Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Exercise in Water During Pregnancy

The medical opinions and traditions regarding exercise during pregnancy have been shaped more by cultural and political forces than science. This is true not only of our times, but as long as we have had records about pregnancy. Roman authors glorified Spartan women who exercised in pregnancy to develop more fit offspring. Traditions of women working throughout pregnancy, traditions of isolation in the puerperium, and traditions about “confinement” have all been based more on social mores than scientific evaluation. Even in the past three decades, the recommended “maximal” maternal heart rate of 140 bpm during exercise was never substantiated by evidence-based research. One can find the 140 bpm heart rate in all manner of books about pregnancy; only recently has the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists dropped that recommendation. The past 30 years has seen a tremendous increase in both the depth and breadth of research regarding the physiologic responses of the pregnant woman. This report summarizes recent research regarding exercise that is done in the water during pregnancy (immersed exercise). Numerous physiologic changes occur when a woman exercises, including changes in temperature and body carriage, effects on catecholamines, redistribution of blood flow, and changes in ventilation, cardiac output, and maternal renal blood flow. The physiologic adaptations of pregnancy are challenged by the physiologic tasks of exercise. The interaction of the adaptations and maternal physiology is detailed throughout this issue. As can be read in other reports, different types of exercise influence the pregnant woman in different ways. For example, cardiac output changes in different maternal positions. Pregnancy in the water involves immersion, which has a profound effect on physiologic variables. The hydrostatic forces of water leads indirectly to increased cardiac output, through a direct effect on increased central blood volume. The increased central blood volume and cardiac output lead to greater visceral and renal blood flow. The buoyancy of water provides physical support to the pregnant woman and her increasing abdominal girth, particularly during the last several weeks of gestation. This leads to many pregnant women being able to continue their exercise throughout pregnancy rather than having to stop in the last 4 to 6 weeks. Thus, exercise in the water is different than exercise on land. Though there are several advantages to water exercise, particularly in pregnancy, Correspondence: Vern Katz, MD, 1200 Hilyard Street, Suite 570, Eugene, OR 97401. E-mail: vkatz@peacehealth. org. CLINICAL OBSTETRICS AND GYNECOLOGY Volume 46, Number 2, 432–441 © 2003, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Inc.
IN VITRO PROPAGATION OF SWEET HERB ; STEVIA REBAUDIANA BERT *

An efficient plant regeneration protocol has been developed from leaf explants of Stevia rebaudiana, an economically and medicinally important herbaceous plant species belonging to the family Asteraceae. Plant regeneration and multiple shoot proliferation was initiated from leaf explants cultured on MS medium supplemented with various concentrations of 6-benzyladenine (BA) and kinetin (KN) in combination with Auxins (IAA and 24,D). The maximum percentage (81.3%) response with average number of shoots (9.32±0.14), was achieved with medium containing 2 mg/l KN+0.5mg/l IAA. Shoot culture was established by repeated subculturing of newly formed shoots. Rooting of shoots was achieved on half-strength MS medium. Well-developed plantlets transferred to plastic pots containing soil and cocopeat (1:1) showed 80% survival. This protocol can be used for commercial propagation and for future genetic improvement studies.
Visual exploratory analysis of large data sets : evaluation and application

