Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Catalytic enhancement of singlet oxygen for hybrid electric discharge oxygen-iodine laser systems

We are investigating catalytically enhanced production of singlet oxygen, O2(a1▵g), observed by reaction of O2/He discharge effluents on an iodine oxide film surface in a microwave discharge-flow reactor at 320 K. We have previously reported a two-fold increase in the O2(a) yields by this process, and corresponding enhancement of I(2P1/2) excitation and small-signal gain upon injection of I2. In this paper we report further observations of the effects of elevated temperature up to 410 K, and correlations of the catalytically generated O2(a) with atomic oxygen over a large range of discharge-flow conditions. We have applied a diffusion-limited reaction rate model to extrapolate the catalytic reaction rates to the highpressure, fast-flow conditions of the subsonic plenum of a supersonic EOIL test reactor. Using the model and the flow reactor results, we have designed and implemented a first-generation catalytic module for the PSI supersonic MIDJet/EOIL reactor. We describe preliminary tests with this module for catalyst coating deposition and enhancement of the small-signal gain observed in the supersonic flow. The observed catalytic effect could significantly benefit the development of high-power electrically driven oxygen-iodine laser systems.
Contribution of mechanical unloading to trabecular bone loss following non‐invasive knee injury in mice

Development of osteoarthritis commonly involves degeneration of epiphyseal trabecular bone. In previous studies, we observed 30–44% loss of epiphyseal trabecular bone (BV/TV) from the distal femur within 1 week following non‐invasive knee injury in mice. Mechanical unloading (disuse) may contribute to this bone loss; however, it is unclear to what extent the injured limb is unloaded following injury, and whether disuse can fully account for the observed magnitude of bone loss. In this study, we investigated the contribution of mechanical unloading to trabecular bone changes observed following non‐invasive knee injury in mice (female C57BL/6N). We investigated changes in gait during treadmill walking, and changes in voluntary activity level using Open Field analysis at 4, 14, 28, and 42 days post‐injury. We also quantified epiphyseal trabecular bone using μCT and weighed lower‐limb muscles to quantify atrophy following knee injury in both ground control and hindlimb unloaded (HLU) mice. Gait analysis revealed a slightly altered stride pattern in the injured limb, with a decreased stance phase and increased swing phase. However, Open Field analysis revealed no differences in voluntary movement between injured and sham mice at any time point. Both knee injury and HLU resulted in comparable magnitudes of trabecular bone loss; however, HLU resulted in considerably more muscle loss than knee injury, suggesting another mechanism contributing to bone loss following injury. Altogether, these data suggest that mechanical unloading likely contributes to trabecular bone loss following non‐invasive knee injury, but the magnitude of this bone loss cannot be fully explained by disuse. © 2016 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Orthop Res 34:1680–1687, 2016.
Psychosocial Determinants of Cigarette Smoking Among College Students

Although the prevalence of cigarette smoking among adolescents and adults consistently declined in the past decade, smoking among college students rose sharply. To reduce the morbidity and premature mortality caused by smoking, antismoking interventions need to target this vulnerable population. Anonymous self-report data were collected from a convenience sample of 224 college students who voluntarily completed a Web-based survey developed to assess the relation of risk-taking tendency, depression, social normative beliefs, and smoking resistance self-efficacy to cigarette smoking behavior. ¹ Employing structural analysis using LISREL (Jöreskog & Sörbom,1996), all 4 factors were confirmed as determinants of smoking. Resistance self-efficacy, the only direct antecedent, mediated the link to risk-taking tendency, depression, and social normative beliefs. Antismoking interventions that focus on enhancing refusal skills and are delivered to homogeneous groups are proposed as an effective approach to reducing cigarette smoking among college students.
PEG-derivative effectively modifies the characteristics of indomethacin-PLGA microspheres destined to intra-articular administration

