Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Inflammatory Role of AMP-Activated Protein Kinase Signaling in an Experimental Model of Toxic Smoke Inhalation Injury*

Objective:The molecular mechanisms underlying lung inflammation in toxic smoke inhalation injury are unknown. We investigated the signaling pathway responsible for the induction of interleukin 8 by wood smoke extract in lung epithelial cells and lung inflammation induced by wood smoke exposure in mice. Design:A randomized, controlled study. Setting:A research laboratory. Interventions and Main Results:Exposure of primary human bronchial epithelial cells to wood smoke extract sequentially activated NADPH oxidase and increased intracellular reactive oxygen species level; activated AMP-activated protein kinase, extracellular signal-regulated kinase and Jun N-terminal kinase (two mitogen-activated protein kinases), and nuclear factor-&kgr;B and signal transducer and activator of transcription protein 3 (two transcription factors); and induced interleukin-8. Inhibition of NADPH oxidase activation with apocynin or siRNA targeting p47phox (a subunit of NADPH oxidase) attenuated the increased intracellular reactive oxygen species level, AMP-activated protein kinase activation, and interleukin-8 induction. Removal of intracellular reactive oxygen species by N-acetyl-cysteine reduced the activation of AMP-activated protein kinase, extracellular signal-regulated kinase and Jun N-terminal kinase, and interleukin-8 induction. Prevention of AMP-activated protein kinase activation by Compound C or AMP-activated protein kinase siRNA lessened the activation of Jun N-terminal kinase, extracellular signal-regulated kinase, nuclear factor-&kgr;B, signal transducer and activator of transcription protein 3 and interleukin-8 induction. Inhibition of Jun N-terminal kinase and extracellular signal-regulated kinase activation by inhibitors reduced the activation of nuclear factor-&kgr;B and signal transducer and activator of transcription protein 3 and interleukin-8 induction. Abrogation of nuclear factor-&kgr;B and signal transducer and activator of transcription protein 3 activation by inhibitors attenuated the interleukin-8 induction. Additionally, acute exposure of mice to wood smoke promoted AMP-activated protein kinase phosphorylation and expression of macrophage inflammatory protein 2 (an interleukin-8 homolog) in lung epithelial cells and lungs and lung inflammation, all of which were reduced by Compound C treatment. Conclusions:Interleukin-8 induction by wood smoke extract in lung epithelial cells is mediated by novel NADPH oxidase-dependent, reactive oxygen species-sensitive AMP-activated protein kinase signaling with Jun N-terminal kinase and extracellular signal-regulated kinase as the downstream kinases and nuclear factor-&kgr;B and signal transducer and activator of transcription protein 3 as the downstream transcription factors. This AMP-activated protein kinase signaling is likely important for inducing lung inflammation with toxic smoke exposure in mice.
Effect of temperature on nucleotide pools and monoclonal antibody production in a mouse hybridoma

The specific monoclonal antibody productivity (qMab) of a murine hybridoma (CC9C10) increased with incubation temperature in the range 33°C to 39°C. qMab was constant at each temperature and was independent of the phase of culture. The qMab increased 97% at 39°C and decreased by 21% at 33°C compared with controls at 37°C. Specific rates of substrate (glucose and glutamine) utilization and byproduct (lactate and ammonia) formation also increased with temperature but the yield coefficient, YLac/Llc' was constant for 33°C to 39°C and YAmm/Gin was constant for 37°C to 39°C. YAmm/Gin at 33°C was lower than the control. Changes in specific nucleotide concentrations and ratios were monitored by analysis of intracellular nucleotide pools. The NTP ratio, (ATP + GTP)/(UTP + CTP), increased and the U‐ratio (UTP/UDP–GNac) decreased during the course of each culture, whereas the adenylate energy charge, (ATP + 0.5ADP)/(ATP + ADP + AMP), remained relatively constant at a value 0.8. The relative content of UDP‐/N acetyl galactosamine, UDP‐N acetyl glucosamine, and NAD increased with incubation temperature, whereas the relative ATP content, SA(ATP + ADP + AMP)/SU (UTP + UDP‐sugars) ratio, purine/pyrimidine, ATP/GTP, and U‐ratio decreased at higher incubation temperatures. It is possible that these nucleotide parameters may have a regulatory role in the changes of qMab observed at the higher temperatures. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Effects of a novel smooth muscle relaxant, KT‐362, on contraction and cytosolic Ca2+ level in the rat aorta