Large data sets are difficult to analyze. Visualization has been proposed to assist exploratory data analysis (EDA) as our visual systems can process signals in parallel to quickly detect patterns. Nonetheless, designing an effective visual analytic tool remains a challenge. This challenge is partly due to our incomplete understanding of how common visualization techniques are used by human operators during analyses, either in laboratory settings or in the workplace. This thesis aims to further understand how visualizations can be used to support EDA. More specifically, we studied techniques that display multiple levels of visual information resolutions (VIRs) for analyses using a range of methods. The first study is a summary synthesis conducted to obtain a snapshot of knowledge in multiple-VIR use and to identify research questions for the thesis: (1) low-VIR use and creation; (2) spatial arrangements of VIRs. The next two studies are laboratory studies to investigate the visual memory cost of image transformations frequently used to create low-VIR displays and overview use with single-level data displayed in multiple-VIR interfaces. For a more well-rounded evaluation, we needed to study these techniques in ecologically-valid settings. We therefore selected the application domain of web session log analysis and applied our knowledge from our first three evaluations to build a tool called Session Viewer. Taking the multiple coordinated view and overview + detail approaches, Session Viewer displays multiple levels of web session log data and multiple views of session populations to facilitate data analysis from the high-level statistical to the low-level detailed session analysis approaches. Our fourth and last study for this thesis is a field evaluation conducted at Google Inc. with seven session analysts using Session Viewer to analyze their own data with their own tasks. Study observations suggested that displaying web session logs at multiple levels using the overview + detail technique helped
Relativistic magnetic self-channeling of light in near-critical plasma: Three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulation.

We present 3D particle-in-cell simulations for laser pulses with relativistic intensity propagating in slightly underdense plasma. We observe strong flows of relativistic electrons, axially comoving with the pulse. They generate magnetic fields up to 100 MG and strongly influence light propagation. After a phase of filamentation, a single light channel with a width of 1--2 wavelengths is formed by magnetic interaction. A representative case is discussed in which the intensity on axis increases from initially $1.2\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{19}$ to $2.0\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{20}$ W/c${\mathrm{m}}^{2}$. Ion acceleration and plasma cavitation are also discussed.
Oxidative Stress, Endothelial Dysfunction and Cerebrovascular Disease

Endothelial dysfunction is a marker of atherosclerosis and contributes to the atherogenic process and the development of atherothrombotic complications. Oxidative stress has been implicated in the development of endothelial dysfunction through alterations of the nitric oxide metabolism. A number of evidence suggests a role for phagocytic-cell-mediated oxidative stress in diminished nitric oxide availability that is present in patients with atherosclerotic risk factors such as arterial hypertension. Thus, the combination of an excessive production of reactive oxygen species, namely superoxide anion, with an impaired antioxidant defense capacity leading to oxidative stress may facilitate the development and progression of atherosclerosis. Findings from recent clinical studies suggest that this mechanism can be operative in patients with cerebrovascular disease. This view may increase our capabilities to understand the pathophysiology of cerebrovascular disease, as well as to stimulate the design of new therapeutic strategies aimed to prevent and control the atherosclerotic process in patients presenting this condition.
Composition of rabbit oviduct fluid in ligated segments of the Fallopian tube.

Forty-six, mature, New Zealand white does were used for collection of fluid from the Fallopian tubes. Ligation of the tubes into four isolated segments was carried out with minimal disturbance to the blood supply, using an operating microscope. The volume of fluid collected decreased from the fimbriated end to the utero-tubal junction. Analysis of the chemical constituents of the fluid from the first three segments showed that the concentration of sodium, bicarbonate, inorganic phosphate, proteins and lactic acid increased significantly from the fimbriated end to the utero-tubal junction, while chloride concentration decreased significantly. These results support the possibility that the different segments of the oviduct may play specific roles in early events of reproduction.
Adolescent-parent relations in Asian Indian and Salvadoran immigrant families: A cultural-developmental analysis of autonomy, authority, conflict and cohesion

From a cultural perspective, this study addressed the two developmental theories that adolescents want more autonomy and fewer parental rules than parents consider appropriate, and that discrepancy between adolescents and parents on views of autonomy and authority result in decreased cohesion and increased conflict. The study included 100 adolescent–parent dyads who were immigrants to the United States from El Salvador and India. While findings pointed to cross-cultural commonalities, such as autonomy seeking among adolescents, they also highlighted the importance of culture to different meanings of autonomy and the limits of the discrepancy thesis. The discussion calls for future scholarship to include concepts of salience to diverse groups such as family interdependence and appreciation for the parental immigrant experience.
Telomere length in leukocytes and cultured gingival fibroblasts from patients with aggressive periodontitis.

