Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Focusing and sustaining the antitumor CTL effector killer response by agonist anti-CD137 mAb

Significance Immunotherapy of cancer with immunomodulatory agents is achieving significant efficacy in an important fraction of patients. The stimulatory inducible receptor of T and NK lymphocytes known as CD137 or 4-1BB is being stimulated with agonist antibodies to enhance antitumor immunity in clinical trials. In addition, the intracellular signaling domain of CD137 is crucial as a component of successful anti-leukemia therapies with chimeric antigen receptors transduced into adoptively transferred T lymphocytes. In this study the marked synergistic effects of adoptive T cell and agonist anti-CD137 mAb therapies are studied, providing in vivo evidence for improved, more sustained and focused tumoricidal functions of antitumor cytotoxic T lymphocytes when under the influence of CD137-targeted pharmacological stimulation with immunostimulatory monoclonal antibodies. Cancer immunotherapy is undergoing significant progress due to recent clinical successes by refined adoptive T-cell transfer and immunostimulatory monoclonal Ab (mAbs). B16F10-derived OVA-expressing mouse melanomas resist curative immunotherapy with either adoptive transfer of activated anti-OVA OT1 CTLs or agonist anti-CD137 (4-1BB) mAb. However, when acting in synergistic combination, these treatments consistently achieve tumor eradication. Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes that accomplish tumor rejection exhibit enhanced effector functions in both transferred OT-1 and endogenous cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs). This is consistent with higher levels of expression of eomesodermin in transferred and endogenous CTLs and with intravital live-cell two-photon microscopy evidence for more efficacious CTL-mediated tumor cell killing. Anti-CD137 mAb treatment resulted in prolonged intratumor persistence of the OT1 CTL-effector cells and improved function with focused and confined interaction kinetics of OT-1 CTL with target cells and increased apoptosis induction lasting up to six days postadoptive transfer. The synergy of adoptive T-cell therapy and agonist anti-CD137 mAb thus results from in vivo enhancement and sustainment of effector functions.
Chesapeake Bay outflow plume and coastal upwelling events: Physical and optical properties

One of a series of Chesapeake Outflow Plume Experiments, COPE-2, was conducted in May 1997 along the coast of Virginia/North Carolina. The objective of this experiment was to describe the coastal buoyancy jet formed by the outflow of water from Chesapeake Bay, its dispersion into midshelf, and the optical property changes that accompany these events. Wind forcing scales of 3-5 days were responsible for formation of the jet (downwelling favorable winds) and its dispersion (upwelling favorable winds). During downwelling favorable events the jet established itself along the coast with speeds exceeding 0.5 rn s -, slowing and becoming more stable as it progressed. Downwelling circulation helped maintain the jet against the coast, and variations in wind strength produced wavelike variations in jet width. During upwelling favorable events, water from the jet was dispersed into midshelf in a thin near-surface layer. Optical surrogates for dissolved organic matter (DOM), chlorophyll, and suspended particles were formed using data from a pumped optical absorption/attenuation meter (ac-9). High loads of these materials were associated with the buoyancy jet and were subsequently dispersed into midshelf during upwelling events. During mature upwelling states, nearshore increases in chlorophyll and suspended particles mimicked the plume load, although relatively low levels of DOM made it separable from plume water by analysis of the optical signature. Upwelling relaxation fronts in these optical conditions could be seen.
A Model of early to middle Miocene Deep Ocean circulation for the Atlantic and Indian Oceans

