Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Ambiguity, "Leviathan", and the Question of Ultimate Interpreter

This essay aims to present, but not fully substantiate, a way of undermining the notion of ‘ultimate interpreter’ in the sense of ‘a limited, appointed or elected, institutional body. ’ One effective way of such presentation is, as I argue, in terms of interpretation of Hobbes’s theory as a response to the problem of political ambiguity. Thus interpreted, Hobbes’s theory presses on us the choice between normative and non-normative view of language. If we endorse the former, the argument against ‘ultimate interpreter(s)’ seems to hold. However, one can to a degree blunt the argument’s razor by making the status of the body dependent fully on the body’s theoretical performance, so that practical finality of the body’s deliberations tracks their theoretical finality, not the other way around.
Along‐strike trace element and isotopic variation in Aleutian Island arc basalt: Subduction melts sediments and dehydrates serpentine

[1] Trace element and Sr-Nd-Pb isotope compositions of basaltic lavas from 11 volcanoes spanning 1300 km of the Aleutian Island arc provide new constraints on the recycling of elements in melts and fluids derived from subducted oceanic crust and sediment. Despite a nearly twofold variation in the flux of sediment subducted along the Aleutians, proxies indicating the presence of sediment melt in the magma source, including Th/La and Th/Nd, do not vary systematically along strike. In contrast, ratios including B/La, B/Nb, B/Be, Cs/La, Pb/Ce, and Li/Y suggest that the quantity or composition of fluid transferred from the slab into the mantle wedge varies an order of magnitude along strike and is apparently correlated with sediment flux. However, the most distinctive fluid addition corresponds spatially with subduction of the Amlia Fracture Zone (AFZ), a likely repository for H2O-rich serpentinite. Sr, Nd, and Pb isotope ratios, together with Th/Nd and B/La ratios, show that the majority of these basalts reflect a common baseline metasomatism of the mantle that accumulated, perhaps over millions of years, via small additions of both slab fluids and partially melted sediment. The paradox of requiring slab surface temperatures high enough to melt a layer of sediment, while lower-temperature dehydration reactions that supply water occur sufficiently deep to flux melting >80 km beneath the volcanoes is reconciled in a four-stage model: (1) as sediment and altered ocean crust is carried to ∼60 km depth and temperatures increase to ∼650°C, metamorphic dehydration reactions release most of the fluid and B to the shallow mantle wedge beneath the fore arc, but some of this mantle is metasomatized and flows downward; (2) the uppermost layer of sediment begins to melt at ∼750°C and >60 km depth; this small volume of melt physically mingles with the overlying metasomatized mantle wedge as it flows further downdip; (3) below the sediment veneer, the uppermost 1 km of ocean crust reaches 650°C at ∼90 km depth where antigorite breaks down, releasing B-rich H2O; and (4) this fluid infiltrates the layer of residual unmelted metasediment leaching the remaining inventory of fluid mobile elements and ascends into the modified mantle lowering its solidus and inducing partial melting. Where antigorite is likely abundant at the surface of the Pacific plate along the AFZ, deep H2O flux to the mantle is enhanced. This is reflected in higher B and lower incompatible element contents in the magmas, a relationship that links the amount of serpentine subducted to the extent of partial melting and the major element composition of arc basalt.
Glutamate-gated Chloride Channels*

Glutamate-gated chloride channels (GluCls) are found only in protostome invertebrate phyla but are closely related to mammalian glycine receptors. They have a number of roles in these animals, controlling locomotion and feeding and mediating sensory inputs into behavior. In nematodes and arthropods, they are targeted by the macrocyclic lactone family of anthelmintics and pesticides, making the GluCls of considerable medical and economic importance. Recently, the three-dimensional structure of a GluCl was solved, the first for any eukaryotic ligand-gated anion channel, revealing a macrocyclic lactone-binding site between the channel domains of adjacent subunits. This minireview will highlight some unique features of the GluCls and illustrate their contribution to our knowledge of the entire Cys loop ligand-gated ion channel superfamily.
Mechanism of Thrombin-Induced Endothelium-Dependent Coronary Vasodilation in Dogs: Role of its Proteolytic Enzymatic Activity

