Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Yiqi-Bushen-Tiaozhi Recipe Attenuated High-Fat and High-Fructose Diet Induced Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis in Mice via Gut Microbiota

Aim To investigate the treating effect of Yiqi-Bushen-Tiaozhi (YBT) recipe on nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) mice, determine whether the outcome was associated with gut microbiota, and clarify the regulating mechanism. Methods NASH mice were induced by high-fat and high-fructose diets (HFFD). In the fifth week, mice in the YBT group were orally administrated YBT (22.12g·kg-1·d-1) daily for 12 weeks. Fresh stool of mice was collected at the 16th week for fecal 16S rDNA analysis. Hepatic pathology and biochemical indicators were used to reflect the improvement of YBT on hepatic inflammation and lipid metabolism in NASH mice. Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) was used to verify the results of PICRUSt analysis. Results Results of the pathological and biochemical index showed that YBT could improve NASH mice. Compared with improving inflammation and hepatocyte damage, YBT may be more focused on enhancing metabolic disorders in mice, such as increasing HDL-c level. The diversity and richness of the gut microbiota of NASH mice induced by HFFD are significantly different from the normal control (NC) group. After YBT treatment, the diversity and richness of the mice microbiota will be increased to similar NC mice. Intestinimonas, Acetatifactor, Alistipes, Intestinimonas, Acetatifactor, and Alistipes have the most significant changes in the class level. PICRUSt analysis was performed to predict genomic functions based on the 16S rDNA results and reference sequencing. The efficacy of YBT in the treatment of NASH can be achieved by regulating the diversity and richness of gut microbiota. PICRUSt analysis results showed that the most relevant function of the microbiota construction variations is α- Linolenic acid (ALA) metabolism. Results of qRT-PCR showed significant differences between groups in the expression of Fatty acid desaturase 1 (FADS1), Fatty acid desaturase 2 (FADS2), Acyl-CoA Oxidase 1 (ACOX1), and Acyl-CoA Oxidase 2 (ACOX2) related to ALA metabolism. The expression of the above genes will be inhibited in the liver and small intestine of the HFFD group mice, and the expression can be restored after YBT treatment. Conclusion YBT could treat NASH mice by improving the diversity and richness of gut microbiota and further the improvement of ALA metabolism.
FísicActiva: applying active learning strategies to a large engineering lecture

ABSTRACT This paper presents and analyses the results obtained by applying Active Learning techniques in overcrowded Physics lectures at the University of the Republic, Uruguay. The course referred to is Physics 1, the first Physics course that all students of the Faculty of Engineering take in their first semester for all the Engineering-related careers. Qualitative and quantitative data corresponding to three semesters are shown and discussed, indicating that the students that attended these lectures outperformed the students that followed the course in the traditional way: the pass rates increased, whereas the failure rates decreased. The students highly valued this methodology, in particular, the interactive and relaxed dynamics, highlighting the concern of professors to answer questions by means of new questions so as to promote reasoning. The results obtained point to a work path that deserves to be deepened and extended to other Engineering courses.
Effectiveness of best management practices that have application to forest roads: a literature synthesis

Literature describing the effectiveness of best management practices (BMPs) applicable to forest roads is reviewed and synthesized. Effectiveness is considered from the perspective of protecting water quality and water resources. Both paved and unpaved forest roads are considered, but BMPs that involve substantial engineering are not considered. Some of the BMPs included are commonly used on roads; others are used less often. The synthesis focuses on quantitative BMP effectiveness and descriptions of processes or characteristics that influenced the effectiveness. Qualitative results and observations not supported by data are excluded. Most of the effectiveness results describe sediment losses and sediment delivery, but there is also some coverage of chemicals used as BMPs, such as dust palliatives and soil conditioners. Chapters and subheadings are based on how or where protection is provided, or type of BMP. The final chapter provides information on research needs and potential direction of BMP implementation in the future. Although there remains a great need to quantify BMP effectiveness more rigorously across more physiographic, topographic, climate, and soil conditions, the data provided in this synthesis give road and watershed managers and landowners a starting place for evaluating and selecting BMPs.
The effects of end plates on the base pressure coefficient of a circular cylinder

