Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Neutrophils Mediate Acute Lung Injury in Rabbits: Role of Neutrophil Elastase

We investigated the roles of neutrophil and neutrophil elastase in acute lung injury (ALI) to elucidate the mechanism of ALI. We designed two protocols. Protocol I: Experimental ALI was induced by endotoxin (0.02 mg/kg) and platelet-activating factor (8 µg/kg/4 h) in untreated rabbits (control group I), in neutropenic rabbits pretreated with nitrogen-N-oxide hydrochloride, and in untreated rabbits infused with a neutrophil elastase inhibitor (ONO-5046; 20 mg/kg/4 h). Protocol II: ALI was induced by smaller doses of endotoxin (0.015 mg/kg) and platelet-activating factor (7 µg/kg/4 h) than those used in protocol I in untreated rabbits (control group II), in neutrophilic rabbits pretreated with human recombinant granulocyte colony-stimulating factor, and in neutrophilic rabbits infused with ONO-5046 (as in protocol I). The severity of ALI was assessed by the protein concentration, the elastase activity in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, and the histologic pulmonary edema ratio. The degree of pulmonary neutrophil accumulation was assessed by pulmonary myeloperoxidase activity and histological findings. Both ALI and pulmonary neutrophil accumulation were suppressed by neutropenia (protocol I), while they were exacerbated by neutrophilia (protocol II). The neutrophil elastase inhibitor could suppress ALI, but it could not suppress pulmonary neutrophil accumulation in both untreated and neutrophilic rabbits (protocols I and II). These findings indicate that neutrophils play an important role in the pathogenesis of ALI via neutrophil elastase.
The value of Tuffier's line for neonatal neuraxial procedures

The spine of L4 usually lies on a line drawn between the highest points of the iliac crests (Tuffier's line) in adults. Although its accuracy has been questioned, it is still commonly used to identify the spinous process of the 4th lumbar vertebra before performing lumbar neuraxial procedures. In children, this line is said to cross the midline at the level of L5. A literature search revealed that the description this surface anatomical line is vague in neonates. The aims of this study were to determine the vertebral level of Tuffier's line, as well as its distance from the apex of the sacrococcygeal membrane (ASM), in 39 neonatal cadavers in both a prone and flexed position. It was found that when flexed, Tuffier's line shifted from the level of L4/L5 (prone position) to the upper third of L5. The mean distance from the ASM to Tuffier's line was 23.64mm when prone and 25.47 mm when flexed, constituting a statistically significant increase in the distance (P=0.0061). Therefore, in the absence of advanced imaging modalities, Tuffier's line provides practitioners with a simple method of determining a level caudal to the termination of the spinal cord, at approximately the L4/L5 in a prone neonate and the upper margins of L5 when flexed. Clin. Anat. 27:370–375, 2014. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Familial liability to psychosis is associated with attenuated dopamine stress signaling in ventromedial prefrontal cortex.

OBJECTIVE Patients diagnosed with a psychotic disorder and their first-degree relatives display increased reactivity to stress. Theory predicts that experience of psychosocial stress is associated both with ventromedial prefrontal and mesolimbic dopamine neurotransmission. However, while there is evidence of aberrant striatal dopamine processing in psychotic disorder, the role of the prefrontal cortex remains under-researched. This study aimed at investigating stress-induced in vivo dopamine release in ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) of individuals at familial risk for psychosis. METHOD Fourteen healthy first-degree relatives of patients with a diagnosis of psychotic disorder and 10 control subjects underwent a single dynamic positron emission tomography (PET) scanning session after intravenous administration of 183.2 (SD = 7.6) MBq [(18)F]fallypride. Psychosocial stress was initiated at 100 min postinjection using a computerized mental arithmetic task with social evaluative threat components. PET data were analyzed using the linearized simplified reference region model. Regression analyses were performed to compare the spatial extent of task-related ligand displacement between control subjects and relatives and to find how it related to self-rated experiences of psychosocial stress and psychosis. RESULTS First-degree relatives displayed hyporeactive dopamine signaling in the vmPFC in response to stress. Increased levels of subjectively rated stress were associated with increased intensity of psychotic experiences. This effect was particularly pronounced in first-degree relatives. CONCLUSION Although previous studies have hypothesized a role for prefrontal dopamine dysfunction in psychosis, this study, to our knowledge, is the first in vivo human imaging study showing attenuated (ie, hyporeactive) dopamine stress neuromodulation in vmPFC of individuals at familial risk for psychosis.
Yttrium segregation and intergranular defects in alumina