The aim of this study was to obtain biodegradable indomethacin microspheres for intra-articular administration in rheumatoid arthritis, where angiogenic processes are involved. Indomethacin concentrations to achieve an anti-angiogenic effect would be five-times higher than an anti-inflammatory. Microspheres were prepared by solvent evaporation using PLGA. Indomethacin is a poor water-soluble drug with it being possible that dissolved and non-dissolved drug co-exist within the polymeric matrix resulting in rapid release. To control this release, an oil-PEG-derivative was incorporated, producing changes in morphology, crystallinity and indomethacin release. To minimize the amount of microspheres administered, a two-factor five-level central rotable composite 22 + star design was employed with two independent variables: indomethacin percentage and PEG-derivative percentage. The optimum formulation showed mean encapsulation efficiency of 94.3 ± 2.2% and released 7.99 ± 0.25 µg indomethacin/day/mg microspheres for 21 days. A dose of 20–50 mg of this formulation could be appropriate to achieve both anti-angiogenic and anti-inflammatory effects. Preliminary cytotoxicity studies performed in rat splenocytes showed an adequate cell viability.
Paving a research roadmap on network of ontologies

Network of ontologies is the pairwise match of a set of ontologies, which became recently relevant due to its applicability in different domains, such as cultural evo lution. However, the challenges faced in this area are not completely known and understood, neither are their relations to ontology matching counterpart problems. The goal of this paper is to identify challenges and applications of a network of ontologies and compare them to the 8 existing challenges of ontology matching. We identified four new challenges and related them with the eight challenges presented in [3].
Assessing Alexithymia and Type A Behavior in Coronary Heart Disease Patients: A Multimethod Approach

Background: Despite increasing emphasis on using multiple methods to assess personality constructs in psychosomatic research, previous investigations of relations between alexithymia and type A behavior (TAB) have been limited by the use of single methods of measurement and almost no attempt to assess subcomponents of TAB. The aims of this study were to (1) evaluate levels of agreement between structured interview assessments of alexithymia, TAB, hostility, and time urgency and well-established self-report measures of these constructs, and (2) explore relations between alexithymia and TAB and its subcomponents in patients with coronary heart disease (CHD). Methods: 62 CHD patients were investigated 6 weeks after coronary angioplasty. Alexithymia was assessed with the Diagnostic Criteria for Psychosomatic Research (DCPR) and the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20). TAB was assessed with the DCPR and the Short Form of the Jenkins Activity Survey Type A scale (JAS-SF). Time urgency was assessed with the DCPR and the Speed/Impatience scale of the Jenkins Activity Survey (JAS-S), and hostility was assessed with the DCPR and the Hostility subscale of the Revised Symptom Checklist-90 (SCL-HOS). Results: The DCPR classifications showed reasonably high levels of agreement with the TAS-20 and JAS-SF classifications of alexithymia and TAB, but lower levels of agreement in identifying patients with high hostility on the SCL-HOS and high time urgency on the JAS-S. Alexithymia measured by both the DCPR and the TAS-20 was unrelated to both self-report and structured interview measures of TAB, hostility, and time urgency. Conclusions: The DCPR is a suitable screening instrument for assessing alexithymia and TAB, although the two constructs are unrelated.
A New Model for Coverage with Fractional Frequency Reuse in OFDMA Cellular Networks

Fractional frequency reuse (FFR) is an interference management technique well-suited to OFDMA-based cellular networks wherein the cells are partitioned into spatial regions with different frequency reuse factors. To date, FFR techniques have been typically been evaluated through system-level simulations using a hexagonal grid for the base station locations. This paper instead focuses on analytically evaluating the two main types of FFR deployments - Strict FFR and Soft Frequency Reuse (SFR) - using a Poisson point process to model the base station locations. The results are compared with the standard grid model and an actual urban deployment. Under reasonable special cases for modern cellular networks, our results reduce to simple closed-form expressions, which provide insight into system design guidelines and the relative merits of Strict FFR, SFR, universal reuse, and fixed frequency reuse.
COMPARISON OF METHYL JASMONATE AND CADMIUM EFFECT ON SELECTED PHYSIOLOGICAL PARAMETERS IN SCENEDESMUS QUADRICAUDA (CHLOROPHYTA, CHLOROPHYCEAE) 1