Abstract Tethyan Outflow Water (TOW), characterized by high benthic δ13C values, was a component of the early Miocene deep water mass of the Atlantic (c. 20 and c. 13 Ma) and Indian (c. 20 and c. 14.5 Ma) Oceans. Fluctuations in temperature, salinity and quantity of dissolved oxygen coincided with high abundances of infaunal, smooth-walled bolivinids within the Atlantic and Indian Ocean TOW between 19.5 and 16.5 Ma. High δO values recorded in the Atlantic water mass may have originated, in part, from evaporation and the formation of warm, saline water within the Tethys. The southward flowing Atlantic TOW at depths of 2–4.5 km enhanced meridional heat transport. It was overlain by Northern Component Water (NCW) with a lower δC signal. TOW and NCW were replaced by southward flowing North Atlantic Deep Water at c. 13 Ma when cold dense Norwegian—Greenland Sea water flowed across the Greenland—Scotland Ridge. Indian Ocean TOW was restricted laterally by the Chagos—Lacadive Ridge, and vertically (1.3 to 3 km) by overlying intermediate water, characterized by the occurrence of coarse-walled bolivinids, and underlying deep water characterized by high abundances (>10%) of Nuttallides umboniferus. The coarse-walled bolivinid and ‘N. umboniferus’ faunas were associated with lower temperature, salinity and higher oxygen concentrations. Tethyan outflow to the northwest Indian Ocean ended at c. 14.5 Ma, probably in response to the closure of a gateway, and resulted in a two-component deep water mass structure. The coeval increase in the relative abundances of N. umboniferus at Indian Ocean Sites 237 (c. 2 km) and 710 (c. 3.5 km), at c. 13 Ma, probably records the impact of this change on the nature of Indian Ocean deep water at depths between 2 and 4 km. The termination of the Atlantic and, to a lesser extent, Indian Ocean TOW contributed to global cooling and to the expansion of the Antarctic Ice Sheet by limiting the meridional heat transport.
Edge waves and beach cusps

Genetically, beach cusps are of at least two types: those linked with incident waves which are surging and mostly reflected (reflective systems) and those generated on beaches where wave breaking and nearshore circulation cells are important (dissipative systems). The spacings of some cusps formed under reflective wave conditions both in the laboratory and in certain selected natural situations are shown to be consistent with models hypothesizing formation by either (1) subharmonic edge waves (period twice that of the incident waves) of zero mode number or (2) synchronous (period equal to that of incident waves) edge waves of low mode. Experiments show that visible subharmonic edge wave generation occurs on nonerodable plane laboratory beaches only when the incident waves are strongly reflected at the beach, and this observation is quantified. Edge wave resonance theory and experiments suggest that synchronous potential edge wave generation can also occur on reflective beaches and is a higher-order, weaker resonance than the subharmonic type. In dissipative systems, modes of longshore periodic motion other than potential edge waves may be important in controlling the longshore scale of circulation cells and beach morphologies. On reflective plane laboratory beaches, initially large subharmonic edge waves rear-rage sand tracers into shapes which resemble natural beach cusps, but the edge wave amplitudes decrease as the cusps grow. Cusp growth is thus limited by negative feedback from the cusps to the edge wave excitation process. Small edge waves can form longshore periodic morphologies by providing destabilizing perturbations on a berm properly located in the swash zone. In this case the retreating incident wave surge is channelized into breeches in the berm caused by the edge waves, and there is an initially positive feedback from the topography to longshore periodic perturbations.
Water-Content of Glacier-Ice: Limitations on Estimates from Velocity Analysis of Surface Ground-Penetrating Radar Surveys

The rheology of ice is strongly controlled by its liquid water content. Since water content and its distribution also exert a strong control on radar propagation velocity and attenuation, this provides a potential remote technique for assessing ice-water content. A suite of surface ground-penetrating radar (GPR) surveys have been undertaken on two glaciers, Tsanfleuron Glacier in the European Alps and Bakaninbreen, Svalbard in order to determine their water content variation with depth. Common-offset surface radar profiling shows both glaciers have a two-layered structure, with a shallow layer characterised by low returned radar power and a deeper layer characterised by strong scattering. The thickness of these layers varies rapidly across the glaciers. In order to provide a robust interpretation of the properties of the layers within these glaciers we present a quantitative semblance analysis of two common midpoint surveys, making estimates of layer thickness and water content. This analysis includes a M.
Dynamic and Static Load Testing of Model Piles Driven into Dense Sand