Summary: We have recently reported that exogenous thrombin produced a dose- and endothelium-dependent coronary vasodilation in both intact open-chested dogs and in isolated dog coronary artery preparations. To determine whether the observed vasodilatory effect may be related to thrombin proteolytic enzymatic activity, effects of other proteases, such as trypsin, chymotrypsin, and pepsin, on the mechanical responses of isolated dog coronary arteries were studied. Among the four proteases evaluated, only thrombin (0.01–0.1 U/ml) and trypsin (0.03–0.67 U/ml) consistently produced a potent dose- and endothelium-dependent relaxation, that was reproducible with repeated testings. Addition of chymotrypsin (0.01–1.0 U/ml) produced only a minimal effect and was not reproducible, while addition of pepsin, as much as 10 U/ml, did not produce any effect. The specific soybean trypsin inhibitor and aprotinin, but not heparin and hirudin, competitively shifted the trypsin dose-response to the right, whereas heparin, hirudin, and antithrombin III proved to be more effective than trypsin inhibitors in inhibiting the thrombin-induced vasodilation. In all cases, the thrombin- and trypsin-induced vasodilation were equally sensitive to inhibition by the specific synthetic thrombin inhibitor, PPACK (D-phenylalanyl-L-propyl-L-arginine chloromethyl ketone, 1–30 nM). PPACK, however, had no effect on the other endothelium-dependent coronary vasodilators, such as acetylcholine and adenosine triphosphate, in our isolated dog coronary artery preparations. Biochemical determinations of the amidolytic activity of thrombin, using Tosylglycyl-L-prolyl-L-arginine-p-nitroanilide as a chromogen, also indicated a similar PPACK and heparin-antithrombin III dose-dependent inhibition of the thrombin enzymatic activity. Thus, the present results appear to suggest that the observed endothelium-dependent vasodilatory effect of thrombin in isolated dog coronary arteries may be intimately related to its specific proteolytic enzymatic interaction with the intimal endothelial cells.
Iodine kinetics in man--a model.

AGREAT many studies have been carried out on the kinetics of iodine in man and a number of models have been proposed (1–9). The most common model has been a three-compartmental one in which iodine in the plasma is taken up by the thyroid and released back into the circulation as thyroid hormone. This in turn gets degraded and the released iodide recycles again. Excretion pathways from plasma iodide into urine and from plasma hormone into feces are also included. During the past ten years we have carried out over 100 kinetic studies on about 50 individuals in various states of thyroid function and found that the three-compartment model is inadequate to explain the data. In a previous publication (7), some of the computational problems encountered in connection with the data analysis were discussed and preliminary attempts to evolve a consistent model were presented. Further modifications of the model were introduced more recently. This paper is intended to summarize the present state of the model, the argu.
Stabilizing and disruptive selection on a mutant character in Drosophila. 3. Polymorphism caused by a developmental switch mechanism.

ARTIFICIAL disruptive selection practiced on the expression of the mutant cubitus interruptus dominant of Gloor (ci"") produces polymorphism (SCHARLOO, HOOGMOED and TER KUILE 1967). Under two different systems of disruptive selection the frequency distributions of the length of the fourth wing vein became bimodal. In the line under disruptive selection with random mating (DR) this was caused by a genetical switch mechanism (SCHARLOO 1970). In the line under disruptive selection with compulsory mating of opposite extremes (D-) the mechanism was different. Genetic variance, environmental variance, and within-fly variance increased simultaneously. This was explained in terms of a model for the development of the fourth vein (SCHARLOO, HOOGMOED and TER KUILE 1967). But without invoking a genetical switch mechanism the discontinuity in the phenotypic frequency distribution can only be explained by a threshold mechanism in the development of the fourth vein. The presence of such a mechanism was suggested by the occurrence in the Dline of many flies which had in one wing a very long vein and in the other a very short vein. In this paper it will be shown that such a threshold mechanism is present, and an analysis is made of its genetic basis.
The pancreas in acute graft versus host disease in man

