Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of Bacterial Lipopolysaccharide on Na+/H+ Exchanger Activity in Dendritic Cells

The function of dendritic cells (DCs), antigen-presenting cells linking innate and adaptive immunity, is stimulated by bacterial lipopolysaccharides (LPS), which trigger the formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). In macrophages, ROS formation is paralleled by activation of the Na+/H+ exchanger, a carrier involved in the regulation of cytosolic pH and cell volume. The present study explored whether LPS influence Na+/H+ exchanger activity in DCs. The DCs were isolated from murine bone marrow, cell volume was estimated from forward scatter in FACS analysis, ROS production from 2′,7′-dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate (DCFDA) fluorescence, apoptosis from annexin V binding, cytosolic pH (pHi) from 2′,7′-bis-(2-carboxyethyl)-5-(and-6)-carboxyfluorescein (BCECF) fluorescence and Na+/H+ exchanger activity from the Na+ dependent realkalinization following an ammonium pulse. Exposure of DCs to LPS (1 µg/ml) led to a transient increase of Na+/H+ exchanger activity. Moreover, LPS increased forward scatter and ROS formation and decreased apoptosis. The NHE1 inhibitor cariporide (10 µM) virtually abrogated Na+/H+ exchanger activity, inhibited LPS-induced cell swelling, blunted LPS-induced ROS formation and reversed the antiapoptotic effect of LPS. Na+/H+ exchanger activity was stimulated by oxidative stress and LPS induced stimulation of NHE activity was abolished in presence of ROS chelators (Tempol, Tiron and Vitamin C). In conclusion, LPS treatment transiently upregulates the Na+/H+ exchanger in DCs, an effect required for the effects of LPS on DC survival, cell volume and ROS formation.
Effects of Acute Toluene Toxicity on Different Regions of Rabbit Brain

The acute phase effects of toluene on the brain have been investigated in this study using rabbit brain via histopathological, immunohistochemical, and biochemical methods. A total of 20 male rabbits were used as control and experimental groups. Moreover, nerve growth factor (NGF), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), dopamine (DA), and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) tests were performed in order to designate the severity of the biochemical damage. In the biochemical evaluation of the prefrontal cortex, hippocampus, hypothalamus, substantia nigra, and entorhinal cortex, the TNF-alpha levels in the brain were found to be significantly higher than in the control group. Levels of dopamine, secreted from the substantia nigra, nerve growth factor (NGF) developed from the hippocampal neurons, and GFAP, secreted from astrocyte cells, were detected to be significantly lower in the toluene-administration group than in the control group (p < 0.05). In addition, areas of focal vacuolar degeneration (abscess formation), gliosis, and perivascular demyelination, many pyknotic cells and necrosis were observed. In the toluene-administration group compared to the control group, distinct excessive expansions of the blood vessels and severe degeneration in the structure of cells and also dispersed cell borders were observed. Furthermore, abnormal malformations of the nuclei structure of the oligodendrocyte cells were seen. Bodies of the sequential neurons of the hippocampus in the toluene-administration group were distinctly structurally damaged compared to the control group. In addition, cytoplasm of the cortex cell showed serious immune reactivity in the experimental group.
Globalization and Executive Compensation

Employing comprehensive data on top executives at major U.S. companies, we show that their compensation is increasing with exports, as well as firm size and technology. Exogenous export shocks unrelated to managerial decisions also increase executive compensation, and there is little evidence that this is due to increasing returns to talent. We do find that export shocks primarily affect discretionary forms of compensation of more powerful executives at firms with poor corporate governance, as one would expect if globalization has enhanced rent-capture opportunities. Overall, globalization has been more important for the rapid growth of executive compensation and U.S. inequality than previously thought, with rent-capture playing a role.
A Novel Improved Variable Step-Size Incremental-Resistance MPPT Method for PV Systems