Systematic studies of pile response during static and dynamic load tests are generally too expensive to conduct in the field, and at model scale may be limited by scaling effects and the ability to obtain accurate stress waves. This paper describes such a study, conducted at model scale in a geotechnical centrifuge, for piles driven into dense sand. Adverse scaling effects were minimized by the use of extremely fine sand (silica flour), and accurate stress waves were obtained using high-frequency data logging, together with a Hopkinson bar arrangement for the measurement of pile-head velocity. The overall aim of the study was to compare dynamic and static test data, for open- and closed-ended piles driven into dense sand, for a range of delivered hammer energies. Open- and closed-ended model piles were driven into dense sand and statically load tested at different penetrations, without stopping the centrifuge. Stress-wave data were collected, during continuous driving and from single blows immediately prior to the commencement of static load testing. An assessment of the accuracy of the mobilized soil resistance estimated from dynamic testing, using different levels of analysis, has been made by direct comparison with the static load test data. Particular emphasis has been placed on the performance of the dynamic analyses in light of different driving conditions and delivered hammer energy. From measurements of the delivered hammer energy, the efficiency of the centrifuge pile driving system was also assessed.
Crystal structure of a synthetic aluminoan tantalian titanite: a reconnaissance study

Abstract A synthetic analogue, Ca(Ti0.6Al0.2Ta0.16Nb0.04)OSiO4, of an aluminoan tantalian titanite previously described from Craveggia pegmatite (Piemonte, Italy) has been prepared by a ceramic synthesis technique and its crystal structure determined by Rietveld analysis of the powder X-ray diffraction pattern. The synthetic Al-Ta-Nb-rich titanite adopts space group A2/a implying that substitutions at the single octahedral site destroy the coherence of the off-centering of octahedral chains in the titanite structure resulting in a P21a → A2/a phase transition. Unit-cell dimensions obtained for the Al-Ta-Nb- rich titanite are: a = 7.0649(1) Å ; b = 8.7187(1) Å ; c = 6.5701(1) Å ; β = 113.755(1)°, V = 370.41(1) Å3. The extensive replacement of Ti by Al, Ta and Nb results in a considerable decrease in the distortion of all coordination polyhedra in the structure of this titanite. These structural data suggest that a solid solution CaTi1-x(Alx/2[Ta,Nb]x/2)OSiO4 (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.4) adopting the titanite structure might exist.
Influence of variations in extratropical wintertime teleconnections on northern hemisphere temperature

Pronounced changes in the wintertime atmospheric circulation have occurred since the mid-1970s over the ocean basins of the Northern Hemisphere, and these changes have had a profound effect on surface temperatures. The variations over the North Atlantic are related to changes in the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), while the changes over the North Pacific are linked to the tropics and involve variations in the Aleutian low with teleconnections downstream over North America. Multivariate linear regression is used to show that nearly all of the cooling in the northwest Atlantic and the warming across Europe and downstream over Eurasia since the mid-1970s results from the changes in the NAO, and the NAO accounts for 31% of the hemispheric interannual variance over the past 60 winters. Over the Pacific basin and North America, the temperature anomalies result in part from tropical forcing associated with the El Nino-Southern Oscillation phenomenon but with important feedbacks in the extratropics. The changes in circulation over the past two decades have resulted in a surface temperature anomaly pattern of warmth over the continents and coolness over the oceans. This pattern of temperature change has amplified the observed hemispheric-averaged warming because of it interaction with land and ocean;more » temperature changes are larger over land compared to the oceans because of the small heat capacity of the former. 13 refs., 5 fig., 2 tab. « less
El debate de los transgénicos en la prensa española: cómo los actores sociales denominan esta biotecnología

Desde que en 1983 se obtuvo la primera planta transgenica, el tema no ha dejado de suscitar un gran interes y expectacion en la sociedad. Por otro lado, los medios de comunicacion, entre ellos la prensa escrita diaria, se han encargado de informar al publico sobre las investigaciones relacionadas con las plantas transgenicas y sus aplicaciones en distintas areas como los cultivos, los medicamentos y la alimentacion.
Soil Moisture between Rice‐Growing Seasons Affects Methane Emission, Production, and Oxidation

