Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of Irbesartan on Angiotensin II-Induced Adiponectin Expression in Human Cardiomyocytes

Background: Excessive angiotensin II (AngII) can cause cardiac dysfunction and failure. Adiponectin is an abundant plasma protein secreted from adipocytes that elicits protective effects in the vasculature and myocardium. We therefore hypothesized that AngII may induce the expression of adiponectin in cultured human cardiomyocytes (HCM), and adiponectin expression could perhaps be modified by angiotensin type 1 receptor blocker (ARB) irbesartan.Methods: The HCM were stimulated either with or without AngII, and the inhibitory effects of irbesartan on adiponectin expression were tested. The levels of phosphorylated extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK), p38, and c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) proteins induced by AngII, and the effects of specific inhibition on the ERK, p38, and JNK pathways on the AngII-induced adiponectin protein expression were also tested.Results: AngII dose-dependently induced adiponectin expression in HCM. Pretreatment with irbesartan significantly blocked the increase of adiponectin protein by the AngII. AngII significantly increased phosphorylation of ERK, p38, and JNK, while PD98059, SB205380, and SP600125 attenuated the phosphorylation of the 3 signaling pathways, respectively, and adiponectin expression induced by AngII.Conclusion: Our study revealed that AngII enhances adiponectin expression in cultured HCM, probably mediated through the ERK, p38, and JNK pathways. The use of ARB irbesartan can inhibit the AngII-induced adiponectin expression.
Self-Regulated Learning Prompts in the Enhancement of Critical Thinking Skills

Critical thinking has been recognized as an essential concept in nursing curricula, as well as an important outcome for nursing students. The process of journaling has been used as an educational tool within nursing education to evaluate the critical thinking skills in nursing students. Despite its vigorous use, there is no specific format or conceptual model that is used consistently in nursing education to guide the journaling process or to evaluate if critical thinking is or has indeed occurred. This study will introduce the concept of using self-regulated learning (SRL) theory to prompt Basic BSN students in the development of critical thinking skills through the act of journaling. Self-regulated learning was used to format and apply journaling prompts to guide the Medical-Surgical II clinical rotation of Cleveland State University nursing students. The hypothesis was that students who use the self-regulated prompts will show a higher level of critical thinking skills as compared to the students who did not use the self-regulated prompts. A convenience sample of students were recruited and randomly assigned into groups. Journal reflections were scored and evaluated using the Lasater Clinical Judgement Rubric for the presence of cognitive, metacognitive and motivational critical thought processes. A t-test analysis was conducted to measure the difference between the two BSN groups for level of critical thinking. The results of this study did not show a significant difference between the two groups, but is a step in developing a more
Bacteriological profile and antibiotic susceptibility pattern of neonatal septicemia in a tertiary care hospital of Tripura

Background: Sepsis is the commonest cause of neonatal mortality and is influenced by the quality of intrauterine life, host and environmental factors. The present study was undertaken to identify the aetiological agents causing neonatal septicemia and analyze the antibiotic susceptibility pattern, so as to guide the Pediatrician in formulating an empirical antibiotic policy against the predominant pathogens in this geographical area of North East India. Methods: On clinical suspicion of septicemia, atleast two sets of test for blood culture were performed and such neonates included in the study. Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing was subsequently performed following Kirby Bauer Disc Diffusion method. The data obtained from culture proven septicemia was analyzed. Results: Blood culture was positive in 41.1% clinically suspected cases of septicemia. Early Onset Septicemia was confirmed in 73(57.5%) and Late Onset Septicemia in 54(42.5%) neonates. The Gram Positive organisms (51.1%) predominated over Gram negative organisms (48.9%). Staphylococcus aureus (34.6%) was the most predominant isolate followed by Klebsiellapneumoniae (24.4%). The antibiotic sensitivity pattern of the gram positive blood culture isolates indicates that all isolates were sensitive to Vancomycin. The Cephalosporins, Clindamycin and Amikacin were found significantly sensitive to Staphylococcus aureus(95.5%). All Gram negative isolates were sensitive to Imipenem followed by Piperacillin-tazobactum and Amikacin. Conclusion: Amikacin along with a third generation Cephalosporin like Cefotaxime were chosen to be the first line regimen for treatment of cases of septicemia in our setting. The predominant isolate of Staphylococcus aureus along with significant association of maternal risk factors indicates the possibility of cross infection in NICU from index case, for which emphasis need to be laid on Hospital infection control strategies.
Sensitivity of equatorial Pacific and Indian Ocean watermasses to the position of the Indonesian Throughflow

