Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Ozonation of Blood during Extracorporeal Circulation. I. Rationale, Methodology and Preliminary Studies

We investigated whether exposure of blood ex-vivo to oxygen-ozone (O2-O3) through a gas exchanger is feasible and practical. We first evaluated the classical dialysis-type technique but we soon realized that semipermeable membranes are unsuitable because they are hydrophilic and vulnerable to O3. We therefore adopted a system with hydrophobic O3-resistant hollow fibers enclosed in a polycarbonate housing with a membrane area of about 0.5 m2. First we tested the system with normal saline, determining the production of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) at O3 concentrations from 5 to 40 μg/ml. We then evaluated critical parameters by circulating swine blood in vitro; this revealed that heparin is not an ideal anticoagulant for this system. Finally, we performed several experiments in sheep and defined optimal anticoagulant dose (sodium citrate, ACD), priming solution, volume of blood flow per min, volume and concentration of O2-O3 mixture flowing counter-current with respect to blood and the time necessary for perfusion in vivo. The biochemical parameters showed that an O3 concentration as low as 10 μg/ml is effective; this means that gas exchange and O3 reactivity are rapid and capable of inducing biological effects. The sheep showed no adverse effects even after 50 min of extracorporeal circulation at higher O3 concentrations (20 to 40 μg/ml) but the exchanger became less effective (low pO2 values) due to progressive clogging with cells.
The time course of body temperature, serum amyloid A protein, C-reactive protein and interleukin-6 in patients with bacterial infection during the initial 3 days of antibiotic therapy

The accuracy of using body temperature, serum amyloid A (SAA), C-reactive protein (CRP) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) in the work-up for early or late step-down therapy after an initial course of intravenous cefuroxime was investigated. Eighty-one hospitalized patients with an initial course of cefuroxime were retrospectively classified with one of the following diagnoses: bacterial infection without known focus, pneumonia, bronchitis, pyelonephritis, skin and soft-tissue infections or fever of other origin. The majority of the patients had sepsis (91% or 74/81) of whom 6 patients had severe sepsis. The inter-individual variability of body temperature, SAA, CRP and IL-6 was considerable. The time course of SAA and CRP during the first 24 h in patients with sepsis with a short duration of illness but without septic shock showed increasing levels during the initial course of intravenous therapy. In contrast, body temperature and IL-6 decreased, regardless of illness duration. Beyond 24 h, all 4 biomarkers declined, again regardless of the duration of illness. After the initial course of cefuroxime, biomarkers were non-distinguishing in terms of guidance in the judgement of early or late step-down therapy. Further studies are proposed for biomarker guidance antibiotic therapy in sepsis patients without septic shock.
Palaeoseismic constraints on Holocene surface ruptures along the Ostler Fault, southern New Zealand

Palaeoseismic trenching along the central Ostler fault zone reveals the nature and timing of past surface-rupturing earthquakes. A 26 m long trench excavated into a last-glacial (26.5 ka) outwash surface cut by the Ruataniwha strand of the North Central Ostler fault reveals evidence for at least two metre-scale surface displacements in the last c. 8 ka. Detailed logging of colluvial wedge and alluvial stratigraphy, combined with optically stimulated luminescence dating of loess within colluvial packages, provides a maximum bound on the most recent earthquake (MRE) of 2.3–4.5 ka. The MRE resulted in a surface displacement of at least 1.8 m, consistent with an estimated moment magnitude (M) 6.9–7.1 earthquake based on the total 60 km length of the Ostler fault zone. The penultimate event occurred sometime before 4.1–8.4 ka and resulted in a comparable or larger surface displacement. Similar ages from samples collected in previous trenches on the Ostler fault suggest that surface ruptures may persist across kilometre-scale stepovers defined by the active surface trace of the fault. At the trench scale, comparison between dip slip calculated from topographic fault-scarp profiling (7.8 m) and the total offset of exposed outwash gravels (6.0 m) suggests that surface folding immediately adjacent to the fault scarp accommodates roughly 25% of the total slip. Given a previously reported recurrence interval of c. 2–5 ka for the Ostler fault, the presence of only 2–3 palaeoearthquakes on the 26.5 ka outwash surface indicates that additional events likely occurred on nearby fault scarps in an overall complex zone of surface faulting.
ASSESSING HOST SPECIFICITY AND FIELD RELEASE POTENTIAL OF FIRE ANT DECAPITATING FLIES ( PHORIDAE : PSEUDACTEON )

