Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An age, period and cohort analysis of pleural cancer mortality in Europe.

Death certification data from pleural cancer in eight European countries providing data to the World Health Organization database over the period 1970-1994 were analysed using a log-linear Poisson model to disentangle the effects of age, birth cohort and period of death. The age effect reached values between 10 and 15/100,000 males at age 80-84 in most countries, except Hungary (6.7), Switzerland (18.0), France (20.6) and the Netherlands (36.5). Cohort effects were steadily and appreciably upwards in all countries up to the generations born in 1940 or 1945, and levelled off for the 1950 cohort, except in Hungary, where persistent rises were observed. Thus, most rises in pleural cancer mortality in Europe were on a cohort of birth basis. Since most pleural cases were asbestos-related mesotheliomas, and since asbestos has an early-stage effect on subsequent mesothelioma risk, exposure early in life is important for determining the subsequent mesothelioma risk of each generation. Consequently, the data indicate that the peak mortality from pleural cancer in most western European countries will be reached in the first decades of the 21st century, i.e. around 2010-2020, when the generations born between 1940 and 1950 will reach the peak age for mesothelioma incidence and mortality. This contrasts with US data, where the peak of pleural cancer incidence has been reached at the end of the 20th century, and reflects a delay in adopting adequate prevention measures since the 1940-1945 generations entered the workforce in the 1960s, when cancer risk from asbestos exposure was already recognized.
Ac2-26 Alleviates Brain Injury after Cardiac Arrest and Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation in Rats via the eNOS Pathway

Background Brain injury is the leading cause of death following cardiac arrest (CA) and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Ac2-26 and endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) have been shown to reduce neuroinflammation. This study is aimed at determining the mechanism by which Ac2-26 protects against inflammation during brain injury following CA and CPR. Methods Sixty-four rats were randomized into sham, saline, Ac2-26, and Ac2-26+L-NIO (endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) inhibitor) groups. Rats received Ac2-26, Ac2-26+L-NIO, or saline after CPR. Neurologic function was assessed at baseline, 24, and 72 hours after CPR. At 72 hours after resuscitation, serum and brain tissues were collected. Results Blood-brain barrier (BBB) permeability increased, and the number of surviving neurons and neurological function decreased in the saline group compared to the sham group. Anti-inflammatory and proinflammatory factors, neuron-specific enolase (NSE) levels, and the expression of eNOS, phosphorylated (p)-eNOS, inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), and oxidative stress-related factors in the three CA groups significantly increased (P < 0.05). BBB permeability decreased, and the number of surviving neurons and neurological function increased in the Ac2-26 group compared to the saline group (P < 0.05). Ac2-26 increased anti-inflammatory and reduced proinflammatory markers, raised NSE levels, increased the expression of eNOS and p-eNOS, and reduced the expression of iNOS and oxidative stress-related factors compared to the saline group (P < 0.05). The effect of Ac2-26 on brain injury was reversed by L-NIO (P < 0.05). Conclusions Ac2-26 reduced brain injury after CPR by inhibiting oxidative stress and neuroinflammation and protecting the BBB. The therapeutic effect of Ac2-26 on brain injury was largely dependent on the eNOS pathway.
Effect of trees on yield, water expense efficiency and nutrient uptake by clusterbean in arid environment

The effect of Prosopis cineraria and Acacia albida planted at three spacings (5×5, 5×10 and 10×10 m) on availability of nutrients and moisture, and yield of clusterbean in arid environment was evaluated on a loamy sand soil. Available N, P and K in soil were considerably higher under the trees than that of the bare field. The soil under P. cineraria was richer in nutrients (N, P and K) and also maintained higher available moisture regimes as compared to the soil under A. albida. Nutrient uptake by the crop (grain + straw) differed both with the tree species as well as with their spacing. Nutrient uptake increased with decrease in the density of trees. The uptake of nutrients was in the order: sole crop>P. cineraria>A. albida. The water expense efficiency (WEE) was generally higher under P. cineraria than A. albida at comparable spacing. The crop yields, in general, were in the order: sole crop>P. cineraria>A. albida. Increase in the tree spacing increased the yield and WEE of clusterbean. The water expense efficiency under 10x10 m spacing of trees was more than the sole crop.
Analysis of yield-attributing traits for high-yielding wheat lines in southwestern Japan