The sensitivity of the thermal structure of the equatorial Pacific and Indian Ocean pycnoclines to a model's representation of the Indonesian Straits connecting the two basins is investigated. Two integrations are performed using the global HOPE ocean model. The initial conditions and surface forcing for both cases are identical; the only difference between the runs is that one has an opening for the Indonesian Straits which spans the equator on the Pacific side, and the other has an opening which lies fully north of the equator. The resulting sensitivity throughout much of the upper ocean is greater than 0.5°C for both the equatorial Indian and Pacific. A realistic simulation of net Indonesian Throughflow (ITF) transport (measured in Sverdrups) is not sufficient for an adequate simulation of equatorial watermasses. The ITF must also contain a realistic admixture of northern and southern Pacific source water.
Security loophole in free-space quantum key distribution due to spatial-mode detector-efficiency mismatch

In free-space quantum key distribution (QKD), the sensitivity of the receiver's detector channels may depend differently on the spatial mode of incoming photons. Consequently, an attacker can control the spatial mode to break security. We experimentally investigate a standard polarization QKD receiver and identify sources of efficiency mismatch in its optical scheme. We model a practical intercept-and-resend attack and show that it would break security in most situations. We show experimentally that adding an appropriately chosen spatial filter at the receiver's entrance may be an effective countermeasure.
The Effect of Leptin in Increasing the Quality of Goat Oocyte Maturation in Vitro

The aim of the research was to determine the effects of leptin in accelerating oocytes maturation. In this research, the addition of leptin in oocyte maturation medium to tissue culture medium-199 (TCM-199) + 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS) at concentrations of 0, 50, 100, 250, 500, 750 and 1000 ng/ml in incubation time 18, 22, 26 and 30 hours significantly increased oocytes percentage up to metaphase II (M II) along with increasing incubation time. The concentration of750 ng/ml with an incubation time of 30 hours is the most optimal in endorsing oocytes to reach M II.
Term Low Dose Intravenous Ascorbic Acid in Functional Iron Deficiency Anemia in Hemodialysis Patients

Background: Anemia is a common complication in patients on chronic hemodialysis.Functional iron deficiency is a state in which insufficient iron is released from the reticuloendothelial system with failure of iron utilization and ineffective erythropoiesis. Vitamin C, or ascorbic acid, increases the release of iron from ferritin and the reticuloendothelial system, enhances iron utilization during heme synthesis, and has antioxidant properties improving sensitivity to rEPO. So, we aimed to study the effect of short term low dose treatment with intravenous ascorbic acid on iron homeostasis in cases of functional iron deficiency in chronic renal failure patients on regular hemodialysis. Material and methods: Sixty anemic patients with functional iron deficiency on regular hemodialysis were chosen and randomly divided into 2 groups. Group I: 30 patients received erythropoietin and iron therapy plus a dose of 300mg of IVAA /session for 2 months. Group II: 30 patients received erythropoietin and iron therapy only and follow up for 2 months. Results: In Group I, IVAA resulted in significant rise of; serum iron, hemoglobin and TSAT (p values<0.001). TIBC and serum ferritin were not significantly affected (p >0.05). In Group II, showed no significant changes. Conclusion: IVAA in a low dose of 300mg / session for a short period of 2 months was associated with raise hemoglobin, increase iron and TSAT significantly in spite keeping the dose of EPO constant without side effects in patients on hemodialysis with functional iron deficiency. [Magdy El-Sharkawy, Walid Bichari, Mostafa Kamel, Hanaa Fathey. Short Term Low Dose Intravenous Ascorbic Acid in Functional Iron Deficiency Anemia in Hemodialysis Patients. Life Sci J 2013;10(4):14621467]. (ISSN: 1097-8135). http://www.lifesciencesite. com. 194
Hydrological impacts of global land cover change and human water use

