Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Health effects of carbon-containing particulate matter: focus on sources and recent research program results

Abstract Air pollution is a complex mixture of gas-, vapor-, and particulate-phase materials comprised of inorganic and organic species. Many of these components have been associated with adverse health effects in epidemiological and toxicological studies, including a broad spectrum of carbonaceous atmospheric components. This paper reviews recent literature on the health impacts of organic aerosols, with a focus on specific sources of organic material; it is not intended to be a comprehensive review of all the available literature. Specific emission sources reviewed include engine emissions, wood/biomass combustion emissions, biogenic emissions and secondary organic aerosol (SOA), resuspended road dust, tire and brake wear, and cooking emissions. In addition, recent findings from large toxicological and epidemiological research programs are reviewed in the context of organic PM, including SPHERES, NPACT, NERC, ACES, and TERESA. A review of the extant literature suggests that there are clear health impacts from emissions containing carbon-containing PM, but difficulty remains in apportioning responses to certain groupings of carbonaceous materials, such as organic and elemental carbon, condensed and gas phases, and primary and secondary material. More focused epidemiological and toxicological studies, including increased characterization of organic materials, would increase understanding of this issue.
A novel approach for crossover based on attribute reduction - a case of 0/1 knapsack problem

This paper proposes a methodology that incorporates the process of attribute reduction in rough sets into crossover in genetic algorithms (GAs). We develop two algorithms on the basis of the methodology. The first one selects the crossover points either by attribute reduction or randomly; the second one selects the points only by attribute reduction and no crossover otherwise. We study 0/1 knapsack problem due to its NP-hard complexity and solution nature of binary form, and conduct experiments against typical GAs. According to the preliminary results, the incorporation of attribute reduction appears to generate larger means of final solutions and smaller standard deviations of final solutions, especially in the presence of tighter capacity. That is, better solution quality and more clustered solutions are obtained.
Contrast‐enhanced, three‐dimensional, whole‐brain, black‐blood imaging: Application to small brain metastases

Contrast‐enhanced three‐dimensional T1‐weighted imaging based on magnetization‐prepared rapid‐gradient recalled echo is widely used for detecting small brain metastases. However, since contrast materials remain in both blood and the tumor parenchyma and thus increase the signal intensity of both regions, it is often challenging to distinguish brain tumors from blood. In this work, we develop a T1‐weighted, black‐blood version of single‐slab three‐dimensional turbo/fast spin echo whole‐brain imaging, in which the signal intensity of the brain tumor is selectively enhanced while that of blood is suppressed. For blood suppression, variable refocusing flip angles with flow‐sensitizing gradients are employed. To avoid a signal loss resulting from the flow‐sensitizing scheme, the first refocusing flip angle is forced to 180°. Composite restore pulses at the end of refocusing pulse train are applied to achieve partial inversion recovery for the T1‐weighted contrast. Simulations and in vivo volunteer and patient experiments are performed, demonstrating that this approach is highly efficient in detecting small brain metastases. Magn Reson Med 63:553–561, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
The relationship between nitrogen, auxin and cytokinin in the growth regulation of rice (Oryza sativa L.) tiller buds

Nitrogen (N), auxin and cytokinins (CTKs) play important roles in regulating the growth of rice tiller buds. However, little is known about the underlying mechanisms and the relationships between them in the regulation of tiller bud growth in rice. In the present study, N and auxin indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) were used to regulate tiller bud growth in Nanjing 44 rice, a japonica cultivar. The tiller buds grew rapidly after external application of 40 mg L -1 N; significantly elevated CTK levels were found in tiller buds and nodes preceding bud growth. However, external application of IAA inhibited the growth of tiller buds and reversed the increase in CTK levels in tiller buds and nodes induced by N. According to previous studies, the rice adenosine phosphate isopentenyltransferase (OsIPT ) genes encode a key enzyme in CTK biosynthesis. To determine the site of CTK synthesis involved in bud growth, we examined the expression patterns of the OsIPT genes in tiller buds, tiller nodes and roots. Our results indicate that the CTKs that promote tiller bud growth are biosynthesised mainly in the tiller nodes, and there is little or no contribution from the roots. N and IAA regulated the expression of the OsIPT genes and inhibited the biosynthesis of CTKs in the tiller nodes, thus regulating the growth of rice tiller buds.
Relative Roles of Genetic Background and Variation in PspA in the Ability of Antibodies to PspA To Protect against Capsular Type 3 and 4 Strains of Streptococcus pneumoniae