Methane (CH 4 ) emissions from rice (Oryza saliva L.) fields are believed to contribute to the greenhouse effect. Earlier studies on CH 4 emission were mostly focused on the rice-growing season. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of soil moisture during the non-rice growing season on CH 4 emission, production, and oxidation within the subsequent rice-growing season. Five moisture levels ranging from air-dryness to flooding were established in pots during the non-rice growing season. The CH 4 fluxes from rice soils in the pots were monitored in a dosed chamber and dark incubation was performed to determine CH 4 production and oxidation potentials. Both CH 4 emission and production increased significantly as the soil got wetter except when it was air-dated. The CH 4 oxidation potential was also stimulated by the previous higher soil water content, which therefore buffered emission of the gas as its production increased. Soil water content considerably affected the seasonal variation pattern of CH 4 flux and soil redox potential (E H ). The higher the soil water content, the quicker soil E H declined and the earlier CH 4 emission initiated after rice transplantation. Previous soil water content significantly affected soil organic C content before rice transplantation. Within the rice-growing season both the mean CH4 flux and its production rate were significantly correlated with soil organic C content. Thus water-history-induced change of soil organic C content may have affected soil reduction rate, and then CH 4 production and emission within the rice-growing season. The results demonstrate how water management between rice crops can regulate CH 4 emission, production, and oxidation during the rice-growing season.
RONN: the bio-basis function neural network technique applied to the detection of natively disordered regions in proteins

MOTIVATION Recent studies have found many proteins containing regions that do not form well-defined three-dimensional structures in their native states. The study and detection of such disordered regions is important both for understanding protein function and for facilitating structural analysis since disordered regions may affect solubility and/or crystallizability. RESULTS We have developed the regional order neural network (RONN) software as an application of our recently developed 'bio-basis function neural network' pattern recognition algorithm to the detection of natively disordered regions in proteins. The results of blind-testing a panel of nine disorder prediction tools (including RONN) against 80 protein sequences derived from the Protein Data Bank shows that, based on the probability excess measure, RONN performed the best.
Prograde P–T path of medium‐pressure granulite facies calc‐silicate rocks, Higo metamorphic terrane, central Kyushu, Japan

This paper reports an occurrence of medium‐pressure granulite facies calc‐silicate rocks intercalated with pelitic gneisses in the Higo metamorphic terrane, central Kyushu, Japan, which is classified as a low‐P/high‐T (andalusite‐sillimanite type) metamorphic belt. Three equilibrium stages are recognized in the calc‐silicate rock based on reaction textures: M1 stage characterized by an assemblage of porphyroblastic garnet + coarse‐grained clinopyroxene + plagioclase included in the clinopyroxene; M2 stage by two kinds of breakdown products of garnet, one is plagioclase + coronitic clinopyroxene within garnet and the other is plagioclase + vermicular clinopyroxene surrounding garnet; and M3 stage by amphibole replacing clinopyroxene. The key assemblage in the calc‐silicate rock common to M1 and M2 stages is Grt + Cpx + Pl ± Qtz, which constrains the pressure and temperature (P–T) conditions for these stages by Fe–Mg exchange reaction and the two univariant net‐transfer reactions: 2Grs + Alm + 3Qtz = 3Hd + 3An or 2Grs + Prp + 3Qtz = 3Di + 3An. The P–T conditions for M1 and M2 stages were estimated to be about 8.4 ± 1.9 kbar and 680 ± 122 °C, and 6.7 ± 1.9 to 8.9 ± 2.2 kbar and 700 ± 130 to 820 ± 160 °C, respectively. Estimates are consistent with an isobaric heating P–T path. The high peak temperature conditions at normal crustal depths and the prograde isobaric heating path probably require heat advection due to melt migration during the high‐T metamorphism.
Simulation of polymer injection under fracturing conditions - An injectivity pilot in the matzen field, Austria

Polymer flooding leads to enhanced oil recovery by accelerating oil production and improving sweep efficiency. However, because of the higher viscosity, the injectivity of polymer solutions is of some concern and is important to understand to predict incremental oil recoveries. Achieving high polymer-injection rates is required to increase oil-production rates. In the field test performed in the Matzen field (Austria), polyacrylamide polymers were injected for the past 2 years. Coreflood experiments with these polymers showed a significant increase in apparent viscosity because of the viscoelastic properties of the polymer solutions. Also, severe degradation of the polymer solution at high flow velocities was detected. In addition to coreflood experiments, flow experiments through fractures were performed. In these experiments, shear thinning and limited degradation of the polymer solution were observed and quantified. Detailed polymer-injection simulations were conducted that included complex polymer rheology in the fractures and the matrix. The reservoir stress changes and their effects on the fractures were also taken into account as a result of cold-polymer injection. The results of the simulations matched the field data both for waterfloods and polymer-test floods. The simulations revealed two distinct phases during the injection of the polyacrylamide-polymer solution: 1. Injection under matrix conditions in an early phase resulting in severe degradation of the polymers 2. Injection under fracturing conditions after the formation parting pressure is reached, leading to limited degradation of the polymers The calibrated model was used to investigate the impact of polymer rheology and particle plugging on injectivity and fracture growth. The results of the field test and the simulations indicate that screening of fields for polyacrylamide-polymer projects needs to include geomechanical properties of the reservoir sand and cap/ base rock in addition to the conventional parameters used in screening such as oil viscosity, water salinity, reservoir temperature, and reservoir permeability.
Handbook of the Radiation Regime of the Arctic Basin (Results from the Drift Stations).

