Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Angiotensin System Inhibitors May Improve Outcomes of Patients With Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer During Abiraterone Acetate Treatment—A Cardio-Oncology Study

Background Abiraterone acetate (ABI) therapy improves overall survival in metastatic prostate cancer (PC) patients; however, this effect may be diminished by concurrent comorbidities. We aimed to evaluate the influence of pre-existing chronic diseases and concomitant medications on the course of ABI treatment among post-chemotherapy patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer patients (mCRPC). Methods From the Polish National Health Fund database, we identified 93 post-chemotherapy, mCRPC patients, who were qualified for ABI treatment in our oncology center between 2014 and 2018. Survival curves and Cox proportional hazard models (univariate and multivariate) were used to determine the predictors for longer time to treatment failure (TTF) of ABI therapy. Results Median TTF was 9,8 months (IQR: 0,6–56,5) Factors associated with longer TTF were: well controlled hypertension (HR, 0.59; 95% CI. 0.38–0.90; p = 0.02), stable coronary artery disease (HR, 0.56; 95% CI, 0.33–0.95; p=0.03), the use of angiotensin system inhibitor (ASi) (HR, 0.61; 95% CI 0.4–0.94; p = 0,02). Patients who were receiving ASi had median TTF of 12.2 months versus 5.8 months in men who did not receive ASi before ABI initiation. At the start of ABI therapy, the aforementioned groups did not differ in terms of well-known prognostic factors: Gleason score, PSA level, or the number of patients with visceral metastases. In a multivariate analysis, the use of ASi remained statistically significant, even after adjustment for well-known oncological factors (HR, 0.57; 95% CI, 0.34–0.98; p = 0.04). Conclusions The use of ASi may enhance and prolong ABI therapy in post-docetaxel mCRPC patients and may potentially be considered a new, non-oncological, predictive factor for longer TTF. This association requires a prospective validation.
A Device for Generating Singly Charged Particles in the 0.1-1.0-μm Diameter Range

In this paper an aerosol charger that largely avoids the production of multiply charged particles in the 0.1–1.0 μm diameter range is described. The input aerosol is first passed through an electrostatic condenser to remove all charged particles and ions. The remaining neutral aerosol then flows into a 23-cm-long, 2.1-cm inner diameter cylindrical tube; the inner surface of this tube is uniformly coated with 0.09 μCi63 Ni, a 0.067 MeV β-emitter with a half-life of 92 years. At typical airflow rates of 0.2–1.0 lpm, this low-activity source of ionizing radiation produces bipolar ion concentrations ranging from 1 × 104 to 9 × 104 ion/cm3, which is much lower than levels required to bring the aerosol to Boltzmann charge equilibrium. At a flow rate of 1.0 lpm, particles smaller than about 1.0 μm typically interact with no more than one ion en route through the charger. Therefore, particles at the charger exit are mostly either neutral or singly charged. Charge distributions of initially-neutral mono-disperse p.
Effects of Age on Cortical Tracking of Word-Level Features of Continuous Competing Speech

Speech-in-noise comprehension difficulties are common among the elderly population, yet traditional objective measures of speech perception are largely insensitive to this deficit, particularly in the absence of clinical hearing loss. In recent years, a growing body of research in young normal-hearing adults has demonstrated that high-level features related to speech semantics and lexical predictability elicit strong centro-parietal negativity in the EEG signal around 400 ms following the word onset. Here we investigate effects of age on cortical tracking of these word-level features within a two-talker speech mixture, and their relationship with self-reported difficulties with speech-in-noise understanding. While undergoing EEG recordings, younger and older adult participants listened to a continuous narrative story in the presence of a distractor story. We then utilized forward encoding models to estimate cortical tracking of four speech features: (1) word onsets, (2) “semantic” dissimilarity of each word relative to the preceding context, (3) lexical surprisal for each word, and (4) overall word audibility. Our results revealed robust tracking of all features for attended speech, with surprisal and word audibility showing significantly stronger contributions to neural activity than dissimilarity. Additionally, older adults exhibited significantly stronger tracking of word-level features than younger adults, especially over frontal electrode sites, potentially reflecting increased listening effort. Finally, neuro-behavioral analyses revealed trends of a negative relationship between subjective speech-in-noise perception difficulties and the model goodness-of-fit for attended speech, as well as a positive relationship between task performance and the goodness-of-fit, indicating behavioral relevance of these measures. Together, our results demonstrate the utility of modeling cortical responses to multi-talker speech using complex, word-level features and the potential for their use to study changes in speech processing due to aging and hearing loss.
Abacavir Increases Purinergic P2X7 Receptor Activation by ATP: Does a Pro-inflammatory Synergism Underlie Its Cardiovascular Toxicity?