Maximum power point (MPP) tracking (MPPT) techniques are widely applied in photovoltaic (PV) systems to make PV array generate peak power which depends on solar irradiation. Among all the MPPT strategies, the incremental-conductance (INC) algorithm is widely employed due to easy implementation and high tracking accuracy. In this paper, a novel variable step-size incremental-resistance MPPT algorithm is introduced, which not only has the merits of INC but also automatically adjusts the step size to track the PV array MPP. Compared with the variable step-size INC method, the proposed scheme can greatly improve the MPPT response speed and accuracy at steady state simultaneously. Moreover, it is more suitable for practical operating conditions due to a wider operating range. This paper provides the theoretical analysis and the design principle of the proposed MPPT strategy. Simulation and experimental results verify its feasibility.
Super-Resolution of Moving Vehicles Using an Affine Motion Model

This study addresses the problem of motion estimation and image registration for Super-Resolution (SR) algorithms. It appears that, simple assumptions such as planar motion are not always appropriate for dealing with real surveillance video of unconstrained moving objects. A new SR algorithm based on an affine motion model is developed and evaluated on a database, which contains videos of urban scene. Experiments show improved SR performances with respect to methods using only planar motion.
A Novel and Efficient Model of Coronary Artery Ligation and Myocardial Infarction in the Mouse

Rationale: Coronary artery ligation to induce myocardial infarction (MI) in mice is typically performed by an invasive and time-consuming approach that requires ventilation and chest opening (classic method), often resulting in extensive tissue damage and high mortality. We developed a novel and rapid surgical method to induce MI that does not require ventilation. Objective: The purpose of this study was to develop and comprehensively describe this method and directly compare it to the classic method. Methods and Results: Male C57/B6 mice were grouped into 4 groups: new method MI (MI-N) or sham (S-N) and classic method MI (MI-C) or sham (S-C). In the new method, heart was manually exposed without intubation through a small incision and MI was induced. In the classic method, MI was induced through a ventilated thoracotomy. Similar groups were used in an ischemia/reperfusion injury model. This novel MI procedure is rapid, with an average procedure time of 1.22±0.05 minutes, whereas the classic method requires 23.2±0.6 minutes per procedure. Surgical mortality was 3% in MI-N and 15.9% in MI-C. The rate of arrhythmia was significantly lower in MI-N. The postsurgical levels of tumor necrosis factor-&agr; and myeloperoxidase were lower in new method, indicating less inflammation. Overall, 28-day post-MI survival rate was 68% with MI-N and 48% with MI-C. Importantly, there was no difference in infarct size or post-MI cardiac function between the methods. Conclusions: This new rapid method of MI in mice represents a more efficient and less damaging model of myocardial ischemic injury compared with the classic method.
A hybrid surrogate based algorithm (HSBA) to solve computationally expensive optimization problems

Engineering optimization problems often involve multiple objectives and constraints that are computed via computationally expensive numerical simulations. While the severe nonlinearity of the objective/constraint functions demand the use of population based searches (e.g. Evolutionary Algorithms), such algorithms are known to require numerous function evaluations prior to convergence and hence may not be viable in their native form. On the other hand, gradient based algorithms are fast and effective in identifying local optimum, but their performance is dependent on the starting point. In this paper, a hybrid algorithm is presented, which exploits the benefits offered by population based scheme, local search and also surrogate modeling to solve optimization problems with limited computational budget. The performance of the algorithm is reported on the benchmark problems designed for CEC 2014 Special Session and Competition on Single Objective Real-Parameter Numerical Optimization.
The potential impact of China–US BIT on China’s manufacturing sectors

This article finds that the overall effect of the foreign direct investment (FDI) and thereby the China–US bilateral investment treaties (BIT) on Chinese manufacturing sector is positive, which raises the productivity and profitability of the firms, using various econometric models and other evidence. The manufacturing sector as a whole has already opened up to the world economy and needs to continue this process. The industries in the manufacturing sector do not need to be protected, except for in limited fields related to national security, scarce natural resources and well-defined strategic sectors. Gradual lifting of the protection may be needed in the short-run for a small number of vulnerable sectors. A moderate relaxing of the current restrictions will increase FDI in manufacturing from all countries by 4–8% under different assumptions. This effect will be small when only considering FDI from the USA. Domestic firms need to update their technology, reduce costs and learn management skills from their foreign competitors, while using the national treatment terms in BIT to enter the fields that are not open to domestic firms under current regulations. Domestic firms also need to set up firm-level global strategies and reallocate firms’ resources according to the changing investment environment, taking advantage of profit opportunities outside the domestic markets.
Improvement in social-interpersonal functioning after cognitive therapy for recurrent depression