1 Inhibitory effects of a novel smooth muscle relaxant, KT‐362 (5‐[3‐([2‐(3,4‐dimethoxyphenyl)‐ethyl]amino)‐1‐oxopropyl]‐2,3,4,5‐tetrahydro‐1,5‐benzothiazepine fumarate), on contraction and the cytosolic Ca2+ level ([Ca2+]cyt) in isolated vascular smooth muscle of rat aorta were examined. 2 KT‐362 inhibited the contractions induced by high K+ and noradrenaline. The inhibitory effect was antagonized by an increase in external Ca2+ concentration. A Ca2+ channel activator, Bay K 8644, did not change the effect of KT‐362 on high K+‐induced contraction. 3 [Ca2+]cyt, measured with fura‐2‐Ca2+ fluorescence, increased during the contractions induced by high K+ or noradrenaline. KT‐362 decreased [Ca2+]cyt and muscle tension stimulated by high K+ or noradrenaline. By contrast, a Ca2+ channel blocker, verapamil, inhibited the noradrenaline‐induced increase in [Ca2+]cyt with only partial inhibition of the noradrenaline‐induced contraction and KT‐362 inhibited the verapamil‐insensitive portion of the contraction without changing [Ca2+]cyt. 4 In a Ca2+‐free solution, noradrenaline and caffeine induced a transient contraction following a transient increase in [Ca2+]cyt. KT‐362 inhibited the increments due to noradrenaline but not those induced by caffeine. 5 These results suggest that KT‐362 inhibits vascular smooth muscle contraction by inhibiting Ca2+ channels, receptor‐mediated Ca2+ mobilization, and receptor‐mediated Ca2+ sensitization of contractile elements.
Abortion Liberalization in World Society, 1960–20091

Controversy sets abortion apart from other issues studied by world society theorists, who consider the tendency for policies institutionalized at the global level to diffuse across very different countries. The authors conduct an event history analysis of the spread (however limited) of abortion liberalization policies from 1960 to 2009. After identifying three dominant frames (a women’s rights frame, a medical frame, and a religious, natural family frame), the authors find that indicators of a scientific, medical frame show consistent association with liberalization of policies specifying acceptable grounds for abortion. Women’s leadership roles have a stronger and more consistent liberalizing effect than do countries’ links to a global women’s rights discourse. Somewhat different patterns emerge around the likelihood of adopting an additional policy, controlling for first policy adoption. Even as support for women’s autonomy has grown globally, with respect to abortion liberalization, persistent, powerful frames compete at the global level, preventing robust policy diffusion.
Categories for names or names for categories?The interplay between domain-specific conceptual structure and language

Various claims have been made in the developmental literature about the relationship between language and categorisation in children. Drawing on the notion of the domain-specificity of cognition, the paper reviews evidence on the effect of language in the classification of and reasoning about categories from different domains. The review looks at the anthropological, infant classification, and preschool categorisation literature. Overall, the analyses suggest that the causal nature and inductive power of animal categories seem to be the least influenced by linguistic and cultural factors, of artifact categories the most, and of human categories somewhere in between these other two kinds. Some gaps on the evidence reviewed are noted and possible theoretical accounts of the emerging pattern are discussed.
Randomized comparison of recovery after propofol‐nitrous oxide versus thiopentone‐isoflurane‐nitrous oxide anaesthesia in patients undergoing ambulatory surgery