Twenty‐six bone marrow transplant recipients, 14 of whom had evidence of acute graft versus host disease at autopsy, were studied. The pancreas in four of these patients exhibited changes thought to be due to acute graft versus host disease. Pathognomonic findings were in exocrine ducts which showed marked epithelial cellular atypia associated with a mild lymphocytic infiltrate. This was accompanied by ulceration and intraluminal haemorrhage in severe cases. In three of these four cases ductal epithelium showed marked hyperexpression of class I and class II major histocompatibility complex molecules. By contrast islets were not inflamed, showed no evidence of endocrine cell damage and no abnormalities of major histocompatibility complex expression were seen.
DUST EMISSION FROM EVOLVED AND UNEVOLVED H ii REGIONS IN THE LARGE MAGELLANIC CLOUD

We present a study of the dust properties of 12 classical and superbubble H ii regions in the Large Magellanic Cloud. We use infrared photometry from Spitzer (8, 24, 70, and 160 μ m bands), obtained as part of the Surveying the Agents of a Galaxy's Evolution (SAGE) program, along with archival spectroscopic classifications of the ionizing stars to examine the role of stellar sources on dust heating and processing. Our infrared observations show surprisingly little correlation between the emission properties of the dust and the effective temperatures or bolometric magnitudes of stars in the H ii regions, suggesting that the H ii region evolutionary timescale is not on the order of the dust processing timescale. We find that the infrared emission of superbubbles and classical H ii regions shows little differentiation between the two classes, despite the significant differences in age and morphology. We do detect a correlation of the 24 μ m emission from hot dust with the ratio of 70–160 μ m flux. This correlation can be modeled as a trend in the temperature of a minority hot dust component, while a majority of the dust remains significantly cooler.
The population structure of planktonic protists and small metazoans in Mali Ston Bay (Adriatic Sea) - implications for determination of trophic state and shellfish culturing potential

Mali Ston Bay is located between a southeast-northwest oriented coast and Peljesac, the largest peninsula in the Middle Adriatic (Croatia). The bay is narrow, approximately 5 km wide, with a greatest depth of 29 m in the middle region of the outer bay. Its geomorphologic character, specific hydrographical and production features make it unique along the eastern Adriatic coastline. The effects of open seawaters on the bay are strongest during the winter season when highest salinity occurs due to the intrusion of bottom currents. Furthermore, Samplings in the Bay Mali Ston were performed between January 2002 and January 2003 at station Usko, conducted either once a week or twice a month, with 5-L Niskin water sampler at 1 m depth intervals from the surface to 13 m. The investigations of the population of planktonic protists and small metazoans covered the major assemblages: taxopodids, non-loricate ciliates, tintinnids, rotatorians, copepod nauplii, calanoids, oithonids, oncaeids, harpacticoids, bivalve larvae and juvenile appendicularians. The diversity and abundance of all assemblages on an annual basis is primarily dependent on variations in the hydrographic conditions. During periods of low temperature and high salinity, oncaea copepodites and adults show very high abundance, and together with non-loricate ciliates, tintinnids and planktonic harpacticoids form the winterspring zooplanktonic community. During the warmer period in conditions of higher temperature and salinity the summer-autumn zooplanktonic communities comprise high abundances of post-naupliar calanoids and oithonids, juvenile appendicularians and summer tintinnids. From the abundance of planktonic protists and small metazoans it can be concluded that the Bay Mali Ston has mesooligotrophic characteristics. This paper discusses the importance of the bio-deposition of faecal material from the shellfish that are cultured in the Bay and the potential negative impact on the ecological balance resulting from any significant increased capacity in aquaculture.
Acquired Surface Alexia in Spanish: A Case Report