Background. Cognitive therapy reduces depressive symptoms of major depressive disorder, but little is known about concomitant reduction in social-interpersonal dysfunction. Method. We evaluated social-interpersonal functioning (self-reported social adjustment, interpersonal problems and dyadic adjustment) and depressive symptoms (two self-report and two clinician scales) in adult outpatients (n=156) with recurrent major depressive disorder at several points during a 20-session course of acute phase cognitive therapy. Consenting acute phase responders (n=84) entered a 2-year follow-up phase, which included an 8-month experimental trial comparing continuation phase cognitive therapy to assessment-only control. Results. Social-interpersonal functioning improved after acute phase cognitive therapy (dyadic adjustment d=0·47; interpersonal problems d=0·91; social adjustment d=1·19), but less so than depressive symptoms (d=1·55). Improvement in depressive symptoms and social-interpersonal functioning were moderately to highly correlated (r=0·39–0·72). Improvement in depressive symptoms was partly independent of social-interpersonal functioning (r=0·55–0·81), but improvement in social-interpersonal functioning independent of change in depressive symptoms was not significant (r=0·01–0·06). In acute phase responders, continuation phase therapy did not further enhance social-interpersonal functioning, but improvements in social-interpersonal functioning were maintained through the follow-up. Conclusions. Social-interpersonal functioning is improved after acute phase cognitive therapy and maintained in responders over 2 years. Improvement in social-interpersonal functioning is largely accounted for by decreases in depressive symptoms.
Spin wave excitation patterns generated by spin torque oscillators

Spin torque nano-oscillators (STNO) are nanoscale devices that can convert a direct current into short wavelength spin wave excitations in a ferromagnetic layer. We show that arrays of STNO can be used to create directional spin wave radiation similarly to electromagnetic antennas. Combining STNO excitations with planar spin waves also creates interference patterns. We show that these interference patterns are static and have information on the wavelength and phase of the spin waves emitted from the STNO. We describe a means of actively controlling spin wave radiation patterns with the direct current flowing through STNO, which is useful in on-chip communication and information processing and could be a promising technique for studying short wavelength spin waves in different materials.
Contracts for Healthcare Referral Services: Coordination via Outcome-Based Penalty Contracts

This work focuses on the business-to-business interaction between a service requester and a service provider in a healthcare environment. The requester is the primary caregiver responsible for managing the health of a population of patients. When a patient requires advanced care outside of the requester’s expertise, the requester refers the patient to a provider and pays for the referral services. Treatment may succeed or fail, and in the case of failure, the requester incurs further follow-up costs. The requester may exert preventive effort to reduce the volume of referrals. The provider may exert nonreimbursable effort to reduce the chance of treatment failure. We analyze payment contracts between the two firms. We find that fee-for-service (FFS) induces neither system nor social optimum effort outcomes. However, a penalty contract can generally coordinate the effort decisions with either the system optimum or the social optimum. Furthermore, we find that patients may benefit from having a coordinating .
Dynamic Changes of Water Conservation Service of Typical Ecosystems in China within a Year Based on Data from CERN

In this study, we compared and analyzed the dynamic changes of water conservation and its value of some typical forests, grasslands, and farmlands in China within a year based on the dataset of the Chinese Ecosystem Research Net (CERN). Results showed that forest, grassland, and farmland provide different kinds of water conservation services which vary in size and dynamic processes within a year. Water conservation of forest consisted of water regulation service, here referred to as water retaining service, and water supply service, while water conservation of grassland and farmland was mainly water regulation service. Different types of forests/grasslands/farmlands can serve different water conservation services in both size and change patterns. In general, the water conservation service and value of forests is the largest (Xishuangbanna forest being $712·hm −2 ·year −1 , Dingshu Mountains forest being $823·hm −2 ·year −1 , and Changbai Mountains forest being $366·hm −2 ·year −1 ), and then is the farmlands (Yucheng farmland being $147·hm −2 ·year −1 , Changshu farmland being $92·hm −2 ·year −1 , Qianyanzhou farmland being $247 hm −2 ·year −1 ), and that of the grasslands is the least (Haibei alpine meadow being $75·hm −2 ·year −1 , Mongolia grassland being $30·hm −2 ·year −1 ). The monthly water conservation and its value of each ecosystem had its own changing pattern throughout the year.
RNA transport and long-term memory storage