Abstract Development of wheat cultivars that achieve high yields despite the short growing season is essential for increasing wheat production in southwestern Japan. The objectives of this study were to assess the genetic progress in grain yield and to clarify yield-attributing traits of high-yielding wheat lines in southwestern Japan. We conducted field experiments for two growing seasons (2012–2013 and 2013–2014) using three commercial wheat cultivars (Shiroganekomugi, Chikugoizumi, and Iwainodaichi) and four high-yielding wheat lines including Hakei W1380 developed in southwestern Japan. In an ancillary field experiment, we compared a commercial cultivar, Shiroganekomugi, and a high-yielding line, Hakei W1380, in the 2014–2015 season. Across the two seasons, grain yield of high-yielding lines was generally higher than commercial cultivars. Hakei W1380 achieved the highest grain yield across the two seasons, and successfully produced more than 900 g m−2 in the 2013–2014 season. Correlation analysis showed that recent yield progress of wheat lines in southwestern Japan was derived from enhanced biomass production and grain number m−2. Larger numbers of grains m−2 in high-yielding lines than in commercial cultivars were associated with higher crop growth rate at the pre-anthesis stage, and therefore higher spike dry weight m−2 at anthesis. Genotypic differences in crop growth rate from jointing to anthesis resulted mainly from differences in leaf area index. These results indicate that further improvements in grain yield in southwestern Japan could be achieved by increasing the amount of radiation intercepted at the pre-anthesis stage and grain number m−2.
Petrology of unique achondrite Queen Alexandra Range 93148: A piece of the pallasite (howardite‐eucrite‐diogenite?) parent body?

Abstract— Queen Alexandra Range (QUE) 93148 is a small (1.1 g) olivine‐rich achondrite (mg 86) that contains variable amounts of orthopyroxene (mg 87) and kamacite (6.7 wt% Ni), with minor augite. Olivine in QUE 93148 contains an unusual suite of inclusions: (1) 5 × 100 μm sized lamellae with a CaO‐ and Cr2O3‐rich (∼10 and 22 wt%, respectively) composition that may represent a submicrometer‐scale intergrowth of chromite and pyroxene(s); (2) 75 × 500 μm sized lamellar symplectites composed of chromite and two pyroxenes, with minor metal; (3) 15–20 μm sized, irregularly‐shaped symplectites composed of chromite and pyroxene(s); (4) 100–150 μm sized, elliptical inclusions composed of chromite, two pyroxenes, metal, troilite, and rare whitlockite. Type 1, 2, and 3 inclusions probably formed by exsolution from the host olivine during slow cooling, whereas type 4 more likely resulted from early entrapment of silicate and metallic melts followed by closed‐system oxidation.
A unique germplasm of Damask roses in Iran.

Damask rose (Rosa damascena Mill) is widely cultivated throughout Iran and therefore the local Damask varieties in Iran may comprise a rich gene pool for this species waiting to be explored. To assess the diversity of the Iranian Damask germplasm, 41 damask rose genotypes were collected from the most important cultivation regions for this species which includes Fars, Isfahan, East Azerbaijan, Kerman and Khorasan provinces. Genetic markers including 50 quantitative and qualitative morphological traits, 31 RAPD and 38 SSR primers were involved in the genetic diversity evaluation of the studied genotypes. Results showed a high diversity of morphological characters especially those that were related to flower, leaf and prickle morphology. Molecular markers also revealed high levels of polymorphism, 190 and 225 polymorphic bands from selected RAPD and SSR primers were amplified. The basic relationships were similar among evaluation methods, although the degree of discrimination was much less for the morphological data. The data suggests that Iran is a center of diversity of Damask rose and gives us some clues about unknown center of origin of this species.
Transverse Vibrations of Elastically Connected Double-String Complex System, Part i: Free Vibrations