A randomized, prospective study was performed to compare recovery characteristics in 41 ASA physical status I‐II patients scheduled for ambulatory surgery with either propofol or thiopentone‐isoflurane anaesthesia. Particular attention was focused on the recovery time needed to meet discharge criteria. The propofol group received propofol 2 mg · kg‐1 for induction followed by propofol infusion (6–9 mg · kg‐1 · h‐1) 1 min after intubation. The thiopentone‐isoflurane group received thiopentone 4 mg · kg‐1 for induction followed by isoflurane (0.5–2%) 1 min after endotracheal intubation. Other drugs administered during or after anaesthesia were similar between the groups. The propofol group had significantly (P<0.05) faster clinical recovery than the isoflurane group with respect to times to response to commands, eye opening, orientation, ability to stand and void, tolerance to oral fluids, “home‐readiness”, and recovery of perceptual speed. Patients in the propofol group had significantly less (P<0.05) emesis than the patients given isoflurane. We conclude that in patients undergoing ambulatory surgery propofol infusion is preferable to thiopentoneisoflurane anaesthesia, because it may allow faster discharge home.
Isolation and molecular detection of Pasteurella multocida Type A from naturally infected chickens, and their histopathological evaluation in artificially infected chickens in Bangladesh

Pasteurella multocida type A is the etiologic agent of fowl cholera, a highly contagious and fatal disease of chickens. The present research work was performed for the isolation, identification and molecular detection of P. multocida Type A from chickens. Liver, heart and spleen of suspected dead chicken (n=35) were collected from Gazipur and Pabna districts in Bangladesh. The targeted bacteria from the samples were isolated, identified and characterized based on their morphology, staining, cultural, biochemical characters, pathogenicity test, histopathological study and Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). The P. multocida organism was isolated from 11.42% (n=4/35) samples. The organisms were gram negative, non-spore forming rod, non-motile, occurring singly or pairs in Gram staining, whereas in Leishman’s stain, bipolar shaped organisms were observed. All the isolates were found positive for oxidase and catalase tests, produced indole, and fermented glucose, mannitol and sucrose. Necrotic foci in liver and congestion with hemorrhages in heart were found on necropsy. After pathogenicity test, the pathological changes were reconfirmed by histopathology depicting congestion, hemorrhage and lymphocyte infiltration in heart, liver and spleen tissues. In type specific PCR reaction, the organisms were confirmed as P. multocida Type A. In conclusion, P. multocida type A is prevalent among poultry in the studied regions; thus, care must be taken to control of the disease. http://dx.doi. org/10.5455/javar.2015. b104
Appearance of Gold, Silver and Copper Colors of Glossy Object Surface

We investigated categorical regions and appearances of gold, silver and copper color, and glossiness for CG spheres with various chromaticities, lightnesses, and contrast glosses. It was found that the chromaticity regions of brown and yellow changed into gold color, those of gray and black into silver color, and a part of brown region changed into copper color with increase of contrast gloss. The magnitude estimates of gold, silver and copper color increased in high saturation chromaticity regions, achromatic regions, and medium saturation regions, respectively as the contrast gloss increased. As lightness levels increase gold and silver color estimates showed almost no change although copper color estimates decreased. It is suggested that the visual system would independently process glossiness and chromaticness of a surface in a lower level, and then, yield appearances of gold, silver and copper colors by combining them in a higher level.
Diffuse Cerebral Degeneration in Infancy (Alpers' Disease)

In 1931 Alpers described a condition in which there was a peculiar form of degeneration of the cerebral grey matter. Subsequently other examples of this disorder in association with epilepsy, spasticity, myoclonus and dementia in early life have been published. These 24 cases, together with eight of their own, have been summarized by Wolf and Cowen (1954) under the name of 'diffuse progressive cerebral cortical atrophy', although the cerebellum and basal ganglia were also involved. As the condition is uncommon it was thought worth while to record five cases, occurring in three families, in which cerebral biopsy was performed; on the four which subsequently died, histological and chemical examination of the brain was carried out.
Combining Edge Images and Depth Maps for Robust Visual Odometry

In this work, we propose a robust visual odometry system for RGBD sensors. The core of our method is a combination of edge images and depth maps for joint camera pose estimation. Edges are more stable under varying lighting conditions than raw intensity values and depth maps further add stability in poorly textured environments. This leads to higher accuracy and robustness in scenes, where feature- or photoconsistency-based approaches often fail. We demonstrate the robustness of our method under challenging conditions on various real-world scenarios recorded with our own RGBD sensor. Further, we evaluate on several sequences from standard benchmark datasets covering a wide variety of scenes and camera motions. The results show that our method performs best in terms of trajectory accuracy for most of the sequences indicating that the chosen combination of edge and depth terms in the cost function is suitable for a multitude of scenes.
Alcohol use and blood pressure in an unacculturated society.

