows the network to learn some more local features. A connection between this training procedure and curriculum learning is also drawn. We develop further the idea of learning a diverse representation
Depression Screenings during Routine Visits in a Reproductive Healthcare Setting: Identifying Depressive Symptoms in African American Adolescent Males

Depression is a disorder which affects many youth, and only one third of adolescents receive mental health treatment for their depression. Yet, approximately 90% of adolescents visit their primary care providers on average 2 - 3 times per year. This number suggests the important role that primary care settings can play regarding the early diagnosis and treatment of depression during adolescence. This paper presents findings of clinically significant depressive symptoms in African American male adolescents receiving routine health care services within an adolescent reproductive health clinic. The adolescent reproductive health clinic is housed within a large urban, university-affiliated teaching hospital. 49 African American male adolescents (ages 13 to 19) completed the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) (Radloff, 1977), a brief depression screening questionnaire, as a part of their clinic visit. Results revealed higher rates of depressive symptoms in this subsample of African American male adolescents when compared to estimated prevalence rates of depression for adolescents as reported by large-scale studies and meta-analysis data. This supports the notion that primary and reproductive healthcare settings are viable settings for the identification of depressive symptoms, particularly among low-income, African American male adolescents. Risk factors, symptom presentation, and mental health stigma associated with this population are discussed. Psychosocial interventions and recommendations for the integration of primary healthcare and behavioral health consultation services are presented.
Implementation of Track Two Diplomacy Developing a Model of Forgiveness

IF WE WANT TO BE MORE EFFICIENT in dealing with contemporary conflicts, it is time to recognize that the human tragedies caused by ethnic conflicts are to a significant extent the result of the international community's failure to provide political leadership that has clear vision, moral conviction, and political will. The Balkan conflict, particularly the events in Kosovo, is a clear example of such an approach. For over a dozen years numerous practitioners and experts in conflict resolution had been predicting dangerous developments in the then-existing situation in Kosovo, but the global policymakers chose first to ignore the warnings, then to close their eyes on the ethnic cleansing, and, finally, to intervene with expensive and inefficient military attacks. This "peacemaking" scenario is all too familiar, as is its outcome—a conflict unresolved. Even when accords have been undertaken, the sad statistics are confirmed, that more than 50 percent of international initiatives and negotiations on peace fail. Why do these failures occur with frightening persistence, despite the fact that they are developed by informed experts who often offer seemingly balanced and quite rational solutions to the most complicated problems of partitioning territories and people? What is wrong with such initiatives? We may find some answers in the analyses of the nature of
Adsorption of Reactive Blue Dye onto Natural and Modified Wheat Straw

Conventional treatment of textile wastewater such as biological treatment discharges will no longer be tolerated and identified as non-biodegradable. Advanced processes such as adsorption and advanced oxidation hold great promise to provide alternative for better treatment and protection of environment. In this study, adsorption process is carried out for both batch (kinetic and isotherm) studies using natural wheat straw (NWS) as low cost adsorbent, modified wheat straw (MWS) and Activated Carbon (AC) for comparing the results. Batch adsorption experiments were conducted on a shaker at 200 rpm, room temperature using 250 mL conical flasks contains 100 mL of dye solution to study the effects of adsorption conditions. The effect of pH was determined by adjusting pH values (2.5 – 10.5). To study the effect of initial dye concentration, six different concentrations of reactive blue dye (5, 20, 30, 50, 70 and 90) mg/L were prepared and used. Results showed that the removal percent using NWS, MWS and AC are; 68%, 92.17% and 90.5% respectively. Equilibrium isotherm experiment were carried at different dosages (0.1 – 1 g) to predict the isotherm model; Langmuir, Freundlich and BET. The experimental data showed that reactive blue is fitted with Freundlich isotherm (1/n = 1.25, 0.67) for both (NWS) and (MWS) respectively, and for (AC) is fitted with Langmuir isotherm. Three kinetic models, were selected to fit the kinetic data; pseudo first, second order and intra-particle diffusion, reactive blue is fitted with intra-particle diffusion model with (NWS) and (MWS), and Pseudo second order for (AC).
A Study of Fukui Heavy Rainfall in 2004

As a continuation of a previous study on Niigata-Fukushima heavy rainfall (HR), results from numerical experiments of Fukui HR, which also occurred in July 2004, are presented. As in the previous study, Fukui HR is discussed with an emphasis on the importance of latent instability. It is shown that although Fukui HR is not simulated with global analysis (GANAL) data of JMA, slight modification of the moisture field gives rise to rainfall patterns which are somewhat similar to those indicated by Radar-AMeDAS data. The structure of the convective system is discussed, and it is suggested that the so-called back-building mechanism played an important role in Fukui HR, which occurred under the upper-level westerly jet and the strong low-level vertical shear.