This paper reports a case study of acquired surface alexia in Spanish and discusses the most suitable tests to detect this syndrome in a writing system that is very regular for reading at the segmental and supra-segmental levels. Patient MM has surface alexia characterized by quantitatively good performance in reading words and pseudowords; accurate but slow and syllabic reading of words, nonwords and sentences; good performance in lexical decision tasks including words and nonwords; errors in lexical decision with pseudohomophones; and homophone confusions. This pattern of reading can be interpreted as a disorder in the lexical reading route and overdependence on the non-lexical route. We discuss nonlexical impairments and the interpretation of alexia and suggest tasks to identify surface alexia in a shallow orthography.
Activity and safety of combined rituximab with chlorambucil in patients with mantle cell lymphoma

We evaluated the combination of rituximab with chlorambucil in patients with mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) not eligible for aggressive therapy. Fourteen patients (male/female: 9/5) were included (two newly diagnosed, 12 relapsed/refractory). The toxicities were neutropenia, thrombopenia and infection. Nine (64%) patients responded; five (36%) achieved complete remission and four (29%) achieved partial remission. The median progression‐free survival for responders was 26 months (95% CI, 4–48). Marrow polymerase chain reaction negativity was attained in seven responders. These results suggest that this schedule may have notable antitumour activity in patients with MCL, including patients in relapse after autologous stem cell transplantation.
Effect of dietary fish oil on renal function and rejection in cyclosporine-treated recipients of renal transplants.

BACKGROUND Dietary fish oil exerts effects on renal hemodynamics and the immune response that may benefit renal-transplant recipients treated with cyclosporine. To evaluate this possibility, we studied the effect of fish oil on renal function, blood pressure, and the incidence of acute rejection episodes in cyclosporine-treated recipients of renal transplants. METHODS In a randomized, double-blind trial, 33 recipients of first cadaveric kidney transplants who were treated with cyclosporine and prednisolone ingested 6 g of fish oil daily during the first postoperative year (the fish-oil group), whereas another 33 renal-graft recipients treated with cyclosporine and prednisolone ingested 6 g of coconut oil daily for three months after which time it was stopped (the control group). RESULTS One year after transplantation, the fish-oil group had higher median values than the controls for glomerular filtration rate (53 vs. 40 ml per minute per 1.73 m2, P = 0.038) and effective renal plasma flow (214 vs. 178 ml per minute per 1.73 m2, P = 0.023) and lower mean arterial pressure (103 vs. 118 mm Hg, P = 0.0011). The cyclosporine doses in the two groups were similar. The cumulative number of rejection episodes was 20 in the controls, as compared with 8 in the fish-oil group (P = 0.029). One-year graft survival also tended to be better in the fish-oil group, (97 vs. 84 percent, P = 0.097). CONCLUSIONS The daily administration of 6 g of fish oil during the first postoperative year has a beneficial effect on renal hemodynamics and blood pressure in renal-transplant recipients treated with cyclosporine. Although the fish-oil group had significantly fewer rejection episodes than the control group, graft survival at one year was not significantly better in the fish-oil group.
Interventional biliary radiology: current state-of-the-art and future directions

6 525 538 Technological advances have led to continued expansion in the scope of biliary intervention in both benign and malignant disease. The increased use of endoscopic biliary evaluation and intervention has modified the role of percutaneous techniques, however, those patients who do require a percutaneous approach often represent a technically difficult subgroup. We review ‘state-of-the-art’ practice, emerging technologies and future directions of biliary tract intervention.
The Effect of Semantic Cuing on CVLT Performance in Healthy Participants

The California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT) is a widely used measure of verbal learning and memory; however, there is little empirical evidence about the effects of the administration procedure on the test results. The primary goal of this study was to examine the effect of the semantic cuing condition on subsequent free recall of the material. A secondary goal was to assess whether prior knowledge that the words on the list are drawn from four semantic categories would enhance recall. Participants were 154 young healthy adults. The results suggested that participants who received semantic cuing according to the standardized test instructions generated the same number of correct words on the delayed free recall of the list as did those who did not receive cuing. Cuing did, however, lead participants to use greater semantic clustering in their delayed recall of the list. Participants who were provided with information prior to learning about the semantic structure of the test did not show enhanced learning relative to those who did not receive this information. We conclude that semantic cuing on the CVLT does not substantially enhance delayed recall of the material in healthy participants, although it is quite possible that cuing would have a greater effect in patients who have poor semantic organizational skills.
EBG Structure With Wide Defect Band for Broadband Cavity Antenna Applications