It has been known for some time that when a cylinder spans a wind tunnel the boundary layers on the walls of the tunnel may have important effects, especially on the pressure in the base region. By making the boundary layers thin by the use of end plates, it may be possible to approach a complete elimination of the effects of these layers on the central part of the span and obtain a flow that is very nearly two-dimensional. Most of the published pressure distributions for circular cylinders were obtained without end plates and this probably explains their inconsistency. Gerrard has described experiments in which the addition of end plates caused a substantial change of base pressure coefficient but he did not attempt to design an optimum end plate to give nearly two-dimensional flow.
Valves of Calcific Aortic Stenosis Clonal Expansions in Bicuspid and Tricuspid and T Cells Are Associated with Calcification Circulating Activated and Effector Memory

We sought to delineate further the immunological signiﬁcance of T lymphocytes inﬁltrating the valve leaﬂets in calciﬁc aortic stenosis (CAS) and determine whether there were associated alterations in circulating T cells. Using clonotypic TCR b -chain length and sequence analysis we conﬁrmed that the repertoire of tricuspid CAS valves contains numerous expanded T cell clones with varying degrees of additional polyclonality, which was greatest in cases with severe calciﬁcation. We now report a similar proportion of clonal expansions in the much younger bicuspid valve CAS cases. Peripheral blood ﬂow cytometry revealed elevations in HLA-DR + activated CD8 cells and in the CD8 + CD28 null CD57 + memory-effector subset that were signiﬁcantly greater in both bicuspid and tricuspid CAS cases with more severe valve calciﬁcation. Lesser increases of CD4 + CD28 null T cells were identiﬁed, principally in cases with concurrent atherosclerotic disease. Upon immunostaining the CD8 T cells in all valves were mainly CD28 null , and CD8 T cell percentages were greatest in valves with oligoclonal repertoires. T cell clones identiﬁed by their clonotypic sequence as expanded in the valve were also found expanded in the circulating blood CD28 null CD8 + T cells and to a lesser degree in the CD8 + CD28 + subset, directly supporting the relationship between immunologic events in the blood and the valve. The results suggest that an ongoing systemic adaptive immune response is occurring in cases with bicuspid and tricuspid CAS, involving circulating CD8 T cell activation, clonal expansion, and differentiation to a memory-effector phenotype, with trafﬁcking the relationship between the relative of T cell subsets and the grade of valve calciﬁcation. A t test used compare the means of in- dependent samples. A two-tailed p value , 0.05
Comparative Evaluation of the Ultrastructure of the Hippocampus in Adult Male Wistar Rats Subjected to Chronic Loud Noise

Noise pollution is a severe public health problem. Even noise levels between 55−65 dB can lead to various undesirable alterations, including cognitive changes. While such changes have been described in a large number of studies, there is insufficient information regarding the effects of noise on the structure of brain regions involved in cognition. In the present electron microscopic study, we evaluate the ultrastructure and presynaptic architecture of hippocampal CA1 area in adult male Wistar rats chronically exposed to 100 dB noise, one hour daily for 10 consecutive days. In about 10% of large neurons, ultrastructural changes were found. In the majority of such cells, moderate or mild reversible modifications were observed. However, in another part of altered neurons significant pathologies, such as different stages of apoptosis or chromatolysis, as well as swelling or destruction of some cytoplasmic organelles were detected. The analysis of different parameters of axo-dendrites synapses revealed quantitative alterations in presynaptic mitochondria, which indicate to the changes in the production of energy, needed for neurotransmission. The results indicate that even short and intermittent chronic white noise may produce detrimental consequences on fine
EXISTENCE OF MAXIMIZABLE QUASICONCAVE FUNCTIONS ON CONVEX