The cardiovascular toxicity of Abacavir is related to its purinergic structure. Purinergic P2X7-receptors (P2X7R), characterized by activation by high concentrations of ATP and with high plasticity, seem implicated. We appraise the nature of the interplay between Abacavir and P2X7R in generating vascular inflammation. The effects of Abacavir on leukocyte-endothelium interactions were compared with those of its metabolite carbovir triphosphate (CBV-TP) or ATP in the presence of apyrase (ATP-ase) or A804598 (P2X7R-antagonist). CBV-TP and ATP levels were evaluated by HPLC, while binding of Abacavir, CBV-TP and ATP to P2X7R was assessed by radioligand and docking studies. Hypersensitivity studies explored a potential allosteric action of Abacavir. Clinical concentrations of Abacavir (20 µmol/L) induced leukocyte-endothelial cell interactions by specifically activating P2X7R, but the drug did not show affinity for the P2X7R ATP-binding site (site 1). CBV-TP levels were undetectable in Abacavir-treated cells, while those of ATP were unaltered. The effects of Abacavir were Apyrase-dependent, implying dependence on endogenous ATP. Exogenous ATP induced a profile of proinflammatory actions similar to Abacavir, but was not entirely P2X7R-dependent. Docking calculations suggested ATP-binding to sites 1 and 2, and Abacavir-binding only to allosteric site 2. A combination of concentrations of Abacavir (1 µmol/L) and ATP (0.1 µmol/L) that had no effect when administered separately induced leukocyte-endothelium interactions mediated by P2X7R and involving Connexin43 channels. Therefore, Abacavir acts as a positive allosteric modulator of P2X7R, turning low concentrations of endogenous ATP themselves incapable of stimulating P2X7R into a functional proinflammatory agonist of the receptor.
The MYH9 Cytoskeletal Protein Is a Novel Corepressor of Androgen Receptors

In the progression of castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC), the androgen receptor (AR) that serves as a transcription factor becomes the most remarkable molecule. The transcriptional activity of AR is regulated by various coregulators. As a result, altered expression levels, an aberrant location or activities of coregulators promote the development of prostate cancer. We describe herein results showing that compared with androgen-dependent prostate cancer (ADPC) cells, AR nuclear translocation capability is enhanced in androgen-independent prostate cancer (AIPC) cells. To gain insight into whether AR coregulators are responsible for AR translocation capability, we performed coimmunoprecipitation (CO-IP) coupled with LC-MS/MS to screen 27 previously reported AR cofactors and 46 candidate AR cofactors. Furthermore, one candidate, myosin heavy chain 9 (MYH9), was identified and verified as a novel AR cofactor. Interestingly, the distribution of MYH9 was in both the cytoplasmic and nuclear compartments yet was enriched in the nucleus when AR was knocked down by AR shRNA, suggesting that the nuclear translocation of MYH9 was negatively regulated by AR. In addition, we found that blebbistatin, an inhibitor of MYH9, not only promoted AR nuclear translocation but also enhanced the expression of the AR target gene PSA, which indicates that MYH9 represses nuclear AR signaling. Taken together, our findings reveal that MYH9 appears to be a novel corepressor of AR plays a pivotal role in the progression of CRPC.
Gas sorption, diffusion, and permeation in poly(dimethylsiloxane)