BACKGROUND The association of genetic risk factors with the pathogenesis of aggressive periodontitis (AgP) has been a focus of attention. Telomeres, which are nucleoprotein complexes at the ends of chromosomes, could be a genetic marker for Down's syndrome and Hutchinson-Gilford progeria, in which patients' premature aging is involved in the pathogenesis. It has been reported that these patients tend to experience severe periodontitis. Therefore, we investigated the telomere length of peripheral blood leukocytes (PBL) obtained from patients with AgP and that in the patients' gingival fibroblasts undergoing cellular aging in vitro. METHODS Twenty-one patients with AgP and 50 age-matched, periodontally healthy subjects (HS) participated in this study. Genomic DNA from PBL and from human gingival fibroblasts (HGF) was analyzed by Southern blotting for telomere length. The percentage of HGF positive for beta-galactosidase (beta-gal), a marker for cellular senescence, was also investigated. RESULTS There was no significant difference in the telomere length (P = 0.20, Student's t test) between the two groups, and wide interindividual variation was found (5.93 to 11.4 kbp, average 8.35 +/- 1.19 kbp). The telomere length from PBL negatively correlated with donor age, but no significant difference in telomere loss between the two groups was observed. With HGF undergoing aging in culture, the mean telomere length of these cells from six patients with AgP and seven HS decreased an average of -67.5 bp and -81.0 bp, respectively. No association was found in the telomere length between PBL and HGF from the same donors (r = 0.56, P = 0.20). A significant association was found between the telomere length and the percentages of beta-gal-positive HGF during cell passages (r = 0.70, P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS These results indicate that patients with AgP do not have excessive telomere loss and thus do not support the notion of the occurrence of a generalized premature cellular aging in patients with AgP. Further studies are required to investigate the association between telomere length and beta-gal in HGF.
Effective Passivation of AlGaN/GaN HEMTs by ALD-Grown AlN Thin Film

An effective passivation technique for AlGaN/GaN high-electron-mobility transistors (HEMTs) is presented. This technique features an AlN thin film grown by plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition (PEALD). With in situ remote plasma pretreatments prior to the AlN deposition, an atomically sharp interface between ALD-AlN and III-nitride has been obtained. Significant current collapse suppression and dynamic ON-resistance reduction are demonstrated in the ALD-AlN-passivated AlGaN/GaN HEMTs under high-drain-bias switching conditions.
Understanding Signaling Cascades in Melanoma †

Understanding regulatory pathways involved in melanoma development and progression has advanced significantly in recent years. It is now appreciated that melanoma is the result of complex changes in multiple signaling pathways that affect growth control, metabolism, motility and the ability to escape cell death programs. Here we review the major signaling pathways currently known to be deregulated in melanoma with an implication to its development and progression. Among these pathways are Ras, B‐Raf, MEK, PTEN, phosphatidylinositol‐3 kinase (PI3Ks) and Akt which are constitutively activated in a significant number of melanoma tumors, in most cases due to genomic change. Other pathways discussed in this review include the [Janus kinase/signal transducer and activator of transcription (JAK/STAT), transforming growth factor‐β pathways which are also activated in melanoma, although the underlying mechanism is not yet clear. As a paradigm for remodeled signaling pathways, melanoma also offers a unique opportunity for targeted drug development.
X-ray computed tomography imaging of breast cancer by using targeted peptide-labeled bismuth sulfide nanoparticles.

Enhanced visualization of breast cancer using X-ray microComputed Tomography is achieved using 10nm-diameter Bi2S3 nanoparticles, modified to display a tumor homing peptide (LyP-1, CGNKRTRGC). Accumulation within the tumor was increased by 260% over non-labeled nanoparticles.
Adaptive Output-Feedback Control for Parametric Output-Feedback Nonlinear Systems with Additive Output Derivative