In this letter, a new electromagnetic band gap (EBG) structure is proposed. It is constructed by double-layer frequency selective surfaces (FSS) periodically arranged in the z-direction. A periodicity defect is introduced in the middle of the structure. Resulted EBG structure with defect is composed of two double-layer FSS with wavelength spacing between them. Due to the presence of the defect, an allowed frequency band is created within the EBG structure band gap. The width of the formed defect band is increased compared to that of classical EBG structures with defect. The new material composed of a double-layer FSS is applied in the design of a resonator antenna. The resonator, formed between the double-layer FSS and a metallic ground, is fed by a patch source placed at the proximity of the ground. The antenna bandwidth is significantly improved by virtue of employing the new structure of wider allowed band. The participation of each FSS layer in the antenna bandwidth enhancement is described. An antenna application at 5 GHz is shown.
Evidence for two structural genes for alkaline phosphatase in Bacillus subtilis

Two secreted alkaline phosphatase proteins were purified from cultures of Bacillus subtilis JH646MS. The two proteins showed slight differences in subunit molecular weight, substrate specificity, and charge characteristics. A total of 62% of the first 22 amino-terminal amino acids were identical. Both sequences showed conservation of structural features identified in Escherichia coli and human alkaline phosphatases. One alkaline phosphatase was a monomer and the other was a dimer. Southern analysis of genomic DNA with degenerative oligomers based on the amino acid sequences suggest that there are two structural genes for alkaline phosphatase in the genome of B. subtilis.
Linezolid for the treatment of complicated skin and skin structure infections in children

Background. Gram-positive pathogens are a major cause of complicated skin and skin structure infections (CSSSIs) in children. Many pathogens are developing decreased susceptibility to currently used antibiotics, increasing the need for new therapies. Linezolid is well-tolerated and effective in the treatment of these infections in adults. Objective. To evaluate the clinical efficacy and safety of iv/oral linezolid and iv vancomycin in children with Gram-positive CSSSIs. Methods. Hospitalized children <12 years of age were randomized (2:1 ratio) to receive either linezolid 10 mg/kg iv every 8 h (with the option to change treatment to oral linezolid suspension 10 mg/kg every 8 h) or iv vancomycin 10 to 15 mg/kg every 6 to 24 h (according to age). Clinical response, tolerance and safety were evaluated at follow-up. The results of a subset analysis of patients with CSSSIs are presented here. Results. One hundred twenty intent-to-treat patients (linezolid 80, vancomycin 40) with CSSSI were included in this analysis. Clinical cure rates for clinically evaluable patients with CSSSI did not differ between treatment groups (linezolid, 93.2%vs. vancomycin, 90.0%; P = 0.594). Significantly fewer linezolid-treated patients experienced drug-related adverse events than did vancomycin-treated patients (23%vs. 48%; P = 0.006). The percentages of patients with laboratory abnormalities, including selected hematologic parameters, were generally low and similar between the treatment groups. Conclusions. Linezolid given iv or orally was well-tolerated and safe. It was as effective as vancomycin in treating children with Gram-positive CSSSIs.
Posttraumatic cerebral arterial spasm.

Posttraumatic cerebral arterial spasm (vasospasm) has been demonstrated in the past by angiography, and recently by transcranial Doppler ultrasonography. Posttraumatic vasospasm is a delayed complication that involves the large basal intracranial arteries (e.g., internal carotid, middle cerebral, basilar) and occurs in 25-40% of head trauma patient. The time course of posttraumatic vasospasm resembles that of vasospasm associated with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage with onset occurring 2 or more days after injury. A study of the relationship of admission CT scan findings to the incidence of vasospasm suggests that intradural bleeding, which extends into the CSF (subarachnoid, intraventricular, and subdural hemorrhage), plays a role in the pathogenesis of posttraumatic arterial spasm. The preliminary results of a large prospective study of head trauma patients suggest that vasospasm may be an important determinant of outcome from severe head injury.