The permeability of poly(dimethylsiloxane) [PDMS] to H2, O2, N2, CO2, CH4, C2H6, C3H8, CF4, C2F6, and C3F8, and solubility of these penetrants were determined as a function of pressure at 35 °C. Permeability coefficients of perfluorinated penetrants (CF4, C2F6, and C3F8) are approximately an order of magnitude lower than those of their hydrocarbon analogs (CH4, C2H6, and C3H8), and the perfluorocarbon permeabilities are significantly lower than even permanent gas permeability coefficients. This result is ascribed to very low perfluorocarbon solubilities in hydrocarbon-based PDMS coupled with low diffusion coefficients relative to those of their hydrocarbon analogs. The perfluorocarbons are sparingly soluble in PDMS and exhibit linear sorption isotherms. The Flory–Huggins interaction parameters for perfluorocarbon penetrants are substantially greater than those of their hydrocarbon analogs, indicating less favorable energetics of mixing perfluorocarbons with PDMS. Based on the sorption results and conventional lattice solution theory with a coordination number of 10, the formation of a single C3F8/PDMS segment pair requires 460 J/mol more energy than the formation of a C3H8/PDMS pair. A breakdown in the geometric mean approximation of the interaction energy between fluorocarbons and hydrocarbons was observed. These results are consistent with the solubility behavior of hydrocarbon–fluorocarbon liquid mixtures and hydrocarbon and fluorocarbon gas solubility in hydrocarbon liquids. From the permeability and sorption data, diffusion coefficients were determined as a function of penetrant concentration. Perfluorocarbon diffusion coefficients are lower than those of their hydrocarbon analogs, consistent with the larger size of the fluorocarbons. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci B: Polym Phys 38: 415–434, 2000
Morphological changes in segmented polyurethane elastomers by varying the NCO/OH ratio

The morphological changes induced to segmented polyurethane elastomers by varying the NCO/OH ratio during the second step of polymerization, while keeping constant the total hard-segment content (∼ 30%), were studied by means of fourier transform infared spectroscopy (FTIR), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and the thermally stimulated depolarization current method (TSDC). The DSC results gave evidence for the existence of phase separation in thermoplastic polyurethanes, whereas the elastomerc ones appeared to form a more homogeneous network. The FTIR results gave additional evidence regarding phase separation be detecting the sterength of the hydrogen bonds. Moreover, an attempt was made to assess the relative contribution made to the hydrogen bonding in such systems by the two potential acceptors: ester and urethane carbonyls. The TSDC results gave a relaxation mechnism that is due to interfacial (Maxwell–Wagner–Sillars) polarization, providing evidence of the existence of an interfacial phase. The introduced secondary chemical cross-links was found to affect mainly the irregularly packed hard domains and to form a more homegeneous network at higher values of the NCO/OH ratio. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Impact of Urban Land-Cover Changes on the Spatial-Temporal Land Surface Temperature in a Tropical City of Mexico

Climate change has severe consequences on ecosystem processes, as well as on people’s quality of life. It has been suggested that the loss of vegetation cover increases the land surface temperature (LST) due to modifications in biogeochemical patterns, generating a phenomenon known as “urban heat island” (UHI). The aim of this work was to analyze the effects of urban land-cover changes on the spatiotemporal variation of surface temperature in the tropical city of Mérida, Mexico. To find these effects we used both detected land-cover changes as well as variations of the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI). Mérida is ranked worldwide as one of the best cities to live due to its quality of life. Data from satellite images of Landsat were analyzed to calculate land use change (LUC), LST, and NDVI. LST increased ca. 4 °C in the dry season and 3 °C in the wet season because of the LUC. In addition, a positive relationship between the LST and the NDVI was observed mainly in the dry season. The results confirm an increase in the LST as a consequence of the loss of vegetation cover, which favors the urban heat island phenomenon.
New Insight on Soil Loss Estimation in the Northwestern Region of the Zagros Fold and Thrust Belt