Intergranular segregation of yttrium is investigated in a rhombohedral twin grain boundary of alumina. The deviation from the twin orientation is compensated by a periodic arrangement of intergranular dislocations. TEM tools (CTEM and HREM, EDXS, EFTEM and EELS/ELNES) have been used to characterize changes in chemical and electronic environments along this twin. Within the experimental limits, no Y is detected in the perfect twin parts. On the other hand, Y segregation occurs very locally in the dislocation cores on about four atomic planes perpendicularly to the GB, which in fact corresponds to the step height associated with the interfacial dislocations. By comparison with an undoped bicrystal, both the dislocation distribution and the Y segregation localization confirm the influence of Y on the dislocation mobility. Furthermore, in the Y-rich defects, high spatial resolution analysis of the energy loss near edge structures (ELNES) of the Al-L23 absorption edge brings some enlightenments about the Al3+ cation environment, provided the effects of local radiation damage are fully considered and under control.
Statistical power allocation strategy for vector block-fading channels

The paper studies power control schemes for achieving the ergodic capacity of vector block-fading (BF) channels when the channel state information (CSI) is available to both transmitter and receiver sides. The optimal water-filling solution achieves the maximum ergodic capacity, but requires complicated calculations and frequent adjustment of the transmission powers. On the other hand, a single-target constant power (ST-CP) policy is easier to implement, but experiences large capacity loss compared to the optimal solution. A suboptimal policy is proposed which first groups the sub-channels within the frame of interest into multiple grouped channels, then allocates different constant powers to each grouped channel using a statistical water-filling (SWF) policy. The new scheme asymptotically achieves the maximum ergodic capacity. Simulations are given to evaluate the performance of the new scheme, and to compare it with the optimal power allocation scheme and the single-target constant power policy.
Dry sliding wear behaviour of nickel-, iron- and cobalt-based superalloys

Dry sliding wear behaviour of nickel-, iron- and cobalt-based superalloys has been investigated using pin-on-disc wear test rig. Superni 600 has shown the highest coefficient of friction, whereas that of Superco 605 is found to be least. Superfer 800H has shown the lowest value of specific wear rate whereas Superni 600 has given highest specific wear rate, followed by Superni 75. The worn samples were analysed with SEM, and the wear debris was analysed using XRD and SEM. Nickel based superalloys have shown comparatively higher wear rates than the cobalt and iron based superalloys due to the formation of NiO.
A Binary Mechanism for the Selective Action of a Pancreatic β-Cell Transcriptional Silencer*

The pancreatic elastase I gene (ELA1) is selectively transcribed to high levels in pancreatic acinar cells. Pancreatic specificity is imparted by a 100-base pair enhancer that activates transcription in β-cells of the islets of Langerhans as well as in acinar cells. Adjacent to the enhancer is a silencer that renders transcription specific to acinar cells by selectively suppressing the inherent β-cell activity of the enhancer. We show that the selective repression of β-cell transcription is due neither to a β-cell specific activity of the silencer nor to selective interference with β-cell-specific transcriptional activators acting on the enhancer. Rather, the silencer is effective in both pancreatic endocrine and acinar cell types against all low and moderate strength enhancers and promoters tested. The silencer appears to act in a binary manner by reducing the probability that a promoter will be active without affecting the rate of transcription from active promoters. We propose that theELA1 silencer is a weak off switch capable of inactivating enhancer/promoter combinations whose strength is below a threshold level but ineffective against stronger enhancer/promoters. The apparent cell-specific effects on the ELA1 enhancer appear due to the ability of the silencer to inactivate the weak β-cell activity of the enhancer but not the stronger acinar cell activity.
Community-oriented network measurement infrastructure (CONMI) workshop report