Human impacts on global terrestrial hydrology have been accelerating during the 20th century. These human impacts include the effects of reservoir building and human water use, as well as land cover change. To date, many global studies have focussed on human water use, but only a few focus on or include the impact of land cover change. Here we use PCR-GLOBWB, a combined global hydrological and water resources model, to assess the impacts of land cover change as well as human water use globally in different climatic zones. Our results show that land cover change has a strong effect on the global hydrological cycle, on the same order of magnitude as the effect of human water use (applying irrigation, abstracting water, for industrial use for example, including reservoirs, etc.). When globally averaged, changing the land cover from that of 1850 to that of 2000 increases discharge through reduced evapotranspiration. The effect of land cover change shows large spatial variability in magnitude and sign of change depending on, for example, the specific land cover change and climate zone. Overall, land cover effects on evapotranspiration are largest for the transition of tall natural vegetation to crops in energy-limited equatorial and warm temperate regions. In contrast, the inclusion of irrigation, water abstraction and reservoirs reduces global discharge through enhanced evaporation over irrigated areas and reservoirs as well as through water consumption. Hence, in some areas land cover change and water distribution both reduce discharge, while in other areas the effects may partly cancel out. The relative importance of both types of impacts varies spatially across climatic zones. From this study we conclude that land cover change needs to be considered when studying anthropogenic impacts on water resources.
Abstract Topological Approaches for 3 D Object Processing and Applications

Topological Approaches for 3D Object Processing and Applications Khaled Tarmissi The great challenge in 3D object processing is to devise computationally efficient algorithms for recovering 3D models contaminated by noise and preserving their geometrical structure. The first problem addressed in this thesis is object denoising formulated in the discrete variational framework. We introduce a 3D mesh denoising method based on kernel density estimation. The proposed approach is able to reduce the over-smoothing effect and effectively remove undesirable noise while preserving prominent geometric features of a 3D mesh such as sharp features and fine details. The feasibility of the approach is demonstrated through extensive experiments. The rest of the thesis is devoted to a joint exploitation of geometry and topology of 3D objects for as parsimonious as possible representation of models and its subsequent application in object modeling, compression, and hashing problems. We introduce a 3D mesh compression technique using the centroidal mesh neighborhood information. The key idea is to apply eigen-decomposition to the mesh umbrella matrix, and then discard the smallest eigenvalues/eigenvectors in order to reduce the dimensionality of the new spectral basis so that most of the energy is concentrated in the low frequency coefficients. We also present a hashing technique for 3D models using spectral graph theory and entropic spanning trees by partitioning a 3D triangle mesh into an ensemble of submeshes, and then applying eigen-decomposition to the Laplace-Beltrami matrix of each sub-mesh, followed by computing the hash value of each sub-mesh. Moreover, we introduce several statistical distributions to analyze the topological properties of 3D objects. These probabilistic distributions provide useful information about the way 3D mesh models are connected. Illustrating experiments with synthetic and real data are provided to demonstrate the feasibility and the much improved performance of the proposed approaches in 3D object compression, hashing, and modeling.
A property right in self-expression: equality and individualism in the natural law of intellectual property

A Chinese translation of this article appeared as 自我表达中的财产权利：自我表达中的财产权利：知识财产自然法中的平等和个人主义 in the Chinese journal Private Law (translators Xu Shanshan and Wangsui, under the direction of Professor Li Yang) (2008).
Seasonal to hour variation scales in abundance and production of total and particle-attached bacteria in the open NW Mediterranean Sea (0–1000 m)