ABSTRACT Pneumococcal surface protein A (PspA) is able to elicit antibodies in mice and humans that can protect mice against fatal infection with Streptococcus pneumoniae. It has been observed that immunization with a single family 1 PspA can protect mice against infections with capsular type 3 or 6B strains expressing PspA family 1 or 2. However, several studies have shown that immunity to PspA is less efficacious against several capsular type 4 strains than against strains of capsular types 3, 6A, and 6B. To determine whether the greater difficulty in protecting against capsular type 4 strains resulted from differences in their PspAs or from differences in their genetic backgrounds, we performed protection experiments using four different challenge strains: a capsular type 3 strain expressing a family 1 PspA (WU2), a capsular type 4 strain expressing a family 2 PspA (TIGR4), and genetically engineered variants of WU2 and TIGR4 expressing each other's PspAs. Prior to infection, the mice were immunized with recombinant family 1 or family 2 PspA. The results revealed that much of the difficulty in protecting against capsular type 4 strains was eliminated when mice were immunized with a homologous PspA of the same PspA family. However, regardless of which PspA the strains expressed, those on the TIGR4 background were about twice as hard to protect against as WU2 strains expressing the same PspA based on the efficacy rates seen in our experiments. These results point out the importance of including more than one PspA in any PspA vaccines developed for human use.
Characterization of a mesenchymal stem cell line that differentiates to bone and provides niches supporting mouse and human hematopoietic stem cells

Identification of mouse cell lines with properties of primary multipotential mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC) is required to facilitate the use of mouse models for evaluation of mechanisms in bone formation, hematopoiesis and cellular therapies for regenerative medicine. Primary murine MSC vary between strains, are difficult to grow in vitro and have inconsistent properties. The main aim of the study was to establish OMA-AD cells as an appropriate model system to conduct studies on MSC, bone formation and hematopoiesis. OMA-AD cells were isolated by differential trypsinization of C57BL/6J mouse bone marrow (BM) cells. The cells were then repassaged, cloned and characterized. OMA-AD cells were immortal and non-tumorigenic, differentiated readily to all mesenchymal cell types including bone, supported mouse and human hematopoiesis and were immunosuppressive. Our results demonstrated that OMA-AD cells possessed the properties of primary MSC. In addition, these cells grew readily and consistently, thereby facilitating future studies of bone formation, hematopoiesis and mesenchymal cells for regenerative medicine.
Influenza B virus genome: sequences and structural organization of RNA segment 8 and the mRNAs coding for the NS1 and NS2 proteins

Double-stranded DNA derived from influenza B virus genome RNA segment 8, which codes for the NS1 and NS2 proteins, was constructed by hybridization of full-length cDNA copies of RNA segment 8 and of the NS1 mRNA. This DNA was cloned in plasmid pBR322 and sequenced. The NS1 mRNA (approximately 1,080 viral nucleotides) contains nonviral nucleotides at its 5' end and is capable of coding for a protein of 281 amino acids. Sequencing of the NS2 mRNA has shown that it contains an interrupted sequence of 655 nucleotides and is most likely synthesized by a splicing mechanism. The first approximately 75 virus-specific nucleotides at the 5' end of the NS2 mRNA are the same as are found at the 5' -end of the NS1 mRNA. This region contains the initiation codon for protein synthesis and coding information for 10 amino acids common to the two proteins. The approximately 350-nucleotide body region of the NS2 mRNA can be translated in the +1 reading frame, and the sequence indicates that the NS1 and NS2 protein-coding regions overlap by 52 amino acids translated from different reading frames. Thus, between the influenza A and B viruses, the organization of the NS1 and NS2 mRNAs and the sizes of the NS2 mRNA and protein are conserved despite the larger size of the influenza B virus RNA segment, NS1 mRNA, and NS1 protein.
A Realistic March-12N Test And Diagnosis Algorithm For SRAM Memories