Effect of methyl jasmonate (MeJA) in the concentrations of 10 or 100 μM on selected physiological parameters in Scenedesmus quadricauda (Turp.) Bréb. after 24 h of exposure was studied. Results were compared with the application of general toxic metal (cadmium, Cd) to identify MeJA‐specific responses. Accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS; hydrogen peroxide and superoxide) was the most elevated by 10 μM MeJA and 100 μM Cd, while total chls showed decrease (Cd) and increase (MeJA) in these variants. The amount of carotenoids and cell viability were affected neither by MeJA nor by Cd application. The sum of free amino acids was considerably elevated by 10 μM Cd (increase in histidine, threonine, arginine, leucine, and lysine mainly) but depleted by 100 μM MeJA (14 from 17 compounds decreased), while accumulation of soluble proteins was unaffected by Cd and enhanced by MeJA. Cadmium application reduced the amount of Ca and also Mg in the case of 100 μM Cd, while MeJA had no effect on the content of mineral nutrients. Total Cd content reached 557 and 1,334 μg · g−1 dry weight (dwt) in 10 and 100 μM Cd variant, respectively. Intracellular Cd uptake was ca. 55% from total Cd content in both Cd variants. The present findings are discussed in the context of the available literature, and possible explanations are suggested.
Neighbour‐regulated mortality: the influence of positive and negative density dependence on tree populations in species‐rich tropical forests

Density-dependent mortality has long been posited as a possible mechanism for the regulation of tropical forest tree density. Despite numerous experimental and phenomenological investigations, the extent to which such mechanisms operate in tropical forests remains unresolved because the demographical signature of density dependence has rarely been found in extensive investigations of established trees. This study used an individual-based demographical approach to investigate the role of conspecific and heterospecific neighbourhood crowding on tree mortality in a Panamanian and a Malayan tropical forest. More than 80% of the species investigated at each site were found to exhibit density-dependent mortality. Furthermore, most of these species showed patterns of mortality consistent with the Janzen‐Connell hypothesis and the rarely explored hypothesis of species herd protection. This study presents some of the first evidence of species herd protection operating in tree communities.
Epstein-Barr Virus Latent Membrane Protein 2A Regulates c-Jun Protein through Extracellular Signal-Regulated Kinase

ABSTRACT Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) latent membrane protein 2A (LMP2A) is widely expressed in both EBV-infected cells and EBV-associated malignancies. However, the function of LMP2A is still veiled. In this study, LMP2A was found to induce the kinase activities of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) and c-Jun N-terminal kinase/stress-activated protein kinase JNK/SAPK. Furthermore, the downstream effector c-Jun showed hyperphosphorylation under LMP2A expression. The phosphorylation could be inhibited by the ERK pathway inhibitor PD98059, indicating that ERK may contribute to the phosphorylation of c-Jun in LMP2A-expressing cells. The impact on c-Jun phosphorylation by mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) is suggested to increase c-Jun protein stability, and this was also observed in LMP2A-expressing cells by a protein synthesis inhibition assay. Moreover, LMP2A-induced cell invasion was inhibited in the presence of the ERK pathway inhibitor. Taken together, we suggest that LMP2A may exploit MAPK kinases and affect both the phosphorylation and stability of c-Jun protein. Additionally, LMP2A may thereby promote the mobility of the cells. In doing so, it may enhance the mobility of EBV-infected cells and contribute to the metastatic process of malignant cells. Here we demonstrated the first evidence of LMP2A-induced migration and the underlying pathways accounting for it.
Bone marrow innervation regulates cellular retention in the murine haemopoietic system

An anatomical analysis of the innervation of murine femora revealed intimate association of haemopoietic and stromal cells with nerve fibres. The mechanical denervation of these femora resulted in significant mobilization of cells into the peripheral blood within 24 h. There was a decrease in femoral cellularity and analysis of the type of cells mobilized also revealed that there was an increase in progenitor cells in the peripheral blood. In non‐splenectomized mice these progenitor cells were quickly cleared from the circulation. Chemical sympathectomy of mice with 6‐hydroxydopamine resulted in decreased bone marrow cellularity without a change in bone marrow or peripheral blood progenitor cell numbers, nor the sustained rise in peripheral leucocytes observed with whole nerve denervation. These observations argue for selective control of mobilization by the nervous system and also indicate possible control of proliferation within the bone marrow. We conclude that the innervation has an important role in the maintenance of the blood–marrow interface, control of peripheral blood cell numbers, and mobilization of colony forming cells into the periphery.
Colombia: Un proceso de paz irreversible pero de alcance incierto