Alcohol intake has been associated with higher blood pressure in acculturated populations but not in unacculturated societies. We performed a cross-sectional survey of a random community sample of 5023 male Yi rural farmers and 1656 Yi and 2173 Han men living in an urban setting. Average alcohol intake among drinkers was 36.4 g/d in Yi farmers, 56.5 g/d in Yi migrants, and 38.7 g/d in Han men. Age-adjusted mean diastolic blood pressure was 66.9, 70.5, and 71.7 mm Hg, respectively. Diastolic blood pressure was higher at higher alcohol intakes in all three groups (all P < .001). After adjustment for age, body mass index, heart rate, smoking, and physical activity, the change (95% confidence interval) in diastolic blood pressure for each standard drink was 0.50 (0.38-0.62), 0.31 (0.18-0.43), and 0.24 (0.07-0.40) mm Hg for Yi farmers, Yi migrants, and Han men, respectively. The percentage of variance in diastolic blood pressure explained by alcohol intake was 5% for Yi farmers, 4% for Yi migrants, and 2% for Han men. In a random sample of 831 men, these associations were independent of urinary sodium, potassium, calcium, and magnesium and sodium-potassium ratio. In the Yi farmers, associations were less strong for systolic blood pressure and no longer significant after adjustment. Approximately 33% of hypertension could be attributed to daily alcohol use in the Yi groups compared with 9.5% in the Han people. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Estimating the effect of medication adherence on health outcomes among patients with type 2 diabetes--an application of marginal structural models.

OBJECTIVE We applied marginal structural models (MSMs) to estimate the effects of medication adherence with hypoglycemics on reducing the risk of microvascular complications in type 2 diabetic patients. METHODS A retrospective longitudinal cohort study for type 2 diabetes patients was conducted using the California Medicaid claims database (1995-2002). Medication adherence and multiple time-varying confounders were measured quarterly over a maximum of 7.5 years follow-up. Cox regression models and MSMs results on the effect of compliance were compared. RESULTS Of 4708 eligible patients, 2644 (56.2%) experienced microvascular complications during the follow-up period. After controlling for baseline covariates, standard Cox models estimated that adherence was associated with increased risk of complication with hazard ratio (HR) of 1.09 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.00, 1.18). With adjustment of time-varying confounders as exogenous variables, the HR was 0.96 (0.88, 1.04). Using the MSM technique, the HR was 0.76 (95% bootstrap CI: 0.60, 0.92), indicating a significant benefit of medication adherence with hypoglycemics on the reduction of microvascular complications. This result contrasts with the negative results obtained in the hazard model, and is more consistent with prior clinical trial results CONCLUSION Unlike conventional models, MSMs estimated that higher medication adherence may result in reduced risk of microvascular complications among patients with type 2 diabetes.
Exposure to Urban Stressor and Effects on Luteinizing Hormone (LH) in Female Outdoor Workers

There are few studies in literature about exposure to urban pollutants and effects on female reproductive health. The aim of the study was to evaluate if the occupational exposure to chemical urban stressor could cause luteinizing hormone (LH) plasma levels alterations in female traffic police compared to a control group. One hundred and eighty subjects were included in the study, subdivided into three different groups according to the day of the menstrual cycle (7th, 14th, 21st) in which a blood sample was taken. In follicular and lutheal phase of ovarian cycle, the LH mean levels were significantly higher in traffic police vs. controls. The distribution of LH values in traffic police and controls was significant in follicular, and lutheal phase. In ovulatory phase, LH mean levels were lower but not significant in traffic police compared to controls. An increase was found concerning mental health disorders referred to the questionnaire items in traffic police vs. controls, although the difference was not significant. Our results suggest that occupational exposure to urban stressor in female traffic police, may alter LH plasma concentrations. LH may be used in occupational set as an early biomarker of exposure to urban stressor.
SiGe p-n-p HBTs With 265-GHz f max, 175-GHz f T, and 3.65-ps Gate Delay