Recently, J . C. Bellenger [1] gave conditions for the existence of an upper semicontinuous (u.s.c.) quasiconcave real function which attains a global maximum on a given compact subset of a paracompact convex space. This is also a coincidence theorem for multifunctions involving a fixed point for the composition of two multifunctions. Bellenger's result includes well-known theorems of Ky Fan [6] and S. Simons [17], which were used to deduce generalized Brouwer-Kakutani type fixed point theorems, matching theorems, and others. The main purpose in the present paper is to show that Bellenger's theorem holds without assuming the paracompactness of the convex space, as he raised the question at the end of [1]. Some direct applications of our result to the Fan type nonseparation theorems and coincidence theorems are also given. In Section 1, we give some basic definitions and two lemmas. Lemma 1 gives the crucial point in order to remove the paracompactness in Bellenger's theorem. Lemma 2 is the celebrated Fan-Browder fixed point theorem [2]. Section 2 deals with the proof of Bellenger's theorem without assuming the paracompactness. The proof is based on the partition of unity argument and Lemmas 1 and 2. We also obtain Fan's theorem [6, Theorem 8J without assuming the paracompactness. In Section 3, we give a variation of the Fan: type nonseparation theorems and a coincidence theorem, which are bases of the theory of the Brouwer-Kakutani type fixed point theorems in Fan [6], J. Jiang [7], H. -M. Ko and K. -K. Tan [8], M. -H. Shih and K. -K. Tan [14], and K. -K. Tan [19]. Actually, in these papers, the paracompactness
A Buoyant Source in the Lower of Two, Homogeneous, Stably Stratified Layers A Problem of Fire in an Enclosure

A point source of buoyancy is located at a specified elevation within the lower of two, homogeneous, stably stratified layers. A turbulent buoyant plume is formed above the source, and it impinges on the layers' interface. Depending on the strength of the source, its position below the interface and on the density difference of the two layers, it is conjectured that either: (1) a central portion of the impinging plume flow will penetrate and continue upward into the far field of the upper layer as a buoyant plume, the outer portion of the flow penetrating but then dropping down toward the interface because of negative relative buoyancy; or (2) none of the impinging plume flow will penetrate the upper layer (indepth) because of its being uniformly of negative relative buoyancy. Associated with these possible conditions will be an effective horizontal outflow of fluid at the interface. The paper derives and solves a set of model equations for these plume-interface interactions, and the results are applied to a generic heat transfer problem related to fires in enclosures.
Lung Cancer: Targets and Therapy

Correspondence: Robert A Somer, MD Cooper Cancer Institute, Medical Oncology Clinical Trials Center, 900 Centennial Blvd Suit M, Voorhees, NJ 08043, USA Email somer-robert@cooperhealth.edu Abstract: Over the last several years, we have greatly enhanced our understanding of tumor biology and have now integrated novel and molecular-targeted therapies into front-line treatment for locally advanced and metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Despite all the recent advances, the improvement in survival outcomes for these patients has been measured in weeks compared to historical controls. Clinical researchers continue to search for the silver bullet that will allow oncologists to treat lung cancer as a chronic illness and prolong life well beyond the statistical barrier of 1 year for these patients. In that vein, maintenance therapy is emerging as a new treatment option in the metastatic setting. However, there is much controversy over the validity and cost-effectiveness of this modality. Recently, a phase III trial of pemetrexed maintenance versus best supportive care in the setting of metastatic NSCLC following non-progression after 4 cycles of platinum-based doublet therapy showed significant survival outcomes of the treatment group. This article will review the current available treatment options in metastatic NSCLC, including maintenance regimens, with particular attention paid to the recent pemetrexed study.
Recovery from Lipopolysaccharide Tolerance Macrophage-Polarization State following Identification of a Unique Hybrid