A global adaptive output-feedback control scheme is proposed for a class of nonlinear system in output-feedback form with additive output derivative. Unknown parameters are allowed to multiply not only the output nonlinearities but also affine functions of the derivative of the measured output with coefficients that are smooth nonlinear functions of the measured output. Through coordinate transformation and parameter redefinition, the system considered is transformed into the parametric output-feedback canonical form with unknown high-frequency gain sign. To tackle this situation, Nussbaum gain is incorporated in the adaptive backstepping technique. Tuning function method is employed to design the parameter adaptive law to avoid overparametrization. All the signals involved in the closed-loop system can be guaranteed globally uniformly bounded and the asymptotic tracking is achieved. The results of this paper extend the class of uncertain nonlinear systems for which global adaptive output-feedback control can be designed.
Living Donor Kidney Transplantation: Medical, Legal, and Ethical Considerations

The use of living donor kidneys has dramatically increased the number and success of kidney transplants across the world. But questions remain regarding the subjection of a healthy individual to surgery for the benefit of another. Donors do have medical and financial risks. The stigma of organ brokering remains today, with evidence of commercial transplantation in other countries. Here in the US, we are exposed to advertising for donors using the media. In the hope of increasing living donations, we run the risk of stretching altruism too far. In this manuscript, we highlight and discuss some of the current controversies surrounding living donor kidney transplantation across the world.
EFFECT OF BIOAUGMENTATION ON MICROBIAL TRANSPORT, WATER INFILTRATION, MOISTURE LOSS, AND SURFACE HARDNESS IN PRISTINE AND CONTAMINATED SOILS

Three different soils, a clay, a pristine sandy loam and a PCB-contaminated sandy loam, were bioaugmented to determine the influence of clay content and contaminants on the transport of bacteria in unsaturated soils, using surface irrigation water as a transport medium. The results indicate that the transport of the implanted bacteria was influenced negatively more by the presence of PCBs than by the clay content of the soil. Transport was directly related to the frequency of irrigation and length of the intervals between irrigation periods, making these variables important factors to consider when applying bioaugmentation via downward percolating water. Other parameters measured after bacterial bioaugmentation were water infiltration, moisture loss, and surface hardness of these soils. Surface water infiltration was affected more by the soil clay content than by the hydrophobic contaminant. Infiltration was significantly but differently influenced by bioaugmentation, positively in clay, negatively in sandy loam, and negatively (to a lesser extent) in the PCB-contaminated sandy loam soils. Moisture loss was slower in the bioaugmented soil than in the control soils, with this difference being most pronounced in the PCB soil. High moisture loss in the bioaugmented clay soil rendered it the hardest soil for surface penetration.
Biclique graphs and biclique matrices

A biclique of a graph G is a maximal induced complete bipartite subgraph of G. Given a graph G, the biclique matrix of G is a l0,1,-1r matrix having one row for each biclique and one column for each vertex of G, and such that a pair of 1, -1 entries in a same row corresponds exactly to adjacent vertices in the corresponding biclique. We describe a characterization of biclique matrices, in similar terms as those employed in Gilmore's characterization of clique matrices. On the other hand, the biclique graph of a graph is the intersection graph of the bicliques of G. Using the concept of biclique matrices, we describe a Krausz-type characterization of biclique graphs. Finally, we show that every induced P3 of a biclique graph must be included in a diamond or in a 3-fan and we also characterize biclique graphs of bipartite graphs. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 63: 1–16, 2010
Protective immunization against chronic Pseudomonas aeruginosa pulmonary infection in rats

Rats were immunized systemically with various doses of the polyvalent Pseudomonas aeruginosa vaccine PEV-01. After a series of two or three doses (25 to 50 micrograms each) at 8- to 11-day intervals, animals were challenged intratracheally by the agarose bead technique with a serotype 5 P. aeruginosa strain at periods of 9 to 42 days. Immunized animals developed circulating antibodies (primarily immunoglobulin M) against vaccine components at levels significantly higher than challenged, nonimmunized controls (P less than 0.005). Eight to ten days postinfection, histological sections of lungs from immunized animals showed only minimal inflammation associated with infectious foci (agarose beads) as compared with the extensive pathological changes of airways and parenchyma seen in infected nonimmunized control animals. However, no significant reduction in bacterial numbers was observed. Such protection lasted at least 6 weeks after the final immunization. It is speculated that the vaccine may contain components of cell surface proteins and virulence exoproducts.
Changes in Ganglioside Content Affect the Binding of Clostridium perfringens Epsilon‐Toxin to Detergent‐Resistant Membranes of Madin‐Darby Canine Kidney Cells