This report summarizes issues discussed at the first CONMI workshop held on 30 March 2005 in Boston, Massachusetts. Sponsored by the National Science Foundation's Office of Cyberinfrastructure (OCI-0532233), the workshop was intended to begin a discussion regarding the viability and utility of a community-oriented network measurement infrastructure. This report was published 20 December 2005 online at: http://www.caida. org/workshops/conmi/.
Factors Related to Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms in Women Experiencing Police-Involved Intimate Partner Violence

Relationships among intimate partner violence (IPV), Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptoms, health, and danger, using M.A. Dutton's Empowerment framework, were examined among 423 ethnically diverse women in contact with police due to IPV. Significant predictors of PTSD symptoms in multivariate analysis included Danger Assessment score, poor overall health, abuse leading to pain, victim expectations of future injury victimization, feeling unsafe, and shame. Results provide further evidence supporting routine assessment for violent trauma and PTSD as well as the need for research testing holistic interventions for women traumatized by violence.
14 Metabolomics Research with Tandem Mass Spectrometry

Metabolomics, the large-scale analysis of metabolites generated in metabolic pathways, has recently joined with “omics” integration studies (Tan et al., 2008;Martinez-Pinna et al., 2010;Gehlenborg et al., 2010;Kint et al., 2010;Vlaanderen et al., 2010). In addition to metabolite profiling characteristic to metabolomics, metabonomics describes the wide spectrum of metabolites changing under certain conditions, such as disease, interventions and functional gene changes. Since these two terms (metabolomics and metabonomics) used interchangeably in literature (Mishur and Rea, 2011), in future discussion we will use only metabolomics for describing both quantitative metabolic profiling and changes in response to stimulus. Biochemically, metabolomics is the ultimate endpoint measurement of biological events and capturing the influences of nutrition, environmental influences, responses to pharmaceuticals, and many more. The history of metabolomics starts with the pioneering work of Horning who in the early 1960s applied gas chromatography (GC) for the metabolites profiling in urine (SWEELEY and Horning, 1960;Horning and VANDENHEUVEL, 1963). A few years later Pauling et al. expanded application of GC for metabolites analysis in both urine and breath (Pauling et al., 1971). Current advancements in bioanalytical instrumentations in combination with sample preparation techniques enables metabolomics studies virtually in all kinds of biological tissues and fluids. Ultimately clinical application of metabolic profiling became an important clinical tool in diagnosis and screening for inherited metabolic disorders (IMD), a group of over 200 single gene disorders. The vital progress of metabolomics usually occurs when new instrumentation or technique appears. Various state of the art techniques have been applied to metabolomics studies, including: nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy (Reo, 2002;Ward et al., 2007;Jordan and Cheng, 2007;Serkova et al., 2007;Duarte et al., 2009;Maher et al., 2009;Sofia et al., 2011), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) (Elias et al., 2008;De Leon-Rodriguez et al., 2009), infrared spectroscopy (IR) (Singh and Sinclair, 2007;Shaw et al., 2009;Corte et al., 2010), gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS) (Styczynski et al., 2007;Xu et al., 2009;Lin et al., 2010;Dehaven et al., 2010;Carroll et al., 2010;Tsugawa et al., 2011), capillary electrophoresis-MS (Lee et al., 2007;Soga, 2007;Lapainis et al., 2009;Barbas et al., 2011;BritzMcKibbin, 2011) and HPLC-MS (Chen et al., 2007;Lu et al., 2008;Llorach et al., 2009;Gika and Theodoridis, 2011;Bajad and Shulaev, 2011) . Current metabolomics and metabolic profiling
Ice and pulsed electromagnetic field to reduce pain and swelling after distal radius fractures.