Abstract. We present the vertical and temporal dynamics of total vs. particle-attached bacterial abundance and activity over a 5 week period under summer to autumn transition in NW Mediterranean Sea. At a weekly time scale, total bacterial biomass and production in the euphotic layers was significantly correlated with phytoplanktonic biomass. At an hourly time scale, total bacterial biomass responded very rapidly to chlorophyll a fluctuations, suggesting a tight coupling between phytoplankton and bacteria for resource partitioning during the summer-autumn transition. In contrast, no influence of diel changes on bacterial parameters was detected. Episodic events such as coastal water intrusions had a significant positive effect on total bacterial abundance and production, whereas we could not detect any influence of short wind events whatever the magnitude. Finally, we show that particle-attached bacteria can represent a large proportion (up to 49%) of the total bacterial activity in the euphotic layer but display rapid and sporadic changes at hourly time scales. In the mesopelagic layers, bacterial abundance and production linearly decreased with depth, except some production peaks at 400–750 m. This study underlines the value of large datasets covering different temporal scales to clarify the biogeochemical role of bacteria in the cycling of organic matter in open seawater.
The Firm&Apos;S Role in Displaced Workers&Apos; Earnings Losses

We use employer-employee matched administrative data from Ohio to study the role of firm pay premiums in explaining the large, persistent earnings losses of displaced workers. We estimate that earnings for displaced workers from the mid-2000s are depressed by 22 percent after four years, consistent with prior work. Drawing upon empirical approaches from the displaced worker and firm heterogeneity literature, we then estimate how much of this earnings loss can be explained by the forfeiture of a favorable employer-specific pay premium. Our preferred estimate attributes one quarter (24 percent) of long-run earnings deficits to lost firm pay premiums. Such firm rents explain up to half the earnings deficits for those laid off from manufacturing firms and employers with particularly generous pay policies. We test for sensitivity to different samples from which we derive firm specific-pay premiums and definitions of displacement. Our estimates persist in a narrow range between 16 and 24 percent for the share explained by firm rents, adding to the evidence that firm rents do not explain the majority of earnings or wage losses sustained by displaced workers in the United States.
REDUCTIONS IN OXYGEN CONSUMPTION DURING DIVES AND ESTIMATED SUBMERGENCE LIMITATIONS OF STELLER SEA LIONS (EUMETOPIAS JUBATUS)

Accurate estimates of diving metabolic rate are central to assessing the energy needs of marine mammals. To circumvent some of the limitations inherent with conducting energy studies in both the wild and captivity, we measured diving oxygen consumption of two trained Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus) in the open ocean. The animals dived to predetermined depths (5-30 m) for controlled periods of time (50-200 s). Rates of oxygen consumption were measured using open-circuit respirometry before and after each dive. Mean resting rates of oxygen consumption prior to the dives were 1.34 (±0.18) and 1.95 (±0.19) liter/min for individual sea lions. Mean rates of oxygen consumption during the dives were 0.71 (±0.24) and 1.10 (±0.39) liter/min, respectively. Overall, rates of oxygen consumption during dives were significantly lower (45% and 41%) than the corresponding rates measured before dives. These results provide the first estimates of diving oxygen consumption rate for Steller sea lions and show that this species can exhibit a marked decrease in oxygen consumption relative to surface rates while submerged. This has important consequences in the evaluation of physiological limitations associated with diving such as dive duration and subsequent interpretations of diving behavior in the wild.
Association studies of genetic polymorphism and environmental factors in ischemic stroke with atherosclerotic middle cerebral artery stenosis