This paper analyzes the forced transverse vibrations of an elastically connected double-string complex continuous system. The general solutions of forced vibrations of strings subjected to arbitrarily distributed continuous loads are found by using the method of expansion in a series of the mode shape functions. Different cases of exciting loadings are analyzed. The action of stationary harmonic loads and moving concentrated forces is considered. Vibrations caused by the harmonic exciting forces are discussed, and conditions of resonance and dynamic vibration absorption are formulated. Thus the string-type dynamic absorber can be used to suppress the excessive vibrations of corresponding string systems. The dynamic string-type damper is a new concept of a continuous dynamic vibration absorber (CDVA). It is shown that a corresponding two-degree-of-freedom discrete system is an analogue of an elastically connected double-string complex system. Theoretical analysis is illustrated by a numerical example.
Seasonal and Daily Activity Patterns and Thermoregulation in the Southwestern Speckled Rattlesnake (Crotalus mitchelli pyrrhus) and the Colorado Desert Sidewinder (Crotalus cerastes laterorepens)

Crotalus cerastes was predominantly nocturnal, while C. mitchelli was mainly diurnal in the spring and fall and nocturnal during the summer months from June to September. The normal activity range of C. mitchelli (18.8-39.3 C) was narrower than that of C. cerastes (13.6-40.8 C). The overall preferred body temperature (April to December) of C. mitchelli (31.2 C) was significantly higher than that of C. cerastes (25.8 C). By being active at different times of the day during some months of the year, competition between these two species is reduced.
The Galaxies of the Local Group: Frontmatter

Preface 1. Introduction 2. Local group membership 3. The Andromeda galaxy (M31) 4. The Milky Way system 5. The Triangulum galaxy (M33) 6. The Large Magellanic Cloud 7. The Small Magellanic Cloud 8. The elliptical galaxy M32 (= NGC 221) 9. The irregular dwarf galaxy NGC 6822 10. The starburst galaxy IC 10 11. Faint dwarf irregular galaxies 12. Spheroidal galaxies 13. The most luminous dwarf spheroidal galaxies 14. Dwarf spheroidals in the Andromeda subgroup 15. Faint dwarf spheroidals 16. The outer fringes of the Local Group 17. Intergalactic matter in the Local Group 18. Dynamical and physical evolution 19. Properties of the Local Group 20. Conclusions Glossary Bibliography Object index.
THE PATH ARGUMENT OF RESULTATIVE CONSTRUCTIONS

The premise of the paper is that resultative constructions involve an abstract Path argument by which the secondary predicate is treated as an endpoint to a path of a change of state/location, rather than a pure state/location. The discussion in this paper revolves around the way in which Ramchand’s (2008) resP, a structural position in the syntactic skeleton of resultative constructions, corresponding to the abstract Path argument, differs in English and in Romanian. The paper offers a unified account of state and location resultatives in light of this abstract argument.
Community College Program Choices in the Wake of Local Job Losses

Deciding which field to study is one of the most consequential decisions college students make, but most research on the topic focuses on students attending 4-year colleges. To understand how students attending community colleges make field-of-study decisions, I link administrative educational records of recent high school graduates with local mass layoff and plant-closing announcements. I find that declines in local employment deter students from entering closely related community college programs and instead induce them to enroll in other vocationally oriented programs. Students predominantly shift enrollment between programs that lead to occupations requiring similar skills.
Dietary accumulation and quantitative structure‐activity relationships for depuration and biotransformation of short (C10), medium (C14), and long (C18) carbon‐chain polychlorinated alkanes by juvenile rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)

Juvenile rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) were exposed to three [14C]‐polychlorinated alkanes (PCAs) (C10H15.3Cl6.7, C14H23.3Cl6.7, and C18H31.4Cl6.6) at nominal concentrations of 1.5 and 15 μg/g for 40 d, followed by 160 d of clean food, to measure bioaccumulation parameters and biotransformation. These PCAs are identical in carbon‐chain length and chlorine content to industrial chlorinated paraffin products, although their method of synthesis differs from that of chlorinated paraffin products. Half‐lives ranged from 26 to 91 d, biomagnification factors ranged from 0.9 to 2.8, and both exhibited increasing trends with increasing carbon‐chain length. Data from this work and others on PCAs were used to determine biotransformation rates and to examine quantitative structure‐activity relationships for bioaccumulation and biotransformation. Quantitative structure‐activity relationships developed for half‐life and biomagnification factor showed positive linear relationships with the number of carbon atoms, of chlorine atoms, of total carbon and chlorine atoms, and log Kow. The PCA biotransformation rates (per day) ranged from −0.00028 to 8.4 and exhibited negative relationships with the number of carbon atoms, of chlorine atoms, of total carbon and chlorine atoms, and log Kow. Results suggest that PCAs with a total number of carbon and chlorine atoms between 22 and 30 are slowly, or are not, biotransformed in juvenile rainbow trout. Increasing carbon‐chain length and chlorine content result in greater bioaccumulation of PCAs by reducing partition‐based (i.e., diffusion) and metabolic (i.e., biotransformation) elimination processes. High bioaccumulation potential and low biotransformation rates of medium (C14‐18) and long (C18‐30) carbon‐chain PCAs and highly chlorinated PCAs indicate that information is needed regarding the environmental concentrations of these PCAs in aquatic food chains.
Sem Observation of the Nauplius of Monstrilla Hamatapex, New Species, from Japan and an Example of Upgraded Descriptive Standards for Monstrilloid Copepods