Fire ant populations in their South American homeland are about 1/5 to 1/10 as dense as populations in North America (Porter et al., 1992; Porter et al., 1997a). This intercontinental difference in fire ant densities was not explained by differences in climate, habitat, soil type, land use, plant cover, or sampling protocols (Porter et al., 1997a). Escape from numerous natural enemies left behind in South America is the most apparent explanation for the intercontinental population differences. Natural enemies left behind in South America include two species of microsporidian pathogens, three species of nematodes, about 20 species of phorid decapitating flies, a eucharitid wasp, a parasitic ant, and numerous other microbes and arthropods of uncertain relationship to fire ants (Porter et al., 1997a). Escape from coevolved ant communities may also have been important. Ants in Brazil and Argentina, however, do not appear to be any more abundant than those in the United States, at least as indicated by their ability to find and occupy baits (Porter et al., 1997a).
Retraction: Phospholipase D1 Plays a Key Role in TNF-α Signaling

I wish to retract the article “Phospholipase D1 Plays a Key Role in TNF-α Signaling” by Swaminathan Sethu, Grecia Mendez-Corao, and Alirio J. Melendez, The Journal of Immunology , 2008, 180: [6027–6034][1]. An investigation by the National University of Singapore concluded that in Fig. 1C,
PERCEIVED WEIGHT AND HEALTH Does Knowing Hurt ? Self-Perceived Overweight Predicts Future Physical Health and Well-Being

Self-identification as being ‘overweight’ may be associated with adverse health outcomes, yet prospective evidence examining this possibility is lacking. Over 7-years, we examined associations between perceived overweight and subsequent health in a sample of 3,582 US adults. Perceived overweight predicted longitudinal declines in subjective health (d =.22, p <.001), increases in depressive symptoms (d =.09, p < .05), and raised levels of physiological dysregulation (d =.24, p <.001) as gauged by clinical indicators of cardiovascular, inflammatory and metabolic functioning. These associations remained after controlling for a range of potential confounders and were observed irrespective of whether self-perceptions of overweight were accurate or inaccurate. The present research highlights the possibility that self-identification as overweight may act independently of body mass index to contribute to unhealthy profiles of physiological functioning and impaired health over time. These findings underscore the importance of evaluating whether weight feedback interventions may have unforeseen adverse consequences.
Genetic variability of traits recorded during 100-day stationary performance test and inbreeding level in Polish warmblood stallions

The objectives of this study were to estimate direct heritability of 30 conformation and performance traits evaluated during 100-day stationary performance test and to predict the genetic effects in Polish Warmblood stallions. Inbreeding coefficients were estimated as well. Moreover, phenotypic and genetic trends were derived. The data were extracted from the database of the Polish Horse Breeding Association. The analysis included 494 warmblood stallions, which performed during 100-day test in the years 2002-2008 at two Polish Training Centres. Pedigree data comprised 8 512 individuals. Restricted maximum likelihood was employed to estimate parameters under an additive genetic model (including fixed effects: age of stallion, breed, year and place of performance test). Nonzero inbreeding coefficients were estimated for 88 stallions with performance records as well as for 458 unrecorded ancestors. Average inbreeding level for the stallions with records was 0.29 %, whereas for all inbred individuals – 1.69 %. The average completeness of the pedigrees, expressed as Cassell coefficient, for the recorded stallions was 42.47 %. The heritability estimates varied from 0.14 (character) to 0.87 (total index). Relatively high heritabilities were found for jumping-ability traits. In general, the genetic trends for studied traits were negligibly positive.
Use of a Continuous-Culture Biofilm System To Study the Antimicrobial Susceptibilities of Gardnerella vaginalisand Lactobacillus acidophilus