Al cumplirse los primeros 100 dias del gobierno del presidente Ivan Duque, el futuro desarrollo del periodo del post-conflicto contemplado en el Acuerdo de Paz firmado en mayo de 2016 entre el presidente Juan Manuel Santos y las Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC) aun es bastante incierto. Sin embargo, esto no significa que el unico proceso de paz exitoso que ha tenido Colombia vaya a fracasar. Ocurre que durante el paso del gobierno anterior al actual se ha presentado una densa y turbulenta concatenacion de hechos inesperados y de factores politicos determinantes de mucha incertidumbre. Este breve analisis hara un repaso tanto de los principales antecedentes de este singular proceso de paz, de sus mayores avances y retrocesos, asi como de las razones coyunturales que permiten afirmar que es imparable a pesar de la incertidumbre que lo rodea.
Expression of drug-metabolizing enzymes, nuclear transcription factors and ABC transporters in Caco-2 cells

1. Caco-2 cells are frequently used in intestinal drug absorption and metabolism studies, but little is known about the effects of drugs on the simultaneous expression of genes coding for drug-metabolizing enzymes (DMEs), nuclear transcription factors and ABC transporters. 2. The gene expression and enzyme activities of control and Aroclor 1254-treated cultures were therefore explored, the latter being a powerful inducer of DMEs. Fourteen- and 80-fold induction of CYP1A1 and CYP1A2 mRNA were shown, whereas expression of other DMEs was either increased (CYP2C8-2C19, 10-fold; CYP3A5, twofold; FMO1, 2 and 5, twofold; epoxide hydrolase, threefold) or repressed (CYP2D6 and CYP2E1 to 75% of control values). 3. Notably, gene copies of CYP3A4 and CYP2B6 / 7 were below the limit of detection, but a three- and 10-fold induction of HNF 1 α + β, HNF-4 α 4 and a similar 10-fold increase in STAT 3 and 4 was observed. 4. Similarly, c/EBP transcripts were only detected in treated cell cultures, but MRP1, its isoforms 3-5 as well as MDR-1 were increased threefold after dosing with Aroclor 1254. 5. Overall, CYP gene expression correlated well with the cognate enzyme activity using testosterone as a marker substrate.
Improvement of Transient Response in Microgrids Using Virtual Inertia

Generation is shifting from a centralized power generating facility having large synchronous generators to distributed generation involving sources of smaller capacity. Most of these sources require inverters on the front end while being connected to the grid. Lower available kinetic energy, coupled with less short-circuit current ratio compared to large synchronous generators, compromises the transient stability of the microgrid when isolated from the main grid. Sources in the microgrid use droop control to share power according to their capacity without any form of communication. This paper proposes a novel controller for inverters to improve the frequency response of microgrid under disturbances involving large frequency deviations. It also discusses design of various parameters defined for the proposed control. The microgrid, which has two inverters and two synchronous generators, is simulated using Simulink/MATLAB software to test the proposed control strategy.
ArgMine: Argumentation Mining from Text