OBJECTIVE To examine the relative effectiveness of ice therapy and/or pulsed electromagnetic field in reducing pain and swelling after the immobilization period following a distal radius fracture. METHODS A total of 83 subjects were randomly allocated to receive 30 minutes of either ice plus pulsed electromagnetic field (group A); ice plus sham pulsed electromagnetic field (group B); pulsed electromagnetic field alone (group C), or sham pulsed electromagnetic field treatment for 5 consecutive days (group D). All subjects received a standard home exercise programme. A visual analogue scale was used for recording pain; volumetric displacement for measuring the swelling of the forearm; and a hand-held goniometer for measuring the range of wrist motions before treatment on days 1, 3 and 5. RESULTS At day 5, a significantly greater cumulative reduction in the visual analogue scores as well as ulnar deviation range of motion was found in group A than the other 3 groups. For volumetric measurement and pronation, participants in group A performed better than subjects in group D but not those in group B. CONCLUSION The addition of pulsed electromagnetic field to ice therapy produces better overall treatment outcomes than ice alone, or pulsed electromagnetic field alone in pain reduction and range of joint motion in ulnar deviation and flexion for a distal radius fracture after an immobilization period of 6 weeks.
Atomistic modelling of materials with bond-order potentials

Abstract The atomistic modelling of materials with effective model potentials requires a reliable description of the breaking and making of interatomic bonds in different atomic environments. The bond-order potentials provide such a transferable description of atomic bonding while at the same time they are computationally efficient for application in large-scale atomistic simulations. We give an overview of the fundamentals of bond-order potentials and their derivation from the tight-binding electronic structure by linking the atomic structure to the electronic structure. We discuss the application of the structural energy difference theorem for studying trends in crystal phase stability and provide a brief summary of representative examples for modelling metals, hydrocarbons, and semiconductors with analytic and numerical bond-order potentials.
Mechanically detecting and avoiding the quantum fluctuations of a microwave field

Avoiding back-action in quantum measurements The very process of measuring a quantum system has an influence on the system through the process of back-action. Suh et al. used a back-action evasion scheme to monitor the motion of a miniature oscillator without influencing its motion (see the Perspective by Bouwmeester). The scheme should help in the understanding of the fundamental limits associated with measurement and will have practical implications in providing a low-temperature thermometer and a probe of extremely weak forces. Science, this issue p. 1262 The measurement-induced back-action effects on a quantum system can be avoided. [Also see Perspective by Bouwmeester] Quantum fluctuations of the light field used for continuous position detection produce stochastic back-action forces and ultimately limit the sensitivity. To overcome this limit, the back-action forces can be avoided by giving up complete knowledge of the motion, and these types of measurements are called “back-action evading” or “quantum nondemolition” detection. We present continuous two-tone back-action evading measurements with a superconducting electromechanical device, realizing three long-standing goals: detection of back-action forces due to the quantum noise of a microwave field, reduction of this quantum back-action noise by 8.5 ± 0.4 decibels (dB), and measurement imprecision of a single quadrature of motion 2.4 ± 0.7 dB below the mechanical zero-point fluctuations. Measurements of this type will find utility in ultrasensitive measurements of weak forces and nonclassical states of motion.
Long-term follow-up of renal function in dogs after treatment for ACTH-dependent hyperadrenocorticism.

BACKGROUND Systemic hypertension and proteinuria are frequent complications in dogs with Cushing's syndrome and do not always resolve after treatment of hypercortisolism. Therefore, dogs with Cushing's syndrome may be at risk for renal dysfunction before and after treatment. HYPOTHESIS/OBJECTIVES To assess renal function in dogs with ACTH-dependent hyperadrenocorticism (ADHAC) before and after treatment. ANIMALS A total of 19 dogs with ADHAC and 12 control dogs. METHODS Renal function was assessed before and at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months after treatment. Twelve dogs were treated with trilostane and 7 dogs by transsphenoidal hypophysectomy. Routine renal markers were measured and urinary albumin (uALB), immunoglobulin G (uIgG), and retinol-binding protein (uRBP) were assessed by ELISA. Urinary N-acetyl-β-D-glucosaminidase (uNAG) was determined colorimetrically. All urinary markers were indexed to urinary creatinine concentration (c). Plasma clearance of creatinine (Cl(creat)), exo-iohexol (Cl(exo)), and endo-iohexol (Cl(endo)) was used to measure glomerular filtration rate (GFR). Data were analyzed using a general linear model. RESULTS Serum creatinine and urea concentrations increased post-treatment, but remained within reference ranges. Plasma Cl(creat) and Cl(endo) were significantly lower post-treatment, whereas Cl(exo) was not different. Urinary protein-to-creatinine ratio (UPC), uALB/c, uIgG/c, and uRBP/c were decreased post-treatment, but at 12 months 5/13 dogs remained proteinuric. Urinary NAG/c did not change significantly. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE A decrease in GFR and persistent proteinuria post-treatment may warrant the clinician's attention. Future research including renal histopathology of dogs with persistent proteinuria or low GFR is needed to further assess renal outcome.
Phospholipid exchange between membranes. Purification of bovine brain proteins that preferentially catalyze the transfer of phosphatidylinositol.