LPS tolerance is an essential immune-homeostatic response to repeated exposure to LPS that prevents excessive inﬂammatory responses. LPS tolerance induces a state of altered responsiveness in macrophages, resulting in repression of proinﬂammatory gene expression and increased expression of factors that mediate the resolution of inﬂammation. In this study, we analyzed the transcriptional plasticity of macrophages following LPS tolerance using genome-wide transcriptional proﬁling. We demonstrate that LPS tolerance is a transient state and that the expression of proinﬂammatory genes is restored to levels comparable to the acute response to LPS. However, following recovery from LPS tolerance a number of genes remained locked in a tolerizable state, including IL-33 , CD86 , IL-10 , and NFIL3 . Furthermore, we identiﬁed of a number of genes uniquely induced following recovery from LPS tolerance. Thus, macrophages adopt a unique transcriptional proﬁle following recovery from LPS tolerance and have a distinct expression pattern of regulators of Ag presentation, antiviral responses, and transcription factors. Our data suggest that recovery from LPS tolerance leads to a hybrid macrophage activation state that is proinﬂammatory and microbicidal in nature but that possesses a regulatory anti-inﬂammatory proﬁle distinct from that of LPS-tolerant and LPS-activated macrophages. The Journal of Immunology , 2014, 192: 427–436.
A New Interactive Decision Approach with Probabilistic Linguistic Data: An Application in the Academic Sector

As an innovative generalization to a linguistic term set, the probabilistic variant is gaining abundant attraction in the decision process. However, earlier studies with this variant for decision-making have not adequately explored hesitation in data articulation and interactive ranking. Driven by the claim, in this paper, a new integrated approach is put forward under the probabilistic linguistic context, which attempts to address the claims by presenting a regret/rejoice technique and an interactive WASPAS algorithm for determining the significance of factors and personalized ranking of alternatives. To test the usefulness of the approach, the online course prioritization problem based on empirical data is exemplified, and a comparison demonstrates the benefits and limitations of the proposed work.
A Cognitive Scale Development and Psychological Model Verification of the Pursuit of Adventure Leisure Activities

The purpose of this study is to explore the experience of participants in the adventurous leisure activities and to examine the structural relations of the cognitive experience, the emotional experience and adherence intention. Robust quantitative measures were developed from rich qualitative data. The five dimensions selected from two preliminary tests were being away, technical enhancement, fascination with nature, challenge, and interpersonal trust. The cognitive dimensions have a significant effect on the emotional arousal – pleasure dimension. Our study also shows a positive causal relationship between emotional experience and adherence intention. Implications of this study include 1) a developed questionnaire for measuring the cognitive experience dimension of adventure leisure and establishing a foundation for future research, and 2) an identified psychological model among cognitive, emotion, and intention. We offer opportunities to better understand the psychological factors that motivate participation in adventure leisure.
An Automatic Isotropic Triangular Grid Generation Technique Based on an Artificial Neural Network and an Advancing Front Method

To improve the efficiency and automation of the traditional advancing front method (AFM) of unstructured grid generation, a novel isotropic triangular generation technique is developed based on an artificial neural network (ANN). First, some existing high-quality triangular grids are used as data sources, and then an automatic extraction method of training dataset is proposed. Second, the dataset is input into the ANN to train the network by the back-propagation (BP) algorithm, and then some typical patterns are identified through iterative learning. Third, after inputting the initial discretized fronts, the grid generator starts from the shortest front, and the adjacent front information is collected as the input of the neural network to choose the most proper pattern and predict the coordinates of the new point until the grid covers the whole computational domain. Finally, the initial grid is smoothed to further improve the grid quality. Some typical two-dimensional (2D) geometries are tested to validate the capability of the ANN-based advancing front triangle generator. The experimental results demonstrate that the efficiency of the proposed ANN-based triangular grid generator is about 30 percent higher than that of the traditional AFM, and grid quality has also been improved significantly.
The academic interest for bioplastics - a bibliometric analysis