Epsilon‐toxin (ET) of Clostridium perfringens, which causes fatal enterotoxemia in ungulates, was previously shown to bind to and form a heptameric pore within the detergent‐resistant membranes (DRMs) of MDCK cells. Depletion of cholesterol has also been shown to decrease the cytotoxicity of ET and its heptamerization. In this study, we investigated the effects of changes in sphingolipids, other DRM components of MDCK cells, on the cells' susceptibility to ET. Treatment with fumonisin B1 and PDMP, inhibitors of sphingolipid and glycosphingolipid syntheses, respectively, increased the susceptibility, while D609, a sphingomyelin synthesis inhibitor, had the opposite effect. The exogenous addition of ganglioside GM1 dramatically decreased the ET binding, heptamerization and cytotoxicity. These effects were shown not to be due to ET binding to GM1 or to denaturation of ET. We also found that the ET cytotoxicity towards MDCK cells decreased with an increase in culture time. In accordance with the resistance observed for prolonged cultured cells, GM3, a major ganglioside component, increased and sialidase treatment increased their susceptibility. These results suggest that membrane‐anchored sialic acid of GM3 within DRMs inhibits ET binding, leading to prevention of the heptamerization of ET and cell death. It is also suggested that sialidase produced by this organism aids the targeting of ET to MDCK cells.
Discrete-Velocity Models and Relaxation Schemes for Traffic Flows

We present simple discrete-velocity models for traffic flows. The novel feature in the corresponding relaxation system is the presence of nonnegative velocities only. We show that in the small relaxation limit the discrete models reduce to the Lighthill-Whitham-Richards equation. In addition we propose second order schemes combined with implicit-explicit time integrators as proper discretization of the relaxation-type system. Numerical tests are carried out on various situations in traffic flow. The results show that the proposed models are able to describe correctly the formation of backward waves induced by traffic jam.
Anti-cancer and anti-angiogenic effects of curcumin and tetrahydrocurcumin on implanted hepatocellular carcinoma in nude mice.

AIM To determine the effect of tetrahydrocurcumin (THC) on tumor angiogenesis compared with curcumin (CUR) by using both in vitro and in vivo models of human hepatocellular carcinoma cell line (HepG2). METHODS The 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay was used for testing the anti-proliferating activities of CUR and THC. In male BALB/c nude mice, 2 multiply 10(6) human HepG2 cells were inoculated onto a dorsal skin-fold chamber. One day after HepG2 inoculation, the experimental groups were fed oral daily with CUR or THC (300 mg/kg or 3000 mg/kg). On d 7, 14 and 21, the tumor microvasculature was observed using fluorescence videomicroscopy and capillary vascularity (CV) was measured. RESULTS Pathological angiogenic features including microvascular dilatation, tortuosity, and hyper-permeability were observed. CUR and THC could attenuate these pathologic features. In HepG2-groups, the CV were significantly increased on d 7 (52.43%), 14 (69.17%), and 21 (74.08%), as compared to controls (33.04%, P < 0.001). Treatment with CUR and THC resulted in significant decrease in the CV (P < 0.005 and P < 0.001, respectively). In particular, the anti-angiogenic effects of CUR and THC were dose-dependent manner. However, the beneficial effect of THC treatment than CUR was observed, in particular, from the 21 d CV (44.96% and 52.86%, P < 0.05). CONCLUSION THC expressed its anti-angiogenesis without any cytotoxic activities to HepG2 cells even at the highest doses. It is suggested that anti-angiogenic properties of CUR and THC represent a common potential mechanism for their anti-cancer actions.