Soil loss is one of the most important causes of land degradation. It is an inevitable environmental and socio-economic problem that exists in many physiographic regions of the world, which, besides other impacts, has a direct bearing on agricultural productivity. A reliable estimate of soil loss is critical for designing and implementing any mitigation measures. We applied the widely used Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) in the Khabur River Basin (KhRB) within the NW part of the Zagros Fold and Thrust Belt (ZFTB). The areas such as the NW Zagros range, characterized by rugged topography, steep slope, high rainfall, and sparse vegetation, are most susceptible to soil erosion. We used the Digital Elevation Model (DEM) of the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM), Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM), Harmonized World Soil Database (HWSD), and Landsat imagery to estimate annual soil loss using the RUSLE model. In addition, we estimated sediment yield (SY) at sub-basin scale, in the KhRB where a number of dams are planned, and where basic studies on soil erosion are lacking. Estimation of SY will be useful in mitigation of excessive sedimentation affecting dam performance and watershed management in this region. We determined the average annual soil loss and the SY in the KhRB to be 11.16 t.ha−1.y−1 and 57.79 t.ha−1.y−1, respectively. The rainfall and runoff erosivity (R factor), slope length (L factor), and slope steepness (S factor), are the three main factors controlling soil loss in the region. This is the first study to determine soil loss at the sub-basin scale along with identifying suitable locations for check dams to trap the sediment before it enters downstream reservoirs. The study provides valuable input data for design of the dams to prevent excessive siltation. This study also aims at offering a new approach in relating potential soil erosion to the actual erosion and hypsometric integrals.
The Sketch Map Tool Facilitates the Assessment of OpenStreetMap Data for Participatory Mapping

A worldwide increase in the number of people and areas affected by disasters has led to more and more approaches that focus on the integration of local knowledge into disaster risk reduction processes. The research at hand shows a method for formalizing this local knowledge via sketch maps in the context of flooding. The Sketch Map Tool enables not only the visualization of this local knowledge and analyses of OpenStreetMap data quality but also the communication of the results of these analyses in an understandable way. Since the tool will be open-source and several analyses are made automatically, the tool also offers a method for local governments in areas where historic data or financial means for flood mitigation are limited. Example analyses for two cities in Brazil show the functionalities of the tool and allow the evaluation of its applicability. Results depict that the fitness-for-purpose analysis of the OpenStreetMap data reveals promising results to identify whether the sketch map approach can be used in a certain area or if citizens might have problems with marking their flood experiences. In this way, an intrinsic quality analysis is incorporated into a participatory mapping approach. Additionally, different paper formats offered for printing enable not only individual mapping but also group mapping. Future work will focus on advancing the automation of all steps of the tool to allow members of local governments without specific technical knowledge to apply the Sketch Map Tool for their own study areas.
Photocatalytic Silver Recovery Using ZnO Nanopowders Synthesized by Modified Glycine‐Nitrate Process

Zinc oxide (ZnO) powders were synthesized by the modified glycine-nitrate process (MGNP) with various oxidants and fuels. Single-phase ZnO powders were easily obtained regardless of oxidants and fuels. The particle size and shape of ZnO powders were dependent on the types of fuels. The ZnO powder synthesized using Zn(OH)2 and glycine as an oxidant and a fuel, at a fuel/oxidant ratio of 0.8, showed the best powder characteristics, such as an average grain size of 30 nm and the specific surface area of 120 m2/g. The removal of silver ions from the waste-development solution was tried to confirm photocatalytic activities of the synthesized ZnO powder. The silver ions were completely removed within 15 min. This silver recovery rate is three times higher than that of commercial state-of-the-art TiO2. The photoluminescence (PL) measurement also showed the PL intensity at ultraviolet (UV) of the synthesized ZnO powder is almost three times higher than that of commercial state-of-the-art TiO2. The synthesized ZnO nanopowder absorbed more UV than any other powders, including commercial state-of-the-art TiO2 and ZnO powders. This means the high UV absorption efficiency leads to the generation of more electrons that are involved in the reduction of silver ions.
On thermal diffusion in binary and ternary Lennard-Jones mixtures by non-equilibrium molecular dynamics