Abstract Using an assay that measures the transfer of phosphatidyl-[3H]inositol from rat liver microsomes to liposomes consisting of phosphatidylcholine (98 mole %) and phosphatidylinositol (2 mole %), two proteins have been isolated from homogenates of bovine brain cortical tissue which specifically stimulate the above phospholipid exchange. Protein I, purified 508-fold, has a molecular weight of approximately 29,000 and an isoelectric point of 5.2, and protein II, purified 426-fold, has a molecular weight of approximately 30,000 and an isoelectric point of 5.5. Among the phospholipids examined in various transfer systems, both proteins exhibited a marked preference for phosphatidylinositol transfer; phosphatidylcholine, but not phosphatidylethanolamine, could also be transferred between membranes. The capacities to transfer phosphatidylinotisol and phosphatidylcholine were inhibited simultaneously by tryptic degradation of each protein; however, protein II was significantly more sensitive to this treatment than protein I. The effects of membrane concentration (microsomal protein or liposomal phospholipid) on relative rates of phosphatidylinositol transfer have been determined. Estimations of Km and V with respect to each membrane have been made. These properties of the brain phospholipid transfer proteins are discussed in relationship to those of other proteins which function in the redistribution of phospholipid between membranes.
Novel Silver/Poly(vinyl alcohol) Nanocomposites for Surface‐Enhanced Raman Scattering‐Active Substrates

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS)-active substrates with high enhancement were prepared by an in situ reduction method. Novel silver/poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) nanocomposite films were obtained, in which the silver nitrate, poly(γ-glutamic acid) (PGA), and PVA acted as precursor, stabilizer, and polyol reducant, respectively. The UV-visible spectra of the as-fabricated films showed that the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) absorption band was narrow and of a stronger intensity, which indicates that the Ag nanoparticle Size distribution on the substrate was highly uniform. This finding was further confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and field-emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM) measurements. It was found that a PGA-stabilized PVA nanocomposite film revealed the presence of well-dispersed spherical silver nanoparticles with an average diameter of 90 nm. The new substate presents high SERS enhancement and the enhanced factor is estimated to be 10 6 for the detection of benzoic acid.
Preferential treatment of SCTP subflows: analysis and simulation

The current SCTP specification is not aware of QoS provided by a network. As a result, it is unable to support preferential treatment of the individual streams. We introduce the concept of dividing an association into subflows (SFs) so that the modified SCTP can support different levels of QoS. We define the necessary modifications to the current SCTP for this capability: namely, new data and SACK chunk formats to implement congestion control for each SF. To avoid the problem of false sharing, we modify SCTP such that each SF has its own congestion control mechanism. Using analytic models, we show that the modified SCTP is expected to perform better than the original SCTP. We verify these results through simulation experiments, where we observed that modified SCTP is able to take advantage of the diff-serv network and provides a better throughput.
Active learning techniques for user interactive systems: application to image retrieval

Active learning methods have been consid- ered with an increasing interest for user inter- active systems. In this paper, we propose an eﬃcient active learning scheme to deal with this particular context. An active boundary correction is proposed in order to deal with few training data. Experiments are carried out on the COREL photo database.