Testing and diagnosis techniques play a key role during the advance of semiconductor memory technologies. The challenge of failure detection has created intensive investigation on efficient testing and diagnosis algorithm for better fault coverage and yield improvement. The test and diagnosis complexity are 12N for bit-oriented diagnosis algorithm, N is the number of addresses is proposed for fault detection and diagnosis. Using the proposed march-based algorithm (march-12N), 100% of the faults under the fault model are covered and partial distinguished. They also can locate the faulty cells and identify their types. The complete fault and diagnosis procedures for state coupling faults, idempotent coupling faults and inversion coupling faults are written in this paper. Therefore, all the coupling faults that occur in SRAM memories are verified and proved the valid results. Furthermore, the realistic 12N test and diagnosis algorithm has shown the improvement of diagnostic resolution and test time.
The immunization of mice, calves and pigs against Salmonella dublin and Salmonella cholerae-suis infections

1. Antisera prepared in rabbits or calves against live Salmonella dublin gave mice some degree of protection against oral infection with this organism. Both antiserum prepared against heat-killed S. dublin and dead vaccines prepared in a variety of ways produced little or no immunity. 2. A rough variant of S. dublin of low virulence for mice, no. 17 A, produced a reasonably good immunity against oral infection with S. dublin in mice but not in calves. Mice that survived injection with another rough variant that possessed a considerable degree of virulence for these animals, no. 51, were immune to oral infection with S. dublin. Experimentally and naturally, this variant and, to a lesser extent, 9S, a smooth variant of S. gallinarum of reduced virulence, produced an appreciable degree of immunity in calves against S. dublin infection; none of the calves injected with these variants showed any signs of ill-health as a result. 3. Two rough variants of S. cholerae-suis, nos. 3 and 6, possessed a considerable degree of virulence for mice; those that survived were resistant to oral infection with S. cholerae-suis. Experimentally and naturally, both variants produced an appreciable degree of immunity in pigs. 4. Mice that survived vaccination with the rough S. cholerae-suis variant no. 6 were resistant to oral infection with S. dublin. Those that survived vaccination with the rough S. dublin variant no. 51 were resistant to oral infection with S. cholerae-suis and S. typhi-murium; they were fully susceptible to parenteral administration of Escherichia coli and Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae. 5. Vaccination with S. cholerae-suis variants 3 and 6 and S. dublin variant 51 provoked the formation of H but not O antibodies. These variants were never found to mutate from rough to smooth in vitro or in vivo.
Complete Sequence of a blaNDM-1-Harboring Plasmid in an Acinetobacter bereziniae Clinical Strain Isolated in Argentina

The New Delhi metallo-β-lactamase (NDM-1) was initially identified in clinical isolates of Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae in Sweden from a patient previously hospitalized in India (1). Since then, blaNDM-1 has been frequently reported in Enterobacteriaceae and Acinetobacter spp. with a fast dissemination in the Indian subcontinent, the Balkan countries, China and the Middle East (2). NDM-1 producers generally associated to Enterobacteriaceae species have also been reported, albeit with much lower frequency, in Latin American countries including Guatemala, Mexico, Colombia and Brazil (3). Moreover, production of NDM-1 in this geographic region has also been noted in A. baumannii in Honduras and Brazil (3, 4), and in A. pittii in Paraguay and Brazil (5, 6). Here, we report the first case of a NDM-1-producing Acinetobacter species in Argentina, an A. bereziniae clinical isolate. We describe also the complete sequence of a blaNDM-1-containing plasmid in this strain.
Market Madness? The Case of Mad Money

We use the popular television show Mad Money, hosted by Jim Cramer, to test theories of attention and limits to arbitrage. Stock recommendations on Mad Money constitute attention shocks to a large audience of individual traders. We find that stock recommendations lead to large overnight returns that subsequently reverse over the next few months. The spike-reversal pattern is strongest among small, illiquid stocks that are hard to arbitrage. Using daily Nielsen ratings as a direct measure of attention, we find that the overnight return is strongest when high-income viewership is high. We also find weak price effects among sell recommendations. Taken together, the evidence supports the retail attention hypothesis of Barber and Odean (Barber, B., T. Odean. 2008. All that glitters: The effect of attention and news on the buying behavior of individual and institutional investors. Rev. Financial Stud.21(2) 785--818) and illustrates the potential role of media in generating mispricing. This paper was accepted by Brad Barber, Teck Ho, and Terrance Odean, special issue editors.
Neuropsychological predictors of everyday functioning in adults with intellectual disabilities.