Objectives: Intracranial atherosclerosis, especially the middle cerebral artery (MCA), is the commonest vascular lesion for ischemic stroke the Chinese population. We explored the association of genetic polymorphism and environmental factors in MCA atherosclerosis in the Chinese population. Methods: One hundred fifty-six ischemic stroke patients with MCA stenosis and 181 well-matched ischemic stroke patients without MCA stenosis were examined by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The PCR products were analyzed for lipoprotein lipase (LPL) S447X and paraoxonase1 (PON1) Q192R polymorphisms by restriction enzyme digestion. Medical history documentation and investigation of biochemical markers were performed for each subject. Results: Univariate analysis showed that the levels of systolic blood pressure (SBP) were higher in the MCA stenosis group. There were no significant differences in the genotype and allele frequencies of the LPL S447X and PON1 Q192R polymorphism observed between the two groups. But, in the patients above 60 years of age with and without MCA stenosis, LPL X carriers have higher level of SBP than the LPL SS genotype carriers. Multivariate logistic regression found that SBP was the significant, independent predictor of the presence of MCA stenosis patients above 60 years of age (P < 0.001, OR=1.206, 95% confidence intervals: 1.014-1.032). Conclusions: SBP appears to contribute to the pathogenesis of MCA stenosis among Chinese. The gene polymorphism of LPL S447X may be associated with atherosclerotic MCA stenosis in Chinese population.
Synthesis, Antioxidant, and Anti-inflammatory Activity of Morpholine Mannich base of AMACS ((2E, 6E)-2-({4-hydroxy-3-[morpholin-4-yl-)methyl]phenyl}methylidene)-6-(phenylmethylidene)cyclohexan-1-one) and Its Analogs -

A series of asymmetrical mono-carbonyl analogs of curcumin (AMACs) containing morpholine Mannich base ((2E, 6E)-2-({4-hydroxy-3-[morpholin-4-yl-)methyl]phenyl}methylidene)-6-(phenylmethylidene)cyclohexan-1-one) was synthesized. The title compounds and the parent compounds were evaluated for antioxidant and anti‐inflammatory activity using 2,2-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical-scavenger method and protein denaturation method, respectively. Among the tested compounds, only compound 5d showed potent antioxidant activity which was comparable to cyclovalone. All the AMACs exhibited lower anti-inflammatory activity than that of cyclovalone. However, compounds 7c and 7d exhibited a potent anti‐inflammatory activity which was almost comparable to cyclovalone and the standard diclofenac sodium.
Direct numerical simulations of dense suspensions: wave instabilities in liquid-fluidized beds

We present results of direct numerical simulations of travelling waves in dense assemblies of monodisperse spherical particles fluidized by a liquid. The cases we study have been derived from the experimental work of others. In these simulations, the flow of interstitial fluid is solved by the lattice-Boltzmann method (LBM) and the particles move under the influence of gravity, hydrodynamic forces stemming from the LBM, subgrid-scale lubrication forces and hard-sphere collisions. We first show that the propagating inhomogeneous structures seen in the simulations are in agreement with those observed experimentally. We then use the detailed information contained in the simulation results to assess aspects of two-fluid model closures, namely, fluid–particle drag, and the various contributions to the effective stresses. We show that the rates of compaction and dilation of the particle phase in the travelling waves are comparable to the rate at which the microstructure relaxes, and that there is a pronounced effect of the rate of compaction on the average collisional normal stress. Although this effect can be expressed as an effective bulk viscosity term, this approach would require the use of a path-dependent bulk viscosity. We also find that the effective fluid–particle drag coefficient can be described well with the often-used closure motivated by the experiments of Richardson & Zaki (Trans. Inst. Chem. Engng vol. 32, 1954, p. 35). In this respect, the effect of the system size for determining the drag requires specific care. The shear viscosity of the particle phase manifests small, but clearly noticeable dependence on the rate of compaction/dilation of the particle phase. Our observations point to the need for higher-order closures that recognize the slow evolution of the microstructure in these flows and account for the effects of non-equilibrium microstructure on the stresses.