Several studies have shown that synthesis of new proteins at the synapse is a prerequisite for the storage of long-term memories. Relatively little is known about the availability of distinct mRNA populations for translation at specific synapses, the process that determines mRNA localization, and the temporal designations of localized mRNA translation during memory storage. Techniques such as synaptosome preparation and microdissection of distal neuronal processes of cultured neurons and dendritic layers in brain slices are general approaches used to identify localized RNAs. Exploration of the association of RNA-binding proteins to the axonal transport machinery has led to the development of a strategy to identify RNAs that are transported from the cell body to synapses by molecular motor kinesin. In this article, RNA localization at the synapse, as well as its mechanisms and significance in understanding long-term memory storage, are discussed.
Energy partitioning in gluteal-femoral fat: does the metabolic fate of triglycerides affect coronary heart disease risk?

Jean Vague from the University of Marseille was the first to foresee the importance of regional adipose tissue distribution when he suggested that a “male” pattern of body fat distribution, which he referred to as android obesity, was the form of obesity more likely to be accompanied by diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease, as opposed to the typical, rather benign, “female” pattern of body fatness, which he described as gynoid obesity.1 In the early 80’s, the late Per Bjorntorp from the University of Gothenburg in Sweden had come across Vague’s literature, and he took advantage of the availability of anthropometric variables such as waist and hip circumferences to develop a simple index of body fat distribution, the waist to hip ratio (WHR). 2–5 Having access to two prospective studies of middle-aged men and women, the Swedish team found that the proportion of abdominal fat (as crudely appreciated by the WHR) was an independent risk factor for the development of cardiovascular disease and diabetes over a follow-up period of more than a decade.2,3 Simultaneously, in the United States, Ahmed Kissebah and his group6 also generated results emphasizing the importance of regional adipose tissue distribution as an important correlate of metabolic complications that had been, in the past, associated with excess weight per se. These results published in the early 80’s have generated great interest from the scientific and medical community, and over the last 20 years a flourishing and abundant literature has been published on the topic. As for many groups around the world, the publication of Bjorntorp’s early results raised our interest, and we initially focused our …
Progesterone treatment shows greater protection in brain vs. retina in a rat model of middle cerebral artery occlusion: Progesterone receptor levels may play an important role.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE To determine whether inflammation increases in retina as it does in brain following middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO), and whether the neurosteroid progesterone, shown to have protective effects in both retina and brain after MCAO, reduces inflammation in retina as well as brain. METHODS MCAO rats treated systemically with progesterone or vehicle were compared with shams. Protein levels of cytosolic NF-κB, nuclear NF-κB, phosphorylated NF-κB, IL-6, TNF-α, CD11b, progesterone receptor A and B, and pregnane X receptor were assessed in retinas and brains at 24 and 48 h using western blots. RESULTS Following MCAO, significant increases were observed in the following inflammatory markers: pNF-κB and CD11b at 24 h in both brain and retina, nuclear NF-κB at 24 h in brain and 48 h in retina, and TNF-α at 24 h in brain.Progesterone treatment in MCAO animals significantly attenuated levels of the following markers in brain: pNF-κB, nuclear NF-κB, IL-6, TNF-α, and CD11b, with significantly increased levels of cytosolic NF-κB. Retinas from progesterone-treated animals showed significantly reduced levels of nuclear NF-κB and IL-6 and increased levels of cytosolic NF-κB, with a trend for reduction in other markers. Post-MCAO, progesterone receptors A and B were upregulated in brain and downregulated in retina. CONCLUSION Inflammatory markers increased in both brain and retina after MCAO, with greater increases observed in brain. Progesterone treatment reduced inflammation, with more dramatic reductions observed in brain than retina. This differential effect may be due to differences in the response of progesterone receptors in brain and retina after injury.
Tuning a Resonant DC/DC Converter on the Second Harmonic for Improving Performance: A Case Study