BACKGROUND Very little is known about the neuropsychological correlates of adaptive functioning in people with intellectual disabilities (ID). This study examined whether specific cognitive deficits and demographic variables predicted everyday functioning in adults with ID. METHOD People with ID (n = 101; ages 19-41 years; mean education = 11 years; 34% women; 54% competitively employed; 41% with mild ID) completed a comprehensive neuropsychological battery grouped into four cognitive domains: processing speed, verbal memory and comprehension, visual perception/constructive function, and executive function. In addition, parents completed an 89-item rating scale developed to assess a wide range of independent living skills. RESULTS Confirmatory factor analysis results confirmed a correlated four-factor model of cognitive function and a unidimensional model of everyday functioning. Furthermore, structural equation modelling results supported the predictive relationship of verbal memory/comprehension and employment status (standardized regression coefficients 0.45, 0.22, P < or = 0.01 for each) to measures of everyday functioning. The two variables together explained 35% of the variance in everyday functioning. CONCLUSIONS Both general cognitive dysfunction and specific verbal memory and comprehension deficit impair daily functions in people with ID. These findings have implications for predictive models of adaptive functioning, and for cognitive rehabilitation and deficit compensation strategies for this group.
Industry 4.0: Towards future industrial opportunities and challenges

Industry 4.0 (the fourth industrial revolution) encapsulates future industry development trends to achieve more intelligent manufacturing processes, including reliance on Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS), construction of Cyber-Physical Production Systems (CPPS), and implementation and operation of smart factories. This paper introduces relevant aspects of Industry 4.0 in relation to strategic planning, key technologies, opportunities, and challenges. Strategic planning includes construction of a CPS network, discussion of two major themes which are based on the smart factory and intelligent production, achieving three integrations (horizontal integration, vertical integration and end-to-end integration) and achieving eight plans which consist of the formulation of system standardization, efficient management etc. Finally, it referred to the enlightenment for China's manufacturing industries, to build China's Industry 4.0.
Improving Epinephrine Responses in Hypoglycemia Unawareness With Real-Time Continuous Glucose Monitoring in Adolescents With Type 1 Diabetes

OBJECTIVE To determine whether real-time continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) with preset alarms at specific glucose levels would prove a useful tool to achieve avoidance of hypoglycemia and improve the counterregulatory response to hypoglycemia in adolescents with type 1 diabetes with hypoglycemia unawareness. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Adolescents with type 1 diabetes with hypoglycemia unawareness underwent hyperinsulinemic hypoglycemic clamp studies at baseline to determine their counterregulatory hormone responses to hypoglycemia. Subjects were then randomized to either standard therapy or real-time CGM for 4 weeks. The clamp study was then repeated. RESULTS The epinephrine response during hypoglycemia after the intervention was greater in the CGM group than in the standard therapy group. CONCLUSIONS A greater epinephrine response during hypoglycemia suggests that real-time CGM is a useful clinical tool to improve hypoglycemia unawareness in adolescents with type 1 diabetes.
Effect of Catheter-Lock Solutions on Catheter-Related Infection and Inflammatory Syndrome in Hemodialysis Patients: Heparin versus Citrate 46% versus Heparin/Gentamicin

Background and Objective: Prevention strategies are emerging with the use of catheter-lock solutions (CLS) to prevent catheter-related infections. We compared 3 CLS: heparin, citrate (46%) and heparin/gentamicin (H/G). Design, setting and participants: Three periods of 6 months using the three CLS were compared. Results: 265 catheters were studied. The CRI rate per 1,000 catheter-days was 2.9 for heparin, 3.4 for citrate and 0.4 for H/G. The free-infection catheter survival tended to be higher with H/G (log-rank test, p = 0.06) and the CRP had a significant decreasing course (p = 0.03). Since 2006 H/G was used as CLS in our dialysis unit. The resistance to gentamicin of Enterobacteriaceae increased in the nephrology department and in the entire hospital. On the other hand, the resistance of Staphylococcus aureus to gentamicin dropped to nil. Conclusion: CLS with heparin/gentamicin tended to decrease CRI compared to citrate 46% and heparin and frankly improved the CRP course after catheter insertion. Gentamicin resistance should be monitored.
Loss-of-function mutations in the thyrotropin receptor gene as a major determinant of hyperthyrotropinemia in a consanguineous community.