ABSTRACT The first description since 1901 of the free nauplius of a monstrilloid copepod is presented, based on scanning electron microscopy. First-instar larvae were hatched from eggs borne by a female Monstrilla hamatapex, new species, from inshore plankton in Tanabe Bay, Honshu, Japan. The naupliar appendages are less oligomerous and bear more setae than previously reported. Their apomorphies relative to a copepod naupliar "Bauplan" are identified by comparison to first instar nauplii of other copepod orders. The new species, based on the egg-bearing female and another female from Ago Bay, Honshu, is distinguished from M. helgolandica Claus, 1863, and some literature records of the latter, a supposedly widespread species, are brought into question. A nomenclature is devised for female monstrilloid antennular setae, and a list is provided of potentially diagnostic features that never or rarely have been used until now in adult monstrilloid taxonomy.
Off-Policy Meta-Reinforcement Learning Based on Feature Embedding Spaces

Meta-reinforcement learning (RL) addresses the problem of sample inefficiency in deep RL by using experience obtained in past tasks for a new task to be solved. However, most meta-RL methods require partially or fully on-policy data, i.e., they cannot reuse the data collected by past policies, which hinders the improvement of sample efficiency. To alleviate this problem, we propose a novel off-policy meta-RL method, embedding learning and evaluation of uncertainty (ELUE). An ELUE agent is characterized by the learning of a feature embedding space shared among tasks. It learns a belief model over the embedding space and a belief-conditional policy and Q-function. Then, for a new task, it collects data by the pretrained policy, and updates its belief based on the belief model. Thanks to the belief update, the performance can be improved with a small amount of data. In addition, it updates the parameters of the neural networks to adjust the pretrained relationships when there are enough data. We demonstrate that ELUE outperforms state-of-the-art meta RL methods through experiments on meta-RL benchmarks.
An analysis of the structure and function of protein tyrosine phosphatase

The molecular basis for the control of cell growth, proliferation, and differentiation involves the coordinated activities of a diverse collection of molecules. Many, if not all, developmental processes are influenced by growth factors, extracellular matrix components, and/or adhesion molecules, which elicit changes in cytoskeletal organization, metabolism, and gene transcription. Signal transduction often involves the activation of tyrosine kinase activity associated with specific receptors. Receptor, or receptor-linked tyrosine kinases, then orchestrate the assembly of multimeric signaling complexes and regulate the activities of various downstream enzymes. Thus, tyrosine kinases form a critical link between the extracellular environment and the signal transduction machinery of the cytoplasm. The protein tyrosine phosphatases (PTPs), by dephosphorylating phosphotyrosine residues, play a critical, albeit less understood role in the regulation of tyrosine phosphorylation. A search for additional members of the PTP family, which now includes over 40 enzymes, led to the identification of PTPoc, a widelyexpressed receptor-like PTP. In studies aimed at characterizing this PTP, we expressed PTPa in both eukaryotic and bacterial cells. To assess the potential substrate specificity of these enzymes, select bacterially expressed PTPs were assayed with a group of synthetic phosphopeptide substrates using a modified colorimetric assay. These studies suggested that the substrate specificity of PTPs such as PTPfJ may be influenced by the context of amino acids surrounding a given phosphotyrosine residue. Studies of the in vivo activity of PTPa, investigated by its overexpression in human epidermoid cells, revealed a role for PTPa in the activation and/or dephosphorylation of specific Src family kinases. Moreover, PTPa overexpression dramatically increased the cell-substratum adhesion of these cells and altered the tyrosine phosphorylation and associations of specific focal adhesion molecules, suggesting a role for this enzyme in cell-adhesion. Furthermore, an SH3 domain-binding motif was identified in the membrane-proximal
Involvement in the Effects of Anesthetic Agents