Plastic materials are shaping modern society and making our lives easier. However, due to improper handling of plastic waste, plastics are no longer ubiquitous only in our homes, villages and cities but also in the natural environment. In line with the concept of bioeconomy, bioplastics are presented as a sustainable option that could help the economy overcome its dependence on fossil fuels and contribute to the reduction of overall plastic pollution. The study aims to identify the areas of academic interest in bioplastics. The study's methodological approach is based on a bibliometric (scientometric) analysis. It was found that in academia, biology, chemistry, and biotechnology are the main areas dealing with bioplastics, focusing on the whole process of product development. At the same time, there is a significant lack of research in areas such as social sciences, including economics. These findings should contribute to the global scientific discourse.
Evolved components in the eucrite parent body: Records in the layered eucrite Northwest Africa 8021

In this study, we report the petrography and mineralogy of a brecciated eucrite Northwest Africa (NWA) 8021, which shows a locally layered texture with one layer containing graphic clasts and Si,Ti‐rich regions. The graphic clasts contain rod‐like grains of silica phases, augite, K‐feldspar, and Ca‐phosphate minerals included in anorthite. Some of the clasts contain relatively coarse grains of quartz, K‐feldspar, and augite, which are chemically different from the rod‐like phases, indicating different origins. All of the augite grains in the graphic clasts have rare earth element (REE) concentrations higher than those in typical eucrites. The bulk Na2O+K2O contents of the graphic clasts are higher than typical eucrites. All of these chemical features indicate that the graphic clasts were probably derived from an evolved parent rock. Low‐degree partial melting of the eucritic crust (<10%) is required to generate a melt equilibrated with the REE‐rich rod‐like pyroxene from the graphic clasts. The Si,Ti‐rich regions contain high abundances of silica phases (~52 vol%) and ilmenite (~9 vol%), probably derived from an evolved Si,Ti‐rich rock (dacite). The evolved components observed in NWA 8021 are different from other evolved components observed in howardites and indicate more diverse evolution in the eucrite parent body than previously thought.
Integrating Lean Design and Lean Construction: Processes and methods

PLB●BYG Bo Jørgensen (2006) 3 Abstract Inspired by the industrial manufacturing debate of the late1980s and the early 1990s lean construction emerged from attempts of transferring and applying a Japanese (lean) production philosophy to the construction industry. Application of the lean philosophy which prescribes the enhancement of value and elimination of waste as perceived by the end customer has diffused slower and more uneven into construction compared to manufacturing, where it became a leading production and management trend of the 1990s and the first half of the 2000s. However, lean construction has become a well established theme on the construction agenda in some countries (e.g. in Denmark and the UK). Hitherto lean construction has, in debate and practice, primarily focussed on production aspects. Gradually, however, design issues have started to receive more attention and lean application to construction design is commonly referred to as lean design. Another important theme of recent years’ debate on developing the construction industry and its project delivery practices is integration of project processes which has often been identified as a key issue regarding construction performance improvement. Issues of integration of construction design and production activities from a lean perspective are beginning to be addressed by the construction industry but have not yet been thoroughly and systematically investigated. Motivated by this situation this thesis aims to address the following two research questions: Research question 1: Is the lean philosophy appropriate as a means for pursuing integration of construction design and production processes? Research question 2: Which processes and/or methods and/or issues are crucial or critical for integrating construction design and production from a perspective of the lean philosophy? A review of literature on the lean philosophy and its application to manufacturing industries and construction reveals that the lean philosophy is highly interpretive and that there is no shared definition or understanding of what is meant by ‘lean’, ‘lean production’, ‘lean construction’ etc. Regarding the first research question it is concluded that as a means for pursuing design/construction process integration the lean philosophy can be appropriate, though not on its own, and provided that the notion of ‘end customer’ is (re)defined to represent a wider range of construction stakeholders including wider society. The second research question is explored through previous research and the findings from three ethnographic case studies from Denmark and USA. On this basis it is concluded that processes/methods crucial or critical for pursuing design/construction integration from the perspective of the lean philosophy are: • Value identification, specification and communication; • Establishing an appropriate project delivery framework; • Project organisation, structuring and planning of delivery processes; • Establishing transparency; • Management and leadership, and;