SiGe p-n-p heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) are presented with fT/fmax values of 175 GHz/265 GHz and a minimum current mode logic ring oscillator gate delay of 3.65 ps. The devices are fabricated in an experimental p-n-p 0.25-μm BiCMOS process environment adopting the transistor design of an advanced n-p-n HBT module. The improved RF performance compared with previously reported p-n-p HBTs was enabled by low-temperature disilane-based epitaxial processes, careful base-profile engineering, the realization of low-ohmic collector and emitter layers, and by avoiding thermal treatments higher than 650 °C between base epitaxy and final RTP.
Ordinal Optimization of Communication Network Performance: A New Look Based on use of the Connection Machine

Abstract : Ordinal optimization can be an effective technique for efficiently finding nearly optimal solutions to complex problems. The motivation behind this approach is that finding the optimal solution (or control policy) is often too costly or time consuming, although a suboptimal solution may provide sufficiently good performance. In earlier studies on sequential machines, we demonstrated the effectiveness of ordinal optimization based on the Standard Clock (SC) parallel simulation technique. In this report we study the use of SC and ordinal optimization techniques on the massively parallel Connection Machine CM-5E. The use of the CM-5E has greatly extended the size of problems that can be addressed. For example, whereas our studies on sequential machines were typically limited to wireless networking examples with up to 8 transceivers per node, the use of the CM-5E has permitted the study of examples with up to 4,000 transceivers per node, thus permitting the study of examples with the dimensions of high-speed networks. We address self-regulation and scalability properties of the solutions, as well as the determination of good solutions for large, finely-quantized systems. The CM-5E has enabled us to demonstrate that good solutions can be found quickly, and often without the need for high-performance computer resources.
Can we make performance measures more resilient to the effects of coding?

Starting in 2012, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid services (CMS) instituted a value-based purchasing (VBP) program for most US hospitals. Under this program, participating hospitals have their base operating Diagnosis-Related Group (DRG) payments reduced by a small percentage each year (1.5% for fiscal year 2015). The amount that is withheld is then given back, in the form of incentives, to hospitals that exceed the 50th percentile of all hospitals’ performance for selected metrics, including risk-adjusted mortality.1, 2 CMS has instituted a differently structured but similarly themed initiative under the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program.3 Fear of financial penalties along with concern about the effect of public reporting on hospital reputation have resulted in hospitals putting great effort into improving performance on these metrics.4 Pneumonia was a clear choice for inclusion in the VBP and HRRP programs because it is the most common infectious diagnosis in US hospitals, with aggregate costs of US hospitalizations exceeding $10 billion in 2011.5, 6
Piwil2 modulates the proliferation and metastasis of colon cancer via regulation of matrix metallopeptidase 9 transcriptional activity

Piwi-like protein 2 (Piwil2) has recently emerged as a putative oncogene which is amplified in several human malignancies. However, the role of Piwil2 in colon cancer remains poorly understood. The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical and pathological significance of Piwil2, and the possible role in the proliferation and metastasis of colon cancer. Primary colon cancer paired with adjacent normal colon tissue and lymph node metastasis (LNM) lesions in 66 patients’ tissue microarrays (TMA) were used to determine the expression of Piwil2. Knocked down Piwil2 expression in SW620 and SW480 colon cancer cell lines was performed to evaluate the role of Piwil2 in cell proliferation, invasion, metastasis in vitro and tumorigenecity in vivo. The possible roles of Piwil2 in the regulation of a 2 kb matrix metallopeptidase 9 (MMP9) promoter fragment and on the regulation of apoptotic pathways were evaluated by using a luciferase reporter construct and Western blots, respectively. Significantly higher expression levels of Piwil2 were observed in primary colon cancer tissue and in LNM in comparison with normal colon mucosa. Piwil2 expression significantly correlated with more aggressive clinical and pathological parameters with poorer five-year metastasis-free survival and overall survival. Piwil2 silencing significantly reduced cancer cell proliferation, colony formation ability and increased apoptosis in vitro and inhibited tumor growth in vivo. Piwil2 knockdown also attenuated migration and invasion of colon cancer cells via modulation of MMP9 transcriptional activities. Our results indicate that Piwil2 moderates the proliferation and metastasis potential of colon cancer.