ABSTRACT Gardnerella vaginalis and Lactobacillus acidophilus have been shown to grow to high titers in a simple biofilm system. This system was used in the present investigation to compare the biofilm-eradicating concentrations (BECs) of amoxicillin, clindamycin, erythromycin, and metronidazole to standard tube MIC and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) results. With the lactobacillus, the BEC/tube MBC ratio was at least 16:1, while forG. vaginalis the ratio varied from 2:1 to 512:1. The simple continuous-culture system used in the present investigation is ideal for investigating the BEC for bacteria involved in complex ecological situations such as bacterial vaginosis and may be useful for the identification of the most effective and selective antibiotic therapy.
Association of nocturnal hypoxemia with progression of CKD.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Nocturnal hypoxemia is highly prevalent among patients with CKD. Nocturnal hypoxemia contributes to systemic inflammation, oxidative stress, endothelial cell dysfunction, and activation of the renin-angiotensin system, which are common pathologic mechanisms of CKD progression. This study investigated whether nocturnal hypoxemia is independently associated with CKD progression. DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS, & MEASUREMENTS This two-center retrospective cohort study included 161 patients with stages 3-4 CKD enrolled from January of 2009 to July of 2011 with a body mass index less than 25.0 kg/m(2). The 4% oxygen desaturation index, the number of events per hour in which oxygen saturation decreases by >4% during sleep, was measured, and the declining rate of the estimated GFR was followed over 1 year. The severity of nocturnal hypoxemia was categorized as none (oxygen desaturation index<5.0), mild (5.0≤oxygen desaturation index<15.0), or moderate to severe (15.0≤oxygen desaturation index). RESULTS The mean estimated GFR of the total cohort at baseline was 31 ml/min per 1.73 m(2). Eighty patients (49.7%) were diagnosed with nocturnal hypoxemia; 64 patients were diagnosed with mild nocturnal hypoxemia, and 16 patients were diagnosed with moderate-to-severe nocturnal hypoxemia. The estimated GFR declined three- to fourfold faster in patients with moderate-to-severe nocturnal hypoxemia than patients with no or mild nocturnal hypoxemia (the mean values [95% confidence intervals] were -2.14 [-1.06 to -3.21], -3.02 [-1.31 to -4.74], and -8.59 [-2.00 to -15.2] ml/min per 1.73 m(2) per year in the no, mild, and moderate-to-severe nocturnal hypoxemia groups, respectively; P=0.003). Nocturnal hypoxemia remained a significant predictor of decline in estimated GFR after adjustment for various baseline clinical factors. CONCLUSIONS In nonobese patients with CKD, nocturnal hypoxemia is an independent risk factor of a rapid decline in kidney function.
Evaluation of food choice behavior : development and validation of health and taste attitude scales

5 PREFACE 6 LIST OF ORIGINAL PUBLICATIONS 8 INTRODUCTION 9 LITERATURE REVIEW 10 Food choice 10 Attitudes 10 Attitude measurements 12 Validity of attitude measurements 14 Reliability of attitude measurements 15 Food related attitudes 16 Health attitudes 16 Taste attitudes 20 Eating behavioral scales 20 Effect of age and gender on food related attitudes 23 AIM OF THE STUDY 27 SUBJECTS AND METHODS 28 General description of the studies 28 Data description and subjects 28 Development of Health and Taste Attitude Scales (HTAS) 29 Attitude measurements 31 Validity measurements 31 Convergent validity 31 Predictive validity 31 Choices of snacks 31 Reported frequency of consumption 34 Pleasantness and healthiness ratings 34 Data analysis 35
Colleges of Education Librarians in Nigeria: An Investigation into the Self-Perception of ICT-Related Information Literacy Skills

The purpose of the paper is to investigate the level of ICT related IL skills of librarians in COE libraries and to know some challenges librarians face in acquiring IL skills. Descriptive survey method was adopted using questionnaire.The study covered professionals and para-professional librarians in federal, state and private Colleges of Education libraries in the South-South and South-East geo-political zones of Nigeria. The findings revealed that the librarians rated their information literacy skills to be average. A correlation of the overall assessment of the librarians’ IL skills with variables such as institution, gender, years of experience and qualifications revealed differences among the librarians. The study also revealed that the librarians acquired their IL skills through different channels such as friends and colleagues, self-practice, workshops, conferences and seminars, and through on the job training. Only a few indicated that they acquired their IL skills through library schools. Lack of training, irregular power supply, poor Internet connectivity, inadequate facilities (computers), and lack of time were identified as some of the challenges to acquire IL skills.
Cryptic nature of envelope V3 region epitopes protects primary monocytotropic human immunodeficiency virus type 1 from antibody neutralization