A recent paper improved the state of the art for resonant class-E dc/dc converters by relaying their design on the solution of an associated non-linear dimensionless mathematical system. We show in this paper that when the associated nonlinear system can be solved, the solution is not always unique. By considering a simple case study we are able to compute two different solutions leading to two different designs. In the first one the main spectral component of voltage and current waveforms is located around the first clock harmonic, and around the second harmonic in the other solution. Interestingly, the latter design leads to a reduction either in the size of inductors/transformers or in the oscillation frequency (a 2.46× factor), and also a non-negligible improvement in the converter efficiency (from 74.1% to 75.8%).
Log-Free Concurrent Data Structures

Non-volatile RAM (NVRAM) makes it possible for data structures to tolerate transient failures, assuming however programmers have designed these structures in a way to preserve their consistency upon recovery. Previous approaches, typically transactional, inherently used logging, resulting in implementations that are significantly slower than their DRAM counterparts. In this paper, we introduce a set of techniques that, in the common case, remove the need for logging (and costly durable store instructions) both in the data structure algorithm as well as in the associated memory management scheme. Together, these generic techniques enable us to design what we call log-free concurrent data structures, which, as we illustrate on linked lists, hash tables, skip lists, and BSTs, can provide several-fold performance improvements over previous, transaction-based implementations, with overheads of the order of milliseconds for recovery after a failure. We also highlight how our techniques can be integrated into practical systems, by introducing a durable version of Memcached that is able to maintain the performance of its volatile counterpart.
Measurement of glycine binding site of N‐methyl‐d‐asparate receptors in living human brain using 4‐acetoxy derivative of L‐703,717, 4‐acetoxy‐7‐chloro‐3‐[3‐(4‐[11c] methoxybenzyl) phenyl]‐2(1H)‐quinolone (AcL703) with positron emission tomography

N‐methyl‐D‐aspartate (NMDA) receptors are of major interest in brain functions and neuropsychiatric disorders. However, at present there are few suitable radioligands for in vivo imaging of NMDA receptors. 7‐Choloro‐4‐hydroxy‐3‐[3‐(4‐methoxybenzyl) phenyl]‐2(1H)‐quinolone (L‐703,717) is one of the potent ligands for the glycine‐binding site of NMDA receptors. 4‐Acetoxy derivative of L‐703,717 (AcL703) is a candidate, as a positron emission tomography (PET) ligand for NMDA receptors, because of its better permeability at the blood–brain barrier compared with L‐703,717. After intravenous injection of 624–851 MBq of [11C]AcL703, dynamic PET scan was performed on six healthy males for 90 min. Regions‐of‐interest were located on the cerebral cortices, cerebellar cortex, and cerebral white matter. The binding potential (BP) was calculated from the ratio of the area under the curve (AUC) of radioactivities from 40 to 90 min in the target region to that in white matter. Regional radioactivities reached close to equilibrium in all regions after about 40 min postinjection. Regional brain uptake of [11C]AcL703 at 40 min after injection was 0.00028–0.00065% of the injected dose/milliliter. Radioactivity concentration of [11C]AcL703 was highest in the cerebellar cortex and lowest in white matter. AUC in the cerebellar cortex was higher than those of cerebral cortices, thalamus, striatum, and white matter. BP in the cerebellar cortex was twofold higher than in the cerebral cortices (cerebellar cortex: BP = 2.20 ± 0.72; cerebral cortices: BP = 1.05 ± 0.45). Despite the low brain uptake of [11C]AcL703, regional distributions were in good agreement with our previous studies of rodents. This indicates the possibility of in vivo evaluation of NMDA receptors using PET with [11C]AcL703 in living human brain. Synapse 61:795–800, 2007. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.