Abstract : This Handbook summarizes the radiation data from the Soviet "North Pole" drifting research stations operated in the Arctic from 1950 to 1991. The Handbook contains reduced mean monthly values of the fluxes of solar radiation for solar elevations up to 35 deg at 5 deg intervals, monthly totals of the net radiation and its constituents, and mean monthly values of the albedo of the sea ice surfaces. The Handbook presents information of interest to specialists studying the physics of the atmosphere, climatology, geography, and related disciplines. Arctic, solar radiation, radiation flux, global radiation, soviet north pole drifting stations, diffuse radiation, direct radiation, albedo, arctic sea ice, meteorology, atmospheric science, climatology, geography, thermoelectric instruments.
Conjugated equine estrogens and incidence of probable dementia and mild cognitive impairment in postmenopausal women: Women's Health Initiative Memory Study.

CONTEXT The Women's Health Initiative Memory Study (WHIMS) previously found increased risk for dementia and no effect on mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in women treated with conjugated equine estrogens (CEE) plus medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA). OBJECTIVE To determine the effects of CEE alone and CEE plus MPA on incidence of probable dementia and MCI in older women. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trials of CEE (estrogen-alone trial) or CEE plus MPA (estrogen plus progestin trial) in community-dwelling women aged 65 to 79 years, conducted from June 1995 to July 8, 2002 (estrogen plus progestin; n = 4532), or to February 29, 2004 (estrogen-alone; n = 2947), in 39 of the 40 WHI clinical centers. INTERVENTIONS In the estrogen-alone trial, 1 daily tablet containing either 0.625 mg/d of CEE vs matching placebo; in the estrogen plus progestin trial, 1 daily tablet containing CEE (0.625 mg/d) plus MPA (2.5 mg/d) vs matching placebos. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Probable dementia and MCI. RESULTS In the estrogen-alone trial, 47 participants were diagnosed with probable dementia, of whom 28 were assigned to CEE and 19 to placebo (hazard ratio [HR], 1.49; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.83-2.66). Incidence rates for probable dementia in the estrogen-alone trial were statistically similar to those in the estrogen plus progestin trial (45 vs 22 per 10 000 person-years for CEE plus MPA vs placebo, respectively; P =.11). When data were pooled per the original WHIMS protocol, the overall HR for probable dementia was 1.76 (95% CI, 1.19-2.60; P =.005). After excluding participants with baseline Modified Mini-Mental State Examination scores at or below the screening cut point, the HR was 1.77 (95% CI, 0.74-4.23; P =.20) in the estrogen-alone trial and 2.19 (95% CI, 1.25-3.84; P =.006) in the pooled trials. In the estrogen-alone trial, 76 participants were diagnosed with MCI in the CEE group vs 58 in the placebo group (HR, 1.34; 95% CI, 0.95-1.89). In the combined trial data, the HR was similar (1.25; 95% CI, 0.97-1.60). In the estrogen-alone trial, 93 participants receiving CEE were diagnosed with either probable dementia or MCI vs 69 receiving placebo (HR, 1.38; 95% CI, 1.01-1.89; P =.04). CONCLUSIONS Estrogen therapy alone did not reduce dementia or MCI incidence and increased the risk for both end points combined. Pooling data for estrogen alone and estrogen plus progestin resulted in increased risks for both end points. Use of hormone therapy to prevent dementia or cognitive decline in women 65 years of age or older is not recommended.