CONTEXT Resistance to TSH (RTSH) is a condition of impaired responsiveness of the thyroid gland to TSH, characterized by elevated serum TSH, low or normal thyroid hormone levels, and hypoplastic or normal-sized thyroid gland. OBJECTIVES The aim of the study was to evaluate the clinical course and the genotype-phenotype relationship of RTSH caused by two different TSH receptor (TSHR) gene mutations in a consanguineous population. PATIENTS AND METHODS We conducted a clinical and genetic investigation of 46 members of an extended family and 163 individuals living in the same town. In vitro functional studies of the mutant TSHRs were also performed. RESULTS Two TSHR gene mutations (P68S and L653V) were identified in 33 subjects occurring as homozygous L653V (five subjects), heterozygous L653V (20 subjects), heterozygous P68S (four subjects), and compound heterozygous L653V/P68S (four subjects). With the exception of one individual with concomitant autoimmune thyroid disease, all homozygotes and compound heterozygotes presented with compensated RTSH (high TSH with free T(4) and T(3) in the normal range). Only nine of 24 heterozygotes had mild hyperthyrotropinemia. The L653V mutation resulted in a higher serum TSH concentration and showed a more severe in vitro abnormality than P68S. Haplotype analysis predicted a founder of the L653V six to seven generations earlier, whereas the P68S is older. Cross-sectional and prospective longitudinal studies indicate that TSH and T(4) concentrations remain stable over time. CONCLUSIONS High frequency hyperthyrotropinemia in an Israeli Arab-Muslim consanguineous community is attributed to two inactivating TSHR gene mutations. Concordant genotype-phenotype was demonstrated clinically and by in vitro functional analysis. Retrospective and prospective studies indicate that in the absence of concomitant autoimmune thyroid disease, elevated TSH levels reflect stable compensated RTSH.
Distinct functions of Ulk1 and Ulk2 in the regulation of lipid metabolism in adipocytes

ULK1 (unc-51 like kinase 1) is a serine/threonine protein kinase that plays a key role in regulating the induction of autophagy. Recent studies using autophagy-defective mouse models, such as atg5- or atg7-deficient mice, revealed an important function of autophagy in adipocyte differentiation. Suppression of adipogenesis in autophagy-defective conditions has made it difficult to study the roles of autophagy in metabolism of differentiated adipocytes. In this study, we established autophagy defective-differentiated 3T3-L1 adipocytes, and investigated the roles of Ulk1 and its close homolog Ulk2 in lipid and glucose metabolism using the established adipocytes. Through knockdown approaches, we determined that Ulk1 and Ulk2 are important for basal and MTORC1 inhibition-induced autophagy, basal lipolysis, and mitochondrial respiration. However, unlike other autophagy genes (Atg5, Atg13, Rb1cc1/Fip200, and Becn1) Ulk1 was dispensable for adipogenesis without affecting the expression of CCAAT/enhancer binding protein α (CEBPA) and peroxisome proliferation-activated receptor gamma (PPARG). Ulk1 knockdown reduced fatty acid oxidation and enhanced fatty acid uptake, the metabolic changes that could contribute to adipogenesis, whereas Ulk2 knockdown had opposing effects. We also found that the expression levels of insulin receptor (INSR), insulin receptor substrate 1 (IRS1), and glucose transporter 4 (SLC2A4/GLUT4) were increased in Ulk1-silenced adipocytes, which was accompanied by upregulation of insulin-stimulated glucose uptake. These results suggest that ULK1, albeit its important autophagic role, regulates lipid metabolism and glucose uptake in adipocytes distinctly from other autophagy proteins.