Molecular simulation appears to be an alternative to experiment for the estimation of transport and thermodynamics properties of fluid mixtures, which is of primary importance in the evaluation of the initial state of a petroleum reservoir. In this study, a non-equilibrium molecular dynamics algorithm has been applied to mixtures of Lennard-Jones spheres in order to compute the thermal diffusion process. The pertinence of such an approach to simple alkane mixtures is shown. The separate influences on the thermal diffusion of the molecular features in binary equimolar mixtures are then summarized. Simulations on binary non-equimolar mixtures have been performed as well. The results indicate an increase in the thermal diffusion process with increasing molar fraction of the lightest component. Moreover, this increase is enhanced with increasing difference in the number of carbons between the two alkanes. Then, a simple method, which yields results consistent with simulations, is proposed to predict thermal diffusion for the whole range of molar fractions starting only from the equimolar value. Finally, for ternary mixtures, the law of the corresponding states is shown to be valid when the appropriate mixing rules are applied, which allows the estimation of thermal diffusion in such mixtures from equivalent binary mixtures.
Determination of Cypermethrin, Chlorpyrifos and Diazinon Residues in Tomato and Reduction of Cypermethrin Residues in Tomato Using Rice Bran

The present study was an attempt to address the health hazard which posed by the ingestation of pesticide residues contained in tomato. Fourteen tomato samples were randomly selected from different shops of local markets of Savar Upazila, Bangladesh and analyzed to identify the level of widely applied cypermethrin, chlorpyrifos and diazinon residues by using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) technique. It was found that out of 14 samples, five were found contaminated with cypermethrin and one with chlorpyrifos, but none residue of diazinon was detected in any of the tested samples. Only 7% of the samples were found contaminated with cypermethrin insecticide residue which was above the maximu m residue level (MRL) adopted by the FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC), although cypermethrin (0.065 ± 0.07mg/kg) and chlorpyrifos (0.024 ± 0.041mg/kg) residues were detected in samples. Rice bran rubbing, a cheap decontamination technique, was used to treat applied cypermethrin residues. 0.45 mg/kg of cypermethrin spiked tomato samples were rubbed by rice bran paste for 5, 10 and 15min. Two experiments were conducted for assessing the efficiency of the adsorbent. Rubbing with rice bran paste for 10min, removed 97.73% and 97.4% in both trails, and whereas cypermethrin residue was not detected in tomato samples treated for 15 min. The removal efficiency was 97.56 ± 0.22% with the ads orbent rice bran rubbing for 10min. The result showed that cypermethrin residues of tomato sample could easily be decontaminated through absorption of rice bran.
Postharvest Physiology of Bell Peppers Stored in Low Density Polyethylene Bags

Abstract The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of individual seal-packaging in low density polyethylene (LDPE) films and waxing treatments on the storage quality of bell peppers. Waxed and unwaxed fruits were packaged in two LDPE bags of different thickness and permeability, and stored at 10°C and 75% relative humidity (RH) for up to 40 d. The thickness and permeability to oxygen and water vapour of the films were determined. The O 2 and CO 2 levels of the package atmosphere were determined at 3-d intervals. Pepper fruits were also evaluated at 10-d intervals for changes in colour, weight loss, soluble solids, titratable acidity, pH, % decay and sensory characteristics. The activity of alcohol dehydrogenase was used as an indicator of anaerobiosis. Packaging plus waxing significantly delayed fruit senescence, reducing the change of colour, weight loss, firmness, and % decay with respect to the waxed and unwrapped fruits. No abnormal flavours were detected in peppers stored at 10°C for up to 40 d. These results demonstrate that LDPE bags plus waxing can be efficiently used to prolong the shelf-life of the bell peppers up to 20 d, without significant alteration of the postharvest quality of peppers.