O objetivo da prospecao de argumentos a partir de texto e a detecao e identificacao de forma automatica da estrutura argumentativa contida num texto escrito em linguagem natural.Um argumento e uma estrutura retorica que e estudada desde a muitos anos e que se encontra bem fundamentada. De uma forma geral, argumentos sao posicoes justificaveis onde factos (premissas) sao apresentados em suporte de uma conclusao.A ambiguidade do texto escrito em linguagem natural, diferentes estilos de escrita, contexto implicito e a complexidade em construir estruturas argumentativas sao alguns dos desafios que fazem desta tarefa muito desafiadora.Extraindo de forma automatica argumentos a partir de texto, somos capazes de saber nao apenas quais sao os pontos de vista que estao a ser expressos, mas tambem quais sao as razoes para acreditar nesse pontos de vista. Assim sendo, a prospecao de argumentos de forma automatica tem o potencial de trazer avancos em algumas areas de investigacao tais como prospecao de opinioes, sistemas de recomendacao e sistemas multi-agente.A tarefa completa de prospecao de argumentos pode ser decomposta em varias sub-tarefas. Esta tese aborda a detecao e identificacao, de forma automatica, dos componentes argumentativos presentes no texto. Isso envolve detetar as zonas do texto que contem conteudo argumentativo e, a selecao dos fragmentos de texto que correspondem as unidades elementares de argumentos. Para que seja possivel de uma forma automatica detetar e identificar componentes argumentativos a partir de texto, algoritmos de aprendizagem maquina supervisionada serao usados.O conjunto de dados alvo que sera usado para treinar os algoritmos sao noticias escritas na lingua Portuguesa.
Physiologic Variables and Functional Status Independently Predict COPD Hospitalizations and Emergency Department Visits in Patients with Severe COPD

Using clinical and claims records from the National Emphysema Treatment Trial, we sought to identify factors that accurately predicted COPD exacerbations. This prospective cohort study consisted of subjects with severe emphysema randomized to medical therapy. Exacerbations were defined as a hospitalization or emergency department visit for COPD. Patient characteristics obtained before randomization were entered as independent variables in multivariable logistic regression models to estimate the risk of exacerbation. Discrimination was determined using the area under the receiver operator characteristic curve (AUC). Baseline measures included demographics, body mass index, pulmonary function, arterial blood gases, radiology studies, dyspnea (Shortness of Breath Questionnaire—SOBQ), health-related quality of life (St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire—SGRQ), 6-minute walk, exercise capacity, medication use, prior exacerbations and co-morbidity. In 610 participants, 26.6% had a COPD exacerbation over 1-year follow-up. In a model incorporating spirometry, PaO2, dyspnea, prior exacerbations and co-morbidity, a 5-point decrement in percent predicted FEV1 (OR 1.16, 95% CI 1.00–1.34) and a 5-point worsening in SOBQ (OR 1.08, 1.02–1.14) independently predicted exacerbations (AUC for full model 0.68). Combining physiologic variables, dyspnea, prior exacerbations and co-morbidity may be useful in identifying patients at high risk for COPD exacerbations.
An extended electromotive force model for sensorless control of interior permanent-magnet synchronous motors

During the last decade, many sensorless control methods have been proposed for surface permanent-magnet synchronous motors (SPMSMs) based on the estimation of electromotive force (EMF) in which the motor's position information is contained. However, these methods cannot be applied to interior PMSMs (IPMSMs) directly, because the position information is contained in not only the EMF, but also the inductance of stators. In this paper, a new mathematical model for IPMSMs is proposed and an extended EMF is defined, which includes both position information from the EMF and the stator inductance. By using the newly proposed model, sensorless controls proposed for SPMSMs can easily be applied to IPMSMs. As an example, a disturbance observer is studied and the experimental results show that the proposed method on the proposed model is very effective.
Short-term changes in sleep patterns on arrival at the South Polar Plateau.

Direct measurements were made of the pulmonary function and sleep stages in two men newly arrived at the South Pole Station. Subjective ratings of "poor" sleep were quantitated in sleep records that exhibited complete loss of stages 3 and 4 for all nights recorded. Subject S-50, who suffered the symptoms of acute mountain sickness, had further alterations in sleep with a 100% increase in stage 1 and a 50% decrease in the rapid eye movement stage. Both subjects had high levels of ventilation associated with low arterial oxygen pressures of 47 mm Hg and 51 mm Hg. Subject S-50 also had greater difficulty with respiration with a ventilatory equivalent of 60. The hypothesis is offered that the striking curtailment of stages 3 and 4 during sleep may be a normal physiological adaptation to the decreased levels of arterial oxygen pressure at the South Pole.