There has been an explosive increase in the amount of interesting information about the physiologic and pathophysiologic roles of nitric oxide in cardiovascular, nervous, and immune systems. The possible involvement of the nitric oxide– cyclic guanosine monophosphate pathway in the effects of anesthetic agents has been the focus of many investigators. Relaxations of cerebral and peripheral arterial smooth muscle as well as increases in cerebral and other regional blood flows induced by anesthetic agents are mediated mainly via nitric oxide released from the endothelium and/or the nitrergic nerve and also via prostaglandin I2 or endothelium-derived hyperpolarizing factor. Preconditioning with volatile anesthetics protects against ischemia-reperfusion–induced myocardial dysfunction and cell death or neurotoxicity, possibly through nitric oxide release. Inhibition of nitric oxide synthase decreases the anesthetic requirement. Involvement of nitric oxide in the effects of volatile, intravenous, and local anesthetics differs. This review article includes a summary of information about the sites and mechanisms by which various anesthetic agents interact with the nitric oxide–cyclic guanosine monophosphate system.
Identification and Functional Analysis of EPOR+ Tumor-Associated Macrophages in Human Osteosarcoma Lung Metastasis

Background Tissue-resident macrophages can be educated to tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) by the tumor microenvironment and many types of macrophages express erythropoietic receptor (EPOR); However, little is known about the expression of EPOR on TAMs and the identity of EPOR+ TAMs in osteosarcoma lung metastasis has thus far remained elusive. Methods EPOR-eGFPcre mice were used to determine the expression of EPOR on lung tissue-resident macrophages. Flow cytometry, RT-PCR, and Western blot were examined to define the identity of EPOR+ TAMs in 106 osteosarcoma lung metastasis specimens. Moreover, the clinicopathologic factors and prognosis of patients with CD163+EPOR+ macrophages were compared. Results We found that a subpopulation of mouse lung tissue-resident macrophages express EPOR and EPO enhances the proliferation of EPOR+ macrophages in mouse lung. A subpopulation of CD163+ macrophages expresses EPOR in human osteosarcoma lung metastasis specimens. CD163+EPOR+TAMs increase 2.5 times in human osteosarcoma lung metastasis tissues; CD206, CD163, and PD1, which are known to have a significant role in TAM function had high expression in CD163+EPOR+ TAMs compared with CD163+EPOR− TAMs. Furthermore, CD163+EPOR+ TAMs had higher M2 marker and cytokine expression in osteosarcoma tissues compared with para-osteosarcoma tissues. EPO enhanced the expression of M2 cytokines in primary CD163+EPOR+ TAMs. Importantly, the percentage of CD163+EPOR+ TAMs had a positive linear association with malignant phenotypes as well as poor disease-free survival and overall survival time. Conclusions We have characterized TAMs expressing EPOR and CD163+EPOR+ macrophages as TAMs in osteosarcoma lung metastasis patients, which are highly associated with tumor aggressiveness.
Evaluation of the psychometric properties and clinical applications of the Timed Up and Go test in Parkinson disease: a systematic review

To review and systematically summarize the psychometric and clinical properties (reliability, validity, responsiveness) of the Timed Up and Go test applied to persons diagnosed with Parkinson disease. A systematic review was performed by screening four scientific databases (MED-LINE, CINAHL, and PubMed). Independent reviewers selected and extracted data from articles that assessed the reliability, validity, sensitivity to change, and/or clinical properties of the Timed Up and Go test in persons with Parkinson disease. Twenty-four studies were selected. Nine analyzed reliability and yielded “good” to “moderate” scores. Seventeen used a range of different contrast tests to assess validity of the Timed Up and Go test and found “good” quality scores in those that assessed balance. Only two studies analyzed sensitivity to change and they reported “poor” quality scores. The use of Timed Up and Go in Parkinson disease patients presents good reliability and validity (when compared to tests that assess balance).