Characterization of biological and immunological properties of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) is critical to developing effective therapies and vaccines for AIDS. With the use of a novel CD4+ T-cell line (PM-1) permissive to infection by both monocytotropic (MT) and T-cell-tropic virus types, we present a comparative analysis of the immunological properties of a prototypic primary MT isolate of HIV-1 strain JR-CSF (MT-CSF) with those of a T-cell-tropic variant (T-CSF) of the same virus, which emerged spontaneously in vitro. The parental MT-CSF infected only PM-1 cells and was markedly resistant to neutralization by sera from HIV-1-infected individuals, rabbit antiserum to recombinant MT-CSF gp120, and anti-V3 monoclonal antibodies. The T-CSF variant infected a variety of CD4+ T-cell lines, contained positively charged amino acid substitutions in the gp120 V3 region, and was highly sensitive to antibody neutralization. Neutralization and antibody staining of T-CSF-expressing cells were significantly inhibited by HIV-1 V3 peptides; in contrast, the MT strain showed only weak V3-specific binding of polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies. Exposure of PM-1 cells to a mixture of both viruses in the presence of human anti-HIV-1 neutralizing antiserum resulted in infection with only MT-CSF. These results demonstrate that although the V3 region of MT viruses is immunogenic, the target epitopes in the V3 principal neutralizing domain on the membrane form of the MT envelope appear to be cryptic or hidden from blocking antibodies.
An investigation of the five-factor model of personality and coping behaviour in sport

Abstract Coping strategies are important for performance in sport and individual differences may contribute to the coping strategies adopted by athletes. In this study, we explored the main and interactive effects of the big five personality dimensions on sport-related coping and compared personality profiles of discrete groups of athletes. Altogether, 253 athletes (mean age 21.1 years, s = 3.7) completed the NEO-FFI (Costa & McCrae, 1992), and the Coping Function Questionnaire for Sport (Kowalski & Crocker, 2001). Results showed that extraverted athletes, who were also emotionally stable and open to new experiences (a three-way interaction effect), reported a greater use of problem-focused coping strategies. Conscientious athletes (main effect), and athletes displaying high levels of extraversion, openness, and agreeableness (a three-way interaction effect), reported a greater use of emotion-focused coping strategies, and athletes with low levels of openness, or high levels of neuroticism (main effects), reported a greater use of avoidance coping strategies. Different personality characteristics were observed between higher-level and lower-level athletes, between men and women athletes, and between individual and team sport athletes. These findings suggest that the five-factor model of personality can help distinguish various levels of athletic involvement and can help identify the coping strategies athletes are likely to adopt during participation.
Silencing of SOCS1 in macrophages suppresses tumor development by enhancing antitumor inflammation

Inflammation has been shown to contribute to both tumor development and antitumor immunity. However, conditions determining these opposing effects are not well understood. Suppressor of cytokine signaling 1 (SOCS1) has been shown to play an important role in regulating inflammation and tumor development. It has been reported that silencing of SOCS1 gene in dendritic cells potentiates antitumor immunity, while SOCS1‐deficiency in whole organs except for T and B cells enhances inflammation‐mediated colon tumor development. To determine which types of cells are important for the suppression of tumor development by SOCS1‐deficiency, we employed the conditional knockout strategy. SOCS1 gene was deleted in macrophages and neutrophils by crossing SOCS1‐flox/flox mice with LysM‐cre mice. Resulting conditional knockout (cKO) mice showed enhanced sensitivity to endotoxin shock. SOCS1‐cKO mice survived much longer than wild‐type mice after B16 melanoma transplantation. Colon carcinogenesis induced by 1,2‐dimethylhydrazine (DMH) plus dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) was also reduced in SOCS1‐cKO mice. SOCS1‐deficiency in monocytic cells enhanced tumor‐killing activity of macrophages and tumor‐specific cytotoxic T cell activity. These results suggest that inflammation induced by SOCS1‐deficiency in monocytes potentiates antitumor immune responses rather than tumor‐promoting inflammation. (Cancer Sci 2009; 100: 730–736)
Simulation of converters using Scilab/Scicoslab

This paper demonstrates the potential application of free software Scilab/ScicosLab in the study of a DC-DC Cúk converter, while the advantages of such practice are clearly identified in this particular application. Scilab/ScicosLab is a free and open-source software (FOSS), developed for scientific and industrial use. Mathematical equations and the algorithm for solving them are developed and the results show that Scilab/ScicosLab can be used to analyze not only the chosen converter, but other topologies as well. The software is adequate for teaching laboratory power electronic experiments regarding both mathematical and physical analysis. Besides this software can be used in both Windows and Linux platforms.
Single Oral Dose Pharmacokinetics of Quazepam Is Influenced by CYP2C19 Activity

The effects of cytochrome P450 (CYP)2C19 activity and cigarette smoking on the single oral dose pharmacokinetics of quazepam were studied in 20 healthy Japanese volunteers. Twelve subjects were extensive metabolizers (EMs), and 8 subjects were poor metabolizers (PMs) by CYP2C19 as determined by the PCR-based genotyping. Nine subjects were smokers (>10 cigarettes/d), and 11 subjects were nonsmokers. The subjects received a single oral 20-mg dose of quazepam, and blood samplings and evaluation of psychomotor function were conducted up to 72 hours after dosing. Plasma concentrations of quazepam and its active metabolite 2-oxoquazepam (OQ) were measured by HPLC. There were significant differences between EMs and PMs in the peak plasma concentration (mean ± SD: 34.5 ± 16.6 versus 66.2 ± 19.2 ng/mL, P < 0.01) and total area under the plasma concentration–time curve (490.1 ± 277.5 vs 812.1 ± 267.2 ng · h/mL, P < 0.05) of quazepam. The pharmacokinetic parameters of OQ and pharmacodynamic parameters were not different between the 2 groups. Smoking status did not affect the pharmacokinetic parameters of quazepam and OQ or pharmacodynamic parameters. The present study suggests that the single oral dose pharmacokinetics of quazepam are influenced by CYP2C19 activity but not by cigarette smoking.
Chronic alcohol consumption generates a vulnerable immune environment during early SIV infection in rhesus macaques.

BACKGROUND Alcohol consumption is a common problem in HIV-infected individuals, and the effects of alcohol may alter the efficiency of the immune response, potentially aggravating the disease as well as affecting end organs, such as the brain. However, the elements of the virus-host interaction that are modulated by ethanol are poorly dissected. METHODS Ethanol intake was conditioned in rhesus macaques prior to SIV infection, in order to mimic this common human behavior, and allow the evaluation of aspects of the virus-immune system interactions during acute time-points, when important facets of the infection are set up and when virus reproducibly enters the brain. RESULTS Although ethanol had a limited effect on the acute plasma viral load, it resulted in reduced circulating memory CD4(+) T cells and increased levels of monocytes expressing the viral coreceptor CCR5. In organs, ethanol consumption impacted immune cells in the liver as well as lymphoid and other nonlymphoid tissues, where CD4(+) T cells were predominantly affected. CONCLUSION Overall, the consumption of alcohol causes immune cell alterations that can contribute to the generation of a disease susceptible environment upon SIV infection.
The generalization performance of learning algorithms derived simultaneously through algorithmic stability and space complexity

A main issue in machine learning theoretical research is to analyze the generalization performance of learning algorithms. The previous results describing the generalization performance of learning algorithms are based on either complexity of hypothesis space or stability property of learning algorithms. In this paper we go far beyond these classical frameworks by establishing the first generalization bounds of learning algorithms in terms of uniform stability and the covering number of function space for regularized least squares regression and SVM regression. To have a better understanding the results obtained in this paper, we compare the obtained generalization bounds with previously known results.